Everfree Chapter 7

Twilight had found it difficult to sleep, her stomach made constant pleas for sustenance through the night. Around 3am she decided to get a light snack of celery sticks which calmed her pangs and allowed her to rest for the remainder of the night. It was past 10am when she finally felt able to get up. Spike had made breakfast and opened the library for the day already, knowing Twilight needed her rest.

The unicorn quickly ate and refreshed herself for the day with a shower and brushing her teeth. She then returned to the library's main room where she sat down and returned to reading her book.

A few days after my walk with Luna in the garden I was summoned to the throne room to speak with Princess Celestia.

"Starmoon." She said to me as I bowed before her. "My sister has expressed a desire to leave Everfree and see more of Equestria. She seems quite distressed about the opinions of our subjects concerning her."

I nodded, "Yes Princess, I am aware. She has told me this."

"I see. This is not the first time she has wanted to leave. It is important to her that the subjects of our country think well of her. She fears that because they do not enjoy her nights as much as my days, that they fear and revile her. For the longest time I have tried to protect her from this, but I cannot keep her here in the castle forever. I've been thinking on this for many years already, I think the time is coming that Luna leaves to learn what she needs to."

Her voice was somber and pregnant with concern for her sister. She sounded almost maternal in her concern.

She continued, "Starmoon, I want you to go with her as she journeys."

I was startled at this. "Me? May I ask why Princess?"

She closed her eyes and sighed faintly. "She seems to trust you more than I."

I could feel the heartbreak in what she said. "Princess Celestia.... Your Highness I am not sure what help I can give her."

"You still hold within you much of the magic that Discord infused you with. I know you are still discovering yourself, but I want you to begin training with some of the ponies of the castle so you can help Luna while you are out. I will also be sending two of my guards with you as added security."

I bowed once more. "I understand Princess. Whom will I be training with?"

At this point my dear reader I'm afraid I must skip ahead some. You will not really be missing much a few months of instruction in magic and self defense is not as exciting as others would have you believe though I will touch on memorable moments. My instructor in magic was a powerful pony named Starswirl, the bearded. Despite the title however this pony was not a stallion but a mare who, as it turns out, had simply failed her first attempt at 'growing' magic and had given herself a permanent beard that would always grow back to the same length each time it was cut.  Because of her reclusive nature and title however it was widely accepted that she was  a stallion, much to her dismay.

Starswirl was an old unicorn, not yet elderly but certainly getting on in years. Even so she still had amazing ability with magic. While most unicorns have only a small ability with magic that reflects their talents, Starswirl's talent was magic itself. A talent that allowed her to use a fantastic array of magic. She was also quite eccentric, commonly wearing a large, pointed hat with jingling bells along the brim, covered in star patterns and matching robes.

In the first few days we found that I had a natural affinity for magic and took to it rather fast. Performing telekenesis was clumsy at first but in just a few days I had nearly mastered manipulating objects with my mind. Whether this ability was due to my twin ram horns or because my magic was given by chaos and therefore by nature was unpredictable neither of us knew. Within a month I had learned to perform spells such as fireballs and shields, but I held back from learning too much. I could feel the power I held inside and I was afraid of it. I did not want to become too powerful for my own good.

Starswirl also took to teaching me about the history of the castle. We met one day in the foyer. In front of a large and ornately designed pedastal upon which five stone orbs rested. The foyer of the castle was quite large, and oval shaped, it would be easy to assemble many ponies there. We stood at the front doors of the castle facing the pedastal. All around the room were tall pillars that stretched up to the ceiling. There were also many large windows that allowed sunlight to flood into the room.

"Starmoon, these are the Elements of Harmony. The most powerful magical items in Equestria."

I looked over the orbs and noticed the different symbols adorning them.

"Each element is representative of a part of pony nature and each part is in turn part of friendship. The bonds of friendship that tie all of pony-kind together are what give us our strength. A pony who has no friends in life can never find true happiness, nor a place in the world."

Her expression was somber as she spoke. "I have spent my life studying the magic of friendship and passing its lessons on to everypony I know, encouraging them to make friends and strengthen these bonds. Even having only one friend can make ones life full and complete."

She approached the Elements and focused her horn to them, illuminating them as she began to describe them.

"Honesty - without which there can never be trust.

Loyalty - for without loyalty there can be no bonds.

Laughter - a life without laughter can hold no joy.

Generosity - a heart that is not generous cannot have compassion for others.

Kindness - Kindness is the seed of love, and it is essential that friends love one another.

These five elements are not only the basis of friendship's magic but are a cornerstone of life. Friends bring peace to the heart, and fullness to life." She turned to me with a smile on her face.

"You are going to encounter a lot in your life Starmoon, and you may think yourself a failure at times, but always remember that anyone with friends in their life can scarcely be called a 'failure'. Friendship -is- Magic Starmoon."

I looked again at the Elements. "Where did they come from teacher?"

"Nopony knows for sure. Celestia has led me to believe that the Alicorns created them and that they kept the Elements of Harmony in their temples, but those were all lost when Discord rose to power. Not even our Princesses know their true origins for certain."

"Still spreading the old lessons teacher?"

The two of us looked up and saw Princess Celestia standing at the other end of the room in a large doorway that led deeper into the castle.
Starswirl approached the princess and bowed her head a brief moment. "Somepony has too keep it up. Are you going to teach other ponies the magic of friendship when I'm gone?"

Celestia smiled. "Of course I will teacher. I owe you that much at the very least. Starmoon, how are your lessons proceeding?"

I bowed my head to Celestia. "They are going well Princess Celestia."

She smiled and walked past us to leave the castle. "You should head to the garden now. Your combat instructor has arrived and is ready for you."

I bid Starswirl goodbye and headed to the garden. Once there I was quite taken aback by my instructor.

"Brother! A pleasure to see you once again!" Malik cried joyfully, running up to me and pulling me into an embrace. "I'm honored to be the one teaching you the art of combat my brother."
His voice had all the exuberance of a child who was seeing his father returning from war, and I could not deny I was begining to feel kinship towards this strange, energetic stallion.

"Malik let Star breathe already."

We looked over to see Princess Luna walking up and smiling at us. Malik released me and bowed to her. "Forgive me Princess, I was overcome with joy."

My lessons proceeded well, despite his foalish demeanor Malik proved to be an excellent fighter. He held a blade in his jaws while I used my magic to weild one, yet even with my higher range of freedom I found myself on the defensive most of the time. Malik was highly agressive and powerful, but praised me for being the quick study I was.

For next two months I trained daily with Malik, learning everything I could and perfecting my skills. Not once was I ever able to best him, though at times he flattered to me by saying that I was at least his equal.

During my education Luna maintained a close presence to me, observing how I was progressing and urging me onward.  Only now, as I write this record do I truly begin to question why she opened up to me of all ponies. Was it because I had fought Discord's control and stopped myself from killing her? Was it because I saved her sister? Perhaps she simply thought I was an attractive companion?

I still do not have the answers.

Twilight sighed as she felt her stomach growling. She placed a marker in her book, noting that there was still much more to go. A tremor of anticipation crept up her spine as she went to the kitchen to get herself some lunch.