“And that’s when I realized what Starswirl second paradigm meant: You can either know how much force a spell will cost or how much precision you need for the task, but not both,” Twilight summed up her latest learnings.
“That is correct. Very good, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia praised her student. “But it doesn’t answer my question: Why was there chalk powder in your mane when you arrived?”
Twilight’s face turned into a frown. “Somepony found it funny to hang a balloon full of the stuff over my head while I read. When I got up, my horn pierced it, and I got covered in it. I must have missed that spot.”
“I see. So it was just a harmless prank. I was worried for a second,” Celestia’s voice was calm and her face betrayed neither amusement nor anger.
But Twilight wasn’t about to let this go so easily. “A harmless prank? Chalk powder could seriously damage the books if the humidity rises! If I get my hooves on whoever did this, I will make sure they get what they deserve.” Twilight stomped into the thick carpet. “I’ll get their library cards revoked! That’ll teach them!”
Now Celestia looked at her with a smile. “Twilight, that part of the library houses the schoolbooks. They are exposed to chalk all the time. Don’t work yourself up over this.”
“But —, but —, books!” was all Twilight could manage, before she faltered under her teacher’s smile. “Yes, Princess.” Under her voice she grumbled, “It was still rude.”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, it was. But no pony was hurt and you have still impressed me with that discourse about Starswirl’s rule of uncertainty. So it wasn’t all bad.” The Princess stopped in front of a door. Twilight student walked into her leg because she had stared to the ground in a bit of a sulk. “And now we’re here.”
Twilight looked around. She didn’t recognize this part of the palace. “Where are we, Princess Celestia?”
“This is part of my private quarters,” Celestia whispered as she opened the door in front of them. “Follow me, but be quiet, please.”
***
In retrospect the heavy bolts on the door and the DO NOT ENTER-sign should have been warning enough. Twilight peeked over the slightly singed furniture and quickly ducked back into hiding.
“Not the mama!” wailed the little dragon and spew a flame that left a spot of soot on the wall behind her.
“I asked you to be quiet, Twilight,” Celestia said. Her voice betrayed just a hint of annoyance. “Waking him up with a squeal of Isn’t he cuuute! was quite exactly what I didn’t want to happen.”
“I understand that now, Princess, and I’m very sorry about it. But how am I supposed to meet him if he blows fire at me everytime he sees me? I’m not fireproof like you.” She dared to look at the little dragon again, just in time to see him blow another stream of fire into Celestia’s face. It didn’t even singe the royal eyebrows. Twilight silently confessed to just a bit of envy.
“Well, you have your next assignment right there. I suggest you get to it. Excuse me for not coming with you, I have a dragon to put to bed, again.”
***
“But then I realized that I couldn’t keep that spell up on my own all the time, so I scrapped the whole project and came up with this.” Twilight held a glowing ruby amulet. “It’s a quite clever design, even if I do say so myself. The enchantment collects the magic in the dragonfire and powers the spell that protects me from it. It will even work if I lose my concentration.”
Celestia looked at the pendant and nodded. “Elegant and effective. This will do. Now, be quiet. We don’t want to agitate him, again.”
As it turned out, they didn’t wake him. The little dragon had lain in wait for them and Twilight took the brunt of the flame to the face. The sight of a dragon’s fire up close was really unnerving, even if it was just a baby dragon. “Well, look on the bright side, Twilight. Your amulet works just like you planned,” Celestia chuckled. “And the soot just about covers that spot of chalk behind your ears.”
Twilight just sighed. “You still haven’t told me his name yet, Princess.”
“Officially its Kenbroath Gillspotten Heathspike IV,” Celestia said. “But I usually call him —”
“Spike!” Twilight shouted as the little dragon climbed up her tail. She winced as his little claws bit into her haunch. She tried to lift him from her back, but he only dug his claws deeper.
“You two play nice.” Celestia walked over to the scratched remains of a couch and put some pillows on the floor to sit on.
Two hours later the princess and her student left the sleeping dragon in his basket. “Is it okay if I visit him again tomorrow after class?”
Celestia smiled. “I was hoping you’d do that. Now, would you come with me to the palace guard? You need a special permission to enter my quarters unsupervised. As it happens, have you seen my private library?”