Clouding around (Zyrkon/Open)

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It had been a while since Compass and his sisters reconciled, and he came to terms with the fact he wouldn't be able to fly, as it no longer mattered. They were no longer leaving him out. Midnite Blaze and Lightning Flicker to Cloudsdale for the first time, and he felt happy just to be able to come along with them. The cloudwalkers he got were a clumsy fit, but they did the job right; he got to feel how it was to be on the clouds alongside his sisters.

That was about ten minutes ago, as his sisters had to take care of something and he simply could not follow them. However, he did not hold it against them; he knew his limitations and he didn't want to ruin their fun, so here he was in Cloudsdale, trying to find out what he could do to pass the time. He didn't bring any of his books, so there went that idea.

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Zyrkon hadn't been all himself lately. More like "wasn't being the changeling he was supposed to be, but rather choose a form none would question about". As Zircon Bits he heard a lot fewer questions about himself and had less inquiries about his identity. This form came with several limitations, such as either having horn or wings, as to not creep everyone... So, until he landed on the clouds, he had wings... But then the whirl of emerald flames changed him to have horn once more.

The changeling disguised as Unicorn had yet to notice Compass Rose, but for now was checking his map. "I think I sidetracked a bit... I knew I should have stayed on the train, but no... HAD to make my own path again...", Zyrkon mumbled to himself.

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The unicorn colt looked around, and upon doing so, he noticed another pegasus who flew over and landed on the clouds. He almost ignored the pony, but then the emerald flames caught his eyes and the colt watched in increasing awe as the pegasus suddenly turned himself into a unicorn. Eyes widened, the colt couldn't help but move closer. How'd he do that?! he wondered, but then the colt couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"How'd you do that?!" he aske, the excitment in his voice matching the shimmer in his awestruck eyes. If the colt could possibly learn something new today, that'd make this day a heck of alot better than it already was! Changing form looked awesome, and it seemed to be very practical too!

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Normally, that would have stunned Zyrkon. He would stumble on words, look for an excuse to run away, but... He had enough of running away. "Magic, simple as that...", the changeling in disguise of unicorn replied, lowering his map briefly, "Actually, this is the most basic changeling magic, form changing. Some say it is simply a racial trait, some believe it is just a complex usage of reality-altering powers, some think it is something even a foal could learn if taught in their early days... I don't know which to believe, I seek some answers myself.".

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The foal felt silly and even had a quick 'well duh..' look when told it was magic. He knew that much, but he was more wanting to ask how to do it...but then he was a bit taken aback when he heard Zyrkon admit he was a changeling. He didn't know whether he should panick or not, although...this changeling kinda did outright admit it, it didn't make sense for that to happen. Maybe he'd give Zyrkon the benefit of the doubt for now, and if things hit the fan, he'd change gears. But there was a nagging question in the back of his head, and Zyrkon pointing out the theory of it being thought of something even a foal could learn didn't help matters in suppressing it. Should he ask? Was it possible?! So many ideas, so little time!!!

"I...I know this is a strange question..." he gathered his thoughts before he steeled his nerves. "Do you think you could try to teach me?..Please?" he asked hopefully. It would be so fun to learn that magic! He'd have something to talk about when he got back to ponyville!

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Rolling up the map and putting it away, Zyrkon looked thoughtful. Certainly he did mention about some thinking that evenb foals can learn, but how to teach something that has been his kind's instinct all this time? "Teach you? I could attempt to, even though I was once biology teacher, not a spells teacher. But first, above everything, you have to agree to very important terms..."

Checking the surroundings on whether or not it was safe to let others see him reveal himself, he decided it would be better to keep his Zircon Bits form for a while, as it was still unsafe to reveal it. "First rule and most important: Don't use what will be learned in ways that The Sisters would not approve. In other words, I do not want you to abuse this magic spell as to show off, steal identity or otherwise cause trouble. Second rule: Don't ever forget who you are. Keep transformations at minimal..."

"And lastly, the third rule: You never admit you learned directly from another changeling. Claim it was from observation or books. Seriously, you don't want to get dragged into a hive and studied.", he then offered to shake hooves with him, "My name is Zyrkon, but I live under the alias Zircon Bits since my early days of life."

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Compass had the brief moment of regretting asking, it was probably just a lost cause and was not even worth trying, and he probably wasted Zyrkon's time with it. Although the changeling did say he could attempt to teach him, and the foal was excited for the potential experience. However, there were some conditions, things that mostly didn't even occurred to Compass....except for maybe one part. He had no intentions to steal identities or play pranks, though he would probably have wanted to show off the magic a little; it was like when a foal got a new toy they want to show to their friends at school. But he could see where Zyrkon was coming from.

Keeping transformations at a minimum...he didn't really understand the meaning behind that advice, though the colt decided not to argue against it. The third one kinda scared him, but he could agree easily. He nodded and smiled. "Thanks! And that all makes sense, ok then." He agreed and reached a hoof out to shake Zyrkon's. "Compass Rose, Nice to meet ya, Zircon Bits." he opted to use the pony identity since he'd have to rely on the observation alibi.

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"Great pleasure in meeting you, Compass Rose! Now, let's see... The fundamentals of magic. I assume you are familiar with, right? How they form, how they shape...", Zircon Bits let go of the colt's hoof after the proper greeting, "Just to recap: The energy generated alters the reality at a cariable level, limited by their user's capabilities. That energy is naturally harnessed and applied by unicorns and magically-attuned beings. Others have to learn alternative ways which involves waves, words, etcetera."

