Magic Ch. 1
Across Ponyville, the entire town was mostly silent. The night sky was hovering over the town, but some pony were going around and tossing newspapers on the stoops of houses, while other ponies were still asleep in their beds. It all quickly changed though as the night sky slowly turned orange and the first beams of sunlight were popping up over the horizon. Slowly, but surely, the sun crept over the hills and mountains and soon shined upon Ponyville. Inside the large Golden Oaks Library, an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane along with pink and lavender highlights, was already hard at work.
“ . . . 17, . . . 18, . . . 19, . . .20,” she said as she grunted. Her wings were against the floor, pushing her up and down steadily. She placed her hooves on the ground and panted a little as she straightened up. “Well that was good. I just hope that rainstorm that’s scheduled for later today holds off until I finish my training.”
A knock then came from the pegasus’ room. “Come on in,” she said.
The door opened to a tall, slender lilac alicorn with a mane very similar to that of the pegasus’, except she had a darker lavender streak. She looked around the room to see a large bed near the window was made, then the bookshelf and writing desk nearby, and then some workout equipment such as dumbbells and a mat. She then directed her attention to the pegasus.
“Another workout routine, huh Starburst?” She asked with a small smile.
“Oh, good morning mom,” she said in a rather stern tone. “What are you doing here? I thought you would’ve been busy doing some morning reading.”
“Starburst, don’t you know what time it is?”
“Time for another day of training. How else am I going to make you and dad proud by getting into the Royal Guard?”
Twilight shook her head. “Sweetie, it’s only seven in the morning. You’re going to wake up your brother, Night Light.”
Starburst pondered for a moment. “You know what mom? You got a point.” Twilight smiled at this. “Go wake him up and I can possibly help him train.” Her smile drooped.
“Star, you don’t need to train every day. If you’re going to be a part of the Royal Guard, you need to have the knowledge of past conflicts from border skirmishes to civil wars.”
The orange pegasus let out a small groan. “Mom, I don’t need to stay inside and read,” she whined. “I’m not stupid, I know my history and have good marks in school.”
“I never said you were stupid,” she shot back. “I’m just trying to help you prepare mentally for the challenges ahead.”
“And why would I need to stay inside and read nothing but war tomes?”
“Because knowing is half the battle.”
Star slapped her face against her hoof. “That was cornier than one of Prism’s jokes, mom.”
Twilight let out a small sigh and shook her head. “Well, since we’re up now, we might as well get breakfast going. After all, it is the most important meal of the day, especially for my little filly who needs her energy.”
“Mom!” Star yelled with a small blush on her face.
Twilight laughed a little. “Alright, alright, just come on down and we’ll make yours and Night’s favorite, blueberry pancakes.”
A rare, small smile formed on Starburst’s face. “Okay mom, be right down there to help.”
Twilight used her magic to levitate a stack of crispy brown pancakes, with some blue spots in it. She placed the plate down in the middle and said, “Good job helping me Starburst. You’re getting better at cooking. Maybe you could become an assistant chef at Sugarcube Corner.”
The orange pegasus rolled her eyes at this. “No offense mom, but I don’t see myself in a kitchen. I don’t think I could really handle myself working there with how crazy Cotton Candy is.”
Twilight let out a small chuckle. “Well why don’t you go wake up Night Light?” She asked. “I don’t want his breakfast to get cold.”
Starburst pushed her chair out, but she and her mother heard a loud yawn and turned around. A small lavender unicorn colt, with a dark blue mane and a grayish blue streak in it.
“Good morning, Nighty,” said Twilight.
“Morning, mom,” he said in a small squeaky voice. He took a deep breath and a smile formed on his face. “Is that blueberry pancakes I smell?”
“Yes, but you better hurry up and eat some before they get cold.” Twilight’s ear perked as she heard the sound of a knife grating against a plate. She looked to see Starburst was wolfing down her pancakes, along with some eggs. “Star, slow down!” She scolded.
Star placed her utensils down and drank her apple juice rather fast. “Sorry about that mom, but training for the Royal Guard can’t wait too long. There’s a storm coming today and I want to get as much training done as possible.”
“That’s no excuse to be sloppy though,” she argued. “I told you already that training is good for you physically, but you need to be ready mentally as well. Why don’t you stay behind today and I’ll show you some war books?”
“I can’t take a day off mom. How else am I going to become Captain of the Guard by just reading some books? Why don’t you come with me instead and fly with me? It’ll be like old times again.”
Twilight shook her head and said, “Sweetie, as much as I would love to, I got some work to do and I need to keep an eye on Junior here.”
“Mom, you forgot what I told you last night,” he said with a huff. “I was going to go over to Apple Bloom’s house and play with Api.”
Twilight frowned a little and said, “Sorry about that Night, you can still go over and play with Api if you want.” She then turned back to Starburst. “Star, you could really benefit from doing some reading. Some of the things you learn from them could be useful to you in the future.”
The orange pegasus scoffed and said, “Yeah, like learning about hot tar dumping is really going to help me. That method hasn’t been used in hundreds of years.”
“728 years, to be precise,” said Twilight.
“Whatever, I don’t need to stick around here and do some reading.” Star turned around and trotted over to the door. “I’ve wasted enough time as it is and I need to get started on my training.”
“Star, wait!” Twilight called out. “At least tell me when you’ll be home. Maybe we can do some reading together then.”
She turned around to face her mother and said, “I’ll be back around three, but don’t expect me to just curl up with a book. I can continue my training when I get back home with my weights.”
Twilight tried to get out a word, but it was too late. Starburst ran out the front door and took off into the sky. The lilac alicorn frowned and looked down. Star . . . sometimes I really wish you wouldn’t be so reckless, she thought to herself. Whatever happened to the old days of us spending time together?
“Um . . . mom?”
Twilight turned around to see Night Light looking at her curiously. “What is it, son?”
“Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded and said, “Yeah, I just wish your big sister would wait and listen to me. Why don’t we go back to the table and finish breakfast? You can go to Api’s house after you help me clean up.”
“Okay, mom!” He said with a smile and trotted back into the kitchen.
Twilight let out a sigh, but put on a smile before joining her son.
As quickly as her and Starburst made breakfast, Twilight and Night finished their pancakes and cleaned up the mess. After they were finished, Night Light gave his mom a hug goodbye and promised to be back before the storm arrived. With her other child gone, Twilight was left alone again. The entire library fell into complete silence, with the exception of the sound of a page turning from a book Twilight was reading.
