Age of Equestria

by EdofJville

Lessons In Levitation

Spike groaned audibly as the sound of something shattering on the crystalline castle floor loudly reverberated throughout the interior of the tree palace. "Not again..." he murmured to himself. "There goes teacup number 10."

He hesitantly got up from the kitchen table and ran off toward the stairs, leaving a half-eaten batch of spicy nachos and a side of deep fried gems behind. The little dragon quickly picked up a broom and dustpan that he had left at the foot of the spiral staircase and proceeded to head up to the second floor. As he arrived at the room of the crash's source, he peered in to survey the scene. There, in the center of the castle library, sat a visibly frustrated Ethereal Divide looking down at the remains of a shattered teacup on the floor.

Spike sighed and headed over to sweep up the ceramic shards. As he finished up, he gave a brief look of disdain to Twilight Sparkle, who was readying yet another teacup for Ethereal Divide to use as further practice. "Twilight, please, at this rate, he's gonna destroy our entire teacup set. What'll you do then? Give him all of our dinner plates?"

Twilight sighed but defended her reasoning nonetheless.
"Teacups can be easily replaced, Spike. And besides, this is a necessary sacrifice if we're going to help Ethereal successfully learn how to control his newly unlocked magic."

"But can't he just practice levitating your books instead? Its not like they'll break if they drop to the ground, ya know."

Twilight frowned at the thought. "Many of my books in this library are rare first editions. I don't want them getting scuffed up or even torn if..... when Ethereal tries to levitate them and drops them. I'd much rather lose some common Tupperware instead."

Ethereal fidgeted uncomfortably in his chair, bristling a bit at the current conversation. "Maybe I should take a break for a little while, huh Twilight? I've been at this levitation practice for a few hours already, but I haven't been getting much better."

Twilight glanced at a nearby grandfather clock and acquiesced. "Alright, we'll take a 15 minute break. Then, we'll resume practice for at least a couple more hours. Sound good?"

"Sure, that's fine."
He stretched his hind quarters and hooves as he sat up straight in the chair and contemplated things.

Spike walked up next to him. "You need a glass of water or anything? I know you've been kinda straining yourself for a while."

Ethereal gave a weak smile. "Yes please. Thanks Spike."

"No problem. Just.... please grab the glass with your hooves instead of trying to lift it up with magic." With that, Spike took off downstairs to fetch the water.

Twilight took a seat herself across from Ethereal and smiled reassuringly at him. "I know its frustrating, but you have to look at it like this. You just got your magic back yesterday after having it dormant somehow for many years. You're basically learning how to use it from scratch in the same way a young unicorn foal would be. Even the most basic magic such as levitation has to be learned, and you learn by practicing over and over again. Granted, every unicorn learns at a different pace."

Ethereal glanced at Twilight, then lowered his gaze toward the floor between them. "I'm aware, but.... I still feel inadequate somehow. Even after so many years of surviving on my own through barebones labor and effort, and without magic to boot, now that I have magic to use, its a hollow achievement. There's so much I don't understand about it all. Why did my magic suddenly awaken after I visited the Tree of Harmony? Why can I sense the tree's aura all the way over here? Even the color of my magic is strange. Why is it green instead of brown like my eyes? I know that's not normal."

The purple alicorn searched her mind for possible satisfactory answers, but came up empty. "I wish I had the answers for you Ethereal, but unfortunately, I don't. I do know this though." She outstretched her wings and her horn started glowing with a brilliant magenta aura. "I was once a unicorn like you. I wasn't initially born with raw magical talent, but I had a penchant for studying a lot, especially in regards to magic. And that love of studying contributed to the growth of my magic abilities. That's why I was able to get in to Princess Celestia's School of Magic and ultimately become her star pupil. Well, that and a certain aptly timed Sonic Rainboom anyway."

Ethereal leaned back in his chair and crossed his hooves as he listened intently to the young princess in front of him. She had this special presence about her that commanded attention in a gentle but assertive way. His tail bristled a bit against the armrest and leg of the chair.

As Twilight continued speaking, Spike returned with a nice cold, refreshing glass of water that Ethereal carefully grabbed with his hooves. Spike saluted him and walked off to finish his leftover meal downstairs.

