Chapter 1: Nucleus

Aurora looked around the classroom nervously, mentally cataloging the occupants.

Unicorn, unicorn, unicorn, pegasus, unicorn, unicorn... another unicorn, unicorn, pegasus, unicorn, pegasus...

...and me.

She sighed, her eyes falling on her own light green hooves. Her empty forehead. Her bare back. She looked back around at the class.

I don't know why I expected anything different, she thought bitterly. This was the third school she had been to in just as many months, and at each of them it had been the same.

She set her head on her desk. I bet I'm the only earth pony in Canterlot.

The rational part of her brain immediately protested.

Well, that’s not entirely true. But at least they are old enough not to go to school.

It wasn't as if the courses she was forced to attend were particularly hard. They were actually quite boring. And, well, nopony really knew what to do with an earth pony. Unicorns learned their telekinesis. Pegasi learned how to fly. But earth ponies' magic was all passive. Nothing to really learn there. The best the schools ever did was to give her a few agricultural books and hope for the best. Even that was after she pestered them constantly for something, anything, to do. Unfortunately for her, agriculture was... not that appealing. At all.

Well, it might have been tolerable, if there actually was magic included with it, but that was not the case. All it taught her was how to take care of plants. The magic just “happened.”

Her parents had both been unicorns, and... well... they were loving and kind. Aurora couldn't ask for better caretakers than Written Script and Cherry Blossom. However, both of them were a different species. Evidently, both had earth pony ancestry and had passed it on to her, but it still meant that they had no idea how to teach her any of the practical skills that Earth ponies usually learned from their parents.

And judging by the knowledge of so-called experts, it would not have been much better.

Of course, Aurora never believed that earth ponies were in any way inferior. She had heard stories of earth ponies with strange or incredible powers. The problem was that there was nopony that could really teach her anything. Most of those fabled earth ponies discovered their abilities entirely by accident. She lived in a library with two scholars, and while she had developed a passion for magic, the only study materials were all designed for unicorn use. The best she could do was to learn unicorn theory. At least that was interesting enough.

So Magic Kindergarten was incredibly boring. Nopony taught theory, even for unicorns, and nopony really knew what to do with her. That was okay, in a way. It was annoying, but she could deal with being bored, as long as she could go home and read later. The problem lay in the fact that she was the only earth pony. The only freak in the show. So she was the target of everything. The target for those that believed that if they couldn't see the magic, then it wasn't there.

"Hey! Give that back!"

The colt held the small, bronze object aloft, bringing it closer to himself. "Well, well... What is this?" He shook it a bit, then opened the cover. "A compass?" He squinted, reading the letters. "G, D, W, N?"

He laughed. "What, did you make this yourself? The points aren't even straight!" He glanced back at her, grinning. "Oh wait, never mind. That can't be right, either."

Aurora stomped her hoof, then lunged at the object. "I said, give it back!"

The gray unicorn sneered, lifting it contemptuously out of her reach. "And what are you going to do if I don't? Grow me to death?"

He laughed at his own joke.

Aurora fumed, brushing her dark green mane out of her eyes.

He locked his gaze, glaring at her one last time, then scoffed, turning away. "Face it, dirt lover. There's a reason earth ponies stayed as farmers."

She cracked. Shrieking, she spun around, placing both her rear hooves firmly in his chest. The impact sent the colt back a few feet and onto the ground. He blinked, stunned by the impact, and all of the other foals watching gasped.

The grey aura around her compass flickered and died as she snatched it out of the air with her mouth and ran, tears falling from her eyes.

Aurora sat against the tunnel wall, breathing heavily and attempting to calm her racing heart. She groaned in despair.

I have to be expelled for sure. I just attacked another pony. I don't think I've hit something that hard before.

I... I just couldn't risk losing Dad's compass.

Carefully, Aurora pushed the bronze chain back around her neck before letting the compass fall onto her chest. Holding it in one hoof, she pressed the button on the side, opening it up with a small click.

Please don't be broken, please don't be broken...

G was somewhere at the center. W pointed back down the street. N was nowhere to be seen.

Oh, good. I was so worried.

Suddenly, D faded into existence, pointing quite strongly towards W, and the direction she had entered the tunnel.

Uh oh.

She looked up the street, and saw Broad Strike, who she had just bucked in the chest, running down the street. Directly at her.

Closing the lid on the compass, she looked around wildly for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. Running back was not an option. Running forward was not great, as it would take quite a while to lose him. She needed to get behind cover.

Oh, thank Celestia! A service door!

She grabbed the handle and pulled. Nothing happened.

She grabbed the handle and pushed. Nothing happened.

The sounds of angry hoofsteps grew louder.

Oh, crud.

Frustrated and hysteric, she spun around again, bucking the door as hard as she possibly could. Near the hinges, of course.

CLANG!

Whoa, I can't believe that worked.

"You are so dead!"

Dammit, Aurora! No time to admire your own work! Get a move on!

She slipped through the opening, stepping quietly to the other side of the door, and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark.

As soon as they did, she gasped. This was certainly no maintenance shaft. It was a spacious cavern, one that was comprised entirely out of crystal. A soft phosphorescent glow lit the darkness of a chasm that opened in front of her. In contrast, the light that streamed through the crack in the door felt like staring directly at the sun.

Also, she was about two hooflengths from the edge of that chasm.

Aurora gulped. Thank Celestia I didn't just rush in.

Suddenly, her ears swiveled around as they registered something from the other side of the door - the sound of hooves. Aurora held her breath as the hooves suddenly slowed, then stopped entirely. Strike had stopped right outside her hiding place.

She mentally kicked herself. This wasn’t much of a hiding place at all. The giant dent in the door kind of gave it away.

"I know you're in there!"

Aurora's heart raced as she looked around the cavern. The phosphorescent glow that had been so beautiful earlier now served a much more mundane function: it allowed her to escape. While the relative lack of shadows was disorienting, she quickly found a path down into the chasm along the side. It didn’t look particularly safe, with all the sharp crystals protruding from the floor, but it would do.

I really hope he doesn't have the nerve to follow me, she thought as she edged along the cave wall. Aren't bullies supposed to be secretly wusses or something? She placed her hooves carefully on the jagged ground, making her way downward. The crystals that made up the ground were certainly not flat, and one wrong step meant her balance would be thrown off. And the ground did not look particularly inviting.

She shuddered at the imagined pain. Those things are sharp.

It was a good thing she had started so soon. Strike had evidently realized that Aurora wasn't coming out anytime soon. He squeezed in awkwardly, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the blackness. They widened at the sight, then narrowed as he spotted the object of his ire. He trotted over to the start of the path, and attempted to bring her back using levitation. She shrugged off the field like it was nothing.

Aurora looked back at him, steel in her eyes.

She turned back, resuming her downward climb.

Broad Strike gritted his teeth. Earth ponies. He started after her, placing his front hooves on the wall for support as he went down the narrow path.

She felt a momentary tinge of guilt. I suppose I did hit him pretty hard.

Her face hardened, though, as she remembered his expression. The face he was wearing as he took away her most prized possession. He wasn’t chasing her this far just because he was humiliated in front of the class. This was because he was beaten by an earth pony.

Aurora renewed her pace as she reached the bottom. She worried less and less about falling, speeding up to almost walking pace before jumping with a loud "clop" to the cave floor. Her initial plan of hiding at the bottom of the chasm now ruined, she ran through one of the narrow passageways into another cave.

Apart from a large hole in its center, it was empty, and she ran straight through the passageway on the opposite side.

If I can just lose him...

Aurora skidded to a stop. This room had no exits, no way out. She was trapped.

With a shiver, she heard the sound of hoofsteps again. Her pursuer had reached the bottom, and by the sound of it, had seen which passageway she had taken.

Panicking, she looked around the cave. Maybe there was some rock, some protrusion she could hide behind...

Just as he entered the cave, she noticed a small hole in the floor, just big enough for her to fit in. She dove instantly, wincing in pain as the sharp crystals dug into her body.

With almost no room to move, she wiggled further down into the hole, holding back her cry of pain as the cuts deepened.

Her back hooves were only just inside when Strike caught up to her once again, trying to grab her with his telekinesis. She braced herself to fight against it, but to her surprise, it wasn't needed. The field started to form, then warped erratically, reflected by the crystal, sending a feedback pulse back to his horn.

Strike cried out in pain, stumbling back.

Taking the chance for what it was, Aurora renewed her efforts, climbing deeper into the hole. Strike tried to follow, but flinched back away in pain as his horn hit the hard crystal. Turning away with a "Hmph!", he walked back through the caves, his hoofsteps echoing in the hole where she hid.

When the sound finally died, she relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she paused, tensing slightly.

Oh, crud. I can't turn around.

The crystals no longer dug into her skin quite as much as before, but the passage was barely big enough for her to crawl forward, let alone turn her body.

She crawled forward again. Forward and downward. It wasn't as if she had a choice.

I just really hope this isn't a dead end.

Aurora grew more and more nervous as the already narrow passage became even more cramped. She had several more scrapes and cuts, and her body was sore from twisting around in the restrictive passageway.

Of course there was an exit. Otherwise the narrow passage would be filled with water. That's just how caves worked.

But this isn't a normal cave. It somehow... reflects magic or something. I don't think it is anything natural at all.

And even if it did work like a normal cave, the passage is only getting thinner. Maybe water can get through, but I certainly can't. There has to be a way to turn around. Maybe if I...

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that the passage ahead was a bit brighter than usual. It was only slight, but it signified something very important.

An exit! Maybe this is possible, after all!

She pushed forward, earning a few cuts and scrapes as the crystals dug into her skin. She crawled out the other end, kicking the last crystal blocking her way, shattering it. She stood up, stretching her aching muscles.

At least hooves seem to work against it.

Aurora jerked her head from side to side, rewarded by a few cracks. Then her eyes finally started to take in the scene around her. She gasped.

The cavern was stunning. A large lake dominated the scene, and there must have been some bioluminescent algae living there, as the light from it sent ripples of light dancing along the cavern's crystal walls. She even thought she heard some fish swimming in the water.

Fascinating. How can life exist in such a barren place?

Aurora turned to leave, but stopped suddenly as she noticed something in the shadows. Something very obviously out of place. It was a door. A wooden door. Her mind immediately supplied an image of the steel door in the tunnel.

Could these caves really be big enough to have more than one entrance?

She trotted over and took the old handle in her mouth. To her surprise, it opened relatively easily, its hinges creaking slightly in protest. She spit the metal ring out of her mouth, the taste of old rust lingering uncomfortably.

She looked through the opening, and one thing was instantly clear.

This is certainly no exit.

The room was dark, and smelled strongly of old wood and another smell she knew quite well: books.

How odd. Why would somepony keep a library be way down here?

The faint light emanating from the lake was not much, but it was enough for her to find a small oil lamp located near the entrance, as well as a tinder-box.

A tinder box? From what I know, Canterlot was always a city of unicorns...

With a bit of difficulty, she lit the lamp, and was both surprised and grateful to find that it still held oil. After that, it was easy to locate and light two more lamps that hung on the walls.

It was quite unmistakably some sort of study. It was small and cozy, with a slanted desk and chair taking up most of the space in the room. The rest was taken up by books of all sizes. Her parents were librarians. With one glance, she could tell the age of these volumes. These had to be priceless.

With no small amount of frustration, she noticed that it would be impossible to bring them back up safely, not without damaging them in some way. And based on what she saw with Broad Strike's magic, neither could a unicorn.

Still, I can't pass up this chance. While I'm here...

Aurora carefully pulled one of the books off the shelf, mentally noting its location. It was more out of habit than anything, but still, if there was an organization system, she didn't want to mess it up.

Sitting down at the desk, she carefully opened the cover.

Aurora almost banged her head on the table in frustration.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would it be in modern Eqqish?

It was still readable. At least a little. But all the characters were written just a bit strangely. Almost every single word was spelled differently. Some words had different spellings just randomly, as if the author couldn't make up their mind about it. The constant use of "thee" and "thou" was confusing, and the fact that some of the "S"s looked like "F"s did not help her brain at all. Some words just simply didn't exist anymore. And almost every single letter was indistinguishable from its capital variant. But Aurora was unable to doubt the importance of her discovery when she managed to read the title.

Earth Pony Magic: A General Study

Aurora almost leapt to her hooves in shock. Earth ponies were not known for their writing, especially at this point in history. Writing was considered a unicorn skill for the longest time, only really opening up to other races in the last 750 years. Even then, most of that writing was in the form of novels or just personal letters. This... this was a genuine academic volume, written by, or at least written about, earth pony magic.

She closed the book carefully, placing it back on the shelf, then tilted her head, painstakingly reading the titles. Silver: the Magic of Life and Death; Earth Magic Projection: A Study. One was simply labeled Passage.

With all of her being, Aurora wanted to stay, but... but...

But nothing. She was covered in scrapes and bruises. She was going to stay and rest for a while. Getting to stay and read would just be an extra bonus.

Now I wonder... is there is some sort of healing spell here...?

Her front door opened before she had the chance to touch it, revealing the worried face of her mother.

"Aurora! Where have you been? We were so worried about you!"

All of her previous enthusiasm left her as she remembered the day’s events. I failed yet another school.

"Did you go somewhere after you finished school?"

"No."

"Well, okay. What were you-"

"During school."

Her mother’s expression instantly changed. "Was somepony bullying you again?"

"Yes."

Aurora looked up as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She saw her dad's face there, smiling reassuringly.

"Don't let them get to you, honey. Whatever they said to you, I'm sure that it was-"

"He took your compass, Dad."

Suddenly, her mother's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I also see that you have it back. Did you-"

"I didn't hurt him, Mom." ...that bad, she muttered under her breath.

"I just knocked the wind out of him."

Her father smiled slightly, then wilted as his wife glared at him.

"And so you ran away? For four hours?"

"Well, he kept chasing me."

She raised an eyebrow. "For four hours?"

Aurora shuffled her hooves uncomfortably. "Um... well, I kinda got stuck in my hiding place for a while..."

Cherry Blossom looked at her daughter suspiciously. "So where is this hiding place of yours? Would you mind showing us?"

Aurora dragged her hoof along the grain of the floorboard in front of her. "Well... it's kind of a secret spot... and I kind of want to keep it that way... and it's not like you could fit anyway... the passage is too skinny."

"What about teleportation?" her father asked. "I may not be some fancy mage, but I'm pretty decent. Almost five feet now!"

His wife rolled her eyes. “Dear, teleportation is not something to shrug off. I think I know probably three unicorns who can do it. And you are one of them.”

Aurora shuddered violently as a sudden thought invaded her mind. Broad Stroke's magic being twisted, forced back onto his horn.

"N-no... It's... It's more than a couple feet."

"All right," he said, a hint of genuine concern in his voice. "I'll let it go. But we really need to talk about this school thing."

"It's not exactly working, is it?" Aurora said, hanging her head. "I'm sorry. I should have... I should have..."

Her mother stepped closer, placing a comforting hoof on her back.

"It's okay honey. It wasn't your fault." This time.

She put a hoof to her chin, then suddenly smiled, glancing at the library that surrounded them. "Hey, I know what should cheer you up! What if we try homeschooling?"

Her father stepped in, alarmed. "But dear, we both work. Who is going to teach her?"

It was too late.

"Yes! Yesyesyesyes! This is awesome! Now I can stay in the library and read things and actually learn stuff-"

"What do you mean, 'actually learn stuff'?" Cherry Blossom asked suddenly. “You didn’t tell me anything like this.”

Aurora shrunk back again at the sudden shift in tone. "Well, um... there wasn't much to learn... I mean... what do you think they would be able to teach an earth pony?"

Her father started to open his mouth, but Aurora interrupted. "That isn't theory."

He closed it.

"I mean, seriously. All I learned how to do in school is how to run really fast."

Both her parents cringed at the implication.

"And maybe how to kick things really hard."

Cherry looked horrified, then glared at her husband, who quickly tried to look as not-proud as equinely possible.

He looked at Aurora, then sighed. "I suppose you're right. It's not like Magic Kindergarten is anything more than a babysitting service, anyway. Go ahead. Knock yourself out."

"Yes!" Aurora said, racing along the shelves at an incomprehensible speed then stopped suddenly, looking back at her mother.

"Is there any way you could bring me dinner? Then I don't have to stop... and... um..."

Cherry smiled warmly at her daughter, then assumed a face of mock-sternness. "Only if you keep your face over the bowl and not the books."

Aurora smiled back, rolling her eyes slightly. "All right, Mom. I'll be good." She turned away, tilting her head to read the titles, pausing only to pull interesting ones off the shelf.

Cherry Blossom and Written Script walked away, still smiling. Script looked at his daughter, then back at his wife. "Should we tell her that it's already past school hours?"

She nudged him playfully. "You do that, and you're sleeping on the couch."

Chapter 2: Firestone

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Aurora grinned internally. School was great. She could spend all day studying interesting stuff, like magical theory, while sill having time to learn Old Equestrian grammar and old-fashioned idioms.

While Old Eqqish was moderately difficult to learn, and it didn't really interest her as much as the theory did, it was moderately interesting, and necessary for her "real" education. Her main barrier that kept her from studying the books in the cave was her lack of knowledge of the outdated language they were written in. If she could combine modern magical theory with the old books on earth magic, she might actually get somewhere with it.

Each day, her “school” ended at 3:00. Or at least, that is what her parents thought. While they thought she was out playing, she instead headed straight for the caves for an evening of hard study.

She didn’t mind. This was far more interesting and fun than any of the “play time” she had before. As the odd one out in school, nopony, even the nice ponies, wanted to risk being her friend. So most of the time, she just stayed at home to read, anyway. This just was more productive and fun.

Each day, her reading of these texts got easier and easier, both with practice and with study of the language. And her knowledge of earth pony magic grew.

The magic of earth ponies was significantly different than the magic of unicorns. Most of the magic was directed by the emotion of the caster. That did not mean that it was not difficult to learn, however. The more complex the spell, the more controlled and specific the emotion had to be. It wasn’t enough to say “be angry” or “be happy.”

Emotions were not quite enough, either. Except for simple, passive effects, spells also required a certain amount of focus and concentration as well.

This emotion-driven magic had an interesting corollary: the old, supposedly debunked form of directing magic, incantations, was actually useful for earth ponies. It wasn't so much the words that had power, it was the emotions that they invoked. More frequently, these incantations were in the form of poetry, poetry that guided the caster's emotions in the required direction.

It seems that those unicorn scholars just missed the point.

There was, however, one technique that seemed different from the others. It was long, complicated, and incredibly personalized, but if she could pull it off... well, it would be amazing, to say the least. It was sort of like teleportation, but not quite. It was called Passage, a way of stopping time for a few short seconds, covering a distance instantly.

It would certainly show them that "Earth ponies can't do magic."

But it was also far beyond her current ability. And current comprehension of the old language it was written in.

Aurora placed the book to her side. Oh well, at least it's something to work towards.

The most useful ability by far was magic projection, the ability to effect objects at a distance. Of course, that distance was about one foot from her hoof. Still, it was kind of cool to pick an object up while it was still more than an inch from her hoof. It almost looked like levitation. Pretty cool-looking.

Still, it wasn’t technically Earth pony magic, since it was the standard manipulation field that everypony had on their hooves.

The most impressive part about this, though, was the ability to stand on two hooves, gripping the floorboards, then use the other two to make a ball of magic. Of course, it was just raw magic, but it was really cool-looking.

Ironically, this is how she learned what circle her focus landed in. There seemed to be two known circles, Silver and... well... Earth. Well, she was definitely in Silver.

Yeah, when she slipped and fell face-first on the floor, the ball of magic cushioned her fall. As in, she felt all of the pain involved in such an action, but no permanent damage. Or any damage from a ball of magic hitting her in the face.

Huh. I can do healing magic. Neat.

Aurora picked herself off of the floor and looked at the place where she had landed.

The wood now had a light covering of moss.

As she went home each day along the narrow crystal passage, she took some time to widen it, breaking crystals along the sides with her hooves. It was still a bit of a squeeze, but a lot less painful. She did not feel like healing herself each time she went to go study.

As much as she was excited about this new discovery, she still kept her study a secret. Not only did she see what the cave did to a unicorn's magic, but it also seemed to mess up her directional sense as well. She found herself relying on her compass, even for the relatively short distance that she traveled. And even that was not completely reliable. Three out of the four pointers seemed to often go wild for no apparent reason.

Well, the dangers were really only a part of the reasoning. Deep down, Aurora knew that she could guide somepony to the study if she truly wanted to. She could even bring the books back up with her. The truth was... she knew she shouldn't.

Silver was the magic of life, but also the magic of death. Earth ponies often used this magic, and based on her studies, Aurora knew that most of the public knew about this kind of magic. She had even heard of an earth pony with a vendetta actually sabotaging another’s crops a few years back.

The information here, however, was more direct. More controlled. More powerful. If an earth pony with bad intentions had access to this information... well, every magic has an inverse. Silver magic was called the magic of life and death, but really, it was more like the magic of the wellspring, the magic of the soul. A pony with the power over others' souls... that was something Aurora never wanted to see in the hooves of somepony like that.

Aurora thought back to earlier that evening, when she stood on two hooves, a ball of swirling green magic in between her hooves. Magic of healing. Magic of life. Then it turned black.

No. This cannot become common knowledge. As much as it pains me to hold back something this big... it must remain hidden.

Aurora climbed out of the top of her small passage, hooves clacking on the hard crystal floor. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

No, stop that kind of thinking! I should be happy. I can study to my heart's content, and everything here is new and interesting. Secondary school starts at the end of the year, anyway. If I get good enough, maybe I can get into Celestia's school!

She snorted. Like that's going to happen.

Still, there was a chance... right?

Two Years Later

"Next!"

Princess Celestia watched with interest as a young filly walked into her Day Court, her determination clearly shown on her face. She could also detect a significant portion of anger, but it was hidden well enough that Celestia knew that it was not intended for her, personally.

This expression of determination did not stay for long, however. Celestia could see a stark visible change as the grandeur of the Throne Room started to sink in, her determination slowly being replaced with a growing fear.

Or maybe that is just instinct.

The filly gathered up what little courage she had left, and began to speak. "Um... I'm sorry, Princess. I... um... I shouldn't have wasted your time like this..."

Celestia smiled warmly. "My little pony, I am sure your reason was an important one, if you wished to speak with me personally."

"Oh, um... right." The little green filly straightened herself slightly.

"What is your name, little one?"

"Um... Aurora, Your Highness. I... well... ever since... um...”

She looked down at her hooves. “Why is this so difficult to explain all of the sudden?"

Celestia chuckled. "Take all the time you need."

Aurora looked nervously at the throne room’s doors. "But what about the other ponies in line?"

"I said, take all the time you need. Every one of my subjects deserves attention. Even you, no matter if you think you deserve it or not."

"O-okay. All right. Um... as long as I can remember, I have been interested in magic. I mean, I even got my cutie mark for it.”

She looked uncertainly at her flank. "At least, I think so."

Celestia looked with interest at Aurora's cutie mark. A trio of leaves in various colors. One green, one yellow, and one a reddish-brown.

Hmm...

