We went in the candy cane forest once more before Shadina stopped us. “I do believe this may be a good time and place to practice the first part of our lesson from last night,” she said. “If we use this, we’ll be able to save more time and speed up our travel.”

“The Shadow Tendril things right?” I asked before Shadina nodded in confirmation. “So do we kind of do what the Mane-iac and Spider Mare do, and just latch our tendrils on some surface and sling our way across the forest?”

“Indeed,” she answered. “Now remember to focus on the durability and stretchiness of the tendrils like the scrunchy, only concentrate on keeping them more wound up and tight together. Sort of like a strong rubber band. You go first, and I’ll follow behind.”

I nodded before I looked up, and saw a sturdy candy cane branch to latch my first tendril onto. I held my open hand in that direction, and focused on my magic like Shadina told me before a whipping sound came out of the black aura, and grappled the branch before…

“WHOOA!” I yelped as I was immediately flung and swung in the air while my hand was holding onto my tendril for dear life. Things were going pass me fast, but I couldn’t freak out then. I kept my cool as I focused on the next target, and quickly whipped my second tendril from my other hand before I lost focus of the first one. I was getting a bit of a rhythm after the first couple of branches before I was feeling the energetic, and fun rush of what I’d like to call ‘Shadow Slinging.’

With Shadina following behind, I picked up the pace before the two of us made it out of the forest boundaries a couple minutes later. “Very good back there Cyan,” Shadina praised. “Remember that even in very tight situations. It can never hurt to try something creative with those tendrils.”

“Right,” I responded before I looked straight ahead. The chocolate chip cookie ground drastically changed to one of dirt and rubble like back in the real world. Only this one was a dark-bluish gray color with rocks and boulders lying along the sides with glimmers that I can only assume were small gems and crystals embedded inside. Further out in the distance, a large, emerald green, castle-shaped gem was seen. “That must be the Jewel Palace,” I said as I pointed to the structure.

“Let’s hope we’ll run into something dangerous along the way,” Shadina said which got me turning to her with a raised eyebrow. “To help practice offense and defense of your magic of course. You’ll need to prepare yourself for the strong enemy that resides in that castle. Don’t worry, I’ll be right here for you if anything goes wrong,” I nodded in response before the two of us walked along the path to the castle.

“Hey I’ve been meaning to ask, but how come I couldn’t change colors to the pants I made earlier?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How should I explain this?” She asked while looking up in thought. “You already know how Element Magic is different from regular Unicorn Magic. For the former, you train the ins and outs of the magic that resides in you since the day you were born in order to grow and improve. While the latter is similar, you focus on practicing spells to achieve specific tasks that is out of reach from what the former can do. Element Magic and Unicorn Magic are like two separate entities. There’s a boundary line between them, and unless you’re levitating an object made from Shadow Magic in your case, they cannot be intertwined with one another.”

“But is it true that the majority of unicorns only have access to their own magic while their element ones are hidden or locked away of some sorts?” I asked. “I mean how can one even TAP into this kind of magic? Is the time for it to be unlocked different for each pony? Are there different cases for how they come across it?”

“It’s very complicated to explain,” Shadina admitted. “You can probably see already how most ponies live their whole lives without ever knowing about this type of magic, yet have no use for such. The cutie marks they bear pretty much tell all,” my eyes widened at that statement. “Some ponies may come across it by accident, some may wish to do more than what they’re good in, and there are some who would want to achieve feats that are near impossible to ponies. One way or another, these ponies would unconsciously unlock the Element Magic inside them, and once they do acquire it, it’s up to them where they want to go with that power.”

“… When you put it that way, it sounds like there may be some who would even use such magic for the wrong reasons,” I pointed out with ears folded.

“It’s unfortunate, but it is the truth,” she admitted. “On the other side however, there are ponies who want to do GOOD with this magic like you are right now. You still want to do whatever you can to give your friends the happiness they deserve correct?”

