Crushing in College

by Freybli

Morning Magic

Qibli awoke bright and early the next day, stretching himself out like a cat in the bright rays of the golden morning sun. He yawned loudly as he remembered the events of the previous day, particularly the agreement between him and his teaching colleague about the teacher planning date that they were meant to schedule. A cheery grin crept onto his face as fleeting daydreams danced around in his head, each one a possible scenario of how today could go for him and the pony professor.

“Hmm…” Qibli mused to himself. “No, I think it’s a bit too early for us to go gallivanting happily off into the sunset, but that would make an interesting story to tell Moon and the others whenever I find my way back to Pyrrhia.” The grin slowly faded from his face as he considered this. “Well, hopefully I’ll be able to get back. If not, I’m sure they’ll find a way to get me out of this… Equestria, or whatever it is.”

After taking a quick bath and fixing the sheets on the bed, Qibli stepped out into the hallway where he was met with the pleasant scent of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Curiosity and appetite aroused, the dragon quickly made his way towards the source of the wonderful smell, being extra careful not to knock over any of Draco’s probably-expensive pottery in his haste. When he finally made it to the kitchen, after making one or two wrong turns in the process, he was met with an interesting sight.

There, with his mane done up in a neat bun, stood Draco, who was managing two different sizzling pans with a skilled show of magic. The pony began whistling a merry tune as he added a pinch of salt to the pan on his right. A fork surrounded in purple magic stirred the pan’s contents around, ensuring that the newly added salt didn’t simply amass in one place. Qibli smiled as he watched Draco go about the task of making breakfast, finally deciding to make his presence known to the unsuspecting pony.

“Oh, Draco!” At the mention of his name, Draco jumped slightly in surprise as he realized who it was who had called him. Qibli raised a claw to his muzzle, opting to try and hide some of his laughter instead of just openly giggling at the pony’s startled reaction. “You wouldn’t happen to be making breakfast for just the two us, would you?” Qibli asked.

“Oh! Well…” Draco rubbed a hoof against the back of his neck, looking towards the floor rather than the dragon in front of him. “I just thought... maybe a nice meal would be a good way to welcome you to Canterlot.” Draco finally looked up at Qibli, grinning sheepishly all the while. “I may not be the best cook in the city, but I can definitely whip up a mean plate of haybacon and eggs!”

Qibli’s face clouded with confusion. “Haybacon?” he asked. “Sounds kinda weird… what is it?”

“Oh,” Draco began, “haybacon is just strips of hay that have been fried in order to get the texture and flavor that it has.” He surrounded one of the strips with his magic and floated it over to Qibli for inspection. “It’s often times paired up with eggs for a traditional breakfast here in Equestria. Why don’t you try a piece?”

As Qibli reached for the strip of haybacon, he didn’t see the mischievous grin that had formed on Draco’s face. Right before the dragon had the piece of food in his grasp, Draco flung it into the air, out of the reach of Qibli’s claws. “Oops! Looks like my magic, uh… slipped…” Draco said, trying his best to feign shock in his voice.

Qibli gasped in horror as he watched the piece of fried hay sailed through the air. He thought about trying to run and catch the flying food before it hit the floor, but he knew that he was too big to try and maneuver around all of the furniture in Draco’s house. With that option gone, he only had one choice left.

“I really hope this works, Turtle…” he murmured to himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the falling piece of haybacon. Draco looked on in quiet surprise as the piece of food was surrounded a field of light red magic.

“So you can use magic,” Draco began. He slowly walked towards the stock-still dragon, observing the stability in which he employed the telekinesis spell. “I was beginning to wonder if you had any magic to speak of at all,” he said as he paced around the dragon. “Of course, it would stand that Celestia wouldn’t employ you as a teacher of her school had you not possessed any magical capabilities, but as you probably don’t know, the dragons of Equestria very rarely have magic.”

Draco came to a halt in front of Qibli, noting the dragon’s stubborn refusal to look directly at him. The piece of haybacon still floated idly in the air beside Qibli, hovering gently in the red glow of his magic. Draco glanced briefly at it, then cast a spell to dissipate it into thin air. With nothing to focus his magic on, Qibli finally brought his eyes forward to meet Draco’s.

“So, you say that Equestrian dragons don’t normally have magic, eh?” Qibli tried to keep his voice calm, but every moment or so it wavered unsteadily. “I guess I’m just, uh… really lucky?” he laughed sheepishly.

Draco wasn’t buying it. He strode right up to the dragon, leveling a cool glare at him. “You were either extremely lucky, or, as I’m sure it is, your glowing earring had something to do with it.” Qibli froze, the color of his face seeming to drain away.

Oh, this is not good. Qibli’s eyes darted left and right as he searched for a way out of his current predicament. I didn’t think that the dragons of this land were so magically inept. This is definitely not going well in my favor.

Draco’s unwavering gaze intensified further. He knew he had Qibli in the corner with no way to escape. “So, it was your earring that allowed you use magic… Interesting.” He grew quiet as he took a moment to wonder about the properties of Qibli’s jewelry that allowed to so easily control magic. “Would you care to explain to me how your earring works?”

Qibli sighed, recognizing that there was no room for him to try and avoid the pony’s questioning. “A friend of mine enchanted my earring for me. He said it would allow me to use a portion of his power, although I didn’t think I’d be able to use it so easily” Qibli managed to cover up Turtle’s existence as an Animus Dragon, but he didn’t think the title would mean much to Draco anyway.

“Enchanted…” Draco muttered to himself as he drew a hoof idly across his chin. “That would explain why you can use magic, but do you have any knowledge of spells outside of simple telekinesis?”

“Well,” Qibli began. “That may have been the first time I’ve tried levitation, but it’s definitely not the first time I’ve used magic.” He looked off to the right as he remembered the different feats of magic that he’s tried with his earring. “There was this one time where I managed to turn an apple into a pear, but I don’t think that might be important.

Draco gasped at the dragon’s complete dismissal of the magic that he used. “Y-you’ve already performed transmutation?” Draco stuttered. Transmutation was, at the very least, one of the most difficult forms of magic that a unicorn (or dragon in this case) could perform. The fact that Qibli had done it without even realizing it attested to the strength of his enchanted jewelry.

“Uh, I guess?” Qibli scratched the back of his neck with a claw. “I wasn’t really thinking much of it at the time. Is transmutation supposed to be difficult?”

“Transmutation is very difficult,” Draco acknowledged. He resumed his thoughtful pacing. “It normally takes a unicorn years of studying and practice to even transmute iron into steel, and yet, here you are, able to transmute living objects without the slightest difficulty. So I must ask, how much magic did your friend store into the earring?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Qibli shrugged. He was maintaining his composure on the outside, but on the inside, he was struggling to keep it together. How much magic did Turtle put into it? If he put in too much of his Animus powers, he’ll lose his soul… I hope he doesn’t end up like that Seawing, Albatross… He shook himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention back on the pony standing in front of him.

“Without any doubt, I think it’s safe to say that it must have been quite a bit of magic.” He took one more curious glance at the earring, then at the dragon it belonged to. “As long as you don’t try anything too taxing, that earring should serve you well. You’ll need it if you’re going to help me teach, at any rate.” Qibli sighed in relief as he was finally released from the grip of the pony’s searching gaze.

Draco casually trotted back into the kitchen, picking up the forgotten eggs and haybacon strips in his violet magic and retrieving two plates from the cabinet above the stove. He placed a hearty amount of food on both dishes and set them both on the kitchen table, one plate in front of him and the other beside him. He looked towards the dragon, who was still standing in the living room, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

“Hey, are you coming?” He asked Qibli, who turned and faced him, confusion written plainly on his face. Draco gestured with a hoof at the Alicorn-sized chair beside him. “You might want to hurry up and eat, or the food might get cold.”