Jack
The very early morning light shined on my face as I tried to rub the tiredness from my eyes. I was sitting on the floor next to a window when Twilight pulled out a chalkboard and placed it in the middle of the room facing toward me. She started to use her magic tountie and hang diagrams behind the board.
"Do we really have to start this early?" I asked.
"Hey, you asked me to teach, and I pick the time when we start," Twilight responded.
I groaned as I looked at the clock, seeing it was 6:30 A.m. I had gotten little to no sleep last night, as whenever I passed into the world of darkness, I would be taken back to my old room and forced to experience that same nightmare over and over again, save for the voice that had woken me the first time. The voice was no longer there, and I was left in the forest until I could wake up on my own.
It had gotten to the point last night that I woke up nearly freezing my bed into an ice cube a few times. Luckily, it never came to that point. After waking from that nightmare for the final time, I decided to stay awake and lay in my bed, but even that was short-lived as after what felt like 5 minutes of letting my brain unwind, Twilight barged into my room and forced me to where we are now.
"So tired," I said.
"Hush, I'll be ready in a moment," Twilight said.
Twilight's horn began to glow as she levitated a piece of chalk to the board and started to write. The unmistakable sound of chalk on the chalkboard filled the room, sending a slight shiver down my spine. Once Twilight finished, she stepped aside, revealing that she had written 'Magic 101.'
"'Magic 101?'" I read aloud.
"Yes, we will be going over the basics of magic, which, yes, I know you have read some of thebooks, but this will be more detailed than what you read in the books," Twilight said.
"That seems like a lot," I said, a little worried.
"No, and yes. There is a decent amount of information, but if you're worried that we won't have enough time today, we will. We got up nice and early," Twilight said with a smile.
"Yeah, don't remind me. what's first on the basics?" I asked.
Twilight's horn glowed as she pulled one of the diagrams from behind the board. She placed it on the right side of the board. It had two pictures on it. One was a picture of a regular unicorn horn, while the other was what looked to be what was inside the unicorn horn. The horn was comprised of three layers. one outer layer, which you could see normally. A middle layer that I had no idea about, and finally, what looked to be a layer of bone.
"Okay, let's start with anatomy and how a unicorn uses magic. First, we will begin with the outer layer of a unicorn's horn," Twilight said as she used the chalk to point at the outer layer. "This is what you typically see because it is the only part you can see. For the most part, it is made out of Keratin and can range in sizes."
"Wait, what do you mean it can range in size? For the most part, everyone I have seen has pretty similar horns,"I asked.
"Well, while yes, this size is common, the length of one horn can be affected by one of two things. First is genetics, and what genes your parents carry are passed on during birth, and horn length is considered a repressive trait. Next is magic capability. How much magic you can use can also affect horn size," Twilight said.
"Okay, that makes sense. I kinda would like to see a unicorn with a longer horn now," I said.
Twilight rolled her eyes before returning to the board. Pointing at the middle layer as, she started to speak," This is the core of the horn, and it may be smaller than the outside, but this is where the magic comes from. It is composed of a semi-hard material found in most magical creatures."
"What do you mean by most?" I asked.
"Well, there is you and possibly your pendant for one, and the other is the changelings. Twilight said as she used the chalk to draw a rough sketch of a horse-like bug. "Changelings are a bug-like race that feeds on love and transforms it into magic."
"God, I hope I never have to meet one of those change-things. I really hate bugs. I've Been sent to the hospital over them way too many times," I said, as my body shivered involuntarily at the thought of them. The mere mention of bugs sent a chill down my spine, and I could feel my skin crawling.
"Wow, that seems unlucky," Twilight said.
"I know, for some reason, I only get bit by the really venomous ones," I said.
"Well, we'll haveto keep an eye out with your luck, anyways," Twilight said as she turned back to the board. "The last bit of the horn will be this little nub of bone where everything grows off of. It's probably the least fascinating part, but it is still part of the autonomy."
"Hmm. What happens if a horn is damaged? Will a unicorn still be able to use magic?" I asked.
"That is a good question, and the answer depends on where the horn was damaged. If it was only damaged on the outer layer, say it got broken at the very tip, it might be uncomfortable, but it will eventually heal back to normal." Twilight responded.
"But what about the core? What happens when that is damaged or breaks?" I asked.