“I do, yes,” I answered. “Heck, if I can bring joy to lots of ponies outside of my circle, whether it be the joy of living, the joy of getting back up from times of sadness when they need it, and the joy of caring and support that’s brought onto them, even if my death may bring grief to those around me, I would be content that I was the one that brought such happiness to their lives, and I became a significant part of that,” I looked up to the dark gray skies with a solemn smile. “I don’t have much to lose after running away from Canterlot, so despite how scared I may be, no, how I WILL be when I come face to face with death, I’ll sacrifice myself if it means prolonging the lives and happiness of those I protect and love.”

“And you can be sure that I will always be by your side, even after death,” Shadina replied with an assuring nod.

“Thank you Shadina,” I said with a smile before a loud growl was heard in the air. “What was that?” I asked with a little shakiness in my voice.

“Oh shit, I forgot about this,” Shadina hissed. “The Jewel King has a certain guard we would have to go through before we get further, and it’s…” She said before I felt rumbles of the ground under my hooves. Suddenly chunks of gems and crystals were shaking as they float, and came together to form a large creature standing before us. Its eyes glowed yellow as it opened them, and moved its jaw around to get a feel for its body. “… A Crystal Ogre,” Shadina finished before the ogre roared at us with enough force that blew my mane back. It raised its arm in the air before Shadina yelled “MOVE!” We dodged to our opposite sides at the right time before the ogre slammed its fist down between us, which shook the ground a little.

It looked towards me as the first target before chunks of crystal were floating behind him, prepared to toss them in my direction.

Guess this is a good time as any to try my new moves!

“SHIELD!” I exclaimed as I focused my Shadow Magic as fast as I could to make a large, durable shield to block the oncoming crystal chunks. It was almost painful to take the chunks that were coming in hard, one by one. The shield was starting to give out as it got dent from the attacks, and my arms were straining from its weight, and the force from the ogre.

“SHADOW IRON FIST!” Shadina yelled as she took advantage of the ogre’s distraction to hop up, and punched through its head. The impact literally exploded as pieces of crystal that were once the ogre’s head spread out, leaving the rest of the body standing in place.

I made the shield disappear after the attacks stopped, and saw the damage done. “Huh, guess that ogre wasn’t much of a challenge after all,” I said before the pieces around me shook once more, and flew to the ogre’s shoulders before they reformed its head, albeit at a different shape than it was previously before it roared in anger. “…Well fuck,” I said before the ogre tossed more crystals at me, and I ran to avoid the oncoming strikes while Shadina dodged the fists it was bringing to her. “This thing is indestructible! How do we defeat it?!” I exclaimed as I ran.

“I heard these ogres supposedly have a heart that allows it to move!” She replied as she tried to destroy the fists the ogre slammed down before it came back together. “If we can find where it is and destroy it, the ogre will be gone for good!”

The heart huh? If I can guess what it looks like, it may have the same glow the ogre has in its eyes right now.

I thought as I ran around the ogre while trying to find such indication anywhere on its body. Suddenly, the ogre gave another roar before the crystals in its body came apart except the one making the head. Now there were more crystals floating about than before, and the ogre started to toss more of those chunks at us, trying to pummel us out of misery with as much as it can throw. Shadina and I had to focus on dodging those oncoming attacks before at the corner of my eye, I saw a pile of crystals lazily floating about with a faint, yellow glow. I followed my gut that was probably where the heart was before my mind quickly came up with an idea.

“SHADINA! Grab one of the large chunks and fling it to that floating pile over there!” I exclaimed as I pointed to said glowing pile.

“On it!” She replied as she whipped a Shadow Tendril from the aura around her hand, and wrapped around one of the larger chunks of crystal. She spun around with it before she aimed the makeshift wrecking ball to the floating crystal pile, and the pieces scattered on impact.

