Equestria, Castle of Friendship Ponyville
Abigail POV
"Ug... Haven't these ponies ever of signs?" I asked to no one. "Would it have killed someone to have put up a map saying 'you are here!' Come on I had better luck finding my way around my old apartment building then this fancy place.., and that place was over twenty stories!" I had just left my new room five minutes ago and already lost my around here, typical.
"I swear this didn't take me this long to get me to my room from that war room I popped up in."
After another minute of walking, I heard voices down the hall. Turned my head, I walked in their general direction them. They were distant but sounded like they were around the corner. It also sounded like a guys voice so must have been the little dragon Spike, so she made her presence known. "Hey Spike you there!?" I called out. With making myself know, the voices stopped making the hallway silent once again. Walking around where she heard them I hoped he or whoever it was could direct her to whatever counted as a dining room. What I got was an empty corridor, which puzzled me.
"I could have sworn I heard someone's voice over here. I wonder if it must have been one of the servants of the castle. Being a princess and all that must have been one of them, but where did they go?" As I eyed the empty hallway, I felt smudge of danger hit my senses. The same feeling she developed over the years against the grubs when they were about to emerge from underground. It was small thou, small enough that I'd barely felt it. In the fourteen years of fighting, that gut of mine has rarely been wrong. After a minute of silence and the feeling haven't resurfaced, I slowly made my way down the hall, keeping an eye on each door that I pass and an ear to the wall. After hearing nothing and having felt nothing. I figure it must have been a false alarm. Given that this is a new world and in a new body, my six senses aren't in tune yet.
Then a smell of well-cooked food hit my nose. Whatever it was I felt before was gone I decided to leave it at it being a servant and nothing more. Giving the empty hallway one last look, I then turned towards where the smell was coming.
And besides, I developed that feeling for when I was fighting the Grubs. Unless this world had its version of the Locust or I was on her way to being mad. I then took that idea and squash immediately. I was already dealing with being in another world and turning into one of the natives; I didn't want to at insanity to the list of troubles I had going on in life right now.
Following the stench of food, I soon heard voices again. Quickening my stride, I soon found myself back into the main hallway just outside the room with all the crystal chairs inside. Following the sounds of conversation, I found the center of the source of both the food and noise. There sat around a small table was Twilight, Spike, and Starlight eating out bowls of soup. Twilight was the first to notice her through the doorway. "Hey, there you are. We were wondering when you would join us. Spike made Tomato and pepper soup tonight. You'll love it" She happily offered.
Moving up to the table and taking the only unoccupied seat there. In front of me was a bowl of soup. It was an assortment of green, red and brown colors mixed into a blend. A small whiff of steam rose from it showing it was fresh from the pot which made my mouth water. A napkin with a spoon laid on top was just to the side of it. Looking back up Spike had a spoon in his claw and getting a spoonful of red goodness into his mouth. Twilight and Starlight had theirs in their fields of magic. Looking closely at the two ponies in front of her, each of their horns glowing. Twilight's magic was the same color purple as her eyes; the same can be said about Starlight's light blue colored magic match her own. Looking up at my new appendage, I wondered if magic like simple levitation was so easy to use.
Starlight then caught me looking at them while I was focused on their magic. "Is everything alright Abigail? You haven't even tasted your food."
I then realized that I had gotten everyone's attention while looking at the magic display. "I um, just trying to figure out how to use this," I said while pointing to my new horn.
"Oh right, you still don't know how you use your magic yet." Starlight said. Twilight had a look of glee on her face before speaking.
"Starlight, do you know what this means? We get to be the first ponies to teach magic to a creature from another plane of existence!" She said aloud while clapping her hooves together. The sight made me giggle at her sight. It reminded her of a little girl getting the perfect birthday present she wanted. After a minute of celebrating the princesses had finally calmed down and looked at me.
"Let's get started then. Will start off easy with the most simple one any unicorn can do. Basic levitation." She said before demonstrating herself by levitating her spoon in front of everyone. "Levitation is a common trick that every unicorn can learn. Fouls at an early age learn this spell the same as walking. As time passes by this spell will become as second nature to breathing." Twilight had explained before she picked up more things with her magic. "As one pony's magic develops with age the stronger their magic is," before setting everything back down. Starlight then picked up the next portion.
"First try focusing your emotions. A lot of unicorns use their emotions to channel their magic to get an understanding of how to do spells. It's how I use it when I'm doing any powerful spells. Now close your eyes and think about your emotions." She instructed.
Doing just that, I closed my eyes and began to think about what I was currently feeling while trying to wrap my head around this thinking about doing something I thought impossible just this morning.
"Since magic is so new to you and you're already an adult, the magic should be there in a large quantity but will be foreign to you all the same. When you find it grab hold of it and push it around in your mind." Starlight explained. I was doing just that, but trying to look around in your own head is not something. Trying to feel around your mind while using it was starting to make less and less sense. I was about to stop when I felt something off. I noticed that wasn't there before if I had to describe it. It felt like a small paperweight was rolling around in my head. Thinking this might be it, I thought about grasping it with an imaginary hand. "When you have a good hold of it direct it around towards your horn and will go from there." Starlight continued. Nodding my head in understanding, I directed the paperweight like thing forward to my horns base. Then began to notice something strange, when it touched my horn, I felt 'lighter' for the lack of a better word. Like sometimes you feel like you can jump higher after you carry a bunch of stuff.
