Moving the Stars

Moving the Stars

Story 2

Chapter 9: Secrets Revealed

By: FluttersIsAwesome

After a few days of rest and watching Astro train, I was finally able to get up and walk around on my own again. I decided to surprise Astro with some homemade breakfast, but whenever I tried to pick up something, my magic was weak and faded. “Oceana… what’s wrong?”

She looked me over for a quick moment and patted my back. “Well, your body is doing much better, but your magic still needs more time. I think you should go see your sweetheart, he told me to let him know the minute you could finally get up, he has a special lesson planned for you.”

With a smile, I thanked her and headed out the back door. Just as she had said, Astro was waiting for me.

“Glad to see you out and about, love.” He smiled as I nuzzled my head under his chin. “I’m assumin’ you can’t use magic right now, right?”

“Yes, Oceana said my magic still had to refill.”

He nodded and pulled a book out. “That brings us to your special lesson.”

He raised an eyebrow when he saw my confused expression. “Wait… how can I-“

After a quick sigh, he set a hoof on my shoulder and looked me right in the eye. “Trixie, I know you’re not gonna like this, but I’ve brought somepony here that can help you gain immense power. With my teaching, this book, and her help, you’ll be as powerful as I am in no time.”

“Am I late?”

A chill ran up my spine as I heard the calm, soft voice of none other than Twilight Sparkle come from behind me. “Astro, please tell me you’re kidding.”

She walked up beside me, an ironic smile on her face. “He’s not.”

My teacher nodded, his smile fading at my dismay. “Go ahead, tell her why you’re here.”

Twilight nodded back at him, turning back to me with a slight eager rush in her voice. “Well, Shining Armor, my brother, noticed that things seemed to be getting a bit more restless during the day. He had a conference with Cutlass about adjusting his shift, so now he’ll be coming at night to help you two. They also told me what was going on, and Cutlass told me Astro wanted my help.”

Now, I had learned by now that holding a grudge would simply hold me back, but I still held a slight bit of resentment toward the purple mare. “Help with what, exactly?”

As always, Astro’s throat clearing never failed to draw attention to him. “If you’ll both join me, I’ll explain.” After both of us had sat down in front of him, he pulled the book over to us, flipped through the pages, and set it down before us once he had found what he was looking for.

The chapter actually sounded quite interesting. “Breaking your limits? What is this, Astro?”

“If I may-“

“I’ll explain, Twilight.” He turned back to me, using a projection spell to show a silhouette of a unicorn with what looked like two tanks inside it. “Picture this, Trixie. Imagine that all magic in unicorns is stored in two wells, alright?” As he spoke, the two “well” began to be filled with green magic. “One is always open, and the other is an untapped well that only opens in dire emergencies, such as emergency healing and such. As of now, you only have your first well open.” Again, he changed the image, making the magic travel out of the well, into the horn, and out of the horn into the air. “Now you’re like this: near empty. I also believe you know where this is going.”

My eyes lit up for a brief moment. “You’re going to teach me how to reach into the locked well?”

Twilight beat Astro to the punch this time. “More than that, Astro said he wants to teach you how to keep it open.”

He nodded and resumed his explanation. “Promise you won’t get mad at me, love. This is how powerful unicorns normally start. By learning how to unlock that second well and keep it unlocked. However, it’s extremely difficult and takes about two years to learn how to do it. Luckily, it only took me a few months since I’m a quick study. (Just a note, that’s what his cutiemark comes from. He got it because of his magical ability, yes, but the only reason he’s so powerful is because he catches on and can master things quicker than most.) However, there are some ponies, like Twilight, that have this well open naturally.”

Twilight looked at me with a slightly frightened expression; I’m guessing she was afraid of how I would react and was assuming I was jealous of her. “Right, so we’re going to teach you how to do the same as us.”

Another cough from my love. “Actually, Twilight, it’s kind of complicated.” Once again, he had his trademark sly grin spread across his face. “Whether you know it or not, your well is already open.”

I think both mine and Twilight’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, but she spoke first. “Wait, how can you tell that?”

