[Time unknown]

[Cyan's POV]

I opened my eyes, and found myself looking up in the blue sky in the daytime. I rubbed my eyes, and sat up before I checked my surroundings. I was in a familiar area that included the grass I sat on; the tree across from me; a playground a couple meters away; and a school across the street.

“… Am I in Canterlot’s Park?” I asked myself, both confused, but also somewhat at ease with the calm, familiar surroundings as I scratched my head.

“That is correct, but also incorrect,” answered an unworldly, feminine voice out of nowhere. I jumped up in shock, surprised at the unfamiliar voice with no source to be found as I quickly looked around again.

“W-who’s there?! Where are you?!” I asked with fear in my voice as I backed up to the tree near me. I got in a stance ready to jolt out of there, or defend myself. Suddenly, something black appeared above me from the tree in front of my face.

“BOO!”

“AAAGH!” I screamed as I jumped and fell to the side while my sight was becoming a blur. What came next was a fit of laughter from the same voice from earlier, but now more directly from the source. I sat back up to see who it was, and my eyes shot wide like saucers.

The black mare that taught me my new magic from yesterday was lying next to the tree, rolling on the ground laughing like the last time we met.

“I-it’s you! The mare from yesterday!” I exclaimed before another thought came to mind. “You can speak and laugh now?!” I asked loudly. The mare finally calmed down, and stood back up. She looked the same as yesterday. Same great figure; same white, blank eyes; same black mane and tail flowing through the nonexistent breeze; same lipless muzzle; and her black dress from yesterday seems to show more of where she was covered under the daylight, which looked strapless, held up her breasts well, and showed a good amount of cleavage, while the rest of the ensemble reached just above her hooves flowing with each step.

She tried to stifle some giggles that were still left before she responded. “Yes Cyan Dusknight, I can speak and laugh now,” I stood up in shock by not only how heavenly she sounded, but how she knew my name.

“H-how do you know my name?” I asked. “I never introduced myself last night! At least I think I didn’t do that. And what do you mean about me being correct and incorrect about where I am?”

“To answer your latter question,” The mare said. “We are not back in Canterlot like you were thinking earlier. We are in what your mind feels at peace the most, which happens to be Canterlot’s Park.”

“What my mind feels… Mind… Wait, are you saying I’m in a dream of some sorts?” I asked.

“That is correct. As for your former question, I knew of your name because I was there with you the day you were born.”

“Huh? Wait, you’re not some kind of stalker or something are you?” She giggled at the question.

“No I am not… Well, maybe something of the sorts. You could say I was there, and at the same time, wasn’t there as well while I watched over you,” I stood there raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, you’re not making any sense here. What are you talking about? Actually, before we get to that, who are you? I never got your name yesterday.”

“I didn’t tell you my name because I never had one,” she responded, which left me wide-eyed.

“N-never had a name?” I asked with a crack in my voice.

“Never, but I-"

“THIS IS TERRIBLE!” I yelled. “This is a big deal. A fucking huge deal! A ginormous deal! A deal that’s even bigger than the planet of Earth itself! Your name is a representative of yourself! Your entire being! Your identity! I can’t even begin to question why your parents never gave you a name when you were born!”

“That is because I never had parents Cyan Dusknight,” she responded in the same calm, otherworldly voice. I stood there wide-eyed, feeling guilty that I might have brought up something I shouldn’t have.

“I-I am so sorry miss. I didn’t know and-,” I apologized before the mare interrupted by putting a finger on my lips.

“You’re sweet for having such concerns for me Cyan Dusknight, but would you please let me finish my introductions before you speak?” She requested. I stood there and nodded in response before she pulled her finger back and continued. “I should probably explain what I meant by being there, yet not being there. You see Cyan Dusknight, I am what you may call as a guardian, and I wasn’t there because I was in here the entire time,” she said as she placed her hand at my chest. “I wanted to show myself to you earlier, but I was put to sleep for many years.”

“Hold on, let me backtrack,” I requested, and she nodded to let me confirm. “When you said you were in here,” I said as I placed a hand on my chest. “Are you saying… That you’re the magic inside of me?”

“Very good Cyan Dusknight! That is correct!” She exclaimed while clapping with glee. “Yes, I am the manifestation of the special magic that resides inside of you.”

“And by ‘special magic,’ you mean the one where I can control that black stuff right? Was that called ‘Shadow Magic’ by any chance?”

“You are on a roll today Cyan Dusknight! Yes, what you have inside of you is called Shadow Magic, and like Lumina said, you are able to create and manipulate shadow figures at will.”

“How do you know Lumina?”

“I am a part of you, so I see and hear whatever it is you have experienced,” she explained. “And may I just say, that was quite a rough tickle torture last night, and quite a sight afterwards,” I blushed greatly at that comment.

“Y-you mean you saw that? You didn’t feel anything weird after that did you?”

“By weird, you mean sexually aroused? Not very much, but let’s not get carried away and get back to what’s on topic,” she suggested with a straight face.

“T-that would be nice,” I agreed while trying to calm down. “So… You were sleeping inside of me for a long time until just recently. You mentioned you wanted to show yourself to me earlier than what was previously planned. What made you stop?”

“Unfortunately, that is a question I don’t know myself,” she answered with her ears folded, and eyes lidded in a way to look concerned. “Something was keeping me asleep for many years, and I can’t say I know what it was. Some kind of seal perhaps. All I do know, is that an explosion cracked whatever put me down enough for me to wake up, and I seeped through the opening with as much magic I could gather to finally meet you in the alleyway that night.”

“Explosion?” I asked while I try to recall a similar phenomenon from yesterday’s events. I perked up when I realized what it was. “THE MAGIC DUEL! I tried casting a teleportation spell, and ended up getting hurt from the magic expulsion!”

