It was the middle of the night. A new moon had arrived, leaving Equestria in total darkness. All throughout the land, ponies were asleep in their beds, unaware of the evil force about to enter their world.
Deep in the Canterlot castle lay the Gateway Mirror, moved from Twilight's castle for further study. Thought to be dormant for many moons to come without Twilight's device, it sat unguarded in its resting place.
All of a sudden, the mirror began to emit a bright light, illuminating the room. It grew brighter and brighter until an aqua blue figure soared through in a burst of light. The mirror went dark once more.
The figure groaned as it rubbed it's head. Attempting to stand, the figure reared on it's hind legs, but quickly lost it's balance and fell to the ground.
"What the?" The figure mumbled in a deep, menacing voice as it looked down at it's hooves.
"Where am I?" It asked as it made another attempt at standing, this time on all four of it's hooves.
The figure looked around the room and walked over to the mirror. It attempted to stick a hoof back in, to no avail.
"So they were right." The figure said before continuing, "Grr, they'll regret sending me here."
As the figure began to calm down, it thought to itself, 'Looks like they got tired of getting tortured. Heh heh, guess that's what I get.'
The figure began to stumble around noisily, trying to find a way out of the small room when it was suddenly illuminated by a light; not from the portal, but from a silhouette in the shape of a stallion.
It was one of the castle guards, the light eminating from his horn. "Who goes there?!" He demanded.
An evil, gap tooth grin formed on the figure's mouth. It's left eye was covered by black hair, while the other had a malevolant spark in it's red depths. An idea had formed in the figure's mind.
"I'm The Malevolant One, but you can call me Mal." Mal responded to the guard's question.
"Well 'Malevolant One', nopony besides royalty and their guards are allowed inside the castle unless it is a special occasion." The guard responded with disdain, "What are you doing in here?"
"Oh, my sincerest apologies." Replied Mal sarcastically, " It appears I've been sent through some sort of portal to your world. Would you mind telling me where I am?"
"You came through the Gateway Mirror? It should be closed for moons." The guard said, confused. "Well, this is the land of Equestria, and this", the guard waved a foreleg around the room, "is Canterlot Castle, home to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Pegesi, Unicorns, and Earth Ponies live all over the land, watched over by Princess Celestia."
"It looks to me like you're a.." The guard noticed that the pony standing before him had both a horn and wings, causing him to stutter in shock. "a..an Alicorn!"
"A what?" Questioned Mal.
"It means you have the wings of a pegasus, the horn of a unicorn, and the strength of an earth pony." The guard answered.
Mal reached up to his forehead to find a horn, then looked to his sides, finding a pair of wings.
"This is incredible!" The guard exclaimed, "Only princesses have both. We must alert Princess Celestia. She would most certainly be intrigued."
The guard, realizing his inappropriate behavior, returned to his normal, professional manner. "Of course, we'll have to find you a sleeping arrangement. Princess Twilight in Ponyville would probably be glad to help show you around."
Mal, who had been listening intently and thinking about his situation, began to speak. "That's very kind, but the princess can't know about me just yet."
"What do you mean?" Asked the guard, puzzled.
"Listen, I'm not your ordinary person, or pony, I guess. Did you already forget my name?" Asked Mal threateningly.
"You said you're The...Malevolant..One." Said the guard slowly as he realized the meaning of the name.
The guard then noticed Mal's cutie mark, only it wasn't cute. A blacked out pony's head with a devil tail, one eye blocked by hair, the other glowing red.
The guard began to step back as he was overcome by fear of the pony standing before him. "Uh, b-back off. Don't make me use my magic." He said as his horn began to glow.
"Oh, is that what this thing does?" Asked Mal as a grin appeared on his face, "I guess I'll give it a try."
Mal began to concentrate on focusing energy into the new appendage. The amount of control he had over his body in the human world carried over to the pony one, granting Mal incredible magical power.
