Unicorns can use magic and earth ponies should accept this fact
Pinkie Pie was looking sadly at her freshly baked cake. Something was bothering her. She touched it with her hoof and winced.
“Something’s wrong, Pinkie?” Twilight asked her friend worriedly.
“Nah, it’s just... I’ve run out of ideas for new recipes,” she answered, taking a bite of the cake. “This one is good but I've eaten it so many times...”
“Well," Twilight began, her good-natured side shining through. "I could fetch you the cookbook I recently found in my basement, if you'd like” Whilst cleaning out some of the old junk from old experiments, and studies, Spike had rummaged through a closet in the back, producing a lot of junk, and some cookware; Apparently the library had once been a bakery. Twilight had looked through her various texts on the subject, to no avail of any information.
“Really? Could you do that? Well, I don’t read books but it might be fun! Bring me that one!” it seemed she was back to her normal, happy self.
“Okie dokie lokie,” Twilight said, mimmicking her friend, and trotting to the library.
After some time, Twilight was back at Sugarcube Corner, a large, dusty tome following lazily after her in a magical aura. Pinkie was running excitedly around the purple unicorn, anxious to see some new recipes..
“Take a look, Pinkie,” Twilight said, passing her the book. Pinkie held it in her hooves, glaring at it. At first, she was excited but after she had opened the book, it turned to confusion.
“You don’t like it?” Twilight was surprised by Pinkie’s reaction. She brought the right book. She even made a checklist to ensure she took the right book! And she double-checked that checklist!
“Um, I think I know why I didn’t read books,” Pinkie said, frown appearing on her usually happy face. “Scrolls are much easier to use.”
“Huh?”
“How am I supposed to turn the pages with these hooves?” she asked, dropping the book on the floor.
“Oh... I don’t know. I always use my magic to turn pages. I... never realized that ponies can have problem with that. Rainbow Dash reads a lot and she never ever seemed to have a problem with this,” Twilight said.
“Duh! She can use feathers to turn the pages. Watch how it works with these!” Pinkie said, quite irritated by Twilight’s ignorance. She put the book on the table and tried to turn one page, turning several instead. “See?”
“Um, well, you know, years ago only unicorns, as the allegedly smarter and wiser equines, were allowed to learn and read. They all used horns to turn pages and the tradition of paper books prevailed,” Twilight infromed her friend sadly. “This is why earth ponies never come to my library, I guess...”
“The longer I think about this, the more it seems like we were,” Pinkie gasped, “underponies!”
“No, no, no, no! All unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies are equal! Celestia issued an edict about this... 83 years ago...” Twilight said, her voice changing from confident at the beginning to uncertain in the end.
“But she didn’t give us any fancy powers! Can you imagine how awesome my parties would be if I had unicorns’ magic?” Pinkie asked her friend, folding her forelegs.
“I’m afraid I can’t imagine that,” Twilight replied nervously. The thought about Pinkie using magic terrified her.
“Thanks, Twilight. You ruined my day, reminding me of the fact I’m a crippled kind of a pony!” Pinkie said coldly, turning around so Twilight couldn’t see her eyes.
“Oh, Pinkie. You know it’s not my fault.” It wasn’t Twilight’s fault that the things were the way they were but she felt terrible anyway. She never thought the differences between ponies could disadvantage somepony.
“No, it’s not your fault.” Pinkie statement made Twilight smile. “But you support the differences.”
“Pinkie. I can’t do anything to change it!” Twilight cried. She felt terrible.
“Well, for starters you could stop using magic in every possible situation. Just try to live as a normal earth pony for a day,” Pinkie said, giving Twilight a reproachful look.
“And then you won’t be angry at me?” Twilight asked.
“I’m not angry at you. But you should see how it is to be crippled,” Pinkie said happily, embracing her friend’s neck. The sudden moodswing left Twilight dizzied.
“Well then. I will do this,” Twilight said uncertainly.
“Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie looked Twilight in the eyes.
“Pinkie Promise, something, something, a cupcake in my eye!” Twilight said nonchalantly but Pinkie made her tell the proper text anyway. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Twilight recited, rolling her eyes.
“Okie dokie lokie! Have a nice day!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, bouncing around Twilight.
“Nice, sure...” Twilight sighed and then headed towards the door.
“I’ll be watching you!” Pinkie said coldly as Twilight opened the door.
The purple pony gulped and went out.
*****
Twilight returned to the library. “It can’t be that hard to survive without my magic,” she said to herself.
