//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Friendship Lesson #2: Trust Building (And Throwing Books With Your Mind!) // Story: Starlight Glimmer's First Student: A "Human"?! // by Clockwork2003 //------------------------------// I…Love…Noah! I don’t know how else to describe it, but I find him to be so cute! Again, I am not attracted to him, at least I don’t think I am. However, he’s smart, he has potential, and I think I can make a stallion out of him in due time! I certainly didn’t expect going back to his planet and gathering all of his clothes like some common workpony! But then again, this past year has taught me that you should expect the unexpected. The human snores in his sleep! It’s rather cute! While I didn't stalk him or anything, I did trot over to my hide-a-bed to see if he was still okay, and thank goodness he is! I…I want to help him be happy! I just don’t want to do it in a way that makes me look like a creep! Maybe I am just lonely from Sunburst breaking up with me after I found him cheating with another mare…Noah doesn’t deserve to be objectified, but he does deserve my hoof in Friendship! I just hope that Trixie doesn’t make a fool of herself tomorrow night. Knowing Noah, any magic he sees will impress him, and probably encourage him to ask Trixie more…She’s so annoying! It doesn’t matter, anyways. I need a good night’s sleep if I am going to have any chance at teaching Noah about how to build trust. If something happens tomorrow, Celestia help the both of us! I finally crash into my bed, using magic to fluff up my favorite pillow; and I roll over and try to fall asleep as fast as possible. Please let tomorrow be a good day; not for me, but for my student! THE NEXT MORNING Celestia’s sun peeks through my blinds, ticking my face with sunlight. It immediately wakes me up, and I try to see what time it is. I check the small clock on my night table and see that it is 7:00 AM. Not bad! Usually, I sleep in much later, and Twilight has always had my flank for being late for Friendship Lessons. I guess it’s a good thing I am a graduate now. Regardless, I get out of bed, realizing that my mane is a mess! Even unicorns can make static electricity without casting magic! I make my way to the bathroom to try and clean up my mane. It takes a few minutes, no more than five or six, and I am finally looking normal again. I wonder what my student is up to? When I am finally out of the bathroom, I go to the living room and see my little human is still asleep! I might take a page out of Princess Celestia’s playbook and prank him, but I don’t want him to get mad at me before we even start our day! Trotting around the hall, debating my next course of action, I decide the best way to go forward is to kindly wake him up, with no pranks! I make my way to the edge of the hide-a-bed, and my horn ignites with magic. Slowly but surely, pull the blankets off of Noah, bringing a cool, gentle draft of wind towards his bipedal body. He instinctively shudders and begins to wake up. “Ugh…Glimmy…what time is it? How long did I sleep?” Noah asks me, his voice still raspy from the wonders of REM sleep. Wait…did he call me Glimmy again? Am…am I blushing? I think I might be blushing! Why do I find this to be cute? Maybe he’s pulling my tail with this, I don’t know! I clear my throat and reply.“It’s 7:00 AM, Noah. We have a very busy day filled with magic and Friendship. If we’re on schedule, we can be in the Everfree Forest for our trust-building lesson at 8:00 AM.” He slowly sits up from his state of slumber and rubs his eyes with those fancy fingers he has. Once he’s done doing that, his eyes widen. “Okay…Starlight. I wasn’t dreaming. I am actually here, right?” Noah asks me, a bit alarmed. Why is he alarmed? He did great yesterday. I think he’s wonderful! “Nope. You are in Ponyville, in my apartment, learning about Friendship with Your’s Truly. In fact, it’s time for breakfast. What do you want to have?” I have to be a good host. Even though I am a rather poor cook, I do need to eat. And now there are two of us here, instead of just me! “Well, what do you have? Do you have cereal? Oatmeal? Yogurt?” Noah asks. I take a minute to think about what delectable treats I have in my pantry, and using my magic, I open the cabinets and take out a box of “Luna-Os”. Noah’s eyes widened. I guess they have this kind of oat-based cereal on Earth? “WOAH! That looks almost exactly like the cereal I eat at home. Do you care if I have some?” Noah asks me, quickly getting out of bed and making his way to the cabinet. He grabs two bowls and puts them on the dining room table. He looks back at the mess from last night and wonders whether he should do anything more to help. “Starlight, do you need me to wash dishes or something?” He asks me, clearly more than willing to step out of his comfort zone. Noah doesn’t seem like the kind of human who is fond of domestic work, so hearing him offer a helping hand was very surprising! I take it he wants to show his gratitude? “Actually, I got cleanup duty. Just eat your breakfast and get dressed, so we can go have our second Friendship Lesson today, alright?” That put my student