I Dreamt of Her

by ben717

Chapter 22: How Did He Do It?

"So how did you do it?” Asks Twilight jumping up and down, excited as ever.

“Do what?” I ask as we walk through the Canterlot marketplace.

“How did you get the Amulet to work? I thought it possible in theory, but it was so far fetched that if anything were to be possible, it would be slight and done through multiple tests and trial runs!” She exclaims, “I’ve never seen anything like it!”

I look around me, ponies hustling and bustling on the beautiful day. The Sun was high in the sky, the day was warm, and clouds subtly drifted through the sky. Twilight had taken off her tiara and put on her saddlebags so nopony would recognize her as royalty lest they looked really close. Twilight, her friends and I had decided to take stroll. The others were busy visiting the various shops in the marketplace.

“Well it was really simple actually.” I remark.

“How so?” Asks Twilight

“You remember that magic book you gave me all those months ago?” I ask

“Of course, I’ve read it cover to cover seven times!”

“Do you recall the section that had archives about the few instances where a non-unicorn came into contact with amulets and most didn’t do much?” I inquire.

“Yes. There were a few exceptions where the Amulets reacted, but never on the controlled scale like you displayed yesterday.”

“For a while, it stumped me. The mystery of why some ponies conducted magic better than others. There was one particular case where two different ponies came into contact with the same Amulet. For one it did basically nothing at all. The thief ran off and literally nothing happened. When he was apprehended he attempted to put it on as one last ditch effort. But alas, nothing happened. Yet a few days later once it was returned to its rightful place, a pegasi guard made contact at the wrong time and the thing exploded. Luckily the guard was unhurt but the Amulet was decimated. See a pattern?” I ask

“Not really, that was only one example.”

“It was all I had, most Amulets are pretty well kept track of. So they generally don’t come into contact with non-unicorns, most of the predicted cases aren’t recorded. But once again the question popped into my head, ‘What made one pony more compatible than another?’ The question stumped me. Then I began to study Unicorns and their magic. Ever notice how not every pony has the same color magical aura?”

“Yes. It’s caused by a plethora of things. A ponies gender, personality, the type of spell, and even their musical preferences.” She explains.

“It’s hardly a black and white system. But I’ve noticed the more intuitive ponies, the more passionate about their art, tend to glow blue. Take Rarity for example, if you critique her dresses without credible reason, then she's most likely going to get very upset. DJ Pon-3 for another example has a blue aura. I haven’t personally met her but I admire her work, and I imagine she is passionate about her music. Finally Luna, nopony could even begin to mimic the night sky like she could. I imagine she’s very passionate about it. Passion. So to put it simply I labeled blue with passion. Blue equals Passion.”

“Interesting.” Notes Twilight, taking out her notebook and quill.

Purple and Pink I’ve noticed are somewhat related. They are similar hues. Not exact, but similar. It’s a very loose comparison but I’m just guessing. You and The Great and Powerful Trixie both study magic. Your aura being Purple, hers being Pink. You are magic focused, but more studiously. She studies magic, but more for entertainment. Thus the difference in your auras.

Red, from everything I’ve seen is not good. The Alicorn Amulet, for example, is a force to be reckoned with. Case closed.

Now Gold. Gold is a fun one.” I say revealing my own Amulet by opening my shirt Superman style and let its colors flare.

A couple ponies on the street glance at the Aurum Amulet around my neck. Mesmerized by its brilliant golden glow.

“My first example is Lyra Heartstrings back home.” I say, “Her aura is yellow. Not quite gold, but close enough to set the example. Her and I go back and forth with pranks. Once I replaced her harp strings with some liquorish from the Sugarcube Corner. She retaliated with replacing my coffee sugar with salt. Let me tell you, that didn’t taste good.

Another, being Discord. Master of Chaos himself. He’s not necessarily a baddie in the general sense of being a villain. He just doesn’t care. Out to have fun, make a mess. Rinse, lather, repeat. Well at least until recently. Speaking of which I haven’t seen him since the first day? Where’s he been?”

“Out and about on missions tasked by the Princess. Go on.” Twilight urges, scribbling in her notebook.

“What’s the similarity between Lyra and the Master of Chaos? They’re both mischievous. One is obviously more troublesome than the other, but the similarity remains the same. Gold equals mischief.” I say.

“What does this have to do with Amulets?” She asks.

