//------------------------------// // Magic Lessons // Story: Eclipse Born // by Seeking Dusk //------------------------------// That morning will forever be remembered as the one upon which a local librarian forced an appointed ambassador to make breakfast for her assistant and herself (I made a stir fried vegetables, mushrooms and green peas to go with more rolls and fruit spreads because that was the best I could come up with on short notice with what they had). Twilight started on my language lessons during the meal, using the labels on the jars. It was far from the easiest thing I had ever done, but I had a crutch in the sense that I already knew the spoken language, so it was mostly learning the new symbols and the sounds they translated to. It would be easier when I got around to making a key for it. Spike volunteered to do the dishes since I cooked, so that was one less thing to worry about. Twilight had prepared a lot more material for my lessons, both sets of lessons, actually. She had already started putting some things for the magic lesson together from the night before, despite my bad attitude on the subject, and the letter from Princess Luna only made her more eager to get things ready. For the language lessons, she was adamant that I be able to read if I was staying with her. “For now, we will focus on teaching you the characters so you can at least understand basic Equish,” Twilight said as we cleared the table for Spike. We couldn’t let him do all the work. “Wait, Equish? As in Equis; the name of the world?” I asked, confused as I stacked utensils in a cup. Behind me, Spike started running water off the cookware, rinsing them off. “Is there only one language here?” “Well, the dialects and scripts differ, but for the most part, the language is the same. It came around two thousand years ago after Discord’s reign. The name Equish just stuck. Particularly in reference to the spoken portion,” Twilight reported as she levitated the last of the dishes to the counter. “It has changed a good bit since then, but most historians and linguists place its origins around that point in time.” I didn’t respond, mostly because I was torn between three things. First; Equish and English were about the same age, and combined with the fact that it was the same spoken; it raised all sorts of questions. Secondly; the way she said discord sounded like it was something more than just their local version of the dark ages. Call it a hunch. And finally; I could hear it. A twinkling song that came from Twilight and the dishes she was levitating. It was a melodious song that caused a strange feeling at the base of my skull that rippled part way down my spine. I recognized it. Well, as much as you recognized classical music when you heard it. I watch spellbound, almost in a literal sense, as she finished up, the song ending when she set the last plate in the sink. “Okay, we can use the rear reading room for…” Twilight noticed me staring at her. She blinked and ducked her head a little, ears flicking. “What is it? Do I have something on my muzzle?” “I heard… and felt that,” I managed. I felt a weird grin tugging at the corner of my mouth. “What?” Twilight ran through about five facial expressions in three seconds. Confusion, realization, shock, amazement and eagerness. “Of course, it makes sense. Doctor Horse did say that your mana channels were developing. I did hypothesize you would have spell casting potential, and this confirms it.” “Um… what? What confirms it?” I shook my head to clear the little daze I had fallen into. “I don’t what’s she’s talking about either,” Spike commented over his shoulder form his little step stool before the sink. “You have magic sensitivity,” Twilight said, positively gushing as she trotted past me. “Whether it is simple sensitivity or a fully developed awareness, we will have to determine, but this will make the lessons a lot simpler!” Her excitement bred trepidation in me. I might be ready to accept that I had magic thanks to Luna’s assistance, but still, I was allowed to be hesitant. I grabbed my bag and chased after her, tossing a quick ‘later Spike’ at the dragon. Twilight’s Lecture Mode. Nothing stronger in the verse. “Twilight, I know I asked you for help and all, but can we, um, take it slow to start with?” I didn’t quite plead, but there were hints of it in my tone. “Don’t worry, Caleb,” Twilight reassured me. “I might have gotten a bit… excited there for a moment, but I remember that you are from a place without magic. I only planned to teach you how to keep yourself from letting your magic surge under regular conditions, as it did yesterday when it reacted to Rainbow Dash.” She had really prepared the reading room for me. Several books were neatly stacked on the table, most looking like they were for children, judging by the front covers I could see. There were also pencils, quills, inks and sheets of scrolls on the table. She also had a small standing board set up with a stack of paper clipped to it, diagrams already drawn on the front sheet. A chalk board was standing in the corner, ready to be called into service. She motioned me to take the large of the cushions, and I did, already fielding a question at her. “My magic reacted to her?” I asked, secretly proud that my voice didn’t crack too much on the word