at ease, as he pours himself a bowl of “Luna-O’s”. I briskly enter the kitchenette, using magic to expedite the cleaning process from last night’s supper. While I can hear him chewing his cereal, I think his table manners are above par! Most stallions that I have seen eat like slobs! Maybe humans are just better eaters? “Starlight, do you have anything to drink? I have a few pills that I need to take in the morning, and they go down much easier when I have something to drink.” It’s a good thing that I looked at Noah’s file when I made my return trip to “Mount-ree-ale.” I rummaged through his medicine cabinet and brought all of his toiletries here, too! I give great service. All I ask in return is for kindness and Friendship! “I brought your pills with me when I picked up your clothes. I put them in the bathroom. As for beverages, This is Ponyville, apple cider flows here like water. Rest assured I only drink the non-alcoholic variety, so you can have it with your medication!” Noah is a very interesting character. Due to his “Asperger’s” and “Attention Deficit Disorder”, he has to take several different types of medicine in the day to function properly. I don’t know exactly what they are called, but Twilight wrote in his file that he needs them every day to function properly! I think they are called “SSRIs”? Anyways, I spawn the jug of apple cider onto the table, as Noah goes into the bathroom and brings out a pill vial. He doles out three green tablets and puts the vial back where he found it. Sitting down at the table, he pours himself a glass of cider and swallows his medicine, before drinking the cold beverage. Now’s as good a time as any for my sorry flank to eat something! I am glad Noah brought out bowls and spoons since I am also in the mood for “Luna-Os” today. Sitting down in my chair I do something a bit unorthodox. I use my hooves to pour the cereal, rather than my magic! Twilight told me I am becoming too reliant on it, although that’s rich coming from her! Taking my time to eat my cereal, I try to think about a casual conversation to have with my new roommate… “So, Starlight, I have a question for you. Yesterday you said that as a consolation for dealing with Trixie, you would teach me a simple spell. I take it you are an honest mare, so do you think we can try that before we go gallivanting in the Everfree Forest?” He asks me quite bluntly. The boy is determined, that’s for sure. It’s kind of a turn-on…er…nevermind. “Sure,but let me warn you, magic is tied to life energy. When you use magic, you can’t just use it and expect no consequences. When most unicorn foals first start learning magic, they get very tired after performing even the easiest and most elementary spells. Don’t complain if you get tired!” I chuckle, and he also starts to chuckle, although I take it he read that key fact in “Magic for Derpies”, as well. “Alright. I am going to imbue your body with the smallest possible amount of magic. In order for me to do this, I need you to…well…hug me? Magic can only be transferred to another with direct bodily contact.” I have no quarrel lying to him about this. I could just as easily give him this teeny bit of magic from across the flat, but I want a hug! He’s so cute and snuggly and…I am getting ahead of myself here. I don’t even know if he likes me like that! I just want the best for him, which could also be the best for me! He hesitantly gets up from his chair and makes his way over to me. I can tell that he feels a bit uncomfortable about this, but hey, he’s the one who wanted to learn magic? He slowly but surely walks towards me, and cautiously embraces me. He’s hugging me. He’s so cute and snuggly! I immediately hug him back and begin stroking his back to soothe him, Or am I soothing myself? Regardless, a promise is a promise, and I light up my horn, a tiny spark of magic exits the tip, and floats down towards his chest, entering it. While my body is warm, and he is a bit cooler, I feel his body warm up slightly. This could be one of two possible outcomes. Either this is his body’s immune system reacting negatively to the magic, expelling it from the body, or the magic bonding with the strands of his DNA, giving it the third helix needed to channel magic. Well…Noah isn’t convulsing on the floor, blood spilling out of his nostrils…so I guess it’s the latter. I enjoy this hug from my human friend a bit too much because I start to feel warm, too! I guess it’s the blood rushing to my face?! Regardless, I have to act professionally, so I use my magic to gently separate the two of us. “Alright. I just need to scan your body before I can let you try anything. I need to make sure the tiny spark of magic merged properly with your DNA, giving you your third helix.” I stand a few feet away from him and zap Noah with a scanning spell. The spell scans his body from head to toe, before sending all of the information into my brain: NOAH THE HUMAN SEX: MALE 18 YEARS OLD BLOOD TYPE: O+ MEDICAL CONDITIONS: AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER, ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER, ANAPHYLAXIS TO TREE NUTS. MAGICAL STATUS: CHANNELER. THREE HELICES. UNICORN