Not What She Seems

"Nice to meet you Twilight I, um, look forward to working with you."

She didn't seem to hear me however, because her muzzle was once again buried in her book resolutely ignoring me.

Only five minutes into my first class and I'm already having a rough time I thought glumly I probably should have kept my mouth shut.

Seeing as how she was too busy reading to even notice my voice I decided that I should just read the pages on my own. Which proved to be quite the problem. I have always had problems learning from books. The issue isn't that I can't retain any of the information, I can remember just about anything I have read no problem, but being able to process and understand the information is more difficult. Knowing all of the equations and spell matrices is one thing, but actually applying them to real-world applications of magic is another. The few spells I have been able to perform, other than the basic telekinesis inherent to all unicorns, are ones I have learned and mastered after working through the problem orally with my previous magic teacher. Being able to work out a problem through educated discussion and questioning with another unicorn is how I can learn best. Knowing all of the facts may work for this class, which is mostly theory, but won't work for some of my other classes, such as Practical Uses of Advanced Magic. Which leads me back to the fact that the only one I can work through this with is currently ignoring me.

Well I thought with resignation Sitting here is not going to accomplish anything, might as well start reading and go from there.

With one last look at my silent partner, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. At least Professor Neighstein assigned one of the easier aspects of Magical Theory, Spell Matrices. Which were rather easy to understand if a little more difficult to use. A Spell Matrix is simply just a shape or pattern in which you form your magic into. When casting a spell, a unicorn must produce a mental picture of the spell matrix which corresponds to the spell they wish to cast. These patterns can range in difficulty from the simple square inside of a circle for telekinesis to triangles and hexagrams overlapping a square surrounded by runes, these are only used for very advanced spells such as teleportation and transmutation. The only constant for any spell matrix is the circle in which all of the these shapes and diagrams are contained. However, the more complex a spell or spell matrix is, the more magic it would cost to cast such a spell. Which is why every unicorn's first lesson is to feel their magic and measure how much magic is there. All unicorns must know their limits before casting a spell so they are able to tell when a spell is beyond them.

All of this is fairly basic knowledge I thought to myself The only difference between this and my previous classes are the more advanced magic towards the end of the section. I shouldn't get ahead of myself though, there could be something unexpected in the later chapters.

I was most of the way through the chapter when I looked up from my book to see Twilight staring at me with an annoyed look on her face. She seemed to have been trying to get my attention, but I was too absorbed in my book to notice her attempts.

"You were mumbling to yourself while you were reading," she said irritably "It was very distracting, and even more annoying. Why were you mumbling anyway."

I felt my face heat up from embarrassment as I responded "It's something I do when I'm reading because it helps me remember. I've been doing that for so long I didn't even think about it." I was even more embarrassed to hear that my voice had gotten so quite that it was nearly unnoticeable. Another one of many nervous habits I've developed over the years. She didn't say anything and just continued to stare at me. Her unflinching gaze was starting to unnerve me and I instinctively fell back on one of my other nervous habits.

"I-I'm s-sorry i-if I bothered you," I stammered out meekly "I-I'll try t-to be q-quieter s-so I d-don't disturb y-you."

Upon hearing my quiet, stuttering voice she seemed to realize how unnerving she was being and her expression turned apologetic instead of irritated.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, you don't need to be upset."

After hearing that I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm myself before opening my eyes again.

"It's okay," I said in my normal soft voice "I, um, just get really uncomfortable when ponies stare at me."

That seemed to make her feel a little better, so she decided to steer the conversation in another direction.

"So, are you having any trouble understanding the chapter, this is an advanced class after all and you are a few years younger than all of the other students here."

I shook my head "Not really, this chapter is mostly basic information and not anything to difficult, although the more difficult stuff may be closer to the back of the book."

Hearing me be so dismissive about the complexity of Spell Matrices seemed to surprise her. The look at her face after my statement told me as much. Clearly she thought that because of my age I should still be learning the basic spells such as creating a light at the tip of my horn or fine-tuning my control in telekinesis. Both are things that I mastered quite some time ago.

After a moment of stunned silence she collected herself and said "That's actually quite impressive, learning such advanced spell work at such a young age. I was beginning to think I was the only in my year that could grasp these concepts." She actually sound genuinely impressed at my knowledge, unlike others I have met in the past. The fact that she was actually praising me caused my face to flush with embarrassment. I wasn't used to compliments.

"T-Thanks," I stuttered out "I've, um, always been fascinated with magic ever since I was little, and I spend most of my time r-reading every book I can on the subject." I had to cut myself short because I feared I might start rambling on again about magic and annoy Twilight. That was the last thing I wanted to do to someone I might have a chance at being friends with, but instead my comment made her look more excited.

"Really!?" she exclaimed in surprised, yet enthusiastic, voice. "I thought I was the only one in class who studied magic that much. Most of the other students here are satisfied learning just enough to barely pass, let alone do extra reading. And the fact that you are a few years younger than all of us is amazing," Twilight said admiringly "That reminds me, how old are you?"

It took me a few moments to respond. I was still reeling from hearing so much praise from a someone, usually I would get a noncommittal 'good job' which was just enough to show they acknowledged me yet were not paying attention at the same time. When I finally found my voice I replied "T-Thanks Twilight, I d-didn't know it w-was that remarkable, a-and to answer y-your question I'm t-twelve years old." My stutter was starting to become less pronounced the more I talked with Twilight. I may now have known her for very long but I feel like she can be trusted.

"I would have thought that you were ten not twelve," Twilight said taken aback "You are actually really small for your age, typically twelve year old fillies are around 4'7'' and I would put you at just under 4 feet."

My height was actually a sore point for me, despite my best efforts of eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of exercise I never seemed to grow any taller. Once I hit 4 feet tall two years ago, my body just stopped growing. Usually a comment like that would have upset me, but coming from Twilight I didn't feel upset at all. Her comment was genuinely curious without any malice behind it like I have become accustomed to over the years. However, that doesn't mean that I wasn't embarrassed about my height. I could feel my face begin to flush... again. Despite my embarrassment, I was actually enjoying my conversation with Twilight. Something about her presence just set me at ease, or maybe it was because she is the first person to ever take an interest in what I had to say. It may seem weird to others that I have come to trust her so much in such a short time, but to me it feels just right. I've always been able to read other ponies very well, another thing I picked up over the years, and from our brief albiet mostly one-sided conversation my readings are nothing but positive when it comes to Twilight Sparkle.

I was about to respond when the sound of the school bell alerted me to the fact that first period classes were over and it was time to change classrooms. When the bell stopped ringing, Twilight looked back over to me and said "We should probably get going if we want to avoid the crowds and get to class on time. The Vice-Principal told me that we had all the same classes so you can just follow me and I'll show you to all of the classes."

She then began putting all of her school supplies back into her bag, and I took that as my queue to do the same. A few moments later and I was following her down a crowded hallway towards out next class. It seemed like she was heading directly to the classroom instead of stopping at her locker like all the other students were. It wasn't until we turned down an abandoned hallway that she spoke again.

"Do you want to meet up after school?" She said this very quickly and before I could respond she continued "I mean, I can tutor you and make sure you catch up with the rest of the class. It's already three months into the school year and I don't want you to fall behind and also.." She paused for a moment as if in thought and then she added quietly "I actually had fun talking to you today and I thought we could maybe be friends."

I was stunned. Few ponies had actually told me they liked talking to me, and nobody had ever wanted to be my friend before. For a few moments we just walked in silence before I finally was able to overcome my shock and get my voice to say the words.

"I'd love to be your friend Twilight."