An eight-year old boy runs from home in a carefully executed plan that somehow does not go the way he expects.
An eight-year old boy runs from home in a carefully executed plan that somehow does not go the way he expects.
Perhaps water is a good thing to pack, even if it is heavy.
(This story contains some really old writing, but people still seem to like it, so I have restarted writing it. Still, updates may be infrequent, due to the sheer number of stories I keep writing and updating. I don't like giving up on any of my stories I have published.)
"I have half a mind to run away, just to teach you a lesson," pouted eight-year-old John Beckenridge.
His mother, the target of his ire, remained perfectly calm. Unfortunately, she knew this behavior all too well. It was quite understandable, seeing as she had just extended his punishment for another month. Fortunately, this was easy to defuse. Taking the analytical course of action always worked in these emotional situations. "Now Johnny, I understand you're mad, but think about it this way. Where would you go? What would you eat? In fact, if you feel you need to, go ahead and run away. I won't stop you. But mark my words, you'll be running back within a day without any money."
This did not help John's mood, especially since the reason he didn't have any money is that she took away his allowance. In fact, he did know the answers to those questions, but instead of answering them, he just gave an ambiguous grunt and went up to his room. A year ago, maybe, his mother would have been right. But a lot had happened since then, and he liked to read. A lot. But maybe his parents shouldn't have let him read those books about wilderness survival.
He was still going to run away, of course, but he was going to be smart about it. He lived in a fairly small town, and almost everybody knew him, or at least who he was. But nobody would think to look in the nature preserve. Even if they did, it was a big place. A perfect hiding place. And with what he knew, it was going to be pleasant as well. Just like an extended camping trip.
Of course, it wasn't going to be forever. Just about a week or two. Just enough to make his parents appreciate him again, but not long enough to get too uncomfortable. And his mother practically gave him permission.
No, wait. She did give him permission.
He looked over to his backpack, which was on his bed. He had already planned everything out, of course. Ever since he got grounded the first time, he was already thinking and planning his escape. Everything was already packed and set to go.
Maybe he should check everything again, though, just in case. John unzipped his backpack and took out items one at a time.
Compass. Check.
Two full sets of clothes. Check. That way, if he fell in a river or something, he had something as backup.
One waterproof box of matches. The big kind that held five hundred. Although it was now only about two-fifty. Check.
One Swiss Army Knife. Check.
One small gardening trowel. Check.
About sixty feet of twine. Perhaps a bit excessive, but it was better to be prepared. Anyway, it was the only roll they had, at it would take too much effort to unravel it. Check.
One large bag of trail mix, so he had some food until he found some more. Check.
One flashlight with two full battery replacements. Check.
One sleeping bag. It was essential, but way too heavy for his liking. Check.
No tent. Tents were for people who didn't know how to make survival shelters. Plus, they were too heavy for anything but camping with a car.
Shoving the items back into his bag, he looked around the room for potentially the last time for two weeks. Okay, it wasn't that bad, but still, it was a big change. Slinging the backpack onto his back, he double-checked the D-clips connecting the sleeping bag to his pack, then pushed his bedroom window open and climbed out. There was about a five-foot drop, not too bad normally, but he miscalculated the weight of his bag, earning him a mouthful of grass.
How can grass be so hard?
Rising unsteadily to his feet, he dusted himself off and walked resolutely down the road leading to Everfree Nature Preserve. It was a fairly short walk, and soon he was at the preserve's border fence. For obvious reasons, it was far from the main gate. No need to have any witnesses to his departure. With a heave, he managed to toss his backpack over the fence, and was relieved to see that no part of it got caught by the barbed wire at the top.
Climbing the fence himself was a lot easier, using a balled up shirt to protect his hands from the wire. He just had to make sure that none of his clothing got snagged.
He landed on the other side in a crouch, then picked up his bag again and turned to face the depths of the forest. With a sigh of resignation, he headed forth into the unknown.
-------------------------
As John traveled, he checked his compass regularly to stay on the same heading. He did want to came back, after all. He turned the dial on his compass to mark the desired course.
Sure, maybe he didn't need to be so precise. If he walked long enough, he'd meet the edge eventually. But the preserve was miles across, and a degree off could mean a lot of distance. He did not want to end up in an unknown part of the city, or worse, end up at the main gate where everyone could see him. It was best to be safe.
His first goal was to find the three basic necessities - food, water, and shelter - as fast as possible. At least, that's what those books all said. Shelter was easy. Building one was fun, and more importantly, could be made of about anything. He had food for now. Water was the highest priority. He had neglected to pack it, mostly because he found out after packing just how much it weighed. Water was an easy thing to find, right? Animals had to drink somehow. Anyway, a stream or lake would have the food he needed once his trail mix was gone. That's what the twine was for anyway - making a fishing pole.