magic. “It did. Rainbow Dash has high innate magic levels for a pegasus, enough that when she tackled you and tried to hold you down, you reacted,” Twilight explained. “More than just flinching and clenching muscles, your magic surged as well, ready to try and protect you from what you perceived as a hostile threat.” “And… that’s bad?” I assumed. “Far from it!” Twilight said. She pulled the chalkboard closer with her telekinesis, another soft song starting up, continuing as she snatched up a chalk in the purple glow, though the song shed a lot of volume. She quickly sketched out a diagram; a crude representation of a bipedal and another of a winged quadruped. “Basically everything in Equestria has some internal magic, living and non-living alive, whether through innate magic, or simple natural magic picked up from the environment. In living things, this inherent magic tends to suffuse the being, and acts to somewhat isolate the being from external magic. “Generally, it is too weak to do much aside from prevent basic mana infections, but it exists nonetheless,” Twilight was getting into full lecture mode. I sighed and started taking notes on one of the scrolls. It was somewhat interesting though. She smiled when she saw my initiative and went on. “In the case of those with active or even semi-active magic traits, their magic tends to push itself to the outer limits of the being to protect the individual. That’s what happened to you. Only, too much was pushed out at once and cause your reaction.” She added arrows pointing from the center of her sketches towards to outside and sketched another outline within the confines of the shape. On the bipedal one, she made the arrows large, a few sticking out past the outline. “Right…” so it was basically a magic immune system, in a very crude analogy. And I had a magic anaphylactic reaction? “But what can I do about a subconscious reaction? I can’t exactly stop it.” “No, but you can learn what your limits are,” Twilight said. She moved to the diagram on the large sheet of paper. The graph had a multiple lines, following, roughly, the same curve. “Most unicorns learn through childhood after their first few times using magic how much mana they can let flow passively, actively and when straining.” She pointed to three curves on the graph. “I’m going to teach you how to reach your magic and let you do a few simple mana flow exercises just to get you used to the feeling.” “What kind of exercises are we talking about?” I asked her. “Similar to breathing exercises,” Twilight said. She set the chalk down and demonstrated. The glow started on her horn again, though all I could hear was a simple tone. The glow brightened for a moment before diming and repeated that cycle a few times. “I am not casting a spell, simply charging magic in my horn and letting it ebb and flow.” Her horn stopped glowing as she finished the demonstration, and gave me a contemplative look. “Unicorns use their horn as a focus, but we don’t know what your focus is at the moment, so for now we will work on internal magic. It will follow the same principle.” “Okay,” I said with a small smile. I was actually starting to get a bit excited about this. “So what do I do?” “You reach for- oh, right,” Twilight ducked her head sheepishly. “I forgot that you don’t know how to use any of your magic yet.” I raised my eyebrow at her. “That’s kinda the reason we are here, you know.” “I know, I know,” Twilight said, ear flicking. She thought about it. “I got it! I can perform a minor mana link with you.” “A what?” “Don’t interrupt,” she said, nodding to herself. “I can send a small amount of magic into you, and you can use that sensation to locate and identify the core of your own magic when it starts to push back and press against mine. It should be pretty simple for you to get the basics of magic flow after that.” “Um…” I looked at the second paragraph I wrote. “Considering what you said about inherent magic…” “It will be using the natural reactions to invasive magic for you instead of against you,” Twilight said in that same reassuring voice. “But… the last time,” my hands shook a little, remembering the stabbing pain when Rainbow attacked me. “That was probably your first time using magic,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on my shaking hand. “This time won’t be like that.” “Promise?” I winced. I sounded like a little kid afraid to go to the dentist. That was how shaking up the magic thing made me. On one hand; it was awesome. That I could learn magic was amazing. On the other; I’d suffered from mana poisoning, ended up passing out for a moment the day before because of my own magic, and that wasn’t even touching on the injuries I got crashing in this world. On top of that; there was still the fact that my modern upbringing still insisted that magic was real back home. And reminding myself that I wasn’t home anymore was just depressing. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight recited, waving a hoof in front of her chest, extending it outwards, then closing an eye before pressing her hoof over it. “Okay… what was that?” her weird little routine dragged my thoughts out of the spiral. “A Pinkie Promise,” Twilight said. At least she explained it, rather than assuming it answered itself. “It’s a solemn vow between friends. Breaking a friend’s trust is the fasted way to lose a friend forever.” “FOREVER!” someone interjected suddenly from the doorway. They whirled and spotted Pinkie Pie, a stern expression on her face. It quickly melted away, leaving a bright smile. “Hi Twilight. Hi Caleb!” “Pinkie Pie, I didn’t expect you here,” Twilight said hesitantly. “What brings you by today?” “Invitations!” Pinkie declared, pulling two silver envelopes from her mane. “One for you and one for Caleb and I already gave Spike the one for him! Caleb’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party is today at the City Hall, remember.” “I even have it on our schedule,” Twilight nodded. “I already got an invitation from the Mayor,” I pointed out. “Now you have two!” Pinkie said as if it were the best thing in the world. I rolled my eyes and opened the envelope, yelping when a burst of confetti hit me in the face. My glasses saved my eyes, thankfully, but I was reduced to spitting and coughing to get the bits out of my mouth. Of course Pinkie Pie was laughing her head off. I sighed heavily and grinned wryly. “Okay, I’ll admit that was pretty funny.” Pinkie gave me another happy smile before bouncing towards the door. “Make sure you turn up at the party!” “She is the most random woman, er, mare I’ve ever met,” I remarked to Twilight after Pinkie left. “She is a good friend though,” Twilight commented. She bumped me with her shoulder. “Feeling any better?” “Yeah, actually,” I admitted. Laugher really was a good medicine. “I suppose we should get this started before I lose this present state of mind.” “I understand that feeling,” Twilight said with a quiet laugh. She shifted her position and prodded me towards the cushion. “I need you to sit down comfortably to start,” Twilight instructed. I obligingly sat. “Now, try and focus on the sensation of my magic. It is hard to really describe it, and I’m not sure if you will sense it the same way a unicorn would, but you will know it when you feel it.” She lowered her head and touched her horn to my chest. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore most of what my senses where telling me. I cut out the sound of Spike walking around, the wind outside the window, the cushion under me. I even tried to ignore the pounding of my heart and the rhythm of my breaths. Instead, I focused on the point where Twilight’s horn was pressed against me, and the steady sound I was learning to associate with magic. It was a while before I found it, something stretching out from where her horn touched me. It was… warm. Warm and soft, but strong, purple and… spicy? I tilted my head curiously. It had a taste. Or something I was interpreting as a taste. I opened my eyes and suffered a dizzy spell as my perspective drastically shifted from inward to outward once more. “Twilight, I-” “Concentrate, Caleb,” Twilight chided, not looking up at me. “But I can feel it. It’s…” “The way the mind interprets the abstract of the sensations from magic by mixing pre-established comprehensions based on the five basic physical senses,” Twilight said, probably anticipating my concerns. “I can help you work through it all after we finish this exercise.” “Oh. Okay,” I closed my eyes again and got myself back into the mindset. “Ready.” “I’m starting to put it in again,” Twilight said. I flinched as tendril of Twilight’s magic pushed into me. Suddenly I was proofing TARDIS/Wife/IDRIS right. I seemed so much bigger on the inside. I could feel my thoughts swirling around; sparks of light and areas of warmth and cold, sensations in the ‘air’ I moved through the expanse of my being. I think it was because of Twilight’s magic I could feel all this. I ignored the feel of the rest of my body and tracked the invasion of Twilight’s magic. There was a pulse and my world shuddered as Twilight’s magic increased, questing more forcefully. “Not… not so fast. It’s too much.” “Oh, sorry,” Twilight said. A sense of embarrassment rushed from her. “I forgot it was your first time. I’ll go slower, but it should be much longer.” “It’s starting to feel really weird,” I muttered, shifting uncomfortably. Her warmth was starting to feel uncomfortable as it pressed deeper. “Almost there, just a little deeper,” Twilight encouraged. “I’m going to push a bit harder so get ready.” Three things happened at about the same time as Twilight’s magic flow pulsed and got stronger. First; Twilight either hit what she was going for, or my magic finally decided that the intrusion of her purple mana was hostile enough to react to. There was a sudden pleasurable surge from my core, and I both saw and felt a green glow well up and push back against Twilight’s magic, clenching down on it and pushing, trying to force it out. I grunted and gasped, unable to hold that reaction in as my eyes snapped open, the inner perspective and outward world mingling for a moment. A comforting melody whispered in my ears and not-unpleasant ghostly sensations danced down my spine and arms, and across my chest. Intuitively, I knew what it was, like something that’s been having around your room forever but you never really took the chance to examine before. My magic. My Magic. Oh, and there was a thump and a supressed snort of laughter in the doorway. Twilight flinched and yanked her head back, the stream of magic