But as she tried to read the book, she couldn’t help but think back to how her daughter acted earlier. It was like no matter what she told her, Starburst just ignored her or mocked her. She tried to be patient with her, but it was a never ending battle from the look of things. Twilight turned her attention to a large portrait, with four ponies that were smiling. Twilight and her husband, Flash Sentry, who had grown a beard now, were smiling and holding their kids. Night Light was still a small foal at the time and being held by Flash. Starburst was smiling softly while being held by Twilight.
The lilac alicorn frowned and said to herself, “Oh Flash, if only you were here right now to talk some sense into our daughter. It’s like we’re pushing apart with each day, not getting closer.”
A knock then came from the library door, breaking Twilight out of it. She got up, trotted over to the door, and opened it. In front of her was a yellow pegasus with a flowing pink mane covering part of her face. Next to her was a small, pinkish unicorn filly with a light green mane in a ponytail and blueish eyes.
“Hi Fluttershy and Anthea,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Good morning, Twilight, Annie here wanted to get a book on some of the flora and fauna of Equestria,” said Fluttershy. “Do you have a book on that?”
“Of course, wait right here and I’ll get you the blind edition of it!” She said.
As Twilight went over to the F-Section of the library, Anthea trotted in slowly and looked around. “Hey Twilight,” she said in a soft voice. “Where’s Starburst and Night Light? I was hoping to play with them after I was done reading.”
“Sorry Anthea, but Night is playing with Api at her house. Star is doing some training, again,” she said the last word with some venom in it.
“Oh my, I’m sorry, Twilight,” said Fluttershy. “I know she can be brash sometimes, but I’m sure that once the storm hits, she’ll be happy to be with you.”
“That’s just it, Fluttershy. It’s like no matter what happens, she’ll find a way to avoid spending time with me. I’m proud of her for wanting to be Captain of the Royal Guard, but she needs to know what to expect when she joins. I’ve offered her several times to read with me and for me to teach her some things, but it’s in one ear and out the other. It makes me just so frustrated.”
Twilight slammed her hoof onto the desk at the last word, causing a vase to shake and fall off the desk. Although Anthea was blind, she could hear the sound of the vase falling to the ground. In a panic, her horn glowed a green aura in an attempt to catch it. Instead though, a small electrical bolt shot out, catching Fluttershy and Twilight off guard. The sound of ceramic material breaking made Anthea realize that she messed up.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Twilight!” She cried out in terror. “I . . . I was trying to catch it, but I messed up again! I’ll buy you a new one!”
“It’s okay, Annie,” said Fluttershy. “It was an accident and you were only trying to help.”
Twilight used her magic to bring out a small broom and dustpan. “Your mom’s right, Anthea,” she said. “I shouldn’t have gotten so worked up over Starburst’s attitude.”
“Still, I wish my magic wouldn’t be so unpredictable,” Anthea said with a frown. “When I use it, I try to concentrate, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out for me.”
The lilac alicorn did a double take and trotted over to her. “You mean you never learned to use magic? Not even the basics?” She wondered.
The pinkish unicorn shook her head and looked down, feeling ashamed. Twilight put a hoof under her chin though and raised her head up.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Anthea,” she said with a smile on her face. “Learning magic is never easy at all. Why, even I messed up several times while I was still under the tutelage of Princess Celestia. But since you seem to have so much trouble with magic, how about I make you an offer?”
“What kind of offer?” Anthea asked nervously.
“How about I teach you how to do magic? There’s a lot of potential for you and you could use your magic for many things. Helping plants grow, getting animals free from traps, and maybe even use it to see better.”
Anthea’s eyes shot wide open and a smile formed on her face. “Really? I could do all that?” She asked with glee in her voice.
Twilight nodded. “Of course you can. Who knows? Maybe your special talent involves using magic in some way.”
The pinkish unicorn turned to Fluttershy. “Oh, mom, can I please get some lessons from her? I’ll work hard, I promise!”
“Um . . . I’m not sure about that,” she said with hesitation in her voice. “What about Night Light? Won’t he feel upset that you’re not teaching him magic as well, Twilight?”
“Oh, no Fluttershy, he’s too young to use magic. He won’t be ready until next year.”
“What about Starburst?”
Twilight opened her mouth, but something inside her made her feel empty. It was hard to describe, but it kind of bugged her. However, images of how her daughter acted and shrugged her off went through her head. From shrugging off her advice to running off and ignoring her, it made Twilight feel a little upset.
She sighed and said, “She’ll be fine. She’s too busy training anyway to get into the Royal Guard. I don’t think she’ll care that I got some company over. Besides, I don’t want Athena to go around forever unable to use magic.”
Fluttershy looked a little unsure, but she looked at her daughter to see her with a hopeful smile. She smiled softly and said, “Okay Twilight, Annie can learn magic from you.”
Anthea screamed in joy and hopped around excitedly. “Oh yes, yes, yes!” She shouted. “Thank you, mom!”
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle as the way Anthea was acting made her remember of something similar she did. “Okay Anthea, settle down,” she said. She levitated her book over to Fluttershy, who took it and placed it into a brown saddlebag. “Come on back to see me tomorrow at eight and we’ll get started, okay?”
“Yes, Twilight!” She trotted out the door, with Fluttershy waving goodbye.
Twilight shut the door and smiled to herself. For the first time in a while, she felt content instead of loneliness. It almost felt like that she finally found some purpose in her life again instead of being shrugged off. With a skip in her step, she trotted back to her book.
Nightfall soon came and the rainstorm outside raged on as heavy pellets of water pounded against the window. Twilight, Starburst, and Night Light were sitting at the table again, eating spaghetti and a salad as a side. For the most part, dinner was mostly silent, with the exception of the sound of food being chewed and utensils being used. Twilight looked over to Starburst, who was eating moderately fast, but not like earlier at breakfast. Just as she was finishing up though, Twilight decided it was time to break the news.
“Star, wait a minute before you leave,” she called out. “I got an announcement to make to both of you.”
The orange pegasus rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. “Alright, I need to let the food digest a little before doing my nightly routine anyway.” Starburst sat back down, while Night Light looked at her mom, looking curious.
“Alright, while you were both away today, I got a visitor today.”
“No offense, mom, but this is a library,” said Starburst. “Ponies come to libraries all the time.”
