Ch 3, Training the Horn

Shortly after the battle, the elements and the princesses found themselves exhausted from the sudden shift and the days events, as per request of Garn, the princesses got his bedroom, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash shared the guest bedroom, Rarity got the smaller bedroom downstairs, and Twilight sparkle slept in the study. Applejack explained that she was more comfortable outdoors or on a stack of hay, so Garn let her bring some in from outside and make a bed in the living room. Pinkie Pie slept soundly on the couch, her arms and legs flailing as she giggled softly in her sleep.

He let the elements of harmony sleep, it had been a long day for al of them. He felt the familiar pull of the night, and quietly opened the sliding door in the living room leading outside. He stood solitary on the balcony, leaning against the railing and staring at the moon, his mind deep in thought. When he and his mother had moved to the house, she would bring him out every night and tell him the story of the goddess that controlled the moon and stars.

He chuckled and wiped his eyes, he missed his mother, and he would make her proud by expelling this evil.

“Can thou not sleepeth this night?” Rang an innocent voice behind him.

He turned around and saw Luna, wearing a bathrobe that belonged to him, rubbing her eyes as she watched the moon.

“I always come out here, it’s a ritual before I go to sleep.”

Luna stood next to him and watched the moon with wide eyes.

“Your moon is so much bigger than the one I lived on.” she sighed, watching the stars as they shone across the forested area.

The house rested within the mountains, overlooking vast plains of forest and a shimmering area in the distance. Garn saw that Luna was looking at the light and he raised a hand to point at it.

“That’s the city of Rune, it was erected before I was born, a small town that mined copper and silver. My mother told me that it was fast becoming a city, and now it’s bigger than Las Vegas.”

Luna looked to him and then back at the moon.

“The other ponies don’t know if they can trust you, but I hath seen into your heart and I see goodness.”

Garn chuckled and looked back at her.

“Yeah, and I see your getting better with the current language, it sounds fitting for you.”

Luna blushed and looked away, she had no idea why his statement made her feel so… good.

“Is your name truly Garn? It is an odd name for a colt. I mean man.”

Garn lowered his head and chuckled.

“You caught me Luna, my full name is Garnet. My mother named me after a gem she found while she was pregnant with me. I called myself Garn when I was still a small boy, it seemed to fit me better.”

Luna stopped and pondered on what he said, smiling at the irony of giving him a girls name.

“What brings you out here princess?” Garn finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“I am goddess of the night in Equestria, I came out here to see if the night was brought in by itself or by a goddess of your own.”

“No, the stars and moon move on their own, the Earth rotates, which makes the sky move like it does.”

“That’s fascinating, what else does your world offer that ours does not?”

Garn looked away and scoffed, the world he lived in had not nearly as much happiness than did Equestria.

“Our world is one of sorrow, of pain, greed, lust, hatred, and war.”

Luna looked sorrowfully at him and inched closer.

“What about the silver side of those things? Friendship, compassion, generosity, love.?” She almost whispered the last part.

He looked back at her with a blank expression, and then nodded his head solemnly.

“We have that too, for every good here, there is an evil to match.”

He stood and walked back inside, watching as the princess’ long blue hair swayed in the midnight breeze. He found he grew respectful of the woman, she was wise as she was kind, but inside he knew that she suffered the darkness just as he had.

“Garn?” she asked, turning around to see him.

He paused and looked over his shoulder, unspoken approval of her question.

“You didn’t say much of your mother. Who was she? How does she know of Equestria?”

Garn looked back inside the house and shook his head slowly.

“Good night Luna.”

As he walked away the princess sighed, she knew he would tell them when the time was right.

“Good night Garnet.”

~Early morning~

Twilight awoke to the sound of the study door opening, and she peered out of her hair to see Garn leaning against the door wearing sweats and no shirt. The sight, once horrifying, raised a strange new feeling in the pit of the girls stomach. His smooth chest and sculpted figure entranced her, and she saw immediately that he had noticed her staring.

“Getting some visionary research done are we?” He asked, wrapping tape across his knuckles.

She bolted up with a face crimson red and stuttered.

“No! I was just…surprised you were up this early.”

