Sharpe's Equestria

by Teal

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sharpe entered the kitchen, satisfied to have finally have found it after a long search. After spending most of the morning trying to locate the kitchen, he was really glad to be able to have finally found it. This castle was just huge and it was impossible to memorize the entire place in one go. With a castle so large and complex, it would take Sharpe a map before he can properly navigate through the place. Even then he might still encounter problems, knowing that map reading wasn’t one of the best skills he had. He was better off leaving a trail, so that he could just follow it around.

“Oh, good morning, Sharpe.” Twilight said, as she saw the green unicorn enter. “I trust that you had a good night’s sleep.”

“Yeah, but I did encounter a problem on making my way through the place.” Sharpe inquired. “Probably got lost a couple of times.”

“Tell me about it. We have been here for week and I still get lost sometimes.” Spike, the purple dragon said as he passed by. Sharpe was actually surprised when he first encountered the dragon and was actually amazed on how small he was. But Twilight did in from him that he was still a baby dragon and that seeing him grown up wouldn’t be pleasant for anyone, especially with the greedy tendencies of dragons.

“Now which way was it again to the library.” Spike thought out loud, knowing that he had to arrange the books today.

“Go straight ahead and make a right, you’ll find it right over there.” Sharpe told him, remembering the library’s position when he went by it.

Sharpe was awed to see so many books in one gigantic room, with shelves packed with hundreds upon hundreds of books and their infinite knowledge. Seeing that this was Twilight’s castle, he concluded that it must have been her private collection. But could anyone, magical pony or not, really read that many books?

Moving towards a table, he took a seat opposite of Twilight and examined the assortment of food that was laid before him. Most of the food there were the one’s Sharpe expected to see on a proper breakfast table. Toast, butter, oats, eggs, and some fruits, with a pot of tea and some milk to wash it all down.

Apparently, most pony meals weren’t all too different from theirs. Well, probably except for the meat part. Unless these were carnivore ponies, which Sharpe highly doubted, seeing that he hasn’t seen a single speck of meat on the table or the kitchen.

Well, he would just have to change his diet, unless he wanted to be run out of town.

Deciding that a nice plate of eggs would be a decent meal to start the day, he moved his hoof towards a nearby fork. But once he grabbed it, he found it flimsy and difficult to control. Sure, he was able to grasp it, which actually amazed him, but controlling it was a different story.

Slowly moving the fork towards the plate of eggs, he gently lowered it so that he would be able to get a large chunk of the protein filled substance. But as he was about to take a scoop, the fork slipped from his hooves and fell, causing Sharpe to frown.

He tried to pick it up again, but found difficulty on trying to retrieve the fork. Sharpe was starting to learn that hooves weren’t the most effective tools on picking up objects.

“Oh, come on!” Sharpe, exclaimed, as the fork fell from his grasp again. It was starting to become more and more frustrating, as every attempt led to failure, and failure was something Sharpe was not accustomed to. “How are you even able to eat with these things?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot…” Twilight said, with a sheepish look on her face, as she watch Sharpe’s temper rise. “…you still don’t know how to use your magic… “

Magic was something that was vital for unicorns, as it helped them do almost every task in a more convenient manner. Seeing how he was having trouble using his hooves, Twilight knew that Sharpe would be grateful once he learned magic.

But teaching it to him would be a difficult job. For somepony who hasn’t experienced magic in his entire life, the task would be equivalent to teaching a foal to levitate their first object, if not even more difficult.

“Well, I guess a magic lesson is in order, the sooner the better.”

“Yeah…” Sharpe snorted. “…unless you want me to starve to death…”

“Oh, don’t be such a grumpy old pony…” She said with a giggle. “…try eating the toast instead, it’s much easier to grasp with your hooves.
Unless you want me to spoon feed you?”

That last line really put a punch on his pride.

With eyes wide open and growing red from embarrassment, Sharpe pushed away her suggestion and grabbed the toast. After a couple of tries, he managed to hold on to it and get at least something in his stomach.

“Try to eat as much as you can, because I’m going to teach you how to use magic right after breakfast.” Twilight said, taking pride that she was going to teach somepony about magic. Sharing her vast knowledge and skills was something that always made her happy and proud.

Sharpe ate a couple more slices of toast till he was satisfied. It was nice and crunchy, while it’s warmth gave it a nice add to flavor. Back in Spain, food this good were usually reserved for officers of high rank and it was good to finally taste something that was better than the rations that the army supplied them.

Feeling full and beaming with energy, Sharpe knew that he was ready to tackle the day’s challenge. But little did he know, learning magic was just as difficult as fighting a French Grenadier.

***

Standing inside one of the many large rooms of the castle, Sharpe poured all his mental strength to finish the task given to him. Right in front of him, on top of a small table, was a pillow, which he was assigned to lift with his magic. Twilight decided that they should start with something simple, so she chose a pillow, since it was light enough to lift, while at the same time soft and harmless, in case he accidentally flung it across the room.

