The Apprentice

by TheNewYorkBrony

Twilight Sparkle To The Dean's Office

Thanks for the criticism. I guess I was off to a rushed start. But I promise this story will get better and will be a lot slower now! :)

---

Twilight picked at the slice in front of her. She had never been in such a social situation in all her life. She didn't exactly quite know what to say either. She had been trained to greet guests at galas and respond to adults at parties but never seemed to quite grasp how to communicate with her own age group. Sure, adults were cynical and bland, but nothing was worse than the judging eye of the fellow teenager. "You must never let them know your weaknesses." Luna had told her at the breakfast table that morning. "You must never let them know who you really are."

Which she thought was stupid, because in order to gain a true friend the relationship must be based on trust. Not lies, distrust, and deceitfulness. In fact, Luna's advice was rendered redundant the minute she met every girl in this room because they already knew who she was. Why bother trying to deny it? She was Twilight Sparkle, she was Celestia's apprentice, and she was here to make friends.

It's not like she could deny it. She was practically Celestia's daughter. "Oh boy." Rainbow sighed as she patted her belly. "I'm stuffed."

"I'm not!" Pinkie whined, staring longingly at AppleJack's slice.

"Don't even think about it." Applejack said, as Pinkie reached for the slice behind her back.

"Argh!" She huffed in defeat, folding been arms.

Twilight sighed. If she was going to become friends with at least one of these girls, she was going to have to find a common interest. “So what kind of spells are you girls studying?”

AppleJack was the first to speak. “Well Ah study plant magic with Fluttershy and combat magic with RD. That’s how Ah met them.”

Rainbow nodded. “I’m actually trying to become a professional broom rider. The ones who race and stuff.” She added once she saw Twilight had no clue as to what she was talking about.

Twilight responded with a “Oh.” Then she said, “I’m studying a different kind of magic.” Twilight explained as she pulled one of her many notebooks out her bag. She laid it onto the floor and cleared a spot for her to work. She took out a bottle of water and let some of the liquid drop onto the ground. The other girls watched in wonder and anticipation as she poured salt over it. “Now watch closely girls.” She commanded. She held out her hand and with a flick of her wrist the water in the small puddle began to dissolve.

“Wow that’s incredible!” Fluttershy whispered so as to not break Twilight’s concentration. “We haven’t learned any dehydration spells yet! Those are usually reserved for third years!”

Twilight looked up. “Really? Because I mastered this spell when I was ten.” It was simple really. She just spent all her time on that one spell. Celestia had said it wasn’t healthy for a child to do that at all, but nonetheless, she persisted on and was able to do it.

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Yeah?” She answered.

“The floors on fire.”

“The what?!” The young enchantress looked down again to see that the floor was indeed on fire. “Uh, uh! What do I do?! I never studied this with the princess!” she panicked.

“You never learned fire safety?” Fluttershy said, confused.

“You guys, we have bigger problems than that!” Rainbow called getting everyone’s attention back on the situation at hand. The fire was spreading, and fast.

“What do we do?! What do we do?!” Pinkie hollered covering her ears and running around in a circle.

“For starters, you can stop doing that!” Applejack responded putting a firm hand on the other girl’s shoulder. She forced the shorter girl down.

Smoke was starting to rise and trickle out into the hallway. “Oh for Pete’s sake!” Rarity rolled her eyes before throwing the rest of the water bottle onto small danger. It fizzled out and in its place was a six point star.

“That’s a weird mark.” Pinkie mused.

“That’s a signature, not a mark. Every witch has one. It’s how other people identify their magic. How do you not know this?” Twilight directed towards her.

“I kinda sleep through most of that class. Heheh.” Pinkie confessed, twiddling with her fingers. It figures. That was the first thing a witch in training learned. How to make a signature. It wasn’t just some random symbol either. It was the symbol of what your magical energy specialized in.

“Mines is a butterfly.” Fluttershy spoke up. “It’s because I specialize in natural magic.”

“Mines is a lightening bolt.” Rainbow added. “I think it has to do with the light and energy magic I’m really good at.”

Rarity huffed. “I have a diamond as my mark because I can find gews with my magic.”

“Apple for me.” AppleJack said. “Truth to be told I don’t know why its an apple.”

“Maybe it has to do with your name.” Twilight suggested.

Applejack thought for a moment. “Hmm...Ah think you’re right!”

“Guys, not to you know ruin the friendly mood or anything but how are we going to explain this to Trixie?” Rainbow muttered.

“Trixie? Who’s Trixie?” Twilight asked.

“Only the most conceited, pompous, most egotistical third year at this school. She’s our RA.” AppleJack snorted.

“Third year?” Twilight asked. She was still unsure how this school worked. “A little help?”

