Memoirs of a Teacher
Where it all began
The sun was shining overhead, its rays glaring down upon us on the ground. I was accompanied by my seneschal, Raven Quill as I went about my usual duties as the Princess of Equestria.
Today was the day where the unicorn fillies would be tested for their magical ability to be able to join my school for gifted unicorns. I was currently heading over to the testing building to watch from a room where they could not see me, so as to not give any of the fillies and colts any stress.
Suddenly, the world shook as I felt a large burst of magic. Lifting my head up, I gazed at the rainbow spreading out from Cloudsdale. A rainboom! I hadn’t seen one of those in three hundred years...
A large wave of unicorn magic followed the rainboom, coming from the testing room for the unicorn fillies. As I turned towards the tower, an adolescent dragon’s head burst through the roof, looking confused and innocent, accompanied by purple strikes of magic.
Hurriedly, I teleported to right outside the testing room. Pushing open the door, an extraordinary sight greeted me. A purple filly was floating, her magical power was lifting her up and her eyes were glowing. I recognized her immediately. The filly of Night Light and Twilight Velvet, the Royal Astronomers.
Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and her raw magical power was something I had never seen before in a unicorn filly. But her control over it was weak, and the magic was just unbridled raw power. Stepping up to her, I put my hoof on her shoulder and concentrated, using my own magic to calm the magical storm and giving little Twilight more control over it.
Slowly, Twilight turned to look at me, the glow in her eyes fading away. As she regained control over her magic, the two potted plants at the side of the room turned back into her parents, the four examiners stopped floating in the air and the enlarged dragon shrunk down into his normal size. Seeing this, I made a decision.
“Twilight Sparkle,” I stated.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Twilight mumbled ashamedly. I smiled.
“You have a very special gift. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities.” I told her.
“Huh?” Twilight was absolutely confused, her eyes hesitant.
“But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study.” I pointed out.
“Huh?!” At this point, the filly was absolutely convinced she was in a dream, wondering why I wasn’t punishing her.
“Twilight Sparkle, I’d like to make you my own personal protege her at the school.” I continued.
“Huh?!” I almost laughed. The childlike innocence in her eyes, and the complete bemusement that was shown there.
“Well?” I asked.
Twilight glanced over to her parents, who were nodding frantically. “Yes!” she cried out as she leaped up in the air, joyfully celebrating.
“One other thing, Twilight.” I held out a hoof.
Her eyes widened. “More?” I pointed towards her flank and her eyes widened in joy. A large purple star with a similar-sized white star behind it surrounded by five white stars was displayed there. “My cutie mark!” She then proceeded to start bouncing around me, chanting “Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!”
I am ashamed to admit that at that moment, I did not just think of her as my new pupil. When I saw the stars on her flank, I immediately thought of my sister and the prophecy. On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape. Could Twilight Sparkle be the stars that would aid in the freeing of my sister?
At that point, I thought of her as a weapon to hone, a blunt blade to be sharpened to be able to face my sister, and free her from the Nightmare. Eventually, I’d see how wrong I was.
After I had sent Twilight home, promising to collect her the next day and show her new temporary home at the castle, I sighed. There were going to be complications, accepting a filly as my newest student.
Ponies from influential noble houses were going protest, as I had just shown preferential treatment to a filly and taken her in as my student. They were going to insist that I took their own fillies and colts as my students, and I would have to refuse them and endure the complaining that would follow.
However, I did not regret my decision. I had felt her magic and seen her enthusiasm for magic. She was going to be a truly delightful filly to teach all I knew about magic to.
Teleporting inside the throne room, I called for my seneschal. “Raven?” Immediately, Raven stepped out from behind the doors and bowed towards me. “Dispense with the bowing, Raven. We have work to do.”
She nodded. “What do you need me for, Your highness?”
“Make sure the northernmost tower is cleared and made into a livable habitat for a young filly, and inform the cooks that they are going to be cooking for Twilight Sparkle for a while. Find out her food preferences and any dietary needs and make sure they know.”
Raven jotted down my instructions on her notepad. “If I may, Princess?”
I nodded. “Speak.”
“What about the dragonling? What are your plans for him?” I considered the question.
“Twilight Sparkle hatched him, so she’ll have to learn how to take care of him,” I finally answered after a few minutes of consideration. “For now, continue with the current arrangements I have set up. I have plans for him.”