He set his hoof on my shoulder again. “I figured it out by the spells I’ve been teaching her.”

I never would have imagined the filly to be so talkative. “But, she doesn’t even feel that strong….”

Now I was all ears. “What do you mean I don’t feel strong?”

Astro took a deep breath, no doubt preparing for yet another long explanation. “Okay, listen, Trixie. Every unicorn puts off a sort of pressure or essence that varies in strength depending on how powerful their magic is. You, however, don’t seem to release anything at all. This leads me to believe that, while your second well is open all the time, your magic is suppressed by something. I knew both your wells were open, because most of the spells we’ve worked on recently could only have been pulled off by a unicorn with both of them.”

Who could’ve known that convoluted ideas could actually induce headaches? “So… if it’s already unlocked, then what am I supposed to do? It’s not like I can undo whatever is making it weak. Hell, I don’t even know where it came from in the first place.”

The sound of flipping pages echoed through the woods as Twilight searched. “Well, the most likely explanation is that your body couldn’t handle the extra magic when you were young, so somepony probably put the suppressor on you to keep you from getting hurt. This is normal for most unicorns with extra power, but what we think is whoever put the spell on you wasn’t around to take it off.”

“I’d do it myself, but I think it was a parent that weakened your magic, because when I tried the first time magic was rejected. So, the only way to get rid of it is to lock the well ourselves, and then help you unlock it again. The lock will replace the weakening spell, and once you’ve tapped into your second reserve again you’ll be much stronger than you could ever imagine.”

My eyes lit up again. “Really? So I really can become great and powerful?” Excitement began taking me over, and I was about to clap until I saw Astro’s face. “…Sorry. I promise I’ll do my best not to let my head get as big as it used to be. So, we’re on limited time, when do I start?”

“Right now. As you said, time is short, and I fear the situation is much graver than my sister and I thought.”

Every head fell to the ground as Princess Luna, accompanied by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza landed on the ground beside us. The latter giggled and addressed Twilight as they embraced. “I thought I said we had to stop meeting when the fate of Equestria hung in the balance.”

“Cadence… what are you and Princess Luna doing here?” She looked from one Princess to the other.

Luna, however, seemed to disregard both mine and Twilight’s existence. Her eyes were ice cubes and her mouth a frightening frown as her gaze fixated on Astro. “I assume Cutlass has spoken to you of the sudden increase in monster activity as well as the sudden evil presence in the air?”

My coltfriend’s face, in response, turned just as cold as the day he got mad at me after our work with the plates. “What is it?”

“Our seal is slowly breaking. Both my sister and I knew he would gain some power back with the death of King Sombra, but a second vessel has also been destroyed.”

Now it was Astro’s turn to have his eyes get dinner plate sized. “You mean he’s returning?”

“Yes. There’s still no guarantee that he’ll be fully restored, but he’s still a massive threat with barely a quarter of his power.” For being a pony with love as a central theme, Cadence had quite the intimidating serious voice.

Twilight moved her head from under Cadence’s chin and turned to the other princess. “Who is ‘he’? Yet another monster that the Elements need to defeat?”

“I will explain everything when we have time. All I can really say now is that the Elements of Harmony alone will not be enough to stop him. We will need every capable fighter of every race to aid us in this fight.” She paused for a moment, turning back to Astro. Unfortunately, all I could really hear her say was “the other”. “Which is why Cadence and I are here. We will aid you in hastening your training.”

Once again there was a princess switch. “Twilight and I will help Astro during your day lessons-“

Back and forth, it felt like one princess couldn’t complete a statement and had to have the other one do so. “And Cutlass and I will aid in yours and Astro’s combat magic training. Now, I must return to the castle. My sister requests your presence tomorrow, and I should be back that day to let you know. Good luck, all of you.” With that, Princess Luna departed.

Now all eyes were on Princess Cadence again. “If all three of us combine our magic, locking Trixie’s reserve should be relatively easy and quick. However, I’m still not sure how you plan to go about unlocking it again.”