In any other circumstance it would seem wholly uninteresting. It looked so similar to thousands of other marks seen on earth ponies. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but not anything particularly unique. But this filly had said she got it for magic, though. If this was truly the case...

"At least, I don't think you can get a cutie mark for falling on your snout, so I think it has to be the magic." The filly shook her head violently, looking back up at the Princess with a bit of panic. "Oh! Sorry, Your Highness, I was just thinking out loud, and I wasn't paying attention who I was talking to, and-"

Celestia cleared her throat.

“Sorry! I did it again! What I was trying to say, um... before... was that I tried to apply for the school of yours, and... um... I just got rejected. They didn't even allow me to apply at all." She flattened her ears.

"I mean, I know it's called Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but I read about pegasi going there a long time ago to study theory and stuff, and... I mean, I could have gotten into a different school, but I don't want to have to learn tree-growing, or whatever they think my cutie mark is supposed to mean. I thought... if I talked to you..."

Celestia inwardly chastised herself. This is what happens when I let the school do their own thing for too long.

She looked at the filly, interested. Yet she says she read about a time when pegasi went there to study. The last time I remember something like that happening was over two hundred years ago...

"So what is it that you want me to do for you, my little pony?"

"Um... well maybe you could... talk to them or something. Make them allow me to at least take the test or something. Maybe a modified version, if there are parts that are impossible?"

Celestia smiled. Smart filly. She actually wants to earn her admission. "Good answer. I will grant your request. I will see fit that you, as well as any future Earth Pony or Pegasus applicants will be able to take the written test, as well as a modified version of the practical exam. Understand that I cannot guarantee you admission, only that you may be able to fairly apply. It is up to the council of examiners to accept you."

Aurora nodded eagerly. "I understand, Princess. Thank you so much! All I wanted was the chance."

She turned excitedly to go, then froze, turning back again. "Wait, is it fine for me to go now, or...?"

Celestia chuckled again. "Of course, little one. Good luck on your exam!"

She smiled as the filly trotted out the large double doors that served as the Throne Room's entrance. What a refreshing conversation that was. It isn't frequent that foals have the courage to talk to a Princess. She really is quite determined. And after a while, she seemed almost comfortable in my presence.

She relaxed, leaning farther back into her throne.

"Next!"

Aurora happily trotted down the short, circling path that led from the castle entrance to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, clutching a small scroll in her mouth. Once upon a time, CSGU was a school for the rich, a school for the nobles, or a school for those willing to go into debt in order to get their fillies and colts a good education.

Within the last couple hundred years, that had mostly changed. Now, with funding from the Crown, it had become quite a lot more accessible, and while its academic standards remained just as high, it was no longer a school for the rich.

And now, with this very important scroll, it would be open to more than just unicorns.

Sure, it wasn't as cool as if Celestia had come to talk with them herself, but carrying a Royal Decree was special enough. Anyway, Aurora knew how busy Celestia must be. It would be a grave misuse of her time to request something as big as a personal visit.

Aurora trotted up the stone steps, then pushed open the front glass doors and walked in.

The pony at the receptionist's desk immediately recognized her. "Back again, Aurora?" she said with some humor.

"It's nice to see you, but I'm sorry I can't do more. As much as I'd like to do something for you, I've got my hooves tied."

Suddenly, her brain recognized the seal on the scroll in the filly's mouth. "Wait, what is that you’re carrying.?"

Aurora smile was a bit more smug than usual as she looked up at the friendly beige unicorn that worked behind the counter. At least, her expression vaguely resembled a smug smile. It was kind of hard to pull off with a scroll in your mouth. She tossed it up onto the desk, and Meadowlark continued to stare at the seal.

"That can't be what I think it is."

"Well, you did say to go up the chain of command."

"But... but..."

"She was actually really nice about it."

"You talked with Princess Celestia?"

"She was the only one that even paid attention to me." Aurora sighed. "Some ponies are so inflexible."

"Or just too afraid of the politics." Meadowlark grumbled.

Aurora blinked. "Oh. I didn't think of it that way."

She chuckled into her hoof. "Nopony expects you to, Aurora. You're still a filly."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And you just talked with Princess Celestia. Alone. Most adult ponies can't even get themselves to do that."

"Really? But she was really nice. I mean, at first she looks a bit scary, but once you start talking with her, it's… it’s almost like she's a normal pony."

Meadowlark looked at her strangely. "You really are one interesting filly, Aurora… Just give me a second while I read this."

She picked up the decree in her magic aura, unfurling it. She quickly scanned it, occasionally muttering to herself or writing something down. Aurora waited nervously, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof, trying not to interrupt the nice unicorn who was trying to help.

Finally, Meadowlark finished, and she was grinning broadly. Quickly, she extended the scroll to its full length, feeding it through the copy machine, then hiding the copy under the floorboards.

She grinned at Aurora. "You didn't see that."

Aurora smiled back. "Everything's good?"

"Better than good. Everything seems to be in order for you to be able to take your test, and I can't find any loopholes anywhere. But this isn't just for you. This guarantees fair admission to everypony in the future, from earth ponies and pegasi to even a unicorn with a magical disorder. The Princess didn't leave anything out. But this is explosive stuff. I just made sure -"

"- that nopony can destroy the scroll, then deny it existed?"

"Exactly. Now since it's a Royal Decree, that should discourage most anypony, but... it's just best to make sure."

Aurora smiled. "Thank you, Meadow. So... I know the written examination is supposed to be today, but... what time today? They weren't exactly inclined to give me an information packet."

Meadowlark chuckled. "Right. Let's see... the written test should be at 2:00 this afternoon, which should be... oh. Five minutes from now. You'd better hurry. Well, there’s no time to see when your practical should be, but based on your registration time, it will most definitely be the last slot, which is always at 8:00 PM, tonight. We don't have a test set up for earth ponies, so I'd almost guarantee that they'll just ask you to show your most impressive magic, so if I were you, I'd start thinking about that now.

"All right."

She glanced at the clock again. "And now you only have three minutes. You'd better run. And take this!" she said, tossing another copy of the scroll at her, which she caught in her mouth.

"Okay," Aurora said around the scroll, turning away. "Thank you!"

“No problem!”

She ran along the halls, supremely glad that the testing signs were so obviously marked and easy to follow. She was quite relieved to find that she was not quite the last one in the testing room.

"Who are you?" asked a sharp voice.

Aurora looked up, and saw the test facilitator.

She inwardly smirked. Hmph. A politician, not a teacher. I think I can tell the difference now.

"You are not on my list. What are you doing here?" It was a tone that said quite clearly, You are beneath me. Aurora had heard this voice quite often in her efforts. As such, she ignored it completely.

"I'm just a last-minute addition, ma-am," she said, giving her the scroll. "This should explain everything." Just because she doesn't give me any respect doesn't mean I should do the same.

The mare skimmed the scroll, then flipped it over, examining the backside. "This is a copy. Where is the original?"

Aurora sighed. "I'm sorry, ma-am, but if you doubt its authenticity, then you should contact Mrs. Meadowlark. She has the original." She glared, making sure that she made eye contact. "Or Princess Celestia. But unless you can manage either within the next -"

She looked at the wall clock.

"- two minutes, I'm afraid I still have the right to take this examination."

Well, maybe not too much respect.

The aggressively drab unicorn mare opened her mouth for a retort, then closed it. "Hmph. You may proceed. Now go! There are others that are being held up. Your desk is number 49. Do not open up the test packet until I say so."

Aurora walked to the back of the classroom, where she could see her desk assignment. As she walked, she could feel the eyes of everypony on her back.

I really hope this is worth it.

Once the last foal was seated in the desk next to her, the signal was given to open their test packets, and the giant hourglass at the front was flipped over.

"You have one hour. Begin."

Aurora was already reading the first question.

1. Name the fourteen main branches of magic.

She grinned. This might actually be easier than she thought.

Aurora dipped her quill in the inkwell, reading the next question as she did so.

25a. Name the 24 subcategories of the Astral branch.

Well, maybe not that easy.

Well, at least nopony could tell her that studying was a waste of time anymore.

Aurora let the quill drop from her hoof, the local telekinetic field fading into background radiation. She closed the final page.

"Time!"

She picked up the packet in her mouth, following the other foals to the front, where they were placing the completed tests in a basket. Her legs felt like rubber. Her heart felt like she had left it back in her seat. Or maybe back at home.

She was sure that she had gotten at least a few wrong. At least 48c. How was she supposed to know about that seventh subcategory when every single other category in the discipline had six? Not to mention that she wasn't even aware that there was a spell specifically made to turn frogs into oranges. That wasn't in any of the books back home!

And how am I supposed to list every rune in the runic alphabet? Powerful mages are constantly making up new ones! By definition, the number is unbounded!

She let the packet drop neatly on top of the others.

The severe voice of the facilitator rose over the sound of the foals packing up. "Test results will only be utilized for admission, and as such, will not be disclosed individually. Do not discuss test questions or answers with anypony. Doing so will hinder your chance for acceptance. Discussion of questions among students is also forbidden. If you have not yet taken your practical examination, it should be sometime later today. Do not be late. You are dismissed."

Everypony moved at once, Aurora included. She really did not want to stay in a room with the examiner for longer than absolutely necessary.

In addition, she wanted to get back to her cave. She only had about five hours to prepare something to impress the examiners, and if the mare in charge of the written exam was any indication, it would have to be good. She had a feeling that the magic ball of heal-energy wouldn't be nearly enough.

She slid down the now-smooth slope that led into her cave. Opening the door, she slipped inside and lit the lamps.

Oh, I'm a bit low on oil. I hope I can afford to get some more with my allowance.

But that's not what I'm here for. Now... where did I put that book...

"Ugh..."

Aurora let her head fall to the desk. Nothing seemed to be a skill that could be considered inherently "impressive." Especially for unicorns, who did flashy magic every day. There was no single skill that would do. The only thing remotely close was way past her current level.

Wait. No single skill. But maybe a combination of several...

Aurora pushed one of her front hooves onto her chest, pulling until a shimmering, white orb with rainbow highlights came out into her hoof.

And with this little "souvenir", it might be even better.

It wasn't technically cheating. Nothing in the rules forbid an applicant from gathering magic during, or even before the test. They only tested what you did with it. And it wasn't her fault that Celestia radiated so much of it.

She pushed it back in.

Well, I'll only use it in an emergency, anyway. Now, what was it that I needed to prepare...

Aurora pulled a small, dark blue hair out of one of her numerous books.

Yes... this will do nicely.

Chapter 3: Dichroism

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Princess Twilight Sparkle watched the door, putting her hoof up to try to brush her mane away from her eyes. This failed, mostly because it had already decided to do so far before her hoof even got there.

Nice going, Sparkle. Two hundred years, and you're still not used to this.

She looked sideways at the other examiners, and was relieved to discover that they did not seem to have noticed the struggles of their inexperienced Princess.

She looked back at the door. This next applicant was going to be special. Tia had already told her about the filly that went to Day Court that day. In fact, that was one of the main reasons that she was here as one of the examiners. Of course, that was her right in any circumstance. She often decided to do so whenever she had free time available. She often liked to see how the generation's foals had turned out.

She had a feeling that this time, her input might be a bit more essential. With an earth pony as the recipient of the test, the academic portion of the test could easily be overshadowed by politics, and her two votes as Princess might be necessary to create a tie in the filly's favor. It would at least allow the deliberation to go to higher levels. Namely, the teacher's council, who tended to be a bit less political. Maybe. It had been a while since she checked.

Well, it was a better chance than usual, at least.

The door opened, admitting a green earth pony filly. Twilight looked at the clock.

8:00, to the second. She smirked.

I might just get to like you, my little pony.

Aurora took her compass in her hooves, and opened the back cover, staring at the watch face.

8:00 in 3... 2... 1...

She pushed open the door and walked inside, carefully scanning the board of examiners.

She did a double take at the deep purple luminous mane. Princess Twilight's here? Wow. That is unexpected. Well, at least I know she'll be fair.

Twilight gave her a small smile.

And it seems she likes me. Great.

Or maybe it was just for encouragement.

Aurora walked over to the small table provided.

Still, it's something. A lot better than I hoped, certainly.

"Due to the... unique circumstances of this test, you will be given thirty minutes to perform an act of magic that you deem worthy of acceptance into this prestigious school. You will be graded on quality of execution, difficulty of the magic required, and originality of the idea. You may begin."

She let out a sigh of relief. Thank you, Meadowlark. You really saved my hide. Thirty minutes? That would have been terrible if I didn’t have all that preparation.

Still...

Aurora raised her hoof, and the lead examiner (or at least the one who was talking the most) raised his eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Am I allowed to bring in previously prepared items, such as material components for a spell?"

"...Y-yes?" he said with some uncertainty. "There is nothing in the outlined rules that prohibits it."

"Thank you."

Aurora noticed that Princess Twilight was now leaning slightly closer.

She smiled to herself. Well, I guess I got somepony's attention.

She turned back to her workspace, taking off the compass around her neck. Carefully, she opened the small compartment where she had placed the tiny blue hair, and turned it over, letting the hair fall to the table. Then, she took one of her own hairs (ouch!) and set it beside the other.

Now, this table is wooden, so it should be magically conductive... yes!

Nice. That makes my job so much easier.

She reattached the compass, then placed her hooves firmly on the table, letting her magic flow into it.

Just a simple spell for crossing plant seeds, slightly modified...

She lifted her hooves from the table, and looked closely at the result. At the center, almost invisible to the naked eye, was a small, dark mass.

She looked up. Twilight looked slightly confused, and the other two looked bored and irritated.

Well, I guess that part wasn't exactly impressive. Still, it was entirely necessary.

She looked back at the table. Now, here comes the hard part.

I really hope this doesn't cause magical exhaustion.

Aurora planted both her hooves on the table once again and gritted her teeth, pouring all of the magic she could possibly channel into the table.

The table slowly started to glow green as the power passed through it and into the small mass at the center, which slowly began to grow.

Yes! It's working! This is great!

The zygote slowly turned into an embryo.

Aurora's mind dimly acknowledged that it was a pegasus.

How nice.

Aurora continued to push magic into the small creature, stopping only when it had reached the age of birth. After all, it wasn't technically alive since it didn't have a wellspring, but at the same time, if she made a golem, it would have to be able to survive.

Her mind insisted that stopping at this point was entirely on purpose, but mostly it was due to the total exhaustion.

She looked up groggily. Princess Twilight had her mouth open.

Heh. I impressed a Princess. Cool.

The others... boredom? What?

And was that anger?

Or was that just from herself?

"Oh, is that not good enough for you?" she muttered to herself bitterly.

Yep, definitely from her.

"Well, I guess maybe that creating the most technically accurate golem in history isn't enough for you two. So I won't. I'll just have to do something else."

Twilight had finally closed her mouth, and was about to open it to speak, but it was too late. Aurora had already started.

She stood on her two hind hooves before the table. Her anger was now gone, replaced with sheer calm and determination. Her mind was clear.

The room, the examiners, the Princess – none of those existed anymore. She placed one of her front hooves onto her chest, bringing out the swirling ball of magic – alicorn magic. With the other, she pressed down a bit harder, and with a small cry of pain, brought out another sphere, this one a bit brighter and glowing a solid green.

Dimly, she noticed that Princess Twilight had sent some purple sparks through the ceiling. Right now, however, she didn't care.

She brought both hooves together, and with a flash, they merged, and became a single, large sphere, green, with occasional rainbow flashes of light.

Swiftly, she brought both hooves down onto the filly before her, and in the split second before it made contact, she noticed how it changed, splitting into two balls - one blue, one green.

Aurora smiled. Heh. One in a million.

And the filly woke up.

Princess Celestia opened the door hastily, taking in the scene. The filly, Aurora, was unconscious next to the wooden table, clearly exhibiting a case of severe magical exhaustion. Another filly... (what?) ...seemingly a newborn, seemed to be attempting to wake her up, poking her tentatively with a hoof.

Her former student, and fellow ruler Twilight was staring at her with an expression that clearly said, "Help!"

Celestia looked towards the remaining two examiners, who were trying rather unsuccessfully to hide their various states of shock. They both bowed.

She made a quick decision. "Understand that the events that have transpired in this room are now classified, with a security clearance that you do not currently possess. I trust that you can keep your word?"

They both nodded nervously. Whatever this was, it was clear that more than just their career was at stake.

"Good. You are now dismissed."

They practically fled from the room, thankfully remembering at the last minute that slamming the door would be highly inappropriate when leaving the Princesses' presence.

Princess Celestia looked back at the unconscious foal and sighed.

"Little one, where are your parents?"

"... and then she just tore part of her wellspring! And combined it with that other ball of magic. I don't even know where she got that ball of magic, but it certainly wasn't hers, because there was unicorn and pegasus magic in there too. Do you know where she could have gotten alicorn magic from, because I don't. Well, it isn't thatimportantbecauseherwellspring -"

"Twilight. Calm yourself. She is fine. Her wellspring looks perfectly normal to me. It seems quite bright for a filly her age."

"Well, it's a little better now. But trust me, it was bigger before. She took out..." Twilight shuddered. "...a quarter of it. And the look on her face..."

Aurora yawned and stretched. I wonder what they're talking about...

"Twilight, she's awake. We can discuss this later. She is in no immediate danger."

Twilight folded her ears back. "Sorry. I guess you're right. I did overreact a bit. But the way she -"

"Twilight."

"Oh."

Aurora frowned slightly. Her bed was weird. It just kept going up and down, up and down, up and down... up... and down...

She jolted upright.

Oh, sweet Celestia! I'm riding... Celestia!

She scrambled awkwardly and rapidly to the ground.

"I... I can walk..."

What am I going to do? I was just... oh wait. She probably put me there. Does that imply permission?

Celestia smiled, looking pointedly at Twilight, who grinned sheepishly.

"It's all right, Aurora. I was just bringing you back home to your parents."

Aurora looked back up, confused. "Personally? Both of you? I mean, both of you are really nice, and I like being with you, but don't you have more important things to do?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she cringed. Oh, no! Why did I do that! That just implied they aren't doing their jobs. I just disrespected a princess! Two princesses!

Celestia chuckled. "Well, you were accepted."

"Really? The examiners didn't seem too impressed..." Suddenly, a shiver ran down her back.

"Oh no! I completely forgot to tell my parents!" She looked frantically around. They were almost home.

Stupid, stupid, stupid...

"I'm sure they will understand. But it does not matter whether you impressed the examiners. It matters that you impressed me."

Aurora looked up to Celestia once more. No...

Celestia smiled.

No... it can't be.

"My little pony, how would you like to be my personal student?"

Well, there was only one acceptable answer to that.

"Yes!"

Cherry Blossom and Written Script stared incomprehensibly at the two all-powerful alicorns that happened to be standing in their doorway.

"Personal... student?" Written Script repeated, looking like he was close to giving up on his consciousness.

"Yes." Princess Celestia supplied helpfully.

Cherry Blossom's eyes followed her filly, who was currently bouncing up and down with dizzying speed.

"Dear, why didn't you tell us that you got permission to apply? For all we knew, you were still standing in line at Day Court!" She gave a sideways glance. "Or worse."

Aurora froze mid-jump, her giddy smile fading just a bit.

Her expression broke, and she landed a second later, her head low and her ears pressed back. "I'm sorry, Mom. I just was so excited, and then the test was in three minutes, and then I completely forgot to tell you when I went to go study for the practical..."

Written Script blinked slowly, coming back abruptly to reality. "Study for the practical? How? The library is here. Where would you...?"

Aurora froze, covering her mouth with a hoof. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I... I'm sorry, Dad. And Mom. I've been lying for a while. I haven't been going out to play at all. I just went out to study."

"But the library..."

"I found this... cave system underground. I explored it, and... somepony hid books in there. A study. And the books weren't ordinary. They were books about earth pony magic."

Her mother gasped. "Aurora, why didn't you tell us about this! We would have let you, if you had just asked. And this could help all sorts of ponies!"

Aurora looked distinctly uncomfortable. "When I first discovered it, I was. I really was going to tell everypony. But after my first study session, I realized something. The spells... they were too dangerous."

"What do you mean, dear? Knowledge is meant to be shared."

Aurora sighed. "The ponies that hid those books did so for a reason. The spells there would benefit ponies, sure, but... as you know, every spell has its elemental inverse."

"Yes, of course. Fire and water, air and rock. But that doesn't mean -"

"Mom, what is the most common earth pony discipline."

"The magic of..."

"Life. Now, what is the opposite of that?

"..."

"I think you can see now. I studied, because I knew that I would never use those other spells. I would only use magic for good."

She looked to the side, thinking of the exam. Well, now I guess that's only half-right.

"I... I just know that these spells can't become common knowledge. I mean, they're not that dangerous by nature, but if a powerful pony got a hoof on them, with the wrong intentions... I've already done too much damage already, just to win a stupid entrance exam."

"Damage? What do you mean?"

Princess Celestia smiled gently. "Your daughter performed some very impressive magic today. However, I believe she is referring to the fact that she did not think of all of the repercussions of her actions before she decided on that particular form of magic."

Cherry Blossom narrowed her eyes. "What did she break? Was it expensive?"

Celestia chuckled. "No, no. Don't worry about that. Everything is fine. She was not referring to that kind of damage. However..." She stepped aside, revealing a small, dark grey pegasus filly. "...I'm afraid Aurora has more introductions to make for the new member of the family.

Aurora once more found herself facing her parents' shocked faces. She hung her head once more. "Mom, Dad, um... this is..."

She looked at the little grey filly. Her filly. She stared back, with those mis-matched blue and green eyes. She was smiling.

"Smarty Pants. Her name is Smarty Pants."

Princess Celestia held on to her composure for a few more seconds, then burst out laughing. Princess Twilight facehooved, shaking her head in embarrassment.

A bewildered Written Script looked at his wife with a dazed look on his face. "Of all the things that I could have expected today, this was definitely not one of them.”

Chapter 4: Cleave

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Princess Celestia walked the winding halls of Canterlot Castle, leading the four ponies behind her. They stopped at the base of a tower, the open door revealing a narrow spiral staircase.

"Mrs. Blossom, Mr. Script, this is the place where Aurora will be living over the next few years. I'm sure that you want to see it, and I assure you that we will get the chance to in a few moments.

"First, I want to reassure you that I do not intend to take your filly away from you. Far from it. I will ensure that she has plenty of time to visit. In addition, both of you are welcome to visit her tower any time you wish - you have all been given all the security clearance required. However, you have only been given the caveat that gives you access to her quarters. You will not be able to follow her everywhere, so keep in mind, she may not always be available when you visit.”

Cherry Blossom nodded in agreement. "I understand. Honestly, this is such an honor. I don't see how we would refuse your offer."

Celestia smiled kindly. "Thank you.

"Now, come along. I'm sure Aurora is excited to see her new room." She started to climb the steps, and the four of them started to follow.

Aurora looked behind her suddenly.

"Smarty, what are you doing?"

The filly looked back up, confused. "Going up stairs, Mommy."

Aurora's mouth went open, and closed again as her mind went temporarily blank.

"Um... yeah. Just... um..." Aurora picked her up by the nape of her neck and put her on her back. "I'll... just carry you for now."

"Yay!"

Aurora numbly walked up the stairs.

I'm not ready for this at all.

