Gifts and Curses

by flamevulture17

1. Unexpected

Gifts and Curses

by: flamevulture17
edited by: 1childish1

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[Chapter 1]

Unexpected

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*BANG!*

It was the loudest, most sudden sound he could hear from his second floor bedroom. He instantly jumped as soon as the noise met his unsuspecting sensitive ears, crashing to the ground as he fell off his office chair. Some of the pictures on the walls fell and random things on the desk shifted in different positions. Other sounds from a crashing lamp, to thumps of books hitting the floor, and a series of clinks filled the room, nowhere near as loud as the first. It had all only lasted few seconds before all was silent again. His cat, who was sleeping on the bed a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.

“What the hell?” said the shocked boy on the ground with eyes wide open, remaining absolutely still.

His hands were shaking as his heart violently pounded, ready to burst out of his chest. He stared at the ground for a moment, then sat up. He began inspecting the room to discover the mess from the sudden tremor. He had just cleaned his room the day before and it annoyed him to have it all that effort go to waste, but after what just happened, he could not think of anything else other than to be helplessly scared out of his mind. It was a long sixty seconds before he bundled up the courage to stand up and step lightly towards to bedroom door.

He poked his head out of his room to see what other carnage the tremble might have caused. At first glance, it seemed as if nothing had ever touched anything outside of his room, assuming the rest of the house was the same. Everything appeared to be undisturbed and in place as they've always been. He walked slowly out of his room, set out into the hall, taking cautious steps, one at a time, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

Silence. The carpeted hallway was empty, idle, and free of even the slightest sound. Or so he thought.

It wasn't until he stepped ten paces before something else startled him again, enough to make him jump again and run out of sight. He let out a small shriek and darted as fast as he could into the bathroom, having no time to close the door, for he thought something would explode this time.

Nothing else happened. It was silent again, enough to hear the ringing of inside the ears.

What startled him again was a voice from behind. For a second time, he poked his head out of a doorway and surveyed down the hall to see who it was. There stood his little brother just as frightened, if not more so. The young boy looked around, wondering what had spooked his older brother, but thought it might have been himself.

“Um, are you alright Andrew?” the boy asked.

“Uh. Yeah. I'm- uh... I'm fine,” the teen in the bathroom sighed with exceptional relief. “It's just that you kinda snuck up behind me and scared me.”

“Oh. Well sorry about that. You kinda scared me too with your weird freakout just now.”

Andrew went from heavy breathing to a calmer state at the relief of it being his little brother. Not that he's 'little' anymore, it's just a habit of sibling terminology. Before his brother could return to his room, he figured he'd ask about the noise.

“Hey Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Oh. Um. Okay, never mind, it must have been my imagination.”

“Whatever you say man.”

With that, Alex went back in his room to continue doing what he usually does, draw fan art of a certain something he liked for which Andrew did not know the name or reason. He thought it would be best if he didn't intrude in his brother's privacy. Andrew was the type who respected everybody's personal life and interests, even if he didn't care about them himself.

He was now alone in the dim hallway to get back to whatever he was trying to do, whatever it was. He thought it would be best to investigate.

Andrew quietly went downstairs, making sure not to wake his father, whom fell asleep on the couch watching TV. He strolled around the first floor of the house, finding that everything was in order and where they're supposed to be. The picture frames were on the walls, the furniture was in place, the lamps and books were lifeless and, obviously, his father was still asleep on the couch. If the man had heard the loud bang from earlier, he would be up and about by now from the sudden vibrations that would have shook the rest of the house. It didn't make any sense.

After strolling around the rooms a couple more times, Andrew opened the front door and walked outside barefoot to check for anything that might have caused the noise.

Nothing. Nothing was out of place and nothing that was visible that might have exploded or caught fire. He did not notice anything that wasn't visible because it was pitch black and cold outside, with only the illumination of orange street lights that flooded the streets at night. Andrew's eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness and thus could see nothing. What did you expect to find outside your house at 1 AM? Something interesting? Andrew knew he lived in a quiet and boring neighborhood in the suburbs of St. Louis anyway. Not enough people to talk to, a couple kids in the block, and not many places to go. He withdrew back into the house to get away from the freezing weather, returned upstairs to his room, and sat silently on his chair for a good ten minutes or so.

