Twilight made it down to the gates as the sun began to set, trying to ignore the itch to fly as she moved under the sky. She was starting to get a small inkling of why Rainbow always flew whenever she wanted to go somewhere, for the sky above her looked so inviting, it was almost painful to ignore.

“Couldn’t fly even if I wanted to though,” thought Twilight, thinking about the spell that Star Swirl had cast on her. As she was the element of magic, she figured she would be able to break it in a matter of seconds once…

“Wait a second,” she thought, “he wasn’t using the kind of magic I am used to, he used magic connected to the third pillar, and from everything Platinum said that kind of magic is extremely powerful. My old magic probably couldn’t even touch it…but I bet my new magic could.”

That thought made her giddy, for like her immortality, she also knew she herself was connected to the pillars of magic, and she wanted to see how much this new magic had to offer.

However that would have to wait, for at the moment she had just spotted her target, who was staring right at her, which made her speak up.

“How do you do that,” asked Twilight.

“Magic,” said Hurricane simply, falling into stride with Twilight as she raised an eyebrow.

“Magic, I’m sorry Hurricane, but I find that hard to believe.”

“Really,” said Hurricane, “and this from a pony whose race claims magic can do anything.”

“Well I wouldn’t…” started Twilight, only to chuckle as she stopped herself. “Well, I guess I have a few more things to learn about magic it seems.”

“It would seem,” said Hurricane, “but it does make one wonder, where would a pony have to grow up to not know the pillars.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, only to be stopped as something tackled her to the ground, rolling her over before she came face to face with an angry pegasus, her red eyes staring down at her as she began shouting at her.

“What are you doing with my big brother you bloody unicorn…”

“PANSY!”

The pegasus immediately leaped off of Twilight, allowing her to get up as she watched the young pegasus mare look at Hurricane with a scornful gaze. “sorry Hurry, I was just wondering why this here unicorn was talking with you and smiling, after all you are…”

“I know what I am Pansy,” said Hurricane with a laugh, “but this mare here has kindly asked if she can be allowed to court me, and I have accepted.”

Pansy’s eyes widened at that, “What…but…but mom said you have to marry the alicorn of time, mom will be very angry with you.”

“Well Pansy mother will just have to accept the fact that I make my own decisions,” said Hurricane simply, “now could you please leave me alone, we have places to go.”

Pansy grumbled, mentioning something about telling their mother, but flew off all the same. Hurricane then draped a wing over Twilight as they started walking again, grinning as the mare blushed before speaking once again. “Now that we got that out of the way, would you mind answering my question?”

Twilight nodded, “well, my village is…or rather was located in a very remote area, lots of monsters surrounding it on either side. I was sent away by my parents due to…well how the rest of the village viewed me, for they believed me to be an affront to pure blood unicorns. I sadly heard later that the entire village was wiped out, for there magic couldn’t hold back the beasts that attacked them.”

“I see,” said Hurricane, though from the look on his face Twilight could tell he was only humoring her. “I shall leave that topic for another day, for now, I would like to take you to a race, if that is alright.”

“That would be lovely,” said Twilight.

*

Twilight sat in one of the reserved box seats along with Hurricane, looking at the racers and noting with surprise that both unicorns and pegasi were competing.

“Puddinghead has decreed that no earth ponies will be competing in any events till us pegasi end this storm,” said Hurricane, “which is why you don’t see any of them in the race.”

“Still,” said Twilight, “this will hardly be a competition, after all, pegasi are natural athletes, so they should be able to beat the unicorns fairly quickly.”

“Well that would be true,” said Hurricane with a grin, “if this were based on endurance alone.”

Before Twilight could comment on what he said, a horn blared, signaling that the race was about to start, and she found out why he had said what he said. The moment the horn had blared, the unicorns horns had lit up, surrounding themselves with light, and the pegasi’s eyes had begun to glow, their own bodies becoming enveloped in fields of electricity.

“There allowed to use their magic?” asked Twilight aloud, causing Hurricane to chuckle.

“Of course,” said Hurricane, “after all as you said, pegasi hold an unfair advantage due to their natural agility. But when it comes to magic, all ponies are equal under the eyes of the pillars.”

“Then why compete at all, if as you say no magic is stronger than the other?”

“Because,” said Hurricane, “even if no form of magic can topple the other, each practitioner would naturally have a different level of skill. Through competitions like these we can…discover ourselves, and hopefully gain some improvement along the way.”

Twilight smiled at that, watching a bit longer as the ponies made their final preparations before speaking once more. “Would you mind explaining the rules of this race?”

Hurricane nodded, pulling her close with a wing and gesturing out to the race track. “The track actually spans a great distance beyond your sight, but each track has assigned unicorns who display where the racers are at all times, allowing ponies on any part of the track to see that action. As for the rules, each race last about five laps around the track, and the first one to reach the end of their fifth lap is declared the winner.”

“Any other rules?”

“Yes,” said Hurricane, “you may not use any combat magic against your fellow racers unless you acquire a attack sigil from one of the many sigil plates scattered across the track.”

That got Twilight curious, “Sigil plates?”

Hurricane nodded, before reaching down and picking up a crystal with his hoof, one that had been attached to the podium in front of them. He let it go in front of him, letting it hover there before speaking to it with a commanding tone. “Please show us the nearest sigil plate on the track.”

Immediately, the crystal lit up, projecting an image of the track and the racers before zooming of to a nearby point further down and stopping on a strange metal plate, one covered in runes which formed several different sized circles.

“When a ponies hoof touches the plate, it temporarily places a sigil upon there forehead, allowing them to use the spell assigned to the symbol, and once that spell is used the symbol vanishes, and they have to wait till they get another one before they can attack again.”

