"I can't find it!" A unicorn colt sank sadly to his haunches. "Don't you have a single book on it?"

As if summoned, Amber hurried over. "A book on what?"

"Magic!" The colt gestured with a hoof in frustration. "You got magic books, right? But they're all about stage magic and how to be sneaky. I don't want to be sneaky." He pointed at his horn. "I want to use this, but not just for picking stuff up."

Amber smiled softly at him. "I see. Unicorns haven't been using that kind of magic for a long time. You'd be one of the first, if you really wanted to know that."

The colt perked. "Yeah? That sounds exciting!"

"It'd be a lot of work." Amber rolled a hoof slowly through the air. "And it wouldn't be fast. You'll have to practice. And maybe you won't even like it." She shrugged, but with a little smile on her face. "You sure you want anything to do with that?"

The colt beamed back at her. "Yup! Tell me what to do."

Amber laughed as she touched his shoulder. "Well, Mmm, wait here." She held up a hoof, then scurried away. "Comfs! Emergency!"

Comforting looked up from where she'd been replacing some spools of filament from the printers. "Mm?" She turned to face Amber. "Welcome up to my floor. What's this about emergencies?"

Amber jumped onto one of the large printers nearby and gestured to the unicorn colt in question. "He's got a big dream. He wants to learn magic, and he's young and I already tried to scare him away with talks of effort. He's still here. Do I turn him away, or are we gonna show him?"

Comforting rubbed her chin in thought as she floated closer to the two of them. "We could teach him. But first, tell me what he said."

Amber though back the few minutes. "He wants to learn magic and use his horn, but not in a tricky way. He wanted real magic, and was looking for a book about it."

"Nice! This sounds fun!" Comforting poked her head over the rail to see the library below. "Well, my job is mostly done for today." She gently brushed Amber right off the machine. "But that isn't designed to hold up a pony. Now, let's go say hello to our newest maybe-wizard, and your very first student."

Amber went stiff. "What?"

Comforting curled around Amber. "I taught you. That's the only pony I'll be teaching this generation. It's up to ponies to teach ponies. You know magic, so it's time for you to share that gift."

Amber whined gently as she tried to burrow into Comforting's form. "But I don't know how to do that! I need more time!"

Comforting lifted Amber up on her back as she floated up and around to where the unicorn colt was standing awkwardly. She placed Amber down facing the colt. "We found that book you were looking for."

Amber laughed nervously. "Yeah, but it's a special one. You can't check it out."

The colt sagged at that. "Aw..."

"But you can learn right here, in the library." Amber shook herself. "I'll be your teacher, if you're ready. We'll unlock the mysteries of your horn, and real magic."

The colt nodded eagerly at that before dropping into a more formal stance. "Yes, teach me, sensei!"

Amber laughed gently. "You are adorable." She waved though. "This way. We have a special room just for magical learning." She took him by the hoof and lead him to the door to her magical study area. She held it open for him, her other hoof waving at the chalkboard. "That is the start of things."

The colt peered at the strange squiggles on the board. "What are those?"

"Letters." Amber sat in front of the board after locking the door behind them. "Magic letters. The very first lesson is in how to read those, and play them here." She pointed at her own horn. "Once you can read and write the music of the universe, we can play it, together."

The colt plopped down with his eyes on the board. "Show me, please!"

Amber had a sudden thought. "Oh, where are your parents? They should at least, um, say it's okay for you to do this."

"Oh!" The colt flicked his ears back in shame. "Yeah, they're just outside! I'll get them." He rushed back out, then returned with his mom and dad in tow.

Amber clapped at the two adult ponies. They each had a similarity to the colt, making it easy to spot them as a family. "How lovely to meet you. Your little one wants to learn about unicorn magic. Unicorn magic is a lost art of unicorns. You probably don't even remember doing things besides picking things up with your horn."

The mom laughed gently. "Sorry! He does get excited about things. Will you show him things? Please? That'd be so great!"

The dad put an arm in front of her. "Slow down. What kind of magic are you talking about? Lifting things and working up your horn strength?"

"Pardon me," Amber offered them both a bow. "I am Amber Skyray, teacher of magic and librarian extraordinaire." She cleared her throat as she directed their attention to the board with letters on it. "The magic I speak of is far beyond lifting things. Transmuting one thing into another thing, or even parts of yourself. Creating something from nothing."

She focused, creating a doorknob in front of her that fell to the ground with a clatter. "Like that. Magic can do many things if you study it intently."

The mom leaned closer. "It makes no sense! How can something be created from nothing?"

Amber bobbed her head at that question. "Nothing comes from entirely nothing." She pointed at the knob. "That is made of my own effort, but also magic in the area all gathered around to make up the doorknob. Fortunately for us, there's plenty of magic around to use. Now, back on topic, do you consent to your colt learning about this?"

The dad shared a look with his wife, who smiled at him encouragingly. He turned back to Amber. "Please teach him magic."

