Dreams of Alicornification (ATTN: Novaburst All others PM to join)

[Novaburst]

Once he had been led to the basement, Nova Burst had to admit that he was impressed. Given that he'd never before been in a castle of any kind,  Nova knew that this was an experience he'd remember for well, most of his life actually. To say the least, this was an impressive situation. The Princess of Friendship truly was living up to her name, and trying to cure his malady, or problem. The issue was that he couldn't control his magical energies, causing them to surge. Still that was why he was here, so that he could learn to control the powerful energy inside of his own horn, and prevent it from ever happening again, if he could avoid such a thing.

 

"Your home is impressive Princess Twilight."

 

And then softer so it could barely be heard, he spoke once more..

 

"I wish I had a home... half as good as this place, or just a home."

 

Scowling, Nova Burst looked around irritated that he had just admitted to being homeless. Of course bits weren't the problem, it was the fact he was a danger to people he was around. True Nova had earned large quantities of Bits here and there, but he donated them. Usually to charities, or to Celestia's school so that Unicorns wouldn't end up like he had. It was something no one knew about him.

 

"So where shall we begin, Boss?"

[Lux]

"Your home is impressive Princess Twilight."

 

"Thanks," she replied not wanting to draw much attention to it as even she was still adapting to the sheer size and grandeur of it. It was then that she heard something barely a whisper from Nova, the only thing she caught was the last word "home." 

 

"Did you say something Nova?" 

 

"So where shall we begin, Boss?"

 

"Well, in most cases when instructing, I would go from where a pony is at their current level, but since you have not received much instruction beyond reading spells and through trial and error, I think we should start from the beginning. Of course, you're not a colt, so I'll try to tailor this to what you know." 

 

With a flicker of her horn a blackboard appeared along with some chalk and an eraser. She then levitated a chalk and wrote on the board the phrase "origin of Magic." 

 

"So to start, can you tell me where magic comes from?" 

[Novaburst]

"From what little I know, I imagine that the horn or wings, or hooves absorb energy from the world around us in order to allow unicorns, Earth Ponies and Pegasi to use magic. "   Nova Burst paused for a moment and then looked at Princess Twilight. She had asked what he had said earlier, so he was going to honor her request. "You wanted to know what I whispered, Princess? It's that I don't have a home. Because of my surges, no pony will allow me to even buy a place from them, even though I've saved up bits. Most of them are donated to Celestia's School, or used to buy parts for inventing when I need them though."

Groaning, Nova Burst looked at Princess Twilight.

 

"At least I have some offensive magic, now Princess. Will come in handy when I hunt the Timberwolves and other creatures in the Everfree to more manageable levels, eventually. Some of my inventions might be of use to you, if you ever want to see them. "

​
 

[Lux]

"That's good," Twilight said after listening to Nova explain where magic comes from, "Magic is all through nature, both animate things like flora and fauna as well as inanimate like rocks, clouds, or water. But most importantly since we are part of nature, we have our own magic, and that's what makes our own personal magic different from others. It's like a pony baking something and then having another pony make the same thing with the same ingredients and the cake or pie being similar but still not exactly alike. We take in the energy from around us, convert it into the spell we want using our talent and expertise, and then send it out into the world, in this case with our horns!" 

 

She was about to launch into her lecture on unicorn magic when Nova caught her question about what he whispered. The answer wasn't what she expected about his magic, but instead about his home, or rather how he had none. The Princess was deeply affected when she heard that a pony in Ponyville had no place to stay. It especially upset her that while Nova had the means to get a home, no pony would even allow him to rent much less buy a home due to his magic. 

 

"At least I have some offensive magic, now Princess. Will come in handy when I hunt the Timberwolves and other creatures in the Everfree to more manageable levels, eventually. Some of my inventions might be of use to you, if you ever want to see them. "

 

"No..." Twilight said sternly, "Living in the Everfree Forest is not a place anypony should be. Nopony should be without a home, no matter how they are or what magic they can do or not do. I'm going to talk to someponies in town and see what I can do with getting you a home, because you shouldn't have to isolate yourself in such a dangerous place." 

