"No, no, nonono," I said, putting myself between the royal couple and the door to Rarity's shop. I shouldn't have been surprised that my mouth getting ahead of me would do this, but Cadance looked kinda... angry? Worried? I get it; really, I do. From where she stood, Rarity had done something dangerous—mixing what was likely cannabis products with my pain meds without permission from guardian or physician—by giving me that tea, and she didn't seem to buy that Rarity didn't know. "Please, don't do this."

If Rarity ends up in jail too, that'll have been two of Twilight's friends I've accidentally gotten locked up. Once could be seen as a mistake, but twice? I felt tears stinging at the corners of my dry eyes. No, she'd probably make the assumption that it's intentional... There's no way she'd let me stay with her then.

She might return me to the Sun Horse, but I don't think she or the Moon Horse have time to teach me everything that I need to know to get by in this world. Worse, I'd probably end up getting put into a foster care program. Given that those back home were hit and miss... An involuntary shiver wracked my body at the thought.

"If you arrest Rarity, Twilight's gonna start thinking that I'm doing this on purpose..." I whined. The feelgood sensation of whatever was in the tea was no longer warming my belly. If anything, it was beginning to be replaced by extreme feelings of anxiety. "She's gonna think I'm targeting her friends—that I'm trying to ruin their lives on purpose."

Yet... as much as I was concerned about how this would hurt Twilight and how it would affect myself, another thought crossed my mind. What about Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo? Although they were kind of young for me, which in itself was ironic because they're technically older than me, the girls seemed to be good kids. I could definitely see myself being friends with them, but if Rarity got locked up, Sweetie Belle would be too guarded around me... If I somehow royally screwed the pooch the next time I saw Rainbow Dash, all that goodwill from helping Scootaloo would go down the drain too.

"Anon look, we—" Shining Armour stepped forward, and I couldn't quite stop myself from flinching back as my father momentarily rose to the surface of my mind once more. My ears splayed back and my tail curled under my belly as I flattened myself against the door. A horrified look crossed his face and he halted in his tracks. "Anon..."

"We aren't going to arrest her," Cadance said in a soft voice. I watched through stinging eyes as her somewhat blurry form lowered itself to my level. "I'm not even sure that Shining still has that power here, as he once did. Even if he does, we'd still have to talk to her before making a decision." Despite how blurry my vision was, I could see that she was smiling at me. "Depending on what the tea you said she gave you was infused with, it might not even be illegal. A stern warning might be necessary, though."

"Promise?" I asked, unable to restrain the tremor in my voice. I hated how weak and pathetic I sounded, but I had to remind myself that I wasn't on Earth anymore. Most people here aren't looking for signs of weakness to take advantage of. Those two idiot colts, maybe, but I don't think Twilight's family are the type to be that way. "'cause if you're just saying that, I'mma break Rule #4."

Her smile didn't abate, even though she seemed slightly confused. Right, she probably doesn't know about my list of rules yet. "I promise that Shining Armour is just going to talk to her," she vowed. "Now let's get you back to the castle so we can get your eye drops."

Despite my better judgement, I let her lead me away. My gut was telling me that I'd just condemned Twilight's friend, but my heart wanted to believe that they weren't lying to me—that whatever I'd consumed was just playing with my head. I just needed to stay rational, and things'll be fine. Nobody's going to hurt me.

I wanna say that our trip back to Twilight's place was uneventful, but to be honest, the entire journey there was a bit of a blur—some pun intended. By trying not to think myself into despair, I'd ended up just not thinking at all and blindly following after Princess Cadance. Things and whatnot happened around me, but I just wasn't a part of any of it. Hell, I could have walked past Ebony, Ivory, and their father without even noticing or hearing them call out to me.

Basically, one moment we're leaving Rarity's, and the next time I had a thought, I was walking into Twilight's castle. It was maybe noon by now, but between what limited caffeine was in that tea, and the empty stomach, my head was becoming a tired mess. Part of me wanted to do as Rarity had done and take a nap, but at the same time, I knew that there were more important things to do... like eat. Even if it means I have to have sweets—since they're so important to ponies growth and magical development, I know that Cadance would make me have some—I'll do it, if nothing else than so I can think clearly.

