Chapter 8: KNOWLEDGE
school.
<<<2 days later - Canterlot Castle>>>
Andromeda
Yesterday, Celestia had left work early to go over the adoption papers with me. Cadenza had taken the morning off to deal with... uh, 'personal matters'. Apparently, according to Celestia, her student Twilight Sparkle, whom Cadenza looked after when they were younger, had read Cadenza's diary and the two needed to sort some things out between them.
Celestia had filled in the last document herself, and then everything was submitted and finished. As of today, we were, officially, mother and son. I’ve never had a mother before, at least I don't think so. But today was not just special because of that. Today was the first day Celestia started her tutoring again. She had taken on Twilight a number of years ago after an impressive display of magic (one which had actually left me a new bruise if I remember correctly, though I'm long over it. Not the worst thing a stray bolt of magic has done to me, and one of the few times I ignored my instincts, to my own peril). Cadenza had actually finished school and was studying for… I think it was a position somewhere? They didn’t exactly explain it, but since Cel- mum, was going to tutor me personally too, she thought having Cadenza there as a friendly face would help me in my studies.
On top of that, Celestia was recalling Twilight back here to tutor in person. Apparently mum would ordinarily send study resources to Twilight and leave her to her own devices after the mare proved she was more than self-sufficient, though decided to bring her back so that the two of us could be taught together at the same time.
Celestia stopped in front of me and Cadenza, whom had met us on the way here, and opened the door on her left. This was where she had tutored Twilight in the past, and now, where she would tutor all three of us.
"Here we are."
As we stepped inside, we found a small sitting room with a few bookshelves in the back corners, a giant glass window at the end of the room overlooking the gardens, a chalkboard on the left, and three desks with seats in the middle. Twilight was already seated and waiting. She was purp-… wait, I have a feeling she prefers it to be called lavender… I remember something like that from an argument or two I overheard in the streets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her... at least that's what my instincts are telling me (they had been somewhat unusually silent the past few days). Before I could get a better look she noticed that we had walked in and turned away a little as a slight blush came onto her face. My guess is that she is either embarrassment from whatever happened between her and Cadenza or because she wasn’t used to studying in a group, though again my instincts told me otherwise. Surely it can't have anything to do with me?
As we took our seats, Cadance sat in the middle, with Twilight on her far side, closer to the door, and me on her right, closer to the window. Twilight tried sneaking a look at me as I sat in my seat, but quickly turned away and blushed a bit more. Ok, it seems my instincts might be smarter than I give them credit for.
Still no idea what her problem is though.
“Andromeda, this is Twilight, my student I told you about. Twilight, this is Andromeda, though I’m sure Cadance likely told you already,” Twilight and Cadance nod in confirmation; “Good, in that case, let us begin.”
Celestia teleports in several books and places one of each on our tables. I give the cover titles a quick glance over. “Monsters and Magic by Tora Del” “Uncanny Magic by the Pines Twins” “Advanced Spellcraft 2nd Edition by Magnus Firebloom” and… blank? Oh, it’s a notebook. That makes sense.
“Thank you Celestia,”
“Thank you Auntie Celestia,”
“…thanks, mum…”
I softly added my thanks, though Twilight had a weird look on her face; both when she said “Celestia” and when I referred to her as my mother. Celestia obviously noticed my impending inner turmoil and spoke up to alleviate my worries.
“It’s alright, you can call me that in front of the others,” she leaned in a bit and whispered with a coy smile “It’s not like it’s a secret who we are.”
Cadance covered her mouth with a hoof and gave a quick snort with a smile on her face while Twilight almost looked like she was stuck between whether to roll her eyes, face-hoof, or join in, but was too worried to do so.
Celestia
I had chosen the topic of natural magic and monsters associated with it to begin with, in order to help integrate Andromeda into my tutoring, given how he had expressed interest in the topic on multiple occasions previously. Starting with a topic he was interested with was bound to give a more positive result overall, so I began with a short recap of everything I had talked to Twilight about before without introducing too much for Andromeda’s sake.
Then I decided to make a point by asking a question Andromeda would either know, in which case it will help me gauge his progress , or he won’t, and I’ll be able to help him understand that it’s ok to not know the answers to things and that all he has to do if he doesn’t understand something is ask.
“Andromeda, can you tell me what Mog’s law on monsters is?”
Twilight instantly shot her hoof up to answer, but it wasn’t Twilight that I was asking.
“It’s ok if you don’t know, you only need to say so...” I stopped myself when he opened his mouth to speak.
“Mog’s law is the idea that two creatures of the same race and species in slightly different environments can have drastically different magical traces and therefore behave in unique ways that do not always align with their current habitat; meaning that they must move on to look for a location more suitable for their needs,” he answered softly.
I’ll admit I’m impressed. For having self-educated he is indeed quite knowledgeable in this topic. I wonder if he spent most of his time studying since he had so little else to do all those years he was on the streets.
“Correct. Though this law defines almost all monsters, there are occasionally monsters that make their environment more conducive to their needs and alter it in some way, shape, or fashion. Twilight, can you give me a famous example of this occurring?”
“The 19 Ursai of Littlewood Gap. They brought down half of the nearby mountain to block nearly all the exits to the valley so that their nest was secure against the local fauna such as Timberwolves that would regularly steal from their food supply.”
“Correct. And can you tell us how the Ursai were defeated?”
Despite Twilight being the focus of my attention, I spot Andromeda glance out the window and towards the garden.
“Starswirl used the instability in the mountain caused by its partial collapse by the Ursai to bring the rest down on top of them, trapping them underground.”
