For about a week Phonyyx had been gathering things. He honestly didn't want to stay in one place for long. As soon as Rarity is done repairing my cloak, I'll be leaving. For Phonyyx this was all he ever did. He never stayed in one place for long. The thing was, he never really had friends or any reason to stay somewhere. Plus, he needed to continue to travel Equestria, learn new magic, new fighting skills, and more enchantments for his sword and cloak. This was all because he knew his father would return. He always did.

"Phonyyx, can you come here please?" Twilight's call for Phonyyx broke him out of his thought trance.

"Sure." Phonyyx got up and walked down to the main chamber. When he got down there he found Twilight with too many piles of papers to count. "Princess duties?"

"Nope, the notes I have taken while studying you" Phonyyx was embarrassed. He never thought he could be this interesting. He blushed a little. "I was wondering if you could teach some Elemental Magic spells." Twilight looked at him with a 'please' smile.

"Are you sure? I mean Elemental Magic is incredibly difficult to master, let alone learn the basics of."

"I think I can handle a little magic."

"Okay then. Follow me." Phonyyx walked out onto the field beside Twilight's Castle. "Now first, what do you see?"

"Um, I see a field." Twilight looked at Phonyyx like he was crazy.

"Ehn. Wrong. The correct answer is a pool of magic." Now Twilight was beginning to have doubts about asking Phonyyx to teach her. Maybe I should have asked Celestia instead. "Look closely." Phonyyx waved a hoof through the air and Twilight saw something, a very light shimmer in the air. Phonyyx noticed the change in her body language. "You saw it. This is a magic well. Although only temporary. I placed it here as soon as I walked out here. Now draw the magic from it. Imagine, no. Feel the magic being pulled from the well and into your body." Twilight did as Phonyyx said and she did feel some sort of wave wash over her. "Now we move again." Phonyyx walked over to the river behind the castle and told Twilight to stand in it. The water was about a foot deep. "Now, you are going to stand in this water and not move. Don't try to trick me; I'll know if you moved." Phonyyx walked out of the water and towards Ponywille.

"Wait. What does standing in water have to do with anything?" Twilight moved. Phonyyx stopped and shot daggers of glares at Twilight. She quickly returned to the water. He is definitely insane. Now that that was over with, Phonyyx went back to the castle for some breakfast. Starlight was already up and fixing pancakes.

"I smell pancakes."

"Well, you are right." Starlight handed Phonyyx a plate of freshly baked pancakes. Phonyyx sniffed them, feeling the warmth flow onto his face. "Where's Twilight?"

"Outside, standing in the river."

"Why?"

"Cause I told her too."

"Why?"

"Okay if this conversation is going to go anywhere, you're gonna have to quit repeating yourself," Phonyyx said sarcastically. "Alright, she wanted to learn how to perform Elemental Magic, so I'm teaching her."

"How does standing in water have anything to do with learning how to perform Elemental Magic?"

"You'll see. Or not. It all depends on if Twilight can stay committed." Phonyyx took a sip from a glass of orange juice.

"This is stupid," Twilight yelled.

"She is most likely not going to be able to do it. She doesn't seem to be able to hold herself committed to such a task."

Twilight held that position until lunch. At which Phonyyx walked up to her with a sandwich.

"Here, you still need to eat." Phonyyx gave Twilight the sandwich. "And you still need to hold that position." Phonyyx headed back to the castle library. Once inside Phonyyx picked some books and started to read some enchants off of them. A rune appeared beneath his feet. Phonyyx took a step out of the runs and placed his sword I the center of it. He read off more enchantments. Magic flowed from the circles in the runes into his sword, etching in another pattern into the blade. Once the rune disappeared, Phonyyx picked up the sword and performed the same action he did to fire a magic blast from his sword, only charging up the blast and released it in a wave instead of a straight line. The wave disintegrated quickly. Phonyyx didn't want to blast a hole in Twilight's Castle after all.

"This is what Twilight told me to tell you." Starlight walked into the library. "This is retarded."

"Haha." Phonyyx walked out and looked out at Twilight.

"How is she supposed to learn how to perform Elemental Magic by standing in the water?"

