A Dragon's Wake

by Cold Spike

Chapter 10: Magical Burdens

The dragon sat, perched, on his mother's back, clutching for dear life. Pinkie had no intention of telling him to do otherwise, despite the pain. Pinkie smiled to herself with confidence, knowing full well that her friend would help her son make a full recovery. She opened the library door and walked in, shutting it gently.

"Twilight? You home?" Pinkie called out. Her voice was so loud and her tone so urgent that it was pretty much impossible to ignore.

"Pinkie? Oh, you must be here to drop Spyro off for—"

"Uh, not exactly… But, we really, really need to talk. Spyro…" She paused and lifted him off her back, gently setting him down. "…could you wait right here?" He just nodded with no smile and a shrug. Before Twilight could respond, Pinkie had grabbed her and jetted off into the only room that was considered private in the open library. The Kitchen.

"Pinkie… what is going on?" Pinkie sighed, figuring it was pointless to hide things when somedragon needed cheering up, and help.

"Right. I sent Spyro on his way to you this morning to get magic lessons, but I guess you were too busy to do it just yet. So he found the park and met the Crusaders. After that, they decided to go talk to Zecora so he could learn how to better control his new magic I guess. It all went well, but on the way back a Manticore attacked them." Pinkie ignored Twilight's gasp and immediately continued. "I guess he used his magic to help save them but accidently… Killed it."

Twilight was in a miniature state of shock. First off, her best friend's poofy mane had gone straight, but she wasn't depressed or acting crazy. She was simply being Pinkie, but a Pinkie that no one had ever seen before. And now her new son, who couldn't be any older than ten, had killed something and was probably going through his own state of shock. Twilight shook her head a few times.

"And you want me to help him get over it? Pinkie—"

"Please, Twilight! I may be the Element of Laughter, it may be my job to make ponies, and in this case dragons, happy, but I can’t fix that. I wouldn't even know where to start! You have unicorn magic like his and I'm sure you have heard or read about something like this, right?" Twilight gave a slow nod.

"Well," she said, glancing outside the kitchen to make sure that Spyro was still there, "in the case of magical outbursts, accidents or fatal occurrences, a pony, or in this case, dragon, can go in a state of mental shock ranging from minor to extremes such as panic attacks and even fainting. Spyro is most likely going through a case of trauma or even mental scarring. Has he said much at all?"

"Not really. He said he was sorry and cried for a while. He also said that he did not want to use magic anymore."

"…I was afraid of that. I better go speak with him. Just stay right here."

Pinkie nodded and took a seat. Twilight smiled down at her and left to address the young dragon.

"Hello, Spyro."

He said nothing, but glanced up.

"I understand that there was an incident today. Do you want to talk about it?"

A simple shake of the head was all Spyro gave as an answer. Twilight did not allow herself to sigh or show any sign of frustration.

"Hmm, you know, when I was a filly and I was still learning magic, I had accidents all the time. Sometimes big ones."

Spyro raised one of his eyes into a quizzical glare.

"True, I never accidently killed anything…" She paused and noticed that he flinched strongly. "…Not that anyone is mad at you! We promise. Neither Pinkie or I are disappointed or angry."

Pinkie couldn't stand it any longer and, against Twilight's wishes, she came out, walked over to her son and picked him up in a hug. This time he returned it with a vengeance.

"Twi's right. Nothing you could ever do would ever make me angry at you or disappointed." Spyro stared up quizzically. Pinkie looked over at Twilight to make sure she was saying the right things and Twilight simply nodded meekly. Seeing as the young dragon was not going to talk yet, Twilight continued from where she left off.

"Anyway, in addition to the first magical thing I ever did, which consisted of me hatching Spike, enlarging him to almost destroying the castle and turning my parents into potted plants temporarily, often my magic would be chaotic or even too strong when compared to others at Celestia's school. I accidently hurt others as a result and I even gave the princess a nasty cut once, but she was never angry with me. Magic can be an odd thing, hard to control, chaotic even, despite all the years of research that has been put into it. But the point is that as long as you learn to use your magic responsibly and do not harm others on purpose, the one exception being for defense only, then you should have nothing to worry about, Spyro."

