Chapter 15
AJ, Ditzy, and Twilight were interrupted when Celestia’s personal butler, an older unicorn named Proper Manners, entered the room, wheelchair in tow. “I beg your pardon, but the Princess has given me the task of showing you three to the rooms you will be staying in during your time here in Canterlot.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you sir. I think all of us could use some rest.” Ditzy nodded as she helped AJ into the chair.
“Very good, now if you would please follow me.” Proper Manners lead them down the halls. Twilight used her magic to push the wheelchair as Ditzy walk alongside it. After a few minutes of walking Proper Manners stopped. “Here are your rooms. The room on the right is Mr. AJ’s room.” He pointed at two rooms on the opposite wall. “These two will be Miss Ditzy Doo’s and Lady Twilight Sparkle’s rooms. Before I leave, is there anything you need?”
“Some water would be nice,” AJ weakly said.
Proper Manners nodded. “And would you ladies like anything?” Ditzy and Twilight shook their heads. “I will be right back with your water then.”
The three of them walked into AJ’s room. As they were helping AJ into bed, they heard a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.” Twilight walked to the door and opened it to find Princess Luna standing there. “Princess Luna, what can we do for you?”
“Good evening Twilight Sparkle. Tia told me AJ had woken up, so I figured I would come and give him a check up.” Luna looked over to the bed where AJ was sliding under the covers. Twilight stepped to the side to let her into the room. “And how are you feeling right now?”
“Like I got hit by a bus,” AJ said in a completely serious tone.
Luna just giggled. “That’s to be expected. Now, hold still. I just need to see if there are any complications.” A blue aura surrounded Luna’s horn. She lowered her head and pointed her horn at AJ. A second later the blue aura surrounded AJ’s body. “Hmm, let’s see. You’re very dehydrated, we’ll have to...”
“Mr. Proper Manners is bringing some water right now,” Ditzy said interrupting Luna.
Luna stared at Ditzy. “He is?” Ditzy nodded. “Wonderful! Now let’s see,” Luna said as she concentrated on the spell once more. “You also appear to have muscle strain all throughout your body. Some rest is in order. Other than that you seem to be fine.” The blue aura died down. “It seems you’re magical ability is still too weak to use. It’s something we’ll have to keep track of.”
“Wait, you mean this horn’s going to be good for something other than just decoration?” AJ asked.
“Of course. Now that you’re a unicorn, your body should start naturally absorbing magical energy. Why would you think otherwise?” Luna asked curiously.
“I don’t know. I just figured I’d be without magic. Seeing as how I wasn’t born a unicorn I’d be…how do I put this…magically disabled? Magically retarded?”
“The term you’re looking for is an arcane mute,” Twilight said with a shiver. “It’s a rare disability in unicorns. Usually a foal is born with it, but…”
“It can also happen due to a very severe injury,” Luna added.
Twilight sighed. “It happened to my uncle. He was trying a very advanced spell and it backfired…badly. He never fully recovered.” A smile grew on her face. “He’s just happy to be alive though. In fact, he’s where I got my study habits from.” Twilight proudly smiled.
“So now we know who to blame when you spend days at a time cooped up in the library studying,” AJ said chuckling followed by a wince of pain.
“Excuse me?” Twilight said in a huff. “I’ll have you know that studying is very important.”
A knock sounded at the door. “You may come in,” Luna said.
Proper Manners entered the room carrying a tray of cups and a pitcher of water in his magic. He bowed down when he saw Luna. “Good evening your majesty. I am sorry to intrude, but I was just here to deliver some water that has been requested.”
“Ah very good.” Using her magic Luna grabbed the tray from Proper Manners.
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
Luna smiled and shook her head. “That will be all, thank you.” She placed the tray on the bed side table. “Here, drink up.” Luna lifted a filled glass over to AJ’s mouth. He drank as if it was the first bit of water he’d seen in years. He moaned in relief as the cool liquid soothed his throat. “Drink it slowly, there’s plenty where that came from.” She refilled the empty glass and placed it on the table. “Tia and I would like for you to stay for at least a week to rest and recuperate.” She turned to look out the window. “Well I should be going. It’s almost about time to raise the moon. If any of you are hungry you are more than welcome to join us for dinner.” With a smile and a nod Luna started walking out of the room. “Oh that’s right.” She turned back to the group. “Your new glasses should be finished tomorrow.”
