Resurgence
It’s nearly unfathomable, and utterly amazing, but every pony there to witness it assured me that it was real. I used magic. I really used magic. Even if it was only for a few seconds and accomplished nothing more than a minor light show, I actually used magic.
I hardly care at all that it threw me for a loop doing it and I had to be carried home on my father’s back. I mean, sleeping away the next three hours was a little more disconcerting, but that still pales in comparison to the fact that I, in fact, am capable of something as amazing as magic.
I’ve never been so eager for school in either life as I am now, and this is the reason I argued so vehemently that I not be made to stay home for the second day of class.
When I had finally managed the mystic display, it was at lunch. Mr. Scatter had pulled me aside and explained his theory, that perhaps the magic of other foals was disrupting my concentration or otherwise blocking my magic, and wanted me to try again while the students were busy eating.
As much as the chocolate chip cookie Mom had packed for me was calling my name, I decided it could wait a moment while I failed again at the simple exercise. But even as skeptical as I was, I quickly noticed a marked difference in how it felt when there was no magic around. Where before the imaginary faucet gave up nothing but air, this time it was as if I could feel the pipes rattle and hiss.
And when I delved down into the dark abyss conjured within my mind, I felt as if I was ankle deep in soothing warmth. I did it then. I pulled that heat from the realm of thought and forced it into the real world. The faucet trickled, and I felt a buzz upon my horn that, for the first time, did not feel foreign. No, it felt like it belonged.
Then my legs went wobbly and I saw spots. Amongst those spots however, there was a pale pink glow, and I spent the rest of class in my seat, stuck there by both exhaustion and awe.
It was the former symptom that had my parents worried; their argument being that I shouldn't push myself too hard and that perhaps I should be examined by the doctors again. It took a promise of keeping my magical practice to the gardens with Dad and the rationalization that the classroom could still provide me with the magic theory I would need to learn for them to concede.
And so now I sit in rapt attention of Mr. Scatter’s lecture. It seems the stallion hasn’t quite learned his lesson about using overly complex language towards foals, but he’s watching the faces of his students closely and at least making an attempt to clarify when too many confused expressions start to appear.
Luckily, my good friend Mister Dictionary has prepared me for this and so I understand the gist of what the teacher is trying to tell us. Well, as much as one can understand talk of mana and spellcraft. Maybe I should have read more fantasy in my previous life. Would I be having an easier time now if I had read that book about witchcraft and wizardry? It had to be popular for a reason, after all.
“Well then, are there any questions, or should we move onto our first spell?” Mr. Scatter asks. He isn’t prepared for the unanimous and extremely enthusiastic vote to proceed, flinching as the foals yelled. Really, even if there were questions, most of these ponies would probably rather hit the ground running and ask questions later. While I’m not one of them, my mind brimming with curiosity, I’m not about to get between these foals and their first real taste of the arcane arts.
“Uh, g-good, I’m glad to see you all so… eager. Just give me a moment, I nearly forgot something, and then we can continue the lesson,” Mr. Scatter says, pulling a burlap sack out from under his desk and removing the familiar protective gear he had started yesterday with. “Feel free to talk amongst yourselves while I prepare.”
“So, what do you think the first spell's gonna be?” Twinkleshine asks, voicing the same inquiry as many of the other students.
“I hope it’s that thing where there’s a poof in one place and you end up someplace else at the same time!” exclaimed Minuette, jittering in her seat. “I saw a grownup do that once and it would be super useful for saving time.”
“Um, teleportation sounds like it would be pretty hard to start with,” Moondancer chimes in. “I’m sure it’ll be something easier for our first spell.”
“It’s gonna be levitation,” Bluey states with absolute confidence, smirking. “It’s what every unicorn learns first. I already know it though.”
“Really?”
At Twinkleshine’s skepticism, Blueblood squares his shoulders and lowers his horn, the familiar blue glow encompassing his bagged lunch and hefting it into the air.
“Wow,” Minuette breathes, stars in her eyes. “How’d you learn to do that already!?”
“Dad taught me,” he answers, huffing as he drops the bag onto the table. Though he’s hiding it well, I know him well enough to tell the task was harder than he’s making it sound. “We practice every other day and he’s says I’m really good for how old I am. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right away when Mr. Scatter teaches us.”
Lyra, who’s been looking around the room, points behind us and comments, “Hey, she must practice a lot too. She can do it.”
As one, we turn our heads to see a purple filly in the back corner, face scrunched up as she ignites her horn to turn the page of a surprisingly large book. Once the page drops to reveal the next, the filly beams and continues to read, eyes darting left to right and back again near instantly in an impressive cycle. I don’t think even I can read that fast.