~ 13 ~

Much to my boredom, nothing particularly interesting happened during the period of time immediately following our return. Sweets were had, and a nap had been taken, but it did little to ease my anxiety or waning mood. The eye drops had eased the sting and itch of dryness, but I was still having a bit of trouble seeing.

Already I was beginning to loathe Ivory for what he had done. Intellectually, I knew that pony foals seemed experience a slower development—and not just because the years were longer—and he and his brother might not even have a solid concept of what pain was or that others could experience it like he could. He might've just picked up bad attitudes from peers in Canterlot, and had yet to really receive any sort of proper correction from an adult in his life; it seemed unlikely given that his folks were both apparently guards, but I somehow still wanted to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. Plus I knew that children were wont to act up for attention.

Despite all that, I found myself beginning to hate him. Emotionally, I didn't want to excuse him for anything he'd done. It isn't just cruel to bring a girl's dead parents into some bullying; it was straight-up sadistic. If he didn't receive some sort of wake-up call, there was nothing really stopping him and his brother from moving on from picking fights to torturing animals. I can see the headline already...

Even as much as I was concerned for the safety of others down the line, my hate for him was of a more selfish variety. I was in so much pain because of him, and depending on how long it takes to heal, I might be too temperature-sensitive to take a hot shower or bath... and my eyes! If they were still like this tomorrow, it meant we'd have to go get that checked up on.

I sucked in a deep breath and shifted uncomfortably in the pillow nest I'd constructed in the library. I can't start thinking in terms of an eye-for-an-eye, I thought glumly as I listened for any changes in the castle. I'd learned early on in my stay here that though the castle was solid crystal, certain sounds—the front entrance opening, or someone going up or down the central stairwell—seemed to carry regardless of where you were. Admittedly it was more something you felt than heard. If I start thinking in those sorts of terms, I'm going to end up hurting someone again...

Of course, that contrarian little worm of doubt that'd been ever-present in the back of my mind had its own concerns. I was only defending myself, was what I wanted to believe, but my doubts were still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. I knew from books and chit-chat that back on Earth, school systems tended to have a zero-tolerance policy for fights, often to the detriment of unwilling participants—especially if they came out looking like the aggressor. Anyone could've beat up two larger ponies to ensure they were in no danger of further harm. Why should I be punished for that?

Hearing, or rather, feeling, the front door to the castle open, I let my mind wander. Shining Armour had returned while I slept off the effects of the tea, and the two had been basically snuggling together in the lounge the rest of the day; neither he or his wife had come to tell me what had happened when he checked in with Rarity. Starlight hadn't returned yet, though with her friend in town, I imagined she might be out until well into the evening. That had to mean that it was Twilight, Spike, and the alicorn tyke.

May as well go see if my suggestion allowed them to have a good day.

Rising from my pillow nest, I paused, considering whether or not to return them all to their normal positions at the tables. Normally, I would just do it because it was the right thing to do, but I was sore and still somewhat tired, and surely being injured entitled me to the occasional bout of sloth, right?

Ah, what the fuck am I saying? Despite my better judgement—or was it because of it?—I found myself slowly returning each cushion to its proper spot around the various tables in Twilight's library. While I wasn't as neurotic as to need everything spaced and placed precisely, I was still trying to demonstrate that I was willing to carry my own weight around here. Not like my blurred vision would allow for such insanity anyhow.

I heard her coming well before I saw her enter the room. Call me paranoid all you like, but leaving a door cracked enough to hear hooves on the crystal floors in the hall was a great way to make sure I never found myself surprised here. Plus you can tell a lot about a pony by the sound of their gait. When Twilight entered, I can't imagine what she thought seeing me dragging the cushions I'd hoarded in the corner back to their spots, still wearing my cloak, albeit without the hood up.