Pinkie nodded and looked down at him. He gave a shy smile and looked up to Twilight who returned with an encouraging nod of her own.

"Thank you for making me feel better…" Spyro mumbled, but both mares heard it crystal clear. Pinkie released him from her hug.

"There ya go, kiddo!"

Spyro grumbled at the mention of that word.

"You're very welcome, Spyro. Perhaps this is the perfect time to learn how to wield that magic?"

The dragon child looked up at his new mother and she nodded with an encouraging smile of her own.

"Let's do it!"

Before Twilight could gather any materials, Pinkie whispered into his ear. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you, uh, Mom."

Pinkie nearly snapped at the mention of that word. In an instant, she had jetted off into the air to an impossible height, causing a fit of giggles to come out of Spyro. Unfortunately, one of his exhales of breath came out too sharply during his laughter and his magic came out nearly full force, causing a stack of books near the stairs to topple over.

"Whoops," both Pinkie and Spyro said in union.

"It's alright. I was going to have Spike reorganize anyway. But perhaps we should start that lesson right now."

Pinkie nodded. "Okie Dokie Loki! I'll be back in a while to pick him up. The Cakes probably need me back anyway. I'll see ya later, son." Pinkie dashed out after one last hug, leaving behind a blushing Spyro. Why he was blushing, he had no clue. In fact, he had done so little of that as a human that to him it actually just felt like his cheeks catching fire. He shook it off and turned to Twilight who was busy levitating out a few books and two mats for them to sit on.

"Okay, let's just start with what you know, Spyro."

"Huh? Uhh, I don't?"

Twilight giggled. "Oh? What about what Zecora taught you?"

"But that's just breathing!" He pointed an accusing finger at her and she sighed.

"Spyro, we are trying to get your emotions under control and those breathing exercises are the best way. So let's begin." She immediately began her exercises as she closed her eyes, lying down on the pillow. Spyro simply stood off to the side with his arms crossed, pouting.

"I'm not doing those. I just want to learn magic so I don't hurt anyone!" He stomped a foot down, but Twilight remained calm and did not so much as open her eyes.

"That will never happen unless you learn the basics first. Now sit down and begin."

"…Fine!" He began his exercises, but his anger kept him from remaining calm, thus missing the point entirely.

Twilight opened her eyes and shot Spyro a menacing glare. "Spyro, you're angry. You can't use magic in anger, ever. Take deep breaths, now."

He wanted to yell at her. He still felt odd taking orders from a pony even if she was older. But she kept up her stare and he sighed. He breathed in and out several times before calming himself.

"Good. That was lesson number one. Never, ever use magic when you are feeling angry. It's a simple lesson but probably the most important. Remember how I said I gave Celestia a cut?"

He nodded.

"That is how that happened. I was frustrated and a spell I was trying just wouldn't work. So that is lesson number one."

"Uh, okay, never use magic in anger. What's lesson two?"

"Never cast a spell unless you know exactly what it is."

"Huh?"

"If you want to use magic then you need to know what a spell does and how to cast it precisely before you cast it. Got it?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, let me give you an example. Hmm. Oh! I know, heh. This happened a few years ago before I came to Ponyville. I was learning to cast a shield spell, quite simple to me now. It allows a circular force field to appear around me or anyone else of my choosing, but I skipped a step. In magic there is often multiple steps you need to know before you cast and even while you are casting, but I skipped one."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say that a part of the castle was missing for a while… The shield spell worked, but it went through the floor and anything else it touched, thus destroying, well, those things."

Spyro was doing his best not to laugh but was doing a terrible job of it. Before long, both were in a fit of giggles. "That's so funny."

"I'm glad you think so. Oh, and it looks like you have kept those emotions in check. No accidental magic, see?"

Spyro looked at his fingers and paused. "Wait, but I laughed before and I knocked all those books over!"

"Yes, but, before, you were also angry and not the least bit calm. Yes you are laughing right now, but you did the breathing exercises beforehand. Get it?"

"Yeah. Cool."