“With our help, and enough of her own effort, Trixie should be able to unlock it by attempting one of the spells I’ve taught her.”

I thought for a moment, turning back to the creek. “The waterfall won’t be stopping anytime soon. I could try splitting it again, if you think that will work.”

Both the other mares turned to Astro, a slight twinkle in their eyes. “She actually pulled off that technique?” They then focused on each other, trying not to giggle at the simultaneous speaking.

Astro’s horn began to glow as he pointed himself straight at me. “Alright, love, just hold still… and….” The giant bang, loud yell, and seeing Astro laid out on the ground had everyone thinking he’d been knocked unconscious. However, after a few coughs, he managed to stand back up. “Okay… that didn’t work. Trixie, what did they do to you? That was a much darker power than I remember that just pushed me away….”

At this point, Twilight seemed unable to sit still as she turned to me. “Oh no, that isn’t good. Astro, I think I may know what’s causing this blockage now.”

The stallion raised a brow at her, turning first to the Princess then back to the anxious filly. “Go ahead then, tell me what you think.”

A chill ran up my spine as she looked at me, a slightly fearful look on her face as well. “You didn’t tell him, did you?” I shook my head, and she took a quick glance at my teacher before returning her gaze toward me. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

My fear only grew as I stood there, contemplating how the result would differ, if it even would, if I were to tell my coltfriend the secret I’ve been keeping as opposed to my new friend. She began to open her mouth, but I jumped in front of her, pushing her back. After a hard swallow, I did the best I could to look into his eyes. “Astro… against your advice, I tracked down and bought the Alicorn Amulet and used it to amplify my power. With it, I went back to Ponyville and beat Twilight in a duel, forcing her to leave Ponyville. I was so bent on revenge… I feel like I forgot who I was.” My head hung lower than I even thought possible; I was ready for whatever punishment Astro was going to give me, but before he could even inhale, Twilight jumped in front of me.

“Astro, listen for a moment. I’m positive that you warned Trixie about the dangers of the Alicorn Amulet, but please find it in your heart to forgive her. Like she said, she forgot who she was, and if I can forgive her, so can you. Please don’t hold this against her.”

No words from Cadence. Nothing for what seemed like forever from Astro. There was only silence until I heard him clear his throat once. “Twilight, move.” There was no anger, no frustration, no emotion at all in his voice. Obviously intimidated, she moved out of his way as his horn began to glow and he approached me. “Lift your head.” What he did after I did as he asked still amazed me to this day. “Vas… FEN KAHN!” His voiced was an explosion of force and sound and his magic slammed into me like a pile driver, sending me right into Cadence. Luckily she knew it was coming and was able to catch me.

“Astro! She’s unconscious! Don’t you think that was a little extreme?”

Words were pointless right now; I had many things to explain, and I felt like saving my breath. “Princess, please get her back to bed. Looks like our training will have to wait a bit longer.” After she went off with Trixie, I turned to the younger mare. “Twilight, we have much to discuss. When Cadence returns, I need you to tell me what you did with the Amulet. Obviously Trixie took it off, so I assume you’ve hidden it somewhere?”

“Yes, my friend Zecora is keeping it now, but what’s all this about?”

By this time, the sky was beginning to darken. Cadence returned moments later, and we both nodded, acknowledging that she had to go. Almost immediately after she had left, Cutlass jumped down from a tree branch.

“I hope I’m not late.”

A slight chuckle escaped me. “Actually, your timing couldn’t be better. Call Snarbolax, we need to get somewhere, and fast.”

He nodded quickly, and let out a shrill whistle. Only moments later, the large, black beast jumped out from under the ground. “Where are we headed?”

I bumped Twilight, and she shook her head quickly and turned her attention to the soldier. “To the Everfree Forest outside of Ponyville.”

He nodded again, jumping on Snarbolax’s back. “Hop on you two.”

After we were both safely on, we took off. Snarby was a powerful beast, running faster than most Earth Ponies I knew. “Twilight, listen to me, and listen to me carefully. The Elements of Harmony… are not the only set of special Elements that have been created.”