[Novaburst]

Princess Twilight was right, he shouldn't have to be without a home. Part of the problem was he was unwilling to trust himself near other ponies, but given his horn's flares that was most certainly an understandable dilemma for him. After all, Nova Burst didn't want to hurt other ponies.  A smile, the first smile Nova Burst had had in a long time, formed on his face. For he was happier now, as he considered the Princess one of his first actual friends that he had. Of course given that she could probably survive any magical mishaps he had, that was one of the reasons he wanted to be her friend.  

 

"Alright. It would probably help if we managed to get control of the surges somehow. I'd rather not surge, and blow up whatever place."

 

Truthfully if someone had told him six month ago, he would have been learning magic from Princess Twilight, Nova wouldn't have believed them. If they had said he might even consider her as one of his potential friends, he wouldn't have believed them.

 

"If you don't mind, could we be friends?"

 

Nova Burst then paused once more.  An idea had just struck him like a bolt of lightning.

 

"I've got the perfect place to stay, Princess. Right here.  You after all are able to teleport, or protect yourself, and chances are my surges couldn't do much to this place, that is if you're willing. We still need to complete my lessons on magic, so I can actually make some friends without worrying about injuring them."

 

 

 

 

[Lux]

She could see that her words made Nova feel better about his predicament. Maybe she couldn't correct his issue completely, but inspiring him to make friends was a good start. 

 

"Alright. It would probably help if we managed to get control of the surges somehow. I'd rather not surge, and blow up whatever place."

 

"Well, I'm glad that you are happier than when I saw you. And don't worry about your surges, I'm sure that after today you'll be able to contain them a little easier. So let's continue by..." 

 

"If you don't mind, could we be friends?"

 

Twilight felt shocked a little. Most ponies took time to develop friendship, but Nova seemed to bypass all that time and ask her now! 

 

"Well, I'd be happy to be your friend once I..." 

 

"I've got the perfect place to stay, Princess. Right here.  You after all are able to teleport, or protect yourself, and chances are my surges couldn't do much to this place, that is if you're willing. We still need to complete my lessons on magic, so I can actually make some friends without worrying about injuring them."

 

This revelation struck the Princess harder than perhaps one of his magical blasts! It was no wonder that Nova desired a place to be safe, but at her castle? 

 

"Nova, I'm happy that you found being here to be safe, but I can't have you stay in this basement. You need to learn how to interact with other ponies without the fear of losing control. Being her the entire time will only act as a quick fix to your issue rather than learning what to do and applying it to your experiences outside the castle. I will, however, say that you're free to come talk to me when I'm not away or busy with my duties as Princess of Friendship. As for being a friend, that is fine as long as we get to know each other more. Friendships don't happen at first sight usually. They're like plants, they need time to grow," 

[Novaburst]

Nova Burst nodded. Staying here was detrimental in the long run to learning how to make friends, as it was only a temporary solution to the problem of his magical bursts. Of course being reliant on the Horn Cover was dangerous, because like the Princess had said it bottled the magical energy inside of his body to dangerous levels, as shown when he had surged. Some of the surges were more mild than others actually,  which brought to mind a question. Why did some of the surges do less damage, yet when he tried offensive spells or lifting things,  sometimes the results were undesirable?

 

"Very well Princess. But it is high time I stopped relying on the crutch of the Horn Cover. Ultimately it does more harm than good, anyway.  Still,  I can't bring myself to destroy it because I don't want what happened earlier to repeat, nearly zapping you with a dangerous spell."   Nova gently attempted to levitate the Horn Cover off of him, but his magic surged once more, and sent it flying all the way to the ceiling of the room, the basement. In short, what had happened was that the surge had overpowered his spell, powering it up with much more energy than he had intended.

 

"Once you've persuaded some pony I'm not dangerous, I could go live there. I will visit though. In fact, if you want you could keep the Horn Cover, consider it a gift from me to you."

 

 

 

[Lux]

"Very well Princess. But it is high time I stopped relying on the crutch of the Horn Cover. Ultimately it does more harm than good, anyway.  Still,  I can't bring myself to destroy it because I don't want what happened earlier to repeat, nearly zapping you with a dangerous spell."  

 

"You don't have to destroy it," Twilight said, "especially since you made it. I know you're afraid of what would happen if you don't use it, but this is a necessary step in the path to you learning to control your magic." 