"So that is lesson number two. There are more, but for the first few spells I will be teaching you, you only need those two lessons."

"So I get to learn spells?!" His face was beaming with excitement. She sighed.

"A spell for now, yes."

"Cool! So how do I learn them, is there a scroll or something?"

Twilight looked at him and smiled. "Actually, yes. But I thought there was no magic on Earth, so how’d you know that?"

"Lucky guess?"

"Okay… Anyway, you will be learning how to levitate objects in the air—"

"Oh, cool! It’s like Harry Potter. First spell they learned too!"

"Do I even want to know?"

"He was a character in a book…"

"Really?! Oh I wish I could read… Oh, nevermind, just start reading." She levitated a scroll into his claws and he grabbed it.

"Let’s see, blah blah blah… I don’t understand any of this."

"That is why I need to walk you through it step by step. So sit down. The first step is very simple and actually requires no magic at all."

"…Um, but you are supposed to be teaching me magic!"

"Yes, but the first step of any spell is to imagine it happening and only it. For example, if you wanted to levitate the scroll, you imagine it happening in your mind. If you miss this step or imagine something else happening then there is no telling what might happen."

"Okay, imagine the scroll floating in the air. Got it!"

"Good. The next step is to be confident. If you are not confident in your ability to succeed, then you probably won’t."

"…Anything else that has nothing to do with magic?"

"Hmm, nope! Now we move onto the actual magic part, and here is where it gets tricky. You see the first actual step on the scroll? The one that looks like a glowing horn?"

"Yeah, what’s that mean?" The child was finally stumped on something and was drawing a blank. He had plenty of assumptions about magic, but fictional universes only took him so far.

"That means channeling. Whenever you cast a spell, you need to channel magic through, well, in your case horns. In my case, a horn. Magic is all around us in Equestria and you need to gather it by summoning it. Think of it like breathing in, only you hold in the magic and then cast."

"Uh, but how do I channel it?"

"Well, unfortunately the horn is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Right now I would imagine they feel numb, weak and probably don’t feel like anything at all, right?"

"Well, they just feel like nails."

"And the more you use magic, the stronger they will get, but for now, yes, they should feel like nails. These are the three basic steps in casting any spell no matter how complex. Imagine, confidence and, finally, channeling."

"'Kay. Should I try?" The child hesitated while he examined his horns.

"Well, we won’t get anywhere if you can’t channel, so yes. Just remember that since you can’t complete the spell yet, you need to let go of the magic in a safe way. Like breathing out. So try."

Spyro nodded and stood up. The first thing he did was glare down at the scroll and do his best to pretend that the scroll was now floating in the air. With that thought stuck in his head, he tried to focus on being confident, though it proved to be tricky. True, he was often confident in anything that he tried, but the few times he used magic, it blew up in his face. Putting those thoughts aside, he felt slightly confident that he would succeed in channeling magic. First, he tried breathing in and out and when that was clearly doing nothing, he thought up a different tactic. He clenched his claws together and froze his muscles in place. He then strained those muscles and, slowly, a bright red glow overtook them. Excited, he wanted to try the rest of the spell but remembered that he knew nothing else, so with a sigh, he relaxed his muscles and the magic that overtook them disappeared.

Twilight immediately began clapping by stomping her hoofs on the ground. "Good job, Spyro!"

"Thanks! So, that was it?"

"Yep. That was channeling magic, alright. Now, keep in mind that depending on the spell, there are different degrees of channeling required. Thus, we name spells in terms of level. The levitation spell is level one and only requires a little magic. Teleportation on the other hoof would be level fifteen and requires a ton of magic before you cast it."

"What happens if you channel too much for a level one spell?"

"For something like levitation? I guess it depends. If you are only trying to do that scroll then you will probably end up flinging it in someone’s face by accident. If you wanted to levitate a bookcase, you would still need a lot more magic channeled first. Understand?"

"Yeah… So now what?"

"Now we focus on the final step of the spell. You see that symbol?"

Spyro nodded. On the scroll was an symbol in the shape of a feather that had several letters in a language that Spyro could not read.

