“Is it even a possibility?” Ornate asked Doctor Mend as her husband took the twins out of the room, their daughter carried on his back. “I mean, should we even bother? Surely she doesn’t need to go.”
“Mmm, well, judging by these results, it might not be such a bad idea, sending her to magic kindergarten.”
“But she can’t even use magic.”
“Yet she has enough to use.” The doctor looked up from the day’s test results to meet the pink mare’s gaze. “Her reserves have increased by another fair increment, putting her just above where the professors and I believe should be the point at which her magic can start expressing itself.
“And her internal leylines have begun to widen, as well. The greatest surprise by far. Before your daughter came along, we’d never have known the inability to cast magic in those afflicted with mageiasthenia was from more than simply lack of mana. To think the very network in which mana circulates through the body could be stunted. Professor Augur is a genius for suggesting the use of an MRI scan to examine her inner leylines. I’d have never thought of it since such procedures are usually reserved for pegasi having trouble with flight, what with their leylines being so expansive as part of aiding flight. Guess being a pegasus himself aided in coming up with the thought.
“You know, it’s interesting, seeing the difference between the pony tribes in this regard. In the case of pegasi, the leylines run from the core to the wings and hooves, spread far apart, and easily damaged in the extremities, yet a unicorn’s is much less prone to damage, or at least, damage to the leylines is usually the result of fatal injury, and thus is rarely an issue after the fact. See, the leylines run straight beneath the spinal cord from the core, ball up within the frontal lobe, and wind tightly along the horn.
“I’d dare say if it were all laid out, it’d probably be longer than the leylines of an earth pony or-”
“Ahem. Doctor, can we please return to the topic of my daughter.”
“O-oh, sorry, I got a little distracted. It’s just, what we’ve been learning from your daughter is all so exciting. I really can’t express how grateful I am to your family for allowing me to share Pureblood’s medical results with my acquaintances at Celestia’s School. I know I asked if I could bring them into the study directly, but this arrangement has been working better than expected. We’ve made so much more progress than I’d ever have managed on our own.”
Ornate forced a smile and replied, “As long as it helps Pureblood, we’re willing to give you whatever permission you need, but as you were saying earlier about Pure and magic kindergarten.”
“Uh, yes, well, as you might remember me mentioning last time, ever since we decided that it was okay to use magic around Pureblood, the rate at which her mana reservoirs have developed increased by nearly twenty percent, and while we cannot be entirely certain without a proper control group to compare with, my acquaintances and I believe the exposure might be serving as a form of therapy.
“As such, even if she cannot yet use magic herself, being in a classroom full of foals that can and are actively practicing might help her condition improve further. Plus, since she should have both the mana and pathways to at least channel magic to her horn, it might be a good idea to for her to begin learning the basics of spellcraft.”
Doctor Mend returned his focus to the papers in front of him. “With her impressive intellect, I’m sure that your daughter will be able to grasp the concepts where her instincts seem to be failing. It’s an intriguing thought; where most ponies can utilize magic naturally on at least some level, Pureblood is practically unaware of the mana inside of her. I wonder if this lack of instinct is a direct symptom of mageiasthenia, or a side effect of simply not having access to her magic from birth as with uninflicted foals…”
When Ornate cleared her throat once again, the stallion jolted and turned to her once more. “Sorry! Sorry,” he quickly said, putting his papers down this time to give his patient’s mother his full attention. “Now, uh, as I was saying, I do believe magic kindergarten will be good for Pureblood, to at least some degree. It’s of course your decision in the end as I can’t tell you to send your daughter to an already voluntary program, but, well, if it helps…”
Ornate sighed. “Yes, if it helps… So, is there anything else to discuss before we leave, Doctor Mend?”
“Mmm, I don’t believe so. Everything is in order and now all that is left to do is take today’s test results over to the school to go over with the professors. If anything of note comes to light after that, I’ll be sure to contact you right away.”
“Of course,” Ornate said with a nod, standing up. “I’ll tell my husband your suggestion, and we’ll talk it over. As always, it was nice seeing you, doctor.”
“And you too, Ornate,” the stallion responded. “Pureblood really is a delight on her visits. I wish all my patients behaved so well. Sucker for the road? Pure fell asleep before she could take hers.”
