Elements of Magic

Faven looked out the window, watching the silent streets below. It was still dark, the dirt backstreet barely lit by a single glowing lamp. The stars were bright, and if she had to make a guess, it would be at least three or four hours before the first rays of sunshine broke the horizon.

The empty rooms and halls of the palace still didn’t feel like home, no matter how much she had tried to make it into exactly that.

It never did, never once in the past couple months had it felt like home.

Despite Regent Radiance welcoming her father and her in with wide open wings, making the transition from the outskirts of Candentia to the heart of the city as easy as possible for them, it still felt strange. Faven knew why they had to move, but it didn’t mean she liked it.

Even with the picturesque view from the windows, and the countless gardens and courtyards in the palace, she still felt a disconnect. The large wing of the palace, not connected to the main building, and hidden behind some trees to offer some semblance of privacy, just felt too unfamiliar.

Her father would be getting up for work in a few hours. He was ‘home’ more often, she saw him more. And it seemed like he was happier, and not as exhausted at the end of the day. The shortened walk from the palace where he worked to where they lived seemed to have been a good change, for him at least.

The sound of hoofsteps came from above her, and she looked out the window again. She only saw a brief flutter of the tree branches, before hoofprints appeared in the dirt, illuminated by the solitary lamp. Then, in the clearing beside the house, two quirlicorn foals came into view, the faint sparkle of magic around them. Even if she still had not discovered her own magic, she had spent enough time watching others to know how to spot the telltale signs of quirlicorn magic.

“Odd,” she murmured to herself. She closed the book, sliding a bookmark in to mark her place among the countless pages of magical theory. The worn pages were covered in notes made in various inks, some having faded away, while others seemed more fresh.

The basic idea was easy to understand: magic was present everywhere, and a quirlicorn could gather that magic in the form of ‘chimes’. That chapter had no notes scribbled into the margins.

However, the following chapters all had plenty of annotations contesting the content of the book. Like the chapter about the basic groupings of magic, that shared a basic element. The book stated there were six, but some neat notes added into the corner added in a seventh, eight, and ninth type. Astral magic, special magic granted by the deities, and ancient, lost magic.

It was confusing, and the following chapters on the impact of innate talent, experience, and the theory behind how quirlicorns learned magic were even more confusing. Even if she had read through the entire section on chimes several times, along with every insignificant annotation, she still could make no sense of the Chimes Theory.

The sound of magic outside, indicating a joust, was much more interesting than the book she had just closed.

So she carefully pushed the window open with her nose, and watched the joust. Even if she couldn’t make out the exact coat of the two foals, she could tell they were  younger than her, but much more powerful, many types of magic flying through the air.

She saw ice, water, and fire being thrown around. The basic ‘elements’ the book had mentioned. And also the easiest magic to understand, at least according to the books Luxaeterna had given her.

She knew that Sonnet and Minuet, the two quirlicorns jousting in the clearing down below, had inherited their magical prowess, and had been incredibly talented with magic from birth. No one, not even her father, second-in-command to the twin’s grandmother, knew exactly how many magics the wonder twins could wield from birth, but she had heard estimates ranging from three to ten.

Watching them recklessly throw magic around at each other, Faven realized that Sonnet was wielding at least five magics simultaneously, and the same for Minuet.

She could see the fire swirling around in the air. So pyrokinesis for Sonnet, Faven noted for herself. Minuet didn’t seem bothered by the hot flames, so she likely had fire immunity. Water, which meant hydrokinesis, and the subsequent formation of large ice crystals, pointing to cyrokinesis.

However, the way that Sonnet and Minuet were using their magic was not easy to understand. Even as she jotted down messy notes with an enchanted quill, she still could not figure out how the two foals could do what they did.

Combining fire and water, two opposing elements, should have been very difficult, based on what the book said, yet both Sonnet and Minuet were doing so with ease. Perhaps innate talent did play a large role in how easily a quirlicorn could use their magic. After all, her father had told her that Regent Radiance often used her Desert and Icy magic at the same time, combining them in surprising ways, and the twins’ father, Noxaeterna also did the same.

Faven wondered if she would ever get a chance to joust with anyone. When she and her father had lived in a cottage on the outskirts of Candentia, she had known no one and thus had no one to joust with. And now, living in the heart of Candentia, she realized that she still had no one to joust with. Not because of a lack of foals her age, but because all of the others would win within seconds.

Jousting against Sonnet and Minuet never crossed her mind. Sonnet, with his flashy way of fighting, carelessly throwing magic around, would never even consider her. When she had overheard him talking with Minuet, he had said he wouldn’t joust with a quirlicorn if it wouldn’t be an even fight. Which clearly ruled him out. Minuet didn't flaunt her magic as much as Sonnet, but Faven could still tell that she was just as powerful as him. So Minuet wasn’t an option either, unless she wanted to be completely obliterated.

Then there was Resplendence, who somehow could make even Sonnet beg for mercy with her shield. Faven didn’t fancy being trapped in one of Resplendence’s shields, so she decided against asking if she could joust with her.

Not to mention how every single one of Regent Radiance’s children had inherited her talent. So asking any of them was out of the question.

Faven sighed, resting her head against the book. She really needed to start talking to someone other than her father, Psychomyth, and Regent Radiance, whenever she came by. It was starting to get lonely, staying in the large house by herself. But she still didn’t want to leave the sheltered corner of the palace, and interact with the high and mighty Sonnet.

Her father constantly pressed her to go talk with foals her age. So Faven had promised him that she would, once she learned how to use magic, so she wouldn’t be the only one without magic. She wondered how long that would take.

Probably far too long, if she had learned anything from the books. She looked out the window again, and noticed that Sonnet and Minuet had disappeared, leaving behind scorch marks and giant icicles in their wake.

Yet another reminder that no matter how much she tried, she’d never be able to match the magical talent of Sonnet and Minuet.

But that didn’t mean she’d ever stop trying.

After all, the book did say that experience could make up for a lack of talent.