2/16/16; Practice in Illusion

Princess Luna took the opportunity after the previous night's festivities to fly back to Canterlot, regaling in the return to herself and the use of her wings. It had taken some adjustment at first, as it always did with the changing of one's shape, but flying had taken little trouble. Now after a day of sleep, Luna was up at sunset and making her way down to her student's room; he had been sadly neglected with the prank Discord had pulled on her, and she wanted to get started posthaste. As Luna reached his room, she lifted her hoof to knock and stepped back to wait.

Mirage Moon was busy not sleeping...oh no he woke up three hours ago in fact! Yes to start early studying as he was flipping through page after page of not one or two books, but four books at a time as he tried to maximize all the books knowledge into one. He sighed as he finished another set of four books and replaced them. He read everything on this book shelf so many times he lost count...well he read every book two hundred and forty three times...so guess he really didn't lose count after all. Mira just finished placing the last book on the shelf as his ears twitched when a knock sounded. Tap tap tap....who could that be? One of the castle servants or guards again to check on him? Oh...how he got tired of being constantly checked on when he really wanted to stretch his legs and get out of the castle and perhaps get some new books...yes new books would be lovely! He exclaimed to his self and went over to the door to pull it open with his crimson magic, "...yes...?"

Princess Luna smiled to Mirage when he opened the door. "Good evening, my student. I must apologize for neglecting you for so long.. Discord, trickster that he is, hexed me, as you had seen. It has finally been lifted, so we can finally attend to your lessons. I suppose as a start we should figure out what you know in magic already, so I shall know what lessons to plan." Luna told him all in one go; yesterday's events had put her in a better mood than she'd been in in a while, and now she had purpose again. She wasn't a filly stuck to doing nothing anymore.

Mirage Moon eyes went wide for a second as his gaze fell upon Luna's and he inclined his head to her, "...my, mentor...it is good to see that you are no longer puny..." He said as he had to bite his tongue to not add the part of adorable cuteness that he got yelled at for showing affection about it before. It wasn't his fault he had an affinity for cute things. He then raised his head; tilting it slightly, "...o-oh...um an evaluation?" He asked, before stepping out into the hall with her. He smiled slightly finally he can get some training, but what if she made a mistake...a-and he didn't have any potential without that darkness in him....he lowered his head as he looked worried, "...so where do we do the training at...?" He asked sheepishly.

Princess Luna chortled softly, taking the 'puny' comment in stride; it was true, she had been small and, well, weak. Adorable, too. Nobody could be blamed for that. "Indeed, something of that ilk. Please, do not be nervous, it is not something you have any chance of failing, not like a test. It is only so I can see what you are capable of, before we can begin teaching you new things." Luna explained and started off with her new student in tow, thoughtful. "I have spent too long cooped up in this castle, as you have no doubt, because of my state. I think it to be a good idea to go outside, somewhere on the castle grounds with earth under our hooves."

Mirage Moon nods as he follows behind her, "...oh on the castle grounds?" He echoed as in truth he hasn't spent much time out side the castle. Partially, because of his nerves he didn't really like being in a new area with unknown possibilities around him. He followed silently for the most part as he didn't derail from his mentor's side and walked close to her as they made their ways to the out side of the castle.

Princess Luna nodded as a way of response and lead him outside; for a mountainside capital, there was plenty of stretches of green ground. Or in this case, snowy ground as spring had not yet arrived. The princess found an empty space some distance from the waterfall beyond the castle itself, where she felt they would be comfortable. Nothing to accidentally destroy, and room to move around. "Indeed," Luna said, stepping away and facing Mirage. "What all do you know in spells? We can get to your illusion magic for the last, but I would like to see what else you know. Do not be afraid to perform any of them in front of me, you are not being judged."

Mirage Moon continued to follow the Princess of the Night as he listened to her words. Soon the stepped out into the opened field of snow they enveloped their hooves. Mira didn't mind the cold he was accustomed to it more so than the heat...deserts...would probably be a problem for him. Mirage gulped as they came to a stand still and he nodded, "...Well...I know all to teleport...some what...and telekinesis, but...I can't do much else other than illusions..." He said, before his horn glowed above his head and then later it teleported with a pop he vanished only to reappear a few feet away from his original spot with another pop. He panted slightly for he wasn't really adept with that at least not at the time. He only learnt it thinking it could help his illusion spells which he does use with it occasionally. His horn lit up again and he grabbed a medium sized rock from the ground with his magic and tossed it.

