After waking up I see it's almost midday feeling hungry having only eaten two carrots yesterday, I move to the kitchen and open the food cabinet only to see it empty. "Ugh." I knew I forgot something yesterday, it's Tuesday, so no free food. I guess I'll have to go out.

I grab my bag and head for my door. As I walk out of the library I head to the market district like yesterday and find the same food stand buying a few of those sweet fried bread buns, and make my way into the park and after sitting on a bench I dig into my treats.

As I sit and eat, I look around. I'm sitting on a bench facing a small pond. several fish swimming close enough to the surface to see. birds chirping unsee in nearby trees and the sound of colts and fillies kicking around a ball in the field behind me I lose focus staring at the view so much that I don't notice the sound of hoof steps coming close.

I lift one of my buns to take a bite, "Do you mind if I sit here?" the sudden voice startles me, and I jump a little. I quickly turn my head to the voice only to freeze. not more than a few feet away from me is a young unicorn stallion he's tall for a unicorn and in good health having a decent amount of muscle his coat wight and his main a few shades of blue from light to dark mixed together and a pair of cobalt blue eyes staring at me.

:WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE!?: Shining Armor out of all the ponies in this city why did it have to be you? After a moment my brain registers what he asked and realizing that I've just been staring at him in silence I force myself to calm down and respond to him "Sure."

He nods and sits down on the other side of the bench. The silence is deafening so after a moment I continue eating, trying desperately to ignore my uninvited guest but after some time he speaks up "So what are you eating?" I turn back to him, seeing him eyeing my food.

"Some fried sweet bread want one?" I offer hoping to seem less nervous as I float a bun over to him, he eyes it before taking it.

"Sure thanks." he bites into the bun, and we eat in silence for some time, both of us enjoying the view he finishes first before looking at me again.

"So what are you doing today if you don't mind me asking?" I stare for a moment trying to find a way out of this conversation but not finding any I decide it's less suspicious to just answer his questions.

"Eating my breakfast and enjoying my day off." he looks surprised for a moment before the realization dawns on his face.

"Oh you're an apprentice, aren't you? That makes more sense most, your age would be in school right now where do you work?"

"The city library for about two months now."

"Really? Not many young ponies working there do you enjoy it?"

"Ya the hours aren't bad the pay is decent and free food on workdays so not much to complain about and after work, you get free access to the library."

He lets out a chuckle before stopping and looks a little embarrassed "Sorry you just remind me of my sister she's around your age always reading or trying new spells she'd be so jealous that you can stay after hours." he says while in between soft chuckles "oh by the way my name's Shining nice to meet you."

"Same, names Shade so what are you doing here?" I ask as I finish my last bun.

"I'm waiting for my dame and sister to meet up, they told me to wait in the park so they can finish shopping, so what do you do at the library." but before I could answer him, we were interrupted by a new voice.

"What library?" I turn my head to see Twilight Sparkle and their dam twilight velvet standing with a few bags floating next to her.

"Oh, hey Twilight I was talking with Shade here he works at the city's library." Her eyes move to me and she gets an excited expression hopping from one hoof to another she moves towards me.

"YOU DO? What's it like? What do you do? How long have you been working there? ho-" Before she could continue to bombard me with questions a hoof was placed on her muzzle.

"Twilight, you know not to do that, Twilight Velvet turns to me looking embarrassed at her daughter's actions "Sorry about that, she can get excited when it comes to books."

I nod "No problem it's ok." I turn to Twilight who looks even more embarrassed than her dam, her ears pinned back and a shy look on her face "And to answer your questions it's ok I mostly shelve, and sort books and I've been working there for around two months."

After hearing my answers she perks up some, her ears returning to normal "Thanks and sorry, dam said I get excited about books and magic."

I nod "That much is obvious" I take a moment to crumple the paper bag that held my food and put it in my bag. I hear a gasp and look back to see Twilight staring intently at me.

"How did you do that?" she asks with excitement in her voice once again having watched me crumple the bag without my hooves.

After a moment thinking how I wanted to explain this I said "Well you know how all ponies can move things with their hooves right?" she nodded "So the magic that lets you do that is in every pony and a few years ago when I was younger, I got it in my head that if I could train that ability, I could make it more powerful and do more with it. so I started training with it."

