[Time Unknown]

[Cyan’s POV]

I slowly opened my eyes, and saw the familiar setting. Everything I remembered about Canterlot Park, the place where I was most at peace, was still the way it should be.

“Welcome back, Cyan Dusknight,” greeted the familiar, heavenly voice.

I turned my head to the side, and saw Shadina sitting with her legs crossed beside me. Her mane and tail were still flowing in the nonexistent winds as usual. “Hey Shadina. How have you been?” I asked with a sad smile.

“I’m doing well, thank you. I would ask the same thing, but I think the both of us know how you’ve been doing,” Shadina responded with a concerned expression in her eyes.

… Oh right, the seeing and hearing thing. I keep forgetting that, and the fact she can read my thoughts and memories… Somehow that’s not bothering me as much as I used to.

“Well I’m certainly glad you feel that way,” she interjected, replying to my thoughts. “And I can certainly see how much you’ve improved throughout the day. Making a scrunchy for Lumina, which I found very touching I might add, and even with little memory of what they looked and felt like, you still managed to make the massage head and arm rests for her as well. Not to mention, you learned a new spell on top of them,” she counted on her fingers.

“Yeah, they seemed easy enough to work worth, so I chose those,” I said. “I know you said we’d do, well, THAT once I achieve my lessons, but can we hold that off for another time? I’m not exactly in a good mood,” I requested as I sat up and hugged my legs close to me.

“I understand,” she replied as she sat next to me, and I instinctively leaned on her shoulder. “Is there anything I can do to help you feel better Cyan Dusknight?”

“Well to start things off, you can stop referring me by my full name,” I replied. “Sure, you may be my Guardian, and I’m your Wielder, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends right? Just call me Cyan from now on. It will be easier for both of us.”

“Done,” she answered with a nod. “Anything else… Cyan?”

“Other than that? I can’t really say except maybe request something for my next lesson if that’s possible.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I want to know how I can use Shadow Magic to help other ponies. All the things you’ve taught me to do so far have been good and all, don’t get me wrong, but I want to start getting more serious with my magic so I won’t be such a burden to Lumina, especially with everything she’s done for me so far.” I look out in front of me where the endless sea of grass extends beyond the horizon, replacing the road and elementary school that were there before. “Teases aside, she’s just been a great friend for me so far since Roxxie and Teala are gone. She’s so strong as well, and wants to protect me from those who want to take me away, but I want to grow stronger to do the same for her.”

“You’ve certainly started to grow fond for Lumina haven’t you?” Shadina asked.

“I guess so,” I answered. “But now she’s starting to grow on me now more than ever. Even if there’s no way I’ll see Roxxie and Teala again, I can’t help but still have feelings for both of them, and now Lumina’s added into the mix as well. If someone asked me which of them I’d have to choose, I honestly can’t say,” I looked down with ears folded. “I know that sounds selfish, but all three of them have such wonderful qualities about them that just makes me love them so much, if ‘love’ is the proper word to use here. It’s almost impossible for me to choose without risking to hurt and possibly lose two of my closest friends. But there’s something still on my mind that’s bugging me to this day.”

“And what might that be?” Shadina asked.

“How do they feel about me?” I answered with another question. “I mean, I already have some idea of how Lumina feels, despite what she’s trying to sort out in her head; yet, I feel there’s something about her that I still don’t know. I could probably understand since we’ve only been together in such a short amount of time, and things like that should come around bit by bit. Maybe what happened in her past is part of why she’s having a hard time on how to behave around friends, or find what to look for a in a relationship. The name calling she put up with back in elementary school is part of it considering how bad she was feeling after I got her to laugh that hard.

“Then there’s Teala and Roxxie. Sure, I’ve known them most of my lifetime, I feel I know them more than the majority of ponies around me does besides their parents; however, I can’t help but think there’s something about them they’re not showing that I’m not getting. There may have been hints of it from time to time, but they must have been too miniscule for me to notice if I can’t recall what those implications were right now. It just seems weird that they may be hiding something from me, their best friend, and not tell me what it is. Do they not trust me enough? Is it something so personal that no one should ever see? It’s these kinds of things that have me question how they feel about me, and how much I’m worth to them.” I sighed while rubbing my temples. “Great, now I’m too frustrated for even thinking about it.”

“Do you mind if I say something Cyan?” Shadina asked. I looked up to her and nodded, giving her permission. “In a general sense, love is very complicated. It is expressed in different ways, and comes in different forms. In the end however, love is shared to those that are closest to them. You’ll probably come to understand this concept more, and your feelings with Roxxie, Teala, and Lumina as you grow, develop, and bond with them.

“Roxxie and Teala may have kept those things from you BECAUSE they love you in a way you may not understand yet. It could be possible they were keeping it from you because they were afraid of how things would change for the three of you if they DID reveal them. It’s important to think about these things in different perspectives so you have a better understanding for their actions and motives,” she concluded.

