35 - The Student: Part 2/Field Training [Remake]

Gliding along the night sky, Prurience mindlessly went through the few clouds dotted around, each impact dissipating them entirely. She groaned in annoyance upon feeling her manework getting undone by her work, but she knew better than to complain to her coworkers. Speaking of, glancing to the west, Prurience watched as a lime pegasus finished removing the clouds covering Ponyville. The lime pegasus was looking around, searching for any other cloud to remove before making his way to Prurience with a few quick wing flaps.

“Okay, I think I’m done with my quadrant,” he said while suppressing a yawn. “How about you?”

“Almost. Just need to finish the area near the farms,” Prurience replied.

“Great. Let’s get this over with, I’m exhausted. Sun’s almost up, too.”

Just as the pegasus was about to dart toward the edge of the town, Prurience stopped him by placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry, Typhoon. I can take care of it. You go ahead and rest,” the thestral softly said.

Typhoon turned around and was about to protest only to be met with Prurience’s gaze, her deep magenta eyes staring deeply into his. He could feel his face growing hotter. “U-Uh, well… You know the rules, we’ve got to stay in duos during the night shift. Boss’ orders.”

Inching closer to him, Prurience began practically whispering directly into the stallion’s ears. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m a thestral, remember? We thrive in the night…”

She could feel his breath quicken, his heart beating faster. “B… But what if—”

Prurience did not let him finish his sentence. She already had gotten to him, after all. “Just go,” she purred into his ears. She saw the shivers going through his body as her words left her mouth, accompanied by a wisp of magenta energy entering his ears.

Typhoon’s body went limp, which would have caused him to fall were Prurience not there to catch him. His mind turned completely blank for a second before he partly came back to his senses. Feeling a heavy fog swell up inside his skull, the stallion blinked a few times before slowly flying away. “... Good night, Glide,” he muttered.

Prurience chuckled. “Good night, Typhoon. Oh, and if anypony asks,” she began. Once again, tendrils of magic appeared from her mouth and made their way toward Typhoon, entering directly into his ears. He was already under her control; she had no need to hide her powers at this point. “We took care of the skies around the farms together.”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “Anything else?”

“Sleep well.”

“Very well,” Typhoon replied before leaving Prurience.

She stayed in the sky for a while, watching as her coworker flew away. “Too easy,” she said to herself before heading toward Sweet Apple Acres. It was finally about time she met her contact from the Pact.

Reaching the edge of the town in mere moments, Prurience scanned the orchards in search of a signal. She wasn’t exactly sure what to expect: the letter she received from the Crescent Pact was, as always, light on the details. All she was told was that she’d recognize the signal when she’d see it.

She slowed down, then began circling above the farms, circling back and forth all the while staying near the clouds she was supposed to dissipate… Something she’ll actually have to do after her nightly dealings, else her boss might question her.

Thanks to her thestral nature, Prurience’s eyes were able to pierce through the night’s darkness, spotting countless shapes moving through the bushes and the foliage below. Mostly critters and nocturnal animals, but one of the shape’s movements drew her attention.

There, slowly lurking just outside of the orchard’s outer edge, a body clumsily made its way toward the town. Narrowing her eyes, Prurience silently glided closer to her target under the cover of the night. And with each moment bringing her physically closer to the shape, so too did her memories. Prurience smirked.

Abandoning all attempts to be stealthy, the thestral dove downward and, with one swift motion, landed right in front of the figure. The sudden landing caused the pony to jump and yelp in fear, diving into a bush for safety. With a hearty laugh, Prurience stepped closer to the bush and moved some branches with a hoof, revealing the figure inside: a strangely thin pony, whose body was riddled with holes and whose fur was replaced by a black and viscous chitin-like substance.

“Long time no see, bug,” Prurience finally said, causing the changeling to finally look up. Upon recognizing the face of its assailant, the changeling groaned and slowly stepped out of the bush.

“... Hi, Miss Prurience. You scared me…”

She scoffed. “As jumpy as always, I see. So, you’re gonna be my little helper for the next few days?”

Rubbing one of its forelegs with the other, the changeling looked away. “Yes, miss. I, uh, also brought the powder,” it said before nudging toward the bags on its sides.

“Oh? What’s that for?” she asked as she stepped forward and opened the changeling’s bags. Prurience began to rummage through their contents without waiting for an answer, throwing whatever seemed useless to her out of the bags.

“The… The Moon’s Tears. The thing that turns ponies into…”

Prurience felt a cold chill. “Oh, that. Right,” the thestral said, immediately stepping away. She was no longer interested in the contents of the changeling’s bags, instead electing to step away from the powder. “... Didn’t know it was a powder.”