Now with a mission, John renewed his speed. It couldn't be that hard, could it?
-------------------------
An hour later, he was less sure. his muscles burned from walking, and his shoulders ached from the weight of his backpack that just seemed to get heavier and heavier. Worst of all, he had forgotten that exercise makes you thirsty. After walking for an hour, he was sweating profusely. he was quite parched. of course, it was well past dinner time, and hungry, but all he had was trail mix, which would do no good at all. Even he knew that it would only make him thirstier.
Why, oh why was I so stupid not to bring any water? I planned out everything. Why didn't I see that this was a terrible idea?
He looked ahead of himself at the forest, which looked identical to when he first began walking.
How far have I walked, anyway? I must be getting to the other side already. It feels like I've been walking for miles, anyway. Maybe - maybe I can just go into the town just a little, just to get the water I need. I'm sure it'll be fine. Doesn't this forest have any water sources?
John groaned as he came to the bottom of a steep hill.
Just what I need. More leg pain. at least it's something different than just trees. Wait, if there's a hill, that might mean the rainwater will collect into a river or lake!
He trudged up the hill with renewed vigor, wincing at the pain in his legs. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he reached the crest of the hill. Stopping momentarily, he appreciated his vantage point. He could see for miles. Not a tree was on the entire hill.
Wait, miles? How big is this nature preserve? And is that...a castle? What's that doing here?
Indeed it was a castle. At least, what was left of one. It looked quite old. Beyond that, however, was a gorge. Which could only mean...
"A river!"
Ignoring the pain in his legs, John ran down the hill, around the castle, and over to the river. What he failed to realize was the gorge that it occupied was quite deep.
So close, and yet so far... I have a lot of twine. If only I had a bucket or something to bring the water back up.
John looked thoughtfully at the mostly intact castle ruin behind him.
"Hmm... maybe..."
-------------------------
John grinned as he found just what he was looking for. Opening the small closet, he picked up a small wooden bucket. Perfect for what he needed.
"Hah! Even hundreds of years ago, they still needed janitors."
The reality of his statement gave him pause. That couldn't be right.
America doesn't have any hundred-year-old castles. It barely became a country a few hundred years ago. America doesn't have any castles, for that matter. Except maybe in Disneyland.
But the urgency of his parched throat caused him to abandon that train of thought. Who cared, anyway? It was useful for getting wooden buckets from. He didn't even have to make a shelter, anyway. He wasn't on to complain.
John ran back to the edge of the gorge, and unzipped his backpack, bringing out the twine.
So glad I brought this.
He tied the end of the long roll of twine to the rusty wooden handle of the bucket.
I only hope this is still watertight.
Sitting on the edge, he slowly lowered the bucket down towards the river. About three-quarters of the way down, he ran into a bit of a problem. There was a bit of a ledge just below him that thoroughly blocked him from lowering the bucket any further. Looking to either side of himself, he noticed that it extended quite a bit on either side of him as well.
If I can only swing the bucket outwards a bit...
With an ominous crumbling noise, the soil beneath him began to give way, falling down into the chasm. Panicking, he scrabbled for what remained of the ledge he was sitting on, but he was facing forward. It was impossible to both turn around and get a good grip.
So John fell. It wasn't even into the water.
It was on that stupid ledge about fifty feet down.
Huh. Is it... glowing? Weird.
John died instantly on impact.
Miles away, Twilight Sparkle woke up with a start.
The dragon in question raised his head blearily from his pillow. He looked at the clock and sighed. "Twilight, it's four A.M."
Twilight brushed him off. "No time. We need to get the girls."
"Why? Like I said before, it's four A.M. None of them are going to be-"
"I think something's happening to the Elements of Harmony!"
"Um... what?"
"I said, 'I think something's happening to the Elements of Harmony!' What did you think I said?"
Spike groaned. "Nevermind."
Why couldn't she have this revelation at a more reasonable hour? Like, at noon or something.
-------------------------
About ten minutes later, they all stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest. That is, except for Spike, who was presumably back in bed.
A few of them (but mostly just Rainbow Dash) were grumpy at being woken up, but they quickly understood the severity of the situation once Twilight mentioned the Elements of Harmony. Well, that's not completely true. Pinkie Pie never did seem to understand seriousness, period.
"Whee! Let's go!" she said, starting to walk with an overly bouncy gait.
"Pinkie! This is serious! The Everfree Forest is dangerous!"
Applejack looked at Twilight incredulously. "Twilight, we've all done this many times before. If we all stick together, we'll be just fine."