His laptop was still on his desk with a document open that said 'The Chemistry of Stars' and a picture of Saturn as the desktop background. He had been typing a paper on the specific workings of the Sun and other stars for his 11th grade chemistry class before the sound scared him half to death. It had only been a page long with two paragraphs on it. The essay had been assigned to his class Thursday, for it was Saturday, as of an hour ago. Each student had a choice of an object, fluid, or gas, and explain what chemical compounds make up the specific attributes of the substance and how it was made. For Andrew, he chose the biggest he could possibly think of. Since he has always been fascinated by space and the universe, he thought it would be a great idea to research all he could on the nature of stars. The assignment's due date was the start of the following week and Andrew did not want to slack off. He is usually the type that put his homework till the last minute, but since this was homework he actually wanted to do, it occurred to him that he wanted the essay to be perfect. As for the picture of Saturn, it was one of many in an entire folder of actual space photographs, including some of the Earth itself.

After the good ten minutes went by, he then turned to his computer again to continue typing his essay. The amount of time sitting in the chair allowed Andrew to calm down and think of all the reasons that caused the loud bang he heard just fifteen minutes before. Nothing seemed to make sense to him because he was unable to think of anything loud enough to almost put him in a coma and not even wake his lightly sleeping father.

It became harder to write with the fear of the same instance almost killing him again at any given moment, but also he couldn't keep his mind off of the impossibility of the noise. He didn't get very far until he couldn't keep his focus up enough to continue typing. So he saved his work, made a copy of it, put his computer to sleep, and hopped in bed. His hands were still shaking as he turned off the lamp light sitting next to the bed.

It did not take long for Andrew to fall into a deep sleep.

---

“Come on Twilight! We're gonna be late.”

“Coming Spike. I just need to double check if everything is in perfect order.”

Spike let out an annoyed sigh, “Can you please hurry. The train leaves in ten minutes.”

“I know. I'm almost done.”

Twilight had been pacing around the library for the last half hour looking for anything she had missed for the trip. She had a scheduled meeting with Princess Celestia in Canterlot for a troubling matter that only Celestia had knowledge of and for Twilight to find out. She had been worried that something bad happened or was about to happen that concerned the balance of Equestria, otherwise the Princess would not have called for her and her only to travel all the way to Canterlot.

She wondered why couldn't the Princess had just personally visited her in Ponyville, but such a thought was ridiculous. Why would a royal figure like Celestia come all the way to Ponyville just to talk to her in private? Also, if it was that important, why would she only call for her alone and not be accompanied by her friends? As serious as this all sounded to her, she felt like whatever bothered Celestia was not life threatening. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it. She was curious to know what the matter is all about, which made her excited, yet worried to find out. Twilight didn't have much to think about these questions as she was late for the next ride to Canterlot.

“Do we have everything Spike?”

“I think so. Do you think we have enough stuff?”

“Of course Spike, this is important, but the Princess told me not to draw attention to my friends that would lead to unwanted questions. As to why we have to go to Canterlot on such short notice, I don't know. I don't see why that is necessary. My friends deserve to know just as much as me. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.”

“Maybe she just wants a tea party or something,” said Spike in an inaudible mumble.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, let's get going.”

Twilight and Spike left the Ponyville Library with two cases of luggage for which they both each carried one. Twilight had her saddlebag full of books from her personal collection. Spike carried a case of prepackaged snacks in his claws while Twilight levitated the case of more books on magic and science. An ironic selection. She didn't know what the occasion would be with Princess Celestia, so she also brought the book on Equestrian history on a few notorious names such as Discord and Nightmare Moon. She also had some minor books on biology and physics. Being the curator of a library and living in one, who wouldn't know what to bring what you have no idea why you're going somewhere?

Better be prepared for anything, she thought.

Twilight tried hard not run into her friends. Even if she desperately wanted to tell them where she is going and why, she did not have a definite answer. Besides, the Princess told her to come alone with Spike. If she did happen to run into one of her friends, they would be so persistent to join her no matter the occasion. She would have to lie, except if she encountered Applejack, when then she would have to try hard to make the lie convincing enough, which might prove to be unachievable.

It did not take long to get to the train station. It was only a five minute walk from the center of Ponyville. Fortunately, Twilight did not run into any of her friends. Spike was an extra set of eyes in case they'd have take a different route. Both of them had plenty of time to think of the good and bad reasons on the trip over to Canterlot.

Minutes later, the train rolled onto the station on time and ready for departure.

“Have any second thoughts about this Twi?”

“Nope.”

