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// Rthö Bjæeüf- Hearth's Warming Doubts, Part 1 
// Story: CYCLED 
// by The REAL Mister Pkmn 
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Much had changed in the weeks since Sapphiron saved the Crystal Empire. For one, He was taking the place of Cadence as ruler of the city-state. Celestia didn’t like it much, but there was little that she could do. Cadence didn’t seem to mind being relegated to an advisor of the new Crystal Emperor, though. As for Twilight and the others, they were all preparing for Hearth’s Warming day. Twilight already had picked out a present for each of her friends, aside from Maestro. He was a bit hard to shop for, seeing as he was still pretty secluded from her circle of friends. She had some idea as to what not to get, but… that only helped so much. She was frankly a bit stumped. What was one supposed to get somebody that arguably had all that one could want?

Sighing, Twilight turned her attention back to the list of ideas that she was quickly dismissing. New paints? That was too obvious. A new vest? She quickly disregarded that idea. Maybe a book? She shook her head. She didn’t want to be that predictable. She rubbed her forehead with her left forehoof. “What am I doing…! If I don’t get him something, our relationship might be over! Gotta think of something…”

She looked over the list again as her mind drifted to other thoughts. Sometimes it didn’t really make sense to her why she had fallen for him. After all, what was so different this time? A single image in the moonlight changed everything. And since then, she’d been brushing aside some flaws of his out of hoof. He was very stubborn, and quite abrasive at times. Even so, she had convinced herself that his positives outweighed the negatives. Sometimes she thought that she was making the wrong choice to pursue this relationship.

A headache was pounding in Twilight’s head, and she dropped the list to the ground. Why had these thoughts waited until now to rear themselves? What was so different now than before? And then it hit her like a barreling train. She hadn’t seen or heard from Maestro since the return of the Crystal Empire. Then again, Maestro had been gone for long periods of time before, but this time was different. Maestro hadn’t sent any letters in the interim. He hadn’t even been present for the Hearth’s Warming Play. Questions boiled to the surface of Twilight’s mind. Where was Maestro? Why hadn’t he written in weeks? And why was she only questioning this all now?

She tried to calm herself by doing some of Cadence’s breathing exercises. There had to be a rational explanation. She took the time to look through her library until she found a book that she hadn’t seen before today. It was an unassuming brown book with the title Arcane Magicks And Enchantments printed in bold black letters. Curious about this peculiar addition to her library, Twilight began to read it. After a few minutes, she stumbled upon a certain page:

“Enchantment Of Attraction Magnetism”

 Twilight was disturbed by the title alone. Surly Maestro would never do something like that, right? Not even if he was… desperate… right? She shook the thought aside and continued to read. “Directions: Apply Essence of Wish Fruit librally to the desired object. Bathe object in direct moonlight for 30 minutes. The first two individuals to see the object while it is enclosed by moonlight will start to feel attraction towards the object.”

Scarilly, the enchantment was starting to line up. Though, there were some aspects that were doubtful. Maestro wasn’t out that night for 30 minutes before she saw him… or, at least she thought so. Plus, that didn’t explain Trixie. She didn’t see him at night before her attraction began, at least to Twilight’s knowledge. Also… there was the whole Wish Fruit debacle. She shook her head. She had to know the rest of the effects before she could confront Maestro about this, so she read on. “No amount of distance via time or otherwise has been known to dissipate this spell’s effect. No cure is known. A weaker version known as the ‘Want-it-Need-it Spell’ exists, and is preferable to this enchantment. Do not use it at any cost.” Twilight sighed with relief until she read the section under it. “This enchantment ruined my father. Do not let it corrupt anyone else. -Maestro Spectrum.”

Twilight dropped the book in surprise. She hadn’t expected Maestro to have anything to do with this book. She closed the book to look at the cover to see if there was an indication that she had missed before. The only indication was the credit to a vague “multiple authors” on the cover. She sighed deeply, uncertain of what to think. Even if her faith in their relationship was waning, she just couldn’t think that Maestro had done anything heinous. She decided to try and think on lighter things, like what to get him for Hearth’s Warming.

Yet, the questions still burned in her mind. Maestro had said that his family was taken from him at a young age- However, this didn’t necessarily clash with the book. After all, some ponies were known to have photographic memory, so him remembering a story from his dad wasn’t entirely out of the question. The questions were too weighty to think about anything else. She needed answers, and she needed them now. She wrote a quick note to Maestro and sent it off in a rush.

But as she waited for the reply, she grew more curious. If it wasn’t the enchantment that she had found in the book, then what? It certainly wasn’t Want-it-Need it, for she knew the effects of that one all too well. As she was puzzling about it, a knock came to her door. She opened it, and there he was. Maestro had a more somber look on his face than she had expected. He sighed deeply. “I have come… to explain.”


To Be Continued In Part Two