[Time Unknown]

[Cyan’s POV]

I opened my eyes to Canterlot’s Park, or my memory of the park, lying on my side on the grass. I didn’t realize it the last time I was here, but it seems I get here with the clothes I wore overnight. I didn’t figure this out until after I sat up, and found that I was wearing the shirt and boxers I wore in bed last night.

“Welcome back to the dreamscape Cyan Dusknight,” greeted a familiar, heavenly mare voice. I turned around, and saw Shadina on her knees.

“Hey Shadina,” I greeted in return.

“I understand you have a lot going on in your head last night. Would you like to talk about it?” Shadina asked.

Oh right, she’s a part of me, so she sees, and hears what I experienced. Apparently she can do the mind reading thing outside of the dreamscape as well.

“Indeed I do Cyan Dusknight,” she confirmed as she was replying to what I thought. I sighed while trying to release some tensions I didn’t know I had until I spoke.

“Just a few questions before we get to my next lesson?” Shadina nodded. “First, I’ve been rather curious, but is there a reason that you take a female form since you’re basically the manifestation of my Shadow Magic?” I asked.

“I can understand your questioning, but the reasoning is kind of skewed,” Shadina answered.

“Enlighten me. I’ve seen and been through a few crazy situations today, can’t say this might be any different.”

“Very well,” Shadina sat and thought for a moment on what to say. “You’ll probably learn why later, but everyone in the real world has one type of Element Magic since the day they were born. Some magic may develop once the Wielder grows to a certain age, while others would probably never tap into that kind of magic. There may be hints of it here and there, some stronger than others, but they probably won’t be able to tap into the full potential that’s inside them.

“As for why I take a female form even though I’m the embodiment of your magic, as Wielders grow and develop their personality and identity, the embodiments also develop to reflect their owner’s deepest thoughts, feelings, and parts of personality that some may not even know about.”

“So…” I said while trying to make sense out of this. “With you taking a female form, you represent my sensitive, self-conscientious, and affectionate side of me?”

“Indeed, and some others,” Shadina answered.

… It’s interesting, but I can’t help but worry if that means I have a mare inside of me wanting to break out.

“I don’t you think you have to worry too much about that,” Shadina interrupted my thought process. “As far as I know how ponies go, as long as you’re comfortable and happy with yourself, you don’t need to worry about changing anything about you at all.”

Shit, I forgot she does this… Dammit she’s probably hearing me dissing myself right now.

Shadina giggled at my inner bantering. “Anything else?” She asked after calming down.

“I’ve noticed how you’ve been really affectionate with me since we met. It may be my… inner affectionate side of me having you do this, but is there more to it than that? Do you Guardians, embodiments, or whatever show that much affection to the Element Wielders?” I asked.

“Let’s stick with Guardians, I like the sound of that better if that’s alright?” She asked before I nodded to confirm. “Anyway, like how there are different Wielders, there are different Guardians who behave almost unique to their Wielders. For me, I enjoy having the moments we share together, and I want to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with you, especially since I was asleep for so long not being able to see you,” she finished.

Huh, that’s like how I want to spend so much time with Roxxie, Teala, and Lumina recently. Guess she does reflect me in some ways… Come to think of it…

“If you’re wondering if we develop romantic feelings for our Wielders, it’s kind of a complicated topic,” Shadina interjected in my thoughts. “We know we can’t be ‘together’ with our Wielders, no matter how intimate we get with them. In most cases the Guardians usually take the same gender/sex form as their Wielders. I’m sure that unless the Wielders are homo or bisexual, they wouldn’t be interested in having that with their Guardians. Plus, since I’m basically a part of you, and say that we just decided to do it here one session, which I wouldn’t mind at all, it’s complicated to say whether it would be called sex, masturbation, or a wet dream,” Shadina finished. My face turned red at the last part she mentioned.

“I-I didn’t think you’d mind something like that,” I commented.

“Please, I’m the deepest quirks of your personality. If you looked back to all the times you were in close proximity with the mares you liked, I’m sure a part of you almost welcomed that,” Shadina finished with a giggle.

“I think that’s all the questions I have for now. Thanks,” I thanked with my face still heated up.

“Anytime Cyan Dusknight,” Shadina waved with her hand. “Let’s get to the next lesson shall we? And who knows…” She started as she crawled on all fours towards me with her blank-white eyes half lidded. “If you do well on this, perhaps I’ll give you a little award for your progress…” She suggested.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked with my face heating up again.

“Be able to cast what I’ll tell you before tomorrow night, and I’ll do whatever. You. Ask,” she emphasized with a sultry tone in her voice while she traced her finger down my shirt. “You can even have me refer to you as ‘Master’ if you wish.”

Sweet Celestia was THIS part of my inner quirks as well?! How was I even able to keep control of myself? Where did I even come up with these ideas?

“If you ask me, Lumina might be rubbing off on you a little. There’s that, and the time you accidentally came across your father’s ‘secret stash’ might have been the trigger,” Shadina answered my thoughts.

“H-how do you know about that?!” I quavered.

