Polaris peeked into the tent where Twilight was recovering from her and Saber's match. The Spellcaster's Tournament had reached a spectacular conclusion, with Steel Saber as its crowned champion. "It's the Princess, Ma'am. She's looking for you." Polaris straightened and addressed the others within the recovery tent. "Greetings, and apologies for the intrusion." Saber waved a hoof dismissively. Polaris exited the tent and stood vigil just outside.

"Right... Sorry folks, that's my cue." Saber turned to the door flaps. "Get some rest when you get home, Twilight Sparkle. You've earned it. Oh, and thank you for the match. It was... fun." Though none could see it, Saber put on a sincere smile, though remarkably faint. She exited the tent and walked with Polaris.

"Steel Saber Ma'am, I-"

"Please, I'm off duty right now. Address me not by Ma'am, but by my name."

"I find that difficult, Ma'am. Anyway, I am amazed at how easily you won your final match."

Saber took a slow breath. "It is the job of a master to make what they do look easy. But rest assured, I struggled out there. Victory was only assured because Twilight chose to attack. Had it been up to me, she would have simply shielded herself from me and outlasted my own magic. If I am being honest, it could have gone either way..." Saber looked at Polaris. "But, what happened, happened, and I cannot change the past."

Polaris kept pace with Saber as the two retreated to the latter's tent. Princess Celestia sat in wait inside. "Graduate Saber, congratulations."

Steel Saber immediately straightened and halted in the doorway. "Princess, you are far too kind."

"At ease, if you would. And have a seat." Saber walked in and sat in front of the Princess. Polaris followed quietly. "You performed admirably in the tasks you have been given. Polaris is earning her trust under your watchful eye, proving her worth to Princess Luna, her capability to Link and her devotion to me. I have to believe it is because of your guidance and instruction that this is possible, but she is not unworthy of praise herself, don't you think?"

"Indeed. Her stint as the Second Commander was an idea of excellence." She glanced at Polaris. "And you did well to think of it."

"You already praise me too much, Ma'am."

"Polaris... Steel Saber, you have also proven your capability, not only as a combatant, but also as a team leader, capable of working with others to achieve a common goal. My sister and I are in agreement of this; we wish to promote you. No longer are you Graduate, and from here on, you shall be a Corporal. Do you accept?"

"I do," Saber replied without hesitation. "Why promote me now, though? I have done nothing but what I am ordered to do."

"And you have proven to be capable of doing exactly that, thus you are deserving of it." She straightened some. "We will see to it that your freedom is opened more as your rank increases. And pray continue to look after Polaris as you grow."

"I will, Princess Celestia."

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have a closing ceremony to attend." The princess teleported out of the tent, leaving Polaris and Saber to sit there alone.

Polaris turned to Saber. "Hey, promotion, nice."

"I am on equal footing to that guy now. A Corporal." She held her hooves up in front of her. "I don't feel any stronger for it though..."

"To be fair, he did mark your otherwise flawless face. Maybe you're still afraid of him?" Polaris corrected herself just as Saber gave her a mean look. "I mean, it could be that you're afraid of him. He basically overpowered you without even trying."

"I know, Polaris. I was there." She touched her scar with her hoof. "I will never forget that." Saber grit her teeth. "Not that I hold a grudge or anything. Orders are orders, after all."

Polaris almost reached up to put a hoof on her back, but set it down just before she made contact. "Exactly. And I'm sure he has no hard feelings either."