OR ALICORN MUST REGENERATE CATALYST EVERY SEVEN DAYS, OR SUBJECT WILL LOSE ALL MAGICAL PROPERTIES. That’s great news! Obviously, Noah will never be able to regenerate his own magical source, but if he keeps his behavior in check and does well in school, maybe I will regenerate his magical source! “Alrighty, Noah. Good news! You now have three DNA helices, so you can channel magic! To be completely honest, I don’t know how exactly it will manifest because you don’t have a horn, but you can definitely perform simple spells, with practice! Now, the first spell I ever learned how to cast was telekinesis. Did you get that far in “Magic for Derpies?” Noah nods. “I did get that far. I read that you need to visualize where and how an object moves in your mind before the magic allows for that to happen. I think it would be wise to start with something small. What do you think?” Again…this human thinks ahead! I like that, a lot! “I would try a book first. Weighs very little, requires not that much mental energy to manipulate, and there’s one on the table!” I point to the very book Noah was reading yesterday, and he makes his way over towards the table.. He takes a few deep breaths, and moves his toes up and down across the wooden floor, trying to get a feel for whatever magic he has in his body. He puts his hands over the table and concentrates. I can hear him mutter “Move the book…move the book…move the book!” over and over again quietly. It’s really cute! I want to just go over to him and kiss-. Nevermind! I still don’t know if Noah feels the same way about me that I feel about him. I don’t want to blow it! For a good ten minutes, Noah stood in front of the table, trying to manipulate the book in front of him. I can see that he is getting frustrated with his lack of results, but he has grit. He’s going to keep trying until he gets it. Although, it’s 7:20 AM, and we do need to be on schedule for Friendship Studies! If Princess Twilight is auditing my progress, which I am sure she is, we have to be punctual to the second! Regardless, Noah is determined to at least get the book to react to his new magic, and then… The book didn’t levitate, but it became enveloped in a cyan hue, sparkling with magic! It vibrated against the table violently, before slowly being raised a mere inch off of the ground! Noah looks stunned that he was able to perform such a feat. Although telekinesis is easy, I know that I was very excited when I was able to perform the spell for the very first time! “I…I can do magic! I can do magic!” Noah exclaimed. While I am happy for him, if unicorn magic can be controlled by emotions, and the magic I gave my student is based on my magic, then, OH NO!” “Noah, be careful, your emotions could cause the book to-...” I spoke too soon, the book sporadically slammed into the shelf, toppling my entire library onto the floor! “Oh no! Noah…” I say, trying not to laugh…ah screw it. I begin to laugh, a real belly laugh, and Noah starts to laugh as well. We both laugh, and while I am laughing, I use my magic to reorganize my library back to the way it was before Noah accidentally destroyed it! “At least all of the books are still intact! Princess Twilight told me that when she fought Tirek, her whole library blew up!” I say, trying to calm down my laughter. I feel like that comment went over my pupil’s head, as he can barely get over the fact that he cast a spell! I don’t think humans have ever been able to do that! “Noah…get dressed. I think humans wear clothes all the time, and I wouldn’t go to the Everfree Forest in pajamas!” I remind him, as Noah makes his way towards his cabinet and collects an outfit to wear. “What’s the weather, Starlight? Cold, warm? Freezing?” “Not too sure, but it’s not winter in Equestria, so you don’t need a parka! Put on a long sleeve shirt and jeans, maybe sweatpants!” I try to give good advice when I can. Noah puts the T-shirt back and replaces it with a long sleeve. “Where do you want me to get changed?” Noah asks me, unsure about where to put on his clothes. “Go into my bedroom and close the door. Don’t worry, I won’t peek or anything!” I chuckle at the thought. Oh, what I would do to give the boy a kiss on the forehead, or a snuggle, or…let him sit on me again! My damn muscles are sore! Noah goes into my room and closes the door, so I have a bit of time to myself. Here’s the real question: When do I make my little human a communist? I feel like it’s going to be a long, arduous task, but if I am going to have a student, I will teach him everything I know, Friendship AND politics! It doesn’t matter that much, to be totally honest. Besides making Princess Twilight proud, my main goal is to make this sad human happy and give him purpose. Besides, I am getting the feeling that Noah might not want to return to his planet. This could be a problem since Twilight wants Noah to spread Friendship with his race! Maybe he can come and visit? Noah finally opens the door, and he’s in more suitable clothing for a jaunt in the Everfree Forest. His gray waffle-stitched shirt matches with his black sweatpants! He looks rather nice, and I think Rarity would want to take note of