“So what am I going to do with these?” Inverno asked the Professor, holding up the broken manuscript.
Key held a hoof to his chin, “Perhaps that mare from yesterday might help you. Twilight, at least I think that’s what her name was. Anyway, she has been looking forward to teaching you.”
“Where is she teaching?”
“I think it’s in the library, do you want to go see her?”
“Right now?” Inverno questioned, “Isn’t there anything more you want to teach?”
“As of now, I think we’ve just covered the major part of the lesson, so,” he turned and put the Beethooven symphony on his back. “You’re excused. And don’t worry; I’m sure she probably knows a thing or two in repairing that score.”
“I certainly hope so,” Inverno muttered under his breath. The colt trotted over to the Palace’s library, where Twilight said she’ll be. When he arrived, Inverno half expected to find the fiendish dragon to be there too. But to his relief, Spike was nowhere to be seen.
“Come in,” Twilight said, gesturing him over to a table with piles of books and scrolls. The colt trotted over to the table, “Have a seat,” she said, pulling up a pillow next to her.
“Uh… thanks,” he said, taking a seat next to the violet unicorn.
The two of them didn’t say anything, for a moment, they both tried to think of something in what to say to the other. Twilight was the first to speak up, “So… I’ve heard you just got your Cutie Mark. Congratulations on getting it – that must be exciting, right?”
“I guess,” another awkward silence fell in the room.
This time, Inverno was the first to speak, “So, what do you want?”
“Well,” she began, “I believe we got off from a bad start from yesterday. So if you wouldn’t mind, is it possible that I may reintroduce myself properly?”
Inverno shrugged, “I guess. Say, where’s that dragon anyway?”
“Spike won’t be joining us today, concerning from what happened the other day, I don’t think it’ll be the right time for either of you to talk.”
The young unicorn snorted, “That’s an understatement.”
“So anyway,” she turned to him, lifting a hoof in front of the pail colt. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, yours?”
Inverno stared at the hoof presented to him. “What are you doing?”
“Offering you a hoof shake.”
He tilted his head to the side, “Why?” he asked.
“It’s just the proper thing to do when you meet somepony for the first time, ” she explained.
“But why? Isn’t just saying, ‘Hello’ enough?”
Twilight flipped through the index in her mind and tried to pull an answer from her library like brain until the colt interrupted her thoughts.
“Inverno. My name is Inverno, and I was wondering,” he lifted the broken score up, “Can you help me fix this?”
“Oh absolutely,” Twilight opened up one of the books, “Just give me a moment to find that particular spell…” As she scanned through, she tried to come up a conversation for both of them to discuss over. “You know, even though I won’t be here for long, I think there are many things I can teach you.”
“What do you mean you won’t be here long?”
“Well,” she flipped through another book, “I have other obligations in Ponyville and ponies that need me. I will only have a week to see what I can teach you.”
“Ponyville?” Inverno asked, still completely confused. “What’s Ponyville?”
“It’s where I live,” Twilight explained, “It’s a town where my friends reside. Ah! Here it is!” she said, finding the chapter she was looking for. “So Inverno, out of curiosity, what is it that we’re repairing?”
“It was something I was working on for days,” Inverno told her, “Until the Professor tore it up.”
Twilight was taken by surprise at this, “What? Why?”
“Something about motivation to get me to play with emotion,” he saw Twilight looking between him and the tattered papers before smiling.
“I guess this will be good practice,” she said as she lifted up all the pieces in her purple aura. Twilight rearranged all of them until the edges fit together like a puzzle. “How about I teach you a little trick? I tend to do this if one of my books gets damaged.”
Inverno saw the mare taking one of the pages, and saw that the pieces were fusing back into one. He reached forward to the repaired sheet and took it into his hooves. The page looked new, with the music was legible once more.
“How did you do that?” he asked, flipping both sides of the page.
“Let me show you,” she levitated another broken page over to the colt in which he took it into his own ruby magic. “First, look carefully at the page. Notice the shapes of each piece and how they would fit together. Now, put all the pieces back into place. Good. Next, imagine how all the pieces would become whole again, start from one line and work your way to the others.”
Inverno did his best as his new teacher told him; he concentrated on each piece and imagines them becoming one. He saw two of the pieces fusing like closing a door in a darkened room. With two pieces becoming about half a page, he moved onto the other pieces, and one by one, the fractured manuscript was whole again.
“This is easy,” he commented as he moved on to the next broken page.
“Repairing spells aren’t that hard to master,” Twilight said, “Well, that depends on what you’re repairing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it all depends on what you’re repairing and what the material is made out of. For instance, if something is soft like fabric or paper, it is very easy to put it back together again. But if it’s something hard like metal or jewels, it requires a higher concentration and skill to repair it.”
“Oh,” was all Inverno said as he finished up the page before moving onto the next one. “So… Why are you here?”
“Why?” Twilight blinked.
“Yeah,” Inverno nodded, “Is it because those Princesses send you?”
“That’s part of the reason.”
“What’s the other?”
“My big brother is here.”
“Big… Brother?” Inverno ceased his repairing for a moment, “What’s a brother?”
“You know, a brother, a male sibling.” She was greeted with a blank stare and sighed, “It means we’re related by a parent.”
“Oh,” Inverno acknowledged, returning to his work. “So who are you related to?”
“Shining Armor.”
“What?” The colt said in surprise, dropping his repaired manuscript. “You and Shining?”
“Yep, siblings,” Twilight nodded, “I’m his little sister.”
“Really?” He trailed off before asking, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah…?”
The pale unicorn shook his head, “No you’re not. You’re too nice.”
Twilight was taken aback at this, “What does that suppose to mean? Shining never hurt you, didn’t he?”
“Well… no. It’s just I don’t like him very much.”
“Care to explain?”
Inverno sighed, “Unlike Cadence, at least she calls me by name. He on the other hoof only calls me ‘Kid’. He’s alright, but it’s just that he almost doesn’t want anything to do with me.” He looked at Twilight in the eye and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”
“I don’t think so,” she answered, making a mental note to have a little chat with her BBBFF later.
“Then why?”
“Um… Maybe it might have something to do with your eyes?”
“What about them?” Inverno blinked.
“Well, I think that you kinda resemble…”
“Papa...” The young unicorn finished the mare’s sentence. “Do I really have Papa’s eyes?”
Twilight nodded, figuring that it’s probably best not to lie about it.
“So what,” Inverno questioned, “I may have Papa’s eyes, and his teeth,” here, the colt showed his teacher his fangs. “But is that any reason to lock me up in the Palace?”
“I don’t think it’s solely because my brother is keeping you here out of spite,” Twilight said, lifting his chin up with her hoof. “The Crystal ponies out there aren’t exactly ready for you since your father’s memory is still fresh in their minds. Trust us when we say that we’re doing it out-”
“Out of my protection,” Inverno finished her sentence. “But when do I get to go out? I want to see what it’s like out there. I want to know what’s in this Empire and beyond it, to see what the South, the North, East, and West are really like. Why can’t I be free? Can you tell me that?”
In all honesty, Twilight Sparkle wasn’t sure how to answer Inverno’s questions.