~ April 15th, 1020 ME ~
‘9:15pm‘
Day one of magic lessons had turned into a huge success... but as Twilight lay awake in her chambers she was discontented about the previous week’s developments. Clearly she should feel more guilt for possessing full responsibility for stealing everything Blazing had known, and yet he seemed to be content with his circumstances. He hadn’t been disrespectful or spiteful. He wasn’t even showing much frustration over the whole situation. If anything he was teaching her more about herself than she was teaching him.
How could he have so much patience despite the fact that fate was out to spite him? He left almost everything behind and abandoned his own name. Was this just his way of coping; ignoring his past? Perhaps this was a method of making lemons into lemonade, but these lemons were hardly ripe.
Whatever the case, it was clear that she hadn’t really been the best model of friendship. Sure, she invited Blazing to study under her and stay at her residence, but was it for his benefit or hers? She was probably as excited, if not more excited to unlock his potential then he himself was. Selfish... I’ve been so selfish, and I’ve barely met Blazing. How have I got to know him as a pony? Have I been serving the needs of others, or fulfilling personal interest? These questions haunted Twilight as she lay in bed.
She had been reading a book on the laws of ambient magic and its production, but the distractions of her mind’s wanderings required her to put it aside. More questions were bombarding her brain, plaguing her nightly reading time. I’m a princess. What kind of role model do I want to be? What would Celestia do?, she asked herself.
It was during this brief moment of pondering that she reminisced on the spell that started it all. It feels like so long ago... but my spell was the one that backfired. Instead of cleaning up the pieces, and figuring out what went wrong like a good scientist, I’ve been ignoring my error as well. She was beginning to realize that she had promised to look for ways to return Blazing home, but had yet to make any progress on that claim. He’s not here to stay on his own accord. It’s my fault... and I’m going to fix this! That’s what I intend to do, and I won’t put it off any longer just because I think his magic potential is amazing! Let’s see... I need a book on teleportation. I need Starswirl’s book on dimensional theories based on spatial manipulation. Hmm... Here we are... I also need transformation and transfiguration magical research, which I have at least 8 books on... this will be a looooong night.
~ April 16th, 1020 ME ~
‘9:23am‘
It had been a restful, dreamless night for Blazing who had fallen asleep rather quickly as a result of the day’s magical training. He was surprised to have not been woken like he had on the previous day, but blessings come in many shapes and sizes, and the extra sleep was much appreciated. It did seem strange, however. Twilight had a time frame for almost everything yesterday... this seemed unlike her. Blazing was only in his second morning waking up at the castle, and yet not seeing Twilight this morning with her checklist in hoof was disappointing. She was so insistent on starting magic lessons early yesterday, yet forgoing that today was odd to say the least, Not that Blazing was complaining after getting extra sleep of course.
“I suppose this mystery can wait until after I’ve downed some coffee.” Blazing made his way towards the kitchens, which he was actually able to find on his own now. This did wonders to boost his confidence, but the kitchen was mysteriously empty. Isn’t Spike up yet? Choosing to be a man of action rather than patiently waiting for one of his hosts, Blazing started trying to get around the kitchen but quickly realized that his body control was still lacking. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out how ponies held things with their hooves. It was almost magnetic in nature, although obviously it was physics-defying magic. Rather than make a mess by trying to brew coffee with his hooves, he opted to try out his telekinesis early in the morning.
This resulted in a pool of water on the ground that Blazing really didn’t want to have to explain, but also a cup of coffee that smelled like it originated in a brewery from heaven. Eh... maybe just a homemade coffee that smelled of grinds, but it was still wonderful to wake up the senses.
My email is probably jam packed right now. Blazing winced as he recalled the things passing him by. Now more than ever feelings of being stuck reigned supreme. The concept of being trapped wasn’t doing favors for his mind. The last week he had been trying to push away any thoughts of home and stay optimistic, but even Earth was looking pretty bleak. I was stuck at home for the past few months before, and now I’m stuck here...So I guess that means it’s time for some magic. Why wallow in self pity after making it this far?
With that, Blazing began looking for Twilight. It was late in the morning, and he was ready for something exciting. “Hello?,” he called. “Twilight, are you there? Hello?”
Blazing wandered around the castle halls for about 8 minutes with no results, before coming upon a closed door opposite the library that had light shining under the crack. He knocked, but didn’t receive any indication that he was heard. “Twilight are you in there? It’s almost 10:00am, and I know you had things scheduled for today.”
