//------------------------------// // Magical Mishaps // Story: Crazy, Clever and Cunning // by Fresnor //------------------------------// After a month of snow I remembered the other reason why I disliked the winter. “I am so bored.” Staring out into the blizzard I find myself actually wanting the company of somepony to distract me. Even dealing with Pinkie Pie would be a welcome change of pace after being trapped inside for the last week. “Why did the weather team fall behind so much to require having to dump all this on the town?” Sighing I turn back to what I was working on to pass the time. The silver had worked perfectly for the circle like I had planned and after running it through its paces I found that it worked even better than I had hoped. After a few tests I found that it had something to do with the silver that focused the spells I used in an unexpected manner. After some other tests I was able to find that different materials worked better for different spells, though silver seemed to amplify them and chalk was perfect for use in almost any kind of spell. The latest tests I had been doing were adding more rings to the circle to see what effects it would have on the spells, as well as if I could predict what kinds of effects would happen while doing so. Unfortunately things hadn’t been working out as planned. I had found a few interesting patterns which I saved, like one that allowed me to teleport into it from an unsure distance as well as causing me to lose my lunch, but I hadn’t found any patterns to it yet. “This makes no sense; none of these patterns are working out like I’d expect them to. I found a simpler teleport circle than the one I created, yet it allows outgoing travel and looks nothing like it. There should be some similarities at least for spells of similar types, but I can’t see anything alike on these.” I fume at what should have been the key to solving the problem, but is instead just giving me a headache. Trying once again with a three-ringed pattern, a try and focus on getting it to work this time. Too late do I realize that the headache wasn’t from confusion alone, but also from my magic being overworked. I try to cancel the spell, but with that circle already half charged it still has an effect. In a bright explosion of flame colored energy I suddenly find myself falling in a world of white before finally passing out from the pain. <><><><><><><> I awaken sometime later with one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had before, as well as a rather curious sound. Trying to ignore the pain I try to get a feel for where I am before opening my eyes. Last thing I remember was being somewhere white after trying to abort that spell. Maybe it actually worked somehow and I ended up outside? If so, why do I feel warm instead of freezing. I feel around me slowly and find that I am currently underneath some blankets, and that sound I was hearing becomes a bit clearer as the fuzziness starts to lift from my head and seems to be the sound of somepony humming. I guess somepony found me from wherever I ended up unconscious. That is probably a good thing if I was outside as I wouldn’t have lasted long in this blizzard. Carefully opening my eyes I try to look around to see where it is I ended up. It takes a while for my eyes to clear up, but when they do I find that I am on a couch in a rather cozy looking home. From where I am I can see various things that look like they would be used as homes for birds, as well as a window with the blizzard still going strong. I can’t see who the humming is coming from where I am, though it sounds like it is from somewhere outside of the room I am in. It sounds very feminine though and is actually quite pretty as well. Still feeling a bit drained from the accident I just lay there and enjoy the soothing sound as I let my mind wander back to what happened. I was never able to get that circle fully powered, yet it still was able to teleport me to wherever I am now. Oddly enough no circle was even fully powered, only scattered parts of each of them. I need to get another look at it and compare it to my books; I think I may have accidentally found the key how the circles work. I sit there trying to recall exactly what happened and comparing it to what I could remember from my books. I was interrupted from my thoughts though by a quiet gasp and the sound of something hitting the floor. Looking towards the end of the couch I spot a plate of food on the floor, with everything still on it, as well as a flash of pink mane sticking out from behind the arm of it. I just stare at the other end of the couch, wondering what just happened, when I see whoever it is poke their head out cautiously from behind it. I am surprised to see the aquamarine eyes of Fluttershy that I remembered from those many months ago. She quickly pulls back behind the couch again when she notices me looking in her direction. Wow, Twilight wasn’t kidding about how easily scared she can get. I haven’t even said anything and she’s already hiding. I try to think of something to say to her, but nothing is coming to mind especially as I’m not fully sure how I got here. I move my left hoof out from under the covers to wave at her, only to gasp in pain as I finally notice that I had other injuries from the accident