The ogre roared as I saw a yellow glowing crystal that flew from the pile before it hit the ground. I took advantage of the opportunity before the creature made an attempt to bring what I assumed was his heart back to him. “I hope this works! SHADOW IRON FIST!” I yelled as I enveloped my fist with my Shadow Magic to prepare the final blow. With a battle cry, I ran to the glowing crystal before I jumped, and punched it as I hit the ground. The yellow crystal got crushed into tiny pieces from the impact, which made all the other chunks, and the ogre’s head stop in midair. The glowing eyes dimmed to nothing before the head, and the crystals that floated dropped to place, and scattered around the area. I looked around my surrounding, making sure the ogre didn’t make an attempt to reform again with my Shadow Iron Fist still activated. There was no rumbling or shaking besides the crystals’ drop from earlier.

With a sigh of relief, I deactivated my attack before Shadina hugged me while laughing joyfully. “You did it Cyan! That was incredible!” She praised.

“Yeah… I really did do it didn’t I?” I asked with a chuckle. “Gotta say though, you were right on the weight portion. It was tough enough just holding up my fist, but I may need to work on my shield making a bit.”

“You’ll get there, don’t worry,” she replied as she pulled back from the embrace except a hand on my shoulder. “If you just have your hands weighted that much for a while, especially when you train with Lumina, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it just like that,” she said with a snap of her fingers. “Let’s not get carried away from our victory yet though. There’s still one more obstacle we need to face.”

The two of us looked to the direction where the ogre stood before, and saw the Jewel Palace just yards away from where we stood. The final battle was within our reach. We just need to defeat the Jewel King before we save the Candy Princess, and hopefully end this crazy dream on a good note. Shadina and I looked at each other once more, and nodded before we walked towards the Jewel Palace. I used my unicorn magic to open the doors with a loud creak before we walked inside, and I closed the door behind us.

The place definitely lived up to its name. Everything inside was made and sculpted from the same gem the palace was encased in. There were two stairs on each side of the entrance that led up to a second level where other rooms were somewhere in each of the two hallways on each end. Below the second level however, was a large double gate that I could only assume led to the throne room. The two of us walked towards the double doors before we opened them, and walked inside.

“So you actually defeated my guard ogre before you got here? I must say, I’m rather disappointed at what I’m looking at,” a voice said that was strangely familiar.

… Oh Goddess, please tell me that’s not who I think it is.

I looked towards the back of the room where the throne sat, and unfortunately my fears were correct. Emerald Brace was sitting on the finely sculpted, green colored throne. He wore a gold crown with smaller gems embedded inside, a large, royal purple robe with white, fluffy trimmings that also had gems shown, and finally a black robe underneath that I was surprised there weren’t even more gems that go with it.

You know, as much as I hate having this guy included in my dreams, just knowing I get to beat up the bastard with no consequences makes me more excited than annoyed.

“Alright Brace, what have you done with the Candy Princess, and why have you kidnapped her?” I pressed with a stern expression.

“That’s KING Brace to you PEASANT,” he spat. “As for why I kidnapped her is quite simple,” he snapped his fingers, and Copper Cut, who I didn’t notice was standing next to Brace while wearing a black robe with a gold strap over his shoulder, had his horn glowing before a flash a light came from the king’s other side. What appeared there however, I could have sworn my eyes bulged out of my sockets from what I saw. Lumina was lying on the ground with her hands tied behind her, and hooves locked together with rope. She had a silk pink dress, a silver tiara with a few pieces of candy embedded on her head, a metal circlet on her horn that I assume was what prevented her from using magic, and a piece of cloth over her muzzle to quiet her protests. I realized then and there that Lumina Lustre was the princess of the Candy Kingdom in this world.