Mal's horn began to emit a dark aura which spread out of the room and into the hallway. As it passed over him, the guard began to feel weak. He fell to his knees, his horn extinguished. The guard looked up one final time to meet Mal's eye before collapsing to the floor, unconcious.
"Heh heh," chuckled Mal as he walked over to the unconcious guard, "this will be fun."
"Cockadoodledoo!" A rooster cried out, marking the start of the day. In her castle, Twilight Sparkle groggily stepped out of bed and stretched.
Spike lay comfortably in his bed, still deep in slumber.
"Alright Spike, time to get up." Said Twilight as she gently shook her dragon assistant.
"Aw, come on Twilight, just five more minutes." Spike said, still half asleep.
"Sorry Spike," she replied, "but we have to be up bright and early today. The royal princess meeting begins at 9 o'clock sharp."
"Ughh, fine." Spike groaned, getting up and rubbing his eyes. "Royal princess duties, making me get up at the crack of dawn."
Twilight rolled her eyes as she went to prepare for the meeting. In the midst of getting ready, she heard the familiar sound of Spike's fiery burp, meaning a message from Princess Celestia had arrived.
Twilight walked out into the library where Spike was relaxing in a chair, plate of crumbs sat on a table beside him. In his hand, he clutched a sroll.
"Hey Twilight, you got a letter from the princess." Said Spike enthusiastically as he handed her the note.
"I'm guessing you had breakfast?" Twilight replied with a giggle.
"Yeah, I feel great!"
"Glad you're feeling better. Now, let's see what Princess Celestia wrote." Twilight said as she unfurled the message.
"Mabey she rescheduled. Or mabey this whole thing was a joke set up by Pinkie Pie and the other princesses just found out." Said Spike, "How funny would that be, am I right? Twilight?"
Spike looked up at Twilight, who had a concerned look on her face.
"Twilight?" Spike asked, "Is everything alright?"
"Apparently something bad has happened at the castle." Twilight responded, "Princess Celestia wants me and the other elements to get to the castle as quickly as possible."
"I need to hurry and get the others. Spike, I need you to stay here." She said as she ran out the door. "I'll be back soon!"
Twilight quickly make her way to Fluttershy's cottage and knocked on the door. Fluttershy awnsered shortly after.
"Oh, hello Twilight. What brings you here?" The yellow pegasus asked in her soft, gentle voice.
"There's an emergency at the castle. Princess Celestia needs us to get there as soon as we can." Twilight replied urgently.
"Oh my! Well, um, let me say goodbye to my animal friends, and I'll be right there."
Fluttershy said her goodbyes and was out within a minute.
"Okay, Fluttershy,I need you to go find Rainbow Dash while I grab the others, then meet us at the train station." Twilight said quickly.
"Oh, um, okay. But Twilight, what's going on?" Fluttershy asked.
"No time to explain, I'll fill you in on the way there!" Twilight shouted over her shoulder as she sprinted off towards the Apple family farm.
"Oh, um, okay then." Fluttershy said back before she began her ascent into the clouds.
Once the rest of the elements had been gathered, they met at the train station.
"Twilight, what's going on." Asked Rainbow Dash as she flew over to the Princess.
"Yeah, you said it was an emergency." Applejack added.
"Ooh, is it a suprise party the princess threw for us?!" Asked an excited Pinkie Pie.
"I honestly don't know what's going on." Twilight responded, "The princess just said she needed us at the castle immediately."
"Well, not to be the bearer of bad news, but it will take us several hours to get to the castle via the train." Said Rarity.
"Why don't we fly there?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"Um, if ya haven't noticed, not all of us have wings." Applejack responded sarcastically.
"That's not what I mean."
"Then what DO ya mean?"
"Why don't you turn around and see."
Applejack and the others turned around to see a royal pegasus-drawn chariot.
"Well would ya look at that." Applejack muttered.
The six ponies hurried over to the armor clad pegesi.
