[Previously]
The mare was grinning with excitement as she set all the books back onto their shelves, save for Magic: 101. “Fantastic!”
Zach shrugged and eyed the book, “Ok, so what do I do first?”
Twilight’s smile widened and she opened the book. “I’ll show you.”
[Our story continues]
…
Zach spent the next hour or so following along as Twilight went over the “basics of magic” and described the concept of Magic as she knew it. He did his level best to comprehend it, but she kept going off into technical terms that flew over his head and confused him.
In a lucky coincidence, he found some similarities in how Twilight described aspects of magic to how those fantasy settings of the popular games and movies and books he was familiar with had gone about it. The similarities were not exact, but he was able to reference a few examples, so he wasn’t as completely out of his element as he thought he would be.
Zach liked to think he was no stranger to the idea of magic; after all he played that fantasy game all the time back home. ‘Right, and playing that surgeon game makes me a doctor too.’ He sarcastically retorted in his own mind. That being said, he- like every other normal person back home- understood that magic wasn’t real, it was fantasy.
Sure, Zach had practiced meditation, what with all the ‘third eye’ talk and everything else that came with it; he even tried tulpamancy that one time back in highschool. Never in his life had he ever expected any of that to matter apart from relaxing his mind for a better night’s sleep; or to make it easier to focus or give him a means of introspection.
Magic had been nothing but fairy tales and childish dreams. Even those ‘inner energies’ like chakra were chalked up to pseudoscience at best; as far as he knew spirituality was based on what people believed. That wasn’t to say he didn’t have a sense of spirituality, it was just that he preferred to put faith in things that were tangible; quite frankly, there was very little provable fact with any of it.
And now, here he was, in a magical hollowed-out tree, learning about real magical energies from a very real unicorn in a very real magical friendship land populated by real, talking magical horses. Well, real enough; “Fever coma dream” still wasn’t off the table of possibilities, yet.
Zach had promised himself he would take it seriously until he could prove one way or another if this was all real, and so he did. He was in a world where magic was an everyday part of normal life, a world he was still trying to get used to; but darn it if he wasn’t going to do his level best to play along.
On that note, he looked down to the book Twilight held aloft for him in her magic and re-read a few of the passages that she had gone over with him.
According to the text, and based on what Twilight had told him, every pony’s magic had a unique wavelength to it; Similar to how every pair of eyes was unique in its shape and color combination for humans back home, all magic was unique to each pony. Even Pegasi and Earth Ponies had their own forms of magical energy; that one was news to him, having been under the impression that only unicorns had magic.
Casting spells and the abilities what one back home would think of as “magic” was unique to Unicorns, of course.
The idea of this exercise he was presently working on was for Zach to familiarize himself with his own magical energy; to “become aware” of its presence and attempt to cast basic telekinesis. Unfortunately, the nature of one’s magic was a natural part of oneself in Equestria; Zach harbored no delusions, he fully expected this to be next to impossible.
Twilight kept making it all sound so easy in the way she’d described spellcasting; oh but of course she would, after all she was supposed to be a magical prodigy.
Zach shook his head and cleared his mind of this decidedly unhelpful avenue of thoughts and focused back to his horn. He was supposed to reach out with his magic and “feel” the book: Twilight held the book with her own magic, which she suggested would make it easier for him to become acquainted with his magic. It had something to do with the wavelengths of her magic and his own, how they felt when coming in contact with one another, or something to that effect.
There was still a lot of technical/magical terminology that flew so far over his head it could’ve wound up in orbit and hit a satellite, setting the stage for a mediocre sci-fi movie or something. He felt like a toddler that someone was trying to educate on the basics of computer programming.
As if that weren’t humiliating enough: how exactly was he trying to get in touch with these newfound magical energies? Why, a form of meditation, of course.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the universe was mocking him.
Zach took in a deep breath and exhaled, ‘That’s enough of that; empty mind, empty mind…’
Zach held his eyes gently shut; he relaxed and sat still on his haunches, then focused his attention on that curved, pointy, alien protrusion on his head. He searched within himself for new sensations, feelings, anything really, any indication of the supposed energy he was looking for.
‘Y’know, of all the things I might have expected to come back and bite me in the butt at some point, being more of a fan of science fiction and not putting more effort into getting better at meditation techniques really wasn’t on that list.’
He sighed, feeling only the normal calming sensations typical of meditation; there was also the bug part of his brain making itself present, though he didn’t know why and frankly he didn’t care.
Twilight still sat across from him when he opened his eyes; she had a sympathetic smile on her face as she spoke. “Remember, your magic is a natural part of yourself, it isn’t going to be something out of the ordinary you would immediately notice. Pay close attention to the details, every sensation; you’ll recognize your magic when you feel it.”
‘Right, easy for someone born into magic to say.’ He replied in his mind.
Zach tried and willed whatever ‘energy’ was supposed to be there forward; he imagined a field of colorful sparkling energy surrounding himself, pictured moving it forward and reaching out to touch the levitating book. He waited for whatever sensations were supposed to happen, any at all.
There was nothing, save for the bug part of his brain coming up again, probably to mock him.
He flexed his brow and tensed himself, trying for a more physical approach. He demanded the energy reach forward, Zach wanted it to do as he commanded, he practically shouted in his mind for it to move.
Again, nothing; nothing but that annoying bug part of his mind that always found creative means of making his skin crawl. ‘Skin? Chitin? Metaphorical skin.’ It sat there, mocking him, again.
Zach groaned with audible frustration. ‘Screw you, bug brain.’ Nonetheless, he went back and kept trying.
“I can imagine that this has to be really frustrating for you, Käfer. Having to start from scratch learning magic as a grown stallion.” Twilight commented with a sympathetic tone. “This is such an unprecedented situation, practically unheard of-”
“Twilight…” Zach tried to interrupt.
“Well, it is unheard of, now that I think more about it. To go one’s whole life without ever once attempting to perform basic spells though; It’s like an earth pony suddenly growing a horn, or…” The mare continued.
“Twilight.” He tried again.
Spike commented From across the room, “Or like suddenly growing a pair of wings!”
Twilight considered this, “Well, it’s true that flying is a bit complicated, however I think it’s not quite in the same difficulty as magic. I can imagine one could feel their wings and activate the muscle movement with much less trouble than spellcasting-”
“twilight Sparkle!” Zach half shouted.
Twilight stopped mid-sentence, “Hmm?”
Zach struggled to hold back a sarcastic response and instead offered a polite smile. “You’re doing the thing again.”