“I guess that makes sense, but what if the three of them don’t accept the way I ‘share the love’ like you mentioned?” I argued. “They may want to keep it all to themselves, and it may be an exaggeration, but it could be possible they won’t let me be as close to others besides the one I would choose in the end. I… I want to love all three of them. I don’t want any of them to think I love one of the three more or less than the other two, because they each have something unique to themselves that brought me to feel such a way for them in the first place.”

“In that case, it all really comes down to you Cyan,” Shadina answered. “Unfortunately, not everyone has a chance for a happy ending in your world. Like I had mentioned before, you would need to get to know your three loves enough in order to have a true understanding with them. When the time comes to make that final choice, you would need to listen to what’s in here,” she said as she placed a finger on my chest. “Instead of what’s in here,” she then moved that same finger to my head. “It will only be then that you know the choice you make will be the right one. Just remember that even though you’ve made the final choice, you may still love the other two in a way that doesn’t affect your commitment. If they don’t accept it, that’s their loss, leaving more love for you to give to the one you’ve chosen,” she finished with a nod.

“Sheesh that sounds smart. If I was supposed to know this since you’re a part of me, how come I’m getting it now?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ve always known Cyan. It’s just that you forget it sometimes, and everyone needs a little refresher from time to time,” she states with a joyful expression on her face. “As for Roxxie and Teala, I’m sure you’ll see them again at some point, perhaps sooner than you think. Life has a strange way of getting ponies together sometimes.”

“I guess so,” I agreed. “I’ll admit though, if I do come to make that final decision on the road ahead, I’ll feel pretty sad myself if one or both of the other two don’t accept, and decide to leave me in the end. When you think about it though, I guess that shows how much of the right choice I DID make, and they may not be as close of a friend as I had thought of them to be,” I looked back up to Shadina with a smile. “Thanks for that Shadina. I think I may have needed this more than what I had originally thought.”

“It’s no problem at all Cyan,” Shadina responded. “I do want you to remember this though,” she said as she turned to me, and held my hands between her own while staring intently at me. “Though there’s no chance for Guardians and Wielders to be together like I mentioned before, I will always love you Cyan. I’ll be with you every step of the way until the very end, and you can be certain that I won’t feel any hint of jealousy for you being together with one of the three you’ve chosen,” she concluded.

I sat there wide-eyed at her profession of dedication and loyalty in such a mature manner. “Wow… Thanks Shadina, that means a lot,” I responded with a smile. “So can I learn how to use my magic to help other ponies?”

“Lucky for you Cyan, since you’ve achieved casting a higher level spell today, I’ll be giving you a bonus in today’s lesson. You could say that these are three separate lessons rolled into one, and I’m sure you’ll be starting to help other ponies with this afterwards,” Shadina answered.

“Really?! That’s awesome!” I exclaimed as I stood up from the ground. “Alright, I’m ready for whatever you have to throw at me. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“There’s the Cyan I know and love,” Shadina remarked with a joyful expression as she stood up as well. “Alright, the first of our three part lesson is how to use your magic to defend yourself. If you can’t start doing that, there’s little guarantee you’ll do the same for those you’re protecting.”

“I guess I can see your point,” I agreed. “So what do I have to do?”

“Let’s start off with something simple. This will be part one of your lesson,” Shadina focused on her Shadow Magic, and a black tendril was slithering its way out of the dark aura around her hand.

“… Okay, that just looks SUPER creepy,” I commented.

“It may be, but it’s also very adaptable,” Shadina argued. “With this, you can wrap and immobilize your enemies, pull you out of harm’s way, hold objects, and perhaps something else if you’re creative,” she demonstrated by whipping the tendril to one of the branches of the tree in the field, and flung herself towards it before swinging herself high in the air like the mixture of a slingshot and a catapult. She fell back to where I stood, and used multiple tendrils to make a quick net on the ground before it caught and bounced her in place. She gently lowered herself to the ground with the tendrils’ help once more before she had them disappeared.

“Okay, still creepy, but SUPER awesome!” I exclaimed. “You were like the freakin’ Mane-iac from the Power Pony comics! Only you’re the good guy, er, girl.”

Shadina giggled at my correction before she replied. “Thank you Cyan. Now to get to part two of your lesson. Recalling to the last few things you’ve created, your Shadow Magic took form of objects that are stretchy like the scrunchy, and soft like the head and arm rests of the massage attachments,” she pointed out. “When you want you make something that’s harder like a shield, you need to focus on condensing your magic very tightly in the object you’re trying to create as I’ll demonstrate,” Shadina then hold her hand out, and started her Shadow Magic. The blob slowly morphed into a large, round object while the auras around her hand and horn were kind of in ablaze like fire from the concentration being put into the creation. She deactivated her magic as she grabbed hold of the object after she finished. “Okay Cyan, try to hit this as hard as you can,” she suggested.

