//------------------------------// // Sweetie Sorcery // Story: Unicorn In Training // by jim150454 //------------------------------// Spike stood looking towards a bookcase. Behind him, Twilight was standing with a hoof pressed against her chin in deep thought. “Maybe we should arrange them by author.” Twilight said after careful deliberation. Spike sighed and turned to her in annoyance. “Twilight, do we have to go through this every time! You always make me shuffle them around five times and we always end up with the exact same filing system that we’ve had since we got here!” Twilight blushed slightly. When he put it that way, it made her seem slightly obsessive. “I guess you’re right Spike, you’ve done a lot of work this morning as it is. Besides, I need to get ready for my lesson with Sweetie Belle.” “Right...” Spike said nonchalantly, before looking up at her. “What is it you’re doing with Sweetie Belle?” Twilight gave the dragon a small pout. “Spike, I told you. Sweetie Belle wants to start learning magic and she asked me for help,” her pout morphed into a proud smile at the thought of being asked for help. “I can’t believe I have my very own student!”. a knock sounded from the library door, slightly startling the purple unicorn. “Oh, that must be her now.” Twilight bounded over to the front door and opened it, revealing a bright-eyed Sweetie Belle on the doorstep with a purple saddlebag draped over her back. “Hi Twilight!” she said cheerfully. Twilight returned her greeting and lead her inside. “Hi Spike.” Spike gave an absentminded wave to her as he began dusting some shelves. “So, did you manage to read the book I gave you?” asked Twilight as she motioned towards a small chair for the filly. Sweetie Belle shook off her saddlebag, pulled out the book and sat on the chair. After reaching her desired page, she turned back to Twilight. “Yeah, and I tried to do the light spell but I couldn’t concentrate. I think was so close too, but then Rarity came in and ruined it.” She said the last part with more force than she had intended. Twilight thought for a moment, then walked to Spike’s side and whispered in his ear. Without hesitation, he ran over to all the windows in the library and pulled the curtains closed, plunging the room into total darkness. After a few seconds of nothing, a small candle ignited in the middle of the room, allowing Sweetie Belle to just about make out Twilight’s face and a small portion of the floor. “Okay, I want you to do exactly what you did the first time, but this time, don’t worry so much about performing the spell. Just focus on feeling the magical energy inside of you.” Sweetie Belle was skeptical of Twilight assumption that she would succeed in something that she had already failed at multiple times, but she decided that she wouldn’t get anywhere in the magical field if she didn’t take her advice. She planted her hooves firmly on the ground and shut her eyes tightly. Rapidly, the image of the sunny day from before filled her mind. That was the easy part, the hard part was focusing on the light itself. Whilst she was focusing, she tried to mentally search around her body for any sign of magical energy, which would have been easier if she knew what magical energy was supposed to feel like. Every little twitch of her muscles could have been magical energy, but how would she know? After what seemed like forever, Sweetie belle felt an unfamiliar sensation in her body, almost like a vibration or a tingling sensation like when you sleep on a hoof for too long. The sensation could be felt through her legs and in her body, gradually growing stronger, but never more than a tiny nagging itch. This unknown feeling only increased Sweetie Belle’s resolve, as she knew that something was about to happen. The feeling left her legs, inching it’s way up her back towards her head. In her mind, the image of her imaginary sun tilted and swayed, giving Sweetie Belle the feeling of dizziness. Then, as it was just about to the tip of her horn, the tingling feeling subsided in a second, taking her internal picture with it and leaving her with nothing but a blank canvas. Sweetie Belle’s eyes shot open in anger. “It didn’t work! Again! I was so close too!” She screamed as she stomped around the room. Twilight giggled, as did Spike, which confused and angered the filly. “Sweetie Belle,” Twilight said calmly. “The candle’s gone out.” This confused the filly even more. The candle was out, what did that have to do with anything? Then, like a flash, she noticed that she could still see. She looked up at her horn and saw a small ball of white light, shining softly. The high pitched squeal of joy was powerful enough to shake the foundations of the library. Twilight and Spike watched the filly hop around with glee. With every leap and bound she did, the light atop her horn dimmed slightly. As the