The Miracle Worker

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHH

I held my hooves to my ears in frustration. Why did trains have to be so loud? Something as simple as a silence enchantment on the wheels would make the whole experience so much better. I got up from my seat as the train came to a halt, moving toward the doors as they slid open. I stepped out into the open air, taking in the scene. The thing I noticed first was the sheer amount of ponies. It seemed like ages ago I'd seen this many ponies in one place.

I hopped off the platform, trotting down a path through town. There were buildings scattered everywhere, surrounding the building I assumed was the town hall. Everywhere around the town square, there were market stalls selling all kinds of things. One sold candy, another sold various carrot-based products, yet another sold Summer Sun Celebration-related trinkets. There was the occasional shop that actually had a building, one of which apparently sold quills and sofas.

I trotted around for a while, taking note of any significant buildings or structures on the off chance that they had concentrations of magic in them. I spent most of my time looking for a good place to set up my workshop. There was a large field near the northeast part of town, which I made a mental note to check out later.
To the south was a very large apple orchard, which looked like it was bigger than the town itself.

Nopony seemed to question my presence, which was rather odd considering the gear I was wearing. A stallion in purple robes and goggles was not something you saw every day. Perhaps it was a testimony to the stories I'd heard about how strange Ponyville was. Given its proximity to Canterlot, and thus the nobles, I wasn't terribly surprised. I did get a few strange looks from some unicorns, but that was a given, considering the amount of magic that was in the stuff I carried around.

I came to a stop at a massive oak tree that apparently doubled as a library. As it often did, my curiosity got the best of me. I went inside the library. Bookshelves lined the walls completely, save for a staircase that led to the second floor. A purple unicorn mare was standing in front of one of the shelves, rearranging the books and muttering irritably to herself. A small purple dragon was standing next to her idly, rambling about something.

"Hello," I called, trotting forward. "You wouldn't happen to be the librarian, would you?"

"That's me," she said, not looking away from the shelf. The dragon whispered something in her ear. "Just a minute, Spike," she replied to him.

"I just moved into town, thought I'd take a look and see what books are available," I said, trying to initiate a conversation.

"Do you read a lot?" she asked, staring at the spine of one of the books she was levitating.

"Not as much as I used to," I replied, glancing at some of the titles on the shelves. "I haven't seen any books written by somepony other than myself for Celestia knows how long."

"You're an author?" she inquired, sounding interested.

"More of a scientist, really," I corrected, pulling a book off the shelf and skimming the back cover. "I haven't published any of my papers though."

"Why not?" the mare inquired, placing a book on the shelf where it belonged.

"To put it simply, they're all very...controversial," I told her.

"In what way?"

I put the book in my hoof back on the shelf. "Tell me," I asked. "How good are you at magic?"

She laughed. "I'm Princess Celestia's personal student."

"Oh, you'll get a kick out of this, then," I muttered.

"Hm?" she asked.

I faced toward her. "Turn around." She glanced over her shoulder at me, and froze. Her jaw dropped, very, very slowly.

"I-" she stuttered. "But-"

"Told you."

"How?" she exclaimed. "Where did you get that stuff?" she practically yelled, gesturing at my outfit, wand, saddlebags, and goggles included.

"Twilight," the dragon said, slightly confusedly, "calm down. There's probably a perfectly logical explanation for whatever it is you're freaking out about," he continued carefully, sounding very cautious, "so just-"

"Calm down?" the mare(Twilight?) interrupted. "Spike, whatever this pony-"

"Name's Star Flare."

"Star Flare-is wearing violates every law of magic in existence!" she finished.

"Every law as you know them," I stated simply. "As for how I got this stuff, well, I made it."

"Made it? You're a pegasus! I don't know of a single unicorn, myself included, who could imbue an object with that much magical power at all, let alone keep it stable! You're lucky you haven't blown up! There's not even a structure to the enchantments, it's just a bunch of energy!"

"Miss Twilight, or whatever your name is, I personally assure you that whatever you know about magic beyond casting spells and enchantments is completely wrong." She stopped dead in her tracks. The dragon(Spike?) gave me a 'what have you done' face.

Twilight huffed, and puffed, and then sighed. "Okay," she said. "We haven't blown up yet, and you don't seem like an unintelligent pony. So I'm inclined to believe you." Spike looked both amazed and relieved. "But I'm not going to accept the idea that basically my entire life has been a lie so easily." Spike deflated again.

"Fair enough," I said. "Tell you what. If you want to learn more, visit the field to the northeast of town sometime. I'm setting up shop over there permanently, at least as of now. I can teach you a thing or two about magic, if you like." She fumed slightly at that, but said nothing. "Also," I said, grabbing a novel off a shelf. "I'd like to check this book out." She groaned.

"Give it here," she said. I tossed it over to her. She caught it with her magic and levitated a stamp toward her, stamped a small card inside a pocket in the book, then tossed it back rather forcefully. My wand flew out of my robes, flaring with magic and stopping the book midair. Twilight's eye twitched slightly. The book floated into my saddlebag, then the wand took its place back in my robes. I trotted toward the door, waving goodbye to Twilight. I hadn't meant to make her flip out like that.

I did warn her that my work was controversial though.