Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

by LightStriker


Rejection

I need to help her, such potential must not go to waste. But how? I have never been a good teacher and I surely don't have the time to take care of a filly.

Then it hit Twilight, she realized which teacher Azure needed.

"I know!" Twilight shouted. Azure stopped laughing and stared at her. "I know exactly the teacher for you."

Azure frowned and tilted her head. "Who?"

"Princess Celestia!" claimed Twilight with a huge grin.

Azure wasn't sure if Twilight was joking or not. She did look serious, but there was no way somepony like Celestia would take her as a student. Her school had flat out refused to even acknowledge her existence. She watched Twilight's face and couldn't find any trace of malice in her smile.. "You're serious? There's no way she would take me as student!"

"You're wrong. The princess is very kind and even more intelligent. I know, after all I'm her personal student," Twilight claimed with pride. "I'm sure when she sees what you can do, she won't hesitate."

Azure's eyes widened and sparkled. "You're the student of the princess? Wow! You lived in the castle?"

Twilight laughed. "Of course I did." She turned around and started climbing to her room. "Wait here, I will take a few things for the road."

"What? We are going now?" Azure asked, surprised it was all going so fast.

"Why not? It is still early and if we catch the train, we should be in Canterlot before noon." Twilight explained.

The filly stared at the floor. "Huh... Are you really sure it's a good idea?"

Twilight walked to the young pony and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Trust me. You will see she's great."

"Okay," Azure replied. Twilight smiled and turned once more toward her room. "But why the train?"

Twilight stopped and looked at the filly. "Well, it's the fastest way, and I haven't grown wings yet," she explained with a smile.

"Can't you teleport us there?"

At first Twilight was surprised by the idea, then she started laughing. "Ponyville is over a hundred kilometers from Canterlot. I'm good, but not that good. If I had a spatial beacon in place in Canterlot, I would be able to reach it with ease." She thought about it for a moment. Why hadn't she put one up in the city? After all that time, it would have been logical to have a way to reach the castle in an instant. Besides, she already had one in place in the library.

"Hmm..." Azure let out while staring at the floor.

Twilight frowned. "What's wrong Azure?"

"It's... I..." She only managed to say.

"Come on! Don't be shy!" Twilight cheered her up.

"Do you... Do you think I could try a spell I designed?" Azure asked, feeling very small at that moment. She wanted to run away, afraid of what could happen.

Twilight stood there, surprised by the request. After a moment, she started laughing. "Of course!" She stepped forward and hugged the blushing filly. "Don't be afraid to ask." Twilight closed her eyes to focus and found that the telepathic link was still in place. "Whenever you want."

Azure closed her eyes once more and focused on the magic inside her, sending it toward Twilight's horn. Twilight was wondering what kind of spell it would be. At first she noticed the basic structure of a teleportation spell but soonthe components and elements were placed in a way she had never seen before. After a minute of casting, she was surprised to find a spell far more complex than she thought Azure able to create. After another minute, the spell grew in complexity beyond what Twilight was able to cast on such short notice.

What is this? The magic requirement of that spell is low, I could cast dozen like that. But there is no way I could keep all those components stable!

She opened her eyes and stared at the filly. Just as she did, Azure let the spell off her horn. It exploded outward in a sphere of blue magic and quickly vanished. After a second, as if the library was only a decor, part of it started to be ripped off in the same way if somepony was tearing out wallpapers. Beyond the library a market and dozens of ponies walking around became visible. A few second later, she was standing in the middle of the market district with Azure at her side. She didn't feel dizzy like she used to with long range teleportation. She looked around, it was really Canterlot.

It then hit her.

She is not talented! She is a genius! She sees and thinks about spells like no unicorn would. She could very well create a whole new branch of magic research.

"We are in Canterlot! That's amazing." Twilight said. She started to think about the spell. It would probably take her a month to replicate a spell that complex, but she had no doubt she could do it with enough time. It didn't make sense for her, teleportation was about transferring something instantaneously from one point to another. That spell was like the cupcake conjuration, it wasn't instantaneous at all. "What exactly did you do?"

Azure blushed. "The spell put two places on top of each other, then slowly removed the place we started from, leaving us at our destination. It's like doing a step forward, but without moving."

Unicorns would never think of a spell this way. She takes a completely different approach, one that takes far less magic than I thought possible.

"That was great. You will have to teach me it! But for now, we have a princess to meet,” she said as she turned around toward the white and gold castle that towered above the market. As they walked closer to the gate, she could see some royal guards talking to each other. While getting closer, one of the guards pointed at her, making another turn around.

