1 Week Later

Slowly opening my eyes I start to wake up as I take a minute to take in my environment, noticing that I'm the only one here.

Not wanting to stay any longer I get up taking as I take a quick look around the room before I begin my stretches.

A week has passed since we got here and if I'm being honest this has probably been one of the best weeks in my entire two lives.

Ever since getting here me and the others have had the entire library to ourselves courtesy of Dusty Pages who has generously provided us with somewhere to sleep in the extra room that was behind the counter.

Apparently, she had an extra room installed just in case she ever thought she was too tired to make It back to her own home.

However, ever since she heard from her old friend, who happened to be the Elder, about her plan for diamond dogs to come here to learn anything the community could use to better improve our lives, she let any diamond dogs that volunteered to come to use it as long as they needed It ever since then.

This Is by far coolest old mare I've ever met in my life and that's without mentioning that the room itself was also pretty nice.

It wasn't anything fancy but to be honest, if there was anything I've learned these past nine years is that diamond dogs didn't need anything fancy, as long as it was comfortable enough and it worked well enough then they would take it, as much as I would prefer if they didn't have to work on scraps just to survive.

Though to be honest, It still wasn't that bad either, nothing much but a worn blue faux leather couch with a small table In the middle of the room, plus there were also a few mattresses surrounding It as well.

Finished with my stretches I reach for the crystal that Mom allowed me to have from my pocket before I bring it closer to look at.

Now since there were three of us here we agreed among ourselves to assign each other to a different subject we could read about so we would be able to take what we learned and share It with the other diamond dogs to help the community.

Bella decided to read about whatever she could about different materials, what they were used for, and what they were capable of to improve the quality of our tools back home.

Koda decided to try and read anything that could help diamond dogs learn how to make 'free food' (his words not mine) so we wouldn't have to be so reliant on mining crystals that we needed to sell to buy food.

Unfortunately, when we immediately went to get books on the subjects we picked we forgot to account for one thing, none of us knew how to read.

Well not exactly, for some reason I could read the words just fine as of was English, but the others, including the adults, didn't know how to read, since you know, they were never taught.

So instead of reading about what we wanted to read, we instead have been learning how to read in general for the past week.

I also had to join them since it was assumed I also didn't know how to read and it wasn't like I could just tell them 'Actually, I could read just fine, let me just grab the Poneish Dictionary and I can prove it to you!'

So until those two got to a level where they would be able to read in general, I was stuck having to learn how to read with them for the first time again.

Thankfully, Dusty Pages had also volunteered to teach us and any of the adults how to read if they wanted to.

Like I said coolest mare I've met so far, though, this hasn't been a total waste of time for me.

Since I'm stuck having to 'learn' how to read again I've been taking advantage of being left alone in times like these to secretly look around the library to find whatever I could about magic whenever Dusty wasn't looking, and if creatures that aren't unicorns could use magic, and if so, then what they did to do it.

So far I've been able to read a bit of two books called The Nature Of Magic and How To Access and Grow Closer To Magic though what I've found has left me with mixed feelings.

If I summarize what I read in The Nature Of Magic, it said that technically no matter what, anycreature can use magic since magic itself is in the air around us, invisible to the naked eye but still available for anycreature to use.

Also, magic naturally seeps into creatures since there's so much of it around and not many places for it to be dispensed.

Plus, because of the fact they seep into creatures so much, apparently according to the book, it slowly over time creates a sort of container for magic to be stored in said creature making it available for them to use, but you had to figure out how to access it first before you could.

Unfortunately, How To Access and Grow Closer To Magic wasn't very helpful in how to actually access said magic for other creatures, but they sure had plenty of information for unicorns to read about.

Now if you were a unicorn or of course alicorn, it's easy enough right, just use your horn to feel the magic contained inside of you plus the magic around you if needed and then simply grab it with your horn while thinking about the desired spell you wanted and then release it into the real world.

Though for other creatures we don't have natural magic horns that allow us to bend reality.

Now you think since they have a book here it might help right?

Wrong, the only helpful tip that I could find was for other creatures that weren't a unicorn they had to find some way to sense the magic contained inside your 'being' first before you could start to naturally sense the magic that was already circulating in the air.

No tips on how to do that, no methods that might help with the process, just that.

So yeah, you can see why I had mixed reviews based on what I was able to read since the situation I found myself In was the equivalent of not being able to access a cool skill in a game because you didn't meet the requirements.

Which is why I planned to make the most of my time alone today.

"Well, not like I can do anything else since Dusty Pages has been walking around the library more." I said to myself as I put the crystal back in my pocket before I sat back on the floor.