 

After using his telekinesis, maybe too much, he levitated it to Twilight, telling her to keep it. 

 

"Thank you Nova. I promise to keep it safe. Now let's continue with your studies. Now that we touched upon magic in general, let's now focus on unicorn magic. Unicorn, unlike earth or Pegasus ponies, tap into the arcane energies around us to fuel our spells. Oftentimes the spells that we create are closely tied to our talent and perhaps a few additional basic spells. Have you discovered any spells related to your talent of building things along the way?" 

[Novaburst]

"Well, there's Telekinesis Spells. Those help me assemble the items.  I've also learned a spell to allow me to locate copper so I can make the wiring, a self taught spell of course.  I have very little knowledge in magic,  Twilight. Given my predicament,  I prefer mechanical devices over magic. Yet the Horn Cover's the only one I've felt the inspiration for.  It could be used potentially with some alterations to contain evil unicorns, or trouble maker unicorns by you."

 

Nova Burst paused for a moment.

 

"I really need to increase my knowledge of magic, and also make some lasting friendships.  Of course the last part may be more difficult,  but still worth the effort in the long run. Maybe I could try to befriend other Unicorns like me who prefer science, and technology. It would be a good start, like minds and all that. "

 

 

 

 

[Lux]

"Telekinesis is technically a basic spell that almost all unicorns have, but it does apply to many unicorns' talents. As for your copper finding spell, that reminds me of a spell that my friend uses, only she locates gems for her dresses. Although I could see the merits to using the horn cover, I do not wish to restrain a unicorn's power like that unless necessary, and it would be tricky to use the cover while the hypothetical unicorn is attacking. Still I will keep it in case of emergency." 

 

The stallion spoke about the fact that he didn't really focus much on his magical studies, focusing on his pursuit of building things. He even questioned whether he should meet unicorns like him. 

 

"Meeting ponies that share your interests is definitely a good way to start, although even if you meet ponies with different personalities and interests they still can be your friend. What I see though is that within you there is a magical talent that can be used to improve making your creations, but due to your magical flares you're afraid to use it. But I think if we work on your magic step by step you'll improve with time. So let's start with the three parts of magic."

 

The Princess cleared off the black board with her magic and wrote three words on it: Intent, Study, Energy, Passion. 

 

"Casting a spell requires at its core these parts. The first is the Intent, your purpose for casting the spell. Without purpose the spell is frivolous and will certainly not be cast as well as one who needs or wants to use it. Now intent is also coupled with Study, our second part, as a pony who knows a few spells can only draw upon the intent of those ones, while others that know more can draw upon them. A unicorn though doesn't have to know lots of spells, only a few basic ones and the spell that is often tied to their talent. Then you have the Energy you draw from around you and from within, although I don't think I have to explain that to you seeing as you seem to have no shortage in that. Lastly there's Passion. If a pony channels passion with their intent and energy, the spell becomes very potent because the heart is involved along with the mind. Does this make sense to you so far?" 

[Novaburst]

So there were definitely separate parts of magic,  elements of it that Nova hadn't known about.  Intent,  Study. Energy and Passion as described by the Princess were the three 'elements'  or 'components' of magic.   "Yes it does make sense Princess. " Nova Burst was impressed that Princess Twilight Sparkle was taking time out of her busy schedule to educate him in magic. As she was the Princess of Friendship, and former Element of magic, he supposed she enjoyed things like this. At least now his magic wasn't surging as he hadn't tried any spells presently.   The more he thought about what the Princess had said, the more he realized that some of the spells he had done were frivolous, and he hadn't really needed them at the time. 

 

There could have been one of the reasons his horn surged.  With that in mind,  Nova Burst thought about something. Field application of what she was teaching would allow him to possibly ground the surges, to stop them before they became devastating. His surges were most certainly annoying now. If his energy ever increased, well Nova was more than a bit concerned for every pony.  It was why he knew the surges MUST end.

 

"So Twilight, have you ever encountered a fully grown Unicorn with similar problems to myself?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lux]

Twilight was pleased that Nova understood what she meant by the three parts of magic. She knew that it wasn't the stallion's capacity to understand that was an issue but by how he learned. Besides that she wanted to see if he understood not what she taught but how she taught. Admittedly the Princess of Friendship hadn't taught many ponies about magic. There was Sweetie Belle, but that was a means for her to expand her magic and help obtain her cutie mark.

