There's a First Time for Everything...

by Majestic_Donut

S1E4: "Magic is easy!" (Taking over a kingdom... is not)

"Okay Luna, now pick up the flower pot," Starswirl instructed. Hovering around Luna was a wide array of various objects ranging from quills to chairs and now a flower pot.

Also she was blindfolded.

"Ugh, why is this harder to reach out then the quill?" Luna asked.

"You weren't levitating 19 other items when you reached out for the quill ha ha," Starswirl laughed. "I'm honestly surprised you haven't dropped anything yet. I thought for sure you'd max out at 10 items. You're advancing well in your magic exercises!"

"Hmmmmm, FOUND IT!!!" Luna exclaimed as she lifted... Starswirl?

"Um... I don't think you did heh heh..." Starswirl acknowledged.

Luna removed the blindfold to notice just how much was floating around her, including Starswirl. Though, now that her focus was on her surroundings instead of the multitasking levitation spell, everything dropped. Including...

"AAH, OOF!!"

Starswirl...

"Sorry!" Luna cried.

"Oh it's quite alright, I'll be fine! I've survived worse bumps," Starswirl explained. "You did very well my young student. Would you like to try again?" It was at that moment that Luna noticed the position of the sun...

"OH NO!!! I'm gonna be late for school!" Luna cried in panic as she quickly teleported to her room to grab her bag. "Ugh, I don't know if I'll get used to that twisty feeling in my stomach..." Luna groaned. "Ok books, check. Map of the school, check. Schedule, check. Oh, we're learning magic today!!"

Luna teleported again to the portal room... or close enough. According to the schedule, class would be starting soon. Luna leapt through the door to school and hastily teleported to the classroom.

"Okay I'm- uh oh..." Luna paused.

Wrong classroom.

Again.

Wrong classroom.

"Why do they all look the same?!" Luna cried. "Maybe I should think about Sofia instead of the room! I can envision her easier than I can the classroom." So Luna fired up the spell one last time and was successful... sort of.

"Today class, we will be learning-"

"Aaah, oof!!!" Luna teleported above Sofia and crash landed on top of her desk. "Uh, heh heh, I'm here..."

"I can see that. Please take your seat Luna. As I was saying class, today we will be learning one of my favorite spells: turning a rock into a ruby," Fauna explained. "You hold your wand just so, say the magic words, and flick the wand! Mutato rubio!" Fauna then demonstrated the spell as the class watched in awe. "Now it's your turn!"

"Wave the wand and say the magic words..." Sofia said to herself. "Mutatorubio!" -cue apple- "MUTATORUBIO!" -cue potato-

-Meanwhile at Luna's desk-

Does this spell last indefinitely? Do I use the wand or my horn? I don't even have wrists! I suppose I could try horn first?... Luna thought to herself. Luna pointed her horn at the rocks and said the magic words... nothing happened. "I suppose I really do need to use the wand..." She tried again with the wand, concentrating (a little too much) on the spell's end result and envisioning the transformation in her mind as Starswirl had mentioned to her about transfiguration spells (they weren't actually learning them yet, but she had been taught the basic concepts).

"Mutato rubio!" Luna said as she flicked the wand rather awkwardly... and it exploded into ruby dust. "Gah!" She tried again... another explosion but bigger and messier. "I think they will be finding this glitter in several places for years..." Luna muttered to herself.

"Alright children, you can practice more at home later! We have three new spells to learn today," Fauna announced.

To Luna's chagrin, they were all object transfiguration spells.

"And you'll be tested on all of them at the end of the week," Fauna stated.

"Great..." Luna sighed.

"There's a test?!" Sofia cried.

"There's always a test..." James sighed.

---

After class, Luna and Sofia had decided to help each other study at Sofia's home.

"Ooooh!!! Why can't I do it right?!" Sofia cried in frustration as she conjured up a tomato. I mean, it's red so...

"At least in this world the side effects of a failed spell are harmless! Where I'm from... let's just say things happen and advanced magic is usually taught in an open, uninhabited field or inside a well fortified castle..." Luna explained as her spell also failed and created another ruby dust mess.

"I think these spells are great!" Clover (Sofia's bunny friend) said as he took a bite out of Sofia's tomato.

"It was supposed to turn into a ruby, not tomatoes or ruby dust..." Luna sighed.

"This is much better," the food loving Clover stated as he took another bite of the tomato.

"We have all this sorcery to learn in two days!" Sofia cried.

"You need help learning sorcery, why not ask a sorcerer?" Clover asked.

"Of course! Mister Ceedric can help us," Sofia realized.

