Kind Hands

It took a little bit of coaxing to get Twilight off her arse and back down to where her decorations lay, but we were all eventually gathered near the castle entrance once more, albeit with far fewer balloons than we’d started out with.

Although actually, the mare had taken a quick detour into her little library and ushered the girls and I back to the castle entrance without her. Her promise of cake may have been enthralling to those under the age of ten, but I sadly wasn’t one of those people anymore.

Truth be told, I was amazed that the cake from earlier was still intact; the only blemish it had was a small swipe along its surface that had taken away a noticeable amount of icing. I wasn’t able to read what was on the cake at the start of this whole thing, so I had no chance of deciphering what it said now.

“So, who was it?” I asked the two sisters, who exchanged glances before returning their gazes to me. “Who was the little girl who couldn’t keep her still-icing-covered fingers away from the cake?”

I was obviously joking about this- it really didn’t matter. The only reason I did it was to watch only one of the girls very clearly give her fingers an inspection before clumsily trying to force all of them into her mouth.

With a grin, I snapped my fingers in front of the girl’s face. Her blue eyes instantly snapped onto me, still bold and playful- fully uninterested in whatever I was to say next, unless it was the offer of more cake. “Wasn’t me,” her guilty conscience had obviously told her to say, and I just stood and stared at her until she changed her mind. “It was me.”

“Yeah, let’s not do it again, eh?” I concluded, a yawn cutting off the end of my sentence. Again, there were more important things to worry about, such as figuring out when I could go back to bed. I’m sure that Twilight would soon grant me some mercy once all the festivities were over with.

And soon enough, the mare appeared, carrying a book and a box of candles. The way that she held both of these objects aloft, proudly displaying them, suggested that they both had a role to play in the near future. “What’s the book for, Twilight? I know you didn’t bring it in here as a conversation starter.”

“Well, it certainly piqued your interest, so it’s done its job,” she rebuked. Once the mare was stood in front of me, she placed the book into my hands and went into what I can only assume is her ‘teacher mode’. “This is a spell book; you’ll need this because it’s time for your first lesson: levitation.”

To help me put the pieces together, Twilight opened the box of candles and grasped one of them in her magic. Very simply, she carried the candle out of the box and onto the cake next to it. The movement had a smooth arc that I would never be able to replicate, no matter how many needless demonstrations Twilight decided to give me; I knew what levitation was.

Actually, she might’ve had a point because I suddenly felt incredibly unsure of what to do next. I knelt down to pick up the box in order to see its contents, but this was apparently not allowed in Twilight’s house as the container was moved out of range. “Ah-ah-ah! No hands.”

Having taken away my main selling point as a human- and a load of my confidence- Twilight looked up at me smugly; I guess I really was in her domain now. After our earlier kiss, it was easy to think of several ways to wipe that smirk off her face…

…

The book. Talk about the book.

I opened the book in my hands to reveal an inside like any other. The contents page was as you’d expect, at least, just with fancier handwriting that certainly hailed from a bygone era. I was still a bit crap with reading Equestria’s writing normally, so this shit made my head spin.

Twilight must’ve been able to sense my uncertainty, as she silently turned the pages for me until we got to levitation- or a word that looked like it if I squinted my eyes enough. I mean, there was only one word to focus on.

The page had nothing more than the word ‘levitation’ scribbled onto it and a fancy border around the middle of the page, as if somebody was supposed to write the ‘spell’ into the empty space but just decided not to. “Twilight, this page is blank.”

At this point, I felt as if my mind had begun to fail me; I knew that Twilight wouldn’t do something like this unless she had some sort of humiliation kink. Still, my commitment to her lesson was quickly fading in the wake of comments such as, “It’s supposed to be blank; you read it with your eyes closed.”

“Is this a hidden camera prank or…?”

I know that I didn’t have much of a reason to be cynical, but I’d been without a good night’s sleep for what felt like my entire life. In this instance though, I didn’t need to be too positive, as both Eve and Eva sought to remind me of my duties with varying levels of support.