“You will be too, just like Rarity, we don’t have much time to train and I need you, especially you, to be ready for Chaos.”

She looked at him with a deepening blush at the way he said “especially you.”

“Twilight? Are you ok?”

She nodded her head and watched him walk away, and slapped herself in the head.

“What the hell is wrong with me? He’s just like Big Macintosh.” she whispered, sighing as she found the clothes he set out for her. She pulled on the black sweat pants and donned the purple tank top, and began to realize how comfortable clothes were.

“Twilight!” Rarity squealed as she burst into the room.

Twilight looked at her and immediately saw the problem, The pants he had given rarity were a bit too long, and the tank top was a…bit too tight.

“Rarity, what’s wrong?”

“He said we have to work! I don’t want to work I’ll sweat and smell bad and I miss my bath.” She continued to whine.

“Rarity?” Twilight asked sheepishly.

Rarity stopped her rant and looked at Twilight, and sat on a desk, patting the edge so Twilight sat next to her.

“Did you…feel different when you saw Garn?” Twilight asked with a mutter at the end.

Rarity looked at her and then blankly at the wall before shaking her head.

“Well if different you mean staring at him for five minutes and being struck mute, then I suppose the answer would be yes.”

Twilight looked at her and giggled softly.

“I guess Big Mac isn’t the only one now is he?”

Rarity laughed and patted her hair before standing with a yawn and a stretch.

“We better not keep him waiting, he might do that trick he did to Dash last night.”

They walked past the living room down a small staircase where Garn was waiting by the front door, two large tomes in his hands. He acknowledged both of the women before opening the door, laying out some sandals for the girls to wear.

“You don’t have hooves anymore, walking can be a bit of a pain.”

Twilight blushed again at the unexpected kindness of the mage that had summoned them, and slipped on the sandal before following him out the door and down a winding path into the forest.

“This place is so…calming, it’s quite lovely.” Rarity remarked, careful to stay a step behind Twilight.

“My mother thought so too. We’re almost there, just a little farther.” He reassured, noting that both were clearly not used to their feet yet.

Twilight heard the sound of a river, and saw in the clearing just that. The shimmering waters cast small fractured beams of light off the surface, creating the illusion that the water was liquid crystal.

“Your first lesson is to use the things around you as a weapon, and the first spell I am going to teach you is a basic levitation spell.” With that he raised his hands and sent the books to the young women, watching with a sense of sick satisfaction as he let go and they almost fell over with the weight of the books.

“What are these books made of? Solid rock?” Rarity whined, laying the book down on the ground and sitting in front of it.

Twilight soon followed suit, sitting in front of the book and pouring over the first few pages.

“I don’t understand Garn, these only depict runes and strange glyphs, no mental technique or words?” Twilight stated after reading a good thirty pages in.

“Those are the spells. You have to envision the glyph in your mind, and then project the necessary energy through motion of the body. That first page is a telekinesis spell, I have laid out a small pile of rocks next to you, and I want you to throw them at me as fast as you can.” he stated, standing with his legs shoulder length apart and crossing his arms.

“I couldn’t possibly, why would I throw a rock at you?” Rarity asked.

“Because your dresses are tacky and you’re a terrible designer of fashion.” He said with a grin, knowing he would get a rise from her.

“Why you little!” She yelled, and three rocks shot into the air next to her and hovered in her open palm.

“Try it, you sorry excuse for a clothing designer.”

She flung her arm forward and cast the stones at high speed. Garn smiled and whipped his arms around in a semicircle motion, and the rocks flew up and away from him.

“Good, again.”

Twilight had joined in, and after half an hour of Garn deflecting rocks, both the elements collapsed on their knees, drenched in sweat.

“Do you know why I can deflect these rocks so easily?” Garn asked, willing the scattered stones to replace themselves at the girls sides.

Rarity glared at him with her cold blue eyes and snorted.

“No, for the last time we have no idea!”

Twilight suddenly looked up and then back to the book, a sudden realization hitting her like a hammer.

“Twilight? Ready for another go?”