"Princess Twilight," The guard said, "we are here to bring you six to Equestria. As you are undoubtedly aware, there has been a disturbance at the castle. We must be hasteful; Princess Celestia needs you immediately."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Asked Twilight as she climbed into the chariot, the others following suit.
"Rainbow Dash, aren't you coming?" Asked Fluttershy, noticing that the blue mare hadn't boarded.
"I'll fly myself, thanks. Meet you guys at the-" Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, noticing the crestfallen look on the yellow mare's face and the open seat next to her.
Rainbow internally groaned, bit realized that her timid friend was probably pretty scared at the moment.
"I mean, uh, yeah, I'm coming." She said, taking a seat next to Fluttershy.
"Yay!" Fluttershy cheered as she perked up slightly. "Thank you Rainbow Dash."
"No problem." Rainbow said as she took a seat next to the yellow mare.
"Alright, no time to waste. Let's go!" Shouted Twilight as soon as Rainbow sat down, signaling the pegesi to take off.
The two winged stallions flapped their wings as they began to run, and they group was airborne in seconds.
The sudden take off startled Fluttershy, and she impulsively grabbed onto the nearest source of stability, which happened to be Rainbow Dashe's right foreleg.
Rainbow blushed furiously as she contemplated what to do. Her shy friend was shaking in fear and had a tight grip on her leg.
Rainbow Dash, after a moments consideration, eased her foreleg out of Fluttershy's grasp, who looked up at her with teary eyes, wondering why the blue mare had extracted her leg.
Her question was answered as Rainbow wrapped her previously trapped leg around the trembling pegasus and pulled her close into a comforting embrace.
Fluttershy gave a small smile as she wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's torso, her fears quickly fading away in her friend's grasp.
Rainbow felt a bubbling feeling in her stomache, not pain as when she ate too much or drank too much apple cider.
No, this was something different. It was something Rainbow had never before experienced. It confused her, and as she sat there comforting her best friend, she thought about what could be bringing on this new feeling.
"Oh, I hope everything is ok." Said Fluttershy, breaking Rainbow's train of thought.
"Don't fret dear, I'm sure it's not that bad." Rarity replied in an attempt to comfort the yellow pony.
"But what if it is bad?!" Exclaimed Pinky, "What if Princess Celestia is losing her powers, and the sun won't rise tomorrow morning?! Or, what if Princess Luna went bad again and plans to take over Equestria?! Or, what if the world's going to EXPLODE and she wants us to have one last party before we all get blown into oblivion!?!"
"Pinkie, stop it!" Twilight demanded, noticing a trembling Fluttershy cuddling closer to Rainbow Dash, who merely shruged at the princess.
"What? I'm just guessing." Replied Pinkie.
Applejack rolled her eyes as Rainbow pulled the frightened pegasus closer.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, everything's going to be ok." She said, giving her a light squeeze.
As the flight went on, Fluttershy's trembling began to decrease, until she was completely calm.
She broke away from Rainbow Dash's embrace and moved some hair out of her eye.
"I'm sorry about that Rainbow, I was just so scared. I didnt mean to, um...you know..." Fluttershy trailed off as her cheeks went a bright red.
"Hey, uh, no problem. I got your back." Replied Rainbow Dash, attempting to sound like her usual, confident self, but was still unable to conceal a light blush herself.
"Thank you Rainbow."
The 6 ponies arrived at the castle around noon, where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadence were outside waiting for them.
"Princess Celestia, what happened?" Twilight asked worriedly, skipping her usual formal greeting.
"I'm afraid something terrible has happened to one of the guards." She responded, "I will explain as we make our way inside."
As the group started walking, Princess Celestia began, "Last night, one of the guards was attacked."
The elements gasped unanimously, with Rarity looking close to fainting.
"But how? And why?!" Twilight nearly shouted.
"Calm down sugar cube. Let her explain." Said Applejack, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"One of the other guards noticed him missing from his post and went to look around. When the guard found him inside the Gateway Mirror room, he came straight to me. I went to take a look, and when I arrived I saw the guard laying on the ground, twitching."
