//------------------------------// // Magic // Story: Royalty Unwanted // by Spalding //------------------------------// A week had passed since Anthony’s meeting with the princesses. Since he was going to be one of the few alicorns, tradition was to be upheld and he would be a royal. He had followed a simple routine of having Riposte waking him at the break of dawn, taking a stroll in the snow covered gardens, and enjoying a light breakfast with the guard pony who had become his own personal guard. Celestia and Luna had noticed how Riposte and Anthony had struck off on a good note, and it would be beneficial for both if they could spend time with each other. After breakfast with Riposte, he would go to the Canterlot Library, teleported there by Celestia, and watched over by a royal unicorn guard until he wished to leave, which was normally within three or four hours of delving into the stories of Equestria, its history, and figures. The guard would teleport him back to the palace, back into the throne room where the learning alicorn could question whichever sister was present about what he had found. Princess Celestia was eager for Anthony to begin to learn about his magical talents. His flying wasn’t so important at the moment; the colt was going nowhere anytime soon. She had a very special student of hers that she knew could do the job. Mid Morning sun rose higher into the sky as the Ponyville library remained quiet, with the exception of the light snores coming from the dragon and pony within. The mare hid underneath the covers from the warm sunlight of a new day as the purple dragon’s eyes first opened. “Twilight? You up yet?” Spike wasn’t sure if she was, so it was safer to simply whisper and check for his surrogate sister to hear him. Heh, guess not. Might as well start with the morning chores before she gets up. Maybe she’ll toss an extra gemstone into breakfast! Spike quietly strolled down the staircase as he thought of a ruby or sapphire gracing the top of a pancake stack, or maybe an emerald with— And that’s when he felt a very familiar feeling, like bubbles rising from his belly, and slowly rising to the top of his mouth when he would finally… Spike let out a small burping noise as his emerald flames burst out from his mouth and an unusually small scroll popped into existence, Spike second naturedly grabbed from the air the scroll marked with the royal mark on it like any other day. “Twilight! Hey, Twilight!” Spike ran up the stairs to wake up his sister, bearing the words of the princess herself in his hands. “C’mon Twi! Wake up! You’ve got a scroll from Celestia…” The purple pony’s head nearly sprang off of her pillow and out from under the covers at the mention of a letter from her mentor. “Really!? This early!? It must be important… Oh no, did I forget to send in an assignment…” “Twilight?” “What if I didn’t send that friendship report from last night?!” “Twilight.” “She’s got to be mad at me for not sending a report earlier this morning! I knew I should’ve started making morning reports a long time ago in my schedules…” “TWILIGHT!” At this point, Spike had it. There was no way he was just going to let her go nuts like she does EVERY time when an unexpected letter comes around, assuming it’s bad news. Because 92% of the time, it was good news, or just a simple request for Twilight or Twilight and her friends to come visit Canterlot. “Spike! This could be really bad!” The distressed librarian was completely out of sorts and worried that she had failed to do something, and the simple thought of failing her teacher was the most common of all of her nightmares. “Just open it Twilight. Maybe it isn’t that bad.” “You think?” “Yeah.” “You’re absolutely positive it isn’t about--” Spike simply took the scroll from the deteriorating pony’s hooves and opened it himself, and didn’t even check to see if it was horrible news. He didn’t care at this point, just so long as she stopped going on and on about the horrid possibilities. “Oh. Yeah, I guess you were right Spike, nothing to worry about at all.” To my dear Twilight Sparkle, I hope all is well and that you’ve had a good night’s rest, but I must request your presence in Canterlot. There’s nothing to be worried about, but I merely request that you come on your own, for there is a private matter that I wish to discuss with you. You’re mentor, Princess Celestia “See?” Spike inwardly exhaled as he could confirm his beliefs and not have to worry about one of Twilight’s famous escapades or adventures. “But… She wants me to go to Canterlot, alone. I mean, it’s not a like it’s a bad thing, but… It’s a bit of an odd request. She simply said she wanted to speak to me about something, no hints about what or anything.” Twilight was only a little confused on the matter, because it was her mentor and the princess, and if she didn’t say anything was wrong right off the bat, it couldn’t possibly been bad, right? “Well, that is odd, but I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about.” There was a quick flash of light, and Twilight had teleported herself out of her covers and by the stairs, saddlebag already filled with books upon her back. “I shouldn’t keep her waiting, I’m sure it must be important if she wants