Starswirl's Apprentice

Looking down at himself, Allen noticed he had been changed. He had hooves, fur, and from what he could feel, a horn too. He couldn't see it, however, and didn’t know how to use magic, so he couldn’t test if it was there.

Starswirl exclaimed, “Aha! It worked. Thank you, princesses. I have been in need of an assistant.”

Celestia replied, a hint of impatience in her voice, “You’re welcome, Starswirl, but shouldn’t you be getting back to your research?”

“Yeah, I think we should get working. I want to get home quickly,” Allen said.

“Yes, I do suppose you’re right,” Starswirl replied thoughtfully.

They both bowed to the princesses and left, returning to the hallways that led back to the laboratory. Allen trotted slower than he had hoped due to the difficulty of getting used to having four legs. His tail, which he kept tripping over, didn’t make things any easier.

When they finally arrived at the lab, Starswirl gestured for Allen to take a seat. Allen looked at it and then attempted to pull it out; an impossible task for him due to his inexperience with hooves. Starswirl rolled his eyes, then promptly used his magic to pull the chair out for the still fussing Allen.

“Alright. Before we start, we need be sure that the spell worked correctly,” Starswirl proclaimed.

“Well, I appear to have a tail and hooves.. oh yeah, let’s not forget fur. I assume it did,” Allen said in an annoyed tone.

“You forget that we are not looking for appearances, Allen. We need to test your magical abilities and make sure you’re physically stable, so if we can put your sarcasm aside, let’s begin. First and foremost, do you feel any sort of pains?”

“No. Not at the moment, anyway.”

“How much magic can you produce?”

“No idea. How am I supposed to do that?”

Starswirl put his hoof to his face, then said, “You’re a unicorn. You should be able to ‘feel’ it. You should be able to simply know that your magic ability is there. Do you feel any different?”

“Well, I do feel something; like a muscle that I need to flex, but can’t move. Is that what it is?”

“I suppose you might explain it like that. Try to flex that muscle. The more you do, the less it will feel like a muscle, and the more it will feel like magic,” Starswirl lectured.

Allen squinted and winched, attempting to use his magic. Suddenly, a small flash of light appeared, lasting only a couple of seconds. Allen then collapsed, exhausted.

“Well, that was good. Keep trying, and speak to me again in the morning. Until then, continue training until you can keep that up for ten minutes. That should allow me to determine if you are an actual assist to me.”

“Well, I don’t know where I’m supposed to stay,” Allen said tiredly.

“Of course. How could I have forgotten? Go ahead and sleep on the sofa right over there,” Starswirl said as he gestured towards the red couch. “I’ll be in my quarters. Stay up as long as you like practicing, but you need to be awake enough tomorrow to begin helping me,” Starswirl said as he walked out of the room.

Allen stood up, continuing to use his magic. Eventually, after much time had passed, he managed to hold the light for about five minutes; it was short-lived, however, as he passed out on the couch due to fatigue.

Allen felt a crushing weight on his chest. A familiar voice rang in his ears. “Wake up you lazy colt. We need to work.”

Well there go my final hopes of this being a dream.

Allen looked down, noticing books piled up on his chest. “What are these books here for?” He said slightly struggling to breath.

“They are for studying. There are also some journals for noting your scientific discoveries.” Starswirl dropped a quill on top.

“Can you get these books off of me so I can stand up?”

Starswirl lifted them off, setting them on the floor. Allen stood up and looked into a mirror that hung on the nearby wall.

So this is how I look?

He ran his hand through his long, ragged brown mane, looked across his white coat, and took notice that his tail was also brown. His eyes were, as always, blue.

“Stop looking at yourself. We need to begin working.”

“Alright.. what do I need to help you with first?”

“Lift up those books with your magic.” Starswirl gestured towards the books he recently set on the floor.

“But I’m not that skilled with magic yet..”

“Do it.”

Struggling, Allen used his magic, managing to pick up two of the six books that were stacked on the floor. Moving them around the room, he set them on the desk nearby. He then grabbed the remaining books and set them on the desk next to the others.

“Commendable effort, however not enough so. Try again.”

Using his already exhausted magic, he picked up two more of the books, moving them onto the floor. Starswirl shook his head and moved them back to the desk. “Again.”

After five hours of work Allen spoke up then lost his concentration and the chair, he had held with his magic fell and clattered to the ground. “Starswirl,” he panted “I’m going to need a break. We haven't even had lunch,” he complained.

“Fine. You get one hour. After that, we work until supper.”

“That’s fine. See you in an hour.”

Finally; food. It’s been ages since I ate. Walking out of the room, Allen attempted to remember the rooms that they had passed the previous day. One of them was a kitchen.

After a while, he eventually found his way there. Walking in, he spoke to the cook and asked for some food. The cook gave him some scraps and Allen went back to the lab to eat and rest.

Starswirl opened the door to the lab, interrupting Allen’s nap. “Has it already been an hour?” Allen said sleepily.

“Yes it has. Now, I believe you have enough magical strength to cast a basic spell. Look through your spellbook for level one spells,” Starswirl instructed.

Allen flipped through the spellbook given to him by Starswirl, finding a few spells he found interesting. “Featherweight Spell: Reduces weight of heavy objects, allowing you to lift them with ease. (Level 1) | Cloud Walking Spell: Allows non-pegasus ponies to walk on clouds. (Level 5)”

I’ll start at level one like that old wizard said.

“I’ll take a shot at this one.” He hovered the book in front of Starswirl, who then nodded approvingly. Allen’s horn began to glow and so did the chair he had been lifting earlier. With a small flash of white, the spell had been cast.

“Now, let’s see if it worked.” Starswirl went over and lifted the heavy object with his hooves, then nodded. “Great. For your first day using magic, you surely have a knack for it.”

“Then why are you insulting my abilities and pushing me so hard?”

“Because it makes you better. Although, Allen, you should know I am impressed.”

“Thanks.” Maybe Equestria isn’t so bad.