Changed

After being led into the dining hall, Luna went off to perform some ‘other duties’ after stealing a pineapple from the fruit bowl. Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor weren’t present, as they were likely off doing some other important stuff that doesn’t involve the stupid waste of oxygen. I waved at the Elements of Harmony, sat down and quietly began to eat what was in front of me. It sounded like the ladies around me were talking about some fun story from their time in a town called ‘Ponyville’.

I was halfway through eating an egg when the doors opened up, and… Blueblood entered the room. Well, this morning was going to suck. The ‘prince’ took a seat at the table and started to complain about how the eggs weren’t scrambled, how the water didn’t have enough ice in it, and overall, was being loud and unpleasant. The entire room was quiet save for Blueblood, and thank god he hasn’t noticed me yet.

Jesus, I may not be a Cristian, but thank you for making me unnoticeable today.

“Who let that Changeling back in here?” Never fucking mind, I’m atheists again. I had faith in you, Jesus for one fleeting moment and you soiled it! Welp, back to not believing in God… Okay, just don’t respond, and don’t speak. Ignore the Irish urge to call the man a shithead. I ate the last of my eggs, took a sip of water, and kept quiet. “Oh? Not so talkative now that you’re in the presence of a true Prince!” Blueblood shouted while waving around a hoof that was wrapped up in bandages. Blueblood then chucked one of his eggs at me, which almost hit me in the head.

Well, it would have if Twilight didn’t stop the thing mid air with her magic. It was pretty damn impressive. “Blueblood, throwing food at Nogla isn’t going to make him go away. Nor is it very mature of you,” Twilight glared at the ‘prince’ while I ate the egg that was still floating in front of me. A chef had then immediately rushed up to the table with a plate covered in eggs.

“Seconds, sir?”

“Uh… are you sure?”

“I’ve seen just how quickly you ate your first batch of eggs, and figured you’d like some more. Or perhaps some pancakes would be better?”

“Why are you even offering that thing more food, servant?” Blueblood growled.

The chef scoffed. “All I see is a hungry patron that might need and enjoy a healthy helping of seconds. On top of that, Princess Cadence and Prince Armor has made it abundantly clear to treat this specific Changeling like I would any guest of the Crystal Empire! Well, she made it clear to everypony else, I would’ve offered seconds to Mr. Nogla even if he was an aggravating prince that complains about my cooking.” The chef’s glare could kill a man if it got any more intense.

Blueblood, you’re a cunt.

“Uh… I’ll take some more eggs if you don’t mind. Also, one request please.” The chef raised an eyebrow after scooping some eggs and leaving them on my plate. “Please don’t refer to me as ‘Mister’, ‘sir’, or anything fancy; just Nogla will do. I’m just some stupid kid that’s probably way younger than you are. Also, thanks for the food, these are the best eggs I’ve had in a while… well, nothing really beats Ma’s cooking though.”

“Thank you for the compliment, and I understand where you’re coming from, Nogla.” Hey, he took heed to my request. I like this guy. “Sometimes a home cooked meal is simply better than a gourmet meal. I find myself missing Mom’s mashed potatoes from time to time,” the chef said.

“Get out, servant!”

“Hey now, I’m having a conversation with the chef. And… don’t I technically outrank you since Luna and Celestia are adopting me?”

“Well, you aren’t adopted yet, but you would be the second most influential pony in Equestria. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are tied for first place in that department. Since Blueblood isn’t actually a prince.” Twilight answered.

“So… can I just…” I looked at the chef. “If you aren’t busy, have a seat and enjoy breakfast with us. I bet it gets hot in that kitchen, doesn't it?” Twilight nodded, so I assume I was allowed to make that call. If not, well, I’ll make sure the chef doesn’t get punished.

“Well… I would like to get to experimenting with a couple of recipes I’ve read up on, but I could use a break.” The chef took a seat next to me and stretched. Only now could I see the bags under his eyes.