“Ah, I’m sorry; I was going off on tangent again.” Twilight grinned sheepishly and lightly flushed across her cheeks.
“You have to admit, it is a little weird.” Spike added as he walked over to join them.
Zach looked off to the side with a halfhearted chuckle and muttered, “Oh you don’t know the half of it.” He moved on and got back to the magic; he tried a few different, yet equally unsuccessful attempts to find his magic. “What am I doing wrong with this? Is there a muscle I’m supposed to flex?” Zach asked with desperation in his voice. He hadn’t been at this for very long, but the frustration was severely impacting his capacity for patience. It wouldn’t be so bad if he knew what he needed to correct, ‘If the insectoid tumor in my head would go away and stop butting in, that would also be helpful.’
Twilight frowned, “No, not at all; your magic isn’t something physical, its…” She paused and gave the wording some thought, “It’s like a presence that you’ll know when you find it. It’s an energy that flows through you and around you, an energy you will feel when you’re aware of it. I wish there was a better way for me to explain it…”
Zach half jokingly suggested, “So… kind of like the Force?”
The mare stared at Zach with a look that was a mix between confusion and amusement, “The what?”
Zach was ready to demand how she of all people had never heard of one of the most popular science fiction/fantasy franchises in existence, only to stop himself with the stupidly obvious reminder of him being in a physical manifestation of a children’s cartoon. “Nevermind, forget I said anything.”
Twilight blinked and said, “Ok, if you say so.” She turned the book back to herself and read through it. “It might not be that you’re doing anything wrong, this might just be something that will take some time and practice.”
“Time that we probably don’t have, Twi.” Spike reminded her.
“I know, Spike,” she confirmed, “I’ve accounted for the time we’d need to adequately perform the duties Princess Celestia assigned me. I haven’t forgotten.”
Spike nodded, “Yeah I figured that much, I just wanted to double check.”
“I appreciate it, Spike.” She smiled at her assistant and turned back to Zach, “If we need to, Käfer, I can make time to continue this with you after I’m done attending to my tasks for the Summer Sun Celebration. Since I’m going to be here for a few days anyway, I’d be more than happy to continue helping you if you need it.”
“You don’t have to do that, but thanks.” With a renewed determination, Zach got back to it; he dug deep and searched for any plausible indicator of the magic that supposedly resided within himself. He tried, and failed, to reach out with any kind of hint of magic. That annoying insectoid function in his mind cropped up with each attempt, and he shoved it back every single time it reared its unsettling head. The frustration was reaching a boiling point, yet he persisted.
All the while Zach struggled, Twilight offered her encouragement, holding the book out for him to reach for. “It’s there, it has to be; you’ll know it when you feel it.”
Zach sighed, “I’m beginning to think I’m not going to be doing any kind of magic anytime soon.”
“No, don’t say that!” Twilight immediately replied, “You’ve almost got it, keep at it!”
A taste hit Zach’s tongue, a familiar flavor… concern. He mentally grabbed the information and hurled it across the room in his mind. “How could you possibly know that?” He argued, with a bit more aggression in his voice than he intended, “I don’t feel any bit different than when I first started this; I’m just spinning my tires in the mud and going nowhere. Look, Twilight, I appreciate your help but I’m just wasting your time.”
The mare frowned once again, lightly tilted her head to one side, “I’m not sure I understand your analogy, but…” She turned the book back to face Zach and offered a reassuring expression, “Please, don’t give up; you’re making progress, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Keep a positive attitude and don’t let your lack of results discourage you.”
“Its not the lack of results that’s discouraging me, Twilight. Its that I don’t even know what I’m doing wrong!”
“Do you think maybe it’s got something to do with the shape of his horn?” Spike suggested.
Twilight shook her head, “No, that’s not how unicorn horns work. While I must admit it’s one of the most unique horns I’ve ever seen on a unicorn, it should still be fully capable of some semblance of magical aptitude. A unicorn’s horn is just a magical focus; a unicorn can still use magic even if their horn is severely damaged.”
She looked back to Zach and said, “Käfer, like I was saying earlier, it might not be that you’re doing anything wrong at all. Just keep pushing forward, you’ll get there eventually.”
Zach took a deep breath and tried to vent his frustrations with a humorous remark, “Keep pushing? I thought you said my magic wasn’t tied to any physical movement?”
Twilight’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She blinked a few times, then finally spoke. “I- Käfer, that was a metaphor.”
Spike did his best to suppress a laugh.
She eyed the little dragon quizzically, then it clicked for her, “Oh! I get it, you were joking!”
“Noooo, he was being super serious!” Spike spoke with a playful dose of sarcasm.
The mare ignored spike’s remark and spent the next few minutes mulling over an idea she was formulating in her head as Zach got back to his failing magical meditation.
Eventually Twilight remarked, “You know, with how developed you are, seeing as you’re an adult… why not try calling your magic to you? It might just answer.” She suggested.
“Do what now?” Zach asked.
Twilight repeated herself, “Call out to your magic, maybe it will answer?”
Zach paused mid strain and bluntly restated her words, “You want me to talk to my magic? Talk… to an energy?”
Twilight furrowed her brow in an expression halfway to ridicule, but it quickly shifted and she instead had a more understanding look, “I know, it must sound crazy, but I don’t mean to literally speak to your magic. Except… I kind of do; It’s complicated.” She went on to explain, “As I’ve stated before, your magic is a part of you; If you’ve gone so long without utilizing magic, without so much as making an attempt to connect with it, maybe it’s gone dormant, or atrophied. Odd as it sounds, maybe your magic isn’t aware of you?”
“How in the hay is that supposed to work? Now I’m confused.” Spike commented with a chuckle.
Twilight quickly replied, “As I’ve been saying this entire time, this situation is-”
“-unprecedented, we know.” Spike finished for her.
Twilight started to explain the intricate details of her idea to Zach; she didn’t get very far. Due to the immeasurable skill gap between the two, the terms Twilight used flew completely over Zach’s head.
“Twi, the smoke’s coming out of his ears again.” The dragon teased.
“Sorry; let me try again with simpler terms… I think your magic doesn’t know when to respond to your commands; Or maybe your magic isn’t receiving your commands, if that makes more sense.” Twilight stated.
Spike scratched at his head and asked, “You mean like when you first wake up and you’re half asleep, and your arms don’t move the way you want them to?”
Twilight thought about it, then nodded, “That isn’t a bad analogy, considering the situation.”
“So, I just need to get its attention? Well, why not, I’ll give it a shot.” Zach said with a shrug. “Hey magic, are you listening? Anyone home?”