Cherry Blossom and Written Script exited the door at the bottom of the staircase, but their minds were still firmly in the room they just left. Back with Celestia. Back with their daughter and her... filly.

"Shouldn't somepony be taking care of that filly?" Written Script asked his wife, worried. "I mean, she's still only fourteen."

Cherry looked back up the stairs. "I'm sure she'll be fine. That both of them will be fine. I trust the Princesses."

"Also, I don't think even you missed what happened earlier. That filly stayed almost glued to her back the entire time we were there. I don't think it would be fair to either of them to force them to be separated."

He sighed. "You're right, of course. It's just so... strange."

"I know. But they're in good hooves. And anyway, we can visit any time, to see if they're doing all right."

Aurora sat on her new bed, listening as the hoofsteps of her parents receded beyond the range of her hearing. She looked back at Celestia, who was smiling warmly.

"It has been a long day for both of us. As much as I am sure you would like to start immediately, I believe it would be best for us to turn in for the night."

"But-"

"Aurora, it is past ten o' clock. I lowered the sun an hour ago. It is time for all of us to go to bed."

Aurora opened her mouth in protest, then looked at Smarty Pants helplessly for support. She was yawning.

Well, you're no help.

"All right. I'll go to bed." She averted her eyes. "Sorry, Princess."

Celestia turned to leave, hiding a small smile. "Good, night, my student."

"Good night, Celestia."

She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Celestia walked softly out of the room.

She didn't call me Princess that time...

Aurora groaned, pulling the heavy, green blanket over her head as the morning sun utterly refused to stay on the correct side of her eyelids.

She sighed with contentment as the darkness returned, then frowned.

Now I'm too hot.

She blinked. And these aren't my bed-sheets. What is going -

The memories of the previous night returned like a flood... of bricks.

She sat up, fully awake.

Oh no! The sun's up! That means Celestia is up, and -

... and I shouldn't worry about it. She didn't tell me anything about what time we were starting lessons, anyway. Now... where would I get breakfast here?

Aurora jumped off her new bed, her hooves making a soft "clop" as they hit the marble floor.

A second head poked out of the covers, blinking slowly. "... Mom? Where... where are you going?"

Aurora looked back, giving a reassuring smile to calm the filly. "I'm just going to find breakfast. I'll be back soon."

"Oh, all right. I'm really hungry." Smarty Pants' head dropped back onto the pillow.

Aurora turned, walking past her new bookshelves and to the door, her mind filled with conflicting emotions. On one hoof, she had seemed to develop an irrational fondness for the little filly. On the other, she knew for certain she wasn't ready for something like this. Not at all.

And not just emotional maturity, either. I don't have the physical maturity to take care of a foal, either. And she's already hungry.

Well, I'll just ask Princess Celestia about it.

She reached the bottom of the staircase, and was immediately met with a pair of guards.

"Excuse, me, miss, but Princess Celestia has requested us to escort you to her private dining hall."

Well, that solves my first problem, at least.

"Just a minute. I need to get somepony first."

With her bronze compass securely on her neck, and Smarty Pants securely on her back, Aurora followed the guards as they guided her along the castle many, confusing pathways.

As they took one more unexpected turn, Aurora shook her head trying to relieve her headache.

How in Equestria am I supposed to memorize this? Even Canterlot's insane street layout makes sense in comparison!

After what seemed like an hour, but was probably only about two minutes, they arrived, and the guards took their places at the doors, gesturing for her to enter.

The dining hall was a small, well-decorated room with an obvious red motif. An ovular wooden table sat in the center of the room, and seated around it were Equestria's three immortal Princesses.

Aurora barely had any time to take in the contents of the room before she felt something like a wall of force hit her in the face. She grimaced, but the inviting smiles of the three Princesses gave her no other option but to sit down beside them, with Smarty Pants at her side.

She looked around nervously, trying desperately to hide her expression of a sudden and irrational fear.

Just like in the Throne Room! she thought suddenly.

Except, this is... worse, somehow. I was able to ignore that feeling after a while. This... this is... overwhelming. And there's just so much magic in the air...

She blinked once. That's it!

Twilight looked over at the overly anxious filly seated across from her, and frowned in confusion. What is she doing?

A point of light grew bigger and bigger, right next to her wellspring.

Twilight blinked in surprise as the ball got bigger. Oh. That... that's actually really smart.

But how in Equestria did she know that that of all things would negate the effects of the instinct?

And how did she know about the instinct in the first place?

Aurora shook her head, pushing the last vestiges of fear from her mind. It was a lot easier, now that the density of magic inside her body was about the same as the density of magic outside of it.

But it also made her feel like she was entirely composed of electricity.

"Good... good morning, your Highnesses."

Celestia smiled, while Twilight still tilted her head, staring at Aurora.

"Good morning, Aurora." Luna replied, unsubtly glaring at the still-oblivious Twilight.

Finally, the weight of the midnight-black alicorn's stare was enough for Twilight to notice something was off.

Jerking upright, she gave a sheepish smile. "Good morning."

Aurora suppressed a bit of laughter. Not quite the unflappable ponies everyone assumes, are they?

Her concentration interrupted, a slight imbalance in energy spread through her body, and she flinched as arcanoelectric lightning attempted to fix it.

Her mind instantly traveled to the emotions of a few seconds prior and the sheer power she felt in the room. Heh. Maybe those ponies have an excuse for not noticing.

Still kinda funny, though.

I wonder what they eat for breakfast here.

She looked at Smarty Pants.

And speaking of eating, what is she going to eat? I'm pretty sure ponies her age don't eat solid food.

How old is she, really? I don't think most newborns are supposed to talk!

A chef walked in the back door, followed by two waiter ponies, placing plates in front of each of them.

Well, Celestia didn't say anything specifically about it. I don't think she would just forget something like this...

"Yay! Pancakes!"

Aurora's train of thought crashed so hard, pieces of the wreckage could probably be found in the Griffin Kingdom.

Wha... but.... what...? How? How in Equestria can she possibly know what pancakes are?

I mean, sure, they're awesome, but seriously, she hasn't even seen food yet!

Aurora pressed her hooves on either side of her head.

All right, all right. I can ask later. I'm just going to sit here and eat these pancakes.

These delicious, blueberry pancakes.

Ooh, does that one have raspberries?

She had just finished her first pancake and was about to start on the second when she was interrupted by stifled laughter. She looked up just in time to see Princess Celestia rearrange her face into a surprisingly good impression of indifference.

Luna coughed pointedly.

Aurora's eyes widened and she shot up straight in her chair as she realized - she had been eating the pancakes just like at home: whole, and with her mouth. Perfectly fine for a casual Sunday morning, at home with her family.

Not at a dinner where you were the guest of all three immortal Princesses of Equestria.

Aurora gave an awkward smile.

All right. This should be fine. As long as I don't die of embarrassment, utensils are actually pretty easy to use for pancakes.

Aurora placed a hoof on the table, reaching for her fork.

The wooden table.

While she was full to the brim with unstable magic.

The circuit completed, and her eyes turned white as all of the excess magic flowed into the table. But as soon as it reached the three Princesses, the direction dramatically changed.

A wave of magic exploded back into her, hurling her back out of the chair and onto the cold, marble floor.

Shaking violently, she flipped herself back over onto her stomach, then struggled to her hooves.

She shivered with something other than weakness or cold. All that power from before… and they were holding it in. "How... how powerful are you?"

Aurora lay down, staring miserably at her bed sheets, tracing with her hoof the leaves that adorned them.

Celestia stepped into the room quietly, and looked at her small form with concern.

"Aurora... none of us were expecting what happened there. I am very sorry you had to experience something like that, and so early in your development... I assure you, that reaction was not intentional."

"No, it's not your fault. I know that. It's my fault for using a passive spell like that. Especially when I was trying to hold in all that energy. It was just something so I could detect ponies in the area without physically looking at them. But... I mean... I already knew that you and Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight were all really powerful. You had to be. I mean, you and Luna raise the sun and moon each day. That takes a lot of magic. I... I guess I just never fully understood what that meant. Not completely.

"I guess I never really thought of you as powerful earth ponies as well."

Celestia smiled gently. "Yes, it seems that many ponies forget that."

"It's just... I really like magic, and for a long time, I kind of... looked up to you. And Princess Twilight. I never really saw Luna that much, so... Anyway, I mean, it's kind of a foalish dream, but I kind of wanted to be like you or Twilight. I mean, when I was older. Better at magic.

"I kind of already knew that it was impossible, but... I guess I never really wanted to know just how impossible it was.”

Celestia laid herself gently beside Aurora's bed, putting herself at eye-level with the filly.

"Aurora, listen to me. I understand. I understand how you must feel right now, but remember this: you are not insignificant. Nopony in that room ever thought you were. Not me, not Luna, not Twilight. Not even little Smarty Pants."

She chuckled. "But she might have a slight bias."

Aurora smiled weakly. "Thank... thank you, Princess."

"Now, I believe you wanted to show me some of those books about earth pony magic."

As the excited filly leapt off of the bed, beckoning her to follow, Celestia couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.

Celestia looked with some amusement at the materials that Aurora insisted they bring.

"So, what are you planning with that wagon and rope?"

"Well, they're going to help us actually get the books out. The passage is really narrow and smooth, but it's just enough for this wagon to fit. If I just tried to bring them out myself, I'd have to bring each of them out individually with my mouth. And since some of them are quite fragile, I don't think that's a good idea.

"So this way, we can load up the wagon, then pull it up with the rope."

"I see. That is a good idea. However, it might be easier for me to teleport them out for you."

Aurora shook her head. "No, that would destroy them. The walls of the passage are narrow, and they reflect and refract magic. The teleportation matrix would collapse almost instantly."

She looked up at Celestia. "But maybe you use a different kind of teleportation?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, not for this." She smiled thoughtfully. Still, that was quite perceptive of you.

They stopped at the tunnel entrance, which was still heavily dented.

Celestia raised an eyebrow.

Aurora gave her a sheepish grin. "I was panicked, okay?"

She pushed open the door gingerly, wincing at the sound of the scraping metal. "Watch your step, Princess. There's a ledge."

Celestia looked at Aurora curiously. "Aurora, this is solid steel."

Aurora opened her mouth, then blinked. "Wait, really?"

She examined the door. What the... This is, like, six inches thick!

Celestia put a hoof to her chin. It's amazing what ponies can do when stressed like that. I wonder what got her in such a state...

"Well, Aurora, we should hurry if we're to get all those books sorted into your library today."

Aurora paused. "Wait, so those books in my room..."

"Are on loan for as long as you need them. But I do consider it to be your library, and these books, while I may require you to keep them in a secure location, are yours by right of discovery."

Aurora blinked. "Oh. Huh. I didn't expect that... Well, the study is right down this path here. Watch your step, though. This part is still jagged crystal."

Celestia lit her horn, following her down the narrow path. Almost immediately, she found herself forced to take the path sideways, using her front hooves to brace herself against the wall.

Once at the bottom, they ignored the first path off to the right, and entered the second, walking through a room containing a large pit to the opposite side. Aurora led her through this new path, almost impassable for her large form, into a final cavern.

Finally, they stopped at a small, well-worn hole in the cavern floor. Aurora awkwardly untied the small wagon attached to her back, letting it fall to the ground. Quickly, she tied one end of the rope to the wagon's handle and hoofed the other end to Celestia.

"Could you hold this for a minute, please?"

Celestia nodded with some amusement.

Of course, she could see how essential this was to Aurora's plan, but it was quite refreshing to be asked for help like this without any of the usual hesitation.

Now if only I can break the habit of calling me "Princess" all the time, this will be a resounding success.

Aurora slid down the path, letting the wagon roll after her. leaving the wagon at the opening, she skirted the subterranean lake and opened the door, lighting the lamps in one fluid motion.

Carefully, standing upright, she took a large chunk of the books on the shelf in her hooves, balancing the top of the stack with her muzzle.

Anchoring herself with her back two hooves, she walked back to the wagon and set the books down as delicately as possible.

"All right! It's ready to take up!"

Celestia gripped the rope in her telekinesis, then winced as the part of the rope touching the crystal twisted her magic in an unexpected direction.

I suppose a more ...direct method is required, then.

She grabbed the rope with her teeth, backing up as the cart ascended.

She chuckled internally. It's certainly been a while since I did something like this. An image of the Council members seeing her like this flashed in her head, and she had to suppress audible laughter.

Aurora called out from the base of the passage. "Now, could you try to keep the order that they're in? That'll make it a lot easier when we organize later!"

"All right!" Celestia levitated the books out, then sent the wagon back down the slope, keeping the rope held in her mouth.

She started to set the books down, then stopped suddenly. It would be better to hold them. The cave floor would cause far too much hassle when she moved them later.

Aurora looked around the now-empty room, the room that had come to be her second home for the past two years.

She blew out the lamps, watching the fading wisps of smoke as she closed the heavy wooden door for the last time.

"...That's all of it."

"All right. Just hold on to the wagon for a minute."

"Huh? All right." Aurora placed her hooves on the back end of the cart, then yelped in surprise as she found herself rapidly ascending the smooth, narrow passage.

Aurora opened her eyes, and she saw Celestia at the far end of the cavern, dropping the rope from her mouth and holding the large collection of books in her magic.

Her mouth opened slightly. Oops. I didn't think this one all the way through.

As soon as they exited the cave, there was a bright flash as Celestia teleported them back to the castle.

Aurora was secretly glad for this. They had already attracted so much attention on the way there. Now with all of these books... well, they wouldn't exactly be secret. And she was sure that one of the curious passer-by would have seen at least one of the titles.

But Celestia probably already thought of that.

The floating books organized themselves into neat stacks on the marble floor.

Still, that did not help my directional sense at all.

Oh, wait, she's looking at me!

"Take all the time you need, my student. Even experienced unicorns experience mild disorientation after teleporting such a large distance."

"...It's all right, Princess. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all. We should get to sorting, though, if we're going to have time today for me to show you what I've learned."

Celestia levitated the first few books off a stack. "What is your organization system?"

"Well, I'm not sure how the books here are organized, but I don't think it will be easy to use the same organization system for both. Most of my organization system has to do with the branch or general area of magic that each book tends to use. Then I organized them by author in those groups as much as possible. It made it a lot easier to understand each of their individual viewpoints or philosophies. That last section," she said, pointing at a stack at the end, "is the... miscellaneous, or special, category, where I put books that didn't fit in anywhere else, or I just thought were important for me to be able to find quickly."

Celestia set down the first set of books she was looking at, and replaced them with a few from this "special" pile. She focused particularly on the book labeled "Passage".

She turned to Aurora. "Such a book exists?"

Aurora nodded. Yes. At first, I thought it was very strange that there would be an entire book dedicated to one spell, but this book is simultaneously the most technical I have seen, and also the most personal. Even the author admits that his book is inadequate to fully explain the nuances.

"It's a bit frustrating, though. That would be so useful."

"Yes, I see why you would focus on that particular skill."

"But I quickly found out that it was far outside my skill level. I just kept it so I could find it again later."

With a burst of telekinesis, Celestia cleared the bottom two shelves, finding places for the displaced books. She filled in the now-empty shelves with the new arrivals. "Don't be discouraged, Aurora. While it is currently beyond your skill level, that does not mean that practice will not improve your abilities tremendously. Many unicorns frequently practice spells they have no chance of performing in full. It is a common method for strengthening your magic capacity.

"Still, all of that is for another time."

Aurora looked around the room and shuffled her hooves around nervously. "So... um... what now? I don't really know what to do next. I mean, I'm mostly used to a formal school, so..."

Celestia looked at her with an expression of sadness mixed with a bit of pride. "I'm sorry, Aurora, that I can't quite be the teacher that you want me to be. The teacher that can guide you, showing you the grand and exciting, the unknown. While I have the ability to perform earth pony magic, and I have the experience of lifetimes, you already know much more about the subject than I do."

Aurora looked up, suddenly worried. "So you can't-"

"I will still teach you magic, Aurora. After all, you mentioned your desire to learn about all different kinds of magic. And I will still use my vast experience to guide you in your studies. But you will be as much of a teacher to me as I will be to you. Equestria has to see you as my student, but there is a lot more to it than that. So for these first few days, you will be teaching me. We will learn together.

I'm afraid we don't have much time left, though. Only about an hour."

Aurora looked up through the large observatory window. She looked back at her mentor, confused. "But it's not even noon! Is there something you need to do later?"

"Yes, I suppose I do have something to do. But that is not the reason. That is your new bed-time."

"Huh?" Aurora felt that she probably should be protesting this new change, but her mind was so busy trying to sort through the implausibility of that statement, she missed the opportunity.

Celestia smiled inwardly. why do all of my students have to look so cute when they're confused?

"As I said before, there is far more involved with your student-ship than the rest of Equestria knows. I may not be an expert on earth pony magic, but my sister Luna knows a decent amount of the practical application. Think of her lessons as... endurance training for the spells you learn. And I'm sure Twilight will get the chance to work with you as well. She's been trying to invent a spell script for pegasi and earth ponies for years now."

Aurora breathed in and out. It was slightly overwhelming, but she nodded. "All right. So... the early bedtime is..."

"So that when you wake up at midnight for your lesson, you'll be well-rested and ready for my sister's training."

"Okay. I guess that makes sense... Well, while we still have a bit of time..." Aurora gestured vaguely at the books.

Celestia smiled brightly. "Of course. Lead on!"

It's so nice to be a student again, she thought with a contented sigh.

Chapter 5: Temper

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Aurora trotted over to her new bookshelves, leaning down to grab a small notebook with her mouth. This she brought over to their shared desk and sat down, flipping through the pages, which were covered in her own hoof-writing.

"So, Princess, you know how scholars usually divide the branches of magic into circles?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, it is a rather useful model. However, I gather by your words that you understand some of its shortcomings."

"Yeah. But it's a good way to get a quick understanding of how the magic relates to itself, so I came up with something similar, except for earth pony magic. Well, at least one branch of it. There's another branch that's a bit more complicated, and it would need something like a bubble-and-line diagram to show it to you. And I don't think I know enough to give you a complete chart, anyway. But the Silver branch is pretty easy to understand, so that's what I'm going to show you now.

"It also will probably be able to fit within our time limit a little better."

Aurora picked up a quill in her hoof, flattening out a blank page of her notebook. Celestia raised her eyebrow.

Aurora looked confused, then noticed Celestia's gaze at her hoof. Oh, right. That's not normal.

"I got a lot better at my hoof manipulation field. Most ponies don't tend to use them that much, since their mouths usually work better, but... when you work around a lot of books, especially ones with faded protective enchantments... It just became more of a priority. And I found it works better for quills now, too."

Celestia nodded. "I understand. Please continue."

Aurora dipped the quill in the inkwell, then put it to the page, drawing a large circle, then made a sort of wheel with several spokes.

"Now, I drew it like this so it would be easier to understand quickly, but these divisions are arbitrary. The circle is more of a... spectrum. These divisions just make the sections easier to label in a way that makes sense."

She started to write names on the opposing sides of the circle. Life, death, growth, regression, age, and youth. In the center she wrote "soul."

"Really, all of it is the same general kind of magic, but the effect changes based on the emotional state and intent of the caster. For example, Growth and Age are the same kind of spell technically, but they are triggered by different emotions. Growth gives the target vitality. Age removes it."

"I see. Neighboring sections are distinct, but heavily related."

"With a gradient in-between, yes."

"So what does 'soul' mean? Is it a label for the kind of magic that Silver exhibits, or is it a distinct magic of its own?"

"I suppose, in a way, it is another kind of magic, but I can only think of one instance where it could be used purely by itself. No, mostly it is a kind of... second axis for the gradient. Magic closer to the center is more targeted at the wellspring, while magic towards the outside is more targeted at the body itself. I know that the other circles don't have something like this, but... well, I couldn't think of any other way to show the connection..."

"No, it is a good method. It shows an additional layer of depth often overlooked in unicorn magic. Very important, especially with how emotionally based earth pony magic is."

Aurora smiled, letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding. No matter how much Celestia reassured her, it was still hard for her mind to wrap around the position of being a teacher, and a teacher to the Princess at that.

She stepped off her chair, looking up at the observatory window. "Well, we still have a couple minutes left, so... do you want a demonstration?"

Celestia turned in her seat, facing her. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

Aurora rose to her two back hooves. "See, since I practiced with my hoof manipulation fields so much, I can now stand like this with no balance problems. It makes it a lot easier to use my front hooves for magic, unimpeded by the ground."

She brought her two front hooves together in front of her, then focused slightly, producing a ball of green, swirling magic in between them.

"This is just a ball of raw, Silver magic. Depending on the emotion of the caster, though, it changes. In general, positive emotions make life magic, and negative ones make death magic, but obviously I'm over-simplifying. The nuances of each emotion produce different effects, but I don't have enough time to show you all of them. I don't think I know all of them, either.

"Focus and concentration also produce effects on the magic, in a different way than the emotions do, making the magic cause something to grow or un-grow. Un-grow... shrink?" Aurora shook her head. "Sorry. you get the point."

"So, for the demonstration, I'll shift the magic here through all of the branches I showed you earlier. Right now, it is just life magic, but if I do this..."

The color shifted, fading into a light orange. "...it's now Growth magic. Most earth pony farmers use this kind of magic instinctively, without even realizing what they're doing. Now this..."

The color changed again, this time a darker orange. "...is still a kind of growth magic, but it no longer gives vitality to anything. It is just Age."

Aurora focused intently, gritting her teeth, and the sphere turned a dark grey. "This is Wither, and it saps the strength from the target."

Aurora strained harder, gritting her teeth with even more force while Celestia looked intently. Oh! She's forcing herself to be angry for the spell!

The sphere turned pitch black. "This is Death, and it... it attacks the wellspring..." The sphere flickered, then disappeared.

Aurora jumped slightly. "Sorry, I'll... I'll bring it back."

"No need." Celestia said calmly. "You can move on."

Aurora nodded mutely, and the sphere reappeared, this one a yellowish brown.

"This one is regression, a kind of de-ageing spell that does not give back vitality, like Youth does, like this." The sphere turned a brighter yellow.

Aurora turned the sphere green again, and pushed it into her body. "Life magic basically works like healing magic, but it works a bit differently than the unicorn version. It doesn't lose effectiveness over time, and it can also be used to heal wellsprings, but... usually if there was a need for that kind of magic at all, it would take a personal sacrifice to do any meaningful healing. Wellsprings usually heal themselves pretty fast, though, so I don't think there would be much reason to use it."

Her front hooves fell back to the ground with a soft "clop" as she released the magic anchoring herself to the floor. A second, soft "thud" caused both of them to turn towards the unexpected sound.

They turned just in time to see Smarty Pants sliding to a stop on the marble floor. She picked herself up, then started flapping her wings once more, climbing unsteadily into the air.

The look of pure happiness plastered on the filly's face was contagious, and Aurora felt herself smile along with her.

Celestia watched her as she flew, fumbling before catching herself inches from the ground. "It looks like somepony else found an opportunity to learn magic as well," she said with a smile of her own.

Aurora looked up again, this time paying attention to the sky. "Yeah, but I think it's time for me to go to bed now. Especially if I'm getting up at midnight. We can continue this tomorrow."

