Smoke floated down the streets, snow meeting it halfway and then gently touching down upon the ground on this cold Manehattan morning. Ponies busily scurried across the roads, always seeming to be in a hurry. All except for one lone Stallion by the name of Scroll Seeker, looking bewilderedly around, as if he had no idea where she was. Manehattan was a big city, and nopony paid him any attention. His pale blue mane hung down his head, blowing gently in the wind. He was a unicorn,his horn poking through his mane, and his bright blue eyes His fur was a light tan color, and his cutie mark a spark of blue. This always confused him, he never understood what it meant. Everypony else seemed to get it, they said it “suited his personality.” He took a long look around the city in amazement. He had heard that Manehattan was “modernizing,” but didn't expect anything of this scale. Loud clangs rang throughout the streets, as colossal machines ran all throughout the city. Smog floated all throughout, and the city was very dark. But he had places to be, and couldn't hang around here. All the ponies around him rushed busily through the streets, dressed in the finest fashions around. He felt rather out of place, being from the rural town of Hoofington, where these new fashions and wondrous machines hadn't taken much hold as of yet. He walked along the roads, which seemed to have recently been changed to sett paving, as some streets were still being changed from the old cobble. This change seemed to be for the carts, now becoming quite popular. The higher class ponies rode in carts across town, elegantly dressed in elaborate dress. He could smell the smoke on the air, coming from the large factories which had recently popped up around the city. He wore nothing but a simple scarf, striped in alternating shades of light and dark blue, and a small pack. He felt very underdressed for such an elegant part of town. He continued down the road, doing his best to remember his instructions.
“Head down the main road, then turn past the Carousel Boutique.” he thought.
As he passed by the Carousel Boutique, he looked in the display windows with awe. Grand fashions were on display, all sorts of large hats, elegant dresses and suits, and accessories galore. “All designed by the famous Miss Rarity herself!” read a sign in the window, as if everypony didn't already know. Miss Rarity was the most famous fashion designer around, having created stores all throughout Equestria. He continued past the store, and looked down the street, seeing his destination ahead. A large brick apartment building, which was a bit beaten up, but nothing too bad. He headed inside, and a rather heavy-set, red, aged earth pony was inside at a desk. He wore circular spectacles, and had a short light brown mane. He seemed quite bored, and looked at him with a look of indifference. He tapped his hoof lightly on the desk, seeming utterly bored.
“Hello, sir?” said Scroll Seeker.
“What?” asked the stallion.
“My name is Scr-”
“I don’t care about your name. Why are you here?”
“I’m a new tenant, in room 7.”
“I need documentation first.”
“Of course.”
Scroll reached into his bag, and produced a small sheet of parchment. He handed it to the stallion, who scanned it over, not really checking anything. He filed the paper away, and handed him a key.
“It’s the first room on the second floor, right side.” said the stallion. “Now leave.”
Scroll headed along, leaving the rude stallion at his desk, and went to his new home. The room was quite bland, but it was to be expected. He couldn't afford to take anything with him from Hoofington, so his rooms were bare. But right now he didn't care. He could finally pursue his studies. He emptied what little he carried in his bag, and went through his belongings. A notebook, a key to his apartment, a pouch full of bits, a set of quills, various jars of ink, and a small pendant. He checked to make sure he had everything, but was in a bit of a hurry. He was hurrying back out the door, levitating his things into his bag. He couldn't be late, after all. The stallion in the lobby was still sitting lazily, until he noticed Scroll. His eyes widened, and he stared at him, but said nothing.
“Excuse me, do you know where-” said Scroll
Scroll stopped speaking. The stallion shot him a look of “even if I did, I’m not going to bother explaining it to you.” Scroll had had just about enough of this, but said nothing. Another mare was walking into the lobby, and he decided to ask her.
“Hello, do you know where the Manehattan library is? I’m in a bit of a hurry to a meeting there.”
The mare walked right on ahead, not even acknowledging him.
“If you’ll leave quicker, I’ll tell you.” said the stallion.
“I’m not too keen about hanging around you either, you know.”
“Just turn right from here, and look for the third building on the left side of the street, across from the statue of Topaz the Magnificent.”