“Focus, Mr. Bayard!”

“Trust Twilight!”

I’m fairly certain that Eva spoke whilst sucking on her thumb; the night couldn’t come soon enough for all of us, it seemed. Either way, I needed to get through this little event before I could even think about drifting off.

“I want you to do this too, David,” Twilight reminded me, and I cursed myself for even displaying the possibility that I needed such reassurance. I really needed to focus on this thing.

Wordlessly, I nodded and planted my gaze firmly on the page, giving it one last glance while awaiting Twilight’s instruction. “Stare at the blank space- really focus on what you think the page should say- and when you’re ready, close your eyes.”

Taking Twilight’s advice, I held the book in front of my face and focused on the empty space that was marked on the page. I scanned for any possible hidden words or symbolism that could’ve been presented, yet I found nothing.

“Aren’t there supposed to be riddles and whatnot for me to try to comprehend?” I asked Twilight, who gave me a knowing smile.

“Only if the spell’s convoluted…” she began with a slight blush tinging her cheeks. She quickly shook away this demeanour, reoccupying her teacher role. “Slow down; take in the empty space. It won’t work if you’re sceptical.”

Back to the blank page, then. I continued to study it, hoping for something to happen, until I felt my vision change. Right in front of my eyes, the page shifted within itself, not revealing anything, but certainly being too noticeable to ignore.

“Now, close your eyes.”

And so, I was placed into darkness. Almost literally, it felt, as my senses felt disconnected from my body. I couldn’t even feel the air on my skin; from the sounds of it, I’m sure that Eve was trying to get her sister to join her with something, but I felt unable to react to it- let alone respond.

Then I saw it: that damn page again. It floated in front of me, still the same as it always was, but then it changed. It felt as if my eyes were closed for a second time, as various illustrations and instructions overwhelmed my eyelids, all purporting to offer insight into this mysterious power. I tried to open my eyes due to the sensation, yet I found them to be welded shut.

Trapped in my own mind, an incredible pressure enveloped my skull as if it was being assaulted from all angles. But I felt an understanding- I felt myself know. It would never be possible to describe it.

Amidst the chaos, I saw a feather, golden and lighting the void around it. Suddenly, I saw it rise in front of me- and I felt myself give the command for it to do so. The pressure in my mind weakened and soon the feather began to fall. I watched as it descended to a point just above the lower limit of my vision before I felt the pressure again.

My mind willed- yearned, even- for the feather to rise again, and I felt my subconscious connect with it once more. Within the darkness, I beckoned for it to surge upwards, and so it did; the golden light it irradiated bathed more and more of my psyche- a blank canvas previously painted black- in a warmth that resembled the aftermath of a flame.

More did the feather rise, increasing the pressure inside my head even further, as if the object’s continued ascent required evermore effort to keep it afloat. There were no tears to cry, no grunts to form, no soul to scream out in exertion as the feather finally was lifted from my vision, leaving only its light to burn brightly in its absence.

My eyes suddenly snapped open, and I could feel my body once more. I immediately collapsed to my knees, gasping for air, as the rediscovery of my senses left me momentarily unable to control them. Even in this temporary exhaustion, I was scared to close my eyes; I knew that I’d still be able to feel the burning upon my eyelids.

I felt both hooves and hands make contact with my shoulders and neck, both having offered support during an obviously difficult experience. Currently on my knees and facing the ground, I witnessed Eve slide herself underneath me until she was able to look into my eyes from her place on the floor, our chests now parallel with one another. “Are you okay?” she asked me, showing clear concern.

I found myself unable to respond to her. Amidst all the sensations, I struggled to focus on one particular emotion, but I watched several tears fall from my face and impact upon the little girl’s shoulder, creating a noticeable wet patch that her fingers inquisitively skirted along the surface of.

