The Unity Pact Side Stories: The Teacher And The Pupil

Chapters

Chapter 1: Awkward First Day
Chapter 2: Opening The Screfula
Chapter 3: Human Magic Vs. Kavim Magic
Chapter 4: Thamaturgic Energy
Chapter 5: Crystals
Chapter 6: Tit For Tat
Chapter 7: Failures And Acceptance
Chapter 8: Broken

Chapter 1: Awkward First Day

The morning was young, a full hour before sunrise. The stars twinkled brightly overhead and the entire sky, from one horizon to the other was clear as crystal. The moon was half full, waxing towards its brightest, but not yet having achieved such a goal.

Princess Luna appeared on the roof of the Town Hall of New Humansville in a flash of light. The space had been recently declared as 'safe zone' for teleporting and she had taken advantage of it. She shook out her mane to the accompanying tinkling of hundreds of tiny silver bells. The lunar Alicorn scowled at the sound, 'I sound more like a pet than a Princess.' she thought irritably, 'But this is what must be until he says otherwise.'

The source of her sour thoughts was the silver choker around her neck. It spanned the entire length of her neck from an inch below her jaw to her shoulders. It was made entirely of thousands of tine chain links, each and every link attached to a tiny silver bell. Luna despised the device. She had to wear the choker until told otherwise. Her thoughts briefly drifted to the cause of her dilemma. More than half a year ago, Humans suddenly appeared in Equestria. It would have been a smaller matter if it had been only a few, or even a few dozen, but no it had to be a couple of hundred of them. Not only did Luna and Celestia have to find a place for their new arrivals to live, and learn a common language, they also had to educate the Humans on magic. The Humans initially vomited up magic in a physical form, a golden glowing liquid. Their bodies bad no way to process Thamaturgic Energy, but over the course of several months they had developed that wonderful organ which allowed all life to utilize magic: the screfula. Luna had requested volunteers from The School For Gifted Unicorns to come to New Humansville and use their skills and experience to test each Human and provide magical instruction. The problem came with the testing. Humans, instead of having access to every Noun and Verb in magic like Unicorns, had only a few Nouns and Verbs available to them, but the ones they did have were much, much stronger. One of those Humans was Chris Vacca. He had been gifted with with terribly powerful magic.

Unicorns measured magical power by orders of magnitude. The difference between a power of 1 and a power of 2 was the difference between a candle and a bonfire. The difference between a 2 and a 3 was the difference between a boulder and a mountain, and the difference between a 9 and a 10 was a sneeze as compared to a supernova. Most average Unicorns were only at a level of 1, Unicorn members of the Guard were generally a 2. Luna and Celestia were both a 9 in every Noun and Verb. Chris Vacca was discovered to have a 10 in the Noun of Space.

Through a series of poor choices on Luna's part, Chris had been abducted and all but enslaved. Her sister has intervened and Chris had been freed, but Luna had to suffer the punishment. Since Chris was the victim, he was the one to decide her punishment. He decided that Luna had to wear a choker which he would design and she would pay for. She would wear the collar until he said otherwise or until he passed away. That was one half of the punishment. However Chris, upon discovering how powerful he was, also mandated that since Luna was so concerned about him being dangerous, she should tutor him personally until she deemed him safe.

Thus Luna found herself standing on the roof of the Town Hall of New Humansville. She peered around the rooftop, 'Where is he? I would have expected him to be waiting for me up here.' she fluffed out her wings in irritation, 'I am not in the habit of being kept waiting...' she sighed, 'Calm yourself Luna, tis not the time to be berating your very first student. We must appear poised, calm, and in control. After all, twas your own haste which landed you in such a predicament in the first place.'

Her inner musings distracted enough that she failed to see the stout young man emerge out onto the roof and walk up to her,
"Hey Luna!" Chris greeted cheerfully.

"GAH!" Luna yelled in surprise, wings flaring out instinctively.

Chris stepped back and held up his hands, chuckling quietly,
"Woah, take it easy. I didn't mean to startle you."

Luna tried to slow down her breathing as she wrestled her wings back to her sides,
"Thou... you'" she corrected quickly, "You gave me a start Christopher."

Chris lowered his hands,
"Ooh, sorry about that. I would have thought you heard me." he smiled smugly and crossed his arms, "Guess those bells are a bit of a distraction huh?"

Luna regained her composure and settled her gaze on him coolly,
"Twas not the fault of the bells. I was, as you Humans say, 'Contemplating my belly button'."

Chris dropped his arms back to his sides,
"The term you're looking for is, 'Naval Gazing'. Although there's no denying that your own version does sound more cultured."

Luna didn't know whether to feel insulted or gratified so she settled on business,
"Are you prepared to depart for your first lesson?"

Chris shrugged his shoulders,
"Sure. We are going to take a break for breakfast though, right?"

"Of course," Luna scoffed, "How else do you intend to restore the Thamaturgic Energy in your body quickly enough to follow through the entire session? Now, concerning the training, I do follow the old Unicorn way of eating, so the food will be raw vegetables and grains and water or juice. If you are ready to depart, place your hand on my back and I will take us to my chambers."

Chris smiled mischievously as he walked over and rested his open palm on her back,
"In your room. Together and alone... with nobody else around... who knows what could happen." he finished his suggestive remark with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Luna frowned at his tone,
"The only thing to happen will be the start of your education..." her horn lit up and teleported the two of them to the Royal Palace.

Chris doubled over feeling queasy and trying not to vomit as Luna stepped away from him and smiled,
"... I assure you."

Luna stepped over to her ebony desk and levitated out a quill and parchment,
"When you feel ready to begin, let me know. Until then, I shall be working."

Chris looked up at the lunar Alicorn and furrowed his eyebrows as his stomach settled,
"I can listen just fine from here."

Luna looked up from her desk and Chris continued,
"I figure we're going to begin with a few explanations so listening is something I can do."

Luna smiled inwardly at the tenacity of her first pupil but outwardly she kept up her neutral expression,
"Very well." she set down her quill and capped the ink vial, "Let us begin with what magic is and how it works. I am aware that you've attended the first few classes the Arch Magister has lectured and I wish to know what you've learned."

Chris wobbled over a couple of steps and sat down on the stone floor leaning against Luna's huge plush bed,
"First off, Catalyst..." he was cut off by Luna.

"Arch Magister Catalyst. She has earned the title and I'll thank you to use it." Luna said primly.

Chris rolled his eyes,
"Anyway Catalyst," he said, intentionally not using the Arch Magister's title, "Explained that magic isn't even the proper name for it. The right term is Thamaturgic Energy. She explained that Thamaturgic Energy saturates everything around us: plants, animals, air, water, dirt..." he balled up his fist and knocked on the floor, "Stone, everything. We take it in when we breathe or eat and so forth and our screfula filters it out of our blood and changes it into a usable form then puts it back into our blood. It then pools and collects in the different locations that we use for casting spells. For Unicorns, it's their horn. For Pegasi, it's their wings or eyes and for Earth Ponies, it's their muscles, bones, and minds. For us Humans, she said it pooled in our hands, feet, and faces. I specifically remember when she tested me, Catalyst said it was only in my hands." Chris nodded, looming very pleased with himself, "I paid extra attention to her lectures."

Luna's face never even twitched,
"So far," she slipped out from behind her desk, "You have told me what any foal knows after only a single week of school. Then again, your species doesn't even have magic naturally, so ignorance is to be expected." she slowly walked toward Chris, "That is exactly why we are here. To educate you."

Chris scowled,
"You don't need to talk down to me. I'm not an idiot."

Luna stopped and quirked an eyebrow,
"I never intended to offer you insult Christopher. I was merely stating why we are here."

Chris snorted and turned his head away,
"Yeah right." he turned back and met Luna's eyes, "I already knew all that and you knew that I was aware. That being the case, the only reason you have to reiterate, is to, 'put me in my place'. You don't need to lord your knowledge over me Luna. You're the teacher and I'm the student, I know that already. I'm here to learn what you know but if you want to stand there all day and call me an ignoramus in so many words, we aren't going to get much done."

Luna schooled her face into neutrality, but in her mind, she was deeply unsettled by the man's direct words, 'Did I do that?' she wondered, 'Oh dear, I did, didn't I. It seems I still have more than a few bad habits to break.'

Luna lowered her head slightly,
"I apologize Christopher. I seem to have experienced a... lapse in etiquette. I do not look down upon you for your lack of knowledge, believe me." she raised her head back up and began pacing, "Back to the lesson. What you understand thus far is correct. Now, do you know why dedicated Unicorns eat only raw foods and drink water or juice?"

Chris pursed his lips,
"You mentioned that it was the fastest way to get more Thamaturgic Energy back into your body so... I'm guessing that the process of cooking kind of, maybe 'burns' some of the magic out of the food?"

Luna nodded,
"A logical answer. You are correct, once anything is removed from its natural environment the Thamaturgic Energy within it begins to... evaporate, so to speak. When fruit is picked off the vine, bush, or tree it slowly begins 'dying' magically. Any act of alteration to the object also reduces its Thamaturgic Value. Thus once fruit is cut up or peeled or cored, it looses a great deal of the Thamaturgic Energy contained within." she stopped pacing back and forth and turned her head to her adult pupil, "That being said, let us order breakfast. It will take time for the servants to go and pick the fruit, vegetables, and grains."

Chris cocked his head,
"You just said that altering the food reduces the Thamaturgic Value, but you also mentioned juice. Wouldn't juicing reduce the Thamaturgic Value too?"

Luna walked toward the double doors of her room,
"It does indeed, however I adore juice."

Chris groaned as he pushed himself into a standing position and followed Luna to the door, listening as she spoke to a servant mare,
"This morn, we wish for two ears of corn, a tomato, five stalks of celery, one eighth of a stone of wheat grains, and three apricots. All food shall be plucked straight from the plants. We also wish for freshly made grapefruit juice."

Chris scratched his head,
"I'll take a bunch of grapes, a bowl of peanuts, a handful of cherry tomatoes, two oranges, and a couple of bananas. Ooh, and a big cup of coffee." Luna turned her head and frowned at his last choice, Chris just shrugged, "Sorry, but I gotta have my coffee. Fresh, like she said."

The servant bowed deeply and trotted off as Luna closed the door,
"Very well. Let us begin. Do you remember, during The Battle For New Humansville, you summoned spinning portals which chopped up the Diamond Dogs?"

Chris cringed at the grisly memory,
"I wasn't sure it was me at the time, but yes I remember."

Luna moved to her large fireplace and began pacing back and forth in front of it,
"Portals are exceedingly dangerous. Have you noticed that not a single Unicorn or Alicorn ever uses them?"

