How do I perform this basic function again?
Spike lead Moon to a bathroom of the castle, telling him to clean the floor with the mop propped up against the wall. Moon awkwardly bumped it around for a few minutes with his hooves, watching it fall down to the floor.
"Just use your magic." Spike rolled his eyes.
Moon nervously laughed, "I sorta don't know how..."
"What do you mean you don't know how?" He asked.
Moon looked at the baby dragon, "I mean I don't know how."
"Come on... I don't know how you don't know already, but Twilight could probably help you out." Spike started walking down the corridor.
The two made it back to the library and stepped inside. Twilight looked a bit surprised as the approached her.
She raised an eyebrow, "Are you already done?"
"No, Blood Moon here doesn't know how to properly use magic." Spike explained.
She looked at Moon, "Is this true?"
"Well... yeah, just a little bit, yeah..." Moon rubbed the back of his head.
The mare cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Well you're an alicorn, right? You did earn that somehow, right?"
"About that... I was born like this, so yeah..." The stallion nervously explained.
This only puzzled Twilight more, "Then why didn't they nurture your magic potential, and to that end, why haven't I heard of you?"
"I don't know, honestly. I really can't tell you anything about my past." He stated.
She probed, "Why not?"
"Because I'm written as a two-dimensional character." Moon admitted.
There was an awkward silence for a time. The three starred at each other not really knowing what to say. Twilight magically levitated several magic training books from the shelves, setting them down on the tables.
The mare looked at Moon, "Let's start with the basics. Focusing on levitation, then we'll move to higher levels."
"Sounds good." Blood Moon agreed, stepping forward.
He focused on the books, shakily levitating them for a short while, opening them as they began to rotate around him. He wasn't getting any tangible information from them, but it mattered not now. He felt powerful, as he watched the blood red aura illuminating the books. This was where his reign of terror would begin. This would be the rise of Blood Moon, the most feared of all! Before long, the alicorn's magic fizzled out, causing the books to fall to the floor.
Twilight glared, "Maybe start by READING one of the books?!"
"They uhh... they fell down... why'd they fall down?" The stallion blubbered.
The Princess of friendship buried her face in her hooves, "Maybe because you don't know how. Start at the beginning." She levitated one book up to the table, "Beginner's magic. Because you're a beginner. You weren't even using a correct stance. Now read it, and we'll go from there. Got it?"
"Y-yes ma'am..." He recoiled.
Moon began with the first paragraph of the book, it was on stance. He realized he was using standing magic all wrong. Ponies needed very solid, planted hooves to adequately use magic while standing. Moon had previously gone with a relaxed stance, which was likely why he wasn't able to hold the books up for more than about ten seconds. Twilight, being of higher affinity for magic for the time being, would've been able to easily pull off a simple trick like that. He read further and realized he couldn't fire a powerful pulse when sitting, it was magically impossible.
Once he made it about halfway through the chapter, Moon stood with his hooves firmly planted on the crystalline floor. He concentrated hard on the book, closing his eyes as he felt the magic flow through him to his horn. He now understood that magic using ponies didn't produce magic, they manipulated it. Those with higher magic ability could draw more through themselves and manipulate it. Opening his eyes to look at the book, he watched a more stable red aura surround it. He lifted it from the table and brought it closer. Feeling his horn spark a few times, he knew this was the extent of his magical stamina as of yet, so he gently set the book back down.
Once he released the magic, the stallion felt a surge of comfort as his stamina started to regain. He looked up at Twilight who gave an approving nod. He had done it, he used magic for the first time! It may have not been advanced, but he would soon learn and develop. He knew he could soon be the threatening figure he had hoped to be, though he would have to start by working up to being able to do chores. He began reading the book more, studying it intently, and by the end of the day, he would have completely read through. He would be ready to show the Princess of friendship what he could do. Maybe he could start with expanding his magic stamina, as it seemed to be the most useful thing as of yet.
Blood Moon closed the book and backed away, lifting it up and holding it in place. It stayed there for one minute before he dropped it, breathing heavily in exhaustion. Physically, he felt just fine, but running his magic stamina dry created the feeling of a great weight on his shoulders until it returned to normal. Once it did, he levitated the book again, this time holding it up for a minute and a half before dropping it. He was surprised at the quick and incremental change in his stamina, it was interesting, and Moon wanted to learn more about it.
He repeated the process several times, until he could hold the book up for five minutes straight, and that was when Twilight stopped him and told him to sit down and get some rest. Moon didn't argue, he was getting tired, and not just magically. The next day, he would work to make his stamina even longer.