Author's Note

Man. A lot of things hit at once, plus getting ready for a move next month? What a mess. Hope you guys enjoy this update. I'll try to make sure I don't miss the next update, or if I do it'll be by like a day or two. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 49. Lots Of Magic

With the door to the lab opening once again, Sugarcoat stepped in, bringing the last of the shadowbolts back to canterlot high for the first time since the games. “So, I take it you two are the sources they were looking for?” Sugarcoat asked, taking note of Sunny and Indigo, who both wore different power measuring equipment. Indigo shrugged.

“You knew about this?” She asked, her gaze not moving from her spot as Sour held her head still.

“Stop moving.” She huffed, a faint glow came from her palm as she held it to the minor cut on her forehead. “It's hard to concentrate.” She grit her teeth, trying to find a way to channel more energy to her palm.

Sunset stood, walking over to her. “Try to lessen the tension.” She suggested

“And how do you know how-”

“It's just a suggestion. Healing magic is new to us…but if it's anything like in equestria you need to let it flow through you than try to force it. You'll just tire yourself out.”

Sour scoffed. “How do you just stop being tense in a situation where you're being asked to perform literal magic?”

“Hey.” Indigo said from her seated spot in front of her. “She's trying to help, Sour. Just hear her out. I trust you.”

The archer's shoulders seemed to slump as she exhaled. “Right…sorry.” She offered toward Sunset. “Not so tense…let it flow…” She mumbled, closing her eyes as she pictured the warmth in her chest flowing toward her palm. Beeping and gasps irked her brow as she could hear the reactions around her, though she held firm on the feeling of healing someone…if she could recall this feeling, would it be easier?

It was a gentle warmth flowing through her arm, a feeling of pride and a sense of value in herself. A tangible feeling of her ability's worth. Of her worth.

She exhaled, removing her hand and opening her eyes to see a small scar on Indigo's forehead. It didn't vanish, but it was well past the healing stage. Her body felt heavy all of a sudden, she moved to take a step back, and the light-headed feeling hit, Sunset and Lemon caught her arms before she could fall back.

“Easy there….” Sunset said, helping Lemon get her to a chair. “Rest your eyes and get some water. It'll feel sorta like you ran a marathon, you'll be a little sore for a bit.”

“How do you know all this?” Sugarcoat asked.

“I’m a unicorn. Magic in equestria isn't as rigid. If you had the aptitude, you could learn just about any spell. Here, our magic is more tied to the skill we have the ability to manifest.” She explained. “But I've had experience with a good amount of different spells…and their drawbacks.” She crossed her arms. “Healing magic, as I'm sure you can surmise, uses your own magic to restore someone else's. Practicing magic is just like any other skill, you have to work to build up a tolerance for the wear and tear of use. An athlete will get used to pushing their bodies by working their muscles to produce more effort. Same principle.”

“Then I'll just have to work harder to get used to it faster…” Sour said, resting her forearm over her eyes.

“It's probably best to take it slowly. You can overtax yourself. Having to spend several days recovering from low mana feels awful.” Sunset said with a small smile. “Trust me. For all the good you can do, learning control will help you immensely. You've already healed an open wound, imagine what you can do if you could channel your magic more efficiently, or if you conditioned yourself to not get worn out by doing so. It's the first step. Don't try to sprint just yet.”

“What does low mana feel like?” Indigo asked.

Sunset cupped her chin in thought. “You ever had a hangover?”

“No!”

“Right. Right…forgot it's illegal.” She chuckled. “In equestria, the drinking age is different.” She supplied.

“Oh, I figured your experience was from when you were doing the ‘rebel’ thing.” Rainbow teased.

Sunset shrugged. “Could have been.” She smirked. “And what do you mean ‘rebel thing’?”

“Dug yerself a hole there, sugarcube.” Applejack noted.

“Okay, so…what do I do to not accidentally electrocute someone?” Indigo asked.

“Well electric magic isn't my forte, fire is more my cup of tea, the times that I used it were more in combat.” Sunset thought aloud. “Maybe for the time being we could find a way to…’ground’ you. Metaphorically.”