Raven nodded. “Will that be all, Princess?” I inclined my head, and she left the room to carry out my instructions.
Once she had disappeared, I looked forlornly at the stained glass window depicting Nightmare Moon’s defeat. “Don’t worry, sister,” I muttered. “I’m bringing you back.”
Memoirs of a Teacher
The First Day
I stood at the entrance of the castle, awaiting the carriage that I had sent to collect Twilight Sparkle. Gazing into the end of the road, where the carriage was supposed to appear, I attempted to recall the lesson plans that I made last night for young Twilight.
“Princess,” Raven whispered, giving me a nudge. “There.” I turned to look at where she was pointing. Ah, there the carriage was. I looked up as it trundled to a halt in front of me,
Twilight Sparkle stepped out nervously, sinking into a deep bow the moment she saw me. “There’s no need to bow, Twilight,” I said kindly. “You are now my student, and I would like all formalities between us to dissolve. Good morning, Mister Night Light and Madam Velvet.”
Twilight’s parents nodded. “Your highness, I would just like to say,” Twilight Velvet began, “Thank you for taking Twilight in as your student. I have not heard of you taking in a student before, which means that you made an exception for Twilight. I thank you-”
I held up a hoof. “There’s no need to thank me,” I told her, “Twilight has an exceptional amount of potential. If taught well, she could potentially become,” I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “The most powerful unicorn in Equestria.” I straightened up. “Right now, she lacks the precision to direct her raw magic, and that’s where I come in. Through a series of lessons and tests, I will teach her finer control over her magic. I will also be teaching her some high-level spells once she reaches that area. Any questions?”
Twilight Velvet was mouthing the word’s ’Most powerful unicorn in Equestria’ in shock. I chuckled at her expression. “I tell the truth, Madam Velvet. I do see a lot of potential in young Twilight. Twilight, what do you think?”
Twilight looked startled at being directly addressed by me. “Uhhh…” she turned to look at her parents hesitantly. They nudged her forwards, encouraging her. “I think that is a very good lesson plan?” she said, half asking, half saying.
I stifled a laugh. “There’s no need to be nervous, Twilight. From now on, I am just your teacher, and your friend. I may be your princess, but during our lessons, I expect you to refer to me as just Celestia, or Princess. There’s no need for formalities. They’ll get in the way.”
Twilight looked at me, hesitating. “Okay… Princess?” I chuckled.
“Well, time to say your goodbyes.” I nudged Twilight towards her parents. “You’ll see her on weekends, or you can visit anytime during the weekdays. Don’t worry, I’m not taking her away from you two.” Twilight Velvet laughed nervously at that.
“I’ll see you on the weekend then, Twilight, my little filly,” Night Light nuzzled her and straightened up. “Promise you won’t get so immersed you’ll forget to visit us.”
“I promise!” Twilight told him. “I’ll visit you and Shiny every weekend!”
“Shiny? That would be Shining Armor, yes?” I asked.
Twilight nodded. “He’s my BBBFF! My Big Brother Best Friend Forever!”
I searched my memory for the name. “Isn’t he enrolled at the Guard Academy?” I asked Twilight Velvet.
Velvet nodded. “He applied last year, and earlier this year his application was approved. He’s leaving in a week for his training.”
I smiled. “Well, when you see him again, tell him I wish him luck. The Guard Academy’s training routine is hard. However, I have no doubt he’ll pass with flying colours.”
Velvet inclined her head. “Thank you, Princess.”
“Well, this is goodbye for now. I hope I’ll see you this weekend when you come along to pick her up.” I said.
“Of course, Princess.” Twilight’s parents bowed a final time and got onto the carriage. As we watched the carriage trundle away, I glanced at Twilight. Surprisingly, she wasn’t crying, which I did not expect. My experience with foals had shown me that they did not like to be away from their parents.
“Aren’t you going to miss them?” I asked Twilight.
Twilight looked at me incredulously. “We live just eight blocks away! I can visit them anytime I want!”
I chuckled. “A very astute observation. Very well. Would you like to see your tower?” In hindsight, I should have not said tower here.
There was no response. “Twilight?” I asked worriedly, looking at her. Her mouth was open, and her eyes were widened in shock. “Twilight?” I asked again.
“I-I get a tower?” She asked, her voice quavering.
