JumpingJolt sat down at a wooden table across from me. He placed down a plate filled with his lunch, his brown eyes gleaming, eager to eat. Then his eyes became attentive as they casted to me.
“Do you want some?” JumpingJolt offered.
“No,” I said, my head lifting from my jaw pushing off the table.
The Earth-pony tilted his head. “You ‘kay?”
I glanced up at him. I looked away again.
“GentleSketch, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” I whispered.
“C’mon, Sketchy,” He called me by my nickname from when we were younger. “Tell me what’s wrong.” He leaned over and tapped me on my foreleg.
“It’s just,” I repositioned my head to have my cheek on the table, “ I wish I could use magic.”
“Oh,” Jolt said with a light tone, “You’ll get the hang of it someday.”
“Yeah, but Unicorns are supposed to start using magic the same time Pegasi start flying.”
“I’m not a Unicorn or a Pegasus, so I dunno how that works.” JumpingJolt lowered his head and took a bite of his food. “Maybe,” he continued, muffled by a full mouth, “One day when you get magic, you’ll be super powerful.”
“Yeah, right. I doubt it.” I pushed myself off the table and bench. “But thanks anyway.”
Being overlooked as a Unicorn just put me in a crappy mood. I never want to be reminded that I cannot use magic, but that is impossible. No, I can use magic, it just is not strong enough to do anything.
I roamed the camp while staring at the ground. A rock appeared in from of me at some point and I started kicking it with my forehooves. I threw the rock too far to the side and lost it. Right after that I heard a voice.
“Hey, Sketch.”
I peered up to see a silver coated Unicorn. “Hi, Uncle SilverFlash.”
This stallion actually is my uncle, my father’s brother. He sometimes is found in the camp, other times he would be adventuring somewhere else. He wandered to Los Pegasus, other camps, and many different places to bring news to us(Although we could connect to others through the internet, yet he insisted on doing it).
“What’s goin’ on kid? You look kinda down,” He observed.
I bobbed my head to the side. “I just want to use magic.” I felt like I was repeating myself for the thousandth time.
“That still bothers you, huh?” SilverFlash placed his hoof around my shoulder.
“I’m thirteen: shouldn’t I be able to use magic by now?” I inquired my uncle.
“Hmm.” He paused, his dark eyes wandering around. “Why don’t I help you practice?”
“We have tried before,” I sighed. “Practicing doesn’t help.”
“Sure it does,” the stallion said and took his hoof off my shoulder. “Why don’t we practice some light magic?” SilverFlash glanced up at the sky. “But let’s do it at night, when we can see light better,” He added with a smile. “M’kay?”
“Okay," I replied.
Darkness replaced the day. There was a dim spot in the sky where the moon was concealed by the foggy clouds. I followed the path that was slightly lit by lights from windows. I found my uncle and he greeted me warmly as if he did not see me earlier.
“Alrighty,” SilverFlash turned toward a wall. A purple aura originating from his horn lifted up a pen from a window ledge. He watched it float and juggled it a bit.
“I thought we were doing light magic,” I said, discouraged.
“We will,” The Unicorn assured, looking at me. He placed the pen down. “Now try to lift this pen,” He prompted.
I eyed the pen, disappointed that I was being tested with such a meager object. Tightening my brow, I concentrated on the utensil. Everything became stiff. I bared my teeth as I tilted my head down. Small gleams of light flickered around the pen. The tip of the pen spun my direction. It rolled over and jumped off the ledge, my magic letting go.
“Well…” SilverFlash idled. “At one point you couldn’t have moved that pen at all.”
“This is magic I should have been doing a long time ago,” I complained. “Uncle Flash, when did you start using magic, huh?”
“I-” He thought for a second. He tapped his chin with a hoof. “I started mastering basic magic by eight… or nine.” By ‘mastering’ I know he meant being able to lift several books at once and creating light bright as a torch.
“But-but,” Flash extended his hoof to me, “That’s just me. Everypony is different. I’ve always been good with magic. I’m made for magic, if you will.”
“But,” I frowned, “My mom and dad are both good at magic too. If my family is good at magic, doesn’t that mean I should be too?”
“Like I said, everyone is different,” He restated.
He went on,“Why don’t we go on with light?” Illumination appeared from SilverFlash’s horn, it was brightest at the tip. The brilliance faded when we heard a call.
“Hey, SilverFlash.” I twisted my head and saw my father. He beamed at his brother as he approached.
“‘Sup, bro.” The silver Unicorn placed his hoof out and dad responded by bumping hooves.
“Whatchya doing?” He asked, glancing at me, then back to SilverFlash.
“I’m helping GentleSketch with Unicorn stuff,” Flash reported.
“Oh good. Mind if I watch?” Dad looked at me and gave a comforting smile. Except I did not feel comfortable. I did not want my father to watch me fail(and I will never want that).
“Sure. Okay, Sketch,” SilverFlash continued his lesson. The illumination around his horn returned. “How about you show us your light spell?”
I faced the wall and tried to shake off the peer pressure. I stiffened again and closed my eyes. Blood rushed to my head.
“Maybe,” I heard my uncle’s voice, “ It would be better if you have you eyes open, so you can see.”
I did as he said. My eyes were barely open when I restarted my struggle. I focused on only my magic, blurring the world out. The wall around me became slightly more visible, being painted with a soft layer of orange. It was the most light I had ever saw come from my horn. The wall went back to black when I gasped for air.
“That was good,” SilverFlash exclaimed.
“No it wasn’t. Don’t lie…” I tried to argue.
“You’re just being hard on yourself. C’mon, let’s try it again.”
“I… I feel light headed” (Pun not intended). I placed my hoof below my horn.
Dad came up to me and let me lean on him. “Aw, Sketch, it’s probably time to go to bed.”
The night was an illusion. I could see through the dark. I roamed around an old fence that barricaded a higher plateau. I looked out to the forest and saw a shape move. Someone called my name.
I hopped over and realized it was JumpingJolt. “Hey! Come here!” He commanded with enthusiasm.
I followed him into the forest.
“Look at this!” The colt said.
“What?” I pondered, still chasing after him.
The trees created shadows that engulfed my vision. I could only see a few inches past my muzzle. “Jolt?” I spoke, my mouth feeling numb.
“Over here! Look, look, look!”
I went to the location of his call, yet did not find him. Stepping forward, I felt something prickly dig into my coat. A wall of brambles and branches cut me off. I heard hooves.
“JumpingJolt?” But it wasn’t him. A small figure gave off yellow light. It was a filly, the one I saw in my dream before. She lifted up a branch with her magic.
“What?” I groaned. “Are you here to mock me? How old are you, like ten? And how can you do magic like that?”
Then I realized this was probably a dream, so maybe I could make myself think I can use magic. I tried to raise the branches from their place, but they did not budge. The filly did what I desired to do, and lifted the branch with her magic. She separated them and hopped inside. Before I could follow, things faded.