to see me, so I’ll probably be gone for the day, okay Spike? I’m sure I can trust you to keep everything in order?” “Yes Twilight, in fact, you do almost every time you go out.” Spike has grown tired of his sister’s constant treating him like a young child, which he was in no way shape or form! “Just making sure!” Twilight called as she trotted down her wide stairs and towards the door of the library. The student rushed out of her home galloping through town, rudely ignoring the friendly greetings as she passed, more concerned about what Princess Celestia wanted to talk to her about than make idle chit chat. She had the train to catch. “So you’re absolutely sure this isn’t going to hurt?” Anthony was still in the throne room, having his breakfast with Riposte interrupted by a royal summons. He had been informed about how he was to learn about magic, but besides that, he knew nothing about what he was going to learn specifically or who his teacher would be. Oh, and that he also had to be made into a little colt for his lessons. Yeah, that he didn’t expect at all. “Yes, I’m completely certain that the transformation spell won’t hurt. You’ll simply be smaller and your wings hidden, so that your teacher won’t be worried about you being, well… Royal.” Celestia said this in that caring voice that won the hearts of Equestria every day, and the navy alicorn was no exception. “Okay, but please make it quick so I don’t notice anything.” He didn’t notice. “Haha, you didn’t notice.” The princess laughed as she looked down upon the little foal before her, only about 10 years old in appearance. “She’s really good at this whole magic thing… Maybe it won’t be such a bad idea learning some of that stuff.” “Thank you,” the princess chuckled at her remark before she even spoke, “little one.” “Hey! Just because I’m smaller now doesn’t mean you can make fun of me for it!” Anthony recoiled as he heard his voice much higher in pitch than the last time he spoke; the transformation had completed. “Oh, can’t I?” Celestia was having a ball playing with her little adopted brother, if she could call him that. She still felt a small bit of wariness about doing anything with the colt, but, he was clearly a very nice young man, and he was genuine in every word of what he said. So what did she have to lose? Her sister… was harder to be convinced, but she was warming up to their new “brother” in the castle. They would have to get used to the term one way or another, because when he was finally introduced to the populace that would be his official title. “Royal Brother to the Sisters of Equestria.” It didn’t really have a ring to it, but it was a prototype and there was much time before he ever left the castle. The train pulled into Canterlot Station and before the conductor pony could even take one step Twilight Sparkle had sprinted past, saddlebags with her. The mare took the main road in Canterlot straight to the majestic royal palace. She didn’t take in any of the grandeur of the city, because she had lived there in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. The guards new very well about Princess Celestia’s favorite student, and opened the gates for her as she ran past. It was the norm for her, and for the guards it was just another time she was visiting her mentor. The pony slowed as she reached the stairs of the castle and made her way to the grand hall before the royal throne room. The doors to the room were magically opened by the royal guards standing there, and immediately shut behind the student. “Princess Celestia I’m sorry for--” Twilight had barely noticed the little blue navy unicorn in the room as she sped in, her hooves scratching at the marble as she sled to a halt to take in the new foal before her and the princess. “Twilight, I’d like to introduce you to Starfall.” Celestia had thought of the name before, but hadn’t told Anthony to make things more interesting. “The reason I had called you here was so that I could introduce you to your new student.” “Wait, what?” Twilight couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “He’s your student. Starfall, I’d like to introduce you to your new magic instructor: Miss Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic.” “Umm… Hi?” Anthony didn’t really know what to do or say, so he just waved hello. “Hi there!” Twilight instantly sprung into action as she finally reached a realization of what just happened, and she knew this was some kind of test from her mentor. Definitely a test. “What do you want to learn first?” “Uh…” “Levitation? Teleportation? Transmutation? Transfiguration! Oh! Time Travel!” “Umm… Miss Twilight? I lost you at transmatting-something-like-that.” “Oh.” Twilight was already failing her “test.” “Twilight, you should know, this isn’t a test.” Celestia knew that Twilight would think that at first, and the princess loved seeing her student wig out like that sometimes. It always made her day. “OH THANK YOU DEAREST CELESTIA!” Twilight just exploded with relief. Literally. She had launched herself into the air, flung her fore hooves out, and fell backwards on her back, letting out a sigh of relief. Her saddlebags had fallen off of her and the books she once had packed were sprawled on the floor: How to