“Princess Luminescent is only the FIRST of all the royals in Foodtopia that I’ll foalnap,” Brace continued. “Once I have them all in my grasp, I’ll put them up as hostages for Queen Celestia to see, making a proposition that if she doesn’t give me the power to rule all of Foodtopia, I will slit the royals’ throats one by one until she complies. Before I get to that however,” he got up, and walked over to Lumina who was struggling to break free. He took a sharp, knife-like gem in his hand, and slowly traced it up her dress where it split in two as he moved. I trembled in anger at what he was doing to my friend, even though Lumina may not be so in this world. “I think I’ll take my sweet time and have some fun with the princesses in this land. I foalnapped this one first because she’s known to be the most… Delectable of all the royals, and I’m just DYING to get a taste of her,” he said before he licked up Lumina’s throat, which made her cringe with discomfort.

“YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW YOU BASTARD!” I yelled as I prepared my main Shadow Magic attack on both my fists, only the material was like that of copper in order for me to hold them up and move about easily. “You’re not gonna get ANYWHERE else until you beat me to my dying breath!”

“I think that can be arranged,” Brace said before he snapped his fingers. “Copper, erase him.”

“Yes my king,” Copper replied in monotone before he charged straight towards me at a fast pace with a double edged, crystal sword in his grasp.

“Oh no you don’t!” Shadina intervened before she shoved me to the side, and blocked Copper’s attack with her own shadow blade. “I’ll take care of this while you handle the king!” She then moved Copper to the side of the throne room, keeping him distracted while it was down to only me and Brace.

“Alright Brace, enough with the hiding behind your followers,” I said before I clashed my Shadow Copper Fists together, making a ringing sound that filled the room. “Let’s settle this wizard to wizard, unless you’re not as tough as I thought you were.”

“Hmph. Very well then,” Brace replied before he took off his royal robe. “Soon you’ll see why they call me the Jewel King. This opportunity will be your last,” he then focused his magic, his horn and hands giving off a green aura. Surprisingly, his fists started to cover themselves with the same kind of gem as the castle. I could only guess in this world, Emerald Brace has a special magic that relates to gems. What more there is to it, I was going to find out soon enough.

The two of us stood there in a stare off as sounds of clashing swords from Shadina and Copper filled the room. Lumina sat at the throne’s side, with her dress ripped up to her waist where her panties were slightly shown. She watched us intently from a distance, me specifically, mentally preparing herself for what may come next. With a sound of a gem cracking, loud enough that wasn’t drowned by the sword clashes as the signal, Brace and I charged in with our battle cries, readying our magically enchanted fists before they clashed on impact from our right straight punches we delivered for the start of our fight. I felt some tinge of pain from my fist, as the hardness of copper wasn’t as strong and durable as gems. I tried to bear with it as I focused my Shadow Magic to wrap the tendrils coming off of my hand around Brace’s, and pulled him past me which caught him off guard. I took the opportunity to attack him from behind, but a punch to the ground allowed Brace to quickly erect a large, crystal pedestal between us, making me run into it hard with the momentum. I lost focus of my Shadow Magic while I got a little delirious from the impact as the wall lowered, and Brace was coming at me with his crystal fist. I was barely conscious enough to dodge as I stepped to the side, and tripped him with my hoof. He flew from the momentum before he hit the crystal floor face first as I shook myself back into focus.

Brace got back up with a grunt of frustration before he turned to me with his brow furrowed, teeth gritted, and irises shrunk to pinpricks. “How DARE you make a fool out of the Jewel King!” He exclaimed before he lets go of the crystal magic on his firsts, making them back to the way they were. He then made a sword out of the same crystals, the blade looked sharp enough to cut with just a touch. “I will display your head on a spike as an example to show Foodtopia what happens when they mock the Jewel King!”

Sheesh, I think the dream Brace is more psycho compared to the real one. Is he probably drunk from power? Anyway, he looks serious, so I’ll have to make this last shot count. I’ve always wanted to do this, and with my Shadow Magic, I know the pain will be at least ten times than what I have anticipated.

“I’d like to see you try Brace!” I taunted. “Give it your best shot!”

“With pleasure!” He replied before he charged in with a battle cry as he prepared his sword. He brought his sword up, readying a vertical strike before I quickly acted, and used my Shadow Magic to encase my forearm. It acted like a piece of armor as I outward blocked the strike, and slid it off to the side with loud noises of friction from the two hard materials. With Brace off-guard, I focused my Shadow Magic on my hoof.