ball was almost extinguished, Sweetie Belle collapsed in a heap on the floor, panting heavily. Twilight and Spike opened all the curtains to reveal the sunlight just as her magic faded completely. “I... did it...!” Sweetie Belle gasped in between her bouts of ragged breathing and joyful wriggling. Twilight passed her a glass of water, from which she took a few small sips. “I knew you could do it!” she said happily. “It can be very exhausting using magic for the first time, so try to take it easy.” Sweetie Belle smiled at her mentor and took another sip from her glass before resting her head contentedly back on the floor. “Rarity, I’m home!” Sweetie Belle trotted into the main room of the boutique. As she glanced around for any sign of life, the fashionista trotted down the stairs with a huge, bright grin spread across her face. “Hello Sweetie Belle! How was your lesson?” she asked cheerily. Sweetie Belle threw off her saddlebag and bounded over to her sister. “It was great! I did my first spell today!” “Oh that’s wonderful Sweetie Belle! I’m very happy for you,” Rarity gave her a hug for her achievement. When they were finished, Sweetie Belle returned to her bag and took out her book. Looking over it again to make sure it was okay. “You know Sweetie Belle, I have some good news as well.” Rarity said, walking over to her sister. Although she was now flipping through the book’s pages, Sweetie Belle still managed to break her gaze away long enough to answer Rarity. “What’s that?” “While you were out practicing with Twilight, I worked extra hard and I managed to finally finish the order that I was working on, so we can spend some time together as sisters,” A look of unusual eagerness could be seen in Rarity’s eyes. “So, what do you want to do?” Sweetie Belle looked up at her with an apologetic gaze. “Sorry Rarity but I wanna read some more of my book so I can impress Twilight tomorrow.” Rarity frowned slightly, though not enough to be noticed by Sweetie Belle, who had returned her eyes to her book. “You’re... going back there tomorrow?” she muttered sadly. “uh-huh,” picking up her book, she casually walked past Rarity towards the stairs that lead to her room. “We can do something some other time though.” As she disappeared up the stairs, Rarity sat down on the floor with her head hung low and her ears drooping slightly. “O-ok...” she whispered softly. In her room Sweetie Belle had returned to her previous position on her bed, grasping her book tightly as she read. She almost fainted from excitement as she wondered about what spells she would learn next. By the time night fell upon Ponyville, Sweetie belle had read through her book multiple times. Due to the extreme fatigue that she had felt whenever she tried any spells, she resigned herself to reading all of the chapters before she passed out from exhaustion. As her trained eyes flew over the last sentence in the book, she pressed her hoof to her mouth to stifle a yawn and turned off her light. It took only a few seconds for her to fall straight into a deep slumber. Downstairs, Rarity sat on a luxurious red couch, staring into space with a frown. ‘I can’t believe that Sweetie Belle would rather spend time with Twilight instead of me!’ she thought to herself. ‘This is my own fault for not teaching her myself. I was so obsessed over my order that I didn’t realise how much I was pushing her away! And now she doesn’t even want me anymore!’ She shook herself out of her dramatic thoughts and placed a laid her head on her hoof, giggling lightly. ‘Oh Rarity, you’re just being silly. Sweetie Belle is your sister and just because she’s too interested in other pursuits to spend time with you, doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to be with you...’ Her light smile that formed quickly crumbled, turning back into a frown. ‘...But what if it does?’ Rarity dejectedly rested her chin on the arm of the couch and resumed her pondering. Another day came with Sweetie Belle visiting The library for more tuition, though today she entered in a decidedly foul mood. Twilight could see that something was amiss from the way she flung her bag down onto the floor by the door. She tentatively neared the filly to see what was wrong. “Um, is everything okay Sweetie Belle?” Twilight jumped a little as Sweetie Belle stomped her hoof angrily. “No! I couldn’t do any spells in the book! I thought it was just because I was tired from our lesson but I woke up extra early to practice today and I still couldn’t do anything! I couldn’t even get the light spell to work again!” she drooped her head in self pity. Twilight was torn between being happy that her pupil had woken up early to practice and being sad that her efforts were wasted. Not knowing what to do, she glanced around the room for something to cheer her up. Her eyes rested on a plate of Pinkie Pie’s special cupcakes, which