“I don’t know about you two, but food sounds really good right now,” Twilight said as her stomach lightly grumbled.
Ditzy got up. “I guess I’m a little hungry. What about you AJ?”
“I think I'm going to get some sleep. I’m too tired to care about food right now.”
“Alright, I’ll be back to check on you later,” Ditzy said with a smile. She helped AJ with another glass of water before her and Twilight left for dinner.
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“Oh Celestia, I never knew food could taste so…amazing!” Ditzy said rubbing her now full tummy. “And that cake for dessert, it was probably the best cake I’ve ever had!”
“Yea the royal chefs are great. It’s probably one of the things I miss most about living in Canterlot. I think the thing I miss the most is not being as close to my parents.” A thought came to Twilight’s mind. “While I’m here, I should go visit them. I’m sure they’d love to see me again.”
“I try to keep in touch with my family as much as I can. They usually come down to Ponyville for a day or two.” The smile on Ditzy’s face dropped. “I try not to come to Canterlot unless I have to. Too many bad memories.”
Twilight turned to Ditzy with a curious look. “Bad memories?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.” They soon came up to their rooms. “Hold on, I want to check on AJ.” Ditzy opened the door slightly and poked her head in. The room was nearly pitch black. The only light was the small amount entering through the door. She walked into the room a little further before she heard a light snoring. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out a figure lying in the bed. She smiled and quietly backed out of the room. She closed the door and turned to Twilight. “He’s sleeping like a baby.”
Twilight smiled and turned to her room. “I’m going to write a letter to Spike, tell him I’ll be here for a week.”
“Could I write something too? I need to ask Sparkler if she can watch Dinky for the week.” A thought came to Ditzy. “I should probably also get Carrot Top to ask me off of work. I have off tomorrow, but…”
Twilight giggled. “I don’t see why not. We’ll send it tomorrow morning then.”
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It was a quiet morning in the library. Spike had just woken up a little while ago and was in the middle of his morning routine. “Ahh, I never get to take long baths like this when Twilight’s around. Always complaining about me using all the hot water.” As he leaned back in the tub, he started reaching for something. Not finding it he opened his eyes. “Where are you?” He scoured the tub in an attempt to find what was lost. Not finding it in the tub, he peaked over the edge. A smile grew on his scaly face when he saw what he was looking for. “There you are Mr. Quackers. I thought I told you to stay with me.” He started to reach for the rubber duck when he felt that oh so familiar sensation build up in his gut. His cheeks puffed out right before he belched out a green flame. The letter fell to the floor. “Hmm, I wonder what…” He felt another one coming.
After the second letter fell to the ground Spike let the water out of the tub. “Looks like I still can’t take a bath without getting interrupted.” He wrapped a towel around himself and walked into the bedroom to read the letters. He opened the first one and immediately knew it was from Twilight. He’d recognize that writing style anywhere.
Dear Spike
We will be in Canterlot until next weekend. Make sure the library stays clean until I get back. Other than that you’re free to use your time as you please. And please tell everypony that I’m coming back with AJ.
Twilight Sparkle
Spike’s eyes began to shimmer. “A week off? I-I’ve never had an entire week off.” He started to dance a dance of victory until he remembered there was still the other letter.
Hi Spike, Ditzy here. I have two messages I was hopping you could pass on for me. Could you please tell Sparkler that I’ll be gone for the week? She’s watching Dinky for me while I’m gone and I don’t want them to worry. Also could you tell Carrot Top to ask off of work for me? I didn’t expect to be gone for so long so I never got the chance. Thanks in advance.
Ditzy Doo
He sighed. It looks like he he’ll have to put his off time to the wayside for a little bit. He hung his towel up in the bathroom and headed downstairs. He made a quick breakfast and started heading out the door.
“Who?”
“Huh, oh hey there Owlowiscious. I was just heading out to do a few things. I’ll be back in a bit,” Spike said.
“Who?”
“Who? Oh, I have to go talk to Carrot Top and Sparkler. Then I have to go give a message to all our friends.”
“Who?”
“You know, our friends. There’s Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.”
“Who?”
Spike was starting to get angry. “Oh come on, you know who I’m talking about. You go and see them every week when…” Spike then remembered who he was talking to and facepalmed. “When will I remember that’s all you can say?” He walked out the door and closed it, leaving the owl to preen his feathers.
