I’m not gonna lie, those “few days” without magic felt like a whole month.
I’ve read through the illusionists' books twice in that time out of boredom.
I still don’t understand a thing, but at least it helped to kill a fair amount of time.
At first I wanted to finish reading my great-grandpa notes, but since the book uses my magic to function - it was forbidden.
But today I’m finally allowed to use magic again! Which means it’s finally time -
“Rettie? Dear, Mr Wavers has a taks for you!”
Dang it.
. . .
“... So you have to go there and deliver the package here.”
Surprisingly, this time I had a task outside the mansion. I don’t mind but…
“Don’t you usually call a courier for that?”
“We do but… she got sick. Yes. Also, it might be good for you to get on a walk. You've been spending quite a lot of time indoors with all that dust, you know.”
I had a feeling like Mr Wavers was up to something. He's probably just trying to save some money on delivery.
“Why won’t you send Black? It’s faster for a pegasi to go there and back, isn’t it? He knows those places better than I do.”
“He has other tasks to manage. Topic closed. Also…”
He put one hundred bits on the table.
“In case you get hungry on the way. Now go.”
I could just take some food with me but sure. Why not? Now I just have to find out how to get there.
. . .
After finally getting a decent explanation from Dad I set off.
It definitely will take me a couple of hours to get there, so…
“We finally can take our time again, huh?”
I took my great-grandpa's notes with me.
“Seems like I’m getting addicted to books. Especially to magic-related ones”
I remember from history class that Princess Twilight had the same… hobby? Is it a phase for unicorns or something?
“Ah, whatever.”
I made sure I was heading in the right direction.
“Chapter two!”
Once again I felt crystal absorb a fair amount of my magic and watched pages flipping.
I smiled.
“Surprise me again, old stallion!”
. . .
Ten pages later I felt like half of my magic was gone already. I still have to deliver the package, so I had to close the book and put it back in my saddlebag.
My great-grandpa definitely managed to surprise me again.
Surprise me with absolutely no new information in the whole ten pages! When the trick that saved me during the cleaning literally was on the first page of the second chapter!
“Well, there are still forty-two pages to go, but what a waste!”
Basically those ten pages contained explanations on how to use your imagination the right way to visualise and cast your spell . So it was literally the same thing I came up with during my little break after learning this trick.
“It was quite... Intuitive? I guess?”
Maybe that’s why it worked so well for me?
“Ah, whatever…”
I had at least an hour and a half to go. With absolutely nothing to do.
“Awesome.”
And why do other ponies like adventures at all?..
. . .
Few minutes later, not finding anything to distract myself with, I decided to try something out from the Illusions book I had recently read.
The main problem is that I still don’t understand a thing from that book, so I left it home since I wasn’t going to use it here.
“Well, if I remember correctly there was a simple light ball spell?”
A simple spell written in like twenty pages with formulas and diagrams that I definitely tried to understand. One hundred percent. Yeah.
Actually there mostly were examples of how to cast it using the different types of magic.
Like, it’s really easy to perform for ponies that are kindred to light or fire magic, but quite hard for ones that are kindred with shadow or earth types.
Of course, that information was useless to me because I knew very little about those types and didn’t even know what magic I’m kindred with.
“I mean, all I used so far is telekinesis and it's just basic arcana-type magic. And there were no notes on it.”
But I have no clue about how to use other types either.
“Well, time to experiment then!”
At least it will keep me busy for a while.
I summoned a small telekinesis field to at least have something to work with.
“Well, it already emits light, so all I have to do is make a sphere out of it, right?”
It’s harder than it sounds though. I never paid attention to it, but magic always flows which doesn’t help much when it comes to keeping it the exact shape. Especially when you don’t have anything to wrap it around.
Yep, it definitely will keep me busy for a while.
. . .
Fortunately, it doesn't take much magic to hold literally nothing in your telekinetic field, so my horn almost never heats up.
So I successfully spent over an hour trying to make my magic field look like a ball.
I almost(!) made it look like one, but finally started to hear noises from the city.
I put my little new hobby away (I already decided that one day I’ll surely do it) and switched back to my main task.
I checked the sign near the entrance.
Ponyville.
“At least I didn’t get lost. Now, how do I find mail here?”