---

The smell of bacon filled the air and the mouthwatering sensation of a good breakfast coming from the kitchen. Alex was always the first one of the two siblings to physically get out of bed. With sleep still in his mind, Alex rolled out of his sheets and walked out with silent footsteps to greet his mother down in the kitchen making breakfast for the family.

“Morning mom.”

“Good morning, Alex.”

“What's for breakfast?”

“Oh just bacon and french toast. Your favorites.”

“Awww yeeeah!” Alex was satisfied with how his day was starting already. He could not wait to eat.

Alex was one for breakfast on Saturday mornings, as well as Saturday morning cartoons on Nickelodeon and other similar networks. His mother was almost done with his meal and while she was preparing it, he turned on the living room television.

- - -

Andrew still lay in bed awake looking at the turquoise colored ceiling.

He had actually woken up earlier than his younger brother that day which may have been a first in a long time, but he still lay lifeless on bed as if he were in a hospital bed. Unwilling and unable to do anything but lay there, he couldn't think of anything else other than what had spooked him the night before. He could never create a practical scenario that could help him understand the noise. All that thinking had been giving him a headache, so he sat up to relieve the pain.

- - -

Alex left the TV on when his mother was ready with breakfast. He started eating and remembered a thought before going to bed last night. He felt like sharing.

“Hey mom?”

“Yes honey?”

“Andrew was acting all weird last night.”

“Are you sure? Because he is usually like that.”

“No, I mean like something seriously sacred him or something, then he scared me as I accidentally scared him in the hallway last night, it was scary. I didn't mean to, but something must have spooked him last night.” Alex's voice showed real concern for his brother.

“I'm sure he's fine by now. How about this, you finish your food and check on him, and I will talk to him later after I go to the post office, okay? Maybe you can have your father help you when he gets back.”

“Okay.”

Alex's father went to the store to buy more groceries for the upcoming week.

“Now finish up. I need to be there early to avoid long lines.”

Alex's mom got her things and grabbed her keys. She walked out the front door to the driveway outside. Seconds later, Alex heard the car pull out of the driveway and the sound of the car tires screeching across the pavement vanished down the street. Alex took his time with his bacon. One does not simply eat bacon quickly. He always savors the flavor before swallowing each piece. French toast is never good on its own, you need maple syrup, and lots of it.

After finishing his breakfast, Alex was worried a little for Andrew. He wanted to know what was wrong with him, if anything at all, but his favorite TV show was on in a few minutes. He sat down on the couch and changed the channel. He never missed one new episode of the current season and he wasn't about to start just because of his brother. He can wait.

- - -

Andrew's eyes were fuzzy from getting up so quickly. He knew this was a normal thing that happened all the time, but something else felt strange. They were his hands.

He looked down at them. His hands were gone! Well, they weren't hands anymore. They were more like stubs with solid ends, kinda like large brass knuckles, only these we're oddly shaped. The very sight of them freaked him out to the point where he almost fainted. He let out a low pitched gasp loud enough to be heard through the wall, and then squirmed around in his bed sheets till he fell off completely with a loud thump.

“Ow.”

He complained, knocking over an empty cup sitting on his desk right next to him. Andrew was too afraid to look back at his hands as he hit the ground. He stopped moving. He was in such a shock that his muscles tensed up, rendering him too frightened to move.

“This isn't happening,” he said to himself in a horrified tone.

After failing to find words to describe his dilemma, he tried to get up, but could not manage to keep his balance and fell over from trying to stand upright. It did not seem right to forget how to stand normally overnight. After a few tries, he gave up and lay on the floor in the middle of his room.

Andrew was too frightened to open his eyes. He wanted the nightmare he thought he was having to end and wake up safe and tired again in his comfortable bed. He lay there trembling and shaking from the cold wooden floor below him and thinking whether or not this was a dream, though his clothes felt so big and baggy on him. It was a good minute after his freakout to finally look back at what freaked him out in the first place.

He slowly opened his eyes. The sight to behold was his room, still a mess. He noticed the room felt a bit larger than it should have been. Had he shrunk or lost weight overnight? Nothing made sense after seeing those things on his arms.

“Those things on my arms...” Andrew whispered for a second with every reason to be afraid of what he thought of doing next.