Just as my senses returned in an instant, my mental clarity soon followed. Having regained this part of my psyche, I pushed myself away from this position, feeling a weight upon my back that answered any questions as to where the other sister had run off to. Twilight thankfully entered my vision after this, sporting what could only be seen as a look of pride on her face. “The first time is always the scariest.”

In that moment, I was glad that she was so self-assured- because I was barely hanging on. “What the hell was that?” I asked the mare, thoroughly out of breath and barely able to put any force behind my words.

“That was the act of comprehension,” she explained. “The old scholars made it sound more important than it is. It’s something that every unicorn goes through when learning magic for the first time.”

I could’ve cried. “So, I did it?” I shakily attempted to summarise. My speech must’ve sounded less like a question and more like a statement formulated on wishful thinking. Any glances at Twilight’s face revealed no answer, as she simply shifted the box of candles until it sat at my feet.

“I can’t answer that- but you can show me.”

Never had a simple wax stick seemed so terrifying. I stared at it for a good while, straining my neck while trying to wish the thing into the air. “Gently bring it to you; trying too hard will push it away,” I heard Twilight say, so I took a breath and started again, aiming for more mental clarity this time.

Despite my previous fear of it, I felt a sudden need to close my eyes once more, and I was unable to stop myself from doing so. When reacquainted with the inside of my eyelids, the golden light returned to me as I felt my mind grip something.

It was as if I was given a third hand to control as, much like with the feather before, I found myself with the ability to will something into the air- not kept within my eyelids this time. I continued to feel the object move upwards until it got snagged on something- or at least giving off the impression of doing so. Confused, I opened my eyes, hoping to see what was happening.

And there was the candle, floating just inches from my face. More than that: the rest of the box too. I could possibly have been convinced that I was carrying just one of the candles, but apparently all the others had come along for the ride, likely getting caught on each other as I fumbled around with them.

It was clear that Eve was impressed with this. Even in the most focused state of my life, I could hear the raven-haired girl’s gasp of wonder followed by the sound of her smacking something rapidly. I didn’t have the ability to notice what she was hitting, but a grumbling from Eva suggested that she was the target.

Even with my eyes open now, the candles in my mental grasp continued to slowly move. For whatever reason, Twilight had deemed it necessary to move the cake approximately eight miles away from me, so this process took some time. I’m sure that the only reason I didn’t lose faith was due to the constant, high-pitched encouragement that I received.

“Do it!”

“Come on, Mr. Bayard!”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing- and I couldn’t really believe that I was the one doing it- but my mind was continuing to purportedly push the candles along until they hovered just above the cake. From there, it was as simple as lightly pressing the candles into the layer of icing, in which they were soon embedded nicely.

It was only when the task was done that I was able to seriously think about what had just transpired. When I could finally do so, my knees became reacquainted with the carpet in another instance of my lack of understanding.

“That was you- you did that!” I all-but screamed in Twilight’s direction, pointing at the mare like I was singling out the culprit in a police lineup. Twilight just giggled along.

“You did it! You did it, you did it!” the little alicorn proclaimed, diving at me and tackling me to the ground. “I’m so proud of you!”

She nuzzled against my face as she took full advantage of the leverage she possessed. Amidst the palpable affection that she displayed, I was a little worried that she was being too obvious in front of the children, but I was still happy to be on the receiving end of it.

“I’m impressed: most unicorns need whole classes before they learn their first spell,” Twilight continued once she’d given me space. She eventually got off me and took a step back, showing me that ever-present blush of hers. I would’ve spent more time focusing on it, but I was on the edge of a revelation:

“So, I’m actually good at something…”

Such a comment was bound to be celebrated by those around me; after Twilight’s own praise and approval, the two little ones had greeted me with wild declarations of enthusiasm and a load of questions that I would never be equipped to answer, all to then scamper off once they’d had their presence felt.

I would’ve liked to have engaged in a mental victory lap, but I was unable to do so for two reasons: one involved a pair of miscreants trying to run off with a cake, whose attempts I did well to put down, and the other involved a studious alicorn’s attempts to keep me grounded.