"How was your day with your niece?" I asked, not looking at her as I continued to work. "Did you have fun?"

She hummed softly, not initially answering my question. I could just barely hear the telltale tinkle of her telekinesis, no doubt straightening out the cushions I'd moved. Given that I didn't hear the sounds of Flurry Heart at all, she'd probably been handed off to her mother.

When I finally looked at her and squinted enough to make her clear, I was surprised to see she looked kinda perturbed. "Twilight?" I asked, creeping over to her and poking her on the side. "What's up, boss?"

When she finally met my eyes, I could see the anger glowing orange within them. "Ms. Cheerilee approached me when we were on our way back," she said in a strained monotone voice. She was holding back. "She informed me that, due to school board rules, you're unfortunately to be suspended for seven school days at a minimum. Depending on what the school board has to say, it could be longer." Without warning, she stomped her hoof down on the ground, a spiderweb of cracks radiating out beneath it. "Where do those ponies get off...? That colt assaulted you, but you're being punished just as harshly as they are... if not more, given the injuries you sustained!"

Her coat seemed to be turning pale, and her mane was starting to take on an immaterial form, glowing red hot like actual flames. Her magic seized my face like a gentle palm as she began looking intently at my eyes. They tingled slightly as a gentle wave of magic washed over them. "The nerve!" she grumbled, releasing me with a sigh. "This is what I was afraid of. Your eyes are having difficulties focusing aren't they?"

I nodded, backing out of her personal space. "Yeah," I admitted in a whisper. I'd never witnessed this side of Twilight before, nor had I seen this sort of... physical manifestation of a pony's rage. To be honest, it kinda scared me; the Alicorn Princess of Magic quite literally burned with fury before me, and I was struggling to keep a tremor out of my voice. "You're kinda scaring me though, Twilight."

Her eyes widened, and the orange glow faded slightly. Although she opened her mouth once more, I continued, "You're angry, I'm angry, and I'm pretty sure Ms. Cheerilee's probably not too happy about all this either." I looked her in the eye, and smiled in spite of the chill this fiery look of hers sent down my back. "Those boys'll get their comeuppance, but it's not our place to do it." Now to completely put her off her game... "Besides, now we have no excuse not to start mag—"

Oh for fuck's sake!

A buzzing sound filled the room, cutting off my thought. As my eyes flicked around the room for the source, a nagging feeling at the back of my mind drew forth a memory. Although I'd never personally owned a mobile phone—never actually found out if I was considered a fugitive before ending up here—I knew enough about them from observation to know that a ringer could be set to vibrate. The sound I was hearing reminded me very much of one of many poker games where someone's phone began vibrating against the table, interrupting the game.

It was clear that Twilight heard it too, but she didn't seem confused about it in the slightest. Her gaze drew my attention to a plinth bearing a tome. The large volume was decorated with a red and gold stylized sun that reminded me a lot of Princess Celestia's. As I struggled to focus and watch, I could see the book vibrating.

Either the universe was fucking with me now and I'd officially begun hallucinating, or it was intent on keeping me from learning magic theory and starting to learn runic magic. Either way, this had gotten rather silly. "Is that book ringing like a <>, or have I officially lost it?"

Twilight's eyes widened as the book stopped vibrating. Her mane and coat slowly returned to normal as she turned her attention to me. She stared, with a strange sort of recognition on her face. "That word... <>, how did you come to learn that word, Anon?"

More to the point, why does she have the concept needed to understand the word in English? It still ticked me off a bit that Harmony had apparently implanted the knowledge necessary to speak and understand spoken Equestrian to the point that it mostly overrode the reflexive English thoughts. Only those random remnants remained, but it was weird that Twilight was able to understand the meaning despite never having heard it before... Unless she had somewhere.

Shaking her head, she let out a sigh. "No, we can address that later," she declared, returning her attention back to me. Despite her earlier anger, she seemed much calmer. She was smiling, even. "I imagine you were about to say that there was no excuse not to start covering magic fundamentals now that you're suspended from school, right?"