Saber took a calming breath. "You're right. At any rate, we should attend the ceremonies." She got up and walked out of her tent with Polaris. "Though, you will have to entertain yourself in the stands, since I was the winner and you didn't participate. Don't worry, I'll come to get you once I'm finished on stage."

~~~~~~~~~

Saber received her medal for winning the tournament and returned on the princess' chariot back to the castle with Polaris and the Princess herself. In the throne room, Princess Celestia returned to her seat and looked down at Saber. "Now that we have returned, you have a selection to make." She produced a scroll and levitated it over to Saber. "On this scroll is a list of spells I have pre-selected to teach this year's winner. Look it over carefully."

Saber unfurled the scroll and glanced over it. "Levitation, teleportation, dictation, manifestation, hmm... The list goes on to include higher level spells such as materialization, disfiguration and manipulation. Why is that?"

"I did not know what spells a given individual would need to match with their talent, so I chose to include a wide variety, though I would not recommend learning something outside the realm of possibility."

"So, if I may, what would you restrict me to learning from this list?"

"You must have a spell in mind if you are asking this question..."

"I am thinking of a few..." Celestia listed off a great number of spells that she was incapable of learning. "Well, that certainly diminished the quantity... Will you allow me a day to think on this? This is a choice that will determine my fate as a soldier."

Celestia nodded with a smile. "You may take all the time as you need."

"Then by your leave," Saber bowed herself out of the room. Polaris silently followed.

~~~~~~~~~

Steel Saber returned to her room and gave the scroll another look. "Polaris... What do you think?"

Polaris sat as still as she could looking out to the setting sun. "Are you asking my opinion?" She gave a slight glance back to Saber, who was looking at her. "Hmm. Well, I don't really have the ability to do all that stuff. I mean, I'm an earth pony, but... Even when I'm not, we can't do all the stuff you ponies can."

Saber sighed. "I suppose not... But what would you say fits me well?" She levitated the list over to her to look over. "Some of the ones I'd be real interested in are among the ones she said wouldn't be a good fit."

"If you really want one of those, you'd best put forth the idea that you can do them. And insist on it," Polaris advised. "Show her you mean business, and she should honor your request. It's the rules, right? Pick a spell, she teaches it to you."

"Yeah, but.. She can always say no..."

"True... Think on it some more. Make your final decision in the morning."

Saber turned to her bunk and crawled in. "Yeah. That's a good idea."

Polaris crawled into her own and quickly fell asleep.

Despite the grueling battle she'd fought hours prior, Saber found it very difficult to fall asleep. Instead, he lay awake, staring at the wall, thinking about the spell she'd choose to learn.

When morning came, Saber rolled out of bed and put on her familiar armor. The metal clanking woke Polaris, who never took off her armor, and followed Saber to the throne room.

"Did you come up with an answer?"

"Yes. I did. And it might be a little copycat, but it's the one I choose." Saber grinned as she approached the giant double doors. "And I bet you can guess."

The doors opened and the two of them walked in. Princess Celestia greeted the two with a nod and a wave. Saber approached the throne and bowed. Polaris followed suit. "And good morning to the two of you. Sleep well?"

"Yes we did, Your Highness. And I've come with a decision. I would like to learn the teleportation spell."

"Ahahaha," the princess laughed. "Oh wait, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder. AHAHAHAHA!" Laughter filled the chamber as Celestia's face looked like it was getting closer to Saber. The two Royal Guards next to her also started laughing and growing. Various other parts of the room started to shift and sway, turning into faces of laughter as Saber shrunk deeper into herself, into her childhood self.

She realized she was back in school, just learning magic and being awful at it, barely capable of lifting the blocks that spelled out the words. She sat there, crying.

"SHUT UP!" Saber woke with a shout, firing a sword from her horn into the wall opposite her. Saber breathed heavy and tapped her forehead, understanding that she'd been sweating in her sleep. "Hahhhh," she sighed.

Polaris had also shot out of bed just in time to see the sword hit the wall. "Sheesh, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she lied. "Go back to sleep."

"... Do you want to talk about it?" Polaris asked.

"No." Saber's head hit the pillow. "I thought I buried that one deep. What's it doing here now?"

"Bad dream, huh?" Polaris looked out at the starry sky, then walked over to Saber. "You can talk to me. What's going on?"

"I said it's nothing," she insisted. Polaris didn't budge. "Why do you even care?"

Polaris answered honestly, "Because I'd consider you my first real friend. And I'd like to think you think I'm your friend, too. Aren't I?"

Saber was quiet. "I don't have friends. Everypony around me is a fellow soldier. That kind of attachment is all I really need. 'Friends'? No thank you."