Celestia nodded, then walked to the door while Aurora climbed into her new bed. "Good... well, 'night' really doesn't fit here, does it? Good... day."

Aurora giggled. "Good day!"

Aurora rolled over, pulling the blankets up to her snout, relishing their warmth. Now that the sun was fully overhead, she could finally close her eyes without the overwhelming brightness. She felt a sudden pressure at her side, and she opened her eyes slightly, smiling at the sight of the small form of Smarty Pants leaning against her.

It would be a good day.

Aurora woke up to a hoof poking her insistently in the side.

She opened her eyes blearily, and saw the dark form of Princess Luna framed in the moonlight.

Instantly, she was wide awake. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and made to follow the Princess. Almost immediately, though, she slowed. Everything seemed... different under the light of the Moon. Most of the color had been washed out, becoming soft shades of blue and grey. Nothing was as dark as she expected. Just... subdued. Aurora no longer felt a trace of sleepiness. She was instantly aware of everything. Every sense was acute, sharp, refreshing.

This... this was the Night.

Aurora looked up at Luna again, with a different kind of respect. This was no longer just the respect for a ruler. It was the sort of respect she felt when she first saw Celestia raise the sun. Luna had been there, too, lowering the moon, but... this was different.

Aurora jumped slightly as a sudden weight landed on her back. She turned to see a pair of mismatched eyes staring back.

"Where are we going, Mommy?"

"I was... I was going to have a lesson with Princess Luna," she said nervously. She definitely did not plan to wake up Smarty Pants.

I can't bring her with, but... I can't just leave her here by herself, either.

Aurora looked up desperately at Luna for help.

"I suppose it is fine if she comes along."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Luna overrode her. "I will not hold her to the same standards as you, Aurora. In fact, she doesn't even have to participate in anything. But it is better than staying here alone."

Aurora sighed, then tensed as she thought of something. Wait, standards? What standards?

Luna smiled. "And it will be good for her, anyway. It is not often that a heavy pegasus gets to train their earth pony side."

Aurora almost got whiplash as her head turned towards the Princess in shock. "How did you...?"

She smirked. "We have our ways. Now, we must be going, if we want to make any significant progress before morning."

They disappeared in a flash of dark, and Aurora found herself in the center of a grassy field. About ten feet away were a series of oddly-shaped sod formations, and there seemed to be... a loop-the-loop?

Is that an obstacle course?

She looked to the side, and saw a picnic blanket a few feet away, complete with picnic.

Well, it is sort of Luna's lunch-time.

And my breakfast.

She turned further, and saw a series of what seemed to be archery targets.

"My sister updated me on some of your current abilities, so I created a course to practice those skills." Luna looked towards Aurora, her expression serious. "I must warn you - my lessons will not be like those of my sister. I will push you. I will push you hard. Learning new magic is useful, but if you cannot use it efficiently, it is useless to you. Also, if you do not thoroughly master this lower-level magic, you will never be able to perform the more complex spells that you seek. You must perform this magic quickly, consistently, and reliably. For this you will need practice, and a lot of it. You will not like it, but it is necessary in order for your wellspring to grow."

Aurora nodded. "I see. So... is that the reason for the obstacle course?"

"Precisely. You must not only be able to perform the magic on command, but also be able to know when and how to use it. Now, I suggest that you get something to eat. We will not stop for any significant breaks, and you will need your strength."

Aurora munched on a scone, looking over the obstacle course that she would be training on in a few short minutes. There were several agility-based segments, but the main part of the course seemed to be focused on her ability to anchor herself with her hoof manipulation fields. Well, she assumed that, as most of the course would be impossible without either that or ludicrous speeds.

A clever design. If I go slow, I have to use a lot of magic. If I don't use magic, I have to go really fast, and exercise anyway.

She swallowed the last bit of scone. She was not completely full, but she didn't really want to be, either. She read about what happens when you exercise on a full stomach, and she decided that now was not the right time to test that theory.

But I'm sure Luna knows that too. What wouldn't she tell me then?

Aurora dismissed the thought. That wasn't important now - it was time. Luna had noticed that she had finished eating, and was walking towards her.

Well, I guess my "break" is over.

"Aurora, I just want you to know: this is not a race. I am not timing you, and you can take all the time you need to complete it. I do, however, expect you to improve in future lessons. As this is your first night, the course is fairly simple, but be assured that as you learn, it will become far more interesting."

Wait, simple?

"The starting line is here. From here you will run along the sides of those ramps, which have a forty-five degree grade. You will have to dodge the pillars placed intermittently in your path. From there you jump onto the platforms up to the top there, where you will be able to gain some speed before completing the loop.

"After that, you will run around to these targets," she said, pointing with a hoof. "And shoot each with one of those balls of magic you showed Tia earlier."

Tia?

Oh, right.

Cute nickname.

I wonder how she would react if I called her that... ack!

She shook her head as her mind tried to sabotage itself at the thought. Never mind.

"The type of magic you use doesn't matter at this point, only that you hit the targets accurately, and the balls are of a significant size."

Aurora looked back up, reconstructing what was just said. "Why is that?"

"Today, we are not practicing precision or control. Those can come later. Right now, I am making sure you can handle your power, and how you can handle using large quantities of it at a time."

"All right. I think I understand."

"Okay then! Three... two... one..."

Wait, what?

"Go!"

Aurora jumped forward, running towards the track. She came to the artificial ramp-hills, and slowed down to a trot as she weaved around the dirt pillars. But running along the side of a steep hill is not a very stable activity, and Aurora found herself almost instantly needing to anchor herself with every step.

In fact, she could probably walk the whole thing if she wanted to, but... this was significantly easier, only requiring a bit of force to keep herself steady, instead of a force holding her entire weight.

Quickly, she found herself at the "platforms." Luna called them that, but really, the dirt mountain looked more like a set of stairs, if the stairs were built for giants, and turned every two steps.

Aurora looked up apprehensively. The first step was half as tall as she was. The rest were even taller.

Aurora pulled herself onto the final step, which had to be a full hoof-length taller than she was. Needless to say, this was not her first attempt.

But at last, she was at the top, and the only thing left was the loop. She grinned. This was a lot easier. All she needed was a bit of speed, and some more of that anchoring from earlier, and she was golden.

She ran down the slope, speeding rapidly towards the ludicrously-shaped mound of dirt and grass that constituted the loop.

... this isn't enough speed, is it?

Aurora put one hoof in front of the other, clinging desperately to the underside of the loop. Her hooves slowly lost contact...

...then regained it again as she came down the other side.

Well, fifth time's the charm, then, she thought, panting.

Now, what's next?

Oh, right. Target practice.

Forming the balls of magic was actually quite easy for Aurora. After all, it was the skill she practiced the most. Well, it helped that it looked really cool.

Aiming them, on the other hoof...

six... seven... eight.... nine.....

...was less so.

That is, until she realized that the positioning of her hooves as she formed the ball had absolutely nothing to do with aiming.

Wait, is it really that simple?

Aurora focused slightly, and the ball flew from her hooves, striking the target dead center.

"Oh come on!"

I am such an idiot.

The last seven targets were completed in record time.

Luna's expression of repressed hilarity did nothing to improve her mood.

Luna looked up briefly at her moon, then back at Aurora.

"Nice work." She smirked. "I really saw some improvement."

Aurora rolled her eyes.

"So... there is approximately five hours until sunrise." She pointed at a distant mountain. "That... is Mount Canter."

Aurora gaped at the small object on the horizon. "But... but that's, like, a hundred miles away!"

"One hundred and three."

"...how?"

Luna gained a rather mischievous glint in her eye. Aurora did not like that glint.

"I'm sure Tia will tell you sometime. Well then, see you at dinner!"

"Wait, wha-"

Luna had a grin so evil, it belonged on Nightmare Moon. Which, seeing as Luna looked like Nightmare Moon, it fit all too well.

She disappeared in a flash of dark.

Leaving Aurora alone, over a hundred miles from home.

Her eyes caught a piece of parchment that had fallen with the Princess's disappearance. She picked it up, unfurling it slowly.

"I suggest you run."

Chapter 6: Refined

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Aurora breathed heavily, her hooves, striking the deceptively soft grass, her eyes focused entirely on her destination.

All right. Canterlot is... really far away. My running speed is...

Not enough. Definitely not enough.

Why would Princess Luna do something like this? It doesn't make any sense! These "training" sessions weren't supposed to train my muscles! They were supposed to train my magic...

Oh, wait.

This isn't training the magic I learned from those books! This is training the magic that all Earth ponies know. This time, however...

Aurora's pace sped up dramatically.

I can use that magic actively.

Taking only a slight amount of concentration, Aurora produced a small amount of healing magic, erasing her pain.

She lowered her head as she ran, watching the terrain speed by and grinning madly.

This... this was awesome.

Aurora walked unsteadily through the cobblestone streets of Canterlot, her hooves crossing themselves frequently as she attempted to keep her balance.

She turned her head behind her, glaring at nothing in particular.

Why, oh why did I have to forget that I needed to climb a mountain‽

And I wasted all my magic on having fun.

She looked at the sun, which was just peeking over the horizon.

At least... at least I made it. I'm not late for breakfast...

Lunch?

Ehh... I'll just call it breakfast.

She yawned.

Less confusing that way.

She walked through the castle's entrance, the guards parting instantly to let her through. As the corridors opened themselves up for her, however, she realized just how lost she was.

I'm lucky I remember where my room is. How am I supposed to know where to meet Luna?

Fortunately, she didn't have to ponder this for long.

Aurora suddenly paused, looking at the figure above her in surprise. "Smarty Pants!"

"Wait, hang on... where were you all this time?"

The grey pegasus landed on her back, which almost caused her to tip over.

"Oops, sorry Mom." She jumped back onto the floor. "Well, after you left, Luna made me something to play on for a while. Then she brought me back here!"

Wait, Luna didn't actually leave?

"After she brought me home, she left to do something else, but she came back in time for breakfast." She suddenly brightened up. "Oh, right! I was supposed to show you where breakfast is!"

Aurora watched as Smarty Pants took off unsteadily from the ground and gestured for her to follow.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. Smarty, do you spend all your time in the air?

She followed, and soon she was looking at Smarty with an increasing bewilderment as she guided her through the castle's passageways with uncanny accuracy.

How does she do that?

The pattern of the passageways began to seem familiar, however, so she wasn't surprised at all to find herself in front of the Princess' private dining room.

She stopped suddenly, hearing voices through the door. Smarty landed softly beside her.

"... don't know that, Luna."

"Nothing else makes sense! Nopony is supposed to be able to run that far! That test was just supposed to be that: a test! To see how long she lasted! Not... this."

Not supposed to run that far? What?

"... never happened before, Luna. We cannot tell her something that we don't even know ourselves. And... even if you are right about this... I... I just want her to have some time first."

She exchanged glances with Smarty.

"Time? From what I saw, there won't be much time left before-"

"And that time will only get shorter if she knows. And as I said before, we don't even know if it is true yet. Just... wait. Please."

"Fine. But it has to happen sometime. She shouldn't have to find out on her own.

What are they talking-

Oh, crud! I just eavesdropped on the Princesses!

Aurora quickly recovered, then pushed open the doors, her confusion at her overheard conversation completely masked by her amusement at the scene before her. Princess Luna had her mouth open, and it seemed stuck that way as what she was about to say died in her throat. Princess Twilight looked as guilty as a foal who had just been caught near the cookie jar, and was looking determinately at anything except Aurora. And Princess Celestia looked like nothing was wrong at all about the situation, and she had just been simply waiting for them to arrive.

"Good morning Aurora. Good morning, Smarty."

"G-good morning." Aurora yawned.

"Good morning!"

Celestia gestured to the two empty seats at the table, each with a plate full of blueberry waffles. Smarty was almost instantly in her seat, digging in.

"I'm sure you are tired, Aurora, but it would be very nice if you could join us before your nap."

Aurora looked back at her quizzically.

"It would not be productive if you were exhausted during our lesson, would it?"

"Oh. Yeah. I guess you're right." She walked clumsily to her chair and sat down. She picked up a fork.

It was surprisingly difficult.

The waffles tasted excellent, though.

Aurora woke up, pulling the blankets off of herself.

Wait, I don't remember falling asleep...

She groaned. Wow. I must have been tired.

She dropped off the side of the bed with a "clop."

"Well, I guess it's another study session with Celestia." She looked around her room.

"Where is she, by the way?"

Smarty Pants landed beside her. "I think I know. I'll go get her for you. I think she's in the throne room."

Aurora looked at her bookshelf, contemplating which book would be the optimal one to start with. "Okay. Go ahead."

Aha! That's the one!

She picked up the promising one, walking over to her desk on her hind legs.

The relevance of Smarty's words hit her.

"Wait! Don't just barge into Day Court!"

She was already gone.

Aurora looked at Celestia, confused.

"What do you mean, Princess?"

Celestia sighed. "I mean, the focus of our studies will have to change. I am sorry I could not postpone this much longer. In fact, nothing would make me happier than studying with you, learning whatever magic strikes our fancy, the magic that intrigues or amuses us.

"However... I do not wish to mislead you. Equestria is not as safe as it always seems to be. As my student, you are very important to me, and I want to be absolutely sure that you stay safe. But by itself... being important to me is dangerous, and while the RGIS is doing its best to handle those threats... I still want you to be able to defend yourself. Just in case.

At Aurora's worried expression, Celestia continued "I do not want you to think that any event like this is likely. But I need you to be prepared for such an event, as unlikely as it is."

"Prepared? To..."

Her mind went back to the pitch black ball of magic that had been in her hooves. And what it could do.

"No," Celestia said firmly. "I want you to be ready, ready to defend yourself. But I do not condone, nor will I ever condone, the use of dark magic on another pony."

Aurora released the breath she now only realized she was holding.

"However, in our study, we should look out for that kind of magic that would be useful should you find yourself in such a situation."

Aurora sighed. At least she isn't expecting me to... well...

"I don't know... most of the magic I learned so far is about healing, and things like that. I mean, it's useful for 'not dying,' but other than that..."

"Do not worry, my student. You told me yourself: most of the magic you know is within the Silver circle of magic. Even so, it is not a necessity to have such a spell. If it comes to that, a physical attack will work just fine."

Aurora suddenly saw the image of the dented steel door, and winced.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Celestia smiled sadly, a distant look in her eyes.

"I always do."

Aurora dragged herself into her room, flopping on her bed.

"What... in... Tartarus?"

Smarty Pants walked in afterwards, yawning and stretching her wings. "That was... hard."

Aurora gave her a look. "No kidding! At least for you it was optional! That was just... I don't even know."

Aurora hadn't expected Luna's little lesson to be easy, of course. Last time had cured her of that. But she knew for a fact that the run from there to Canterlot was a one-time thing, a test.

Instead, when they got there, she was attacked by seven dirt golems. At once.

It was kinda fun, actually. For the first three minutes. Then Luna decided to add more.

Do all of her lessons have to be this painful?

"It wasn't that bad," Smarty said, climbing into the bed next to her. "Luna taught me that lightning thing. That was really cool."

She paused for a second, thinking. "I still don't know how she got dirt to fly like that, though."

Aurora rubbed the side of her head, trying to relieve her headache. "Just don't try to think about it, Smarty. Most of her magic doesn't make sense to me, either. I'm just glad she decided to give us armor beforehoof. I didn't even know they made armor in our size."

Now that I think about it, we are remarkably similar in size now, she thought suddenly. She's certainly older than I thought. Or growing faster. Is there residual growth magic left in her or something?

Smarty put a hoof to her chin. "Um... maybe they make the armor this size for those military schools, like, for pre-boot camp training."

Aurora shook her previous thoughts from her head, diverting her attention back to their conversation. "No, I don't think so, Smarty. They still only allow older ponies in those, like teenagers. So mostly adult-sized ponies. These ones must have been custom-made, which only makes me wonder how Luna got our sizes."

Smarty yawned. "Probably a spell or something."

Aurora dropped her head back on the pillow. "Yeah... Probably a spell..."

"Hey Mom! Get up! It's time for your lesson!"

Aurora groaned, rolling out of her bed for a four-point landing on the marble floor.

A perfect way to wake oneself up quickly.

Aurora winced at the shock. I really hope this waking-up-late thing isn't a trend. I really need an alarm clock.

She put a hoof to her chin.

Or... a body clock.

But that can wait for later. I can't keep the Princess waiting.

She trotted over to her desk, where Celestia already seemed to be waiting for her.

Well, she did have a book open in front of her, so she probably wasn't too bored.

How long exactly was she waiting for me?

Aurora sat down next to her mentor uncertainly.

"Um... well... I don't really know what to show you anymore. I mean, I guess I can think of a few things in the books that might be useful in Luna's... exercises, but..."

Aurora caught an expression of surprise on Celestia's face before it disappeared suddenly, replaced by her usual motherly smile. "Do not worry, Aurora. The only thing that has changed is our priority of what we should study. The content of that study will be the same. We will study and learn new things together, just as before. The difference is that we will not linger on those spells which are trivial in nature."

Aurora pondered that. "So, like, if there was an earth pony equivalent to 'transmute to orange?'"

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, precisely."

Aurora let out a long breath. "That's a relief. But I still want to be able to find something to work against those golems..."

"Besides the use of the dark magic, you mean."

Aurora shuddered. "Yeah. I could see that the golems had wellsprings of their own, but... using that kind of magic, even on non-living things... And those golems look far too lifelike.

"It's not that it would work, anyway. You saw how much trouble I had with it then. That would be far too long of a casting time. And it requires emotions I don't want to have, whether I'm in a 'battle' or not."

Celestia nodded. "Quite. Now, I suggest we start with the other branch of magic you mentioned. The way you described it, it sounded more diverse."

"Yeah. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced it's just a single branch. The scholars who wrote these books, even the Earth pony ones, didn't seem to know it very well. It seems to be just a grouping of a large collection of abilities. Those scholars called the branch 'Earth,' but that was mostly because it contained all the abilities that were associated with Earth ponies at the time. Well, except growing things.

"Actually, scratch that. I think it had more to do with the Earth ponies' military abilities. Abilities like enhanced strength, the ability to break through shields, and just inexplicable teleportation were just grouped into a single category.

"Although now that I think about it, that teleportation ability sounds a lot like Passage, before it was discovered by the other races."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "I see your reluctance to put it into a circle."

"Exactly. I can see connections between some of them, but some of those connections are faint, and some connections I just can't see... I guess this is the one area where I can't just learn things from a single book."

She smiled. "But maybe that isn't such a bad thing! All the experts on the Silver branch knew what they were talking about, and knew that others would be able to understand what they were saying. They knew what words to use, and how to use them. But with these other... areas... they just wrote down what they could, and made educated guesses."

Smarty Pants stopped her flying practice, landing clumsily next to their desk. "Why would that help with anything? It sounds worse."

Aurora shook her head. "No, while it may seem like that, it's just the opposite. They knew that the subject was confusing. In fact, they were confused themselves! So each pony wrote down more than necessary, writing everything they knew, and even more in guesswork! So when I study all of the work from different ponies, and combine it together, I might not only figure out how these 'Earth' branches work, but also Earth pony magic in general!"

Smarty paused, then clapped her front hooves together. "I get it now! That way, you won't just learn spells from the books..."

Celestia finished for her. "She'll be able to make spells of her own."

Aurora beamed. "And I'll learn a lot of spells anyway from doing it! This is going to be so much fun!"

She looked back down at her notebook, which had about twenty pages left.

"... I might need some more paper."

Chapter 7: Hardened

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Aurora climbed the staircase slowly, ignoring the now-familiar pain in her legs.

Even Smarty Pants had forgone flying, instead following her at a slow walk. She grabbed the leading edge of her right wing with her mouth, stretching it manually, as her muscles were not yet up to the task.

"Ugh. I am so glad it's finally the weekend, Mom. I don't know if I could last another day."

Aurora arched her neck, stretching it slowly before responding. "Yeah. I definitely need a break. But you know Luna's going to kill us if we don't practice."

Smarty winced. Last week, they had made that mistake. The weekend had come, and they had rejoiced, taking the rest to its fullest advantage. But when it had come time for them to start again... it was painful.

Although she was sure Luna had made it more difficult on purpose.

Just another hard lesson, and one of many.

Smarty looked at her mother in front of her. Everything Aurora learned with Celestia only seemed to make their training more and more difficult as Princess Luna adapted instantly to any of her new skills. If Aurora learned to use her magic to break a unicorn's shield, then half the golems suddenly gained the ability to make shields resistant to that kind of magic.

Fortunately, they were never impenetrable. Luna was kind enough not to do that. But Smarty was forced to learn, and learn quickly. Her part in Aurora's training became less and less optional as it went on. Sure, Luna had discovered that Smarty had advanced in her maturity due to some sort of residual magic, approximately at the same "age" level as her mother. But still, she was only about half as tall, dammit! And Aurora always seemed to be ridiculously powerful in comparison. Luna had been kind enough to teach Smarty some useful Pegasus magic, but it certainly wasn't enough. She found herself asking Aurora for a crash course in some useful Earth pony magic.

Apparently, she was special. She was not really a normal pegasus. She was a "heavy pegasus," a rare hybrid with both kinds of magic.

Unfortunately for her, the two types didn't really agree with each other all the time, hence her initial clumsiness when she tried to fly. It was manageable now, but... it just never seemed to be enough to keep up with the training.

As she watched her mother walking in front of her, she realized that Aurora was just as tired as she was.

Aurora pushed open the door to their room, and Smarty shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

No, this is a time to relax, and have fun with Mom. It's no use to be resentful about any of this. I can do so many cool things now that I would have never been able to do before. Now, it's time to-

"Oh! Mom! Dad! I didn't know you were visiting today!"

Smarty looked up, all traces of pain and fatigue gone as she saw her grandparents standing there, waiting.

She smiled contentedly. Today was going to be a good day.

Written Script paced around the spacious room nervously, looking at the door every few seconds. he turned towards his wife, a worried expression clearly visible on his face.

"The Princess did say she would be back soon, right?"

Cherry Blossom sighed. "Yes, dear. Honestly, you worry more than I do. She'll be here when she gets here. No matter how much you ask, it is not going to make her get here any faster."

"I know. It's just..."

Cherry put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "I know, dear. I understand. I worry about her sometimes, too. But I trust the Princesses."

He let out a breath. "You're right, of course. Like always. The Princesses know what they're doing. They've had students before." He frowned.

"Although that is part of what makes me worried in the first place."

His wife looked at him curiously. "How do you mean?"

Written Script suddenly looked uncomfortable. He had not intended to say that out loud. "Well, it's just that whenever Princess Celestia takes a student... big things start to happen.

"And... well... from what I have seen in my study of history... it doesn't always turn out well for that student."

Cherry's eyes narrowed at her husband. "You're not implying..."

Written Script's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! But... big events seem to gather around Princess Celestia's students. I know that Luna has taken in a few that have turned out fine, but... I'm just a little worried, that's all." He sighed.

"Like usual, I guess. I just want her to be careful. Or prepared. Or... something. I just want her to be safe."

Cherry leaned against her husband, nuzzling him. "And she will be. The Princesses wouldn't send her into danger unprepared..." She trailed off

Written Script looked curiously at his wife. She seemed to be staring at the door. Her mouth was slightly open.

