To Join the Guard

[Selenia]

After coming back from her 'expedition' in the Griffon Kingdom, Selenia had been given temporary residence by Lady Rainlock in Canterlot. Given, it wasn't as homey as her usual library, but it was sufficient while she waited for something exciting to happen. Being an official member of Rainlock's personal armed forces meant that she was also at the mercy and orders of the greater Equestrian military, and could be put into action at a moment's notice by any pony of sufficient rank in either, a privilege that was well acted upon when Selenia was thrust into service to defend Canterlot from the griffon armada's 5th mechanized airship fleet led by their flagship, the Leviathan. With the threat defeated and Selenia once again with a lack of work, she went back to her daily business.

To take up the spare time, Selenia spent it reading up on current events, listening to word on the street, and getting up to date on military doctrine. One specific addition to the very recent list of military branches in the news was a certain batallion of mages, named the Red Guard, led by the Cult leader, Red Charge himself. She spent hours looking through books, only to discover that the group itself was still in development and was actively searching out members to join. A day later she was on her way to Red's office in the castle, carrying with her a small card with the time and date of an appointment she had made the day before with his secretary to meet with him.

She casually trotted up the numerous flights of stairs and through the vaulted halls until she reached his de-facto stateroom turned office. Checking the clock on the wall, she was right on time and was admitted without question by the pony sitting at a smaller desk outside. She pushed her way through the door to reveal a rather lavish royal guest room with stacks of papers, books, and multiple charts with little flags on them on what looked like a temporary table on one side of the room. The other half featured the normal amenities of any hotel room, along with a mannequin that sported the armor Red had during the night they defeated Eclipse. Red himself was seated at the table, eyes up from a book and centered on her.

Selenia finished her scan of the room and started towards Red. She casually rested her forehooves on the table and met his gaze. "First off, I would like to say that it is an honor to finally meet you. My name is Selenia. You probably don't know me, but we very nearly met on the night of the Eclipse... I was in the team that was assaulting the pyramid and failed to get past Watermark." Her eyes fell to the table, remembering her team's failure to complete their mission. She looked back up and met his eyes again, "I have done some research on you and your up-and-coming group of battlemages, and I would like to join the Red Guard."

[Red Charge]

Red Charge clopped his hooves together several times in thought before he responded. "I have no clue as to why you think I wouldn't know you, Selenia." He said, pacing back and forth behind the table. "After all, back in the day you were quite a thorn in my side. Seems that everywhere Equestria decided to make a move against us, there you were." He looked at her, "Quite the thorn indeed. I am also well aware you were on Team Moonbird the night of the Eclipse. It's... quite odd. A part of me wanted to get a chance to meet you, but another dreaded the encounter. You've brought me no small amount of frustration in the past, though not alone in doing so, your name stood out among the rest. But with that comes a degree of appreciation I feel the need to vocalize. Yes, dear Selenia you have indeed caught my eye." The large unicorn monologued slowly.

"Indeed, I also know that you were part of the mission on the Leviathan, yes, quite the devoted Equestrian. Seems even Princess Luna had designs to make you her student at some point, of course, before she decided that mentor-ship was not quite her forte..." He continued, "And yet after all that here you are, looking for a place at my side, in my guard. So I ask myself, first and foremost, will there be any sort of bias, positive or negative to my decision? And that is a question at the moment I can't answer. I realize in past skirmishes you've possibly gained a lot of necessary experience, perhaps even more so than some of the seasoned army veterans..."

He began walking around the table, inspecting Selenia from all angles, "But do you have the necessary strength, physically and mentally? I'm not so sure." After finally finishing to look Selenia over he went back to his place across the desk from her, staring her down with his piercing gaze.

"What do you think?"

[Selenia]

Selenia was rather taken aback by Red's response, both in the knowledge he put forth and the demeanor at which he delivered it. Selenia had never forgotten her previous actions against the Cult, but she had no idea that Red knew of everypony involved, and had kept a close watch on her, aswell. She had also never known that Princess Luna herself had planned to take Selenia under her wing. Of course, Selenia revered her princess and had always desired to learn anything from her, but she had never assumed her childish fantasies could have actually come true. Selenia was suddenly very grateful for the small chair on her side of the table, for she felt a severe need to sit down before she fell down.