"Then how about a confidant. Somepony you can tell things to, to maybe get things off your mind." Polaris sat at the bedside, the light from the blade dimming and vanishing soon after. "Everypony can use one of them."

Saber sat up again and sighed. "I... was never any good at magic... growing up." Saber looked away. "In school, I never got any better, no matter how hard I tried, or focused, or fought through the difficulty, it never got easier. It took me so long to levitate things properly. You know I started with pencils? Just one, and I tried to move it the 6 ways in space. I moved on to scrolls, then sticks, then swords. I hit a breakthrough when I realized I didn't have to manipulate the whole object, just a pivot point: the handle. The rest of the sword followed, and it became like second nature.

"But this? I want to learn to teleport, but I know it's going to be impossible."

"No more impossible than a Changeling becoming a Royal Guard, but here I am." Polaris smiled at her. Saber turned with a shocked expression. "What?"

"You really have so much faith in me?" Polaris nodded with a smile. "Why?"

"I've seen what you're capable of. How hard you're willing to push to get your way, and what you're willing to go through to get what you deserve." She put her hoof on Saber's shoulder. "You want teleportation? Go for it. I'll be right there, rooting you on and believing in you."

Saber gave Polaris an almost shy smile. She lay back down and covered up with the banket. "Thank you. Really. Now go get some sleep. You and I have work tomorrow."

Polaris went back to bed. "See you in the morning, partner." Again, she fell asleep quickly.

That time, so did Saber, and she had a pleasant sleep from then on.

~~~~~~~~~

Morning came like a herd of cattle as Saber sprung out of bed and remembered that she was so tired the night before that she never actually took off her armor. "Ohh, uhh..."

Polaris was rolling awake, but still only half put together. "Whuzzuh, eh?"

"Shower. Be right back." She dropped off all her armor and sped into the shower. After just a few minutes, she came back out and dressed up again. "Ready. You?" She looked to Polaris who hadn't even started getting ready. "Come on, we have work to do."

"Anypony ever tell you to slow down?" Polaris asked.

"No. Why?" She practically dragged her partner from her bed and up to her hooves. "Let's get a move on!"

"Fine..." Polaris started getting her stuff together and watched as Saber basically paced in front of the door. "What's got you so antsy?"

"I don't know if she'll agree to the spell I want or not.. And the uncertainty is killing me." She looked back to Polaris. "And you said you'd be there, and we can't go until you're ready."

After about 15 minutes of prodding, Saber and Polaris left their room and made their way to the throne. The princess sat there just as she always did and smiled at them. "Good morning."

"Your Highness. Good morning."

"Have you selected a spell?"

"I have, Your Highness." Saber took a breath. "I want to learn the teleportation spell." That's exactly how I said it in my dream!

"You want to learn teleportation?" Celestia asked, leaning forward.

Here it comes...

"Well, okay. But be warned, it is a powerful spell, and when Twilight left here for Ponyville, she had barely learned it successfully."

"You'll... teach it to me?" Saber asked, raising her head.

"I will certainly try. But you must be absolutely sure this is what you want.." Saber nodded her head. "Very well..." Celestia got down from her seat and walked to Saber. "For you to cast this spell successfully, you must have the required amount of magic and a similar amount of control. Show me you have either."

Steel Saber backed up and charged her horn. The energy grew intense enough to envelope her horn entirely, and with a second layer. She let it go back into her system and sighed, a little strained. "That was about 80% maximum charge."

Celestia smiled once more. "You certainly have the strength of magic to accomplish this. So perhaps your weakness lies in your control. Concentrate your magic into just the very tip of your horn."

Steel Saber tried to do as she was asked, but when she believed she had completed it, Celestia found that half of her horn from the tip was glowing.

"Hmm..." She said. "Well, I was right about that. For now, we will start with control. For the next week, I want you to hold a 5% charge in your horn and condense it as close to your tip as much as possible, without releasing it. You are only allowed to dispel this focus when you sleep. Are we understood?"

Saber bowed and dropped her charge level to the requested amount and did her best to focus.

She continued this way as best as she could while she went about her duties.

Author's Note

Interim chapter with steel Saber as the focus.