Quest for Earth Pony Magic: the Disciple

by IMN

Chapter VIII. Honesty’s binding

After his third hot shower, Sun Light found himself in a satisfying hygienically condition to go out for the rest of the day. He debated whether he should check the library, pester some scholars, or just go and watch the affairs at the court.

However one look at the calendar and he chose to do none of the above. Horror struck him as he discovered that he hadn't checked on his charge for two days. Poor little Spike got swept away without anypony paying him any heed as his mistress got a book to the head, literally.

The thought that Twilight is with him alleviated his worry a bit. No matter how busy Twilight gets, she somehow always found the time to take care of the little guy. That is one of her most genuine attributes that Sun Light took note off.

As he walked toward her bedchamber, another thought occurred to Sun Light, how to broach the subject and actually start talking to the filly? Ever since she came here, he has been trying to minimize the level of communication with her, he despised every waking minute he would spend with her, regardless of whatever entertainment she would provide. Why does being passive aggressive have to be so hard? He thought as the target door came to view.

With a sigh, he lifted his hoof and knocked on the door three times. “Go away,” came the immediate response from within the library, “I’m fine and I don’t want anypony checking up on me,” since it was preceded with a very soft sniff, Sun Light could only sigh again at the deranged mood of his boss’s pupil.

“Then thank Celestia that I don’t really care,” Sun Light lied, he doesn’t need to her right away, “Now open the door Sparkle, I need to check on your dragon.”

There was a moment of pause, then the door opened a crack, “Why should I let you in?” The filly behind the door said, adamant on not letting the door open more than a crack.

“Oh, let’s see. There are several reasons why you should let Me, of all ponies, in,” Sun Light argued, “there is the I’m your assistant reason which you should know too well, there is the I’m your dragon’s caretaker, there is the I get paid by the hour and I have missed two days of work. And finally, there is the I can destroy the door with my earth pony strength and walk in. You can always choose which one you like.”

In a blink of an eye, Twilight opened the door, caught Sun Light, whisked him in, and then closed the door rapidly behind her.

“Why all the hiding?” Sun Light asked once inside.

“Because I’m studying and everypony keeps disturbing me to check up on me,” Twilight answered after closing the door, “Now do what you came here to do and leave me alone,” she ordered.

“Fine, fine, so snippy,” Sun Light said in a low voice.

“I heard that!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, bite me.” Sun Light watched as Twilight stuck out her tongue at him before returning to her study.

With a head shake, Sun Light went upstairs. It took him a moment to reach the crib and wake the sleeping hatchling that lay within.

“Hello there,” Sun Light cooed as Spike let out a shriek of joy, “Did you miss me? Cause I missed you too!”

Setting him on the ground, Sun Light gave the baby dragon a light nuzzle causing the dragon to laugh. “Now to get your head back in the game,” Sun Light pointed at himself, “I’m Sun Light,” He said all cheerfully, “Sun! Light!”

However, Spike didn’t pay him any mind and peeked behind Sun Light toward the door.

Sun Light noticed; he turned to where Spike was looking and saw a tuft of purple rushing behind the door. A smile crept on his face. “Alright Spike,” Sunny the turned toward the door and pointed Spike toward the purple bundle, “This is Twilight, say it with me, Twiii! Liiight!”

“Atata!” Spike said while stretching a paw toward Twilight.

“Close enough,” Sun Light concluded with a giggle, “Hey Atata, your baby dragon wants you.”

With a huff, Twilight Sparkle appeared behind the door, “My name is Twilight,” she said assertively, why does he always have to tease her like that? He is infuriating! “And stop teaching my dragon weird things!” She saw how he’s constantly trying to get him to do stuff, doesn’t he know that Spike is still a baby?

“As in how to talk?” Sun Light feigned sarcasm.

“Yes,” Twilight said immediately before realizing her mistake, “I mean no,” For some reason, he constantly keeps outwitting her, “I mean dragons don’t talk.”

“Are you sure?” Although his voice seemed genuine, Twilight couldn’t help but feel the satire coming out of it, “Have you ever met a dragon before to know for certain?”

“No, but I read that in a book,” How long is he going to keep annoying her like that?

“Just because it’s written in a book doesn’t mean it’s true,” Sun Light argued calmly, yet every word he said felt like an insult, “there is a lot of complexity in the voices he is making, almost as much as a toddler, I think teaching him how to speak is worth a shot,” There he goes again, why can’t he accept things as facts?