“I see,” said Twilight, before jumping a bit as a horn blared out over the field, and the racers took off running or flying, all of them moving at blinding speed as the crowed began to roar in excitement.

As the race commenced, Twilight decided, with a little smirk on her face, to lean herself against the large stallion, Hurricane blushing a bit as she spoke to him. “You know, despite my naivety on some things, I...i have actually heard of you before, you were actually quite famous in my village.”

“Oh really,” said Hurricane with a smile, unfolding a large wing and wrapping it around her, reminding her of when Princess Celestia would do the same, which caused her to smile as well.

“Yeah,” said Twilight, “our elder used to tell all these amazing stories about you, how you fought a dragon on your own with nothing but your sword, how you pulled were the first and only pegasus to create a rainbow cascade, so many stories.”

As she spoke, her mind suddenly snagged on another factoid related to the few rumors that Clover and Hurricane were lovers. In that story, the reason why Clover fell for Hurricane was because he studied magic, and had even been able to teach her things about magic which later bled into her own magic reforms.

So, with the conversation already opened up, she decided she might as well take a risk, “However, there is one story my elder used to tell me, one which I would like to ask you about, if I may.”

“For you I am an open book, so please, ask away.”

Twilight took a deep breath, then she sighed before speaking once more. “The story she told me was that you studied magic, and not just pegasus magic either, all forms of magic, because it is your secret pleasure, and your true calling.”

When she turned to look at him, she saw that his face had morphed into one of shock, and one of fear, the stallion shaking as he tried to speak. “You....your elder must have known me really well to know that, but I must ask, did they tell anyone else this story.”

Twilight was quick to shake her head, “no, she was reluctant to tell me, made me swear upon my very soul that what she told me would never be told to another.”

Hurricane sighed with relief, “thank the makers, I often dread of what would happen if the pegasi found out about my true talent.”

Twilight gave him a raised eyebrow, so Hurricane pulled away from her, taking a quick look to make sure no one else would see, and then he pulled back his cloak so she could see his cutie mark.

What she saw baffled her to no end, and defied everything she had ever learned or read about the pegasus. His cutie mark was a sun with a crescent moon over it, surrounded by a field of stars.

“Your...your talent is magic?”

Hurricane nodded, putting his cloak back in place before speaking. “Indeed it is, I hope this does not displease you, I know how some ponies like a mate who's talent fits more in line with their race....”

“.....why would you think that would displease me?”

Hurricane looked confused, then Twilight decided to get bold, pulling back her own cloak to show her cutie mark to him. The moment he saw it, his eyes bulged out of his head, the man looking alarmed as he quickly grabbed her cloak and covered her cutie mark. “My lady do you realize what your talent means?”

Twilight nodded, “My talent is magic, all magic.”

Hurricane stared at her for a long moment, then his eyes softened, the stallion sighing as he let go of her cloak before speaking. “Lady Clover, I want to apologize for my earlier actions, I...I truly thought you were the alicorn of time, and I apologize for pressuring you with my beliefs.”

This surprised Twilight, “Wait, your saying you no longer believe that?”

The stallion nodded, “The Alicorn of times talent is what allows her to travel the great distances of time, for her talent is time itself.”

“I...I see,” said Twilight, “so with that said...what does that mean for us?”

The stallion hesitated for a moment, then draped his wing over her once more before speaking. “I would hope it does not prevent you from courting me My Lady, for I do admit, I feel a kinship with you I have not felt with anypony I have had the pleasure of meeting.”

Twilight looked surprised, then smiled as she leaned herself against him. “I'm glad, for I was...really happy that you accepted my proposal to court you. You are a fine stallion, and I feel lucky for knowing you.”

*

The race had long since ended, and Twilight found herself walking side by side with Hurricane, the two simply wandering the outskirts of the village as the winds howled around them.

Feeling bold again, she decided to pose another question to the stallion who was slowly etching himself upon her heart. “Hurricane, I know you want to keep your talent a secret, but...if it pleases you, do you think you could teach me magic?”

Hurricane gave her a smirk, “Oh, and what brought this question on?”

“...You know I have no knowledge of the pillars, both from my outburst during the meeting, and from our earlier conversation. As much as I am thankful to be under the guidance of Star-Swirl, I fear even with his open mind, he may have a biased view when it comes to magic. Because of this, I would like you to teach me about the pillars, for I feel that you will best help me discover all there is to know about my talent.”

Hurricane stayed silent for a long moment, then he smiled. “I would be honored to teach you dear Clover, but just so you know, my feelings for you will not mean I will go easy on you during our lessons, for I will be expecting the best.”

“I expected nothing less from the commander of the pegasi,” said Twilight with a smile, before she and him jumped as a voice sounded behind them.

“Hurricane, step away from the princess's charge at once!”

They both turned around to find several guards standing behind them, Twilight growling a bit as she turned to face them. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Lady Clover, Princess Platinum has had us looking for you for hours, she was worried for your safety when she did not find you in your chambers. However, we can discuss that later, for now I must ask, has he hurt you my Lady?”

“No he has not, Hurricane behaved himself quite well, as anyone courting a lady should.”

The guards eyes widened, then the leader bowed his head, “our apologies, we had no idea you were courting him, we shall keep that in mind from now on. However, I am afraid we must insist on escorting you back to the castle, for the Princess wishes to speak with you.”

“I see, well could you gentlecolts then give me a moment to bid my stallion fare well?”

They all nodded, backing away and about facing as Twilight turned to Hurricane with a sad smile. “Well, it looks like this is where we part way for now, though fret not, for I shall be seeing you soon.”

“And I look forward to that meeting my lady,” said Hurricane, taking her hoof and giving it a kiss before spreading his wings and taking off into the sky, leaving Twilight with her escort as they began making their way back to the castle.

Author's Note

I know you've all been waiting, hope you enjoy.