“I can tell you about a mashed potato recipe that I think everybody will like.” The chef grinned like an idiot and quickly whipped up a notepad. Without a further ado, I began to retell the family recipe I knew while Blueblood cursed under his breath. I wanna get this guy’s name, I wanna get him a raise if I can do that.

Scratch that, I’mma make sure this guy gets a raise, he’s brought out a bowl of mash potatoes! And they’re delicious!

“And so I said ‘the queen can go fuck herself!’” I said while my accent thickened during the little story I told.

“You, you told your Queen to ‘go fuck herself’ and lived to tell the tale?” Chef Ian asked as he took a sip of orange juice.

“Yeah, I even called her a slut, like bitch, why are you trying to steal another woman’s hubby and whatnot!” Chef Brutual Moose wiped a tear from his eyes as he regained his breath. Twilight and her friends looked to be in shock, that somebody my age, would be so vulgar. Truly these ponies have not seen how we Irish do things. Literally anything and everything in the English dictionary can and will be used as a swear word or insult back at home.

Well, Rainbow Dash was also laughing along, she clearly liked my crude humor.

Luckily, the rest of breakfast was going over smoothly after Twilight put a what was basically a ’shut the fuck up’ spell on Blueblood(even if the name of the spell was a lot more kid friendly). The dickhead left promptly after the spell was casted. I got to make friends with Chef Ian Brutual Moose, yes that was his full name(no, he sadly wasn’t a moose), but unfortunately he had to get back to work no matter how badly I wanted him to stick around.

“See ya, Ian, don’t burn the kitchen down!” The chef chuckled and waved before disappearing behind the kitchen doors. These ponies are really easy to talk to, like way easier than anybody back at home… The only person I could talk to like that was probably my brother.

“So Nogla, how are you doing?” Twilight asked.

“I’m alright, why're you asking?”

“Well, I figured that Blueblood’s treatment of you wouldn’t leave you feeling very good.”

“Ah, yeah no, I’m still feeling good about myself.” I didn't hold eye contact with Twilight when I answered. What Blueblood said did hurt, but Chef Ian did help out a lot in leaving me in a good mood. Apple Jack eyed me for a split second, before leaving me alone... She didn’t catch my fib, did she?

I don’t wanna bug anybody with my problems... god dammit.

So after breakfast, I decided to get up and wander around the castle for a bit. There wasn’t anything particular I wanted to find, and I don’t think I was staying in the Crystal Empire throughout the two years I’ll be stuck here, but I just wanted to wander around, talk to a couple guards(which I didn’t. They didn’t like me), and didn’t really even get to look in every room. Every other room was a meeting room that I couldn’t get into no matter how hard I tried. Eventually however, there was a room I could go into, but two guards were standing beside it.

“Changeling, we cannot allow you to go inside this room,” one of the guards said, both guards crossed their spears in an X in an attempt to keep me out. And… Now I was being given the stink eye.

“Is there something important in there, like something that would burn the place to the ground if I, a Changeling, looked inside that room?”

“Yes sir, this room is where the Crystal Heart is located. We do not need you draining it dry of all the love it produces.” Some random guy walked up, he looked like a tourist with his Hawaiian shit and bulky camera. The tourist was allowed to walk past the guards without any struggles; he wasn’t even stopped. The tourist did take the time to give me a long look as he walked past me. “And anypony is allowed to enter… you aren’t a pony, Changeling,” the same guard growled. “So turn around and go in the opposite direction or else we’ll use force. Be lucky we haven’t arrested you yet, bug.”

“Wow, I can feel the love radiating off of you two tonight. Take me to dinner first before you threaten me at least,” I rolled my eyes, before turning around to go in ‘the opposite direction’ as the guard put it. Boy oh boy, I do love being treated like not a person, especially when I get treated like a monster for wanting to look at… what the fuck was a Crystal Heart? That sounds like some sort of candy actually, we should probably stop nitwits from going in and eating it… if it’s that important.