"Is my horn doing anything right now?" I asked the ponies. This time it was Spike that answered her.
"Well, why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself. " He answered back.
Opening up my eyes, I looked up at to see the peach creamed horn aglow with an emerald green aura shimmering around it. "Great job Abigail. Also congrats on getting your magic out for the first time." Starlight apprised before moving on. "Now that you've pulled out your magic you can now focus it outward from your body. Look at the spoon in front of you. Also, remember magic does involve a lot of psychological factors. Don't simply think about lifting it up, make your mind believe you're picking it up. Like a desire to do it."
Following the wise words of advice, I take a deep breath before looked down at the spoon. It was just a dull gray metal spoon on a white napkin. All I had to do was merely grab it with my new magic. It was simple, right? The others did it, why not me? So what's so hard about that?
"Just reach out to it and grab it" I muttered. In my mind I had only thought about it would be near impossible for me to pick something up without the use of my hands. So I imagined my old hand in the place of my magic to pick up the spoon. The results were instant. A clapping of hooves was brought out at the sight of Twilight and Starlight capping their forehooves together with her spoon suspended in a green magic field.
"Good job Abigail!" Twilight said, looking at me with excitement and interest. "Even though this is the most straightforward spell to master for a unicorn, and performing it on the same day as becoming another species is nothing short of incredible. With some time and effort, you can go far in the Equestrian magic community. You probably have some inert magic's that are unique to you from your world; I can't wait to find out what they are regarding your talents."
"Well, at least you can pick things up now with magic instead of the inert magic in your hooves right?" Starlight said happily, drawing a confused look from me.
"What do you mean by inert magic in my hooves?" I said before looking at my hooves. Starlight then went to demonstrated this by grabbing the spoon out of the green aura with her hoof and holding it at a horizontal angle with the spoon on the bottom. All I could think about was how this world continue to both surprise and amaze me. 'I may not want to head back to my world if this stuff keeps popping up,' I thought from the things I've seen so far. A twinge in my tummy told me why I was here again.
Retrieving the spoon from Starlight, I refocus my sights at the bow of food. Dipping the spoon in the soup like substance, I levitated it up to her mouth and got a good taste of it. The flavor of bell peppers, tomatoes and spinach landed on her tongue. I hummed from the warm taste in her mouth. The COG army doesn't get much in the way of food from it's few farms so real food like veggies were rare to her. The only thing that was considered food to soldiers was the protein paste and the flat fiber bars. Some got the balls and the talent to go out an hunt for whatever they can find that weren't killed by the Krill swarm, Locust or Stranded. A few smart soldiers had an excellent idea of salvaging old spice stores. In the early days of the war, her uncle sent me a package full of spices for her to keep for if she ever had to eat 'real' military food.
Setting the spoon down in her food before I excuse herself from the table to go back to my room, leaving behind the confused party. Quickly finding my new bedroom, I searched the many pockets for her uncle's gift and saw the familiar yellow cylinder. Picking it up with my newfound magic, I exited the room and returned to the dining room. Hopping into her chair, I opened the cylinder and sprinkled the flakes of red, brown and black spices onto the veggies. Taking the spoon, I gave the warm vegetables a good stir before taking in a spoon full.
Closing my eyes, I let out a satisfying 'hum' of approval at the familiar taste of spiced food. It had been good long while since the last time I've had food this good. Opening my eyes, I noticed my company eyeing me and my shaker. "What?"
"What's that?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, it's my spice shaker. I use it to spice up my meals." I happily said.
"Can I try some?" Spike asked politely before pushing his bowl over to me. Obliging the little dragon's request, I levitated my shaker over and shook it over his food, just enough for him to taste it. Spiked mixed his bowl a little before giving it a tentative lick. He 'hummed' at the taste before he gave his nod of approval of the stuff. "What kind of spice is this? I think I recognized some things, but I can't put my claw on what it is." Questioned Spike."What you call this?"
Bringing it up to the side of her face and gave a mocking salesman smile at the dragon. "It's called, 'Slap Ya Mama.' It's what myself and the boys have come to call it. It's ideal for all kinds of meals wither it's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Whether it be the everyday meal or the military's nasty MRE's, this stuff will help make anything tasteless taste better."
"What's in it?"
"Oh, several things like onions, bell peppers, salt, pepper, and garlic."
"I like it," he said before putting in another spoonful in his mouth.
"Can I try some too" Asked Twilight. Handing over her spice shaker and I watched the Princess shake it a few times over her food, mixing it in before taking it in her mouth. Her spoon dropped out of her magic grip, and her face scrunched up while turning a few shades darker.
With some force, she swallowed it whole before she started panting very hard before jugging the cup of water in one go. Gasping for air, she looked at me with a look of shock on her face. "How..? How can you tolerate such a taste? What else is even in IT!?"
Thinking for a moment, I that realizing I forgot to mention the hot jalapenos for the big kick in the flavor department, rubbing the back of my head and gave a few embarrassed chuckles. Taking another big scoop of the veggies into my mouth, she watched in amusement at Twilights growing eyes. The gear wondered if it was possible for ponies eyes to pop out of their heads.
"Now you know why it's called the way it is," Abigail said with a smile. Taking another spoon full of the fresh and now spicy veggies while not showing any weakness in front of the ponies. Twilight stared in disbelief while Starlight and Spike both held back their giggles from the princesses shocked reaction. While I continue to enjoy my spicy veggies.