Heating a teapot with a heating spell, I pour two cups of tea. And bring them over to the small table in my room. Placing one in front of Sunset Shimmer, and I sit down with the other.

"So, Miss Shimmer, tell me something. What about the spell made you change your mind?" I said taking a sip of tea.

She took a moment but finally responded with, "It is the most powerful shield spell I have found so far. Even amongst the most advanced ones in the library, nothing came close to the strength of the shield for that amount of mana. How did you come up with it?"

"Well, you know how shield spells belong to the school of Abjuration" I ask

"Of course, everypony knows that."

"Well, what if I told you that shield spell uses teachings of the school of Transmutation to enhance the protective nature it gains from the school of Abjuration."

Her eyes go wide, "Isn't mixing schools of magic incredibly dangerous?"

"Oh, incredibly dangerous. And you should never do so unless you are absolutely sure it won't misfire. Which is why it took me a year of testing using a magic circle and many mana crystals before I cast it using my own magic. I have 3 journals worth of testing and failed attempts." I said before taking a sip of my tea again, "But if it is done right, it can amplify the properties of the base spell several times."

"Please, let me see how you did it!" She said placing her hands on the table while leaning towards me

"Information for Information." I reply

"What?" She said sitting back down

"I gave you some information, now I expect some in return." I said taking another sip of tea, "Now, why do you want so badly to learn how I made my spell?"

"I want to become stronger. I need to become stronger. If what you say is true about mixing schools of magic, I have to learn it."

"But you already have Princess Celestia as a teacher. Is she not doing a good enough job?

"I mean, sort of. While I am grateful to be her personal student, she is a better ruler than a teacher. She keeps telling me I have to go out and make friends. That friendship should come before magic. But I want to learn magic, not make friends. Magic is the whole reason why I came to this school in the first place. For someone who has lived more than a thousand years, she should know that."

"That must be very frustrating."

"You have no idea. On top of that, there are ponies who look down on me in my classes due to my age. I almost wish I didn't place so high up. It is awful being 13 and having those your age envy you, while older ones look down on you because of your age."

"I can actually relate to you on that one."

"What do you mean?"

"I placed into the 18th year of mathematics and placed high in most of my other courses. In fact, I just turned 15 this year, and started my master's program."

"Wait... You are only 15? And you have your own lab!?"

"Well, I actually got the lab at age 7 when I first came here. Thanks to a letter from Princess Celestia, along with a monthly stipend and yearly research grant."

"Why would she grant you that when you were 7? I can barely get her to let me experiment on my own."

"Not really sure, it might have to do with the fact I used a single spell to turn a massive block of coal into a statue of her made out of solid diamond for my entrance exam."

"Wait... is it as smooth as glass?"

"Yes, you have seen it? I haven't seen it in 8 years."

"Yeah, Princess Celestia keeps it in one of the halls in the castle. What school of magic did you use for that?"

"I used a custom Transmutation spell. My talent is in Transmutation after all. What is yours if you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, mine represents my affinity towards magic in general."

"Interesting, I didn't know a talent like that existed." Taking a look at a clock that hung on the wall, I noticed it was getting late, "Tell you what. I have been meaning to find someone who can help me in the lab. Come back tomorrow around 1 pm, and I will teach you in exchange for some help with some of my more involved experiments. Does that sound fair?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll do that. Can I uh, keep the book you gave me earlier?"

"Sure, just don't leave it lying around. I keep the spells I develop a secret for a reason. Not even the Princess knows that spell. You are the only other person besides myself who knows it."

"Thank you." She said as I walked her to the door. "I will see you tomorrow."

"I look forward to it. Good might Miss Shimmer."

"Good night Moonshadow. And you can call me Sunset."

"Very well, see you tomorrow Sunset." I said as I closed the door.

What an interesting mare. I did not expect to learn that her cold exterior is because of how her peers perceive her. Or that Celestia is trying to force Sunset to make friends before teaching her magic. That just seems like a waste of talent. I wonder if, with enough time, I could get Sunset to become my student instead of Celestia's. She definitely seems more interested in learning what I have to offer rather than what the Princess can. I might actually have to come up with lessons and homework for her in the near future if she decides to learn from me on a regular basis.