"It's about knowing. Every spell we cast have both good and evil consequences. In order to fully and truly understand, you must first know the good and evil that comes with that action. For you can never truly change anything, instead you change everything. To light a candle is to cast a shadow. Twilight must learn of the good that comes with the river and what evil comes with it. Then she must realize the good and evil that will come with changing the world to change that river. You cannot tell her this. She has never experienced anything other than Equestrian magic, so she must learn of this the hard way. On her own."

Phonyyx spent the rest of the day reading books and tomes with Starlight. "This one allows you to create a tornado of fire. It's the perfect way to tell others, 'you're fucked'." It was about seven o'clock now. "Twilight's done for today. I'm not going to leave her out in freezing cold water overnight. A dead princess isn't exactly a good thing." Twilight was still in the water. She may actually have the commitment needed to learn. "Alright, Twilight you can get out of the water."

"Finally!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're insane."

"Yes. I know." Twilight met up with her friends at Sugar Cube Corner.

"There ya are Twilight. Where have ya been?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"I asked Phonyyx if he could teach me some Elemental Magic, the magic he can do. But it turns out that Phonyyx is insane. He had me stand in the freezing cold water all day without moving. It did nothing."

"Oh, my." Fluttershy took a sip of a smoothie. "Maybe there's something there that you can't see?"

"That could be it." The six friends finished their smoothies and went their separate ways. It was getting late. Twilight got back to the castle and found Phonyyx already asleep. "Starlight, how was your day?" Twilight looked over to Starlight.

"Ohh, it was good. I'm assuming you want me to tell you why Phonyyx is having you stand in the water?" Starlight looked down at her feet and sighed.

"How did you know that?"

"Phonyyx told me you were going to ask. He said if you didn't get it by days end, then you try to research it or ask other ponies about it. He also explained to me what it is supposed to teach, and to not tell you it."

"Why?" Twilight looked up to the heavens. Its as if Phonyyx is just messing with me.

"He said the truth was something you needed to find out on your own." Twilight attempted to persuade Starlight into at least giving her a hint. But Starlight stood firm. "He trusted me enough to tell me something as important as this and I won't break that trust. I wish I could tell you. But I can't." Eventually, Twilight gave up and went to bed. Maybe it will be different tomorrow. It wasn't. Phonyyx was waiting for Twilight when she woke up. Twilight ate some breakfast. Phonyyx didn't say a word. But Twilight knew what he wanted. Twilight sighed and went back to the river. She put one hoof into the water and froze. The water was freezing cold, colder than yesterday.

"Do I have to do this?" Twilight gave a puppy dog face at Phonyyx. But he simply nodded. Twilight got back to the spot she stood at yesterday. Still not understanding why Phonyyx was having her does this. Phonyyx walked away. Come on Sparkle. You're smart, figure out what he wants you to do. Twilight thought and thought. Is it something about the river? She looked back at the waterfall that created the river and followed it downstream. Once downstream she saw that the river was dammed up. A family of beavers had built a dam and caused the river to flood slightly there. Twilight was confused. This river ran through Sweet Apple Acres. If this dam was blocking the water, then how was the river at the farm still so big. Twilight noticed all the fish in the flooded part of the river. Most of them didn't belong in a lake. If the river was greater in force, the fish could return to the major river, But the beavers would lose their home, and if the river died then the beavers would lose their home and the fish would die. Twilight walked back to her spot. I wish it wasn't so fucking cold! It was about lunchtime when Phonyyx walked up with some food for Twilight. He handed the sandwich and apple to Twilight, but she had enough. "Why? Why are making me stand in this fucking freezing cold water? The water is rough and it splashes over me, making it harder to stand."-

"Twili-" Phonyyx was looking at Twilight with a smug grin.

-"And this is stupid. I'm beginning to think that you're just pulling my leg. Ripping it off and dragging me into freezing water!"

"Twilight."

"WHAT!"

"Look down at your hooves."

"Why; do you want to disappear into thin air when I look-" Twilight glanced down at her hooves "- away. What?" Twilight looked down at her and the water was moving around her. It was parting around her legs and her entire body. "How?"

"You wanted the water to stop washing over your hooves, so it did. It wasn't a spell, that's Elemental Magic. Now, what was different between today and yesterday when you wanted the water to stop?"