Amber smiled at the two. "I will show him, and I'll be sure to go over safety while I'm at it. Now, excuse us. We have magic to learn." She gently shooed both parents from the room and locked the door behind them. She spun around and leaned over the colt. "Do you understand the kinds of things you're going to learn here?"

The colt nodded rapidly in place. "Yes! I'm so excited." He cantered in place with a happy nicker. "I'm ready!"

Amber raised a hoof to silence him before pointing at the board again. "We will be going over these letters first. It will feel boring, and it is boring. It's boring learning how to crawl, but that's how you get to walking, running, and dancing. I ask your patience as we learn to magically crawl."

He drooped slightly at that suggestion but otherwise accepted it. He nodded firmly at her with a smile on his lips as he stared up at her eagerly even.

The lesson began properly, with some stumbling first steps. The colt had never had to really focus on what his horn was doing. That was a new experience, but one he was eager to grasp. When he got the first letter properly, he cheered and bounced about. When he got all of them, he practically danced about with joy.

The chalkboard vanished under a layer of glitter as a reward for mastering that basic lesson before a new image appeared in its place. In truth, she had spun it around to reveal its back. "Tomorrow, we'll start on your first spell. You're learning so quickly, I'm very proud of you."

The colt threw himself against her in a hug at that with a happy giggle. He threw his hooves into the air with an eager scream of excitement at that news, just to blush a bit. "Sorry. I shouldn't be so noisy in a library. Um, thank you." He stepped back. "I'll come tomorrow, promise. I want to learn a spell!"

Amber waved goodbye ans unlocked the door for him. She watched him scamper off with a wide grin on his lips.

He chattered eagerly with his parents who looked equal parts amused and slightly alarmed at his excited descriptions of what he'd learned thus far and what was yet to come.

That they walked away sounding overall happy for him, without angry words about him never returning, seemed like good news to Amber.

She let out a slow sigh. "Day one of teaching, complete." She started to giggle and didn't stop for some time. That ended when she nearly fell off her chair in her mirth. She regained her composure with a glance about. The room had grown far darker than she expected. "I should close up the library."

She trotted out into the main area. Fortunately for her, her other librarians were already going through the motions of winding down the library's operations. She was not alone in that task even if it did take an occasional reminder.

Misty waved her over once the ponies were beginning to file out into the street through the front door. "How did it go? You seem... You look a bit tired? Did something happen?"

Amber slumped slightly as she went to a cupboard for a mug to pour herself some cocoa. "It went well! But my brain hurts from everything I had to explain and describe." She turned around with the mug cradled between her hooves. "We're entering a new age, Misty. I just taught our first little unicorn the magic alphabet."

Misty perked at that news. "Wow! That's amazing! Did you learn magic when you were little? Who taught you?"

Amber stopped right in her tracks with the mug half-raised to her lips. "Um. No. Comforting was my teacher. Your book was yours. We both learned from outside places. This unicorn is special, since he'll be learning from another unicorn. That's the way it should be."

Misty stepped in closer to her to help with her mug before hugging her tightly with a happy little laugh. "And he's lucky to have you as his teacher!" She bumped against her teasingly with a knowing smile on her lips. "Keep me updated. I wanna know when he learns his first spell, and which one it'll be! Will it be one of the ones we know, or something new?"

Amber eased out of Misty's grasp and put her hoof on her back gently. "Thanks for being supportive. I'm just an apprentice who's just starting her path. I could fail!" She wavered a moment. "I think I did alright as a teacher. He learned the letters so quickly! Is it because he's still a foal? Foals do like learning, right?"

Misty hummed at that question. She touched her hoof to her own chin contemplatively before answering, "Sure they do! They also like doing new things. If he learns so quickly, he must be very smart too! This is great." She burst into airy giggles. "I hope this is the start of a lot more unicorns learning how to use their horns."

Amber finished her drink and placed the mug back in the cupboard she'd gotten it from before closing it gently and spinning around to face Misty with a grin on her lips. "So! A pupil of mine. Are you going to get one?" She thrust a hoof at Misty. "You know as much magic as I do, you could take on a student too."

Misty gulped at that suggestion before backing away a few steps. She held her hooves up defensively in front of herself. "Maybe? Not right now? I'm not sure if I can do that."

Amber closed to touch her horn with Misty's. "I wasn't sure if I could do it just earlier today, but then I did it. Have faith in yourself, Misty. You are an amazing pony that can do amazing things."

Misty gulped again before eventually managing a shy little smile even as she shivered a bit at that compliment and suggestion. She attempted to digest that unexpected offer with some quiet stammering noises that went nowhere in particular before she managed to settle on something to say that made any sense, "How do I find one?"

Amber perked an ear. "Good question. Mine found me. If we're serious about this, we should tell ponies this is even available. Comforting gave her approval already."

Misty drew closer at that, hanging onto every word with a happy little eager nicker. "I'll work on a sign then. We can hang it up to point to the magic room with our names on it. Ponies'll come find us if they want magic lessons!" She paused. "Oh, better put a horn on it. We can't teach pegasi or earth ponies how to do unicorn magic."

Author's Note

That went well. A bold step into a whole new age.

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