I simply nodded, watching as her horn lit up once more and several tomes from the section dedicated to magic, onto the table. My eyes must have widened slightly at the sight of the stack, because she smiled at me. "Don't worry, Anon," she teased, ruffling my mane with her hoof. "With your eyes as they are right now, I wouldn't expect you to read all of these. I need these to finish formulating a lesson plan." Another, much smaller book levitated down from the shelves to come to a rest on the floor in front of me. "In the meantime, take a few days to go over this one. It's a book I personally recommend for parents or guardians of developing unicorns, but it should do well enough teaching you the basics of magical theory."

As my eyes focused on the text on the cover, a small smile crossed my face. Your Horn and You: a Foals Primer for Magic, was the title of the book, and beneath it, it showed the silhouettes of two fillies seemingly casting light spells. For some reason, I wanted to be offended by this; being presented a foals primer instead of denser, more detailed materials, felt like my reading level was being insulted. At the same time, though, I knew that a foal's primer was perfect for breaking down concepts into something more manageable for a beginner.

I quickly flipped through the book as she watched, trying to gauge the content. To my surprise, there were even exercises and spell-matrices for the most basic of basic unicorn spells for me to examine. Sure, I might not be able to cast them, but it wouldn't hurt to get an insight into their spells. Some of the exercises didn't even seem to be unicorn specific; as long as you had a thaumic system, you could presumably do some of these.

I lingered on the page for the spell matrix for the basic light spell, the makings of a smile was tugging at the corners of my mouth. Oh I'm beginning to have ideas. Closing the book, I looked up at my mentor and guardian. "Am I permitted to perform any applicable exercises I find in this book?" I asked, trying not to sound too excited. "After supper, I mean."

Twilight nodded, picking up her own stack of books and turning for the exit. "I'll tell you what, Anon," she replied. "If you get through to Chapter 6 and eat all your dessert, I'll even have Spike give you some clay you can practice some rune magic with."

~ 13 ~

Starlight didn't join us for supper this evening. I found myself dwelling on that fact a lot during the meal, to the point that I didn't really taste anything. Sure, it helped me eat the bowl of ice-cream that followed, but I think everyone else could tell that I was bothered. Honestly, I don't know if that bugged me more or less than her absence, and it put a real damper on my excitement to finally getting to start magic.

She was her own person, so of course she had her own life outside of the goings-on of Twilight's friendship castle. Why am I so upset about it, then? My mind drifted back to Sunday, when I'd called her my big sister. I hadn't explicitly denied that I'd begun to think of her as a sister, but I sorta left the answer hanging for her. I've not even known her for two weeks, yet I've already started to rely on her for emotional support, I realised as I finished my ice-cream. It wouldn't be fair of me to monopolise her, but I couldn't help but feel jealous of the mare she was spending time with. I wanted her to be there... I wanted to make her proud, but more than that, I didn't want to be alone.

"I really am becoming a little kid," I grumbled, pushing the dish away. I could feel two pairs of eyes watching me as I left the table to wash up. "I shouldn't crave Starlight's approval."

Although Shining and Spike had been discussing Ogres and Oubliettes for most of the meal, both Twilight and Cadance had been watching me with concern. From what I'd overheard while eavesdropping during meal-prep, Shining had gotten Rarity to blab about my panic attack and confession, and he'd passed it on to the two after Twilight left me in the library. So now Twilight knew about my Mom, and me burying her...

At least she'll be able to give the therapist a good idea where to start...

From the outside looking in, I had every reason to be upset and for others to be worried about me. You don't have the panic attack to end all panic attacks, find out you're being unfairly punished for something outside your control, and find out that you might have permanent vision damage all in one day, and just magically end up fine. Despite that, I wasn't nearly as upset by any of that as I should have. Instead, my stupid filly brain was dwelling on the fact that Starlight wasn't gonna be there for my first bit of real magic studies.