“What now?” Spike overheard her. “You’ve been talking to yourself, again?”
“Um, yes. Well, I need your help Spike,” Twilight said.
“Whatever I can do for you.” Spike tried to look tough, showing her that he was ready to any kind of task.
“You need to watch me and ensure that I don’t use magic for the next whole day,” Twilight explained, smiling sheepishly.
“Why? You are all about magic,” Spike replied.
“I Pinkie promised it to, well, Pinkie,” Twilight mumbled and then went upstairs. “I’m just going to stay here till tomorrow so I don’t need to use my magic.”
“Yeah. Especially if you can use your ‘number one assistant’ to do everything for you with his fancy fingers,” Spike said sarcastically.
“Exactly.” Twilight grinned. “Well, I’ll be just reading books.”
The purple pony focused on one of the books...
“NOT A SINGLE SPELL!” Pinkie shouted, emerging from the pile of books stashed in the corner.
“Gah! Pinkie! How did you get here!?” Twilight screamed in terror, falling from the bed.
“I said I was gonna watch you! Not a single spell!” she said coldly and then jumped out the open window.
“Sheesh, this’s gonna be harder than I thought,” Twilight said to herself and then took the book using her mouth.
“Pferfcet!” She spat the book on the bed, shivering. “The books taste terrible!”
She opened the book on the first page and then began to read. After a while she decided to turn the page. With her hoof of course. The first try was unsuccessful. She decided to focus a bit more. She pressed her hoof against the book and pushed left. Her hoof just slid on the page. She began repeating this move. After a while she decided to use her mouth to do it. This was also ineffective. She couldn’t get a grip with her teeth on just one page. She could bite several pages at once. Even her tongue didn’t help. She just licked some ink away and left big wet stains.
“Gah! How can I read without my magic!” she yelled angrily.
She put a hoof on her chin, thinking about possible solutions. Suddenly, an idea struck her. “Spike! Come here!”
Her number one assistant appeared next to the bed after a while.
“Please, turn this page for me,” she asked, putting her best ‘puppy dog face’.
Spike rolled his eyes, turning the page. “Something else?”
“Wait here, if you could,” Twilight said and then began reading.
Spike watched Twilight reading the next two pages, walking around the bed the whole time.
“Now, could you please, turn the page?” she asked softly.
Spike groaned as he did this. Twilight smiled and continued to read. After a while she asked again: “Could you...”
“No! I’m not gonna stay here, turning your pages! It’s your bet with Pinkie and I have better things to do!” Spike shouted, walking away.
“Like what?” she asked, visibly irritated by her assisstant’s disobedience.
“Rarity told me she’s gonna try out some of her newest designs today. I’m gonna watch her change the dresses!” he said excitedly.
“Well, you know she doesn’t usually wear clothes?” Twilight replied, rolling her eyes.
Spike was stunned by this comment. “Well, yes. Of course I know,” he said and then left the library.
Twilight obvserved the door for a while. “Looks like no more reading for me today,” she said to herself, glancing at the book. “Maybe I could spend some time with my friends them. I haven’t seen Applejack for a while,” she said and then went to visit the farmer pony.
*****
“Good to see ya, Twilight!” Applejack greeted her friend. “I’d use your help if y’all don’t mind!”
“Sure. How can I help you?” Twilight answered, hoping the help wouldn’t need her magic.
“I need some of your fancy magic to get Apple Bloom’s kite that’s stuck on the roof!” Applejack said, pointing at the roof of her house. “I’d get there but it’s steep so I could get hurt but your magic’ll get that faster than an apple falls from a tree!”
“Um... Sure...” Twilight gulped, having no idea what to do. How to help Applejack and not break the Pinkie promise. She decided to tell Applejack she couldn’t do that but...
“Alright! I really gotta go. Need to get these apples to Sugarcube Corner. See you later,” Applejack said and then pulled the cart with apples.
Twilight watched her friend go. When Applejack was gone, she decided to simply get on the roof, take the kite, and safely return with it. She wouldn’t disappoint Applejack this way, while not breaking the promise.
She entered the house and then looked for the way to the roof. After a while, she found the stairs. With some effort she managed to get on the roof. It was steep indeed. Twilight tried to make the first step and...
“Aaaah!” she yelled, sliding down the roof. Luckily, she caught the kite. She was less lucky with the landing though as she fell on the ground with a loud thump. “Ouch... I’m gonna need a doctor...”