Taking in a deep breath I close my eyes as I do my best to calm myself and try to look for that core that's apparently inside my 'being.'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Nothing, I guess that woul-"

I paused my sarcastic comment when as soon I opened my eyes back up I was met with pitch-black darkness surrounding me as the room I was previously in seemed to disappear out of thin air.

But what made me stop talking was the glowing colorful rainbowish Will-o-Wisp that was right in front of me slowly floating up and down almost like it was waiting for something or I guess in this case, someone.

Before I even realized it I began reaching for it almost as if I knew somewhere on an instinctual level that whatever this was I needed to go and hold it.

I don't know why, but, for some reason when I finally reached the wisp I had instinctively gently wrapped my hands around it like it was a baby chicken, as if it was the frailest thing in the world before I hugged it close to me.

Then suddenly I felt something, a feeling, It was such a confusing feeling too, almost as if it was mixed with pure joy and nostalgia.

The best I could describe it was that It was like meeting an old friend again after being apart for so long you just couldn't help but be happy you two were finally back together again.

Actually, yeah, that's pretty much how it felt right then and there, almost as if I had finally found a missing piece of me after all this time, and somehow knowing what that felt like right now, I began crying and laughing in joy now that I was reunited with it again.

Now nothing will ever be able to separate us

Almost as if the darkness responded to the mysterious voice the environment around us began to light up to the point where it became too bright for me as I closed my eyes and huddled over the wisp.
.
.
.
.
.
Opening my eyes again I realize that I'm back in the room that Dusty lent us as I take a minute to reorient myself after that existential experience.

Yet, I could tell that things already were way different than before....whatever just happened.

Now wherever I looked I could see magic all around me, almost as if it was wind constantly blowing by in a controlled direction forever staying on an everlasting journey until someone chose its destination.

I also felt lighter now, like there was some invisible weight that kept me stuck in place that was now lifted, allowing me to comfortably do what I wanted now instead of having to constantly deal with burdens placed on me.
.
.
.
Wow, that was, weirdly deep for me, though I can't say I was wrong.

Whatever happened it certainly made me feel more, alive now, for lack of a better word.

Of course, the most noticeable and in my opinion, the best thing to come out of this was if I focused hard enough I could actually, sort of sense something pulse with life almost in the center of my chest now.

Almost as if It was a completely different being sharing its life with me to use.

"Though the question remains if I can do magic now or not." I said to myself as I closed my eyes once again and focused on trying to reach the new core-like area inside of me.

This time though I could immediately feel something constantly circling in and out of my chest, sorta like it was constantly being filled to be sustained.

Quickly opening my eyes I grabbed the crystal from my jacket once more, immediately I could see how different the crystal was now as before when it was just a regular crystal, now it was almost glowing with the amount of magic it had contained inside of it.

"Okkkkkkk, so now what?" I asked myself as I tried figuring out what to do to get it out of the crystal into myself.

However before I could figure out what I needed to do I began to hear footsteps causing me to quickly put the gem away again, and not a second later Koda came rushing in ahead of everybody else as he pretty much tackled me to the floor like he does every time I sleep in and they come back.

"Hey Tan! Sleep good?" He asked excitedly while his tail wagged back and forth.

"I sure did Ko, sorry I missed out again." I said feeling slightly guilty.

"It's ok! But you gotta promise to join us next time, it's not the same without you, right Bell?" He asked turning to Bella who just nodded in response with a soft smile on her face.

"Alright, I promise, don't want to be stuck in here all the time anyway." I said as Koda started to look somewhat worried at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked worried.

"Ha-Have you been crying, Tanner?" He asked as I reached under my eyes to feel my fur somewhat damp.

"I, I don't remember, I had this dream where I met someone again after a long time, and it felt like I was so happy that I cried." I answered not exactly lying to him as his face scrunched up in thought before shaking his head.

"Well, hmm, I'm not exactly sure what to say about that, but you know what you're here with us now so let's not worry about that." He said getting off of me as we sat back up.

"Instead let me and Bella tell you what we did today!" He said excitedly as he began recalling the 'adventures' he went on today while I sat and listened to his stories and Bella's explanations about what happened.

Author's Note

Sorry for a shorter chapter today folks but I hope your at least still able to somewhat like it.

If I did anything that you might not like then I would like to offer my apologies and if you have anything to say I will listen and do my best to improve myself.

Buuuuut if you did enjoy it somehow then comment what you liked as I love seeing what you guys think about what I wrote.

Other than that im switching back over to my dragon story, see ya!