“Well, you are a fully-grown stallion after all…”

“Yeah, alright mate- don’t let me celebrate this, then.”

In spite of my sardonic tendencies, Twilight let out a laugh before rushing me once more. I guess that was her version of a war cry. This time, however, Eve was able to interrupt this interaction by clearing her throat, which did well to capture the room’s attention. “Can we please eat the cake now? It looks really yummy.”

“One more thing,” Twilight quickly responded, still on the ball, it seemed. With a whir of magic, the lights inside the castle were dimmed. I felt two pairs of hands awkwardly fumbling around my own as the cake’s candles soon were set ablaze, much to the audible amazement of the little ones.

Eve’s excitement was particularly clear; she could deliver impressively quick slaps. “Don’t hit me!” I declared in an attempt to shut the girl down- which I was partly successful with. “Not Eva either!”

Even with some degree of slap-stopping, the scene was set. It was calm, quiet and beautiful in its simplicity. “Do you girls want to blow out your candles?” I asked the pair, who gave me a look that I wasn’t entirely surprised by.

“What’s ‘blow out your candles’?”

Sensing a new life experience, I led the two girls towards the candles in question. “It’s what you do at parties and things. You get your candle and you blow,” I explained before giving the girls a demonstration. “And now it’s gone. Only do yours, though.”

Both girls did some kind of movement that implied a level of understanding. I know that I’m dragging on a bit here, but truth be told, I just really liked this moment. It really made me happy for some reason.

There was only one thing missing. “Hold on a minute,” I announced. “Spike! Get in here, you miserable bastard- we’re having cake!”

Today had been wonderful. Between the massage, the magic and every intimate moment in between, I was definitely able to say that this was the best day so far. I wish that my mum was with us for all this. She’d have loved to have seen how well I was doing.

Of course, the cake was fantastic: beautifully sweet without being too sickly. To make things even better, the girls had run themselves into the ground due to all the walking around outside and running around inside, so they were thankfully sleeping away back in the library.

Spike had also gone back to whence he came, the grumpy bugger. Still, the existence of his own room reminded me that the girls could probably do with an actual bedroom again, although the possibility of returning to Canterlot consistently hung over my head like the sword of Damocles.

Therefore, by the process of elimination, that left just Twilight and I, quietly moving about and gathering any loose clutter that remained on the floor. I say this as if we were working as some kind of collective, but Twilight seemed more focused on other matters.

It took me a little while to notice, yet it soon became obvious that Twilight was busying herself with a smidge of creative writing. “You writing a diary entry or something?” I asked the mare, who jumped from my voice’s intrusion into the silent space.

“I’m writing about your experience. You’ll need it for later if you want to try the magic again,” she bluntly replied, as if she was stating the blindingly obvious.

“Shouldn’t I be writing about my experience?”

I shouldn’t have said that. Instantly, a roll of paper was forced into my hands with an ink-soaked quill not too far behind it. “Tell me everything!” Twilight declared, having also seemingly travelled at the speed of light to get to me. “What was it like? What did you feel? Who was your teacher? I wonder who your teacher was because my-”

In an attempt to hush Twilight, I took one of my hands and firmly planted it atop the giddy mare’s head. Granted, this loosened my grip on the scroll, which quickly unravelled with its contents spilling onto the floor. “I didn’t see a teacher- just a feather.”

As if she wasn’t already close enough, Twilight forced herself even further into my personal space with a look of confusion. “A feather? You didn’t see anypony at all?”

I explained the process to Twilight, who approached the situation with curiosity rather than scepticism, despite having apparently received a completely different experience. In turn, she described her own learning, and how there was supposed to be somepony inside the page to guide pupils through the process.

“I wonder why it was so different for me,” I mused rubbing my knuckle along my cheek.

“My guess would be that’s just how older spells were learned,” Twilight similarly pondered. She turned away from me and picked up the spell book in order to scan its cover. “I knew that the books were different, but I didn’t think it’d be in that way.”