After dispelling her small case of the vapors, she continued listening intently to what Red had to say. Praising her on her service record and experience, even accusing himself of bias and favoritism were he to admit her on the spot. The implications were staggering. Selenia was nothing more than an average pony doing her part for her friends and her country, but apparently Red felt otherwise. Then he posed the dreaded question, not doubting as much as investigating her readiness for such a position as he circled her, looking her over, and then asking Selenia's own opinion of her personal situation.

Selenia figured that Red was an honorable pony who had spent enough time on the planet to know when somepony was lying, and as such would value honesty more than vain ambition, so she chose her answer accordingly, "I've seen enough battle and cast enough spells to know what I'm doing and pick out the little details others overlook, but I'm not the fastest, smartest, or strongest pony out there. I may have the know-how... But I don't have the training to use it to its fullest." Her eyes fell to the table again, and her ears went with them, "Right at this moment, I don't believe that I could meet the requirements and skill to go out and do what the Red Guard will be doing," they quickly perked back up again as she laid one of her forehooves outstretched on the table for gesture, "but I hope to use it as a vice, a natural and challenging environment to learn on the job and tap my full potential. It would be the means to an end, that end being an earned place in the Guard with the notches on my belt to prove it."

[Red Charge]

"I agree with you." Red Charge said, nodding and clopping his hooves again in thought. Apparently he was struggling with the dilemma himself. It continued on like this for several minutes, in which he had not said another word. A clock he had on the wall ticked loudly as Selenia waited for the unicorn to reply again. Red Charge however, seemed to be taking his time making a decision.

"In most cases, a rejection would be in order, perhaps a recommendation that you work on your abilities, maybe join the military before re-applying. However... I have come to understand that you are indeed now working for my daughter. She takes good care of her employees, they're practically fanatical for her. Yes, it would be good for further experience before you actually join. However, in the meanwhile, I would, offer you to train with the Red Mages and Watermark, whom you've met of course. However... I feel that in your case I should put in my own guiding hoof. I cannot afford to ignore potential when it is laid bare in front of me, asking to be shaped into a fine tuned instrument. Oh yes, I would definitely like to taste your potential myself. There is much within you to tap into, much power, much determination."

The unicorn stood up again, pacing, "I do believe you have a place at my side, whether as a battle-mage or not, this I cannot determine yet. I am currently however, without a protege so to say. So long as you're not working for my daughter in some ruin or expedition, I would be glad to take you under the proverbial wing, train you personally, if you so choose." He finally extended his offer, now besides Selenia, his eyes locked with hers with their overpowering conviction.

[Selenia]

Selenia bit her lip and waited an inordinately long time for his response, which was every bit as serious as she assumed it would be. It was akin to the response a cashier would give if you didn't have the money to buy something but you put it on the counter anyway. Selenia could take rejection. She had walked into his office wanting to join the Red Guard and expected a straight answer, which she most certainly got. She was about to thank him for his time and go bury herself in books and training manuals when he halted her with his continued discussion.

Selenia sat patiently and listened intently as he elaborated, explaining his 'normal' offer to have her train with his mages and Watermark. That could be terribly awkward, as the last time Selenia saw Watermark, she was trying to bust down his ice maze. But he didn't stop there. His continued praise of her qualities nearly made her blush, but she resisted the urge, as it would break through her mask of stoic professionalism.

In a final turn, Red led the discussion in a direction even Selenia herself had not anticipated, he offered to personally train her while not on a job from the younger Rainlock. His offer was unprecedented, even better than she had even hoped. The objective of this meeting was to either be granted or denied access to the Red Guard, and to be trained by the best mages in Canterlot and commanded on the field of battle by Red, now she was offered the honor of being trained by Red Charge himself. Selenia rested her chin on her hooves, contemplating the aggreement. It seemed much like a situation she had experienced not long before, provided with a deal she couldn't refuse by those related to the Rainlock name. This deal, however, she could refuse. But she wouldn't, not in a million years.

She got up out of her chair and turned to Red with a smile, "It would be my honor to accept your offer, Red Charge," as she gave a shallow nod of approval.