"That is the symbol for levitation and those strange letters are what you need to remember in order to finish the spell."

"But I can’t read t—"

"No one can actually read it; the purpose of the symbols is to activate the magic. As long as you remember them while you are casting then the spell will work, simple as that." She finished with a smile, but Spyro was frowning.

"So I have to remember all sorts of symbols, all the time for all spells?" he asked in sheer disbelief.

"Yes, but to put your mind at ease there aren’t that many symbols in total. Once you get used to the symbols, then you can start learning all sorts of spells. Sound good?"

"Uh, do they have names?"

She nodded. "Yes, but for now I just want you to try and remember these three first in that order only. Then cast the spell. Normally I would be all over you with books upon books, but, oddly enough, when it comes to magic a hands-on approach is much simpler at first."

"Okay, just give me a second…" He studied the symbols for a while; he wanted to make sure that he was good and ready before even attempting something that should be that simple. Eventually, the symbols formed into simple shapes in his head and they were locked in his memory. "Here goes nothing!" First, he breathed deeply and imagined the scroll flying in the air, and then he made sure that he was confident in his ability. Straining his muscles again, he found that it felt like lifting something heavy high in the air, but he channeled enough magic and then finally he focused on the symbols in his mind. One by one the symbols formed and something in his thoughts locked into place. It was as if he knew right then and there how to levitate the scroll and so he did. The piece of parchment was now flying two feet off the ground, but the longer he kept it there the more he had to strain his muscles. Eventually, he had to hold up some heavy breathing and he finally decided that there was no more point in trying. He relaxed and the scroll dropped to the ground.

"That was amazing! On a first try too!" Twilight used her magic to levitate him into her hoofs and gave him a warm embrace. He smirked.

"Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Yep, now we are going to practice that spell again and again until you know it by heart."

"Okay. So—"

"After that, I will start teaching you the symbols and their names—"

"Cool. And then—"

"Please don’t interrupt. Oh and after that, I can teach you the history of magic using some of my books over there." She gestured to a corner and, to his horror, he saw books thicker than he had ever seen. His jaw dropped and he sighed. "I know, quite a lot. But for now, let’s practice some more." He hung his head to the fate that she had sealed and began to cast, again and again.

After a couple of hours, not only did the same task become mundane to him, he was literally getting tired. By the time that Twilight had offered him lessons on the symbols, he felt like taking a one year nap. "Twilight, how come I’m so tired?"

"Hmm? Oh! I almost forgot. Magic can often burden someone so young. Your body is simply having trouble keeping up. But don’t worry, that will fix itself in time. Just make sure to take lots of breaks and pace yourself, okay?"

Spyro was too tired to either nod or shake his head. All he could do was let out a yawn. "Can I take a nap or something?"

The mare looked shocked to hear that. "I guess so. Do you want to just use the couch?"

He gave a single nod. He did not wait for anything else and climbed on the couch and curled up into a ball. He felt too exhausted to question his new sleeping position and fell into a deep sleep. She rolled her eyes and levitated a blanket to drape over him and left for some personal studies of her own.

Pinkie Pie stopped by later to pick him up. Finding the sleeping dragon, she couldn’t help but giggle quietly. "Twilight?" she called out in a harsh sort of whisper.

"Up here, Pinkie."

She walked up the stairs and spotted Twilight working with Spike who had returned from Rarity’s place. "So how was his lesson?"

"Pretty good. He tired himself out though. Magic can do that to you. He levitated his first scroll in the air and knows a few things now."

Pinkie perked up at this and in the same harsh, whispered tone she threw a question at her. "So does this mean I can throw him a party finally? Cause I’ve been waiting forever!"

"Pinkie, it’s only been a day or so. You need to be patient."

"But you said his magic was under control!"

"I said no such thing. I said he is doing pretty good. Magical outbursts can still happen and we don’t want that happening in a closed in space with lots of ponies about, do we?"

"…No, but… Twilight, this stinks!" They both sighed.