Why did Crystal City High name an event after some candy? And why wasn’t that candy Skittles?

After some more mindless wandering, I found a… I think it was a bench. It was kinda cushy, but it looked like a bench made for ponies and pony shaped objects.

Aside from the one incident with the guards, my wandering went over pretty smoothly. I had got inside approximately zero rooms because I couldn’t get in for one reason or another. And the one room that I could get in… well, I got treated like I wasn’t a person and told to go fuck myself in a very professional way. God, two more years of this sort of treatment… Well, Celestia, Luna, Cadence and her husband, and the Elements of Harmony were treating me nicely but…

I dunno, if this is a sign of how I’m going to be treated by anybody that isn’t that select group of people, then I don’t know what to say. Hell, I don’t even know if I would want to leave my room with that sort of treatment. I dragged my hooves down my cheeks before letting myself fall off the bench. I stared at the window for a moment, which was thick enough to not let a lot of light in, but reflective enough to see my own reflection.

That one moment was all I needed to see what I was.

Bug eyes, an equine head, and fangs. It stared back at me… is that even me or something else? Well, it moved and I moved so it was me. I hate that stupid face. Sure, I had wings and telekinesis, both of which seemed very fun(and useful) to mess with, but what was the point of it? It wasn’t anything unique and I’m certain that pegasi and unicorns could make use of their wings and magical horns better than I can. Heck, I can’t even fucking fly! I’m just a nerfed, useless unicorn!

Hell, Celestia and Luna have both wings and horns and could raise and lower celestial bodies… while I can barely even lift a pillow.

Bug eyes, cold, lifeless bug eyes shined as I felt tears try to work their way out of my eyes. I snarled at myself, which chased off some unsuspecting pony that was walking by(and me), and wiped my eyes with my hoof. I dragged my hooves on the carpet as I began to walk back to my room.

And then I got lost, because of course I would.

“Hey, can you point towards where the guest rooms are?” I asked a random guard, a unicorn, who greeted me with an eager smile.

“Of course! It’s down the hall, take a left, and if you struggle to tell which room is which, your name should be on a sign outside your room’s door! Do you need me to walk with you, or do you think you can make it yourself? I’ve even got maps for anypony unfamiliar with the layout of the castle if you want one.” This… this brought a small smile to my face. This guy was so cheerful, so eager to lend a hand even if I wasn’t one of the ‘ponies’ he was supposed to be serving.

“I think I can make it from here, thank you…” I paused, hoping for a name.

“Sergeant Map Marker, sir! If you still need help, just let me know, and I’ll lead you to your room!” I nodded, gave the guard a quick hug, and began to walk towards where the guard had pointed out. The guy might not know what he had just done, but he made me feel just a little bit happier after my earlier experience with those guards. I looked back and the guard had a small smile on his face, and even a slight blush… he probably wasn’t expecting that, like I wasn’t expecting to actually be helped out by a guard.

Thank you, Sergeant, you’re a good man… pony? I think the term ‘guy’ would work here.

Finding my room wasn’t hard at all, as said by the guard, after I took the turn, there were a bunch of rooms. Luna and Celestia had their rooms marked with their… Cutie Marks? I think that’s what ponies call the symbols on their butts. Apparently those represented something a pony was really good at, so maybe, just maybe I became a Changeling because I’m not good at anything. That, or some divine being hated me for some reason, and wanted me to suffer.

I opened my door and wandered over to my backpack. I… really just don’t want to leave this room. Sure, I will have to since Celestia and Luna live in Canterlot, the capital, but then I’ll just stay in whatever room I’m given. So instead I’m going to find something nice, boring, and monotonous to do while I wait for lunch, or for the day to end.

Eventually I managed to dig out a book that I checked out of the school library and… great, even in another universe, I managed to screw my family over. The bill for this book’s gonna fall on my family now that I’m considered ‘missing’ and quite possibly dead. I hit myself in the head a couple times. Nogla, stop, stop being so fucking negative. You’ve got yourself a new book to read and it looked interesting, hence why you have it right now. You like reading, Nogla, just read the god damn book and enjoy yourself.