"I most certainly agree," Rarity said approvingly. "As disgusting as the forest may be, the path to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters is one of the safest places in here. Twilight, you worry far too much."
"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically. "And I can totally handle it even if it does get dangerous."
Rarity gave her a disapproving glare.
"Umm... I mean, we could totally handle it. That's totally what I meant."
Twilight sighed. "I suppose you're right. All of you. This whole thing is just making me so nervous. I mean, if something is powerful enough to affect the Elements of Harmony..."
"You never did explain that," Applejack pointed out. "How exactly do you know anything is wrong with them, anyway?"
Twilight grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. I didn't explain that. Sorry. Well, my connection to the Element of Magic felt funny."
"I didn't know you can feel the connection to your Element." Fluttershy said, confused.
"Neither did I," said Twilight. "I only noticed I could this morning, when it changed, all of the sudden.
"It didn't... break, did it?" she asked, worried.
"No," said Twilight, a bit confused herself. "It just... changed slightly. I don't know how to explain it. Sorry, I don't understand it myself. It seems like none of you are affected, which probably means it's only the Element of Magic involved. But if somepony else got a hold on even just one of the Elements, they could cause a lot of destruction. Which is why we need to hurry! Come on!"
Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight, confused. "Isn't that what I said just now?"
-------------------------
The six friends stood facing the Tree of Harmony.
Twilight gasped. "I was right? My Element is missing!" She frowned. "But who took it? Where is it now?"
"Um," began Fluttershy quietly. "There's somepony under the Tree, Twilight."
Twilight looked where Fluttershy was pointing. How had she missed that? It looked like a small white foal with a deep purple mane. Unconscious, of course. Probably didn't even know where the thief went.
Twilight became confused as her view of the foal was blocked by Fluttershy. Why would she try to do that-
Oh, wait, she's just trying to help it. Which I should probably have been doing a while ago instead of staring. Oops.
Twilight rushed over to help, examining it (or rather, him) for wounds. Suddenly, she gasped.
"What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Is it bad?"
"Thief!" she shouted, pointing at his chest, which the others could see now had the Element of Magic embedded in it. Twilight's eye was twitching quite annoyingly. It made it harder to see the thief.
"Um, Twilight, you okay?"
"Give it back, thief!" Twilight, grabbing her Element in her magic, pulled hard.
"Twilight! What are you doing?" Rainbow Dash shouted, landing in front of her.
As Twilight had hoped, her Element came loose. She did not, however, expect the thief in front of her to glow brightly. Or dissolve into light.
No, she did not expect that.
The strange, rather solid-looking light flowed into the gem held in her magic, which grew slightly larger.
The six of them froze in shock. Then five of them turned sharply towards Twilight, who shrank away from their glares.
"Um... oops?"
-------------------------
"What were you thinking?"
"I don't know, Applejack, I just... sort of got caught up in the moment."
"'Got caught up in the moment'? Your'e an alicorn, Twi'. You can't afford to get 'caught up in the moment'. All right. Let's just assume for a moment that this was a perfectly normal situation, exactly like you assumed it was instead of... whatever that was. Say some villain got a hold of your Element and managed to stick it to himself. Do you really think it would be a good idea to just rip it off? It would have killed him, Twi'. Killed him." Applejack looked at the Element sitting on Twilight's dining room table. "Not to say you haven't already."
Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but shut it after a moment. She sighed, hanging her head. "You're right, Applejack. I wasn't thinking at all. I always knew that my mind could get away from me. I just never imagined it could be this..."
"Hey, Twilight!" Spike said cheerfully, coming down the stairs. "Back already? See, I told you it would be just fine... Wait, why is Twilight's Element on the table? Isn't it supposed to be in the Tree now? And where are the other Elements?"
"Why does everypony look so... sad? I've never seen Pinkie Pie's mane straight before."
Rainbow Dash looked to her left towards Pinkie Pie. Slowly, she edged away from her. "Hey, girls, cheer up!" she said in a voice clearly meant to be encouraging, but the fear in her voice kind of ruined the effect. "I-I'm sure he didn't, like, die or anything. Just got sucked into the gem. That makes him fine, right?"
Pinkie Pie's mane inflated slightly, along with her expression. "Y-yeah. Maybe it'll be okay. Maybe he can come back or something. Or he could be stuck there forever. But... but maybe that's fun, too. I've never been in a gem before."
Spike took a few steps backwards. "I think I'll let you girls handle it," he said, turning his body around to further expedite his escape.
He was a bit too late. The Element started glowing, rising into the air as the same tangible light surrounded it, taking the form of a unicorn foal, who fell back on the table with a loud "thunk".
And so he woke for the first time.
The first thing he saw was the face of the purple alicorn he knew so well.
