A Diamond In The Ruff: A Gem Stone Beginning.

by Campanula Monkshood


Chapter 3: Methylxanthines? What's that?

*Beep. Beep. Beep.*
I opened my eyes and found myself in a pure-white room that smelt odd, I heard Twilight talking to someone outside the room, "Can you tell me anything Anna? All Spike told me was that they had made up, Gem broke some crystal and the two ate it. He said it tasted nasty but Gem collapsed."
Another female voice spoke but I couldn't hear exactly what she said until the door opened and a light brown Unicorn in a white coat saw me, "Oh well then, look who's up, sugar."
Twilight came in and smiled at me, "Hello Gem, I'm glad to see you are okay."
I tried speaking but my throat was dry as a bone and the doctor saw me trying to speak, "Don't worry about it sugar, have a glass of water. I am Dr. Anna Tomy, I'm a cross-species specialist from the Solar Eclipse Laboratory in Canterlot."
I took a sip from the offered glass and looked at her, "What happen?"
"Well to put it simply; you had an adverse allergic reaction to that arcane crystal you ingested. It must have caused you body to generate large amounts of Methylxanthines," she said as the words continuously spewed from her mouth to the point I could barely understand what she was saying; the most I caught was my magic pool was increased immensely, my body and its magic was now as if not more powerful than most Unicorns, and no I can't cast magic."
"Bummer..."
Twilight patted my paw with her hoof and smiled as she whispered something in my ear, "You don't need to be able to cast magic to use it. I'll explain some more when we get back home." She looked at the doctor who was pulling these straps from my foreleg, "About when do you think he'll be able to go home Anna?"
"Right now actually, I'm just going to need you to file some paperwork and pay his non citizen hospital fee," she said with a odd tone in her voice.
She helped me down and led us to this small office where there were stacks upon stacks of papers which began flying through the air as Twilight signed each one masterfully, "I swear to Celestia, Anna Tomy, you're a great doctor but you love paperwork to much." She pulled a pouch out from under her wing, floated over a lot of small gold coins, and led me out of the hospital towards another building.
"Where we go," I asked as she walked me along with her wing.
"Well to get everything I'm going to need to teach you magic, oh this is going to be excellent, I can finally break out those arcane compendiums I have sealed at Canterlot."
I just nodded as she went on talking and the next thing I knew we were back at her castle with a wagon full of bags that she had bought. Everything she bought glowed brightly and disappeared in a flash of light, she poked me in the snout and motioned for me to follow her up the trunk. She walked along with the biggest smile I've seen on her face and threw open some double doors to reveal a library that seemed to go on. Books flew off the shelves and stacked themselves on a table where Twilight dusted them off with her hoof and music seemed to come from the walls as she started to sing.

A period at the end
when you write a statement.
Make your teacher's day,
and then she will say,
"Hey! I'll give you an A."

Question mark at the end
when you write a question.
Go that extra mile,
and make her smile,
just for a while.

What does a statement do?
It tell something to you.
I like to go to school.
He dove into the pool.

What does a question do?
It asks something of you.
Do you want to be my friend?
Are you with me til the end?

You know what to do.
Don't second guess yourself with what sentence to use.
Don't put down the pencil.
Don't you take a break.
It's alright is you make a few mistakes.

A period at the end-
When you write a command.
They tell you just what to do.
Go tie your shoes.
Now sing me the blues.

Declamation look like-
a giant upside down i.
Use them when you decide-
to shout or cry
or you just wanna whine.

What does a command do?
It tells you what to do.
Go find all the clues.
Don't break the rules.

Exclamations can be used
to shout or cry, "Boo-hoo!"
Ouch! That bee just stung me!
Feed me! I'm so hungry!

You know just what to do.
Don't second guess yourself with what sentence to use.
Don't put the pencil down.
Don't you take a break.
It's alright if you make a few mistakes.

The music went as soon as it came, leaving us alone in the library and me with just one question, "What just happen?"
"Oh the singing," she asked getting a nod from me, "Well it's a type of magic I suppose, it doesn't feel like you're the one singing does it? We'll be learning about it at a later point in your studies but first we need to teach you the basics of the Equestrian language."


So that's pretty much how my weekend went; Princess Twilight taught me many of the basic subjects and Spike even helped me with my speech, not even sure how I learned so fast but hey; don't look a gift griffin in the mouth. A hoof touch my shoulder and brought me out of my thoughts and I remembered where I was; I was finally in class.
"Does anypony have anything they wish to ask our new student," Miss Cheerilee asked the class, seeing several hooves shooting up, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Take turns you three; choose who asks first." The three fillies who had their hooves up jumped from their desks and huddled together and began whispering to each other until the white unicorn stepped forth and took in a large gasp of air and Miss Cheerilee cut in, "One long run-on sentence doesn't count Sweetie Belle."
"Yes Miss Cheerilee," she shouted to the teacher. "We had more than one but here's the main one; do you have a Cutiemark?!"
"No, Diamond Dogs do not have Cutiemarks; Alphas say what we're good at," I said, getting three gasps from the fillies.