Chris nodded silently at Luna's serious tone,
"Portals are dangerous because their edges will cut. Portals are literally holes in space which connect two different locations together at a singular point which is the portal itself. The edges are the hole in space and contact with an edge can cause grievous harm to any object or being." Luna then sighed and shook her head, "However... your magic... it... it is... you have a natural affinity for portals which is why your magic manifested in such a manner under stress. My... obligation to you is to help guide you in the direction your magic manifested. Your magic is geared toward portals and I... I will train you in how to use them safely."

"Uh, why did you say it like that?" Chris asked, "You made it sound like it's a bad thing."

Luna's head snapped toward him,
"Portals are dangerous! Do you not understand that?" she asked sharply, "A single misplaced portal could accidentally sever a friend in twain! Portals are arguably the single most dangerous magic to practice! You could fight an army of thousands and win with enough practice! You could accidentally slice a world into pieces!"

Chris leaned against Luna's desk,
"Isn't that why you're teaching me to use them properly?" he straightened up and walked toward her, "Is there a way to... I dunno, maybe make the edges of a portal... not sharp?"

Luna halted her pacing and turned her head toward Chris slowly,
"What... what did you just say?" he expression was unreadable.

Chris took a step back,
"I just thought that maybe there was a way to alter the way the edges of the portals appear to work to make them more... friendly... harmless... whatever you want to call it."

Luna stared at Chris aghast,
"To... alter... a portal? How would you propose to alter a tear in space?"

"Like I said, bend the edges over on themselves? I don't know, that's what you're supposed to teach me! You're supposed to know this stuff!" Chris huffed.

Luna stood in place like a statue for several moments, 'He is asking for me to teach him a wholly different spell. I would have to develop it from scratch. That would take months if not years or decades. No, for the moment I need to teach him how to use the portals he has carefully. I'll work on the spell in my spare time, but he absolutely must learn how to use portals properly.'

Luna sighed almost violently,
"I shall see what I can accomplish toward that end, however for now we must focus on your education and training."

Chapter 2: Opening The Screfula

Luna stood in front of Chris lecturing,
"In order to cast a spell, you must first open your screfula. Do you know where your screfula is?"

Chris looked down and poked his abdomen,
"Somewhere near my stomach, right?"

"Yes, in fact it sits right behind your stomach. Yesterday you explained how it worked, so I can skip that, seeing as you already have a working knowledge. That being the case, today you will learn to open your screfula. You will not be casting any spells, merely practicing opening and closing your screfula." Luna explained.

Chris frowned,
"Well that doesn't sound fun at all."

Luna smirked,
"It isn't. It is boring and tedious. This will be an excellent demonstration of your patience and tenacity. While you practice opening and closing your screfula, there will be no talking. You will stand in place silently while you practice." Luna took a breath and continued, "For this first part, I will have you flex different muscles in your belly while I monitor your screfula. Once I see it open and close, I will let you know so you can repeat the motion until it becomes second nature." she squared herself up in front of Chris and lit her horn so she could monitor his movements, "Now, begin flexing."

Chris had some trouble figuring out which were individual muscles in his stomach region so instead he flexed them all simultaneously.

Luna rolled her eyes at the attempt,
"Good gracious, do all Humans have such poor..." she trailed off as she noticed Chris' expression dropping and she suddenly realized what she was about to do, 'I was about to berate him over something so small. Why? It is no reason for me to lose my patience. I am the instructor and he is here to learn. I must demonstrate absolute self control in all things.' Luna cleared her throat, "Again please, this time try to proceed at a more casual pace."

Chris planted his fists on his hips,
"I could use some pointers here. I've never tried to flex only a single muscle at a time."

"Try relaxing and closing your eyes then picturing each different muscle. Many Unicorn foals have the same trouble and the most widely accepted method of learning this is visualization."

"So... it's like meditation?" Chris asked, "Cause I've done that before a couple of times."

Chris sat down on the stone floor and crossed his legs taking the lotus position, and closed his eyes. Luna quirked an eyebrow but charged her horn and monitored Chris' muscle movements. With his eyes closed he focused his attention on feeling out his body piece by piece. He imagined looking at a diagram of his stomach and its accompanying muscles. He began trying to flex the different groups of muscles one by one. It was difficult. He was used to moving them subconsciously so attempting to consciously and intentionally was a difficult prospect. Nevertheless he began flexing the different muscles as best he could.

"Hold it!" Luna suddenly interrupted, "That last muscle, flex it again."

Chris concentrated and tried to remember which muscle it was he had flexed. He tried one but Luna said nothing, he tried another.

"That one!" she quickly spoke, "Do it again please."

Chris flexed the muscle, dedicating it to memory,
"That's it. Remember that muscle. It opens and closes your screfula." Luna smiled down at Chris, "Alright, I want you to form the habit of opening and closing it. Flex the muscle continuously while we talk. I can only assume you have questions about magic."

Chris stood up and began flexing and relaxing the muscle, it took a bit of concentration,
"Well, let's start with an explanation about the different Nouns and Verbs."

Luna cocked her head to the side,
"What is it you wish to know?"

"I'm curious about how some combinations work, but first explain one Noun to me: Spirit. How does it work, what does it do?" Chris asked.

Luna smiled slightly,
"Ah such curiosity. It is good to ask questions. But I would also like to encourage you to think for yourself. In this case, what do you think Spirit is?"

Chris pursed his lips as he continued flexing his muscle,
"The name seems to imply something with a soul perhaps. Does it have to do with the soul?"

Luna seemed to consider his words,
"Let us make sure we are referring to the same thing when we say 'soul'. The soul is the part of any sentient being which is an energy manifestation of who you are. It is the... energy which fuels your thoughts and which inhabits your physical body. It is what makes you 'you'. Spirit and soul are one and the same in this case."

Chris nodded,
"Looks like I was right then. So what can you do with the Noun? Can you Create souls?"

Luna nodded,
"To a certain point, yes. What it actually is, is molding Thamaturgic Energy together and giving it a purpose which is driven by your desire. It is commonly used to cast a spell then leave it to carry out an assigned task. It is not a real 'soul' as we think of it, but it does have sentience. It was considered a serious taboo until about three hundred years ago if I remember from my history lessons. It was thought that the 'souls' created with magic were like normal souls and treated the same way. It was a crime to create a soul by using magic. It was considered a horrible practice, but the previous Arch Magister proved that creating a soul in such a way is not cruel at all. In an illegal act in the middle of a meeting, he created a soul that could speak and answer questions. He was monitored to ensure he had not created something to simply spew his points of view, the other Unicorns were very suspicious of him. Anyway, the soul answered every single question the Unicorns asked. Apparently souls created for the purpose of continuing the work of a spell were created for that purpose and found their brief existences extremely fulfilling and delightful. They were created to fulfill a purpose and after doing so they expired when the energy wore out, but they did so knowing they had fulfilled their purpose. Did I explain that well enough?"

Chris nodded,
"Yeah, but what about other Nouns used in conjunction with Spirit?"

Luna puffed out her cheeks,
"This is where things become somewhat blurred. The first Verb is Create and we have already covered that. The second Verb is Destroy and yes, Destroy Spirit does exactly what it sounds like... or close to it. The first spell of Destroy and Spirit is called Soul Knife. It partially severs the connection the soul has to a corporeal body. If the soul is completely severed, the body enters a catatonic state and slowly dies while the soul is left unable to act without its physical counterpart. The soul eventually burns out and looses its memories then it returns to whence it came." Luna held up a hoof to forestall the next logical question, "I do not know where it goes, so please do not ask. Rest assured that souls of those who pass are quickly taken to a realm or place or plane which is beyond even our comprehension. We have seen the Pale One and he does exist, but he is not one to talk or speak of anything, however Celestia and I have both watched as a soul was taken from where its body died and taken elsewhere. The soul looked exactly like the Pony did in real life and it seemed happy to go with the Pale One. It almost looked excited honestly. But using Destroy and Spirit in a spell is a horrible thing to do to somebody. It hurts them in a way that cannot be healed with medicine or eased with drugs. It is a torture on the very spirit and Celestia and I have declared its use as only justifiable by doctors to aid in the painless passing of an individual who is beyond all other help. It is not commonly used and for that we are grateful."

Luna took a breath and continued,
"Change and Spirit are tricky as a combination. How does one change a Spirit? By altering it at some level. It is extremely dangerous for if you make a mistake, you will have a Spirit of a different being, one which is not aligned with your body and your body will likely reject the spirit and could kill you. The uses for Change and Spirit in combination was mainly to fool mindful spells and barriers that would only let in or bypass the spirit of the caster. It is not a heavily studied art. Now Control Spirit is extremely useful. Say for example you have a patient who is going to undergo a risky operation and might die in the process. Control Spirit could be used to 'tie down' the soul to the body in case the worse does happen. In those cases, the body dies, but the spirit is tethered to it and stays put long enough for the doctors to make the proper repairs and then have a Medimage come in and help the soul reattach to the body safely. There have been a few who attempted to harvest souls and imprison them in crystals, such as King Sombra. While there is a way to attach a soul to an inanimate object, there is no way that we know of, to harness the energy of a soul so the practice was short lived. Now there is a wonderful use of anchoring a soul to an object. The object, normally a medallion, has the soul of the wearer attached to it and it stays anchored for some time. In the event that the wearer should perish, their spirit would stay tied to the medallion so that if and when the wearer's body is found, it may be restored to health and the soul may be returned to it. I have heard that the process is traumatic and horrifying, but useful. Unicorn explorers used to use it frequently if they were venturing somewhere dangerous."

Luna stretched her neck and looked back to Chris,
"Keep flexing please. Now Comprehend Spirit has only a few uses. It will tell you if a spirit is present or allow you to see or hear it. The terms 'see' and 'hear' are only a rough description of the effects. The soul has no vocal chords so it cannot truly speak, but it is still capable of communication just on a different level than we are used to. Continuing on, Repair Spirit can help to reattach a soul to a body, but that is about it. Sustain Spirit is an unusual combination for any spell but it can have its uses. For example, say a spirit is anchored to an object, but the spell has only a limited amount of energy. Using Sustain will increase the potency of the spell without using too much extra Thamaturgic Energy. To use it to anchor a soul to an object permanently is a crime of the highest caliber and is one of the worst crimes anybody can be accused of." Luna looked pleased with herself, "Did you have any other questions about magic?"

Chris thought for a moment,
"Not right now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later."

Author's Note

Any questions about magic are most welcome. Please leave a comment if you spot any typos.

Chapter 3: Human Magic Vs. Kavim Magic

Chris stood in place with the most intense, focused grimace on his face. His eyebrows were knit together as tightly as he could manage, his nostrils were flared, his eyes held wide open in a mixture of shock and intensity, and his mouth was drawn into a thin line which was neither a smile nor a frown. If Luna was being honest, she found it to be an absolutely ridiculous expression.

