celestial

四十四

Last edited » November 10, 2023
Author's Note » RD's Magic Training
Referenced Movie(s) » N/A
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SAME DAY
[YOUR NAME]'S HOUSE - 8:23 PM

You and Dash looked at the piece of paper with everything you both knew about magic on it. Dash's side was centered around Equestrian Magic, while you assessed your own capabilities.

MAGIC

[Your name]
- Can transform (fox)
- Fox physical traits: ears, sharper canines, claws
- ^ Waiting: tail, eyes
- "Die" if I take off my bracelet → source of power
- Can't run out of power but will severely drain energy if continuously used
- 9 tails → 1000+ years old → tenko

Rainbow Dash
- from statue
- seven friendship elements: loyalty, magic, empathy, honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter
- power is inherent but geodes give us control (color of person)

"...If I had to be honest," you smiled as Dash already started laughing, "this tells us nothing."

"You just need to practice!" she smiled. "I tried to be logical like you but that's not how I roll. Just.. start doing it."

"I don't even know where to start."

"Well, we know you can transform."

"I don't wanna see those ears for at least.. until June. Three more weeks." Dash sighed but didn't try to argue.

"...What are Kitsune's abilities in Japanese literature? or folklore, whatever it's called." You unlocked your phone to see what Google had to say. You couldn't be 100% percent sure off the top of your head, but you could certainly verify outside sources.

"Shapeshifting - as we've learned - possession, fire manipulation mostly via a kitsunebi, the ability to appear in dreams, flight, invisibility, and the ability to create illusions." Dash thought as she wrote this information down on your side of the table, her eyes repeatedly reading the words.

"...The fire one is probably the easiest." She looked at you. "All my friends could help since we also have a certain element we can manipulate. Rarity can actually create gems so she would be your best resource."

"Well, I don't.. I don't want help, I would rather ignore all of this, but if I had to choose, I just want your help. I don't wanna bother your friends."

"You're not bothering anyone!" she smiled, grabbing your hands. "We're all happy to help." You silently stared at her.

Dash sighed. "But if you insist.. I won't make you, but I know Rarity wouldn't care. She's the element of generosity."

"Yeah.." Still, your stance was very rigid.

"What's a 'kitsunebi'?" You grabbed your phone again.

"Literally, it'd be foxfire. Kitsune is fox, and bi is fire in this case." You picked up your pencil and wrote the kanji, hiragana, and rōmaji form of the phrase.

'狐火 → きつねび → kitsune bi'

"Can Japanese people fluently read romaji? Like.. is it like English?"

"Well most of us learn English in elementary school - it's a required part of Japanese education - so... yes, but it's not like reading English because of all the homophones. Just now, 火 could have.. verbally been four different things: beauty, day, fire, or a katakana letter."

"Which, I guess context would help with that. English also has homophones, like read and read, or read and red, but it's not standard to communicate in rōmaji through text." She muttered a 'cool.'

"...Kitsunebi is 'an atmospheric ghost light' and is 'also called 'hitobuso', 'hitomoshi' - parenthesis 火点し - and 'rinka' - parenthesis 燐火." Dash snickered at your narrating voice. You smiled as you skimmed the Wikipedia article.

"They're basically torches; they guide the way. I kinda somewhat knew that."

"Then, kitsunebi training time!" You sighed, making Dash laugh. "What does it look like? Is it just regular fire?"

"To some extent, depends on the artist." You showed her the Google Images results.

"Is it fire from an outside source or do you think you can generate it?"

"Kitsune should have their own kitsunebi. They can create it from wagging their tail or their mouth, like breathing fire. I think the former is friction-based."

"We can work on fire breathing since we don't know if you have a tail yet." You nod, thinking about how to start.

there's no fireplace, and i don't want to put our lives on the line by starting a kitchen fire, not like that would work anyway

fire breathing...   -You looked around for inspiration.

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idk how to write a character finding their magic without it being silly like sneezing and it comes out or seeming like an overly convenient coincidence so would you look at the time, it's the end of the chapter