"Well, if it is slightly damaged, it will still be able to heal, but it will take some time with some nasty side effects like headaches, difficulty, and pain while using magic, and possibly magic build-up. If the core is broken, all the side effects still occur but areheightened to an extreme and even more magical inclined ponies it can cause…" Twilight said as she stopped speaking before leaning and looking me dead in the eyes and whispering." Death."
Twilight leaned away from me, allowing what she had just said to me toset in. I reached for the pendant resting against my chest, feeling its cool surface beneath my fingers, thinking about magic coresand their frailty. If this pendant was indeed the source of my magic, if it was my magical core, I had to protect it at all costs. As the tension in the room slightly faded, Twilight cleared her throat.
"Speaking of magical build-up, let's go over the underuse and overuse of magic," Twilight said.
Twilight's horn started to glow again as she lifted the anatomy diagram and placed it back behind the board. She then grabbed another large piece ofpaper and put it where the last one had been. It looked to be a picture of a brown male unicorn split down the middle with the left side hornglowing wildly, and on the right, he seemed almost exhausted.
"Woah, he looks like he has seen better days," I said.
"Yes, he has. You see, that magical core we went over is like a muscular battery. Overusing magic is like using all your energy to strain a muscle, while not using magic is like overcharging a battery to the point where it goes…" Twilight said as she waved me closer before loudly yelling, "POP!"
"YOU CAN EXPLODE!" I yelled in response, feeling a bit frightened at the thought of popping like a balloon.
"No. Yes. Maybe. Ugh." Twilight said as she rubbed her face before pointing to the right side of the diagram. "Looking on theright, we can see that he is showing signs of overuse of his magic. This one is the simplest of the two because it is just overusing your magic, which can cause headaches, tiredness, and the inability to use magic due to strain. The good thing is that it only really lasts a few hours. Some rest and relaxation and it islike new."
"But what about going, you know? POP!" I asked.
Twilight shook her head in mild disappointment before turning to the left side of the diagram. "Underuse of magic is a very dangerous effects are so random that it's practically impossible to be able to define. You could turn into a sewing needle, make nearby ponies talk backward, or even, yes, explode," Twilight said as she huffed, using what air in her lungs to give the few examples.
"Dang. The book I read didn't give any examples. It did give a time frame for it, though. It gave a time frame of about two to three weeks. Does that sound normal, or should I know a different time frame?" I asked, wondering if I needed to know if the book was correct.
"Yes, that does sound right for the average unicorn, but a unicorn with higher magic capacity, or even an alicorn, would have to use their magic more often than that. Like me," Twilight said, blushing while trying to hide a bit of embarrassment in her voice.
"That makes sense, with you being specialized in magic. Oh, by the way, what's an alicorn? I don't think I have really seen one of those yet. Are they rare, or are they like humans who don't live in Ponyville?" I asked.
Twilight's mouth was left agape at what I had just asked, and once again, I felt like I was missing out on what I could tell from Twilight, which was exceedingly common knowledge. As Twilight stared at me, I gave a sheepish smile and shrugged my shoulders as she shook her headand regained her composure.
"They are some of the rarest ponies in all of Equestria. There are only three known alicorns in Equestria. They are all princesses, and one is my mentor and teacher. You have two of them around your neck," Twilight said as she shook her head in even more disappointment.
"Oh, so an alicorn is a pony with a unicorn horn and wings," I said.
"Well, yes, but that is really just an oversimplification of what they are. They are some of the smartest,most powerful, and influential ponies," Twilight said.
"What makes them so powerful?" I asked.
"They have some of the most powerful pony-based magic with the ability of flight, and let's not forget their life span," Twilight said.
"Life span?" I asked.
"Yes, life span as in, as long as nothing physically hurts them, they are immortal," Twilight said.
"Immortal as in live forever immortal?" I asked.
"Indeed, my mentor and teacher, Princess Celestia, has been ruling forover 1000 years," Twilight responded.
"One thousand years of ruling. Seems rather lonely," I said.
The idea of living for several hundred years seems both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, extending life would bring vast knowledge and experience. On the other hand, it would mean being a constant as time continues to flow, watching everyone you know fade away before your eyes and being left with nothing but their memories.
"If you're worried about her, she is not alone, at least not anymore. Her sister, Princess Luna, is with her," Twilight said.
"Hmm, well, that seems better than going through eternity alone," I said.