she had bought just this morning. “I know what’ll cheer you up, how about a cupcake before we start our next lesson?” Twilight moved in close to the filly and smiled widely. Sweetie Belle just pouted even more. “No thanks. I don’t feel like having a cupcake right now.” Twilight, still keeping the cheeriest smile possible, levitated one of the treats over and wiggled it in front of her. “You sure?” she asked temptingly. Sweetie Belle glanced up from the floor to steal one look at the frosted treat that hovered in front of her, its bright colours daring her to take a bite. She quickly nibbled at the cupcake, part of her not wanting to give into the baked dessert. Twilight watched as her protégé’s eyes widened as she sampled the cake. “Feel better?” Twilight asked kindly. Sweetie Belle pushed the cake away and wiped some frosting away from her mouth. “A little, can we start the lesson now.” That was not the reaction that Twilight had hoped for. When she tried Pinkie Pie’s special treat, she was practically overloaded by its extreme tastiness. Sweetie belle had barely taken a bite. Feeling a little upset that her plan hadn’t worked, Twilight decided to just carry on with the lesson in the hopes that Sweetie Belle would perk up on her own if they continued practicing the light spell. Something that she knew Sweetie Belle was capable of doing. This, sadly, was not the case. Even with their combined efforts, Sweetie Belle had failed to produce even the faintest spark from her horn during the many hours that they practiced. Twilight had tried every method of coaching that she could think of, but in the end, Sweetie Belle just seemed to be having a decidedly non-magical day. This constant failure was grating on Sweetie Belle. After another failed attempt, she screamed in frustration. “Why can’t I do it! I did it yesterday!” “Don’t worry Sweetie Belle, sometimes ponies just have bad days. If you want, we could take a break and try again tomorrow.” to be honest, Twilight was the one who needed a break. Sweetie Belle’s unusual reluctance towards magic was wearing on the unicorn. Sweetie Belle angrily opened her book, the rough way that she handled it causing Twilight to gasp in horror. She frantically flicked the pages, skimming over the words and pictures. “There must be something that I can do in this book!” she abruptly stopped about halfway through the book and pointed to a page. “What about this!” Twilight peered over her shoulder at the book. “An illusion spell? Sweetie Belle, That’s quite a difficult spell to do, even I-” She was halted by Sweetie belle pounding her front hooves into the ground. “I need to do something today! Otherwise it will be a complete waste of time! I didn’t try this one at home.” Twilight was more than a little offended at the thought of one of her lessons being deemed a waste of time, but she was more concerned about Sweetie Belle’s safety. “Sweetie Belle, You’re already tired from all of the practice you’ve done today, I don’t think it’s safe to attempt a higher level spell right now.” This made Sweetie Belle even more upset. “I’m not tired, I could do this spell if I wanted to.” she glared at Twilight with a look of anger mixed with determination. Judging by the stare she was getting from Sweetie Belle, Twilight knew there was no talking her out of this. It almost reminded her of herself when she was a filly. She gave a defeated sigh and stepped back, allowing Sweetie Belle more room for her attempt. Sweetie Belle stood up tall with her chest puffed out, still holding her determined expression. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and held it. It was her final chance to show that she still had some magical potential. She concentrated as hard as she could to find at least a hint of magic in her body. Maybe if she at least knew she still had some magic in her, she could do it. With no luck, she tensed even harder. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears but she carried on, blocking all feeling from her mind. A swirling sensation started to creep up on her, meshing with the deafening drumbeat in her ears and threatening to make her lose her balance and bring her out of her meditation. She knew she was close, all she had to do was hold on for a few more seconds... Sweetie Belle groaned and tried to open her eyes, an action that created an explosion of pain inside her head and momentarily paralysed her. She tried to look around as much as she could, only seeing a hazy darkness and the slightest shadow of a figure standing over her. Through the searing pain in her mind, her other senses slowly returned. It came to her attention that she was on the floor, though she couldn’t bear to move. A faint voice sounded over the powerful ringing in her ears, sounding like it was in distress. bit by bit, her sight was brought back to her. The looming figure