The look of worry that had masked the six mares faces only increased at the shocking news. They continued to listen intently, taking in every word that was said.
"He kept muttering, "The Malevolant One has come.", over and over again"
"We rushed him to the hospital wing. The doctors say he suffered extreme trauma. Someone tortured him and shattered his mind." Said Luna.
The group had just arrived at the hospital where two guards stood at attention by the double doors.
As Princess Celestia approached, the guards opened the doors, allowing the group to enter.
"Ah, Princesses." Said the doctor as she bowed, "I'm assuming you're here to see the guard?"
"Indeed." Replied Celestia as the group approached the injured colt.
"This is awful." Said Fluttershy as she examined him, "Who would do such a thing?"
Ah' reckon it's whoever 'The Malevolant One' is." Applejack said as she stomped her hoof.
"Yes, but the question is, who could The Malevolant One be? Why, I can't imagine anypony who would do such a thing." Rarity added.
"What I'm wondering is why the pony was in the mirror room." Twilight inquired.
"That's what I was wondering." Agreed Cadence, "Mabey someone was trying to get through the mirror."
"Or mabey they were just trying to get a mirror for a carnival, or.. something..heh..hmm." Said Pinkie, her voice filling with sorrow as she tried desperately to find a positive explanation.
As the ponies hung their heads, Twilight's face lit up with a thought.
"*Gasp!* Instead of someone trying to go through, what if someone came out?!"
"But how?" Asked Fluttershy, "Without your equipment, I thought the mirror was supposed to stay closed for thirty moons."
"Yeah, and even if they did get through, it'd probably make a ton of noise." Said Rainbow, "I mean, you can't come through a magical portal without anyone noticing, right?"
"That's just it." Continued Twilight, "Whoever came through must have made a lot of noise, which explains why the guard entered the room in the first place. Then, to make sure nopony found out, 'The Malevolant One' mangled the guard's mind!"
"By golly, Twilight, ah reckon you're onto somthin'." Said Applejack.
"It does explain what happened to the guard, but like Fluttershy said, how could someone have gotten through the mirror?" Asked Rarity.
"I don't know." Replied Twilight as she sighed.
"Well, we have a problem on our hooves now." Celestia stated bluntly, "If somepony was able to do this to a royal guard, I don't want to imagine what they could do to others in equestria."
"However, without further information, there is nothing we can do about our current situation except be on the lookout for suspicious activity." Princess Luna said.
"Agreed." Said Celestia, "We must all keep a careful lookout, but we cannot let anypony else find out. It would cause a panic, which is the last thing we need."
The six ponies all nodded their heads before they were dismissed by princess Celestia and given a ride back to Ponyville.
The ride took only an hour, but felt like it lasted an eternity as each of the six sat in their seats, thinking about the new threat that had arisen and how they were going to handle it.
Rainbow Dash sat beside Fluttershy, rubbing a hoof along her back.
Twilight and Applejack sat with worried faces, both silently contemplating their situation while Pinkie and Rarity merely looked out over the edge of the chariot, watching the land rush by below them.
When they arrived back, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack immediately left to their residences without much of a goodbye, too shocked to say much of anything.
Fluttershy, however, was still quite shaken up from both the big speed flying and the rather frightening news.
Rainbow helped Fluttershy down from the chariot. Fluttershy's legs quivered slightly once her hooves touched the ground, but she quickly regained her balance.
"So, you gonna be alright?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"I-I think." Fluttershy stuttered in response.
"Hey, um..." Rainbow Dash thought about what she was going to say. She wasn't usually the pony others went to for emotional support, so thinking of something comforting to say was a bit of a challenge, especially for somepony as delicate as Fluttershy.
She quickly mulled it over in her head, and decided on a simple reassurance, "I"m here for you. If you need anything, just hit me up, ok?"
"Thank you Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy responded, delighted to know that she could turn to somepony if she needed to do so.
