Sunset Shimmer: Student of Magick

They found Midnight Radiance at their table, a plate of her own and a glass of punch in front of her. She wore a red and green dress, her hair pulled back as normal in her headband. She sat upright and remained quiet despite the lack of entertainment. The young girl's face lit in a grin when she saw them, and she promptly leapt from her seat to give Sparky a hug.

"Nice to see you, too," Sparky said, giving the girl a pat on the back. "How's everything?"

"Boring." Midnight gave an exaggerated sigh as she released Sparky to hug Orchid. "You'd think that at least one person would know how to play a good game of cards if they're going to bet against a Witch."

"Ah take it ya fleeced all challengers again?"

Midnight beamed up to Pearl, quite obviously proud of herself. "One was so desperate to get back at me for all the times he lost that he almost wagered a soulstone."

Pearl's sharp intake of breath was a clue to the uninitiated that such a wager was not a good thing. "What happened?"

"I just told him what his three tasks would be to get it back once he lost it. He gave up."

Orchid looked between the two, confusion on her face. "Soulstone?"

"Awakened with the right training can take a piece of our souls and put them in something else, like a rock," Midnight explained. "Sleepers and Sleepwalkers can't see it and don't feel anything different, but we can. They glow when you look at them under any of the Mage Sight spells. You'll probably get see one, especially if Sparky needs to make one."

"They're required ta create a Demesne, what ya might call a 'magickal zone.' T'ain't exactly the most savoury of practises ta make one, but ya need 'em sometimes. They make Willworkin' easier, but ya have ta be careful. If'n another Mage gets it, ya have ta do three tasks ta get it back, 'n they can use sympathetic magick on ya through it."

"They can be destroyed to put that piece back, but making them over and over kinda rips your soul apart."

"That sounds really scary."

Pearl nodded. "Smart Mages don't make one unless it's absolutely necessary, 'n even then look fer another way first. But let's not worry about that, hayseed. Try yer wine."

Sparky watched as Orchid took a sip of the wine. Her eyes widened, and she smiled as she lowered the glass. "It's nice and sweet, but it doesn't taste like candy. You're really good at picking things, Pearl."

"About every girl Ah know likes sweets. Don't take a genius ta know that somethin' too sweet would take away from the food. Just enjoy yer glass slowly; it'd be real easy ta overdo it with a good wine, especially since we don't know what yer tolerance is." Pearl took her seat. "Enough gabbin'. Dig in while it's still warm, girls."

They were finishing their plates when Midnight fixed Sparky in her gaze. "After dinner, would you like to play a card game with me?"

"Are you seriously asking me that after your little bragging session earlier?"

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you. Best of five hands, Texas Hold'em, True Name wager. I already know yours, so you don't actually have anything to lose. If you do win, you'd be the first in the Consilium to beat me in a year."

Sparky glanced at Pearl, who was nodding agreement. "That's not a bad idea. Y'all should get some witnesses fer the game, but don't tell 'em what the wager is. Even if y'all trust each other, y'all should plan ta have a geas put on ya ta make sure ya don't share the True Name with anybody. It's tradition, 'n it's a good habit. Question is, Sparky, do ya want ta gain attention in the Consilium? They'll notice ya even if'n ya lose."

Thinking on the question posed, Sparky weighed her options and their outcomes. She had a mentor and friendly acquaintances who could help her make new contacts, though she knew clinging to another's skirt would only make her look pathetic. She was not interested in trying to gain power out of concern that greater involvement would risk spilling into her other life, though she did want to learn more about this new world. Pearl had already stated that Sparky would need other mentors specialised in her Path's magick eventually, and gaining a little attention would help with that. Midnight had been correct, too: Sparky was not actually risking anything other than small embarrassment at losing to a girl who probably weighed less than a medium-sized dog. Considering more than a few of the other Awakened had already done the same, she would hardly be alone in that club.

"Okay. When do we start?"

"Let me round up a few witnesses," Pearl offered. "Ah'll be back by the time Midnight finishes explainin' how Mages play games."

Pushing her plate back and placing a fork to indicate that she was finished, Pearl stood and looked around the Great Hall. Sparky had not noticed, but it was starting to fill. There was still significant open space around occupied tables, but at least one hundred people had to be in attendance by that point.

Pearl moved toward one of the closest tables and gave a small wave to the six occupants. They all seemed to recognise her, each favouring her with a welcoming smile.