Twilight wanted to stand up but the pain in her legs was too numbing. “Ohmygosh! I broke something!” she cried.
She couldn’t move so she had to lie there, severe pain spreading through her body. She didn’t know any healing magic, so the promise wasn’t the problem at this moment. It caused it, though.
It was a long time for Twilight. There was nopony around. She knew that Apple Bloom is in school, while Big Mac went to Appleloosa and Granny Smith was in hospital because of her hip. Only Applejack could save her.
The farmer pony finally returned.
“Oh, Twilight. You didn’t hafta wait up for me!” she said, oblivious to the reason why Twilight was lying at the wall of her house. She walked up to her. “Wake up, Twilight! Twilight!?”
She waved the kite aside, revealing Twilight’s broken legs. Three of them were broken.
“What in tarnation, Twilight!? Did you get on the roof!?” Applejack was shocked.
“I... take... hospital...” Twilight murmured silently.
She didn’t even have to say that. Applejack pulled her cautiously on the cart. She couldn’t avoid moving her legs and causing more pain to her friend, though. Applejack pulled the cart to the hospital.
****
Twilight woke up. She could tell immediately that she was in the hospital. She still felt the pain but it was bearable.
“Ohmygosh, how bad is it?” she asked the doctor, looking at her legs, three of which were in casts.
“Well, they were severely broken. A long period of convalescence awaits you. And I’m afraid you may have problems with walking after we remove the cast,” the doctor said with sympathy in his voice.
Twilight trembled. How could she be so stupid? She tried to prove she doesn’t have to use magic. What an idea! A unicorn talented in magic without magic. What else?
The doctor allowed her friends to enter the room. Her friends walked up to the bed, asking questions and expressing their sympathy.
“I’m sorry, Twilight!” Pinkie cried. “I didn’t want you to get hurt! It’s all my fault!”
“No, Pinkie. It’s my fault. I tried to do something against the rules of our world. I mean, I am a unicorn and I use magic. The earth ponies and pegasi don’t use magic and that is how it’s been since the beginning,” Twilight lectured their friends.
“Well, this is inconvenient to live without a horn but we manage to deal with it,” Fluttershy said softly, stroking Twilight’s mane gently. The purple pony blushed.
“Yeah, who needs a horn if you have these babies!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, unfolding her wings.
“Well, Ah don’t have your fancy horns an’ wings but I don’t care. I’m happy the way I am!” Applejack proclaimed.
“Yeah! Who needs to read books anyway?” Pinkie interjected, a smile appearing on her face.
Nurse Redheart entered the room with dinner.
“Well, you’re lucky to have a horn. You can’t even hold the plate in your hooves,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.
“Nothing bears fingers,” Spike whispered to himself, glaring at his own claws.
“Well, I Pinkie promised I wouldn’t use my magic for a day. I think I can try eating with my horn,” Twilight said, grinning sheepishly.
“Spike, be a dear and bring a washcloth,” Rarity said to the little dragon, who obeyed the order.
Twilight tried to sip some soup from the bowl. She didn’t find that comfortable so she tried to drink it, holding the bowl between the teeth.
As Rarity had predicted, she spillt all the soup.
“Hot, hot, hot!” she screamed.
Spike began to wipe Twilight’s coat and casts. “I think Pinkie will not mind you breaking the Pinkie promise this time,” Spike said, looking at Pinkie.
“Pinkie Promise? What Pinkie Promise?” asked the pink pony, smiling nervously.
“Alright. Now I’m gonna write a letter to Princess Celestia,” Spike said firmly.
“You have learned something, Spike?” Twilight asked him instinctively.
“No. Gotta ask her if the unciorns’ magics aren’t some kind of discrimination against earth ponies and pegasi,” he said, taking some parchment from the desk in the hospital room.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I was wondering if earth ponies and pegasi aren’t discriminated by unicorns’ magics.
Your loyal subject
Spike,
He sent the letter as soon as he finished writing it. After a surprisingly short while, he belched as he received the answer.
Spike cleared his throat and began reading: “Dear Spike, the unicorns are the uberponies. When I created the world, I meant them to rule over the earth ponies and the pegasi. It’s not my fault that things changed over time. Eighty three years ago I had to officially confirm something that had been going on for a long time – all the ponies had equal rights. But I’m not going to give special powers to the earth ponies because of that. The unicorns shall enjoy their superb abilites. I hope this clears everything up. Your beloved Princess, Princess Celestia,” Spike read, confusion appearing on his face.
An awkward silence hung in the air.
THE END???