"As the years went by, I was sent here to Ponyville to make some friends, which ultimately led to further development of my own magic power in addition to discovering and harnessing the power of the Elements of Harmony with those friends. And when I managed to finish a spell that the legendary Starswirl the Bearded had abandoned many moons ago, I earned my ascension into alicornhood and was crowned a princess. But all of that was thanks to sheer perseverance and lots of study and trial and error. Friendship has a lot of power in and of itself, including raw magic."

Drinking a good amount of water, Ethereal pulled the glass away from his mouth and rested it on a small table beside him. He took a moment to process everything that Twilight had said before he spoke up. "That's an amazing set of accomplishments. No doubt about it. But you said it yourself earlier. Every unicorn advances at their own pace. What you've accomplished and what you can do with your magic is far from the norm. Most unicorns that I've seen here in Ponyville and other towns across Equestria simply use their magic to levitate objects in their daily lives. I don't expect myself to be able to levitate things perfectly on my first day, and I don't know how long it might take me to finally get it right, but I certainly intend to get my magic working properly. I just don't know if only sticking with trying to levitate teacups or plates will be enough. Not to mention its kinda getting old fast...."

Twilight folded her wings and ceased her horn's glow.
"You're right. I'm definitely not the norm as far as magic is concerned. But my basic point is this. Any unicorn can become an expert in the field of magic if they study hard, practice and push themselves. You're no exception. But you're not aiming for that. You simply want to learn how to control your magic and attune it to your body, right? Well, that requires patience and that good old trial and error."

She got up from her chair and trotted over to the library's doorway, glancing back at him. "Let's try something different. I have a couple of ideas that might help shake up your levitation practice routine."

The sun shone brightly in the midday sky over a quaint red barn and rows and rows of pristine apple trees. Ethereal and Twilight trotted up to the gate of an expansive farm property. "This is Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack and her family live and work here, tending to the apple trees and their various critters. This'll be good practice for you, Ethereal."

Before he had a chance to reply, Twilight whistled loudly and a minute later, the familiar orange figure of Applejack galloped into view. "Howdy Twilight! Hey there, Ethereal! What can I do ya'll for?"

After a brief explanation, Applejack grinned. "Well sure thing sugarcube. There's never a shortage of things to do around here. We could always use an extra set of hooves. And I reckon helping us pick some apples today will be good practice for ya, Ethereal."

Soon enough, Ethereal had joined Applejack along with her brother Big Macintosh and younger sister Applebloom in the orchard. Applebloom was quick to approach him. "Oh hey there, Ethereal! You gonna pick apples with us today, huh? Sis said something about ya learning to use your magic. I heard all about what happened yesterday from Zecora when I went to visit her for potion making. That's so cool that ya got your magic now! Levitatin' apples is probably gonna be a cinch for ya!"

"Alright now, leave him be Applebloom. I've gotta show him the ropes of how we do things here." Applejack motioned for him to approach her by a tree. "Now usually, we all buck the trees with our hind legs to get the apples to fall into our baskets. Like this."
She turned around, raised her flank and swiftly gave a mighty kick to the tree's base, causing half a dozen apples to drop squarely into her weaved basket.

"And that's how ya do it. It may look simple, but trust me, there's an art to it that you learn over time from years of bucking. But in your case, you're gonna be flexing your mind and your horn. Twilight wants you to spend a few hours levitatin' apples from the tree branches. I'm gonna give you a goal to reach. Let's see you pick... 50 apples."

Ethereal balked at this number. "50 apples!? Really!?"

Applebloom eagerly chimed in. "Ha! Only 50? I bet ya Ethereal can nab a hundred of them suckers!"

He was starting to visibly sweat now. The gauntlet had been thrown. He had no choice but to try. Surely he thought he'd at least be able to pick off a few through sheer repetition.

"So Applejack, I'm guessing it will only count toward my total apple count for ones that I pick & get into the basket, right?" He looked at her sheepishly.

She adjusted her Stetson hat and gave a wry smile. "What do you think, sugarcube? Of course, any apples that you do drop on the ground can always be washed off later. But yep, I'm gonna need you to drop them inside your basket if you wanna reach that golden number of 50."

Ethereal gulped and looked up at the next tree in his assigned row. It was filled with apples just waiting to be plucked.
"Well, better get started, I guess."

"Eeyup!" Big Mac agreed.

"We best be movin'. Only got a couple more hours of daylight left and these trees ain't gonna pick themselves."
Applejack moved on ahead with her trees in the row on the left side of Ethereal while Applebloom and Big Mac focused on the row to the right.