The book was titled ‘Guardians of Ga’hool’ and it had a pretty simple cover; just an owl. So clearly this book would be interesting… the world around me began to disappear as I was taken somewhere new, far, far away from here.

Okay, what the actual fuck is this book? It's for children, right? Apparently it’s made for eight year olds, and a dude gets burnt alive! Bro, how is this for children… I kinda like it. It’s certainly no ‘Watership Down’, but it’s not too shabby. I set the book down just in time for somebody to knock on my door.

“Nogla, are you in there?” Oh, it was Celestia. “I would like to speak with you.”

“Aight, door’s unlocked if you wanna come in.” The door opened up and Celestia was standing at the door of course… Why did she look disappointed? Did I accidentally get Ian Bruutal Moose fired? I hope not, he’s a good guy. My adopter walked into the room, along with Princess Luna, and Blueblood… Luna looked even more disappointed than Celestia did. Why was Blueblood wearing a bandage on his nose?

“Nogla, did you punch Prince Blueblood in the face?” Celestia asked. “Blueblood has told me that the two of you had another disagreement and… you hit him on the nose. Luna and I have already checked, and yes, there is a bruise.” Blueblood had a smug little look on his face while he sat behind his aunts… you little shit.

The fucker planned this. How badly do you hate me, Blueblood?

“Well? Are you going to answer my sister’s question?” Luna asked.

You know, it kinda hurts that these two don’t trust me enough to not physically assault their nephew, but whatever. It made some sense, but it still hurt. “Yeah sure, I already know I’d get in trouble for hitting my new cousin in the face, so I definitely went and made sure to assault his nose in the most brutal ways possible.” Sarcasm had long since oozed its way into my voice. “So yes, I did in fact, assault Blueblood in front of six other people during breakfast-“

Luna snatched me up in her magic. “Do not speak to me with that tone, mister.” Great, so much for liking you and Celly super quickly. I was dropped on my ass and I quickly scampered away from Luna, and my body went on full auto pilot. By that, my body moved on what felt like… instinct, and I ended up stuffing myself under the bed. Woohoo! So much for having these two’s support!

Okay, in all fairness, I probably shouldn’t have been that sarcastic, especially that kind of sarcasm where it wasn’t funny, nor should I have started being a smartass, but still. This was a major step down from last night and this morning, where I was treated well. “I shall go ask the Elements for their perspectives at breakfast. Come now, Blueblood, we shall get more answers.” With that, the dickhead’s face dropped into slight fear as Luna dragged him out of the room.

“Nogla?” Celestia was now on her belly, peeking at me while I remained hidden under the bed. “Can you come out, please?”

“So you can keep giving me that disappointed look? Because it looked like you and Luna were going to trust Blueblood over me. I mean, I kinda get it, but c’mon! Feck, Luna is out getting more information because she’d think I’d hit that stupid guy in the face!” I closed my eyes and rolled so I was facing away from Celestia. “And I’m probably gonna get dragged out and scolded for talking to Luna, and now you, with ‘that tone’, aren’t you?” Well, I slid across the carpet, so I was right at least.

Fun, very fun.

“Nogla, can you please just look at me?” Celestia sounded… kinda sad. Welp, can’t wait to find out that she is still disappointed- I made the mistake of opening my eyes and taking a look at the lady before me. “I… am sorry if my sister and I came off… as a bit cold during that engagement. We were interrupted and dragged away from a very important meeting because of this situation, and myself and Luna are a tiny bit tired of our nephew’s antics.”

“And lemme guess, I Shouldn't have talked to Luna the way I did?”