The mother smiled and took the proffered candy, one for each of her children, and left the room with one final goodbye. Doctor Mend was an odd one, easily distracted and excited, perhaps a bit too focused on research for its own sake instead of her daughter’s, but he was a kind stallion nonetheless. He didn’t try to pressure them at all when they told him that Pure would not be going to Celestia’s School to have even more tests done on her by even more strangers, and was perfectly happy with merely being able to share his own results with his colleagues instead.
Pure was anxious enough with just one doctor poking and prodding her, she didn’t need an entire herd of academics putting her under a magnifying glass.
Still, she was maybe a little upset that he had unknowingly taken her husband’s side of their debate about whether Pure should attend magic kindergarten with her brother. Blueblood thought it might help her finally perform some form of magic while she argued being around so much potentially wild magic could end up hurting her. Foals of their age were still prone to magical surges if they were strong enough, after all.
It seemed however, that she had lost, her side of the argument would not be victorious and Pure’s vacation away from school would be filled up…
“How you feeling, sweetie?” Dad asks as soon as he hears my awakening yawn. Doctor visits have a tendency to wear me out and a nap is usually required once the tests are done. I also usually wait until I get home to do so. Oops.
“Fine,” I mumble, rubbing my eyes and looking around. We’re at the start of the front lawn, a good few minutes hike before the house. “Sorry you had to carry me.”
Dad chuckles in response. “It’s no trouble, you needed rest.”
“And now that you got that out of the way, we can go start playing as soon as we get inside,” Bluey says excitedly, a determined glint in his eye. “I’m gonna catch up today. You're only four wins ahead of me.”
“Good luck with that,” I reply smugly. “I’m well rested and ready to rumble.” Over the months, our training has become a sort of competition between him, me, and occasionally Pauly with wrestling being the de facto test of strength and skill, which has had quite the positive effect on Blueblood.
Having another colt to pit himself against has pushed my brother’s progress to the point where he and Pauly are almost evenly matched nowadays. Of course, I’m still ahead of them both when it comes to grappling, the proper use of one’s head beating enthusiasm and raw power.
“There'll be time for that later, children, right now we have something important to talk about,” Mom says, much to my worry. I don’t remember Doctor Mend giving any indication that anything was wrong after the last test. In fact, he said I was doing much better, so why was mother so serious right now?
The questions plague the entire time we are left to wait in the living room, Blueblood trying to spark up conversations I am only half listening to while our parents are talking in the other room. When they finally return after what feels like an eternity, I'm both relieved and anxious.
“So, what’s the important thing?” I find myself blurting out, just wanting to know already. “Is… is it about the doctor visit today? Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no, sweetie,” Mom says, moving to comfort me, “it’s just the opposite, in fact, though it does have to do with the doctor visit.”
“It seems Doctor Mend believes your condition has improved enough that you might actually be ready to start using your magic,” Dad adds, fighting to keep the smile on his face from bursting into a full-on grin.
Stunned silent by the revelation, I can only sit slack jawed while Bluey starts hopping on the couch cushion. “Really? Ya here that, Pure? I told’ja the magic practice would work!”
“Magic practice? What magic practice?” Mom asks, frowning.
“Every night before bed I’ve been helping Pure try to get her to her horn glow,” Bluey answers with a proud grin “She didn’t think it was helping, but I saw sparkles so I knew it was, and now the doctor says you can do magic!”
“Wha- But- You could have-” Mom frustratingly tries to find words before clamping her mouth shut and breathing deeply through her nose. “No, there’s no need to be upset, Ornate, Doctor Mend would have noticed if Pure was hurting herself. So what if your daughter was potentially agitating her condition that the medical field barely understands, she’s okay now, so no harm done.”
After whispering this to herself and breathing a few more times, Mom directs her words towards her son. “That was very nice of you to try and help your sister get better, dear, but I think it’s for the best that we stop this for now until we discuss it with the doctor.”
“But why? It’s helping, you said so.”
“It’s okay, Mom, really. I’m pretty sure it isn’t hurting anything,” I interrupted, more understanding of my mother’s worries. Bluey may not have listened or understood what it was our mom was mumbling about, but I got the gist and with hindsight could see where she was coming from. When I was sick… before, the doctors always stressed how important it was for me not to strain myself, that I needed plenty of rest or else I wouldn’t get better, and that’s why I wasn’t allowed to walk up and down the hallways to break up the monotony of hospital life more than once in a great while.