I didn’t notice. This is enough to get Fluttershy’s attention though as she springs out from behind the couch and to my side. “Oh dear! You shouldn’t be moving around so much with your legs like that,” at her words I could also feel that my hind legs were also hurting, the only one in a good condition right now seems to be my right foreleg. “How badly am I hurt?” I ask trying to judge how long I would be out, even with magic to heal the injuries. “Well nothing I can tell is broken thankfully, but three of your legs, as well as the ribs on your lefts side are bruised up pretty badly. I’m not sure if anything is cracked though so you’ll need to take it easy until we can get you checked out at the hospital. But we can’t do that until the weather clears so I’ll take care of you until then,” her confidence seems to vanish at this point, “Um, if that’s all right with you I mean.” I boggle at how widely her personality shifts, but remembering what Twilight said before I think I might be able to grasp a reason why, though it’s still just a guess. “Well I don’t think the hospital will be necessary Miss Fluttershy, I should be able to fix most of the problems once I get over the magical burnout. Unfortunately that’s the reason why I’m even injured in the first place.” “Oh my, I didn’t even check to see if that was a problem or not. Is that why you suddenly crashed onto my roof and off in front of my window? It scared me so much that I almost didn’t check to see what happened.” It seems that I may have broken past her shyness on accident earlier by showing pain, this affirms my earlier guess that something that puts her in her ‘kindness’ mode makes her forget about being shy. “Yeah, I was working longer than I thought on testing out some things with my magic. I didn’t realize how much I had been using until the last attempt. I only had enough strength to get the spell half charged, but it was enough to teleport me from my home to where you found me.” Fluttershy gets a stern look on her face as I mention how I had overworked myself to the point of this happening. “You really should pace yourself better so that this doesn’t happen again. You can’t just go overworking yourself and expect things to turn out fine. What would have happened to you if nopony was around to drag you out of the weather?” I shrink down a bit at this, knowing she is right. Even though this time was an accident things could have been much worse if I didn’t happen to land on her home. “Now you just sit there while I go and make you something to eat. If you overworked your magic then you really should be starving by now.” At her words my stomach decides to agree with her causing her to giggle a bit. As she heads of towards what I assume is her kitchen she pauses and shrinks down again. “Um, how did you know my name earlier? I don’t think I’ve ever met you before and I don’t remember telling it to you after you woke up.” I realize that knowing her name without her knowledge of it could really set off her shyness again. I really can’t think of an excuse to use, so I just go with the more recent truth. “Well I’ve been spending a lot of time at the library where Twilight Sparkle lives. I saw you with her and her other friends one day and through her learned all your names over time. I’ve already met her other four friends and since you were the only one I hadn’t met it was easy to match the last name to you.” She seems to calm down a bit when I mention her friends. “Oh, well if Twilight told you then I guess that’s okay. Though I was sure Twilight was always complaining about nopony using the library other than…” She pauses at this point as she seems to realize something. “Oh, you must be Flarenza then. Twilight mentioned you a few times, especially with how you’ve done some interesting things with magic and how you both dealt with that scary ghost.” I nod to her, confirming her guess. “I’m surprised she actually admits that it was a ghost. She seemed completely against even using the word before, and she still refuses to believe in other things.” Fluttershy laughs a little at that. “Well she really can get set in her way of thinking and getting her to change her mind is really tough. Oh, but please don’t tell her I said that.” She cringes down at that, probably due to not wanting to say anything bad about her friends. I nod and agree not to say anything. She then remembers what she was doing before and heads back into her kitchen area. I sit there and ponder the mare and her strange personality shifts. It’s really odd how she goes from really meek to confident and back again. From what I’ve heard from Twilight and what I’ve just seen she really has a strong protective instinct going for her but she almost seems scared to use it. There really is much more to her than meets the eye. She eventually returns with some food and tea for me which she sets nearby. She then picks up what I assume was her own meal and takes a seat where she can keep an eye on me. I struggle a bit trying to eat though as I haven’t had much practice using hooves, having always relied on magic to move things. Eventually I find a way that works and finish the surprisingly tasty meal. “Huh, that was really good. You’re a pretty good cook.” Fluttershy just blushes and ducks away from the compliment. “Oh, well