When I got to the bathroom near my room, I'd managed to calm myself down a bit. By the time I was cleaned up, I was almost completely back to being excited about my magic studies. She hadn't specifically given me permission, but as I went into my room to gather my magic notebook, a pencil, and Your Horn and You, it occurred to me that this would be an opportunity to try out one of the rituals Twilight had told me about after getting my vaccinations at the hospital. After all, carrying two books and a pencil without your saddlebags is a real pain...

To do that, I needed to find the stash of odds and ends I'd collected beneath the mattress of the unused bed in my room. Apparently, most mages that utilised ritual magic—or spells that required components—tended to keep something Twilight called a component pouch. I had no such thing, so all I could do was stash what might be needed in my room. In the case for what I had in mind, I needed a bit of string and a piece of wood.

Should I feel guilty about doing this behind Twilight's back?

Fetching those and clutching them in my hoof, I moved to the centre of my room. The motions required for the spell felt silly, and it was hard for me to visualise which runes they embodied like when Twilight performed Prancer's Magic Disc. As for the chant that accompanied it, as strange as it sounded, reminded me of a kebab salesman I'd come across in Wales. Weird as that thought was, though, after uttering the first few iterations of the chant, the entire ritual ended up becoming somewhat of a trance.

When the ritual was finished, the words "Unseen Servant," flowed from my mouth, unbidden by any conscious thought. Immediately, I felt a little bit drained, but it wasn't enough to prevent me from continuing on. Plus, although I couldn't see it, I could feel the presence of the construct right beside me, as though it were an extension of my magic itself.

"What was it the book said about command structure, though?" I mused aloud, wracking my memory for what I'd read on Saturday after Luna had left. I would've been taught by Twilight and Starlight, but after what had happened at Sweet Apple Acres, the lesson had probably slipped their minds. "Ah,right." I gestured at the books and pencil I'd set aside on the floor. "Command: carry those two books and the pencil. Queue Command: follow me."

I waited just long enough to see the books and pencil begin to levitate before making my way out to the lounge. It was unsurprising that Spike, Cadance, Shining Armour, and Flurry were there. It was, after all, the most cosy room in the castle, what with the fireplace, several cushions, a small table, and even a sofa. What was surprising, though, was Twilight's absence. I'd have thought she would've been in here preparing her lesson plans, but nope! It was just Cadance and Flurry on the sofa enjoying the warmth of the fire, seemingly listening contentedly as the young drake and the stallion played some sort of tabletop game near the window.

Everyone's eyes were quickly drawn to me, or rather the books floating beside me. Keep in mind, I'm still just an earth pony, and if there's one thing earth ponies are known for, it's certainly not their ability to levitate objects. All of them gaped at me—well, Flurry was taking a nap, so she didn't so much as make a peep—as I trotted over to a spot near the fire. "Command: place the books and pencil beside this cushion."

As soon as those words left my mouth, realisation spread across Shining Armour's face. "That's Unseen Servant, isn't it?" he asked, not entirely able to mask the surprise in his voice. "I wasn't aware Twilight had taught you any ritual magic yet."

I was half tempted to queue an instruction to fluff the pillow for me as well, but I wanted to get to work quicker. Instead, I just settled down and gave him a sheepish smile. "She was supposed to," I confessed, "but she forgot, so I went and read up on it that night anyway." I managed to not blab that I was kinda looking forward to showing it off to her and Starlight. "It's just like she said though, it's useful for someone without a horn, especially while I'm injured. A shame it only lasts an hour, though."

Although there were some lingering looks, everyone went back to doing their own thing, giving me the freedom to begin reading. At first, I was convinced it might not work out, seeing as it used the larger font common with books for foals, but surprisingly, it actually was pretty helpful. As I read, I quietly dictated notes to the Unseen Servant, before reading back the notes to make sure I was actually getting things down.