"He will get them under control eventually, Pinkie. Magic can be both an amazing thing and a burden, even for me. Right now, though, what he really needs is a loving mother and more friends. Probably best to be hanging out with Spike and Claws though. The Crusaders are fine I suppose, but I don’t think they allow dragons in school. Or at least not this school."

"Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. Was Spike schooled?"

"In Canterlot, yes. He is way beyond what Miss Cheerilee can teach. Don’t worry, in addition to the lessons I’m teaching him, I’m also helping him with a few ‘home schooled’ projects I have planned out. He’ll be fine."

Pinkie thought about this for a moment with her tongue sticking out of her mouth and nodded. "As long as he is getting educated, and I can’t think of a better pony to do it!"

Twilight blushed. "Thanks, Pinkie. Are you… Hmm" She stopped talking when she looked down at Spyro who was still fast asleep. "Do you know if he’s a heavy sleeper?"

"Uhh, I was kind of quiet this morning. I have no idea really."

"I guess just be gentle when you pick him up. I’ll see ya tomorrow, Pinkie, and good night."

"Night!" Pinkie quietly walked downstairs and inspected her son. Shrugging, she gently lifted him up and placed him on her back. Halfway back home, the young dragon began to stir. At first he felt like he was on a soft bed, but the walking and moving confused him.

"Pinkie?" He looked up still feeling slow.

"Oh shoot, you weren’t supposed to wake up until I got you home, you silly!"

"Oh, sorry, uh, Mom." Pinkie glanced back and smirked at him.

"You know Pinkie or Mom is fine. Even Pinks is okay."

"Oh, okay. Oh! I need to show you my new magic!"

Pinkie beamed. "Sure thing when we get back. I can’t wait to see it!" They entered the bakery as the closed sign was flipped over by Mr. Cake. He glanced back at Spyro and sighed, but smiled at Pinkie. "Mr. Cake, could you grab us an empty cup please?"

"I guess so. But what for?" Still glancing back at the dragon, he was beginning to get the picture.

"You’ll see!" Pinkie smiled and the stallion sighed. He then grabbed a cup from the kitchen and placed it gently on a table. "So, do your stuff, Spyro!"

"Uh, Mom, I’ve only ever done a scroll…" He nervously eyed the cup. Logic was telling him that it should be possible, but he already knew how exhausting magic was overall.

"Don’t worry. I just want to see if this will work. I’ll still be proud of you for trying. Now c’mon let’s do magic!"

He couldn’t help but smirk at his mother. He eyed the cup and began his procedures from before. He breathed deep and imagined the cup in the air only this time the images came faster than before. As did his confidence for some reason that he couldn’t quite figure out. Finally, he channeled the magic, which came slightly faster, and brought forth the images in his mind. Straining heavily, he brought the cup into the air four inches above the table. Pinkie grinned. He breathed and Mr. Cake gawked. He strained to keep it floating, but it was too much and he let it down with a loud thump before he could even channel his magic away. The symbols in his mind disappeared and he breathed both air and his magic out. Pinkie immediately started clapping.

"Great job, Son!"

"Thanks… That was hard, heh." He breathed in and out to calm his nerves. He then turned to Mr. Cake who was still gawking.

"Wow…" Was all he said. Pinkie giggled and then invited Spyro back to their room.

"Yeah let’s go. Uh, is he going to be okay?"

Pinkie paused and looked back at her employer. "Mr. Cake? Tell us when dinner is ready! Kay bye!" She then grabbed Spyro and without missing a beat, ran upstairs.

Random Pinkie is back… Awesome! The child’s thought was interrupted when they entered their room. "Hey, Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"What do we do until dinner?"

"We can talk, you silly. I know how your day was, but mine was… actually kind of boring, hmm…"

"…Is it usually boring?"

"Nopey lopey. I guess it’s just been boring at work. No big deal. So how are you liking Equestria so far?"

He was taken aback by that question and he felt it was necessary to ponder it. He had only actually been in Equestria for a little while, so he could only go on that. Aside from the manticore incident, he would say that his experience had been pretty fun, if not as crazy as he would have liked when it came to a magical world. And there lay the problem, magic. He had always thought that actually using magic was to be something delightful, not a burden. He wanted magic to work like it did in the movies and video games. He wanted to do amazing things, so he sighed. "Um, it’s okay so far. I’m definitely happier here than that stupid place… I just wish that I could use my magic for longer periods of time. I dunno."