Wait, the door? Is Aurora...

His mind completely refused to process the picture that his eyes were giving it. There was absolutely no way that his eyes were functioning properly. There was no possibility that Aurora, his little bookworm, was so completely... buff?

"Oh! Mom! Dad! I didn't know you were visiting today!"

His mouth started to move in response, but his brain refused to give it any words, and he was left working it with those random sounds it decided to give him instead.

Cherry turned towards him, still not recovered from her own shock.

"I think the Princess might have everything covered."

Aurora smiled, overcome with a feeling of great contentment. Her parents were here to visit. A small amount of normalcy in the storm of chaos that had been her life recently. Truthfully, with all that had been happening, she had totally forgotten about them, and while she felt a little guilty about that, it was nice to have them finally here...

Wait, why are they staring at me like that?

"Aurora, dear, what sort of things do these 'lessons' entail?"

Oh.

Uh oh. "Um... what do you mean?"

Yes! Act oblivious. Great plan, brain!

Her mother gave her a look. She grinned in what she hoped was a confident smile.

Abort mission! Catastrophic failure imminent!

"You look like you just went through boot camp, dear. I know you, Aurora, and you were never a pony to get into athletics. What happened?"

Aurora shifted uncomfortably. "Well, a lot of Earth pony magic requires a lot of physical movement, so..."

It was technically true. In fact, Aurora suspected that she might have performed the same amount of activity either way.

Well, maybe not if Luna wasn't involved. But she didn't need her mother to worry unnecessarily about her safety.

"Actually, boot camp sounds about right."

Aurora glared at Smarty Pants, who caught on far too late.

Written Script smirked at his wife. "See, I told you!" He lowered his ears a bit. "Although I'm not sure I actually wanted to be right on that one..."

Cherry Blossom ignored him, instead looking back at Aurora with a worried expression. "Is this true? Does Princess Celestia really think you are in danger?"

"No! Of course not! ...well, sort of. Enough for her to want me to train for a while, but not really enough to modify much of what we were planning to do anyway. As I said, a lot of Earth pony magic, is physically-based. The training just changed which things I learned first. She's not scared, Mom, just extra careful. I'm protected by both the Day and Night Guard, not to mention the Princesses themselves. You don't need to worry."

Cherry sighed, putting a hoof on her chest. "Thank you. That is all I needed to hear. I trust you Aurora. I just had to make sure. As long as you feel safe, and you are still happy here, I will support you all the way."

Smarty Pants smiled, taking off into the air. "And the training is really fun, too. Watch this!"

She hovered close to the ceiling, then started to vibrate her feathers rapidly, building up a static charge in her secondaries before quickly transferring that energy to her primaries and out her wingtip.

BOOM

Written Script yelped, jumping in the air while simultaneously attempting to duck.

Aurora's gaze snapped up instantly to Smarty, who grinned uneasily.

"Smarty! We do not do that indoors, and we certainly do not do that without fair warning!"

Her father finally recovered enough to speak. "What in Tartarus was that?"

Cherry glared at him. "We do not use that language around foals... even if they do scare us out of our wits."

Aurora looked at her father, slightly confused. "That was just lightning, Dad. The military and all the branches of the Guard pegasi know how to do that. I thought you already know that."

He slowly regained his breath, standing back up on all four of his hooves. "That was not normal pegasus lightning. That bolt had to have been five meters long. And she charged it up a lot differently than usual."

"Well, Luna did teach me a way to make it a bit easier..." Smarty flapped her wings more slowly than usual, landing softly on the ground. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Umm... I probably wasn't supposed to show that to you, actually... If you don't know about it, it might have had a security clearance..."

She smacked her forehead with a hoof. "And it's probably a high one, too, if the military doesn't use it. Ugh..."

Aurora glared at her. "Of course it's restricted! It supports the mixing of your earth pony magic. That means that it was originally designed for alicorns! That alone means that it requires a clearance of Indigo-Cosmic! At least!"

Her parents paled.

"At... at least I know I can trust both of you to keep it a secret, but Smarty, I'd better not see you 'showing off' like this again!"

Smarty folded her ears back. "Yes, Mom," she mumbled softly. "Won't do it again."

Cherry smirked, nudging her husband. "And you were worried she wouldn't be ready."

He raised an eyebrow. "As I recall, you were the one that was saying she wasn't ready for the responsibility."

She poked him in the side. "And you were the first one to mention the subject in the first place."

Written Script sighed. He should have known better than to get into a memory war with his wife. "When was this?"

"When we first saw Aurora's room, remember? Anyways..." She turned back towards Aurora and Smarty, who were still standing near the room's entrance. "Well, what do you two want to do today? We have the whole day to waste, so don't worry about keeping us from anything."

Aurora walked over to her parents, pulling them both into a hug. "And thank you for coming. It really is nice to see you."

She let go. "Now, have either of you eaten? I kind of ate really early with Celestia and Luna. And Princess Twilight. But I could still eat something, and I finally figured out where the mess hall is, so we can get some food without having to wait for the chefs to get it absolutely perfect first."

Smarty smiled at her new grandparents. "And by 'figured out,' she means that I showed her enough times that it finally stuck. Seriously, she has, like, the worst directional sense ever."

Aurora chuckled. "Says the pegasus. Besides, that's why I use Dad's..." She put a hoof up to her neck, finding nothing.

"Oh, right, I put it over here." She trotted over to her desk, opening the main drawer and taking out her brass compass. She quickly clasped it in its familiar position around her neck.

"Luna doesn't allow me to bring it to training. Says it's 'cheating.'" She then smiled, throwing a hoof around Smarty, who blushed. "Fortunately, I have a wonderful replacement."

She batted the hoof away. "Stop it, Mom. You're embarrassing me!"

Cherry Blossom gave her granddaughter a warm smile. "Don't worry, dear. That's just what moms do." She glanced sideways. "Isn't that right Aurora?"

Aurora groaned, and Smarty giggled. Cherry opened the door, stepping to the side.

"Now, my little directional expert, lead the way!"

Aurora smiled contentedly as she watched her parents leave. It had been a nice day, as short as it was. They had been a bit skeptical of her new sleeping patterns, but ultimately, they accepted the change quite well. Almost all of their disappointment was simply because they would not be able to spend as much time together.

When the door finally closed with a click, Aurora yawned, crawling into bed next to Smarty, staring upwards at the arched ceiling.

So much had changed, and in so little time.

Sure she had expected change when she decided to try and attend Celestia's School.

In hindsight, it was probably for the best that she had not been simply accepted normally. The opportunity to learn advanced unicorn magical theory would have been interesting, but the truth was, she could have probably accomplished the same thing at home. Most of the appeal of CSGU was the large number of experienced professors to guide the students in the learning and execution of such magic. And she had already learned to study. Both of her parents, while not powerful mages, were impressive scholars in their own right, and they lived in a library.

Well, Written Script was a clerk right now while Cherry Blossom managed the library, but there weren't exactly many jobs left for scholars. Canterlot seemed to attract an abundance of those.

Earth pony magic wasn't part of the school's appeal, either. At most, she would be teaching them. Everything she was learning was available at home.

Then why did she apply?

To prove I could.

For such a life-changing decision, that is a phenomenally stupid reason.

She closed her eyes.

At least it turned out all right in the end. This is far different, yet far better than I ever imagined.

Chapter 8: Reflection

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Aurora and Smarty Pants both woke up precisely at midnight, despite the absence of an alarm clock, or anything similar.

They looked at each other, and Aurora giggled. "I guess Luna trained us more than we thought."

Smarty smiled. "Well, I'm certainly not complaining." She looked around the room. "So, what do you want to do today? I know we want to practice a bit, but I think that's a better idea later in the day, maybe around 10 am."

She rubbed her head. "'Wow, that was weird to say."

Aurora cocked her head. "What?"

"Referring to 10 am as 'late in the day.'"

She blinked. "Okay, yeah, that is weird. Just another thing to get used to, I guess."

"So, did you have anything planned?"

Aurora thought for a minute. "Well, I was planning to look at some of the spells Celestia and I skipped over - the ones that were either too frivolous, or too complex to cast non-verbally, which would be useless in training right now. Particularly the latter, as I never really got to study how incantations work, other than a vague understanding. I never really cast anything with one. I just think it would be cool."

Smarty raised a hoof. "Wait, you said 'was planning.' Did you change your mind?"

"Well, yes. For one, it would completely exclude you. I mean, you are always welcome to study with me, but I don't really know if you would understand the base level enough to be able to follow along, and-"

"No, Mom. It's fine. I'm just fine going somewhere else to have fun if you want to do this."

Aurora shook her head. "No, Smarty. I can always do that some other weekend. There will be plenty in the future. Right now, I want to do something with you. And besides, something I was thinking about last night reminded me - you haven't actually seen the crystal caves yet, have you?"

"You mean that place where you found all those books? No, I haven't, but didn't you and Princess Celestia clear out that place?"

"Yes, we took out all the books from the place I found, but it still is a beautiful cave that is fun to explore. And besides..." She leaned closer.

"Who says those books I found are the only things hidden there?"

Smarty took a step back. "You don't mean...?"

Aurora smiled. "Of course I do. I only took one rather lucky path in those caves. There were plenty of passages that went totally unexplored. Who knows how many secrets lie buried in those caves? It was the perfect hiding place! From what I've read, almost no unicorn has entered those caves, and gotten back out alive!"

Smarty raised her hoof. "Umm..."

"Neither of us are unicorns."

She rolled her eyes, putting her hoof back down with a reluctant smile. "Mom, you are completely crazy..." She took to the air.

"But fortunately for you, so am I! When do we leave?"

Aurora fumbled with the clasp that fastened her compass to her neck. "Well, we need to get breakfast first, but after that..." There was a soft click, and she let the pendant fall back onto her chest as she dropped back down on all four hooves.

"We should be ready to go."

Smarty put a hoof to her chin. "Your compass? But won't that be useless in the caves? You said earlier that they warped magic fields. Compasses would go all over the place."

"Yes, that is correct, but this one is a bit different." Aurora opened it up, showing her the odd markings.

"Interesting..."

Aurora smiled with a bit of pride. "This has been passed down for quite some time in the family. I've looked, but I can't seem to find anything else like this. Instead of pointing in the cardinal directions, it points instead to other useful things, like where you have just been, in order to backtrack, where you want to be... I still can't figure out how that one works... and the N points along the normal line to your current path, which may seem useless at first, but it can really help when there is something in your way, and you need to move around it, and-"

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean, that's interesting, and cool, but I was more curious about this," Smarty said, tapping the glass exactly in the center, where a large green garnet was inset into the metal.

Aurora looked at her, a bit confused. "Well, gems aren't exactly rare to see in jewelry. I mean, our family isn't exactly rich, but it is certainly not unprecedented. It has been passed down for a long time. Maybe the family was richer in the past."

Smarty waved her hoof. "No, that's not what I meant. I know that. I've seen watches with gems in them, and adding them to compasses doesn't seem like much of a stretch. But all of those watches had something in common - they were all made out of precious metals. Watches made for show. Yours is made of brass. Clearly made for function. The question is, why put a gem there?"

Aurora tilted her head. "Um... how did you see all these watches you're talking about? I mean, I know you aged faster, but how in Equestria did you see all this? You were born only a few weeks ago!"

"Well... I did sit through Day Court a couple times when you were busy. Most of the petitioners were just nobles asking for laws that would benefit them or give them more loopholes. And usually, those kinds of ponies want to showcase their wealth as much as possible."

Aurora gaped. "You sat through Day Court? Voluntarily?"

"What? Some of the cases were interesting! Admittedly, not all of them, but..."

She rubbed her head with a hoof. "Never-mind. What were you talking about before? With the gems?"

"Oh, right! Well, I was saying, this gem-" She pointed at the compass' face again. "-doesn't seem to be ornamental. If it was, the pony that made this compass would have been able to afford to make it out of a fancier metal. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that it is anything but functional. And you know much better than I that gems are excellent at conducting magic..."

Aurora gasped. "You're saying that this is a cored artifact?"

Smarty blinked. "I don't know that term. Maybe? I just know that it doesn't make sense as a decoration."

Aurora looked closely at the gem. "No, it makes sense. A gem core is common in permanent magical artifacts, especially ones that are complex, or ones that need to run for a while without being recharged. And if I look closely... yes!"

"What?"

Aurora held out the compass for Smarty to see. "Look really closely at the gem. Do you notice anything about it?"

Smarty squinted. "Yeah... even the metal around it seems to have some sort of magical circuitry! Which explains why it isn't gold or some other precious metal. Those are too soft, and would require additional enchantments in order for these not to rub off in a few years.

"So I was right, in a way. But I still don't understand why this would be any more useful in the cave than a normal compass. Both use magic. It would still be affected."

"Yes, but only magic that touches the walls is reflected. So yeah, three-quarters of the functions are affected. But the most important one - the one that allows us to backtrack, is completely unaffected, as we won't be personally going through the walls, just beside them."

"...Huh. Clever. And kind of reassuring. You have a terrible directional sense."

"Hey!"

"Well, it's true."

"It's not like you're going to be any better when we get into that cave."

"Yeah, right. It can't be any worse than this castle."

"No, I'm being serious, Smarty. Pegasi get their directional sense from the ambient magic field, just like an ordinary compass. So..."

Smarty's eyes widened. "Oh no. We're doomed!"

Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to have to rely on you for directions!"

She rolled her eyes, lightly shoving the grinning pegasus.

Smarty opened the door with a mocking bow. "After you, O navigator."

Aurora pushed open the heavy door, wincing at the loud scraping sound it made. She walked through, then turned to Smarty, who was still standing there staring at the door.

Smarty whistled. "Impressive."

Aurora glared. "And what makes you think I did that? It could have been there when I found this place."

She raised an eyebrow. "I know you, Mom. Just last week, you tried to open a can of soup with your teeth when you couldn't find the can opener. You aren't exactly the most patient pony."

"All right, all right. You have a point there. Now get in here so I can close the door properly."

The door closed with another headache-inducing screech, and they were left in the darkness.

Smarty coughed into a hoof. "Uh... Mom? Did you happen to bring a light source?"

Aurora held up her hoof. "Just wait a minute."

Smarty looked, at her, confused, then she realized that she could see her, and properly, too. Not just an outline.

"Are... are the walls glowing?"

Aurora smiled. "This is one of my favorite parts of this particular cave. I think the crystals radiate with some sort of natural magic, or maybe certain microorganisms can live off the crystal, and those emit the light. Either way, I think it's beautiful, and it means we don't have to deal with a clumsy torch, or even a magic light source that has the possibility of getting lost."

"All right. Did you at least bring rope?"

Aurora unbuttoned her saddlebags. "Of course I did. Now, we probably don't really need it at all, since you could probably fly me of any situation, but I thought it would be best to be thorough."

"Uh huh. That's why you didn't bring a light."

"The light from the walls is perfectly-" Aurora stopped herself, then sighed. "Never-mind. I also packed some water and some sandwiches in case we get stuck, or we just want to stay a bit longer."

"All right! You lead - you know this place better than I do."

Aurora looked at her curiously.

Smarty rolled her eyes. "I was just teasing you, Mom. I know you think of everything. Certainly more than I do, that's for sure. So, which way first?"

Aurora relaxed. "All right. And, um... thanks for the compliment. So... am I right that you still want to see where I found those books?"

"Yeah, I am kind of curious. The way you were describing it sounded cool, anyways."

"Good, so first, you want to stand on your rear hooves and face the wall like this... oh, never-mind. You can fly. Just wait here until I get to the bottom."

Smarty panted, climbing out of the smooth chute that led down to the cavern they had just visited.

"You... you do that every day?"

Aurora looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, yeah, I guess so. I didn't really think about it that much. It was a lot rougher of a passage in the beginning, and by the time it was smooth, I guess I was already really good at it. I'm sorry. I just assumed... I just didn't think about it."

Her heavy breathing slowly normalized. "No... that's fine. I understand. If it's really easy for you, you wouldn't even think about it as a potential problem." She glared at the hole. "It would have been so much easier if I could have used my wings, though."

Aurora looked at Smarty, still feeling a bit awkward. "So... do you still want to explore, or...?"

"Yeah, of course! I'm not giving up before we even start! So, where is it that we're starting?

Aurora put a hoof to her chin. "I was thinking of starting with the other passage in that main room we started in. That seems like the easiest choice. Unless you want to try and explore that pit in the next room."

"...Maybe later. I don't want to have to use our rope so soon."

Aurora cocked her head. "Couldn't you just carry me down? We've done that plenty of times during training."

"Not when I don't know how deep it is, or even if there's a safe landing. It's a lot easier and safer to use a rope for this sort of thing. I can catch you in an emergency, but I could only hold you for about two minutes in training."

Aurora blinked. "Huh."

"I'd much rather start out on a path with less risk, as much fun as it would be to explore a pit."

"Yeah, I definitely see your point. Entry path it is."

They squeezed their way into the room with the pit, then continued straight on into the main cavern, Smarty wincing each time the walls touched her wings, disrupting her magic.

Just as they were about to enter the other passage, however, she placed a hoof on Aurora's back, stopping her.

"What is it, Smarty? Something wrong?"

"No, not exactly, just... something seems inconsistent. You said these walls reflect all magic, right?"

"...Yes? Why?"

"And even I experienced that when they kept reflecting the magic in my wings, twisting it."

"Of course. Most fields extend past the physical boundaries of a pegasus' wings."

"Yes, I know. You told me before. But if all that is true... then why are we able to grip the floor? Or anything in this cave?"

Aurora opened her mouth to respond, then paused. Her eyes darted downward, towards her hoof. She reached out slowly, and picked up a small crystal shard. "I... I don't know..."

"And why would crystals reflect magic in the first place? From what you've told me, crystals don't really do that. They are supposed to be magic conductors, aren't they?"

Aurora stared at the crystal in her hoof more closely. "I... never thought about it..."

She nodded decisively, placing the small crystal in her saddlebags. She looked at Smarty, a sudden broad grin on her face. "Guess what you just did."

Smarty looked at her blankly. "Um... what?"

"You just found our first discovery! Before we even left the first room!"

She tilted her head. "Not really. I observed it a few rooms ago."

"... Shut up, you're ruining the moment."

Smarty rolled her eyes, smiling. "And it's my moment to ruin, Mom. Are we still going or not?"

Aurora smirked, giving her a playful shove. "If you insist."

They continued into the passage, and Smarty was quite relieved to discover that it was wide enough to walk in without brushing her wings against the walls.

It was quite a bit longer, though - they had already traversed the length of one of the other caverns when it started to widen, sloping slightly downwards. At this point, it was quite easy and comfortable to walk side-by side.

The grade steepened significantly, and Smarty held out a hoof in front of Aurora, signaling for her to stop. "Wait, we should secure the rope here."

Aurora looked down at the slope in front of them critically. "It's not that difficult to climb. We should be fine for now."

"Yes, but by the looks of it, it's going to get worse. I'd rather set up the rope properly when it's easy to do so, rather than when it's already difficult to climb properly, and we're liable to slip and fall. And besides..." Smarty pointed to a large crystal nearby that had been dislodged from the wall. "Where else are we going to get such a perfect spot to secure the rope?"

Aurora opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "... I have pitons," she said, slightly defensive.

"That may or may not shatter the crystal they try to attach to."

"... Why do you always have to be right?"

Smarty grinned awkwardly. "Well, I'm not the one that even thought to bring something like pitons. Or water and food, for that matter." You're the smart one. I'm just..."

Aurora chuckled. "The one that makes sure that I actually use mine. And you have quite a few good ideas of your own. Don't underestimate yourself."

"...okay..."

Aurora put a hoof on her shoulder. "No, seriously. Thank you. Now, how were you thinking we should set this thing up?"

Chapter 9: Refraction

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Smarty flew up to where Aurora was still climbing, now almost vertically. Instead of just using the rope for extra safety, she was now holding onto it almost completely independent from the wall.

"Yeah, it reaches all the way to the bottom, with some to spare. For not expecting to need it, you sure did bring a lot of rope."

"Well, I couldn't just cut a perfectly good piece of rope, now could I? And anyway, it turned out to be useful. It's not like it feels that much heavier. At least, not after Luna's been pushing us so hard. Besides, it never hurt to be over-prepared for something."

Smarty flapped her wings slowly, hovering next to Aurora and descending slowly to match her pace.

"...Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you let any of the Princesses know where we were going?"

"Not really. But Celestia pretty much gave us free rein of Canterlot for our free time. We should be fine."

"...Can this still even be called Canterlot? I mean, we're pretty much inside the mountain now. And with my directions all messed up, I can't even be sure we're under the city anymore."

"I don't think Celestia will mind, personally. She already knows I might visit the old study. And we haven't exactly gone that far, at least not laterally. We still should be underneath Canterlot."

"All right, but if we get in trouble for this, it's officially your fault."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Fine."

Aurora's back hooves touched the smooth, crystal floor and she let go of the rope, her front hooves falling to the ground.

Smarty landed beside her. "So... where do we go next?"

"I think we should go get the rope, though. We might need it again soon."

"All right, all right. I'll go get it." Smarty flew back up the passage, and a few seconds later, the rope fell into a pile by Aurora's hooves. Not bothering to re-coil it, she shoved it into her saddlebags as Smarty flew back landing neatly beside her.

Aurora looked at her in surprise. "You're getting a lot better at that, Smarty. I barely heard anything that time."

Smarty rolled her eyes, but couldn't contain a smile. "I have been practicing, Mom."

"Yes, well... it's working. Anyway, which way do you want to go?"

Smarty looked at the wide passage in front of them, that split in two. "Uh, well, if I had to pick... I mean, they look pretty similar... maybe the one on the left? It's slightly wider. But I really don't care that much."

"All right, left it is, then." Aurora started walking, but quickly stopped as the path split again almost immediately. She turned her head behind to look at Smarty. "Which way now?"

"I don't think it really matters. As long as we remember which paths we already went on, and that compass of yours works properly, we should be fine."

Aurora looked down each path critically. Let's continue left again. It's easier to remember. And I don't really want to rely on my compass. The only function that works on it would require us to retrace all of our steps. I would much rather just remember the way out.

"Also, the right path seems to slope downward. I'd like to explore the upper parts of the cave before we go much deeper."

Smarty shrugged her wings. "Seems fine to me. It's your expedition."

Aurora paused, turning her body completely around to face her. "It may have been my idea to go here, but I wanted to explore with you. Are you still having fun? We can go back at any time, trust me. I won't be mad."

"No, no, it's still fun. I like to explore these kinds of places. It's just... I don't see the point of dithering on which direction we should go. I mean, I'm really interested in the way these crystals reflect magic, but we already have the sample we need to test things. And if it's just for fun that we're exploring, then it doesn't really matter which path we take, does it?"

Aurora nodded, walking farther down the passageway and into a large cavern. "Well, most of it is just for fun, but but some of it comes from something I noticed when I was studying in that room with all those books. I hadn't really thought of it as anything special at the time, but that room was not a place of storage. It was a room that ponies used. So, while I might be horribly wrong about this, I was hoping to find some evidence that could prove ponies used these caves in the past, and maybe even find more places like it."