After waiting outside for a minute, Blazing was debating walking in when the door finally opened with Spike popping his purple groovy face out. “Didn’t sleep well?”
Spike replied with a very nasally sound that matched his tired eyes, “Twilight had another one of her study nights, and I wasn’t smart enough to move my bed to a different room.”
“Study night?”
“Yeah when she gets like that there’s no stopping her from research. She gets so engrossed that it’s hard to even talk with her... take a look for yourself.” Spike opened the door a little farther, which brought Twilight into view. She had at least 14 books piled on a desk in front of her stacked with notes, and other various scrolls that she was scribbling away on. She had bloodshot eyes, but a determined look.
“Twilight... Sorry to interrupt. Are you alright? I think you may need some rest, or else you may not be able to work on whatever you're doing as efficiently.”
She kept writing away, unfazed by Blazing's comments. “Hey Spike, you mind if I come in and take a look?”
“Sure. I’m just going to go get some pancakes going. I might need to bust out one of my special gems to make it through this day.” He grumbled the last part as he walked out, leaving Twilight alone with Blazing.
Taking Spike’s advice, and trusting conversation wouldn’t get very far, he trotted over behind her to get a view of her work station. Whatever she was diagraming hardly resembled a written language, taking on a more archaic form. It looked like a mix of various runes connected by lines. The only reason Blazing was able to speculate on what it was is because he went through a fantasy faze while growing up. He tapped her shoulder, but she didn’t flinch. He then proceeded to wave a hoof in her face, which had the desired effect.
“Wah! Blazing, why did you do that?”
“Because you were so focused, I could have mistaken you for a zombie! You really need some sleep!”
“Excuse me?! I’m doing this for you, so I don’t need you pestering me about sleep. My friends did something like this once as well, but I’m fine.”
“Sounds like you’re trying to reassure yourself.”
Twilight let out a sigh. “I thought I could make some progress on a spell to help you get home, but I’ve spent the last 12 hours, and made no progress besides figuring out Starswirl the Bearded, my hero, couldn’t find a stable way to travel between continents, let alone dimensions. The only thing close to what we’re trying to accomplish is a mirror realm that we recently discovered a portal to, but for all I know, I have to get you to an alternate reality. I’m going to keep searching, but I don’t like it when the problems I’m trying to solve don’t seem to have an answer.”
“Do you need help?”
“Heh, I’m the element of magic, and I could hardly scratch the surface. What did you have in mind?”
“Well you shouldn’t try to solve everything alone. Find people to support you, and lean on them.”
“How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Stay positive, and teach me things about friendship, when you yourself said you hardly have any friends where you're from.”
“Well I like to face my problems a lot like you: head on. I would actually avoid friendships, because other people would let me down. They didn’t usually have the answers I was looking for. They thought my perspective was strange, and not many people were all too supportive. Honestly, I still think friendship hasn't really worked for me, but I’ve learned a lot about respect and integrity, so I try to live by those morals. When I feel out of control of life and my situation, God often carries me through. He helps me keep a healthy outlook on life, and promises me a future. I know it won’t be easy... my mind is fighting a battle right now, but I’m also encouraged, because I know that I am never alone. In a way I guess that’s what having a good friend is like.”
“Wow. I love you,” Twilight stuttered. “I mean, that’s not what I was going to say... I meant that I love your positive outlook. You know, I’m sorry... you were right. I really do need some sleep, because I’m not in my right mind. Thank you. Thanks for opening up a little.”
“Don’t mention it. Now sleep before I ignite one of your books.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Just kidding.” Blazing said with a chuckle, which almost earned him a slap. “Just don’t be surprised if I can make it rain before you wake up.”
“Please don’t try a new spell unsupervised. I would rather you not blow up part of my castle.”
“Request considered. I suppose I will continue with levitation control until this afternoon.”
“Good. Now let this mare have her beauty sleep.”
“Do I need to remove your notes so that you're not tempted?” Blazing asked with a side smirk.
“I’m not sure if I should be offended by that. You’re just purposefully going back and forth with me now, aren’t you.”
“Maybe.”
“Ugh. Stallions.”
“Sweet dreams. Say hi to Luna for me.”
With that, Twilight rolled over and Blazing went to check on Spike to see the progress of the pancakes.
This is going to be a good day!