"Who?" Luna asked as she attempted to fix her glitter mess (she failed... we all know fine glitter never dies)

"He's our royal sorcerer! Come on, let's go ask if he can help us!"

"Oh I don't think we shoul- ah!" Luna started before she was whisked away by Sofia and dragged to his tower.

---

After going up we won't bother counting how many flights of stairs, Sofia knocked on Cedric's door. An audible explosion could be heard through the door along with some angry grumbles gone unnoticed by the bubbly princess.

"Yes yes WHAT IS IT?!" Cedric shouted as he opened the door. Oh, it's her...

"Hi mister Ceedric!" Sofia greeted.

"It's Cedric. As in, Ceh-drick," Cedric corrected. "-gasp- it's so good to see your amulet- I mean you!" he continued with the subtlety of a coffee mug crashing down to what is clearly not the countertop at 4am in a formerly soundly sleeping household. "I see you brought a... pet?" Cedric asked.

"I am no pet!" Luna cried indignantly.

"That's Princess Luna. She's my friend from school! She's from another world," Sofia explained.

"Really?" Cedric asked.

"Mm hmm! We need your help."

"Well, do come in," Cedric welcomed as he checked to make sure no one else was around and then shut the door. While Luna trailed a little bit behind and observed the many potions and spell books around the workshop, Sofia said hi to Cedric's raven, Wormwood, then got to her request.

"So, we have this sorcery class at school and I was hoping, since you're such a great sorcerer, that you could help us learn a few spells!" Sofia explained.

"I am a -clears throat- royal sorcerer, not a schoolteacher," Cedric quickly stated.

"I know... but we have a test coming up and we'd be sooo grateful!" Sofia pleaded.

"Oh can't you see I have more important things to do?! I can NEVER find anything in this MESS!!" Cedric exclaimed. That was when Sofia got a probably great, probably not, idea.

"I know! We can help clean up your workshop in return for some magic lessons!" she proposed.

"We will?" Luna asked, suddenly snapped out of reading one of Cedrics spell books.

"Hmm, like an apprentice?" Cedric asked.

"A what?" Sofia asked (man, there sure are a lot of characters with questions right now...)

"Oh it's a very special helper! It means you get to come here every day and assist me with my spells and potions and tidy up and so forth! And in return, I teach you all the magic you need to know for your little test," Cedric explained. "So, Princess Sofia and Princess Luna, will you two be my apprentices?" Cedric offered as he conjured up a purple wizard hat and a blue wizard hat.

"Um..." Luna hesitated.

"Yes yes YES!" Sofia answered for the both of them with enthusiasm.

"Alright then, we start first thing in the morning! Now off you go, I have to prepare for you girls' first lesson," Cedric explained.

"Thank you mister Ceedric!"

"It's Cedric," Cedric corrected with an eye roll as he slammed the door behind the two princesses. "Oh Wormwood this is it! This is what we've been waiting for! I am going to brew up a potion that will make me INVISIBLE!!! Then, when Sofia and her little friend is busy tidying up the workshop, I'll pour the invisibility potion on myself and disappear. I'll be able to steal her amulet without her even knowing it!" Cedric monologued.

"Once the Amulet of Avalor is mine I can use it's magical power to take over the kingdom! I'll be the first sorcerer to be King! King Cedric the First," Cedric fantasized. He then approached a portrait of his parents and looked longingly at it. "Oh mother and father, if only you could see me now!"

"We can Cedric." a male voice responded.

-cue magical twinkly lights exiting the painting-

"Why do you think we gave you this portrait?"

-cue magical twinkly lights manifesting themselves in the form of his father-

"Uh, for my birthday?" Cedric answered uncertainly.

"SO YOUR MOTHER AND I COULD KEEP AN EYE ON YOU!" Goodwyn the Great shouted, pointing a finger at his son. "A sorcerer's place is by the king's side, not on his throne!"

"Oh, nothing I do is ever good enough for you is it father?" Cedric complained.

"Goodwyn, let Cedric plan in peace," a female voice followed as another glitterball materialized and manifested into Cedric's mother.

"Oh Winnifred, why must you encourage him?" Goodwyn asked as he went back into the painting.

"Oh, don't mind him! You'll go get that amulet and make your mummy proud!" Winnifred said as she too hopped back in the painting.

-cue villain song-

---

Meanwhile, back at Luna's home, she was trying to find some way to get out of having to apprentice under mister Cedric.

"We don't need help! We can manage just fine on our own. I've advanced so quickly in my Equestrian magic studies, so why is human magic so hard?!" Luna ranted as she angrily slammed her face into a pillow.

"Are you sure about that? A little guidance never hurt anypony," Celestia asked (Yes, she's still a character in this story LOL).

"This is supposed to be easy. What am I doing wrong?!"

"Perhaps that's where an apprenticeship becomes useful," Celestia stated matter of factly.

"Even Starswirl couldn't understand how the spell was supposed to work!" Luna cried.

"Then you accept help from somepo- someone who does know how it works. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We're supposed to help him clean up his workshop in exchange for the magic lessons."

"And?"

"You know me! I tend to make more messes than I fix..." Luna sulked.

"Oh Luna, you're getting much more coordinated now, especially after all the magic you've learned with Starswirl! You have nothing to worry about," Celestia encouraged.

"Don't lie to me, I have plenty to worry about. Failing the test for example," Luna snapped.

"Okay, perhaps the wrong choice of words, but you know what I mean. Don't stress yourself out over this. It's one test. Even if you don't do well, you'll do better next time."

"I'd rather do well the first time."

"Then calm down and relax yourself. You'll do great," Celestia said as she nuzzled her little sister lovingly.

"I'll try-hahaha," Luna said as Celestia proceeded to tickle Luna to loosen her up.

"You'll do more than try! Always so tense," Celestia stated as she intensified the tickle attacks.

"Hahahaha stop it! Hahaha I am not, haha, and you know it!" Luna exclaimed between fits of laughter as she began to fight back with her own tickles.

-One tickle fight later-

"Feeling better?" an out of breath Celestia asked.

"Much," an equally out of breath Luna replied. "Thank you for the pep talk and tickle fight."

"You're welcome."

---

The next day, it was time to begin the apprenticeship at Sofia's castle. When the girls approached the door, it opened before either of them could knock and Cedric welcomed them into his workshop.

"I'm ready for my first lesson!" Sofia said eagerly.

"Of course of course, right after I finish my invisibility potion heheheh uh, why don't you tidy up in the meantime?" Cedric suggested.

"Okay!" Sofia said as she grabbed a broom and began sweeping. Luna meanwhile began organizing some of the various potions and bottles strewn all over the place using her recently mastered multi-levitation spell.

"Now, all that's left is eight emu eyelashes," Cedric muttered to himself while counting out the necessary ingredients and putting them in his potion. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8! Presto!!" -cue little cauldron shaking dramatically- "Huh?" -cue potion contents rising from the pot and shooting to the ceiling just to explode into a bunch of confetti- Cedric looks on with obvious disappointment as the confetti falls to the still messy ground. Meanwhile Luna was just happy the explosion was harmless and wasn't glitter (oh gosh that would never go away...), even if it meant the two would have more to clean up...

"Are you done with your potion yet?" Sofia asked, eager to get started on her lessons.

"Mmm, I'll finish it later," Cedric responded dejectedly. It was at this moment that he noticed for the first time that Luna was using magic. A lot of it. What creature is this that uses magic without any wand or verbal commands? She's using telekinesis and multiple levitations quite naturally for a child supposedly just recently learning magic...

"Great! Can you show me how to turn a rock into a ruby now? It's a big part of the sorcery test!" Sofia asked, snapping Cedric out of his thoughts for a moment.

"Oh, uh, why not. It's a simple enough spell. When it comes to magic, my father always said 'slow and steady does the trick.' First, read the spell carefully." Cedric instructed.

"Hold your wand straight in front of the rock..." Sofia read aloud.

"Then, slowly say the magic words and wave your wand with confidence like this," Cedric continued instructing as he demonstrated the proper wand flicking technique. Luna watched while finishing up placing the potions and bottle back on their respective shelves. "There's no need to rush, the stone isn't going anywhere. Now go ahead, you give it a try."

"Mutato, rubio!" Sofia said as she flicked the wand with confidence as instructed. Instead of another piece of produce, she finally conjured the spell correctly as the rock became a ruby! "I did it. I REALLY did it!"

"Yes, well, it's a simple enough spell..." Cedric explained.

"You're a really good teacher mister Ceedric," Sofia praised.

"I-I am?" Cedric asked.

"Can I try now? I think I know what I did wrong," Luna chirped.

"Oh, uh, sure. Just like I told Sofia before, slow and steady and with confidence," Cedric reinforced.

Luna hyper-focused on the rock before her and slowly said the magic words, flicking the wand with confidence (and not awkwardly) as she said the magic words. "Mutato rubio!" -cue the rock actually exploding like a grenade.- No one was hurt by the pebbles, thank goodness. "AAAAAAAGGH!!! WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?!?!? I DID EXACTLY WHAT SOFIA DID!!!" Luna screamed in frustration.

"Cedric?! What's that noise? Oh, Sofia, Luna, what are you two doing here?" Baileywick (the castle steward) asked.

"Learning magic!" Sofia responded.

"One of us anyways..." Luna sulked while picking up all the tiny rock pieces.

"Oh how wonderful. You'll have to teach Cedric some when you're done," Baileywick stated.

"Very funny Baileywick... What do you want?" Cedric asked annoyedly.

"King Roland needs you right away."

"-gulp- the king?" Cedric asked nervously.

---

As the group approached Sofia's stepfather/father, Sofia's mom asked how the apprenticeship was going.

"Great mom! Mister Ceedric is really helping me learn my magic spells," the purple princess praised cheerily. Luna withheld any comment while trying to replay in her mind what went wrong.

"Cedric?" King Roland called.

"Y-yes your majesty?" Cedric asked nervously.

"We have a very important visitor coming to stay with us, King Magnus... He's always bragging about how great his kingdom is," Roland explained with visible annoyance. "So, I want the castle to look its very BEST. Could you transform these gloomy old gargoyles into, s-something more inviting?" Roland asked.

"Oh, b-b-but o-of c-course your m-majesty!" Cedric stammered. "Um, how about golden horses? I know just the spell."

"Great!"

Cedric went over to Sofia and asked her for a wand. Once she dug around and found it for him, Cedric began the spell.

"Um, aero-equssium!" Cedric shouted uncertainly as he flicked his wand to the gargoyles. Said gargoyle then transformed into a real pegasus and flew away...

"Ah, Cedric! You were supposed to turn the gargoyles into golden horses, NOT bring them to life!" Roland criticized.

"Oh, my apologies your majesty! I'll get it right this time!" Cedric insisted. But Rolland would have none of it.

"Not everyone can be as gifted as your father. We'll just have to clean up the rest of the castle and hope... King Magnus doesn't look up..." Roland sighed.

"But..." Cedric tried to redeem himself, but his request went on deaf ears.

"Don't be late to dinner Sofia, King Magnus is coming," Miranda reminded her.

"Okay mom," Sofia replied.

---

Now back in the workshop, a dejected and defeated Cedric sulked on his chair whilst Sofia and Luna were cleaning up around the workshop. After a moment of awkward silence, Sofia broke it and asked,

"So, your father was a royal sorcerer too?"

Cedric stirred from his stupor and turned to face her with shock. "You don't know who Goodwyn the Great is? He was only the greatest sorcerer to have ever lived in Enchancia! Saved your grandfather's life nine and a half times!" He practically shouted.

"I'm sure you're just as good as he was!" Sofia tried to encourage him.

Cedric hmphed. "I've never saved anyone's life. Not even once, NOT EVEN HALF!"

How do you even save half of a life? Luna thought to herself, but she dismissed the question while also catching a bottle she nearly dropped when she wasn't paying attention.

At that moment, Sofia swept into the nearby table with some potions on it and one fell off the edge of the table. -Wobble wobble fall crash KABOOM DEAD lots of smoke-

"Oh... I feel funny," Sofia said as she slowly shrank.

Then she transformed into a lizard.

"PRINCESS SOFIA!!!" Cedric panicked as he ran over to where she was.

"Oh my gosh," Luna exclaimed as she realized what had happened to her best friend.

Sofia squeaked in panic as she seemed to look to Cedric for help.

"Don't worry Princess Sofia, I can fix this!" Cedric backed up and prepared his stance. Then, with a wave of his wand, he said the magics words, "Lizardo chango!" and the magic swirled around her and transformed her back into a human.

"Ah, thank you mister Ceedric!" Sofia exclaimed as gave him a big hug.

"Oh... oh uh, it's an easy spell... I learned it the first week of sorcery school..." Cedric explained, not quite sure how he felt about Sofia's show of affection just yet (given the circumstances).

"Hm, you're so good at magic mister Ceedric. Why couldn't you turn the gargoyles into golden horses earlier?" Sofia asked in confusion.

"Oh I don't know! Every time I get around King Roland I get a bit w-well, a bit..."

"Well, what?" Sofia asked.

"NERVOUS!!! There I said it!" Cedric shouted.

"Well, I'm going to find a way to show dad that you're a great sorcerer!" Sofia exclaimed.

"And... why would you do that?" Cedric asked.

"Because you're my friend," Sofia responded.

"F-friend?"

"Anyways, I've got to go clean up for dinner. Bye Luna, bye mister Ceedric! See you tomorrow!" Sofia said as she left the room.

"It's uh... Cedric..." Cedric said, a little more hesitant to correct her than he would normally be.

"Um... I still have time to keep practicing... if you want to help me..." Luna said barely audibly.

"O-oh! Yes. I almost forgot you were here..." Cedric realized as he turned to notice Luna was still in the room. She's so quiet when she's not angry... "Um, what do you need help understanding?"

"I don't know! I've watched and listened, taken note of everything and did exactly what you and Sofia did and I only got worse!" Luna explained. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I'm gonna fail the test and fail in human magic or create a horrible disaster or-"

"Woah woah woah, slow down and turn down the volume! Take it easy," Cedric said, trying to calm down a filly on the verge of tears.

"This is supposed to be easy -sniff-. I've excelled at my magic studies at home -sniff-, what's so different about human magic that I'm failing here?" Luna sniffled, holding back tears.

"What are magic spells like back in your world?" Cedric asked.

"Well, most of them rely on will of the mind and concentration. Some are emotionally based too or can be effected by emotions. It's honestly a very complex system and I've only just finished learning the basics..." Luna explained. "How exactly does magic here differ?"

"Well, not as much as you might think. Our magic also relies on a certain level of concentration and sometimes even emotions. But it seems the biggest difference is our magic is typically performed with verbal commands," Cedric explained. "I've noted you never speak when performing your magic unless it's the spells for the test, nor do you need a wand to perform them," Cedric noted.

"Well, I do sort of have a wand. It's on my head. Unicorns can perform magic using their horns to cast spells and the input for those spells come from the mind," Luna explained.

"Fascinating! Do you ever unintentionally use your magic by thinking about something or feeling strong feelings?" Cedric asked.

"I don't think so, but it is possible..." Luna admitted(1).

"So is it possible that all this pressure you're feeling and nervousness is affecting your magic like it did mine?"

"I... I never thought about it like that... OF COURSE!!! How did I not consider the interference of my alicorn magic with the wand magic?!" Luna exclaimed as she actually started to get excited about this revelation. Finally, progress!

"So if my magic can be fixed by calming myself and not letting nerves get to me, the same can happen for you!" Cedric realized at the same time Luna did. "Do you want to try again, but this time don't think too much about it? Just follow my instructions. Wave the wand with confidence and say the magic words. No extra thoughts or pressure. Just wave and speak."

"I think I can do that," Luna replied. Luna pulled out another rock from her bag and readied herself.

"Remember, don't overthink it and don't be nervous. You can do this," Cedric pep talked.

"-exhale- Mutato rubbio!" Luna exclaimed as she waved her wand at the rock. It floated and shook for a moment, and for a second Luna was ready to shield herself from the inevitable explosion that was to occur. But then, it popped and turned into a ruby. "I-I did it... I DID IT!!!! HUZZAH!!! I HAVE SUCCEEDED!!!!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice with increasing volume once again.

"Y-yes, you did," Cedric agreed while he readjusted his hears to be able to hear again. "Bravo Princess Luna."

"Thank you so much mister Cedric!" Luna said at a normal volume.

"Oh, it's no problem at all really. Perhaps tomorrow we could share magic notes? I'm very interested to hear how your magic works," Cedric suggested.

"Of course! I can show you everything my teacher mister Starswirl the Bearded is teaching me!!" Luna said giddily, happy to nerd out about magic with a sorcerer. "I have to go now. I too have a dinner I cannot be late to heheh... Bye mister Cedric! Thank you so much for helping me!" Luna cried as she too left.

"Goodbye Princess Luna..." Cedric said. As soon as the door was shut, Cedric had a thought.

"Hmm, Wormy... It seems I have a bit of a fallback plan... ah, just in case stealing Sofia's amulet whilst invisible fails. Why use a measly little amulet's magic, when I could harness the magic of a very powerful alicorn?! I'll see what she knows tomorrow, then I will find a way to use her magic to TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM!!!" Cedric monologued once again.

"Now now Cedric, what kind of teacher are you to take advantage of your students?" Goodwyn said as he appeared out of the painting. "You've just done a very good thing, helping two princesses with their magic, and you're going to try to steal her magic?"

"Oh leave him be and let him take over the kingdom!" Winnifred said as she too popped out of the painting.

"Don't listen to your mother, do the right thing!"

"No! Don't listen to your father! Do the wrong thing! Mommy loves you!"

"Ugh, why don't you both go back into your little painting and let me make my own choices?!" Cedric said as they both went back into the painting.

---

-Later that night-

"I'm doing WHAT the night after tomorrow?!" Cedric cried.

"That right! You'll be performing a magic show for dad and his friend King Magnus! Isn't it great?" Sofia exclaimed.

"Oh well, yes it is... King Roland has never asked me to put on a royal sorcery show for him before, and CERTAINLY not for a visiting king!" Cedric said, realization slowly dawning on him. "I'll have to perform for, uh... two kings..."

"Your show is the same day as my test! We can help each other get ready," Sofia suggested. "So let's get started!"

---

The next day, Luna showed up to find Sofia and Cedric had already started on further working on the spells.

"Oh, you've already started?" Luna asked.

"Oh, hey Luna! Mister Ceedric is gonna get to perform for my dad and King Magnus tomorrow night! Isn't that exciting news? He'll get a chance to prove that he's a great sorcerer," Sofia explained.

"That's great news!" Luna agreed as she dropped her saddlebags down and began pulling out several things.

"What are those?" Sofia asked. Luna had pulled out various random small objects and some big objects too. It wasn't initially obvious how Luna actually fit everything in her bag until she noticed the confused expressions on both Sofia and Cedric's faces and began to explain.

"Oh, it's a space saver spell. It makes the inside of the bag bigger than the outside so you can carry more things at a time! It was actually very heavy because of the extra stuff..." Luna admitted as she heaved an exhausted sigh from having carried it through the castle and up the countless flights of stairs. "Have you ever considered getting a shorter tower or something like that?" Luna asked (the bag was too heavy to teleport with...)

"Ah, that's a problem for another time. You were gonna show me some of your magic tricks from your world, correct?" Cedric asked.

"Oh, of course," Luna remembered as she got back on track with unpacking her bags. At some point she just turned the whole thing over and shook everything out.

"How many things do you need for this spell?" Cedric asked incredulously.

"I'm about to perform a multi-levitation spell. I figured it'd be better to bring my own stuff to levitate rather than levitate your stuff, since I can tend to drop everything when I've reached my concentration limit... Mainly, I wouldn't wanna drop and break everything in your workshop heheh," Luna explained.

"Aw, that's so considerate!" Sofia noted.

"Indeed it is..." Cedric said as he noted just how many things Luna had dumped out. "Are you going to levitate all of that?" He counted roughly 35 different items in varying shapes and sizes.

"I hope so..." Luna said as she the blindfolded herself.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Cedric asked.

"It's actually easier to life this many things blindfolded than it is to do it while seeing everything. Makes concentrating easier and blocks out visual distractions," Luna explained. Though, not so easy to actually find everything...

"But how do you know what you're picking up?" Cedric asked more.

"I reach out with my magic and feel for it, kind of like reaching out with your hands blindfolded would work. My magic to me is like hands for you. Now no more questions! I need to concentrate," Luna explained quickly as she began lifting the various things she'd spread out around the room.

Cedric and Sofia just watched in awe as more and more things started floating in the air, at first effortlessly. When she got to item 20, effort started to show on her face even though you couldn't see her eyes. More things continued to float despite the effort it seemed to take to find and lift them all. Luna almost got everything until she fumbled a little and, like before, grabbed the wrong object. Namely, Clover (who was a part of Cedric's magic show).

"Hey! Put me down!" Clover shouted.

Everything had been relatively quiet until Clover yelped. With that sudden distraction, Luna lost her concentration and dropped everything, Clover included.

"Duck!" Cedric shouted as he moved Luna away from a heavy book falling from the sky.

"AH!!" Luna yelped as she felt herself suddenly moved to the side. She removed her blindfold to find a huge mess of items absolutely everywhere and an angry bunny. "Oops... I told you might drop everything heheh..." Luna laughed sheepishly.

"That was amazing!" Sofia exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that!"

"Neither did I! What else can you do?" Cedric asked.

So Luna proceeded to demonstrate to them several tricks she'd learned so far. Short distance teleportation (at least, short for alicorns. It was somewhat accurate), some other cool telekinesis tricks, and even a shapeshifting spell she actually wasn't supposed to learn yet.

"Um, I read one of Starswirl's shapeshifting spell books and learned to do this!" Luna explained as she became a blue cloud and moved around the room and in/through/under all sorts of tiny, otherwise impossible to reach spaces. She then rematerialized in the middle of the room. "Starswirl told me not to use that spell, but it's just so fun! Now I can sneak around really easily!" Luna explained as she became a cloud again and poured herself into an empty bottle and her eyes looked out from the bottle.

"Indeed you can..." Cedric noted. Perhaps a useful tool to have if I need to break into a specific room. How to convince her to steal something for me though...

"Well, we have more magic to learn! We want to be ready for that test and show tomorrow, right?" Sofia said.

"Of course! We're gonna ace the test tomorrow. I can't wait!" Luna agreed as she poured herself out of the bottle and made herself solid again. They continued studying and practicing the various spells they needed to learn for the test.

After Luna had left, Sofia was finishing up cleaning for the day. Then she noticed a smudge on Cedric's spell book and cleaned it off. As it turned out, two of the ingredients were covered up by that smudge, which explained why his invisibility potion kept failing. With this revelation shown to Cedric, Sofia headed off to bed while Cedric successfully prepared his potion.

"Finally, FINALLY I HAVE DONE IT!!! Now all I have to do is swipe Sofia's amulet with the help of this invisibility potion and I can take over the kingdo-" Cedric stopped as he noticed something on his worktable. It was a heart shape made from the rubies Sofia conjured. "O-oh... sh-she did that... for me?" Cedric asked. The ever increasing dilemma was dramatized when his parents butted in once again to play angel and devil.

"Oh Cedric, how can you do something so terrible after such a sweet gift left to you by your friend?" Goodwyn asked.

"Friends shmends. Who needs them?! Steal that amulet and become the most powerful sorcerer king in the lands!" Winnifred commanded.

"Do the right thing!"

"No! Do the wrong thing!"

"I WILL DO MY OWN THING THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!" Cedric shouted as he shooed his parents back into the painting. "Ugh Wormy... what am I gonna do?"

---

-The next day at school- (2)

"Are you ready for the test Luna?" Sofia asked.

"More than ready! You?" Luna rebounded the question.

"Yes!"

In the classroom, everyone got seated at their desks which were already prepared with the objects they would need to transform.

"Alright students, take your seats! We’re about to start the test,” Fauna announced. “You may begin.”

They passed the test (and my computer just randomly restarted and didn’t save anything past this... AAAAAAAGH-)

"Hey Luna! Do you wanna watch the magic show at my place tonight? Mister Ceedric and I will be performing for my dad and his king friend!" Sofia offered.

"Sure! I'd love to," Luna replied.

---

Backstage, Cedric and Sofia were getting ready for the magic show. While setting up Cedric's things, Sofia noticed the lizard potion from before.

"Oh, I better put this out of the way."

In the audience, King Magnus was rambling on and on about his "amazing" kingdom.

"My royal sorcerer is the greatest in all the land! He once made an entire zoo appear!"

"I'm sure he did, Magnus," Roland acknowledged politely.

"And my chefs prepared the finest feast I'd ever tasted!" Magnus continued.

"I'm sure they did..." Roland said with marginally less politeness.

"We do not, however, have a pet baby winged unicorn in our palace..." King Magnus noted.

"I am NO pet or a baby OR a 'winged unicorn' as you people keep saying! I. AM. AN. ALICORN! And I am Sofia's friend from school," Luna corrected with far less patience and politeness than Roland currently possessed.

"Fascinating. I need to get me one of your kind..." Magnus stated in awe.

"Oh, I don't think it works quite like tha-" Roland started before being interrupted by the show starting.

"Introducing our royal sorcerer, CEDRIC THE GREAT!" Sofia announced as Cedric appeared with a puff of smoke.

"For my first trick, I will make a rabbit appear out of thin air!" With the magic words, Cedric made Clover appear on the magic tabletop.

"Hmph, generic," Magnus criticized.

"U-uh, but have y-you seen a f-flying rabbit?! Raberto levioso!" Cedric cried. But instead of making Clover fly around the room, he floated up in the air with his ears spinning like a helicopter propeller. "I-I mean rabbitus floaticus!" Now he was bouncing around haphazardly on the stage. -cue panic Cedric mode-

Oh no, he's too nervous! Sofia though to herself. If only he was doing a spell he knew really well... Then the lightbulb went off in her mind. Like, a spell he learned the first week of sorcery school! Sofia pulled the lizard potion out of his bag and (not very subtly) pretended to accidentally spill the potion on herself.

"Sofia!" Miranda cried.

"Somebody help her!" Roland cried in panic.

"Oh don't worry, I can fix it! Lizardo chango!" Cedric shouted confidently as he successfully saved Sofia from being a lizard for all eternity.

"That was amazing Cedric!" Miranda praised.

"You saved Sofia's life! Thank you Cedric!" Roland said.

"I-I did?? Yes, I did! Indeed I did!" Cedric welcomed the praise. The rest of the show went on swimmingly.