Twilight bit her tongue, but continued. “Well, this visitor was a unicorn who has no idea on how to use magic. So I made a proposal to teach the unicorn and the mom agreed to it.”
“Who is this unicorn, mom?” Wondered Night. “Is it somepony we know?”
The lilac alicorn smiled and said, “You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see. Now, head to bed Nighty. I’ll be waking you and your sister up before our guest arrives.”
The lavender colt nodded and gave Twilight a hug. “Good night, mom,” he said before turning around and trotting off to his room.
Twilight looked over to Starburst, who seemed to be nonchalant about the news and her expression was her usual serious look. “Stary?” She asked. “Aren’t you excited to see who the unicorn is tomorrow?”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Mom, I really don’t care,” she said. “So what if you’re taking on some unicorn to teach magic? It’s not like it really concerns me, does it?”
“Well, I was thinking that maybe tomorrow, I could help you learn some of the great conflicts in Equestria, including some books on defending yourself. I also found something I read in the newspaper that I believe will interest you.”
“Thanks, but no thanks, mom,” she said. “The weather will be clear all day tomorrow, and I need to make up for it by going on a long jog.”
“Sweetie, don’t you think you’ve done enough training for now?” Wondered Twilight. “Your body does need rest, or else you’ll get hurt. What part of being prepared mentally for the Guard are you not understanding?”
“I can do reading later when school starts again, mom. There’s a whole summer I need to spend by training and pushing myself. If I wanted to go to summer school so badly, I’d intentionally flunk school. If I did that though, I know you’d probably ignite on fire again.”
“Star, I’m not trying to make you feel like you’re in school. I just want you to-”
“-Be prepared mentally, I know,” finished Starburst. “Look mom, I understand your intentions, but school will teach me plenty of things that’ll be covered more than these books here. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go do some sit ups before going to bed.” She turned around and with a huff, trotted to her room.
Twilight shook her head and said to herself, “Star, I hope you learn one day that training isn’t everything.”
Starburst woke up the next morning feeling energized and confident. She went over to open the curtains covering her window, but as she did, her mood suddenly soured. The sky wasn’t bright and sunny like the forecast said it’d be, it was dark and cloudy. Frustrated, she stomped out of her room and snorted a little. On her way downstairs, she saw Twilight closing the front door.
“Mom,I need to go out!” She shouted. “I need to talk to Rainbow about this sudden change in weather. She said it’d be clear today, not more rain.”
“I just spoke to her now,” said the lilac alicorn. “She said the reason for it was because Ponyville is in a bit of a drought right now, so the weather team was ordered to do another downpour.”
Starburst let out a groan and slammed her head against the wall. “Well that’s just great. What else am I supposed to do now?” She looked around and noticed something strange. “Hey, where’s Night Light anyway? It’s almost eight and he’s not up yet.”
“He actually left a little early,” said Twilight. “Apparently Api offered him to spend the night over with her, along with Pixel Bit and Echo. He didn’t tell me until this morning because he thought I would say no, but I allowed him to. I already let him in on who I’m teaching before he left, so he won’t feel left out on who it is.”
“Who is it anyway?”
The door suddenly knocked, making Twilight smile. “You’re about to find out.”
She opened the door, allowing Starburst to catch a full view of who it was. When she saw who was standing there, her eyes widened and her jaw nearly dropped.
“Good morning, Twilight,” said a joyful Anthea. She looked over and waved to Starburst. “Oh, hi there, Star! I’m going to be learning from your mom about magic! Isn’t that great?”
Star just stared dumbfounded.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” Asked Twilight.
The orange pegasus shook her head and said, “Yeah . . . I’m fine. It’s just that I’m shocked that of all ponies, it was you Anthea.”
“Starburst, that’s no way to talk to your friend,” scolded Twilight.
She let out an exasperated sigh and said, “Sorry mom, but it’s kind of hard for me to think Anthea will learn magic. I mean she needs to do lots of reading and she’s pretty much blind.” She looked over to her friend. “No offense, Annie.”
“Oh, none taken at all,” she said with a smile.
“I already thought of that Star,” said Twilight. “I plan to teach her not through visuals or reading, but verbally and using descriptions on what she needs to do.”
Starburst shrugged and said, “Well, while you guys are having fun hitting the books, I’ll just have myself some Hay-O! cereal and then go do some of home workouts.”
“Aww, come on Star,” said Anthea in a sad voice. “Don’t you want to at least be here to support me?”
The orange pegasus saw her friend’s lips quivering. The guilt inside her quickly built up inside her and caved in almost instantly. “Well . . . I suppose I could watch you all.”
Anthea smiled and gave Starburst a hug. “Oh, thank you Star.”
“Yeah . . . sure,” she said hesitantly. “Now before you squeeze the life out of me, I would like to have some breakfast.” She broke off the embrace and trotted towards the kitchen.
Anthea turned to Twilight and said, “She can be such a buzzkill sometimes.”
You don’t know the half of it, thought Twilight to herself.
Shortly after Starburst finished her breakfast and cleaned her dishes, she went out into the main room of the library. There, she saw Anthea sitting in front of a table, with a large silver ball on it and her mom sitting across.
“Ah, you’re just in time, Starburst,” said Twilight. “We’re about to start on the first lesson. Why don’t you come closer and watch?”
The orange pegasus shook her head and said, “Nah, I’ll just do a few wing-ups to keep myself busy. I’ll get my training in and be able to be there for Annie at the same time.” She lied down on the floor and positioned her wings to begin.
“Star, I don’t think Anthea here would appreciate that,” warned Twilight. “She said she wanted you to support her, not watch you do more training. You can do wing-ups later when Fluttershy comes to get Annie.”
Starburst sighed and grumbled to herself as she got up and went over to join the others. She planted herself onto the ground near Anthea and pouted. Suddenly, a book appeared right in front of her with the title, Letters from a Soldier: Historic Notes of Equestria’s Greatest Conflicts, on it.
“That book should keep you occupied for a while,” said Twilight. “There’s some great details about some of the biggest wars such as the Equestrian Revolution against Discord’s rule and the Draconic Wars.”
“Yeah . . . this book will great alright,” said Star in a sarcastic tone. It’ll make a good pillow from how bored I’ll get.