“Alright,” I said as I popped my fingers like Roxxie would prepare for a brawl before I walked up to it. I prepared a stance like she showed me before I made a right straight punch to the object until…

CLUNK!

“OOOWWW!” I screamed as I shook the pain off the hand I punched while swearing incoherent sentences. “Fuck that hurts! It’s like that shield’s made of steel!”

“Indeed, and the more you can focus on condensing and compacting your magic, the stronger your shield becomes,” Shadina explained before she made the shield disappear. “Be warned that they can gain mass as well, which will slow you down unless you make your shields strong and light enough for you to maneuver with. Of course, gaining physical strength will also help accomplish you to carrying stronger, heavier shields. This goes for other objects you can create with as well.”

I looked up in thought as some unique ideas came to mind. “What if I want to make heavy clothes out of this magic?” I asked. “Not hard enough to make it like armor, but heavy enough to build resistance to my movements as I move? I feel training in something like that will help me get stronger physically. Maybe even faster. I read a mane-ga one time where the main hero trained in such garments, and he got CRAZY strong and fast afterwards.”

“In that case, you’ll need to make the thread in those clothes as dense and tightly wounded as the shield you make,” she answered. “That may be more of a challenge than creating regular clothes, as you’re trying to focus on many small tendrils like the ones you saw earlier intertwine and come together to make a strong, heavy, durable material. I’ll give that to you as an extra credit assignment for you to do, but try to make regular clothes first before you focus on making them heavier in mass.”

“Cool, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “So what’s part two of this lesson?”

“For the last part of our lesson, we’ll be focusing on your offense,” Shadina answered. “Before we get to that, do you have a particular weapon in mind do you want to use?”

“Oh trust me, from the weapons Dad has shown me, I don’t know where to start,” I admitted. “But I think I’d like to try hand-to-hand combat first. When it comes down to it, our bodies can be our best weapons as a last resort if we know how to use it. Roxxie would always tell me that.”

“Excellent choice,” she replied as she held up a fist in front of her. “Like the shield you hit earlier, your fist, open palm, hooves, and any other part in your body can be as strong as iron as long as you can focus on creating a condensed layer of your magic in that specific area. You can use that to gain advantage in both offense AND defense once you know how to use it to your advantage. Follow me please,” she requested as she led me to the tree my friends and I used to hang out under. We stopped at a close, arm’s length distance from it. “Now watch closely,” Shadina directed before she held up her right fist once more, and focused her Shadow Magic on it. “haaaaaaaaaAAA!” She sighed forcefully from low to higher volume as the black auras went ablaze once more while the one on the fist she was focusing on condensed into itself around it. “SHADOW IRON FIST!” She cried as she made a strong right to the tree, crushing its bark enough to send pieces of it flying while rustling the leaves up top. She pulled herself back after taking a breath, leaving an imprint of her fist on the bark.

“…Holy shit that was awesome,” I praised with wide eyes.

“Just remember that like the shield, condensing the magic too much on your attacks will make them heavy, and won’t be as effective as an attack that’s higher in speed,” Shadina pointed out. “You’ll need to increase your physical strength on this as well if you want your attacks to pack a wallop on your opponent.”

“Alright, I understand,” I confirmed with a nod. “So the reason this lesson had three parts is because they all involve condensing my magic into stronger objects, and making them adaptable to any situation in a fight right?”

“That is correct,” Shadina answered. “Try to take note of how hard different metals are once you do more field studies too. You’ll have a better idea on how compact and dense you want your magic to be to fit the situation at hand. Since this lesson will take more effort to learn, we’ll focus on you working your physical capabilities the next time we meet.”

“CAN I get stronger here?” I asked with a raised eyebrow in skepticism.

“Oh yes, you’d be surprised how training in the Dreamscape will affect your physical form,” Shadina answered. “Just be prepared that the next time you’re here, we’ll be in a different section of your dreams to make this training work.”

“Cool! Not that I don’t like this place, but it’s nice to change things up every now and then you know?” I asked.

“Indeed,” she agreed before everything around us started to fade. “It looks like our time is up. I’m not sure if you’ll have the time and place to practice making those kinds of objects in the real world, but try to gather what you can in your field studies alright? We’ll have you try making them the next time we’re here.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said before I pulled us into a hug.

“And do let me know when you want to receive your ‘reward’ Cyan,” Shadina pointed out. “I’m ready to do anything you ask for whenever you are. And I. Mean. Anything,” she emphasized the last three words as she guided my one of my hands down to her rear while she looked at me with blank, half-lidded eyes.

I laughed nervously at the gesture she was making the point on before I answered. “Y-yeah, sounds good. I’ll keep that in mind.”

We broke the embrace, and took a few steps back from each other. “Until next time Cyan. Take care, and good luck,” Shadina bid before she waved.

“Thanks again Shadina. See you soon,” I returned with my own wave before everything went black around me once more.

Next Chapter: Side Chapter 12: The Guardians of Earth and Water Revealed Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes