A Different Approach To Magic
Ribbons of light danced along Sweetie Belle’s closed eyes, partially rousing her from her slumber. Unconsciously, she raised her hoof to swat away the troublesome pests. She knew it was time to wake up when her outstretched hoof collided with something hovering over her face, followed by a pained yelp. Her eyes blinked open a couple of times, allowing the rest of her sleepiness to be flushed out. Rarity sat on the floor beside her, holding a hoof up to her muzzle.
“Rarity?”
Rarity instantly forgot her wounded snout and beamed at her sister. “Sweetie Belle, you’re awake! I have a surprise for you.”
Something felt a little off to Sweetie Belle about Rarity. Her mane had a few loose strands sticking out of it, which in Rarity’s eyes, was a crime punishable by death. She also had bags under her eyes, where she had obviously forgotten to apply her makeup.
“Are you a changeling?” Sweetie Belle said nervously. Surely this wasn’t her sister.
Rarity looked confused by the odd question. “What? No! Why would you even think that? Is there something different about me?” She immediately began running her fore hooves over her body and mane, which did nothing to tame the unruly strands of hair that refused to bow down to anything less than a comb.
Sweetie Belle had neither the energy, nor willpower to explain to Rarity why she looked different. She rolled over to shield her eyes from both the light, and her sister. “I’m going back to sleep.”
Rarity gave her hoof one last wiggle, then stopped fussing over herself and focused on the task at hand. “No! You can’t go back to sleep! You don’t know what the surprise is yet!”
There was no chance of returning to the dreamworld now. She was too tired to even feign curiosity at her sister’s surprise, so instead she settled for grumpily acknowledging her. “Fine, what’s the surprise?”
The bluntness of her reply caught in Rarity’s ears, making her subconsciously press them flat against her head for a brief second. Though she was soon back on the offensive. “I can’t just tell you what the surprise is, you have to come downstairs and see it for yourself!”
She bounded off out the door, only to peek her head back in a few seconds later as she scanned for any sign of movement from Sweetie Belle. Once the little filly groggily placed her hooves on the floor, Rarity was gone again, only leaving behind the faint sound of hoofsteps and giggling as she sprinted down the stairs. Sweetie Belle sighed roughly and rubbed her eyes, trying to psych herself up for whatever Rarity had prepared this time.
Rarity was just about to run back upstairs to escort her sister, when the soft patter of hooves on carpet sounded her approach. She frantically glanced around to make sure that everything was perfect for what she had planned.
Sweetie Belle trudged into the room with half-closed eyes. “Rarity, what’s this all abou- huh?”
The usually organised living room was littered with bits and pieces. Assorted pieces of fabric were hung up in a line to one side, opposite a row of random fashion objects, each increasing in size from the other. Rarity stood in the middle of the room, accompanied by a group of dress forms with crosses drawn on various points of their bodies. There were other items piled up in the corner, but they were too jumbled together that Sweetie Belle couldn’t work out what they were.
“Do you like it? I stayed up all night making this just for you!” Rarity chirped happily, she was almost hovering a few inches off the ground from sheer excitement.
Sweetie Belle examined the room, seeing no explanation for the random assortment of items other than that Rarity had finally snapped. “Umm... what’s this all meant to be?” Now she was more confused than grumpy.
“This is my classroom and you are my student! I am going to be teaching you how to properly use your magic, it’s going to be so much fun!” She wandered over to one of the dress forms and lightly bopped it on the nose. “I designed each part of this room with a different magical skill in mind: The line of small things over there is for levitation practice, the fabric over there can be cut down with simple spells, and these dress forms were a little worse for wear after Rainbow Dash crashed into them, so I thought we could use them to work on precision, as well as some other miscellaneous areas of practice.”
Rarity had reached the end of her rehearsed speech, so she settled for nervously waiting for a response from her sister.
“Well? Do you like it? Shall we start now?” She said shakily, her smile faltering slightly.