“SHADOW IRON HOOF!” I yelled as I kicked my armed hoof up between his legs. “NUTCRACKER SPECIAL!” I continued before my hoof made contact, which made a painful popping, cracking sound.

Brace froze in place with his jaw hanging open. He dropped his weapon before falling to his side, and clutched the jewels between his legs for dear life as he made a cry of pain at a high enough pitch that sound like he was on helium.

“Milord!” Copper exclaimed as he was distracted enough for Shadina to follow my example, and got him lying on the ground in high pitched agony as well. We took advantage of their fetal position as Shadina and I used our shadow tendrils to wrap Brace and Copper’s hands and hooves together to where they can’t move.

“You sick son of a bitch! You broke my precious jewels!” Brace protested in the high pitched squeal.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his misery, though sick as it sounded, before I answered. “Hey, it’s better than me killing ya. Plus, I’m sure you won’t be spreading your demon seeds to any mare again after THAT.”

“I must say Cyan, creative as that was, I’m surprised you resorted to such measures,” Shadina admitted.

“I’ve been wanting to do that LONG before the Magic Duel. At least in here there won’t be any consequences on my part,” I pointed out. “You wanna take care of these guys while I free the princess?”

“My pleasure,” Shadina replied before she crashed a window in the throne room with her shadow sword. She then made a giant, shadow slingshot against the window before she pulled the stretchy elastic back, and placed Brace and Copper in the small pocket where the ammo would fit into.

“Say hello to the Candylot Guard for me would ya? Bon voyage!” I exclaimed with a smile and wave.

“This isn’t the last you’ll see of me peasant! I will find and destroy-AAAAAAGH!” Brace declared in the same high pitch before he and Copper screamed as they were flung out the window, flying towards Candylot where they will be put under arrest for their crime.

“Yeah yeah, I’ve heard of this before,” I said before I ran over to Lumina, undid her gag, slipped the anti-magic circlet off her horn, and cut her free from the rope with the emerald knife Brace set down earlier. “Are you okay your highness?” I asked, taking note that I needed to address her for being a princess in this world before she quickly tackled me in a hug while I yelped in surprise.

“Oh thank you for rescuing me great hero!” She exclaimed in glee as she hugged me tighter, squeezing the oxygen out of my lungs as her breasts were pressing against my front.

“I-it’s no problem your highness,” I replied while patting her back. “Could you give me some air please?”

“Oh! My dearest apologies,” she said before she released the vice-like embrace, and sat on her knees. “And please, call me Lumina.”

“… Okay?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as I sat up. I was confused by how she’s about just as lax in this world than the real one, despite her status before I continued. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but we were told to provide help if you ever come across any trouble. How come you couldn’t hire a few of your best wizards in your city to save you?”

She sighed in frustration in response before she answered. “The wizards in Candylot kept attempting to court me by showing off their magic and wealth to display their worthiness. I’d rather not bring up any ideas to request at least ONE of them to help me. I feared they’d make some contest out of this, having the first wizard to save me would give them right to the throne, which I would NOT allow. Honestly, I think they’re more interested in the throne itself than me ponysonally.”

You know, I could probably see that happening with Princess Celestia back in my world. I have to give her props for dealing with such matters, yet still show such professionalism with a motherly-like aura to her subjects. I wonder if anyone ever thanked her personally for her providing great leadership to our country, and raising the sun and moon? If I ever see her again when I’m not on the run, I’ll have to do that myself.

“I guess I can see your point there,” I replied. “I must say though, for such great wizards, they must be pretty stupid for only having eyes on the throne instead of a princess as beautiful as yourself.”

Lumina giggled with a tint of red in her cheeks at the response. “Such a bold thing to say from a young wizard as yourself. Are you attempting to court me as well with flattery?” She asked.