"No prob. I'll catch you later!" Relplied Raibow Dash as she got into her take-off stance.
"Oh, um, wait!" Fluttershy yelled in her quiet voice.
Rainbow turned around to look at Fluttershy, "Yeah?
"I was wondering... I mean i-if it isn't too much of a bother, w-would you please come stay with me? J-just for a night?" Fluttershy asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Rainbow Dash blushed as she looked to her dear friend, laying pitifully on the ground, huge watery eyes staring into her own.
Rainbow couldn't say no to her and, much to Fluttershy's excitememt, accepted. "Alright, alright. I'll come stay with you, just quit it with the puppy eyes." She said with a smile.
Fluttershy lept up and embraced the blue mare in a big hug. "Thank you Dashie! I'm just so scared of what The M-Malevolant One did to that guard, and he's on the loose! What if he comes to my cottage and does something to me? Or what if he hurts my animal friends, o-or you or the other?!
Fluttershy was beginning to hyperventilate and tears started streaming down her face, leaving a wet trail behind them.
"Hey, hey. Don't say that." Rainbow cooed, trying to calm her down. "Nothing's gonna happen to you. If this 'Malevolant One' so much as tries to lay a hoof on you, I'll knock him into next week."
"B-but, you saw what he did to a royal guard. What if-"
"Hey, am I a royal guard?"
"N-no."
"Who am I"
"Your R-Rainbow Dash."
"That's right! And nopony gets the upper hoof on Rainbow Dash! I don't care if he's taken down a hundred royal guards. If he messes with me, he's gonna be sorry, especially if my friends are at stake."
Rainbow's confidence made Fluttershy giggle through her tears, and she began to feel relaxed at she tightened her embrace.
Thank you so much Rainbow Dash.
"Anytime. Now, i"m starving, what are we having for dinner?"
Fluttershy giggled as she led Rainbow Dash inside her cottage and closed the door behind them.
Nearly two days had passed since Mal's entrance into Equestria, and so far, nopony had attempted to talk to him. Granted, he kept mostly out of sight as he made his way to 'Ponyville'.
Mal, after being told by the guard that having both wings and a horn was abnormal, had also snagged a black cloak that concealed his wings and cutie mark.
He realized that the horn granted him exceptional magical power, but, as proven with the guard, he was quite incapable of controlling it. This being so, Mal spent most of his journey practicing simple spells, such as shining light and changing objects' color.
But even the simplest of spells required great concentration. More than once, Mal had lost his focus, which caused whatever the target of his spell to either catch fire or explode.
Most unicorns would be exhausted after days of walking and magic practice, but it didn't even phase Mal. His mental fortitude kept him going in the human world, and paired with the magic in Equestria, sleep was no longer a requirement.
What would have been a three day walk from Canterlot to Ponyville for any other pony took Mal a mere day and a half, to which he arrived at noon.
Mal entered the town, taking in all the details. Ponies sauntered about, enjoying the nice, warm day. Several stands were set up around the town with ponies selling a variety of things from fruits to books.
Not wanting to look suspicious, Mal fixed his hair up in spikes like Mike's, and changed his voice to sound like him.
Content with his disguise, Mal continued to wander. He needed to find 'Twilight Sparkle'. Apparently she was a princess, so Mal didn't think she'd be too hard to find.
As he continued walking down the road, he was stopped by a young filly with a yellow coat and a bright red mane, topped off with a large pink bow.
"Well howdy there! Name's Applebloom!" Said the young filly, "You look like you could use a delicious apple! Why don'tcha come take a look at our stash?"
Applebloom practically dragged Mal over to the stand, next to which stood an orange mare with a simple tan mane and a hat.
"Go on, pick one! We got red delicious, granny smith, golden- hey!" Applebloom was cut of by Applejack as she pulled her sister back behind her.
"Now Applebloom, what did ah say 'bout draggin' in random ponyfolk against their will?" Said Applejack as she scolded her little sister.