“Hey, I think I know her,” Twinkleshine says, squinting.
“You do? I don’t remember her from Miss Torial’s class,” adds Minuette.
Just then, a yellow filly with a two-toned blue mane leans in and whispers something to the purple filly, smiling even when she only gets an uninterested shrug.
“Oh, I remember now!” Twinkleshine burst out, pointing a hoof. “That’s Lemon Heart! Her mom is friends with my Mom and I went to her birthday! The purple filly was there too.” Calming down some, she taps her chin. “She just sat in the corner then too and read until a grownup made her play pin the tail on the pony.”
Before anypony can comment on this, the filly in front of them, noticeably more rough than most with a shaggy yellow mane and unbrushed, fern-green coat, turns in her seat to look at the purple unicorn before narrowing her eyes in a glare. Though we’re too far away to hear over the din of the classroom, the sudden jolt from the reading filly followed by a hurt expression makes it clear that she wasn’t just complimented.
As Lemon Heart frowns and comes to the defense of her friend, Moondancer wiggles in her seat. “Um, s-should we go over there, or…?”
“Of course we should,” Lyra answers sharply, rising to her hooves. The rest of our little group moves to do the same, but we’re interrupted as Mr. Scatter clears his throat and calls out through his mask, “Okay class, I’m ready for the next lesson!”
As much as I want to go over and talk to the purple unicorn in the far back, sensing a kindred spirit for the written word, the teacher was too quick in starting the next exercise, moving swiftly throughout the classroom despite his pads and distributed quills to each foal, even me.
“Now, the first spell we are going to learn might seem simple, even mundane, but I assure you, there will be no more useful a spell taught than levitation. It’s something a unicorn uses dozens of times daily, and is surprisingly versatile.” Mr. Scatter explains, reaching the front of the class and spinning around to face us.
“It’s also great way to practice the pillars of mana use. Control, consistency, and concentration. Mastering these will make all spell casting easier in the future and are things any dedicated mage works to always improve on. But that's for the future, for now, you must actually perform the spell.”
The stallion proceeds to explain the inner workings of levitation, drawing simple diagrams on the black board behind him and answering the few questions from foals wanting to clear up their confusion now rather than fail later. I’m a part of that minority, asking more than half the questions and only stopping as I begin to get glares from the more impatient students. I may not intend to try the spell right now, but it’ll be useful to know for later when I practice with Dad and Bluey.
My brother probably can afford to skip that training session however, seeing as he picks the quill up with a bored expression and waits for further instruction. It looks like it’s going to be a while though as Mr. Scatter is once again going around the classroom and offering one-on-one assistance to each foal to get them over that first hurdle. It’s slow going as fillies and colts begin to get their feathers airborne, some managing to float them drunkenly around their heads while others do little more than toss them in the air in a burst of neon mana before letting them float gently down.
Each one is clearly proud of their achievements, happy faces shining with every success. Well, mostly, anyway. The ungroomed filly from near the back has her quill levitated high above her head as she sneers at the purple and yellow pair behind her, saying something that has the former cowed in her seat and the other caught between doing the same and still trying to meet her tormentor's gaze bravely.
Looking around, I see the teacher is preoccupied helping a particularly frustrated colt and my friends are all too focused on the exercise to notice the drama unfolding behind us. Fidgeting in indecision, I eventually stand up. There’s no point in distracting others from their work while I have none of my own, so I might as well do what I can to help out.
“Um, hello, is there a problem?" I ask, putting on my most calming smile.
It doesn’t seem to work as the ungroomed filly merely scowls at me. “No, I was just askin’ why this filly isn’t floating her quill yet. She’s showing off with that big book, so it should be easy, right?” This last part is directed back towards the purple filly, who hides behind her navy blue bangs.
“I-I wasn’t showing off,” she mumbles.
“Hey, why don’t you leave us alone!? Twilight hasn’t done anything to you!” Lemon Heart adds.
“I’m already floating my feather,” the filly retorts mockingly, “I was just trying to help her out. Mr. Scatter was saying it’s supposed ta be the easiest spell, right? So why aren’tcha doing it yet?”
“Maybe you just need to change the way you’re helping… I’m sorry, what’s your name again,” I interrupt.
The filly turns around and looks me up and down. “I’m Buttercup, and what would you know about helping? You don’t even have a feather.”