"Calm yourself Christopher. You look as though you are constipated and bearing down." she managed to say with a straight face, "Relax your body and try again. You cannot use such force when trying to intentionally cast a spell. Catalyst corrected me on that. Humans cannot force the magic the way we do, you have to... coordinate the magic instead. For Kavim, we learn specific spells through rote practice. The spells we use perform specific actions and have a single, if occasionally flexible purpose. With you Humans there are no 'spells' as we know them; there is only your flexed muscles that must match your will. You can change what a spell does by... well quite directly by changing your mind and flexing the correct muscles. Catalyst has begun using the phrase, 'Spontaneous Casting' in regard to Human magic. Your species does not seem to have any limits on what your spells can do because you do not have to learn spells through practice."

Chris had relaxed by that point, but something Luna said caught his attention,
"So we don't learn and use spells the way Kavim do? Does that mean that we can just spontaneously think up and cast dangerous spells on the fly?" Chris pursed his lips, "Well at least if somebody panics, they won't have enough coordination to use magic. Kind of a nice safety mechanism."

Luna reluctantly nodded,
"You are correct. This is a problem which has been plaguing Catalyst, her staff, and myself for some days now. We have given the matter a great deal of thought, but a solution has not been forthcoming. We cannot possibly consider using any sort of magic restraints," she shot Chris an amused look, "We already know how THAT will turn out."

Chris chuckled,
"Yeah, with more Ponies wearing such charming fashion accessories." his shit-eating grin was not lost on the lunar Alicorn.

Luna, caught up in the moment, playfully stuck out her tongue at Chris before she realized how she was acting and schooled her expression into neutrality,
"Ahem, yes. As I was saying, it has caused us no end of concern."

Chris tried to create another tiny portal again while he replied,
"Seems the only thing you can do about it is either establish laws for the use of certain types of magic, or take time to really, really emphasize responsibility. Show them how dangerous magic can be, scare them enough and you might be surprised at the outcome."

Luna sighed lightly while she monitored Chris's magic usage,
"We have come to the same conclusion it seems, but we do not wish to frighten your people into never using their magic. It is a gift and they have every right to use it."

A sudden surge of magic caught her attention,
"There..." she looked around for any sign of the portal he made, "I... I do not espy it. Where have you formed your Portal Christopher?"

Chris scratched his chin,
"Um... I think maybe it was somewhere behind me, but I'm afraid to look." he guessed.

Luna shrugged it off,
"Worry not, it will dissipate in a few moments if you are not concentrating on it. Have you any notion of where the other end has formed?"

Chris shook his head,
"Nope, but it should be somewhere within this ward, right?" he gestured to the chalk circle drawn around him in a two Fathom radius.

Luna nodded,
"I am certain it is. I had to convince Discord to help me enchant a containment ward into a crystal matrix spell so I could hold this ward. That was a feat for the ages. He made me promise not to stifle your mischief and I agreed with the provision that Discord himself would stop you if any pranks became even remotely dangerous." Luna smiled, "I have pulled the proverbial wool over his eyes, there is little mischief in you. You are insincere and silly to a fault and no mistake, but mischief?" she shook her head, "Nay, you can be serious when the situation calls for it."

Chris's face slowly morphed into a deep Grinch-grin,
"Oh really?" he asked sweetly, "So you won't stop me from playing pranks with my magic?"

Luna shook her head,
"No, not so long as there is actual harm done to bodies, minds, or feelings."

"You know, I just thought of something. If Humans can control and alter what the spells do... would it be possible for me to make my portals with rounded, non-dangerous edges just by thinking about it when I cast?" Chris asked.

Luna cocked her head to the side,
"That is an exquisite query Christopher. I believe your idea warrants some thought. Before we become too sidetracked though, let us work on having you just make portals where you want them. If you please, try again when you are ready."

Chris continued practicing making his portals and before their session finished for the day. By the end of the week he could make a portal anywhere he wanted within his sight range. Chris was a remarkably quick learner. Luna felt confident enough with his precision in making portals where he wanted, that she gave him a practicing license and told him to work on his precision using a little ball to juggle into one portal and out of another.

The next day when she retrieved him for practice he seemed leery of making his portals and Luna immediately took notice,
"Pray tell Christopher, why do you fear your own magic?"

Chris looked sheepish as he rubbed his back,
"Last night I was practicing with my portals like you said but I accidentally stepped back into one and it sliced me open like a razor blade."

Luna shivered and closed her eyes in sympathy,
"I assume you have recovered then?" she asked quietly.

Chris nodded,
"Yeah, Catalyst was nearby and she healed me." he crossed his arms, "I want to try to alter my portals. I knew their edges were sharp, but that thing could have killed me."

Luna opened her eyes and regarded Chris,
"I have been saying something to that effect, have I not? Portals are dangerous and I agree with you, trying to figure out how to make 'safe' portals would be very much preferable to the alternative."

Chris frowned,
"No need to be snide about it. Sheesh. What do you want me to practice today?"

"I believe your idea for attempting to create 'safe' portals would be a good exercise." Luna suggested, "Your studies have progressed much more swiftly than I could have anticipated. It should be safe for you to do some limited experimentation on your own now." Luna stepped back as Chris entered the circle ward drawn out on her floor, "Begin when you feel ready."

Chris opened his screfula and imagined a portal which had its edges folded over to make it safe,
"I was thinking the other day and I wanted to ask you, how could I have made those spinning portals during the battle if our magic has to be so coordinated for us to actually cast anything?"

Luna readied several pieces of paper for testing out the edges of Chris's attempts at 'safe' portals,
"I have pondered that event myself. Unfortunately I cannot seem to come to any solid conclusions. I believe there are two or three possibilities. One possibility is that the Natural Magic of our world reached out to protect you and somehow instilled in you how to make portals on some instinctual level. The second possibility is that somehow you simply understood what you wished to do and your developing magerium managed to coerce your body into following through with an action which would suit your need. The final possibility is that it was mere chance, which I strongly doubt. I believe the Natural Magic was involved and assisted you when your need was great. It has happened before and it has happened recently."

She had been thinking about the same answer for her own questions for several days prior and had an answer ready,
"In times of peace, the Natural Magic is almost dormant, but in times of change or war it becomes much more active. Celestia and I have watched and cataloged every occurrence we could find. The greatest number of instances we have ever seen and cataloged have been since your group landed here in Equestria. Before then it was only a maximum of three instances in reference to a single time or event. There have been four instances involving Humans. The first was just after the massacre, your voices mixed with those of the surviving Unicorns who attacked you. The second instance was when one of those Unicorns, Beacon, was run through with his own sword and the blade missed every vital organ and major artery and vein. The third was the very next day when you all were holed up in Town Hall, and it involves you directly. You walked out of safety, threw down your weapons, walked right up to Celestia, and spit-polished one of the gems on her torc. You probably never realized it, but Celestia sensed it in you. The fourth time was during the funeral for those who fell during the Battle For New Humansville. Somebody started singing and everybody joined in in perfect harmony."

Luna paused for a breath,
"Four instances Christopher, one of which directly involved you. It is not so difficult to believe if you put it into perspective."

Chris pinched his lower lip in thought,
"Thank you for fighting with us during the battle by the way. You saved our lives."

Luna waved her left hoof absently,
"Twas nothing more than my calling as an Alicorn." she said humbly.

Chris threw out his hand and a fist sized portal appeared two feet from his hand, with its counterpart right next to it,
"See if this one is safe."

Luna levitated the paper over and slid it over the edge of one of the portals. The paper came back whole and undamaged and Luna's jaw dropped open. She slid the paper back and forth over every inch of the portals. Back and forth, examine. Back and forth, examine. Back and forth, examine.

"Can it be that a mere thought, a simple change of will, can alter the effects of a casting for Humans?" she slowly walked a circle around the portal, "Do not be alarmed," she said to Chris as she raised her left forehoof, "I am simply going to touch it to ensure it is safe."

She gently pressed her hoof against the side and nothing happened. Feeling emboldened, she wrapped the tiny hairs on the bottom of her hoof, around the side and pulled on it, to no effect. With a smile adorning her face, she plunged her entire leg into the one end of the portal and watched as it emerged out of the other one right next to it. She waved her leg back and forth then rubbed the side all around the inside of the portal. Her leg came back uninjured. She reached back through then turned her body to the side and proceeded to scratch her own back in a way that would normally be completely impossible.

Chris laughed at her antics and his merriment reminded her that he was still present,
"Ahem, yes it seems as though you have successfully altered the edges of your portals. Before we continue learning about magic, I would like you to practice making one thousand 'safe' portals so that you get into the habit of doing so."

Chris shrugged,
"Sure no problem."

He closed his screfula then opened it again and began to make his 'safe' portals,
"Hey Luna, may I ask you something personal?"

Luna arched an eyebrow at his question,
"You may ask, there is no harm in that. Whether or not I answer depends on if it is offensive or invasive."

Chris shrugged as he conjured up another portal,
"Fair enough. What did you mean when you said it was your 'calling as an Alicorn' to help us defend against the Diamond Dogs?"

"Ah, tis not too personal a question I suppose. I meant exactly what I said, 'it is our calling'. Alicorns are rare, extremely rare. Celestia and I are the last two who were born as Alicorns. Our mother died shortly after I was born. Twas a disease which took her, a rare ailment which she protected Celestia and I from with a spell which made us permanently immune to disease. For all intents and purposes Celestia raised me. Cadence and Twilight were both born as normal Ponies and eventually 'ascended' into being Alicorns. Celestia and I developed very complex spells to 'elevate' them to Alicorn status. The most difficult part is that the spells will not work unless the Natural Magic is present to power them. Cadence ascended from a Pegasus at an early age before I returned and Celestia cast the spells. Celestia also elevated Twilight from a Unicorn, but I confirmed the elevation. Long ago I elevated a Unicorn but apparently during my... exile he decided that after 400 years he was tired of life and chose to pass on. His name was Star Swirl."

Chris stopped casting and looked to Luna sadly,
"I'm sorry. How did he die?"

Luna sighed,
"He simply decided to pass on. With elevated Alicorns, they can chose to pass on if they wish. He went peacefully. He chose to fall asleep and never wake up. Celestia and I do not have such an option and we do not suffer from boredom as he did. We are eternal."

Chris tilted his head,
"Your mother wasn't eternal. I'm assuming she was more powerful than either you or Celestia."

Luna nodded,
"She was, but there is nothing to bring us down. Mother made sure of that and we are happy with it. We are not deities, as we are fallible, but there are few things which could ever do us harm. Even if I had been bitten by one of the Diamond Dogs, it would have been merely uncomfortable, not lethal."

Chris scratched his head,
"But that doesn't make any sense. What if one of them had bit into your neck and ripped out your throat?"

Luna turned to him with a troubled expression,
"It would have been painful and it would have taken time to heal, but our bodies have suffered terrible damage before. It is extremely unpleasant, but we are directly linked to the Sun and Moon. Unless they are destroyed, neither are we."