 

"So Twilight, have you ever encountered a fully grown Unicorn with similar problems to myself?"

 

"Personally I have not, but I do know of unicorns who either have trouble casting magic or like you have magic surges. Still this doesn't mean that you are very different from those unicorns who know magic. I think that you problem stems from your lack of instruction and from you trying to learn everything you could from books on magic. It would be like building a house without a firm foundation. But now you are going to learn the basic spells and then in time can build back to the more advanced. So what we are going to do next is go through basic spells as well as spells that relate to your talent. The three we'll start with are: the light spell, telekinesis, and a shield spell. So, which one would you like to learn first?"

[Novaburst]

"Honestly, due to the danger of my inventions exploding, the shield spell is the logical choice. "   Nova Burst knew he needed to properly learn magic,  or at least learn how to use it without his surges being a danger to himself and others.   The lessons of Princess Twilight were a step in the right direction, but there needed to be more than just that. Perhaps if he made some friends they could help him learn to properly restrain his magical energy, or failing that get him out of there should one of the surges kick in. 

 

His surges were a pain in the flank to tolerate. Toleration was about all he could do with them,  until he learned to control his horn better and safely.  "So where do we begin on the shield spell?"

[Lux]

"Honestly, due to the danger of my inventions exploding, the shield spell is the logical choice. " 

 

"Indeed, a shield can help to lessen the blow of an impact, especially ones caused by magic. Like all spells, a shield spell, through practice, can be expanded upon to where you will be able to protect yourself to a greater degree and eventually can protect others, whether they are very close to you or are at a short distance away." 

 

"So where do we begin on the shield spell?"

 

"We begin by using a technique called visualization. If we visualize something in our minds, it helps us to get a sense of the purpose of the spell. Now what I want you to do is to close your eyes. This will help you to remove some distractions. Now, with your eyes closed, I want to visualize in your mind you standing there, surrounded by a translucent ball of light. It can be any color that you want, it doesn't matter what it is as long as you have it. Let me know when you have that image in your mind." 

[Novaburst]

Closing his eyes,   Nova Burst concentrated on a bubble of crimson energy that would surround his body.  Imagining the bubble around himself, a sphere of crimson energy that surrounded him,  Nova now had a good mental image of the shield. Holding onto the mental image,  Nova Burst asked.  "So now that I've visualized the shield spell, what's the next step Twilight? Do I simply create the shield,  or do I imagine how durable it's supposed to be?"   As he thought about the details of the spell, Nova didn't actually cast it yet but waited for the go-ahead from Princess Twilight to work his literal magic.

[Lux]

Twilight could see that the stallion was focused with visualizing a shield. It may seem silly to think of something before doing it, but it is part of the process for a pony just starting to learn magic. 

 

 "So now that I've visualized the shield spell, what's the next step Twilight? Do I simply create the shield,  or do I imagine how durable it's supposed to be?" 

 

"You need to provide as much information as possible, especially with how durable it is. Keep in mind the stronger the shield and the longer you sustain it the more energy you will use. So, for now imagine a shield with the durability of a brick wall, and let me know when you have that in your mind."

[Novaburst]

Nova Burst nodded, and concentrated.  Within seconds he had imagined a shield that was like a brick wall in terms of durability.  Once the shield had been envisioned,  and properly focused on Nova Burst held the mental image.  Shield Spells it seemed were somewhat easy.  "Shield Spells are easy, Twilight. I'm ready to cast the spell, I believe.."   But in truth he was still unsure about his spell malfunctioning, and causing another surge like he had experienced. It was one of his worst fears. 

[Lux]

​"They are relatively easy, but the trick is in maintaining said spell for extended periods of time," Twilight said seeing that Nova was interested is now casting the spell, "Alright, now you can cast it, but remember to keep the intent in your mind and passion in your heart when you do so." 

 

She waited to see how Nova would cast the spell. Would there be a flare this time? Would he be able to sustain the spell? Time would tell. 