Fortunately, ponies here seem to be really nice. A grey pony with a cello kindly accompanied me to the post office and even offered me a free ticket to her next gig as a welcome gift.
Which I had to politely decline as I probably wouldn't be able to go anyway.
As soon as I entered the post office I almost got hit by several boxes. I barely managed to catch all of them before they hit the floor or my face.
I learned my lesson in the library so I won't let stuff like that happen again. Nope.
The next second bottom of the box above my head opened and dropped a bunch of books on my head.
“You gotta be kidding me!”
Luckily none of them hit my horn so I was able to put the rest of the boxes on the floor.
“Ah! I- I’m so sorry!”
I turned my head to where the voice came from. A light-grey pegasi was hovering on the place where boxes fell from.
It's not really safe to carry so many boxes at the same time.
I wanted to say that but that mare’s face looked so worried that I couldn’t.
“That’s… fine. Don’t worry, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Who were you talking to then?”
To the cardboard box? Yep, that sounds weird.
“Uhh, nevermind. I caught it all so nothing is broken, you just need to put the books back in the box. And make sure it is packed well this time.”
“Thanks! Wait, no! Welcome! Wait, no! Are you hurt? Wait…”
Okay, she starts to panic now.
“You’re welcome, thank you and I’m fine… mostly. I came here after the Wavers' family package, can you tell me where I can get it?”
“Oh! It’s right here!”
She dropped the box she was packing books into and flew over the post to another room. A few minutes later she reappeared with another, well-packed box with Mrs Waver's name on it.
“Here it is! Oh! But first you'll have to show me papers to prove it's yours!”
I already took them out of my saddlebag while I was waiting for her, so I just laid them out in front of her.
Now, when she finally stands still, I could see that I wasn't imagining. Her eyes were really skewed.
I found myself staring at her eyes for multiple seconds, but she didn’t seem to mind it.
She was probably used to it by now.
“Twentieth of July, Mrs Wavers… everything is correct!”
When she finally finished checking the papers I got my… I got Mrs Wavers package and helped pegasi to pack the dropped books back into a box. She gratefully smiled at me as I left the post office.
Come to think of it, I’m currently in one of the most famous cities in all of Equestria. I even have some spare cash. And I have a chance to meet famous equestrian heroes if I stay for a little longer! Aaand of course the local pegasi weather team decided that it’s a good time to make it rain.
“Dang it.”
. . .
My way back home took a little less time, probably because I wasn’t slowing down to concentrate on reading or practising.
The package was a tiny little bit bigger than my old good saddlebags could hold so I couldn't put it in and had to just put it on my back and keep it from falling off with my telekinesis.
It was quite annoying to be honest, but I still enjoyed the walk quite a lot, even though I had nothing to do during it.
“Travelling isn't so bad, is it?”
I could get addicted to it at this point.
As I approached the Wavers' mansion I felt like something was off.
It was unusually quiet and I felt like someone is watching me.
Creepy. Like those cliched stories where the protagonist leaves home moments before the attack and returns to find that his entire family has been killed and now he has to avenge his family.
“Pft, such stupid things can happen.”
I mean, you can call Wavers's family quite a rich one, and their mansion is located in a distance from any settlements, which makes it a perfect target…
Thanks to my logical brain, my attempt to calm down failed and I became even more nervous!
“At moments like this I wish I carried a knife or something like that in my saddlebags.”
I looked around but, unfortunately, couldn't find anything to protect myself with… just in case.
“At least that package is heavy enough…”
As I approached the main entrance I still had the feeling that someone was watching me.
I strained my ears. Not a sound.
I swallowed and slowly opened the door.
For some reason it was dark inside, even though it was still day outside.
Someone must have drawn all the curtains.
This light spell would come in handy here, if I knew how to cast it.
I didn't want to make a sound and slowly began to sneak in.
Seconds later, several dark figures jumped out of their hiding places and a loud sound hit my strained ears!
Surpriiseee!
I felt my coat stand up and my heart drop to my hooves. Even compared to Black’s sudden appearance it was way too scary!
“Wha-wha-wha-what is going on?!”
Thankfully, my heart was in its place, and its heavy pounding proved it.
I tried to take a step back but Black was there.
“Your birthday, Miss Rettie.”