He slowly lifted his arms into the view of his face. He found his hands seemed to have been replaced by what looked like hooves you find on a horse. Hooves? What is going on here? Is this some trick? Is my little brother behind this? Whatever Andrew thought, he couldn't feel his fingers. Maybe this is all real and he did not have fingers anymore. Andrew was trying to keep his cool and eventually realized that this is something that was impossible. Some of the few friends he had in school knew he was not one for hallucinations and delusions, knowing him since forever. He was still shaking at the sight his hooves. He was too afraid to see the rest of his body, assuming it too has changed, that it might cause him to faint. Andrew has never fainted before in his life for as long as he can remember, so he did not want to challenge that and risk his health.

Getting the courage to check what else was wrong with him, he started to scan his clothes, which have gotten bigger since he fell out of the bed. Or was it him that got smaller? None of this made any real sense at all. The socks he had on were still on his feet, looking as if nothing had yet happened to his feet. But then again, he also could not feel his toes, or couldn't feel if he had feet anymore. His long sleeve shirt felt loosened and his pants felt like they were to fall off if he stood.

Andrew thought that if he were in the bathroom, he could use the big mirror to view what is really going on with him. He stood up, but it was useless. He fell over with another thump that was too faint be heard throughout the whole house. He tried again and failed. Having no success a third time, he gave up there and crawled on all fours to the door instead. He usually left the door open because he felt like he had nothing to hide, but now it seemed like there was good reason for that to change. He strode down the hall to the bathroom doorway and shut the door. Andrew felt safer now that he had enough privacy to solve the mystery of his predicament.

He stood upright, but once again he fell forwards on his hands, now hooves. The large mirror was on bathroom door that extended to the floor, but when Andrew closed the door behind him, he did not turn around immediately. He sat there motionless after a few struggles to stand up, then began to think of many possibilities of what he would find staring back, two feet away.

Andrew thought he had just shrunk a few feet, but that still does not explain the hooves. He thought he was in a deep dreaming state for which it felt real, but the problem was it felt too real. He thought he was imagining things, but this seemed like the sort of thing that would not cross his mind since he has a terrible imagination. Maybe that his brother Alex was playing a prank on him for scaring him last night. Then an idea came to mind that he had somehow been turned into some other creature with hooves, a small horse of some kind.

The last suggestion was the most likely but was also the most preposterous. He was tired of wondering what was going on with him and was tired of waiting, so Andrew slowly forced himself to turn around, inching more and more towards the mirror behind him. He kept his eyes closed as he finally faced the chrome plated glass. It scared him more than ever. It couldn't be that bad right?

He opened his eyes.

---

The train pulled into the station precisely on schedule. Ten thirty.

“Welcome to Canterlot everypony! Enjoy your stay!” said the conductor as dozens of different colored ponies exited their passenger cars. Some thanking him for the journey.

“We're here! Spike, wake up.”

Spike had fallen asleep halfway on the ride over and was napping next to where Twilight at near the door. He was in a very peculiar position. Twilight nudged him just a little, but that was enough to send him falling off the seat.

“Whoa whoa-” *thump* “I'm up! I'm up!” Spike squirmed on the ground before getting back to his feet.

“Sorry Spike. I didn't mean to wake you up like this, but we're here. Are you okay?” Twilight cared enough for her little assistant to make sure he was alright, no matter how insignificant the damage was.

“I'm fine Twi, I know you didn't mean to. Wow, we're here already, it didn't seem that long.”

“Sure was a short trip. We better get going, we don't want to keep the Princess waiting.”

They both exited the train carrying the luggage and headed straight toward Canterlot Castle. The walk was a reasonable distance from the station to the front gates, but they didn't mind strolling down the familiar streets where they used to live. It was like returning home after a long vacation. A really really long vacation.

As they strolled down the streets of Canterlot, they took in the view of home away from home away from home. Twilight had no idea how long this visit would take, so she assumed it might be a while before returning to Ponyville. They didn't have time to stop by any stores or market shops, though on their way, they occasionally said hi to a pony they knew around town, maybe even take a look at some of the new things they got in the markets. Twilight knew she had an urgent matter to attend to, so it was no time for sightseeing.

It was if no time passed when they finally reached the gates. The royal guards greeted Twilight and Spike with nice “hellos” and “welcomes” and the occasional “sup”, for which Twilight was unfamiliar with that last term. She wasn't sure if it was even a word. They continued casually through the courtyard and straight up to the main hall doors. They were still amazed at just how big the doors were.

“You can fit a house through here,” commented Spike as he yawned, wishing he were back in the library taking his midday nap.