Twilight held up a hoof and had a smile that looked as if she were suppressing a laugh, “N-not like that- well, that might work too, but I meant more…” she tapped that same hoof to her temple, “In your mind.”
‘OK, talking to magic now… however that works.’ Zach thought to himself, or rather, to whatever avenue he could in the hopes his words would reach his magic. ‘Magic, where are you? Can you hear me?’
He waited for a response, but his patience was already wearing thin with the previous failures. ‘Hello? Anyone home? Now would be a great time to say hi.’
More time passed, without a single indication of success. ‘Wow, that didn’t work either, who didn’t see that coming?’
Just as he was ready to write this off too, he felt the persistent and unwanted presence of bugmind join alongside his senses. The insectoid part of his mind was front and center, with far more of it here than he was used to feeling. It had much greater presence and mass, but not in the sense of having grown bigger; it was more that he hadn’t been aware of just how much of it was there up until now.
Zach couldn’t pull himself away from it, nor could he shove it back into his mind where it’d spawned in from like he normally would have done. He felt himself compelled to look, to see, to understand… but understand what?
It was at that point that a thought occurred, ‘Wait, what if my magic is tied to the bug part of my brain?’ He stopped and considered the possibility; after all, his bug brain was what handled sensing emotions. In terms of the whole “emotion sensing” thing, he couldn’t explain through any naturally occurring biological means how such a sense would be possible.
If emotion sensing and, by extension, eating emotion was all handled by magic, then it might make sense for bug brain to be involved with harnessing his magic. Taking that thought a step further: had he already been using magic without realizing it?
That then raised the question: If magic handled emotion sensing, what other functions did magic perform in this world?
Zach had begun to think more about that, but he didn’t get very far into it before bugmind gently grabbed his attention. ‘Right, I’ll get back to that later.’ He took his original thought on magic and the bug brain a step further, ‘What if the bug brain IS my magic?’
Unfortunately, whether or not the bugmind was his magic, using his magic came with the unwanted bonus of carrying along that unpleasant bug part of his mind either way. He hesitated and considered a few things, unsure whether magic was worth the cost of having to associate more with that unwelcome part of his mind that gave him the creeps. ‘Well, it’s not like the bug brain is going to leave me alone one way or the other; it’s been causing me issues and is probably going to keep being a pain in the neck regardless of if I try to learn magic or not.’
As much as he disliked the idea of intentionally interacting with “bug-brain”, he ultimately decided it was absolutely ridiculous to write off something as amazing as actual magic for the sake of trying to avoid something he already had little chance of avoiding anyway.
It was at that moment a new thought crossed his mind: the implications with this new context, for all the times Zach reached out for his magic and the bug-brain had tried to get his attention. If his magic really was attached to that creepy bug thing in his mind- or if they were one and the same- then that would mean he’d been unintentionally sabotaging himself every time he’d shoved it away.
It was plausible then, that this entire time, his magic had been making the first move and trying to connect with him; and he had been rejecting his magic every time. Zach hoped that this wasn’t the case, or else he’d feel like a giant idiot.
To be fair to himself, he’d rejected bug-brain due to its disturbing behavior; invading his thoughts with things that he found revolting or creepy gave him ample reason to avoid associating with it. He hadn’t been rejecting it out of malice, merely that it made him very uncomfortable.
Zach paused and thought, ‘You know what? I’m overthinking this; I’ve been trying to make contact with my magic, and I’ve accomplished that… I think.’ On that note, he raised his focus to the point on his forehead where his horn was; he reached out to his newfound magic, the bug-brain, and attempted to do whatever it is one could do with magic in his position.
At first he didn’t feel anything new, but that didn’t last long. A warm, tingly sensation sprung up from his forehead, around where he assumed the base of his horn was. The sensation rapidly spread from the region and out over his entire body, all the way down to the tips of his hooves.
Zach quickly inhaled from the suddenness of it, and the tingles had startled him; the sensation eased and fell into a gentle warmth, a soft weight and a pressure. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t “normal” and it didn’t sit right in his mind. He knew what the sensation was, at least he thought he did, but fear momentarily won out and he mentally backed away from the presence.
As quickly as it had come, the warmth and the pressure subsided.
“That was weird.” He said aloud.
“What was weird?” Twilight inquired with a hint of excitement.
Zach lightly smiled with a mix of emotions, “I did it, I think; that felt really weird.”
“Tingly weird?”
Zach nodded, “Yeah, but it didn’t stay tingly. It was like a muscle that fell asleep, almost, but it didn’t last as long and was more of a weird tingly instead of an uncomfortable kind of tingly. Before that, there was this second person in my head, except it wasn’t actually a person, not really; it was just a… umm, a thing that swung by and got my attention. Kinda reminded me of the time I talked with my subconscious in a dream I had, except weirder and less familiar.” He knew he was botching his explanation, but he also didn’t want to cue in Twilight on his bug-brain shenanigans.
Twilight held her mouth slightly agape, “Oh, I see, well, that’s certainly a very, um, unique way of describing it…” The look was replaced with one that was much more encouraging, “I think that was it, that might just be your magic.”
“Is there an easy way for me to tell definitively?” He asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” She wiggled the book she’d kept held in her magical kinesis and then set it down in front of him, “Try to reach out with your magic to grab the book, pick it up if you can.”
Zach raised an eyebrow, “So… the same thing I’ve been trying to do?”
Twilight nodded, “Yes, I was attempting to catch two birds with one net in having you reach out to the book, both to identify your magic and utilize it. Seeing as you may have accomplished the first part, now you can focus solely on the second. If you really are in touch with your magic, then you should be able to grab the book with a basic telekinesis spell.”
“A telekinesis spell? But I don’t know any-” he started.
The mare shook her head and interrupted, “I’m sorry, I misspoke; you’re not actually casting any spells, not in the way you’re probably thinking. Telekinesis in its most basic form is an innate ability tied directly to a unicorn’s magic. Any unicorn can use their magic to levitate objects; their proficiency in magic and casting strength determines how well they can do so. Many unicorns stop using basic telekinesis altogether when they reach adulthood and can use more advanced forms of telekinesis spells.”
She smiled and continued with a tone that helped reassure him, “You’re only trying to grab hold of a book and lift it into the air; you aren’t trying to perform any kind complicated telekinetic manipulation like opening it or turning pages- not that doing so is anything I would consider complicated, but someone of your experience might find that challenging- it isn’t heavy either. Admittedly, most unicorns start with something far lighter like eating utensils or a pencil; most unicorns first learning how to use their magic are also foals, and as such have significantly weaker magical strength.”