Twilight, ignoring the sarcasm, turned back to Anthea. “Okay now, Annie. Since you’re mostly blind, I will guide you through step by step. Judging from how you used your magic before, it seems you have the basic idea on how your horn works. It’s just now making sure you can use it and your magic for the right situation. Now then, when you tried to levitate the vase yesterday to saved it, what went through your mind?”
Anthea rubbed her head and said, “Um . . . I heard it falling, so I was trying to use my magic. I wanted to save it, but I panicked a little and accidentally shot out that bolt.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and said, “Well, I think I can already see the problem. You didn’t keep a clear mind.”
“Excuse me?”
“You lost control of your magic because you didn’t keep a calm mind over what you wanted to do. While your intentions were good, you inadvertently allowed your magic to get out of hoof. Instead of a levitation spell, your mind panicked and chose the first spell it could think of. Just be glad it was a small electrical bolt and not something worse.”
“Magic sounds scary, Twilight,” said Anthea with apprehension in her voice. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.”
The lilac alicorn smiled and said, “Magic can be a bit intimidating, but with the proper training, you can do almost anything with it.” She pointed to the ball on the table. “We’re going to start off small today, Annie. There’s a rather large, silver metal ball here on the table. The goal is for you to levitate it off the desk for a short period of time.”
“But how can I do it?” Inquired Anthea. “If my mind is unstable and I panic on what spell to use, then I could do something similar to yesterday.”
“Just follow what I say. Now, since you can partially see, I want you to first visualize the ball in front of you.”
Anthea took a deep breath and tried to focus her vision on what was in front of her. Although she could make out part of the library, the silver ball looked more like a big blob that was waving around. “I . . . can kinda see it,” she said.
“Good, next, we’ll try to help you see better. Your magic can be used as an aid, but it’s a bit tricky. First, close your eyes.” Annie responded by doing so. “Next, I want you to let your horn light up, but don’t do a spell. Instead, I want you to channel that magic into your eyesight by remaining calm and drown out all distractions.”
The peachish unicorn nodded and took a deep breath. Her horn faintly glowed a green light, but instead of thinking of a spell to use, she concentrated on clearing her mind. The sound of the rain pounding against the window slowly started to fade out and the huffing from Starburst soon died out.
All of a sudden, everything became swirly, blobby, and colorful in Anthea’s eyes. Part of her flinched a little in panic, but she held her ground and remained focus. The blobs and swirls around her started to become clearer with each passing minute. They all soon took on shapes from the tannish blobs becoming a floor, to the dark brown swirl taking the form of a desk. Soon though, the last blob slowly, but surely, took the shape of a large, silver metal ball.
In her excitement, Anthea cried out, “I did it! I did it!” However, her reaction caused her concentration to break and her vision went nearly black. Her smile drooped into a frown. “Well, I nearly had it.”
“It’s okay, Anthea,” said Twilight. “You just got excited. Now why don’t you try that again and then I’ll tell you what to do next?”
She nodded and repeated the process again. When she got to the point where she could see, she said, in a quiet voice, “What do I do now?”
“This is going to sound hard, but I want you to extend your magic beyond your vision,” she responded. “In other words, keep using your magic to see, but focus on using part of it on something you want to interact with. In the case of the silver ball, you want to encase some of your magic around it.”
Anthea nodded and focused on the ball. Her horn glowed a bit brighter and the ball started to glow a green aura, but it kept on flickering. Sweat started to build up on Anthea’s forehead as she valiantly tried to grasp the ball, but she was struggling.
Twilight noticed this and said, “Annie, don’t use too much of your magic to levitate the ball. The more you struggle with it, the harder it gets. Keep your mind focused and calm and try again.”
The peachish unicorn took a deep breath and let go of her grasp over the ball. She took a few deep breaths again before concentrating on her target again. This time, when her horn glowed, her sight focused solely on the metal ball. Everything around her became black, except for the metallic ball. She could feel herself mentally extending a hoof around it, but instead the ball glowed a steady green aura.
Inside her mind, Anthea said, Levitate. Almost immediately after she said that word, the ball slowly ascended into the air and hovered above the table.
Twilight smiled with glee and said, “Annie, you’re doing it!”
Part of the unicorn wanted to jump for joy, but she remembered what happened last time she got excited and just smiled to herself proudly. After a minute or two, she said, Descend. Like last time, immediately after she said the word, the ball dropped back down to the table with a bit of a loud clang.
“That was really good, Annie,” said Twilight in a proud voice. “You made really good progress so fast. Didn’t she do a good job, Starburst?” She heard no response from her daughter. “Starburst?”
She turned around to see the orange pegasus was resting her head against the book and snoring softly.
“Starburst!” She shouted in a disapproving tone. “Wake up, right now!”
She shot up and mumbled, “I’m ready, Sergeant!” She looked around the room and saw her mom glaring at her. “Uh . . . what’d I miss?”
“You missed your friend doing magic,” chasitized Twilight. “Instead, you used a perfectly good book I gave you to read as a pillow instead.”
“Because it was so boring,” she whined. “If I want to learn about the wars in Equestria, I’d go to school instead.”
“If you’d look in there, you would learn so much more than what they teach you in school.”
Star scoffed. “I don’t need this. I’m going to the basement to look for some of those Power Ponies comics Uncle Spike left behind.”
In her haste to get moving, Starburst turned around and accidentally hit a nearby table with another vase on it. Anthea heard the vase rumbling and fall over the table. She remembered how she levitated the ball and decided to follow the same methods she was taught. She focused her magic on her sight again and saw the vase falling. Like her attempt at the metal ball, she focused part of her magic on the vase and hoped for the best.
No crashing sound came at all. Anthea saw that her magic succeeded, the vase levitated just an inch off the ground. Carefully, she used her magic to raise it back up to the desk and put it back. Twilight’s jaw dropped, Starburst stared at Athena with wonder, and the peachish unicorn smiled sheepishly.
“That . . . was amazing!” Cried out the lilac alicorn. “You did that levitation spell practically flawless! How did you do it?”
“I just did what you told me to do,” said Anthea. “After I heard the vase fall, I kept a clear mind and used my magic to levitate it.”
“Annie, you’re only on the first lesson and already you’re quickly working your way up. Why if you continue to make good progress, you’ll master magic in no time.”
The unicorn blushed a little and said, “Oh, well . . . thank you, Twilight.”
Twilight looked at the clock and saw only a half hour passed. “Come on Annie, we’ve got a lot of work to do and little time to spare.” She then turned to Starburst, who was still staring in disbelief. “Star, stop staring or your eyes will dry up. Why don’t you go over to the M-Section and pull out the other books on magic? I want to see what else Annie can do.”