I’m really not all that great. I just have a lot of practice from taking care of all the sick critters.” I just shake my head and chuckle a bit at her. She really has self-esteem issues if she can’t even take a compliment. I let out a yawn and I notice that it is starting to get darker. Fluttershy also seems to realize that it is getting late as well. “Oh, I didn’t notice that it was getting so late already. I’ll go and prepare a bed for you so you’ll be more comfortable.” I quickly stop her before she runs off. “Actually I should be fine here for tonight. Your couch is actually pretty comfortable, and I don’t think moving any distance would be a good idea until these injuries are better.” Fluttershy pauses as she realizes that I am right and looks apologetic for not realizing that moving me would probably be bad right now. She still doesn’t relent on the comfort part and I am soon inundated with extra pillows and something to drink within reach. She then heads upstairs to where I assume her own room is, shutting off most of the lights as she goes. I don’t fall asleep right away as I lay there thinking about how the day went. While I have been meaning to meet Fluttershy face-to-face, I would have rather done it without having to be injured to do so. Granted things turned out better this way rather than trying to fumble my way through awkwardly in a different way, or trying to get one of her friends to introduce me to her. She probably wouldn’t have opened up nearly as fast those ways. I really need to pay her back for this somehow, I wonder how she’d like some of the things growing out of my garden right now. It’s not much but it would be a start at least. I eventually fall asleep while thinking on ways to repay the shy pegasus. <><><><><><><> The next morning I wake up to the sound of Fluttershy’s humming in the kitchen again. I’m feeling a bit better as my magic has partially returned again, but it’s nowhere near full strength. It is however enough for me to do a simple scan to see how injured I really am. After a brief moment I am thankful to find that nothing is broken or even cracked. My muscles in the injured areas are really strained though and there is a lot of bruising. Being careful to watch my magic usage, I do what I can to at least soothe my muscles and repair as much damage as I can. This leaves me mostly drained again, but I am able to at least fix enough damage that I can safely move around again, though still with a lot of aches and pains. As I lean back after finishing with my work I realize another problem. Getting up as carefully as I can I make my way over towards the sound of my host’s voice. As I round a corner I see her working at a stove preparing what I assume is breakfast for us both. I wait until she isn’t handling anything that could cause her injury before I clear my throat. This of course causes her to hide behind the nearest object, though she quickly recovers upon seeing me. “Oh dear, you really shouldn’t be up yet.” I know better than to try and pass things off as being nothing. “I know I should still be resting, but I got back enough magic to check things over and fix the worst of it. It still hurts a good bit, but I thought it might be a good idea to clean up a bit and take care of a few other issues.” It takes her a moment to realize what I meant, but upon realizing it she directs me on where I need to go. After taking a quick shower and taking care of the other necessities, I return to my place on the couch. Shortly afterwards Fluttershy comes out of the kitchen with both of our meals on her back. Taking mine carefully I proceed to eat, only using my magic when absolutely necessary to avoid straining myself. As we finish and the dishes are cleaned and put away we sit there in an awkward silence. Trying to come up with something to talk about I just grasp at the first thing I see, which is of course the blizzard outside. “How long is this weather supposed to last? I didn’t think to double check with the weather team but I don’t remember them saying it was going to last this long.” Fluttershy looks towards the window with a frown on her face. “I’m not sure really. Rainbow Dash said that the blizzard was only going to last two days. Something had to have gone wrong for it to last this long; probably something came out of the Everfree when they couldn’t get out to stop it. Odd weather comes out of there from time to time, but they can usually drive it off.” Huh, I didn’t realize that the Everfree Forest could cause issues with the weather as well as the usual creatures coming out of it. Of course with that answered we both settle back into silence yet again. Thinking about the forest did give me an idea though. “So I hear that you are the resident caretaker for most of the animals in the area? Is there anything interesting about them you can tell me?” This was probably one of the best and worst things to ask her. She almost completely forgets about her shyness in her enthusiasm, but she is also nearing Pinkie Pie levels of excitement at the same time. Eventually she does calm down enough that I can get a few words of my own in and eventually start telling her about some of my travels. I keep away from the scarier parts of it and focus mainly on the animals and other creatures that I had met