“You see darling,” Rarity began, “This school is divided up into years instead of grades. Your entire first year you would be called a first year because it is your first year at this school. When it’s your third year, you are graduating.” Twilight nodded, and then she continued. “The band on your witch hat,” -she pointed to the red ribbon on Twilight’s hat- “Let’s everyone know what year you’re in. Red is first, blue is second, and green is third.”

“Okay. But who exactly is this Trixie?”

“Only the most beautiful dorm RA Little Pony Academia has ever seen!” A voice in the doorway answered for her.

“Oh, brother.” Applejack sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! How is it that you have not heard of me?” The older girl demanded.

Twilight took this time to look the girl over. She had a ridiculous cape on that had stars and moons all over it. Her hat wasn’t black like hers, but blue with the same atrocious pattern. The only difference was the green band standing out obtrusively.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and I’ve spent most of my life studying with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. I have no idea who you are.” She deadpanned.

Trixie’s confidence waned and the other girls snickered. “You’ve been studying with the princesses?! That’s impossible! You’re just a measly first year!”

“Maybe so. But I can do magic that even third years can’t do.” Twilight smirked. She knew the minute she heard of this girl that she had no skills to back up that ridiculous name.

Trixie looked from Twilight to the floor where her mark was, and her bag that had the same mark. She too smirked. “Oh yeah? What about you setting the floor on fire?”

Twilight jumped. “How did you-”

“Oh please. Every witch has a signature, don’t you know that?” Trixie snickered.

Twilight’s frowned. “But I-”

Trixie held up a finger. “No need to try and impress me with your lies, Twilight Sparkle. I can see you’re just a lowly underclassmen.”

Twilight grimaced. “On the contrary, Trixie.” She responded, pulling out another notebook. “I can perform many spells.” She explained before flipping through the notebook for the right spell quickly. When she found it, she raised her hand and suddenly a bucket of water turned over above Trixie's head, dropping it’s contents all over her and soaking her to the bone. Twilight giggled. “Like that.”

Trixie groaned. “You haven’t heard the last of me, Twilight Sparkle! You just made yourself an enemy!” She growled before stopping down the hallway.

“Alright!” Rainbow cheered, high fiving Twilight. “Way to go Twi!”

Twi? Twilight had never had a nickname before. It made her feel...special. “Way to go, Twilight!” Applejack added clapping a hand on her shoulder.

“No you guys, that was not the way to go!” Pinkie corrected, bouncing in place.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Trixie finally got what she deserved!” Rainbow shouted.

“Yes, but she’s going to the dean about this, I’m sure of it.” Fluttershy backed Pinkie up.

Rainbow’s face fell. “Oh man, you’re right. There’s no telling what the dean might do to us.”

“The dean? Maybe I can speak to this dean of yours.” Twilight offered.

“I don’t think so Twilight. She can be... a little overwhelming.” Rarity told her.

“No problem. I’ve dealt with my share of stick in the muds at the castle. I’m sure this dean is no different.” Twilight answered before walking out the door.

The five girls who she just had become familiar with shared a look. Needless to say, they definitely didn't think she could do it.

---

The sun was just beginning to set when Twilight reached the huge office building on the opposite side of the school. She sighed as she made it inside before raping on the dean’s office door. It appeared to be open, so she twisted the knob and entered. “H-Hello?” She called.

“Ah, Miss Twilight Sparkle. I’ve been expecting you.” A womanly voice answered. Twilight followed the voice into a dimly lit room. She realized the voice came from the big red leather chair turned around behind a huge oak desk.

“Yes?” She answered.

The chair swiveled around and she was met with the eyes of a very good looking middle aged woman. “I heard you were causing problems in my first year dorm rooms.” The woman said blankly.

Twilight realized this was what the girls were talking about. This woman seemed blunt, and straight to the point. “Yes, ma’am but Trixie-”

“This has nothing to do with Trixie!”

The sudden outburst scared Twilight. “Okay well, she tried to start a fight with my-” Twilight paused. Did she have the right to call these girls friends? After all, she’s only known all of them for a few hours. She rarely knew anything about them. She had no right to call them her friends. She didn’t even know if she could trust them. At least not just yet. She cleared her throat and corrected herself. “She tried to start a fight with my roommates and their friends.” Much better.

“Do you think that just because you’ve trained with the princesses you can come here and think you run things?” The woman asked, adjusting her glasses.

“Excuse me?” Twilight asked. She thought she hadn’t just heard the woman clearly. Twilight had one mission and one mission only. And the sooner she accomplished that, the sooner she could get back to her independent studies at the castle. She seriously didn’t have time for this.

“You heard me!” The woman bellowed, then folded her arms.

Twilight looked at the nameplate on the desk. “Miss,” She looked again to make sure she was correct, “Ah, Cheerilee. I think you’ve made a mistake. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Actually, Miss Sparkle,” Cheerilee responded as she got out of her seat to approach the young wizard, “You did. There is no magic in the dormitories. Spell casting is prohibited.” Oh. That was unfortunate.

