Writing is Magic

        It was a particularly early morning at Carsousel Boutique, for me anyways. You see, after the little run-in with Emerald in Pensacolta, I had decided to quit feeling so sorry for myself and start learning how to do things sans magic. There were many tasks on my list, but for right now I was concentrating on cooking one of my famous omelets as a surprise breakfast for Rarity.

        "Oh my, what smells so good," my beautiful marefriend asked, entering the kitchen.

        She saw me standing with both front hooves up on the stove, hoof-flipping omelets.

        "Good morning, darling," I replied, not turning around at first, "just making breakfast."

        "Really," she came to look, "my stars, they look just as good as they did when you used.."

        She stopped before finishing the sentence, a dour look on her face.

        "It's okay, you can say it, I don't care anymore. This not-having-magic thing is really a good way to assess oneself and figure out what you really need to do to get by. For example, I don't need to write anymore, I make enough in royalties to live comfortably for the rest of my life. It's time now to focus on what I'm going to do from now on. And on top of that list is taking care of you."

        Rarity looked at me very affectionately, giving me a little kiss before going over to the breakfast table. I quickly finished the food, and we quickly ate. As per the usual, Rarity had much to do today, and I had to figure out what new thing I was going to learn today.

        "Hey," I said laughing, "what do you think Pinkie would say if I asked to learn how to bake?"

        "She would probably enjoy the help."

        "Then I'm off."

        But as I made my way to the doorway of the boutique, there was a knock at the door. On the other side of the door stood Princess Twilight, along with Spike.

        "Good morning," I beamed, "you sure are up early."

        "Art," Twilight said, "I had a brilliant idea, a way to get your magic back.

        I hesitated before reacting to this news. With my new attitude about my post-magic life, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear anymore ideas about retrieving my magical abilities. But then again, I wanted to know what the idea was anyhow.

        "We could use the Alicorn Amulet," the princess continued, "it holds great magical power and..."

        "Hold your horseshoes," I interrupted, "you know where the Alicorn Amulet is!?"

        "Well sure, Zecora has it."

        "Why did I not know about this!? I thought that amulet was lost forever. I even wrote in one of my books that its whereabouts were unknown. How did Zecora come to possess it?"

        "It's a bit of a story, but if we go out to Zecora's place, I'll be glad to tell it."

        I looked back at Rarity, an expression of worry on my face. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go along with this idea.

        "Go on," she said, "there's nothing wrong with seeing it."

        I smiled and nodded, following the alicorn and the dragon out the door and toward Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest. On the way, Twilight told me about the Great and Powerful Trixie, a magician pony who tried to use the Alicorn Amulet to become stronger than Twilight. But after tricking her to give up the amulet, Zecora had taken possession of it and kept it hidden away. Just as Twilight finished the tale, we came across Zecora, seemingly on her way to Ponyville.

        "Ah, good to see you princess, and Art Colter too," the mystic zebra greeted, "tell me, how is your horn treating you?"

        "That's why we came to see you," Twilight replied, explaining her plan to Zecora.

        "The item you seek is quite powerful indeed. However, I don't think it is what you need."

        "I know I shouldn't be trying," I sighed, "but this is my last attempt. If this doesn't help, nothing will."

        "Are you familiar with the amulet? It will corrupt you if you hold its power in contempt."

        "I know, and I certainly don't want that. I don't even know if this will work. I just want to see."

        I could tell that Zecora didn't much care for this plan either, but she didn't say anything directly. When we arrived at her home, she quickly dug through her various trinkets before finding the box which contained the magguffin. For the first time, I saw the Alicorn Amulet in person. I had only ever seen it in books and such while doing research for one of my books. The black necklace had a red jewel center which was very striking, almost hypnotic.

        "You should try it on," Twilight suggested, "see if the power of the amulet is enough to let you do magic."

        Slowly I reached for the box, but just before I could grab it, Zecora nearly slammed the lid of the box down on my hoof.

        "But know this, and hear me well," she said sternly, "only you can take it off, never say I didn't tell."

        I'll admit I had almost forgotten that little nugget of information. I nodded my head in agreement, and Zecora opened the box once more. This time, I took the amulet and placed it around my neck. As soon as I did this, I could feel the power from the amulet surge through my body, similarly to when I had felt the combined Elements of Harmony. I turned toward a table which had a cup on it and focused. Soon the cup was surrounded by a red aura, and it lifted in the air. I quickly placed it back down and took the amulet off my neck.

        "It works," I gasped, "I can't believe it actually works."

        "Do you feel anything strange," Twilight asked, "anything out of the ordinary?"

        "I don't think so. As soon as I take the amulet off, the power goes away."

        "That is good news to hear," Zecora commented, "an evil Art would be something to fear."

        The three of us returned to Ponyville, Alicorn Amulet in hoof. I couldn't stop thinking about how careful I would have to be with this amount of power. Eventually, Twilight and Zecora went off one way while I went another, though Zecora wouldn't let me leave her sight before making me Pinkie Promise not to put it on when I didn't need it.

        I quickly hoofed it back to the boutique. With the unexpected excitement of my day over with, I just wanted to take it easy for awhile. No doing anything that might tempt me to using the amulet.

