Chapter 5: Pray to God by Calvin Harris

Back for more? Excellent! I know I do this every chapter, but thank you guys so much for all the support I've been getting. +500 views?! 10+ follows and favorites?! You guys spoil me so much. Let me get all my thanks out of the way now, I'd like to thank thegoldenboss, eaod2000, joycewu333, and Phantom Dark-Knight for all the follows/favorites. So we'll pick up where we left off last time after our first kind of 'heavy' chapter.

Also, since I don't think I've done this, I don't own MLP. Hasbro does obviously. I just need to say that stuff. I do own Twenty-Three though.

Twenty-Three's eyes opened, being disturbed by a light. He sat up and looked towards the light source. The sun was rising. Had he really slept in that late? He brought a hoof to his forehead as pang of pain flashed in his head. He then remembered the events of the night before and laid back down, staring at the ceiling. He sighed deeply before looking at his nightstand. The earring was still there. He stared at it for a few moments before getting up and putting it back into one of the small pockets inside his bag. Now that he out of bed, he pondered what to do. Maybe he should go back to Twilight's? His thoughts were distracted by his stomach growling. He then remembered that he actually had a good stock of food from yesterday… and no money. He went downstairs and viewed his menu. At least he had pots and pans. He settled on scrambling some eggs. He didn't actually know much about cooking, but what he did know he knew well. He had picked up a few things from watching the chefs and perfected it whenever he got the opportunity to. After scrambling the eggs and eating them, he sighed contentedly. He peered outside of one of the windows that faced the main street watching as the town slowly began coming alive. He guessed that he should head to Twilight's to continue the lesson especially since she had removed his magic inhibitor. He blinked as he remembered that he no longer had that. He got up and began focusing. He took breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his self-awareness. He breathed again. Then, he felt it. The 'spark' or whatever Twilight had called it. He opened his eyes. He didn't feel differently physically. But he definitely felt something more. A weird kind of warmth that seemed to emanate from the core of his body but felt everywhere. He glanced at his reflection in the window and was surprised to see his horn glowing. It glowed in a white hue that flickered back and forth. He stared at it and even touched it. It was definitely glowing. Suddenly, his vision fuzzed and he felt lightheaded. There was a 'thud' sound and he tried to look around but his vision was too fuzzy to tell anything apart. He waited several seconds and tried to blink it away. Once his vision refocused, he realized he was lying on the ground. He got up, but a pang of pain shot through his skull. He looked back into the window and saw that his horn was no longer glowing.

"I guess I'm still fairly limited in my ability to use magic", he said to himself. He began thinking. He definitely needed to see Twilight again. He probably collapsed due to overexertion. Or maybe it was too much stimulus and essentially overheated his brain? Magic was confusing. Did people really spend their lives researching and studying it? Must have sucked. He considered leaving now, but decided against it. He was sure Twilight wasn't always free and probably had plans. So that left with what he should do until he thought it was an appropriate time to visit Twilight. Maybe they should set a set time for certain days? He thought of testing his magic again, but thought better of it since he didn't know the negative effects of possibly overusing it. He went back upstairs and picked up the book that Celestia had given him. He flipped it open to the page he had stopped on and continued reading.

(1 hour and 43 minutes later)

Twenty-Three put the book down and glanced outside, deciding he should go visit Twilight. He noted that it was sunny again outside, hardly any clouds. He left with no apparel on him and walked the route he memorized through trial-and-error to Twilight's house. He arrived in record time and knocked on the door. He waited and the door opened, revealing Twilight. She looked slightly surprised by his arrival.

"Oh Twenty-Three? Did you come here for lessons?" She asked him.

"Yes, are you free right now?" He asked back.

"Yeah, come on in. So what did the Princess need with you?" She asked as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, it was some kind of welcoming party", he answered. Twilight pulled two pillows for them to sit on in the living room. Twilight had to process that one a bit.

"So you're saying Princess Celestia threw a party in your honor?" She asked. Twenty-Three nodded his head.

"Yeah, which was really weird. I think one stallion specialized in fancy pants or something… and I think one had blue blood which I think he should have that looked at", He rambled blankly. If it were possible, well if she were just a bit like Pinkie, Twilight was sure her jaw would have hit the floor. She was almost certain that he was talking about Fancy Pants and Prince Blueblood. Those weren't guest for just a welcoming party. She then began to think.

'What if he's a prince? Wait, Prance doesn't have any official royalty anymore… so maybe he's some kind of duke or count?!', Twilight thought before she realized Twenty-Three was saying her name. "Oh sorry, I kind of got lost in thought there. It happens occasionally."

"It's alright", he assured. "Anyways, I'd like to continue our lesson from yesterday."