"I knew what would happen if the river grew and what would happen if the river died."

"Yes, you know what good and evil would come with changing the nature of this river. That is the secret to Elemental Magic. you must know what good and evil will come with every action you make. You can get out of the water now." Twilight walked out of the water.

"How can I learn to control it?"

"By learning the good and evils that come with every action. This will allow you to learn to manipulate the elements already present. Once you learn enough of this, domino effect, you will be able to create these elements willingly by command. But first, you must eat lunch." Twilight and Phonyyx had lunch. Twilight asked Phonyyx how he learned to control Elemental Magic. "Well. It's easier for me to learn and control because of my heritage. My phoenix half allows me to create and control fire, while the magic put into my by Sombra, my pony half, allows me to create and control shadows. The difference between how I learn and how you learn is that I can already manipulate the elements. But I still have yet to master the other elements. When I create a fire, I first need to know what is fire. What good does it bring? What harm can it do? And what is the nature of fire."

"And what are the answers to those questions?"

"Fire-" Phonyyx lifted up a hoof and a flame sprouted from it "-It can light your path, it can keep you warm during a harsh blizzard. It can ward off predators and other threats. And can even destroy your enemies. But it can also harm your allies. Destroy everything around you, and if you're not careful, it can kill you. The easiest way to understand the nature of an element is to know what is associated with it. For fire it's wild. That's where the term wildfire comes from. Water is adaptability. Pour water into a cup, it takes the shape of the cup. Air is free. If there is a crack or hole anywhere, air will pass through it. You can't keep air out. Earth is bravery. You would have to be brave to create earthquakes with every step you take. Lightning is unpredictable. You can never tell when or where a lightning strike will hit. Ice has serenity. He must stay calm and collected to control it, usually very stoic, the cold shoulder. Shadow is dark, unfeeling. The reason I don't use it that often is that it can overtake you, it can poison and blind you. Light is compassionate. Light is used to heal and smite. Celestia is a master of Light Elemental Magic.'

"Really? She never told me."

"Well, she doesn't actually tell any pony."

"Okay, so don't tell her?"

"Right. Now, how much do you know about ancient magic?"

"Only what you have said and what is written in my books."

"This is gonna take longer than I thought then. Also, Rainbow. I know you're there. You can quit trying to sneak up on me with that cloud."

"What? How did you know?" Rainbow appeared from behind a small storm cloud.

"The clouds don't move on their own. Twilight if you can search a bit more on Elemental Magic, you'll probably understand how it works better than my attempt at explaining it. So you do that, I've got something to do." Phonyyx got up and walked out to a mountain.

"So is he insane?"

"Turns out, he's not insane, just different at teaching." Twilight walked into the castle and started looking for Elemental Magic books.

It was midnight by the time Phonyyx got back to the castle. He had been collecting ores and other metals. He planned on smelting them down and making weapons out of them. He walked into the castle and put the ores in his room, looked over and saw that Starlights room light was still on. Phonyyx walked over to tell Starlight that she needed to go to bed, but she was not in there. Odd. Phonyyx casted a spell. The room was covered in a golden aura with a golden rune appearing before him with an hourglass in the center turning counterclockwise. Golden sand appeared from the rune and outlined everything. Then it started to go back in time. The sandy arms on the clock turned back. Phonyyx wasn't going back in time, he was looking at the past of the room. The sand formed Starlight and there Phonyyx stopped the spell, holding it in place. Phonyyx casted the spell on the sand outline of Starlight, then started the spell forward, seeing what happened after Starlight let the room. He followed the outline through Ponyville. He wasn't sure about where Starlight was. The outline went into a bookstore and came back out later with a book. The outline headed towards a twenty-four-hour bar and didn't come back out. Starlight must be in there. Phonyyx walked into the bar and scanned the room. Starlight was in a corner booth, with her head down and a pile of water around her. Phonyyx walked other and slide into the seat opposite her. She wasn't drinking water. Phonyyx swore he heard faint, muffled sobbing.

"Starlight. Are you okay?" She didn't say anything. She levitated a book to Phonyyx. Then Phonyyx opened the book to the page it was last opened to. There, in the book was a description of an old tale. Except it was true. It was about Phonyyx.