Trials of Life: Storybook's End

"The Lessons End, and Trials begin. Where one will fall, three will rise. The mien of stars has been lost to mane of white. Wing of horn, misguided mare. Hooffall, tail-swish, sunrise. Were gods to tread, legends begin."

"What do you make of that riddle?" A gray maned stallion sat at a table, his student struggling to focus on the task at hoof and his riddles. She was an odd sort, and one of the best kept secrets in Canterlot at the moment. He himself was the lead professor of innate magical arts, spellcraft, and esoteric lore at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, the merit that had lead the Princess to allow him into the fold. "And don't let a single drop spill."

Lila stood in the middle of what had become her classroom over the past six months, her eyes closed and face scrunched up in concentration. The spiral horn sprouting from her forehead glowed with a crackling ice blue light, mirroring the much softer light around a full glass of water that floated three feet in front of her face. She nearly dropped it when Practical Joke addressed her, but did manage to recover quickly enough to not spill it. The glass steadied and spun smoothly as requested, taking all her focus to both levitate and spin it at the same time. She chanced a glance, one eye opened to reveal her success. She smiled, the wings at her sides almost fluttering in her moment of pride. It was then replaced by surprise, as Practical Joke's stoic face appeared right next to her own. The glass tumbled through the air, thrown in her shock. A bright green veil of magic replaced her blue to gather even the water that had been spilt. Practical Joke did not look back as the water was funneled back into the glass, his stony gaze focused entirely on Lila. It was then that she realized he had actually spoken, as focused as she had been. "Oh... Can you repeat the question?" Her hope that he wouldn't be upset was groundless, even in her eyes.

"I had asked what you made of the riddle, but you were clearly too focused to notice. Perhaps now you can answer, though the test's purpose is lost." She shrunk, having heard none of what he had said in the past ten minutes. Not that most would blame her, as Practical Joke's voice droned in that special way only teachers can have, putting to sleep all who heard it for too long. It was then he sighed, a rare break in his stoic personality. "If the Princess herself had not vouched for you, I would say you are the most untalented magic user I had ever met. I trust her in that you have the great potential your wings and horn imply, but I had expected a princess from across the eastern sea to have at least a rudimentary grasp on spellcraft. Finally you make progress though, after nearly four months under my tutelage. So I will give you a break, what do you make of this riddle?" She sat down in front of him as he spoke, relieved that she wouldn't be told off again. "The Lessons End, and Trials begin. Where one will fall, three will rise. The mien of stars has been lost to mane of white. Wing of horn, misguided mare. Hooffall, tail-swish, sunrise. Were gods to tread, legends begin. Now lift the glass, and tell me what you think." This time she paid attention as the glass rose to float in place, the short poem rolled around in her head for nearly a minute before she spoke.

"It's... Wing of horn, misguided mare refers to me, right?" She touched the horn on her head with a hoof, her wings unfurled as well. "Is it a prophecy? I've heard a few of those before, but this one's hard to follow." She tilted her head curiously, her thoughts intently focused on her attempt to pull anything meaningful from the jumble of words. "It almost sounds like the beginning of one of the Archive's history books." She looked up at Practical Joke, being just a bit shorter than him when she stood.

"Yes, it does. It may be a prophecy, but it has done it's job." He stepped aside to reveal the floating glass of water, spun smoothly in her crackling magical grip. It then fell immediately as her subconscious concentration broke, once more caught by his own grasp. "Now you know the first trait of active arcane gravitational manipulation, or telekinesis as you would hear from today's unicorns. Wrong of course, as our innate gravitational manipulation relies on magic to express our will on the world instead of the purely mental influence of telekinesis. Unfortunately such distinctions are lost on the populace of Equestria at large." Lila listened to his small lecture, though still a bit surprised at how easy it had been for her to keep the glass in the air when she had struggled to even lift a pencil a few short weeks ago. "In short, arcane manipulation is subconscious. While conscious command of the cantrip is possible and can increase an individual's strength many times over, it is much more difficult than simply lifting the glass and allowing yourself to keep hold of it."

"So I just need to not think about it? It's like picking something up. That... makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it." As much as Practical Joke's lessons bored, and sometimes frustrated, her she admitted once again that he knew what he was doing when it came to teaching.

"In less descriptive words, yes. Now, take the glass and walk one circuit of the room while yo-" He stopped, eyes going wide for a moment before he bent his knees to bow deeply. Lila turned in the process of levitating the glass once more to find Princess Celestia herself waiting between the ornate wooden doors to her classroom. Lila mimicked Practical Joke's motion, sinking to the polished marble floor. "Princess Celestia, I am sorry I hadn't noticed you sooner."

"That is quite alright Professor, I wanted to see myself how Lila was coming along in her studies." The radiant alicorn stepped further into the room, her presence alone suffused it with a calm grace. Her evening sun painted the near empty castle room a dusky crimson from the open windows, but it paled in comparison to the mare before them with a warm smile. “I see she is doing well. Thank you for your time Professor, if you are done for the day you may go.” Practical Joke rose from his bow and started to pack his things.