The orange pegasus broke out of her trance and gave a curt nod. “Yeah mom, I’ll get to it.”
She turned to head over to the M-Section, but glanced back to see Twilight continuing to smile and praise Anthea for her effort. The sight of it made her stomach twist up and feel empty. She quickly turned around to do her task.
“Beginner’s luck,” she muttered to herself.
For the next hour, Twilight continued to teach Anthea more about levitation and test her skills. She moved up from tiny objects such as balls and slowly made her way to larger items such as books, plates, and cups. Eventually, Anthea moved up to levitating more than just one object, much to the delight of Twilight. All the while, Starburst just watched in both awe and, for some reason unknown to her, irritation. Just watching her friend do all those magic tricks made her feel uneasy.
I don’t know why I’m so worked up over this, she thought to herself. Anthea’s just learning some magic tricks . . . from my mom . . . who is constantly going on about her skills. She shook her head and turned her attention to the Power Ponies comic in front of her. Meh, this is not my concern. She’ll probably be the same way when she teaches Nighty how to use magic.
“Hey Star!”
The orange pegasus broke out of her thoughts and looked up to see a smiling Anthea. “What is it?”
“Twilight is about to teach me about teleportation,” she said. “Come on and watch me do it!”
Starburst looked at the lilac alicorn with a raised eyebrow. “Mom, I’m not a unicorn, but isn’t it a little early to be doing something as complicated as teleportation? What if she accidentally teleports us to the moon?”
Twilight shook her head. “I really wish you’d stop believing that rumor of Princess Celestia,” she said. “But anyway, Anthea may have just started to learn magic, but because of her fast progress, I wanted to do something a little more challenging.”
Star shrugged and stretched as she got up. “Alright, but what’s she teleporting?”
“That,” said Twilight as she pointed to an apple on the desk. “Her goal is to try to teleport it to the other desk nearby.” She pointed to a desk just five feet away before turning to her student. “Are you ready, Anthea?”
“Yes Twilight,” she said with determination in her voice.
“Okay, now use your magic to see.” Anthea did the same process again and nodded when she finished. “Next, I want you to grasp the apple with your magic, but do not levitate it.” Twilight heard a humming noise and saw the apple encased in a green aura.
“Here’s the tricky part, Anthea. Now while you have control of the apple, you’re going to do something different. Rather than lift the apple, you’re going to focus on getting it from one location to the other. Now you see the desk nearby?” Anthea nodded. “I want you to use your magic to move it from where the apple is now, to over on the other desk.”
“What do I need to do if I can’t use my levitation spell?” Wondered Anthea.
“You need to see the apple on the other side,” said Twilight. “Try to see the apple disappearing and reappearing somewhere else. It sounds complicated at first, but give it a shot anyway.”
The peachish unicorn nodded and, with her magical eyesight, looked at the apple, and then the desk on the other side. She visioned seeing the apple appear on the other side, but yet she didn’t feel her magical power get any stronger. Not wanting to mess up when she made it so far, Anthea’s brows furrowed as the glow on her horn brightened. As her horn glowed, the apple rumbled violently, like it was experiencing an earthquake. Twilight was too busy paying attention to Anthea though to see it.
Starburst did notice it though. “Anthea, stop!” She called out. “You’re going to make the apple-”
SPLAT!
The apple exploded into a gooey mess, covering the desk in chunks.
“-Explode,” sighed Starburst as she shook her head.
Twilight saw the discouraged look of Anthea and put a wing over her. “It’s okay, Annie,” she said in a reassuring voice. “This was my fault for making you learn something so complicated, so early. Why don’t we take a break and I’ll see if we can do something like writing with magic?”
The peachish unicorn’s expression changed to one of determination. She looked up to her mentor and said, “Twilight, I really want to try again.”
“I’m not sure about that,” she responded in an apprehensive tone. “I don’t want you to strain yourself in doing something too advanced for you.”
“I can do it,” said Anthea.
The lilac alicorn took a look at her student, who still looked determined to make her proud. Reminds me a lot of my days learning under Princess Celestia, she thought to herself. Smiling slightly, she said, “Alright, but only one more chance. If you can’t do it, we’ll take a small break and prepare your next lesson.”
Twilight’s horn glowed and brought out another apple from a nearby basket. “Now try to do it again, but don’t overwork yourself. Just remember to remain calm and keep a steady flow of magic going. You don’t want to use too much or it’ll explode, and you don’t want to use too little or the apple won’t do anything.”
“Got it.”
Anthea turned to the apple on the desk and encased it in magic again. She envisioned seeing the apple disappear and reappear on the other side, but she didn’t put more energy into her horn. The peachish unicorn took a few deep breaths and lifted the apple into the air.
“Annie, you’re not supposed to-”
“Shh!” Scolded Twilight. “She may be onto something.” The orange pegasus huffed and crossed her hooves.
Anthea kept her concentration on the apple, but soon moved her sights to the other desk. She looked back at the apple and then the empty desk, but as she continued to move her eyes, something appeared before her; a beam of light pointing to the empty desk. She almost wanted to cry out in panic, but at the same time, she felt that nothing was wrong at all. Instead, she looked back at the apple one more time before she felt something build up in her horn. The sensation wasn’t painful, but it felt more like a numb feeling. As quickly as it came though, the feeling went away and Anthea felt worn out.
“Annie, I think you better take a look at what you’ve done,” said Twilight.
The peachish unicorn regained her bearings and looked to see something to her delight. The apple that was on the right side of the room was no longer there. She looked to the left to see it appeared on the other desk.
“I really did it!” Cried out Anthea.
“I’m very proud of you for doing it,” said Twilight as she hugged her student. “But I think it’s time we took a break. You definitely look worn out from your first successful teleportation spell.”
“Can we do another lesson afterwards?”
“I think we better stop for the day, Annie. You’ve had quite a day as it is. Besides, it’s important that beginners in magic don’t go overboard. It’s easy for most to use up too much magic and become fatigued as a result. Why don’t we spend the rest of the afternoon talking to each other?”
Anthea nodded and replied, “I’d love to do that.”
Twilight turned to Starburst. “Sweetie, could you please clean up this mess? I’m going to go get Annie something to drink.”