It stands to reason then that trying to force magic when you barely have any could cause a problem or two. “But we don’t know for sure-” Mom, began, only to be interrupted by a hoof on her shoulder.
“Calm down, Garden, I’m sure it’s fine,” Dad says reassuringly. “The doctor's only seen improvement in our daughter since we've been taking her, so it mustn't have done her any harm, right? And even if it did, which I doubt, well, it’s too late to tell now. Besides, practicing her magic is what we’re supposed to be discussing, so it’s all a moot point.”
“But, what if she, I don’t know, stunted her growth or something?” is Mom’s meek reply before sighing. “I guess you’re right, but we’re still going to bring it up at the next doctor’s appointment.”
“Of course, but until then,” Dad turns to us, “We’re going to talk about you two attending magic kindergarten during this break…”
I freeze up at this, everything suddenly coming together as Blueblood whoops. I’d heard of the voluntary class for young unicorns from my friends, understanding that it's for unicorn foals to start learning the basics of magic, but by that very virtue, I assumed it was something that I would not have to worry about.
“Yes! We’re going, and Pure’s coming too!? I can’t wait to tell my friends!”
“Yes, yes, I know it’s exciting,” Dad says, chuckling as he tries to calm the bouncing boy. “That’s what we’re here to decide. You, son, are of course more than ready to go if you want, but we wanted to ask your sister for her thoughts.”
“Mine? But, I can’t use magic, so why ask?” I cut in, tilting my head in genuine curiosity. “How am I supposed to learn how to use something I don’t even have?”
Because you do have it,” supplies Mom as she places a hoof on my back and sits down next to me, Dad taking the spot next to Bluey. “The doctor said so, and he also believes the kindergarten will be the perfect place for you to learn how to draw upon it.”
“Okay,” I respond slowly, “but if that’s the case, then why can’t I just stay home and learn from you and Dad?” The idea of failing in front of an entire classroom, not once, but repeatedly as I failed to use the magic I supposedly had is not an appealing one.
My parent’s share a look before Mom speaks again. “Do you remember when you were afraid to go to school and asked why I couldn’t be your teacher, and I told you that the school would be able to do a better job than I could? Well, it’s the same now. The kindergarten teacher will know how to help you more than your father or I, so don’t you want to give them a chance?”
“Yeah, and you’ll be with me!” adds my brother. “And Moondancer is for sure gonna go, she loves school too much not to. And I bet a lot of your other friends will be there too. Just watch, it’s going to be super fun! We’re learn how to throw fireballs and fly and shoot lasers-”
“You’re thinking of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Blueblood,” Dad says with a chuckle before taking on an air of pride. “You won’t be going there for a while yet.”
“You’ll mostly be learning the basics at magic kindergarten. Levitation, control…” adds Mom, getting a small frown from the colt.
“I already know that stuff.”
“But not all of the other foals will. Don’t worry son, it won’t be a waste of time. You’ll no doubt improve greatly under proper guidance.” Looking at me, Dad continues, “Plus you’ll be able to help your sister more, too… That is, if she decides to go.”
All attention once again focused on me, I fidget while they expect an answer. I truly do feel that this will be an embarrassing waste of time, but then again, what would I spend that time on otherwise? Bluey will be gone half of the day, along with most, if not all of the girls, and I honestly can’t imagine returning to such tedium now that I’ve experienced what it’s like to have friends.
Pauly might be free, but he already spends a fair amount of time here training with us and probably won’t want to hang out with just me. What would we even do, exercise even more until we collapsed from exhaustion?
Slumping, I give the only answer I can. “I’ll go…”
Amidst the cheering and assurances that I’ll enjoy the extracurricular class, I can’t help but sit silently and feel a similar nervousness to the first day of preschool. Reminding myself how well things had turned out then, I smile ever so slightly, hoping that perhaps I’ll meet new ponies there and make more friends.
Yeah, maybe it really won’t be so bad.
One step closer to meeting Twilight.
Why, with three genius fillies, they just might take over the world!