"Now, it is time for my final trick. Within this vial is a potion that can turn anything it's poured onto INVISIBLE! It will be my finest moment, one that will change our lives," Cedric declared ominously. "I will be using it ooon-" At that moment, Cedric looked to see Sofia looking up to him with a sweet smile. She seemed so proud of him. So trusting. Ill placed trust. "On..." That face. What is it about that sweet, innocent face that makes me not want to hurt her feelings? Cedric thought as he hesitated on his plans.

Memories of their fun together and how much she loved him, even called him friend, flooded his mind. Those kind words, that cute heart made of rubies (even if the effects of the spell aren't permanent), the way she believed in him when no one else did... he suddenly realized he couldn't do it. All this work and time getting close to Sofia so he could steal her amulet and... he. couldn't. do. it. I can't betray her like this. Not today at least... Cedric sighed. "On, my trusty rabbit." With that, Cedric poured the potion on Clover and he magically disappeared right before their eyes.

"My royal sorcerer... has never done that before," Magnus admitted, genuinely impressed. Everyone gave Cedric a round of applause for his and Sofia's performance.

-Later backstage again-

"How did that potion end up spilling on you again?" Cedric asked.

"I guess I'm just clumsy," Sofia said with a wink.

"-gasp- you did that on purpose!" Cedric realized.

"I knew you were nervous. But I figured, if you could do a spell you knew really well, then you wouldn't be so nervous anymore!"

"You did that, for me? Thank you," Cedric said, grateful he didn't betray her that night.

"What are friends for? Oh, I also want you to have this," Sofia said.

"What is it?"

"It's a gold star. Luna and I got one for passing the test, so I figured you deserved one too for your great performance!" Sofia said as she stuck it on his coat.

"Th-thank you..." Cedric said, shocked at how amazing this felt.

---

Back at his tower, Wormwood cawed at Cedric for chickening out on his plans.

"Oh Wormy, I know it didn't work out today." Cedric admired his star for a moment before sighing. "But we can always take over the kingdom tomorrow..." Cedric finished while relishing in this little victory.

Author's Note:

Aaaaaand end credits!!! I did not mean for this chapter to take so long to get out. I just suddenly found myself paralyzed for what to do. I'd hyped up this particular chapter in my mind for so long that by the time I got to it, I was suddenly afraid I wouldn't meet my own standards or expectations (not to mention I feared I may be losing my touch on this series with so much time away from it). I struggled with some writers block and self-induced pressure to do well for this chapter and procrastinated until I finally just decided "You know what, just write. It's all you've done so far anyways right? Just write, don't think."

That actually ended up inspiring the life lesson I chose to teach for this crossover episode! As you may have noticed, Luna was struggling with something we all struggle with. No, not turning a rock into a ruby (I WISH we could do that. That'd be so cool) but putting more pressure or criticism on yourself than anyone else is doing. Essentially, the old as time issue of being one's own worst enemy/critic, getting in your own way, etc. That's what I did for 2-3 months (and also watched YouTube/played games/did nothing productive and called it "I'm busy" 😅).

Something I've always loved about writing and both series (MLP and Sofia) is it's a gateway to learning lessons you'll value for life and those lessons are ageless. Regardless of the target audience, you can learn something important and vital to one's growth as a person/pony.

Sorry to get all introspective on you guys, that doesn't normally happen here, but today it did, and I like it 😊 I hope we can have chapters like this in the future that hit the heart where it matters (-sigh- yet more high expectations I set on myself... yay)

As per usual, another adorable Woona photo randomly found online (though not actually related to the story, still very cute)

Notes:
1. Luna isn't yet aware that she uses some magic to partially become Nightmare Moon when she's very VERY angry or distressed. So as far as she's aware, she's never unintentionally used emotional magic, even though she has.
2. At this point, I stopped referencing the episode for what happened when and wrote from a bit of memory as well as letting myself have some AU free reign to do whatever with these scenes. Also, I'll probably update the test scene for Sofia and Luna later, but for right now I don't see it as very necessary to do so.

I've also decided to link the corresponding episode for those who haven't watched the series (I'll go back and do the same with the past chapters at some point)

Cedric's Apprentice: S1 E4

Okay byeeeeee!

Comments

[KingSombraTheTyrantRuler]

"I WILL DO MY OWN THING THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!" Cedric shouted as he shooed his parents back into the painting. "Ugh Wormy... what am I gonna do?"

Lol How does he put up with parents like that every time he's about to plan something?

[Majestic_Donut]

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