"Mommy!"
Six mouths dropped open. One dragon fell in a dead faint.
"What?!"
-------------------------
Rarity spoke first. "Twilight, I never knew-"
"Because I didn't."
"Oh." She seemed oddly disappointed.
Well, I don't know why he thinks I'm his mother, but this is getting a bit too weird. I think Celestia needs to know about this. She knows more about the Elements of Harmony than anypony alive."
"But who's going to take care of him until then?" Fluttershy asked, worried.
"I will, of course," said Twilight, surprised. "He thinks that I am his mother. The logical course of action, therefore, is to have him stay with me, the pony he is most familiar with."
"Um... not to be rude or anything, Twilight, but... I don't really think you know everything that comes with that."
"What? Of course I do. I have read numerous books on that subject," she said, as if this proved her point.
Pinkie Pie shook her head vigorously. "Oh, no, no. Books are one thing, Twilight, but this requires experience. It wears you out, Twilight. Even me."
"It's okay, Pinkie. I'm fine getting behind on my studies a bit."
"No, no, no. Nononono. Twilight, this would mean zero study time. Zero. Trust me."
"Why are you all so sure I can't handle it?" Twilight said, irritated. "You know what? I am going to take care of little Nova here. And I am going to be fantastic at it."
Rarity leaned over and whispered in Pinkie's ear. "Did she just name him?"
Pinkie grinned madly. "Yep."
Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie with an appraising look. "Did you just-"
"Yep, I sure did. I just had to make sure. If it wasn't, that would be bad for everypony involved."
"I never do give you enough credit, Pinkie." They all watched as Twilight frantically prepared for the new member of her "family".
Twilight looked up at her five friends, all watching her. "You know, you can all go now if you want. I'm sure you have better things to do."
Rarity broke out of what looked like a trance. "Oh, of course, dear. Come on, girls. Let's leave our new mother to her work." The five of them left, entering the streets of Ponyville, now busy with the morning rush.
Now alone, Twilight finally appreciated the weight of her decision.
What did I get myself into?
-------------------------
Nova was, quite simply, the easiest foal to take care of. He never seemed to cry, slept soundly, and was at just the right age to handle solid foods. Well, it was slightly worrying that he wasn't speaking yet, but it wasn't that unusual to be this late. And if Twilight was correct, he was just made less than a day ago. Quite understandable.
Soon enough, however, and perhaps sooner than she would have liked, it was time for her appointment with Princess Celestia. Of course, Celestia had reminded Twilight that she no longer needed an appointment to see her, but she insisted that she should wait until Celestia had time free.
Which she did now. In fact, the royal chariot was already outside. For her transportation.
She would never get used to that. She much preferred the train.
Nova stayed completely silent the entire way. That was getting a bit worrying. He had barely made a sound the entire week.
Well, he is the Element of Magic. Not exactly a pony. More like a rock. A sentient rock.
But under that reasoning, he should have the knowledge and experience of centuries. So what is he?
I suppose that's the reason why I'm meeting with Celestia. She found the Elements of Harmony in the first place. Not to mention figured out how to use them by herself. She'll know what's going on.
-------------------------
"I have no idea what is going on here."
Twilight facehooved. So much for that idea.
"This should not be possible."
Twilight looked back up at her mentor. "What do you mean?"
"The Elements of Harmony have a limited intelligence, true, but they aren't really... alive. They have magic, but no wellspring. No real life. Nova here does. He isn't just the Element of Magic. Life has to come from a source."
"All right. I think I get it. But why is that impossible. Sure, it's unlikely, but it seems perfectly possible, if difficult."
"The Tree of Harmony is the only entity capable of such an act, but doing so just wouldn't make sense. It would be going against the Tree's character."
"Why?"
"To take a wellspring from a pony..." Celestia shuddered. "It would be worse than murder. The only possible way for it to happen would be terribly unlikely."
"What is it?" asked Twilight, now apprehensive.
"If the pony was already dying. The wellspring would still be there. Taking it like this would be possibly the only way to save their life."
"Hmm... as a theory, that might work. Still, it's incredibly improbable."
Their thoughts were interrupted as Discord appeared out of thick air. "Do my ears deceive me? Did somepony say something doesn't make sense? Where is it?"
"Huh?"
Discord looked around. And asquare. His eyes rested on the white foal standing directly in front of him. Discord picked his eyes back up, shoved them back in his face and looked at it in horror.
"What happened to you?"
Twilight spoke up. "That's just what we were discussing. Our initial theory was that-"
"I mean, it just stripped away anything that was interesting about you!"