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Spike found Carrot Top at her stand. She had just finished selling some carrots to Lyra and Bon Bon and noticed Spike walking up to her stand. “Good morning Spike, what can I get ya?”
“Oh we still got plenty of carrots at home,” Spike said with a smile. “I got a message here from Ditzy for you.” Spike handed the letter to Carrot Top.
Carrot Top read through the letter. “*sigh* Boxxy Brown is not going to be happy about this. Not with such short notice. Thanks Spike.” She placed the letter in her bag. “I was planning on seeing Sparkler later today. I’ll let her know how long Ditzy’s staying in Canterlot.”
“Alright, thanks Carrot Top.” Internally Spike was jumping for joy. With Carrot Top giving the message to Sparkler, that means one less trip he would have to make. “I got to go. I need to go talk to Applejack.”
Spike made his way across the town square where the Apples always set up their stand. There he saw Big Mac and Apple Bloom. Big Mac was behind the stand ready to sell apples to anypony who wanted them and Spike could see Apple Bloom’s backside sticking out from the side of the cart as she was digging around for something. Big Mac saw Spike coming and put on a smile. “Why howdy Spike.” Apple Bloom’s head could be heard smacking against the underside of the apple stand when she heard Spike’s name. She poked her head out and stared at Spike with a slight blush.
“Hey Big Mac, hey Apple Bloom. I got a letter from Twilight today. She said she was going to be bringing AJ back in about a week.” Spike pulled out Twilight’s letter and held it up.
“AJ’s comin’ back?!” Apple Bloom tackled Spike to the ground and took the letter. After reading the letter, she hopped off of Spike and ran up to her brother. “It’s true Big McIntosh! AJ’s comin’ back!”
Big Mac smiled and patted his sister’s head. “That’s great news. Now why don’t ya go finish settin’ up th’ apples so we can sell’em.”
Apple Bloom saluted Big Mac and ran back behind the cart. She poked her head out and waved to Spike. “Bye Spike!”
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Twilight and Ditzy were on their way back from the dining hall. They had just finished breakfast and were on their way to check on AJ. When they opened the door they both gasped when they saw AJ in a heap on the floor. AJ looked over to the door when he heard the gasps seeing the two pony shaped blobs in the door way. “How do you guys make this look so easy?”
As AJ got himself back up on unsteady legs, Ditzy quickly flew over to help him. “What are you doing? You should still be in bed!”
AJ sat down. “Well I wasn’t tired anymore, so I thought maybe I’d try to get used to these new limbs. As you can see I failed miserably.”
“You’ll get used to them in time, but for now you just need to rest,” Twilight said as she walked over. “For now why don’t you just get back in bed and let us get you anything you need.”
“But…” Ditzy gave AJ an angry stare. “*sigh* Fine you win, but at least let me try to get into bed by myself.”
Ditzy watched as AJ slowly turned around and basically crawled into bed. “You must be hungry. You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
“Yea, breakfast sounds pretty good right now,” AJ said rubbing his gut.
“OK, I’ll go get you something then. I hope the cooks won’t mind.” Ditzy started trotting to the door humming a tune. She stopped at the door and turned her head. “Anything in particular that you’d like?” AJ just shrugged. “OK.” Ditzy opened the door and trotted out.
“You never told us why you stayed.”
AJ looked over to Twilight who was now sitting next to the bed. “Huh?”
“I was just wondering why you didn’t go back to your family?” Twilight asked.
AJ looked down in thought. “Well, I guess I’m just happier here in Equestria.” Twilight looked at him in as if telling him to go on. “I have a job where I feel like I’m actually accomplishing something. Working at a fast food restaurant isn’t exactly something to be proud of. This world itself seems to be a much more peaceful place. One that isn’t wrought with wars, religious nut jobs, and political bullshit. And I have so many friends here. Friends who are willing to help me if I need it. Friends who make me laugh. Friends who like me for who I am and not what I’m not, but…”
“You’ll miss your family,” Twilight said knowingly.
AJ nodded. “My world may have all those problems, but my family always made all that bearable. That’s what made this choice so hard. I love my family with all my heart and choosing to leave them behind…” A tear rolled down his cheek. “It still hurts.” He wiped his eyes. “But I’m sure I’ll have my friends to help me through this. You, Applejack, Fluttershy, everyone. Especially…” A warm smile graced his face.