Contain Large Magical Explosions, and How Gravity Can Be Bypassed. Her new student simply sat and stared at his new, eccentric teacher. “Wow…” Anthony whispered, but Celestia heard and giggled silently. “Twilight, just because this isn’t a test doesn’t mean you can just lay down on the job.” “Sorry!” To Anthony’s, erm, Starfall’s amazement, the purple pony teleported in a quick flash and stood before the two alicorns, belongings in their saddlebag on top of the student/teacher. “I’ll leave you two here, I have some business to tend to with some emissaries from Marelaysia, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to learn and get to know one another better.” The princess left the two by themselves, a mischievous grin imprinted upon her face. “So, Miss Sparkle, what first?” Anthony had no idea what to ask Twilight about with magic, because the spell his caretaker used to transform him was the first spell he’d ever seen. His readings in the Canterlot library were mostly in the history section, and Anthony only began to grasp the idea of magic being in society, as if he wouldn’t understand it existing much less be a common day part of ponies’ lives. “What? Oh, sorry, I was, um, thinking.” Twilight was just zoning out trying to understand how her mentor just walked out on her, with a completely random unicorn in front of her expecting his first lesson in magic. Wonderful. Absolutely great. Couldn’t be better! Fantastic even! “You sure? ‘Cause you look like you’re picking up a sweat.” “No I’m not! Why would I be sweating? It’s not hot in here! Not at all!” “Umm… Does your eye usually twitch like that?” “Be calm, everything is okay, don’t worry, you’re fine. Be calm, everything is okay, don’t worry, you’re fine. Be calm…” Twilight was silently repeating a mantra. “Hello? You alright?” Starfall/Anthony was concerned for his teacher. She seemed nice, but it was a really weird way for a teacher to start off with a student by going nuts. “Okay…” She whispered to herself, satisfied that everything was under control. “Sorry about that, just a bit stressed…” “I’ll say.” “Hey!” “Well, can we, um… Start?” “Of course! But, how did Princess Celestia come to wanting me to teach you?” Uh-oh. C’mon Anthony… Think… What could possibly make this convincing… If Celestia could come up with a name, you can definitely think of a reason! “She found me in her garden.” “What?!” Twilight heard that right, right? In her garden. What the buck? “Yeah… I was just kinda, there. And then she found me, well, a guard did, and then she and I did some talking and I went to the library, learned some things about history… And here we are.” I didn’t lie. It was the truth. Sort of… Not really, but… It’s for a good cause! I can’t just be, well, me out of nowhere! The princesses said I couldn’t just come out of the blue, so I hope this covers for it. “And you didn’t get in trouble or anything?” Miss Sparkle was still lost in what was just said. “Nope.” Please keep working, please keep working, please keep working… “And she just wants me to teach you?” “Yeah!” Did it work? “Okay… If the Princess wants me to, I’ve got to, right?” This isn’t right. I’m getting to the bottom of this, Princess Celestia has some explaining to do… It worked! Yes! I think. Won’t know for sure after all this is over. It’ll work for now… “So, what first?” The little unicorn in front of Element of Magic was becoming impatient, and all this idle talk was definitely getting onto his nerves. “First? Well, do you know anything yet?” “No… That’s why I’m here, right?” I’m supposed to know magic already? How do they know how to do this “magic” stuff without a first lesson? “So your parents never even taught you anything before?” Twilight was completely baffled by Starfall. He had been found in the princesses’ garden, he didn’t get in trouble, Princess Celestia found that he had to be taught by her favorite pupil, and on top of that: he knew nothing at all about the subject. Oh buck. I don’t have parents. Or at least I should… I don’t have any here so… I guess I can say I don’t have any? “I don’t have any…” Starfall said this like it was a loss from a long time ago, and the pain and hurt was still there. Wow I sounded depressed… Maybe I did that a bit too well?… “Oh, I’m, uh… I’m really sorry…” No wonder he didn’t get in trouble! Maybe this isn’t as odd as I thought, but still, why would Celestia want me to teach him? “No! It’s, it’s fine! Really. They’re pretty far away now.” She took that pretty hard, I need to think stuff like that through a lot better next time. “Then, I guess we should start with the basics then?” “Sure. What are the basics?” Anthony had no idea what the basics were. Or what magic could do. Because if the princess could turn him into a child, it sounded like magic can do just about everything. “Oh, hehe, right. Well, try levitating this.” Twilight Sparkle levitated one of her books out of her saddlebag, How to Contain Large Magical Explosions, and placed it between the two of them on the marble floor. “How?” The navy alicorn turned unicorn simply stared at the book, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do to get it to lift. “Right… You don’t know anything… Well, imagine your own will expanding to