The orange pegasus grinded her teeth a little and muttered, “Sure . . . I’ll get on it.”
Both the alicorn and Anthea walked into the kitchen, both of them chatting with each other. Starburst felt that feeling of irritation again, only it was much stronger than before. She never acted like that when I started to fly, she thought. Now all of a sudden, it’s like she can’t get over her. Just because Annie’s doing so well with magic so fast doesn’t mean she’s perfect.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I want to say this is how mom will probably act around Night Light when he learns magic, but it feels different. It’s almost like she treats Annie more like a . . .” She shook her head violently. “Ah, it’s just my imagination running wild. I got to stop thinking like that. A mindset like that won’t get me into the guard. Sure Annie’s doing great and all, but I’m sure my mom will get over this soon.” With that, she went to clean up the splattered apple.
For the remainder of the morning, Starburst avoided her mom and Anthea all together. She shut herself in her own room, not daring to leave it in case Anthea was doing another lesson and she’d be forced to watch it. The feeling inside her still ached in her body like a stomach bug that wouldn’t go away. Despite her attempts at trying to calm herself down, Starburst still felt irritated and frustrated. She figured that the only way to get rid of it was by doing something that she wanted to do all day, train for the Royal Guard.
She only did some light stuff, so as not to disturb her friend’s lessons, such as wing-ups, sit-ups, and some squats. She wanted to do some more exercises, but decided against it in case she made too much noise. The orange pegasus decided to instead take a nap. She lied down on her bed for a little bit, but sleep never came to her. All the moments of how Twilight acted around Anthea swirled around in her head. The way she acted so proud and happy for her friend not only made her feel uneasy, but her eye twitched slightly.
She pounded her hoof into the pillow and said, “I’m just overthinking this is all. So what if mom thinks Annie is such a great unicorn? I could be just as good at magic if I was born as a unicorn.”
Oh? With the way you turn your nose up at books and her advice, you wouldn’t make it far, a soft voice said in her head.
Shut up in there, she thought to herself. I know my mom would do everything she can to make sure I was a great unicorn like her. Now all of a sudden, she’s pretty much oblivious to me and acting like Anthea is the best thing since sliced bread.
Yet when she wants to help you get into the Royal Guard, you turn her down.
That’s different! I need to be in top physical form, not spend my time reading about something that happened hundreds of years ago. I even offered her to come fly with me, she could’ve taught me some more moves she read up on.
Do you realize how much of a hypocrite you sound? If you want to learn more about flying, you should read a book then. Mom has been offering you several books to read and there may be one on flying moves. It’s pretty ignorant of you to turn her down so coldly.
SHUT UP!
Star threw her head back against the pillow and held back a loud scream. She panted like as if she did a long run around Ponyville and tried to clear her head. She was so out of it, she jumped when she heard the door to her room knock.
“Starburst?” Asked Twilight. “Are you okay in there, sweetie?”
The orange pegasus clutched her chest and gave a nod. “Yeah . . . what do you need? Do I need to help Annie with her next lesson?”
The lilac alicorn opened the door and looked at her daughter. “You must’ve been asleep longer than you though. Annie left hours ago and it’s time for dinner.”
Starburst looked out the window to see nighttime had fallen, but the rain was still coming down. “My bad mom, I didn’t want to interrupt you and Anthea.”
“You could’ve stayed around.” Twilight noticed her daughter was still clutching her chest. “Are you sure you’re okay? You're acting like you just ran for your life.”
“I’m fine mom, honestly. So, how’d the lesson go with Annie? I know she was doing pretty good when I saw her.”
“Pretty good?” Inquired Twilight. “Starburst, you should’ve seen how well she did. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony learn so quickly. You should’ve seen what she did after our break. We went back to levitation and I allowed her to choose what to levitate. She chose me of all ponies because of how confident she was. I only allowed her to do it once, but she did do it! Granted it was only for a few seconds, but she still did a great job. I mean really Star, you should . . .”
As Twilight went on and on about Anthea, there was a burning anger building up inside the pegasus. The more her mom went on about the peachish pegasus, the angrier Star felt about it. She grinded her teeth and almost felt like her blood was boiling. All the while, she saw her mom still go on about her friend, completely oblivious to her. The sight of it almost made her want to vomit in disgust and scream in a rage.
“. . . So I gave Annie a homework assignment that she could bring something in tomorrow to practice magic on. She said she’d bring in a-”
“MOM!” Cried out Starburst.
The lilac alicorn looked at her daughter with a concerned expression. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
The orange pegasus took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking again. “Look . . . I’m really hungry right now. Could we please stop talking about Annie and go eat? I want to go to bed early so I can get up and make up for my missed training time tomorrow. It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow, right?”
“Rainbow told me it’d be clear tomorrow, but don’t think you’re going to run around freely. You need to go pick up your brother tomorrow morning and bring him home. Afterwards, you’ll have to watch over him while I teach Anthea.”
Starburst sighed and crossed her hooves. “Fine, as long as I can just stay away . . . um, I mean, stay out of the way of Annie, I’ll be fine.” She got up and headed for the door.
“Starburst,” Twilight called out in a sympathetic voice. “Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
She looked down to the floor and almost wanted to shout at her about how much she was going on about Annie, but she couldn’t bring herself to it. “No mom . . . I’m fine.” With that, she walked out the door, leaving a confused Twilight behind.
The sun’s rays crept into Starburst's room early the next morning. Normally, she’d be up and do her morning exercises, but she lied in the bed, feeling fatigued from the sleepless night she had. The events of what happened yesterday still played in her mind like a broken record that could never be turned off. Even though she felt very sluggish, Starburst got out of bed and prepared to go get her little brother.
The door to her room was tapped lightly before Twilight opened it. “Good morning, sweetie.” She looked at the bleary eyed pegasus and raised an eyebrow. “Are you feeling okay?”
Starburst looked at her mom and gave a nod. “Yeah . . . just had a rough night sleeping. I can still go get Night Light.”
“Does your trouble with sleeping have anything to do with our conversation last night?”
There was no response from Starburst.
“Star, if there’s something wrong, you can always come to me.”
Starburst looked into her mom’s caring eyes and felt a little more at ease, but still felt some anger towards her. “Thank you, mom, but I told you last night that I was hungry and tired. I just had a rough time falling asleep is all.”
Twilight looked at her daughter with an uneasy expression before giving a small nod. “I’ll tell you what. After I’m done with Annie’s lesson for the day, I’ll let you take a nap while I keep an eye on Nighty. Okay?”