Zach blinked and took a breath, doing his level best to process all that, “Okay, I’ll take your word for it then.”
He drew his attention to the book and focused partly to the base of his horn for another attempt. ‘Okay magic, let’s do this.’ Zach felt the sensations of tingly warmth and pressure within himself seem to eagerly rise with the occasion. He kept his calm and put more emphasis into his horn; The earlier sensation amplified quite a bit, although the pressure never seemed to reach a point that caused him any discomfort. He felt… powerful, a strength devoid of the need for muscle movement or physical exertion; it held with it untapped potential, this gentle presence carried these sensations all throughout his physical self. The energies and all the sensations they brought filled every inch of his awareness and radiated from somewhere within him he couldn’t pinpoint. Zach reached with this power at his metaphorical fingertips and applied more focus on his horn. He felt the massing energy pool itself at the base of that curved chitinous structure before running up the length of the appendage.
He would have imagined that all this feeling and sensation would be natural to a unicorn; for Zach, it was anything but natural. Magic, actual magic; it was like something out of a dream. Well, not his dreams, but dreams he imagined someone else would have, someone normal. That being said, it wasn’t a frightening or unpleasant experience overall. On the contrary, he was rather excited with the prospects of magic being a tangible thing he could interact with.
His horn ignited with green light as that power filled the appendage. He felt something open up in his mind, ideas and feelings, an avenue that hadn’t existed before even in his deepest thoughts or wildest dreams. He felt like the wind was at his back, urging him to reach out and explore. It was as if the world around him was rapidly expanded in an array of awareness and newfound perception that swiftly overtook every other sensory organ in his body.
There was so much more to this new perspective of the world around him, a plane with the depth of a universe, and it was practically begging him to take a step forward and dive into it.
The power surged to a brilliant crescendo, and he could make out colorful bright lights in the infinite depths, strange shapes and symbols in his mind’s eye. There were so very many of these lights and shapes, all of them seeming to interconnect and join together at various points, and yet there was still more with every passing second. As he reached forward within himself to try and get a better look, his horn discharged in a volley of sparks and the swelling energy collapsed in on itself; everything fell back into him with a mildly painful jolt and what he could best describe as mental whiplash.
A moment passed in silence before his senses returned and Zach was able to process what had just happened. With the pain in his horn and an intangible pain elsewhere within his mind, all he could utter was, “Ow.”
Twilight was radiating with excitement, “You did it!”
“Wait, I did? What did I do?” Zach asked in the moment of disorientation. “Did I move the book?”
The mare paused in her expression to point out, “Well, no, but,” she then resumed with her level of excitement as before, “you tapped into your magic!”
“How could you tell?” Zach immediately felt like an idiot after saying that. He saw his own horn glowing; it was pretty obvious.
Twilight spoke his same point, “Your horn had magic flowing through it and radiating from it, visible in that glow, and then with the sparks you released. Admittedly, you pooled way too much magic into your horn and it imploded on itself with magical overload, but still!”
Zach blinked and stood there with a puzzled uncertainty, “Really? That’s all it took to unlock my magic?” he muttered it more to himself than anything, but Twilight and Spike both heard him.
Spike spoke up, “Well, Twilight has been telling you that magic is a part of you.”
“I get that; I was just expecting there to be… I don’t know, more to it I guess.”
Twilight retook hold of the conversation, a bit more enthusiasm in her tone, “Oh there is! There’s so very much more to magic, more than you can imagine!”
“That’s not what I meant,” Zach started to specify, “I meant more along the lines of having to work more at it before I could start slinging spells.”
The mare had an almost amused look to her demeanor, “Well, you are a grown unicorn, your magic is fully developed; compare that to a foal whose magic is only just starting to manifest itself. Käfer, you’ve just scratched the surface of magic and taken your first glimpse into a world of endless possibilities at a stage of your life far later than any unicorn would normally start.”
She wiggled the book as if to punctuate her next statement, “That being said, not that I want to discourage you, but you still have yet to actually move the book.”
“Point taken.” Zach admitted.
Spike added on, “It’s probably going to be a while before you’re slinging anything; but when you do, shout duck.”
Zach looked to spike with a curious gesture, “Any particular reason why?”
Twilight was quick to drag his attention back to his magic and away from whatever spike had been talking about, “There will be plenty of time for sharing that story later. Right now, lets focus on performing your first spell; that way, you can practice that in your spare time.”
“Ok, that’s fair.” Zach retraced his steps and reached out to his magic. Once he felt the sensations from earlier of magical energies flowing through him and into his horn, he aimed, yet he hesitated. “OK, so I’ve got my magic active, I think. What do I do?”
“You reach out to it.” Twilight said plainly.
Zach paused and asked, “By ‘reach out’, do you mean figuratively, literally, or…?”
Twilight blinked in a moment of confusion, “What do you-? Oh!” she nodded in understanding as she answered, “Literally, with your magic; what you’re trying to do is ‘wrap’ your magic around the book. Try to imagine what it might feel like for spike to reach out with his hand and grab something.”
The little dragon helped Twilight by offering a visual example. He reached out with his hand and grabbed at the book. “Like that, except with magic.”
Zach was relieved, believing that this would be a very easy thing for him to do, having had hands before coming here. He focused on his magic, drawing in as minuscule an amount as possible to be safe and took in the feeling of this tangible energy; once he accomplished this, or at least thought he did, he imagined himself extending it. Zach worked with it in his mind’s eye, trying to maneuver this energy as if it were an invisible arm, or a tendril, figuring how the magic’s movement gave feedback to his senses.
The feeling of his magic reaching out like this was… it was indescribable. He could say it was like extending his arm, except the physical connection from which the appendage originated was vastly different. Sure, his horn was the point of articulation for him, but there were no bones in this appendage with which any muscles would expand or contract. At the same time, very unlike an arm, he was acutely aware of the beginning and end of this tendril of energy without the need for visual or tactile confirmation; though, at times he thought he could actually see the mass of energy.
After a small while of struggling to get this tendril to cooperate and do what he wanted, he got the hang of making it move how he wanted. It wasn’t as responsive or solid as moving an arm, but he was able to maneuver it with a decent amount of success. He sent the tendril towards the book and crept it through the air until it graced the hardback’s surface.
Zach felt it, not all that unlike a finger pressing upon the durable book’s surface; and yet it wasn’t close enough of a feeling for him to shake how utterly strange it felt. To be so similar and yet so alien at the same time took some effort for him to comprehend. The act wasn’t some arm and hand reaching for the book, but it was still very much a part of him that was making contact with the book’s exterior.