“Why don’t you try it yourself?”

“That’s not how it works. You can only learn a spell once.”

Having not found any answers, Twilight rather vigorously placed the spell book onto the floor next to her. Without really knowing why, I laughed at this display of minor petulance, although my own expression of amusement was cut short by a sharp jolt of pain behind my eyes. “Still, it hurt like nobody’s business. I don’t know why they couldn’t have just written it all down.”

Twilight clearly understood my plight; a glass of water was soon presented to me, so I sat down on the floor. It was nice to look up at the alicorn sometimes as it brought me a good deal of comfort. The reassuring smile that continued to be etched onto her face while she spoke was likely one of the reasons for this sensation.

“That’s why magic is so hard; earth ponies and pegasi can’t comprehend what should be written on that page. They have so many strengths, but they just can’t visualise the page’s contents- they can’t convert something they can’t see into something tangible.”

It was clear that Twilight minding her manners when delivering this explanation. I was catching onto what she was saying- in places. “So, they lack an imagination?”

“No! No- not at all!” the mare firmly rebuked, forehooves frantically waving as she took on the appearance of somepony who did not want to be misinterpreted. “There are so many intelligent earth ponies and pegasi. We just have something that they don’t…and I hate how that sounds when said out loud.”

I could only imagine how difficult it must be to explain something like this without sounding like a rampant racist, so I think Twilight did alright. “I know you didn’t mean it like that. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, like you said,” I did my best to reassure her.

Although we’d tried to keep this conversation as amicable is possible, Twilight looked particularly dejected as she turned back to me. It was likely that we were talking about something that only gets discussed once out of principle and then never again.

“We all need each other. It’s how Equestria was founded, after all- but it’s no surprise that some of the most arrogant ponies you see are unicorns.”

The alicorn’s solemn demeanour continued; if anything, her body language was hinting at a progressively more negative viewpoint. “There are arseholes everywhere, Twilight,” I stated in an attempt to raise the mare back up. “I mean, look at me- and I’m one of the better ones where I come from.”

Clearly, my attempt at elevating the mood was unorthodox as far as Twilight was concerned, but she pushed herself against me all the same. “You’re one of the good ones; I wouldn’t want anypony else,” she timidly told me, doing her best to make eye contact via fleeting, weak-willed glances that never fully lingered long enough to have much of an effect.

“Besides, you know that I’ve met Blueblood. He’s a tosser but he’s not that bad either,” I reminded Twilight while craning her neck so that she was forced to look at me. I ruffled her mane a little bit, and I enjoyed watching it break off into strands. “There can’t be many ponies worse than him.”

My continued rubbing was working well at bringing Twilight back to me. She looked almost content as she prepared her reply. “You’ll see for yourself at…the…Gala…”

I watched with amusement as Twilight’s eyes went wide with a sudden realisation. “Did you forget something important?” I smugly enquired as the mare seemed ready to burst.

“Sweet Celestia- I knew I forgot something! I’m so sorry!”

She looked at me with a sorrowful expression that I tried hard not to laugh at. Sadly, I’m not that strong. “You silly bugger. Rarity told me earlier, so no worries.”

Even with this reassurance, Twilight still looked as if she lacked a bit of confidence, and I didn’t really blame her. This day had clearly been a lot for her to handle. “You still need your ticket,” she reminded me, floating a golden…ticket (are there really no appropriate synonyms?) towards me.

In case you couldn’t tell, I had an interest in how things felt to the touch- and this little scrap of paper was something else. It was so beautifully smooth, and it glistened in the dwindling candlelight. This must’ve been what the high life was all about. I could’ve rubbed it in very intimate places with a smile.

And that was before I’d even read the thing. All the cliched crap about being ‘cordially invited’ was all present and accounted for, along with my name in some fancy handwriting that I’d only ever be able to reproduce if I was writing with my left hand. It also included a lavish little magic timer, ticking down to indicate when the Gala started, which was apparently…

“Wait- it’s in three days?”