//------------------------------//
// Study Break 
// Story: I'm a WHAT NOW?! 
// by Neospace0900 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: Study Break


"Come on! You can do it!" Tiger Lily cheered. She had taken a seat on the bed. Gingersnap stood in the center of the room with the encyclopedia sitting on the ground in front of him.
The two decided to work on magic first, as that would leave him hungry for dinner after awhile. They had spent about half an hour going over the basics of using magic. The way Gingersnap saw it, a unicorn's horn is used to channel magic. Other ponies could use it, but only if they had access to a horn of some kind. When he felt he understood the basics, he went on to learn his first spell: levitation. The steps explained in the book replayed in his mind constantly.
"Step 1: Assume a comfortable position. Anything is fine as long as your blood flow isn't constricted," he said to himself, glancing at Tiger Lily, who was checking the book for accuracy. When she gave an approving nod, he shifted into a slightly more comfy position to cast his spell.
"Step 2: Focus on the task at hand. Losing focus will result in the obliteration of the spell and may cause a few unwanted side effects." Gingersnap went into his own world. He forgot about Tiger Lily, the bustling town of Ponyville, and even the fact that he was a pony. All that was left was him and the book.
"Step 3: Visualize. Imagine the spell unfolding before your very eyes." He imagined the book floating in front of him. Soon enough, a light blue glow had enveloped the book as well as his horn. The book shook violently on the ground, eventually being lifted completely off. In a matter of seconds, it was at eye level with him.
"Great job!" he heard. "You're doing great. Now all you have to do is let go!"
Let go? A drop of sweat formed on his forehead. All I have to do is imagine myself letting go, right?
Nothing happened. The book still floated in front of him, mocking his inability to put it down.
Ok. No need to panic. I just need to set it down on the ground and we should be good.
He set the book down, but the magical aura still encased the book. At this point he began to panic, flailing the book all over the place. Eventually, he lost his balance, causing the book to fly at Tiger Lily. She managed to avoid it, but the wall suffered a bit of damage.
"I think it's about time for dinner," said Tiger Lily. "Try to calm down a bit more before I get back." With that, Gingersnap was left alone. He trotted over to the magic book to see what went wrong. When he flipped to the very first page, he saw the following text in bold red letters, "WARNING: Do not panic while using magic! In cases of panic, simply think the word 'stop' to cancel the spell immediately. Using magic in a state of panic can cause untold disaster to befall those in the nearby vicinity."
They should really put something like that on the first page with a spell on it, not a page with a bunch of names that nobody really cares about. To test this keyword, he levitated the magic guide. "Stop" echoed in his mind, and the book fell back onto the bed.
As he waited for Tiger Lily to return, he decided to see what was going on in the town. The sun had just begun to set on this day, so the citizens of Ponyville had begun closing up their shops. For some reason, they all had gathered around a random pony giving a speech on a street corner. Most of the listeners seemed worried about something.
Tiger Lily walked back through the door a few minutes later with a big plate of hay fries and some muffins resting on her back. "I'm back. I'd have something a little more substantial, but it would take awhile to make anything more than this. What's going on out there?"
"It seems someone's giving a speech, and not too many people are liking what he has to say."
"I think you mean somepony. Let me see." Gingersnap rolled his eyes as he stepped aside. She starred intently out the window, as though she was trying to get a clearer look at something. Eventually, she unleashed a gasp loud enough to be heard from the streets.
"What's wrong?" asked Gingersnap.
"I remember now! That's the guy! He's to blame for his disappearance!" she yelled.
Disappearance? Could she mean... "Are you talking about the guy responsible for Nightshade's disappearance?"
"Yeah! That guy has posters with his face on it! I'll be right back!" She then bolted out of the room at speeds only obtainable in cartoons. She moved so fast that the tray of food floated in place for a split second. Using his new-found magical abilities, he managed to catch it and set it down on the ground.
In case she would cause a scene, he took a seat at the window. Tiger Lily pushed her way through the small crowd. When she arrived at the podium, she snatched up one of the papers and started badgering the guy with questions. Even when some of the audience members stepped in to hold her back, she still managed to be in the guy's face with her questioning. When she seemed satisfied with what he had to say, she returned to the house. As this unfolded, Gingersnap helped himself to some of the hay fries.
These are really crispy; it really brings out the flavor. Is real hay this crispy?
Tiger Lily walked back into the room in such a casual fashion that you wouldn't suspect that she was the one pestering the guy giving the speech. She then placed the poster on the ground in front of Gingersnap. It was a wanted poster with the mugshot of a very unpleasant looking unicorn. His light blue mane looked damaged and he had a scar running across his eye. He looked ready to attack the cameraman, but he also looked like he was in complete control of the situation. Under his picture were the words: "Warning: This criminal is very dangerous! If spotted, report him to the nearest authorities. The reward for doing so is 100 bits."
"So this is the guy that you took in before your brother disappeared?" questioned Gingersnap.
"Yeah. He called himself Flapjack, probably because he could make some really good pancakes. He didn't have that scar at the time and he looked a lot more pleasant, too. He was actually a pretty nice guy, but I had the feeling he was secretly up to something."
Flapjack? Did his parents hate him? What if he couldn't make pancakes? That's about as helpful as a pegasus that's afraid of heights. "Is there anything else you remember, specifically about what happened the night Nightshade disappeared?
"Of course I do! I wouldn't of run out there if I didn't!"
"What are you waiting for, then? Tell me what you remember!"
"Is it really that important?" she asked hesitantly.
"I have this sinking suspicion that your brother may have more to do with my being here than we might think. It could be really helpful if I know what happened seven years ago."
"...Ok. I'll tell you everything I can remember. But please promise that you won't tell anypony about this. I don't want them worrying about Nightshade right now. He's probably dead by now, so there's no point in causing a fuss."
"I promise." He crossed his heart, or at least the place he assumed his heart was at. "Now tell me!"
________________________________________________________________________________