“Ah, well, I may not be able to levitate a quill just yet, but I was listening really closely when Mr. Scatter was explaining how it’s done. Maybe Twilight here just needs a refresher? I saw her turn the page of her book earlier, after all, so I’m sure she’ll get it easily.”
“If she did it once, she should do it now, unless she’s really stupid enough to forget already,” Buttercup counters, suddenly poking my nose with the sharp tip of her quill. “And what would you know when you just said you can’t do it. Are you stupid too?”
I stumble back a step, hoof flying to my muzzle and my eyes watering. There’s a small bead of blood on my hoof when I pull it away. “… You should just go back to ‘floating your feather’ now and stop picking on others,” I state flatly, my attempt at diplomacy over. “Or I’ll tell Mr. Scatter on you.”
“You’re a tattletale and stupid?” mocks the green filly before shrugging. “Whatever, I’ll leave her alone. See if I try to help the filly out again.” Finally turning fully around her seat, Buttercup leans on a hoof, posture bored save for the glare leveled at me.
I match the look with some heat of my own, before returning my attention to Twilight. The purple filly has sunk even deeper into her seat and Lemon Heart is leaning down to whisper in her ear. I try to think of something to say to cheer her up, but I'm interrupted when a voice calls out, “Pureblood, What are you doing over there? Return to your seat, please.”
Looking over, I see Mr. Scatter staring at me, head slightly tilted as he stands in front of a foal. The little one is visibly straining as he attempt to lift the quill higher, inching the thing little by little until it’s directly under his nose and tickling his right nostril. The sneeze that follows is accompanied by a spike of mana that propels his quill point-first into his teacher’s padded chest, embedding the feather up to the plume, getting quite a few turned heads and a shocked expression from behind Mr. Scatter’s mask.
I… better get back to my seat before I distract anypony else away from their surprisingly dangerous spell practice. The sea of bobbing quills on the way back are far more ominous than they have any right to be.
Ornate just finished greeting the fellow parents of their little group as they arrived when the doors to the kindergarten opened and foals rushed out. In truth, she was a little anxious about her daughter having still gone even after learning the repercussions of her using magic, but she was still more confident than yesterday.
Seeing the filly fully alert with her friends did wonders in alleviating the rest of her worries, and she even noticed a new addition to the little entourage. “Hello there, little ones,” she greeted, placing a hoof on her son’s mane as he trotted up to her after saying his goodbyes to his colt pals. “I see you’ve made another new friend.”
“Yeah, this is Lemon Heart,” Pure answered with a smile and nod towards the yellow filly, who chirped a quick greeting. “She ate lunch with us, along with her friend.” At this, her daughter looked over her shoulder, smile fading a little in confusion before turning around. “Twilight?”
Coming out at a notably slower pace than the other foals was a purple filly, head tilted down. She didn't seem to take much notice of Pure or the other foals around her, and Ornate felt a little worried. Twilight brightened up quickly, however, when a young voice called out her name. The filly’s head sprang up before she dashed towards a white colt, probably nearing the double digits in age and what must have been his mother beside him.
While Twilight squeezed herself to the young colt’s neck and whimpered, Pureblood sighed. “Guess she’s still upset about Buttercup.”
“Who’s that?” Ornate found herself asking, looking at her daughter’s new friend sadly. She didn’t know what happened to her, but it must not have been nice to have her in silent tears like that. As the mother and son were quick to hurry away with the little one, Pure turned her head and glared at a green filly.
“Buttercup is a bully who was picking on Twilight because she was having trouble with the levitation spell today. She was being really mean.” As Pure explained this, Ornate noticed something oddly familiar about Buttercup’s mother, but couldn’t quite place a hoof on it until the mare looked up.
As if sensing the eyes on her, the mother turned her own eyes, heavy with bags and half hidden behind a few loose strands of mane from her sloppy bun, to meet Ornate’s. Daisy Care, Ornate realized, the maid her husband had fired shortly after the birth of the twins. Judging by the narrowed glare that quickly formed on the mare’s face, she recognized Ornate as well.
As Daisy turned away, ushering her daughter impatiently to do the same, Ornate felt a pit in her stomach. Something tells me she hasn’t forgiven us for letting her go, Ornate thought with a sigh. Her husband had an I-told-you-so coming when they got home.
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Hooray! Twilight's here!
Though I'm surprised, why didn't Moondancer chime in over what happened here? Or was this just supposed to be about Pure and only Pure?
Your interpretation of Twilight's performance anxiety is logical. I have no problems with this.
And I sadly have to say that Pureblood's threat of telling Mr. Scatter is a very ineffectual deterrent against bullies. Despite popular belief, bullies aren't stupid. If a teacher disciplines them, they can easily find out who squealed, and get even when the teacher isn't looking. Nor is ignoring bullies always the best method of dealing with them. Sometimes, the best way to handle a bully is to take a stand against them. Unfortunately, our society discourages this, with trite talk such as 'violence doesn't solve anything', and standing up to a bully can often be misinterpreted by adults as being a bully yourself. Which is stupid; why is it bullying when you're defending yourself?
8239342
Well it may happen of screen.
Welp. Pure has a nemesis.
Yay! Twi and Pure have a base for friendship.
Twilight has arrived. The beginning of the end is here. Celestia has shuddered in terror, but she does not yet know why.
8239358 Violence solved Adolf Hitler! So those pacifist pansies can stuff it!
8239386
Eh, true.
8239358
Like this will be the last we see of Buttercup. Bullies don't give up easily, but this one is a bit more tactical than most.
8239444
Well, the threat of personal violence, anyway. Hitler took care of himself so the soldiers rushing up to sodomize him rifles wouldn't have to.
Nag.
8239358 Sometimes, violence isn't the answer. Sometimes, it's the question. And sometimes, the answer is yes.
8239470
I'd Imagine they would do a lot more than sodomise him with rifles.... just say'n.
why is it that ornate is the first thing shes going to do is tell her husband i told you so
So enter both the purple pony and an arch-'enemy'? Awesome!
A slight hiccup, easily fixed
8226701
Actually, for Twi, having both an older brother (who is now in the Guard) and a younger sister while never actually being a middle child where all three are with each other in their childhood, is a very different experience. I had an older brother who left for college when my younger sister was born. I'm told by people from families with three or more children that I don't act like a "middle" child. I act like someone who is a combination of an older brother and a younger brother.
...And in the end Twilight will become a princess and a hero and Buttercup will become nobody important. Talk about justice, huh...
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/171435%20-%20animated%20A_Canterlot_Wedding%20episode_52%20Hubble%20season_2%20squee%20twilight_sparkle.gif
Quiet origins for somepony with one hell of a future ahead of them.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/f3/6d/01/f36d017e308e19b44728ca96868a8429.png
(I'm a Twilight fan, if you couldn't tell.
)
WOO PONE WAIFU HAS....hrem, woo new characters to the story
8239771
?
8239498
Wait... are you saying that the answer can be no? I always found the answer to be 'yes' in school. Of course in my school you were required to allow yourself to be bullied and just suffer through it. Fight back; suffering detention. Walk away; suffering detention. Sit and take it; suffering bullying. When all choices lead to suffering, pick the one that is mutual and smash a chair over their head! It's the American way!!
8239574 Because he fired that maid for insulting and belittling their daughter and Ornate told him it would come back to bite them and now it is?
8239649 Um, like 90% certain that Blueblood said it wrong because he is a kindergartner and not half as smart as Pure... as in the author did that intentionally.
8240160 If violence isn't the answer, it's god-level trolling. If all paths lead to trouble from a third party, then you take the brief opportunity to show that you are not to be messed with. Done right on the first encounter, you will only need to go through one detention.
8240160
hehe right binge reading sessions you tend to forget stuff like that thanks
8240160
Okay, I'm curios on how walking away=detention. There's plenty of shit schools with shittier policies, but I doubt that rule is even remotely common. Like, it's something done at the worst school in the U.S.A. where the faculty are literally trying to do things as wrong as possible. Maybe you were part of some sort of grand experiment and the whole school was the lab, and you just never knew.
8239734
Hey, to be fair, most people, pony or otherwise, don't amount to much in the grand scheme of things. We can't all be heroes and princesses, after all. I'm sure Buttercup will live a perfectly average, but satisfactory life when she grows up. Like one of those permanent cashiers who are always joking around with the customers or something.
8239358
Is effective in kindergarten were kids will call the teacher about anything and they have to have adult supervision around or you risk them causing disaster.
Not to mention that if the bully had made Twilight cry the teacher would have heard, at that age kids don't cry quietly.
8239358
I disagree to a point. It can be very effective.
My older sister was bullied horribly in her new school, by every single girl in class except one. It was really bad. Bad to the point where a psychiatrist later said it's amazing she wasn't suicidal. No joke.
What stopped the bullying itself was one of the teachers getting the principal involved. They told the class the school would throw out anyone my sister complained about from here on out, regardless of whether things happened on school grounds or not. That finally cowed them. Most of the kids were terrified of what their parents would do to them if they got themselves expelled.
You know, looking back, there's a lot that's messed up in this town.
8240093
Why the question mark? Twilight Sparkle is, in my opinion, best pony.
8239358
Because it doesn't solve anything?
If you hit someone because they said something you don't like, you're getting arrested. It doesn't solve shit.
If they swing first however, hospitalise them all you like.
at first I thought Twilight was levitating her book and then I didn't understood why the feather was still important, but I guess she just turned the page or something.
Well this was a nice chapter, I kind of hope something happens that maybe change Pureblood a bit.
I mean like I was saying before, I could image something more or less traumatizing happening, changing Purebloods personality or something, making her a not exactly coldhearted but strict Guardsmare and a really good one.
I'm really happy that she starts to get better and is slightly more succesfull than Blueblood with her training, even if it should only be about the technical. I actually like the idea of her being a technical fighter, having quick reflexes and maybe supportive but still usefull/awesome spells.
I would like it if she maybe be pretty creative with her spells, using them in a way it still allowes her to do wonders.
Yes I kind of can't get the idea out of my head, with Pureblood being awesome in a way.
8240445
I agree with you.
Honestly despite me not being someone that does hitting people or bullies, the only one time I did it totally haven'T done anything to get the situation better.
I mean the only time I even slightly pushed someone, the next day or week I had several guys chasing us with their bikes, the other time I was feed up enough and just told someone names, I had several guys ganging up on me.
Nothing against people from different lands, but you might image which people it where that had to form a group of 10 people to try to intimidate me.
I could see Twilight having insecurities as a filly, and Pure only wanting to help since her manna pool is very limited right now. I can see he being a very efficient spellcaster due to her condition, streamlining spells and contributing to society as a whole. She definitely can qualify for CSGU, especially if Celestia is observing.
we have book horse, repeat, we have book horse
I believe your best bet would be to consult Thesaurus-dono.
Not to sound whiny, but I'm still waiting for the time when the "human" genre will become relavent again. You know, new themes and gripes concerning Pure's humanity or past life.
8240838 More than likely not much of it until after Nightmare Moon. I mean, we may get a mention here or there, like we did this chapter. I think that is it though.
So... Daisy Care is bringing up her child to be hateful of others just to get back at Ornate? If so, that's an incredibly petty thing to do.
If not, she needs to know what Buttercup is doing. Kids can often be far crueler than adults as they don't have yet a proper way to distinguish right from wrong.
Anyway, good chapter! And the friend circle has expanded! Let's see how long will it take to get little Twi out of her shell.
Well, Buttercup is aptly named, small, kind of invasive, looks cute at first glance, and poisonous.
Poor nag is jealous, such insecurity at such a young age. DId she already see her future potential or is she just mad that she can't be the center of anyone's attention? 
)
(though, if I was her, I'd just feel nervous sitting in front of a Twilight still learning to control her magic.
You know, I expected this, yet, I was not expecting this.
Performance anxiety huh? that makes sense. In a family that seems to be focused around different forms of magic, most stories putting her family as some form of aristocratic line, and the potential to already have a perfectionism issue, it makes sense that the stress of the need to perform well would hamper her ability to function.
I really love I-told-you-so moments.
I mostly use them when doing RP's with my friends.
Nice reaction of Pureblod at finally using magic, it delivered a great sense of amazement as it should be.
8240838
I doubt it will come again, as I can't see it relevant anymore in Pureblood's life. Right now Pureblood has a loving family, a somewhat healthy body (except in the magical side), a brother she can banter with and right now she's doing magic. Sure, her time as human helped us readers to have some characterization to start the fic but from what I've seen her human life isn't something Pureblood likes to think about: with her sickness confining her to a hospital room with books for company most of the time. The worst part is that her human family and her memories with them simply become a casuality, ready to be cast away (we didn't even know her human name, for example).
It sucks, I agree.
For now, the only thing I can imagine which may help/force Pureblood to relate to her past human life is her cutie mark.
This is a really good chapter
Yay! Sparky's here!
Makes me wonder why said maid was fired and if it was already mentioned sometime at the beginning.
8261577
It was, something about insulting comments about Pureblood and her condition.
The question though is...WOULD the Maid have been okay? WOULD she REALLY have learned to love little Pureblood? After all, not everyone can be saved. Some people will continue with their hatred and prejudice even after seeing how wrong they are.
Though certainly getting fired would exacerbate things and easily make them a lot worse, leading to some rather terrible grudges as we can see now.
There she is.