"...um... do you mean like this?"

She whipped her head around, looking at the place Smarty was now pointing at. There were several long scrape-marks in the otherwise perfectly smooth cavern floor.

"...Yes, actually," she said in surprise. "Good eye!"

Smarty blushed.

Aurora put a hoof to her chin. "Now, what do these markings mean? Normally, I might say that ponies might have been mining here, but there are only three of these markings. Besides, this is what pickaxe-markings look like in stone."

"Yeah, crystals would just shatter."

"Precisely. Marks like this could only mean that either there was slow wear from continuous use, or just the movement of something really heavy. I would suspect the latter, due to the fact that there are only three markings like this. There should be many more faint-looking ones otherwise." Aurora looked up from the ground at where Smarty used to be, but she was already looking at something near the far side of the cavern.

"There's something over here, too. Some sort of... rectangular depression. It's kinda faint, but definitely here. I think some sort of heavy object was kept here, and later removed. Based on the fact that this is crystal, though, it had to have been there for a long time."

Aurora walked over to the place where Smarty was standing and looked into the worn depression.

"Huh. Yeah, you're right. Ponies were here, all right. We just don't know what they were doing here, or even why."

Smarty walked into the center of the cavern, stretching her wings carefully. "Or who they were. But if they are connected with those books you found, they must know a lot about Earth Pony magic. Things they kept secret."

She walked to the opposite side of the room and gestured at another similar indentation. "And whatever it was, it must have been a large operation."

Suddenly, she froze, looking not at the markings on the ground, but at the floor beside those markings.

"No..."

"What is it, Smarty?" Aurora asked, walking over and examining the area Smarty had seen.

"Mom, do you notice anything about this spot here?"

"Uh, not really. There's nothing really there."

"Exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"This floor is smooth."

Aurora jumped, and her heart felt like it had just fallen five stories. She realized that she knew this texture of crystal all too well. She had felt it daily for most of her life. It was the texture of crystal that had seen continuous use for several years. She put a hoof to her chest.

"Smarty... all the passages down here are just as smooth.

"Do... do you know what this means?"

Smarty dragged her front hoof along the cavern floor. It was so smooth, she could barely feel even the slightest imperfection.

"It means that this is larger than we ever thought."

Smarty tapped Aurora on the shoulder. "Um, Mom? The castle entrance is over there. I mean, it isn't exactly subtle."

Aurora rolled her eyes. Again with my lack of directional sense. "Yeah, real funny, Smarty. But we aren't going back to the castle. At least not yet. I want to check out something first at CSGU."

"Um... what?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, Smarty. I wasn't paying attention. Just Celestia's school."

"C...S... ah, okay. I get it. Why do we need to go there, though? Weren't we about to start practicing soon, anyway?"

"Yes, of course. I wasn't going to take that much time. It just had occurred to me that as Celestia's student, I'm also technically enrolled at the school that has her name, even if I'm not attending any classes there. I figured we might be able to take advantage of the testing equipment there, when we decide to figure out what that crystal is."

"Sounds like it makes sense. They would have the best equipment. At least, the non-confidential stuff. But shouldn't we do all of this later, when we have time to go through with all the testing? I have a feeling a complete analysis will take longer than a few minutes."

Aurora shook her head. "You're half right. We will do all the testing later, and the analysis will, most likely, take a long time to get definitive results. But if we know where everything is beforehoof, it will maximize the time we have to do the interesting stuff. Also..."

She lowered her head, giving Smarty a sheepish grin. "I may have forgotten to contact a certain friendly receptionist pony when I made it in."

Smarty smiled. "Yeah, she was nice..."

Aurora's eyes widened, and she suddenly stopped, causing Smarty to bump into her from behind.

"Smarty... what was that?"

"Um... she's nice?"

Aurora turned back, looking her directly in the eye. "...Smarty... you weren't there. You... you didn't exist yet. How do you know about her?"

Smarty opened her mouth to respond, then closed it suddenly, sitting down with a thoughtful expression. She scratched her head. "Huh. I don't really know. I just sort of... remember her."

Aurora put a hoof to her chin. "Do you remember anything else? Any details about her? if we could find out where you got these memories, it would be incredibly useful. Anything will help."

"Uh... well..." Smarty scrunched up her face. "I think it might have been from... your perspective? I don't remember anypony else being there. Except maybe a few snobbish ponies sometimes. I don't really remember all that much. Mostly just the emotions. I do remember that she was a unicorn, though. That seemed important, or something."

Aurora looked back at her intently. "So you don't remember any details? Like her mane color? Or her name?"

Smarty stood back up. "No, not really."

"Huh. Well, I'm not sure how, or why, since there wasn't really much detail-"

"Sorry."

Aurora shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. Anyway, we can at least deduce that somehow, you got some of my memories when I ma... I mean, when you were born. But I don't even understand how that was possible! The kinds of magic I used had nothing to do with memory whatsoever."

Smarty stretched her wings, flexing each group of muscles individually, then took off, hovering close to the ground. "Yeah, that is kind of strange. But that should probably wait until later. For now, I believe you have somepony to catch up with."

Aurora pushed open the door, waving to the pony at the receptionist's desk.

"Hi, Meadow!"

The tan unicorn, Meadowlark, turned and smiled in recognition at the familiar face. "Aurora! It's nice to see you again! And who is this fine young mare next to you?" she asked, looking in Smarty's direction.

Aurora looked beside herself. "This is Smarty Pants, my... my sister."

Smarty looked at her quizzically. Huh?

I think Celestia wants us to keep this a secret.

Wait, she told you it was confidential? She didn't say anything to me.

No, but... I just think it's something she might do. Just play along.

Meadowlark continued, oblivious to their private exchange. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Smarty Pants. Anyway, Aurora, was there any particular reason you're here? I kind of doubt you would walk all the way over here just to see me." She chuckled.

Aurora walked closer to the desk, Smarty in her wake. "Actually, yes."

"Yes to which one?"

Aurora opened her mouth, closed it, then laughed. "Both of them, actually. I was going to do it later, but I realized I hadn't seen you in a while, so I decided to come over anyway. I wanted to see the feasibility of using the testing equipment here. I am technically enrolled, so why waste the opportunity?"

Meadowlark blinked, taken aback. "Wait, you were accepted? This is great! Why didn't you tell me? And shouldn't I have seen you by now? School started a few weeks ago."

Aurora grinned sheepishly. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. Everything just went so fast... I guess I just forgot that you didn't know. Well... I obviously did get accepted. And I am enrolled here. But you haven't seen me, because... well, because I got accepted by Celestia, not necessarily the board."

Meadow's mouth fell open slightly.

Smarty tapped Aurora on the shoulder. "M... I mean, Aurora, a new student of Princess Celestia is a big deal."

"No kidding..." Meadowlark muttered to herself.

"...so wouldn't everypony already know about it by now?"

Meadow suddenly froze, her eyes wide. "Um, Aurora, I think you might want to avoid mentioning your... status... to others for now. If the Princess hasn't made an official statement about it yet... she probably has a good reason."

Yeah, she thought to herself. A very good reason. This will not go down easily with the nobility. They made enough fuss when that guard captain was established a while back. And that was simply because he wasn't a noble! This... this will not end well.

An image flashed through her head, an image from a very memorable trial she had the privilege of attending a few years ago. One of the Council members had slipped up in her frustration, and had used a tribalist slur. She didn't think she could ever forget Celestia's face in that moment.

She smiled. This may not end well... but at least it will be entertaining to watch.

Aurora sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right, Meadow." She put a hoof on her chin. "I really need to have a talk with her, though. It's getting hard to tell which things are classified and which things aren't."

Meadowlark chuckled. "I think for now, you should just treat everything as a secret. Nopony even knows you're her student yet. You can't mess it up if you are over-careful."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea... so, um, is it okay to use the equipment?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "Oh, Aurora, I doubt anypony could bar you from using it. Still, if you are going to be using it often, you should probably use the castle's entrance to the school. We don't want ponies getting the wrong idea."

"Or the right one."

Meadowlark laughed. "Exactly. Besides, all of that sort of equipment is stored right near that entrance, anyway, in case their Highnesses need to use it. I hear that Princess Twilight takes advantage of that frequently."

Smarty chuckled. "Yeah, that does seem like her."

She stretched her wings, turning to the door. "Well, we should probably get going. We need to go... study... in the castle soon."

Aurora blinked in surprise. "Oh, right! Well, Meadow, I'm sorry I couldn't stay much longer. Um... I'll try to visit soon!"

Meadowlark smiled warmly. "And I look forward to it. But don't put me before your..." She looked briefly at Smarty. "...studies. Well, it was nice to see both of you ! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!"

Aurora grinned. "I will! See you later!"

Meadowlark watched as the two fillies left through the large double doors. She waved.

"Bye!"

Such interesting young mares...

Chapter 10: Shattered

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Aurora and Smarty woke simultaneously, silently getting out of bed to prepare for their usual "morning" training session with Princess Luna.

Smarty looked sideways at her companion. "You ready for this?"

Aurora chuckled. "As ready as I ever am for one of these. I think I learned something with Celestia that might help this time around, but as you already know..."

Smarty sighed, but was still smiling. "Yeah, she's probably already made it harder in compensation."

Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. Aurora opened it, and blinked in surprise as it revealed the Princess of the Night herself.

"Luna!" She tilted her head. "Don't we usually meet at breakfast?"

She smiled. "Yes, and I still would like your company there when you are ready. However, I simply wished to inform you that the format of our lessons will change slightly. As such, while I previously advised you to leave your... compass... behind, I would like for you to bring it tonight."

Aurora opened her mouth to speak, but Luna held up a hoof, and she silenced herself.

"Do not worry, it will be in no real danger. After all, bonded artifacts are notoriously difficult to destroy."

Aurora's jaw fell open. "Bonded..."

Luna sighed. "I'm sorry, Aurora. It pains both me and Tia that you would not be able to discover such a connection naturally, yet we felt it would be best if you learn to use it properly sooner rather than later."

"Use it properly...?"

Luna held out a hoof. "May I see it?"

Aurora blinked, then shook her head. "What? Oh, right. I'm sorry, Luna."

Luna's expression brightened for a split second, and Aurora trotted over to retrieve the object from her desk.

She does that almost every time I say her name... I wonder why.

In fact, I think I might have seen Celestia do something similar when she thought I wasn't looking...

"Here you go."

Luna took the compass in her magical grip and opened the cover, examining the inside minutely. "Yes, it is as I thought."

She floated it over to Aurora, fastening it around her neck. "There is one more matter to discuss before we leave, but that is something better suited for discussion at the breakfast table. I will let you get ready. When you are done, meet me there."

Aurora nodded, still slightly dazed, and still looking vaguely at the brass object around her neck. "Yeah..."

The door closed.

Smarty waved a hoof in front of her face.

"Wha- oh!"

Smarty looked her in the eye. "What was that all about? Why do you seem so surprised? isn't that what we thought it was? I mean, I don't know what Luna could really need us to do with it... maybe tracking things?"

Aurora shook her head dismissively. "No... we thought... I mean, I thought it was a cored artifact. Magical circuitry, programmable enchantments, recharging it when it runs out... This... this is different.

"Well, kind of the same, but... I mean, it still uses circuitry..."

She sighed. "I'm not really explaining this very well. To start with, a bond-class gem, a gem large enough and flawless enough to support the kinds of enchantments used, is extremely rare and expensive. Even then, very few ponies even know how to make them. The only time I've heard of a pony who owned one is when it was some sort of family heirloom... but... my family-" She coughed. "I mean, our family, was never rich."

"You mentioned that before, Mom."

"I mean, Great Grandfather Prism was technically a baron, but that kind of flopped. Due to some really incompetent cartographers, he "ruled" what amounted to a giant lake. And that title didn't really pass on to the rest of the family."

Smarty sniggered. "All right. So... it's basically just a really powerful gem core?"

"I guess so..." She slapped her forehead with a hoof. "No, no. Not at all. Well, kind of." She sighed. "Yes, but that's not the... interesting part. According to what I've read, at least. You see, they're called "bonded" artifacts for a reason."

She looked back at her, confused. "So... what kind of bond are we talking about here? I'm sure you don't mean adhesive."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "No, definitely not. It's... the empathetic kind. You see... um... maybe the spell matrix is just complex enough? But they're also supposed to have their own wellspring, which I really don't understand...

"Sorry, Smarty, but all I really know about them is from adventure-type fiction books. And maybe that one scandal a while ago about smugglers and that war."

Smarty stared at her blankly.

"Really, I'd swear nopony ever reads a history book. It should be a required subject in school."

"I never went to school, Mom."

Aurora blinked again. "Oh. Right. Sorry, I got off-track.

"Anyway, most of my information comes from sources that are... lacking in detail. I doubt many ponies alive still know exactly how they function. But, yeah, from the information I know, they only really bond to you if you have a very similar magic to the original owner, or if you actually have your magic used in its creation. And, somehow, they are supposed to have personalities? Like a normal pony, but... not a pony. I really don't know how it's supposed to work. I always thought it was just a cheap narrative device to get another pony into the story."

She looked at the ground. "But if the magic has to be extremely similar... well, at least I know why mine has been so silent. Still, it's supposed to be a powerful item, anyway."

She looked critically at her neck. "Still, why a compass? It barely uses any power, and I'm sure the enchantment isn't that complex. Not enough for a bonded core. It could have easily been made with a simple one."

Smarty nodded, taking a closer look. "Yeah, that is a bit odd. I mean, the enchantment basically does what I can do naturally. I mean, even with my senses dulled in that cave, I still could find my way out just as well as your little compass there. But Luna seemed optimistic about it. Maybe there's more to it?"

Aurora opened the clock face on the opposite side. What she once assumed was another gem cut to the same standard as the one on the compass' face was in fact the opposite side of the massive gem core.

"We should probably get to breakfast, though. Princess Luna said she wanted to talk about something, and we don't want to keep her waiting."

Aurora looked back up. "Oh, right!" She closed the compass, letting it fall back to her chest.

I hope we get pancakes again.

Eh, waffles are still good.

Luna, who had already finished eating, waited for Smarty and Aurora to sit down before she started speaking.

"Now, as you may have noticed, I have periodically increased the difficulty of our training sessions."

No kidding.

"While it has no doubt been frustrating for you both, I assure you that it is for good reason. Simply put, creativity is something I cannot teach.

"As you most likely suspect, I have done so again for your lesson today. However, I felt that if I gave my golems weapons, you should have access to them as well."

Oh, great, now they can be clever with a sword.

"Now Smarty, as a pegasus, you already have a significant weapon in the form of your lightning, and I have taught you the method that makes it near-impossible to redirect in the way that has caused much of our military weaponry to switch to mounted weaponry. As most of your defensive capability comes with maneuverability, a weapon may be more of a hindrance than a help. However, you have the option to request one should you so choose.

"Aurora-"

Aurora held up a hoof. "Sorry for interrupting, Luna, but couldn't I just stick with using my hooves? A sword really is a unicorn's weapon, and using something like a spear in my hooves would really hinder my magic, as I use my hooves for almost everything. It just wouldn't work."

Luna put a hoof to her chin. "I see what you are trying to say. However, hooves cannot parry attacks, and you do not have the luxury of shields. If you do end up in a fight, the opponent will almost certainly have an enchanted blade. Your armor will not alone be enough to block the full force of a determined attack..."

She suddenly grinned. "Of course! It may not be a perfect situation - it certainly won't stop everything, but... all you have to do is use your armor!"

Smarty cocked her head. "Didn't you just say that wouldn't work?'

Luna laughed. "Yes, I did. But this time I was referring to a different sort of armor - that armor." She pointed at Aurora's neck.

Aurora picked up the brass object with the inside of her hoof. "This is armor?"

Luna continued to grin. "Put some magic into it."

Aurora placed her other hoof on top of the casing, and concentrated briefly, forming her usual ball of magic where the gem would be.

Almost instantly, there was an inexorable pull on her magic reserves, a pull that grew exponentially to the point of an almost excruciating pain in her hooves.

Smarty lurched suddenly, falling backwards out of her chair.

Aurora clamped her eyes shut as a feeling of ice spread out from her chest, as if each of her molecules had decided they had moved around for long enough and decided to take a break.

After what seemed like a full five minutes, but was only about five seconds in reality, the feeling subsided, and she opened her eyes to find... armor.

Very plain-looking bronze armor. It was thicker than usual, perhaps, but it didn't seem all that different than the stuff they used in practice.

Feeling an odd weight, she looked down at her neck again. The "necklace" was gone, replaced by a bronze torc. The large green gem shone in the center.

But where did the compass go.

She turned her head to look over the rest of the armor, but then blinked as her brain received additional information.

Oh, it's in my head now... Weird.

It's ironically disorienting.

Ugh... My head...

Aurora's eyes widened. What was that!?

Smarty's head whipped around from where she was sprawled on the floor, and she stared directly into Aurora's eyes.

She spoke. "This is freaking weird."

Luna looked between the two fillies. "What? It doesn't look that strange. Well, it usually doesn't leave so much... exposed..."

Smarty and Aurora both ignored her, continuing to start blankly at each other.

Luna waved a hoof in front of Aurora's snout.

She blinked, shaking her head. "What...? Oh, sorry Luna. We were..." She gave an involuntary chuckle. "We were having a telepathic conversation about how insane it was to have a telepathic conversation."

Luna stepped back, surprised. "You found a spell that facilitates telepathy?"

Aurora looked uncomfortable. "Well, um... no."

"Then... what?"

"Uh..." She tapped a hoof nervously against the floor. "...because, um... that's what bonded artifacts are supposed to do."

Luna suddenly turned to Smarty, looking at her intently. "You're not implying...?"

Smarty shifted under her gaze. "I think... I mean, we think... I must have gotten transferred here when Mom made, uh... this body.

"The magic Mom used would have made a wellspring, but... it would just be alive, not... not a real pony. We think the magic she used must have passed through the compass or something..."

She rubbed her forehead with a hoof. "I'm sorry, Princess. It's just a bit overwhelming. When Mom did that spell, I don't think all of me got in... well... me. Now..."

Luna placed a hoof on her back. "Now you have memories of being an artifact and a pony at the same time."

Smarty looked up at her in surprise. "Yeah... How did you...?"

She smiled. "While this certainly has never happened before, I am well-versed in how such artifacts operate. I can understand how such a situation might feel." She put a hoof to her chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, would it still be correct for you to call Aurora 'mother?'"

Smarty glared at her. "Yes."

Luna blinked, removing her hoof, then laughed at the intensity of the stare.

She softened her gaze. "But as I was saying before, now that Mom connected to the core with her magic, we think that might have caused me to connect with it as well, since I still have so much of her magic in me. So there's definitely a sympathetic connection there. And so now, I suddenly have a huge amount of information that I didn't before, like how to make that armor. And now that I think about it, I might have been receiving information from the compass all this time."

Luna looked over at Aurora, who had decided to sit down and inspect her new protective equipment.

"Did you influence the shape in some way? That is not particularly standard for bonded armor."

Smarty looked at her, surprised. "Oh! You noticed that? I didn't exactly know there was a standard, but... there was a sort of blueprint there before."

"No, there is no particular standard. But this kind of armor usually covers the entire body, with no gaps. This leaves more open to attack."

Aurora tapped the marble floor experimentally with an armored hoof.

Smarty smiled. "Yes, but that is precisely what makes it good."

Luna rolled her eyes, smiling as well. "Okay, I'll bite. How does a vulnerability make it stronger?"

Aurora stopped examining the plating on her barrel and listened in.

Smarty looked slightly nervous about the additional audience member, but she breathed in and continued anyway. "Well, I just remembered what you were saying in that conversation. Armor can't really parry. Well, when it covered everything, it could effectively block non-magical weapons, but enchanted ones would still hurt. So I... I kind of changed it. Now, she can block with her hooves. Or any covered part, really.

"I also thought of something else. If every spot is covered, then anypony trying to attack would have no target, making it more unpredictable. Having six known spots to protect is actually easier than just trying to guard everything. It's... a psychological defense. Like when a unicorn shoots a lot of low-power bolts to force their enemy into certain spots."

Luna looked thoughtful. "That is a very good point. However, is it still possible to change back?"

Smarty scrunched up her face. "Yes, it's possible to go back. But it kind of hurts to change things like this, so I don't really want to do it that often."

Aurora spoke, still examining the armor that now covered her hoof and cannon. "Yeah, this will actually be really useful. It protects me surprisingly well when I stand on two hooves, something that the old armor was definitely not made for. And I think it will work really well with the new technique I thought of."

Luna suddenly smirked. "Are you implying that you think this will be easy?"

Aurora's eyes widened, and she quickly put her hooves back on the floor. "No! Of course not! You most definitely do not need to make it harder than... harder than whatever you were already planning."

Luna fake-pouted. "Oh, fine." She looked at Smarty, who was in the corner of the room, getting ready for their session by putting on her standard-issue armor. Suddenly, she chuckled, putting a hoof to her mouth.

Aurora stood up, preparing to leave, herself. She tilted her head. "What's so funny, Luna?"

Luna gave her an embarrassed smile. "Oh, nothing important. Now I am simply seeing your 'daughter' in a whole new light. It isn't every day you see a suit of armor put on a suit of armor."

Aurora gave an involuntary grin, repressing chuckles of her own.

Smarty gave her a look.

Very funny, Mom.

Aurora and Smarty scanned the terrain. Instead of the usual flat, grassy field, there were hills to maneuver around, rocks to hide behind, and even a small lake.

Their eyes fell on the enemy - approximately twenty hyper-realistic looking golems. Though functionally the same as the stone ones that Luna had started with, these looked exactly like the ponies they were supposed to represent. Luna was good at this. And each of them had some sort of sword, spear, or other such implement.

Aurora looked over at her companion. Is it just me, or is this looking like it might be fun?

Smarty snorted. ...Yeah, actually. Just don't tell Princess Luna that.

"Aaand... Begin!"

Aurora dove aside with practiced ease, dodging the first stunning bolts that sped in their direction. This time, however, she had something to hide behind.

Yeah, definitely going to be fun.

This last one is proving to be a lot more difficult than the others. Can I get some help here?

Aurora looked at the small lake in the center. She grinned.

Hey, Smarty. I have an idea. Can you lure her over the lake? I might just have something that might work.

Aurora looked back up at the surface of the water above her head.

Can you hurry up? I mean, I may be good at holding my breath, but I'm not that good at it.

Almost there, Mom. All right, ready in three... two... one... NOW!

Aurora pushed as much power as she could into her legs, pushing from the bottom of the small pool.

Then she concentrated on her hoof. Many earth ponies unconsciously made objects lighter, allowing them to lift far more than usually possible.

This was the exact opposite.

Aurora's hoof hit the pegasus golem overhead like a freight train, shattering its armor and hitting the golem underneath with a heavy thud that send an odd sort of vibration vibrating along her hoof.

Instead of shattering like the others, the pegasus grunted at the impact, folding its wings and falling to the ground, motionless.

Aurora, shocked, fumbled her landing, rolling uncomfortably as she hit the ground, hard. Smarty landed next to her, checking her to make sure she was okay.

What in Tartarus?