As it turns out, the way I've been thinking about magic has been a bit skewed, although it comes from a cultural phenomena that has conflated spells with magic. First and foremost, there are two kinds of magic: personal, and ambient or environmental. When the body takes in ambient magic, or refined sugars, it metabolises it to produce personal magic, referred to as mana. All magical beings possess a reservoir—their capacity to hold magic—and pathways throughout the body conveniently called mana pathways or channels. Finally, there's the thaumic core, which processes the sugars and ambient magic. These make up a pony's thaumic system.

Without this magical circulatory system, a unicorn could not channel mana through to their horn, a pegasus could not fly or interact with clouds, and an earth pony could not affect their environments or amplify their strength. Without regular use, it doesn't develop properly, and without adequate sugar, a pony's thaumic core can't learn to process ambient magic into mana. Since I came from a non-magical world, I never developed a thaumic system, so when I was turned into a pony, I guess a fair amount of body mass went into just to giving me one... as underdeveloped as it was.

Moving past the relevant magical biology, that brought me to the Laws of Magic. The first law states that magic cannot be created or destroyed, but rather it can only be turned from one state to another. Any created from refining mana into a spell effect will fade away into the environment as residue and slowly transitions back to ambient magic, to be absorbed by plants and animals in turn.

The second law pertains to magical reactions. An unimpeded magical reaction or effect will proceed until it runs out of requisite magic, an opposing magical force negates it, or the spell matrix is collapsed. It also delves into opposing types of magic which are good at such jobs. For example, harmony-aligned magic would work best at counteracting the effects of chaos magic, and light and dark would be another opposing pair. Mostly though, this law seems to emphasise why spells should be constructed with safeguards or shut-offs; although it doesn't say as such in terms a child could understand, it seems to infer that an out-of-control or incomplete spell could quite literally consume the caster, and potentially create an ecological disaster.

There were a few more, less interesting ones pertaining to creation of matter and the like, and I quickly ended up sidetracked in my own thoughts. According to the second law, my rudimentary spell the other day—and hell, all the times I ignited Blueblood's mane or tail—shouldn't have ended as easily as they had; there had been no such fail-safe. Did that make runic spell-craft that different from unicorn spell-casting? Or should I have, by all rights, been consumed in my own flames?

No, there's something else I'm missing... Let's keep going.

I eventually continued on into the seventh chapter, which was dedicated to instructing foals on actually casting their first spell. It noted that while levitation was considered a spell, it was more of an intent-based expression of their innate magics, and did not rely on spell matrices. If anything, from what the author was describing, it made levitation sound more like a projection of the same manipulative fields channelled through our hooves. If that was right, then that would mean the horn was necessary for that projection...

It seemed that in order for a unicorn to cast a spell, they must first create a mental representation of a spell's matrix, and then they need to somehow... internally shape their mana to mirror that representation in their core. Then, they have to direct it through their thaumic system and out through the horn. It notes that a foal should avoid bumping their horn or having it hit, while shaping and channelling the spell, or it can collapse rather painfully, and may even daze the user.

That said, it seems to be one of the more reliable ways to stop a foal's out-of-control spell... assuming it's safe enough to get close. That would mean that the best way to fight a unicorn in general would be to give them a good love-tap to their pointy end. It would also explain why they tend to fall into the ranged fighter archetype.

It also gave me something to mull over. My spell-casting involved engraving or etching a runic spell into a surface, and pushing personal magic out through a hoof and powering the runes externally; so long as the shape could be made... This was counter to the unicorn's own internalised spell-casting. Then can I use runic magic without the same safeguards because I am the shut-off valve? It seemed possible, but at the same time, I didn't think it would be wise to not construct safeties and fail-safes.

Turning the page to see the matrix—Conjure Light—I'd glanced at earlier, I bit my cheek. There was something about it that nagged at the back of my mind, as though I'd seen the likes before. But I'd never before seen such a complex diagram of lines, circles, pentacles and characters. It was like some demon-summoning circle in a comic or something...