“That may be the best reason to explain how I got there. I’ll admit, when I first saw you, I felt extreme sadness, and I was so eager to help you up, but I had to keep myself in control so I wouldn’t scare you away.”

“That’s right. Since I was sad, you were feeling the same because you were a part of me,” she nodded. “Which reminds me, how come you couldn’t speak the first time we met? And how were you able to get in a physical form in the real world?”

“Well I couldn’t speak because I don’t have a mouth silly. And so I can only speak to you in here, where we are connected and share our thoughts,” she said with a giggle.

That… May be unsettling, but kind of cool in a way.

“It is kind of cool isn’t it?” She asked before I realized that she could read my thoughts. “As for the physical form,” she continued. “I only had so much to help me come out and meet you. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off since whatever put me to sleep was only cracked. But me being there is proof enough that you have great potential in this magic Cyan Dusknight. That, I know for certain.”

“Wow…” I responded. “That’s really something. So, that big pulse you did when I trusted you earlier?”

“That was me breaking what was left of the seal-like spell holding the rest of your magic back. When I had enough magic stored myself, and had our hearts connected once you trusted me, we were able to break it ourselves.”

“We?”

“Yes. You played as much part of this as I did. Our magic resonated with each other enough to sync and destroy the barrier inside of you. It’s part of how you were able to use part of your magic afterwards. You didn’t need to know the concepts of this magic in our first lesson because it’s a part of you enough for you to bring it up at will. But that’s only part of what you can do, and as much as I want to teach you the next lesson, we’re running short on time,” she remarked before I realized everything around us started to fade.

“Crap! Okay, uh, two more questions. One, can I tell Lumina about this, and two, if you don’t have a name… Can I give you one?” I asked.

“First, yes you can. You trust me enough to teach you despite my appearance and the circumstances that followed, so it would only be fair. And the second is part of why I’m here now, as it is tradition for the Wielder of an Element to name their manifestation. It’s part of why I couldn’t give myself a name, and was so eager to come back to you after our first encounter,” she finished. I was confused by how this was a tradition, and how she seemed to want to be so involved with me, but I couldn’t think about it then as I needed to come up with a name quickly before everything faded.

“Okay okay, let’s see… How does Shadina sound to you? Since shade is similar to shadow, it would only make sense to rearrange it enough to make it sound pretty enough for you.”

“It’s perfect,” she confirmed before she quickly hugged my head to her chest, and I returned the kind gesture. In that moment, there was something different about this since the last time we were in an embrace, which actually brought me at ease when I realized it.

I heard a heartbeat from her chest.

“I guess you really are a part of me if I can hear your heart now,” I claimed with a smile.

“Indeed I am, and always remember, no matter what you decide to do with this magic, what to do with me, I will be with you every step of the way. Always,” she assured by crouching down, and placed her mouth-less muzzle to my cheek with eyes closed, gesturing a kiss of some sorts. She broke the embrace and stepped back. “It’s time for us to part. We will take the next lesson the next time you’re asleep. Practice more of the first lesson whenever possible. Until then, farewell Cyan Dusknight!”

“See ya later Shadina!” I exclaimed before everything suddenly went black.

“…-an… Cyan.. Wake up Cyan,” A faded voice called in the blackness while I grumbled in response while feeling something heavy on top of me.

“Ugh…” I groaned with my eyes still shut as I slowly pushed myself up before my muzzle got buried in something soft. I couldn’t make out what it was that stopped me, or the weight that was on top of me. I took one hand, and felt what was in front of me. It felt round, squishy, yet somewhat moldable; it had some weight to it too, but it was covered in some fabric. I had to knead it a little to get a better feel, but nothing recognizable came to mind. I tried to open my eyes a little to see what it was before I saw a pair of large, tank top covered mounds in front of me. I glanced to where my hand was, and saw that it was groping one of them before I looked up to see Lumina’s head smiling snidely at me.

“Well~, someone’s a little frisky today, and I think your little friend can vouch for that,” she remarked before I realized something tight in my pants that was being pressed under some weight.

I realized then and there that Lumina was straddling me while my muzzle was buried in her breasts, and I was groping one of them.

“GAAAAAAGH!” I screamed as I jumped out of the covers from place, got on my knees, and bowed repeatedly with my face flushed red. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m SO sorry I did that! Please don’t kick me out and leave me! I won’t-!” I apologized in a panic before I heard a loud laughter from Lumina interrupting me.

“You should have seen your face!” She exclaimed in between laughs while she calmed down and sat up. “Aw man, that was SO worth it, and I got a little kick out of it too.”

“What, I… Huh?” I sat there dumbfounded on what I missed was funny.

“Dude, chillax! I was just having a little fun waking you up this morning. You got nothing to blame yourself here.”

“Why would you do something like that?” I asked with confusion while befuddled with mixed emotions in my head.

“Because it’s fun teasing a good friend around, and you’re pretty cute when you get embarrassed like just now. Plus I’m feeling pretty chipper today, and I figured I’d give both of us a good way to start the morning. By the way, your technique could use some work, but you did pretty well on your first try,” Lumina critiqued.

“Wha-? But… That wasn’t even-.”

“Anyway, I picked up some food and water from the forest that will last us a couple days while you were sleeping. So go ahead and change, pack up, and come grab some breakfast when you’re ready,” Lumina finished before she got up, and left the tent.

I was left dumbfounded and silent before I sighed and groaned in frustration while rubbing my eyes.

I swear, I’m gonna get back at that sexy mare before she kills me of embarrassment. One way or another. I just hope the next lesson Shadina teaches me will give me some ideas.

Next Chapter: Side Chapter 2: Dealing with a Loss of a Friend Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 24 Minutes