Scroll took his leave, not wanting to wait around here any longer. But before he headed to the library, he walked back to the Carousel Boutique. He wanted to look his best before meeting his mentor, and she had mentioned something about working out a deal with Miss Rarity herself for him. He thought this was all ridiculous, fancy fashions and whatnot, but gladly went along with her wishes. He had no idea what to buy, however, and the mare running the store seemed knowledgeable.
“Excuse me, could you give me a bit of advice on what to buy? I’m not too knowledgeable in the latest fashions.” said Scroll. “My name is Scroll Seeker, and I was told my mentor worked a deal out with Miss Rarity for me.”
The mare nodded, and took him to the back of the store, in front of a mirror.
“We already had something picked out for you, actually. Miss Rarity made you something rather simple, but it should be fitting.”
She grabbed a suit from a small closet behind her. Inside was a suit, which ran up to his flank, and down to his hooves. It was of very high quality, and more comfortable than it looked. She looked at his scarf as well.
“That’s a nice scarf, it actually works quite well with this.” she said.
He reached for his bits, but was stopped by the mare.
“Miss Rarity said to give it to you for free, as a favor for your mentor.”
He smiled, and thanked her. He wished that his mentor, who he had not even met as of yet, would not have bothered herself with such an arrangement for him, but he was a bit low on bits, and appreciated it greatly. He hated being the center of attention, but at least the story wasn’t very busy. Miss Rarity was the famed element of generosity, after all. He headed towards the library, and reached the statue. The library was a rather dark and rough building, but very large, and he could barely imagine the knowledge inside. He had no time to look through the books yet though, first to meet his mentor. Scroll looked around the library, in awe of its gargantuan size. Books of every subject lined the walls. The room even smelled of books. It was very quiet, as he would have expected, and not too crowded. His hoofsteps rang throughout the room, and he tried his best to walk quietly, to not disturb anypony. He was told to meet with her in 900, whatever that meant. He began to head to the stairs, when he saw a small sign on the wall, reading “elevator.” Next to it was a small room, with doors that opened or closed. This seemed quite fascinating, and he went to go see what it was about. He stepped inside, and several other ponies crowded within. Not knowing what to expect, but not wanting to draw attention to himself, he simply waited for said elevation to occur. The doors slammed shut, and he looked around curiously. Suddenly, steam began to flow throughout machinery all around him, He began to panic, but tried to keep calm. He had no idea if it was working right, but no one else seemed nervous. The room finally began to elevate, and he tried his best to stay calm. He took heavy breaths, and shut his eyes. The room stopped, and he froze. His eyes shot open, to see the other ponies busily scattering from the elevator, leaving him standing with a couple others. He quickly left the room, not wanting to be in that horrifying device for another second. He looked around to see himself alive and well, or at least he felt like he was still alive, on the second floor. He needed to be on the third, but happily took the stairs. He looked at each numbered row, having no idea what these numbers mean, but they seemed to be organizing something. He saw 900, and headed towards it. Inside was a mare, older than him by quite a bit, but looking quite young. She wore a simple cap and coat. This had to be her, he just felt it.
“Pardon me, but are you Miss Sparkle?” said Scroll.
The mare simply nodded, her head deep in a book. She then seemed to snap out of it a second later, and turned to look at him. She had various books scattered all across the floor, about all sorts of subjects, from Equestrian history to Zebrican mythological figures.
“Ah, hello!” said Twilight Sparkle. “You must be Scroll Seeker. I’m glad to finally meet you.”
She seemed to be looking him over, in a judging sort of manner. She glanced at his horn, and seemed to analyze it. She quickly went back to the books, and started to float them back to their locations, but stopped midway. She then grabbed the books and put each away by hoof and tooth, which took quite a lot of effort. He didn’t question it, but it seemed very odd. He got a closer look at her, and noticed some oddities. For one, her cap wasn’t on quite right. she seemed to keep it in a particularly odd manner, centered on her horn. Her mane seemed very messy, and she seemed very tired.
“Now then, shall we begin?” she asked.
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
She glanced out to the center of the floor, and seemed to look over the ponies gathered there.
“Perhaps we should take this...elsewhere.” she said.
“Um...if you say so.” he said reluctantly.
“Follow me.”
She headed out from the books, and towards the center of the room.
“As long as we don’t get on that infernal contraption.” he said, glancing at the elevator.
“You don’t trust them either?”
“Not at all.”