Wait... characters? I looked again. The centre of the diagram held what at first looked to be a series of complex black shapes that formed the shape of a circle, but when I squinted harder, I thought I could make out a familiar shape. It almost looked like...

"... a disguised rune," I whispered to myself. "Runes are a component of unicorn magic..."

A bubble of paranoia surfaced in my thoughts. Ponies had been using magic for millennia, and yet from everything I had gathered, runic magic itself had fallen out of use among the other tribes around the establishment of Equestria. That meant that the information regarding it had likely been purposefully suppressed... Why, and who did it? My eyes flicked to Shining Armour, and then to Cadance. They probably don't even know that their spell-casting is an internalised version of runic magic.

All of a sudden, the existence of the runic dictionary made a lot more sense. The one here in Twilight's library was like a twenty-fifth edition, released just two years ago. If the information wasn't widely used, there'd be no reason to print it except... unicorns still needed it to write their own spells and spell scrolls.

My trust in the Sun Horse waned, and my earlier concerns regarding her leadership returned. History regarding that border conflict seemed sanitised, and although they lived well, cattle seemed like second-class citizens compared to ponies. Could I trust Princesses Celestia and Luna? And if I couldn't trust them, could I even trust Twilight and Cadance? ... or Starlight?

I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough that I could taste the coppery salty taste of blood. No... My tear-ducts were definitely working better today than they had been yesterday, as my vision became misty. If I start thinking like that, I'm going to start pushing everyone away, becoming bitter and hateful like he was. The best course of action would be to remain productive. There might even be another answer.

Brushing away the tears with my left hoof, I pulled over my magic notebook and flipped to a new page. Immediately, I started writing down every rune that I saw in the spell matrix, taking careful note of their positions and which ones seemed to modify the others. I even recognised a few moon-glyphs in the mix including a group denoting "On horn tip." It was strange, though. It definitely wasn't conforming to the format of the Weaved Spiral that Starlight described, yet in a weird way it made its own level of sense. The lines almost seemed to direct attention along certain paths.

Once I'd marked down all the runes, I looked to the opposite page and began charting them out in the format I knew. I didn't have a horn, however, so a different positional modifier would have to be placed. Above head would be a good substitute, as it wouldn't directly shine in my eyes, and would provide good illumination in the dark. This might actually work.

I wasn't exactly keen on using a runic spell when I didn't know what many of the runes on it meant, but I trusted a foal's primer to not use anything stupidly dangerous. There was a good chance that it was exactly what I thought it said; conjure light at designated point—above my head in this case—followed some fail-safe thread that I couldn't comprehend. In the event it went wrong, I had an alicorn, and a unicorn nearby to keep me out of trouble.

"Hey, Spike?" I called out during a moment where Shining Armour seemed to be taking a break—or was he considering his options in Spike's adventure. It didn't really matter to me too much. "Twilight told me that if I ate all my dessert and got to a certain point in this book, you'd have some clay that I could use to practice some magic with." Despite the lingering taste of blood from biting my cheek, I grinned at him. "Guess what!"

Peering around his Dungeon Master's Screen at me, Spike let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, I've got it over here," he said with a faraway look in his eyes. His claw patted a small glass mason jar beside him. Within was a grey mass of what I assumed to be modelling clay. "I swear, Twilight used to get that same look in her eyes when she was about to do something crazy with magic."

I glanced at the clock. Good, still had a few more minutes of Unseen Servant. "Command: pick up the jar of clay. Queue command: place the jar in front of me," I murmured. Then, as the jar lifted off the table, I stood up and arched my back. "I'm not gonna do anything crazy like create fire—at least intentionally," I said, wincing as my burned skin went taut for a moment. "I just need to test a little theory that, if I'm right, will let me cast a spell intended for a unicorn."

I'm pretty sure there was a unified, "You'll do what?" but the moment the jar of clay came to a rest in front of me, I shut the world out of my mind. Without any issue whatsoever, I twisted the top off the jar and scooped out a mass of clay. With great care, I rolled it into a smooth ball and then pressed it flat onto the floor. The others just stared at me as I went, using the tip of my pencil to carefully etch out exactly what I'd noted down in the book.