7 years ago


"Bye Mom! Bye Dad! Have fun on your trip!" said Nightshade, waving to his parents, who were going to Manehattan for a baking contest for a few days.
"Bye Son!" said Mrs. Dough after placing her bags on the chariot. "We'll be back in time for your wedding, so don't worry about that!"
"Don't do anything reckless while we're gone! And make sure to keep Tiger Lily out of trouble!" demanded Mr. Dough.
"I'll do my best. Now get going, or you'll miss your contest!" With that, the Doughs left and Nightshade closed the door to the house. He let out a sigh of sweet relief. "This is going to be great! A weekend with just me, Lily, and Blue Shield!" He then looked at the clock. "Is it that late already? I should go tuck Lily in and call it a night."
`He went upstairs and into Tiger Lily's room, only to find the little filly wide awake. When she noticed him, she ran up and gave him a huge hug. "Hey Big Bro! Wanna play some chess or something?"
"Shouldn't you be asleep by now? We've got a lot of fun stuff to do tomorrow, so you need to get some sleep."
"Aw," whined the young Tiger Lily. "Just one game?"
"Fine. But then it's straight to bed, Ok?"
"Yay!" She then rushed to set up the game of chess. While Tiger Lily struggled to put some of her pieces onto the board, Nightshade used his magic to put the rest into place. He wasn't sure why he was a unicorn when all of his family members were earth ponies, but he wasn't complaining.
"So how was school today?" asked Nightshade, making the first move by moving his queen's pawn forward two spaces.
"It was really fun! Applejack came back to school today, and she even had a cutie mark!" she replied happily, all the while countering his move by moving her king's pawn forward one space.
"Wow! That's great. I'm sure everypony was excited." He then moved his queen-side knight in front of the rook's pawn.
"Not as excited as I am now!" She took her king-side bishop and took out his exposed knight.
Surprised by this display of skill, he asked, "Have you been practicing?"
"Yeah! Flapjack loves playing chess. He played with me almost all day!"
The two continued their game, talking about all sorts of things. Eventually, Nightshade came out on top, but it was a very close game. When they had finished, he tucked Tiger Lily into bed.
"Good night, Lily. I'll see you in the morning."
"G'night Big Bro!" With that, he left the room.
As he made his way to his room, he heard something suspicious coming from Flapjack's room. Curious about the noise, he cautiously opened the door. In the middle of the room was Flapjack, doing what appeared to be casting a very complicated spell. When he shut the door, Flapjack's concentration was ruined.
"Ah. I see you're done playing chess with little Tiger Lily. To be honest, I thought you would be at it for a while longer. Whenever you make stupid moves like what you did with the knight, one would expect a much longer game."
"Just what do you think you're doing, and what's with the sudden change in tone? I mean, I know I'm not all that good at chess, but given how you've been acting since I've met you, this is just plain unexpected."
"Let me tell you something. This world is filled with liars and cheaters. Nopony is honest anymore. I'm sick of all of it. The world can't continue like this. It needs help. There's only one thing that can help put this world on the right track again. The day of judgement is here!" He went back to casting his spell. As he muttered strange words, things began to rise out of the ground.
A feeling of uneasiness swallowed Nightshade. No matter what, he had to stop this spell. He ran up to Flapjack, and with all of his might, kicked him in the face. This destroyed the spell, and a sickening crunch could be heard from his horn.
"Gah!" yelled Flapjack. The pain in his horn was almost unbearable. "Umbra! Detain him!"
Out of the shadows, a very muscular looking pegasus formed from nothing. He grabbed Nightshade and tried to pull him into the shadows.
"No! Let me go!" he begged. The more he struggled, the harder the pegasus held on to him. Eventually, he was completely constricted and unable to move. Flapjack walked up to him and looked him in the eye. He could feel the fear behind Nightshade's seemingly brave expression.
"Look what you've gotten yourself into. It looks like I can't summon the goddess now. It's your turn." The pegasus dragged Nightshade into the shadows, completely disappearing. Flapjack quickly packed up his things and followed them. The only thing left was the young Tiger Lily, who witnessed the whole thing.
"Big Bro?"

________________________________________________________________________________

Note from the author: Any comments, questions, critiques, etc. are greatly appreciated. It also wouldn't hurt to like or favorite.