Princess Luna's ears perked when Mirage answered her. He had learned no spells but of illusions, and teleporting. Ah! "An empty book needing to be filled," She observed with a nod. "Very well, that means we can start with the basic of spells and work our way up. Teleporting will take some getting used to, but as you train your magic you will become stronger, every time you push your limits." Luna explained and gestured with a hoof after he'd thrown his rock. "Show me what you can do with illusions."

Mirage Moon nods as he listened, "..yeah..." He simply said in reply then he sighed as she mentioned to show her his illusion magic. Well what did he have to lose...? Other than his dignity and other things...he simply nodded, "..o-okay..." He said and soon his horn glowed with the same familiar crimson aura, before his body began to warp some like a mirage in a desert, before warping back and he no longer looked the same. He looked like a wolf per say the colors were all the same, but his body was ablaze and he snarled; even his voice was deeper now than before, "...w-well...I kind of use this in the forest a lot...Timber Wolves don't like to mess with a creature made of fire..." He said, but soon the illusion faded and he morphed back into his true form as he did so though the moon shined on him and he vanished completely. Before moments later appearing behind Luna. How ever he did not realize what just happened himself all he knows is he showed her a transformation of sorts.

Princess Luna observed the manner in which he wrought an illusion on himself, and what he'd chosen to appear as. Her eyebrows went up. "Hmm, impressive." She complimented. "How long.. ?" The princess had begun to ask a question, but he disappeared from her view. Luna looked around, confused, until she found him standing behind her. "An.. illusion to make yourself disappear from view, interesting." Luna observed, unaware that he hadn't meant to do that.

Mirage Moon tilted his head, "...I am sorry...what do...you mean by disappear from view...? Didn't you see the wolf I became...?" He asked puzzled a tad bit. He looked up slightly at the moon, before back at his mentor; still confused. He went to answer her question, "...I can hold an illusion for...about...five minutes...my limit so far...." He told her with a sigh.

Princess Luna quirked an eyebrow at Mirage and gestured to him. "I saw that, but do you not see that you have changed spots? You were in front of me, but now you are behind." The princess turned around fully to face him, looking confused, but she still got an answer to her question. "I see. It will take training to hold such illusions for much longer. As with learning magic, pushing your limits will extend the time beyond a mere five minutes." Luna said. "Weaving illusions can not only be done on yourself, but on others too.. you will even learn to make illusions that stand alone."

Mirage Moon looks to her and nods, "...yes I walked over here...didn't you not see me do such...?" He then tilted his head to her as he listened interested, "...o-oh...yes I am willing to learn to increase them...just is very taxing on my magic sources...and...I can use my mirages to manipulate others you mean...?" He asked curiously, before he thought something, "...well...I can make mindless creatures see stuff in their heads, but I doubt that could be used on something intellect...it works on Timber Wolves not sure about anything else never tried really..." He said, before sitting down and staring at her, "...s-so what do we start with then...my mentor?"

Princess Luna narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, confused. "You did not, you simply disappeared and reappeared." She insisted before backing off, shaking her head. "You cannot manipulate others with an illusion, though that is an interesting skill. I mean you can cast illusions on another pony, watch." Luna's horn alit with magic and she focused on Mirage's red mane, making it briefly appear to be bright yellow. "You can also cast illusions that are not centered on anything, and move them around like puppets." The illusion on Mirage's mane would drop as Luna focused her magic. Beside her, shadowy pony shapes seemed to fade into existence. Luna altered them, making them look like various ponies from around town with solid color.

Mirage Moon nods, "...oh that is a shame...that would come in handy I would think for certain tasks..." He said, before his eyes went wide and he stepped back as his mane went yellow, "...w-wha...yellow does not go with my complexion at all." He told her, before he watched her summon puppets and tilts his head, "...oh that kind of like my friend Bygone's puppets...when we used to be in the Everfree together..." He commented, before nodding, "...so...I could learn these spells and how to lengthen my time in my illusions...?" He asked amazed as he smiled going over things in his head and continued to listen as suddenly a note book and quill popped into the air above him and began to write down notes as his crimson magic surrounded it and moved it to motion.