“It’s all about compatibility.” I explain, “Take note of how all unicorns can use Amulets. Whenever they do however, some Amulets change their personalities altogether. The Alicorn Amulet is the worst about this. It corrupts and destroys a mind. It’s really just a mechanism to make the user more compatible with it’s magic. It works in reverse using the same principle. If you get a pony, even a non-unicorn, with just the right personality, you can get magic. In the end it was all about finding the correct Amulet. But I had the benefit of choosing the correct Amulet, a rare and unprecedented opportunity.”

“So your color is Mischief?” Asks Twilight, “Since when are you mischievous?”

“Remember that one time I snatched up that Daring Do book and didn’t check it out from the library?”

“No.”

“Exactly… Remember that one time I shifted all of the books on your bookshelf to the right to throw you off your sorting game?”

“Now that you mention it… I do remember a few of my books being out of place.”

“Remember that one time I stole all of the answers to that history test you gave me?”

“No. I don’t!” She shouted getting extremely upset.

“Well you shouldn’t because it didn’t happen.” I laugh, “Point is, I’m more mischievous than even I really thought. I cause trouble, nothing serious, I am mature when the situation calls for it, but you give me time for someone or somepony to get used to me, it hits the fan really hard.”

“You always sort of struck me as intuitive.” She said.

“Well, so did I until I got my hands on that Amulet of Scarlett’s, Erin Hypno’s Amulet. It glowed blue, the color of passion. I felt no connection to it. It didn’t react. I didn’t feel any different. But as we were putting the Amulet away, I found my eye drawn to the one right next to it. It glowed a faint yellow. Something about it drew me in. It was a small golden circle about two inches in diameter. It had a yellow crystal in the center that a light glowed out of. It is the one I am holding currently. The Aurum Amulet.” I say.

“As I ran my fingers over the center, I felt a chill rush though my body. Not the terrifying kind of chill, the kind of chill that you get when you hear a really good song, when you read a book that really speaks to you, or to put it most accurately, when you and your friend are alone and you start singing your favorite song at the top of your lungs. Yeah, that amazing feeling. In that moment I snatched this little beauty up.” I conclude

“Wow. Who knew?” Asks Twilight as she puts away her notebook.

“Who knew?” I reply.

I sit down on a bench near the marketplace and Twilight takes her place next to me. The wind blows through the street sweeping through my hair, which was the longest its ever been. I hadn't had it cut in the months I had been here. Soon it would have been a year since I’ve been in Equestria. A year. Soon I imagined it would turn to two years, then three, then twelve. It hit hard. But I didn't worry about it. It would all be ok. That’s the way I am, some people would probably lay down and refuse to cope with the situation. I’m just not like that.

Despite my what some would call hopeless situation, I can’t help but smile. The ponies hustled and bustled through their lives, same as you and I. The foals, they would run and play through the streets, not a care in the world. Their parents would lead them along as they ran errands. Pinkie was jumping around somewhere causing havoc or making a mess, Rarity was showing Sweetie some of the markets, Rainbow Dash was hanging out with Fluttershy and Applejack in the park down the street.

Canterlot truly was beautiful. I breath in a gust of wind through my nostrils. All was calm. Life was good.

“So what are you going to do now?” Asks Twilight

“What do you mean?” I ask

“Well, you have an Amulet now and it works, the soldiers want you, and I want you. I don't think you’ll be able to pick both.” She says.

“I assumed I was going to go home with you girls and finish my studies. Even if I were to join the guard, I would have to be a citizen of Equestria, and I’m pretty sure that requires me to be here a certain number of years? Wouldn’t you be able to teach me in that time?”

“Well yes, it’s just that. There is so much to teach, so much to learn, and no pony could’ve foreseen a creature without a horn to be able to use magic actively. There’s only a few other creatures that can do this. The list ranges from draconequus like Dicord to the Cockatrice.”

I laugh, “I’m on the same list as that bird?”

“Granted, you needed a bit of help.” She states poking my chest with her hoof, “But it’s magic all the same.”

“Well there are still a few kinks in the armor. I can barely pick things up.” I say as I attempt to float a pebble towards me. After hovering for a few seconds, the magic sputters out and the rock drops.

“It will come with time. Like that projection for instance? I bet it took several tries.” She states.

“Oh you bet it did.” I say, “And it was so worth it!”

The wind blows again, and I turn my face into it. Twilight does the same. Her mane smacks me in the face as it blows.