“Thank you Princess. She is coming along nicely, I believe she has a strong enough grasp of the basics now.” His saddlebags were quickly packed and placed on his back, and with one more bow as he passed he was gone. Lila was now alone with the Princess, and had yet to move a muscle.

“You may relax Lila.” The Princess of the sun lifted the smaller alicorn from her bow. “I have something that I must request of you, if you think you are ready.” Lila looked up at the Princess, her confusion turned to curiosity.

“What is it Princess?”

“There have been reports of an unknown entity spreading through the Everfree Forest. It is not clear what the entity is, but I believe that it is much more dangerous than may be expected, and may prove to threaten Ponyville soon. That is why I want to send you. You have shown experience in handling dealings above that of normal ponies, and you will not be alone.” The Princess’ horn glowed, three orbs of pure sunlight grew into existence before they popped, a map, a pair of saddlebags, and the saddle she had arrived wearing were deposited before Lila. “I realize this is sudden of me to ask, but you are the only one I trust to handle such a task. My Faithful Student would jump at the chance, but I am not certain that she would be safe from what lurks within the forest.”

Lila stared at the saddlebags and map for a time as her mind tripped over itself. Finally she looked up at the Princess, caution born of various misadventures since she had come here breaking through the urge to accept immediately. “But I can barely use lift a cup of water, and my wings…” She looks at the feathered appendages, stretching one out to touch with a hoof. “I can barely fly too. So why do you want me to go now, I… I don’t think I’m ready.” Her head lowered, spirits sinking.

“You are certainly having no trouble now.” A hoof pointed to just behind Lila, whose turn revealed the glass of water four feet off the ground. A glance up revealed that her horn’s glow had lost the static crackle, now glowing with a gentle blue-white magic.”Lila, I would not give you a task that I did not believe you could accomplish. As difficult as I know it will be, you will learn many valuable lessons out there in Equestria. You could stay here, learning all there is to know of magic and flight, but you would not grow from it. There’s something more to magic than spells and horns, and I know you will find it.” Her hoof lifted Lila’s head to face her. “I have faith in you Lila.”

The smaller Alicorn’s thoughts turned chaotic, but after a few seconds she shoved them away. Princess Celestia had faith in her, and if she had learned one thing from her six months in this world it was the Princess Celestia knew what she was doing. “I… okay. I’ll go.” She started to nose the saddlebags on her back, stopping after a few seconds to set the glass of water down. A flash of golden light placed the saddle snugly around her barrel as her magic wrapped around the bags, her tongue out in concentration on not concentrating. It smoothly floated onto her back, weight returned once her telekinesis faded. They were already packed. “You said I wouldn’t be alone… what did you mean?”

Princess Celestia’s took a step aside and gestured behind herself. A stallion stepped out from the hallway, hoofsteps uneven as if he had a slight limp. His short cropped silver-blue mane was slicked back, leaving the base of his horn bare. A gray coat matched the mane, holding traces of a once noble navy blue. Both mane and coat contrasted tired dark magenta eyes that held a wisdom clearly hard bought. The simple burlap saddlebags on his back lacked the usual cutie-mark buckle, a simple iron piece instead of the saxophone silhouette letting flow a trio of shimmering silver notes visible on his flank. Unlike most ponies, his years hadn’t been kind to him and left him to look gruff and world weary.

“This is Soulful Blues, he will be your new magic instructor and guide through Equestria. Soulful Blues, this is Lila.” The Princess gestured him into the room with a quick nod of her head. A magenta glow lifted the rolled up map from the marble and tucked it into his bag. All the while his tired eyes were locked with Lila’s, never leaving her for an instant.

“Thank you kindly Princess.” His voice was deep and gravelly, though she heard remnants of a confident charm long scoured away. “So you’re the mystery mare. An alicorn? Well, what are you waiting for?” He turns, half limping from the room. Lila watched him leave in shock, looking back to Celestia.

“He is abrasive, but adept at what he does, and skilled in an art few dare to pursue.” There was a trace of humor in her voice, and she watched him leave with a… different smile than before. Lila was still inexperienced at reading equine faces, but she there was something there that reminded her of Aladdin’s smirk, oddly enough. “He will not lead you wrong.” Her warm smile returned. “Though you will be left behind if you do not follow soon.” Lila realized he was already gone, and galloped off after him. She found him standing just outside the open gates of the castle, looking out over Canterlot. Her gallop slowed into a trot, dropped into a walk, and finally stopped just at the threshold. Two armored guards, one solar and one lunar, stood on either side of the door dutifully ignoring her in their vigil. Soulful Blues looked back at her, a peaceful smile fading into his earlier scowl. The setting sun cast half his face in shadow, the other half in a silvery red. In that moment he seemed a stallion half his age, an illusion broken by his rough voice.

“Are you coming? We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” Lila blinked, looking down. An anxiety filled her, the memory of how she started her first adventure flashed through her mind. But… she wasn’t that girl anymore. Her hooffall resounded against the marble, the first step away from safety and into the world.

So ends the first act, where storybook fantasies give way to true legend.

Here we leave act two, leaving behind comfort of home and hearth to venture to the unknown.

So the curtain closes upon act three. The players all in place, the tale begun, and fantasy turned to reality.