Meeting of teachers

[Prism]

Year 4, Dec 16 - Morning

Prism left office after some well needed rest. He left all the toys he had got from Megabyte as he wasn't going to need them but he picked up something else that he was going to need before heading out of his office that also doubled up as his bed room.

He made his way through the undercity, he knew where he was going as he had been there a number of times and he did enjoy the company of Silvern and he found her a very interesting mare and her skill with magic was something he hadn't seen before. Her assistant on the other hand did seem very full of himself at points. Prism was sure finding himself upsetting the wrong pony would change that fast.

It took a little be of walking but he got steel door that and took out the item that she had given him and tapped it once against the steel door and there was some clicking then the door started to open. There were yet more tunnels to walk down but this wasn't rock or dirt it was concrete, the tunnel went on for a bit before there was yet one more door. He opened it in the same way as the first and this lead into a small room that was lit up by a white crystal mounted in the ceiling.

He didn't see any pony around but he was shore she already saw him making his way in, but he still called out to make himself know “Hello, Silvern are you around,” he said to the room around him and the rooms that were joined on to this one

[Silvern Gleam]

Moments later the second door to the room opened and Silvern came in. "Hello Prism. Just the pony I wanted to speak with", she greeted him smilingly. She had decided to train the unicorns of rebellion in magic, but while magic was certainly something she could teach, she had one little problem: She didn't really know how to fight. Accordingly, she also didn't really know how to fight with magic. She needed assistance and training from a combat experienced unicorn, and Prism seemed to be just right for the job. Admittedly, he didn't use much magic in fights, but until they had a proper combat mage, it would do. "But your needs first. What can I do for you?"

[Prism]

Prism returned the smile to Silvern "I have a feeling that I am here for the same reason you want to talk to me, training" He was sure of this after he talk to Silver the other day.

[Silvern Gleam]

"You're already planning on combat training then?" Sil asked as she sat down at the table. "It is indeed what I wanted to talk about. First of all to make sure that our training times don't overlap, and secondly to discuss a combined training, magic combat. I know you're not using much magic in fights, but I currently know nopony who does and really has experience." Experience was the important part here. Lance certainly fought with magic, but he hadn't seen much battle so far. Only little more than Silvern herself, which brought her to the next point. "Also... I suppose I need personal training if I don't want to always stick to somepony else for protection."

[Prism]

Prism listen to what she had to say, clearly she had put a lot through into this then he had. "Well what I hand planned on doing was weapon training braking it up into earth pony training, were everypony learns to fight with weapons. Then set one up for unicorns were they learn how to use TK with weapons." He stopped a moment to think before joining Silvern at the table.

"Well I do use magic but its not class as combat magic but teleporting around a battle field does take griffon by surprise, but training combat make is not easy as every pony has there own skills and uses it in their own way." Doing full magic combat was not his thing, his own spells where defence but he did know how to use them to give himself the upperhoof. "But given a place where they can practice when and when not to uses the magic and how best to use it on someone is something we can teach"

"If you want someone on one training I can give you some if you wanted" He said as he was training to think of how he would do one on one training as it was normally best to work with someone at the same level of combat experience, but it would make learn a lot faster.

[Silvern Gleam]

The reply was what Silvern had expected. With a nod, she specified what she had in mind. "Yes, most unicorns have too specialized magical abilities to learn special combat magic, so I'm planning on very simple spells that can be learned by a broad number. Spells that support in usual combat. Simple little tricks that can change a fight to our favor. Creating and adapting spells is easy for me, and you can say what would be helpful, and hopefully you can test it. If necessary we have Scintillance to test spells, though if it needs a unicorn with his talent the spell is obviously too complicated."
After a short pause, she added "If successful, almost every single unicorn in our ranks would profit from it, not only the ones specialized in some form combat magic."

"And I'd very much appreciate one on one training, or one on two. The biggest problem I have in a battle is that I don't have a far reaching field of view. I register almost everything within a three meter radius, but farther than that needs concentration and time. I can only focus on one thing at the same time. If I have several opponents, I have a problem. I'm counting on Lance to keep his eyes open for me, but in a fight that needs good coordination. And that needs training."

[Prism]

Prism was thinking for a moment "well simple spells would help up them on a level playing field, but it does all come down to timing and when to use spells but it is something we can show and hope others pick up. If there are some strong magic users then looking to give them private lesson would be good."