"Yes, but let's get back to the subject. I would like to finish at 11 so we can practice some spells," Twilight said.
As Twilight used her magic to hang and grabbed a new diagram, I looked at the clock and saw that it was 9:33 AM. We had been at this for over three hours. As Twilight hung up her final diagram, a sound came from the top of the stairs, and Spike descended them, rubbing his eyes. Twilight looked surprised to see Spike.
"you're up early," Twilight said.
"I know I would have slept later, but while tossing and turning, I found a quill in my bed poking me. What are you guys doing," Spike asked.
"Oh well, Jack and I are going over the basics of magic. We were about to move on to the next lesson," Twilight said.
"Sounds kind of boring," Spike said.
"Maybe to you, but we find it very interesting. Right, Jack?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, but I would like to set the record straight, you did drag me up here," I said.
" Hmm, oh, you being here reminds me. Can you send this letter to Celestia, Spike?" Twilight asked as she used her magic to pull a scroll off one of the shelves.
"Sure, but what is it?" Spike asked.
"Oh, well, it's about Jack informing her about him," Twilight responded.
"You're letting the princess know I'm here? Did you write about my magic?" I asked, a bit worried.
"Yes, I did. She should know. I even wrote about the pendent to see if she knows about it. You should be fine, Jack. At most, she will just want to speak with you," Twilight said with a sheepish smile.
I thought about it for a moment. Celestia is someone that Twilight spoke highly about and someone she trusted. If I were to return to the castle, how would I be treated, and would Celestia do something to me? Ultimately, I would put my faith in Twilight. If she said I would be fine, then I would be fine.
"Okay, Twilight. If you think this is right, I trust you," I said with a weak smile.
"Thank you, Jack. You ready, Spike?" Twilight asked.
"Yep," Spike responded, grabbing the letter from Twilight.
Spike held the scroll to his mouth before blowing his green flames on it. The scroll burned away in a matter of seconds, leaving behind nothing but smoke and sparkles before even that vanished. Spike then turned to look at Twilight.
"Is there anything else that you need, Twi?" Spike asked.
"If you want, you can look at the books returned and see who is overdue," Twilight said.
"Okay, I'm on it," Spike said.
I watched Spike walk over to the door, stopping to the right of it before tugging on the wall. As Spike tugged, he opened a secret door that had about fifteen books inside of all different sizes. Spike grabbed a few of the books and walked to a desk with a large book. As he reached the desk, he placed the books down and looked through the big book, occasionally looking at one of the smaller books.
"Okay, let's get back to the final thing I want to go over," Twilight said as she turned to look at the board again.
"What is it? Is it more anatomy or something that I need to look out for?" I asked.
"Well, kinda. It is your connection to magic," Twilight said.
"What do you mean? Is it like how you explained it yesterday? I asked.
"Yes, but I want to go over one's connection to magic and what makes it unique to that magic user," Twilight said as she used her magic to pull out two small red balls, placing them between her and me. "Go ahead and use your magic to make the one closer to you float."
"Okay, I'll try," I said as I raised my hand, allowing it to glow blue as the ball floated about five feet off the ground.
"Good. Good, now it's my turn," Twilight said as her horn glowed light purple before the ball started floating next to mine. "If you look, you can see some major differences between mine, one being the color. We both have different-colored auras. Then, you have the texture of the aura. While most look the same, some are unique to the user. If you were to look at Rarity's magic, you would see it sparkles more like gemstones in the light."
As I focused on keeping the ball afloat, I looked at Twilight's and my magic. Hers was more refined than mine, with little sparkles that kind of matched her cutie mark. On the other hand, Mine looked denser but did not sparkle like Twilight's. It seemed to have what looked like ice dust flowing through it.
"I see what you mean. Ours look so different," I said.
"Yes, they do, but that is not all. They can also have unique textures, like feeling like water or having smells like apple pie. That is how most differ when they all look similar. Here, feel mine," Twilight said as she brought the ball closer to me.
I reached out with my left hand, making sure no magic was flowing through it before plunging it into Twilight's aura. It did not feel like the aura I had felt when that unicorn grabbed my leg when I woke up. Her aura felt smoother, like my hand was encased in sparkly silk. Bringing my head lower, I gave it a sniff to find a hint of lavender, but not enough to notice if I had not been looking for it. This got a chuckle from Twilight.