Twilight stared at Discord, forgetting that she should probably be annoyed at his interruption. She realized suddenly that she had never actually seen him angry before. Sure, he was annoyed plenty of times, but this... this was new.
Discord looked at Nova intently, snapping his fingers. There was a flash of light, and his coat suddenly turned pitch black. He grew suddenly, aging several years.
Twilight looked at Discord accusingly. "What was tha-"
Suddenly, Nova collapsed to the ground. There was a flash of anger from the two Princesses, but it faded as he climbed back to his feet, apparently unharmed. He shook his head dizzily.
"Whoa... that was weird."
He turned towards Discord gratefully. "Thanks! That's a lot better!"
Twilight gaped.
"See?" Discord said smugly. "Somepony appreciates what I do."
"Um, what just happened?" asked Twilight, confused.
"I helped," said Discord simply. Discord pointed at Nova, who was now examining himself in a wall mirror that had most certainly not been there a second ago. "See? All coherent and everything!"
"Which is great and everything, but..."
Nova abandoned the mirror, walking back towards the group. "Um... Discord?"
"Yes?"
"Well, I know it looks kinda cool, but... was there any real reason for the fangs?"
"Yes."
"...So what's the reason? Other than an awesome Halloween costume, of course."
"It's just another name for Nightmare Night," Celestia told her.
"I haven't heard of that name before in any of the books I've read about it."
"It's the name ponies used for the festival before Luna's... affliction."
Nova raised a hoof. "Anybody care to answer my question?"
Discord raised his paw in defense. "I was just being polite. Trying to talk over somepony is just rude. All right. I'll be blunt. You aren't exactly an herbivore."
Twilight gasped. Nova ignored her. "What do you mean? I got turned into a pony, didn't I?"
Twilight gasped again. Discord dismissed it, rolling his eyes (this time keeping them in his face). "The Tree of Harmony is... limited in what it can do. It can't do anything chaotic. It doesn't know what to do with memory, something inherently chaotic, and it can't create anything new. So it made your pony body out of anything it could find. And magic, of course. Lots of that. Otherwise nothing would work. But your digestion is quite the same as before. More importantly, you have the same blood as before."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"You're type O."
"My question still stands."
Discord sighed. "All right. I usually just ignore biology in general, but you humans have fascinated me for centuries."
There was a soft "Oh" from Celestia.
"So I know a few things. Like, for example, people with a type O blood type can't be vegetarians. Or, at least, it's incredibly unhealthy."
"Oh. So..."
"It was a practical change. For once."
"And the color?"
"That's just because it's cool."
"All right." Nova looked at Twilight, who was looking very queasy. "Why couldn't you just change my blood type?"
Discord scoffed. "You think I paid that much attention?"
"Okay. I get it. It was just a thought."
Discord looked around himself. "Well, it looks like I'm done here. Bye!" Discord split into two halves, joined himself into a hole, climbed through it, then disappeared in a flash.
Nova and Twilight blinked. Celestia shook her head. "Does he ever do subtle?"
---------------------------------
Nova stepped off the chariot in front of Twilight's library, rubbing his head. With his memories back, he could distinctly recognize two sets of memories. It didn't help that one of those sets belonged to a thousand-plus year old inanimate object. It wasn't as much memory as... feeling. Thousands of years of feeling. He wanted to go home.
Wait, wasn't I supposed to be running away from that? It's only been... Oh, wow. An entire week.
Good enough. I can officially want to go home now. He looked down at his hooves. Unfortunately, that's not an option.
Nova followed Twilight, walking into the library. Maybe I could write my parents a note or something. Let them know I'm okay and not dead or something.
But I'd have to walk all the way through town like this. A pony. A very distinctly alien pony.
He looked around at the books surrounding him. Wait, I remember they said something about the Element of Magic. Maybe that can help me stay unnoticed for long enough. Or maybe even turn me back permanently! Nova looked at Twilight again. She seemed to have recovered from the shock she had been in before. He still felt something strange from her, a sort of... connection. It was hard to describe. It was the same sort of feeling he remembered from the Element's memories. Was it that she was particularly good at magic? He did feel something similar from Celestia, albeit subdued.
It was worth a shot, in any case.
"Um... Twilight?"
Twilight jerked her head up from the book she was reading. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you, I just got kind of behind in my studies... and you seemed to be better now... But never mind that. What did you need?"
"Oh, I'm sorry... I was just... I don't want to be a bother. You're really busy right now."
Twilight got up fully from the desk she was sitting at. "No, really, it's fine. I'm not technically required to do any of this, now that I kind of graduated in my studies. My schedule's kind of messed up anyway. What is it? Really, you're more important than a couple of books."
Nova shuffled his hooves slightly. "Could you teach me magic, please?"