The next morning, I made a breakfast consisting of eggs, black coffee, and toast. While eating, I was going over possible tests to see how quickly Sunset can pick up on. Should I have her try to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen and have her tell me why one is explosive, and one is not, maybe have her maybe try to explain how a piece of coal can be turned into a diamond or have her try to turn caffeine into cocaine by altering the chemical composition. Eh, I'll figure that out after I finish my experiment with testing the explosive power of mana crystals.

Finishing up my meal. I put on a clean shirt, and my lab coat before heading over to the lab to start the crystal experiment. Inside the lab, I finish setting up the experiment my putting up a blast shield and sandbags in the corner of the lab and placing a large uncharged mana crystal in an apparatus at the other end of the room. I also put a helmet on just in case. Pulling out a tape recorder, I press record.

"The time is 11:30 am, experiment Crystal One. Testing the explosive power of a full mana crystal via cracking it at a charge. Starting the charge of the crystal at 11:31 am." I say as I start to transfer mana into the crystal. "Current time is 12:50 pm, mana crystal is at full capacity, activating shield spell, and preparing to crack the crystal with a titanium-tungsten alloy. In 3, 2, 1..." I said as I let the allow swing into the crystal. The world when white the second after the crystal cracked, followed by my ears ringing. When my vision returned, the crystal was gone, and the windows of my lab were blown out, and my lab was filled with dust. The blast shield is completely fucked. I put my hand to my ear, and when I pull it away, I see blood. Putting my hand on a nearby table, I force myself to stand, and walk out of the lab coughing. As I reach the door, I see it has been blown off the hinges and is embedded in the wall across the hall, and standing 5 feet from the door, was Sunset. She looked at the door, and back at me several times. She ran up to me and started saying something, but my ears were still ringing, and I couldn't hear a word she was saying.

"WHAT? CAN'T HEAR YOU! I THINK I BLEW OUT BOTH OF MY EARDRUMS!" I said. She stopped talking, as she saw the blood coming from my ears, "THERE IS A RESTORATION SPELL IN MY ROOM, 3RD BOOKSHELF FROM THE LEFT, 2ND SHELF, BLUE SPINE, GOLD LETTERING. GO GRAB IT AND CAST IT ON ME. I DON'T WANT TO RISK CASTING ANY MAGIC BEFORE I KNOW IT IS SAFE!"

Sunset nodded and ran into my room. While she was getting the book, I sat down on the ground outside of my lab, took off both my lab coat and shirt to check for injuries. Looking over my arms, and chest, I don't see any visible wounds, but I can differently feel some sore spots that will differently bruise if the healing spell Sunset is grabbing doesn't take care of it. Feeling along my horn, I don't feel any obvious cracks in my horn, but there might me microfractures that I don't feel.

A few minutes later, Sunset comes out of my room, book in hand. She walks over to me while reading the spell. She stands in front of me, and her horn lights up as she casts the spell. As she does, the ringing in my ears starts to slowly fade. As she finished the spell, my hearing is returned to normal.

"Much better. Thank you Sunset." I say. Only to get a slap across the face in response. "What was that for?" I ask holding the side of my face.

"If I had been any closer, that door would have decapitated me. What the buck were you doing in the first place that caused an explosion like that in the first place."

"I was testing how explosive a full mana crystal is when it is cracked. I have to admit. I did not expect the explosion to be so powerful. It even blew through the same shield spell I showed you. Maybe if I used a more recent version of that spell maybe it wouldn't have failed."

"You were... what. Why would you do that in the first place?"

"I wanted to see if the crystals could be used as an explosive that could be used in mining operations. I figured it would produce an explosion, but not one that large." I said as I stood up and walked back into my lab examining the damage more closely. "Though, I have to say. It did produce some impressive results." I said as Sunset followed me into the lab and seeing the damage first hand.

"But your lab is ruined. It will take days for it to be rebuilt. Possibly months to replace all the equipment you lost."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have a spell for this." I said as my horn lit up as it was encased in the Prussian blue glow of my magic. Focusing on the door, it flew out of the wall and reattached itself to the hinges of the door frame as the metal bent back into shape. Focusing on the window, I searched for glass shards eventually finding them scattered in the courtyard that my lab overlooked. I picked them up with my magic, and like reeling in a fish, pulled them back to the window frame and remade the glass by fusing the shards back together on an atomic level. And I repeated this on every item in the lab that was broken or shattered from the crystal. Which I found wedged in the floor of the room. Finishing up the spell, the lab was restored to its pre-explosion state.