Luna landed next to them, smiling. "Congratulations! You seem to have gotten very well-accustomed to blocking weapons, Aurora. I am quite impressed. Still, none of my golems were made to be any particular expert with them. You still have much to learn in future lessons."

Aurora stared at the pony now crumpled on the ground. "Luna... something... something was off about that last golem."

Luna glanced at the place she was looking. "Oh, right. That. Well, I was talking with Tia, and something you said during your entrance exam really intrigued me-"

Smarty's gaze became suddenly riveted on Aurora, her face a mixture of horror and disgust. "Mom. You have to trust me. Don't look at your hooves. Just go back in the lake and... wash off."

Huh?

Just do it, Mom.

Aurora looked at her uncertainly, but shrugged and went into the lake, swimming around a bit underwater before surfacing again.

To find her Smarty shouting at Luna.

"What were you thinking?"

To Aurora's complete surprise, Luna actually took a step backwards, her face looking pained. "They're not like you, Smarty. They're just golems. Made for practice. You said yourself that they aren't really ponies."

Smarty's glare intensified. "Practice for what, exactly? Princess, this has gone way past self-defense. This is way past 'realism.' This," she said, gesturing towards the broken pegasus. "-is not what we signed up for."

Aurora looked at the body, and gagged as she saw the pool of red that was slowly spreading outwards.

"Both of you are hiding something from us, Princess." Smarty stomped her rear hoof, shattering the rock beneath it. "And you'd better have a damn good reason for it."

"Smarty!" Aurora said sharply. "This is Princess Luna you're talking to!"

She doubled over again, clutching her chest. "Sorry," she forced out. "I just need... time."

Instead of the anger she expected, however, Luna just looked down at the ground.

"No," she said firmly. "Her anger was perfectly warranted. I acted as though we were already friends, yet still, I keep so much from both of you. All of us did. As much as I would like to remedy this immediately... I still must speak with my sister about this. And perhaps Twilight should be aware as well."

She gave a weak smile, then sighed, bringing them back to the castle with a dark flash.

"Practice... is over. Class is dismissed."

Chapter 11: Spark

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Aurora shivered, staring down at her hoof.

"It's not your fault."

"I know."

"It wasn't a real pony."

Her head whipped around. "And are you?"

It dropped back down. "No, I'm sorry. I know the difference. Just... I need some time, okay?"

"All right." Smarty leaned against her comfortingly, then glared nonspecifically in the direction of the royal residences.

Who do you think you are, treating us like pawns in your little game?

Trying to desensitize her like that... sick.

Luna said she had a good reason, but... Smarty looked at her companion, who was staring through the floor, a blank expression on her face. I don't care. No matter how good her excuse is, that went too far.

"Hey, uh, Mom? Why don't we go do something? Something to distract us for a little while." She gave a little smile. "We still have that crystal to study." Smarty got up, helping Aurora to her hooves.

"Yeah... that sounds nice."

Aurora shivered for an entirely different reason as her armor dissolved, flowing back into the torc around her neck. She looked over at Smarty hesitantly. "Could... could you make it back into a necklace again? I... I just want something to be normal again."

Smarty closed her eyes. "Of course, Mom." With visible concentration and a slight wince, Smarty focused and the torc once again became fluid, reforming into the familiar compass.

Aurora noticed the brief change in expression, and instantly became worried. "Smarty? Are you okay? Did that hurt you?"

Smarty gave her a small smile, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "It's all right, Mom. Your pain was far worse."

She completed the embrace. "... Thank you. You didn't have to-"

"I know." Smarty disengaged, her smile now larger and far more encouraging. "I wanted to anyway. Now, why don't we go and see what that mystery crystal is made of."

Aurora relaxed, letting out a breath. "Yeah. That will be fun, at least. Now, where would this entrance to the school be?"

Smarty chuckled, more from relief than anything. "Just follow me." Her smile turned mischievous. "Honestly, you have a compass implanted into your head, and you still don't know where anything is."

Aurora huffed. "Well, I have to have at least been there before locating it like that."

Smarty raised an eyebrow. "...You have been there."

She blushed. "Sh - shut up!"

"Admit it Smarty, you're lost."

"No, of course not. I've just never been in this part of the castle before."

"And how is that any different from being lost?"

"Well, for one, I know both where we came from and where we need to go. The only confusing part is finding the exact path that will lead us there."

"Uh huh. Sure."

"Besides, we're really close." She paused suddenly, looking at Aurora. "Hey, shouldn't you already know this? You have the compass thing."

"Yes, but it isn't in my head anymore. Remember? You changed the torc thingy back into the compass. That's all you, now."

Smarty scratched her head. "Oh. Right. Anyway, the entrance should be somewhere around this next corner - "

It was a dead end. The only remotely significant object in the dull corridor was an equally nondescript supporting pillar.

Aurora sighed. "Maybe I do need to bring out the compass."

Smarty quickly scanned the rest of the empty corridor, then grinned. "I just thought of something, Mom." She turned towards Aurora. "So, what, from an architectural standpoint, is the purpose of a dead end?"

"Uh... I don't really know. To use up extra space in a symmetrical structure?"

"And do you really think the royal architects couldn't think of some better uses for that space?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Well, personally, I think this castle's architects were clinically insane, but..."

Smarty laughed. "Yeah, simplicity was not one of their strong suits. Still, my point is, the only remaining options are that this hallway was built specifically for future renovations in mind, or..."

She examined the floor pattern near the stone pillar, placing her hoof on a small circle of black marble and pushing down.

There was an audible click.

Aurora's head whipped around, her ears searching for the source of the sound. "Wha - "

A section of the "supporting pillar" moved aside, revealing a dark, spiraling staircase.

"Or there's something we're missing."

Aurora gaped. "How..?"

"I didn't. I did know the school was directly under us, though. And I remember that one of the supports of the castle goes directly through CSGU's roof. I just used a bit of logic."

Aurora grumbled a little, starting to descend the staircase. "Yeah, but you don't have to act so smug about it."

Smarty looked down at the ground, lowering her ears. "Sorry."

She paused, turning around in the narrow opening. "No, it's okay. You were fine. It's mostly just me. I feel like I'm always being reminded of just how much I don't know."

Smarty looked back up at Aurora's face, which was half-obscured in the darkened passageway. Her voice echoed with the surprise now written on her face. "You? You're the prodigy of Princess Celestia! You know so much hidden information, it could probably fill my entire memory bank!

"Sure, maybe I notice a few things you don't, but at least you're a REAL PONY!"

She stepped back and reopened her eyes, surprised at her own volume. She panted slightly.

When did I get that loud?

Her eyes drifted back to Aurora, who was cringing, her ears almost flat on her head. Shocked, she reached forward again. "Oh, no! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean - "

A soft voice interrupted her. "Smarty, you are a real pony. You know that... right?"

She looked down again. "Well, I at least I know I'm different from those golems, if that's what you mean."

Aurora put a hoof under Smarty's chin, forcing her to look up. "Smarty, what makes a pony?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that?"

"An important one, it seems. What makes a pony... a pony? If you are so sure that you do not count as one, you must have some idea of what a pony is."

"But I'm just an... artifact."

"Yes. You are. Now, what makes you not a pony? You have a pony's body. You even have a wellspring of your own."

"So did the golems."

"What were those golems missing, then?"

Smarty gaped. "But you just said that those weren't - "

"Yes, I did. Now, what were they missing?"

"Um... well, they had no... life, I guess. No will of their own."

Aurora smiled, poking her in the chest with a forehoof. "I rest my case."

Smarty opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "But... but..."

"Too bad. You're a pony, whether you like it or not. Now are you going to help me with this crystal, or what?" She walked down the steps, leaving Smarty to follow.

"Not... fair..."

Aurora smiled to herself. Oh, Smarty, when did you ever think it would be fair?

I care about you too much for that.

Aurora looked through the microscope again. "Yep, definitely a kind of quartz. She flipped through the encyclopedia of rocks and minerals she held in her off-hoof.

"And if I'm correct, I think it may be some sort of Prasidite."

Smarty looked between the small crystal and the picture that adorned the book in Aurora's hooves. "Okay, I guess I can see that, but... how does that help us? That isn't any sort of magical crystal, which still leaves us not knowing what this actually is."

Aurora grinned. "Yes, but it still tells us a lot. For example, Prasidite almost never occurs naturally. Certainly not in these quantities. Usually this variety of quartz is created by exposing other varieties to atomic or thaumatic radiation."

Smarty blinked. "Radiation? What were those ponies doing down there?"

She smirked. "I have a feeling we might find out pretty soon."

"What do you mean? This only proves that there was a lot of radiation around. That could be caused by any number of things."

"Yes, but aside from its unusual nature, Prasidite is still just an ordinary rock, with no magical properties of its own. Even the quartz it changed from was most likely just something like blue quartz. So that just leaves one more option to explain its strange properties."

Smarty clapped her forehooves together. "Of course! It has to be an enchantment!"

"Yes. Which makes it a lot easier to study. Enchantments are much more easily identifiable than some undiscovered mineral with magical properties!"

Aurora placed the crystal in the second machine's opening and activated the main switch.

Smarty looked at the readouts closely. "Yeah, I don't know why you didn't just use this one first."

"It's the principle of the thing! Besides, I had to make sure..." She trailed off as the completed result displayed on the screen.

"Huh? What is it? I don't know how to read these sorts of sciency things."

The screen was filled with seemingly random letters and numbers, and quite a few of them were symbols that Smarty was sure wasn't a part of the Eqqish alphabet.

Aurora stared. "... yeah, I don't really know what I was expecting."

She suddenly broke into a slightly manic grin. "I guess it's time to test it the old-fashioned way!"

Aurora held the crystal up in front of her face with a hoof, studying it closely.

"You see, Smarty, I am very interested in how such an enchantment would be constructed. It has always been notoriously hard to 'magic-proof' something, since whatever magic is used for creating it would have to pass through its own barrier.

"The fact that the thaumatic detector array could not identify the magic used means the creator must have used some unusual method. Of they managed to overcome that limitation, this could be a huge breakthrough!"

Smarty raised a hoof. "Um, but you already said before that some magic does go through. The hoof magic. Could they have used that?"

Aurora frowned in concentration, considering the possibility. "No, I don't think so. The body automatically shapes that sort of magic, and it would take a huge effort to change it. But you do have a point. I think the magic that created this enchantment must have been from some similar branch..." She froze.

"Smarty...?"

Smarty looked at her, worried at the sudden change of tone. "W-what?"

"Hoof magic... that comes directly from the wellspring."

"Um... okay? But what does that have to.... oh..."

With an iota of concentration, Aurora formed a ball of magic on her hoof, passing through the crystal as though it wasn't there.

"So does life magic."

Smarty just stared.

Aurora put her hoof back to the ground, dropping the crystal back into her saddlebags. "There's no way this didn't come from the ponies who stored those books. And this enchantment was almost certainly done for some specific reason. Now we just have to figure out what that reason was."

Smarty smiled. "So, I guess we'll have an expedition in the caves tomorrow?"

She stopped, confused. "Tomorrow? Why not right now?"

"Well, your lesson, or... uh... study session with Princess Celestia starts in about ten minutes or so."

Aurora shifted her weight between hooves, clearly uncomfortable. "Well, umm... I like being with her, but... right now, I'm not quite sure I'm comfortable doing that... Right now, at least for today, I want to stay with ponies I know aren't keeping secrets from me."

Smarty paused, her heart skipping a beat. "...Yeah... I understand the feeling. Let me... let me just leave a note for the Princess, explaining why you aren't there, where we're going and stuff. You get ready.

"And bring twice the amount of rope as last time, if you can. It'll save a lot of time backtracking if we can just leave the ropes hanging. And maybe some more food. We might have to stay overnight, if you want to find all your answers in one go.

Aurora nodded resolutely. "All right. Meet you at the entrance in five?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Aurora started up the staircase while Smarty flew down the school's corridors. She waved to Meadowlark, who was still working the front desk. "Hey, could I borrow a pen and parchment? I need to write a note."

Meadow smiled in recognition. "Smarty, right? Sure!" She ducked behind the desk, rummaging around until she found a quill and a blank scroll, which she slid to the young mare.

She watched, slightly intrigued, as Smarty wrote furiously, taking only half a minute to write what seemed to be less a long note than a short letter.

As Smarty rolled up the scroll, she smiled. "It seems that Aurora's taught you a few things, hmm?"

She looked up, distracted. "What?"

"Most pegasi don't tend to write with their hooves, yet you seemed like a seasoned expert."

"Oh, right. Yeah. I'm not as good as her, but..." She hoofed the quill back to Meadowlark.

"Still, you're quite good. It makes for a very marketable skill, I hear. Anyway, it looks like you're in a hurry, so I'll get out of your mane. Nice seeing you!"

"You too!" Smarty said, already rushing through the front door and winging her way to Canterlot Castle.

As she approached the Royal Tower, however, she was immediately barred by two pegasus Guards.

"This is restricted airspace. Identify yourself."

Smarty put a hoof to her face. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm Smarty Pants, but obviously, I have no way to prove that to you. I can just go in the front doors like normal.

I can't believe I did't think of that, she muttered to herself.

One of the guards chuckled. "Yeah, that's probably the best idea."

Smarty looked back up at them thoughtfully. "Actually... I was just delivering a note to Princess Celestia. Any way you could just leave it in a place where she'll find it?" She held out the scroll.

He smiled, taking it. "Now that is a lot simpler. I'll make sure it gets to her."

Smarty sighed. "Thanks." She regarded the guard closely. He seemed vaguely familiar.

"Just curious, what is your name?"

"Lieutenant Strike, ma'am. But my friends just call me Swift."

Smarty rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. Stupid vague memories.

She nodded her head at him, smiling. "It's nice to meet you. But I have to go now. Other things that need to be done."

"Of course. Good luck with... um... whatever it is that you do," he said awkwardly.

Smarty chuckled, turning to glide back in the direction of the castle entrance. "Bye!"

Princess,
As you may have guessed, Aurora does not yet feel up to her lesson today. As such, we have taken to exploring the caves once again, to take her mind off of recent events. Princess... if you value your relationship with her, I do not suggest you try to follow. She needs some time to think. We both do.
However, there is no way to put this lightly.
I know your secret.
Do not worry. While I disagree with your methods, and I initially reacted badly to finding out that you had kept something from us, once I know what it is, I also understand why you may have kept it. I might even agree with you, if I knew of your reasoning. Unfortunately, the damage is done. Aurora knows that you, and your sister, are keeping secrets from her.
This isn't something that will get better with time. It's only going to get worse. If you aren't going to tell her... well, right now, she deserves to know. She needs to know, before the possibilities of what that secret might be consumes her. And if I am the only one to tell her... well, this letter is not secure, but I have a feeling that neither of us are going to like that outcome. It needs to be you. It needs to be you and Princess Luna.
I want to let you know, both of you: While frustrated, I still hold no personal animosity towards either of you.
Please, Princess.
She needs to know.
I don't want to make this decision for you.

Sincerely,
Smarty Pants

Aurora rounded the corner, walking into the tunnel that crossed under Procession Avenue. Smarty was already there, leaning casually against the steel door.

She cocked her head. "Smarty? Why are you wearing armor?"

Smarty pushed herself off the door with her wings, landing back on all four hooves. "Why not? It's comfortable enough. Besides, if there's an accident, I would much rather the crystals hit this-" She gestured at her metal breastplate. "-than my skin."

Aurora looked herself over. "Good point." She looked over at Smarty a bit awkwardly, then applied a bit of magic to the compass' gem.

Smarty smacked her forehead with an audible clop. "Oh, right! Sorry about that."

The pull on Aurora's magic became something of an entirely different magnitude, and with a cooling sensation, the armor once again flowed into existence.

She took a deep breath, turning to Smarty. "You ready?"

Smarty looked back. "Are you?"

Her eyes drifted away, looking vaguely in the direction of Canterlot Castle.

"Let's go."

Wordlessly, Smarty followed her into the darkness.

As they descended into the subterranean world, thoughts of the surface slowly slipped away from Aurora's mind.

Down here, the only sounds were of quiet breathing, of hooves carefully placed on crystal.

Soft, slow wing beats and the light creaking of a rope under tension.

With silent acknowledgement, Smarty followed her down a new, second path, its smooth floor now immediately conspicuous.

The path dipped down, then back up again, curling around to the left, as if skirting the cavern they had explored previously.

Suddenly, they both froze instinctively as the path suddenly dropped into a near-vertical slope.

Smarty broke the silence. "Hmm... all of this is still smooth. How are we going to attach a rope?" She looked down the passage. "It doesn't look like it's too deep, though. You want to risk trying to fly down?"

Aurora examined the area closely. Her eyes stopped at something near the edge. "Wait, is that...?"

She approached the edge cautiously, slowly getting closer to the object of her interest.

"It is! How strange..."

Smarty walked over. "What?"

She suddenly swung over the edge, causing Smarty to yelp in surprise.

A voice came from just under her. "It's a rope! The ponies that were here before needed some way of getting down here!"

She poked her head back over the edge, then tapped the little metal piece she had been looking at before. "These are some very nice pitons. They must have been designed to melt the crystal as they were put in, not just break it."

Smarty sighed with relief, putting a hoof on her chest as her heart continued to race. "Okay... just... don't do that again, okay?"

Aurora looked back up again, slightly confused. "Don't do what?"

"Jump off a cliff!"

She retracted her hoof from the piton, grinning sheepishly and letting her ears drop. "Um.. oops?"

"And how did you know that rope was safe to carry your weight, anyway? That could be hundreds of years old!"

Aurora looked down at her hooves now gripping the rope.

"I... I didn't think of that..."

Smarty put a hoof to her forehead. "Just... just get to the bottom already, before something actually happens."

Aurora nodded mutely, carefully descending.

As soon as Smarty was relatively certain that the rope would not spontaneously snap, she started her own descent, quite glad that the passage was still large enough to accommodate her wings.

She landed next to Aurora, who was examining the rope closely, now that she was in a stable viewpoint at the bottom.

"Now that you mentioned it, it really is odd that a rope is still here. I mean, I did say that the ponies here needed some way to get up and down, but a rope like this should have rotted away already. Or at least if it didn't, it shouldn't have held my weight that well."

"Well, I for one am glad that it did. I really don't want to test out your armor this soon."

And I definitely don't want you to know about the cushion-fall enchantment quite yet. The last thing I need is for you to be even more reckless.

Aurora didn't respond. Instead, she just seemed to stare right past her.

Smarty stepped closer. "Mom? ...Are you okay?"

She remained silent, her head motionless. her eyes, however, darted all over the place. Still, her eyes always looked past her, into... into the room behind her.

Smarty turned around. "What are you looking..." She trailed off.

"...Whoa."

Calling the cavern in front of them "massive" would have been a vast understatement. The far end was so distant, it was barely visible. The ceiling loomed above them, and the floor required a full flight of stairs to reach.

But the cavern itself was not what she was looking at. Not remotely.

When they had first started exploring, Smarty and Aurora had always expected to find some remarkable place, some discovery that boggled the mind. An underground lake. A cavern the size of a small town.

They had not, however, expected to find the small town inside that cavern.

Aurora turned to Smarty, feeling a bit lightheaded. "Yeah. Whoa is right."

She looked back to the city, staring at the central spire reaching towards the cavern ceiling. She smiled, determination clearly written on her face.

"It looks like we need to get some serious information."

Chapter 12: Flame

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Aurora cast one last look at the crystal steps that led back into the passage, then set off along the worn "road" that sank into the cavern floor. Smarty followed without hesitation.

As they got closer to the buildings of the town, the path widened briefly to accommodate a small stone pedestal in the center.

"It looks like you were right about those three scrapes, Mom," she said as she looked up at the tripod placed atop it.

Aurora tapped the pedestal with a hoof. "Never mind that. This pedestal is much more interesting. Can you see anything different about it?"

Smarty looked at her questioningly. "Um, it just looks like every pedestal in Canterlot. Nothing particularly interesting."

"This is made of granite, Smarty. Not crystal. Even the houses here are carved out of the crystal. Why would this be any different? No, this has a purpose of some sort."

Smarty put a hoof to her chin. "Well, maybe it wasn't part of the original plan? I mean, you can't uncarve something."

Aurora nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose that is a possibility. Still, it might be a clue." She put a hoof to the stone. "After all, it does seem to be a very good insulator. I can't feel a thing through it."

Smarty mimicked her, putting her hoof next to Aurora's. Huh. Do you think that's an enchantment, or a property of the stone itself?"

Aurora removed her hoof. "Well, even if it's intentional, I still think it's a property of the stone. Crystal is a lot easier to enchant, after all. Still, I haven't heard that granite was listed as an insulator in any of the books I read, but Earth pony magic does tend to work differently. I wouldn't be surprised.

Smarty nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She looked up from the stone. "Hey, do you have your notebook with you? We should probably be writing all this down."

Aurora blinked. "Oh! Right. No use in trying to remember everything. That's a good idea." She swiveled her neck around, unlatching her saddlebags and bringing out her notebook and quill.

Suddenly, she paused, taking the book out of her mouth with a hoof. "Smarty?"

"Hmm?"

She pointed at her armor, which now flowed smoothly around her saddlebags, complete with small flaps at the top.

"Oh, yeah. That. I thought it would be easier, and a lot more comfortable than if you wore them over me. Besides, that would mean I wouldn't be able to deploy if you already had them on."

"But I thought that hurt you?"

Smarty shifted uncomfortably. "A little. Not that bad, though. It's not that big of a change, really. And it means that you're protected, so I don't really care."

Aurora opened her mouth, ready to protest. She raised a hoof, then dropped it, sighing. "I... I suppose that's your 'job,' isn't it? Still, it doesn't mean I like it."

Smarty put a hoof on her shoulder. "Hey, Mom, it's fine. Besides, this won't have to happen that often. From what I can understand, I'm only doing something akin to engraving new information on my gem. Once it's done, it's done."

"All right," Aurora said, taking a deep breath. "Let's just get back to work. I want to know what's going on here." She gestured at the houses around them. "A lot of ponies lived here once. I want to know what happened that made them all go away."

Smarty glanced at her wings, then back up at the cavern ceiling far above. She turned to Aurora. "Hey, do you think it would be a good idea to split up? We could cover a lot more ground that way."

Aurora looked at her uncertainly. "I don't know... This is a big place..."

"Well, we could always use that telepathy thing. And that huge tower at the center is visible from almost anywhere. We could use that as a meeting place."

"Hmm... all right. I can't argue with that logic. And it is the most efficient way to search."

Smarty nodded. "Okay. Let's meet there in about thirty minutes. We can compare findings then."

Aurora cocked her head. "Only thirty minutes?"

She smiled, spreading her wings and opening her hooves in a shrug. "No notebook. There's only so much I can remember at once."

"Oh, right." Aurora placed her notebook on the pedestal, picking up the quill with a hoof. "Well, you can start. I just have to write a few things down first."

Smarty nodded, then flew off scanning the crystal town from above. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed like most of the buildings were private residences. Far from having uniform designs, each house seemed to be unique, possibly even made by the families that lived in them. She was sure she could even see some of them with family crests proudly displayed over their doors, and it was hard to find a single one without some sort of personal affectation.