"You're pretty eager to learn", Twilight playfully remarked. She then realized that such things would be lost on Twenty-Three. She was surprised though by his reply.

"Yeah… it seems like it really is necessary for me", he said. Twilight didn't say anything immediately due to feeling slightly awkward. She quickly changed the topic though.

"So! Since we removed that limiter on your magic, why don't we try to access it?" She asked quickly. Twenty-Three nodded and stood up. He took a deep breath before focusing and closing his eyes. It didn't take him long to feel the spark. He opened his eyes and looked at Twilight. She was smiling brightly.

"That's excellent! How are you feeling?" She asked. It wasn't a tone of worry, she even sounded ecstatic.

"I'm feeling fi-" Suddenly down was up and up was down. No, wait, Twenty-Three was on the ground. His vision was out of focus and he was breathing heavily. He noticed a lavender blur above him and assumed it was Twilight. He then heard her trying to talk to him but he couldn't make out what she was saying. It took about ten seconds for his state of disarray to fix itself and he was sitting up with just a slight headache. He turned to Twilight who was wearing an expression that didn't seemed amused.

"So you're feeling fine huh?" She asked him, her tone was matching her expression.

"I was feeling fine", he retorted. Twilight had to stifle a laugh, he actually almost sounded embarrassed.

"So what happened there?" She asked in a much softer tone.

"I think it was vertigo. It almost felt like I passed out too", he answered. Twilight seemed slightly surprised.

"That almost sounds like magical overexertion", she answered. "But even for fillies and colts who are just starting to learn, they generally only experience that from just activating their magic after a couple of minutes."

"So I'm behind kids?" Twenty-Three asked. Twilight's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ah, no! I wasn't trying to say anything that suggested anything like that! It's probably just that… since you're starting so late, um… but since you're an adult you'll probably learn faster", she said, trying to be enthusiastic.

"So how can I get better?" He asked her, seemingly ignoring what she said.

"Well the best way to get better is just to keep practicing", she told him. He nodded his head in understanding.

"So I should just keep trying to get my magic activated as long as possible?" He asked her.

"Yeah. Here, why don't I time you and we can work from there", she suggested, before quietly adding, "And I'm curious as to how your development will be compared to a kid's."

"Sure, that's fine", he says as he got up. Twilight walked off to fetch a stopwatch, clipboard, paper and a quill.

"Alright, ready when you are", she said, holding everything with her magic. Twenty-Three nodded and began focusing. He felt the spark and then concentrated on keeping it activated. He was concentrating so hard that he couldn't even attempt to count the seconds. But the vertigo hit him and he collapsed. Actually, Twilight caught him with her magic. He recovered fairly quickly, but was still breathing heavily.

"Well, you got to 11 seconds, which already feels longer than earlier so I'd say you're developing well", she told him. He nodded before taking stance again.

"I'm ready to go again", he said, only for Twilight to put down her items.

"No, we're stopping here for now", she said. Twenty-Three stared at her.

"Why?" He asked.

"If you overexert yourself too much you'll just end up doing more harm than good", she answered, her tone shifting into one that fit a teacher.

"Is that so?" He asked. She nodded.

"It's definitely bad. You can practice a couple more times today, but I'd say for the next couple of hours to take it easy", she said.

"So, magic is like a muscle? The more you use it, the stronger it gets and the more endurance it gets? But using it too much can cause strains and injuries?" He asked her. Twilight stared at him, not even blinking.

"That's… actually a really good analogy", she said, grabbing her clipboard and pen and writing something down quickly. Now that they weren't practicing magic, Twilight found that it was rather awkward. Twilight went back to her studies, and recommended a book for Twenty-Three to read to help him. He asked if there was a Prench-text version, which she told him she had none like that. He set about reading, but it wasn't soon before he put it down.

"How do you earn money?" He asked her. Twilight looked up from her books, confused as to why he would ask this.

"Well, I'm still a student so I get a lot of stuff paid through my scholarships… and I'm also technically working as the librarian so I get paid for that. Though it seems like nopony actually knows that this is a library", she answered, before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. I need to start earning money or else I won't be able to live", he said before going back to his book. Twilight stared at him for a bit before remembering what Rarity had said.

"Oh, Rarity had mentioned something yesterday about wanting to hire you… said you left quite the impression on her", she said. Twenty-Three looked up from the book, with a look of thought.

"She's the one who makes dresses, right?" He asked her. Twilight nodded. "And she wants my help? With what?"

"I'm not sure. But you should go and talk to her", she told him. Twenty-Three looked between the book and the door. He closed the book.

"Is it alright if I take this book with me for later reference?" He asked.

"Yeah, just make sure to bring it back by our next meeting", she told him.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" He asked.