“Mffhp..” I say, “Man, I thought I was done with getting a girls hair in my mouth on Earth.”

“He he he,” She giggles, “Sorry!”

I close my eyes and stand up. The wind blows a little harder. I feel the cloth on my clothes ripple. I take a deep breath in.

“It’s a beautiful world we live in.” I say to Twilight.

“I’m glad you think so.” She says.

“Now I know I trash talk Earth a lot when I talk about war and death, but it was beautiful too. In much the same way. What the hay am I saying, you’ve been there. In a way.” I say

“Not long enough to truly appreciate it.”

“It’s different in a lot of ways,” I say, “but the same in just as many.”

…

“Well now what?” Asks Twilight

“Now?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do. I’ve already went though the market, the girls will get back soon, but until then…”

I zone her out as I gaze down the street. I get the overwhelming urge to run into the headwind. It was a gorgeous day, the wind was blowing, the animal inside me wanted to scream charge and take off running.

So…

I screamed, “CHAAAARRRGE!” and took off running.

“Wait?! Where are you going?” Shouts Twilight

“RUNNING!” I shout back to her with laughter.

I felt the wind in my hair as I ducked and dodged past ponies. They didn’t seem to notice as the human ran.

As my legs turned over and turned again, I felt my heartbeat increase. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I felt something amazing. I felt… alive. Each cycle of my legs carried me farther and farther from where I had started. I didn’t know where I was going or where my legs were taking me. I just followed the wind.

That was my mission. Catch the wind.

I ran and ran. I figured I would begin to feel fatigued after a while. No. As I ran, I began to feel stronger. The adrenaline and endorphins being released were doing their job.

I saw a stair case leading down. Do I run down it? No. I jumped the railing like a crazy person. I near crushed a pony at the bottom as I tucked and rolled then got right back up running.

“W- watch where you’re going two legs!” She shouted

“Sorry!” I shouted as I ran backwards to face the mare.

I whipped back around just in time to see that a couple of ponies were moving a large pane of glass across the street, and I was barreling headfirst into it.

“Oh *buy some apples*!” I shout as I close my eyes and throw my hands up in defense.

I hear a *pompf* and I open my eyes again.

I’m standing about three feet ahead of where I remembered. On the other end of the window pane cliché.

“What in the?” I ask looking down at my chest which was now glowing brighter than I remember it ever glowing.

I felt it. I felt the magic coursing through my body. It was like nothing I ever felt before. I just bucking teleported. Don’t ask me how I did it. I don’t know, I doubt I could do it again. But I realized something. If I was to do powerful forms of anything, I had to feel it. To feel… Alive.

I looked at my hand and reached down deep inside. I had to feel it. Had to control it. I looked down at a rock on the ground.

“Come on. Come on.” I whisper as a golden aura surrounds it.

The rock wobbles and wobbles.

“Come on you biscuit, work for papa.” I whisper through gritted teeth.

I can feel the strain of it. The smallest rock in the world, it physically feels like a boulder pressing down on my body. But by God I will pick this sucker up. Soon, the rock begins to rise.

“HA! HA HA HA!” I laugh as I triumph.

It grows higher and higher off the ground. Sweat drips from my brow and my heartbeat grows faster. It is soon at my knee level. I try with all of my might to to bring it to my hand. Faster and faster it rises. It was quickly at my knee level, and still climbing.

“Aw YEAH!” I shout at I reach out and rip it from the air. I hold my little rock high in the air, proud that I had accomplished such a feat!

“Are you about done?” Smiles Twilight who had trotted up behind me during the escapade.

I smile back, worn out but satisfied, “I think so.” I say holding out my prized rock.

She takes it in her magic and waves it around to tease me.

“Yeah shut up.” I laugh.

After a moment of joyous silence I look around and realize we are near the edge of the city, the one with the balcony that overlooks the Transylmanian valley.

“Is that what I think it is?” I say as I rush towards the balcony.

“What?”

“The mountainside!” I shout, “I haven’t even had a chance to go out this far yet! Wow!”

The mountains are beautiful, the valley luscious and green, they are full of life. The wind blows up onto the huge balcony from the valley below. I breathe it in once more. Taking in the life all around me. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way. Knowing that my friends and family were honest with me, and told me the truth. It finally felt like I fit in. Which hadn’t been for a long time. I lean against the balcony overlooking the valley. Twilight joins me.