“So, uh… What’s the plan, miss?”

Quickly scanning the area, Prurience spoke more softly. “... I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s go to my place. Do you have a good disguise?”

The changeling gulped. “Y… Yes. I have trained a lot since last time.”

“Good. We don’t need another Opera incident. Right, so turn into…” Prurience stopped, then looked up. She stared at the clouds above, the ones she was supposed to dissipate before the end of her shift. “... Actually, I’ve got a test for you.”

“A test?” the changeling asked, its voice breaking a little.

“Yup. To prove to me you’re worthy to work at my side. You see those clouds above?”

Looking up, the bug pony acquiesced. “Uh… Yes?”

“Turn into me and get rid of them. You just need to fly through. Can you do that?”

The changeling stayed silent for a moment, before closing its eyes. Prurience saw its body become engulfed in green flames before turning into a near-perfect copy of her. “... I can do that, yes!” her clone replied, a surge of confidence going through its body.

“Great. You do that, and I’ll be in my room at the hotel, waiting for you,” the thestral smirked as she began walking away.

“Wait, aren’t you staying to see if I’m doing a good job?”

“Eh, I’ll keep an eye on you as I leave. I’m already late for… Important stuff,” she lied, already thinking about the long shower she’d take as soon as she reached the inn.

“Oh… Okay. I’ll come back as soon as possible, miss!”

“You do that,” Prurience said. Just as the changeling was about to fly away, to do Prurience’s job for her, the thestral smiled. “Oh, and it’s good to see you again, Prosternum.”

The changeling returned Prurience’s smile — literally — before flying away, darting toward the clouds above. With a sly grin, the thestral left the farms and headed for the Daylight Inn, muttering under her breath as she glanced one last time at a copy of herself doing her job for her. “I can work with that…”

Aphelion happily trotted through the semi-busy streets of Ponyville. Looking up, he silently watched as a small group of weather pegasi dissipated the clouds above, allowing for the sun to shine down on the small town. Despite Aphelion’s heavy heart the previous night, he woke up feeling cheerful. Not only were the previous day’s worries gone after a good night’s rest, but the young unicorn was also greatly looking forward to his upcoming lesson with Twilight.

As he made his way through the morning markets, Aphelion glanced at the stalls around him. Despite already having taken his breakfast back at the inn, the sight of plentiful fruits and baked goods made him consider the idea of a second breakfast. “Well, I’m still somewhat early for my lessons,” he thought. “Can’t hurt to try the local cuisine.”

Thanks to Glaze, Aphelion knew that Ponyville was renowned for its large apple orchards owned by the fittingly named Apple family. Furthermore, didn’t Glaze have a cousin living in Ponyville?

Noticing a stall nearby selling apples in many different forms, Aphelion tentatively made his way to it. Behind the counter, a massive red stallion serenely observed the ponies passing through the streets before eventually spotting Aphelion. The stallion, easily one and a half times Aphelion’s size, simply nodded as the gray unicorn got close enough.

Aphelion cleared his throat. “Hello. Can I get a, uh…” carefully observing each of the many baked goods, apples and jars of applesauce, Aphelion struggled to make a choice. The red stallion remained silent, waiting for Aphelion to finish his sentence.

After what felt to Aphelion like agonizingly long seconds of awkward silence, he forced himself to pick something at random. “... Can I just get two apples, please?”

For a moment, the red stallion’s face twitched ever so slightly. However, the merchant’s visage quickly turned back to its calm, unreadable state before uttering a single word. “Eeyup,” he replied as he grabbed a bag for Aphelion, placing the apples inside.

“Thanks,” Aphelion softly said while placing two bits on the counter. Seeing the massive stallion quite literally staring him down due to their size difference, Aphelion couldn’t help but feel intimidated. His bout of awkwardness certainly didn’t help much either, but he still decided to try and salvage what had been so far a disastrously awkward conversation. “So, uh… I’m new in town, but I was wondering… Would you happen to know a mare named Apple Glaze, by any chance?”

The red stallion’s face twitched once again, this time taking noticeably longer before his expression went back to normal. Aphelion blinked once. What that… Annoyance on the stallion’s face? “... Eeyup,” he eventually replied.

“Oh… Nice. Um, she told me she had some family here, and I… Guess I wanted to say hi? Oh, and she says hi as well.”

The merchant sighed. “... Tell her we say ‘hi’ too.”

“O… Okay, I will.”