"Well, nothing much, except that my friends and I are getting together at night to celebrate Nightmare Night."

"I remember that being mentioned… what does one do on Nightmare Night?"

"Well, usually we just dress up in costumes and enjoy the night. The kids go around door to door to get candy."

"Oh, I remember hearing about something like that in Prance."

"Really?"

"Yeah, though I think it was called A Lo Ween…"

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea. It's a borrowed phrase… but I can't remember from where though."

"Sounds weird."

"Yeah, I wasn't able to take part in it though. It's a rather new thing though."

"Huh, well… do you want to join my friends and I?"

"The Elements of Harmony?"

"Yeah, though I assure you we're all pretty normal ponies… at least most of us."

"I don't see why not… but I don't have a costume."

"Well you don't need one to have fun."

"Alright… what's your costume?" Twilight beamed at this. She left and went upstairs towards her room and came back down with the thing Rarity had delivered yesterday. She held it in front of him.

"Guess." She stated. Twenty-Three stared at the clothing.

"... I have no idea", he answered. Twilight seemed to deflate a bit but pushed forward.

"He was a very important figure in unicorn history…" Twilight said, trying to edge him forward.

"I never studied history", Twenty-Three immediately replied, shutting Twilight down. She just sighed.

"I'm going as Star Swirl the Bearded", she answered.

"... Who?" He asked, causing Twilight to just sigh again.

"Nevermind… I'm sure Spike will get it though", she replied. Twenty-Three sensed that he should see himself out.

Twenty-Three got up and grabbed the book with his hoof and walked to the door. He thanked Twilight for her help and her time before leaving.

He walked all the way to his house to drop off the book. He glanced at it, read a bit more and left. It took him a long time to find his way to where Rarity worked… and lived. He forgot to ask about that. Was… was he going to have to live with Rarity if she gave him the job? He sighed and grabbed his snout; Equestria was giving him a headache. It took him about an hour to find the… Carousel Boutique. He remembered how the name caught his interest. He walked in, looking around again, trying to find where she was.

"Hello?" He called out. He waited a moment before he heard hoofsteps. Wait, no, these weren't hoofsteps. He watched as Spike came out from what was the work area. He seemed to be focusing on the… pins in his back?

"Sorry, but the shop is closed. It'll be open-" Spike looked up and saw Twenty-Three. "Oh, what are you doing here?"

"I heard from Twilight that Rarity was looking to hire me", he answered. This seemed to take Spike by surprise.

"What? Why would she need to hire you? I help her plenty", Spike said, sounding defensive. Twenty-Three stared at him. Spike tried to match his gaze, but after locking into Twenty-Three's eyes, he felt like he was staring into the abyss… and the abyss was staring back at him. He looked away. "W-What?"

"... Nothing", Twenty-Three said, glancing away as well.

"Spike, who is it? You've been talking to them for quite a while", They heard Rarity call from the other room. Spike looked between Twenty-Three and the room. He sighed.

"It's Twenty-Three", he said, with a hint of what Twenty-Three believed to be annoyance.

"Who?" They heard Rarity ask. Rarity then walked out from the room, and saw Twenty-Three. "Oh, it's you… what are you doing here?"

"Twilight told me that you were interested in hiring me", Twenty-Three said.

"Wha-" She began asking, only to remember what she had said to Twilight the day before. "Oh… yes! That's right, haha… I did say that to Twilight, haha…"

The three then stood in an awkward silence. Twenty-Three was staring at Rarity, Rarity was trying to not meet his gaze and Spike was glaring at Twenty-Three. Rarity ended up meeting his gaze and conceded defeat.

"So…" She began again, but still got no visible reaction from Twenty-Three's blank face. "I guess I can have you fill out an application…"

"A what?" He asked. Rarity couldn't help but stare at him.

"Darling, have you ever applied for a job before?" She asked him. He shook his head.

"I was usually chosen to do jobs… I never… applied for them", he said. Applying for a job? Why would anypony do that?

"Oh dear… Well, let me go try to find the applications", she said, before adding just to herself, "Never thought I'd actually have to use them…"

Spike and Twenty-Three watched as Rarity disappeared. Once she was out of sight, Spike slinked over to Twenty-Three.

"Hey", he spoke in a hushed tone.

"What?" Twenty-Three replied in an equally quiet voice.

"I'll be keeping my eyes on you", Spike said. Twenty-Three looked at Spike, who was wearing a serious expression on his face.

"Alright", Twenty-Three said, but that seemed to just aggravate Spike.

"Look, Rarity is off-limits, got that?" Spike asked, pointing a claw. Twenty-Three raised an eyebrow. What did off-limits mean?

"Off-limits?" He asked, hoping for a more in-depth explanation.