        "Ah, Art, you're back," Rarity greeted, "so how did it go?

        I told her what had happened at Zecora's.

        "Well do be careful. I would hate for you to do something that you would regret."

        "Trust me," I replied, "I have the same fear."

        For a couple of days, everything was fine. Yes I ended up using the amulet a couple of times, but for very small things and I was diligent to remember to take it off and put it back in its box when I was done. One interesting thing I noted was that I could not perform my trick of writing with multiple quills with the amulet, so it wasn't a perfect replacement of magical abilities, but good enough for me.

        However, and I take full responsibility for this, I began to get used to it. The first time, I just completely forgot that I was even wearing it, mistakenly thinking that I was doing the magic on my own. Rarity had to tell me to take it off, which I did with no fuss. But then the next time that happened, Rarity was out so I had it on for much longer. I thought I was OK, since I could still take it off just fine, but I really wasn't.

        I guess the tipping point came on one of these days. Rarity had gone to her usual spa appointment with Fluttershy and I was all alone in the boutique. I had finally decided to sit down and get some writing done for a change, so I tentatively put on the amulet. I promised myself that I would only write for an hour at most, then take it off. But, as often happens when writing, time began to fly by. Before I knew it, four hours had passed, the entire time spent writing, the entire time spent using magic. And as I could tell you, the more magic you use, the more the amulet takes you over.

        By the fourth hour, my writing had become very unusual. I was writing strange theories about whether or not it would be possible to destroy the Elements of Harmony, and whether or not magic power could be transferred from one unicorn to another, things that I would never write normally. I didn't even realize any of this at the time.

        It was about halfway through the fifth hour that Rarity finally returned home. Finding me hunched over and writing frantically, she called to me to take off the amulet, scolding me for obviously forgetting. But I was too far gone.

        "Why would you want me to take it off," I asked, turning around. According to Rarity, my usual gray eyes had begun to glow a blood red.

        "Art, please take the amulet off."

        "Be honest, you prefer me like this. Without my magic, I'm just a useless pony, not up to your standards. You don't want to be with a magic-less me, admit it."

        "Don't be silly," she replied, nervously laughing, "what would give you that impression?"

        "You said it yourself, back in Pensacolta. You said that if something had happened to you, you were sure I would have taken care of it. Well that truth of the matter is that no, I couldn't. I can't do anything without my power. You know it, and I know it."

        "Darling," Rarity got a little teary-eyed, "you leave me with no choice."

        She bolted out the door, and I followed. As we ran in the direction of the library, Rarity was screaming at the top of her lungs, obviously trying to get the other ponies in town to react. However, as per the usual, they reacted with fear, running in all different directions. On the other hand, the other holders of the Elements of Harmony also heard it. By the time we reached the library, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already there, with Pinkie and Fluttershy soon joining them. A second later, Twilight, Rarity, and Spike emerged from the library, Elements of Harmony in tow.

        "Don't make us use these against you, Art," Twilight threatened, "just take off the amulet, and everything will be OK."

        "Like you would unleash the power of the elements against me," I smirked, "I don't think Princess Celestia would enjoy hearing that you all turned me to stone."

        "I think the princess would understand. Plus, we can also turn you back."

        "Do what you must then."

        The six got in their usual formation for using the elements. The rainbow ribbon connected each of their necklaces as they collectively rose into the air. However, just before they would have launched the attack that would have turned me into a statue, I trapped them all inside a magical bubble, breaking their concentration, and thus, breaking their attack.

        "Seems like you all are going to be stuck for awhile," I smiled, "see you ponies later."

        But before I could turn and walk off, Rarity did something I didn't expect. She unclasped her own necklace, which somehow allowed her to fall out of the bubble. Upon getting up after her short fall, she did not look mad, but instead, she smiled at me.

        "Art, darling," she cooed, "you weren't really going to leave me up there, were you?"

        "Well now that you mention it, that was kind of short-sighted of me."

        "Would you let them down if they promised not to use the elements?"

        "I don't see why not."

        Everypony quickly said a Pinkie Promise. I tilted my head and popped the bubble.

        "Thank you sweetie," Rarity said, throwing both hooves around my neck, "I knew you weren't that bad."

        I felt something strange during that hug, something strange in my head. It was so brief, I almost missed it. A brief moment of clarity, where I was back to being me.

        Sensing this, I quickly threw my hooves up, undid the clasp of the amulet and tossed it aside. I fell to the ground, covered my face with both hooves, and began to cry, ashamed of what I had done. Rarity got on the ground next to me, patting me on the head. The other five made their way over, trying to comfort me. As they did this, none of us noticed as our zebra friend arrived on the scene.

        "I hope you learned your lesson true," Zecora said, "the powers of the amulet were too much even for you. This is the last time we will hear of this pox, for it is never again leaving that box."

        "I am sorry," I said, "truly I am. I should have been happy as I was."

        "Perhaps it is a result of strife, the endless harm that has taken over your life."

        "I promise, I will not try to change my situation again. If and when my magic ever returns then it will return on its own."

        Pinkie Pie initiated a group hug as Zecora left with the Alicorn Amulet.