Instantly, Twilight was about four feet in the air. "Yes!" she shouted enthusiastically.
At his shocked look, she quickly checked herself. "Um, I mean, yes. That would be perfectly fine. Great, in fact. I always did want a student of my own."
After a moment, Twilight looked back at him again. "Wait, wouldn't you already know a lot of magic? From your Element, I mean."
Nova looked back down at his hooves. "No, not really. I just have these... sort of... feelings. It's weird."
"So... you could say that you know absolutely nothing about magic?"
"Uh... yeah?"
"Good!"
"Huh?"
Twilight gained a huge grin. "Then I can teach you from the start!"
Nova looked at the suspiciously purple-looking feather in front of him.
I can't believe I'm actually doing this.
Twilight finished writing something down on a piece of parchment, then rolled it up, placing it on her desk. She turned towards him again, confidently. Based on the look on her face, she couldn't be happier.
"All right. We'll be starting today with levitation, which, I'm sure you know, is one of the most useful skills you can learn as a unicorn, if not quite the easiest."
"Um... I don't really know anything, remember?" Nova said with a hint of worry.
Twilight paused for a moment, derailed. "Oh, right. Yes. Sorry. Anyway, it's a very good place to start. Technically, there is one easier spell, but most foals learning magic find this to be a lot more interesting. Still, don't be discouraged if you don't get it on your first try. Everypony struggles the first time. Let me demonstrate." She lifted the feather off the ground slowly.
Nova's eyes widened. "Whoa."
Twilight looked at him, confused. "It's just levitation. Nothing that special."
"That. Looked. Amazing!" he said in awe.
Twilight tilted her head. "Huh?"
"All those patterns, all the lines of energy... This is quite possibly the most complicated and awesome thing I've ever seen. Period."
Twilight gasped in understanding. "You have thaumatic sight?"
"What?"
"Normally, it's a difficult and complex spell, used to see the energies involved in magic. If you see it naturally..."
"Is it bad?"
"No, of course not. This is great! Also, it makes teaching you quite a lot easier."
"Why is that?"
"I can just show you how to perform a spell, instead of trying to explain it to you. You won't even have to learn any magical script until much later. I can just demonstrate, then you can copy me!"
"All... all right."
"So, the first thing you need to do is to learn how to channel magic to your horn. The most efficient way is to relax and let it flow naturally, but since you don't know what magic feels like yet, just concentrating really hard on your horn works, too. It's extremely inefficient, but it works for now."
"All right," Nova said uncertainly. "I'll try." He crossed his eyes, focusing intently on his strange new appendage. Surprisingly, a fuzzy, indistinct light crawled slowly up to it. Grasping at the new feeling, he started to push this strange substance into his horn. But it resisted him. So he pushed harder. Screwing up his face, he forced everything he could into getting it there. Without warning, all of it suddenly released from the tip, shooting out of his horn and making a small burn mark on the wooden ceiling.
"Oops. Sorry about that."
Twilight waved off his apology. "Don't worry. I do more damage than that, and I can still fix it with a spell. That was actually pretty good for a first try! This time though, don't use quite so much. See if you can lift the feather."
Nova glanced at the feather, then looked back at Twilight. "Could I watch you do it again? I forgot what it looked like."
"Certainly." Twilight's horn lit up again, and the feather lifted slowly up into the air.
"Okay. I think I have it now."
Twilight cut her magic off, letting the feather fall back to the wooden floor. Nova focused some energy into his horn, this time finding it a lot easier. Noticing the energy was still fuzzy and indistinct, he molded it to match the complex energy patterns surrounding Twilight's horn. Surprisingly, it obeyed him quite readily. Once he was reasonably certain he had it right, he directed his attention to the feather, extending the lines of energy across the distance. A pattern just like the one around his horn formed around the feather, and it rose slowly into the air.
Twilight frowned slightly. "Interesting. Your magic's color looks identical to mine. I wonder if that's the Element's influence."
"What do you mean?"
"Every unicorn has their own unique magic signature. Like a hoofprint, but for magic. Even if two ponies have a similar color magic, it will always be just slightly different. Even twins."
"All right. So... why does that matter?"
Well, since I'm bonded with the Element of Magic, and you are... kinda attached to it..."
"Right. Yeah."
"But that is besides the point. An interesting idea for a research project, but we're here to teach you magic."
He grinned. "This is definitely way cooler than what I thought it would be."
Twilight cocked her head. "What were you expecting?"
"A lot of studying."
She rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to learn that stuff eventually. Especially if you want to do more than just levitation."
"But can't I just copy those, too?"
"You could," she started, smiling. "But let me just test something. Levitate the feather again."
