Prodigy

...

My head seemed to swirl as all of my senses slowly and painfully came back to me. All of my senses... save for one.

“...where am I?”

It was a relatively cliche question, but at this point, based on what I was seeing, it didn’t bother me too much. As for what I saw...

Nothing. My entire field of view was completely covered in darkness. I had never experienced anything like this. I was completely conscious, yet I was unable to perceive anything. I brought my hands up to my eyes to make sure that I had not forgotten to open them. Once I had confirmed that my eyes were indeed open, I started to pay attention to my other senses. I felt around me, feeling the ground that I was currently sitting on. I felt... nothing. There was...

If I could describe what it was that I felt, I would. Unfortunately, there is literally no way to describe what the ground felt like. My best analysis is that it felt like I was sitting on air. Nothing there, yet I was sitting nonetheless. This sent a jolt of fear through me for a brief moment. I took a deep breath in, before rocking forwards and standing up, being careful not to use my hands to help me. I turned my head, but there was nothing but darkness in every direction. This left me at a loss as to what to do. I could start walking, but I had no way of knowing where I was or where I was going. I wouldn’t even be able to see if I was walking in a straight line, never mind where I was. I continued scanning around me, hoping that there would be something that would be able to explain to me what was happening, or where I was.

I soon grew tired of standing around, and decided to just pick a direction and push through the blackness. I took a step, and-

“AH!”

Whatever was beneath me suddenly dropped out from under me as my foot planted onto nothing, sending me plummeting down. I strained my vocal cords with my screaming as I accelerated downwards. There was no immediate ground in sight, so I had time to try and grasp what was happening. Once I had calmed down slightly, I threw my head around, trying to see if anything had changed. I could see nothing, so that told me that-

My body impacted with some unknown liquid, and the wind was knocked out of me as I began sinking. On reaction I sucked in a gasp of air, only to flood my lungs with what was likely water. I coughed, and began kicking upwards as fast and as hard as I could. A sharp pain went through my brain, my lungs were on fire from the breath I had taken, and throughout all of this, I was in complete and total darkness. My brain started dulling and my efforts to reach the surface began weakening. The feeling of absolute terror and claustrophobia began to set in my mind, and soon I found myself beginning to lose consciousness. I kicked a few more times, before my body forced me to take another breath, the breath that usually killed anyone who was drowning. It was this breath that was the most dangerous.

When you have absolutely no oxygen left in your system, and your mind is about to slip into unconsciousness, your brain forces your lungs to take in a breath, as large they possibly can. No matter where you are, no matter what you may be in, the choice is not up to you. I forcibly sucked in another lung full of water. Instantly, the darkness became much, much darker.

My shoulders dropped. My thoughts went dark. My limbs went limp. My mind went blank.

...

...

...

“AHH!” I screamed as loud as I possibly could have. I started hyperventilating as soon as I regained consciousness, throwing my arms about wildly. My head spun around as I realized that I was able to see again, and I wasted no time trying to figure out where I was. I quickly learned that I was lying on my stomach on the floor of my bathroom. I looked up to see my large dresser in front of me. Suddenly, the memories of what had occurred previously came to me, and I remembered everything that had happened with the magic, the spells, and the dresser. I let my head down and sighed heavily, soon realizing that everything that I had just gone through was not real, but an illusion.

A dream... it was just... a dream...

I brought my knees forwards and stood up, being careful not to lose my balance. Once I had composed myself, I walked forwards, and sat down on my bed. I brought my hand up to my face, and gazed at it. I recalled the small traces of magic that had materialized on my hand, and the...

The question of how long I had been on the floor came to my mind, and I turned around to gaze at my clock. Reading five after ten, I was left hoping that that meant I had only been out of commission for the night, and not a longer amount of time. Deciding that it would be best to find out, I went to my dresser, grabbing a change of clothes and swiftly putting them on in place of my previous attire.

I stopped just outside of my bathroom, using my mirror to give myself a quick look over. I swatted the hair out of my eyes, deciding that I looked fine.

Stepping into the halls of Canterlot Castle, I briefly debated where I should head first. Things to do on the agenda included speaking to Celestia about my magical condition, finding out what day it was, and getting some food in my system. I decided that it would be better to try and talk to the princess now. If she was unavailable, then I would always be able to come back later.

I made my way to the throne room at a slower pace than usual, contemplating what had transpired last night. Everything told me that the root of my problem had to do with my magic. This had been a thought that had occurred to me a few times, but I had dismissed it. Since my magic was so weak, I had practically ruled it out as an option of thought. This, however, seemed to be incorrect. Maybe... because the elements were so powerful... but that wouldn’t make sense. If the element were so ridiculously powerful, as they were fabled to be, then why would my magic be developing so slowly? I had only just become able to cast a levitation spell, and a very weak one at that. Perhaps Celestia would be able to shed some light on the situation, now that I had something to go off of.

Something was wrong with my magic, and it was causing me to be... unstable, for lack of a better term.

One of the castle staff, a butler, passed me in the hall as I was lost in thought. I managed to see him for a brief second, and this tore me away form my train of thought.

“Excuse me! Hi, can you tell me what day it is?” I asked politely. The colt turned sideways to see me.

“Today is Saturday,” he said in a deep, gruff voice.

“The ninth?”

“Yes, sir,” he said in an extremely professional tone. I nodded.

“Okay, that’s reassuring. Thank you,” I said as I turned, waving my goodbye. The older colt nodded his response, and we parted ways.

That was a general relief to me. Had I been out for more than a day, I was concerned that others would have been worried for me, especially Austin. I was not sorry for the things that I said, because there was nothing to be sorry for. I was, however, mad at myself for exploding the way that I did. The way I reacted was not fair to Austin, and the way that I had thought was not good for either of us.

The idea of the outbursts being tied to my magic surfaced in my mind, and I briefly thought that that might have been the reason for reacting the way that I did. Of course, this was not an excuse. There were...

The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I thought that it might be an excuse. Obviously, not one to keep doing what I was doing, but... I had no control over the way I reacted to those... hindrances. Windy did nothing that should have made me overly upset, and Celestia knows that mirror did nothing to deserve the fate that it received. I did not want people to think of me as an angry person, because that is not who I am. I know my strengths and weaknesses, and there was no reason to react the way that I did. It was obvious to me now that I needed to find out what was causing these outbursts as fast as I could, lest someone actually get hurt.

My hand pressed against the doors to the throne room, giving them a slight push. I poked my head in to see if anything was happening. When I saw that nothing, I stepped in, nodding my greetings towards the pair of guards that were on either side of me. They eyed me for a moment, before deeming me as passive and returning to their stoic gazes.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered how long the guards had to stand like that. Certainly it was not a requirement to stand perfectly still for hours on end. Then again, based on what I had seen so far, I would not be surprised.

Celestia was found sitting at her normal table, but instead of papers in front of her, she had what appeared to be lunch. Celestia picked up her sandwich and moved in for a bite, before she noticed me approaching. She set her lunch down, and I just barely caught a sad look in her eyes.

“Good afternoon Daniel, how can I be of assistance,” she asked politely. I cleared my throat before proceeding.

“Well, that depends Princess. I think... and this is put very lightly, but I may have found a reason for my outbursts as of recently. Remember the mirror?” I refreshed her memory.

“Yes, I do. I was the one who had it replaced, you know,” she said with a giggle. I smiled sheepishly at this.

“Well... something happened between Austin and I last night. I got... overly angry with him, for no real reason. It wasn’t too bad, I’m sure he and I will be fine. The point is... I didn’t choose to react like that. It just happened. And it wasn’t anger that caused it either. It was completely spontaneous,” I thought aloud. Celestia nodded as she listened.

“And you think you have found a reason for these occurrences?” she half asked, half told.

“Well... I think I may have found a place to start,”

“And that is?”

I lowered my head in thought for a moment, recalling the events that had transpired last night. It was still an amazement to me as the actions and movements played back in my mind with perfect clarity and accuracy.

“...Austin and I had just left to get a snack, and we were walking towards the mess. When we got our food, I started thinking about where my life is going, the guard, and everything that is happening with the elements. When I did, I... I got so upset, for no reason. I yelled, and then brushed Austin off... but it was different, like I said. I would have never normally reacted like that, it’s not me. I ran back to my room. and ditched Austin. I just... sat on the floor for a while. I got slowly angrier and more upset. That’s when things... got worse,” I recalled. Celestia nodded as she digested my words, then gently motioned for me to continue. I took in a large breath, and pressed on.

“I started getting this ringing in my head. It wasn’t normal though, it started off quiet and then became deafeningly loud. I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t think, hell, I could barely stand up. I went into the bathroom and tried to calm down. I... looked down at my hands, and there was this... magic that was clinging to me. It wasn’t like anything I have seen or read about before. It clung to me, like a magnet. I tried casting a levitation spell on my toothbrush, and it was incredibly easy. When I did, I realized that some of the magic on me had left, so I figured that I should try to expend as much magic as I could. I tried lifting my dresser, because it’s super heavy, but I... lifted it with ease. And not just lifting, I had the clear ability to move it. It was like a feather to me. Once I had expended my magic, the ringing stopped, my head cleared, and everything went back to normal,” I told Celestia. She merely looked at me, processing what I was telling her.

“...and then I passed out,” I said with a chuckle. She smiled at this, before taking in a large breath.

“That sounds a lot like a build-up of magic to me. How... how long did you hold the dresser for?” she asked me. I thought for a moment, recalling the night.

“It had to have been for a few minutes. Everything is kind of fuzzy, so I... guess a few minutes,” I told her. She closed her eyes in thought.

