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The Selection2,216 words
The Transfiguration Spell2,038 words

The Transfiguration Spell

Chapter 2

It had been two months since Astelle had been chosen. As she had predicted, her family was moved to a lovely place in Canterlot where they could be close by while she learned the art of magic. Her parents were proud and deeply apologetic for attempting to hold back her potential, and of course she forgave them. She loved to see her family blossom in the city; no longer weighted down by the toil of hard labor, they were free to pursue their own dreams. Her mother had always wanted to learn to play an instrument; now she was a cellist learning to play for royal Canterlot events. Her father was too deeply rooted in his ways to give up farming. However, he found himself enjoying the far more leisurely lifestyle of a florist with a modest garden to tend. Astelle’s little sister had to transfer schools, and was educated along with classmates of high-ranking. She found it intimidating at first, but she found some new friends who accepted her for who she was without the pedigree.

From what Astelle could tell, their lives were as perfect as hers. However, she was not permitted to live at home. Starswirl did not show any leniency when it came to her study load and she was pressed for time each day just to see them. She impressed him with how rapidly she could control her magic; her years of studying had finally paid off. She mastered levitation in only a few days, and though it was remarkable to everyone else, Starswirl did not show quite the same amount of pride as he did the day they had met. With every trick mastered, he presented her with several more. Hours and days passed and Astelle had not left the tower, trying in vain to keep up with his expectations.

“Try again.” He said standing beside a bookshelf absent mindedly looking through the books

Astelle exhaled shakily and closed her eyes. Her horn lit up with white magic and a rose floated up from a stool. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to change the rose into a tulip. The petals started to change color from red to orange and the thorns were beginning to disappear. Finally, Astelle let out a weak cry and collapsed, causing her magic to fail and the rose to fall to the ground. Astelle snorted and stood up, ready to try again.

“That is all for today. You may go.”

“But I haven’t--“

“We will work on it again tomorrow. In the meantime, have something to eat and get some rest. We begin again at dawn.”

And with that, the magnificent unicorn vanished.

Astelle screamed and stomped her hoof in frustration. How could it be that a unicorn in the square could so easily change an apple to a bar of soap and yet she could not turn a rose into a tulip? It seemed so trivial in comparison. Clover the Clever was passing by when she heard the new apprentice’s frustration and knocked on the tower door. Astelle looked over and turned the handle with her magic to let her in.

“Clover the Clever?” she asked in awe. She had only met her once, and had spoken no more than a few words to her as they passed in the halls of the castle. Clover was still looked up to as a magical guardian to lead Equestria until Astelle was worthy enough to take over. Starswirl was far too busy training her to give Clover much assistance. Clover smiled and approached the young pony.

“What has you so upset, child?”

“Transfiguration. I can’t seem to master it, I get so close and then it’s like my body becomes too energy drained to carry on.”

“Transfiguration, you say? That is not such an easy thing to master.”

“Didn’t you master it after only a week?”

Clover the Clever laughed and smiled, “You’ve read my books?”

“All of them. Some of them more than once. Compared to you, my magic is pathetic.”

Clover shook her head.

“Never in all my years have I seen a filly such as yourself. An earth pony, blessed with a horn, who is able to even attempt such magic after only a few weeks. When Starswirl found me, I had been using magic for years and even I could not do such a spell without his guidance.”

Astelle’s ears perked up at the mention of Clover’s selection.

“That reminds me, I’m very curious to know how Starswirl selected you from the other unicorns?”

“Come, sit with me and I will tell you my story.”

Astelle was thrilled, taking a seat beside one of her greatest idols near a fireplace. Clover turned to the flames and transformed them into her iconic rainbow glow, each flame a different color. Astelle watched in fascination, Clover made such magic seem effortless.

“The first thing you should know about Starswirl is that he never teaches the same way twice. When I was a filly, our land was divided until--“

“You created the fire of friendship.”

“No, until the ponies of Equestria created the fire of friendship, I was merely the vessel. Before that, it was everypony for his or her self. The rumor that Starswirl the Bearded was coming made every pony anxious and excited, but it created more anger and jealousy among the aspiring unicorns. I was working as an apprentice to a blacksmith at the time. I was fascinated by fire and all the things we could use it for. The shop owner was an older man who kept to himself except to sell his wares every Wednesday in the town square. I had approached him three years earlier and asked for a job; mostly because I was eager to get out on my own. He was only too happy to accept my help and at first, it was like any other job. He taught me how to make horseshoes, weapons, armor, and all manner of iron works. When I had mastered these skills, he moved on to more complicated things.