Aaaand she jinxed it
But seriously, judging by the depth of Twilights mental scars, magic kindergarten is not a fun place.
TFW you were once a naked ape and therefore think magic doesn't exist, but now it does, and you have it in you...
It was nice so far.
I don't exacty want her to have a real romance right now or that it actually is going to be a real relationship if they grow up, but I still like the idea of Pauly showing some kind of small crush like it looked last time.
I mostly want someone to show interesst in her and maybe her just playing along, no matter if she likes it or is acting more like she hates it. Not sure if you know what I mean, I just see her at least accepting someone to have some sort of childish crush, maybe thinking it is going to go away.
Not sure if you want to ship her with one of the main six, but since they know Pauly and Moondancer it would be probably more cute to see her wiith them later.
This is one of the few rare times, that I could enjoy a shipping with a Stallion I don't know much about. (I mean most of them are background characters or kind of....corny or chliches I guess, even if that maybe doesn't counts for every single one.
I don't like every type of relationship and normally not some kind of "they knew each other as childs, so they have to date each other" kind of romance that happens in every game or anime, but this time it looks just fine.
If Pureblood should be more foward later or have some sort of grow in her personality too, it would even be funny to see an embrassed Applejack, should Pureblood be after her, like in the show when she kind of wasn't used to the attention at least.
I just like to see different sides from characters like her, instead of how most believe they should act.
Like "too foward acting Rainbow Dash or Vinyl scratch", stories in which Vinal and Octavias first date ends always in the same way, just because they are party animals or Rainbow, Pinkie and Applejack not being able to act shy or serious in their relationship.
I could mention more, but that would overdoo it.
Great work again.
I have the feeling of the, being friends with Twilight/ or not/ but the gang will be there as shown in the show. And magic kindergarten would surely be fun, but I sense a bit of rivalry or bullies coming her way. If you think of how Twilight looks at Magic Kindergarten it seems she just hates to go back to a place where you learn simple magic, you know for being a mare her age.
The timeskip is indeed decent!
You know, I'm also hyped for Twilight, but at the same time anxious about what happens to her in magic kindergarten to give her such a trauma about it!
The timeskip is fine. And this was a nice and informative chapter. Looking forward to more
It will be terrible, right?
8101431 yup, totally agree, you smiled just the right amount, enough to make it mean something but not too much that we loose character development.
You sure his name is Doctor Mend? Because I swear it sounded like Perceptor on one of his well-informed, unneeded tangents.
Hmm.... i have a feeling about what will happen
It certainly doesn't seem bad, but i'm sure if it is good either... odd....
Very odd indeed
I believe the ‘‘our’’ should be ‘‘my’’.
8101406
Mmm, if anything, I'm quite certain Twilight needed to be pried out of the classroom at the end of the day. The only reason she'd never want to go back is because she was a failure to Celestia and as punishment, she would have to take... (remedial education)...! Threatening to hold back a grade, or more, is the worst thing you could do to a genius like Twilight. Little wonder she flipped out.
Kinda surprised the author hasn't put out the call for OCs to populate magic kindergarten.
8101346
8101537
Whether or not it was a fun place for Twilight when she was a kid, it surely wouldn't have been for a young adult.
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The way Doctor Mend went off on a research tangent reminded me so strongly of Doctor Kleiner that I can't help but use his voice for Mend now. Coincidence?
That was a good time skip enough that we have advanced a bit but not to much that you have to dedicate a paragraph to explaining what happened.
Hopefully we'll get to see the power of the Human mind in action!
You know, it just hits me, but given Pure's condition, I hope she's nowhere near Twilight the day of her entrance exam...
8101537 If a call for OC's to populate the story went out, I know I'd answer the call. I even have a unicorn OC I can deage enough for this fic ready to go. I'm sure a lot of other readers do too, but still.
You know, besides the idea of a PureBronze ship, I could even see him as her unspoken protector, a supporter in wherever she goes. If she goes to the guard, he'd be her adjutant, her tank to the mage/warrior combo. There could be love along the way but it doesn't have be, who knows, he could just as easily fall for Moondancer or any OC along the line.
Guuuuuuurl!
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Most, if not all, of your timeskips are pretty much seamless and very fluid
8101560
I was thinking Farengar myself.
