Time for a Little Magic

by Sketch-Pad

Welcome to the Past

Twilight blinked her eyes at the blinding light that engulfed her, and held her breath as her stomach lurched from the over whelming stencth of mint. She felt as if she was getting stretched form all sides, like someone was trying to rip her open. Time travel was comepletly different than a simple, quick teleportation spell. Her eyes stayed closed, though she had begun to grind her teeth. Suddenly, she felt her rear-end hit something, cold and hard, and the smell of mint quickly faded to the smell of dirt and wet stone.

She opened her eyes, blinking, and regained her senses. She cautiously used a simple lighting spell, shining it bright enough to see that she was in a small stone room, or rather, a closet. She thought that the spell had worked, but she wasn't comepletly sure. The purple Alicorn took a good glance around the room studying the stone work, before spotting a brown tunic bunched up in the corner. She stared at it. Based on what she saw, she had definetly gone backwards in time. She did not doubt the princesses abilities at all, but mistakes do happen, but there was a greater chance with a more powerful spell. She hesitantly picked up the brown fabric, and with a good quick shake, dusted off a few cobwebs, as well as a lingering spider.

"This should be enough to hide my wings and cutie mark." She thought to herself. "But what if I'm tempted to use my wings, or even worse, some how manage to get a.. a wing boner?" She shuddered and gulped at the thought, pushing the idea to the back of her mind. She quickly searched the room again for anything to help her newly arisen issue, before coming across a bucket with a thin wrapped rope inside of it. "Perfect"

She picked it up, and carefully began to wrap the rope around her wings. She recalled the time when Apple Jack had to tie Rainbow Dash's wings during the Running of the Leaves, and she remembered perfectly well that Rainbow's wings didn't move an inch. As the mare practically covered her wings, she told herself to relax her body. She knew that any tension would make the ropes uncomfortable, either then or later, or there was a possibility that she could end up tying them too tight. With a good firm knot, the rope was secured around her body. She cautiously attempted to move her wings, and the ropes were secure enough around her sides.

Next came the tunic. She stared at the cloth her magic held in front of her, and took a deep breath. "This is all I have to hide myself. I can not show anyone that I'm an alicorn.....Not even Starswirll, which will probably end up being the thoughest challenge. I just hope I can do it..." She thought to herself herself as she closed her eyes. The fabric smelled of wet stone, but it wasn't entirely a negative smell. She slowly covered her self with the tunic, and it was somewhat of a surprise to her that it was a perfect fit for her body. Pushing her small amount of shock aside, she buttoned the two bronze clasps fastened to her cloak. This was all she had to face the old world; well, this and her magic. She was, more or less, ready to head out to the world that lay before her.

She took a step forward, and slid the hood over her head. She placed a hoof on the side of door opposite from the hinges, and with a sharp breath she put out the light that eminated from her horn. She pushed the wooden door open, blinking at the new, more natural light that hit her face. What she saw caught her almost completely by surprise. She was in a town of only unicorns, and at first she freaked out, scared that Earth ponies and Pegasai didn't exist at this time or something. She quickly relaxed when she remebered that the three different species lived apart for a long time in the older days of equestria.

Twilight examined the other unicorns, and saw that they were almost all wearing tunics, some more colorful and decorated than others. All of these ponies had a different look that what the purple unicorn was used to seeing. Their manes, tails, and pelts weren't as bright as the ponies in Twilight's time. However, these ponies were not at all depressed. They had smiles on their faces and acknowledged each others as they went about their business, but that was it. A few were talking to each other here and there, but it was so quiet compared to Ponyville and Canterlot.

After looking at all of these unicorns in her line of sight, she paused before taking a step. "Hold on. How I supposed to find Starswirll here? I could use a searching spell, but he was the one who created it! That would probably mess some things up., so I'm going to say no." She began to unknowingly pace in a small circle as she thought to herself. "I could always ask ponies if they know him or know where he lives, and if they do, I could just ask them point me in his direction...But I also don't want to be noticed more than I have to be. Asking too many ponies would make me acknowledged by too many, and that could change time...." Twilight was starting to pant nervously now, from thinking too much, and then she caught herself in her actions. She sighed, then used a quick breathing technique that Princess Cadence had taught her to calm down.

"Calm down Twilight. You can do this. Just walk around a little bit and keep an eye out for something that seems like it would very much be Starswirll. Who knows, perhaps I'll see him walking around this town?" She nodded once, and began to walk down the street that was directly in front of her. She hung her head, trying not to make too much eye contact with the ponies that passed her. As she trotted along, Twilight was also looking at the buildings she passed. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she had a feeling she would know it when she saw it.

