"No no no, you need to concentrate more on the actions and direction you want the spell to take. It's easy enough for a simple series of motions of sweeping, but to clean the entire floor you have to imagine it carefully, or the broom will run amok," Twilight said in an irritated tone as I practiced the come-to-life spell. While my progress with the spell was a bit slower compared to the last two spells I learned, I could still tell that something else was irritating Twilight today.
"Give me a break Twilight, and why are you so... bothered today?" I asked.
"Bothered? What are you tal-" Twilight started to say before I interrupted her as I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I can tell by... how your voice sounds."
"I... I’m fine. My plans for yesterday were, crushed by a certain someone, let's just leave it at that," Twilight said.
"Let me guess, Discord was that certain someone," I said dryly, causing Twilight to snap her head at me as her eyes widen at what I said.
"How... how did you know it was Discord?"
"He paid me a visit before he went to you. We had a talk then as he left he mentioned your name."
Blinking for a moment first, Twilight narrowed her eyes as she said, "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"He made balloons appeared on me, and they carried me off into the sky until Pinkie found me."
At first Twilight just stared at me before she rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves as she said, "He should know by now that he shouldn't be doing that to ponies, much less foals. I need to talk to Fluttershy about this. I guess yesterday didn't turn out as we both expected it to be."
"Like anyone would expect to have balloons carrying them off, except Pinkie Pie," I said before a thought crossed my mind. "Since I am having a hard time with the come-to-life spell, how about I just practice the spell during my free time and we move on to a new spell?"
"I'm not sure that is a wise idea. The spell may go out of your control, and with no unicorn on hoof to cancel it, it may cause some problems till one arrives."
"I will stick to simple and safe things, nothing big enough to cause harm."
Giving me a skeptical look, Twilight asked "Really?"
"What, you do not trust me?"
"How about that rock clim-"
"I know where this is going," I said, interrupting Twilight before she went on a rant about the stuff I shown the Crusaders. As I gave her a flat stare, I said, "You make decision then, I got nothing else to say."
"Hmm... how about a compromise?" Twilight said, to which I just tilted my head at her. "Oh right, you probably don't know the last word, how about instead, I teach you a simple spell that you can practice at home, and you still practice the come-to-life spell here?"
"Depends on the spell. So what is the spell you want to teach me?"
"It's a light spell, a very us- why are you giving me that look?" Twilight asked as I gave her a deadpan expression. Lighting up my horn with its magic, I continued my look till Twilight said, "The light spell has more applications than just that. It is easier to light up a region than it is to just use raw magic and you can even focus it as a beam of light to illuminate certain targets."
"Oh, sorry about that, but maybe they should call it something else, since... magic makes our horns glow."
"You shouldn't jump to conclusions, though," Twilight said, before she launched into what Rainbow once said was her lecture mode. As I listened to her instructions, I realized something. She said the light spell can produce a beam of light... I wonder... However, before I could give that idea more thought, Twilight finished her lecture as she said, "Now that you know the basic principles, try casting the light spell."
Giving Twilight a nod, I focused on my horn, pouring magic into it as I visualized my intentions for the spell. Looking at a nearby wall, I concentrated on the spell, until a beam of light projected out of my horn, illuminating a small spot on the wall. Clapping her hooves behind me, Twilight said, "Well done, Aether! You're progressing quite well still, but I believe you can practice that spell on your own time, unlike the come-to-life spell."
"Yes Twilight, I get the point. Now get me some paper and a quill so you can get your next word," I said as I rolled my eyes, for I wanted to be able to excuse myself early to try something out with this light spell without being drained from all the magic practice.
After the little language lesson, I managed to excuse myself from the rest of the magic lesson on accounts of feeling tired out from casting both spells. Instead of heading either to the clubhouse or home, I instead darted down an alleyway until I was certain that nopony would be able to see me. Looking around, I spotted a discarded box, upon which I tore off a small portion of it and laid it in the middle of the ground, away from everything else.
Drawing upon my magic, I concentrated as I charged up my horn before casting the light spell, a ray of light hitting the box fragment. Now let's see if this works... I thought as I concentrated on the spell, pouring more energy into it while reducing the spread of light as I tried to concentrate it to one point. It wasn't long before I felt sweat start to drip down my face, but eventually a small flame sparked on the fragment.
"Success!" I said in my own language before clapping a hoof over my mouth. Looking around, I saw no ponies coming in to investigate my little outburst. Letting out a sigh of relief, I stomped out the flame before tossing the fragment into a pile of trash. Returning to the streets with a smile on my face, I was trotted down one without any destination in mind before I heard the familiar sound of wings buzzing. Looking around, I soon spotted the Crusaders, Scootaloo buzzing her wings on top of her scooter as it carried along the wagon with the other two Crusaders in it.
Within seconds they come to a stop before me as Scootaloo said, "There you are, Aether. We've been looking for you."