These certainly weren't temporary residences. Ponies lived in these. For a long time, too.

She debated going inside one of them, then stopped herself. No, she shouldn't waste time on that. She should be investigating other areas, like finding a library or something. A town hall, maybe. Some sort of building with files and information they could use. After all, she did have the air advantage over her companion.

Smarty resumed her flight, sighing. While the uniqueness of all the houses was highly interesting to look at, it made her job a lot harder. It didn't help that all the roofs were made of crystal. The only things that really stood out were the tower in the center and the odd, smaller copies of it at the edges of the town.

Wait, some of those are a bit bigger than the tripod we examined.

She hovered in midair, scanning the edges of town more closely. There seemed to be six of these larger tripod-tower things, and at least twice that number of smaller ones like the one that they had previously examined.

Huh. I wonder if there are any significant differences.

Angling herself, Smarty glided down to one of the small structures, flaring her wings to land gently beside it.

Now that she saw it up close, this "tripod" seemed a lot different than the one they had seen earlier. That one had seemed like a simple supporting device for the odd sort of crystal at the top. There was a rod that went straight down into the granite base, which is probably why Aurora thought it was so important that it was an insulator.

Anyway, if it hadn't been placed on a stone pedestal, it would have almost looked like a temporary arrangement.

This structure, on the other hoof, looked a lot more permanent. Everything was made of some sort of dark crystal... no, that wasn't right. More like some sort of volcanic glass.

Anyway, it seemed carved, just like the houses. This was a permanent fixture - a part of the town itself. Yet it was so similar to the smaller, more temporary tripod that seemed to make those markings in that cave. Despite the visual differences, though, it seemed functionally identical. It even had the same sort of rod that went into the ground below the device. This time, though, there was no granite pedestal...

No, wait.

Smarty walked closer, looking carefully at where the rod met the ground. Sure enough, there was a thin ring of granite stone around the rod, which she could identify as some sort of dark wood.

And I definitely remember Mom saying wood was some sort of conductor for Earth pony magic.

Smarty sat down, staring at the device. Conductors, insulators... this is sounding more and more like a circuit of some sort. The real question is: what is it supposed to do?

She turned her head, looking at the giant tower that overlooked the town. Well, if I'm going to get any clues, they'll probably be there.

Smarty stood, walking carefully out from underneath the mysterious device. Spreading her wings, she took off in the direction of the cavern's centerpiece.

This time, however, she didn't land. This tower was much larger than any of its smaller copies, and she had to fly almost all the way to the ceiling to see over the top of it.

As she flew upwards, the first thing she noticed was that there was no central rod. So this is either isolated from the circuit, or...

Or it's just going through one of the legs. I can't assume anything here.

Smarty looked at the tower again. She wasn't sure why, but it was... unsettling.

She reached the top, and was intrigued my the differences. Indeed, there was a gem at the top of the tower, but it seemed... small in comparison to the scale of the others. Still large, but only marginally larger than the others, or...

She paused, thinking of the compass. Or me. This is a bond-class gem, whether these ponies used it like that or not. Whoever these ponies were, they were well-funded.

Also, it didn't seem like the focal point, either. Instead of serving as the tower's apex, it was embedded in a sort of bronze "claw" that served as the tower's peak.

Whatever this is, it has a different function than the others. She looked warily at the sharp-looking points of the claw. But whatever it is, I don't think I would like it very much.

Still hovering above the contraption, Smarty's eye caught an odd reflection from the bronze.

Are those... engravings? They looked... quite similar to the ones on her own compass. Could those be..?

She slowed her wingbeats, landing on the metal for a closer look.

Suddenly, Smarty whipped her head around as a different sort of light hit the corner of her eyes. The central gem had flared in response to the contact.

Uh oh.

Smarty acted on instinct, taking to the air as quickly as possible. She looked at the device with some worry, but it didn't seem to do much of anything except glow.

Just as she was about to relax, though, something suddenly changed. Her heart dropped in her chest as she scanned the horizon. Everything was activated. The circuit was complete. And she had no idea how to stop it.

"Mom?" she projected in a panic. "I think we may have a problem!"

Aurora put the quill back in her pack, closing the journal and stowing it away. She looked down the street.

Now, to find some sort of town hall. Or library. Anything with information on the city.

She began trotting. I mean, it can't all be houses. With this many ponies, there needs to be some sort of infrastructure. Or at least a place to store all the records.

Most likely near the center, then.

Aurora renewed her pace, only giving the houses along the road fleeting glances. She didn't understand exactly why, but there was a strange kind of urgency pushing her forwards, not letting her mind drift to any so-called distractions.

It didn't really make any logical sense. This was, more than anything else, an archaeological expedition. She really should be able to take all the time she needed to look into each house; to analyze every detail. Instead, she was hurrying along, heart pounding, and looking left and right like she expected somepony to jump out at her from one of the narrow alleyways.

Aurora's mind drifted back to the cave, back where that tripod thing was moved. Why was it moved from there? Was that the same one that they saw at the entrance to the city? What did it do? And why was it moved in such a hurry? What caused all these ponies to give up everything and just leave? And was that reason... still here?

She shook her head. No, that's silly. If there was some kind of monster or something, we would have noticed by now. This is completely safe. We can take all the time we need here.

Despite her self-assurances, though, her hooves did not slow their pace.

Her attention was diverted, though, by a building next to her. Unlike the other houses, it didn't seem to have any sort of unique decorations or designs. It was only slightly larger than the other houses, but... could this be it?

She pushed open the door.

Yes! Of course they wouldn't need a huge library. They are a pretty small village, everything considered.

The room itself was quite cozy. Bookshelves lined every wall, and hoof-written scrolls were quite plentiful. And for the first time since she went underground, Aurora saw wood. Wooden shelves, wooden paneling, wooden floors... if it weren't for the obvious reading cushions, she might have thought she was back at her study.

Her previous worries forgotten, Aurora was instantly at the bookshelves, reading the titles eagerly.

Almost as suddenly, however, she stepped back. These weren't the books of magic that she had come to expect. These were... exactly the sorts of books she would expect to see in a small library like this one. These were the essentials. Children's stories, history books, and even a few reference volumes on a few technical sciences that had nothing to do with the magic she expected.

Still, if there is even one new book, this whole trip will be worth the trouble.

Her eyes drifted back to the shelves.

Maybe... the top shelves? Those books don't look as... frequently used.

She stood on her hind legs, her front hoof just barely reaching the top shelf and pulling one down.

Absentmindedly, she brushed off the dust to read the title...

Wait, dust?

Her eyes widened. Suddenly, the safety that she had started to feel dropped away.

All this time underground, she had felt that something was a bit off. If ponies had really live here so long ago, dust should have coated every surface of this dry, underground cavern. Instead, everything seemed pristine. New.

Recently lived in.

And recently abandoned.

Aurora put the book back on the shelf. It wasn't really an important one - just another history book.

Yet knowing that her time could be limited, or that the danger may return, Aurora changed her approach significantly. Her fears could no longer be dismissed as paranoia, so she had to find any useful information as fast as possible.

Now, think. The books with the magic should logically be the oldest ones, if the others I found are any indication. So, looking at the spines...

She scanned along the dusty titles, looking carefully for the telltale weathering that marked their age.

Suddenly, she stopped, her hoof resting on a rather unassuming book. It wasn't particularly weathered, and it didn't even have an interesting title. Normally, she would have passed over it instantly, even if it was in her own personal library.

But this one was different from the others right next to it. It was free of dust.

Whatever this book was, it was used quite often, despite its unassuming form and inconvenient location. No, this was something very important, no matter what it looked like.

Grabbing it by the base, Aurora pulled. It didn't budge.

Inching upwards to grab it at a different angle, she grabbed the top, pulling it back. The book started to tilt, then stopped suddenly with an audible "click."

Aurora let go in surprise, falling back onto the wooden floor, which was suddenly less solid than she expected.

She fell through the small trapdoor, hitting each step painfully before landing at the bottom of the small staircase.

"Oof!" She rolled off her back and onto her belly, slowly getting back on her hooves and squinting into the darkness.

What in Equestria?

The dark room suddenly let up, revealing a grand mess of a room. Books were lying open on the floor, or stacked haphazardly on the shelves with no semblance of organization. Papers filled the giant circular table, spilling onto the floor and even a few chairs. Calculations, notes, and even diagrams of what seemed to be the tower in the center of the city. They didn't seem like they were placed in any purposeful way, though. Upside down, sideways, wrinkled horribly... it almost looked like somepony had let loose a tornado in the small, enclosed space.

Or a bunch of ponies needed to leave in a hurry.

Aurora sighed. None of these pages are even yellowed. And these definitely don't have the sorts of enchantments they use to preserve books. She flipped over a few papers. What were you ponies even doing here?

She pulled the schematic towards her. What is this supposed to do? And why are there little copies of it all over town?

Aurora rustled through the mess, finally spotting what she wanted from the sea of papers.

Okay, so this is one of the smaller ones... Huh. It seems to be some sort of... storage device?

She let her head fall to the table with a thump. Why can't more ponies use comments in their technical schematics? All gems store magic!

Sighing, she just gathered up the papers. She could analyze this later, when they had more time. Folding the schematics neatly, she stuck them in between the pages of her notebook.

At least I got something useful from this place.

Suddenly, Aurora's mind was invaded by a foreign, yet all-too-familiar voice.

"Mom?"

She blinked in surprise, before realizing that she probably should respond.

"Yes?"

"I think we may have a problem." The worry in Smarty's voice was more than enough to push her already frayed nerves into a panic.

"Smarty! What happened? Are you hurt? Something happened to make all these ponies leave, and really recently, too, and there's this thing-"

"Yes, I know! The tower thing in the center! I touched it accidentally, and now it's doing something!"

The chair Aurora was sitting on crashed into the opposite wall as she ran headlong for the door.

She practically flew up the stairs, paying no heed as she crashed into the bookshelves at the top. Quite a number of them fell on top of her, but she shook them off, running outside and searching the central square wildly for any sign of Smarty.

To her relief, Smarty didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, hovering overhead and perfectly safe. The tower, however, was a different matter. Overhead, barely visible against the dark cavern ceiling, were six black threads, all converging on the central spire like spokes on a wagon wheel. And atop that tower, a ball of dark energy slowly grew.

Aurora's eyes widened. No...

"Smarty! Get down from there!"

Smarty dropped between the threads of magic, landing next to her. She looked apprehensively at the tower. "What is that?"

Aurora shuddered. "Remember when I was showing Celestia the different kinds of magic?"

"Uh... kinda? I don't think I was really paying attention at the time."

Aurora put a hoof to her face. "Never mind. Remember when I showed you, then?"

Smarty nodded. "Yeah, of course...." She froze, her eyes widening. "Oh... oh no. That kind of magic."

"Yeah, and so much of it, too. How did they gather that much in the first place?" She shook her head, remembering the other towers, the smaller tripods. "No, this was obviously collected, collected over a large period of time. That's the only way they could get this much of it. The only other time I've seen so much magic was..."

She sat down, hard, her hooves shaking slightly. "Um... Smarty? About where under Canterlot would you say we are right now?"

"Uh... the castle, I guess? I mean, I can't tell for certain, since the compass stuff doesn't all work down here, but based on how far we went, and in which directions..." Smarty tore her eyes away from the ball of magic and looked at her. "Why?"

Aurora paled. "I... I think i just figured out their plan."

Smarty tilted her head in confusion, then gasped, her eyes widening. "Do you really think...?"

Aurora nodded. "I can't think of any other use for such a thing."

"We have to stop it."

"I know. I need to get up there."

"I know. Hold on."

Grabbing Aurora around the middle, Smarty flew back up again, landing at the top. At this point, the sphere of magic was larger than the platform itself, floating barely more than a pony's length above the bronze surface.

Smarty looked at her companion. "Can we turn this off?"

Aurora looked down near her hooves, examining the engravings in the metal. "I... I don't know for sure... these symbols are familiar, but I haven't worked with something this advanced. I'd need a few hours to figure out what it does."

"But we don't have a few hours."

"I know. Still, just be how this thing is behaving... and what I think it's supposed to do... I don't think these ponies would leave a way to turn it off."

Smarty started to pace nervously. "Then what are we supposed to do? Can you... I dunno... block it or something? Redirect it from Canterlot?"

"I... I don't think I can. It's just... it's just too big for that. I don't even know if redirecting Earth pony magic even works like that."

"Maybe... maybe you could counter it! Make an equally big ball of life magic! You said they were opposites."

Aurora started tapping a hoof rapidly on the metal. "Are you crazy? That's enough magic to kill an alicorn. Maybe even all three. I can't just make that much magic, just like that!"

Smarty hung her head."...Sorry."

Aurora took a deep breath, sighing. "No, it's okay, Smarty. You were just trying to help...

"Wait."

Smarty looked up hopefully. "What? Did you find a way to stop it?"

Aurora gestured vaguely with a hoof. "Well... maybe. I don't think I can completely nullify it, but maybe I can reduce it enough to help. Remember when I said I couldn't make enough magic to stop it?"

"Uh, yeah? Did that change or something?"

"No, but I might be able to convert enough magic to help!"

Smarty looked at her blankly. "Uhh..."

Aurora grinned. "Think back to the time i showed you all the different types of magic. I didn't dispel and recreate the balls of magic each time I showed them to you. I just changed the emotion behind them! I converted the energy instead of having to make it again each time."

Smarty mirrored her grin. "Nice. So you think you can convert all of it?"

Aurora laughed. "Tartarus no. But there's a chance I will. And there's an even greater chance that I'll do enough to stop it from killing one of the Princesses. Besides, Equestria wouldn't even react to my death. Celestia hasn't even announced that I'm her student yet. There's only rumors. But one of them... it would take decades to recover, or even worse."

She looked at the ceiling. "It wouldn't even matter if it succeeded in killing them at this point. It's more than enough to weaken them significantly, and if these ponies planned something like this for so long, I doubt this is the only step in their plan."

Smarty opened her mouth to speak, but failed to find anything to say. Mom... you don't have to...

Aurora moved to the center of the device, anchoring herself on both her rear hooves as she raised her front ones into the air, reaching to touch the dark sphere.

"Mom..."

A flicker of green appeared near her hooves, but just as quickly, it vanished as the blackness moved down, moving up her forelegs.

Aurora panicked, frantically trying to push it back, but the force was overpowering...

Aurora opened her eyes, jumping in shock as she found herself surrounded. Classmates she hadn't seen in years were suddenly right in front of her, laughing at her lack of magic. Standing in the back of the crowd, staring at her with confused eyes.

"Why are you even here? You have no magic."

"No!" she shouted back. "I have magic! Lots of magic! Why can't you see?"

Her teachers appeared from among them, their faces and words friendly, but their eyes clod and unforgiving.

"Ha! What are you going to do? Grow me to death?"

Aurora spun around, snarling at the smug, grey face. "I could, you know!"

But she was ignored.

More figures appeared over the crowd. Professors, administrators, officials... all of them larger than life, and all of them regarding her with a cold glare.

She cringed, slowly backing up.

Her flanks brushed up against something, and she whipped around, sighing with relief as she saw the three Princesses smiling back at her.

They'll save me, she thought. They will make everything all right.

But her relieved grin faded almost instantly. No... there's something off about those smiles.

Celestia's grin grew wide and unsettling. "How would you like to be my personal student, Aurora? Don't worry, you won't have to actually learn anything."

Luna stepped uncomfortably close. "You need to learn to defend yourself, Aurora... You need to learn to kill."

She jumped as a hoof touched her side. A pegasus lay fatally wounded beside her, its armor shattered and blood leaking from the wound in its chest. "How... how could you?"

Aurora stepped back in panic. "No... I didn't know! I didn't mean to..."

Luna smiled, putting a hoof on her back in a way that gave her no comfort. "Don't worry, Aurora.

"It was only a golem."

Aurora spun around, teeth bared, a tear running down her cheek.

"No! Stop it!" she shouted at them. "Why must you take everything away from us?"

Aurora suddenly froze. Wait, what?

"...Mom...?"

She felt a familiar weight on her back, and she relaxed, smiling fondly. The tiny foal looked back at her with questioning eyes.

Where's Grandma and Grandpa?

The question took her off-guard. She looked around herself, and was surprised to see them, there in the crowd.

Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?

She made eye contact, moving towards them hopefully, but they cringed, looking away.

Aurora paused, confused. Why are you so afraid?

She looked to the side, searching in vain for the source of their fear. Was it her?

Suddenly, she noticed Meadowlark, also among the crowd. Aurora moved forward once again, but as before, Meadowlark also looked away in fear, as if eye contact would put her in danger.

No! You're my friend! Why would I ever hurt... you...

Aurora looked above her head, and her heart dropped in her chest. There, still in her hooves, was the ball of magic.

No...

She knew now. This wasn't an assassination attempt. This wasn't meant for the Princesses. This would have killed them all. And she was about to just let it happen.

No, she was about to do it herself.

She felt a comforting wing drape over her back, and she looked up to see Celestia once more, but her eyes were empty of the malice that had been there before. That was all gone. There was only love.

The only expression she had ever seen on her face. The love Celestia felt for her. The love she felt towards everypony.

Suddenly, a warmth of a different sort built up in her core. She smiled, and looked around her. Her classmates still jeered, still looked at her in confusion and apprehension. The teachers, administrators and officials still looked at her with that cold stare. Nothing had really changed.

And tears ran down her face. Not tears of anger, though. They were not tears of submission, or tears of defeat. Nor were they tears of joy, as she had nothing to celebrate. Yes, they were tears of sadness. But they were no longer for herself. They were for all those ponies, so unsure of their own worth that they felt that they had to degrade others. Yes, these were tears of sadness, but they were also tears of love.

The warmth spread upwards, pausing at the tips of her hooves, then bursting outwards into the dark sphere.

Briefly, the two kinds of magic swirled angrily, fighting their opposites before the sphere turned a soft, serene, yet intense shade of green.

Aurora smiled, sitting down on the cold metal as she closed her eyes.

She had done it... The dark magic was gone...

Her ponies were safe...

She lifted her head groggily. Wait... is Smarty... safe...?

Her head fell back on her forelegs. No... she's fine... sleep first...

Sleep...

Epilogue, Book I

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Celestia paced the length of her personal quarters, holding a piece of parchment in her magic.

"You knew you would have to tell her sometime."

"Sister?" She looked towards the entrance, where Luna was standing silently. The doors closed behind her.

"You can't deny it any more. We cannot treat Aurora like you did Twilight."

Celestia looked at her pleadingly. "But she's still a foal! She's not ready!"

Luna's expression softened. "I know, Tia, I know. if there were any other way, I would have jumped on it in an instant. But Aurora is stronger than you think. It will be difficult, but she can handle it."

Celestia sighed, rolling the letter back into a scroll. "I suppose you're right. That doesn't mean I like it. But I still don't understand how Smarty found out our secret."

Luna smirked. "I'm more surprised that she didn't notice as long as she did. That was one of the reasons I didn't just decide to tell her anyway. Perhaps she isn't as far as we thought. After all, she..."

Luna reacted instantly, taking to the air just as an immense wave of magic passed through he floor and right through both of them without any apparent harm.

Seconds later, just as Luna had settled back to the ground, the doors burst open as Twilight ran into the room. "Are you all right? What was that?"

Celestia looked upwards at where the wave had gone. "I think Aurora might need our help, if that flare was any indication. "

Twilight paused, catching her breath. "No, I don't think that was her. That wave wasn't just directed here. From what I saw, it passed through all of Canterlot."

Luna stared. "Are you certain?"

"Quite. And based on the density of the magic involved, that was far more energy than she should have been able to use."

"Then we need to get down there, immediately." She looked at Celestia. "I can only hope she didn't do what I think she did."

BOOM

All three Alicorns' heads whipped around seconds before the doors burst open once more.

Smarty's wings still crackled slightly as she set Aurora down on the giant cushion Princess Celestia used as a bed.

"Sorry about the guards, Your Highnesses; they wouldn't let me through. But Aurora needs help, and fast. She still has a pulse, but... that much death magic in her..."

Twilight rushed over, examining her forehooves closely while Celestia watched her from the side.

Luna glanced outside the room at the four unconscious guards, surrounded by thousands of fading shield fragments.

She chuckled, closing the doors. "It seems like your guards need a bit more training, Sister."

Twilight looked up from her work. "To be fair, I think they were expecting normal pegasus lightning, not an alicorn spell." She stood up, turning towards Smarty. "Anyway, Aurora should be okay. She does have some severe leyline damage almost all the way up her front legs, but she should recover with time."

Smarty sighed in relief. "Thank..." Her eyes drifted over the Princesses. "... goodness. I was worried that it got further than that."

Twilight met her eyes. "If you don't mind me asking... what exactly happened down there? All of us felt that magic just now."

Smarty shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure I'm the pony to ask about that. We didn't exactly have time to compare notes before... well... I can't tell you the who or why, but some group of ponies has been stockpiling a lot of magic. Death magic, the kind that attacks the wellspring. We found their village underground, all carved out of a crystal that was enchanted to reflect magic back at the user."

Smarty put a hoof to her chin. "Come to think of it, they must have started this a really long time ago, if the rumors about those mines were correct. Or maybe somepony else did that."

She shook her head. "Anyway, from what Aurora said, the amount of magic was so big, she thought it might be enough to hurt or even... kill... one of you. That's what we thought it was for, but now I'm starting to think it must have been something different. I felt it in a way different part of the castle."

Twilight nodded. "It was spread over all of Canterlot."

Smarty paled. "...oh."

Celestia placed a hoof gently on her shoulder. "Please, continue."

"Well, Aurora knew she couldn't counter it with any magic of her own, we couldn't turn the device off, and there was no real way to redirect it, so... she tried to convert the magic instead."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "And she thought she could?"

Smarty gave a humorless laugh. "No. But she thought she could make enough of a difference to count."

"...I see."

"I saw her start, but the magic seemed to fight back. It started to go into her. She... fought it off somehow, but... I was worried it still might be too late."

Celestia smiled. "Your devotion is commendable. However, excuse me for a moment while I check that my guards have not sustained any permanent injury."

Smarty smiled sheepishly.

"And on the other matter... Don't worry. I will tell her when she wakes."

Smarty's eyes widened as she remembered her previous contact with the Princess of the Sun. "Oh! Princess, I apologize for that. The letter was written in the heat of my anger, and-"

Celestia met her eyes. "And you were right. It is a hard truth, but it needs to be told."

Smarty nodded mutely, watching as she left the room. Her gaze drifted back to Aurora, her chest rising and falling slowly.

Safe.

She blinked, seeing through different eyes. She sighed, gazing at the hooves that were damaged so terribly. Yet at her core, the small star still shone, its two sisters burning brightly beside it.

She smiled, nuzzling her head against her side.

Everything would be just fine.

Guiding Light

by Detsella Morningdew

Chapter 1: Nucleus

Chapter 2: Firestone

Chapter 3: Dichroism

Chapter 4: Cleave

Chapter 5: Temper

Chapter 6: Refined

Chapter 7: Hardened

Chapter 8: Reflection

Chapter 9: Refraction

Chapter 10: Shattered

Chapter 11: Spark

Chapter 12: Flame

Epilogue, Book I