"So... you're mortal, just very resilient." Chris ventured.

Luna shook out her mane,
"What is thy point Christopher? Thy questions begin to vex me."

Chris shrugged,
"Just thinking. The sun is burning right? It's a huge ball of gas that is perpetually burning, right?"

Luna quirked an eyebrow,
"You are correct."

"What happens once the sun runs out of gas to burn?" Chris quipped, "Furthermore, if you want more Alicorns you and Celestia could just get pregnant."

Luna snorted dismissively,
"Ha! We are above such base desires and compulsions! Besides tis impossible unless one of us were to become mortal. Our bodies do not age and our eggs, though fertile, would never drop or attach to our womb even if they were fertilized. Nay tis no need and no purpose for us to use our... 'filly bits'."

"What about that amulet hidden behind your fireplace? You said it makes you mortal, wouldn't it allow you to have babies too?" Chris asked.

Luna's patience wore thin under such searching questions,
"Today's lesson has ended." she said suddenly, "We will retrieve you tomorrow." she teleported Chris back to New Humansville before he could say anything.

Luna grumbled and paced around in circles trying to get her mind off what her student had said. Try as she might, she could not stop thinking about it and spent the entire rest of the day and night in solitude and quiet contemplation. More days followed, all full of deep contemplation. Eventually the truth came to her like a beam of divine moonlight and clarity was revealed to her. She needed to talk to her sister, it couldn't wait.

Author's Note

Hopefully blessedly free of typos.

Chapter 4: Thamaturgic Energy

Chris was beyond tired, he was exhausted almost to the point of passing out. Sweat poured down his face, chest, back, all over. His whole body burned and ached, his head pounded with every beat of his heart and his breath came in long, deep pants and gasps. His knees felt weak and his hands trembled unsteadily. His eyes were unfocused and his balance was shot. He swayed on his feet for a few brief seconds before he collapsed onto the floor in a weak heap.

Luna's firm voice called to him from across the room where she sat writing at her desk,
"Back on your feet Christopher."

"F... fuck... you." Chris panted.

Luna rolled her eyes at his response,
"Oh come now Christopher, you told me you wanted to know how to use your magic to protect. You wanted to be a guardian of others. Has that changed?"

Chris grunted incoherently before collecting enough brain cells to speak,
"No, never!" he panted twice before saying more, "I meant it... then and... I mean it now."

"Well then you must become aclimated to pushing your body to its limits. All I am asking you to do is stay standing, the difficult parts come later." Luna said airily.

"You drained all my magic..." Chris began.

"Tut-tut, I drained your Thamaturgic Energy. Your body will replenish it soon enough. I also drained your strength. I need to see that you really are as committed as you claim." she said primly, "Since you fell, I must start the timer over again. Remember, stay standing for one hour." she turned the first hour glass on her desk back on one side to allow the sand to drain then turned the second one which had already drained, starting the time again.

Chris struggled to his feet,
"You're going to kill me." he croaked.

"I will do no such thing Christopher. I assure you I am monitoring you and I will intervene before anything happens to you." Luna said more softly.

She rose from her chair and began to walk in slow circles around Chris as he struggled to remain standing,
"Let us see if you were paying attention earlier. Relate back to me what effects Thamaturgic Energy has on your body and the interchangeably between it and Bodily Energy."

Chris gasped as his muscles strained but he forced his mind to recall what she had told him earlier,
"Thamaturgic Energy... fortifies your Bodily Energy." he panted and drew in a deep breath before continuing, "Thamaturgic Energy aids the body... it can help replenish your Bodily Energy when you are tired... that's why you drained all of mine." he grunted in exertion, "Bodily Energy helps you live longer and healthier... and with more Thamaturgic Energy to aid the process... that's why Ponies with more magic live longer... that's partly why you and Celestia live so long." he groaned and strained as gravity seemed to bear down upon him, "But Thamaturgic Energy has to be released and replenished... *pant* because unlike Bodily Energy, it can stagnate... *pant pant* it can poison your blood... Thamaturgic Energy is... a living force that has a set amount of time before it begins to deteriorate..." Chris grit his teeth as the world began to spin, "It has to be used... that's why you and Celestia have your manes and... tails always moving..." the muscles on his neck bulged and tightened, "Your bodies create an excess... of Thamaturgic Energy... that's why you are so thin and... why you're always eating." he ground his teeth together for a handful of seconds before he caught himself and unclenched his jaw, "Agh!" he cried out in his exertion, still struggling to remain standing.

Luna nodded,
"Very good." she praised him, "Remain standing until I finish with my lecture and I will count your efforts as a success, so long as you can relate back to me what I say later on."

Chris closed his eyes to concentrate,
"Sounds... fucking... peachy."

Luna hid a giggle at his response before clearing her throat,
"To continue: one's reserve of Thamaturgic Energy has a direct correspondence to their physical health, yes, but it also aids their mental health. An overabundance of it can lead to mania of many different types and magnitudes, among other issues, and a deficiency can lead to different types of depression and other negative disorders. Individuals who already suffer from those disorders will have them worsened and intensified by orders of magnitude when experiencing an overabundance or deficiency of it. If one is already exhausted physically your Thamaturgic Energy will bolster you to keep working, but if that is likewise exhausted, it can lead to unconsciousness or in the most rare and severe cases even death. Thankfully those cases are both rare and difficult to achieve. One must almost be actively working toward such an end in order to suffer such a fate. For example, during The Battle For New Humansville both you and I worked ourselves to exhaustion but from different... directions as it were. You fought with might and your Thamaturgic Energy helped you to keep fighting. Once you used your magic however, your body could handle no more. You had never used it before and because of that your reserves of Thamaturgic Energy were already low. You had not built them up from practice so when you pulled cast your portals it pulled too much from you. I had already used up a great deal of my own reserves creating weapons and armor and fortifying the stone of Town Hall. My Thamaturgic Energy was low but my Bodily Energy was at peak levels. Once I began to fight physically and maintain the spell on the stone, it simple exhausted me."

Chris peaked his eyes open in partial realization,
"You... you almost... died for... for us."

Luna turned away; her tone was airy, but her face was pained,
"I was in no danger Christopher. I do appreciate your concern though." she turned back and schooled her expression, "Now, I said that Thamaturgic Energy bolsters your body and mind. Did you know that the absorption of Thamaturgic Energy is why the animals in Equestria are sentient?"

Chris, sweat pooling on the floor, shook his head,
"Nope... had no idea."

Luna smiled that he was still standing,
"It is true. When a spell is cast there is some small amount of residual Thamaturgic Energy which lingers in the area briefly before it dissipates into the surroundings. The animals soak it up by eating, drinking, breathing, and so forth. There is an odd angle of this though, can you tell me what that is?"

Chris grunted and panted and puffed in his fight to remain standing but his mind still worked,
"You... mean... fish."

Luna's smile was brilliant,
"Very good indeed." she praised his quietly, "Yes, one would thing that with so much Thamaturgic Energy saturating everything in Equestria that the fish would be just as sentient as the other animals. You already know that they are not sentient so the question is, 'Why not?'"

Chris took more than a full minute to formulate an answer,
"Maybe... because... they... only... interact... with... one... part?"

Luna's ears perked in surprise,
"Do you mean to insinuate that they do not have sentience because they only interact with the water?"

Chris nodded his head vigorously,
"Y... YES!" he grunted.

Luna hid her surprise, 'Good gracious me! How clever to figure it out.',
"Christopher you make me proud indeed!" Luna gushed, "Brilliant deduction, and you are correct. The Thamaturgic Energy which saturates the air, earth, water, and plants is altered by the objects which is saturates. It takes more than three different sources for an organism to achieve sentience due to the forming of a screfula. The fish only ingest two: water and base insects. Now some of the larger, higher, and more developed insects are sentient, but the ones that fish consume are not, otherwise the fish would be talking to us. Even if a fish did consume a sentient insect, it is hypothesized that it would take a steady diet of them for some weeks before the fish developed a screfula. Obviously nopony has attempted it because of the obvious moral ramifications." she stopped and gazed at Chris briefly before asking, "Did you hear all of that?"

Chris grunted, swaying unsteadily, and nodded his head,
"I... did." he was scarcely able to speak.

Luna smiled,
"Then rest easy Christopher. Well done."

Chris collapsed onto the floor in a panting heap oblivious to Luna's grin. Unbeknownst to him, she had not only been monitoring his body to ensure he was not in danger, she had also been slowly increasing the gravity in the circle where he had been standing. She smiled down at him while silently reveling in her mind, 'He stayed standing in almost double gravity. Not even the best of the Guard can do such a thing. Once one's strength and Thamaturgic Energy are gone, all are on even ground. He did what only Celestia and I could... impressive Christopher...' she subconsciously grinned wolfishly, 'Very impressive.'

Chapter 5: Crystals

Luna teleported into her chambers with Chris resting his hand on her back as usual. Over their past four months of daily tutoring sessions, they had developed a steady habit of what to do and where to meet and so forth. Chris didn't need any instructions, he had learned the patterns easily. He removed his hand from Luna and walked over to the large circle carved into on the floor. He stepped into the practicing circle and picked up the large bowl in the center. The bowl was his cue for what Luna wanted him to practice on any given day. Sometimes it was a heavy iron cube that he had to maneuver around using only the blunted edges of his portals, sometimes it was a long length of twine that he had to tie into different knots with his portals and sometimes it was a small number of rubber balls that he had to juggle with his portals. The balls were very difficult. He had to hold the bowl in both hands and toss the balls into the air then catch each one with an individual portal. Every ball had to stay moving with its own portal. He was then to slowly collect the balls together into a single portal, one-by-one, then slowly disperse them out again. The task was arduous and repetitive, but Chris was proud to acknowledge that he had mastered practicing with five balls simultaneously.

The balls were in the bowl today, seven of them, two more than he had ever done before.

Chris groaned but said not a word. He sighed then tossed the contents of the bowl into the air and began whipping portals into existence.

Luna smiled at his dedication and trotted over to her desk,
"I hope I have not missed the armorer..." her vocalized thought was interrupted by a knock on her door.

Without missing a beat, Chris' left hand streaked out and created two portals: one on the outside of the door and one on the inside. The Earth Pony stallion on the other side of the door gazed into the room with huge eyes. He was carrying a large burlap sack in his mouth and looked back and forth, obviously unsure, as Luna rose to her hooves aghast.

"Christopher! This is not your room! What if I had been indecent?" she berated him.

Chris shrugged, never breaking his concentration on the flying spheres,
"It's not like you guys wear clothes to cover your privates. What's the big deal?" his line was delivered without a single misstep and without taking his eyes off his work, "And if you're worried about being indecent, does that mean that you have a habit of being indecent when I'm in the room?"

Luna's eyes bulged,
"That is not what I meant and that is inappropriate!"