the book and--” “Like this?” The thick book was now hovering in mid air, surrounded by the verdant green of his eyes. His horn glowed in the same calming aura, the sea of green slowly billowing across the horn’s surface. “Uh, yes! That was quick! I thought you said you didn’t have any previous lessons in magic?” “I didn’t. What’s the matter?” Anthony was completely perplexed by her reaction. Was he doing it wrong? “No! Nothing’s the matter… It’s just, normally a unicorn would have some trouble with their first spell…” “Oh. Why?” Anthony didn’t expect what would come next. “Well, normally, a young unicorn’s connection to their magic is extremely weak, and all they can manage is a small fizzle of magic, with some sparks of their magic leaving their horn but doing nothing useful whatsoever! Now, as they get older their family will begin trying to teach them how to properly use their magic and they would learn simple things such as levitation.” Twilight takes a small break to point out the still levitating book. “The unicorn’s family would teach them the basics but at some point they would require more refined training in the magical arts so they could perhaps find their special talent as well as master whatever field of magic they may favor. By the time that unicorn would be in the school they would have a strong connection with their magic source but not enough to perform advanced or especially difficult spells, such as teleportation.” Twilight then teleports a few feet away from where she was standing and returns immediately. “Like so. Once they graduate the school they would be left to their own devices and be expected to further their studies by themselves. This gives them the rest of their lives to explore the full potential of their abilities and what magic can do.” “Okay.” The little Starfall was still busy taking all of this in, and his mind was still spinning. “I think you can put the book down now and we can try something else…” “Oh! Right… Forgot about that…” Anthony gently moved the book down onto the floor and released it from his control. That isn’t right. If he had forgotten about the book, and since he’s so young, the book should’ve just dropped! This is very interesting… I’m sure there’s a book on cases like this back at the library… “Why don’t you try levitating the book and moving it around a bit.” Anthony let his mind reach out to the book again, and lifted it, moving it up, back down, left, right, clockwise, counterclockwise… The book began to fly around the throne room, diving and soaring in the air, nearly striking the teacher in her side before suddenly shooting up into the air and landing in her saddle pack. The small unicorn simply sat with a smug expression on his muzzle, impressed with himself and his mastery of levitation. “Did you just?…” Twilight was still trying to take in the spectacle the little student had performed in front of her. “Yes I did.” Smug expression was still there. “Maybe we should move on…” “Sure.” This magic stuff isn’t hard at all! I don’t know why she needed to give me a speech about it earlier; this stuff is a piece of cake! Well, I am a full grown adult in reality… So I guess that does take the grandeur away from all of this… But she doesn’t know that! “Bye Miss Sparkle! It was great learning from you!” The little Starfall waved at his teacher, having learned everything she had been willing to offer. “Good bye! Hope to see you soon Starfall!” Twilight called behind her before breaking into a gallop to the train station. There is no way Princess Celestia has picked a new favorite pupil! I was never that good at first! Well, I was amazing when I was his age, but I couldn’t learn all of that so quickly! I need to talk to Celestia about this… There is no way I’m getting replaced! She was nice. A bit weird, and definitely awkward, but hey, she was really smart. I’d love to learn from her again. I wish I didn’t have to be Starfall though… I mean, it’s nice being a foal again, but being myself is much more comfortable. And that reminds me! Princess Celestia better change me back soon… “What do you mean you won’t change me back?!” Anthony was angry. Very angry. “I said so already! You’re so cute when you’re a little angry unicorn!” Celestia was having a ball antagonizing her long term guest. “But… But… This? I have to be this until I grow back up again?!” “Well… Not necessarily… You won’t grow back into an alicorn…” Celestia teased. “Well that won’t be so bad… I could be normal!” The colt became optimistic at the thought of not having to be a royal. It wouldn’t be half bad living like everypony else! “Oh, look at that, you’re tall again.” Celestia knew she couldn’t let him not be an alicorn, it was who he was, and that alone was very important in a number of ways. Plus, he got optimistic! If he start enjoying what was supposed to be torture, what’s the fun in that? “Really? You just had to do that when I got my hopes up?” “I have to have fun sometimes. I can’t do that to my sister too often now can I?” The Sun’s goddess’ fun was over, and she did have to be grown-up, seeing how she was 1,000 years old. “I guess not… Can you teach that spell to me eventually? I don’t want to go through this every time I want to be ‘normal.’”