"How did you? How did you do that?" Sunset asked

"Oh, it’s a modified time spell that I can target things with to send them back in time to a point I desire. Only works on non-living things at the moment, but I'm working on that. In theory, once I figure out how to affect living things, it could even restore limbs."

"That is amazing. Imagine all the good it could do for ponies and all the damaged relics that could be restored."

"Well, you also need to know what the item you are restoring use to look like for it to work. Otherwise, it will just fizzle." I say grabbing two containers from a cupboard in the corner of the room. "Anyways, I have a test for you. If you can solve it, then I will be happy to teach you more."

"What kind of test?"

"Oh, nothing too difficult. I want you to turn the powder labeled Caffeine into the powder labeled Cocaine using nothing other than the Caffeine powder. If you can do this, then I will know you are ready to learn more."

Sunset looked at both containers of powder, and then looked at me, "What's the catch?"

"The catch is it has to be done with magic, and you can use nothing other than the Caffeine powder that I provide you with. Other than that, you can take as long as you want to do it, using any school of magic you want, and any source of knowledge you have access to. I can provide you with as much of the Caffeine power as you need, but I will provide you with that one sample of Cocaine only. You can do it here, or you can take it somewhere else to do it. But I will know if it is done correctly. Good luck." I say with a smirk.

Sunset looks back at the powders in front of her and starts casting spells on both of them. It is quite a difficult task I have given her, but an entirely feasible one once she figures out the chemical formulas for both of them, and the structures of the compounds. Since Caffeine is C8H10N4O2, and Cocaine is C17H21NO4 she should have all the ingredients she needs to make what I am asking her, provided she can get the correct number of atoms in the correct structure. Let's see how long it will take for her to do this.

6 months later, Sunset is getting visibly frustrated. She is trying more than 100 different spells a day to try and get the Caffeine to turn into Cocaine. Yet she still has not asked me for any help, she is quite the stubborn one. And while she has been doing this, I have been drawing plans for WWII era tanks that can be operated by two to one unicorns. I already made new variations of the Tiger, Tiger 2, Panther, IS-6, Sherman, T-34, and Cromwell tanks that could be put into production if needed.

New Year's Eve, tomorrow will be the year 986, Sunset is in my lab still trying to pass my test. I am in the corner of the room working on a version of the Centurion tank when I hear Sunset scream in frustration. Turning around I see she had put her head on the table and is muttering something. I get up and as I walk over to her I can hear her saying, "I can't do it. I can't do it. It is impossible. How am I supposed to learn from Moonshadow if I can't pass this simple test." Approaching her, I put my hand on her shoulder.

"What is wrong Sunset?" I ask

"I can't do it. I have tried everything I can think of and looked in every book I can think of. I got it down to the school of Transmutation, and I can do it if I have other substances, but not by itself. It is impossible." She said practically on the verge of tears, "I have put so much time into this, and just when I think I have it, the spell fizzles."

"Let me ask you a question. What sources of knowledge did I say you could use?"

"You said I could use any source of knowledge I have access to. But I have used every source I can think of."

"Well, you have missed one very important source."

"What do you mean?" She asked looking at me

"You have yet to ask me for any help or even a hint." I say to her. She looks at me for a few seconds, registering what I just said. And then proceeds to call herself stupid for a good minute.

"Can you please help me? I can't figure it out." She asks clearly embarrassed

"Of course. Let this be your first lesson. Never be afraid to ask for help, even if your pride doesn't want you to. Now, if you want to change Caffeine into Cocaine you need to understand a few things." I said to her while pulling out a chalkboard with my magic as I went into detail about chemistry and how atoms can make up molecules and compounds. Then I proceeded to teach her a spell I devised to show you what atoms are in a substance and how they are arranged. Along with the periodic table. To say she soaked up the information like a sponge would be putting it lightly. 30 minutes after I finished the lecture, she was already putting into practice, and slowly over an hour, she converted all Caffeine she possibly could into Cocaine. She was so happy when she finally did it. It was like a little kid who just got a puppy for Christmas.