With a loud splash, she stepped in a puddle. The cool water closed in around her hoof, and she quickly took a step back, looking at her reflection in the gray pool of water. Because the water was still rippling, her face was somewhat obscured. Though while she looked at her face, she smiled. "It's funny. This robe makes me look a little like Clover the Clever." She thought to herself. "Hold on, I couldn't be Clover.... could I?" she pondered over the thought. If she was, this would change everything. Everyone always thought that Clover was a pale green unicorn with a Darker green mane, not at all purple unicorn. "I'm going to go crazy if I think about this too much. I'm not Clover." Then again the flowers on clovers were almost always purple and pink, very similar to Twilight's color scheme.She refused to be another pony, she just couldn't be!

She held up her head and looked away from the puddle. She leapt over it, and from then on held her head high as she trotted around the foriegn city. She might be in the past, but she could still be her own pony. She turned down another street, looking around her as she began to slow her trot. "Now where would I find Starswir- OW!" She was cut off mid sentence as she tripped over a grey stallion, who was for some reason on the ground. He looked as if he was in pain, so Twilight felt the need to help him up.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I ran into you. A-are you alright?"

The stallion nodded, and then looked at her, a little smile on his face. "Yes, I'm alright. I was actually chasing after a letter." His voice had an older accent to it, but it was nice and made Twilight feel as if she was actually in another time, not just a different place. He used his hoof to brush off some dirt on his chest, and the removed filth allowed the purple unicorn to see visible scratches.

"Oh, no, your hurt..." Twilight said. She just got to the past and she hurt someone. Hope that didn't affect the future.

"It's alright. Nothing my master won't be able to heal." He responed. He picked up the so-called 'letter' and put it in a one-sided, leather saddle-bag. "Besides, the collision was probably my fault anyways," he added with a chuckle.

"Your... master?" Twilight asked the red maned-unicorn. His eyes were a gentle blue, but they had a good sense of power and strenth in them too. In fact, he seemed like he had a good powerful ability, just from the aura he was giving off.

Every pony had their own Aura, and most unicorns could tell a lot about others from these Auras. A few select amount of unicorns were able to actually see these powerful and magical energies, though from what Twilight knew the skill can sometimes, though not usually, be taught. She would like to learn how to do so, but she had not come across a suitable pony to teach her. She knew that Luna could see them, but the moon princess did not know at all how to teach it.

He nodded. "Of course, I am an assistant to Starswirll," Twilight's eyes light up, and she got excited. This was the perfect stallion to run into. Well, not physically run into, but at least come across.

"You work for Starswirll? I am actually looking for him!"

"Oh, really?" His eyes got all narrow, and he got closer to her. "Why? Have you come to tell him that his great skills and spells are just more ridiculous magic tricks? Have you come to tell him that every spell he uses, or creates, is a lie? A fake?" he body language became a little more over dramatic. His tone was somewhere between furious and annoyed. "Because if any those are your intentions, you can turn around and go right back to the place you came from. We've seen enough of those foul unicorns, and we don't need anymore of them walking around, thinking they know everything there is to know about magic."

Twilight felt really uncomfortable, and she ended up biting her lip. Did other unicorns really think that Starswirll's magic was fake? "No, no, not at all! I was looking for him because I was actually hoping that I might be able to learn from him." After she said this, he instantly took a step back. "You know, like his apprentice."

"Oh, my sincerest apologies," he said with an awkward smile. "I was just double checking. You do have a natural magical glow about you, so I didn't know your true intentions. Most unicorns with an aura as strong as yours are usually here to challenge him and his spectacular abilities, or something of that manner." His smiled altered and became more natural, and it was clear that , his mood had definetly brightened. "I suppose I can take you to see him, if he'll see you."

The purple alicorn nodded with a smile, "That would be great!"

With that, the two unicorns began to walk down a different street, side by side "By the way, my name is Ember." The gray stallion said, a small flirty tone lingering under his voice. Twilight glanced at him, searching for his visible name. As the pair walked through a shaft of sunlight, his mane almost rippled like flames. His pelt color also reminded the purple unicorn of ashes, the longer it caught her eye. She glanced at his cutie-mark that was somewhat visible under his sachel, and from what she could see, it looked like a wand that was casting a type of fire spell. It honestly reminded her a little bit of Trixie's.