The two headed down the stairs, and he followed her wherever it was they were going. She lead him back out of the library, and started to head down the street, away from where Scroll had come from. He trotted along, when something felt off. The ground beneath his feet darkened, and he slowly looked up in awe of the massive contraption above him. What looked like a very fine sailing ship was flying high above him, covered in propellers and a gigantic balloon. Twilight stopped, and gave a soft giggle.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” she said.
He vacantly nodded, still staring at the ship.
“How could anyone get used to something as insane as this!” he thought, but said nothing.
She led him into another large building.
“I figured we could continue this privately in my home.” she said.
They entered a similar lobby to before, and headed to the stairs. On the third floor was her home, and they entered. The room was quite elaborately furnished, though not in a style of her own. She wandered about the house strangely, as if she had no idea where anything was, including herself. She eventually decided on a white couch, sprawling herself across it, and invited Scroll to sit somewhere as well. He tried his best to sit elegantly on the other one nearby, but ended up falling over. Twilight chuckled playfully.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not as stuck up and prudish as those other ponies. Now, let’s get to business. I figured we would begin with some levitation practice, see if you really have any talent.”
She emptied several small orbs from a pouch, and rolled one around on her hoof, the rest sat on the floor. She bounced the orb a bit on her hoof, then her horn began to shine. An aura grew around the ball, and it hovered. Seconds later, it shot towards Scroll. He instinctively caught it using magic, and Twilight merely observed. He hovered it for several seconds, before Twilight looked back to the rest of the orbs.
“Very good, but we aren’t done yet!” she exclaimed.
She flung several more his way, which he caught with ease. This astounded her. He had quite a bit of talent for someone new to magic. Perhaps he was the one she had been looking for. Still not quite convinced, she grabbed another pouch, this one full of sand. She carefully untied it magically, and flung it at him, sand spraying towards him. He tried to wrap it all in a magical aura, but making one this large in an instant was quite difficult. He closed his eyes, focusing purely on the magic. A large field spread from his horn, but he had no idea if it would be enough. His question was answered by the feeling of sand pouring down his back. He looked around him, and found the floor covered in sand.
“Uh, sorry about that.” said Scroll.
“No problem, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to be able to do it, I just needed a judge of your skill. Let me go get some more materials, and we can do some more practice.”
She headed down a hallway, and began searching through a closet. This gave Scroll a second to look around the room. All sorts of oddities were sitting on shelves, but what intrigued him the most was a golden headpiece, with ornate designs all around it, and a six pointed purple gem at the top. He had no idea what it was, but it had an aura of magic surrounding it, he could feel it from here. He felt and energy that seemed very similar to Twilight Sparkle’s, but also a very different one. It seemed quite valuable, and one of those energies was most likely a protection spell. She came back, with various quills, inks, and papers. She saw he was looking at the headpiece, and she explained.
“I see you’ve noticed the element.”
“Element?”
Twilight seemed to be remembering something while she explained to him.
“A very powerful magical artefact. Not very useful now, but there are six in total, and when all are gathered, they are incredibly powerful.”
He changed his focus from the element to her.
“Just who is this mare?” he thought. “Where did she learn such powerful magics, and why would she be trusted with such a powerful artefact? Why was she teaching him, of all ponies? Surely there was somepony else worthy of such magic.”
“Shall we continue?” she asked.
He nodded, and she levitated a quill and inkpot towards him. She took a quill and inkpot of her own, and began to write. She didn’t write any words, rather the entire alphabet in capital and lowercase.
“Copy my writing as exactly as you can. No hooves, no teeth. Just magic. this should improve how precisely you can use your magic.”
Twilight magically levitated the sand back into its pouch, and resealed it. She looked around the house oddly, as if she had no idea where she was. She rarely spent time at home now, she was always at the library. It was Spike’s house more than hers, she only came home to sleep, and she didn’t get much sleep. Rarity had provided her with such elaborate furnishings, but she didn’t feel comfortable here.
“I’d better check on how Scroll is doing.” she thought.
Scroll finished the copying, and was looking at various pictures on the wall. One was of a tree, but with doors and a balcony. Inside one of the windows he saw books.
“My old home, back in ponyville.” she said, also looking at the picture.
She heard knocking on the door, and went to go open it.
“That must be Spike and Rarity.” she said.
“You mean Miss Rarity? Like, the famous fashion designer? The very same that provided me these clothes?”