It all confused him so much that he nearly lost hold of his magic; he would have, had it not been for Twilight’s words of encouragement.
“You can do this; gently wrap the book in your magic’s grasp and lift it.” She said.
Zach took a deep breath and pressed on. He maneuvered his tendril of energy around the smooth surface of the hardcover and carefully stretched the area of the tendril’s endpoint until he had what he thought to be a good grasp of the thing. As he did so, the book was enveloped in a green light, a light which he could easily figure was his telekinesis spell. ‘OK, I think I’ve got it. Lemme try and lift it towards me now.’
It was far heavier than he was expecting, lifting this book with his magic. Zach struggled to pick up the book as if he were trying to lift several pounds of weight with a mere finger “Jeez, is it supposed to be this heavy?” he said aloud as he fought to lift the thing off the ground with little success.
“That’s likely due to you being so significantly out of practice.” Twilight assured him. “The more you use your magic, the easier it will be for you to perform feats like this; before long, you’ll be moving objects around with your telekinesis with minimal effort.”
“So, it’s like exercise huh?”
Twilight thought about it, then gave a gentle shake of her head, “Yes and no; you aren’t wearing down mass to rebuild it stronger so much as you want to get accustomed to the amount of magic needed to accomplish a task and the efficiency in which you can do so.” She continued with a brighter tone, “The good news is that you’re getting the hang of it, I can see that you’ve got the book firmly in your magic’s grasp; that’s good.”
Again, Zach tried lifting the book; it shifted slightly, but otherwise didn’t budge. His grasp of the object just wasn’t strong enough to lift it. “So, what should I do? I can’t lift it, can I just… put more magic in it or something?”
“With basic telekinesis, yes, but more advanced forms of telekinesis wouldn’t work that way.” Twilight answered without missing a beat.
“And why is that?” He asked; while he waited for the answer, he started trying to channel more magical energy into his attached tendril.
She briefly explained, “The arcane mechanics function differently for more advanced forms of magical kinesis; you’ll see for yourself once you get there.”
Zach pushed a wad of his magic through his horn and into the tendril connected to the book. He could feel the book become lighter in his grasp, lighter and lighter up to the point it was almost too light. When Zach went to lift the book this time, it flew into the air and slipped from his grasp. “Gah!”
Twilight deftly caught the book with a kinesis spell of her own, arresting its flight and gently placing it back down to the floor where it once sat.
“Shoot, I’m sorry.” Zach said with a droop to his ears. “I think I overdid it.”
“Not to worry, magic tends to do that;” Twilight spoke, again trying to reassure him, “React unpredictably I mean. You see, as I went over briefly before we started…”
“Ha, define briefly.” Spike muttered half-jokingly under his breath.
Twilight ignored the dragon’s remark and continued, “Magic has its own governing laws and dynamics that frequently interfere with the facts of known sciences and laws of physics. In my own experience and with everything I’ve learned over my years of magical study; even the most seasoned magic user can have sudden and unexpected results occur from a magical spell they haven’t yet attuned themselves to.”
Zach did his best to follow along, it wasn’t easy, but he was managing.
The mare went on, “Of course, that’s not to say anything can happen in a magical mishap; magic will still flow along with whatever the avenue of a spell’s structure dictates. Magic may not adhere to the laws of physics or the known mechanics of the sciences, but it still has its own rules it has to follow. Magic and spellcasting might seem strange from the outside looking in, but it’s consistent with its strangeness.”
“So…’ Zach thought aloud, “you’re saying if I went and tried to cast a spell for, say, a protective shield... I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally turning myself into a kitchen sink?”
Twilight made an amused face and laughed at that, “Oh no, absolutely not! That spell would- even if it failed spectacularly- follow along its core structure of a defensive ward. You’d still get a shield, or a barrier of some kind, though the strength and duration of said ward would vary considerably; either that or it would fail to do anything more than fizzle out into nothing.”
“Well, that’s reassuring at least. I won’t have to worry about blowing myself up trying to light a candle in the future.” Zach joked, though it was a legitimate concern when he considered it.
“Oh goodness no! An ignition spell won’t run the risk of explosion, however…” Twilight said with a cautioning look, “You might cause something else to ignite if you don’t have your anchor point set properly.”
Zach thought about it, “Anchor point? So you’d treat it like holding a lit match in your kinesis or something?”
“Not quite, but that’s not inaccurate; we’re getting a bit off topic though.” She nudged the book with her forehoof, “Go ahead and try again, this time find a proper value to the amount of arcane energy you channel into the telekinetic spell.”
“In English, please.” Zach said in response, but Twilight gave him a look that reminded him ‘England’ didn’t exist in Ponyland.
“I think he wants you to simplify it, Twi.” Spike helped clarify.
“Oh, of course.” She cleared her throat and did just that, “Try to balance out how much magic you put into your kinesis. Try putting in a little bit at a time until you’ve got enough strength to pick up the book with your magic.”
Zach hummed in acknowledgement, “Ok, but why didn’t you just say that instead of the technical stuff?”
“I’m sorry, it’s a force of habit,” Twilight said with a mild flush to her cheeks, “I’m used to talking to ponies with significantly greater magical knowledge and intellect.”
Zach stared with his mouth slightly ajar, and his eyes narrowed as the bluntness of what Twilight said sank in.
Spike eyed Twilight with more or less the same expression as the one Zach held.
“What?” Twilight asked innocently enough.
The little dragon answered before Zach had the chance to, “Twilight, you just called him stupid; To his face.”
It took Twilight a moment to fully process what it was she’d said and what Spike was pointing out; but when she did, the flush to twilight’s cheeks expanded across her face and she had an expression to match. “Oh, oh, my gosh I’m so sorry!” She frantically apologized. “That’s not what I meant by that at all!”
“Yeeah, its uh,” Zach started with a forced smile despite the sting of the last of his pride, “It’s fine; no hard feelings.”
Twilight groaned; unable to shake the embarrassment from her face, she hid behind her forehooves, “Ugh, I’m so sorry about that; I can’t believe I said that!”
“You know, Twi,” The dragon said, gesturing to Zach, “Maaaaybe, this is why the princess sent you down here and encouraged you to make some friends?”
Twilight’s face was still slightly flushed with color when she poked part of it out from behind her hooves; she furrowed her brow at the dragon’s suggestion and scoffed, “Oh please, not this again. I already told you Spike, I don’t have time for friendship!”