"Good luck Ethereal! Practice makes perfect!" called out Applejack.

She's right. I have to have confidence in myself and just trudge through this. I'm not trying to perform an advanced spell. Its just basic magic 101. Simple levitation. I can do this.
He turned his attention toward the first tree in his line and focused his mind on one particular outlying apple. His horn glowed a shimmering vibrant green as his eyes were laser-focused on that red apple. A green aura slowly phased into view around the apple, engulfing it. At first, movement was very subtle and slow, but he was gradually able to pluck it off of its branch and slowly levitated it in the direction of his basket.

He grew excited at the progress he was now making and continued to draw it in closer until he was confident the apple would land safely inside the basket. Then he let it go and it fell just outside the rim of the basket, making a soft thud on the grass. His anticipation quickly shifted to heavy disappointment. So damn close! I swore I had it.

Levitating the apple off the ground and into the basket, he hastily moved on to another apple. Once again, focusing on it intently, his horn glowed as a magic aura enshrouded the apple. He plucked it off the tree and carefully guided it over the basket, then relinquished control of it. This time, the apple successfully dropped into the basket and he was thrilled. It was a small feat but to him, it seemed like a huge accomplishment. One down, forty nine to go.

Over the course of four long hours, Ethereal pilfered tens of dozens of apples. He dropped more than a few outside of the basket, but he managed to significantly improve his apples-to-basket ratio after he started carrying the basket with his teeth while simultaneously levitating apples. Applejack would periodically come and check on him, sometimes with a curious Applebloom in tow.

By the time the sun was hanging low on the horizon and the last vestiges of daylight were fading, Applejack and company called it a day and wrapped up their labor. Ethereal Divide stood leaning against an unpicked tree, mentally exhausted more so than physically. His horn felt almost numb after so much utilization in a single day. His basket was filled to the brim with red and even some green apples.

Applejack wandered over to inspect his haul. "Looks like you pulled in a good amount! Not bad at all for a first-timer."

"Meanwhile, I see you guys cleared several rows of trees. I didn't even finish one row." Ethereal was surveying their progress and it was quite impressive. Trees had been bucked as far as he could see in front of him and behind him. They were clearly expert farmers.

"Well, me and Big Mac have been tending the orchard for years and while little Applebloom started out more recently, she's picked up the art of bucking pretty quickly. Definitely runs in the family alright." She chuckled. "Speaking of family, Granny Smith is off visiting Auntie Applesauce and Cousin Apple Rose, but if she were here now, she'd tell you all about the history of apple bucking and plantin' and probably some Ponyville history on top of that."

"That does explain a lot" Ethereal commented, "But now that I think about it, how are you going to know how many apples I picked and successfully dropped inside this basket without inadvertently counting the ones that I dropped on the ground? I lost track a while ago."

Applejack laughed off his concern. "Don't you fret. The fifty apple goal was just a means to an end. I never actually expected you to pull off levitatin' fifty or more apples as a newbie farmer AND magic wielder."

"Well, I did!" Applebloom exclaimed. Big Mac shushed her and put a hoof over her mouth just in case she felt like expressing more of her opinions.

"As I was sayin'" Applejack continued, "I only threw out that fifty apple challenge to get you motivated and focused on the task at hoof. And you did it! You managed to pick all these apples using your magic instead of your hooves. So it just doesn't matter how many of them you got in your basket without incident. Like I said, you did pretty well Ethereal!" She gave him a wink.

Not long afterward, Ethereal trotted back to Twilight's castle. Applejack had offered him a free cup of cider for his efforts, to which he had gratefully accepted. Unknown to him, apple cider was traditionally a spiked drink containing a certain percentage of alcohol. Having drank the entire cold, refreshing cup to satiate his thirst, he was now trotting back slightly drunk thanks to his low tolerance. After all, he had never consumed an alcoholic beverage before due to the circumstances surrounding his livelihood.

Swaying a bit side to side, the poor mildly sloshed Ethereal Divide somehow mustered the effort to enter the castle through the front doors and slowly sauntered his way up the stairs and into his bedroom. He threw himself on the bed and drifted asleep without covering up with the blanket.