"Congratulations Sunset. Now remember this, you can't just go around wildly changing anything. There exist substances that are similar to harmless ones to the point where they have the same chemical formula, but when arranged in a different order can be very deadly. If you have to alter something, make sure you only change it into something you know is safe."

"What do you exactly mean by that?"

"Take salt for example. It is made up of Chlorine and Sodium, Sodium on its own is a very reactive metal what tends to explode, and chlorine is a poisonous gas, but together make up a vital substance." I say as I grab a plastic bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and a vial of water from a shelf. "Use the spell I taught you to tell me the difference between these two liquids."

As she cast the spell I could see her wondering why I asked her to, "The two liquids are almost identical, only the one in your left hand has an extra oxygen atom."

"That is correct. The one is my right hand is just regular water, while the one is my left hand is Hydrogen Peroxide. The uninformed would think that one atom wouldn't make much difference, but in fact, it is a huge difference. For while water is safe to drink, you wouldn't want to drink Hydrogen Peroxide. As it can be used as an antiseptic for cleaning wounds and should someone drink it would result in vomiting and possibly require hospitalization."

"But the only difference is a single atom."

"One is sometimes all it takes." I say looking at the clock, "It is getting late, I think I'm going to turn in for the night." As I say this Sunset looks at the clock as well.

"Oh ponyfeathers, is it is almost midnight! Celestia is going to kill me. I have to go now. Goodnight Moonshadow." She says as she teleports away. Leaving me alone in my lab. With Sunset gone, I grabbed the fresh cocaine and put it into a silk bag that I kept hidden in my coat. Going to save that for a rainy day. I think to myself as I clean up the lab before heading over to my room. Taking off my clothes, I lay down in bed and think to myself. Sunset Shimmer, that girl is stubborn, but I think this test is what she needed to realize that she can't rely only on herself to get something done. It was impressive how quickly she was able to put the lecture into practice. She would make a good apprentice if she wasn't already Celestia's. It will be interesting to see if Celestia gets her to stay, or if she will want to learn from me instead. Imagine the headlines if she becomes my apprentice, 'Princess Celestia's Student leaves her for a teacher closer to her age.' That would be hilarious.

During the next 3 years, I got my master’s degree and started my Doctorate program at the age of 18. Sunset was able to start her master's program at the age of 16 and started to get lessons from me on a weekly basis. During this time, she started to grow closer to me and became more distant from Celestia. It started to become clear that at some point soon, she would have to choose whose student she wanted to be. Mine or Celestia's, and since I turned 18 and I was a legal adult, and I started my towards my Doctorate, the school told me I would need to take on a student if I wanted to receive my Doctorate at the end of my studies.

This came to resolve one day in the middle of the year 989. It was two days after I had just put in a patent for smokeless gunpowder, and hand sanitizer that I got a letter from the dean's office. Saying that someone had filled out an application to be my student. Looking it over, it was defiantly an application from Sunset. I waited until the day before the school needed a response to decide. But I decided that I would take her on as a student. She was a quick learner and I have no idea when another pony like her could come along. This might be a once in a lifetime chance, and I need to take it. No matter how bad the consequences might be. So, in the morning, I sent a message back to the dean's office that I would accept her as my student. I didn't see Sunset until later that day when she stopped by my lab, but when I did she looked very happy.

"Thank you so much for accept me as your student!" She said as she ran up and hugged me.

"Yeah, no problem. What are you going to do about being two pony’s students?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem." She replied cheerfully

"What do you mean?" I asked. This can't be good.

"I went up to Celestia before I came here and told her I quit being her personal student, and that I already have a new teacher."

"Did you mention who your new teacher was?"

"Yeah, I said that you had agreed to become my new teacher."

This won't end well. I thought to myself as I ran through all the possibilities of what could happen in my head. And what I would say to appease a sun goddess. Which was interrupted when the lab door opened and on the other side stood Princess Celestia.

"Hello there Moonshadow, we need to talk." She said in a passive aggressive tone.

Oh, fuck me.

Author's Note

Edited with Grammarly.

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