Rarity vs. The Hat: RotE Episode 4

by Dream Volt

Lessons

"Are you distracted?"

Twilight had as usual been a very patient teacher, but this time she hadn't demonstrated at all. It was not the first time, but it made things more difficult in the extreme, and I was distracted. I sighed.

"I'm sorry Twilight, but I suppose I am. See Fluttershy is wearing this terribly unfashionable hat…"

"The black fuzzy one? I always loved those hats. I didn't see them very often, just when the Reindeer and Ponies in the Stalliongrad entourage came to visit."

"Why would they come to…" Then I laughed. "Ah yes, how foalish of me, to visit Celestia of course. I often forget you had personal access to the palace for many years."

She smiled. "Yes, in fact there were many nights I ended up falling asleep in her own bedroom. Though honestly the older I got the more likely I was to fall asleep in the library instead."

I smiled. "And now you live in one outright. It must be convenient."

She giggled. "Yes, it really is. Most of the time I can even drag myself to bed before collapsing in front of some book."

"So, what am I doing wrong?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. I don't actually know this spell."

I smiled. "Ah, another one of those. You teach me so I can teach you. Win win."

"Exactly." She nodded. "This is a complicated spell, but it seems like there should be no cutie mark resistance at all. It fits perfectly."

"Yes, it really does."

I focused on the rock again. The first candidate actually had a sizeable ruby inside, but this larger rock had nothing. I focused, remembering all she had said, not just about this spell in particular, but magic in general, and how it fit together with what I already knew. Focusing on exactly what I wanted, the measure of each facet, the shine, the perfect clarity. Then with a flash the rock was suddenly a diamond as big as my head.

"Wah ha haaaa. Marvelous."

"Ohh, that was perfect. Transmutation is difficult magic, but I hoped that with your earth affinity and cutie mark that you…"

"What?" I then bowed my head. "I'm sorry, that was dreadfully rude, but what do you mean by earth affinity."

"Well all magic is related and connected. Some affinities are essentially beyond certain ponies, it's why unicorns have such a trouble with water spells, including transformation."

I nodded. "Oh yes, but what do you mean by…"

"Well, you have, for a unicorn, an unusually high earth affinity. Fire is the highest, though honestly until recently I never gave that much thought."

"Are you saying I can make earthquakes like Applejack?"

"No." She blinked. "Well, probably not. Magic is a refection of your own personality, although you can broaden your abilities considerably though study there are limits."

"The cutie mark resistance. The further from fashion it is, the harder it is."

"Precisely." Twilight smiled

"So what else do you think I can do?"

"Well, I'm not sure honestly, beyond one more thing. Namely transmuting a stone into metal. It's very similar but it is in important variant and…"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Including metals such as, gold, silver and platinum."

I stood shock still for a long moment, then laughed again. This is truly perfect. All the gold and gems I could imagine, and all I would need to find is rocks. Then I focused intently on Twilight.

"If it's really this easy, then why…"

"Rarity, I still don't think I can replicate that trick. At least not yet. It seems contrary to your personality in some ways, but your earth affinity is relatively rare, and in combination with your cutie mark..."

"It makes the nigh impossible, easy. But earth does not directly oppose fire, does it?"

Twilight shook her head. "Absolutely not, but most unicorns end up with a stronger air affinity if anything. Arcane is usually second however."

"Wonderful. So this is an ability unique to me?"

"Not quite. This spell did come from a book. But it is rare enough that gems and precious metals will never drop greatly in price."

"Then let us try metal next."

I walked over to a larger boulder, and after checking it for gems, focused intently on it. It seemed like this should be easier than the gem. Briefly I engaged my so called mage sight. In truth the term was misleading, a more proper term would be horn sense, but that too could be confusing as on some level it was always active. In fact recently Twilight had been blabbing how you didn't really need to see magic as auras, but could instead perceive it as a smell or sound, or maybe even a taste.

That was most certainly not the way I was taught and sounded terribly confusing so for me the world became a swirl of faint lights surrounding everything, living things being brightest, inanimate objects less so. It was quite beautiful, but it simply wasn't practical to focus like this for any length of time, and for most spells once you knew how to cast it, seeing the magical currents involved was completely unnecessary. In fact I used it so little Twilight had to give me an embarrassing refresher on actually reading auras properly. Thankfully it quickly all came back to me so I didn't look like a complete fool. I then stopped focusing, the world returning to normal. This seems like little more than a minor variation really. It shouldn't be hard at all.

"Rarity, I haven't explained anything yet. It isn't anything major but…"

"I think I have the idea Twilight. It shall be no problem."

"Rarity I really doubt…"

Then with just a touch more power and focus it was done. Diamonds are made of the same stuff as coal, and making one requires relatively little energy. Gold however is something truly different from whatever the rock was made off, and took quite a bit more. It was exhilarating to feel that rush of power, and oddly I did not feel winded at all. I know my limits and while I can keep many objects in the air if I choose, any sort of major magic is tiring. I smiled.

"You did say all of us got a boost in magic, didn't you. I guess mine is rather more simple than the others, but still there."

"Huh?"

"I would normally be tired from such a show of power."

"Oh, I didn't know, sorry."

I blinked. How powerful is Twilight? That was not the most energy I'd ever expended, but to not even realize it might be tiring? Incredible. Then I suddenly noticed Blinkie, rolling my diamond into a metal cart. Her hair was only slightly less frizzy than the last time we met.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused." She then blinked. "Wait, something about that sounds wrong."

"Why exactly are you taking my diamond."

"I need a diamond, and this is my farm, even if Pinkie is right and I'm not working it much." Then she took a deep breath. "In fact I should. I mean yes I'm busy, but if I find the right rocks there are all sorts of really useful minerals I could get, not to mention gems. Thanks so much for making this. It's exactly what I need for the giant laser. I mean usually once you cut it down it's nowhere near big enough, or it has tons of imperfections, but this is just, perfect. I mean it's so amazing, it's like if…"

"Excuse me." I said "Sorry about that. I did rather forget this was private property."

"No problem." Then she giggled

"So I suppose you want the gold too."

"Nah, I have tons of gold. Well, not literally tons. If I literally had tons I'd have nowhere to put it. That would be so…"

I cleared my throat "So may I have it?"

"Oh yea, I mean I just need the diamond."

Then she hooked herself up to the cart and slowly trotted away, pulling the diamond with her. I still can't say for sure which sister is truly more crazy.

Comments

[BenRG]

Blinkie isn't crazy, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. She's just got a very different way at looking at the world, social norms and the like. I'm more worried why she needs that amount of large-scale laser light. You see, because SCIENCE! always comes first for her, it is possible that she wouldn't realise that building a weapon capable of vaporising a house is a bad idea, even if she's only doing it to create a long-range communication system.

[zx29b]

It's exactly what I need for the giant laser.

I'MMA CHARGIN' MAH LAZOR