The next day found him sleeping in later than usual until Twilight came in and woke him with the promise of a hearty lunch prepared by Chef Spike. After the delectable meal was consumed by all, Ethereal once again practiced with teacups as Twilight supervised. This time though, he managed to levitate every single one from Twilight's table across to his table without dropping any.

Twilight was impressed and equally proud of her fledgling magic student, clapping her hooves together in approval. Ethereal was beaming with pride himself for the first time since he arrived in Ponyville and met these mares. But Twilight had more in stock for him. She planned for him to engage in a different activity every day while helping one of her friends with some task. Today, Ethereal was going to Rarity's boutique.

As he arrived at Carousel Boutique, he noticed a familiar set of green eyes watching him from the front window's interior. A bell jingled as he trotted inside, gazing at the layout of the establishment. There was an assortment of pony mannequins dressed in exquisite outfits by the front window while more of them stood in the background of the boutique, although those in particular were bare. Island stands filled with designer shirts, skirts and pants adorned the center sections of the place, while various trendy accessories such as hats, scarfs and neckerchiefs were hung on the walls.

From the corner of his eyes, Ethereal could see Spike was eyeing him closely, complete with a look of suspicion on his face. His attention was diverted by what looked like a fluffy purse or clothing article on the floor in front of him. It was nearly tucked under one of the clothing stands. Somepony must have dropped this or knocked it over by accident. Might as well pick it up while I'm here.

He attempted to levitate it up, only to have his concentration and magical grip on it broken by angry cat noises. There was no time to react as a very frazzled white cat with piercing yellowish green eyes spun around and launched itself at his face, scratching his cheek before hissing loudly and scampering off behind the checkout counter. An elegant female voice called out from somewhere in the back. "Opalescence? Opal? Are you alright sweetie? What's gotten you so nettled, my dear?"

Rarity appeared within view, not initially taking notice of Ethereal's presence within the boutique as she spoke to Spike. "Spikey-wikey, did you by chance see what might have spooked Opal? Its been a slow business day, so it couldn't have been a wayward customer."

Spike simply pointed a claw in Ethereal's direction. "There's your culprit."

The so-called culprit was rubbing his cheek with a hoof where the pesky cat had given him a decently sharp scratch that had drawn a little blood. Upon seeing Rarity's gaze on himself, Ethereal flashed a self-conscious smile. "Hello there, Rarity. Mind if I help you with some things?"

She cantered over to him, pleasantly surprised. "Well hello, Ethereal! Welcome to Carousel Boutique! To what do I owe the pleasantry of your visit?" Her intense blue eyes seemed to glisten in his presence as she not-so-subtly fidgeted with her royal purple mane. Spike huffed and rolled his eyes in the background as he wandered off into the back room, his arms folded in discontent.

Ethereal backed up a little bit, feeling Rarity had been a tad too close and was violating his personal space. He couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable in her midst. "Oh nothing special. Twilight wanted me to come pay you a visit and help you out with errands around the boutique. Mainly so I can continue to practice my levitation skills since I just got my magic back the other day."

Her expression seemed to shift to one of disappointment momentarily before she managed to mask it with her trademark charming smile. "Ah, I see. Well regardless, I certainly appreciate the offer of help. Spike usually assists me around the boutique and when I go to purchase various materials and accents for my wardrobes. Today's been a slow day for business, so I was considering closing early to restock shelves and work on some custom orders for a few ponies."

He glanced around at some empty shelves and a few that looked understocked. "I could restock the shelves for you if you want. Should be simple enough for me."

Rarity mulled it over for a few seconds. "Hmm, yes. If you could take care of that for me, I'd be free to start working on those orders."

He smiled and prepped himself to begin. "Just tell me what goes where and I'll get started."

She caught him off-guard with a hug followed by a flirtatious skirting of her luxurious tail along his side and neck. Ethereal froze up at the contact and could feel a tinge of warmth flushing his face.

"Thank you kindly, Ethereal. I very much appreciate your help today." She had quite the sultry smile on her face for the briefest of seconds before resuming her usual demeanor as she turned away trotting back to the counter. "Sweetie Belle! Can you come down for a little while and help a guest of mine please!?"

A high-pitched chipper voice from upstairs replied back. "Just a minute Rarity! I'm putting the finishing touches on a new banner for the CMC clubhouse!"