"The trick here however lies in something deeper within us. When it comes to minimal changes, like growing temporary, unnatural wings, it's basically flowing that energy from you and condensing it. The form changing is, in this aspect, similar. Instead of simply flowing the energy outside and condensing, you need to cause that energy to rapidly flow in cycles and change every bit of your outter self. It won't be easy, even I had trouble in my first few tries... But practices makes it perfect. For starters... Try making something simple, a small change... Mane color and type! That should be the easiest!"

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Compass Rose began to wonder what kind of form he could try to take, but was given a brief lecture on how magic itself worked. He knew bits and pieces, but never heard it much like that. He knew it was like reaching out a leg and bending it a little, but he liked that explanation better. It made things easier to tell others if he was asked to explain magic. But then the real fun came in the next few words; the wheat of the topic. Manipulating the energy to a rapid flow, and that sounded like it was fun in and of itself!

The colt thought to himself how he could imagine that...how he could invision the rapid flow. His horn began to glow as he tried it once...and it fizzled already. Ok ok, round two.. he stuck his tongue out a little in embarassment, trying a second time. Again with the fizzling, only a few sparks. Taking a breath, the colt chuckled nervously before he decided to try once more. Come on...come on... he closed his eyes to focus. He felt a strange warmth on his mane, and he blinked in astonishment and was a bit out of breath, wondering what exactly happened- unable to see the result of his attempted mane-change. The brigher yellow streak on his mane was turned into a brilliant azure, much like the lines that riddles his body.

"Did...Did I do anything?" he asked, a bit confused.

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Zircon Bits himself had doubts that anyone other than changelings and really powerful unicorns could do this. The first two tries worried him a bit more, for he actually WANTED this colt to prove him wrong, to prove him it was POSSIBLE for non-changelings and weaker unicorns to copy such ability. "Come, this is so simple!", this unicorn thought, watching as then something happened.

With a grin, his response was something to smile at as well: "Not much big of a change, but we are just getting started! Hold on a second.". Zircon reached into his bag, pulled out a pot and polished it a little more, before presenting it to Compass Rose to check his reflection.

"Not a big of a change, but that's a start! Attempting to change your whole mane and tail, even to the very shape, will be a bit tougher than that. Thankfully, not as tough or dangerous as changing your eye color or its pupil. Just remember to not give up, and never forget rule 2."

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The colt's breathing slowed a bit, only to notice the grin of the changeling, so either he did something right, or royally messed up. It wasn't until he saw the reflection of his mane did the unicorn smile, instinctively bringing a hoof to his mane, and even glancing to affirm that the azure hair was actually there. To his excitement, it was! He felt proud on the inside that he managed to do it, even if only a little!

The azure streak felt so much different than his straw mane. Silky smooth, he liked it! However, Zircon gave an encouraging lecture, that it was only just the beginning, and he should never give up or forget Rule #2. Remember myself, my real self. he affirmed, and focusing on that memory, the blue streak faded like steam as he managed to revert the transformation. It was much easier to undo it, he knew that much.

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"The whole story behind why I made and spoke of second rule is based on a sad but otherwise hilarious situation that happened to one of my... I think was cousin? Well, not my sibling, but likely cousin or uncle or aunt. I don't remember much the bounds, we were close but not so much. He or she went living as a sailor and was constantly watched by normal ponies. When he came back he could not revert to his form consciously. So, well... needed to get unconscious to become himself again."

Zircon laughed a bit, before he continued with lessons: "An easy way to not forget is to cling to the name. See, my name is Zyrkon, K and Y in name, no pun intended, but I stuck to the name Zircon Bits for my alias because I would always remember of my real name, plus I often used to return to my true form when alone."

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Zircon's story was definitely sad, but it was also a bit funny, due to the sheer irony of it if nothing more. He did wonder how it would apply to him; after all, Compass wasn't a changeling, and thus he didn't really have a real need to change shape; heck, he simply wanted to try learning for the sake of knowledge, and he couldn't complain either way if he could perhaps master it!

"I'm..sorry to hear that about him. And I think I'll try to keep 'Rose' in my name if I run into a situation like that.." he mused, more for Zyrkon's sake than anything else. After all, if he was to follow Rule 1, Rule 2 would be followed by default, as he interpreted it.

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"Great, that's really, REALLY good. Now, back to the training. Try to reduce the time it takes to change that single streak of mane you changed before, try various colors and patterns this time, let's see how quick you can go with it. The quicker, the better. The point of taking less and less time to make those changes happen is for the event you need to quickly avoid a pursuit, or sometimes you need something else to go from A to B. Like, when you saw me, I was using wings to quickly get up to here, but I'll save nature-related changes for later. They are very tricky. So, on to changing your mane."

Zircon pulled out his notebook and began writing notes about what was happening today, specially his teachings to Compass Rose. He wouldn't mind if the colt choose to look into his notebook, as all he would see in the latest pages would be about his small adventure in Appleloosa and Las Pegasus.

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The colt was finally ready to start again, though he felt a bit wierd about the 'nature-related changes' something that he thought was a tall order in terms of trying to learn how to do it. Either way, changing his mane was already something he felt proud of being able to do, and the colt decided to focus on what Zircon had told him to focus on; to make his mane change quicker. Now that he knew how it felt, he knew he could replicate it, and his horn glowed as he began to work on it.

The first time, it worked in the same amount of time, although he felt less exhausted, probably because now he wasn't overshooting it to try to get some result, it went back to azure, and he shifted it back to the yellow, then to emerald green. He would always go back to the original color each time, focusing on the 'motion' rather than the range.

He was curious about the notebook, but was too focused on his own training in order to bother looking.