“You really like Ditzy, don’t you?” AJ nodded. “Would you say you even love her?” Twilight’s smile turned to a teasing grin.
AJ’s eyes went wide as he felt his face heat up. “Umm…uh…I…s-shut up!”
Ditzy came through the door with a cart and stood there confused for a minute. She saw Twilight giggling and AJ sitting in the bed with an intense blush on his face. “Umm, what did I miss?”
The two ponies looked over to the door. AJ turned away as it seemed his blush intensified even further. Twilight giggled a bit more before answering. “Nothing, we’re just talking.” Twilight looked at the cart of food. “Wow, they made all that already?”
“It turns out they always make extra incase the princesses have guests.” Ditzy poked her head out the door to make sure nopony else was there. “Miss Sweet Cream also said sometimes Princess Celestia will ask for something extra so she makes sure she’ll have enough to sate the Princess’ mighty hunger.” Ditzy giggled as she wheeled the cart over to the bed. “Ok now, we have a nice spinach and alfalfa salad topped with an amazing vinaigrette dressing, a bowl fresh organic fruit, a stack of nice fluffy oat pancakes with syrup, and to top it all off, a healthy hay smoothie.”
AJ stared at the food before him. “That all sounds…wonderful, but I’m not so sure some of this fits my...pallet.”
Ditzy looked at AJ confused. “What’s wrong with it?”
As AJ tried to think of what to say, Twilight jumped in. “Why don’t you just try it? Who knows, maybe you’ll even like it.”
“Yea.” Ditzy grabbed the fork in her mouth and took up some of the salad. “Ophen uph.”
AJ started blushing again as Ditzy got closer. He glanced over at Twilight who had her hoof up to her mouth to stifle a giggle. AJ looked back to Ditzy and gulped. He opened his mouth and took the food in his mouth. He slowly chewed, letting the taste spread through his mouth. A slight smile formed as he swallowed. “That…was better than I expected.”
Ditzy smiled and grabbed more of the salad. In the middle of AJ’s meal a knock came at the door. Celestia came in carrying a small case. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I just came to deliver these.” She floated the case over to AJ.
Fumbling with the case, AJ finally managed to open it to find a pair of glasses. “Hey, look at that. I’ll finally be able to see again.” He fumbled with the glasses, trying his hardest to get them on. Twilight took pity on him and used her magic to help him. He blinked a few times to get used to the glasses again. “Thanks.”
“I’ll let you get back to your meal then.” Celestia nodded her head and turned to the door.
“Umm I have a quick question first,” AJ said. Celestia turned back around. “I was wondering why I turned into a unicorn. I mean I’m not complaining, being able to use magic sounds pretty awesome, but I expected to be an earth pony.”
“You very well could have been. The spell Luna used to change you chose at random. There was an equal chance you could have become an earth pony or even a pegasus.” Celestia shook her head. “Luna was always better at understanding those type of spells than I was. If you’d like to know more you’ll have to ask her I’m afraid. Well I should be getting back. It’s about time to start my duties.” Celestia walked out of the room, closing the door as she did.
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It was early in the afternoon when AJ tried to walk again. He had to beg Ditzy to let him try, and even then she would only let him try if she could be there to support him the entire time. “If you feel like your losing your balance, just tell me and I’ll help you.” Ditzy was floating right above AJ as he stood on unsteady legs.
Twilight was in front of him giving him directions. “Just take it slowly. This isn’t something you want to rush. OK, now slowly put one hoof in front of the other, good. See, it’s not that hard.”
“Easy for you to say. You’ve been a quadruped your entire life.” AJ started to lift his hind leg to move it forward, only to adjust his body to much and started to fall on his face. “Oh crap!” He stopped inches away from the floor as he felt legs wrapped around his body. He looked up to see Ditzy smiling back at him. “Thanks Ditzy. Let’s try that again.” Ditzy helped him back up to a standing position. She got back into position as AJ once again started to take a step forward.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Oh god!” AJ once again fell forward, though this time with Twilight and Ditzy distracted by the door he fell flat on his face. Ditzy helped AJ up as Twilight went to go answer the door.
“Oh, hello Princess Luna.”
“Hello Twilight Sparkle. The royal court is taking a bit of a recess right now and I thought I’d come to check on AJ’s condition.” Luna walked into the room and walked up to AJ. “Are you trying to walk? How’s it coming along?”