Rarity glanced back at Ethereal.
"That's my little sister Sweetie Belle. Since Spike is going to be helping me with things in my work room, I'll have Sweetie Belle assist you with the stocking. She knows where everything goes and she'll also show you how to fold and organize the garments and threads."

A moment later, the sound of clopping hooves could be heard coming down a spiral staircase. A small marshmallow white filly unicorn with a lavender and pink mane and tail burst onto the scene. "You needed my help Rarity?"

Rarity began to explain. "I need you to show our guest here where the--"

Sweetie Belle cut her off excitedly upon seeing Ethereal Divide in the store.
"OH HEY ITS YOU!!"

She galloped over to him, her face beaming with glee.
"How's it going Ethereal!? Applebloom told me about your magic coming back! Too bad you didn't get your cutie mark too. But hey, its okay! I still don't have mine either plus I've been learning how to use my magic recently too! Twilight has been giving me lessons and Scootaloo and Applebloom are learning other things. Twilight's pretty amazing, isn't she? I bet --"

"SWEETIE BELLE!!! That's enough jabbering! We've got work to do!" Rarity exclaimed. She had quite clearly lost patience with her ever-so-chatty sister.

Sweetie Belle frowned.
"Sorry Rarity, I just got excited seeing Ethereal again. My friends and I haven't had much of a chance to talk with him ever since he came to Ponyville."

Ethereal for his part chimed in.
"Its alright. We can probably chat while we're working on stocking the shelves as your sister wants. I need your help though since I have no idea where stuff goes. And this will be more practice for both of us in terms of using our magic. Will you help me, Sweetie Belle?"

A smile returned to her cute face.
"Of course I will! Let's get to it then!"

It turned out levitating the various garments, knickknacks and other miscellaneous items up to their respective sections of shelving was the easy part. Learning how to properly fold and organize the garments and articles of clothing was another story. For her part, Sweetie Belle was a fairly good teacher showing Ethereal how to handle the merchandise, but it was evident that her own magic ability was still quite rusty, having accidentally dropped a few things while trying to simultaneously levitate several items at once.

Ethereal too tried to experiment with levitating multiple things at the same time, but struggled and dropped most of them each time. At one point, both of them attempted to lift a heavy batch of quilts, but Ethereal lost his balance and tripped over Sweetie Belle's hoof, snagging the edge of a cabinet with one of the quilts and pulling it down on top of them. Neither of them was hurt, but it sure did leave a mess. The two of them shared some hearty laughter and got to work cleaning up and fixing the cabinet upright.

The sun had set and night was beginning to fall by the time they finished stocking every single corner of the boutique. Rarity thanked Ethereal once again for the work and bid him farewell with another sultry smile and a overly generous hug. Spike glared at him and after they had left the premises, he gave Ethereal a clear-cut message: "Rarity's mine, okay? Get yourself another mare. There's plenty of them around here."

Ethereal protested incredulously.
"What are you talking about? I don't like her like that. If anything, I wish she'd stop coming on to me. Its not something I'm used to. You can have her."

The following days almost went like clockwork. Ethereal's magic continued to improve as he visited Fluttershy at her forest's edge cottage, helping her relocate some migratory birds' nests among the treetops. While there, she took notice of his scratch wound on his cheek from the previous day's encounter with the feisty cat Opal. Despite his reassurances that he was fine and the wound didn't hurt, Fluttershy treated it with rubbing alcohol and a special herbal gel. She then patched it up with a small band aid.

Things took an interesting turn when her interdimensional friend, the literal spirit of chaos incarnate, Discord, popped in for a visit and seemingly grew jealous of Ethereal's presence around Fluttershy. "I was just helping a new friend, or rather, he was helping me with the bird nests... while also helping himself because of practicing magic and all that. You've got nothing to worry about, Discord."
She smiled calmly at him.

Discord snorted with dissatisfaction.
"Very well. I was hoping we could perhaps enjoy a nice teatime and lunch together. Maybe even a picnic. The weather is lovely today after all. But preferably after.... Mr. Empty Design was it?..... takes his leave."

"Its Ethereal Divide..."

"Whatever...." Discord retorted.

The mystical creature known as a draconequis snapped his finger and disappeared without a trace. Or so Ethereal thought.

"You have got to tell me more about how you two met and became friends."
Ethereal eyed the soft-spoken pegasus incredulously.

She chuckled softly. "Its definitely an interesting story."

As Ethereal Divide took his leave later on, he swore he felt the sensation of being watched. What was more interesting was the fact that he could sense a magical presence nearby. But he shrugged it off and trotted away from the cottage. Discord, disguised as a potted plant outside, watched the figure of Ethereal fade into the distance. "Hmph good riddance..."

The next day saw Ethereal bake some sweets with Pinkie Pie at SugarCube Corner while she periodically watched out for two foals named Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. He received a delicious bag of chocolate brownies as a token of gratitude for his efforts. And the day after that was filled with some fun exercise as Ethereal used his burgeoning levitation skills to avoid being hit in a frenetic game of dodgeball with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.

He even managed to pull off a few strikes on Scootaloo by repelling the ball with magic and focusing his aim with utmost concentration. This brought him great joy and his heart swelled with pride. But hitting Rainbow Dash was next to impossible as she was simply too fast and acrobatic. "Yeah no, there's no way you're ever gonna hit me, Eth! Uh... you don't mind if I just call you Eth, right?"

Half a day and dozens of rough dodgeball hits to the body courtesy of Rainbow Dash later, Ethereal wanted nothing more to do but lie down on his back on the grass and stare up at the cloudless evening sky. Scootaloo was his only company. She was also looking up at the sky in silence. A soft breeze blew across the area.

Minutes went by without a single word being uttered between the both of them. Then, the orange filly pegasus broke the silence.
"Its funny. Me and you are kinda similar."

Ethereal tilted his head sideway to look at her.
"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, neither of us has a cutie mark." She glanced down at her bare flank, then over at his.
"But its more than that. For a long time, you couldn't use magic even though you are a unicorn. But now you can. And even though I'm a pegasus, I...." She looked down at the ground and closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. "I can't fly.... but maybe one day I will. Just like how you were able to get your magic. It may have taken years to get it, but you did eventually. So maybe when I'm older, as a full grown mare.... maybe then... I'll finally be able to fly."

Ethereal Divide felt an emotion right there and then that he had forgotten existed, at least in regards to his life experience. A pang of actual sadness welled up within him, but it was also coupled with a desire to cheer up this pure-hearted filly.
"You know Scootaloo.... I may not have had my magic for most of my life but I still managed to live and survive nonetheless. I had to adapt without it. Basically be an earth pony with a useless horn. But I managed. I trained myself when I was all alone out there in the wilds of Equestria and moving from place to place, town to town. I learned to forage for food and how to defend myself from wild animals and where the best places for shelter were during the nights and in bad weather. And whenever I could, I tried to educate myself by reading books, stories of fantastical explorers and adventurers, so that I could not only learn to read and communicate but expand my horizons."

Scootaloo gazed at him with wonder and interest.
"So you're saying, I should learn to adapt too, right?"

He nodded and smiled warmly.
"Adapt where you can and learn to excel in things that you love. So that way, if and when the day comes that you're finally able to take to the skies and fly with other pegasi, you'll be all the more enriched and satisfied."

She perked up at this.
"I guess I've been kinda already doing that with my stunt routines on my scooter. I'm pretty good with tricks. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle often tell me I should join a circus or something. I dunno, might be fun."

Ethereal turned his gaze back up at a darkening sky.
"That's the spirit."

It had been a long, eventful week for him. Twilight Sparkle's advice had been pretty sound. All of the various tasks that he'd partaken in over the course of the last seven days had definitely served to improve his grasp of his magic. Levitating things was now second nature to him. He could even pull off levitating several things at once, even some heavier items. Twilight was thoroughly pleased with his progress and had offered to teach him other magic abilities such as teleportation and shield projection. They seemed daunting and too advanced for him to pull off and he was anxious about even trying, but he couldn't deny a part of him was quite curious about how far he could go if he kept studying and practicing.

Before he settled into bed for the night, he decided to take a detour into the castle library and search for a relevant book on magic to read. Twilight's collection was massive and included books of all sorts covering a multitude of subjects. There were books on transfiguration, magical creatures of Equestria, astral projection, ancient history and much, much more. A great deal of these tomes focused on subject matter and spells that were way beyond his current comprehension of what magic could do. But as he continued searching, he stumbled upon one particular book that caught his eye.

His horn glowed as he pulled it off the shelf and levitated it in front of his face.
Mastering Magic by Arcanus Sage
That author's name sounded familiar.

He headed back to his bedroom and shut the door behind him. With the book in his grasp, he got into bed and lay down, opening it up to the table of contents and first page of text. It was truly fascinating stuff. But before he realized it, he had drifted off into a deep sleep.

The following morning, he woke up to a start as Spike was shaking him, trying to get him out of bed.
"Wake up Ethereal! Some big stuff is going down!"

"Wha-what is it Spike?" He groggily dragged himself out of bed.

He soon found out that something big indeed was going down. Namely a large new piece of furniture that had suddenly risen up out of the castle's crystal floor.

Ethereal blinked several times, making sure he wasn't hallucinating.
"Where in Tartarus did this giant table come from!? And what about all these chairs surrounding it!?"

Spike sat down in one smaller chair that was parallel to a larger chair with Twilight's cutie mark emblazoned on it. In fact, each of the chairs had a familiar cutie mark prominently featured on them. "I dunno Ethereal, but its really cool. Twilight and the others were all sitting on these chairs at the same time and then, this big crystal table map just popped up out of nowhere. Then, the girls' cutie marks appeared on the map and they all moved to a specific location, like they were being summoned for something. It was wild!"

"Wait a minute Spike. Its a map?"

"Yup, but not just any map. Its a magical map!"

Ethereal scrutinized the round rune of a table and noticed details consistent with a map of Equestria and even some lands beyond the borders.
"Wait a minute though. Where is Twilight?"

"She left with the girls a while ago. Said they were gonna investigate the source of the place that was calling them. Twilight was gonna leave a note for you but I told her I could just tell you when you woke up."

Suddenly, Spike started to well up and burp loudly, making a physical gesture as if he was about to throw up.

Ethereal looked on with concern. "You okay Spike?"

The little dragon didn't answer and kept convulsing and burping until finally, he spat out a green burst of flame containing a sealed scroll.

"What the actual hay just happened, Spike?"
The unicorn stood there absolutely flummoxed.

Spike appeared quite non-chalant about it. "Oh that sort of thing happens every so often. Usually when I receive letters from Princess Celestia or sometimes from Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire. I'm kinda a big hero there. They even got a statue of me in my honor. You should totally check it out sometime."

"Well, what does the scroll say? Is it from Celestia? Did something happen to Twilight and the others? Read it already!"

"Sheesh, alright already! I'm reading, I'm reading!"
Spike unsealed the scroll and unwrapped the parchment, reading its contents.

"Holy Guacamole!"

Ethereal's body went stiff with apprehension. "What's wrong Spike?"

Spike proceeded to read the letter in its entirety.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student and honorable Princess of Friendship,
I have become aware that you are harboring a new friend in your castle abode. I believe his name is Ethereal Divide, correct? My sister, Princess Luna, has informed me about him and the struggles he faces regarding his past and other serious personal matters. It is with great concern and curiosity that I humbly request Ethereal Divide to have an audience with me in Canterlot. I believe I may have some information and insight into his past that might be of great benefit to him. I have included a paid train ticket to Canterlot and have made formal arrangements in regard to lodging for a single night's stay.

I look forward to speaking with Ethereal Divide soon.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia"

Author's Note:

Wow! Good grief!
I never expected to write such a huge chapter maxing out at over 6,000 words!
And I suspect it won't be happening again anytime soon lol
But I just had so much content to cram in chapter 9. My ideas kept overflowing too and so it kept on expanding.

But all of this is very crucial to the story going forward. I wanted to find a way to both incorporate Ethereal's newly acquired magic and him learning how to control it with the basic ability of levitation while also featuring the Mane Six in some kind of meaningful and relevant way. It won't be long until the dynamic and status quo changes and I wanted to establish a connection between them and Ethereal before things change.

I'm especially proud of how the moments with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo of the CMC turned out and some of the funny scenes I managed to insert as well. The Discord cameo was a last minute addition. And boy do I love how Spike has been turning out throughout these chapters. Always did love his snarky comments.

So our unicorn boy Ethereal Divide has his magic and can even levitate stuff now. But many questions remain about not only the nature of his magic but his mysterious and traumatic past as well. What does Princess Celestia want with Ethereal? What could she know about him and what if anything will those answers provide to him?

Lastly, that one author, Arcanus Sage. That's the second time his name has been dropped so far in the story. I wonder if he'll be important later?

Stay tuned!