"Hmm, you want to use magic as a hobby maybe? Something fun?"

He perked up upon hearing that. "Yeah! I don’t know what yet, but it would be nice. I’ll think of something, but I guess I need to keep practicing, huh?"

"That would be best… I wish you could show me more of those movies from your world, but only Twilight can do that right now. Maybe we can read some books or I could read you one… If you want?"

He then felt irritated, missing her social queue entirely. "I can read, Pinkie."

"I know that, but sometimes it’s nice to have others do things for you. Don’t ya think?"

"Sure?" He still did not like the idea but figured it was best to try what his mother had asked. She found a story that she called Daring Do and asked him to hop on her bed. She began the tale and, after a few pages, he had to admit that he was enjoying it. Whenever something happened in the story she would do her best to cause sound effects of her own or even act out the scene in humorous ways. It seemed childish, but he loved every second of it. Dinner was skipped over by them, Mrs. Cake having caught them in the act but keeping quiet when she saw that her body had gone unnoticed. She smiled and left them alone.

Down at the dinner table, Mr. Cake had stopped his gawking, finally, and began to converse.

"Honey?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Are we really housing a dragon who can do magic?"

"…Yes, dear."

"Ahh, neat. I guess I’m just, uh, getting used to that."

"I learned a long time ago that you can never get used to Pinkie, and I’ve accepted that. Besides, Spyro is very nice, and he’s been through a lot so be nice."

"Okay I will. But what happens when he gets bigger? And older?"

"Pinkie will think of something. She has always loved working for us and I don’t think something so trivial will stop her. Are you worried about the twins?"

"…Aren’t you?!"

"Always. But I don’t think Spyro is violent. Plus, it’s up to us to set a good example for Spyro and even for Pinkie."

"Okay, fine, we will." He finished with a smile that she returned.

Halfway through the book, both pony and dragon had fallen asleep. The Cakes found Pinkie hunched over her book and Spyro tucked into her covers. They quickly corrected this by placing Pinkie under the same blanket and wishing them a good night’s sleep. Mr. Cake smirked.

"I think I know a certain set of foals in the other room that could use a good story too."

Comments

[Cold Spike]

Fixed...his name just threw me. 2113111

[More Dakka]

I'm liking how you handle magic in this fic, makes a welcome change.

[Cold Spike]

Thank you! I wanted to try something different, they make magic seem too easy on the show and in many stories.... 2118483

[DerpyMuffins101]

[Phobos]

I hate it when people make magic so easy in the fics. I like this magic

[Hoppa_21]

"Yeah. Thank you, uh, Mom."

Love the Pinkiemom idea!

On that note, it would probably be an interesting story idea if Pinkie would adopt a little Draconequus. Chaos magic and all.

These are the three basic steps in casting any spell no matter how complex. Imagine, confidence and, finally, channeling."

Is there a group with such magical theories or just MLP theories in general? Would be a really big help for story writing, if there was.

"No one can actually read it; the purpose of the symbols is to activate the magic. As long as you remember them while you are casting then the spell will work, simple as that." She finished with a smile, but Spyro was frowning.

Spyro the video game nerd frowning, about a video game task? I mean pressing buttons in the right order is the same as imagining those symbols. But maybe he just doesn't realize the similarity or he never played a game that required button combos.

[deathcombo99]

M must resist to say words HA fuck it
Wingguardian levosia

[Cold Spike]

6674886 In the next book, Spyro at Hogwarts

[Lord_01010000]

6674886

[robotic]

6677805
i look through the comments and this is the 1st one i see im laughing hard for the unexpected

[Luckyfanisaac]

Twilight blushed. "Thanks, Pinkie. Are you… Hmm" She stopped talking when she looked down at Spyro who was still fast asleep. "Do you know if he’s a heavy sleeper?"

Aren’t they upstairs and out of view from Spyro?