"When we play just about any kind of game, magick is always allowed unless all the players agree otherwise first. Since you're a Warlock, I know that you automatically have the Mind and Space Arcana on your side. You can use them to see my cards or rearrange things. I have my Witch's Fate and Time on my side, so I can use that on the cards to get good hands or see what you'll play. Then there are the Arcana from outside our Paths that we might have studied, which is where we can surprise each other. Basically, as long as you don't attack another player or take over their mind, anything goes. For this game, let's stick to our Path Arcana, okay?"

"That's fine, but wouldn't your magick be more useful than mine? If I draw bad hands, knowing that you have a good one won't make a difference."

"Yeah, it's not always fair, but that also makes it look better for the winner when Witches lose games of luck. The trick is to pick a game where your Arcana will give you an advantage. Usually, the person challenged picks the game, so Mages who only want to win wait for someone to challenge them."

"But you set the game," Orchid observed. "Shouldn't Sparky have picked it?"

Midnight nodded. "If I just said 'I challenge you to a game,' she'd pick it unless she told me to."

"Why would anyone let the challenger get them into a game where they don't have the advantage?"

Sparky replied before Midnight could. "Pride. If I found a game where I have the upper hand, it doesn't look as good if I win. I'm guessing putting up a good fight counts for something?"

"Right. In fact, sometimes the loser can still get ahead just by playing well. I think there's a saying that's something like 'the audience decides the winner.' Last time I lost was to a Warlock; she tricked me into thinking aces were low when they were high. Our witnesses really liked that one."

"Wouldn't that be mind control?" Orchid asked.

"It can be if you use it wrong. She didn't actually get in my mind; she just used a suggestion, and I wasn't protecting myself. She won fair and square like Awakened are supposed to.

"So, do you know the rules for Texas Hold'em?"

"Yeah."

"We use a slightly different game, since we're only playing for a single stake. We don't call or up the ante or fold or anything like that. You get five cards in your hand, three on the table. Don't be afraid to use magick." She glanced over Sparky's shoulder. "Pearl's coming back; you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Midnight produced a deck of playing cards and showed it to Sparky before passing them to Orchid to verify the box was sealed. As they examined it, Pearl and the rest of the audience arrived.

Everyone gave a brief introduction despite wearing name tags, since it was a good way to get a feel for the other party. Three were fellow Awakened, young women around Sparky's age. Jade was on the Thyrsus Path, Walker traveled the Obrimos Path, and Amber studied the Moros Path. They all belonged to the Silver Ladder, which was likely how they knew Pearl, and were in a cabal called the Trois Fleurs.

One had to be a Kindred, his face unnaturally pale in the lights. Because of their unique physiology, Sparky had no way to know how old he actually was. Kindred souls radiated power as Awakened and Uratha souls did. Their magick did not feel the same, which made it impossible for someone so unfamiliar with them to gauge their relative experience. All Sparky knew for sure was that Crimson Star had his Vampiric Awakening - called an Embrace, if she remembered correctly - when he was in his mid-twenties. Star's name tag used a deep red, which meant the liquid drop following his name looked like blood. He explained the other symbols on his tag meant that he was of the Clan Mekhet and that he belonged to a Covenant known as the Ordo Dracul.

The last two were husband and wife, both Uratha. The man, Dark Scar, was the tallest member of the group and reminded Sparky of Clash. Dark Scar's wife, Morning Blitz, grew her hair to her waist, the braiding woven in patterns Sparky could not decipher. Their nametags used a medium brown and had three slashes in parallel diagonals. Morning Blitz introduced herself as an Ithaeur of the Hirfathra Hissu, which she translated to "a Crescent Moon of the Bone Shadows." Dark Scar was a Rahu of the Iminir - Full Moon of the Storm Lords. They said the words were in the language of spirits, and referenced their Auspices and their Tribes.

That was the first time Sparky had heard the spirit language, despite participating in a battle against them. She found it hard to believe the event had only taken place one month prior.

"I have heard of you," Dark Scar said when the introductions were complete. "Clash said you fought like a cornered hare against those vermin."

At Sparky's confused expression, both Uratha chuckled. Morning Blitz explained, "It's praise. A wolf has natural weapons to shred the enemy. A hare possesses only its wits to survive the battle."

"Thank you," Sparky said with a nod. "And thanks for agreeing to witness the game."

Star smirked. "I don't think there's a Kindred unaware of Midnight Radiance and her poker games."

"Orchid, do you know how to shuffle and deal?" Midnight asked.

"I can shuffle, but I don't know if this game has special rules."

"Pearl can tell you how to do it. Do all witnesses guarantee not to interfere with the game in any way, participating as silent spectators only?"