"My name is.. uh.." She paused, and Ember gave a friendly glance at her.

"It's alright, I'm not one to judge others by their name," he said calmly.

Twilight instantly said the first name that popped into her head, "Clover!" and she regretted it as soon as the word left her mouth. Infact, she mentally did a face-hoof. It was probably because she was thinking about it earlier. Why didn't she just look around and choose a name from a random building? Ponies do that all the time when they lie about their names. Well, apparently everypony except for her. She just took Clover the Clever's name, and it was too late to change it. She would have to be the powerful unicorn, no matter how much she liked it or not.

"Are you alright? You suddenly look upset, or at least concerned." Ember stated.

The purple unicorn quickly came up with an excuse. "I guess i'm just a little nervous, you know? It's not every day you meet such a powerful unicorn. I just hope i can give him a good impression so he likes me."

Ember smiled. "Ahh, don't worry about it. I surely can't find a reason yet on why he wouldn't like you!" he gently nudged her shoulder. "Just be yourself, it's not too difficult."

But that was the thing; she couldn't be too much of herself or she might mess up the future, which was something she couldn't afford. She would deeply regret if she went back to the future and found her friends gone from existence because of a stupid action she did. She could not be herself, but at least she could be the super careful version of herself. But then again, it never hurt to try. However, she also knew pretty well that she couldn't create a complete all around flase identity, because the mare knew very well that they would usually end up falling apart at some point.

"Ah, look we're here!" the gray stallion said, inturupting her thinking. The two of them had stopped at the base of a stone tower, one of decent size but not as big as some of the ones the mare had seen in Canterlot. There was a building at the base of the tower as well, and Ember held the door open for the purple alicorn with a bright blue magic. She slowy strode inside and looked around at the room that caught her by surprise.

The room was fairly small, but it was a much grander enterance than she had expected. The floor was a basic marble tile, but there was a rough red rug that started at the front door and went strait back towards another door, one that Twilight guessed led up to Starswirll's chambers. There were two unicorns guarding that door, and the purple mare was catching strong and serious vibes from them. They each were covered with a white cloak, complete with hoods. The outfit looked a little small for both of them, but it might have been because they each had fair muscles. On the right side of the room there were about six rows of bookselves that went from wall to wall. A few lingering unicorns weaved in between the rows, searching for a reading material or making idle chitchat; and a few others sitting at a lone desk reading, their noses deep into books. The other side of the room held what look like a kind of reception desk, which Twilight could see hid something in on the floor. The walls were lined with pilliars as well, but other than that, the marjority of the room was the typical stone, with a few glass windows here and there.

Ember walked over to the reception desk, and slid off his bag. He pulled out a few papers as well as a book, and smiled at the purple maned unicorn. "I'm going to run upstairs and give these things to Starswirll, and let him know that you are here to see him. Depending on what he says though, you might not be able see him today. If not, you can surely come tomorrow or a few days from now." The purple unicorn nodded at the stallion. "You can also look at the books if you would like, Clover." Twilight glanced to the right of her, smiling at the shelves. The purple unicorn gave him a happy glance, and trotted over to the book case. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he walked to the second door, and with a nod, he began to trot up some stairs.

Her heart was beating a little faster with the increased amount of anticipation. She didn't know what was going to happen when the two unicorns met. She was excited to meet him, but she was also scared. What if he found out that she was an alicorn, and not actually a unicorn? What if he says that he is not able to teach her? What if he finds out she's not from this time? Would he Send her back? She was thinking too much, so she sat down. What ever happens, she will have to deal with.

Comments

[BronyWhooves]

The premise is interesting, I definitely will keep reading this story. However I don't mean to offend but there are a few problems with your telling that make the story a tad clunky, but don't worry, it would appear to be because lack of experience and lack of prereaders/editors. I'd give some examples but I'm on my iPhone atm. I don't mean to nitpick, as I might not be able to create an original work any better as I'm a tad rusty with my story writing. If you'd like I can leave another comment with some examples of things I think could improve your first two chapters. Not story wise just grammatical syntax sorta stuff.

All in all I will definitely add to read later and continue to follow along. Keep up the good work.

[Sketch-Pad]

3893180 I appreciate the feedback, but do know that this is the first long story that I have written. I do my best, but even the best stories aren't comepletly perfect. I work on these for about an hour+ every day as well, and i started working on this in mid November.

Every writer also has their own style of writing, too. I am only a sophomore in highschool too.