“Yes, she is one of my closest friends.”
“Skilled with magic, and friends with ponies like the grand Miss Rarity?” he thought. “Heh, maybe next I’ll find out she knows Celestia...”
Rarity and Spike both came in, looking quite worried. Scroll was so struck with meeting Rarity, he hardly even noticed there was a drake beside her.
“Twilight, Celestia needs to see you.” said Spike.
“What for?” said Twilight.
“We don’t know, but she requested your presence immediately.” said Rarity.
Rarity was dressed in a fine, elegant dress, in a truly extravagant fashion. But he expected no less from her. But he didn’t have much time to look her over before he was rushed out of the room by Twilight, as everyone headed out.
“Then what are we waiting for, go!” said Twilight hurriedly, grabbing her bag.
“Darling, relax.” said Rarity. “Rainbow will be willing to take us to Canterlot, I’ve already arranged it.”
This didn’t calm down Twilight at all, and she hurried down to the streets, everypony else following her. A rainbow maned mare waited outside, whom Scroll was left to assume was the “Rainbow” that Rarity had mentioned. She was wearing goggles, which were strapped to her head, above her eyes.
“The Whirlwind is docked just up ahead.” she said.
They followed Rainbow to a skydock, or at least, that’s what the sign outside said. This meant another elevator to get to the top, but at least he was prepared this time. Everypony crowded in, and he waited for the inevitable. Whatever was wrong with the stairs, he still had no idea. That is, until he realised how long they had been going up, and how much more time the stairs would take. He tried his best to figure it in his mind, to keep his mind off of the fact that he was shooting into the sky on a platform. It would take much longer, and these busy ponies everywhere would no doubt hate wasting time. The steam powered doors shot open, and he gladly left the elevator. He was on the top of the building, and quite high in the sky.
“The Whirlwind is in slot three.” she said, and headed in that direction. He hadn’t even looked towards the docks yet, he had hoped “skydock” meant something less literal. Gigantic ships were held in place on the edges of the dock, floating off the ground by use of a large balloon device. The slots were each numbered, and he looked to the third. A large sailing ship was docked here, with propellers and a large balloon. The design of the ship was rather strange, with a large multi-color lightning bolt on the side. The words HMS Whirlwind were emblazoned on the side. He looked it over, and was more terrified of technology than ever. But he rushed on just as everypony else, Twilight seeming to do so more out of being in a hurry than desire to ride on it. Rainbow took the helm, and strapped on her goggles.
“Hold on tight, the Whirlwind is the fastest ship you’ll ever see!” Rainbow exclaimed with pride.
The propellers fired up, steam billowed from the engines, and the ship began to take flight. It floated straight up, the propellers and balloon lifting it away from the ground. Rainbow pushed a lever straight ahead, and the engine fired up, propelling the ship forward. The propellers died down, enough to keep the ship hovering, but not going any higher.
“Even though it’s the fastest ship around, it’ll take us awhile to get to Canterlot.” said Rainbow.
“Scroll, we can continue your training while we wait, if you would like.” said Twilight.
“That would be great, anything to help pass the time while we fly.” he said, while looking at the ship worriedly.
The two of them headed belowdecks, and into a small parlor. A couple of plush seats were within, and they sat down.
“Animation spells would be a nice start. Don’t worry if you can’t do them yet, I just want to see your skill, so I don’t waste time on the basics.” said Twilight.
Animation spells were one type he was not too skilled with. He would try his best though. She gave him another quill and inkpot, and paper, just as before, but wrote nothing.
“Animate the quill to dictate what I speak. Tell me when you’re done and I will begin.”
“Um, I really don’t know what I’m doing.” he said embarrassedly. “Animation spells aren’t my forte.”
“Just try your best, I’m sure you’ll get it.”
He focused his magical energy on the quill, and began to mentally command it. He thought of various simple tasks for it to do, and mentally acted as if he was speaking to it. This required intense concentration, and the whirr of the machinery tried its hardest to distract him.
“Listen when spoken to. Move in letter formations. Move in the letters of words that are spoken to you. Only write on paper provided for you. Do not-”
His spell faded, he couldn’t keep his concentration up any longer. The quill jumped up, and seemed ready to write. What he didn’t expect, was that it would write on him! The quill jumped at his face, and wrote “Dunce” on his forehead. He swatted the quill away, and quickly smudged the ink before it solidified. Luckily, it would wash off quite easily. Twilight gave a slight chuckle, and undid the magic on the quill, the quill fighting back the whole time.