Princess Luna smiled with amusement when she spied his reaction to her illusion. "Indeed it does not." She said and flicked an ear when he mentioned Bygone. She'd have to tell him about Bygone.. though she didn't do so right away. Her magic was still focused on the three illusions beside her as she changed their appearances again, making them resemble her. Perfect copies. Luna turned back to Mirage, as did her dopplegangers. "You very much could." Luna said, moving her illusions about like pieces on a chessboard; they walked in circles, they flew up to hover, they did loops in tandem in midair. Luna made these illusions vanish once she'd tired of showing them off. "I suppose, as a start, we could practice illusions here tonight. I will need time to make a list of spells to start you off with, and schedule lessons."

Mirage Moon nods as he watched her illusions in amazement, "...oh...they look pretty...I wish I could do that..." He said as he watched them until she waved them off and the vanished like all illusions do over time. He looked to her; ears perked as he tilted his head intrigued with what she had to say, "...oh...!" Lessons and the like! He would finally be taught stuff other than the book that were left in his room he was preoccupying. The books were fine, but after the hundredth time of reading them they grew dull and he needed more material either more books or hoof on experience! So he would be learning stuff tonight...? Simple mirages? He pondered, "Yes so what shall I do then...?" He questioned wondering what was expected of him this evening.

Princess Luna nodded, still smiling. "Soon you will be able to do them, with time and practice. You have watched me make illusions, something you will be able to mimic. You already know how to cast an illusion over yourself, but creating illusions on others and on their own is where we can start. For example, my gorget," Luna gestured to the black metal around her neck with its crescent moon. "Let us start off with trying to change its color, from black to say.. gold?"

Mirage Moon nods intently as he jotted down some notes, before lowering the quill and note book down and tilting his head as he looked at her neck piece and pondered. He then stood up and nodded, "...o-okay I shall try..." He said, before closing his eyes and concentrating on the neck piece as his horn magic alit and then slowly surrounded the piece in question, but after awhile nothing happened and beads of sweat lined his forehead; magic faded and he squinted at her and kicked his hoof slightly as nothing happened.

Princess Luna stood entirely still to give the unicorn no distractions. She waited serenely, and after he'd scuffed his hoof did she look down to no change. "That is fine, it will take much practice. Keep trying. If you find you cannot, we can return to casting illusions on yourself, such as changing your colors to changing your appearance." Luna said with optimism; she had confidence in him, and knew that it will take some time of practice and training before he could get further.

Mirage Moon looks to her and smiled faugly as he nodded and decided to give it another go. He once more channeled his magic into his horn, before casting it upon her accessory, before at first nothing seemed to happen. Then there it was...the neck piece changed not to gold per say, but to yellow. How ever the neck piece did not last that color a mere ten seconds was all he could managed, before it reverted and he sighed, "...gah...this is...ha-harder than I thought it would be..." He panted.

Princess Luna watched him struggle and noted that this time he managed. It was not quite gold, merely yellow. She might have started off with something a little too hard, as illusions stemmed off of using one's imagination with magic. And gold could sometimes be hard to replicate. "Very good, that was a good first try." Luna praised. "Let yourself relax a moment and we shall work on illusions on yourself, shall we? Before we move on to performing them on others. You can try doing what I had done to you, by changing your mane color.. or even your coat. I may have to summon a mirror if you want to try your eyes."

Mirage Moon tilts his head slightly and smiled warmly at the praise. Yay he was praised so he assumed he must of did something right then. He nodded for a moment, before pondering and then laid down to rest for a bit as instructed as his magic resource replenished and he sat back up after a while,, "...mmm I could try changing my mane I suppose." He said after a time and then his horn glowed with the faint magic aura and it surrounded his mane, before the crimson of it was stripped away or rather...faded away and turned more pink now as it became almost like a bubble gum shade of pink. The magic lifted, "...oh. Like this?" He asked.

Princess Luna thought to seat herself, getting comfortable as she folded her wings at her side. Once he was ready again, she watched him slowly change his mane to a bubblegum pink. "Yes, a very good job. It seems you are more comfortable with casting illusions on yourself, but moving them to other ponies may be a new thing for you. We can practice with various illusion on yourself for tonight, and we can try again with illusions on me or, perhaps, inanimate objects." Luna said with a nod. "Do not fear, it will take time and nothing is learned in a single night."

Mirage Moon nods as he listened to her, "...very well. And yes I know it took me awhile to get this much out of my magic." He told her with a sigh as he then stood up and shook his head as his mane went back to it's normal crimson color and he smiled to her, "So what's next then?" He questioned her smiling.

Princess Luna nodded in response and pondered, shrugging. She'd have to ask Celestia later how exactly she handled having a student; this was the first time she'd ever had a chance to train anypony. "We can return to the previous thing, that is, attempting to cast illusions on something else." The princess answered and looked about. "It may be easier to practice on an object that is not moving, or inanimate." Luna frowned, pausing as she focused her magic. Perhaps she could borrow a mannequin from the castle seamstress, she wouldn't miss it at this time of night now would she? Luna summoned the pony-shaped mannequin between them and took off her tiara, placing it on the mannequin's own head. "This should be a little simpler than my gorget. This time we can work on only changing its color; there is no need to try gold, as such a metal is difficult to replicate unless you have studied it in detail."

Mirage Moon pants slightly as he listens to her explain the next step of his train where he had to change an object's color just like he changed his mane. He blinked and stared at her as she took off her tiara and then a mannequin appeared as she placed the tiara on it and instructed him to change it. He nodded and took a deep breath, before exhaling it didn't need to be gold this time, right? Guess changing things to gold was a harder task then changing to another color it seemed. Mira horn sparked once as the crimson spark traversed over to the tiara as a magical stream linked the horn to the tiara. Slowly the tiara began to change from it's normal color to a white as the color was stripped from the normal as if bleached to become white. Mira's magic stream faded and he panted as the crown lasted that way for a couple minutes, before it reverted to it's normal colors, "..well stripping color seems to be easy..." He commented and shook his head slightly.

Princess Luna nodded her head once to him and watched while he struggled with the tiara, its color changing to its opposite: white. "Stripping its color?" The princess mused, eyebrows raised. "Interesting. A good shot, too. Now see if you can change the color to say.. red? Or perhaps your favorite color." Luna suggested, leaning her head forward a little as she focused on the tiara. Through example she showed him, using her magic to make an illusion around the tiara to make it look bright red. She dropped it after a moment and allowed him to try again.

Mirage Moon nods his head slightly, before watching her change the color to red and then back again as it fell so he could attempt it. He watched for a moment, before thinking about what to do and then nodded to his self. His horn lit up once more, before shooting a beam off it once more to the tiara as the color began to morph in the tiara, but the color was disrupted and rainbowy the dark rainbowy colors as it then went back to normal.
Princess Luna followed the use of his magic as he struggled again with casting an illusion on her tiara. Her brow furrowed a little at the sight of the dark rainbow that briefly covered it. "Interesting. I do not mean to question you, but is that what you intended to do?" Luna asked, curious. She couldn't tell if he'd meant it, or it had been a mistake; perhaps his mind's confusion on selecting a color? It could happen.

Mirage Moon shakes his head, "...n-no...I mean I don't think I meant to do it...I_ tried to turn crimson I think..." He told her with a sigh and then shook his head, "...l-let me try something different..." He told her, before he closed his eyes and his eyes glowed a crimson different from his normal eyes as it was more of a glow instead of natural then he gazed upon the tiara, before almost instantly it changed from it's normal color to that of his eye glow; moments later the glowing faded as he squinted slightly and looked to tiara which actually stayed crimson for longer than five minutes...and it still stayed. He blinked a few times, before it finally faded and reverted to it's normal colors, "...w-well...I think that works...if I manage to change my eye color as I gaze at something...I can change the color more effectively...I think...from my experimentation that is..."

Princess Luna merely nodded when he answered her and remained quiet while he focused on the tiara; she noted the glow. His way of turning it crimson was a little unorthodox, something she might be able to work off of and help him do it differently. But then again, ponies learned differently from one another, and sometimes they tackled spells from different angles. She'd try, regardless. "Very good, and a rather interesting way of doing it I daresay." Luna said. "We can keep practicing on this spell until you master it, though at any time you begin to feel tired or hungry, we can call it a night."

Mirage Moon nods and grinned at the compliment, "...w-well I suppose everypony has their own way of doing something..." He said sheepishly, before standing up straight and stern; bring his left fore leg to his chest to salute her, "Yes, mentor! I shall train all night I don't need sleep!" He said as he kept doing the spell over and over until he would finally eventually zonk out and wobble to the ground as he couldn't go on any more.