The halls were huge, large enough to accommodate hundreds of guests like at Grand Galloping Gala, or some other large gathering. Twilight's hooves made echoing sounds with each step she took on the polished marble floor. The echo bounced around the walls, the windows, the floor, the 12-meter ceiling, and the monumental pillars that stretched the length of the room top to bottom. It was such a distinct feature of the hall that it did not take much effort to make a small sound that can be heard clearly around the room.

They reached the throne room shortly afterward, expecting to find Princess Celestia.

She was nowhere around. What they found instead was the entire room empty just like the hall prior to this one. It was dim and had a stuffy smell to it, almost like if it hasn't been used in a few days. Not a sound was made in the few seconds they stood there wondering where the Princess could be.

Moments later, the small door to the far left opened and a figure came forward out of the shadows behind the throne. It was Princess Luna. Twilight was rather confused at this point. Luna stepped forward in the direction of Twilight and Spike and spoke with a very soft voice that would have impressed Fluttershy.

“Will you please follow me.”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other with confused looks and proceeded to follow Luna with the two cases and a saddlebag they were accompanied with. She turned to them again.

“Those won't be necessary,” said Luna.

“But it's not much Princess, I'm sure it won't be too much a hassle,” said Twilight.

“Well, if you insist.” Luna agreed to let Twilight bring her things.

After an awkward silence between Spike and Twilight, they shook their head clear of any odd thoughts they might have had and headed to where Luna had emerged a minute earlier. It got darker the further they walked behind the fairly sized throne. The lighting atmosphere crept Twilight out more than Spike, kinda ironic hence the meaning of her name.

The door led to a spiral staircase, extending about two stories high, leading to a long hallway with numerous doorways on the right side spread out among them down the hall. Each door led to a room full of books organized by categories of magic and spells from all over Equestria. They passed each open door which struck Twilight as odd. They were usually closed.

At the end of the hall, they came to another door leading up with yet another spiral staircase, this one much steeper than the last. Climbing each step of the second stairs was making Twilight feel strangely curious on their destination. Luna had not said a word since the throne room and did not feel like there was anything she needed to say at that time. Spike was already tired of all this walking, but he was learning not to complain about the little things since Applejack had taught him to realize how pointless it was to do so and how it didn't help anypony succeed. So he didn't say anything either.

At the top of the staircase, there was a brightly-lit hallway from two balconies the right side, one in front of them and another one at the end of the hall. They walked onto the balcony and found another staircase leading up to one of the tall towers of the castle. This one was spiraling hugging the edge of a tower with sunlight shining down on them. It not as steep and dark as the previous two.

The view from the stairs as they rose higher and higher was a spectacular sight. They could see the whole city from their vantage point and were lost in the view. They were so high up, you can see everything and if you looked hard enough, you could see Ponyville.

“This way,” said Luna, snapping them out of their trance.

The group continued up the stairs until they came to a large balcony that circleed the structure in the center. The doors were normal sized this time and with a wave of magic from Luna's horn, the doors opened. They entered the room and were instantly surrounded by shelves of books all the way to the ceiling. In the back of the room was a large stained glass window that illuminated the room and only then Twilight found Princess Celestia. Instead of her healthy mentor eager to greet them as they arrived, she was napping on a couch. Twilight had never seen Celestia asleep before.

“Sister?” said Luna in an elevated voice than before, not quite as loud as the Royal Canterlot voice.

Celestia raised her head to look at her new arrivals. You could tell she was exhausted by the look in her eyes and the condition of her mane, which was less wavy than usual. She got up and walked slowly over to the three of them. She towered over the purple pony and dragon. Twilight wanted to know if Celestia was alright, but could do nothing that would evidently postpone an explanation for the reason she was there in the first place.

“Twilight Sparkle. Just the mare I need to see,” said Princess Celestia in a soft, tired voice.

“Princess,” Twilight nodded in curiosity.

“I see you've made it without any of your friends beside you.”

Twilight never takes anything as an insult from the Princess, that was just absurd, but this was dangerously close to sounding like one. She would need Celestia to enlighten her as to why it was imperative to keep this issue from her friends.

“Don't you think they have as much right to be here as I do?”

Celestia hesitated, “Well you see, I was concerned with creating a scene, may it be excitement or unintended gossip. I want to keep this to ourselves before I know it's safe.”

“Keep what to ourselves?” asked Spike.

“It seems that we have a rather interesting and unexpected situation on our hooves.”

Comments

[Hereward]

Sounds promising.

[KvAT]

“It seems that we have a rather interesting and unexpected situation on our hooves.”

Define "interesting"