“Why can’t you just do as you are told and be done with it?” Twilight snapped at Sun Light’s face, “You are nothing more than a lousy assistant who doesn’t know his place!”

The moment those words left Twilight’s mouth, a chill ran down her spine. Shaking her head, she glared at the young colt. She wasn’t really sure but for that brief moment, she felt in actual mortal danger.

Sun Light inhaled deeply then exhaled, he carefully took a step forward. “I am Not your assistant. I am Celestia’s assistant in teaching you. Never forget that,” he said with the most serious frown on his face.

Both filly and colt stared deep into each other’s eyes, neither willing to compromise. Spike looked at both his caretakers’ faceoff, he could not understand what could possibly prompt them to act this way. He wobbled toward Sun Light who usually pays him the most attention. Lifting himself up, he tugged at the young colt’s chest.

Almost immediately, all seriousness from Sun Light’s face melted away. He looked down at Spike with a comely smile and said, “Sorry to frighten you little one, I guess we’ll be continuing our little training elsewhere today.”

With a swift lift, Spike found himself on Sun Light’s back, he climbed on his head and gave Twilight a concerned stare. “Now if you’ll pardon us,” Sun Light told Twilight as he started walking toward the door.

“Wait, we’re not done yet!” Twilight exclaimed, “Come back,” she said while following the colt outside, “Why do you hate me so much?”

That word made Sun Light stop dead in his tracks, “I’ve been asked that question so many times since you came,” he said all nostalgia in his voice, “but I guess I can tell you the truth.”

He turned toward her, and the look on his face made Twilight sit down. He wasn’t angry, he wasn’t mean, in fact, if she wanted to describe it she would say he had absolutely no emotions in his face, and for some reason that frightened her even more, “The reason I harbor so much animosity toward you is because you are exactly like Sunset Shimmers, a loudmouth know-it-all who thinks she can pick on me and boss me around just because I am the only earth pony foal in the castle.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open, “But I’m not Sunset Shimmers… whoever she is,” she said defensively, “I don’t care that you are an earth pony nor do I want to boss you around or bully you or anything.”

“Oh yeah? Then what was that outburst a few moments ago?” Sun Light rolled his eyes, “Or when you were learning your secondary elements, or when you were doing your arithmetic homework? I can go on you know.”

“Well, how else should I talk with you? You are the scariest colt around!”

For a moment Sun Light’s brain froze, he stared at Twilight wide eyes, mouth agape, then burst into laughter.

“Stop laughing, this isn’t funny!” Twilight protested, only to be ignored, “This is serious, just a moment ago I thought you were going to hit me.”

That snapped Sun Light back into attention, “I would never!” he exclaimed gravely. But when he saw Twilight shriek in front of him, he let out a sigh, “I guess I hold part of the blame as well,” he finally admitted, “if I gave you the chance you so rightly deserved then we might not be having this conversation.”

“I am sorry,” he said while giving a bow.

“I guess I am sorry too,” Twilight said giving the young colt a long stare.

“Well, if you don’t want anything else, I’ll be taking my leave,” Sun Light gave a small salute and started heading toward the door.

“Wait.”

He stopped and turned toward Twilight, “What is it?”

“Can you help me with teleportation?”

“Sure,” he said, “let’s see what you got.”

“Well, I haven’t been able to do it yet, and I don’t want to disappoint Princess Celestia,” Sun Light snorted, earning a frown from Twilight, “What was that for?”

“Celestia won’t get disappointed if you failed, Sparkle,” Twilight crossed her hooves, “If she finds out that you can’t do it, she will most likely change your regime and that’s that.”

Sun Light walked toward Twilight then wrapped his hoof around her, “You need to understand that Celestia trusts you completely, regardless of your competence. She will never doubt you just because you failed.”

Spike let out a shriek and jumped on Twilight’s head happily munching her ear. Twilight blushed with a smile on her face, but then she smelled something, “Sun Light, I think you need a shower,” she stated calmly.

“Again!” Sun Light couldn’t believe himself, sure he neglected his hygiene for three days straight but he should be clean after three showers, should he? “I need to stop going to that old tower,” he concluded absentmindedly, then turned to Twilight, “Now show me your teleportation,” he said without skipping a beat.