She stood and watched a rock float into her hand, her familiar purple aura holding it steady. She smiled and closed her eyes, envisioning the glyph as well as the rune circle, and began to spin the image around. As she did the stone began to turn as well, and Rarity looked at her with a gasp.

“Twilight? What on earth are you doing?”

Twilight opened her eyes and stretched her arm back, and with a pitching motion she cast the rock at Garn. He smiled and raised his arm to deflect it, but watched helplessly as the spinning rock hit him square in the wrist.

He cried out in pain as a resounding crack filled the forest, and Twilight leaped in joy.

“He couldn’t deflect it!” She screamed, and then looked horrified at the outcome.

“He couldn’t deflect it… Garn!” She ran up to him, taking his arm in her hand, sure enough a large black bruise had begun to appear on his wrist, and he winced through a smile as he met her eyes with his.

“Very good Twilight, that was an excellent shot, and now you know a rotating moving object is harder to deflect than a moving object with no rotation.” He praised, patting her on her shoulder with his good hand.

“I think we’re good for today, lets head back and get some lunch.” He said, stretching his arm while wrapping the bruise with gauze.

“Did I hurt you Garn?” Twilight whispered, ashamed that she took pleasure in breaking his defense.

“I had hoped you would do just that, although I wasn’t expecting such quick results. I’m proud of you.” He added, looking to see her beaming face.

Rarity met him on his other side and smiled at Twilight.

“My dear, Twilight is the most powerful mage in Equestria, there is nothing she cant learn.”

Garn laughed and then looked back, looking at the books he left behind.

“Damn, I left the tomes behind.”

“No problem!” both the girls exclaimed, and they each extended a hand and watched with wide smiles when the tomes flew to their waiting hands.

“Good job girls, that is excellent progress.”

They walked back in the house and Garn smiled to see Applejack smashing logs with her hammer, Pinkie cheering her on like a cheerleader.

She looked to see them approaching and leaned on the hammer, her sweaty body glistening in the sun. Garn noted she had grabbed one of his old flannel shirts and tied it in, he laughed because she had a sudden striking resemblance to Daisy Duke.

“Having fun applejack?” Twilight yelled, running up to hug her friend.

“I sure am, this thing aint as heavy as it looks.” she said, moving an arm as an invitation for Twilight to have a go. Twilight eagerly grabbed the leather handle and grunted as he tried to lift it, not moving the steel hammer a budge.

“I told you that you’d keep your power when you transferred Applejack.” Garn stated as he grabbed the hammer and handed it back to her.

“Earth ponies are known to be incredibly strong right?” He asked, getting a slight blush from the ranch hand.

“Well I don’t know about incredibly.” she giggled.

“Can we eat now? Celestia said I had to wait for you to ask permission.” Pinkie said while jumping around Garn.

“Yes Pinkie, now we can eat, would you mind whipping us up something?”

Pinkies eyes widened and she grinned even wider.

“Really? I’ve never cooked human food before? What should I make?”

Garn shook his head and laughed.

“Whatever I have you can make it if you have the ingredients.”

Pinkie yelled with happiness and rushed into the house, and seconds later the sounds of cooking wear and pans moving could be heard even outside the house.

“Might I inquire about a bath?” Rarity asked while nudging Garn.

“Basement, I have a hot tub and a shower in the room next to it, it aint much but your more than welcome to it.”

Rarity hugged him tightly and ran inside, along with Twilight leaving him alone with his thoughts.

“Do you believe they will be ready?” He heard a voice from above him. He looked up and immediately looked away with a red face as he gazed upon Celestia sunbathing on his roof, her eyes closed as she laid in the sunlight.

“Could you please put on some clothes?” He asked, half ashamed he saw her like that.

She laughed and wrapped the towel beneath her around her, and glided gently to the ground.

“I sometimes forget how you younger men feel when in the presence of a woman nude, I find your embarrassment comedic, perhaps I shall do it again in the future.” she joked with a wink.

“Yeah, just…give me a heads up next time.”

She laughed and entered the house, and he suddenly knew why his mother had called her Trollestia.

The day was spent, and he was hungry as a…well a horse. He walked inside and closed the door, the next day he had to train someone he knew would be more than a challenge.

Tomorrow he trained the earth ponies.