“...Daniel, I want you to lift this desk,” Celestia told me as she took everything on her desk in her magic and held it in the air.

“You...” I said, before realizing where she was going with this. I nodded to her, before taking a step back. I stretched my hand out, and locked onto the desk in front of me. I lifted, and...

That desk must have weighed at least three hundred pounds! Regardless, I was not able to lift it, only move it a few inches to the right. I lifted as hard as I possibly could have, before a jolt of pain shot through my head, causing me to stumble backwards.

“Ah!” I shouted as I let go of the desk. Lifting the piece of furniture was nowhere near my level of magic, and it showed.

“Hm, very interesting,” Celestia said as she set everything back down exactly where it was before. I stepped forward again, the pain in my head having subsided.

“I can guarantee you that your dresser weighs more than double what this desk weighs. You shouldn’t have even been able to tip it, let alone move it around after picking it up; no matter the build-up of magic at your level,” she seemingly said to herself. I nodded in understanding.

Even if the magic that had been building up had been at its absolute peak, it still didn’t make sense.

“Hm... I want you to try researching magical build-ups. I would be very careful with your magic, however. You will find that magical build-ups, especially ones of your magnitude, are more often than not very, very bad for the user. Bad things come about when your magic gets too backed up,” she warned me.

“Like what?”

“Usually? Pain, hearing and vision loss, and eventual death,” she darkly told me. I swallowed nervously at this, thanking no one in particular that I had expended my magic when I did. Nothing seemed to have harmed me in any permanent way, so immediately, I was in the clear.

“Ahem... okay, magical build-ups, got it,” I repeated to Celestia. She nodded, and picked up her sandwich.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s been a long morning, and I-” she said, but was cut off by my hand.

“Of course, I’ll leave you be now. Thank you Celestia,” I said warmly. I genuinely meant it, too.

“Anytime, Daniel. Have a good day,” she smiled back. I nodded and turned, gliding swiftly out of the throne room.

With that out of the way, it was time for me to get something to eat. I quickly went to the mess, and ordered a bowl of soup and a sandwich. I really enjoyed tomato soup, especially with a grilled cheese sandwich. That was not on the menu today, however, and I settled for something less... enjoyable. Potato soup and a salad wrap. Nothing fancy, yet still good. I ate quickly, as the ideas of the research I had been presented with drove my curiosity sky-high. I finished up, and went off towards the library in search of knowledge, and hopefully... some answers.

I moved fast, eager to get started. No one interrupted my pace while I was on my way, and I arrived without incident. I pushed open one of the doors to the library, and nodded to the librarian as I went past. She gave me a happy look, before opening her mouth to speak.

“Do you need any help finding anything? Between you and I, it’s a rather slow day here,” she asked playfully.

“Actually, yes. Do you have any books on magical build-ups? Or anything of the sort?” I said with a laugh at the mare’s happiness towards having something to do.

“Oh, it’s been a while, but yes. Let me look it up for you, and I’ll tell you where to look,” she told me, dipping her head below the counter. She popped back up a few seconds later with a scroll in her magical grasp. Unraveling it, she read.

“Let’s see... try the Magic quarter... subsection... medical, and... you could also try casting. Those are probably your best options,” she told me as she set down the scroll. I nodded and flashed her a smile.

“Thanks a lot,” I said as I turned to go and try to find what I was looking for.

“Of course. Sorry I couldn’t be more specific. Good luck,” she called back.

As I walked towards the Magic quarter of the library, I pondered if Celestia actually knew what was ailing me, and simply wanted to see if I was capable to figuring it out on my own. While that did not sound like something that she would do, it certainly would be a challenging test, and as someone who likes to drop surprise tests on people, I would not be surprised in the slightest.

“Subsection medical,” I recalled the librarian’s words, and I quickly found the section of books that I was looking for. I began gazing at the ceiling-high bookcases, taking every name into careful consideration as I did. After a few minutes, I pulled a book from the shelf, simply entitled “Magical Symptoms.” I gazed at it for a few moments, before looking back to the book cases to continue looking.

After ten more minutes of gazing and selecting, I had wound up with four books that I could use from the medical subsection. I found a table that was empty, and... well, all of them were empty at this time. Regardless, I found an empty table, and set the books down. I went back to the Magic quarter, and found the “casting” subsection. I began inspecting the books, trying to find something of interest to my situation.

After a while, I had pulled two books that piqued my interest, and I went back to my table to finish my impromptu collection. Six books lay in front of me, and I sighed slightly at the thought of inspecting all of them. I had no plans to read through everything; “magical symptoms” was over fourteen hundred pages alone.

I flipped open the book, and began scanning the index.

“This... this is going to take a while...” I sighed.

And with that, I began reading, searching for the answers to the questions that had been dwelling in my mind. Hopefully, this would all be over soon.