But right now, the chances of him flinging around something were zero, since he could barely lift the object from the table. Despite his best, he just couldn’t figure out how he was able to use this so called ‘magic’.

Earlier, Twilight explained to him how a unicorn is able to use magic and how he would be able to use his mental skills to transform it to some kind of magical action. The conversation became very technical and all the data and explanations actually confused Sharpe. The process of casting magic seemed more complicated than reloading a rifle.

By the time the lecture was over and the time of application came, Sharpe was left baffled on what he should do.

So he tried his best, concentrating his attention to the pillow and trying to make whatever part of his unicorn brain do the lifting. He kept his eyes focused as he starred at the pillow, waiting for a glow of magic to lift it up from the table.

But no matter how much he tried, the pillow stayed there, still on top of the table. Whatever he was doing, it was obvious that he was doing something wrong.

No matter how hard he concentrated and no matter how hard he tried, no magic was coming out of his horn.

“This is impossible!” He said, stomping his hoof on the floor, as he let out a frustrated grunt. He didn’t have enough patience for this and ever attempt was making him more and more annoyed. Learning to use magic was hard and stressful, but if he didn’t do it, then he would be left with nothing but the use of his hooves.

“Oh, don’t give up now.” Twilight said, trying to urge him on. “I’m sure you would get it sooner or later. How about you take a break first and we’ll try again later.” She then levitated a glass of water from the tray she brought earlier and offered it to him. “Care for a drink?”

Sharpe, who was parched from the earlier exercise, decided to accept it. His head already hurt from the meticulous concentrating and he could feel that his throat was dry. He felt incredibly thirsty and the nice glass of water would do a good job of quenching it.

With a quick nod, Sharpe moved towards Twilight to accept the drink.

Unconsciously, Sharpe managed to pick up the glass with his magic, surrounding it with a blue aura, and levitate it before taking in a large gulp of water. He was so thirsty and the water was so refreshing, that he failed to notice his achievement. His need to drink must have triggered something inside him, making the use of magic possible. It just came naturally, without him even noticing the difference. With eyes closed from the refreshing drink, he took long gulps as he unconsciously conducted magic.

He kept on drinking the water, ignoring the fact that he was levitating the cup.

But Twilight, who was standing in front of him, managed to see this feat, and had her eyes wide in surprise. She stared at him, as he drank from the glass, holding it with his magic.

Eventually, she shook off her initial surprise as a grin drew on her face. Happy for his achievement, she let out a squeal of joy and excitement as she tried to draw his attention.

“Sharpe, you did it. You did it!” She told him in a cheerful tone. “You’re finally doing it. Look, you’re levitating that glass of water!”

This caught Sharpe’s attention, as he began to wonder what she was babbling about.

Opening his eyes to see what Twilight was talking about; Sharpe was surprised to see that she was indeed telling the truth, as he saw the glass of water in front of him. He stared at it with wide eyes as he realized that he was levitating the glass with his magic. This caused a surge of both amazement and shock to pass through Sharpe, causing him to spit out the water he was drinking as it almost choked him.

He let out a cough or two as he dropped the glass, which was quickly caught by Twilight, as she grabbed it with her own magic and gently placed it back on top of the tray.

She then moved towards Sharpe, concerned about the unicorn’s state after the initial shock.

“Oh, my gosh, Sharpe. Are you alright?” She asked, moving closer towards him.

Sharpe, looking up after his coughing feat, managed to nod.

“Yeah…” He said. “…I think so…”

Suddenly it hit him. He could do magic. He could finally do magic!

“Wait…I just managed to levitate that….” He murmured. “I…I manage to do magic…”

“Indeed you did.” Twilight said, nodding. “Looks like all you needed was a little motivation, just like the urge to drink. Hmm, well magic does involve a lot of psychological factors.”

Moving towards the pillow, Sharpe tried to repeat the process. When he was levitating the glass, it felt like he was using some kind of invisible hand. So he decided to try it and see if it would work again.

Imagining that he had some sort of invisible hand, he concentrated on the pillow and closed his eyes, hopping that his idea would work. He imagined that he was grasping the pillow and slowly lifting it up.

Slowly his eyes, he was met with the decent sight of the pillow levitating in front of him, covered in a blue aura that he assumed was his magical force. It was an amazing sight and Sharpe still couldn’t believe that he was doing it.

He moved the pillow left and right, trying to get a little more feel on his new abilities. It really felt like an invisible arm and hand, as he moved it around the same way he would move an arm. Well, at least he wouldn’t have to deal with the use of his hooves on forks.

In fact, he could do a lot more than just that. There was a whole array of possibilities he could do with his magic, he would just have to ask
Twilight for advice on learning them.

But right now, there was only one thought, which lingered in his head, on what he should use his magic for. With flexible and stable control of his magic, he wanted to test if it was useful for something he wanted to do.

Barging out of the room, he raced through the maze of halls, as he headed towards his room, where his rifle and belonging lay.

“Hey, wait up!” Twilight exclaimed, chasing after him and wondering what he was up to.

Comments

[Teal]

5683861 Thanks I'm glad you like it.