He then through long and hard about what do to do for Silvern with her handicap "Well a battle field is a messy place and if you are not keeping an idea on your surroundings all the time you can get a blade in the back. With fighting you should only ever fight one at a time as long as you know where the others are what they are doing so you can doge attacks that's fine. So sounds like first thing we would need to do is work on your awareness more then the fighting at this point."

[Silvern Gleam]

"The only way I can really push my sight is by spending magic on it, and that's a very limited resource for me. I can constantly look around and notice incoming griffons early, but then I'd loose focus on who is already attacking me", Silvern tried to explain the limits of her perception. "Technically I should generally avoid combat completely. You've seen me during the raid, I hardly was able to keep myself from panicking. There's way too much for me to take in, I hardly had any grasp on the situation. But if I'm going to command our spell casters that will have to change. I'm glad that I'll be mostly in the background, but from the background I can observe the battlefield even less. Fact is, as long as we are not in heavily confined spaces like tunnels or hallways, I'm in trouble should action break loose. Lance will be with me anyway most of the time, so I suggest that we develop an efficient way of him informing me of what is going on and train this. Practically, fighting to instructions."

[Prism]

Prism remember back to that to that moment, he had been very busy with everything. When the griffon's showed up he had remembered telling Silvern to stand still and don't move "Well you shouldn't count on Lance being around for you all the time and that idea does sound a bit impractical." Prism tried to think of a best way to explain it. "That's a bit like a commanding office telling a troop step by step what to do it a fight by the time he gets the information the attack would of hit him and this will mean one pony is distracted as they are telling them what is happing to them and not watching their own back."

Prism didn't think it would be this hard but it was basically training a blind pony how to fight. "Maybe we should just worry about showing you how to fight one on one and with anything else the best thing for yourself is to stay clear of anything else," He was sure this was something she wouldn't want to hear, "As anything else would take years of training to get close to being practical"

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern thought a while over Prism's arguments. She didn't really object to any specific point, but fact was, her magic sight didn't give her the information she needed in open areas. "I'll certainly have to learn how to fight myself, that's completely right", she finally answered. "But that doesn't help me if I don't even notice an enemy incoming, and that is likely to happen. I don't need step-by-step instructions, I simply need to know where to look. A direction, not more. Once I know of a danger, I can keep track of it, at least if there aren't too many dangers close by. And I can't properly command if I only know the situation a few meters around me, so I need somebody to keep me updated on overall happenings anyway."

"With Scintillance I could communicate magically on a simple level. Enough for him to point out a direction an enemy is coming from. It's actually much quicker than verbal communication, and nobody can listen in. Hardly anybody would even notice. If Lance shouldn't be available... well, I suppose I'll have to cope with it then. He'd still be helpful while he's around, and I'll try to have him around as often as possible. I need him to cast spells for me and lend me his power once his training is far enough." And once Scintillance was able to do that, any griffons coming near Silvern better watched out.

[Prism]

"Well battlefield awareness is part of training, as you need to know where the fighting is happening and as it keeps moving. How fast does it take you to work out who is a pony and who is a griffon as that will be a big part."

Prism shakes his head "If he is busy sorting out a number of griffon's and don't have time to keep an eye on you as well. It could put both yourself in danger. If I take ponies I need to know they can hold their own if need be, but if you two can show me this and it working I will think about it," he through it was best to try and meet her half way with this even if he was not sure about it.

[Silvern Gleam]

"Once I'm aware of a target, I know instantly who or what it is, pretty much like when you're looking at something. Just finding targets I don't know the direction of is difficult without using magic. If I don't even know that there is a target... Then I'm very lucky if I notice in time. I think 'looking through a small hole' is a suitable analogy."

Though Sil didn't like Prism's decision, she accepted it. In the end, it wasn't all that important anyway while she was hardly able to defend herself even from griffons she noticed in time. She had practically never wielded a weapon before, apart from magical artifacts. "We'll see how well it works whenever I'm in action again", she said. "I won't tell Lance to constantly look after me, but as long as he's close by and happens to notice something, he might as well tell me."

[Prism]

"Well if you are with me I will make sure you get back in one pieces as I don't plan on leaving any pony behind," and he meant it.

"Maybe we should plan on more of theses lessons we want to setup. I will make sure I get hold of a number of training weapons as that would be the main thing I would need. Would there be anything that you would need to get hold of?" He said as he tried to think of what else he would want to get a hold of.

[Silvern Gleam]

Relying on somepony else who definitely had something better to do than looking after her? That's exactly what she wanted to avoid. Scintillance' primary purpose was assisting her, so she wanted to mainly rely on him. Silvern was supposed to ensure Prism and the others had magical assistance, so she couldn't always simply rely on him. She had to notice when things got rough for him and blast you a way out if necessary. But she let the topic fall.