this outfit! “So…remind me how going to a forest helps to build trust, Starlight?” Noah asks me innocently. He is not sure how this activity would build trust. I don’t blame him. I had to figure it out myself! “Well…the Everfree Forest is virgin land. Nopony ever developed settlements there, and there are lots of mysterious things there. Nothing that could hurt you, but you could get lost if you don’t know where you’re going. The only pony…er…creature that I know who lives there is a zebra named Zecora, who brews weird potions and other oddities!” Noah seems to be understanding about this and waits for me to open the door. When I am finally ready, my saddlebag packed with snacks and water, I open the door. “Follow me, Noah. I promise you will be okay.” I tell him, which reassures him. I take it he’s impressed with my magical abilities, so maybe we’re somewhere with trust already? Finally opening the door, the two of us exit my apartment and go down the stairs to leave the complex, entering Ponyville proper. Everypony in town is still surprised at the new two-legged creature that is trotting (or is it walking?) next to me. At least nopony says anything this time. You’d think that for the Equestrian Capital of Friendship, the ponies here would be more welcoming of the human guest! “Noah…are you okay? You seem a bit…spooked!” I ask him as he is a bit hesitant to keep walking. “I am fine, Starlight. It’s just that everyone…er…everypony is staring at me like I am an injured animal! Why do you think they believe I am a freak?” He asks me quietly, before a familiar pony teleports behind me, and taps a purple hoof on my barrel. “Hello, Starlight; hello, Noah! I take it you two are en route to the Everfree Forest for Friendship Lesson #2?” Twilight asks rather abruptly. Noah jolts up in terror, not expecting the alicorn Princess of Friendship to appear behind the two of us. “H…hello…ma’am.” He replies, quivering in fear. I guess the only pony that doesn’t scare the daylights out of him right now is me. He’s only been here for two days! He needs time to adjust! “Please, just call me Twilight. All of the Canterlot Nobility grovel over me, and you aren’t even an Equestrian citizen. I am your friend.” “Well would ya look at that, Noah? TWO friends in Equestria. Me and the princess! Isn’t that awesome?” I nudge him gently, as he nods in approval of my comment. “We’re en route to the Everfree as we speak, Twilight. I think we’ll be able to trust each other. He did very well yesterday with the Listening exercise, even though Trixie hijacked my lesson.” I say, to which the alicorn laughs. “Sounds like her…are you going to her show tonight? Even I am going. Just for the nostalgia of seeing her make a fool of herself!” Twilight says, before spreading her wings. “Good luck, you two! Don’t get lost!” Twilight says before taking off, presumably towards her castle, because she’s flying in its general direction. “Well…Everfree is two minutes out. Are you ready?” I ask him, as we see the foreboding tree line ahead of us, maybe two hundred paces out. “I’m ready, I think? How bad can a forest be?” He says as we continue making our way towards the wild outpost of Equestria. Legends say that the forest changes paths magically, making it very difficult to navigate. I wonder how Zecora can get to and from her hut without getting lost? It’s fascinating! After a few more minutes of walking, we were finally embraced by the mystical woods. The temperature drops by a few degrees, and there is a gentle breeze in the air. I am glad that Noah is wearing a waffle-stitch shirt! He’ll be warm and cozy. As for me, I have fur, so I am not worried! “So, Friendship Lesson #2: Trust Building. I have a general idea of where we are going, and you are going to trust me for navigation. In turn, I will trust you for company and being kind. It’s a mutual relationship!” I say. For a good half-hour or so, the two of us are walking quietly in the woods, enjoying the sights. I am pleased to see that Noah is calm, and not stressed about whatever potential threats might be in the forest! We see a few small animals, like bunnies, deer, and birds, but so far, nothing that could be dangerous to a virtually magicless human. That is until a manticore shows up! Claws and scorpion tail armed, it swoops down and tries to grab Noah! “NOAH, RUN!” I yell, quickly alerting both him and the manticore of each other’s presence. Noah begins to run like Tartarus in the opposite direction from where we came, but the manticore is fast! Possibly faster than him! I have to save him. Oh, I am going to be in so much trouble if Noah gets hurt! Wait…I have an idea! I can run fast…he can’t run fast! While I put up a shield around him with my magic, the manticore starts slowly but surely chipping away at the magical protection. How am I going to save him?! And then it hit me: As much as I didn’t want to do this…and as weird as it is, I am going to have to teleport that silly outfit over here, plop him on me, and gallop the buck out of there. Noah needs Pony Power to survive! Quickly using the “Want it, Need it.” Spell, the purple saddle and greenish-gold bridle arrive. I…I