A Visitor From Beyond

"My personal favorite is Alteration magic." Ben said as he continued to explain is knowledge to the group all through the ride to Canterlot. "There's so many useful abilities."

"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked, getting bored of listening to Ben.

"Well, like Paralysis, the spell I used on you." Ben replied with a smile. Rainbow Dash shuddered at the memory of the experience.

"There are also spells that let you breathe underwater, walk on water, shield yourself from harm, and Telekinesis, but those are just a few." Ben continued.

"Telekinesis? Like, manipulating stuff from a distance?" Twilight asked. "Oh, we know that, too. Watch."

Twilight then used her magic to lift up a stray piece of paper up off of the floor. "Ah, I see," Ben replied. "Anywho, how much longer until we get to, what did you call it, Canterlot?"

"Shouldn't be much longer," Twilight replied, looking out the window to judge the distance.

Soon enough, the train arrived at Canterlot Station, and the group disembarked. Ben followed the ponies' lead as they walked through the streets to the castle. Ponies left & right gazed in awe at Ben as he walked, wondering who, or better yet what, he was. Ben looked around nervously, then asked: "Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Well, it's not too often we get people like you here," Twilight sarcastically remarked. "In fact, nobody like you has ever been here."

"Well, how 'bout that," Ben said, scratching his chin as he looked around at the city's features.

As the group arrived at Canterlot Castle, the guards at the front door gave Ben a look everyone else did, as least until Twilight asked them to open the door. The guards snapped out of it and opened the door for them, and as they walked in, Ben couldn't help but look around in awe. "It's so beautiful in here," Ben exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is a sight to behold, isn't it?" the purple unicorn responded, unable to help but look around herself.

"Twilight Sparkle, why have you come here?... and who is this you've brought with you?" A voice from the other end of the room said with a rather loud voice, possibly to cover the distance of the room.

Twilight and the other 5 ponies knelt down in respect, and Ben rubbed his chin in curiosity before noticing who they were doing it for and knelt down himself. "Rise," Princess Celestia said to them after a few seconds of basking in the moment.

"Good afternoon, princess. Anywho, we've come here to introduce you to this fellow we found lying in the grass outside Ponyville." Twilight explained.

"And how did he get here?" Celestia inquired.

"According to his story, Ben came from another dimension using a spell, but something went wrong and he ended up here. He seems to be a nice, umm... whatever he is."

"Human." Ben added, smirking. "I'm a human."

"Well, human, what do you plan to do now that your here?" Celestia asked, her question aimed at Ben.

"Hmm, I guess I'll get myself acquainted with the nature of this world. I'm sure this world is far different from mine. I'll probably study some of this land's arcane knowledge, if that's alright."

"A mage? My, you humans must be pretty talented. Anyway, I suppose that's alright, as long as you don't use your magic for evil."

"Alright. Well, I guess I'll take my leave."

As the group walked out the door, Ben said, "Well, I'll see you girls at, erm, Ponyville, was it? Yeah, that's it. I'll see you there."

"But, don't you have to ride the train home? How are you going to get there before us?" Twilight asked, puzzled.

"Oh, I took the liberty of casting a Mark spell back there. All I have to do is cast Recall and poof! I'm back there in an instant."

Ben readied a green rotating cube in his hand, and prepared to cast it. As he raised his hand to cast the spell, he disappeared in a green puff of smoke. He then reappeared at the location he marked in another green cloud of smoke. "Man, I love teleporting," Ben said to himself with a grin.

As Ben wandered Ponyville waiting for the others to get back, he decided to stop by the library, if there was one, to browse the reading material. After asking around, he was directed to Twilight's library/house, which to his surprise looked like a giant tree. Deciding not to judge pony architecture, he opened the door and walked inside. Ben browsed the books on the shelves and found nothing appealing until he found a book titled "Practical Magic for the Practical Wizard" and grabbed it. Unable to find a seat, he sat on the floor and opened the book. He was about a third of the way through the book when Twilight walked in. "What are you doing?" the purple unicorn asked.

"Reading." Ben replied with a flat voice as he continued doing what he said he was doing. Twilight shrugged it off and went about her business.

After Ben finished the book, he decided to have a little fun. You see, Ben wasn't just a mage. He also had sneaking skills. He decided to use this to surprise Twilight. He readied an invisibility spell in his hand, and as he crept up the stairs to Twilight's room, cast it. The invisible Ben was worried that the door would be closed, and if he opened it, he would become visible and the surprise would be ruined. He found that the door was indeed open, and was glad. He crept in the room to find Twilight reading a book of her own. As he approached, he grew ever more careful. Finally, when he was close enough, he poked Twilight in the flank. Twilight jumped in surprise and dropped her book on the floor, then turned around to find Ben, visible and giggling. "How did you sneak up on me like that?" She asked.

"I just used my invisibility spell," he responded, still giggling.

"Invisibility?" Twilight asked. "You can turn yourself invisible at will?"

"Sure can. Watch," Ben said as he readied the Invisibility spell in his hand, then casted it. As he did that, his body disappeared in a bluish-black poof.

Twilight's jaw dropped as Ben snuck around behind her and poked her flank again. She jumped in surprise again, and Ben started giggling again. "Stop doing that!" Twilight said with a loud tone.

"Also, if I touch anything while invisible, the spell wears off. That's the main drawback," Ben added.

"That's pretty cool. Speaking of which, is there any way I could learn your spells?" Twilight asked.

"Sure! All I need are blank tomes to write them in. You wouldn't happen to have blank tomes, would you?"

"Uh, I think so. Let me check," Twilight said as she trotted off to the storage room. Some time later, she came back, magically holding a box of blank tomes. "Here. Will these do?"

"Yep. I'll get to writing once I get a moment," Ben replied. "Also, there's something else I wanted to show you. It's this magic I recently discovered called 'Nature Essence' which lets me alter the genetics and life force of another living being. I was hoping I could try it on you."

Twilight thought about it for a moment, then said: "Sure, why not?"

"Okay, now this may sound weird, maybe even crazy, but I'm gonna have to remove your horn first."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at what Ben just said. "And why is that?"

"Because the only pony I've seen with both wings & a horn is Princess, erm, Celestia, was it? Yeah. Anyway, I don't think it would be very ethical if I did that to you, too."

"You're going to give me wings?" Twilight asked. "But I can already do that. Besides, they aren't very stable either, especially after the incident with Rarity's wings disintegrating in the sun."

"But are they permanent?" Ben asked with a smirk.

"Erm, no..." The purple unicorn responded.

"Well, I can resolve that. With Nature Essence, I can give you wings that are permanent, will never disintegrate, and best of all, they'll be your own flesh & blood."

Twilight was amazed at what Ben said. "Flesh & blood? So, it will be like I was born with them?"

"Yep. And when you're done, I can take 'em off and put your horn back."

Now Twilight was curious. Wings that are a part of you just conjured up out of nowhere? Impossible. At least, to her knowledge. "Okay," Twilight finally said, "Do it."

Ben placed his hands around Twilight's horn, and then started to focus. As he did that, her horn started to glow. Ben's eyes started to glow as well, and after about 10 seconds, Twilight's horn was gone, just like that. Twilight seemed nervous, since without her horn, she can't use her spells. "Will I still remember all of my spells once I get my horn back?" Twilight asked.

"Of course," Ben replied. "Now hold still."

This time, Ben placed his palms on Twilight's abdomen, where wings would be. His eyes started to glow again, and soon 2 glowing figures appeared under Ben's hands. After about 10 seconds, the green glow dispersed, Ben released his hands, and Twilight stood there with a pair of wings.