“Okay, I'll bite. How?”

“No idea.” Sunset shrugged.

“Cool.” Indigo sighed. “Just…how dangerous am I?”

“Well, you could have ended up tazing those girls in the alley,” Aria spoke up. “You wouldn’t have killed them, but it wouldn’t have been pleasant.” She offered.

“Alright, good. There’s the pressure.” Indigo sighed with a tired expression. “Where do I go from here so I don’t hurt anyone?”

“It’s like static.” Aria shrugged. “Sometimes you gotta let it out.”

“In moderation.” Adagio added. “Aria, didn’t you know a unicorn who used electric magic?”

Aria seemed to pause, lifting an eyebrow at Adagio before her expression shifted. “Wait…” She looked down, crossing her arms. Something about that sounded familiar. “She was…not very magically adept. She used to ask me for gems that could hold a charge.”Aria looked up. “How’d you remember her before I did?”

“I remember being worried that you’d give us away. That girl was too pure for you.” Adagio huffed, arms crossed.

“Oh, shit. We dated, didn’t we?” Aria asked, a sense of dread washing over her. “And I just forgot her..?” She asked herself, rubbing her forehead. “That’s…I’ll, not now.” She muttered. “Get a battery pack and charge that whenever you need to expend energy.” She suggested.

“You doing alright, Aria?” Indigo asked.

“Just…years of feeling like a piece of shit are catching up to me.” She sighed. “Don’t mind me.”

“It was ages ago, Aria.” Adagio said with a frown. “You know how long sirens live.”

“I guess, it just feels kinda shitty to not even remember.”

“Didn’t we attack that village eventually?” Sonata asked, looking up from the kitten on her lap, pawing at her ponytail she was idly waving in front of it.

“We did?” Aria asked, frowning.

“Yeah, after we found the gems that amplified our singing.” She said, “They caught on to us and we had to cover our tracks.”

Adagio felt a sense of recollection as she thought back. “I remember that…we made it look like a storm hit.”

“We did a lot of bad things…” Sonata said sadly, looking down at the kitten. “At least you two forgot some of them…”

“You remember-”

“Most of them.” Sonata cut her off, petting Pepper again. “I didn’t wanna bring them up. You two were acting more and more like you used to…before the gems.” She said with a sad smile. “Guess it was silly of me to hope they wouldn’t come up.”

“How is that fair? You weren’t like us, Sonata, and here you are left with all the baggage…” Aria sighed.

“Well,” Indigo spoke up. The trio looked over to the girl, who crossed her arms. “From what I know…you three are doing better now.” She offered. “I’m not saying to just ignore it and go on, but I think that if you discredit the effort you’ve already put into not being like that anymore would be unfair.” She said with a shrug. “It may just be naive to you guys, but…I appreciate the help you've given me.”

“...Thanks.” Aria said with a small smile. “Sonata, we've got a lot to make up for, don't we?”

Sonata nodded. “You in particular.”

“Hey! Just because I'm trying to be optimistic doesn't mean I'm over the ‘I forgot dozens of horrible things I've done’ part.”

“Hundreds.” Sonata corrected with a smile.

“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes.

Adagio chuckled. “You have so little to gain from easing our concerns, but you attempted anyway. I appreciate it, Indigo.”

“Yeah, well…I've kinda needed that kind of support in the past, so…” She shrugged.

“Not just paying me back for the hospital visit?” Aria asked.

“The huh?” Rainbow asked.

“That was forever ago.” Indigo huffed. “Can we get back to the almost melting people thing?” She asked.

“I admit, I would like to know how to avoid that as well.” Sunny added.

“Same principle.” Sunset said. “While Indigo can charge a battery pack, you could transfer heat towards things. Though build up of heat isn't common.” She cupped her chin in thought. “Perhaps it stems from not using it at all…when you can find a way to use excess energy you have less trouble since you'll know how to handle it.” She mused. “Or it could be from your surroundings, absorbing heat would be a simple task, even unwittingly.”

