//------------------------------//
// VIII. Sparks 
// Story: Memoirs of a Magic Earth Pony 
// by The Lunar Samurai 
//------------------------------//

	“Alright, let me get this straight,” Professor Spark said as he leaned onto his desk.
Our conversation had moved into his office after I had requested privacy. I was starting to come out of my prideful shell, but I still couldn’t stomach an unwitting eavesdropper.
“You’re going to change your major to advanced theoretical magic?” he questioned.	“I’m going to try,” I said confidently as I met his gaze.
“Well, Starswirl,” he started as he leaned back into his seat, “I admire your determination. That being said, I cannot see the Council accepting your application.”
I had expected the conversation to proceed as it had, and I had left out one crucial detail about my ambition. “Professor Spark, there is one more thing you should know.”
“And what might that be?”
“The reason I have not been attending your lectures is because I have been attending professor Evenstar’s Advanced Theoretical Magic class in that time.”
Spark did not respond. He simply leaned forward and held his hooves before his muzzle. His eyes looked straight ahead and his brow furrowed in thought. For several minutes we sat in complete silence. I was waiting for him to speak, to return some reaction to the cards I had just placed before him.
“Starswirl,” he said with a sigh, “you know that I am a stallion who has lectured on equality in this school. For years I have wanted to see somepony rise up and take this matter head on.”
I steeled myself, his trailing voice indicated that there was a ‘but’ to his statement.
“But…”
I flinched.
Professor Spark brought his hoof to his furrowed brow. “I’m going to advise that that you do not pursue such a major.”
I was dumbfounded at the hypocrisy of his words. “What?”
“It’s not the best for you, or anypony else for that matter, to try and put pressure on the council, not for the next several years.”
“But… your speeches… all of us working togeth—”
“I know,” Spark whispered as he shook his head. “I’m as disappointed in myself as you are, but I can’t help but warn you.” He cleared his face of any emotion, and looked to me once more. “This place is not as it seems.”
I tried to keep still in the uneasy silence, but I couldn’t help but fidget. The stallion who had always told me to break the barriers was now telling me to be complacent.
“But…”
“I’m sorry, Starswirl. And if I hear any more of this, I will be forced to take action to stop you.”
“What?”
“If you continue to pursue a course that is not for your race, I will be forced to report you.”
“Report me?!” I shouted, my body slightly lifting from the chair.
“You cannot do this. Now, I trust that you will be in class tomorrow, we have a test.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the words would not present themselves. I wanted to call him out, to howl at the top of my lungs in that face of hypocrisy, but the astonishment I felt kept me silent. I let my gaping mouth close and contort into a frown.
“I’m sorry, Starswirl.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Spark looked to his desk, his brow furrowing even more. He was calculating a risk. “Alright, I need you to understand that what I’m about to tell you must be kept in the utmost of secrecy. There’s a problem in this university, one that I’ve seen on the horizon like an impending storm.”
Already I was beginning to realize how far my actions could reach.
“This school was founded nearly 100 years ago as a magic research institute. With the centennial coming up, I’ve noticed a lot of… free thinking going on around campus. Several students have come to me before asking for ways that they could break the societal structure just as you are.” He paused to look around the room.
“Every time one of those students made an attempt to cross that structure, they have disappeared from the campus.”
“What?” I whispered. By now I was unsure of the emotions I felt. I didn’t quite understand what he was trying to accomplish, but I also felt as though he was trying to help me through my plight.
“I cannot, in good faith, recommend that you attempt this. Out of all of the ponies that have approached me, you are the only one who has given me a reason for your work.”
His thoughts were just as sporadic as my own, and I still couldn’t infer his motive.
He leaned back into his chair and let out a deep breath. “There’s no convincing you, is there Starswirl?”
I could only shake my head silently in response.
“Starswirl, you’re playing a dangerous game, one that could get a lot of ponies in a lot of trouble. I can tell you that this has been attempted before and the outcome was expulsion.”
He stopped for a moment and looked at me. Behind his stern gaze, I could see a desire in him, one that was trying to break through. Finally, I saw a spark. “Starswirl… I can’t, in good faith, help you pursue a magical degree, but I can give you a way to pursue your work with Evenstar…”
“Oh?”
“Yes… If you can give me updates on your work, just proof that your studies are as you say, I will grant you an amiable grade for the term. I believe that the work you are doing is far greater than anything you could learn in my chemistry course.”
I was shocked, “Isn’t that against regulations?” I asked as I tried to truly comprehend his suggestion. “Couldn’t that get you fired?”
The professor only stared. Silence filled the room as we both sat in complete understanding of what had just transpired. I had been given an indescribably amazing gift at a cost I couldn’t imagine.
After several heavy minutes, the professor rose from his desk and gestured toward the door. “You may leave. You are no longer required to attend my class.”
I feel a sense of pain, pride, and duty in his gestures, as though he were fulfilling something deeper. He wasn’t just doing this for me, he was doing it for himself.
“Professor Spark?” I asked as I rose from my chair.
“Yes?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Starswirl,” he started as he rose from his chair, “For years I’ve taught about equality, but I’ve never tackled it myself. You… you have potential, something that I always dreamed I could experience for myself. I… I suppose I’m facing the reality that I may not be able to make the impact that I so desperately wish to make. I’m realizing far too late that I’m a lost case.”
Knowing what I know, I wouldn’t have left that room without saying a word. I I would go back, tell him that I would be a voice for equality, but all I did was leave him and walk away without a word.