Chris shrugged still maintaining concentration on the balls and portals,
"Hey, you're the one who was concerned about being indecent. I was just voicing a concern."

Luna had to restrain herself from stomping her forehooves in frustration,
"Nevermind. Bring the armor in please." she said to the nervous looking Earth Pony.

The nervous stallion quickly deposited the sack on the floor and retreated down the hallway at a brisk trot. Luna levitated the sack in her magic and trotted toward her pillows on the floor in front of the fireplace. She levitated the pillows and cushions onto the bed to clear space then emptied the sack onto the floor with a series of metallic clangs. Chris closed the portals on the door with a thought and continued juggling the balls.

* * *

Nearly an hour later Chris was tired and decided to take a break. He formed his portals up and linked them to one exit portal so that the balls entered their own individual portals and departed through only a single one. He then extinguished all the portals the made one under the balls and the other over the bowl. The balls fell into the bowl and Chris let all of his portals go.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he stretched his back and looked over to his mentor. Luna had a suite of armor laid out on the stone floor and was looking over it intently. She had a box of dozens of crystals sitting to one side of her and a sheaf of paper and quill and ink to the other. Her horn was lit up and the quill was writing furiously as she mumbled quietly to herself. She didn't move a single muscle as she focused on her work and she didn't look up when Chris stopped his practice so he decided to play a little prank on her.

He subtly created a tiny one of his safe portals a quarter of an inch behind her left hip and then created a second tiny one just above her ink vial, then crossed his arms and settle back to wait. He didn't have to wait for long. Luna raised the pointed quill and dipped it into the the ink vial. As soon as she did, she flinched and flicked her tail as if warding off a pesky insect. Her quill pulled nothing but air but she was entirely too preoccupied to notice and so returned to writing with an empty quill.

Chris hid his snicker as she continued writing nothing on the paper. Soon enough she went to dip the quill again, still not noticing the lack of words on her parchment. She shuddered as the tip of the quill sharply poked her backside a second time. She flicked her tail again and began lightly grumbling about, 'flies biting the royal flank'. Chris had to bite his lip to keep from laughing, but Luna was still oblivious. She briefly glanced to the parchment and noticed the lack of words. She frowned and grumbled some more then jabbed the quill harshly into the ink vial. The effect was instantaneous. She let out a loud, high-pitched squeak and leapt to her hooves. Chris let the portals go as quickly as he could, hoping she hadn't seen them.

Forcing his expression into innocence, Chris asked,
"Is something wrong Luna?"

Luna rubbed her left forehoof against her left 'cheek',
"There seems to be a biting fly within the royal chambers." she peered intently around the room, ears swiveling in tile with here eyes, "Do you see it? I cannot espy the accursed thing." her eyes lit up quickly as an idea occurred to her, "Aha! Mine pet shall consume the foul, accursed pest! Persephone!"

The echidna snuffled her way out from beneath the mounds of pillows and carefully climbed down off the plush bed. She waddled over to Luna and stared up at the Alicorn Princess with curious little beady eyes.

Chris knelt down and light petted the little echidna,
"Don't bother with trying to catch the fly." Chris said, "There is no fly."

Luna's expression changed to puzzlement,
"Twas not you who bit my flank."

Chris shrugged as he stood back up,
"It was and it wasn't." he claimed enigmatically.

Luna lowered her head and took a step toward Chris, but the clever man had more for her,
"In all honesty you were just as responsible as I."

The statement halted Luna in her tracks,
"Prithee, you insinuate I bit my own... bum?"

Chris chuckled quietly,
"There was no biting involved, but there was a bit of poking." he crossed his arms smugly, "Didn't you notice exactly what you were doing when you felt the prick?"

Luna's eyes briefly shifted to the floor in thought before she suddenly looked up at Chris,
"My... my inkwell. You put a portal in my inkwell."

Chris nodded and rocked back and forth on his heels shaking his head and chuckling,
"Took you long enough."

Luna rolled her eyes and trotted back to the armor laid out on the floor. She laid back down and levitated Persephone over between her forelegs. The little echidna snuggled down against Luna's legs and seemed quite content to stay put.

Meanwhile Chris was curious,
"So what are you working on over there?"

"Crystal matrices and what enchantments should go into the armor for the Community Welfare Guardians." she looked up solemnly, "I have a debt to pay and this is the first part."

Chris plopped down right next to her,
"I was wondering when we would get to crystals. I've been curious about them even since we found that box of Communication Crystals when we raided the Unicorn Guards."

Luna pondered her pupil's sudden interest. Crystals and crystal matrices were certainly something she had planned to teach him and the sudden sparking interest was a good sign. She decided to indulge her pupil.

"In order for you to understand crystals, you also have to be completely teachable. There are not all that many Unicorns who study crystals. Most Unicorns have it in their minds that an ordinary spell can accomplish whatever ends they require. Under most normal circumstances their thought is correct. There are limits to what a crystal can be enchanted to do, limited by the Nouns and Verbs of the enchanter. Crystals can be enchanted by any species, but they are rarely used since an enchantment requires very precise working of the crystal itself. The crystal must be cut in such a manner as to allow directed flow of Thamaturgic Energy through it. It is a time consuming practice which fell out of use when the Crystal Empire vanished. The only artisans capable of properly cutting enchantment crystals were the Crystal Ponies. Fortunately there was an abundance of crystals here in Equestria when the empire vanished. We had no means to make more crystals, not for lack of materials, but from lack of experience and know-how. Celestia and I never took the time to learn the skill. The skill is of vital importance. A single misplaced , incomplete, or flawed cut can lead to disaster. The Crystal Ponies have a way to determine the usability of a crystal, but it is not known to us. Our Ponies made valiant attempts to reproduce the cuts to manufacture crystals to hold enchantments, but after a horrible accident which left eight Ponies dead and twenty-three injured we ordered an end to the attempts. Because we had a fixed number of usable crystals, our Ponies developed skills for removing enchantments and replacing the old ones with new ones."

"Now that the Crystal Empire has returned they are shipping hundreds of crystals to us for enchantment. We pay a discounted price for the crystals because we dig out the crystals from the cavern underneath Canterlot and ship them to the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Ponies cut the crystals and ship them back and Equestria has the highest saturation of enchantment crystals in the world." Luna paused and looked to Chris, "Do you understand so far?"

Chris nodded,
"Yeah, it's easy enough to follow. Does the size and shape of the crystal matter when enchanting?"

Luna nodded,
"The size and shape do matter... to a point. A larger crystal can have more angles and facets cut into it and the more circular a crystal is, the more of those it can have as well. A mostly spherical crystal which is approximately the size of a bowling ball is going to be the best suited for a larger number of enchantments. A mostly spherical crystal which is the size of a marble is going to be the best suited for a smaller number of enchantments. A spar of crystal as long as a Unicorn's horn would only have one or maybe two enchantments, depending on how it is cut."

Chris scratched his jaw directly beneath his left ear,
"So what kinds of enchantments can be put onto a crystal?"

"Anything," Luna said casually, "Any Noun and Verb or any magical ability the enchanter wishes to imbue."

Chris' mind began spinning with possibilities. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions of possibilities began blinking into existence as he engaged his creativity. He blinked and shook his head after a moment, he needed more specifics first.

"So I could enchant a crystal spar to make portals like I do?" he asked, ideas of a 'portal gun' at the very forefront of his thoughts.

"Yes and no. You can enchant a spar to open a portal, but it would be set to only open the portal from the location the spar was at when cast, to a single destination. It would also require the user to spend a portion of their Thamaturgic Energy in order to do so." Luna explained.

Chris' mind latched onto an insane idea, bit he needed to know more,
"What size would the portal be... ooooorrrrr... could the same thing be done with teleportation?"

Luna smiled,
"Yes Christopher, I can show you how to enchant spars so others can use your safe portals."

Chris waved his hands wildly,
"No! No, what I want is..." his brain worked furiously and his eyes zigzagged from side to side as the specifics formed before his very eyes, "How many towns, cities, and villages are in Equestria?" he suddenly asked.

Luna was taken aback by his seemingly random question,
"I am not entirely certain... why do you ask?"

Chris' expression turned manic,
"What if..." he trailed off as he began to pace, "The shipments for New Humansville have to be flown in by Pegasi, right?"

Luna cocked her head to the side,
"That is the normal way, though we are expanding the railroad to New Humansville to make it more efficient..."

Chris slashed the air with his left hand,
"Forget the railroad, fuck the railroad, this is a thousand times better. What if you could send the entire shipment from here to New Humansville," he snapped his fingers, "INSTANTLY." he began pacing, animatedly motioning with his hands as he spoke, "Put all the cargo in one single location then have a Unicorn activate a crystal spar which instantly teleports it to a predetermined location in New Humansville. Someplace that has been designated specifically for cargo to be received..."

Luna's eyes glittered,
"Twould save hours and hours of flying, but the Unicorns would be drained severely."

Chris waved his hands dismissively,
"The more they use their magic, the stronger it becomes, right? After a while they could do two, three, even four per day..." Chris' eyes lit up with excitement, "That's it! THAT'S IT!" he leapt into the air with an ecstatic whoop, "That's how New Humansville will draw in money! We create a series of... platforms for cargo. Each platform will have a specific crystal spar which will instantaneously teleport the cargo from New Humansville to... to ANYWHERE!"

Chris stopped pacing and turned to Luna,
"Need a shipment of fabric to go from Canterlot to Las Pegasus? Stick it on the sending platform in Canterlot. Send it to New Humansville with a quick spell through the crystal spar. It arrives on the receiving platform in New Humansville with instructions. It gets moved to the sending platform and gets teleported to Las Pegasus in less than an hour! Hahahahaha!"

Luna's eyes glistened in the light as she listened to her pupil,
"Need to send relief aid to a city or town that has recently suffered a calamity? Teleport Pads! Need to send Guards to reinforce a town that is about to be attacked? Teleport Pads!" Chris danced around in a circle, "It's perfect!" he suddenly stopped and stood stock still, "My boon!" he turned and ran for the door, "CELESTIA! I'M CALLING IN MY BOON!"

Chapter 6: Tit For Tat

"This is the next step in your tutoring." Luna explained as she and Chris walked down the corridors of the Royal Palace, "We will be working on your body and learning how to use your safe portals as tools when fighting an enemy."

Chris scratched his head,
"Why the safe portals? I mean I understand using them for practice, but in a real fight I'm going to be going for the kill."

Luna spread her left wing and slapped Chris on the back of his head,
"Do not be so callous. Any idiot can injure others, the truly skilled warrior can vanquish without spilling blood. Would it not be better to subdue your enemy than to tear them to shreds?"

"You didn't seem to have any problem killing all those Diamond Dogs." Chris huffed, "I'm not trying to be rude, but that seems a bit hypocritical to me."