I think the time skip flows well with the story and I look forward to the first time Pure is able to use her magic.
8101346
That was probably just Twi being paranoid, and magic kindergarten being the lowest level of magic school.
Famous last words.
Time skip huh? It flows well enough. It doesn't feel like you've skipped anything important, and the story is moving along at the same pace as before it feels. GG.
8101614
Not just that. Her magical surge plus the Sonic Rainboom? That's a double overload.
8102550
that would be for CSGU. . . it's gonna be awhile. she'll have more resistance built up to magic.
8101773
*Finagle's Law
...
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Nice chapter, good work.
8102809 Meh, interchangeable terms, really. One is just more specific.
8102851
link to Murphy's Law Here
Finagle's Law link in original comment
8102063
Yeah, could be, Twilight's never really been the paragon of mental stability. I've just always found it weird that Twilights thoughts went right to kindergarten, which is a pretty bizarre leap of logic even for Twilight.
8102865
To be fair, that was in Lesson Zero, where Twilight was the craziest she's ever been. All the mane 6 have had their own psychotic break episodes, some more notable as such than others.
Even considering the thinly veiled exposition of the author's headcanon about magic, it was a good chapter.
8103161 Why exactly is exposition a bad thing? It wasn't shoehorned in, and it gave some backstory and explained something that may be a plot device. I would say that including the headcanon used for this particular 'fic is a good thing.
8101851 Yeah, he reminds me of Farengar. At least he's not as absent-minded like Tolfdir or Calcelmo.
8101557 At least if Twilight ended up in a class filled with OC's, they'd be... slightly nicer than the canon and background foals. Also, I can see why she's traumatized by magic kindergarten. On that note, it's not a good idea to bully a genius who can turn her bullies into ash if she wanted to.
8101557
It was all that alicorn filly's fault, the one in the back right, but don't worry, Pure will give her what for!
8101500
Hey if you have a theory, share it. Who knows, even if it's wrong, you might inspire me to implement it. I've changed small things because of ideas thrown out by commenters before.
8103511 if i'm not remembering wrong, Twilight is Celestia's student right now?
And she will likely meet Pure and possibly become a friend. Since she has a HUGE magic pool and it likely gives off passively a field of magic/mana around her since she doesn't yet know how to rein it in or maybe not even know she radiates a passive aura of magic/mana.
Celestia has a passive field as well but she knows how to 'disable' it for a while. When not reining it in, her manes flows as a method of safely bleeding off excess magic/mana.
While at this point Twilight likely doesn't have as large a magic pool to use as she will have when older, (because while the pool is there, she still is a foal and as such doesn't generate magic/mana as fast as Celestia or a adult unicorn trained with magic like the Royal Guard unicorns, she still generates enough to have some bleeding off as an aura around her) her excess magic/mana bleed off is still signicant enough to have an effect on Pure. Not enough to hurt her, it just gives tingling feeling all over her body. Not unpleasant but it might make her skin/coat oversensitive to touch a little bit. Not sure though...
What i think will happen is that Pure will absorb a portion of this bleed off over time and it will have a very noticeable effect on her.
But what that effect will be, i do not know
Nothing harmful though. Of that i am sure
8103633
Magic absorption is a new idea. Hmm.
As for Twilight being Celestia's student, it's actually never confirmed exactly when she was taken on, but in this story, I figure it's sometime after magic kindergarten.
8101459 like this?
I read the whole thing again. It's 3 AM. Can I sleep now?
A decent time skip indeed. But hey, it worked out fine in this case! And great news all around! The one thing that Pure completely gave up on, magic, is available to her now!
I wonder if she'll meet Twi now. That's going to be fun. Probably awkward at first. But still fun!
8103680 perhaps when Twilight is taking her exam and her magic surges out of control, Pure will be affected by it?
Since the surge does seem like it would have a larger AoE even though most of it is centered around Twilight what with her being the focal point
8103710 auto correct is a little wierd.
Great chapter as always!
in some countries those words are a curse..
I just want to see when they grow up, and Blueblood is being super overprotective. Like, glaring at any stallion that looks at Pure protective. And then the resulting verbal smackdown as she talks sense into him. But I can wait and see their reaction to Twilights magical exam, that is acceptable.