Twilight sighed. “I’m really sorry ma’am. I had no idea.” She sincerely apologized.

The dean gave her a small smile. “Apology accepted. But you will have a swift and appropriate punishment received tomorrow.” Twilight’s shoulders slumped. At least she apologized.

---

Twilight yawned as she made her way back to her dorm room. She realized it was getting late and decided that as soon as she got in she would hit the sack. She opened the door to see that the other girls had left, and it was just Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, cleaning up what the others hadn’t.

“So? How’d it go?” Rainbow asked as she threw the last of the paper plates and plastic cups away into a black garbage bag. She tied it up before glancing back at Twilight.

Twilight sighed. “Horrible. Now I know what you guys mean.” She threw herself down on the bed realizing that it had already been made. She guessed that Fluttershy was the culprit, because all her bags were put away and her notebooks were neatly laid on her now adorned desk.

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah. There’s a reason why we try to stay away from her.” She picked up the bag with her left hand and snapped her fingers on her right. The bag engulfed with bright blue light, then vanished before Twilight’s eyes.

“Hey, I thought we couldn’t do magic in the dorms?” She asked confused. She hoped the rule didn’t just apply to her.

“We can’t. But I do it anyway. I’m just more discreet with it.” Rainbow smirked. Figures. Twilight didn’t need to know Rainbow long to know she was the rebel and the troublemaker of the group. “Plus it makes chores easier. I don’t like going outside when it’s dark. At least not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight questioned. This just might be the type of thing she could report to Princess Celestia without having to mention her run in with the dean.

“Well, apparently, and you didn’t hear this from me,” Dash quickly added the last part before continuing, “Some students have been disappearing.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. Definitely something to report to the princess. “Disappearing?” she repeated.

Dash nodded. “Yeah like,” She picked up a napkin off the floor; placing it in her right hand before clapping both of them and whispering, “Poof.” as it disappeared. Twilight really started to wonder where all the things that Rainbow Dash dissipated really went.

“Has anyone said anything?” She answered.

“Nope.” Rainbow responded, shaking her head. “This is an all girl witch school with some of the top grades in the country. Do you really think any of the admins would let this get out?” Which was true, as messed up as it sounded. In order to keep a prestigious school well, prestigious, there had to be things that would have to be handled behind the scenes. So that the public would be completely ignorant of it, so that they could keep sending their daughters here and shelling out thousands of dollars every year without suspecting a thing. A very messed up thing indeed.

“That means anything being complained about or reported could have been ignored for only Celestia knows how long.” Twilight frowned. She didn't like the sound of that. “That also means that missing students could be written off as runaways or delinquents.” It was actually really convenient. Blame the child, not the school. Twilight wondered if there was really more to the reason why she was sent here.

Dash coughed. “I haven’t told Fluttershy, so please don’t say anything. She’ll get all paranoid and start sticking to me like glue.” She snapped her fingers and a blue light lit the room. Twilight hadn’t even realized they had been sitting in the dark. The light from the athletic girls fingers lit the room dimly. She watched Twilight gasp in awe and grinned. “It’s nothing special. Just a light spell I learned when I was a little squirt so that I could stay outside longer.”

Twilight knew the feeling. She learned a few spells as a child just so that she could do certain things too. Celestia called it “Inviting mischief” but Twilight thought of it as more of a way to “Bettering her skills for her personal life”.

“I won’t say a word.” Twilight finally said, responding to the first thing Dash had said. As for the second, “I wouldn’t do that for much longer if I were you.”

“What? Why?” Dash asked, but before Twilight could respond, the light flickered out and she fell to the floor in pain. “Agh! What happened, Twilight?!”

“You used up all the magical energy in your arm so it cramped up. Don’t you look at how much mana each spell uses before learning it?” Twilight scolded.

The pained look on Dash’s face was a definite no. Twilight giggled before pulling the other girl up onto her bed. “Alright, alright. Give me your hand.” Rainbow reluctantly gave her the arm that was cramped and felt a cool sensation as a purple glow enveloped Twilight’s hand as she touched hers. She rubbed the whole arm tenderly until she could feel Dash’s arm muscles relax.

“What the heck was that?” Rainbow asked once her arm felt better. She flexed it in amazement. She could move it perfectly. Possibly better than before.

“A muscle reliever spell. I studied a little medical stuff once I finished all the practical spells.” Twilight explained as she got out of her robe and put her hat on her desk. She had almost forgotten she was in her uniform. She stretched and smirked as she felt her bones satisfyingly crack before putting on her pjs. She suddenly felt fatigue take over her again afterwards and swayed back onto her bed. “Jeez, I’m tired.” She yawned again.