was revealed to be Twilight, looking down at her with tears in her eyes and repeatedly saying something to her. As another wave of pain overtook her, she closed her eyes again. “Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle!” Twilight almost shouted. She put a shaking hoof on the filly’s shoulder and gently nudged her, hoping to get a response. “This is all my fault.” Sweetie Belle’s mind loosened its grip on her body slightly, allowing her to open her eyes and focus on her teacher. Twilight visibly relaxed seeing a pair of green eyes locked onto hers. Battling through her dry throat, Sweetie Belle managed to speak, coughing and stuttering as she did. “W-what happened?” she asked, clasping her hooves to her head in an attempt to fight her migraine. Twilight gave a final sigh of relief as she heard Sweetie Belle speak and wiped the tears away from her eyes. “You fainted Sweetie Belle...” although her tone was kind and motherly, It only served to make Sweetie Belle feel about ten times smaller. “Right. The spell...” Sweetie belle mumbled in the quietest voice possible. If she had the energy, she would have galloped out of the library and never returned. The embarrassment that she felt was minor compared to the guilt she felt about making Twilight worry and the shame of failing once more. “I’m sorry...” she said with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I just wanted to be good at something for once. I didn’t mean to upset you.” She finally gave up and burst into tears, only exacerbating the pain in her head. Twilight instinctively wrapped her hooves around the filly and hugged her tightly, letting her heartbeat soothe the crying unicorn. Her heavy sobs slowly softened until she was lightly crying into Twilight’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Twilight lightly stroking the filly’s mane to calm her. She had a feeling that cupcakes definitely weren’t going to help her now. “My head hurts...” Sweetie Belle choked through her tears. Twilight pulled her away and looked into her eyes. After a few seconds, a trail of light slowly made its way up Twilight’s horn. Before it reached the tip, Twilight rested her horn on Sweetie Belle’s head, letting the light transfer from Twilight’s body to hers. Almost instantly, The Piercing pain that Sweetie Belle felt began to lessen, fading into a dull throb and then into no more than a light twinge. “Feel better?” Twilight asked with a gentle smile. Sweetie Belle nodded and allowed herself to grin a little, even though her face was stained with tears. She hugged Twilight once more, enjoying the protection she felt as she did. Twilight let go and smiled at her. “You did nothing wrong Sweetie Belle, you just got a little carried away. I know you can do it, you just need to give it time, it’ll happen eventually.” Sweetie Belle looked unsure. “I don’t know... Maybe I’m just not meant to be a unicorn.” The sight of her bubbly student just giving up drove Twilight to the brink of tears once more. “Don’t say that Sweetie Belle!” she said with a sterner voice. She placed a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s chin and lifted her head up. “If I didn’t think you were capable of using magic, I wouldn’t have given up so much of my time to teach you. Don’t let one silly accident scare you away from something that you could be great at.” A dash of hope broke through Sweetie Belle’s dispirited expression. “You really think I could be great at it?” Twilight nuzzled her lightly, making her giggle. “I think you could be the best.” They stayed in a close embrace for a few more moments before Sweetie Belle pulled away. She slowly rose to her hooves, but buckled under the pressure of her fatigue. Twilight caught her with a hoof and steadied her, allowing her to stand upright. Building up her strength, Twilight and her walked to the door, picking up Sweetie Belle’s saddlebag on the way. Twilight gently rested the small bag on the filly’s back and stroked her mane. “Do you want me to walk you home?” Sweetie Belle shook her head. “no, I’m fine. It’s just around the corner, I can do it myself.” Twilight was about to object, but it looked like the filly needed some time to herself. “Okay. Promise me you’ll come see me tomorrow for another lesson.” she said as lovingly as Princess Celestia would have. Sweetie Belle smiled and lightly nodded before she began her walk home. Twilight stayed at the door, watching Sweetie Belle walk down the street, swaying gently as she went. Even though she was sure that it was just the after effects of overexertion, Twilight wondered if she should’ve made her stay, just to make sure she was alright. The moment had already passed after she was done pondering, as Sweetie Belle had turned a corner and had now disappeared from view. Twilight shut the door, asking herself whether she had done the right thing.