"Those Dogs were already dead, their bodies simply hadn't acknowledged the fact yet. What we did was a mercy. It is our goal to educate so that death is not necessary. Why kill when you can teach? Turn your enemy into an ally. With enough skill, killing is all but unnecessary. I plan to make you the best, but you must pledge to me that you will use these skills to subdue, not cause permanent injury. I want your solemn oath that you will abstain from killing unless you have no other choice and I do mean NO OTHER CHOICE." Luna emphasized sternly.

Chris reluctantly nodded his head,
"Alright, I swear to do my very best not to kill, but I cannot promise that there will not be bruises, abrasions, lacerations, or broken bones. If it is another pitched battle, that oath does not apply and I will kill in self defense if I'm backed into a corner with no other options."

Luna laughed lightly,
"That will do, thank you. Let us test your awareness. We will be testing and honing all five of your senses, first one at a time and then we will begin adding them together until you can use all of them as a complete set and not just individually. Second, we will work on honing your reflexes to allow you to respond as needed in any given situation. Third, we will learn about how to fight with body and magic. Fourth, we will spar." Luna paused and took a breath, "Which of your senses do you believe to be your weakest?"

Chris answered instantly,
"Smell. It's the one I use the least."

Luna nodded,
"Then that is the only sense you will have."

Before Chris took another step his vision went black. He tried to yell but he couldn't hear his own voice, he couldn't feel the vibrations of his vocal chords and everything suddenly tasted like bland ash. He immediately fell into a complete, uncoordinated panic. His mind refused to accept the complete lack of his other senses, raging helplessly against the total absence of sensory stimulation.

Luna watched with concern as Chris lost his balance and flailed around on the floor helplessly. Though it pained her terribly to do so, she waited until he calmed down more before she lit up her horn and entered his frantic mind.

'Be still Christopher.' Luna's voice sounded within his head, 'This is your first test. You will navigate from here to my chambers using only your sense of smell to follow my perfume. You must trust me. I will allow no harm to come to you but this test will continue until you are successful, no matter how long it takes. Come follow me."

It took the man many long minutes to calm down enough to hold still and even then it took even longer for him to use his equilibrium to rise to his feet.

Chris sniffed the air but he couldn't detect anything right away, 'Shit.'

* * *

19 hours later, after finally sniffing out Luna's perfume, which took him three of those 19 hours, then being led through groups of other Ponies with perfume, then being led through the kitchens, and all around the Royal Palace, Chris' senses finally returned. He was hungry, thirsty, he needed to use the bathroom, he was exhausted, and worst of all, he didn't even know it until his senses returned. The jolt of their return was so sudden and bracing that he collapsed onto the ground, became nauseous, and threw up almost instantly.

He curled himself up into the fetal position and sobbed at the overwhelming stimulation after so many hours of absence. It had been the most terrifying time of his entire life and his emotions ran wild and raw. During the hours he spent trying to follow Luna's perfume, his mind had pushed all other thoughts away, but with his senses returned, so too did the emotions. More prevalent than his confusion were his feelings of humiliation and betrayal. Luna had led him around the Palace all day like a dog on a leash and he had been absolutely powerless to do anything about it. He was more than angry, he was furious. He forced open his reluctant eyes and raised his head, fury burning in his gaze.

What he had thought was Luna's bedroom was in fact a huge bathroom. He was lying on the stone floor in a puddle of his own vomit. The smell, once ignorable, seemed to ignite his nose. With an irate grunt he pushed himself off the floor and unsteadily onto his feet. Looking around, he saw no sign of Luna, but the colossal, steaming pool in the corner of the room seemed to call to him. The rest of the room seemed so bright and intense that it all blurred into one shapeless mass, but the pool was his anchor, the pool had form. The pool was carved into the stone floor with soaps lining the edge.

He stumbled toward the pool and simply fell into it. For a short time he was content to lay in place but the need to breathe forced him to bring his head to the surface. He floundered there soaking in the sensations of warmth and wetness, reveling in his sense of touch. He listened to the quiet lapping of the water against the sides of the pool. Looking at the water, it was crystal clear so he opened his mouth and took a huge gulp of the water ignoring the minor taste of stomach acids which had washed off his clothes and skin. The water was hot and it tasted like water. Looking back, he would always remember that day as the day he realized water had a taste. His senses tingled, everything seemed so alive and vibrant.

Chris raised his eyes and finally took in the room. The walls were sandy brown stone with little niches carved into them for soaps, towels, cloths for washing, shampoos, brushes, combs and all sorts of other implements of personal hygiene. The room itself was quite wide, close to eight Fathoms from one side to the other and was almost perfectly circular. Illumination crystals lit up everything in the room in pure white light, giving the room a steady glow and there, in the middle of the massive bathroom, lying right next to where Chris pulled himself up from, was Luna. Her head was down, eyes staring at the floor sadly. She didn't move a single muscle except to breathe.

Chris' blood boiled at the sight of her. His anger spiked and he scrambled up out of the pool, roaring like an animal. Rising to his feet, he bounded toward her with his hands outstretched and swiping at empty air. Luna never moved a muscle even as Chris crashed into her in a flying tackle and sent them both rolling on the floor. Chris ended up on top, straddling her stomach and grabbed her by the horn with his right hand. He pulled her head up off the floor and raised his left hand... but nothing happened.

His rage filled eyes locked with her sorrowful ones and something beyond words passed between them. Chris stared into her eyes and his anger burned bright, but he could not bring himself to follow through with the motion. He released her horn and let his arms drop limply to his sides, but he stayed on top of her panting heavily and trying to clear his head.

"I knew I had made a mistake when your senses returned." the Alicorn Princess whispered softly, "I will not be using that method again. I am sorry for what I put you through Christopher." she laid her head back down against the floor and blinked slowly, "Everything had been going so well, I... I foolishly assumed that you would be alright with whatever I did and... I made another mistake." she took a slow, deep, trembling breath, "I was wrong... again. I never meant to hurt you Christopher and obviously you are hurt. Next time... I will discuss with you how to proceed..." she looked up at him sadly, "If there is a next time."

Chris was confused. His mind was busy trying to play catch-up, his body was sending him all sorts of insane signals of wants, and needs, and his emotions were as turbulent as a tornado. Without really realizing what he was doing, Chris reached his left hand behind Luna's head, gripped her mane, lifted her head and kissed her roughly right on the mouth. Luna's eyes shot open and she screamed into the kiss. She flailed and screamed and panicked and cried as Chris meshed his lips to hers. She tried to push him off, but she could find no purchase for her hooves. After a few seconds he let go of her head and broke the kiss.

Luna's head flopped back onto the floor with a thump and she stared up at Chris with wide, frightened, tear-filled eyes, panting and afraid to move lest one of her hooves shatter a bone. Both panting breathlessly, they each stared the other down.

Chris was the first to speak,
"I didn't surrender control to you. You took my senses, you took my freedom... twice. It's not so pleasant when somebody takes your freedom is it?" he hissed.

Luna blinked as tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall and slowly shook her head,
"N-no... it... it was... terrifying..." anything else she had to say was lost in broken sobbing.

Chapter 7: Failures And Acceptance

Luna stood directly in front of Chris looking him square in the eyes,
"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yes." Chris answered evenly.

"Are you aware of what is going to happen, and do you have any questions or concerns about it?" Luna asked.

Chris huffed slightly,
"For the third time, yes I understand and no, I do not have any questions or concerns."

"Alright then, stand ready and prepare yourself." Luna commended.

Chris shifted his feet to shoulder width and flexed his knees as Luna's horn lit up, 'I am so sorry for last time Chris. I'll never assume anything about you ever again.' she lamented within her mind, 'I care about you too much.'

Chris' vision went dark along with his senses of taste, touch, and smell. He took a deep breath, but he managed to remain calm.

"Are you alright?" Luna's voice was twinged with concern.

Chris spoke only a single word,
"Yes." he never moved a muscle.

Luna bit her lip, already feeling nervous about denying him his senses. He had agreed to the training after he had calmed down from the last debacle. He said his sense of smell was a bit more keen ever since the incident. Luna on the other hand, had her own issues to deal with. Ever since Chris had shown her how it felt to have a choice stripped from her by forcing her to kiss him, she hadn't been able to get close to him without feeling nervous. Every time he placed his hand on her back, she had to fight her reflexive response to run or scream. He had left an injury to her psyche, one which was much more severe than she let on. In her heart she knew he only forced the kiss to make a point, but her mind screamed otherwise.

"Alright then, follow the sound of my voice and the echoes of my shoes. We will be walking around the palace, but the staff have already been notified that you are training. They will not mock you." Luna said.

Chris had expressed his feelings of embarrassment at what she had done before when she made him follow her around by smell. In truth she had given no earlier thought to any sort of possible embarrassment because of what happened. It had all compounded, one thing on top of another and as he had told her, it weighed heavily on her heart that she had hurt him so. Chris had told her that they were 'even' but Luna felt she had only compounded her debt to him. She had not told Celestia about the incident for fear of her sister's anger at Chris forcing the kiss on her. It hurt Luna every day that she saw Chris, every time she saw him, it felt as though somepony was driving a stake through her heart. When she saw him, all she saw were her mounting failures, betrayals, and disappointments. She never mentioned to either Chris or Celestia that she relived the forced kiss every time she slept, nor that she awoke crying every day. To Luna it was her punishment for what she had done and she was going to bear it with stoicism, 'I deserve it.'

Chris replied with a simple,
"I will follow you."

Luna shouldered open the doors to her chambers and slowly walked out into the hallway. Chris bumped bis right shoulder into the door frame but corrected himself. Luna had left his pain receptors still functional. Chris started out his walk slowly, but gained confidence with every step until he was ambling down the hallway as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Luna led him down the hallway and around the first corner on a left turn. Chris walked right into the wall, face first with a loud smack and crunch.

Luna spun on her heels and watched as he began to fall backward. Her horn ignited and she caught him, which was when she noticed him clutching both hands over his nose and the blood which trickled down between his fingers.

"Ouch." came his muffled voice from under his hands.

Her heart began to race as she set him down on the floor,
"Christopher!" she cried as she galloped back toward him, "Remove your hands, let me see!"

Chris' senses returned as soon as his butt hit the stone floor and he blinked at the Alicorn Princess who was less than a foot away from his face. She nosed his hands, shuddering fearfully at the physical contact, and moved his them out of the way so she could see his injury. Seeing his swollen, bleeding nose, she lit up her horn and scanned his face. Her spell revealed that his nose was indeed broken.

She took a step back,
"Oh no, no, no! Hold still I'll fix you!"

She lit up her horn again and Delved him. Focusing on his face and finding his nose, she used her magic to align the bone fragments and cartilage then fuse them back together. Chris cringed from the pain in his nose and the unsettling sound of shifting bones.

After a brief flare of intense heat, Luna's horn extinguished,
"Oh Christopher I am so sorry!" Luna whimpered.