The door slammed open and Luna came and hugged me as hard as she could. “I am so sorry for speaking to you like that! I love my nephew, but he is incredibly irritating at best. He wouldn’t shut his mouth about how you assaulted him during breakfast at an important meeting, that he interrupted, between Tia, myself, and Cadence until we had decided to see what he was going on about!”

I blinked a couple times. What a change in tone, Luna. “I hope I did not drop you too hard, did I? I was trying my best to not throw you at the wall, because I… have a hard time controlling myself when I’m irritated.” I rested my head on Luna’s shoulder and let out a sigh. This feels… nice again. “And I have found out that Blueblood, as I suspected, was lying.”

“But you guys seemed… so convinced that I did hit Blueblood.”

“We have to make it seem like we are agreeing with Blueblood, and many other ponies that are like him, to keep them quiet. I had a private conversation with Apple Jack shortly before coming here, and she said that all you did was ‘force a break onto the chef’ and chat with that same chef for nearly forty minutes straight. If anything I’m surprised that you haven’t punched Blueblood yet. Many of his dates couldn’t get past an hour without filing a restraining order on him, or assaulting him.” Wow, what a lady’s man. “And he always got his flank handed to him when his dates have had enough... Blueblood hits like a mare apparently.” Luna and Celestia snickered.

Wow, not even just a bitch, just a full on little bitch. Good job, Blueblood.

“So, all is well between us?” Luna asked.

“I… yeah. You two are scarily good at acting.”

“Well, we must put on an act for the public and politicians. Once we arrive at home, you’ll see more of mine and Tia’s true colors. For instance, My sister will likely foalnap you in the middle of the night because she is very excited to have a child to watch over… and beware, if she does, she is a blanket hog.”

“Well then, I suppose I can’t forgive such a heinous act of evil if the gracious, wonderous, Princess Celestia was able to do such a crime!” I raised a hoof and hugged Luna with the other. Celestia scooted closer to me and Luna, and wrapped her wings around us.

“Just know that Luna can, and will eat anything she can get her hooves on. Watermelons, the skin included, cake, anything. Nothing is safe… she ate an entire cake meant for forty ponies on her own, and would’ve had to make another cake if it weren’t for her terrible cooking skills.” How... these ladies must get good exercise regimens to not be round, pony balls.

Luna and Celestia then glared at me for some odd, before Celestia gave me a nuzzle… okay, this felt very nice. Way better than being dropped on my butt by an angry alicorn.

“Next time, if a situation like this arises, I will do some research long before we ‘confront’ you. Then I will send Luna ahead, or go ahead and tell you so you know what to expect. I don’t want you to think we’re mad at you over something when we know that you’re not guilty of. From here on out, we will be crystal clear with you, instead of leaving you to guess in the dark.” I nodded, before remembering something pretty important.

“Also Luna, sorry about sounding like a smartass. I uh, really shouldn’t speak to a literal princess like that.” Luna nodded.

“Let us all just forgive and forget about this situation, and say it’s Blueblood’s fault. I would not have spoken with you had he not irritated me. And you would not have spoken to me like that if I hadn’t irritated you while I was irritated,”Luna nuzzled me. Irritation seems to be Blueblood’s special talent apparently.

“Ey, I can drink to that sorta logic… if you two would let me drink,” I grumbled the last bit out.

“You are far, far too young to be drinking alcohol, colt,” Luna said with half lidded eyes. She practicality spat out the word ‘colt’, but there was a slight shine in her eyes, that simply screamed ‘I’m just joking around’.

“I’ve drank margaritas before, old lady, I can handle a little whisky! As an Irishman, I take offense to you not letting me drink!” I lightly jabbed her with my hoof. “Betcha that you can’t handle a shot of whisky!”

“Oh? You date challenge me to a drinking contest, Nogla? Perhaps you should become of age before making such a challenge!” Luna raised a hoof to her chest. “And surely you are not foolish enough to challenge me to such a competition to begin with.” There was stupid grin on her face told me where this was going, and Celestia beat us to it.

She tickled the ever living shit out of us with her wings.