“Could it also be a coalescence of magical energies transferring between one another?” Twilight asked.

“A good theory, I don't see why not, but why do you ask?”

“Well…Indigo and Sunny seem to be the only ones having this feedback loop that energizes the other's powers.” She noted. “It could explain why they're the only ones who have such an excess of power.”

“They also both have powers that can build up…” Sunset noted. “Aside from Lemon's powers we seem to understand the rest of them. How often are you two in proximity?” She asked the couple.

Sour snickered. “Always.”

“Hey!” Indigo blushed.

“Quite often. We live together.” Sunny answered, though also seemed a bit embarrassed by the question.

“That's not a bad thing. It adds to the information we have.” Sunset said as Twilight furiously took notes. “We don't have a solid conduit for fire magic to channel into…I'll have to head home and get a crimson gem.”

“Head home?” Rainbow asked. “Like…”

“Yep. But it'll only take a few hours. I hope.” She shrugged. “Fire-aspected gems and crystals are pretty common in Equestria.”

“Whoa. You get a magic rock.” Indigo chuckled.

“I should probably get you one too. Battery packs are all well and good, but if you can't control how much you channel, that thing will explode.” She explained. “Now…electrical gemstones are usually higher up. I may need help with that one.”

“I can fly.” Rainbow suggested, leaning into her line of sight. Sunset gave her a knowing smirk.

“Perfect. Just what I'd need.” She poked her nose. “Not exactly how I planned showing you my home world, but things never seem to go as planned with us, huh?” She asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “We do things our way.”

“Did you just make that trip into a date?” Aria asked.

“Multitasking.” Sunset shrugged with a smirk. “I don't abuse the portal, so it's gotta be used for a reason. I should tell Twilight to set it up…” She noted.

“So for the short term, what do we do?” Indigo asked.

“Well, does anyone know a way to let off heat without burning things down?” Sunset asked.

“Y'all could help out on the farm. We needed to burn some wood for charcoal,” Applejack said. “It's far enough out to avoid any collateral, and with Big Mac and me there, we can help keep it under control.”

“Can I even generate enough to burn?” Sunny asked, looking at her palm.

“It's possible.” Twilight spoke up. “The amount of power we're reading is promising. But even if you couldn't, burning up your excess with the effort of trying could kill two birds with one stone.”

“Guess we're heading out of town.” Indigo chuckled.

“For you, let's try the battery pack, but…we'll give you a long charging cord just in case.” Twilight smiled.

“Man. I'm just gonna be the phone charger at the end of this. Aren't I?” Indigo asked.

“There's a strong possibility.” Sunny chuckled.

“So…all that's left is Lemon. Her powers don't seem immediately obvious.” Sunset spoke as she took a seat at the desk beside Twilight. “Her reserves of magic are incredible, yet she hasn't shown any signs of pressure like Sunny or Indigo. In fact, we only found out about her by accident.”

“My powers are just shy.” Lemon teased, poking her index fingers together.

“Or they don't manifest on their own.” Sunset thought aloud. “My powers need another person to activate them sometimes, usually by touch. Have you felt anything weird when you touched someone?”

“Weird? Nah, but phrasing.” Lemon chuckled.

Sunset rolled her eyes, holding out her hand. “Here, let's test if you get any magical feeling.” She specified. Lemon giggled, stepping up to place her hand on Sunset's, a faint pale yellow glow emanated from her palm. Sunset's eyes flashed white, a rush of different emotions all hit her at once. Quick flashes of memories from each girl in the room before she yanked her hand back, gasping.

“Whoa. That was a reaction.” Aria spoke, pushing to stand.

“You okay, Shim?” Rainbow asked, moving to her side, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“That…was a lot to process.” Sunset held her head. “But I think I have an idea as to your powers.” She winced. “Anyone got some painkillers?”

“Oh, yeah.” Sour said, leaning over to her bag. “What happened?”

“I think Lemon's power can amplify other's powers. Fun fact, an influx of emotions and memories from a whole roomful of people at once is not pleasant.”