[Red Charge]

Red Charge gave her a nod in return and stepped out to his door, telling the pony outside not to schedule any more appointments for the rest of the day. He went back inside and offered Selenia a more comfortable seat on some cushions he had in a corner.

"So, Selenia, so that I can truly help you reach your potential, I need to know your drive. What makes you tick? What drives you to improve and further yourself? Is it a need for approval, a need to set things in motion or rather just a lust for excitement and adventure? I need to see you as you see yourself. I need to get inside your mind so that I can help you train it from within. So tell me, as concisely as you can, what makes Selenia... well, Selenia."

He leaned in closer to listen carefully, eyes never breaking from hers. They were like a pair of flashlights shining bright light on her in an interrogation room, as though he was scanning her for any sign and expression and he made sure she could feel it.

[Selenia]

Selenia let out a mental breath she had been holding when Red offered her a seat on some lavish Canterlot cushions. It wasn't the sense of the luxury, but the fact that he was opting to turn their little meeting into something a little less rigid and professional. Of course, their full maturity and honesty was to be put into the ensuing conversation, but she appreciated any effort he made to alleviate her anxiety and whatever discomfort she might have held. With luck, it would evolve into a simple friendly and educated conversation.

As Red explained his opening question, elaborating how he wanted to know the real Selenia, all she could do was smile, ears perked up with her chin at rest in her hooves. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had just hit the curveball thrown at her way out of the park, and as a rookie no less. As Red finished wording out his request, she idly scratched her chin a bit, chewing the inside of her cheek. It was definitely an unorthodox question, not one she would be asked to answer often, but it had just reason; this regimen of training centered around finding her inner potential. It was more a quest of self-discovery than merely studying and practicing spells.

"I would suppose.." She tapped her chin a few times in thought, "I would suppose that I view my drive to better myself is my reason in itself. I aspire to be greater because I think it is a valuable cause worth pursuing. I enjoy learning new things and serving to better help myself, my friends, and my country, which I view magical conditioning and the Red Guard as vices for."

She removed her hooves from her chin and turned to face Red's interrogative stare, "It may sound a little too poignant when I put it that way, selflessly throwing myself into hard work just to be an unreasonably loyal friend and patriot, but that's the straight truth. You will find that I am much unlike most ponies when it comes to opinions and justification for my actions. I do admit that a small portion of it may stem from a lust for approval, specifically from Luna or other high mages. I guess a little part of me still held on to that juvenile fantasy of being taught by the princess, kinda like... Twilight Sparkle, is it? Eh, anyway, at face value that is how I see myself and my reasoning for what I do." She placed her chin back in her hooves, mentally counting to see how quick Red would be to digest the information presented to him.

[Red Charge]

Red Charge stood up, completely tense all of the sudden. "Selenia, I'll have to ask you to leave now. I will contact you tomorrow." He said, before disappearing in a bright fiery flash, leaving Selenia completely alone in his office.

[Selenia]

Selenia eagerly awaited her new mentor's answer when he suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up. Selenia's ear twitched and her jaw clenched for an instant. The sound of unprotected chairs on hardwood was like nails on a chalkboard to her, but nothing she couldn't deal with. At least, not compared to the sounds etherium made when it cracked. She had learned early to take extreme care when making her pendant.

Selenia was about to casually continue the conversation as she assumed he would walk around her and examine her again, but he simply demanded her to leave, said he would keep in touch, and teleported away, leaving Selenia baffled. She blinked her eyes a few times out of surprise and to diffuse the flash in her eyes. She rubbed them again after a few seconds. Yep. He was gone.

Selenia frowned. Things were just starting to get interesting and she was finally putting her whole heart and honesty into what she said as Red had requested, and then he just cut it off and left just like that. She rested her chin in her hoof, crossing her hind legs in the chair and resting her elbow on them. "Was it something I said?" She asked, to no one in particular.

Selenia usually spoke out her thoughts when she was alone. It tended to help her put things up to one another better and hold things in perspective. A conversation out loud is better than a conversation in the mind, so that's exactly what she began to do.
"It.. could have been something I said. I was monologuing about myself for a while there, maybe he got sick of it and couldn't stand it any longer. But then who would he ask me to leave and leave himself? He also invited me back later so... I guess that can't be it."