"Yeah, off-limits. We clear on that, bub?" Spike said. So much for that in-depth explanation. And what was a bub? There definitely was no word like that in Prench. It sounded oddly aggressive but kind of cute… maybe it was just the way Spike had said it.

"Yeah, we're good", Twenty-Three said, still not sure exactly what he was agreeing to. But Spike seemed to be relieved after that.

"Sorry about that. I hope my tough guy act didn't scare you too much", Spike said. Twenty-Three went to reply, but then thought better of it. He then noticed the pins in Spike's back again.

"Why do you have pins in your back?" He asked. Spike then seemed to also remember about the pins in his back.

"Oh, I'm being Rarity's pin cushion", Spike said… proudly?

"I see… doesn't that, hurt?" Twenty-Three asked.

"No, I got thick scales and all so I don't feel a thing", Spike boasted. Definitely boasted.

"I see", Twenty-Three replied. They were distracted as Rarity walked back in, holding a piece of paper.

"I found the paper. You'll have to excuse me if it's a bit… dusty", she said, handing the paper to Twenty-Three. Twenty-Three looked over the paper. It was just a bunch of… questions.

"Am I supposed to answer all of these?" He asked her.

"Just to the best of your abilities. You can work on it and turn it in later tonight or tomorrow, whichever is best for you", she said. Twenty-Three looked down at the paper. He thanked Rarity, said bye to both Rarity and Spike and saw himself out. He headed back home with nothing of importance happening, though he saw the pinkest pony he had ever seen… which was saying something. He vaguely recognized her as an Element of Harmony, but was blanking on her name and even her Element. He got home as the sky's hues became more saturated and set his application down on his dining room table. He walked upstairs and fished around in his bag until he found his fountain pen. He brought it back downstairs and set it next to the paper. He then walked off to make some early dinner. It was a little passed five, but he'd deal with it. He somehow had found the right ingredients to make a simple potage à la courge musquée. After making the soup, he grabbed the pot after it cooled and set it down at the dining table before sitting down himself. He looked between the paper and the soup, realizing magic would be great for this situation. He then thought of trying to push himself again, remembering Twilight's words. He decided to go ahead and try to see how long he could go for. Some number of seconds later, he was on the ground in a daze and regretting his actions as he still couldn't actually count while trying to focus. He recovered and turned back to his soup, which was losing its warmth. He started on that first. After several 'bites', he turned to the application.

"Please print full name", he read. He wrote Vingt Trois.

"Address." He had to find the letter that had his address on it to answer that one.

"Are you 16 years or older?" He checked the 'yes' box.

"Sex. Male, female or withhold information." He checked 'male' and was confused about the last one.

"Cutie mark." He checked the 'none' box, noticing that there was also a 'withhold information' box.

"Are you legally eligible to work in this country?" He hesitantly checked 'yes'.

"Date available for work." He just wrote dès que possible.

"Full-time, part-time or temporary." He checked 'full-time', not knowing what the other two meant.

"Hours desired." He had no idea what that meant so just left it blank.

"Have you ever been convicted of a crime, excluding misdemeanors and traffic violations?" That was a weird question. He checked 'no'.

"Educational history." He simply wrote aucun.

"Occupational history." He stared at that question. His fountain pen hovered above the box. He set his pen down and went back to his soup. After finishing his soup, he brought the pot to the sink and washed it out. He went back to the application and stared at the empty box. He grabbed the paper and pen and moved them to his room on his nightstand. He stared at the question some more before deciding to take a shower. After getting out of the shower, Twenty-Three grabbed the paper and sat in his bed, staring at it. He stared at it so long, that when he broke away from it, the sun had already set. Wait, it was dark. He couldn't even read the application. He got up and struggled a bit to find the light. After finding it, he set his paper down on the nightstand. It was then that he realized there was one section after it.

"Is there a second language you know?" He wrote oui.

"What is it?" Français.

"Would you consider yourself fluent, read only or speak only." He easily checked 'fluent'.

That just left the last question. He stared at it, sighed and began to write.

"Name of past employer." He sighed again. He wrote Am- before just crossing it out and checking the 'no past occupation' box. He set the paper down and chucked his pen across the room before laying in bed. He sighed and closed his eyes, hoping that his sleep would go undisturbed without any dreams.

And we'll end it there. Glad to be back above 4k words. It's winter break. Might churn out stories faster. Probably not, considering how I actually finished this like a week and a half ago. I forget easily. Anyways, favorite/follow if you enjoyed it and leave a review to tell me what you liked… or what you didn't like. I enjoy feedback. Like, I might touch myself… well… that turned. I should just stop.

Actually, one last thing, I'd just like to dedicate this chapter to eaod2000.

~djsoresupon3 signing out