“Oh dude, I'm sorry.” Lemon frowned.

“It's okay. We learn from these things.” She chuckled with a wince.

“With that, I think we can move onto the testing phase.” Twilight smiled. “Now we have somewhat of an understanding, we can try them out next time.”

“Not to burst your bubble…but if the theory is predicated on each of us matching to the gemstones you guys have, are we not missing a few?” Sugarcoat noted.

Twilight blinked. “Hmm. That's a good point. Your five to our seven means that two elements are unaccounted for.”

“Great, so we're not off of search duty?” Aria sighed. “Thanks a lot, glasses.”

“If you are the most qualified for the task, why resent the job you are given? Much less when you get the gratifying feeling of accomplishment from helping?”

Aria froze. “Don't you analyze me.” She crossed her arms.

“So, how does this work?” Starlight asked as she helped set up a wooden box. “I thought you did basic stuff.”

“Just because the great and powerful Trixie is a master of the basics of street magic, does not mean she is not also the greatest and most powerful magician to take to the stage.” She boasted, puffing out her chest.

“I'm impressed, Trix.” She said simply. “You've really been picking up on your performances lately. Why have you never shown off your ‘on stage’ stuff?” She asked.

Trixie was taken aback from the praise for a moment. “I-I, The great and powerful Trixie hasn't had as much time to work on the more complex exercises as the common street performances. So I just worked on what I could work on. Pass me that sword?”

“I'm becoming less and less sure if this is a good idea…” Starlight said flatly. “No swords.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fiiiiine.” She flicked her hand dismissively. “Since some people are so concerned with safety.”

“Even if I wasn't being the one you're trying to teleport, I'd be concerned for your safety. I mean, look at some of these props. When's the last time you cleaned this sword? Trixie, it's rusted.” She said with a frown.

“I'm sorry that I can't keep up with everything on my own, okay?” She huffed. “Until you came around, I was a one woman show.”

“Well…that's changed now, right?” Starlight asked. “Want to skip practice today and take inventory?”

“Not really…” She kicked the ground. “But it's probably for the best…” She sighed. “Let's do it. I should have a better understanding of my inventory anyway…”

“We can check out that novelty shop too.” She took her hand. “Let's get started.” She smiled, a faint sky blue aura began to glow around her. “What…Trix, are you doing another trick?”

“Uh…no. That's all you.” She blinked. “Aww come on! How come you got magic and I didn't?” She pouted. “I work so hard…”

“Trix, you're glowing too.” She pointed out.

Trixie took note of the light purple that began to surround her. “Really?! Yes!” She cheered. “Finally!”

“Okay it's kinda cool…but how?” Starlight asked. “I should be the least attuned to this stuff…unless hanging out with you exposed me.” She mused.

“Are you saying that being with Trixie is so magical~?”

Starlight rolled her eyes, gently pushing her. “Yeah, yeah…you're a peach to be around.” She giggled.

As Starlight put her hand on Trixie's shoulder the aura around her vanished. Both girls blinked. The taller girl pulled her hand back and the purple glow returned. She put her hand back and the aura vanished again.

“Weird.”

“Cut it out, it feels like you're draining me…” Trixie said between breaths, she felt winded all of a sudden.

“How do I turn it off?” Starlight asked. “M-Mine, I mean. Not yours.”

“How should I know?” Trixie asked, taking a seat on a nearby box. “Sunset's not gonna believe this.” She smirked.

“We don't believe it.” Starlight sighed, waving her hand, trying to will the aura away.

“Don't worry, Star. We know some experts.” She said, taking out her phone.

“Well…that's Twilight's and Sunset's gems glowing…” Rainbow noted. “So guessing they're accessing your elements.”

“What are the odds that they happen at the same time…on the same day we find the other missing sources?” Aria asked flatly.

“Shhh, you're looking a gift horse in the mouth.” Sonata said.

“I don't know if I should be offended by that phrase.” Sunset blinked, her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Oh…it's Trixie?” She asked, bringing it to her ear. “Hello? You what?!”