"But look at em', he's skin and bones! He's gotta be hungry!" Applebloom replied as she gestured towards Mal.
After several days of travel without any food, Mal did admit, albeit just to himself, that an apple sounded very good.
"Applebloom! Ah' don't wanna hear another word outta' your mouth, ya' hear?"
"Yeah, yeah." Applebloom replied to her sister as she kicked at the dirt.
"Ah'm terribly sorry 'bout that, uhhh..."
"Mike."
"Well howdy do Mike, mah name's Applejack, and ah see you've already met mah little sister, Applebloom." Said Applejack with a tip of her hat.
"She tends ta get a tad bit excited when we come out here ta sell apples."
"It's ok. Kids tend to get excited. They've got a lot energy." Mal replied, doing his best to sound chipper; he was rather good at it, as he was a master of deception.
"Yeah, they sure do. Applebloom and her friends sure are a rowdy bunch. But anywho, sorry for all the trouble we caused ya. Why don'tcha take a couple apples, on the house?"
"Oh, umm, yeah, thanks." Mal said as he was handed three apples in a bag. As he extended a hoof out to accept the bag, he realized that he wouldn't very well be able to carry it that way.
Mal glanced around and saw some ponies carrying their goods in saddlebags, and those without held them in their maw.
Mal groaned internally, put down his hoof, and grabbed the bag with his mouth.
He then mumbled another thanks as he left to look for a vacant spot to eat his apples.
He found a place under a nearby tree off the main walkway, and sat down to eat his meal. The apples were actually very delicious and juicy, and Mal's stomache rumbled in appreciation.
After he was finished, he began to formulate a plan. He needed to get to Princess Twilight, but he doubted that he would just be able to waltz in and have a chat with her. Mabey he needed to make an appointment? So many things to account for.
As he was lost in his thoughts, a pink pony with fluffy hair dropped out from the tree, landing in front of Mal.
"Hi there, guess what?! You were sitting under the tree I was in!"
Mal was about to respond, but was stopped short as the energetic mare continued without even taking a breath.
"Wait just a minute, you're not from Ponyville! You must be new! Well, my names Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie! That's what all my friends call me, and guess what?! You're my new friend! So, what's your name, huh?"
Not much got by Mal, but this random display took him aback. Mal cleared his throat before responding, "Ehem, uh, yeah, I'm new here. I'm Mike."
"Well hiya Mike! So, what brings you to Ponyville?"
"Uh, well, I'm looking for Princess Twilight. Do you know where I can find her?"
"Of course! She's one of my best friends!"
'Why would a princess be friends with such a crazy pony?' He wondered, puzzled.
"Well, um, lead the way." Said Mal as he gestured foreward with his hoof.
"Okie doki loki!" Responded the energetic mare as she bounced up and down along the dirt road, with Mal following closely behind.
'This will be easier than I expected.' Thought Mal as the two made their way to Twilight's castle.
Along the way, Mal tried to keep his head down and draw little attention. That, however, turned out to be quite impossible, do to the fact that Pinkie greeted everypony she saw.
After what felt like an eternity, the duo made their way to the front steps of Twilight's castle. "This is where she lives?" Asked Mal, gazing awestruck at the massive crystal tree.
"Yes indeedie!" Came the cheerful response from Pinkie, as she knocked on the large doors of the castle.
Several seconds later, a small purple dragon with green spikes opened the door. "Oh, hey Pinkie Pie. Who's this?"
"Hi Spike! This is my newest friend, Mike! He he, that rhymes! He's come to see Twilight. Can we come in?" Awnsered Pinkie as she continued to bounce.
"Sure thing!" Spike replied as he held open the door, allowing the two to enter.
"I'd love to come with you Mike, but I've gotta get back to Sugarcube corner! Mr. and Mrs. Cake need my help! See you around!" And with that, Pinkie was off, a cloud of dust left in her wake.