snapping uncomfortably, the mana she left behind swirling around inside me for a moment before my own… contained it? I wasn’t sure. I’ve have to ask her about it, but it burned for a moment, like heart burn or too spicy food, then it was soothed. Twilight was looking over my shoulder towards the door with a look of complete embarrassment on her face. He half turned to see what was going on. A red faced light purple blue pegasus mare, wings fully extended for some reason, stood in there; the book she had apparently been carrying on the ground before her, the source of the thump, Spike beside her and trying to hold back a laugh. “Ah, so sorry for interrupting! You just keep doing what you were doing,” she said, a curious expression on her face. “I can get this book tomorrow!” She dashed out before Twilight’s cry could reach her, leaving my lavender instructor red faced and Spike snickering. “Well… that was awkward,” I said with a strained expression, thinking back about how all that looked. That was… pretty much in the top ten list of most awkward moments someone walked in on me. “No, no, no! I have to clear this up before it gets around,” Twilight said, dancing on her hooves. There was a sharp and complicated sound and she vanished with a flash that I instinctively flinched away from. I looked at where she stood moments before. Teleportation spell. I experienced it before, but never saw it from the outside. A few moments passed before I started chuckling. “You okay?” Spike asked. I shifted so I could look at him, noticing the book that the mare dropped in his hands. “Nah, I’m good,” I said, grinning, “It’s just…” “What?” Spike dug. “I’m just wondering if I could learn to teleport,” my grinned stretched even wider. “Weren’t you just last night yelling that you didn’t have magic?” Spike scoffed. “Now you want to cast high level spells?” “Back home we have a saying; I’m only human,” I snorted at him. I was still scared, and I was still uncertain about it all, but I also felt my magic. It didn’t feel like something bad. Or something I would hate. That let the ideas of being able to cast cool spells come back. “I’m allowed to change my mind. So who was that, anyway?” “Cloud Kicker,” Spike said, padding into the room and dropping a scroll on the table. “There’s no way Twilight’s going to be able to catch her, but it will be a few minutes before she gets back.” Well, since I had a bit of time to myself, I pulled out my ereader to pass the time. The scroll might have been interesting, but with my whole ‘inability to read Equish’ think and the fact that it was sealed. “Hey, what’s that?” Spike asked as the screen lit up. “This… this is human engineering.” ----------- So, Introduction to Magic lessons where derailed by Introduction to Human Technology lessons. It started with Spike, and only took off when Twilight got back, bemoaning the fact that Cloud Kicker, as Spike predicted, evaded her attempts to catch her. It turned out that they had not been able to figure out how to work my devices. Considering that they were designed for nimble fingers and not large hooves, I wasn’t all that surprised. It did, however, mean that Twilight was beyond curious as to what they all were. It turned out there was a force as strong as, if not stronger, than Twilight’s Lecture Mode. Her curiosity. Question after question, from what powered it to who made it work to how prevalent it was in my society, what it was used for. I tried my best to answer all the questions, but she was wearing me down. Eventually, even Spike’s fascination was worn down by Twilight’s quest for knowledge and I was desperate for something to distract her. “You know Twi,” I said as she wrote down my overview of microwaves (I’m not sure how we got there either), “This would be better if I could write it all down for you, or maybe even magically transcribe it.” “What? I…” she surrendered with a sigh. “I suppose you’re right. It’s close to the party time and you haven’t gotten any better ay controlling your magic.” “You kinda did run off when you were teaching him Twilight,” Spike commented. “Point,” I said, aiming a digit at Spike. “Not to mention that when you came back you just got super interested in human technology.” Twilight blushed. There was no denying the evidence though. Three scrolls of notes. She had initially been upset when I refused to run the laptop for more than a few minutes, but explained that it had a limited charge and I didn’t have a means quickly recharging it. On the other hand, I did learn that Ponyville had a power grid, albeit a somewhat limited one, the combined by magic and power from the hydroelectric dam outside town. Still, I wasn’t about to just stick my devices in it when they might fried from incorrect voltages. “Oh, and the Princess sent you a scroll! It’s on the table under your notes,” Spike said, suddenly recalling what he had first come into the room about. He yelped as a purple glow encased him and yanked him off the cushion he had been reclining on. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight demanded, dropping him and searching through the sheets with a flurry of hooves and magic. She almost tore it open in her haste. She visually calmed after reading it. “I did, you were distracted by the compewter,” Spike grumped. “Okay, everything is fine,” Twilight said, visibly calming as her eyes flicked across the sheets of papers, ignorant of the somewhat concerned look I was giving Spike, and the smirk he was sending back. “The Princess sent an update on the research efforts on the phenomena as well as some elaboration as to what your official role and title entails. A good thing too, considering the likelihood of that question being asked at the party.” “So… what have they found out?” I asked tentatively. I didn’t let my hopes get up, pretty much resigned to hanging around Equestria for a while. But I was still curious. “Not much more, unfortunately,” Twilight sighed. “They did collect some more readings on the residual energies in the area, and are charting the patterns of the ripples in the metaphysical aether in an attempt to identify a pattern.” “Sounds fun.” More motivation to learn both magic and Equish; so I could actually comprehend what she was talking about, and skim those myself. “You said Celestia send a job description as well?” “Princess Celestia,” Twilight corrected, glaring at me. “And yes, she did.” “Sorry, sorry,” I said, raising my hands in defence. “We don’t have much in terms of royalty back home, and even then the titles are generally only used in formal settings. So what and I expected to do? And no, I’m not going to answer questions about Human Royalty right now. You still haven’t finished up the magic lessons you started and the party isn’t long from now!” “I… fine,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. She totally had been about to ask about human royalty. She handed most of the sheets to Spike. “Can you put these on my desk in the basement please?” “Sure thing, Twilight,” Spike said cheerfully, snatching them and heading off with them. Twilight had already gone back to reviewing the job description. Long story short; Princess Celestia afforded me some minor power. As the officially appointed ambassador and liaison, I had the authority to be involved most projects and plans as it related to interactions between Earth, Equis and their respective inhabitants and was the representative for humans. Of course, I was the only human, so I really only represented myself, but I did give me the right to stick my nose in the breach projects and get access to certain otherwise restricted areas, even visit the Princesses if I wanted to. It also came with some leeway on legal matters. It wasn’t diplomatic immunity or anything near that powerful, but enough breathing room so he didn’t get arrested or charged for doing something wrong or breaking some law or taboo he didn’t know about. On the other hand, it came with responsibilities. I was in charge of furthering and fostering a cultural understanding between humans and ponies. Which Twilight gleefully pointed out meant I got to answer all her questions since she was named the Equestrian Liaison. At least I was able to counter with the fact it also meant she needed to finish my magic and language lessons so I could do my ‘job.’ I suspected the lessons on how to moderate the mana flow were a bit more intense than they needed to be in retaliation. Still, seeing my hands glow with my own magic more than made up for it. Even with the ribbing about the fact that I looked as excited as a little filly. We didn’t start on learning any actually spells, not yet, but the exercises did give me a change to get the feel for moving mana around, if crudely. We didn’t have time for much more than that before Twilight hustled me to the party. ---------- I had forgotten about my limited wardrobe and had been despairing about wearing the one outfit I had another day, worse considering that it was in slight need of washing. Rescue came in the form of Rarity, who delivered the first outfit she prepared for me about thirty minutes into my lesson, promising several more before heading to help the last minute touches at the party herself. Surprisingly, though apparently to no one other than me, it was amazing. As such, I arrived at the party dressed fashionably in a burgundy suit and a white shirt. It was the first in a long while that I have a tailored suit to my name, and I was fiddling with it all the way to the Town Hall. Twilight and Spike accompanied me, the latter perched on the former’s back rather than walking on his own. “Its fine,” Twilight said as I fiddled with the white pocket piece. “Leave it alone.” “Sorry,” I said with a slight grin. “But Rarity is amazing. I thought she was just scary, but man… She even got pockets in usable places.” “I told you that she is the expert when it comes to fashion,” Twilight said, appreciating the praise for her friend. “What part of Rarity is scary?” Spike asked, surprising me with how upset he sounded about it. “Seriously?” I asked he, raising an eyebrow. Around us, a few other ponies seemed to be heading in the same general direction we were. None of us were really paying them much attention as we walked. “Maybe the part where she dragged me into the backroom and stripped me down for measurements? Or the part where all the scissors and pins and stuff were flying around the place?” “She was in total control,” Twilight chastised with a toss of her head. “Her ability is impressive, actually.” “She does that all the time,” Spike added. “It’s just pins and scissors.” “For you maybe,” I