She fell back onto her flank and lowered her head,
"I cannot seem to do anything without hurting you..."

Chris waved her off absently,
"It was just a busted nose and besides, you fixed it right? So no harm done. Let's just get back to what we were doing."

Luna shook her head firmly,
"No, take the rest of the day off. I... I need to reevaluate... everything. This isn't working. I keep hurting you in one way or another and that is unacceptable." she looked up, meeting his eyes with hers hesitantly, "I am an amateur playing at a game of which I am bumbling around like a blind goose in a hailstorm. I am so sorry Christopher. I'm ruining everything. I thought I could help you become the guardian you wanted to be, but... I'm doing naught but hurting you over and over." she said sadly, "Perhaps I WAS better off on the Moon." she whispered.

Chris' bushy eyebrows rose,
"Hey, take it easy." he reached out to pet her shoulder and for the first time noticed when she flinched at the contact, "Luna," he spoke quietly, "What's wrong?"

Luna shook her head and rose to her hooves,
"Nothing."

She took a step to walk away but Chris reached out and held her in place with his hands on her shoulders,
"You're not a very good liar Luna. If this is about me bumping my nose it's fine, really. I'm stubborn and sometimes it takes some pain for me to learn. It's really not a big deal."

Luna shivered under his hands,
"There's... no, never mind. Please, just go and enjoy the rest of your day."

Chris shook his head,
"Not until we get this resolved. Why did you flinch at my hand? And don't say 'it's nothing' because you're shaking right now." he shifted his weight and took a knee so he could look her in the eye, "What happened? Did Celestia fuss at you for the whole 'blanking my senses' thing?"

Luna closed her eyes and turned her head away,
"No. She doesn't even know it happened... it's... when you were angry... and... you kissed me..."

Chris sighed,
"Yeah, I thought that might have been it. I'm sorry if I came off a bit over the top with that..." he suddenly blinked as a new thought occurred to him, "Tell me that wasn't your first kiss." his voice was almost a whisper.

Luna nodded,
"It... it was."

Chris fell back onto his butt,
"Aw fuck." he mumbled, "Look, I'm really sorry about that. I never even thought about that. I figured you were, you know, over a thousand years old... I just thought you would have had a ton of lovers by now. I remember that first day when you brought me to your room and I found that necklace hidden behind the fireplace. You said it had been a gift from a Gryphon King."

Luna nodded,
"It was but... I ended up on the Moon and he died of old age before I returned. We never kissed."

Chris sat back against the wall on which he had broken his nose,
"So then you never... went any farther?"

Luna shook her head,
"Of course not. Even if he and I had married, I would have needed other mares to act as Comforters."

Chris quirked his left eyebrow,
"Blankets?"

Luna let out a tiny giggle at his misunderstanding,
"No, a mare needs sister/wives to Comfort her when she and her husband... conjoin for the first time."

Chris' face registered immense confusion,
"I'm not trying to sound rude or condescending, but... why?"

"All mares fear their first time with any male. It is ingrained into us by the Natural Magic of the world. There is a very tragic tale associated with it." Luna explained.

Chris folded his hands behind his head,
"Well my tutor just gave me the day off so I have the time, if you're willing to tell the story."

* * *

Chris sat silently against the wall, his face an emotionless mask,
"So... when I... forced you to kiss me... I..."

Luna nodded her head, still very quiet,
"The term is 'raped a kiss'."

The words bit him like a tidal wave, devastating in their effect. Chris folded his hands in front of his face, sucked both his lips into his mouth, and bit down slightly as he processed everything she had told him. He sat in place in silence, resting his nose on top of his intertwined fingers, 'Oh hell, what did I do? That's why she's so scared of me, I basically raped her!' he took a long breath through his nose and let it out loudly, 'Okay, it wasn't quite the full-blown event, but...' his eyes rose and locked onto Luna, 'I hurt her... bad... real bad.' he released his lips and ran his tongue over his teeth, 'I wasn't trying to do... THAT. I was just trying to make a point... aw fuck me.' his eyes trailed down to the floor, 'How the fuck do you make up for pseudo-rape?'

"Christopher," Luna spoke, pulling Chris out of his thoughts, "Are you..."

"I'm so sorry Luna." Chris suddenly said, "I never... I wasn't trying... gah, Jesus! I... I... I..." he grit his teeth, "GAH, FUCK!" he punched the floor next to him, "I had no idea!" he quickly spilled out, "I thought... it was the same thing... as it would be for Humans and... that it wouldn't be a big deal and... and it is and I've... I've hurt you and I didn't mean to and... and it turned out to be your first kiss... and I stole that... and it hurt you... and... and... and... FUCK!" he slammed his left fist into the floor with a resounding thump.

Pain raced up his arm, but despite his aching fist, Chris never moved a muscle, he would never admit to the mist in his eyes either,
"I never... I never meant...FUCK!" he clenched his eyes shut and punched the floor with his left hand again.

Red hot pain shot up his arm, but he ignored it,
"I'm not that kind of... and I did... and now you're..."

White hot agony lanced up his arm as he punched the floor again, this time accompanied by the quiet crunch of bone,
"Christopher stop it!" Luna's horn lit up halting his arm, "Enough! No more!" she placed her nose half an inch from his, "No more," she whimpered, "Please. No more."

She channeled her magic to soothe his pain and hold his arm immobile.

Chris clenched his eyes shut and leaned his forehead against that of the Alicorn in front of him,
"I... I didn't mean to..."

Luna reached up and held his mouth closed with her right forehoof,
"I know..." she whispered, "Neither did I." she lowered her hoof, "We were both wrong. Neither of us meant to do as much harm as we have. I am sorry... for everything."

Chris sniffed and turned his head, grinding their foreheads together,
"I am too Luna." his right hand rose part way before he halted it, "May I?"

Luna nodded and stepped into him. Their heads slipped past each other and rested on each other's shoulder. Chris wrapped his right hand around Luna and held her close.

"I am sorry Christopher." she whispered sincerely, "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's alright Luna." he whispered back, "We both made mistakes."

They stayed locked in their embrace and quickly lost track of time.

Chapter 8: Broken

The work and demonstration of the armor for the Community Welfare Guardians had been a success. Chris' brilliant mind had been the perfect resource for Luna to bounce ideas off of and the demonstration the previous day had gone perfectly.

Luna teleported into her chambers and quickly trotted away from the usual spot where she would teleport with Chris. She moved over behind her desk and waited. She did not have to wait for very long. In a flash of dark brown light Chris appeared in her chambers. He shook his head and looked around.

Luna called to him as she emerged from behind her desk,
"Well done Christopher." the normally jovial tone she used to praise her student was much more subdued that day, "Now that you are here I have a question for you. Since I have failed rather dramatically in training you, I was wondering if you would be opposed to being trained by a specialist?"

Chris swayed his jaw to the right briefly before answering,
"I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I thought you were supposed to tutor me with my magic."

Luna nodded,
"I am and I will continue to do so. I was referring to a second tutor for when you are not with me." Luna looked down at the floor and scuffed her right forehoof against the floor, "I drastically overstepped my area of expertise and you have been the the one on the receiving end of those blunders. I refuse to continue hurting you in such a way and I need to make it up to you." she took a deep breath steeling her resolve, "To that end I... I wish to extend to you an invitation to... to live in the Royal Palace and enjoy all the benefits it provides." she looked up slowly, "I will account to you, a stipend for spending and you will live here free of expenses as long as you are being tutored either by myself or the trainer of your choice."

Chris' jaw dropped open,
"But... why?" he asked, "I mean not that I'm complaining or anything."

"I have... transgressed greatly against you and..." she shook out her mane, "I have to make reparations to you for my crimes." her legs shook as she slowly bowed her head and touched the tip of her horn to the floor, "Forgive me Christopher." she mumbled, "Please."

Chris took a step back in shock. He was silent as he thought about the offer and what Luna was really trying to do. Ideas and possibilities percolated in his head as he gazed down at the Alicorn Princess prostrating herself in front of him. He was still upset about how she had treated him, but her actions seemed to indicate that she was willing to try to do better and that was the problem. An idea suddenly popped into his head and he decided it was the best course of action.

"I accept." he proclaimed, crossing his arms, "On a few conditions."

Luna stayed in her posture waiting for Chris to continue, she was not disappointed,
"First never bow to me again. It makes me feel weird." Luna straightened up but could not bring herself to look him in the eye, "Second you give me a way to show you that you don't need to be afraid of me. I hate it that you cringe every time I get close. It hurts me to know that what I did affects you so much. I wasn't trying to..." he covered his eyes with his hands and pulled them down his face, "Anyway, I can't stand to see you frightened of me. Third I want to keep training in magic under you and I'll be happy to take a look at the trainers and see if they can help, but to be honest, a Human trainer would be best because they know how we move. With that in mind, I will stay at the Palace, but I will be free to come and go as I see fit. I also want a laboratory where I can practice and experiment with magic and especially crystals."

"Granted." Luna blurted instantly, "Granted Chr..."

Chris held his frown at bay, she had agreed far too quickly, he needed something more drastic,
"Two last things, call me Chris. Christopher is my legal name but my friends call me Chris. I want you to call me Chris. Lastly, I want a hug."

Luna made to step backward, her left foreleg in the air,
"I can refer to you as Chris if you want but... a hug... would be uncomfortable for me."

Chris nodded,
"I know, but I need you to be willing to trust me. You're willing to trust me with protecting the land, I need to know that you're willing to trust me not to hurt you. That is my final condition, I get to hug you anytime I want as long as it won't be publicly embarrassing."

Luna finished her retreating step shaking her head,
"N-no. Chris please, you cannot ask this of me. I-I-I need time. I am not ready, I need time to... cope... to heal... please."

Chris shook his head sadly,
"I was afraid of this." he locked eyes with Luna, "Let me rephrase that, I am going to hug you whenever I want." he began walking toward her at an even, steady pace.

Unbeknownst to Luna, Chris had his screfula wide open waiting for her to teleport.

Luna backed away from the oncoming Human,
"Please Chris, no. I cannot. It was different in the hallway after I broke your nose. I can't!"

Chris just kept coming. Luna's flanks met the wall behind her. She glanced behind her, the back to Chris with a pleading, fearful expression. Her horn lit up and she teleported away in a panic.

She reappeared in the field separating Canterlot Mountain from the forests to the West. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the mountain. What dominated her vision instead was a stocky Human man still walking toward her as if nothing had changed. Luna's eyes widened as she lit her horn again, backing away from Chris quickly.

She lowered her head and widened her stance defensively,
"Chris... please... don't force this..."

She teleported away a second time, bright light blinding her momentarily since she had neglected to close them. She had teleported into the Everfree Forrest. Blinking away dark spots dancing in her vision, she feared what she would see when her eyes cleared. Her fears were confirmed as Chris took another slow step toward her through a suddenly interposed bush. Luna whimpered realizing that he would only keep following her as long as she stayed along the ground.