With assent from all of their audience members, Midnight nodded to Orchid, who opened the deck of cards. They agreed to aces high as they waited. Pearl instructed her to remove the jokers and then Orchid shuffled for a minute. While no one would mistake her for a Vegas pro, she knew what she was doing. Midnight and Sparky both approved her work. Midnight granted Sparky the cut for the first hand and then Pearl explained how to place the cards.

At the start, Sparky had three jacks in her hand with a pair of queens on the table.

She started pushing her senses toward Midnight, stretching a little bit of her consciousness to the glowing spark that comprised Midnight's self. There was some kind of barrier in the way. She channeled a bit more energy into her attack, morphing the flow of thought into a cudgel and slamming it into the barrier.

"Sparky, Fate barriers need something more than hitting them to beat. Try something else; we have time," Midnight's voice said, her violet and green spark hidden safely inside the barrier and vibrating with the sounds. Sparky had never seen that in her earlier metaphysical explorations, but she also had not studied a fellow Mage's spark so closely.

Ignoring the other sparks around her, Sparky probed the barrier that was Midnight's protection. Pearl had taught her a little about shielding oneself from foreign magick and how each type of magick needed different methods of attack. They had not yet covered the Fate Arcanum.

'How would you get through a shield made of Fate?'

'That's a stupid question. Remember what Starswirl the Bearded wrote about subverting fate? Why wouldn't that apply here?'

The voice of her other self was an unwelcome intrusion that nevertheless did raise a valid point. Fate tended to play with coincidence and misdirection: Two ponies bump into each other and eventually become a happy couple with a foal on the way. Even he believed it was almost impossible to get around something related to fate or destiny, but Starswirl had written several treatises on the subject.

That had been Equestria, however, so there was no reason to believe that his writings applied. She did not know if the human world genuinely possessed gods weaving the fates of mortals as her native world did. What Mages called 'fate' in their magick might have been tampering with a divine tapestry or might simply be observing and rearranging the placement of atoms to bring about a desired outcome. Regardless of how Midnight's magick worked, Sparky had no other clue how to solve the puzzle before her.

She formed her magick into a needle and began prodding the barrier. The girl's defences presented as a rotating cylinder, which - if Sparky remembered her Maths and Physics classes - meant the weakest points were numerous but tiny. Magick did not necessarily have to conform to mundane Physics, but something in Sparky told her the assumption was safe. Calculating those weak points in her head would take hours if she could even do so. Finding one of those many small weak points would require a lucky guess.

'So it presents a barrier that's actually pretty weak if you know where to hit it, but most people wouldn't even know that or be able to find those weaknesses if they did.'

The magick was beginning to strain, so Sparky released it. She would need to save her power, plying at her opponent's shield whenever the opportunity arose.

"No cards," both players said. They revealed their hands, showing that Sparky had won.

"Good job," Midnight praised. "You're getting faster with magick, too. It only took you three seconds to do whatever you did."

"Thanks."

Orchid shuffled again, Midnight cutting the deck. Sparky felt her magick flowing across the cards then and knew she would have to do something this hand if she wanted to have a chance.

"I'm feeling lucky," Midnight proclaimed when all the cards were on the table.

Looking at her hand, Sparky had a pair of nines and nothing else. The common cards were so varied as to be practically worthless: Too far apart to form a straight, only one face card, and all different suits.

Forming another needle with her magic, Sparky stopped thinking and tried to stab the barrier. Someone slammed a fist at another table just as she was about to contact it, shattering Sparky's concentration. The magick vanished, leaving her facing a smirking Midnight.

"Sorry about that, Sparky."

She kept her nines. "Three cards."

The hand was not so much a loss for Sparky as a bloody slaughter with no survivors. Thanks to the king on the table, Midnight had a royal flush. She had somehow arranged her victorious hand only through cutting the deck, as she proceeded to explain.

"The cards were already in their order. I didn't change it at all; I just had Fate tell me where to cut. Sorry again, I didn't think I put that much into it."

The third hand went to Sparky again, who did not try to do anything with her magick. She could see Midnight was playing with her. She might have grown angry except that she could also tell that Midnight was trying to teach her, hence a game where Sparky had nothing to lose. They still had to maintain appearances for the audience, though Sparky could tell they were expecting Midnight to win on the fifth hand.

She suffered the loss of the fourth hand, conserving her Mana for the last one. Sparky would be cutting the deck. She was certain that meant Midnight's magick would have less of an opportunity to interfere.