I look down at the ground over the balcony.

“So…” She starts, “You were finally able to pick something up?”

“Yup,” I say, gauging the distance to the ground from where we are standing.

“How did it feel?”

“It was tough.” I say whilst testing the rigidity of the railing.

“You know, at this rate you’ll be able to carry bigger objects, maybe even yourself!” She exclaims.

“My question for you Twilight would be ‘Is Magic like a muscle? The more you exercise it the stronger it gets?” I ask

“Yup!” She declares, “Precisely! The only way to improve is to-” She starts following my gaze.

“Test it’s limits?” I ask

“Yes but I don’t think that-”

“Twilight how far down do you suppose that is?” I say, cogs turning in my head.

“I’d say at least a thousand feet but if you're thinking what I-”

I hop up onto the railing and dangle my feet over the edge.

“BEN SHORT are you NUTS?” She shouts.

“Maybe a little!” I shout as the wind begins to howl through the valley and through the streets behind us.

The wind blew my hair, which had grown rather long, into my eyes and around my face.

“OK!” I breathe in, looking at the thousand foot drop below me. I reach deep down and feel the magic from the Amulet beginning to stir.

I start, “One!”

“BEN!” Twilight shouts.

“Two!”

“You will die!” She screams

“Three!” I shout and leap off the railing. Sailing down towards the rocks.

“Sweet Celestia!” Shouts Twilight as she spreads her wings and jumps off the cliff. Chasing after a projection of me.

I sit on the bench, not ten feet away from the railing. I am currently laughing my flank off. I can’t believe she fell for that again. I laugh so hard I fall off the bench and into a bush that was placed next to it.

“Come now Darling, why would you pull a rotten trick like that? You probably gave Twilight a heart attack!” Came a fabulous voice from behind me.

I shift my position on the bench around to see my beautiful mother trotting up behind me. Accompanying her is none other than Sweetie Belle.

“Ben!” Shouts Sweetie Belle galloping towards me.

I stand up quickly and rush to greet her. In one foul swoop I pick Sweetie Belle up off the ground in a great big bear hug.

“Hey!” I say as I hug the tiny pony. “How have you been? Long time no see! How are the Crusaders?”

“They are good, but you neglected to bring your Crusader cape! I am severely disappointed!” She says teasing me.

“Oh my goodness! I completely forgot! So did you get your Cutie Marks while I was away?” I ask.

“No! But we tried for our Cutie Marks in dental hygiene… Needless to say… it was… less than successful.” She states

“Oh I bet Colgate had a blast with you ponies running around the room.” I say, “Y’all didn't drill a hole into someponies mouth on accident did you?”

“Nah! We only knocked out one tooth!” She smiles brightly.

With a look of horror on my face I start, “Sweetie Belle you did not-!”

“I’m just teasing you jeez!” She says with a teasingly “innocent” look.

“Phew.. Any other excitement happen while I was gone?” I ask

“Well… Pinkie baked Applebloom one of her special cupcakes.”

Just then Pinkie Pie exploded from the bush that was next to the bench. “HEY!”

“Speak of the devil and she shall appear.” I start, “Do I even need to ask how?”

“Well I was simply in the bush studying the effect of frosting on a plant!” She states, “Then I heard that you two were talking about my special cupcakes which are super uper DUPER delicious! I have one every day! It doesn’t effect me at all! I don’t know why you ponies think my cupcakes have too much sugar?”

“Yes because a cupcake made from 97% sugar is certainly gonna have no side effects!” I exclaim

“Well duh! I thought everypony knew that!” She says

“I was being sarcastic.” I say

“GAH!” Says Pinkie, then her left foreleg did a jig.

“EVERYPONY HIT THE DECK!” I shout as I realize the Pinkie Sense just tingled

As everypony hits the deck, a streak of hot, angry purple goes whizzing over my head! The force from the turbulence is enough to knock off Rarity’s sunhat. My hair gets whipped behind my head. Pinkie jumps into my arms Scooby Doo style.

“WEEEEEEEEE!!!” She shouts as dust settles.

I stand back up after the hurricane force winds subside. Pinkie is still in my arms giggling like she was getting tickled.

I look over and try to see what just about took my head off, even though in reality I already knew. Standing there, eyes glowing a bright purple with a glare that would intimidate any manticore, was Twilight Sparkle. Her wings were spread wide as she had just returned from trying to rescue me off of a cliff that I really didn't jump off of.

