The Studying Obsession

by Lhmac

Study Time vs. Family Time

School was on a break, but Twilight Sparkle had a burning desire to learn.

She searched out every book in her home or that she could borrow on short notice relating to beginner's unicorn magic, both theory and practical guides. Then she'd spent most of the day compiling a checklist of what she had and which order was the best to read them in.

Dropping the last of her stack onto the table in the study, Twilight turned to the first book on her list: The Beginner's Guide to Unicorn Magic.

She pulled open the front cover. The book began with an introduction to magic. It was nothing Twilight wasn't familiar with - magic was an important topic for young unicorns at school - but she eagerly read every word. Twilight would not do this by halves. It was all or nothing. She was embarking upon the most important journey in her life, and she wanted to be sure there was nothing she missed.

The first chapter of the book was full of the theory and history of unicorn magic.

Every unicorn's magic is different, just as a unicorn's magic is dissimilar to the innate magic of both earth and pegasus ponies. Unicorn magic is active, and it is only through intense studying and training that a unicorn can find out which magic she can or can't use. Before the time of Celestia and the alicorn royalty, unicorns used to be the caretakers of the rising of the sun and the moon, as pegasi were stewards of the weather.

Due to the reign of Princess Celestia, these days unicorns no longer carry the responsibility of raising the sun and the moon, but they are charged with taking their magic seriously and using it for the good of all Equestria. Unicorn magic is used to power appliances and vehicles, and much good can come from a unicorn making use of his or her magical talents.

Twilight Sparkle was enamoured with the use of magic, and when she came to the first page with practical lessons, she was so excited she could barely contain it. She certainly couldn't concentrate on reading the correct way to use the spell. She re-read the same passage four times before her mind had calmed down enough to take in what it said.

The easiest use of magic for a unicorn is to move objects around. The majority of unicorns use this simple spell in their everyday lives with relative ease.

The telekinesis spell, as with most unicorn magic, involved concentrating magic through her horn. Twilight had seen her parents perform this spell often and in many ways, but when she tried to lift her book, she didn't focus enough magical energy through her horn. She strained at the magic, but to no avail. After a minute of trying, she gave up in frustration.

"Hey, what's up, kid?" Shining Armor stood in the door to the study, a concerned look in his eyes.

"I can't use magic to levitate this book," Twilight told him, not meeting his gaze. "I'm useless at magic."

"Don't give up before you've started properly, Twily. Why are you starting with something as heavy as a book? Start with one of the pages of your books."

Twilight grinned at her brother. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're too focused on studying to think about the little things, Twily. You've been in here all morning. Let's go out and play."

"Just a little longer."

"Okay, little sis. Just ... don't work too hard, okay?"

"Yeah." Twilight went back to looking at her book.

After reading the description of how to focus her magic once more, she tried to flip the page of her book. It took a lot of straining to get the feeling of magic focused in her horn again, but it wasn't long before she saw a purple glow on the page, then it flipped over.

Twilight wanted to jump in excitement, but there was still so much to read, so she continued on, reading through the many uses of the telekinesis spell.

A week passed, and Twilight Sparkle never stopped studying. It was more than just an obsession with learning; she felt a yearning for the knowledge of magic. It felt as though there was something inside of her, calling out for the knowledge, as though this was her destiny.

Shining Armor would step into the study every now and then and try to get his little sister's attention, but she was far too engrossed in her books to even look up. He was frustrated, seeing the whole studying obsession as a bad thing for his little sister. He stepped into the room and stood over the young filly.

Taking a deep breath to calm his voice, he finally spoke. "Twily?"

"Yes?" Twilight didn't even look up at him.

Shining stomped a hoof on the floor. "Twilight Sparkle, we're going outside to play right now."

This finally gained her attention and Twilight looked up at him in confusion.

"What's wrong, Big Brother? You sound upset."

The look in his sister's eyes soothed Shining Armor's irritation, and he put his head down next to hers to nuzzle her cheek.

"You've been cooped up in this study for too long, Little Sister. The wind outside is strong, I'm going to teach you how to fly a kite."

"You are?" Twilight's whole face lit up in excitement, and Shining beamed back at her, the warmth of sharing time with his sibling back.

"Yeah, kid. I'm gonna teach you something new every day."

"And then I'll get back to studying." Twilight levitated a bookmark to keep her place and closed the book.
Shining tried to hide his disappointment. "I guess ... if that's what you want to do ..."

The two young ponies looked at one another in silence for a full minute, then the same idea occurred to both of them.

"You can teach me what you've been learning."

"I can teach you what I've been learning!"

They both smiled at their simultaneous responses.

"There we go," Shining said. "We'll teach each other so that no matter what, we're always spending time together. Deal?"

"Deal."

The two siblings walked out of the room, side by side.

Twilight still had a few weeks before school resumed, and she and her brother spent time sharing their lives and dreams.

Ever since Shining Armor had gotten his cutie mark, his dream was to join the Royal Guard, and they often went out into the sunshine to watch the royal guards around Canterlot.

At home, Twilight showed him every leap she took in spellcasting, demonstrating her ability to lift her book with telekinesis, which she said she could only do because he had encouraged her to start small. The two ponies practised spells together, and Twilight gave Shining books that described protection spells that would help him with his future career. Shining Armor's first year of training would begin at around the time Twilight Sparkle went back to school, so they made the most of every moment they could spend together.

Comments

[Lhmac]

1446570
Haha. No, not foreshadowing. I'm pretty bad at that, so I don't try to do it