"The special equipment I need I can provide myself. I was going to order some things from Steel Strike though. Different weights to levitate, and something to set up a track to levitate said weights through. For the start I can't think of much more", she answered, going through her mental checklist and finding nothing more. "I was planning on Saturday and Monday for the training, towards the evening. That's not necessarily final, if you want one of those dates."

[Prism]

"That reminds me once I get more bits I need to see about him making a weapon that's weighted for unicorn magic," he said more to himself than Silvern.

"Well for weapons training having a full day would be best for myself and same with doing it for unicorns, will stress there magic a bit but they will need to get use to that if combat happens. You can use the evening times and I could have two other days as well."

[Silvern Gleam]

Bits... that was something Silver had a nice amount of. She had already spent some of it in favor of the rebellion, but weapons for unicorns sounded like something worth investing in. And with giving it to Steel Strike, it stayed in rebel hooves, at least the part that didn't only cover the smith's actual expenses. "How much money do you think you'd need for the start?"

[Prism]

"Unicorn weapons" He through for a moment, he was not sure he had never watch one be made and never had to buy one before "I would of through they be more then normal weapons having to be weight diffidently. It would have to be something that comes out of my own pocket anyway just like my amour repair."

He made a mental know to make sure he asked Steel Strike how much they would be when he picked up his amour.

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern frowned a little at Prism's insistance to bring up the money himself. "If you're not only talking about weapons for yourself, and it doesn't sound like it, then there's no reason to wait until you have the money, while I have enough to get the weapons now", she objected. "If you think weapons especially crafted for telekinesis would be a helpful, then we should get them quickly and train with them."

[Prism]

"Well I would like to see what I have to work with to see if it is worth doing as if I have no fighters then not worth doing it." but knowing he did want a weapon for himself as his last one broke on the steps of Canterlot castles. "But I do plan on getting my own once made so I can find out costing then."

[Silvern Gleam]

"If it's only a test for now, I'd like to see it tested as soon as possible, and from the sounds of it you don't even have enough for that", Silvern deadpanned. A stubborn one, wasn't he? But Sil didn't intend to let anything be slowed down because of some random distribution of resources. She had the money to get it going, so why not use it? "How about the usual training weapons? Can you at least afford that? If not, there's no way you're leaving this place without a refilled coin purse."

[Prism]

Prism nodded "We can sort out training weapons as they are easy to make as they are not made to the same quality and not made to kill." Prism was not one for taking bits with out working for them.

He may only have 28 bits left and that was already spoken for he wasn't going to just take hands out. "If I need something for the rebels I can take it out of their funds, so giving me bits wouldn't sever anything other then giving me bits"

[Silvern Gleam]

Silvern sighed, she could see how Silver Lining regularly butted heads with him. "So far you haven't brought something up that wouldn't be for the rebellion. Even your own equipment is effectively for the rebellion, like the equipment for everypony else. Besides, your only job at the moment is it to lead the military part of the Rebellion, and I think that's big enough to stay your only job", she reasoned. "So yes, take it from the rebellion funds. Part of which is stored here, if I may remind you. As I said, you're not walking out of here without the bits you need."

[Prism]

Prism gave Silvern a displeasing look "I don't you once I know the cost I will get the bits for it, till then there is no point with me walking around with it" The bits would help for pay for his amour repair as that was costing him 100bits but he would find it on his own he had already at lest got half of it at the moment.

"So I will talk to Steel Strike when next in his shop and then I will come and get them bits, that make you happy?"

[Silvern Gleam]

Well... there he admittedly had a point. "Okay, I think I can live with that", she gave in, and put a smile back on. "Well then, back to the spells I was talking about earlier. I've already thought about some concepts I'd like to hear your opinion on, though I haven't done many calculations yet. First, something that would be need to be put into an artifact. Basically a light spell with a very high focus, powered by an average unicorn. Not much power, but if it's concentrated in a small enough spot, it will burn a way through anyway. To give you an idea of what I have in mind, think of a beam with the thickness of a hair. Under the assumption that I can get the energy concentration high enough to have effect, do you think it would be useful? It would require precise targeting since armor probably would be a hindrance for the beam, but there's no inaccuracy in the beam itself, so it would be possible to use it from large distance."


((Yes, she's talking about laser.))