Nova blinked. "Wait... can you show it to me again?"
Twilight's grin widened. "See what I mean?"
"Umm... no?"
She rolled her eyes. "No matter what, you're memorizing something. Why not memorize the stuff that can teach you to make spells instead of copy them."
"Oh."
"But we should still focus on levitation for now. From what I know about memorizing things, it pretty much comes down to the number of times you've practiced it. You really do have an advantage, being able to see the magic, though. Most foals have a lot more failures before they get it right."
Nova grinned.
"Now that you have the basics of how the spell works, we can try it on something heavier." Twilight set a book in front of him.
"Preclassical Pegasus Culture, and Its Effects on Modern-day Economics?"
"It's just one of the ones I haven't gotten to sorting yet."
"Oh, all right. Could you show me again?"
"Sure." The book raised into the air slowly, then settled back on the table.
"Thanks." Nova pulled on his magic again, and formed the spell once more, the lines forming concentric circles around his horn and around the book.
But it just stayed there. Frowning, he pulled, trying to channel more magic. "Uhh... it's not working."
"You have to channel more, Nova. This isn't a feather."
"I know, I'm trying to do that. Is the spell pattern wrong? I think I did it right. Maybe if I-" He pulled the book sideways instead of up, and finally, it began to move. Slowly.
"I think it would just be easier to just move it with my hoof."
Twilight grumbled in frustration. "You channeled more magic than this before."
"But that was, like, completely uncontrolled. I don't even know what I was doing. The magic was resisting me, so I pushed as much as I could into it. And then it just... gave up and released."
Twilight frowned. "That... doesn't make sense. What you described sounds like the process of a magic surge, but nopony ever had that weak of a surge. And why would you have weak magic if you literally have the Element of Magic to draw on?"
Nova put a hoof to his chest, feeling the hard crystal. He shivered. "Discord gave me... myself back, but I don't think this is here to give me superpowers."
"I know... it doesn't make me better at anything, either. But it's the Element of Magic. Why would it make you less magical?"
"Didn't you say it was keeping me alive or something?
"What does that have to do with magic?"
Nova sat down, thinking. "Is it possible to overuse your magic?"
"Uh... yeah, that was going to be part of the lesson today. Making sure to exercise your magic without getting magical exhaustion."
"So... what happens if you use magic while you have this magical exhaustion?"
"That's pretty much impossible, since, you know, the exhaustion."
"Theoretically."
Twilight shuffled her hooves awkwardly. "It could be fatal."
"...Wait, what does fatal mean again?"
"It could kill you."
"Okay. So... you need magic to survive? Or is there something else?"
Twilight grinned brightly. "Yes, exactly! You came up with this idea yourself?"
"Not exactly. I was just thinking of a reason why the Element thing was needed to keep me alive. And maybe why my magic is so weak."
"Huh?"
"Well, maybe I can't do very much magic, since it's all used up."
Twilight scrunched up her snout. "But it's a manifestation of the literal concept of magic. How could it 'run out?'"
Nova looked down. "Oh, sorry."
She shook her head. "No, it's okay! Don't apologize, that was a good thought."
"Wait, you said it didn't make you more powerful."
"Yes?"
"Then what was it supposed to do?"
"Oh, it only works when all of my friends.... oh."
"What?"
"It's not very powerful on its own."
Nova scuffed a hoof across the floor. "Well, at least magic looks cool, even if I can't really use it."
Twilight gasped. "I have an idea, wait right here!" She disappeared in a flash, and Nova could hear her rummaging through her desk downstairs.
She reappeared right in front of him, causing him to blink rapidly in an attempt to get the spots out of his eyes.
"Here it is!" She held out the object in her magic.
"Wait... chalk?"
"Well, it's hardly convenient, so I mostly just use it for research, but since you can see the patterns and everything, I don't even have to teach you all the complicated stuff." She pushed the chalk closer to him, gesturing for him to take it.
Nova hesitantly took it from her with his magic, which only caused Twilight's grin to grow wider. "I... still have no idea what you're talking about."
"Magic circles! Just draw what you see on the ground, then put magic into it!"
He looked at the chalk in his grip. "Uh... that's really cool and all, but how is that different from what I was doing before?"
"Well, the point of the circles in the first place was that you didn't have to put in all the magic at once. Or if the spell was too complicated for the pony. Or if it needed more than one unicorn to cast.... But that's besides the point."
"All right. And the magic just goes into the chalk? That sounds... weird."
"Well, technically, the chalk has some compounds in it that increase it's conductivity."
"...I didn't understand any of that. But I think I got the point. Special chalk."
Twilight rolled her eyes, taking the piece of chalk back. "Yes, exactly. The only difference with this is the center - you draw a six-pointed star in order to channel magic into it properly."