Spreading her wings, she gave him a warning,
"Where I go you cannot follow! Please just leave me be!" she cried as her horn lit up again.

She reappeared in the air high above Canterlot and began flapping her wings to stay aloft. She had the presence of mind to close her eyes, cursing her previously panicked state which prevented her from doing so. She opened them and looked around. Chris was nowhere to be seen. Breathing a sigh of relief, she took a moment to collect herself. Spotting a cloud somewhat closer to the ground, she descended to it and alighted on the surface. She kept her eyes and ears open in case Chris decided to follow her again.

After a few moments with no sign of him Luna settled down on the cloud and folded her wings to think and slow her erratic breathing, 'Why couldn't you understand Chris. It is not that I do not wish for you to touch me...' a deep blush christened her cheeks, 'If I am being honest... I... would actually... like that... very much... but I am afraid of you ever since... you...' she closed her eyes and laid her head down on the cloud, 'I want to trust you Chris, I do... I do so much... I just... I am not ready. Not yet. I need time. Time to understand and time to heal. What you did...' she shivered at the memory, 'What you did was no worse than what I did you you, but... it is far, far more personal.' she rested on the cloud until she was calm enough to return to her chambers.

* * *

From her cloud perch Luna had raised the moon while Celestia lowered the sun. Her night had just begun when she landed on the balcony of her chambers. She immediately peeked through the glass doors to see if Chris was inside. She unfurled her left wing and held it up to block the sun's glare on the glass and pressed her nose to the door. Her eyes slowly scanned her room but found no sign of Chris.

"Do I really frighten you that much?" Chris' voice asked from the far side of the balcony.

Luna spun around, wings extended reflexively,
"YES!" she backed her rump into the glass, "I-I-I mean, no." her wavering voice gave away her lie.

Chris was leaning back against the stone railing of the balcony with his hands braced against either side, staring at her calmly. He had not been there when she landed, but there he was all the same.

"I already said I was sorry Luna. What do I have to do to prove it?" Chris asked sincerely, keeping his distance from the frightened Alicorn.

Luna quickly folded her wings and attempted to bring her stoic mask back into play,
"You do not have to do anything Christo... Chris. I merely need time."

Chris shook his head,
"Then what makes you think you can buy my forgiveness with gifts and privileges?"

Luna gasped,
"No, that is not..." she found she could not finish the sentence, 'Is he right? Is that what I have been attempting to do? To buy him off? Am I that... shallow and... self-centered?'

Chris gave her a sad smile,
"It just doesn't work does it." it was a statement, not a question, and it cut Luna to the core.

"I..." she shook her head, "I AM sorry for what I did to you!" she cried, "I was not trying to... to hurt you like I did..."

Chris sighed,
"But you kept doing the same thing."

"I never collared you a second time!" Luna shot back.

"No, but at the core of your attitude... you did. You kept thinking that you knew best and just assumed that I would go along with it. The silver collar didn't work. You keep making the same mistakes all because you're too proud to change." Chris stated bluntly.

"I am NOT too proud!" Luna countered, "I touched my horn to the ground for you! I-I-I offered you a place to stay! I offered you training! I offered you everything you could want!"

When Chris answered his voice was barely above a whisper,
"Everything YOU thought I would want. What I want is different."

"Tell me!" Luna pleaded, "Tell me what you want, I'll do anything!"

Chris raised his eyebrows,
"Aaaaaaaanything?" he asked very slowly, the lecherous grin on his face leaving mi mistake as to what he was referring to.

Luna raised her head and stepped back, swallowing hard at the unspoken innuendo,
"A-anything." she answered hesitantly.

Chris pursed his lips and looked down at the foot of the balcony for a long time before he answered,
"I want you to do better. I want you to change... for you." he said softly, "I want you to be the best you can be for yourself. THAT is what I want and THAT is what your subjects deserve from their Princess. Your pride and refusal to change isn't just hurting me, it's depriving your Ponies from the proper and just rule of the Princess they have been willing to forgive. They forgave you... now it's your turn."

Luna blinked in shocked confusion,
"What do you mean?"

Chris gently pushed away from the railing and began slowly pacing back and forth on the balcony,
"You haven't seen it, but I have. I saw it with Dan... uh Artex. For the longest time he hated himself for things he had done but he was so willing to do anything to show he was sorry, he missed the part where he needed to change so it wouldn't happen again. It took him a while to figure it out, but somebody had to tell him." Chris stopped and looked pointedly at Luna, "And that's what I see here. You ARE sorry for what you did, I know that. What you need to do is stop punishing yourself and make a change so that you don't keep doing the same thing."

"I am not punishing myself!" Luna quickly defended.

"You submitted to my unspoken suggestion." he didn't need to elaborate any farther.

Luna pressed her lips together and turned her head away, clenching her eyes shut,
"A-alright." she whispered at first, then yelled, "ALRIGHT!" she panted and lowered her voice as she looked up at Chris with misty eyes, "You're right... I was." admitting it out loud firmly cemented into her mind exactly how far she had been willing to go.

And suddenly it all came crashing down. She had been acting like everything was alright, she had even convinced herself that she was recovered from her ordeal as Nightmare Moon. She had been sorry, truly sorry for what she had allowed to happen, but instead of beginning any sort of change and recovery, she had only been continuously punishing herself. Chris had finally shown her that she had only been doing more damage, and she realized it had been her own pride and stubbornness that had caused every one of the problems she had been having with Chris. It was all her fault, every misstep, every hurt feeling, every accident, every issue had been her. She had hurt him, the first male she had feelings for. At that moment of bitter, agonizing realization, something broke inside her.

Chris said nothing as he watched Luna finally succumb to reality. She leaned her hips back against the glass doors, eyes vacant and seeing nothing, and slowly slid down onto her belly, her legs unable to hold her any longer. She turned her head away and closed her eyes, 'I can't... I can't do this. I've failed again... I've hurt him. I never wanted to hurt him. Why do I keep hurting everything I love...' her head slowly slumped to the ground. Her barrel hitched rapidly as she tried to hold in her sobs, but to no avail. The tears came anyway. She let out a long, broken, high-pitched groan as her breath caught in her throat, voice strangled by her sobs. She took a breath and let out a second, longer and louder choking cry as tears streaked down the sides of her muzzle and pooled on the white stone balcony.

Chris bit his lip and turned his head away, 'Damnit.' he thought, 'She's worse off than Dan ever was.' He looked back at Luna as she covered her face with her forehooves and slumped onto her side, her cries increasing in volume almost to the point of being bellows. She took another breath and continued crying as she curled up, almost into a ball. Her hind legs curled up and her tail moved between them, covering almost her entire barrel. Her breathing suddenly sped up and her sobs transformed into coughing, crying gasps. Her legs twitched as she coughed, each breath almost a shout of pain as her sobs only intensified further. She began rocking from side to side, her muzzle smearing the tears on the floor into her muzzle, literally wallowing in her sorrow and misery.

Chris could take no more. He stepped forward and knelt down beside her. Scooping her up into his arms as gently as he could he stood back up and elbowed the glass doors open. Entering her chambers he nudged the doors closed then turned and slowly walked over to her bed. He gently laid her down on the mattress, but before he could pull away she wrapped her forehooves around his shoulders and pulled him close. She planted her forehead against his chest with her horn reaching just over his left shoulder and cried into his shirt. Chris, not knowing what else to do, knelt down and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he quietly shushed her over and over in as comforting a manner as he could. He began rocking her back and forth slowly, cradling the broken mare in his arms.

From beyond the heavy wooden doors of Luna's chambers, Celestia let go of the magic she had used to immobilize the two Guards posted to protect her younger sister. Her horn however did not extinguish as she continued staring through the doors. A tiny, sad smile formed on her lips as she watched the goings on in the room beyond, 'You did what I could not.'

When Luna had returned Celestia had spoken with her at length about what had happened with the Nightmare Moon incident. Luna had claimed sole responsibility for the events and no amount of arguing with her elder sister had disuaded her from her mindset. Eventually Celestia let the matter drop for fear of making the situation worse. Celestia uad watched helplessly as Luna continued to deny that her elder sister had any part in what had happened. Luna had hardened her own heart against herself and Celestia had known no way to break through it. Chris had done so and Celestia was not going to let her chance slip away.

"Do not come inside unless you are called." Celestia ordered.

The Guards nodded, uncertainty crossing their concerned eyes as Celestia silently opened the doors and entered. Chris never looked up as the tall, white Alicorns closed the doors behind herself. It wasn't until Celestia began crawling onto Luna's bed that Chris took notice. His eyes were the only thing to move and he met Celestia's gaze with concern etched onto his features. Celestia crawled up and laid on her stomach with her left side facing Luna's back. Chris, sensing she wanted to talk to her sister, slowly reached up and stroked Luna's mane.

"Luna." Chris said softly, "Luna, there's somepony else here who wants to help."

Luna slowly raised her head and saw the reflection of her sister's form in Chris' eyes. Her lower lip trembled, tears threatening to spill forth again as Celestia laid a gentle wing over her distraught sibling.

"I've failed again sister." Luna mumbled.

"Luna," Celestia addressed softly, "We were both at fault for what happened."

"N-no..." Luna began to protest.

"You were never this unbalanced before you returned. It is not because you are having trouble adjusting. You took all of the blame for what happened when you alone were not at fault." Celestia gently pulled and rolled her sister onto her back so she could see her face, "This is a burden that should never and was never meant to be carried alone. Your faithful student has finally shown you that you need help." she leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of Luna's muzzle between her eyes, "Let us help you Lulu."

Luna blinked away more tears as she stared up at her sister,
"But... I'm the one who turned..."

Celestia shook her head,
"But not the only one who was at fault." Celestia lapsed into a pensive silence as Chris watched a battle being waged behind her eyes.

Finally Celestia opened her mouth again,
"I think..." she trailed off, her voice thick with emotion, "I think it's time you heard something. It is something I wrote long ago, just after I had banished you. It is a lullaby... for you. I sang it every night we were apart. It is very dear to me and none have ever heard it before save my own ears but... I think it might help you understand."

Chris began rising to his feet to leave, but Celestia's voice stopped him,
"You have the right to hear this as well Chris. Please stay."

Chris relaxed his legs and sat back down on the floor as Celestia stroked Luna's chest with her wing. Celestia began humming a soft tune and her voice seemed to take on a life of its own as Chris swore he could hear faint music playing from somewhere nearby.

Luna sniffed as she looked up to her elder sister,
"Tia..."

Celestia lowered her head and nuzzled her younger sister,
"You are not alone Luna. You are not alone in blame and you are not alone in your guilt. Do not take on what was never meant to be yours. Let us help you."

Luna's eyes watered again as she returned the nuzzle,
"I will Tia."

The three of them stayed in their positions for long hours into the night.