in my journeys. Eventually we sit there trading stories back and forth and I find out a few interesting things about her. Huh, she actually faced down a dragon and berated it into submission? Never would have expected her to be able to do something like that. Also she befriended that manticore I saw before I arrived in town? That could be some useful information in case I ever meet it on accident again. Eventually we are interrupted by the sound of our stomachs growling and we realize that we had been talking the entire day and it was actually nearing dinner. I actually insist on helping her this time to prepare dinner and we quickly put something together. I even made up one of those crepe cakes for desert as partial thanks for her helping me. Eventually we finish eating and clean the place up before we both head off to sleep again. <><><><><><><> The next morning I feel much better and am able to heal away most of the pain, leaving just a few aches. Looking outside I notice that the blizzard seems to have finally passed on leaving a light layer of clouds with the sun peeking through in places. Fluttershy had just started to bring out breakfast when there was a loud knocking at her door. I catch up both plates inn my magic and set them down while she goes to see who is at the door. I catch sight of a familiar rainbow mane over her shoulder as she opens it. “Oh Rainbow Dash, what are you doing here so early?” She lets the cyan mare in out of the cold. “Hey Flutters, I’m just doing my rounds and checking up on ponies. The Everfree sent out another blizzard after we started ours and we’re making sure that everypony made it through it okay.” She then notices me seated on the couch. “Flarenza? What are you doing here? When did you and Fluttershy meet?” I take a small bite of food before answering. “We met a couple days ago after I had a small magical mishap. I ended up miscasting a spell at only half power and ended up teleporting somewhere over her home before I crashed into it and in front of her window. She helped me out for the last two days while I recovered.” She just stares for a second before she bursts out laughing. “Wait, you mean to tell me that you, who is probably the second most egg-headed pony in town, screwed up so badly that you actually teleported out into the blizzard all the way across town?” She just breaks down even more as her laughing gets worse. I just shake my head at this but Fluttershy has other ideas on what to do. “Rainbow Dash! This is not a laughing matter. She could have actually been seriously hurt or even worse because of that. If she landed anywhere else who knows what would have happened.” Both Rainbow Dash and I are taken aback at Fluttershy’s reaction. The cyan pegasus does start to look a bit sheepish though. “Yeah I guess you’re right, sorry about that Flarenza.” I’m actually shocked that she would actually apologize about something, but accept it anyways with a nod of my head. She finishes up with checking on Fluttershy and heads back out, leaving us to finish breakfast. Soon after I convinced her that I was well enough to travel and bid her farewell, though not before giving her permission to check up on me later to make sure I was really doing better. I made my way back home, going the long way through town to see how everypony else was doing, and eventually make it there after an exhausting trip through the snow. Of course it’s only when I get home that I realize something. “Frig, I could have used a couple barriers to make snowshoes or something and just walked on top of the snow.” I look back at the path I plowed through to get home before shaking my head. Heading inside I made my way towards the attic again to check up on what happened when I was last there. Arriving I notice that everything is still as I left it, though with a slight burnt spot in the center of the circle. “Next time I should use an object other than myself to test it out. Though I guess things turned out well enough, now where’s that diagram.” Digging through the book I find the page I was looking for and start comparing it to what I had inscribed on the floor. It takes me a couple hours, but I start to notice a pattern that I missed on the previous times I looked at it. “It almost looks as if the spell merged the different layers into a single one when the spell was cast. If I match up some of the runes that I remember being charged to what is here, then they actually match when the ones from different circles are merged.” I take another look at the circle from various angles. “Could it really be that simple though? If it is then I could actually set up some permanent runes for things I would always want ready and just use the outer rings for when I need to write up something new. I could even have multiple patterns set up while only using a fraction of the space by setting it up so that the overlapping runes would fit multiple spells.” I get to work on writing down what I had found out and even testing out a couple of the ideas just to verify that it works. Eventually I am forced to stop by the arrival of Fluttershy who proceeds to force me to put everything away and take a break for the night. She then heads off to her own home, but not before I grab a pair of saddlebags for her from the days pickings from my garden.