"What?" I asked.
Oh, nothing. Bring your ball closer to me. I want to see if it feels as unique as it looks," Twilight said as she gestured for it to come closer.
Focusing, I slowly moved the ball closer to Twilight, making sure I did not accidentally hit her. As the ball stopped in front of her chest, she gave a proud smile to me.
"Okay, just keep it still for a second," Twilight said.
Twilight lifted her hoof, plunging it into the aura around the ball, and left it there for a few seconds before letting off a shiver. As she took her hoof out of the aura, she shook it a few times before returning it to the floor.
"How did it feel? I asked with a bit of concern.
"It was cold, very cold. It was like stepping in a pile of snow," Twilight said.
"Hmm, what does it smell like?" I asked as I raised the ball closer to her face.
"Hold on, give me a moment," Twilight said as she brought her face closer to the ball, sniffing and raising her head again. "It smells like freshly fallen snow."
"Really. Let me smell," I said.
I pulled the ball from Twilight and brought it to my face before giving it a sniff. My nose was filled with the smell of what Twilight had described. It was like I had taken a deep breath in the middle of a blizzard. An image of the forest popped involuntarily into my head, but I shook it away as quickly as it appeared.
"I see what you mean. It is… familiar," I said as I lowered the ball away from my face.
"Here, let's take a break. I don't want you over-using your magic," Twilight said.
I shrugged my shoulder and slowly brought the ball back to where I had picked it up. Twilight did the same thing, albeit much faster than me, before turning her attention to Spike. As she walked closer, she arrived to his left. Spike turned to look at her.
"How is it coming along, Spike?" Twilight asked.
"It's going fine so far. We only have one book due today, and Cheerilee has it," Spike said as he wrote in the big book.
"Oh, what book does she have checked out?" Twilight asked.
"Some cheesy romance novel called…" Spike said as he looked deeper into the book before leaning back out. "' Living High, Loving Low.'"
"Wow, that's some cheddar," I said as I took the right side of Spike.
"Well, book returns aren't due till noon. what time is it?" Twilight asked.
I leaned back to look at the clock before saying," It's 10:42."
"See, she has an hour and a half to get the book here," Twilight said.
"Yeah. Well, with that done, I'm going to make some lunch. What do you guys want?" Spike asked as he got up and started walking towards the kitchen.
"How about something simple like a salad," Twilight said.
"Yeah, a salad is fine," I said.
"Okay, salad it is. Do you like croutons, Jack?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, there, fine," I responded.
"Okay, I will be out in a bit," Spike said.
Twilight's face held that of slight disgust, almost like she was gagging," Sweet Celestia, how can you like hard bread in your salad?"
"What? They're fine. You're just overreacting a bit," I responded as Spike started to walk toward the kitchen, rolling his eyes.
As Spike entered the kitchen, the sound of the door opening caught mine and Twilight's attention. We turned to look at a Dark pink earth pony with light pink hair and three flowers for her cutie mark that were slightly blocked by a pair of bags. The pink pony was the first to speak.
"Sorry, am I late to return a book?" the pink pony asked as she pulled a book out of her bag.
"Not at all, Cheerilee. I'll go ahead and take that," Twilight said as magic engulfed the book and was lifted away from Cheerilee.
"Woo. What a relief! I thought I was going to be late," Cheerilee said as she looked around the room before speaking again. "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"
"Oh, uhh. I was just practicing tutoring magic with my friend over there," Twilight said as she pointed to me, and her horn began glowing.
Twilight levitated the book over to the desk where Spike had been sitting, placing it with all the others. As she put down the book, Cheerilee let out a gasp of surprise as she noticed that I was in the room.
"So, this is the human I have been hearing about. What's your name?" Cheerilee Asked.
I walked a bit closer and held my hand up to introduce myself," Hello, my name is Jack Marrow."
Cheerilee held out her hoof and took my hand, shaking it as she started to speak," Oh, what manners. It is nice to meet you, Jack. As you probably heard, my name is Cheerilee."
"Well, it is nice to meet you, Cheerilee," I said as I let go of her hoof, allowing both appendages to relax.
"So, Jack, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing in Ponyville? Are you just sightseeing, or did you get lost? Or did you get sent here by one of the other humans?" Cheerilee asked.
"Oh well, none of that," I replied, causing Cheerilee to become confused.