[Novaburst]

Concentrating his passion and his intent into the spell,  Nova Burst channeled magic and created the barrier. It was a shimmering red circular barrier that surrounded him for a few feet.  The barrier didn't surge, or malfunction because Nova Burst had done the spell properly. Knowing how to do the spells properly was what he had needed for the most part. Well that, and confidence in his own abilities to do magic, anyway.  Once the spell had been cast Nova Burst looked around himself. The barrier held and so far so good. There were no problems with this particular spell and his magic didn't get out of hoof. 

 

"I'm impressed. This is actually the first time a spell has worked, perfectly." 

 

 

[Lux]

Twilight braced herself for anything out of the ordinary with Nova's shield spell. sure it was a simple spell, but given what happened before there was no telling what might happen. But to her surprise the shield emerged, forming a perfectly shaped bubble. 

 

"I'm impressed. This is actually the first time a spell has worked, perfectly." 

 

"You don't need to be impressed, as you had this ability all along. All it took was for you to learn it properly and to believe in yourself. Now that you've created a shield, let's test it. I'm going to fire a bolt of magic at you. Don't worry, even if the shield breaks all you'll feel is a tingling sensation." 

 

She lowered her head slightly as her horn glowed saying, "On the count of three, I'll fire. One...Two...Three!" 

 

With that Twilight let loose a small bolt of magic towards the stallion, aimed for his side so as to minimize any discomfort should the shield fail. 

[Novaburst]

When the bolt of magical energy came at him.  Nova panicked and lost control of the shield. When he did,  the shield absorbed the beam like it was supposed to, but that was not all. The shield glowed for a moment before firing a beam of it's own, at about double power and speed of the beam that Twilight had fired,  directly at the Princess.  His horn had surged and caused his spell to mutate again into one that retaliated when he was attacked,  sending a blast of energy back at the attacker.   When he saw the attack his 'shield' had created that was headed towards the Princess Nova Burst groaned. 

 

"Watch out. These bucking surges are getting very old, very fast." 

 

 

[Lux]

For a moment Twilight thought that she was making progress. But then the stallion upon seeing her only tiny magic blast suddenly transformed his shield into one that absorbed her shot and fired it back at her with a super powered shot! 

 

"Ahh!" she screamed as she quickly activated her shield which absorbed it but did not fire it back.

 

"Watch out. These bucking surges are getting very old, very fast." 

 

"Ehh... right," she said as her violet tinted shield disappeared, "It seems that you had an automatic shield reaction to my attack." 

[Novaburst]

"What is an automatic shield reaction to your attack, and how do we put an end to these surges?"

 

Nova desperately wanted the surges to end.  The surges were a ROYAL pain in the flank that needed to be stopped.

 

"Sorry about that Princess. It's clear I have a lot to learn in order to control the power of my horn. "

 

His horn surges were dangerous. One cause of them was any time he got scared, or angry enough he'd lose his grip on his magic allowing it to flow freely, and cause damage. Nervousness was also another potential cause of his surges. 

[Lux]

"What is an automatic shield reaction to your attack, and how do we put an end to these surges?"

 

"Well, as you progress through learning to create and control shields, you eventually can summon them automatically, as naturally as blinking your eyes or swishing your tail." 

 

She could see that the stallion was frustrated at the lack of progress with controlling his surges. 

 

"I know you're upset, but there is no magic spell to suppress the surges. It takes proper training and practice. But I've seen here that you can create a shield. which is good. Now, let's try another spell: the light spell. This spell is good for being able to see in dark areas and can be used in combat to temporarily blind enemies. So I want you to picture in your mind, light whether it's from the sun, the moon, or even a candle. When you have that in your mind, let me know." 

[Novaburst]

Concentrating,  Nova Burst imagined the spell down to the most minute details.  Once he had done so,  Nova Burst nodded at the Princess, a barely perceivable motion done quickly.  This spell was one of the easiest ones he had ever cast and one that actually made sense in the how to do it department. Shield spells and light spells were easy,  so far. Perhaps learning the basics wouldn't be so bad. After all the Princess wasn't someone who would laugh at you if you failed to do a spell right, or at least Nova hoped she wasn't. 

 

"I believe I have a good image of the spell, Princess Twilight."