“It’s coming along just fine,” AJ sarcastically said as he rubbed his nose.
Not catching the sarcasm Luna smiled. “Wonderful. Now hold still. This will only take a minute.” Luna’s horn started to glow as she once again checked on AJ’s physical health. “You’re doing a little bit better than yesterday, but more rest is required.” Her magic died down. Your magic is still weak, but by tomorrow you may be able to start using it.”
“Really?”
Luna nodded. “And with the proper training using your magic will be as easy as breathing. Twilight Sparkle, we would like you to be the one to teach him how to properly use magic.”
“Me?” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “You want me to teach him?”
“Yes, it was my sister’s idea. She said she it would also be a great learning experience for you as well.”
“Celestia thinks I’d make a good teacher.” Twilight’s face was beaming as she started jumping up and down in a circle shouting ‘Yes!’ over and over again. After she regained her composure, she blushed and agreed. “I’d love to.”
The door suddenly swung open to reveal Luna’s helper Rain Dancer. “I’m sorry to interrupt Princess, but your sister sent me. The royal court has already started once again and she would like you to be there.”
“What?! Oh crap!” Without even saying good bye, Luna dashed out the door. Rain Dancer bowed to the ponies in the room and closed the door as she left.
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It was the next day and AJ was excited to start his magic training. Though not as excited as Twilight was to begin teaching. After having some breakfast Twilight immediately gathered her things and took AJ to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She was trotting with a spring in her step through the halls of the school, levitating books and materials she’d need. AJ and Ditzy were walking slowly behind her. Through hours of practice, AJ had learned how to walk on his newly acquired limbs. He was still unsteady and stumbled often, but he could at least move around on his own if he needed. Ditzy still made sure to stay close incase he needed help. “So Twilight, where are we going anyway?”
Twilight stopped and turned her head. “The Princess is allowing us to use the private study room. It’s the same room the Princess taught me in during my time in school.” She continued her happy trot. “There we’ll have everything we need and more to help you learn to use your magic. We’ll practice every day.”
“If the room has everything we need, what’s that you got with you?” AJ asked looking at the books and notebooks Twilight was carrying.
“Just a few of my own personal notes and some magic books for beginners.”
They finally reached a door that looked much more regal than the rest. Twilight used the key around her neck to unlock the door and enter. Once inside AJ and Ditzy gawked at the vast amount of items and trinkets that adorned the room. “What are all these things?” AJ asked.
Twilight smiled as she grabbed a bag from the side of the room. “These are all tools for practicing magic. For today we’ll be using these.” She placed the bag next to a few metallic orbs on the floor. “These orbs will help to test just how strong your magic is. This…” She pulled an odd rainbow colored gem from the bag. “Will help us test your magical endurance.”
“That sounds easy enough,” AJ said as he sat down by the equipment. “So where do we start?”
“We’ll start with endurance. Now, what you need to do is concentrate your magic into this gem. Once it starts to glow, hold it. If you need help, just remember that I have my notes and these books to help you.”
AJ took one of the books and cracked it open. After reading a bit, he closed it and turned his attention to the gem. “Hokay, I got this.” He closed his eyes and started concentrating. After about a minute his horn started to glow with a dim, icy blue aura that slowly got brighter. The aura soon surrounded the gem and it started to lightly glow.
“OK good, now hold it.” Twilight said.
Not a second later the aura died down and AJ slumped over breathing hard. “This…isn’t as easy…as it looks.”
“Well it’s like Luna said, your magic’s still weak. As time goes on it will get easier.” Twilight got up. “Why don’t you take a minute to catch your breath while I go get us something to drink.” Twilight exited the room and headed in the direction of the cafeteria. During the trip she noticed something on the wall that caught her eye. “What, could it be? Could he really be…” Twilight shook her head. “No, what am I talking about, that’s crazy. It’s impossible for him to even be alive. That’s just silly.” Twilight continued on her way to the cafeteria.
On the wall was a black poster with the silhouette of a light azure unicorn wearing a dark blue hat and cape with stars, moons, and bells on it surrounded by a magical smoke. The words ‘Coming to mystify you once again’ sat at the bottom.
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((Voting is closed. Pinkie has 21 votes and Big Mac has 31. So it looks like the Fluttermac wins. I forgot to check deviant art and i got one vote for Pinkie there. Big Mac still wins though.))
My little pony © Hasbro
Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust