Chapter 3: 1stp Klosr by Linkin Park
Just so you all know, Linkin Park is hands down my favorite band. Like, not even questionable. I have every major album along with Reanimation and Recharged. I also listen to all the acapellas, instrumentals and hell, I've even listened to dubstep remixes of their songs. I could honestly write an entire chapter's length about Linkin Park but let's just get into the story before I can start. AH WAIT! I'd like to thank TheExternus, iamninjastyle, Infernus est in animo and Cormac Voidwalker. Seriously guys, every time I see that someone's favorited or/and followed this story I almost start crying. Oh God I'm starting up again, let's just *hic* get to the story.
Twenty-Three woke up from his sleep and walked to his bedroom's window. The sun was beginning to rise and Twenty-Three guessed that it was about five in the morning. He felt refreshed and awake. In fact, that had been in the top ten for the longest slumbers he's ever taken. He stretched and popped some of his joints like he always did before going to work. He froze at that… he sighed and shook his head. He wouldn't… not now. He quickly decided to visit Twilight's house. He searched through his bag and pulled out a brush. He ran it through his mane a few times before placing it in the bag and walked into his bathroom. He brushed his teeth and went downstairs. As he walked into the kitchen, he came to the realization that he had nothing for breakfast. He opened the cupboards, checked the fridge, checked the icebox and even looked under the sink. It was at this moment that Twenty-Three finally realized that he was actually on his own. He looked around before heading up to get his bag again to grab his bag of bits. He walked out of his house and… realized he didn't know where to get food. He could of sworn he had walked by a market of some sort. He walked back into his house, grabbed the map and saw that there was no labelled market. He took a deep breath and headed back out. He wandered for a good 30 minutes, walked by the his house at least seven times and asked the same mare for directions… three times.
He finally arrived at the market. Only to see that none of the shops were open. He decided to go to Twilight's house as that was the next possible option. So he retraced his steps back home, left his bit bag in his travel bag and walked to Twilight's. It took about another 30 minutes to find Twilight's house. Was it a library that also happened to be Twilight's home or was it Twilight's home that also happened to be a library? Equestrian's were much more confusing than he had anticipated. He walked up to the door and knocked. There was a sound of hoofsteps on the other side, so Twenty-Three wasn't too surprised when Twilight answered the door.
"Oh, Twenty-Three, what are you doing here so early?" She asked. Twenty-Three tilted his head in what appeared as confusion if it weren't for his blank face.
"Is it early?" He asked. He looked back in his memory and remembered that he hardly saw anypony out yet. "Oh, I guess it is. Am I intruding?"
"No, you're fine. I'm generally an early riser as well. But what brings you here?" She asked him.
"I wanted to start learning magic", he said. She looked startled.
"What already? But I haven't even started planning sessions. I don't know where to even start!" She almost yelled in a panic. Twenty-Three placed a hoof on her mouth, startling her into silence. He put his hoof back down when he saw that she had stopped.
"We start at the beginning", he stated. It was Twilight's turn to tilt her head in confusion.
"What… what do you mean by 'the beginning'?" She asked him.
"Well what's the most basic spell you know?" He asked back.
"Levitation", she answered immediately.
"Than we begin with levitation", he said, nodding his head. Twilight's jaw hung slightly agape before she could find her voice.
"A-Are you telling me that you don't know the levitation spell?" She asked, her tone did not hide the surprise that was on her face.
"No", he blankly stated.
"Do you know… ANY magic?" She asked him.
"None whatsoever", he replied, shaking his head. Twilight grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him.
"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW ANY MAGIC AS A UNICORN?!" She yelled into his face. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at her. She stared into his eyes and quickly calmed down as all her energy was sucked into the voids. She asked more calmly, "How can you not know magic?"
"My job forbade me from learning any magic", he said. He glanced down and Twilight followed his gaze, seeing that she was still grabbing his shoulders. She let go and felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. It quickly went away though as she processed his answer.
"Wait, you're job forbade you from learning magic?"
"Yes."
"... Why?"
"I'm not sure."
"... What?!"
"What?"
"Why don't you know why you weren't allowed to learn magic?"
"I never thought about it."
"Oh my Celestia… what was your job?"
"Oh, I was just-" He was interrupted by someone clearing their throat behind mine. He looked behind him to see the white mare from before that had worked in the designer's store, who he was pretty sure was Rarity the Element of Generosity.
"Am I interrupting something?" She asked, with a brow raised. Twilight went to say something but Twenty-Three beat her to speaking.
"No, if you have business with Twilight then you can take care of it", he said, stepping aside. Twilight huffed slightly in frustration but smiled when Rarity walked up. She could of sworn she saw Rarity suspiciously eyeing Twenty-Three but dismissed it. Rarity levitated something into view and Twilight's smile brightened.
"I have your Starswirl the Bearded costume all ready", Rarity said, displaying the outfit. Twilight took it with her magic.
"Oh thank you Rarity, it looks like you followed my notes to the dot", she said ecstatically. Rarity gave her a look.
"Yes, it was a joy having to read that essay that was all about his attire", Rarity said, the sarcasm was evident to Twenty-Three but it seemed lost on Twilight.
"Oh, I knew you'd enjoy it", Twilight replied, causing Rarity to roll her eyes. Twenty-Three decided to speak up here.
"What's the outfit for?" He asked. Rarity then gave him a look as well.
"Nightmare Night", she stated, not looking back his way.
"What's that?" He asked. This caused both girls to stare at him.
"You don't know what Nightmare Night is?" Twilight asked him. He shook his head.
"How don't you know what Nightmare Night is? Are you from a foreign country or something?" Rarity asked, trying to get a reaction out of him. Twilight gave her an elbow to the side.
"Yes", he simply replied. Rarity's eyes widened. She was going to say something, but Twilight beat her to talking.
"Nightmare Night was kind of like a day where we remembered how the banishment of Nightmare Moon united us together", Twilight explained, but she looked hesitant as she continued. "... but I guess now we're celebrating Princess Luna's return."
"Who's Nightmare Moon?" Twenty-Three asked. He got silence as an answer as the girls stared at him.
"Twilight, let's go have some girl talk", Rarity said, recovering first and leading Twilight inside before slamming the door in Twilight's face. Twenty-Three stared at the door.
"... I wonder if the stalls have opened", he said before walking back home to get his bits bag.
(With Twilight and Rarity)
Rarity led Twilight from the library to the 'dining room' in the tree and made Twilight sit down at the table before sitting across from her. Rarity stared at Twilight and they sat there in total silence. Twilight found herself beginning to sweat but she didn't know why.
"Twilight", Rarity said, startling Twilight. She didn't continue though, forcing Twilight to speak up.
"Y-Yes?" She asked cautiously. Rarity didn't answer, causing a lump to form in Twilight's throat.
"Who… was that stallion?" Rarity asked after the pause. Twilight looked confused.
"Twenty-Three?" Twilight asked.
"His name is Twenty-Three? Is he some kind of nerd friend from when you lived in Canterlot?"
"Nerd friend? No! He's… a friend of Celestia."
"He's friends with the Princess?!"
"Yeah. Though I'm not sure how their friends. I met him yesterday."
"You met him yesterday?"
"Yeah, apparently he had just arrived from Prance."
"Prance?!"
"Y-Yes."
"But he was speaking perfect Equestrian!"
"He said he taught himself it because it benefitted his job."
"He taught himself Equestrian?"
"Yeah, isn't that amazing?"
"A little too amazing…"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, Twilight, how do you know that you can trust this guy?"
"He had a letter from Celestia. I recognized the hoofwriting, so I know that it was the real thing."
"Hm…"
"Do you have a problem with him or something Rarity?"
"What? No, no, no… it's just that… um…"
"Yes?"
"I'm… interested in him."
"You're interested in him?"
"I'm interested in… hiring him."
"You want to hire him?"
"Yes. He, uh, came to my shop yesterday and gave me some really good insight on my dresses."
"Oh really? I wonder what his special talent is… I never got to see his cutie mark."
"Neither did I."
"Oh my Celestia, he's still out there!" Twilight realized, getting up. Rarity followed her as they opened the door to find nopony waiting there.
"He must of left", Rarity mused.
"But we were going to start lessons today", Twilight said, huffing slightly. Rarity grabbed her face and turned it towards her.
"What lessons?" She asked, letting go of Twilight's face once it was facing her.
"I'm giving him magic lessons", Twilight said, her tone indicating she was annoyed. That was the second time so far somepony today had touched her face without her permission… maybe they were pretty similar. She shook her head as she thought up an image of Rarity as a guy.
"So that's it…" Rarity said, a hoof to her chin. "Anyways I need to head back and deliver the rest of my orders."
"Bye Rarity", Twilight said, waving. After she got a wave back from Rarity she closed the door and began thinking. "How do I go about teaching a grown stallion a spell as simple as levitation?"
(With Twenty-Three)
He stared at the stalls that were now open with a few ponies shopping at them.Although in all technicality, the first thing he'd ever bought was that apple yesterday, this was much weirder and didn't feel natural. He walked around and looked at all the stalls before finding an asparagus stand. It was being run by a stallion and there was a mare currently at the stall.
"Alright, I'll sell you five bundles for ten bits", the stallion said as he grabbed five bundles of asparagus and hoofed it to the mare, who in return hoofed him ten bits.
"Thanks", she said and walked away. Twenty-Three walked up and took a deep breath.
"How can I help you today sir?" The vendor asked.
"I'd like two bundles please", Twenty-Three replied, grabbing four bits out of his bag.
"Alright, that'll be six bits", the vendor said, grabbing two bundles. Twenty-Three stared at him.
"What?" He asked.
"Three bits for a bundle", the vendor said, still smiling.
"But with the mare…" Twenty-Three didn't finish, as he saw that his point got across.
"Yeah… she was able to talk me down to two bits for a bundle", the vendor said, grinning as if it were a fond memory.
"You… can barter here?" Twenty-Three asked. The vendor looked confused.
"Of course… why wouldn't we?" He asked.
"Well how do you know taxes if there are no set prices?" Twenty-Three asked.
"Taxes? We haven't had those in a long time", the vendor said jokingly. Twenty-Three's eyes widened.
"Is… is this the fabled… laissez-faire market?" He said to himself.
"What was that?" The vendor asked. Twenty-Three looked the vendor dead in they eyes and the vendor swore he something like determination in them.
"Allow me to make a proposition", Twenty-Three said, grabbing his bit bag to see how much money he had.
(45 minutes later)
Twenty-Three arrived at his house, it only taking 15 minutes this time to get there. He went to his kitchen and set down his ten grocery bags packed full of different items of food. He wiped his brow and looked at his haul again. He was pretty sure he just broke a record with the amount of money he had. And then he looked at his bit bag that was now empty.
"This is probably why I couldn't have nice things", he said, sighing. He packed all of his food away into the cabinets and the fridge before realizing something. "... I don't have any plates. I don't have any bits. And I don't have a job. Wow, living is a lot harder than I thought. Oh, and I need to go back to Twilight's."
Twenty-Three immediately left to go to Twilight's. He navigated the route that he had remembered from his previous wanderings, having forgot to actually learn the correct route. He made record time to Twilight's and knocked on the door. This time, the baby dragon answered the door.
"Oh, it's you again", the baby dragon spoke.
"I'm here to see Twilight", Twenty-Three told him. Spike nodded before turning back inside.
"Twilight! The cy- er… that Twenty-Three guy or whatever from yesterday is here!" He shouted inside. Twenty-Three heard Twilight's voice but couldn't make out what she had said. Spike turned back to him. "Alright, come on in."
Twenty-Three walked in behind Spike where Spike told him that Twilight would be down soon. Twilight came down soon with a smile on her face.
"Hi again", she greeted.
"Hello", Twenty-Three replied.
"So where'd you go after Rarity came?" Twilight asked, trying her hoof at some small talk.
"I went to the market to buy food supplies", Twenty-Three said.
"Oh, that makes sense since you just moved here and all", Twilight said. While he seemed open about talking, the way that his face and tone never changed was almost disturbing.
"But I accidentally spent all my bits", he said with a sigh.
"... You spent all of your bits on your first time shopping here in Ponyville?" She asked.
"Yes", he stated.
"Huh… never took you to be financially irresponsible", Twilight mused out loud.
"Well it was my first time ever buying things and I don't think I was prepared for such a laissez-faire market", he said. Twilight looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean it was your first time buying things?" She asked him.
"Well back in Prance, I wasn't trusted to buy things", he said, but also thought of how he never actually had money either.
"Oh… so, uh, do you want to start the lesson?" She asked, trying to change subjects.
"I'd love to", he said, his blank face not even twitching.
"So, have you ever even tried to use your magic?" Twilight asked. Twenty-Three shook his head in a negative response. "Really? Never?"
"No. There was no need to", he said, causing Twilight to gasp.
"No need for magic? But magic is everything! You can do anything with magic!" She said, spreading her hooves to emphasize her point.
"Anything?" Twenty-Three asked.
"Well, theoretically anything", she replied, not wanting to lie to her new student.
"Huh. I always thought it was useless", he said.
"Than I'm going to show you that what you thought is wrong", Twilight said confidently.
"Okay", Twenty-Three simply said.
"S-So first, we can start off just accessing your magic. Just reach deep down inside yourself and you should come across this feeling. If you tap into that feeling, you'll feel your magic spark", she explained. Of course, she had spent the past the 45 minutes reading beginner magic books which was something she never thought she'd do again. She saw Twenty-Three close his eyes and didn't move. For five minutes. He just stood there for five minutes before opening his eyes.
"I don't feel anything", he stated. Twilight was rather in shock. Could his magic well really be that small? She had never read about a unicorn actually being unable to even access their magic. Had she explained it wrong? She levitated one of the books to read it. Sure, she had paraphrased and used her own words, but she still hit every important point and made it simple to understand.
"Uh… is it alright if I try something?" She asked him.
"Go ahead", he said. She walked up to him and put her horn on his forehead and tried to scan his magic. It wasn't really that much of a useful spell but she had to learn it in her studies. When she reached out for his magic, she felt something pushing her back. Not physically, or not even Twenty-Three, but like something wasn't allowing her to look. She pulled back, confused yet intrigued about this thing that she didn't know about.
"Wait here for a bit", she told him, going off to find answers in her books. It took her ten minutes until she was certain that she had the answer… but the answer only left her more confused. "Twenty-Three?"
"Yes?" He replied back. Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Why… why is there a restriction on your magic that prevents you from using it?" She asked him. Of course, she had been expecting a reaction. Surprise, confusion, anger maybe even… but she did not expect his reaction.
"Oh… I completely forgot about that", he said, causing Twilight to do a double take.
"WHAT?! YOU KNEW?!" She yelled at him, but he didn't even flinch.
"Yeah, but it's been so long that I completely forgot about it", he said. Twilight… well, Twilight didn't know how to react. This was definitely strange, but since he was the main focus point, it almost seemed weird if something wasn't wrong.
"Just… hold still. I think I can remove it", she said. She put her horn on his forehead and went to work. The lock was a lot harder and more advanced than she had expected. Had he cast this on himself? It was that or somepony really didn't want him to use his magic. She beat it eventually and unlocked it. "There, I got it. But I have to ask something."
"What?" He asked, causing Twilight's eye to twitch. Could he seriously not guess what she was going to ask?"
"Why was there a magic lock on you in the first place?" She asked.
"It was for my job", he said. That did it for Twilight.
"For Celestia's sake! What were you doing in Prance?!" She asked and yelled at him.
"Oh yeah, I never got to answer that when-"
"Just answer the question!" She interrupted, growing very impatient.
"Oh sorry, I was-"
What a perfect place to stop, don't y'all think? I mean, I see absolutely no wrong with that ending and in no way shape or form could I have ended better. Please review what you thought on this chapter and favorite/follow if you enjoyed it. Ah, it feels good to update this story. Really guys, it does. And it's all thanks to your support. I honestly don't know why this is my most liked story and with the deletion of my first story, it also has the most views, so I guess I'm doing something right. Anyways enjoy, and if you're already in school then… pfft. I feel so sorry for you, but my laughter is directed at you.
~djsoresupon3