"Twiley!" Shining Armor said with a huge smile galloping toward her. "I didn't know you were in Canterlot!"

"Good morning Shining!" she replied hugging him. "Well, a few minutes ago, I didn't know I was in Canterlot too."

"What?"

Twilight laughed. "Nevermind that. New teleportation spell, I will explain it to you later."

He smiled back, not really surprised about his little sister trying new unusual spells. "I take you want to see the princess?" For the first time he noticed the small filly follower her sister. "And who would you be?" He asked while stepping beside Twilight. The little filly stepped back and hid herself behind Twilight's purple tail, obviously impressed by the size of the captain of the guards.

"She's why I want to see the princess." She explained, amused by her reaction.

"Go ahead. The morning meetings shouldn't start for ten or fifteen minutes. They are probably getting ready in the throne room. They should be in the throne room getting ready." He explained while tilting his head toward the large golden door.

"They?"

"Yeah, Luna is there too.From what I understand, she's trying to switch her sleeping cycle around. Sleeping at night. Something about always missing the fun." He shrugged.

"Thanks." Twilight replied while walking toward the door.

"Hey! Stop by sometime." He shouted.

She turned around. "Will do! Promise." Reaching the door, she looked at Azure, who was still hiding behind her tail. "Don't be afraid! He's my brother and he is really nice."

"I'm not afraid!"

"Of course not." Twilight replied with a smile.

"The princesses... Are they nice?" She asked with a shaking voice.

"They are great! You will see." Twilight reassured her. She stepped forward and opened the doors. The guards let her pass as they knew her well, after all those years she lived in the castle. She entered the throne room and trotted toward the two princesses that were talking to each other beside their thrones.

Azure looked everywhere, obviously overwhelmed with the display but staying as close to Twilight as she could. Maybe she was not afraid, but she was most definitely impressed. It's not every day you got to meet the rulers of the country.

Luna noticed Twilight first and smiled at the approaching unicorn. "Twilight Sparkle! I'm happy to see you!"

Celestia turned around. "Twilight! Good morning."

"Princesses." Twilight said while bowing down. Azure was hiding herself behind Twilight.

"No need for formality, my faithful student." Celestia said with a huge smile while walking toward the purple unicorn. Luna followed her on her left.

"Well, I guessed a bit of decorum was in order, since I'm kinda here to make an official request." Twilight explained. "I would like you to take another personal student."

Celestia was surprised and didn't try to hide it. "Oh? That is an unusual request. And who would be that special pony?"

Twilight stepped aside, removing Azure's hiding spot. She appeared to shrink, the large size of the princesses didn't really help her. "This is Azure, she is really talented and..."

"Oh Twilight, you know very well I only take unicorns as students," Celestia cut her in the middle of her sentence. "After all, I mostly teach magic and..." The princess didn't finish her sentence and Twilight was staring at her with an angry look she had never seen before.

Azure simply ran off the room crying. "Azure! Wait!" Twilight shouted, but the filly wasn't listening. Once Azure passed the doors, Twilight turned her sight to Celestia. "I can't believe you said that! Azure is one of the most talented..."

"Twilight, she might be able to learn the notion of magic, but it would be a waste as she cannot perform it." Celestia cut her once more with the look of a mother who's explaining natural stuff to a child. To her surprise, Twilight managed to look even angrier.

"Would you have taken me as a student if I hadn't been born a unicorn?" Twilight asked.

"Of course not Twilight, I..." Celestia stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what she just said.

Twilight eyes widened and she instinctively took a few steps back as tears were coming to her eyes. "I... I can't... I can't believe..." She turned around and ran off toward the doors.

"Twilight!" Celestia shouted.

The purple mare stopped in front of the doors and looked back. "I think... I think you have nothing left to teach me Princess," she said with a soft voice, tears flowing from her eyes freely. She crossed the doors, running after Azure.

Celestia was stunned by what had just happened, she simply didn't know how to react. Was she supposed to run after Twilight? She only stated facts of life; earth ponies are strong, pegasi fly and unicorns perform magic. What did she say that could so upset the two ponies? Surely nothing they didn't know already.

She felt as if someone was staring at her, drilling a hole in her skull. She turned her head to the left, only to find Luna staring at her with a look as angry as Twilight. "What? I..." Celestia started to say, but she was interrupted by Luna slapping her face with her right hoof.

She raised her left hoof to her cheek, more surprised than hurt as the princess of the night left the throne room without a look back.

When was the last time Luna slapped me? It was... it was over a thousand years ago, when blinded by my pride I started a war with another country. Am I... Am I blind to something?