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// Prologue "Homework" 
// Story: Guardian 
// by Dusty Grimoire 
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Deep purple hexagons steadily rose from the wooden floorboards as they slowly formed a protective dome.   This lattice of magical force crept over a knit pony doll with mismatched button eyes and purple pants with white polka dots.  Smartypants, being a toy, gave no indication of surprise or discomfort as the framework cut off any means of escape.  The toy’s owner on the other hand, wore a look of utmost concentration as sweat dripped down from her brow.  Twilight Sparkle took a moment to wipe her forehead and brush aside her purple and pink mane as her spell neared completion.  The purple filly smiled slightly to herself as she mumbled, “This must be the closest I’ve gotten all day.”  Unfortunately, the excitement broke her concentration as the frame cracked and shattered into hundreds of fading, purple shards of force.  

Her smile quickly furrowed into a frown as the spell faded.  “Ugh!  Why can’t I get it right?!” Twilight shouted.  

“I’m not sure Twily, but you’ve got to be pretty tired by this point,” explained Shining Armor.  The white unicorn colt stood up to make his way toward his sister.  “You’ve been practicing since we got into your room four hours ago,” he continued.  In fact, they hadn’t even begun unpacking Twilight’s bags after she returned from Princess Celestia’s school earlier that day.  At this point, the only furnishings in the filly’s room were her bed, a small number of empty bookshelves, a writing desk, and her favorite stuffed toy.  

“I know, but this is the first chance I’ve had to practice another pony’s special talent spell,” Twilight pleaded.  

“If Princess Celestia says you can learn the spells of other unicorns then I’m sure you can,” Shining Armor consoled.  “However, nopony learns everything in one day and it’s getting dark outside,” he concluded, pointing outside to the snowy winter evening.

“Well, I am a little thirsty…” Twilight confided.  “Can we practice some more after the break?” she asked.

“Of course, Twily,” her brother responded.  “Let’s go to the kitchen.  I can get you some cocoa if you want or… perhaps some of your favorite tea?” he asked.

“Really?!” Twilight exclaimed.  With a wide grin on her face, she raced out into the hallway and downstairs toward the kitchen.  Like most things in the household, this room was well organized and contained only what furniture was required.  Shining Armor jogged down the stairs after his sister as she waited patiently at a table set aside for the family meals.  He smirked as he opened the door to a relatively spacious pantry, retrieving some packets from a jar and filling a kettle with water.

“So how was your first semester at the school sis?” he asked as he removed a pair of mugs from a nearby cupboard while levitating the kettle onto the stove to boil.

“Where should I start?!” Twilight began.  “I’ve worked diligently at my magic the whole time.  I even learned how to transmute a quill into a feather duster,” she said as she frantically glanced about for any loose feathers.

“Impressive…” he responded, thankful that the frigid weather had driven off Canterlot’s bird population for the winter.  

“The principles behind it are very…intriguing,” she continued after searching her mind for a brief moment.  “Still, I’m really excited about my special talent!” she beamed.

“Right, Princess Celestia mentioned something about using the unique spells of other unicorns,” Shining Armor said, pausing to take a dip a teabag and now boiling water into one of the mugs.  “But I always heard that was impossible, right?” he asked, raising an eyebrow while passing the mug to Twilight.

“Based on what I’ve learned, that’s the general conclusion, yeah,” she answered, blushing slightly.  “I stumbled across a pretty unusual talent, but I still have a lot to learn before I’m going to go studying other pony’s spells,” she instructed.

“Well, I’d bet my bottom bit that you’ll figure it out Twiliy,” he confided.  “Still, why do you want to study my spell first?  Wouldn’t dad’s be easier to learn and more up your alley?” he inquired.

“Yeah…” she trailed off.  “His astronomy map is pretty useful, and I love watching the constellations at night, but I wanted something…more…” she continued before taking a sip of her tea.

“Hey, no pressure Twily; I was just curious,” Shining Armor said.  A pensive expression crossed the colt’s face as he stared into his tea mug suspended in the air with a simple spell.  The usually talkative filly grew quiet as her brother scanned his mind for some other topic to keep the conversation going.

“Have I ever told you how I got my cutie mark?” he asked with a half-smile.

Twilight cocked her head to the side for a moment before responding “No, you always changed the subject when I asked.  Why do you bring it up?”

“Well, I figured that maybe if you knew how I learned my spell, it could help you master it as well,” he explained.  Twilight’s eyes grew considerably wider as she looked toward her brother.

“You mean it?!” she shouted.  

“Of course Twily; it’s been far too long since I should have told you that story,” he responded.  “I can’t hide from it forever…” he said, taking a look out the window at the slight flurry of snow beginning to fall in the backyard.

“Why would you need to hide from your own spell B.B.B.F.F.?” his sister asked.

“It’s not the spell as much as a mistake I made.  It didn’t end up as badly as it could have but…well, it would be easier to start from the beginning, right?” he said looking the filly in the eye.

“Affirmative, I’m ready when you are,” she said slowly, gently levitating her tea cup up to her lips to take a sip.  

“I guess it all began when mom was pregnant with you, so she had to take time off of her job.  Dad was working at the university still and I was attending Clover Elementary School here in Canterlot,” he began.

“Wow, I bet you were a bright and talented student Shining,” his sister said beaming.

“Well, as far as grades went, I was an average student with a bit of a weakness in the magic department, but mostly I had trouble fitting in, and I was always getting into fights…” he responded.  

“Who in their right mind would want to fight you?” his sister asked glancing at the much larger colt.

“I’ve always been bigger than my classmates and anypony with something to prove would want to fight me,” he responded.  “The most important fight was a few months before I got my cutie mark, when I helped a young filly by the name of Lightning Bolt…”

End of Prologue