don’t know how to put them on? When I summoned them in Noah’s world, somepony helped me! “NOAH! HOW DO I PUT THIS BUCKING BRIDLE IN MY MOUTH?!” I ask, quickly fastening the saddle to my body. At least ponies wear these for parties, so I know how to put them on! The magical forcefield is starting to give, but there is a bit of magic left, so Noah is okay. I’d wager he has 60 seconds before he’s the manticore’s lunch! “You…you take the bit, bite on it, and use your magic to fasten the rest of the pieces!” Noah shrieks, trying to use the tiny bit of magic he knows to move the manticore away. I listen to his instructions, bite on the cold metallic piece, and use my magic to fasten the rest of the parts. I look…odd…but I need to save my student!” I’m a bit too far away, so I gallop as fast as I can to try and scoop Noah out of this mess that I made. “I’m coming for ya!” I say, noticing Noah’s hands glowing slightly, possibly due to adrenaline! The manticore isn’t budging! Ten feet away… “STARLIGHT, I AM SORRY IF I EVER UPSET YOU!” He says, closing his eyes, accepting his fate…well…his fate if I didn’t give a hoot about him! He’s finally within range of my magic, and I promptly teleport him onto the purple saddle, casting a spell gluing him to my body! “Grab whatever the buck those ropes are, and hold on for dear life! The manticore’s on our tail!” I say, as Noah…well I don’t know what he does, but he does something with that rope, and I am drawn to go from a brisk canter to galloping for our lives! All I hear is the stomping of my hooves against the ground, faster and faster, trying to run away! “Can’t you blow the manticore up or something?” Noah asks me, shifting his weight in the seat, trying not to look behind him! “I…I can’t blow him up, but I can make him fall asleep!” I remember the sedation spell. Pivoting my hooves into the ground, I abruptly turn around, as the manticore is a good ten feet or so away from us. “I am going to heat up…magic warms your body. It might burn you, just…breathe!” I say, horn lighting up with the sedation spell. It takes a while to charge, around five seconds or so. Noah is closing his eyes, grabbing my mane and neck like I am his life vessel…FINALLY! I zap the manticore with the sedation spell, and it falls to the floor, immediately entering a deep slumber. I feel my passenger’s heartbeat like crazy, and I gently sway back and forth, trying to calm him down. “I…I am sorry about that, Noah. I…I hope you can forgive me.” I manage to muster out, Noah trying to dismount. “Not so fast…I’ve happened to grow a liking to having you up there. You…you call it riding, correct?” He nods. “Well…because you trusted me to save you, I guess I can trust you to…uh, steer me? I don’t know how it works, but I think I owe you one. It could be…like a date!” I say, trying not to sound like a dope. “Are you sure, Glimmy?” Noah says playfully, stroking my mane. I don’t think he caught on yet that I have the hots for him, but…he sure is acting like it. Maybe it’s because I saved his life? Noah smiles. “Alright, you really want to try “riding”?” I turn my head back, trying to give a smile with the stupid thing in my mouth. “I promise I am not going to hurt you, you saved my life.” He says, embracing me firmly. “So…you just…use those ropes to tell me how to walk?” I ask him, as he gently taps his shoes at my sides, making me instinctively trot slowly. “More or less. With the horses at home…most humans hurt them to get them to maneuver properly. I will just nudge you like this.” He takes one rope of the bridle and gently moves the bit rightward in my mouth. “I take it that means I turn right?” I ask him. He nods, “Same thing for left. I think…that’s enough “commands”. Besides, you’re my teacher, right? You should be the one teaching me! This was your idea. If you want to stop, we can stop!” He says, reassuringly, as I slowly pick up the pace. I am still walking, but I am moving fast enough that even a human couldn’t walk that fast. “You know…having you up there…it feels right. Not…morphologically, but…like we’re two pieces of a puzzle that fit together. I saved you, so you trusted me to get you away from that manticore. I…I have to trust you now, in doing whatever the buck this is. Besides, imagine what everypony will think if we show up in Ponyville with you up there, my knight in a waffle shirt and sweatpants!” EEK! I just said that out loud! “It’s okay…I like you too. Not like a mate…but more than a friend. We’ll get to cuddles later. In the meantime, want to piss off everypony in Ponyville?” More than anything! “Oh yeah, what are you thinking? Don’t think that me letting you control me like some pet means you’re done with Friendship Lessons.” I said to him, to which he replies with a firm squeeze of my sides with his feet and a flick of the bridle. “I don’t mind continuing with those. They are helpful. In the meantime, We’re going to crash the party, giddy up!” Ooh, fancy! I instinctively begin to speed up, and I have a feeling Noah knows how to make it back home. I trust him, because he trusted me. With Noah up there, soothing my muscles and giving me directional guidance, I feel…complete.