She got up from her chair and started idly pacing. "He cancelled all his other appointments for the day so its not like he knew he had somewhere to be, unless it was urgent. But his secretary didn't come in and tell him that... Telepathy, maybe? No... He is 'The Red Charge ®', so it must have been something urgent and overwhelmingly important. He probably gets a lot of those very often. But then how did he know he had to leave? Some kind of innate sense, or a trigger or something?" Her mind wandered to all the possible ways a person could be silently notified of something without anyone else noticing, 'Eh... On second thought, that might not be worth the time to discuss."

Selenia collected herself and pushed through his door back out into the palace hallway. She had a short conversation with the secretary, informing her that Red had wanted to see Selenia again when he got back, and she gave the pony a scrawled note of her address for any correspondence or notification scrolls should they ever come around. She left with a polite 'thank you' and a warm smile. "Well... That was fun." Selenia thought to herself as she walked back home to her temporary digs.

[Red Charge]

Red Charge contacted Selenia that evening, asking her to appear very early in the morning at the cliffside off of the edge of Canterlot. She arrived to see the armored stallion levitating a distance off the cliff on a small patch of earth. He invited her to hop over and join him.

"Mornings are the best time for practice. Both the sun and the moon in perfect positions to open up a lot of pathways in the ether and allow for fluent magical conducting. Do you know what is the most ethereally conductive part of the galaxy is?" He asked Selenia, then, not waiting for a reply, he answered.

"The Celestial Divide. Any Celestial Body or lack thereof are conductive to the ether. Everything in space is ripe with it. It's why meteorites conduct magic so well. The battle between Harmony and Entropy in space unleashes massive energies all the time these energies seep into every star and every planet and even into the void itself. These grant us magic. Our horns allow us to conduct and manipulate that magic through our minds, almost like an antenna of sorts. With pegasi it's an instinctual magic, that passes through their wings and allows them to reflexively use it and Earth ponies have a connection to the ether rich ground that gives them their own special abilities. Diamond Dogs and dragons use gems taken from the core of the planet, all rich with ether and ready to be molded...

"The only race who cannot use the ether are the griffons, who are detached from the ground and live high up in the sky." He explained, "Knowing how it works allows you to focus on where you want to draw your etheral energies from. Most do it from space itself, but now you have both the sun and the moon, powerful etheric bodies, out there. Try and focus on them, draw from their energies, imagine a stream of it going right into your horn as you cast your spells." He guided.

"Now, do you think you can cast a force spell on this rock?" He asked, floating a piece of rock off the cliff side, about the size of a pony a distance away from them.

[Selenia]

Selenia got up bright and early for her second meeting with Red. Leaving her address with the secretary proved to be a good idea after all, as Red's correspondence arrived later that same day. She magically toasted her bread and guzzled a bit of orange juice to cut down on time. She most certainly didn't want to be late. A short run later found herself a the exact spot described in the letter; the Canterlot cliff edge, with Red just casually levitating over the edge. She nearly turned down his request to join him on his little island, but if Red thought it was worth noting, it was obviously important on some level. She reluctantly leapt over to the patch of earth, finding it surprisingly steady, but it still didn't help the fact that it was so small.

Putting her relatively benign case of acrophobia aside, Selenia was ready to learn. She sat herself down in a comfortable position next to her new mentor as he expanded her knowledge of how magic in Equestria worked, explaining the connection between all the celestial bodies and how most beings on the planet had a connection to magic as an energy. It was all very insightful and philosophical, calling back to the writings of ancient Equestrian thinkers that Selenia had read long before.

She took his advice an request, standing up and taking a deep breath, as if she were meditating. This was bound to be some seriously different training than what she was used to, so she would assume that a large part of it would constitute her psychological approach to the training as much as physical, like she would need to feel it in addition to doing it, something like that.

'Welp, here goes..' she thought to herself. Taking energy directly from the sun and moon seemed like even more mumbo-jumbo than magic itself, trying to imagine it seemed almost.. silly to Selenia. She could definitely feel something, alright, and the word for that was most probably 'foolish'. But just like most of her magic, if she thought about it long enough, then it might just happen.