Once I finished, I looked around at the others. "I just wish Twilight and Starlight were here to see this," I murmured, holding my hoof over the rune-etched clay. "And Anon said, 'Let there be light!'" Carefully, I reached out, caressing the lines with my hoof-field, feeling the mana beginning to flow out through my foreleg, pooling in the grooves in the clay. At first, nothing happened, but then... Then there was light. A lot of bright blue light.

There were cries of pain all around me as the light began to reflect off the crystal surfaces of the room, and Flurry began to cry. Even I was forced to screw my eyes shut as it became painful. Maybe too much mana? That was the point of practising, though, wasn't it? You had to learn exactly how best to do it. Still, I didn't want to blind anyone. Plus, the way it was right now, it felt really draining.

Carefully, I started pulling back my hoof-field until only a small thread of mana connected my hoof to the clay. The light above my head gradually dimmed to a much more reasonable level of incandescence, allowing me to open my eyes once more. Everyone old enough to understand what I had done was staring at me with slack jaws. Flurry? She just burbled excitedly, taking off to flutter around my miniature sun.

As I looked over myself in this new light, I was only slightly disappointed to see I hadn't sprouted wings and a horn. After all, from what I've heard, she became an alicorn after doing something really special with magic. Not like I really wanted to become an alicorn, mind; flying would probably be a pain in the ass to learn. I was just disappointed that Harmony itself didn't see my action as worthy. I'd have to try harder.

I maintained the spell for several minutes, taking note of the way it truly felt to channel. It was, after all, advised in the book to pay attention to these things until regulating the flow of mana became second nature, like measuring your own heart-rate. On and on I went, until the bandages around my head began to grow damp. It wasn't that it felt like my reserves were being drained though. It felt more like I'd been running a sprint for a while. My body wasn't used to burning magic like this.

I need to do this more often, not just so that it doesn't wear me out, but so I can encourage the development of my own reservoir. Just as I pulled my hoof away from the clay and killed the spell completely, there came a commotion from the doorway. As I turned to look, ignoring the way the room seemed to be swimming slightly, my heart leapt in my throat.

"Anon!" Starlight cried out, all but dragging me across the room with her magic to hug me—she at least had the sense to levitate me into her outstretched forelegs. Right beside her was Twilight, a proud look on her face. "I can't believe I almost missed your first real spell!"

Even as I found myself nuzzling her neck contentedly—I'm still surprised I wasn't bothered by the contact—a second set of feathery limbs wrapped around us. "I don't think anypony in Ponyville missed her first spell," Twilight teased, indicating the large bay window. It looked as though a few pegasi were milling about the sky outside the castle, as though they were trying to figure out what just happened. "I saw the resulting flare from my study."

Wait, was it that bright?

"I'm very proud of you, Anon," Twilight continued, even as Flurry struggled to get in on the group hug. "I wasn't sure if Starlight was exaggerating about your instinct or not, but I'm glad you figured out the real test behind that book." I felt her hoof rub my mane. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but for now, I think it's time to celebrate."

Wait, that was a test? You bitch!

Author's Note

And here you have it: Anon has performed her first real—albeit modified—spell.

I'm sure you have a lot of questions about Anon's discovery. First and foremost, no, there is no 'intentional' conspiracy to keep non-unicorns from using magic. Rather, it has to do with knowledge being forgotten long before the founding of Equestria, old treaties, cutie marks, and information that Anon has not yet discovered—not that she'd find it in a book for foals.

Next, sorry this one took so long. The interaction at the start was kinda hard for me to work through, while the latter two segments came much more naturally to me.

This is the last we'll see of Flurry, Cadance, and Shiny for a bit. The next chapter will be set after a short time skip, and will lead into the next arc. Now, onto the Adventures of Filly ~~Harry Potter~~Anon.