[Prism]

Prism looked a little confused as Silvern started talking about her item. This sort of thing wasn't what he was good at but he had at lest worked out some of it "So it will have to used on a none moveable object for it to be useful?" he said, wanting to make sure he was understand right.

[Silvern Gleam]

"Either not moving, or easy to burn. I suppose it would work to cut and burn some feathers with it from the distance", she answered with a smirk. Thinking of weapons against the griffons had turned out to be quite satisfying for her. "But the more heat resistant the material is, the longer you have to hit the same spot. In the end, it's still only light. It certainly wouldn't be very useful in direct combat, but as support it might have use."

[Prism]

Prism started to think for a moment "Well it will have its uses just like anything else. Will just have to know when to use it, but we would need to do some testing before use it in the field."

[Silvern Gleam]

"So far I haven't even developed the spell yet, but you can be certain that it will be tested", Silvern assured him, and noted the concentrated light beam as something to try out. "Okay, the next idea isn't really a new spell but rather just unconventional usage of a spell. Or maybe it's not unconventional, I actually don't know. Did the army teach anything about using telekinesis on your legs for additional speed and strength?"

[Prism]

Speed had never been a problem for Prism as he could jump around a battle field very fast if he had too, but the strength was an interesting idea he had learnt how to use his strength with his weapons but not giving himself more "I can't say they did, how so?" he asked very interested.

[Silvern Gleam]

Silver showed an intriguing smile before explaining. "The idea is very simple. When you buck, jump, or so anything you need strength for, use telekinesis on the working legs and push them in the right direction. Use the strength of your body and your magic at the same time for the same purpose."

"I'd imagine the results to be awkward at first, it likely needs good coordination. When overdoing it, there's also the possibility of injury. But with sufficient training, our unicorns could deliver quite a surprising punch."

[Prism]

Prism things to himself for a moment "I think I already do that, but with weapons I hold in telekinesis as I do that to block attacks or push an opponent back if we lock weapons. If I didn't do it at time they could just knock my weapon out of my grip, but mostly those that use two-handers" remembering when this war first started and how often he would get his armed made him learn to do this.

[Silvern Gleam]

"Now just extend what you do with your weapons to your whole body. When you jump, you leap farther than the opponent expects, unarmed attacks like a sledge hammer... you could also catapult yourself out of the way. I think this is something that deserves a closer look and should be included in the training", Silvern concluded.

[Prism]

Prism had never through about using it on his self and it could be useful as he could turn himself into a near unmoveable object, but he was try to get his round how to make him moving faster. Would it be just pushing himself in the middle of the jump. Could it be that simple.

"Well it would be something worth trying out and could be very useful" he said still very much deep in through.

[Silvern Gleam]

"Since this is combat orientated, you should probably take over the training of this. I'll stick around at the beginning, but I think the magical aspects of this idea are quite simple", Silvern said, adding first tests with Scintillance to her schedule for the day. "That's it from me for now. More ideas are likely to come in the future. Do you have anything else to discuss?"

[Prism]

Prism nodded "Yes and may need your help and that is talking Silver into taking some classes as well" He had a feeling she would be against learning to use a weapon and if he could get other tell her she needed to then should work.

[Silvern Gleam]

"At times she so prissy that I can hardly believe how she managed to come so far. Luckily, it's normally about unimportant matters", Sil answered with a chuckle. She could see how Silver wasn't keen on fighting herself. She was a mare who better stayed back. But that doesn't help much when the front falls. "I can certainly try. You know her much better than I do, but if even a blind pony picks up arms, she doesn't have many arguments on her side."

[Prism]

Prism smiles "Good, that was what I was thinking. Will your help I am sure she will not have a leg to stand with talking herself out of doing it." Prism was happy to get the help as he was sure Silver would put up a fight about this as he had been trying for a little bit to get her to learn.

[Silvern Gleam]

"Well then, if that was all, I have work to do", Silvern said smilingly as she stood up. "We can talk to Silver in the next meeting. And I expect a cost estimate from you within the next few days, don't keep me waiting too long."

[Prism]

"Well I will be busy tomorrow sorting out getting some medical supply's once that is done I will start on getting things sorted out and will talk to you soon after once I have prices as this supply run shouldn't take long." He said with a warm smile knowing he would be getting out doing something for the rebels again.

He got to his hooves and made his way to the door. "Well will talk again soon Silvern, wish you well" he said before making his way out of the room.

[Syron]

Characters: Steel Prism, Silvern Gleam

Summary: Prism and Silvern Gleam discuss magical and weapons training for the Rebellion, as well as some special ideas Silvern had.

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