I nodded. “It was empty, so I made it livable for you. Would you like to see it?”
“Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!” she jumped about.
I chuckled at her antics. “Well, brace yourself, I will be teleporting us there. Raven, you may continue your day as usual. I plan to give young Twilight the full tour.” Raven nodded and started towards the castle.
“Teleport?” Twilight asked. “What’s that?”
“Well, Twilight, teleporting is the use of magic to get from one place to another in an instant,” I told her.
“Can you teach me?” she asked me, her eyes shining.
I laughed a little. “I’m sorry Twilight, but teleporting is for the highest levels of mages. Most unicorns don’t master it. Maybe when you reach that level, I’ll teach you.”
“I’ll reach that level!” Twilight told me determinedly, “Promise you’ll teach me to teleport when I do?”
I nodded solemnly. “I promise.”
We appeared at the stairway to the northern castle, the air displacing around us as we popped into existence. “That was awesome!” Twilight exclaimed, “Can we do that again?”
I giggled. “Maybe later. For now, I’ll show you your new home for the weekdays.” It had been so long since I had spent some time with a foal, and Twilight was a fresh experience for me.
I gestured towards the stairway to the door into the tower. “We’ll have to climb the stairs here to get inside.”
“Stairs?” Twilight pouted. “I hate climbing stairs.”
I tried not to laugh. “Well, come on then. You won’t be able to see your new abode if you don’t climb the stairs.” Twilight pouted, before giving in.
“Fineeeeeeee. But can we teleport out later? It’s so fun!!” Without answering her, I started to ascend the stairs, a smile on my face.
As we arrived onto the platform where the door into the tower was, Twilight was already bouncing with excitement in anticipation of what was inside it. “Open the door, open the door!”
I giggled and lit my horn. The door slowly swung open, and Twilight peeked inside. As she looked inside, her eyes widened in joy. “This is all for me?”
I nodded. “This is all for you, and you’ll live here while staying under my tutelage.” Twilight gazed up at her surroundings in awe.
The inside of the tower was filled with bookshelves, but most of them were empty since I had elected to allow Twilight to fill them with books of her own choice. Although, one of the bookshelves was filled to the brim with books that I had chosen to start her off with. There was a giant hourglass on the second level, a bedroom behind a door, and a giant window to look at the view.
“This…” Twilight was speechless. “This is awesome!” I smiled at her words.
“Come over here, Twilight,” I gestured to the bookshelf that I had filled with various fiction books, a few textbooks on magic, and other assorted subjects. “Choose a book with a subject you’d like to learn, and it’ll be the first thing I teach you.”
“Now?” she asked hesitantly.
I smiled. “If you like, we could do it after I give you a tour of the castle, but I’d like to see how I can effectively teach you in the coming years. Go on, choose a book.”
Twilight scanned the bookshelf, her eyes raking over each and every title. “That one,” she pointed to a book on basic spells.
I remained where I was. “Try to take it down with your magic,” I encouraged. “It’s always better to get some hooves on experience.”
Twilight glanced at me nervously, before turning to the shelf. Lighting her horn, a lavender aura surrounded the book, and it lifted up a little before the lavender aura dissipated and the book fell to the ground.
“It’s so heavy!” Twilight said, “I couldn’t sustain the magic for long…” her face fell. “I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
I crouched down. “Oh, Twilight. That’s what I’m here for. You may have a lot of potential, but you need focused study and practice to get better at your magic. Come on, try again. This time, how about I help you a little?”
She looked up. “Really?” I nodded.
“Really. The first step to levitation, concentrate on the size and weight of the object, and focus on lifting it up into the air.” Twilight nodded and lit her horn again.
A lavender aura surrounded the book, and it wobbled unsteadily into the air. “The second step is to make sure you balance the specific item precisely. Keep the weight on both ends equal, so the item does not tip over,” I informed her.
She scrunched up her face and concentrated. The book slowly balanced, and it held steady in the air. “Very good!” I clapped. “You can put the book down on this stand,” I gestured to a stand right next to the shelf.
Frowning in concentration, she levitated the book slowly to the stand and set the book down. Once she did so, she looked back at me. “What now?” she asked.
“Now, I can give you a tour of the castle,” I told her. “You passed my first lesson with flying colours, and I think you deserve a reward.”
“What kind of reward?” Twilight asked excitedly.
“Cake.”