Spike raised an eyebrow at that, “Oh yeah? Seems to me you were having a great time teaching your new friend here how to do magic.” He argued.
Twilight came out from behind her hooves and puffed out her cheeks before saying, “That’s different! I was teaching a unicorn in need how to access something every unicorn should have access to!”
“It was still fun though.” Spike pointed out with a sly grin. “Right?”
“Well, yeah but,” twilight started, then shifted gears, “Oh no you don’t, I see what you’re doing and I’m not falling for it!”
Zach’s eyes wandered between them as they had their back and forth. “So, did you want me to try again, or…?”
Twilight nodded and regained her composure, “Yes, please.”
Zach focused his attention and tried again to lift the book. He made sure to avoid putting as much magic in it as that last time. To start with, he added just a tiny amount, just enough to reach out and connect with it.
“There you go,” Twilight said with encouragement in her voice, “now, slowly add more magic into the spell.”
Zach did as she said, pulling a smidgeon of magic from within and applying it to his tendril grasping the book. He tried to lift it, and for a moment he thought he was doing it. The book shuddered, but he just couldn’t get it airborne.
Twilight nodded to him, “Again, this time with a little bit more magic.”
“Got it.” Zach gently bit at his lower lip and focused harder. He applied more magic, this time measuring out more than the last application.
With more power in his tendril, he tried to lift the book. This time it actually started to move upwards, the first corner going up, then the other. Soon, the book was an inch off the floor, held aloft with a soft green glow, and Zach was ecstatic. ‘I’m doing it, holy crap I’m doing it!’
He let out a laugh, a mix between nervous and joyous. He could hardly believe that he was actually lifting a book, any object really, with only the power of his mind. “Wow, if the folks back home could see me now.” He muttered to himself. 'Actually, they'd probably run away screaming.'
Twilight was practically beaming, “You did it! You’re lifting the book! Congratulations Käfer!”
Spike clapped his hands together in applause.
“I- I am, aren’t I?” Zach said with a giggle. He moved the book around in the air, turning it over in his magic’s grasp and nearly dropping the thing in the process from the weight of it. “Wow, this is actually really difficult.” He gently set the book back down onto the ground and released it from his grasp. He let out a breath and smiled.
“It gets easier with practice.” Twilight reminded him, still radiating her cheer at his success.
Zach took a moment to revel in this small victory, then eventually asked, “So, what’s next?”
Twilight glanced to the clock on the wall. “That will have to be all for now.” She looked back at him with a sad smile, “If I delay any longer, I’m going to run the risk of missing my deadline for the tasks Princess Celestia assigned me.”
Zach was disappointed, but he knew she had infinitely more important things to do, “I understand; priorities, right?”
She nodded, “As much as I would love to continue showing you how to perform magic, that will have to wait. As I mentioned before, I’m going to be staying here for the next several days; I would be more than happy to continue helping you with magic at a later time.” Twilight looked to her assistant and asked, “Spike? Where did you put my saddlebags?”
Spike Immediately answered with, “Over by the door.”
“Thank you.” She reached for the bags with her magic and quickly added, “Oh, and my checklist?”
Without missing a beat, Spike answered this one too, “In your saddlebags.”
Twilight set the bags over her back and pulled out the rolled up paper that lay stuffed within. She smiled and said, “Great! Thanks Spike.”
“It’s what I do.” Spike replied.
Twilight looked back at Zach and gave a wave, “Goodbye for now, I hope to see you again soon! Oh, and don’t forget the book of magical studies we used, take it with you to practice with!”
Spike added, “Yeah, you should probably read it too!”
“Spike!” Twilight lightly reprimanded the dragon.
Zach waved back and smiled lightly as he watched the two of them leave the library. As much as he wanted to continue learning magic, Twilight had places to be and ponies to meet. He couldn’t just expect the pilot episode to stop on account of him, could he? ‘Well alrighty, the pilot episode is proceeding as it should, I hope. Man, if this is some sort of alternate reality and angry moonflanks wins her fight with twilight, that’s probably going to be the opposite of good for me. Oh crap, what if I’ve already altered things just by being here?’ He paused and winced, ‘Aaaaand I’m not thinking about that anymore!’
‘Magic! Time to think about magic again.’ He focused his magic and reached for the book of magic 101, taking hold in it with his tendril of magic. With a little trial and error as to the quantity of magic needed to lift the book, he had it airborne again.
Zach held it aloft in his magic and waved it around a few times in the air. “Okay, this is never going to stop being cool as heck.” He pulled the book towards himself and tried setting it into his bag next to the other books. It turned out to be a bit more challenging than he anticipated, as he found it surprisingly difficult to move the magical limb and his own physical limbs at the same time so as to get the bag open. “Jeez, its like trying to learn how to breath through a snorkel.”
Eventually he sidestepped the process by opening the bag ahead of time, and then placing the book inside the bag with his magic. “Huzzah! Human ingenuity beats quirky magic! Go team hairless monkeys.”
He quickly glanced around just to be sure no one had been around to hear him say that. Luckily, he was safe, “Okay, yeah, not gonna be blurting out that one again anytime soon. Stupid stupid stupid.”
He made sure his things were secure, then made his way out of the library. There wasn’t any place he really needed to be, nor that he particularly wanted to be (besides home in his bed) so he idly wandered around Ponyville for a good few minutes.
After a while, he sat on the ground and pulled out the diagram Twilight had made for him on the unique flight characteristics and design of insect wings. He glanced back to his covered sides and thought, ‘See, what I would really like to do right now is get these dumb wings to work so I can fly around. Always wanted to be a pilot, this is practically the same thing, well, minus the bells and whistles and all the gauges and levers… ok so I guess it’s pretty different. It’s still flying though.’
He looked around and noted the abundance of people in the streets, tending to their business and otherwise being preoccupied. ‘If I whip my wings out here, its going to draw everyone’s attention for sure. Bug wings, why did I have to be a damned bug. Not that I’d want the social repercussions of being a pretty pony princess either, but come on, a bug monster of all things?’
Zach had the idea that he could find someplace secluded to practice, but given it was the middle of the day now, it would be far too easy for him to be spotted. He had the luxury at the very least, that none of the pony folk would know what he was, but Zach wasn’t entirely comfortable with taking that chance just yet.
It would be just his luck that he’d get spotted by someone who actually knew what he was, and then that would be the end of his stay in Ponyville.
‘Well, looks like flying is out of the question until I’m known around town, or I can figure out how to shapeshift.’ A thought then crossed his mind, ‘Wait, the batponies seemed not to care what I looked like, they saw the wings and my face and everything! Yeah they were pretty laid back; I guess I could always hang out after dark and learn how to fly with the bats.’