Aphelion and the merchant then stood silently, staring at each other for a moment. Scratching the back of his head, Aphelion began to pull away. “Well… It’s been nice,” he lied, “but I have to get going. Have a nice day!”

“Yup.”

Quickly trotting away, Aphelion felt like he could die of cringe at any moment now. Hopefully, the rest of the day will be less tense.

When Aphelion finally reached the Golden Oak Library, he was surprised to see Twilight waiting for him at the doorstep with multiple saddlebags at her side… As well as the massive bags under her eyes. Trotting up to her, she energetically waved at him. “Good morning! Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“Hi, Twilight. I did, thank you. How are you doing? And what’s with the bags?”

“I’m doing great, because today’s lesson is going to be a practical one. We’ll do some in-the-field training!”

Truth be told, Aphelion slowly grew afraid of the mare’s enthusiasm. Just 24 hours ago, the two of them barely managed to hold a conversation together before Spike finally managed to break the ice for them. Still, though, the gray unicorn decided to ignore this growing sensation in him. “Oh, that’s nice. Do you think I’m ready for that step, though? We only scratched the surface of my theoretical understanding yesterday, and…”

“That’s perfectly fine! I’ve been doing some research late at night, and basically, while your understanding of magic is flawed, it’s still got a solid basic structure on which we can work. I’ve found a few books on the evolution of arcanology through the centuries, and… Actually, why don’t I explain it to you while we walk?”

“Uh… Sure. Where are we going?”

“Right next to the Everfree Forest.”

“... So, basically, exothaumic spells are considered black magic?” asked the gray unicorn just as the duo reached the outside of the town. They had been talking the entire way through Ponyville, barely paying any attention to the world around them.

“Well, not quite. Using the inherent magic of the world is perfectly fine, but where society draws the line is at using other living beings’ essence. For example, yesterday, you kept using the verb to harvest when referring to using other ponies’ magic.”

“Yes. I was always told to see other creature’s thaumic pathways as… As sort of a field full of crops that fuels their powers. By taking the crops yourself, you could strengthen yourself while weakening your opponent… Well, that’s if you don’t consider the whole ‘preying on the weak’ aspect of things.”

‘True, that’s one part of it. There’s another issue, though. If we keep going with your metaphor, it’s not just harvesting the field you’re doing. In truth, you’re actively withering. You’re not just taking the fruits of somepony else’s work, you’re also stealing the nutrients in the earth that allowed the crops to grow to begin with.”

“Wait, really? So, it could potentially…”

Twilight sighed. “If somepony was to… ‘harvest’ too much of a creature’s pathways with what you called exothaumic spells, there could be irreversible damages done to the target. You would not just be harming and weakening an opponent, but actively destroying a part of their very own selves.”

Pensively, Aphelion scratched his chin. “... I suppose I can understand why that’d be considered controversial by a society not hellbent on efficiency.”

“Indeed. That’s probably why Celestia sent you here. Dark magic is, inherently, incredibly dangerous… Both for the target and the user, but that’s a lesson for another day.”

Stopping near the tree line, Aphelion breathed in the fresh air. Next to no signs of society were around them: all they could see was a small, cobbled path leading to Ponyville. Behind them, spreading everywhere as far as the eyes could see, a wall of darkened trees, shady bushes and ominous sounds indicated the beginning point of the Everfree Forest, a place Aphelion quickly understood why it bore such a terrible reputation. “Alright,” he spoke up. “So, why are we here exactly? And what’s today’s lesson? You haven’t said quite yet…”

“Right. I wanted to circle back on one of the types of magic you described… Endothaumic magic,” Twilight explained as she laid down her saddlebags on the grass below.

Aphelion glanced at the bags, then turned his attention to Twilight. “Right, I guess that makes sense. We’re beginning with the basics, then, right?”

“Not quite. The way you were taught about endothaumic spells is flawed.”

“Ah. Of course it is,” the gray unicorn sighed as his shoulders slumped.

Sparking her horn and opening her saddlebags with her magic, Twilight continued talking as she rummaged through the bags’ contents. “It’s okay. It does make sense given your… Teachers’ general approach to the arcane. You were taught that endothaumic spells were less powerful than the other kinds due to the smaller amount of ley lines accessed, right?”

“More or less, yes.”

“Well, that’s just one very surface level way to approach these sorts of spells. When a unicorn first learns to use magic, sure, this might be true. The use of mana crystals, or mana-enriched environment can serve as crutches when learning the basics of magic. The thing is, however, most ponies’ innate abilities grow with time and experience.”