"You have?" I said, tilting my head as I pondered what schemes the trio have for today
.
"Yeah, we've checked at the library, but Twilight said you weren't there, so we started searchin' for ya," Apple Bloom answered.
"We need you for another day of EXTREME CRUSADING!" Scootaloo said, upon which I shook my head as I figured that would only lead down to either me getting in trouble or getting hurt.
Suddenly an idea came across my mind, causing me to grin evilly as I said, "Wait, I have a better idea than crusading."
"Better than crusading for our Cutie Marks? What is it?" Sweetie Belle asked, as the trio tilted their heads in unison. These fillies spend way too much time together.
"Oh, it is a surprise, but we have to find Diamond Tiara first."
"Wait, what do you want to find her of all ponies?" Scootaloo said as her expression change to one that spoke of absolute hostility while the other two took on more confused, but still angry, expressions.
"Yeah, especially after she made fun of you for bein' an orphan," Apple Bloom said. While I didn't like it when folks bring up the fact that I lost my parents, upon learning that Apple Bloom's were gone as well I decided to let her be an exception.
"Oh, I just want to play a... trick on her," I answered.
"What kind of trick?" Sweetie asked.
"Oh, the kind that we will all like to see."
"Oh... wait! You're talking about playing a prank on her," Scootaloo said, causing all three fillies to look excited at whatever Scootaloo said.
"Err... maybe, I do not know what a 'prank' is yet, but it might be it. We need to find Diamond first through, so time to go searching... again," I said as I hopped into the wagon while putting my helmet on before Scootaloo started flapping her wings again. It wasn't long before we spotted her eating at some outdoor restaurant with her cohort. Before they could notice us, we quickly zipped into an alleyway, where we stored our transportation before heading to a bush to hide.
"So what do you have in mind?" Apple Bloom quietly asked as I peered at the duo.
Upon seeing that Diamond had a salad among her meal, my evil grin returned as I said, "Oh, you will see soon, just sit back and watch."
"But I want to be part of the prank," Scootaloo whispered.
"Me too," Apple Bloom said.
"Me three," Sweetie Belle chimed in, which caused me to roll my eyes before I turned my head towards them.
"I have to use a magic spell for the trick, and be quiet, or we will be caught," I whispered harshly, shutting the trio though they pouted a bit at the fact that they couldn't be part of the 'prank'. Turning my head back at filly that had taken over the role of my tormentor, I concentrated on the light spell again, using the bush's leaves as cover for my magical aura as I focused a small ray of light onto her salad. Seeing a point on my target brighten up, I smiled as I poured more magic into the spell as the others watched me in action.
At first, nothing happened, except for Scootaloo complaining about how long it was taking, until I saw a tiny fire come to life on the leafy salad. This got Scootaloo to stop complaining as the Crusaders leaned their heads forward to watch the next thing to happen. At first, the duo didn't notice the fire, appearing to be too caught up in their conversation based on how many times they started to laugh in what appeared to me as an arrogant manner. This worked to my favor though, as it allowed the fire to grow, until eventually Diamond started to sniff the air, her head turning until her gaze laid upon her salad. Her eyes suddenly widened, which caused her cohort to look at what she was staring at, only for her own eyes to widen as well. A few seconds passed before both fillies started to scream in terror, causing the adult ponies to look at the two, only to spot the fire that was starting to grow as it consumed the salad. It was at this point that I pulled at the Crusaders' tails, indicating to them that it was time for us to make our escape.
Upon returning to our transportation, we finally let out the laughter that we could barely restrained. "That was so awesome, I couldn't believe that you set Diamond Tiara's salad on fire!" Scootaloo said as she pounded the ground with her hoof as she continued to laugh.
"Yeah, and did you see the look on their faces?" Apple Bloom said as she lean against the wagon to catch her breath.
After laughing for a while, Sweetie Belle's face took on a look of fear as she asked, "Wait, do you think we could get in trouble for this?"
"No, we will not get in trouble, as long as we do not tell anyone. Best we keep this as our little secret," I answered to Sweetie's relief.
"I can't believe Twilight actually taught you a spell that can do that," Apple Bloom said.
"She did not really taught me a spell to do that, I simply used a simple one in a... different way than it should be used," I replied.
"Oh, can you teach me how to do that too then?" Sweetie Belle asked with glee.
"Sorry, but I can not. I do not want to teach you something that could set fire to a house by accident," I said, which caused Sweetie's expression to turn into one of disappointment.
"Well, we can still go crusadin' for our Cutie Mark, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said, cheering Sweetie up.
Taking a gulp, I hesitantly asked, "So what do you have in mind for today then?"
"We're going for our Cutie Marks in cliff diving!" Scootaloo answered, causing me to take a look of horror upon hearing that.
What is wrong with these fillies‽