“Looks like we will have to work on that some more.” she said, seeming to expect this.
She gave him a textbook she pulled from her pack, titled “A brief history of magic.”
“This book contains many different types of spells, and the basics of spellcasting. I have something to talk to Spike with, I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, I’d like you to look up animation spells, see if you find anything helpful.
A light knocking was heard on the door, and Twilight opened it, revealing Rarity on the other side.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I thought I should properly introduce myself to our friend Scroll Seeker. My name is-”
“Rarity.” he interrupted, still absorbed in his book.. “I know.”
She was taken aback by this display of rudeness, but remembered he was rural, and lower class. She, on the other hoof, had adapted quite well to city life, and was in the upper echelons of society.
“Yes, well, I suppose everypony does nowadays. I figure that by now you have heard I am your benefactor, and that I sent you the money to pay for your new clothing and furniture?”
“Furniture?” he asked, still keeping one eye on the book.
“It must not have been delivered to your home as of yet. Surely you didn’t think you were expected to live in an empty apartment?”
He honestly had thought that, and didn’t see the notion as too odd.
“You remind me of Twilight when we were younger. Although I suppose Twilight hasn’t changed much. Always having your head in a book.”
He had no idea how to picture Twilight as younger, as she seemed young now, but she assumed Rarity didn’t mean foal age. He was left to assume they knew each other as fillies, and decided to leave it at that for now. He didn’t feel right around Rarity, she seemed...Pompous. She was famous, and she knew it. It wasn’t in what she said, but how she said it.
Twilight re-entered, and Rarity took her leave.
“So how do you know Miss Rarity?” Scroll asked Twilight.
“We met a long time ago, back when I was still a young mare. Long before she was famous. She was in charge of decorations for the summer sun celebration. You could say she had a talent for fashion all along, as she immediately tried to get me dressed up in all sorts of fancy clothes.”
He took that answer as good enough, it answered what he wanted, and even told him a bit more about her and Rarity’s relationship.
“So about that dragon.” he said.
“His name is Spike, and he’s one of my oldest friends. Celestia gave him to me, after I hatched his egg as part of a test.”
“So not only does Celestia need to see you, but you know her personally?”
“I’ve studied under her for most of my life, actually.”
This was mindblowing. He’s learning from the student of Celestia! He might as well be her student, this was nearly as good.
“I need to leave once more, to speak with Rainbow and Rarity.” she said.
Scroll barely even noticed her leave, too entranced with the idea of learning from a student of Celestia.
Twilight headed up, and Scroll opened up his book once more. He noticed Twilight took some things from her bag, as it was quite a bit smaller and not quite as lumpy. She came back soon, but wasn’t carrying anything. He didn’t want to poke any further into her personal business, so he didn’t ask. He noticed the engine dying down, and went above to check what was going on. He looked out, and saw a glorious, expansive city infront of him. The ship had been stopped at a skydock, and everypony got out. He noticed an awful lot of royal guards around. They must have reached Canterlot. It was getting quite dark, he hadn’t noticed below decks. Spike let out a yawn, and Twilight stretched out a bit after getting off of the ship.
“Luna is overseeing the city now, we’d best greet Celestia in the morning.” said Twilight. “But I’m sure we would be welcome at the palace.”
They headed through the city,the snow covered cityscape and streets just as beautiful at night. The streets were just as busy as in Manehattan, and industry had taken root here as well. They reached the palace, and spoke to the gate guard. He seemed to recognize Twilight, and let them in. The sky above them darkened even further, as Luna descended from the sky.
“Hello Twilight Sparkle, I’m afraid my sister is asleep at the moment.”
“I figured so. I had hoped we could stay here for the night, and speak with her in the morning.”
“Of course, we have plenty of accommodations for my sister’s student and friends. But please, do not wake her. She needs her sleep in these tough times.”
Luna rose to the sky once more, without explaining what she meant by “tough times.” Everypony else followed Twilight, who seemed to know where she was going. She led them to the guest chambers, where they took up lodging. Scroll got his own room, which was extravagantly furnished in royal style, as to be expected in the palace. Scroll took some time to process what had happened today, and quickly slipped into sleep.