"Like, your cutie mark? And the element?"
She tilted her head. "That has potential, but the asymmetry... No, I don't think it would work. I've never had anything work without the other Elements involved in some way. This is a lot easier to draw, anyway." Gripped in her magic, the chalk ran over the wood, drawing two intersecting triangles.
"Um... why that in particular, then?"
"Oh, it's just the symbol most used in enchanting things. It helps mundane things conduct magical things. And it acts as a reserve of magic for the spell."
Nova looked confused. "Wait... so the chalk isn't magical?"
"I mean... technically it is, but it just improves the efficiency of the whole thing. If you really wanted, you could just draw all of this with a stick in the dirt, but it wouldn't work as well." She floated the chalk back over to him, and with a bit of mental effort, he took it back.
"Hey, I remembered it this time."
Twilight grinned. "All right. Now draw what you see."
Nova went to work, but it wasn't long before Twilight noticed something unusual. "Um... Nova?"
He finished the last stroke of the third ring of the circle. "Am I doing something wrong?"
"Uh... this isn't the circle for a levitation spells. Levitation isn't that complex."
Nova looked at the circle in confusion. "But... this is what I see."
Twilight looked at the strange patterns uneasily. "All right. Let's see where this goes. How many layers do you have to go?"
"Four."
As Nova continued to draw, Twilight just stared.
"All right. I'm finished. Let's just hope this doesn't blow up. What am I supposed to do again?"
"Just... hmm... the simple explanation is to pour unfocused magic into the center, but you haven't exactly done that yet... Wait. You did that when you shot the ceiling that first time."
"Wasn't that just leaking? Or this 'surge' thing?"
"Yes, but most foals do something similar, just to a lesser extent. If you do it enough times, you can learn to do it on purpose. That's the way most foals learn, at least."
Nova sighed. "This isn't something I can just copy, is it?"
Twilight chuckled. "No, it isn't. You've already done it once, though, so it should be a lot easier."
He walked through the rings of the circle he drew, standing next to the six-pointed star in the center. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and once again tried to bring as much magic into his horn as possible. Despite what Twilight said, it didn't seem any easier than before. Though that was probably due to the "surge" thing. Eventually, though, the magic burst from confinement, and hit the star. Instead of a burn, though, the star just glowed. More importantly, though, he noticed the sort of "muscle" that gave way when it happened. One that he could release.
"Wait! Nova!"
He broke his concentration, and looked up. "What?"
"Do that again, but keep your eyes open."
"Okay?" He turned back to the star, that was still glowing. "Hey, it's just like a battery!"
Twilight came trotting over. "Why would it look anything like artillery?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? A battery is... uh..." Nova rubbed his head with a hoof. "...I don't remember."
"But that wasn't what I wanted to show you. Your magic! Do that thing again."
"Um... all right." He looked back to the star. "Let's see if I can get this to work better this time." He built energy in his horn again, then released it far more naturally.
"Wait, my magic's white now?" Nova looked at Twilight, keeping the wispy line of magic pointed at the star. It wasn't that hard to aim - the star seemed to soak it up like a sponge. "Why?"
Twilight grinned widely. "I have no idea!" She looked back at the star, slowly growing brighter. "You think you have enough in there to lift the book now?"
Nova cut off the flow again. "Maybe. Let's just try."
Plucking the book off the table, she set it down at the center of the circle. "Now, all you have to do is connect all six points to the circle, and the spell will be activated."
"Wait, does the book have to be at the center?"
"In a way, yes. Magic takes the path of least resistance, after all."
"...What?"
"It does whatever is easiest. So this will levitate the closest object."
"Oh. So... can I do it now?"
"Of course."
Nova picked up the chalk again, and carefully drew the short lines that would connect the points to the circle. As he reached the last one, he paused. "Wait, shouldn't we be standing farther back, in case something goes wrong?"
"Not really. There really isn't enough power in here to hurt either of us."
"Right, just checking." He drew the last line.
The circle lit up, a bright flash of purple launched the book a foot into the air. A second later, it fell back down with a loud thunk.
Twilight smacked her forehead with a hoof. "Right. For a variable-output spell like this, I should have taught you about regulators first."
Nova grinned. "I'm just glad it worked."
Twilight suddenly froze. "Wait, that magic was purple."
He tilted his head. "Yes? It was before, too."
"No, I mean, you put white magic in the circle. And came out purple. Not to mention, I haven't even heard of a pony with white magic. And there's also the part where this circle is way more complicated than it should be.... wait."
Twilight groaned. "I didn't even think about that! You're copying everything you see. You aren't just seeing the spells. You're seeing everything."