A Strange But Familiar Place

I walk up to Carousel Boutique after quite a while of looking. I assumed it would be easy to find. It wasn't. Obsidian is behind me a bit looking at the building with wonder.

Damnit! How do you hide something as flashy and large as this? Those ponies I tried to talk to surely didn't help. All they did was faint. No wonder I can only remember one of their names.. Roseluck right? They're all flower based probably but meh, too lazy to remember.

I knock on the purple doors and see Rarity flash by a minute after in the window on the door. She opens it up and smiles at me.

"You're a bit earlier than I thought you would be darling. I trust finding my place of establishment wasn't too hard?" Rarity says calmly with a bit of grace.

"Well, I did kind of get lost and these ponies don't like helping a large hairless monkey." I say with a small chuckle.

She lets out a quick 'tsk tsk' before letting me and Obsidian inside. In the main room there are different cloths each varying in color to the slightest detail. Her sewing bench is just like in the show as well as plenty of pony mannequins following the wall of the room. Upwards is a cone shape that tapers off, showing the elegance of the room. In the far corner of the room where the rounded walls end there is a set of stairs leading upwards. A small stage is next to the stairs.

Huh, this seems a bit bigger than it looked like from the outside.

Rarity seems to notice me looking a slight bit confused. "Yes, this building has an enchantment on it. One of the two in this village. I believe your friend there lives in the other one. I suppose that means you do as well?" she states out loud, clearing up the confusion.

I nod at her with some surprise in my face.

Well, looks like she's either gotten lucky and received an amazing building or she is powerful enough to do such an enchantment.

"Now, I assume you want to learn how to use, control and build your magic?" Rarity asks in a straight-forward manner.

I nod in excitement and Rarity responds with a quiet giggle. She points towards a chair that is thankfully my size due to the enchantment on the building. She then uses her magic to place a small piece of string on the floor in front of me.

A string? Well it is light and probably easy to maneuver...

"I want you to try and lift this string using telekinesis. It is such a basic spell that most magic users subconsciously use it. Simply imagine your magical energy picking up the string and moving it however you please." Rarity says while carefully watching me.

I try to do what she says but ultimately end up doing the same thing I did in the morning.

"No, no. You don't try to reach it with your energy, you simply imagine your energy around it. Reaching with your magical energy wastes a lot more effort and time. Doing that is stretching out your aura from your exit point to where you want it to go. It is an inefficient method that was tossed away years ago, as far as I was taught." she states with confidence.

Huh, so it's supposed to just appear around whatever?

I stare at the string with my magic active and just imagine it being picked up and carried over to me. I watch as my aura faintly appears around the string and it slowly rises towards me and lands in my hand. This process takes a good fifteen seconds.

I finally.. Did it.. That took a lot out of me.. Why? It was just a string! I could've just stood up and picked it up instead!

"Good job Devan! You made some progress. I assume that must've taken a big toll on you. After all, most creatures start building their magical core when they are young by just living. Your species apparently didn't and therefore even small tasks like basic telekinesis are hard for you. However, with my teaching you I'm sure you will blossom into an amazing magic user." Rarity says trying to shove enthusiasm into the conversation.

Right... So basically I'm in special ed right now and have to learn to walk. Blossom eh? That reminds me...

"So Rarity, you can see the color of my magical energy huh? I think yours is nice too." I say with a mischievous smile.

Rarity looks at me surprised and lights up her horn.

"What color?" she says while staring at me.

"Looks like a light blue, perhaps sky blue." I say with confidence, matching her stare with mine.

Rarity instantly freezes up and then smiles warmly.

"Good. You weren't lying. So you can see the auras as well? Usually that talent is given to those that have great potential. At least, that's what I was told. I learned it through hard work, while apparently you have it naturally. It's said that Starswirl himself had such a talent, and he was a great wizard. Now I am even more eager to teach you darling, so pay attention. I want you to simply lift that string and leave it in front of you for as long as possible. From now on, before you come to be taught by me, you must exercise each day. Your body needs to be stronger to allow your magical core to grow. I don't know if you are considered fit for your species, but exercise every day should help either way. When you can hold this string in front of yourself for at least eight hours, then we will move onto the next part of your lesson." she says with with enthusiasm and wide eyes.

I nod and smile nervously at her.

Looks like Twilight isn't the only magic freak... Wonder why this never showed up in the show though. I mean last I saw she could do some fancy lasers as well, but that was in a dream... Eight hours though? That's a fucking lot of time to hold up a string. I mean I feel tired just from picking it up and bringing it to me, how the hell am I going to keep it in the air constantly for that long? I guess I need hard training then, exercise too apparently. I do need some of that, I'm strong but I've got plenty of fat to trim.. I suppose this is a win-win. Stronger magic and a stronger body.

"Alright Rarity, I'll take on this challenge!" I say in a burst of enthusiasm as I stare down at the string in my hand.

In the corner of my eyes I see Rarity smile at me and return to her sewing in the corner while Obsidian is staring at me in slight wonder. I use my magic to try and lift the string again, keeping it unsteadily in front of my face for a length of one minute before It starts to waver and fall back down.

This.. Is going to take a while.

Suddenly from Obsidian I hear; "You can see magical auras!?!? Both of you!??! I was keeping quiet until you stopped conversing with each other but wow! You are both pretty talented if you can see those!" she says to both of us while looking in between us.

I cover my ear that was facing towards Obsidian and look at her with a face of pain. She looks back at me and smiles nervously and looks the other way, whistling.

Ponies.. Jeez.