Twilight and Shining and their mother gain thoughtful looks as I continue my explanation "And I started trying to lift heavier and heavier things, over time it slowly got easier, and I could lift more and as I was messing around with it. I found that I could lift things even if they weren't touching me and started training that to hold something and slowly push it away from me and just like my lifting strength my range also increased along with my control and at this point, it's about the same as having a horn"

All three looked shocked at my explanation the first to speak was of course twilight "THATS AWESOME" she shouted out before quieting down from a stern look from her dam "Sorry"

I laugh "it's ok."

Shining speaks up after a moment. "Well colt, that's impressive I don't know many ponies who train that hard."

"Thanks, it certainly took a lot of time to achieve but I think it's worth it to move things without my hooves."

Before we can continue our conversation their dam speaks up "Come on you two we don't want to be late for Shining's appointment it shouldn't be long now. shining, do you have your watch?"

"No, I forgot it this morning."

"Here" Before they can say anything else I start drawing a matrix. and in a few moments, I cast the Temporis spell showing the time to be one thirty-six.

Twilight gets the same excited look but before she can start asking any questions she’s cut off "Oh no we're going to be late" their dam exclaims before grabbing Twilight and putting her on her back before running off Shining not far behind her.

I sigh in relief. Well, that wasn't too bad and while I definitely got their attention and my plan to stay away from the cast is dead in the water, but it's at least cool to meet them and it might be useful to know them as most don't look into ponies. they know so it might be better to hide in plain sight even though it's not as good as remaining unknown. Plus, in the show after Twilight leaves for Ponyvill she even almost forgets so she might not remember me as anything but a friend that she'll forget.

And after the day I've had I still need to go shopping for some groceries and after doing so and getting home with my goods. I decided to take my mind off of today and look through the library as I walked through bookshelves looking for books on healing magic and training my life affinity. Although the original book on affinities I read had some suggestions for training but not as much as a book for specifically the life element which would be much better.

After finding the right section of the library I searched through several books before finding what I was looking for, a book on life magic and its application by Star Shine. The book's text is dry as sand, but the information is good. The instructions for learning how to convert your magic seem about the same for any element.

First, you try to visualize a single point in your body and push your magic through it. technically it is possible to convert magic in any way you wish it's really all about will but for those without enough will or control over their magic imagining a process to convert their magic is easier.

I've chosen not to use this method as it doesn't seem to have a negative effect on somepony who use it. but I feel like it's not a good method mostly because it feels like a shortcut to power so I've decided to use the harder method to feel your magic and will it to take a new form to force its shape.

After reading the entire book I check it out at the front desk and leave the library and walk to the park. One of the steps I want to follow is learning conversion in an environment with a dense amount of life magic and the best place nearby is the park.

After reaching the park for the second time that day I searched for a quiet spot. I find a small spot under an old oak tree that's out of view of any other ponies, a wall of bushes with the tree to my back. I lay on the grass and start focusing on my magic trying to feel the magic around me as my magic seeps into the world around me.

After some time, I start feeling the magic in the grass and roots around me as I study the feeling of the magic of life. the magic itself gives a feeling like a rush of energy from drinking coffee only to a lesser degree. I spend a while just sitting and feeling the ebb and flow of the magic, feeling it move through the roots and feel the magic of the sun being absorbed and converted.

Over an hour passes as I lay almost perfectly still. I retract my will and focus not outward but inward reaching into my magic. I started willing my magic to take the form that I've felt applying more and more of my will trying to change my magic into that of life. After a while of this, I feel something break and feel a rush of energy go through me, I hold onto that feeling trying to burn its feel into my memory but after a few minutes my reserves of magic are drained almost dry so I stop.

I open my eyes glowing green softly for a moment before fading. As I stand looking at the ground around me, the grass only a few inches long before has grown wild and lengthy, the flowers blooming as several vines clinging to my legs. I shake the vines off of me and step away from where I was laying a circle around it of plants growing from its center and radiating out from it.

Noticing the sunlight fade as the sun is lowered and the moon rises into the sky I start making my way home humming a happy tune.

Author's Note

[as always thank you for reading :D ]