The orange pegasus said, wearily, “Yeah . . . that sounds good.”
By the time Starburst picked up her brother and he said goodbye to his friends, the sun was shining down upon the two of them. While Night Light went on about his sleepover last night, Star felt dreadful about the thought of going back to her home and seeing Twilight teaching Anthea again. Already, she could hear the sounds of her mother encouraging and praising the peachish unicorn like yesterday. The thought of it only made Starburst’s face turn red with anger and grind her teeth.
“Hey, Star! We’re home now!” Shouted Night Light.
The orange pegasus shook her head and looked up to see the library. “Oh . . . I guess we are now,” she mumbled.
“Are you okay?” Asked the lavender colt. “Your face looked like as if you accidentally drank a whole bottle of hot sauce.”
Starburst scoffed at her brother. “Don’t worry about me, squirt,” she said. “I’m just feeling tired is all. Come on, let’s get in and I’ll keep an eye on you in your room.”
“Don’t call me squirt!” He huffed. “I don’t need you to look over me.”
“Let’s just go in already. Mom wanted me to keep an eye on you, and I don’t have time to argue with you.”
As the two siblings entered the library, they saw Twilight, Anthea, and Fluttershy talking to each other.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Annie?” Asked Fluttershy. “This sounds very hard, even for you.”
“I’m sure of it, mom,” she said with confidence in her voice. “I’ve been doing so well with magic so far and I want to try to give this a try. Twilight tried it once and I want to do it as well.”
“I will warn you this, Annie,” warned Twilight. “This spell is very hard to learn, even for me. It took me almost a month to get it down and I don’t want you to struggle so much with this.”
“I’m sure of it Twilight. I’ve always had some connection to nature, so maybe I can combine magic with my love of nature.”
Twilight smiled at this and said, “Very well, but don’t get discouraged if you don’t do it the first few times. It takes a lot of practice after all.”
“Ahem.”
The group turned around to see Starburst with a deadpanned expression and Night Light with a smile on his face.
“Oh, hello Starburst and Nighty,” said Twilight. “We were just discussing about the next lesson for Annie here.” She turned to Fluttershy. “Why don’t you go ahead and get going, Fluttershy? Didn’t you say that you had to meet up with Bulk Biceps after you dropped off Anthea?”
“Are you nervous of meeting Mr. Biceps on your date?” Wondered Anthea. “He seems like a really nice guy.”
“Oh . . . um, it’s not a date, Annie,” said Fluttershy, her cheeks slightly blushing. “We’re just going to do some shopping together.” She hugged her daughter. “I’ll be back around noon, sweetie. Don’t hurt yourself now.” She gave a wave to Twilight before walking out the door and closing it.
“Mom, I mean no offense or anything, but can I please go now?” Asked Starburst. “The sooner you get your lesson with Annie out of the way, the sooner I can get a nap in.”
“Um . . . actually Starburst, could you stick around and watch me?” Inquired Anthea. “I’m trying out a spell that I’m sure will make even your grumpy self smile in delight.”
“Do I have to?” Whined the orange pegasus.
“Star, that’s no way to treat your friend,” scolded Twilight. “She wants you to be there for her and I think it’s only right that you do that for her.” She looked over to Night Light. “Junior, why don’t you go play upstairs?”
The lavender colt smiled at this. “Okay mom.” He galloped up the stairs.
Starburst sighed and sat down. “Fine . . . what’s this spell you’re doing?” She saw her friend extend her hoof and open it to reveal a small, brown oval object. “Is that a seed? What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m going to grow it with magic.”
The pegasus did a double take as her eyes shot open. “Excuse me?” She turned to her mom. “Isn’t this a bit much, even for Annie?”
“I know this is a bit out there, Star, but Anthea insisted she’d try to do it. I have warned her about how hard it is, but she seems really determined. I’m going to only give her three tries at it before we go onto something else.”
“Alright, so do I need to do something, or am I just watching?”
“You’re just here to support your friend.” Twilight took the seed from Anthea’s hoof and placed it in a nearby pot of dirt, burying it in the process. “Annie, it’s time to get started.”
“What do I do first?” She wondered.
“Don’t get too excited yet, Annie,” warned Twilight. “There’s something you must know before you try this spell.”
“What is it?”
“Princess Celestia has said that all life across Equestria has magic in it. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, every living being has magic in them. She even told me that the flora, fauna, and wildlife have magic in them as well.”
“Where are you going with this, Twilight?”
“The point here is that this seed in the pot is brimming with life and magic. You’ve got to be careful that you don’t use too much magic, or else it’ll either grow really big or it may explode.”
“Can a plant really explode?”
Twilight snickered and said, “Just ask Spike, he had to help me clean up so many of my attempts at growing plants. By the time I got it down, he never wanted anything to do with flowers again.”
Anthea nodded and said, “I’ll do my best, Twilight.” She closed her eyes in concentration, allowing her magic to help her see better. “What do I do now?”
“You want to concentrate a bit of your magic into your horn as you lower your head,” said the lilac alicorn. “You’ll feel the pulsing magic aura around the seed as you get closer to it. It could throw you off though, so be careful. You want to just barely have your horn on the dirt, so that once your magic hits it, Just remember to not use too much magic, or else the results could be really messy.”
The peachish unicorn nodded and looked at the pot. She took a deep breath and concentrated a bit of her aura into her horn. She lowered her head close to the dirt as she kept a constant stream of magic flowing through her. As she got closer to the dirt, she could feel a powerful surge of magic nearby, making her grunt and groan a little. Her head started to hurt as she got closer, making her sweat and become disoriented.”
Twilight noticed this. “Anthea, maybe you should stop now,” she said in a concerned tone. “You don’t need to push yourself so hard in doing this one spell.”
She shook her head in defiance. “I . . . I got this,” she grunted. “I just need to remained focus.”
Anthea ignored the pain in her head and was only a few inches away from the dirt. She slowed down and carefully leaned forward to allow her horn to touch the dirt. As she did so, Twilight and Starburst watched in both awe and anticipation. The lilac alicorn bit her lip as some beads of sweat rolled down her face. Starburst, on the other hoof, tried to maintain a stoic look, but she did feel nervous for her friend about pulling off this spell, despite everything that’s happened in the past few days. The very tip of her horn tapped against the dirt, but as she did, Anthea felt a sudden surge jolt through her body.