As Sweetie Belle continued inspecting the room, she couldn’t decide whether or not to be happy, or angry. She wasn’t about to just forget that Rarity stopped her from seeing Twilight, but it was hard to stay mad at her when she clearly went to so much trouble, and even forfeited sleep just to make her happy. Even she wasn’t stubborn enough to deny her now.
“Okay, we can do it now.” Sweetie Belle said quietly, giving her sister a faint smile.
Rarity almost jumped at the first smile that Sweetie Belle had given her in a while. “Wonderful! So, what do you want to do first?”
“Well, I’ve always wanted to be able to pick things up with my magic. I think it would help me write better in school.”
“Ah, a fine choice, something that will help you in your studies and in any other pursuits. It’s much more dignified than using your mouth,” Rarity trotted over to the row of small objects and flicked a hoof, motioning for Sweetie Belle to join her, which the filly did. “Levitation is really very simple. All you have to do is...” The rest of her sentence trailed off as she wondered how she actually performed the spell. It was so natural to her, that it would be like trying to teach a pony how to breathe or think.
“All you have to do is what?” Sweetie belle asked impatiently.
‘Come on Rarity, think! What do I do when I want to pick something up...’ Rarity raised a hoof to her chin and tapped it a few times. ‘First, I look at something...’
“Look at something and focus on it! try that small gem on the end of the row there.”
Sweetie Belle squinted her eyes and glared at the gem on the floor. She looked more like she was about to pounce on it.
‘What next?! Umm, let’s see. Focus, it floats, done! Wait... there has to be another step that I’m missing...’
her mental search was cut short when Sweetie Belle’s concentration ran short. “Come on Rarity, what do I do next?”
Sweat started to form on Rarity’s brow. “Okay, the next step is to, um, imagine that it is floating up into the air.”
Sweetie Belle redirected her focused stare to Rarity. “That’s it? I just have to imagine it floating?”
‘I hope so.’ “Yes, that’s all there is to it.”
After a brief pause for thought, Sweetie Belle was back to glaring at the small stone opposite her. Rarity watched as the filly subconsciously twitched and tensed her muscles while she focused on her task. An excruciatingly long minute passed, with Sweetie Belle’s expression becoming more and more strained, almost reaching the point where she looked ready to explode on the spot. Rarity considered using her magic to ‘help’ her, but quickly dismissed the thought, since it would do no good to anyone. This was Sweetie Belle’s lesson.
A loud gasp came as Sweetie Belle collapsed on the floor. The gem remained in its previous spot, mocking her with its shiny green luster. “It didn’t work!” She exclaimed, with more than a hint of anger in her voice.
“Maybe you just need some more practice on your focus.” Rarity said reassuringly. ‘Perhaps I should have read a book on magic teaching beforehand, if only I had one.’
Sweetie Belle slowly picked herself up off the floor. “Yeah, or maybe I just can’t do it at all.” She muttered.
“Don’t worry Sweetie, I’m sure your magical talent is just a bit more ‘specific’ than most. All we need to do is find you your niche,” Rarity trotted over to near to the pieces of fabric and again motioned for Sweetie Belle to join her. “This one is really easy, All you have to do is store some magical energy, then release it in the direction of the fabric to cut it, like so.”
In one graceful swoop, Rarity lifted her head up slightly, then swung her horn down in an arcing motion. A light blue blade of magical energy fired from the tip of her horn and flew in the direction of the fabric. One of the pieces was detached from the line with surgical precision before the blade dissolved into the air. Rarity looked over to her sister with an encouraging smile.
“Rarity, I don’t think I can do this,” Sweetie Belle said unsurely. “This looks really hard, I’ve never tried anything like this before.”
“Nonsense! You are my student and my sister, you can do anything that you put your mind to. Just try it.”
Sweetie belle inhaled deeply and turned back to the line of fabric. Taking the same stance she used for her levitation spell, she diverted all of her mental power into locking onto one of the cloth strands. She let herself settle for a while, shifting her weight on her hooves as she did. Finally, she leaned her head to the side, then swung it back in the opposite direction. The force that went into her movement knocked her off balance and tipped her over onto her side. After she regained her bearings, she opened her eyes and looked to her intended target, which was still perfectly intact.
After letting sweetie Belle vent some of her frustration, Rarity helped her back onto her hooves. “Don’t worry Sweetie Belle, everything takes practice. Just try it again and you’ll do better, I’m sure of it.”
Sweetie Belle huffed at her sister. “I can’t! Twilight said that I need to work up to things like this and take my time.”
“You don’t need to take your time. This is really a very simple spell, you should have no problem doing this. Try it again, please.”
“But Rarity I-” the rest of her sentence was caught by Rarity’s hoof. Sweetie belle gave up trying to argue and resumed her training. Her next attempt at cutting made her tilt to the side, but she managed to right herself before she fell over. The material rippled in triumph as a mocking breeze blew past it. Even the wind could do more than she could.
“That’s alright, try again.” Rarity said.
With another quick swipe, she only succeeded in giving herself a small headache and making herself more angry. She rapidly flicked her head from side to side, trying in vain to get something to happen. It took several seconds of frantic shaking before she finally ran out of energy and slowed down.
Rarity calmly walked up beside her. “All you have to do is-”
“Rarity stop it!” Sweetie belle screamed. The sudden outburst caused Rarity to recoil. “This is your fault! I’d be able to do something useful if you hadn’t stopped me from seeing Twilight! I don’t want your help so just leave me alone!”
Both mares gasped in unison. Rarity tried to speak, but only succeeded in voicing a few small whimpers before she fell to the ground sobbing.
Sweetie Belle was too absorbed in her shock to fully process the scene. ‘What have I done?’ Seeing her sister so distraught brought tears to her own eyes and she did nothing to stop them as she rushed to comfort Rarity.
“I’m so sorry Rarity! I didn’t mean that!”
The volume of Rarity’s wailing only seemed to increase. “Yes you did! And it’s true, I’m a terrible sister!” Her sobbing paused for a brief moment to allow her to take a sharp breath before she let it out with even greater ferocity. “I’m so sorry Sweetie Belle, you were so caught up in Twilight’s training that you didn’t want to speak to me at all! I just wanted to spend more time with you, and then you got hurt and I was so worried and angry at myself for not being there for you!”
Sweetie Belle bent down and hugged her sister tightly, letting both of their tears form a puddle on the floor.They stayed in their embrace until they both had calmed down to soft whimpering. Sweetie Belle was the first to pull away as she wiped the few remaining tears from her cheeks.
“I’m really sorry that I yelled at you Rarity. I know you were just trying to help.”
Rarity sniffled a few more times to hold back another flood of tears. She wiped her eyes with her hoof and looked up at Sweetie Belle, who smiled back at her.
“It doesn’t matter to me if I can’t do magic. All I want is for us to be happy again.”
Sweetie Belle raised herself up off the floor and held a hoof out to help Rarity up. The two shared one last hug and Sweetie Belle lightly kissed her sister on the cheek.
“Thank you for being so grown up about all this, you’re much more mature than I,” Rarity glanced around the room. A whole night spent organising and rearranging, all about to go to waste. “Are you sure you don’t want to carry on practicing, just for fun?”
Sweetie Belle looked around herself, staring sadly at the un-levitating gems and the intact fabric. She sighed softly, but just loudly enough for Rarity to hear. “No, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll find something else that I could be good at eventually. I’m just gonna go make myself some cereal. I haven’t eaten anything in forever.”
Rarity felt the need to say something as Sweetie Belle left the room, but her own emotional fatigue stayed her hoof. She levitated a few pieces from around the room, and took them with her upstairs to be sorted back into their original positions. Before she trotted up the stairs, she managed to catch a glimpse of the kitchen, where Sweetie Belle stared forlornly into a bowl of milk.
Upstairs, Rarity got to work on the careful arranging of her supplies. The mundane task freed up her mind and allowed her to think about what she just experienced.
‘I wish I could just be glad that we managed to patch things up and leave it at that, but Sweetie Belle just seemed so sad, even after we had made up.’
Opalescence calmly strode into the room and leapt onto the table. Rarity stared through the cat, her mind still hazy from her thoughts. Eventually, she took a deep breath in and sighed.
“Oh, Opal, what do you think I should do?” She asked sincerely, as if she expected Opal to finally reveal her true voice. The cat responded by pouncing on a ball of thread that was currently gripped in magic, and running out the door. “Opal! I’m trying to talk to you! And how many times have I told you not to play with mommy’s work supplies?” She ran out the door in hot pursuit.
She reached the hallway just in time to see a fluffy white tail disappear into Sweetie Belle’s room. A brief feeling of apprehension crossed her mind, as it wasn’t right to just barge into somepony’s room. These thoughts were quashed instantly. It would only be to retrieve something, she would be in and out in a flash.
Opalescence hissed at Rarity from her impromptu fortress which was the space underneath Sweetie Belle’s bed. Seemingly oblivious to the cat’s warning calls, she advanced in a straight path towards her, forcing her to hide further under the bed with her prize. Rarity stooped down low enough to see underneath the bed, and saw her captive ball of thread. Her hoof reached into the darkness in an attempt to rescue it, but she drew back with a small scream when Opalescence swiped at her with a sharp claw. She shuffled away from the bed and looked at her new wound, but her eyes were drawn to something else out of the corner of her vision.
“my notebook? What’s that doing in here?” She wondered out loud. Opalescence growled in response.
Not paying attention to the monster under the bed, Rarity scooted closer to the opened book and picked it up. The book contained many scribbled out drawings of Sweetie Belle doing various things, all of which involved magic. As she flipped through the book, silently noting that she would have to purchase another notebook, she came across the last drawn picture in the line. Sweetie Belle stood in the middle of a crudely drawn room, to her sides, were both Twilight and Rarity. It seemed as though Sweetie Belle was performing some sort of spell as the other two watched on. The page was littered with dark splotches, which Rarity quickly realised were tears stains.
Rarity’s eyes watered and she put the book down to prevent it from becoming more stained. Opalescence had since climbed out from under the bed and was now sitting beside Rarity with her newly acquired toy in her paws and a look of smug satisfaction.
“How could I have just thought that everything would be alright?” She picked Opal up in her magic and held the stunned cat up to her face. “Thank you Opal for showing me this. I know exactly what I’m going to do to make this right.”
She placed the cat down and stood up tall, a determined look in her eye. “I’m going to write a letter!”
As she galloped out of the room, Opalescence smiled as much as her little face would allow, eyeing up her new toy. She pounced on it, only to hit the floor as the ball of thread floated away from her. Rarity poked her head back through the door. “This is still mine.”
Opalescence waved a paw in the air for having been bested again.
The clock struck twelve. Rarity counted down the minutes. Thankfully, she had managed to catch the mailmare flitting around town and had managed to ask her to deliver the letter she had written. Inside the letter were specific instructions to meet her at the Carousel as soon as possible, all she had to do now was wait for that time to come.
She was so preoccupied with watching the little birdie emerge from the doors in the clock, that she almost didn’t realise that someone was knocking at the door. The knocks were so slight, that she could be easily forgiven for nearly missing them. Almost frantically, she rushed to the door and opened it with a bright smile.
“Twilight!” She chimed happily.
Twilight appeared less than happy, her ears were pressed flat against her head and her shoulders were drooped. Though the unexpectedly cheerful response of Rarity helped a little to heighten her mood.
“Hey Rarity.” Her voice was on the same level as Fluttershy’s, but Rarity did her best not to lose her upbeat attitude.
