"Come on Star, try one more time!" Twilight encourages.
"No! I'm just not aggressive enough!" I whine back, tired of failing the sword spell. My latest attempt hung before me, no more than a magic stick. Not even sharp. I simply wasn't able to make myself aggressive enough.
"Hmm... What about when Rainbow was making you mad earlier? She said you got so mad you almost used magic on her. Try thinking of that." As she finishes her sentence, I can already feel my very feel my acute dislike of the pegasus settling in.
"Grrrrr..." I growl, summoning the sword once more. I didn't close my eyes, so I see this one form. It starts out as swirls of blue energy slowly coming together. It forms a hilt, good. Plain and simple, but good. The blade begins to form moments after, perfectly sized and sturdy-looking. Eventually, it forms a seemingly flawless shortsword. I draw it closer to me nervously. It doesn't flop over. With a few experimental swings, I realize I've actually succeeded in making a sword.
"You did it!" Twilight shouts happily.
"Y-yeah! I think I did!" Then the handle falls off of the sword. It is quickly followed by the blade.
"..."
"... Forget that." I hiss, releasing the spell and allowing the sword to fade. I swoon suddenly, losing focus and stumbling back.
"Star?!" Twilight exlaims as I fall backward. I hit my head on the floor and sit back up in pain. It only serves to make the swirling in my head and vision worse.
"Oh Celestia... my head..." I moan.
"W-what's wrong?!" Twilight sounds unsure for the first time since we had started the lesson.
"G-get me an apple..." I order weakly. Twilight rushes off without question, and returns with a yellowish apple. She hoofs it to me and I bite into it. After quickly devouring the apple, the spinning starts to slow down and my head becomes clearer. "T-thanks."
"What just happened?!"
"I-it's no big deal. Sometimes that happens when I use a lot of magic. Like that time I spent the whole day levitating random stuff. I get really hungry, and then I start to get really dizzy and sick. I'll be fine, I just didn't notice I was hungry."
"Really? Typically overuse of magic causes exhaustion, not the effects you just listed."
"And you expect me, possibly the only being of my kind, to have typical effects?" I reply sarcastically.
"Hey, don't get snippy with me!" Twilight orders forcefully. "I was just stating that the typical reactions aren't like yours, not that I assumed you would display them."
"Right, right. Sorry. I get a little touchy when that happens. Anyway, let's just quit with the spell practice for now."
"I was going to say that anyway. Here, you rest here while I go get some of those books for you." Twilight turns and trots off to the library shelves. She carefully levitates a few select books off of them and examines them. After looking at a few books, which she shook her head at and placed back on the shelves, she finally settles on two books and brings them over to me.
"Sweet, books." I held a hoof out for one. "Why'd you bring two? I usually read only one book at once." Twilight sits down beside me and levitates me one of the books.
"Well, the other one is for me. What? Did you expect me to sit and watch you read?" She replies back in a tone that makes it seem like she's teasing me. I decide to ignore it and look at the book she had given me.
"Magic Dueling: Rules and Strategies. Why would I be reading this?"
"One day, when you've trained enough, we're going to duel. You're the strongest natural magic user, other than myself and the princesses, I've ever met. I think it would help us both grow better."
"You want me to duel you?!" I screech in a bit of a panic. "There's no way!" Twilight holds up her forehooves peacefully.
"Not now, and not any time soon. When you're ready. Don't worry."
"Then... why read it now?"
"It's never too early to learn, right?"
"Ok... I guess so." I look at the book and hesitantly open it. To my relief, it seemed that the old form of dueling, to the death, had been abolished. Instead, dueling was now a competition of tricks. The rules seemed relatively simple, as all spells that didn't cause harm were allowed. They also didn't allow use of spells on the opponent, only spectators could be targeted. Sort of like unknowing volunteers. In my intense reading, I didn't really notice a warmth against my side until I paused for a moment. I look over to see that Twilight is leaning against me while reading. "What are you doing?"
"Reading." Twilight answers without looking up.
"I meant why are you leaning on me?"
"You're soft and warm." Twilight explains distractedly, not really seeming to care that she was leaning on me.
"... Could you stop?" This time, Twilight lowers her book a little and looks up at me.
"Oh, I'm bugging you?"
"Well... it's just strange."
"Sorry, I'll move." Twilight wiggles off of me and sits about four inches away. Satisfied, I turn back to my book and continue reading.
"TWIIIIIIILIIIIIGHT!" A familiar voice shouts from outside. I couldn't quite place who it was, but they did a very good job of disturbing my reading. Twilight was having a similar reaction to the voice, but she seemed to know who it was.
"Pinkie?" She mutters questioningly. Suddenly I remember the pink party pony I had met earlier. "Do you know her already?" Twilight asks suddenly.
"Yes, I've met her already."
"Good. Go ahead and come in Pinkie!" The door bursts inward and Pinkie Pie came tumbling through it as if somepony had thrown her. She bounces back to her hooves as if nothing had happened and bounds backward to close the door behind her.
"Oh good, you're here! I was really sure you'd be here, but you never know, you could've been out shopping or something. Anyway, I met this new creature thingy that Shadow found, and I wanna throw him a surprise party, but I don't know what he likes! Do you have a book here that could tell me what he is, what he likes, his favorite party games, on second thought maybe you've already read a book like that and can just tell me what he-- Eeeeeeeeeek!" Pinkie's rambling comes to a sudden halt when she finally notices me right next to Twilight.
"Hiya." I greet her nonchalantly.