“I am a part of you, so I know all of your memories,” Shadina remarked while tapping her head with her finger. “Don’t worry, that will stay between us,” she winked. I gulped and nodded in response. “Now before we get to the next lesson, let’s recap what you’ve learned,” she said as she stood up and pulled me along with her. “From our last lesson, I asked you to project the image or object that you can imagine from your mind. That was the visual part of your magic that we worked on, and from how you projected me earlier, you’re making great progress on the size part. Your next lesson will be to make those objects real enough to touch and hold, and with enough practice, you can leave it out in the real world even when you aren’t focusing your Shadow Magic on it.”

“So if I want to have something like, I don’t know, a super ball, I can make it out of nothing but my own magic?” I asked.

“Precisely, but there’s a catch, two actually,” she interjected while holding up two fingers. “The first is that before you make the object of your choosing real, you must get acquainted with the original. More specifically, getting to know the touch, texture, and weight of said object.”

“That’s understandable. I guess that means I’ll have to do some field study,” I added.

Shadina nodded at the suggestion before she continued. “The second catch is that you have a limit to what objects you can create.”

“…This won’t end up like my regular unicorn magic will it?” I asked with concern.

“Nope,” she answered while shaking her head. “You have potential to grow and improve, but you just need to know your limits, and overcome them a little more each time. I think the first time you made the image of me would be the perfect example.”

“I guess that makes sense. I had a hard time keeping it together when I tried it with that size too,” I pointed out.

“Try not to push yourself too hard, listen to your body, and you should be fine. As for your unicorn magic, you may have gained more capabilities with it since the first time we met,” Shadina added, which perked my ears and I looked at her with disbelief.

“A-are you serious? How is that possible?”

“I think the seal that was cast on you earlier might have been part of it,” Shadina guessed. “While it put me to sleep for years, it also acted as a resistor of some sorts to what unicorn magic you were capable of. So with Shadow Magic, you’ll be able to grow and develop with your regular magic as well. In fact, for extra credit, try finding a new mid-level spell and give it a whirl. If you succeed, well… I’ll have more in store for you once you pass this lesson,” she finished before giving me a wink. I blushed and looked another way in embarrassment.

Crap, I think Lumina’s flirting and teasing really are rubbing onto me if Shadina’s this forward.

“I-I’ll keep that in mind,” I stuttered before Shadina giggled.

“That will be all for your lesson tonight Cyan, but it seems we still got some time left. I’d like to ask you something if you don’t mind?” She asked.

“Sure, go right ahead,” I allowed.

“I understand you’re going to reveal your true name and identity to Lumina later, so what I’d like to ask is what do you see of her now from the time you two first met?” She asked

“Well her teasing is still hard to get used to,” I said. “Leaving me frustrated and a little sore now and then will probably be something I’ll have to adjust to, and her sense of humor is something to be questioned. Other than those though? She’s… A really cool mare. She’s open, affectionate, strong, beautiful, I could go on and on with specifics if I was asked.”

“Would you say you’re starting to develop feelings for her like you did with Roxxie and Teala?” Shadina asked.

“… I honestly don’t know,” I admitted while looking down. “I mean it’s been only at least a day since we met, but I feel I’ve already known so much about her already. I feel like things are kind of escalating too fast between us though. I mean I had trouble understanding my feelings for Roxxie and Teala before that, and I do love them, but in what way? Do I love them as friends? Maybe more than that?

“What about Lumina? I think it’s safe to say she’s on the same boat as those two, but she’s shown more affection to me than what anyone else has done so far. Is it just her way of being comfortable with her friends? Then again, she did say she didn’t grow up with many friends, so it’s hard to say. I mean I like the hugs, pecks on the cheek and head, and just recently, cuddling, I’m sure most ponies love those. I wouldn’t mind keeping those going, but where’s the boundary that things are getting serious between us? I still think something like that between us is questionable considering our age difference, and the fact that I’m not legal yet, but where do we stand in general?”

Great… Here I am again with the ridiculously long chain of questions like yesterday. Only now it’s something more serious than getting my cutie mark. Glad I won’t have to worry about that anymore.

“If it’s any consolation,” Shadina interjected in my thoughts. “I think it’s a good sign that you’re thinking so hard on this. To me it shows how much you care for theirs, if not, all of your happiness. You want to be sure that you’re all on the same ground level of understanding, and see if you can work things out with them,” she finished.

“… I guess I found another reason why I need to tell her the truth then,” I concluded. “This may come in as a shock for her, but at least she’d want to think about where we stand, and how much she trusts me after that,” I stood there and smiled with content before I looked back to Shadina. “Thanks for that, I think I might have needed it more than I thought. Guess the title of Guardian really does fit your role,” I complimented.

“Oh stop it, you’re making me blush,” Shadina joked, which made us both laughed. When we finished, things started to fade around us, signifying my dream’s almost over. “Well, it looks like we’re out of time. Remember what I told you, and if things don’t go well with you and Lumina, you can be sure I’ll be around to cheer you up in any way I can,” she finished with a wink. I just laughed at the implications to that.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I responded before I started the hug for us this time, and she gladly returned it. Feeling gutsy, I gave her a quick peck on the cheek before we broke off.

“Ooo~ someone’s feeling forward today,” she commented.

“What can I say? I think Lumina’s antics are starting to rub off on me,” I theorized. “Good to see you again Shadina. See ya later,” I bid while we waved our hands good-bye before things went black around me once more, as I prepare for the day that’s ahead of me.

Next Chapter: Side Chapter 8: A Surprising Wake-Up Call, Blaze's Departure, and Teala's Deviant Plan Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 37 Minutes