He smiled at me.
My what?!
. . .
It took me a few minutes to calm down and realise what just happened.
When Black was away on business - he visited Ponyville and bought something on the way, registered the package in Mrs Wavers' name and told them to deliver it to the Ponyville’s post office instead of the Wavers’ mansion.
Then Mr Wavers sent me after that package to buy some time and put the decorations and other stuff that Black delivered in the mansion while I was busy cleaning the library.
Then Black notified everyone when I was coming back and they pulled all the curtains and hid behind furniture to surprise me!
They just tricked me like a kid!
I mean, technically, I’m still a kid but hey!
“I think we went a little overboard on the element of surprise, don’t we?”
No, Mom, not at all, I just almost had a heart attack!
Nothing new, to be honest.
“Nah, look at her happy face, I told you Black knew what he was doing!”
I knew it was HIS plan!
“Ha-ha! You’re right! Happy eleventh birthday sweetie!”
Everyone was smiling, celebrating and wishing me a happy birthday. Even Wavers customers stopped by a couple of times to wish me well before going back to their business.
I even got a fair amount of bits as a present!
After a delicious celebratory dinner, everyone wished me well again and the favourite part for every birthday colt and filly began.
The presents!
I've already got more than I expected (especially since I’ve just forgotten about my own birthday with all that stuff going on lately) but the more the merrier, right?
Of course Mom and Dad started first.
“We noticed your passion for magic and books lately so…”
Oh, for Celesita’s sake, please don’t.
They put a decorated gift box in front of me.
“Open it!”
They both smiled suspiciously wide, but I tried to ignore it.
I slowly opened the box, expecting to find magic books inside.
But, instead, I found brand new saddlebags. Mine were getting a bit worn and small for me and they’ve somehow noticed it!
“Ha-ha-ha! If you’d only seen your face right now!”
I tried to ignore the fact that I had been tricked for a second time today and gave them a big hug.
“It's got lots of handy features, but you’ll read about them in the manual later.”
“Sure! Thank you very much!”
The next gift was from Black.
It was a white cap, even without a hole for the horn, a pair of black sunglasses and a big thick, uh, cape? Plaid? I’m not sure what that thing is but I think I can use it both ways.
But more importantly.
“What are you after?”
“What do you mean, Miss? Have my gifts disappointed you?”
“No, not at all, I’m glad to get gifts from you and I like them, but this looks suspicious!”
“It's a secret.”
He just winked at me and went off! I swear there’s something suspicious going on here!
Now it’s Mr Waver’s turn.
He put the box I’ve carried here from Ponyville in front of me and smiled.
That old stallion just double-tricked me by making me deliver my own present?!
I had to admit, that's a pretty damn smart move.
I opened the box, and THIS time there was a pile of magic books in it. Somehow I knew I'd get them today, I just didn't expect it to be like this.
“I have to admit your achievements and potential in magic, so I thought it would be a good idea to invest in your future growth.”
A business mindset even when choosing a gift, huh?
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
He put the Illusions book I had been reading lately in that pile.
“You seem to be enjoying it lately, so it’s yours now.”
As if I wouldn't be able to keep using it anyways, but I appreciate the gesture.
I thanked Everypony again, thinking that was the end, but Black interrupted me.
“Don’t hurry, Miss Rettie, you forgot the most important present.”
“Huh?”
I looked around. Everypony here has already given me their presents.
“Mrs Wavers can't congratulate you in person for… reasons. But she asked me to pass on her congratulations and to give you a very special present.”
Everypony looked as surprised as I was.
“A special gift?..”
He nodded.
“Mrs Wavers is very appreciative of your dedication and the work you've done, so she decided you deserved something bigger than a regular gift. So she decided to grant you a… let’s call it a choice.”
“Huh?”
“You see, Mrs Wavers is well aware of how well you do on your errands and thinks you have a talent that will only fade if she keeps you here. But she also thinks she can’t decide for you. That’s why that’s a choice and not an order.”
I felt flattered from being recognised by another talented unicorn, but it sounds like a…
“You should understand that this choice is a big responsibility.”
Yep. That. Like a big responsibility.
I was getting nervous.
“So… what’s the choice?”
Black grinned at me.
Uh oh…