“Please, come in. Would you like some tea?” Twilight was ushered in and led to seat as if she were Royalty. Rarity floated over a tray with some small teacups and began pouring, not waiting for Twilight to say yes or no.
Both of them sipped their tea in silence, Twilight acting extremely interested in the floor patterns and Rarity, hoping that a coherent sentence would enter her mind any time soon. Twilight took the last sip of her tea, took a deep breath, and spoke.
“Your letter said that you needed to see me urgently and that it couldn’t wait, what’s wrong?” She had spent all of the journey there coming up with possible scenarios that may have been linked to her. In that moment, she mentally slapped herself for not thinking of one obvious possibility. “Oh no! Is it Sweetie Belle?! Is she alright, what happened?!” Twilight started to rapidly hyperventilate.
“No no dear, you’ve got it all wrong.” Rarity said, trying desperately to calm the unicorn down. This was quickly getting out of hoof.
“I’m sorry Rarity! I know it was my fault and I didn’t mean to put her under so much stress but I just wasn’t thinking properly Rarity and I’m really sorry!” Judging from her erratic breathing, she was either a few seconds away from either bursting into tears, or passing out.
Rarity knew just how to handle this. In a single move, she slapped Twilight in the face with her hoof. “Get a hold of yourself darling!”
Twilight yelped and clutched her cheek. She sat stunned for a moment while Rarity praised her techniques. ‘It works in all the novels.’ She thought.
And indeed it did work. Twilight’s breathing slowed back to its usual tempo and she gradually became more relaxed. “Thanks Rarity, I guess I needed that.”
“That’s quite alright. What I was trying to say was that there really is no reason to worry. Sweetie Belle is fine, I just needed to talk to you.”
Twilight instantly became happy, then apprehensive. “You, wanted to talk to me about the other day, right?” She said glumly.
Rarity placed her teacup back onto the tray and attempted to articulate her feelings. “I’m so sorry for how I acted towards you Twilight. It was unfair of me to blame it on you and say the things I did.”
Before she continued, she took another sip of her tea, allowing Twilight to speak. “No Rarity, you were right, it was my fault. I knew that the spell was too strenuous for her and I should’ve stopped her.”
“Nonsense!” Twilight flinched at Rarity’s sudden outburst. “You are the most talented unicorn in Equestria when it comes to magic. If you had said no, Sweetie Belle probably would have done it by herself. I’m just glad that you were there to take care of her when she needed you.”
Blushing lightly from the flattery, Twilight smiled kindly, feeling much less dejected than when she first entered. From behind her, soft footsteps could be heard coming from the kitchen.
“Rarity, who’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked as she entered the room, clearly just reemerging from a midday nap. Her eyes lit up when she saw her former magical tutor. “Twilight!”
She ran up to greet her, but stopped just short of the two unicorns, feeling that they were talking about something important. “What’s going on?”
Rarity took a deep breath. “I was just about to ask Twilight... if she would consider continuing her magic lessons with you.”
Both Twilight and Sweetie Belle gasped in surprise. After the brief pause, Twilight was the first to speak. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”
Rarity waved off her concerns with her hoof. “Of course. I realise now that what I did was selfish, and I want Sweetie Belle to be happy. I know she would be happy learning magic with you.”
There was a long pause where Twilight thought about the possibility of another incident happening again, and whether she could deal with it. Sweetie Belle watched them both intently, darting from one mare to the other.
“I think I would like to try again.” Twilight said confidently. “Sweetie Belle, would you like to be my student again?”
Sweetie Belle looked to her sister, who was looking back with an expectant expression. After mulling it over, she had made her decision.
“On one condition,” The two were shocked that Sweetie Belle was bargaining with them. “I want Rarity to be there with me to teach me too.”
Stunned silence was all that came from Rarity. The two unicorns looked at her for a few moments, quietly waiting for a reaction that never came. Sweetie Belle briefly wondered whether she had broken her sister, until Rarity emitted a few quiet sniffles.