“Aunt Celly? Aunt Luna? Are you two still in there?” I lifted my head off of Celestia’s foreleg. Without even answering, or being given permission, Cadence and Shining Armor walked in grinned. Celestia and Luna, both of which were napping like I was after our little tickle fight, lifted their heads up and yawned. “I see you two have been very busy, perhaps I should leave you two to it. I know you both could use the extra sleep… especially you Celestia, I can see the bags under your eyes.”

“I… oh dear, I forgot about resuming our meeting, didn’t I?”

“You don’t need to treat family time so professionally, Celly. Besides, since you’ve submitted those adoption papers, we can have Nogla join in on the fun!” Wait, what happened to me signing those? “And I wanted to talk to Nogla about something, well, mostly Shining Armor does.” Oh dear. Shining trotted over to me, laid down, looked me in the eyes, and I felt my soul being evicted from my body.

“So Nogla, I heard there was a Changeling down by the Crystal Heart, and I want to know if it was you. It’s only for security reasons, I swear.”

“Uh… yeah. Well, I woulda seen it if I could even get into the room it was in. Dunno what a Crystal Heart is, I know that the School for the Gifted of Crystal City has something called a ‘Crystal Heart Ball’, but not an actual ‘Crystal Heart’ whatever the heck that may be.” I scratched the back of my head. “You didn’t hear about me accidentally scaring off some senator by snarling at myself, right?”

“I heard about that, but I can’t really do anything since you didn’t hurt anybody. Spear Point, Sharp Eye, mind coming inside?” Shining Armor’s voice turned into one of authority… oh right, I think Twilight said something about this guy being the Head Captain of the Royal Guard. Two ponies walked into the room, Spear Point glared at me, before giving his full attention to his boss. “I believe you two have something to say to our friend, Nogla.”

“Sir, that is a Changeling, why should we apologize to it?” Spear Point asked.

“That Changeling is Princess Celestia’s ward, private. She adopted him,” Shining Armor almost snarled ‘him’. “And as such, he is a friend of the Crystal Empire, and shall be treated like how you’d treat anypony else in these walls. At the very least, be respectful and don’t call Nogla an ‘it’ or I will have something to say to you about it.”

“Yes sir!” Both guards droned before Spear Point gave me a cold look. “My partner and I would like to apologize for our conduct with you. We simply were not informed-”

“That… is a load of crud, Spear Point, I made an announcement about Nogla this morning and you two were there. You know what? Just get out and go back to your post. I’m disappointed in you both.” The two guards marched on as soon as they were dismissed. They didn’t seem bothered about being told off by their boss somehow. Then, I had an excellent idea.

I swore I heard Shining Armor grumble about demoting those two under his breath.

“Hey Shining Armor, do you have any say in how much your guards are paid individually?” Shining Armor nodded. “Can I make a request that Sergeant Map Maker get a raise? For no reason in particular. The guy was just happy to help me out even if I… Well, ain’t a pony.”

“Good, that’s how every guard should be, eager to lend a hoof even if it’s for something as simple as an opinion on somepony. I’ll see if I can raise Sergeant Maker’s paycheck at all without him noticing and complaining?” I raised an eyebrow… I think it was an eyebrow at least. I don’t exactly have facial hair. “I’ve heard plenty of good things about that sergeant, and each time I talk to him about getting a raise or promotion, he denies it, going on about how ‘he isn’t in the guard for the reward’. So I don’t even know if I can raise his pay.”

God damn it, Make Marker, let us pay you money!

“Just sign here,” Celestia said, pointing to a line with a pen. Well, it was more of a quill, but she called it a pen. I nodded, grabbed the pen with my magic and began to sign… how do I write in cursive again? I’ll just print the first letter of my name and attach a squiggly line to it. That got Celestia to raise an eyebrow. “Nogla, do you know how to write in cursive at all? Because I can teach you if you don’t know how.”