“AARRGGHH!” Screamed the peachish unicorn as she staggered back.
Twilight and Starburst hurried over and caught her before she fell to the ground. “Are you okay, Annie?” Asked a worried Twilight. “Oh my, I knew I shouldn’t have allowed you to do this! I’m so sorry about this! We’ll get you all patched up and-”
“Um . . . mom?” Interrupted Starburst. “I think you may have a bigger problem.”
“What do you mean by that?” Her daughter replied by pointing. The lilac alicorn turned around to see the pot was shaking violently.
“Hey, what’s going on here?”
Twilight turned to see Night Light coming downstairs. She grabbed him using her magic and pulled him in closely. She then put up a dome around her children and Anthea.
“Hold on everypony,” she warned.
As the pot’s shaking intensified, the ponies felt more nervous with each passing second. A bright flash went out across the room, blinding everypony and encasing the room in a white light. As quickly as it came though, the light died out, as well as the sound of the pot shaking. Everypony looked with anticipation at the pot, but saw nothing in it.
Twilight let down her barrier and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that was too close.”
Anthea looked at the pot and felt disappointed. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I thought I did everything right this time.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Anthea,” said Twilight. “That spell is very tricky to learn and takes a lot of practice. Now are you-”
“Mom, look!” Called out Night.
The group turned back to the pot. A green vine was slowly growing out of the dirt, twisting and turning as it did so. Suddenly, more vines appeared and went off in different directions, with each one sprouting a red colored flower and thorns. Everypony watched in amazement as the plant grew more flowers with each passing second. Eventually though, the red flowers stopped sprouting and the once pot of dirt was now a fully blossomed flower bush.
Twilight stepped forward carefully and looked at the bush in complete awe. She took a deep breath and smelled a beautiful aroma in her nostrils. “Oh my,” she said in amazement. “Annie . . . you didn’t just grow a flower, you grew a whole rose bush!”
The peachish unicorn blushed a little and smiled to herself. “T-Thank you, Twilight,” she said. “I always liked the smell of roses, so I wanted to try to grow one.”
“But you grew a whole bush,” said Night Light in awe. “How did you do that?”
“I guess I must’ve accidentally grabbed a rose bush seed instead.”
“Anthea, do you realize what this means?” Inquired Twilight. “You did something that would normally take a month to learn. If you can do something like this on your first try, imagine what you can do with other plants and vegetation. You could probably grow trees where it’s impossible to grow. There are crops that are dying, but your skills could save them. The possibilities are pretty much limitless!”
Anthea took all this in and felt good about herself. “Yeah . . . you’re right, Twilight. I’ve always had a love for nature, so I could spread its joy across Equestria and possibly do everything you just said. I mean, I’ve never really felt this good about myself before. It’s almost like . . . like . . . it was meant to be.”
Twilight let out a gasp. “Forget almost meant to be, I think it <I>is</I> meant to be! Look at your flank!”
The peachish unicorn turned her head to see a small white light was glowing on her flank. She gasped in anticipation as she realized what was happening and tried to contain her excitement. In a matter of seconds, the glowing died out and on the unicorn’s side was now a green starfish shaped flower with some white dots in it.
“I . . . I got m-my cutie mark,” she whispered. “I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!” Twilight and Night Light ran over and hugged her, which she returned.
“Cool! I should try growing flowers,” said Night. “I bet I’d get a cutie mark like Annie’s!”
“Oh, Anthea, I’m so proud of you!” Cried out a tearful Twilight. “You may be my only student to learn from me, but you’re one of my best pupils! Just wait until your mom hears about this!” She took Anthea’s hoof and pulled her. “Come on now! We got to get ready to plan out your Cutie Mark cute-ceañera. When Pinkie and Pokey come back from their trip, we’ll have it all ready to go for you!”
Twilight, Night Light, and Anthea left the room, with each pony chatting about the party, but Starburst didn’t follow them. She was standing there in shock the whole time, with her eyes wide at the sight she just saw. She couldn’t believe what she heard from her own mom about Anthea.
“Only student?” She asked in a small voice. “I . . . I learned how to fly from her though. She taught me the basics of flying, like I was her pupil.”
She felt tears form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away and looked down in anguish. “She’s treating her more like a daughter than me.”
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omg
over 23,000 words?
wouldn't have been easier to split it up?
Sweet, new story. And a one shot! Better read this now at four am and then—
... Maybe later on tomorrow I'll start.
Still, a like for the idea.
4184931 Maybe so.
4184934 Thanks. Hope you'll like it.
Ahhh finally...kilala97 hinted at this story when I saw the cover on the DA page so it's time to read!
4184934
4184931
Alright, split the story into two chapters.
Hmmmm I guess this didn't format correctly.
Other than that I really enjoyed this piece of work
I don't really feel sorry for Starburst at all. She's kind of a cunt to her mother. Making me wonder, who did Fluttershy hook up with to have a unicorn foal?
4185507 Annie is adopted. It was in one of the stories. Fluttershy adopted her. I wonder what happened to Flash in this universe though, in other stories he is still alive.
You called Anthea "Athena" at least once.
Lay and Lie
Unless she was telling falsehoods while in bed.. lied in bed doesn't make sense XD
Otherwise a nice concept, needs some proofreading and such, but it isn't bad.
I have found a few little things that could be fixed in this wonderful story, and here they are.
That Quotation mark should be removed.
I think remain focussed would be needed here.
Flora and fauna covers plants and animals respectively, wildlife is not needed.
But other than those I saw nothing else really wrong with this, continue to beautiful writing.
Wow. Just wow. Awesome!!!
It seems Twi's watched a bit too much G.I. Joe. ALSO: why hasn't Twi mentioned that her brother was captain of the royal guard?! I mean, I know he lives in the Crystal Empire, but maybe he could visit Ponyville to tell Starburst the things she might need to become a part of the guard? After all, firsthand experience is the best kind...
There are lots of grammar errors but overall its a nice story.
it said peachish pegasus in the middle, but overall, it was good. well, not good, but AWESOME!!!!!
This wasn't bad. It was even entertaining and the writing techniche was good. The only problem: “That was cornier than one of Prism’s jokes, mom.”. That phrase is an adequate description of the whole thing. That doesnt make the story bad, but I think the entire thing could have been handled a little better. Good work, anyway. It was an enjoyable read.