He stuffed the diagram back in his bag and looked at the books of magical study that lay within. ‘Magic, on the other hand, doesn’t need to be hidden now does it?’
Curved horn or not, magic was magic; judging by what twilight had said earlier regarding his curved horn, he could only assume that horn deformities were a thing. Heck, he could probably practice right here and now if he wanted.
“Pardon’, comin’ through!” Came the shout of a pony directly to Zach’s right.
He glanced over and instinctively stepped back to avoid the cowboy-hat toting mare and their cart full of apples.
“Sorry fella, gotta share the road!” She said as she passed him by.
‘Ok, maybe not right here in the road.’ He admitted. ‘Say, wasn’t that Applejack?’ Zach moved to the side and got another look, and sure enough it was. The cowboy hat and blonde mane alongside the triple apple flank-mark immediately gave it away. ‘Huh, so it was; Neat.’
Zach stepped off to the side of the road and found himself a quiet spot over by some tables between a set of buildings. He thought one of them might have been a store, but he was preoccupied with getting back to magical practice. There were a few ponies seated at some of the other tables, but that wouldn’t be a problem.
He took a seat at one of the empty tables and pulled one of the books out of his bag.
“Okay, time for some more practice.”
He cleared his mind, which took some doing, and then massed the magic into his horn. His tendril of magic made its way around the book and he lifted it with his first try. ‘Nice, I’m already getting better; this is so cool!’
He moved the book around, flipping it back and forth in his grasp. He sat it on the table and tried to open it. Unsurprisingly, opening the book was a whole different beast compared to lifting it. With his magic wrapped fully around the book, it was difficult to differentiate the different sides of the magic. The tendril didn’t have fingers, it was just one solid mass of grabbing. There was little in the way of telling what portion was grabbing where, simply that he was.
It was almost like Velcro, or one of those dirt grabbing goo ball things they show off in those infomercials no one pays attention to. An idea immediately popped into his mind, ‘Can I give it fingers? I guess I could try that, but it’s already difficult enough just making the tendril on its own.’
He gave it a shot, but he quickly realized that trying to ‘split’ his trendril of extended magic was out of the question. No matter how he tried to coax the arcane limb to divert into the additional flanges, it simply extended itself or contorted into a shape without dividing so much as a small bit.
‘Well that was a complete failure, who didn’t see that coming?’ He thought to himself, ‘I bet there’s a trick to it, maybe rubbing the magic and snagging the edges of the book… or maybe…’ He pondered the state of his magical limb. “What if I’m coming at this from the wrong perspective?”
He thought of how he’d hold an object without fingers, a scoop or a spoon shape with his hand. It wasn’t the most desirable of shapes, but it was an idea that might work better.
With the shape in mind, he added the image to his magical extension and started reshaping it. The intangible mass warped and moved around, but it wouldn’t really go into the shape he was looking for. It always just reverted to its base shape of nothing in particular.
“Yeah, I’m definitely coming at this from the wrong perspective.” He said with a defeated sigh. “I’ll just have to ask twilight about it next time I see her… or, I can do homework for the first time in my life and read one of the books she gave me.”
He looked over the cover of the book, ‘See, if they taught interesting things like magic in school, I might have actually wanted to be there. Or, more realistically, how to balance a checkbook or work a stove. Or how to change a tire…’
As he sat there with his book and his thoughts, he had a sudden flavor flow across his tongue. The taste of it was new, yet strangely familiar; he found it quite appealing.
“Oh, hi Käfer!”
Zach turned to find that it was Derpy, not that he wouldn’t have recognized her solely by her manner of speaking and voice.
She must have just happened to be flying by when she spotted him; Derpy brought herself to a sudden stop that ended with a spin. With her usual smile, she then asked, “How’s your day going? Did you find what it was you were looking for at the library?”
Zach returned the smile, though it was pointless with his mask still covering his face, “The day’s been alright. It took me some time, but I did eventually find what I was looking for, thanks.”
“Well that’s good, I’m glad!” She touched down, stumbling for a brief moment then righting herself. “Did you get to meet that unicorn mare who traveled in from Canterlot? I heard she had a pet dragon!”
He nodded, “Yeah, you could say that.”
Derpy blinked at him “I mean… I did say that, didn’t I? Or, I asked it… but-” She started
Zach gently interrupted with, “Yes, I met her; She seems nice, you might like her.”
Derpy paused and blinked once, “Oh! Okay! I’ll make sure to swing by and say hello then when I get the chance. If you say she’s nice, then she must be nice.”
“OH!” he jumped at the opportunity that presented itself, “Hey, Derpy, look what I can do!”
The mare lightly recoiled at his outburst, but nonetheless smiled and eyed him expectantly, “What is it? Did you learn how to fly?”
“Nope, but its just as cool. Look!” Zach turned to the book he left on the table and grabbed it with his magic. He pulled it over to him and held it aloft in the air for Derpy to see.
She squinted at him for a moment, then gasped, “Käfer! You can do magic! Oh my goodness I’m so happy for you!”
He laughed and said, “Yeah, me too! I couldn’t believe it when I first pulled it off. Twilight helped me; practically dragged me kicking and screaming into doing it too.”
Although he meant that as a joke, Derpy seemed to take it as anything but. The flavor that hit his tongue made him want to spit it out, ‘Jeez that’s spicy…’
“She… she did what? Wha- Why would, b-but you said she was nice!” The poor mare sputtered with a terrified look on her face.
Zach was dumbfounded, “Huh? Well yeah, she is nice, what are you talking about? She helped me learn how to do telekinesis magic.”
Derpy looked even more confused, “But you just said she dragged you places and… and… you were kicking and screaming and-..”
Zach held up a hoof and shook his head, “Whoa, whoa, no! Derpy that was a figure of speech! I wasn’t being literal; she didn’t actually drag me anywhere. There was no screaming or kicking, I promise.”
The mare’s expression scrunched up, but it seemed to click and she let out a big, “Oooooohhhh! I get it; I think… sorry for freaking out. I never heard anyone say something like that before; I thought you were serious for a minute there!”
Zach took a breath and said, “I noticed.”
Derpy cracked a humor filled grin and responded with, “Well I sure hope you noticed! I mean, I’m standing right in front of you, right?”
He stared at her for a moment, then exhaled with a light chuckle of relief and returned the grin, ‘I really need to be more careful with what figures of speech I use around her.’