“Of course I will!” She cried, scooping her sister into a hug. They both affectionately nuzzled each other while they shared the tender embrace.
“Hey Twilight,” Sweetie Belle said as she broke out of the hug. “I still have your book, do you think we could practice some more now? I’m feeling lucky this time.”
Twilight giggled and nodded, giving the cue for the filly to dash up and get her book. Twilight and Rarity both shared a laugh, confident that this lesson would be better than the last.
One Month Later
“Hey Scootaloo, Ah’ thought you said you knew the way outta this forest?” Applebloom called from the back of the line. She kept her eyes pinned to the ground so as not to get tripped up by any loose vines.
Scootaloo huffed in annoyance. “I did, I mean, I do! It’s just so dark in here, I can’t see a thing!”
Sweetie Belle walked in the middle of the two, giggling to herself, though loud enough for the others to hear.
“What ya’ laughin’ about Sweetie Belle?”
“Oh, nothing.” She said nonchalantly, continuing to share her own private joke.
Scootaloo froze in place, making the other two bump into her. “That’s it! we came here for our exploration cutie marks, one of you must have a flashlight in your saddlebags.”
Applebloom dug around in hers, finding nothing but a half-eaten candy bar, which then became a completely eaten candy bar. “Nope, nothing. What about you Sweetie Belle?”
Calmly, Sweetie Belle backed away from the others, standing up as tall as she could manage. “I’ve got something that might help.” She closed her eyes, confusing her two friends as they tried to figure out what she was hoping to accomplish.
A minute passed with Sweetie Belle hearing only the sound of her heartbeat. Until she felt a familiar sensation, followed by the sound of gasps from her friends.
“Whoa!” They both said in unison.
Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes, seeing a white light encompassing the area in which they were standing. She looked up, smiling at the bright shining orb originating from her horn.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Ezn · 4.9k words · 79 3 · 2.4k views
- Midnight Sonare · 20k words · 61 2 · 1.6k views
- Tramper · 2.6k words · 35 0 · 1k views
- TheDarkStarCzar · 27k words · 53 1 · 1.8k views
- DJLowrider · 9.8k words · 95 3 · 4.9k views
- Metool Bard · 15k words · 71 2 · 2.3k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.095 seconds
Total duration
653 users online
844,368 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice
On to adventure!
Any idea whether or not you'll be doing a sequel?
They grow up so fast!
1735732
I did want to do a sequel which would focus more on the actual magical training and aspects of magic than Sweetie Belle and Rarity's relationship, but it was dependant on the feedback from this story.
well, i thoroughly enjoy reading this story. more continuation would be nice, or a sequel, if you make a notice of it here. ADVENTURE
1738067 Well, I you'd like feedback, just ask your readers. As for me, I'd say go for the sequel; I really like the idea of SB being able to do more in the field of magic.
1748380 Thanks for the comment, as well as everyone else's. I have already written the first part of the sequel now, but I think it'll end up being longer than this one.
1751194
That's good to hear. Who knows? Maybe you'll get featured during the course of the sequel.
I just read this story. I enjoyed it well enough, and would like to see your concepts of magic explored further. One thing to note is that a fair amount of your dialogue has improper punctuation, not enough to dissuade me from reading though. Overall, I enjoyed the story. Thanks for writing it.
2289491 Improper in what way?
I'll fish out a few of 'em:
“Can I help?” The little filly said with a newfound excitement.
This should read:
"Can I help?" the little filly said...
“Well, I suppose I could always find something for my special little helper to do.” She said, giving Sweetie Belle a pat on the head.
Same thing for this one
...helper to do," she said,...
Basically if it continues the sentence past the quotation marks, you treat the puncuation within the quotations as a mere comma, even if it's an exclamation mark or a question mark. If it's period, change it to a comma.
As I said it was a small thing, not enough to stop me from reading, but enough to catch my attention.
2303277 Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for your help!
Still waiting on that sequel...