“Neigh, I am only speaking the truth,” I replied as I got to one knee with my head bowing down, showing my loyalty to the Candy Kingdom’s princess. “As beautiful and great ruler of our kingdom as you are, though I pledge to give my life to protect and serve you, I am not worthy of such a privilege as royalty, nor be your significant other. I believe you'll be better suited with a prince than a simple errand colt such as myself.”

A moment of silence filled the crystal throne room before I heard hoofsteps in front of me. “Raise your head, Cyan Dusknight,” Lumina commanded before I complied, and looked up to her standing figure before our gazes met. “For your great knowledge in magic, cunning, courage, and willingness to protect, you have shown great nobility for one that is so young. Do you swear to hold the words to your pledge true, not only to serve, but to protect me, and the citizens of the Candy Kingdom?”

“You have my word your highness,” I replied with a smile.

Lumina returned the expression with her cheeks redder than before. “Then come hither, and grant a kiss in order to mark your seal of loyalty to me, and my kingdom,” she said before she lowered herself to my level, and we locked lips with passion.

I was surprised at first, but considering this was just a dream, and this wasn’t the same Lumina I knew, I went along with it as I closed my eyes, and returned the gesture. As we kissed, I felt the air around us changing mysteriously, as everything seemed to slowly fade away, and I heard a familiar voice that was muffled.

“…an… Cyan, wake up,” the voice called out as my hearing was getting clearer. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw a ceiling in a darkened room. I grumbled at how tired I was, and having a hard time keeping my eyelids open.

“H-huh? Wha?” I replied before I wiped my eyes, and sat up.

“It’s time to wake up Cyan. You wanted to start your super tough training with me right?” The voice asked. I looked to where the source was, and Lumina was standing there with the same sweatshirt and sweatpants she wore yesterday morning. I scanned the area, and found myself back in our room at the pub we were staying in. I was back to my reality, and though everything that happened earlier was a dream, I felt strangely exhausted. Like all the adrenaline was sucked out of me, and my body was then taking its toll.

I took a few moments to drink in Lumina’s statement before I remembered what I said yesterday, and groaned internally at what I was about to do. “Could I at least get a couple more minutes of sleep? Or even an hour?” I asked as I took note how early in the morning she woke me up.

“Nope,” Lumina replied. “This was how early I woke up back at the academy, and though I won’t be as harsh in treatment, I’ll be putting you through the same thing I did,” she then used her magic to float me out of the bed, set me to my hooves on the side of it. “Now go and dress lightly. We’re gonna be working hard to make you a stronger stallion.”

Though I’ll probably be put through hell in the state I was in, I recalled back to what happened near the end of my dream, and put effort into a tired smile. “As you wish your highness,” I mumbled.

“Wait, what was that?” Lumina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s nothing,” I replied in a higher volume as I got a light t-shirt and briefs. I only had jeans in my bag, so I’d have to make some workout pants with my magic. “I’ll be right with ya, and I’ll try my best to work out my tiredness this morning,” I said before I took my clothes, and went to the bathroom to change.

I’m not sure what that time in the Dreamscape did to me, but I know I’m not usually this exhausted in the mornings, both mentally and physically. Something tells me I’m gonna feel really sore after this. I’m definitely taking a break from desserts and candies after THAT dream though. I think the next time I see Shadina, I’ll take up her offer on that ‘special treatment’ of hers. That sounds really nice right now, and I’m still feeling a little frisky from that kiss earlier. Just keep in mind that what happens in the Dreamscape, stays in the Dreamscape, and nothing from there applies to the real world. I think the other me in that world just became Princess Lumina’s coltfriend after that kiss… Lucky bastard. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted I suppose, and at least I got to practice my new Shadow Magic moves. Now it’s time I go through Lumina’s way of training in my reality. I just hope I’ll be able to get through this alive.

Next Chapter: Chapter 27: The Morning Workout, and Lumina's Ambition Estimated time remaining: 18 Minutes