She thought about the sun. Big, bright, radiant and hot, necessary for all life anywhere on their planet. It was an essential part of their life cycle and existence, and nothing would exist without it. In a way, it was a 'giver' of life and energy, its rays ever present. Come to think of it, standing in the rays of the rising sun removed the chill of early morning, waking her up and rejuvenating her spirit. Its energies would give her magic the raw power and drive required to pack a sufficient punch, as well as grant her the additional energy for impressive endurance. The moon, though not as blindingly magnificent, was just as important. It drove the tides of the oceans on the planet and served as a symbol of peace and control throughout history. It would influence collected thoughts and clean, focused spells.

Selenia nearly choked at how poetic it all sounded, but if it made sense, it made sense. She gave a kinda unsure grimace before taking what she knew, the power of the sun, and the control of the moon, and pushing it into a finely crafted concussive blast. All the raw energy given by the sun compressed and balanced by the moon into a precise lance of kinetic energy that whisked off of Selenia's horn without any magical eddies, much like a professional diver executing a perfect entrance into the water. The orange blast pierced through the air and impacted on the surface of the suspended rock, fanning outwards from the impact perfectly and imparting all of its momentum over the surface of the boulder, knocking it a reasonable distance for such a large piece of earth. Selenia smiled, she was always a stickler for perfection.

[Red Charge]

Red Charge nodded approvingly as Selenia was done casting her spell. "It seems you're getting the hang of it. From now on, try to use this time of day to meditate and train your powers, don't let yourself skip a day. You may need to wake up early but it will be worth it in the end." He stepped around on the huge island and Selenia noticed it tipped greatly in his direction, the part he was standing on was sinking, while the part she was standing on rose into the air until she thought she might just fall off.

"Now I'm going to touch into fields you've probably read about and practiced many times, so I'll have to ask you to bear with me. The second important thing is focus, you know how to keep calm under pressure, a quality even the best unicorns lack. You can keep your priorities straight and your focus on your objective. But let's delve deeper into focus, why does focus matter?" At that the platform they were on began to spin under Selenia's hooves, almost like a plate she found herself and her new master trading places on the platform, every few seconds she would find herself on the high side and then on the low side. She feared she might lose her balance at any point.

"Focus is important to magicians because once you summon the cosmic energies and channel them, they must also be controlled. This is why no machine can replicate magic casting. It may be magical in and of itself and channel its already existing magical energies outside, but it cannot summon the energy from the ether as we do." At that the platform also began to change its tipping like a seesaw, all while spinning, at this point Selenia began to actually stumble and had to literally lay down and hug the ground to keep from flying off the platform. The armored red stallion however, seemed to have no problem standing still on his end.

"You must have read what happens when one cannot control the energies he channels, but we have both witnessed a recent example. Here I go back to Eclipse. Without control the etheric energies can easily overcome you, in some cases it may flood you with too much energy and destroy you. The spell you are casting may very well explode within your horn, or unleash chaos upon the environment. But it can also destroy your very mind, turn you into a monster like Eclipse an engine with relentless energy that seeks only to unload it upon its environment until it is consumed."

The spinning and the tipping stopped at once when he finished talking and Selenia's attention was directed towards the Froggy Bottom Bog, where she could still see the crater where the pyramid once stood. Slipping into an illusion undoubtedly created by Red Charge, she could once again see the great battle against Eclipse but now something else was highlighted for her, something she could not previously see. It looked almost as though Eclipse was a black hole sucking in energy from every available source, the planet, the ponies around him but more than anything, the Eclipse itself. The same energy she visualized in her head coming from the sun and the moon seemed intensified a hundred fold as it ran into the monstrous figure that was once a pony, and it was unleashed from every segment of his form out in the form of destructive energy. He was not a container of energy as much as he was a conduit.

"Focusing is important to control not only the amount of energy, but its flow as well. You know magical formulas are required to cast spells. Why are they so precise? Why are they needed? Why can't we, like our pegasus brothers, use it intuitively with mere thoughts? Because we have the ability to shape the energies. Pegasi can create great gales, searing heat, incredible thunderstorms... but they use existing elements. Wind, friction, static electricity, these are things that their magic can use and multiply beyond the natural possibilities."

The image of Eclipse disappeared and an image of a generic pegasus appeared, again the illusion manifested by Red Charge highlighting the magical energies around the Pegasus, but now also the elements. As the pegasus flew threw the air the black coated unicorn could see the flow of its magical energies, and the wind he was manifesting just by flying, she saw as the pegasus instinctively combined the magical energies with the wind as it flew and saw the power of the wind multiply and become a literal hurricane in his wake. Then the Pegasus stopped mid-air and the wind burst forth like a tidal wave, hitting the rock Selenia had just cast the force spell again with just as much force as she did.

It then continued to fly through a cloud, this time the static electricity within the storm cloud was highlighted for her to see, as the magical energy around the Pegasus tethered it, attracted it the same way a lightning rod would, the trail behind the winged pony grew and grew as it flew, gathering more static electricity and using magical energy to further expand and increase the intensity of the lightning. Again the pony unleashed it on the floating rock with devastating results.

At that point the winged pony disappeared and instead an Earth Pony came into view on a field of grass, Selenia could see the flow of energy from the earth to the pony. "Earth Ponies have a unique connection to the land, they are like strong oaks so long as they keep their hooves on the ground. They are in tune to the energies within the soil and can manipulate and sense these energies. An Earth pony can tell where food will grow best, because they can sense the energy that all plants absorb from the land, as such they can grow plants and trees in the most barren regions of the world. It's hard to keep an earth pony down, as their connection to the ground allows them to recover quickly, it gives them strength that unicorns and Pegasi do not have. Being able to manipulate the energies of the earth allows them to strike hard into it, or land softly on it and it is in that ability they find their strength."

The earth pony prepared to jump, Selenia could witness the energies in the ground gathering beneath him, almost to a bursting point, allowing him to jump high in the air, as he landed he delivered a single punch into the ground, the energy from its hoof seemed to go into the energy from the ground and expand it from within, causing the spot the pony had hit to rupture. But at the same time, Selenia could notice as his other hooves landed, that the energy beneath them seemed to disperse, freeing up space for the energy from his fall to absorb into the ground.

"Do you understand so far?" Red asked, obviously about to move on to Unicorns.

[Selenia]

Selenia smiled happily as Red approved of her spellwork. At least things were off to a good start. She nodded at his mention of an early morning and pledged herself to ensure it would become a daily habit. She felt like she would turn into a monk, waking up before dawn each day to meditate upon sunrise and tune herself to the ethereal energies. She would even have considered herself 'quaint' had she not started training with Red and learned the secret behind the magic. She turned back around to face Red and sat down, ready to listen intently to the inevitable lecture he signaled he was about to launch into.

Selenia stifled a yelp and a small stumble as her platform separated from Red's as they began to form a binary orbit, the floating rocks gyrating intermediately around one another. Selenia gritted her teeth below stressfully tightened lips, refusing to outwardly betray her unease with the situation. She steeled herself, and planted her hooves, choosing to focus solely on what Red was saying... or more appropriately unveiling about the nature of the connection that ponies had with the ether. He took her through many different examples, the most intriguing of which was a magically induced vision, a recounting of the final confrontation with Eclipse, with the magical energy lit up to be visible. He explained the specifics about Eclipse and his... unique relationship with the ether, spinning veritable secrets that Selenia would have certainly not come to know otherwise.

Selenia allowed herself to think about the implications and possibilities of toying around with pure magical energy as Red went on to detailing the connection pegasi shared with the magical energy around them. The information was intriguing, no doubt, but it had limited value to Selenia, as she was a unicorn. She definitely enjoyed hearing about it, and its biggest benefit was in providing Selenia with very insightful ways on how to handle pegasi opponents. Obviously combat was not in the spirit of the lesson, but by learning how pegasi managed their connection with ether, which in their case was movement, taught Selenia that keeping one still would be a surefire way to negate any weathery tricks one would have up their sleeves, so to speak. No projectile spells that they could dodge, no physical attacks that they could dodge, no large open-air confrontations in which they would have more than enough room to maneuver. Essentially, Selenia would have to deny them their biggest asset: the sky, to gain the upper hoof in combat with one.

As Red continued, she weighed all the information he was providing her and committed it to memory. Mastering her magic meant she would have to master the knowledge of everything else's; how it worked and how it was used, and this training was most definitely a trial in focus and retention, Red said that much himself. As he switched to explaining Earth ponies, the moving platforms also started moving along another plane, turning this way and that, sipping around on their axes. Selenia hunkered down and almost completely laid down on the rock to keep her footing, all the while maintaining a solid understanding and memorization of everything Red was saying. From what she was able to deduce about the earth ponies and their ethereal connection solidly rooted to their contact with the ground, the simplest way to combat them and negate their power was to keep one away from the ground. A simple enough task for a unicorn like herself who could merely pick one up with telekinesis, but Selenia would be uniquely challenged in that position. Earth ponies tended to be stockier and more well built than their compatriots, making them generally heavier opponents to face. Selenia was in no way a macho musclepony, and her TK was relatively underpowered after years of conditioning, or if you wanted to put it, lack of conditioning, by using it for delicate and dextrous tasks reliant on precise expenditures of energy like assembling jewelery, writing, and reading books. Her magic adapted over time to the tasks she needed it to, so it was wholly unfit to levitate a pony, or anything else so massive for that matter, so the next best thing would be for Selenia to keep herself off the ground. Being without wings or any spell that would grant her the gift of flight, she was at a lacking upper hoof in a battle with a formidable earth pony. She reminded herself that she was also holding on for dear life to a floating rock, disconnected from the greater earth itself, so that might actually do. She would have to ask Red for the spell sometime later.

With so much going on, both inside and outside her own thoughts, Selenia nearly missed Red's question. "Hm? Oh, yeah I got it. We on to unicorns next?" she stumbled out, still riveted on her belly to the tumbling rock. 'That didn't sound very convincing,' she thought to herself as she bit her lip. It was only a minor slip, but Red certainly cared about details and she hoped he wouldn't see it as a problem.

[Red Charge]

Then the image changed to that of a unicorn, again it was on the ground but this time she noticed the energy highlighted was all around the unicorn, floating up from the ground, descending from the sky, the ether was everywhere. "Unicorns have the power to draw from the ether in order to shape the etheric energy into certain... commands." At that the unicorn Selenia was watching's horn began to glow, much like any unicorn's horn did as it prepared to cast a spell. However, this time she could see the etheric energy get drawn into its horn like siphon, joining with the aura around the horn and flowing through it. "The horn is a unique conduit, which allows us to channel this etheric energy. It is located on our forehead, leading the magic directly into our minds. Unlike the Pegasi and the Earth Pony, it is not our instincts that control the magic, though that sometimes may be the case, it is our cortex." The magical energies in the horn, Selenia could see were going down its length and into the mind of the unicorn. Then she could see a spell formula, the same force spell she had used, but it was composed of the energy within the unicorn, and then it began to channel back through the horn, reaching the tip and unleashing a blast of force against the rock.

"Why can't we just imagine the end result of the spell? Because the energy cannot simply flow through imagination. The formulas are much like alchemical formulas, they are used to condition the energy, much like a potion, to have certain effects. Whether it is remotely grabbing a book, or firing a blast of heat." The armored stallion explained and the unicorn demonstrated, concentrating its energy again, this time using another formula. As soon as the energy was channeled through the formula Selenia could see the magical energy convert into heat and erupt from the unicorn's horn. "Etheric energy is what created all other energy, like it does in nature, it can turn into fire, lightning, wind and even biological energy... And like it does in nature, it can change the property of matter, thus allowing for transmutations and conversions, so long as it obeys certain laws."

The unicorn began to channel another spell, this time without a formula, "What happens when there is no formula?" Selenia's master asked rhetorically, showing how the energy began to bounce around inside the unicorn's head uncontrollably. "It becomes uncontrollable. It can eviscerate the mind of the Unicorn trying to control it," The unicorns mind began to dissolve with the intensity of the energy as she watched. "Or it can overload it." Again the unicorn cast a spell with no formula, this time the energy flooded its mind and body and crackles of it erupted from all around it, much like in the case of Eclipse. "And it can also become unstable." The unicorn again attempted to cast a spell, but the volatile energy in its mind shot in every which way, seeking outlet and the unicorn exploded, in a cartoonish fashion.

"This is why we must focus upon our spell formulas and direct the flow of energy into them," the horned pony in front of Selenia began to cast another spell with a formula, Selenia noticed how it controlled the siphoning of the energy and made sure not to draw too much. As soon as the formula was filled with energy, it was again unleashed creating a force blast that hit the floating boulder.

"Now I'll direct your attention to the ether surrounding the pony, you can see it in the ground, in the air, but look, you see it emanating from the sun and from the moon in greater fashion. Great amounts of energy can quicken a spell or make it more powerful. But you must always remember never to draw too fast, or too much. The situations I showed you before can very well happen if you draw too much energy."

The unicorn then disappeared and instead floating spell formulas appeared in its place, "Spell formulas are not constant, they are as infinite as the etheric energy itself. There are certain forms that are used to create certain effects, again much like in alchemy, but new ones are discovered and created all the time; combining parts of formulas can create new formulas or more complicated ones. But not all formulas are stable, formulas must allow for free flow of energy, even after it had manifested into what you desire, it also cannot be placed with its opposite in the same formula, lest the two opposites collide and unleash their energy within your mind. Unstable formulas are also very dangerous, as they can cause energy to be unleashed prematurely or not be able to contain it." The various spell formulas floating in the air disappeared.

"Do you understand the principles of what I just explained to you?"

[Selenia]

As Red shifted to his description of a unicorn's connection to the ether, Selenia once again steadied herself on the moving platform and sat herself down as comfortably as possible. After being subjected to its movements for enough time, she had gotten used to the pattern and could shift her balance accordingly to avoid stumbling, making it much easier to devote her undivided attention to what Red was lecturing about. His little phantom image demonstration with the etheric energy highlighted was very intuitive. She was a visual learner and thinker, so having a dynamic diagram allowed her to understand Red's unceasing stream of information with ease.

As Red continued past the nature of how ether is drawn from both inside and outside the unicorn, his discussion took a turn into the more basic biological aspects of a unicorn and how they managed their magic; with energy drawn from the body and environment, shaped with the mind, and routed directly into the horn connected to the brain. Same with how energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed into different types of energy, that was all simple fundamental physics. Most of the extra details could simply be assumed with educated conjecture and a good set of textbooks, so Selenia took the respite she could while the lecture was easier.

As soon as Red delved into the specifics and dangers of spell formulas, Selenia took out her mental pad and paper, ready to commit to memory any-and everything that came out of her mentor's mouth. Her ears folded back a bit and she recoiled a few inches in startled surprise when the unicorn image blew up after attempting a spell with no formula. Even though it was purposefully cartoonish and fake, literally exploding from your own magical energy would be an awfully grisly way to go, but she couldn't dwell on that horrific mental image, or she wouldn't learn anything from any risks she took.

As Red continued into how spell formulas were made up of simple and infinite building blocks, Selenia began to 'write' down what blocks she could figure from what spells she knew, little descriptors that when combined would create a spell, such as 'heat' and 'burning' for a fire spell, 'force', 'balance', and 'push' for a concussive kinetic blast, and even 'travel' for teleporting. As per Red's warning, and through common sense, opposites could not be used together lest there be severe problems. Flaming ice spikes or a change of local gravity in more than one direction simultaneously simply couldn't happen. Not only would the attempted formula cripple the unicorn who tried it, but the actual desired effects simply couldn't exist in the physical world in the first place.

Selenia promptly put down a mental note to always have control over the ether she could harness. Always have a formula that makes sense, always open the tap to the energy gently, always know what you're doing, never go blind into advanced magic. She also resolved to not lose control of her emotions in touchy situations, as wild emotions led to wild magic, which could lead to 'evisceration of the mind'. Selenia shivered at the mere thought. She left Red hanging for a few moments as she filed all the advice she had accrued into her long-term memory, mentally promising herself to never forget it.

"Yeah.. Yeah, I think I've got the hang of it," she replied, her eyes blankly focused on the ground, still blending up and digesting everything that had been said. After a few more seconds her ears perked back up with her spirits and she met Red's eyes again with a smile, "What's next?" she asked with a tone somewhere between a professionally curious scientist and an eager schoolfilly.