“On the day Starswirl the Bearded was scheduled to arrive, he didn’t show up. Another day passed, and still no sign of the famous unicorn. The unicorns were getting worried and upset, and blamed the Earth ponies and Pegasi. No one knew where he was, nor even what he looked like. You see, we had assumed he would make a grand appearance like the one this year.”

“Only he didn’t make a grand appearance this year, he was masquerading as a regular unicorn.”

“Exactly. It wasn’t for a few more days that I began to realize that my mentor was teaching me more than tricks of his trade. He always wore something over his cutie mark, and it never crossed my mind to look. I still remember the day I saw it, and put two-and-two together. I’d never been more surprised in my life! Of course, I couldn’t keep a secret for long, Starswirl had been living among us unicorns for almost a decade and no one was the wiser! Once I’d found him out, we were moved to the unicorn king’s castle and allowed to stay there for the duration of my studies.”

Astelle was surprised, and then confused.

“Why didn’t you ever write that down? I mean, he could have been living with us all this time too.”

“I doubt it. Starswirl never repeats himself. There are many spells, secrets, and mysteries that I did not write in my books. There are things that cannot be read but must be understood. There is a lesson here, and it was one that I didn’t want to be misunderstood. It would have been pointless to tell other ponies my story if that meant they went searching for him. Starswirl had already made me his selection even before we had met. So don’t judge your performance by comparing it to anyone else’s, including my own. If Starswirl sees potential in you, then you must have the ability to wield great power.”

~*~

The next day, all Astelle could think of nothing else but what Clover the Clever had said:

“Starswirl had already made me his selection even before we had met.”

How could he do that? Could that be true again in her case? Did he tell Clover the Clever to throw everyone off by announcing a formal audition? Did he tell her that his new protégé was going to be born an earth pony, and if so, is that why she lifted the restriction of unicorn-only apprentices? These are the questions she wished she could have remembered the night before. She knew when she saw him again today she was going to ask him.

Starswirl appeared in the same place he had been before and asked her to begin again.

“Wait, before we get to that, I wanted to ask you--“

“There’s no time to ask questions now. You’re falling behind; I need you to master transfiguration as quickly as possible. There are far more things that need to be learned.”

Astelle didn’t argue and she turned her attention back to the rose. She practiced for hours, but to no avail. Starswirl insisted that they move on to other spells and come back to try again later. He didn’t seem cross in any way, but it upset Astelle all the same. It didn’t matter how many other tricks she could perform, the image of that haughty purple unicorn turning an apple to soap still taunted her. The more she failed, the more upset she became. She tried to take Clover’s advice and let these things come naturally, but she so desperately wanted to please Starswirl that she clouded her own good sense. After a few days, Starswirl noted the desperation in the pony’s attempts and softened. He approached her and smiled.

“One failed trick won’t make me rethink my decision, Astelle.”

Astelle choked back her tears before she responded.

“I know I can do it.”

“I know you can too. I believe in you.”

Astelle looked up at him and her heart stopped. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. It was almost unfathomable that the greatest unicorn in history could feel that way.

“You don’t have to try so hard just to please me. Magic should be something that you enjoy, not a chore. I may seem tough but that’s only because I know what potential you really have.”

“How can you know that?”

“I’ve seen it.”

Astelle marveled in that fact as he continued “The magic that will come from your lineage will be the greatest known to pony-kind. I marvel in the fact that I can be the one to teach you.”

Astelle looked at the unicorn in a different way. She’d always seen him as an icon, maybe even like a god who was so far above any other pony that he didn’t seem real. And yet, here he is now, with soft empathetic eyes and a warm smile. She’d never seen anything more beautiful. Something in her heart changed in that moment and she felt a spark unlike anything she’d felt before. Holding her breath, she tried again to change the rose into the tulip.

He believes in me.

The rose began to glow, and then twist.

He believes in me.

The flower spun, its petals changing color.

He believes in me.

The spell was almost complete; she had a new surge of energy rippling through her; a new reason to succeed. The flower spun faster and faster and then it dropped to the ground. Astelle looked on in horror at the perfectly unchanged rose.

“It’ll take time.” Starswirl encouraged. He began another lecture on a new type of spell he wanted her to try, but she wasn’t listening. She stared at the rose and hated it. She hated it so intensely that before she realized what had happened the rose withered and died before her.

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