"Is she always like that?" Mal asked as he sent a questioning glance to Spike.
"All day, every day. So what are you doing here Mike?" Spike asked as he began to lead Mal to Twilight.
"I, uh, came here from the South." Mal lied as he looked around the large hallways of the castle.
"Oh, you're from Appleloosa, huh?"
The question shook Mal out of his gazing. "Uh, yeah. Nice place, heh..."
"One of Twilights friends has a cousin that lives down there. His names Braeburn. Do you know him?"
"No, I don't think I ever met him. I lived more on the outskirts of town" Mal replied before continuing, "Hey, um, are you a-"
"A dragon? Sure am!"
"Are dragons, um, common in Ponyville?"
"Nah, I'm the only one, but I am friends with the leader of the dragons." Spike smiled proudly.
"But here in Ponyville I work as Twilight's assistant. I help her get things organized and help out with her writing. She gets pretty busy with all her princess duties."
"Thats cool. Um, speaking of Princess Twilight, what exactly is she the princess of?"
"Friendship! She helps out with friendship problems all over Equestria, and ponies come from all over to get her advice." Spike responded as they came to a set of large crystal doors.
'Princess of FRIENDSHIP? You have got to be kidding me.' Mal thoight to himself as he rolled his eyes.
"Well, here we are, Twilight's library. This is where she spends most of her free time. She'll get you what you need."
And with that, Spike hurried off back down the hallway.
Mal turned his attention to the massive set of doors in front of him, lifted a hoof, and gave three hard knocks.
Some light scuffling could be heard within the library, and shortly after, one of the doors opened up, revealing the face of a light purple unicorn, who had a purple mane with blue streaks that folded over to one side.
"Um, can I help you?" Asked the pony.
"Uh, yeah. Are you Princess Twilight?" Mal replied.
"No, I'm Starlight Glimmer. Twilight's a bit busy at the moment, but I can-"
"Starlight, who is it?" A voice cut in.
"It's...um, what's your name?" Starlight asked.
"Mike." Mal replied simply.
"His name's Mike." Starlight called back into the room, "But don't worry, I can help him."
"Thanks, but I'll come over. I need to take a break anyway." Said the voice as hoofsteps could be heard approaching.
Starlight stepped aside to reveal an alicorn, whose coat was a darker shade of purple than that of her friend's. She had dark bags under her eyes similar to Mals, and a disheveled, dark purple mane with pink streaks throughout.
"So, I'm guessing you're Princess Twilight?" Questioned Mal.
"Yes, but you can just call me Twilight." The princess replied with a tired smile, "Now, what can I help you with?"
"Well, I'm new to Ponyville, and I was told by your friend Pinkie Pie that you could help me."
"Sure thing! What do you need?" The princess responded.
"Well, I was wondering if you had somewhere I could stay until I get back onto my fee-uh, hooves." Mal mentally berated himself. He still wasn't used to using pony terms.
"Of course!" Replied Twilight cheerfully,
"There are plenty of extra rooms in the castle; feel free to stay in one!"
Mal laughed internally. A room in the princesses castle? Causing chaos would be a breeze.
"Oh, thank you so much! I'm sorry if I'm imposing myself on you." He said in an apologetic tone.
"Oh, not at all!" Twilight said as she began to lead him to a vacant room, "You can stay here as long as you need!"
The duo continued to walk down the long hallways of the castle until they finally came to a normal sized door. Twilight opened the door and gestured for Mal to enter.
Inside was a bed in the far left corner of the room with a nightstand beside it. On the right wall sat a mahogany dresser, and a small mirror was perched atop it.
"It's a little bland, but my friend Rarity can help you fix it up however you'd like."
"Thank you again, it's more than I could have asked for."
"Daww, it's really nothing." She replied with a light blush as she gave a wave of her hoof.
"But," Continued Twilight, "I couldn't help but notice that you're a unicorn. What spells do you know?"
Mal had nearly forgotten the accessory, and was slightly confused at first, but he quickly came to and responded.