Taking heart, Twilight puffed her and started walking toward her private study, “I didn’t manage to teleport but I have done extensive research on the topic.”

“The most common technique used is to open a wormhole to your destination. Usually, you do so through projection, which is the main element of teleportation,” Twilight explained.

“That’s good. Have you tried any projection techniques yet?”

“No, not yet. I have read about many techniques, visualization, walkthrough, physical manifestation, but none I understood completely to do on my own.”

Sun Light walked next to Twilight’s desk, and the book she’s reading caught his eye. “Teleportation for Dummies,” he read out loud, “Really?” he finally deadpanned.

“Okay, I’m desperate,” Twilight replied defensively.

“Fine,” he said before throwing the book in the air, Twilight watched in awe as the book landed properly straight into its designated area of the library, “let’s see what you’ve got. “

Twilight nodded, “Okay, so visualization is the easiest one, it requires me to…”

But before Twilight could finish, Sun Light had his hoof in her mouth, “I didn’t ask for an explanation, I asked for a preview. Show me what you can do.”

He slowly lifted his hoof from her mouth, Twilight spat something, “Honestly, what were you doing? You taste like charcoal.”

With a head shake, Sun Light sighed, “Will you please stop dancing around the subject and show me what you can do?”

“I can’t do it! Okay!” Twilight snapped at him, causing him to rear, “Every time I try I get an image of books falling on me, and then I fail to channel correctly and the spell implodes," she sniffed, was admitting failure always that hard? She knew one thing though, she was going to be at the receiving end of a jeer, taunts labeling her a failure, Celestia throwing her out of the castle. Her parents disowning her, Shining Armor disappointed in her, she'll end up lonely living in a box with Spike her only company, that is, is Sun Light decided to let her have him of course, the know-it-all colt would surely put a fight for his custody, then there would be courts, and she wouldn't be able to pay the fees, and...

...Her thoughts, however, were interrupted when a warm though kind of putrid feel wrapped around her. She glanced from her watery eyes to see Sun Light wrapping his hooves around her in a hug, “Now you are just messing with me,” she said with a sniff but made no effort of breaking his hug.

Sun Light broke his hug and glared at Twilight, “Stop with the smell joke already, I’m trying to cheer you,” he deadpanned, causing Twilight to giggle.

“Good then,” Sun Light let go of Twilight completely, “let me tell you what happened three days ago. You were impatient.” Twilight raised a dubious brown, “Celestia told me what happened, she didn’t even finish her explanation when you lit up your horn and cast the spell, which knowing your magical capacity landed you in a bookcase, literally.”

“Okay, okay, so what did I miss?” Twilight was surprised to find that it was Sun Light who raised his eyebrow dubiously this time, “Oh, don’t give me that look, I know that you know what I did wrong, so tell me already.”

“You learn quickly,” Sun Light replied with a sly smile, “you didn’t project yourself correctly. That is the cause of an initial teleportation surge.”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, then she started to recall what happened, as she listed the steps she took, she let out an Oh.

“I think you understand the theory well enough. So, we can make an experiment out of it, I’ll explain with more details later,” Sun Light cheered, “However, we might need a place with a lot of free space.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to carry you to the infirmary again,” Sun Light explained, “There hasn’t been enough time for gossip to sip through about us making out in the library yet.”

“Don’t you mean making up?”

“That too,” Sun Light tapped a hoof under his chin, “The throne room!” he suddenly exclaimed.

“The throne room?” Twilight exclaimed, “But we’re not allowed there.”

“You really don’t know the benefit of being friends with a princess's right?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Then come with me, I’ll show you a thing or two about abusing royalty.”

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

I shouldn't really harp on the least important character, but... yeah, Spike is treated like a pet, then, huh? Treated like it's okay his primary caretakers are children, left alone when it's inconvenient, even Sun is "training" him to be useful rather than raising him. Pretty much like you'd treat a pet.

At least Sun and Twilight are making up, though.

[IMN]

6136835

Unfortunately I am trying to make the interactions as closely related to the show as possible, to give it the continuity of it predating the show. And in the show, Spike (my favorite character by the way) is almost always thrown under the rug especially in season 1 where he was treated less like a character more like the bottom of a joke.

I do plan some good things for the little guy in the future, though, I am unsure when they'll fit.