Sparky believed that last thought until she was cutting the deck. Foreign magick that felt more like Midnight than physically touching the girl did prodded her undefended spark, at which point she felt a twitch that caused her to drop the cards. Only a few at the bottom cut from the rest. Orchid placed those on the top and dealt the final hand.

Though she expected to have nothing at all, Sparky was close to a straight flush, queen high. She only needed the diamond-suit jack, which was not in the common cards. She held the jack of spades, which still left her in a strong position. Despite her strong position, the fading aura of powerful magick from the opposite side of the table almost assured that she would not win.

"Hey, Midnight, you said that any magick that doesn't attack other players or make them act against their will is okay, right?"

"Unless the players agree otherwise."

"Just to make sure, we never agreed otherwise?"

"Nope. Standard rules."

With a nod, Sparky sent her magick straight at Midnight's barrier. This time, she closed all of her own senses. She did what she could to brace herself for the shock of complete cessation of external input except from her extended needle of attack.

Sparky paused before attacking. Just stabbing at it and hoping to breach one of the weak points would not be sufficient. She was certain the random distraction at the last instant indicated her previous attempt had been close to breaching the barrier. Midnight would not use the same trick twice. The girl knew her attack pattern now, and Sparky had given her almost three minutes to create a defence against it. She needed a new plan.

'Cylinders are vulnerable along their centres,' she thought.

Sparky stretched her thread of attack into scissors and placed the blades on either side of Midnight's cylinder. She squeezed them in less time than an eye could blink, which crushed the shield like a can between two fingers.

Before Midnight could reform her barrier, Sparky lanced a needle of thought into Midnight's spark. She pushed a demand to see her opponent's hand, placing her desire into her magick.

She received a brief glimpse before Midnight shoved her magick back across the table, once again breaking Sparky's concentration.

"That was really good," Midnight commented. "I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out. Did you get anything?"

"I wonder." Sparky kept her face impassive. "You didn't give me more than a second."

"Less than that, but I'm really good at reacting to things. It's part of being a Witch."

Midnight's hand was in Sparky's memory, but only one card would focus. She could see the jack of diamonds, the last card on the left from Midnight's orientation.

'Here goes nothing.'

Sparky had not spent much time on practise of the Space Arcanum. She knew it was weaker than her knowledge of Mind, so she had followed Pearl's advise to become familiar with what was stronger and then apply that knowledge to her other Arcana. Sparky allowed the world to fall one last time, again blocking her external senses.

If Midnight guessed what Sparky was going to do, the girl would do everything she could to block it. The teen reached for Midnight's cards, which were outside her barrier, doing her best to move without thinking. Sparky again gathered her desperation to win and poured it into her magick, willing reality itself to alter such that her jack would trade places with Midnight's.

Something felt odd, as though her magick had wrapped about itself while connecting their cards. She ignored it, forcing the trade to conclude before Midnight could stop her. Sparky felt something almost like a click as the cards fell into place, but her magical sense faded as a migraine assaulted her. In addition to the headache, she felt as though she had taken a hard blow. Several of her muscles ached.

"You Reached too far," Midnight whispered, sympathy heavy in her voice. "Pearl?"

"It's just a first-degree Paradox. Give it a couple minutes 'n ya'll be right as rain."

A comforting hand rubbed her shoulder. Sparky felt the terrible headache that was blinding her fade despite the lack of healing magick. The muscle pain did not clear, but that did not impair her. A couple minutes had her sufficiently recuperated to open her eyes. Sparky could see Orchid's worry ease as she returned to the game. Sparky's cards were still clutched in her hand, so she had not accidentally mucked and forfeited the game. She saw that despite the cost of abusing her magick, her efforts had succeeded: She had the straight flush she had wanted.

Gulping the last of her screwdriver helped steady her. Finally, Sparky felt ready to conclude the game. "Straight flush, queen high."

Seeing that, Midnight giggled as she placed her own cards on the table. "Straight flush, queen high."

There were several gasps from the audience, though Sparky barely noted them as she groaned. "Spades? Even after all that, you still won."

"Huh?" Midnight's bewildered look rendered Sparky speechless. "Wait, you didn't know that most poker games don't rank suits?"

"Then we tied? Do we play another hand?"

The comforting hand rested on her shoulder again. Pearl asked, "Sparky, where'd Midnight get her queen from?"

"The common cards?" She made the statement a question because she was unclear why the fact was significant.

Midnight giggled. "You haven't played tournament rules, have you? With two matching hands, if one uses the common cards and the other doesn't, the one that doesn't wins. You beat me, fair and square."