Aphelion, silently listening to Twilight and watching as she began pulling out multiple gems from her bags, sat down on his haunches and nodded. Despite being attentive and doing his best to keep an open mind, Twilight’s explanation harmed his ego, the thought of most of his arcane theory being based on a foalish approach to magic clearly hurting his pride as a unicorn.

She continued, oblivious to Aphelion’s inner turmoil. “While endothaumic spells might start as weaker when somepony begins learning about magic, their repeated use and study helps develop new ley lines and arcane pathways in a unicorn’s body. These new pathways are much more efficient at converting a unicorn’s inner energy into spells while also allowing for a much greater pool of stored mana for later use.”

Scratching his chin, Aphelion tilted his head. “Is that true? It… It sorts of sounds like a natural alternative to the altered ley line used in hybrid spells.”

“Hm, yes, you did mention those yesterday. To be honest, these do not really sound like anything I’ve ever seen in any of the general arcane theories and general models… But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, that’s something we’ll tackle later this week. Today, I want you to start developing your own natural ley lines.”

The gray unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Is that something we can do in just an afternoon?” he asked, causing Twilight to chuckle.

“No, not really. I’m afraid it’ll take months for you to develop your arcane pathways to the same level as a regular unicorn. What we’re going to do, today, is teach you a few exercises tailored specifically for you,” she explained as she laid out multiple gems in front of Aphelion.

Carefully observing the various multicolored gems in front of him, Aphelion noticed the many glints and sparkles of weave-like magic floating inside each of the gems. He recognized them as typical mana gems, the type he often used with his invention to fuel them with magic. “... I thought we’d be training my endothaumic magic?”

She smiled. “We are. The only magic you’re going to be allowed to use is the one stored within your own body. These gems’ only use is to help you refuel when you start getting exhausted… They’ve been modified to mimic a night’s worth of magic recovery.”

“Ah… There’s going to be an issue, then, I’m afraid,” he softly said while grabbing one of the gems and lifting it above his head, letting the light of the sun pass through.

“What? How so?”

“You remember when I told you I had thaumic atrophy?”

“Well… Yes, but you’re not suffering from it right now, are you?”

With a curious look, Aphelion placed the gem back on the ground and turned his head toward Twilight. “Uh… I mean, it’s not really the type of thing that comes and goes at random.”

“Yes, but you haven’t used excessive amounts of magic today, right?”

“Well, not really, but my ley lines are still, you know… Atrophied.”

“... What?”

“I told you yesterday, didn’t I? About my ley lines being similar to dried-out rivers.”

“You did, yes, but… But that’s just because your natural ley lines are underdeveloped. You were taught that endothaumic magic was extremely basic, and you’ve never really trained your own body to…”

He lifted a hoof. “Wow, slow down. That’s nothing like that, at all. Sure, my pathways are underdeveloped, but that’s not just it. What I have is… Is a birth defect, basically.”

“How can you be so sure? I’ve never heard of anything like that. Isn’t it just something you were taught just so that you wouldn’t bother with endothaumic magic since your teachers thought it was pretty much worthless?”

Aphelion stood back up, feeling mild annoyance. “Because I don’t just feel it with endo spells. It’s also when I use other sources, like from gems, or the environment, of other ponies. I can only cast a few spells per day before things get dangerous for me.”

Blinking a few times, Twilight stared at Aphelion in silence. With a clearly skeptical look, she grabbed a notebook from her saddlebag and scribbled a few notes before speaking up again. “... Right. And so, even with these gems to help you recover…”

“Just sucking the energy from those would count toward my daily limit, yes.”

Twilight sighed, then placed the gems back in her bags with her magic. “Alright, then. It’ll just take… Much longer for your natural pathways to develop, but that’s fine. I’ll still teach you the exercises for today. Is that alright?”

“I… I suppose so. Sorry for being such a complicated case,” Aphelion said in a much calmer demeanor.

With a faint smile, Twilight nodded. “It’s alright. Okay, let’s begin.”

Aphelion nodded as well and stepped forward with a resolute look in his eyes. And as Twilight began describing the first exercises to her student, an idea wormed into her mind. This whole ‘magical atrophy’ thing sounded like nonsense to her, but there might have been a kernel of truth in what Aphelion told her. There would only be one way for her to discover the truth.

She would push him to his limits and prove to him his condition was another lie told by those who taught him everything.

Author's Note

Welp, I did it. I managed to post a chapter before the end of the month.
Hurray me.

Second part of the remade "the student" arc. Once again, we focus a bit more on how magic works (or, at least, how Twilight and Aphelion understand it to work) as well as the return of some faces from before the remake.

Hopefully, next part won't take a whole month to write 🤷