I can’t even take her seriously how angry she is. I start laughing and Pinkie joins me. As Twilights face grows red and steam flies from her ears as if she were an overheating steam engine, Pinkie and I are rolling on the ground.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle seem intimidated but I’ve learned to not take Twilight too seriously when it comes to silly tricks.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Shouts Twilight

Wiping tears from my eyes I say, “Are you ever not going to fall for that?”

“I thought you jumped to your death!” She screams.

Pinkie interjects, “WAIT A SECOND!”

Everypony stops for a moment to listen to Pinkie.

“I guess you could say that she… Fell! For It!” Pinkie jokes

I let out a roar of laughter and fall to the floor with Pinkie.

“It’s not funny! I thought you were in danger!” Shouts Twilight with tears forming in her eyes.

I stop laughing, realizing I had truly scared her. “Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, I just thought I’d have a little fun with my new magic is all. It’s not every day a human gets to cast spells.”

I walk over and hug Twilight who smacks me across the face with magic.

I smile and rub my cheek, “Ow..” I laugh, “I figured you were going to smite me of something.”

“I could’ve you know. Please don’t do something stupid like that again.” She asks.

“Jumping off a cliff? Are you kidding me thats crazy! I’m foolish, not stupid!” I laugh.

“Now come on then! Now that Rarity and Pinkie here we can go find the others. I’m sure they are wondering where we ran off to.” Says Twilight.

“True.” I say, standing up. “Come along Sweetie Belle. Join me on this venture!”

“Oh!” Says Twilight, “Princess Luna also wanted to see you later tonight.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Really?” I ask, perking up. “Uh.. What for?”

“She didn’t say. She said she just wanted to talk to you.” Says Twilight

“Well. I suppose it would be unbefitting to skip out on her.” I state, struggling to keep my nervousness hidden. The thought of the midnight mare made my heart start moving.

“I would think not.” Says Twilight who begins walking.

The rest of us ponies follow her as she leads us back to where we started.

“Oh by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Says Twilight

“What’s that?” I ask.

“What’s this I hear about Biology Lessons?”

My face goes red.

Twilight looks at me confused.

“You know, if you wanted to learn more about Biology I have a great book on Animal Science back at the library.”

I wipe the sweat from my brow, “Uh no, I don’t think that will be necessary. But if you don’t mind me asking where did you hear that I wanted to know about Biology?”

“Oh I believe it was your buddy Hot Shot who told me to ask you about it.”

“That son of a b-, I mean, very nice mare.”

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Sorry for making you wait so long for such a short chapter! I had really bad writers block when this one rolled around. Truthfully I needed an in between chapter before I started the, what I call, "Leaving Canterlot" story arc and I didn't want to start it without explaining a few things as far as magic. The next "arc" will focus a lot on Luna and said main characters relationship entirely. Making it more than just some royal fling and an actual emotional connection rather than a weird pony x human lust story.

But to business... Now.. I know. I have REALLY bad sentence structure and things like that and it was brought my attention that I should find an editor. At first I didn't seek an editor because I really didn't take this thing seriously and now its gotten so long to where I really need to start taking it seriously. So what I need from you ponies right now is editors.. If you are interested you can contact me at [e-mail]. Just shoot me an e-mail and I will get back to you ASAP.

Help would really be appreciated. Thank you and I hope you are all enjoying the story.

Comments

[RainbowCoolDash Pariah]

That was so FUNNY HAHAHA

[Falinov]

Yea I can see how you got the block but you handled it very well and I enjoyed it. As you stated your sentence structure could use a little sprucing up but other then that its really good a bit randome but good.

Keep it up!
Cheers

Also if you make a reply to my shitty sentence structure, grammer, and punctuation its 1 in the morning lay off me ...

[Blade Star]

Love the idea of aura affecting personality. Guess I'm a bit artistic then, though my special talent is protection.
As for the story, I love it. The amount of LOL from Twilight leaping to save the projection is unimaginable. Nice to see Sweetie Belle back in the picture. Finally, I'm assuming Ben will be going to absolutely blast Hot Shot for the 'biology' thing. Keep it up. I demand more Luna romance.

[Mr_Moon]

So gold coloured magic means mischief...

Celestia's Magic is gold coloured...

Trolestia confirmed!