“I got taught how to write in print, and that was it. In my world, cursive isn’t super important apparently, so many, myself included, just do this,” I pointed at my signature. Celestia cocked her head before literally shaking the thought out of her head. “So is that the last of the paperwork?” I asked.

“It is, now you are officially a prince, adoptive son of myself, and the nephew of Luna.”

“Neat.”

“You don’t seem very excited about being a prince.”

“Well, I did grow up on a potato farm. I don’t have huge aspirations. All I wanna do is live comfortably while having a stable income to not be starving every night. I can do that with or without being a prince.”

“I suppose that is a good thing. I was afraid that you might become another Blueblood upon being granted your new title.”

I put a hoof on my chest in mock offense. “Me? Compared to Blueblood?” Celestia giggled. “You know what, I should follow in his example then! Learn from your elders and whatnot! Servant!” I pointed at Celestia. “Explain to me why my eggs aren’t scrambled perfectly to the nanometer? And why are you not kissing up to my royal, unwashed ass? I am a Prince with zero talents, so I’m better than everybody! I am Prince Nogla, and I declare that you are a peasant, servant!” Celestia grinned and began to play along.

“W-well, your highness I-”

“I don’t care! To the dungeons with you!” Celestia lifted me up with her magic. “Gah! This is mutiny!” I grinned and booped the Princess on the nose. She clearly hadn’t expected this, as she went cross eyed for a split second. She then started to stare into my soul and I felt a shiver run down my spine. The two of us started laughing our asses off as she pulled me into a hug.

Very warm. Very safe. Very happy. No take my Celly away.

“Now, show me your magic again, I would like to get a better look at it,” Celestia said, laying me back in my chair.

“But… It kinda sucks. I can’t really do a whole lot beyond levitation.”

Celestia leered at my comment. “Do not, do not speak of your abilities like that, Nogla. You are merely inexperienced with magic; you’ve yet had the time to learn to fully make use of your magic, and I would like to help you get better at it.”

I lifted up a cup and Celestia began to eye my magic, like she was running a bunch of calculations behind those eyes. “I may not be the greatest judge of Changeling magic, but assuming it works somewhat similarly to unicorns, I can safely say your magic is not weak. I doubt you would be able to get into my school for gifted unicorns, but I’m sure you could get good enough with some practice.

“Tell me, how long has it been since you’ve discovered how to use your magic?” I looked outside and saw that it was night now.

”I’d say… this morning shortly after I woke up.”

“You’ve learnt how to use your magic far faster than some unicorns do. Nay, I would say that there are quite a few late bloomers that have yet to discover their First Spark. So for you to have found it so soon after being a creature that could not use magic, I’d say you’re not terrible.”

“But I can barely lift a pillow.”

“That cup is heavier than a pillow, Nogla. It’s made of solid crystal.” Huh.

“Now… I can show you an easier way of picking things up, to make up for your self apparent lack of raw power…”

“Now one more try and we will call it a night.” I nodded and began to put bits and pieces of magic around a tennis ball I had in my backpack, and grinned like an idiot when bits of magical aura began to expand, and I raised the ball with ease! “Now-“ I threw the ball. “Well, you’ve discovered how to throw things with your magic, which is much easier to do with this method than what you were doing before.”

With that the tennis ball recoiled off a wall and hit me in the face, in the eye actually. “Yeowch” I yelped and began to hold my eye as I curled up into a small ball. Oh my god that hurts! Celestia immediately swallowed me up into the ‘wing cave, home of kisses for your boo boos’ and held me while I continued to hold my eye.

“God, why do my eyes take up such a large portion of my face?” I opened and closed my eye a couple of times, and what I was seeing out of it was blurry, but I could tell that it would clear up eventually. Well, nothing like some shut eye won’t do. I flopped over under Celly’s wing and closed my eyes.

Celestia curled her body around me before she started quietly snoring.

From good, to bad, to worse, to better, to great. Hopefully everyday from here isn’t an emotional rollercoaster.