The light turned off in the bathroom as Fluttershy was seen for the first time in what Twilight thought was an hour. “I would ask you how it went, but it looks like you’re ready to pass out.” She giggled as she watched Twilight try to open her eyes to give a coherent answer.

Rainbow had gotten ready for bed at the same time as Twilight and she too was catching the sleepiness that enveloped the room. “Yeah,” She yawned. “You can find out in the morning.” She climbed onto the top bunk and flopped down on it before drift off to sleep, snoring loudly.

Twilight flinched. Fluttershy laughed a little. “You’ll get used to it. She eventually stops after an hour or two.” She sat next to Twilight giving the girl a calm warm look. “Are you okay?”

Twilight laughed a little herself. “Honestly? I could be better.” They shared a smile before Twilight laid back down. “I really miss my brother. And my parents. Sometimes I wish,” She paused. “Sometimes I wish I could just leave this all behind you know? Just live a normal life.”

Silence overtook the pair as Fluttershy contemplated her answer before she spoke. “Twilight, I’m going to tell you something that no one knows. Not even Rainbow Dash.” Twilight’s lavender eyes fell on Fluttershy’s green ones. Fluttershy played with a strand of stray pink hair that obstructed her right eye. “I’ve always been shy.” Twilight was confused as to how this was a secret, it was completely evident that the girl before her was sheepish. It was even in her name.

A thin smile graced the taller girls lips. “I know what you’re thinking.”

Twilight actually had to laugh this time. “Alright, you got me.”

Fluttershy nodded, but continued. “I had this pet bunny. His name was Angel. I loved him so dearly. He...he was my best friend.” Twilight didn’t say anything so she went on. “I loved feeding him vegetables. It was my favorite thing to do.” She sighed. “Granted, I was a little girl. I didn’t know he couldn’t eat certain things. And then...And then...” She couldn't finish the sentence. Twilight could see it in her eyes. It was absolutely too painful. Tears silently fell from Fluttershy’s pale face, causing a few pieces of hair to stick to her cheeks and forehead. “I went to check on him in the morning and he, he-”

“He was dead.” Twilight finished for her. She was breathless. For her it was an unbearable story to hear. For Fluttershy it was an unbearable thing to bear. Fluttershy hiccuped. Twilight held out her arms and Fluttershy immediately accepted the hug. “Oh Fluttershy, I’m so sorry.” She consoled.

“He was my only friend Twilight. He was the only thing in this world that truly made me happy and i killed him.” Fluttershy sobbed. Twilight rubbed the other girls back. “That’s why I wanted to take up natural magic.” She sniffed as she released herself from Twilight’s embrace. “So that I can heal things in this world, have hand in nurturing them and not kill them.” Twilight understood this. She started studying magic for almost the same exact reason.

“I came here, and that’s when I met Rainbow. She helped me see that I can do more than just hurt people.” Fluttershy smiled as she glanced at Rainbow’s sleeping figure. She turned back to Twilight and took both her hand in hers. “That’s why you should give this school a chance, Twilight. Because you never know what opening yourself up and meeting new people can do for you. Promise me you will?”

Twilight didn't know what to say, so she just nodded, before tugging Fluttershy in for another hug.

“I promise.”

Author's Note:

Please comment and tell me what you think! Im open to receiving criticism! :)

Comments

[RussianRoulette]

This is a good follow up to the first chapter. You fixed the pacing a little. Although, I'd like to say that it's still a tad rushed, even though it is definitely moving along more slowly than last chapter. I better get attached to the character(s)! You promised!

[Commissar Rarity]

I just watched Little Witch Academia last night so it's still fresh in my mind, finally allowing me to read this.

Now, it's decently written, if not quickly paced. The main problems to me are:

-Attempting to shoehorn twice as many main characters into LWA's three-girl team. I personally would have not done all of the Mane Six and just concentrated on finding counterparts to Akko, Lotte, and Sucy (though it'd be hard to find a pony as cool as like Sucy). Trixie is obviously meant to be Diana, which makes sense.

-It feels more like Ponies In High School than it does LWA. LWA has an undeniable charm to it, which this... well, it kinda lacks that. But the charm largely comes from the Ghibli-esque animation and the character designs, which you can't really do in prose.

But really, those are the main problems that I can see: Not enough like the crossover material, and too many characters. That last one is pure opinion though.

I'm gonna slip this into my read later folder. Don't feel there's enough yet for me to make up my mind if I like this or not.

[TheNewYorkBrony]

2652348 I see your points :) Honestly though I didnt realize i pushed all of the mane 6 in. But i know what im doing. You'll see what will happen in the next chapter i really hope you come to like it

[TheNewYorkBrony]

2651050 dont worry dont worry i got this! You just keep giving me pointers and i'll keep making it better!