"Oh, um, the thing is...I dont actually know any spells."
Twilight looked shocked, as it seemed impossible for a grown unicorn not to know any magic.
"You don't know any?!" She nearly shouted.
"Well, I can use magic, but I can't really control it yet." Mal replied sheepishly.
Twilight snapped herself out of her dumbfounded state, and continued with a straight face.
"Why dont you show me what you can do?" She suggested, "Then mabey I can help you learn some magic?"
Mal thought it over. There were plans that needed completion, but they would be easier, mabey even better, with magic on his side. Plus, it would give him more time to gain Twilight's trust.
"Yeah, that'd be really good." Mal decided as he gave his answer to Twilight.
"Yes! Now, I won't be able to tutor you personally, but Starlight is more than capable of giving you the proper lessons!"
Mal smiled and nodded in approval, and Twilight led Mal back to the library, where Starlight sat reading.
"Hey Starlight, could you please come here?" Twilight asked when she entered the library.
"Sure thing." Starlight replied as she set down her book and approached the two ponies.
"Starlight," Twilight began, "Mike is going to be staying with us for a while, but he doesn't really have full control of his magic just yet." Starlight took on a face of confusion similar to Twilight's upon hearing this, but recovered quickly.
"So, I was wondering if you'd be able to give him a couple lessons. I still have to deal with, my, umm, princess duties."
Mal took slight notice of Twilights pause, but quickly dismissed it as Starlight gave her response.
"No problem. We can start today if you want." She said to Mal.
"Sure. That would be fine with me." He replied.
"Nice! But before we begin, let's see what you've got."
Starlight grabbed a book off one of the cluttered tables and set it on the floor.
"I want you to try and levitate it. Whenever you're ready." She said encouragingly.
Mal looked at the book. He needed to be careful. If he messed up, it could end up blowing his cover. Being a princess, Twilight had likely heard of his attack on the guard. 'That's probably what she meant by "princess duties".' He thought to himself.
Mal pointed his horn a the book and began to concentrate on simply levitating it. He had practiced on his walk to Ponyville, but was nowhere near good at magic.
Mal's horn began to glow a dark gray color, and engulfed the book in its aura. Mal made sure to limit the aura to the book, so as not to affect Twilight or Starlight.
The book slowly began to rise as Mal concentrated. Twilight was quite happy with Mal's abilities as she watched the book rise. Starlight, however, was looking at something else.
"Um, Twilight?" Starlight said.
"Yes?"
"You might want to see this."
Twilight looked up and her eyes went wide. Every book in the library was engulfed in Mal's magical aura, and was suspended in midair.
"This...is...INCREDIBLE!!" Twilight exclaimed as her eyes lit up in excitement.
The sudden outburst, however, caused Mal to lose his concentration. All of a sudden, all the books except the one in front of him fell to the ground with hundreds of hard 'thumps'.
The one that remained began to spin rapidly, and soon it was just a whirring blur.
Twilight and Starlight took a step back while Mal looked up to see the spinning novel.
The book rose higher into the air before it exploded in a burst of black flame, sending a cloud of ash that covered everything nearby.
Soon the black cloud settled, revealing the astonished and ash covered faces of Starlight and Twilight. The two mares both looked at Mal, who's face was also coated.
"Heh heh, uh, sorry..." Said Mal, doing his best to act apologetic, while inside he was screaming with laughter.
"Are you kidding?!" Twilight practically shouted, "That was amazing!"
"Yeah, that was pretty impressive. If you learn to control your magic, you could end up being one of the most powerful unicorns around!" Agreed Starlight.
"But before we start, we should probably get all this cleaned up." Twilight said with a smile.
A moment later, Spike walked in the door, several scrolls in hand.
"Hey Twilight, I gathered up all the schedules for the next-" Spike stopped abruptly as he surveyed the room.
"I'll get the broom." He said with an annoyed frown as he turned around and walked out the door.
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