muttered, thinking about what those implements could do to my delicate flesh. “Not all of are blessed with a natural layer of armour. Or even fur.” “Your problem, not mine,” Spike shrugged from his perch. “Nice to see that you’re so understanding,” I deadpanned at him. “What would I do without you?” “Exactly,” Spike grinned. That had us both chuckling as we finally arrived at the hall. Twilight sighed wearily as she opened the door to admit us. I never did get a look at the reception hall when we stopped by the day before, most of our time being in the administrative section of the building to meet with the Mayor. Even so, I could tell the room was transformed from what it would have been. “Pinkie and Rarity must have consulted on this one,” Twilight marvelled. Having met Pinkie, I had half expected the place to look wild and flashy, with lots of bright colours, balloons, streamers and possibly confetti, considering the invitation she so cheerfully gave me earlier. Instead, it was almost classy. Sure, there were balloons and streamers, but they were of the sombre sort, with cool colours and placed with flowers to add atmosphere rather than hype. There was soft music coming from various speakers in the room, and the tables with snack food on tables scattered around the room was impressive; neat pastries, fruits and vegetables in neat sizes, though larger than what I’d call finger food, maybe hoof food? There were bowls of punch around as well. “So, do you like it?” Pinkie suddenly spoke up from beside me. “Gah!” I yelped, flinching away and bumping into Twilight, which in turn knocked Spike off and unto the ground. “Don’t do that!” “Sorry, but I saw you looking around and nodding. I was going to do a regular Welcome to Ponyville Party, but the Mayor told me that you were some sort of fancy ambassador and I remembered the garden parties Rarity would go to in Canterlot and those times the Princess would come and visit and what Twilight wanted us to do when she got all ‘Aaaah’ and panicky, so decided to make it more like those than my usual ‘Weee!’ and ‘Yay!’ parties. The Mayor wouldn’t let me have everyone yell surprise either, so we get to mingle instead.” Pinkie smiled at me as if she hadn’t just reeled off at about five hundred words a minute. “So do you like it?” “I… it’s… It’s nice, Pinkie,” I sighed with half of a grin on my face. “It’s pretty impressive, actually.” I glanced at her flank. “So… parties are your talent?” “Yep! Ponyville’s best party planner; that’s me!” She said. She looked behind me and noticed Spike on the ground glaring. “Hey Spike, why are you just lying around like that?” Twilight giggled and pushed me into the press of ponies so I could introduce myself. To be honest; I wasn’t the best person with names and faces. It took me a while to learn new people well enough to recognize them on site. Add to that the fact that it was a whirlwind of new faces, complicate it with the issue that they were pony faces, and you ended up with a low chance of me being able to remember who everyone was. I also found out that ponies could be pretty direct and blunt. As we made our way around the floor, I got a lot of questions. A lot of them the same thing; what and who I was, where I was from, what my cutie mark was, why did I scare the flower girls, and why I wore clothes were the more common ones. Twilight even took the opportunity to have me meet with your friends again. “Good evening everypony,” the Mayor finally said from the raised platform that took up much of the space of one end of the hall, finally bringing the mingling to an end. “I trust by now you have all gotten a chance to meet the human ambassador from Canterlot? This celebration was thrown in his honour.” She chuckled slightly at her, admittedly poor, joke. “Now, for the benefit of those who either didn’t get to chat with him, or didn’t ask the right questions, I’ll have him come up and introduce himself and tell us a bit of what he will be doing while here.” She was putting me on the spot. Dammit, I hated being put on the spot. With dozens on eyes focused on me, I didn’t really have any other option than to go with it. I nudged Twilight and whispered quickly. “Come on, you’re coming with me.” “What? Why?” Twilight whispered back, startled. “You’re pretty much my assistant here; you can’t leave me hanging in case I do something stupid. Now come on.” With that, we made our way through the crowd and up to the stand the Mayor surrendered to me. Looking out at the multi-coloured forms didn’t make me any less nervous, so I gulped and jumped right into it instead of delaying. “Good evening everyone,” I greeted. “As most of you know by now, I’m Caleb Blakely, and I’m what you call a human. Humans and Ponies haven’t interacted before, so I’ve been appointed as an ambassador and diplomat. Basically, I’m here to learn as much as I can about Equestian society, culture and life on a whole and, with the help of Twilight, help you understand humans in return. So pretty much building relationships between humans and ponies.” There was a sudden bark of laughter, accompanied by a few chuckles, giggles and snickers from one section of the crowd. The pony that laughed first looked a lot like the one who had stopped by the library earlier. I sighed. This is going to be a long night.