I compliment Twilight on her answer and continue with my lesson as planned, though I still catch Andy occasionally glancing towards the window from time to time. He didn’t appear bored, but more… curious. My patience was rewarded several hours later when he eventually spoke up.
“What about the statues in the garden? Are they monsters too?”
“Indeed, though they are a very special type of creature. They are what's known as a Draconequus, or Draconequines for multiple. Discord was known as the Spirit of Chaos, and took over Equestria not long after the arrival of the pony tribes. He and his likeness, Eris, were defeated over a thousand years ago by powerful magic that sealed them away.”
“You were the one that beat him, weren’t you, Aunty?”
“Well, it was not just me… but that is a story for another time. For now, read up on Advanced Spellcraft chapter 21 and 23 as we will be covering those in more details tomorrow. And that will be the end of class for today.”
They stood up and began packing up their things. Twilight placed her books in a saddle bag, her notebook already filled with several pages of notes. Cadance went to use telekinesis to pack away her books, before frowning and using her mouth to place them in the bag she had brought with her- refraining from using magic for now like she had told Andromeda she would, though her movements were clumsy and awkward. Andromeda, on the other hoof, was struggling to make his books into an arrangement that he could carry, presumably under one arm, though he was much more fluid in his motions than Cadance- years of experience backing up his every action.
I walked over and picked up his books in my magic, levitating them to the side.
“Do you want me to take these back with me?”
“…yes, please…” he gave a shy nod.
I smiled at him and began making my way over to the door, giving Twilight a nod of farewell on my way out- I would likely see Cadance at dinner. Andromeda followed close by my side, almost shadowing my hoofsteps.
As we entered the hallway and began making our way back, I spoke up and he trotted a little faster to catch up so we were walking side by side.
“So, how was your first day of school? Was the teacher nice to you?”
His brow furrowed in thought for a moment before he turned to face me with a look that seemed to ask if I had honestly just asked him that. I began laughing and he soon broke into a smile as well.
“You should patent that look, it is quite the expression.”
After we calmed down a small smile remained on his face as we walked in silence for a few moments.
“It was nice…”
“Do you think you can handle it again tomorrow?”
He took a moment before replying, “Yes… In fact, I think I’m looking forward to it.”
My smile broadened at that. It seems that I made the right choice, bringing him into my life. When you reach the lowest point things can only get better, and it’s only just beginning.
<<<1 hour later - Canterlot>>>
Twilight (3rd Person)
“SPIKE! I’M HOME!”
“You’re back!” Spike called out from the kitchen. The little dragon soon came running out to greet Twilight, crumbs littering the floor as he ran towards the front door, a half-eaten cookie in one hand which he attempted to hide behind his back.
“Spike…”
“Y-yes?”
“What have I told you about keeping the floors clean!”
Spike looked back towards the kitchen and noticed the small mess he had just made, before letting out a sigh that his secret snack hadn’t been noticed. “Ah, ahaha… I- yeah, I’ll get right onto that.” He grabbed a nearby broom and began sweeping the floor clean- right after stuffing the rest of the cookie into his maw, burning it a little in the process.
Twilight turned and slung her saddlebags over the coat rack. “And don’t think I didn’t notice…”
Spike froze as Twilight turned to him again.
“I appreciate the effort, Spike, but you really need to stop cooking. I can smell the burnt biscuits from here.” Spike relaxed, knowing he was safe from Twilight’s wrath.
Twilight settled onto the couch, levitating over the textbook Celestia had given her and began to read.
“So… why did the princess want you to come in for classes again? Doesn’t she normally just give you study material and leave you to it?” Spike gasped in mock surprise, “Did you do something?”
“No, Spike. Celestia has a new student and found it would be far more efficient to tutor the three of us at the same time.”
“Three? Is-“
“Cadance is also attending. Probably just to get closer to Andromeda…” Twilight mumbled the last part under her breath.
Spike took a seat on the couch opposite her. “So what’s the new student like? Do they also have a dragon?”
“No spike, they…” Twilight took a moment to compose her thoughts. She trusted Spike entirely; there were very few things that she wouldn’t tell him. But princess Celestia had ordered her to not tell anypony about Andromeda, not yet. But… Spike wasn’t any-pony…
“He’s a friend of the royal family,” she paused, “…of sorts.”
“Wow! They must be really important to be able to get personal tutoring from the princess!”
Twilight resumed her reading. “Yes, I suppose he is…”
Seeing that Twilight wasn’t going to answer any more of his questions while she was in study mode, he decided to get back up and tidy up his room again. It had been pretty lonely with Twilight spending the whole day with princess Celestia, but tomorrow would make it all worth it.
“Hey Twi, I’m so excited. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
“You better. You’re a growing young dragon, Spike. You need your rest… but I know what you mean. I can hardly wait either.”
Spike grinned. If Twilight was as eager for tomorrow as he is then it was going to be one incredible day. He bounded up the stairs as Twilight let her thoughts take her attention away from the book before her.
I can’t wait to see them again… maybe Andromeda will even talk to me… but how do I get his attention? And Cadance likes him too… I’ve never even thought about any of this before, how am I supposed to know what to do in this situation? I’m going up against the alicorn of love without any experience and no plan…
Twilight stood up, leaving the textbook on the chair and walked into the library.
I suppose it’s time I changed that.
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I am sure you mean block there, right?
That was cool.
*Gravity Falls theme plays*
“
school.
”
Huh, it’s lowercase now, maybe the end of a sentence? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