"Ohmygosh! I totally didn't say anything about a party or a book or finding out what you-- Twilight come upstairs!" Pinkie Pie is suddenly holding a small pellet, which she throws onto the ground. A huge plume of pink smoke explodes into the room, lowering my field of vision to about a single inch in front of my face.
"Waaa!" Twilight suddenly screams. I can only cough and wave a hoof in front of my face until the smoke disappears. When it finally does in about 20 seconds of waiting, Twilight and Pinkie Pie are gone.
"... I saw nothing." I simply go back to reading my book in peace. At the same time as I finish my book, Twilight comes down the stairs. "Oh, hey. Where'd Pinkie go?"
"She jumped out a window after I helped her as much as I could."
"... Ok then. Well, I finished reading the rulebook, and may I say I'm quite happy you won't be killing me."
"What?"
"I only knew about the olden dueling style, not the newer version. I thought you were going to duel me to the death."
"Wha- Of course not! I could never do that!"
"Well I know that now. As I said though, I was only aware of olden dueling. So, naturally when you said dueling, I assumed it was in the only style I knew."
"No way. Besides, that form of dueling was ab--"
"Abolished by Celestia some years ago because she didn't want ponies dying needlessly. I know. It was in the book."
"Well. No need to cut me off. Anyway, do you think you're ready for--"
*Guuuuurk* My stomach suddenly growls louldly, cutting Twilight off again.
"-- Lunch?" Twilight continues flawlessly, as if that had been her intended question.
"Uhh... y-yeah." I mumur, slightly embarrassed. "I guess I'm still really hungry from the erm... magic practice." Twilight giggles a little, which made me wonder again why she did that so much.
"Then come with me, I was about to make lunch anyway."
"O-ok." I continue to speak weakly. Twilight turns and heads towards a little doorway on the other side of the main room. I quickly stand up and follow her, and predictably the doorway leads into a small kitchen/dining room. It's basically a small square divided almost in half by a counter. The kitchen half had a stove in the black-right, a sink in the back-left, and a fridge placed close to the dining room half along the left wall. The dining room has only a small wooden table with a four plain wooden chairs around it.
"Alright, what do you want?"
"Uhh... I dunno. What do you have?"
"I have..." Twilight opens a few cabinets and the fridge magically. "Apples, oranges, hay, daisies, carrots, some sugar cubes if you want a snack, peaches, some lettuce--"
"I'd just like some fruit, thank you."
"Ok. That sounds good to me too... let's see..." Twilight levitates a few apples, oranges, and peaches out of the cabinets. I scoot one of the chairs away from the table and sit on the ground where it had been, which put me at about the same height as a normal pony sitting in a chair. Twilight sets a little pile of the various fruits in front of me, then sits down across from me.
"Thank you."
"No problem. So, how are you liking it here?"
"Well, I've had the most fun I've ever had in my life just in this house. It's fantastic, really." I answer matter-of-factly between bites. Twilight blushes a little and starts rolling an apple on the table.
"Wow... thanks. I-I was more talking about Ponyville though..."
"Why do you sound so nervous?" I ask curiously, not missing her stutter. Twilight seems slightly caught off guard by my question.
"Well... You know, I live in a library. Most ponies don't view being here fun. I mean, my friends come over here and we have fun together, but I don't think they view being here itself as fun."
"Why not? This is the best place ever! I never got to see this many books, ever! Not only that, but I've used more magic in two hours here than I have most of my life!"
"Most of my friends aren't... well-read. In fact, only one really stops by to read. Even then she only reads one series that I got her to like. I also don't give them magic lessons. You're the only... being I've ever taught anything."
"You don't have to call me 'being', you know. I think of myself as a pony, just like you. Might as well call me that."
"Ok, I'll try. Might take some getting used to though."
"Ok. I guess. Well..." I finish the last bite of my last fruit and neatly lay the core next to the other cores and peels. "I'm sorry to hear that your friends don't like all the same stuff as you."
"No no, it's a good thing! I've learned that it allows me to try all sorts of new things that I normally wouldn't do. Like once, I entered a race with my two friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack."
"Oh. Well then good for you. I was going to say it's a good thing we like the same stuff, and we're friends now... Are we friends? You said 'not quite yet' last time."
"Hmm... You seem really nice, and it's great to finally meet somepony like myself. I'd say we're friends now, and I like having a friend that likes the same things as me." Twilight gives me a broad smile. I feel my visage brightening considerably as well.
"Oh, good. You had me a bit worried when you started talking about it being good to like different things."
"Hee hee hee, no need to worry."
"Hey, how old are you? If you don't mind me asking." I ask due to a sudden strike of curiosity. Twilight gives me a hesitant look.
"About 19. Why?"
"I dunno, just suddenly wondering."
"How old did you say you were?"
"18. Well, actually I'm exactly 18. Today is my birthday." Twilight's eyes shot open and she smiled even wider. "Don't do anything! Seriously, calm down! I want nothing done for my birthday. I even made my parents try to forget when it is." Twilight's face falls to a frown almost instantly.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because, I'm another year closer to death. Yipee. I don't want to celebrate that." I explain simply. Twilight gives me a blank stare. Then she continues staring. And keeps staring. "Hello?" I ask hesitantly. Twilight doesn't budge. I suddenly realize she isn't blinking. I stand up to go over to her and see what's wrong. In the proccess, I accidentally knocked over an apple core. It hovers right where it had been pushed by my hand. In mid-air.
Something was very wrong.
"My son... it's nice to see you after all these years." A soft but powerful voice calls from the doorway. Wait... S-son? I turn to look at the source of the voice.
Nevermind, something was far worse than very wrong. The figure in the doorway wasn't my father. In fact, it looked like...
Me.