His changeling stomach chewed at the last whisps of sustenance it once had and demanded more. ‘Oh great, you again. You just had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?’ Zach acknowledged his hunger with a lingering resentment; he exhaled softly and asked, “Derpy, do you mind, um…” he struggled a moment with how best to phrase it and every way he could think of directly speaking of his ‘hunger’ made his skin crawl, “…topping me off?” He thought about it and decided he definitely didn’t like that phrasing either.
The mare blinked and stared in puzzled silence for a moment, then tilted her head and said, “Wha-…? Top what? I don’t understand. Do you want a spinning-top? I think I have one at home somewhere.”
Zach mentally put a hand to his forehead and rephrased himself, “I’m, uh…” He hesitated, the words he needed to say made him feel more and more uncomfortable with every thought he registered concerning it. He again tried to say what he needed without directly saying it, “My stomach is bothering me again.”
“Your stomach? Ohhhhh!” Derpy exclaimed in her typical drawn-out manner, “You’re hungry again, huh? You said hugs worked, right?” She smiled sympathetically and took a step closer, but paused to ask, “Do you want another hug? I know you don’t like being touched and all, so I wanted to make sure.”
As weird as it made him feel, and as much of an aversion as he had to physical contact, a hug sounded delicious right now. He immediately forced that disturbing thought back where it came from and locked it behind several doors, then he placed a little Texan in overalls with some portable machinegun turrets in front of said doors for good measure. Despite the hesitation, he pushed himself forward, knowing full well how miserable his hunger would make him if he didn’t do as it wanted.
He sighed and conceded: “Yes… I’d like a hug, please.”
Derpy eagerly stepped towards him and reached out with a foreleg.
Zach closed his eyes and felt the mare embrace him in a warm, tight hug. Instantly his brain spazzed out and filled his thought process with the oh-so-helpful panicked mental shouting of: ‘let go! Get off! Stop!’ and other such adverse demands.
And then the smell hit his nostrils; that incredible, intoxicatingly sweet scent. Everything else in his mind was shoved aside to make room for the aroma and all of its tempting whispers.
Zach parted his lips and slowly dragged a breath of the stuff into his mouth.
The instant the flavor hit his tongue, he held the mare with considerably less hesitation and indulged in the demands the bug part of his brain made of him, if only for the moment. He had difficulty thinking of anything except for how absolutely delectable the sweet flavor was as it passed through his mouth and formed itself into a tangible mass for him to ingest. It was an aerosol of unfathomable flavorful good times on his taste buds, or whatever creepy taste mechanism bugs had that he didn’t want to think about.
He pulled more and more of the nutritious mist into his mouth; he couldn’t help himself, it was too good for him not to keep taking it in. A vapor of pink rose from Derpy and into his throat as he pulled, harder, deeper. The bug side of his brain demanded more, and he willingly obliged. More and more, the pink vapors rose from Derpy and into his maw, passing over his tongue and peppering his tastebuds with endless flavorful delights.
It wasn’t until he felt a push on his chest that he realized the mare was no longer hugging him.
“Käfer, I…” She gently tried to pry herself out of his grasp, “Käfer, I need to get back to work, I-I’m sorry.”
He blinked a few times and shook himself out of the euphoric haze. “I what? Oh! Right, I’m sorry. Sorry…”
Derpy winced slightly and rubbed at her head, “That felt… huh.” She went on as if she were going to say something else, but she didn’t.
Zach tilted his head and squinted in confusion, “Is everything alright?”
Derpy put a smile on and shook her head, “Oh don’t worry about it, I was just… thinking. Sorry to have to stop you, I could probably lend you some more love later if you need it, if that’s ok?”
Truth be told, even with as much as he took, Zach still felt the desire for more. “Sure, later then.”
The mailmare nodded, “Well, it was really nice running into you like this, and I’m glad you had fun meeting new ponies and learning about magic.” She reared back and went airborne, “I need to get back to work though, these letters won’t deliver themselves!”
Zach nodded, “Of course, I won’t keep you any longer. I’ll see you again after you’re done with work then?”
Derpy lightly laughed at that and answered with an amused look, “Well, yeah, unless you found somepony else to stay with. If I don’t find you before I head back home, do you know the way to my place?”
“Yes,” he responded, “I know the way, I just don’t know the current time.”
She looked and pointed a hoof somewhere off in the distance, “there’s a town clock over there on the tower if you need it.” She then pointed to the town hall, “There’s also a clock hanging up on Ponyville Town Hall. I can always get you a pocket watch like the one I have if you need to keep a close track of time.”
He considered it, “I appreciate that, thanks. I’ll use the clocks around town for now.”
“Okay! I’ll leave my door open for you, just give me a shout when you’re home.” With that the mare waved to him and said, “Goodbye for now Käfer, I’ll see you later!”
Zach waved back, and the mare flew off to finish her mail route.
He sat there and contemplated as she disappeared behind the near building. He was worried, Derpy hadn’t reacted that way the last time he fed on her; and he really didn’t like how much the bug brain kept encouraging him to eat more.
Had he taken too much this time? He sure didn’t feel any more full than the last time. Was it always going to be this way: Perpetual hunger and never being full? ‘At least I don’t have to worry about my stomach giving me grief with regular feeding, even if I’m never really satisfied…’ He groaned and decided it was best he moved away from that depressing line of thought.
He had other things he could occupy his time with, luckily enough.
While he still couldn’t practice flying yet, he could easily go another round of practicing with his magic. So it was, he took the book out of his bag and set it onto the table.
As he opened the text and began reading it, he started thinking to himself. ‘Twilight seemed nice; she didn’t behave exactly the way I remember her being in the show, but she seemed close enough.’ He read through some of the pages, remembering the things Twilight taught him in the short time they spent together.
There was an idea brewing in the back of his mind; if he indulged in enough magical study, he might just eventually come to a point where he learned enough that he could find his way back home through magical means. ‘It’s going to be a long time before I’ll ever be near that level, but it’s a reassurance at least. If I do have to make my own way back home, I have an option.’
Another thought crossed his mind that cheered him up, ‘What if I end up getting back home and can still use magic? Oh man that would be amazing! I could become a superhero!”
Zach decided then that it would be a good idea to set aside the time to thoroughly practice this at least once every day. ‘I’m not normally the best at keeping to my commitments, but I’m going to make this my exception. Pony world might have been one of the last places I wanted to be teleported to, given the choice, but magic is magic. I’ll happily tolerate the sugary niceness of ponies if it means I get to learn real magic.’
And maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to figure out a way back home.