"Wait, what? What do you mean by none of that?" Cheerilee asked.
"Well, I live here, I'm not sightseeing, and I wasn't sent by any human. Heck, I haven't even seen one," I responded.
"So, you're not from Canterlot?" Cheerilee asked.
"No, I have only been here a little over a week, and I have been in the Everfree and Ponyville," I replied.
"Really, what were you doing in the Everfree?" Cheerilee asked.
"Well, I woke up in a nearby forest and kind of wandered into it, and after about a day, I found Twilight and the big pebble golem outside," I said as I gestured over to Twilight.
"Is what he's saying true, Twilight?" Cheerilee asked as she turned to look at Twilight.
"Well, he left out the part about saving my life, but overall, yeah, that sounds about right," Twilight said as she walked to the chalkboard. Her horn glowed, and the chalkboard was pushed back into the closet.
"Really, a human…er... Jack saved your life?" Cheerilee asked, a bit surprised.
"you're not the first to react like that," Twilight said.
"Well, not many humans would do something like that. You know, come to think of it, you look different from any of the humans I've seen on the field trips, I take my fillies and colts to see in Canterlot," Cheerilee said.
"Well, you see, Cheerilee…" Twilight said before I held my hand up so I could explain it.
"The reason I look different is… we don't know," I said, my face holding a cheeky smile.
"Wait, what? Cheerilee asked, the confusion in her voice apparent.
"Yeah, we suspect it might be because of how I got here, but that is based on theory. A magic theory," I said.
Cheerilee shrugged her shoulders before speaking," Fair, I have heard wilder things come from my students."
"Wait, you're a teacher? So cool, what do you teach?" I asked.
"Oh, um, I am a general education teacher. I teach Colts and Fillies history, math, science, and other basic stuff. Why do you ask?" Cheerilee asked.
"Well, because before coming to Equestria, I was going to school to become a music teacher," I responded.
"Really, how close were you to finishing your education," Cheerilee asked.
"Well, I had about a semester remaining, but that was mostly just filler to get my required amount of classes to graduate," I responded.
"Why would they make you take filler classes? My classes were all about teaching and child management," Cheerilee said.
"Well, for some reason, human schools require a certain number of 'points' to get a degree," I responded.
"Did you do your internships?" Cheerilee asked.
"Yes, I did, but unfortunately, all my proof is back where I came from," I said.
"Well, that is unfortunate but not too alarming. Just send a letter to the Ponyville school board and say what happened. They might be able to work with you. Celestia knows we need a new music teacher," Cheerilee said.
The sound of the closet door shutting made Cheerilee and I turn to look at Twilight, who had just finished cleaning the room from our training session. Twilight had a smile on her face as she walked over to us.
"Well, we can work on that after lunch," Twilight said.
"Yes, well, I have to run. I have other errands and tomorrow's lesson plans to finish. It was nice seeing you, Twilight, and good luck, Jack," Cheerilee said as she turned and started to walk away.
As Cheerilee walked through the door and disappeared outside, I felt tingles in my stomach as nervousness and excitement flowed through me. If what she had said was possible, I could become a teacher and teach little ones the joys of music. I turned to look next to me at twilight.
"I can feel butterflies in my stomach. There is still a possibility of me teaching here," I said as my body jittered with excitement in my voice.
"I can tell. I haven't seen you this excited at all. Why are you this excited about teaching?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know. The reason is rather weird. Are you sure you want to hear it?" I asked.
"Jack, of course, I want to hear. No matter how silly or weird it might be, it is still why you choose to go down the path to who you are," Twilight responded.
"Well, you know how there is no magic in my world?" I asked as Twilight gave a little nod in agreement before I continued to speak. "Whenever I heard music in my world, I always felt this little spark in the core of the song, and whenever I tried to talk about it, people would always say it was just my imagination, or I was just 'feeling' the music too much. So, the reason I wanted to become a teacher was to show people that little spark of, well, magic in music."
"That doesn't sound weird. It sounds like you have a connection to music. Do you still feel that 'spark' whenever you hear music since coming to Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"Oh yeah, all the time, whether it's the ponies singing when we are shopping, the birds tweeting, or even you are humming when you're reading a book. The only difference is that it is much stronger now," I responded.
"Stronger? What do you mean by stronger? Twilight asked.
"Like the power behind a song, the music has more of a connection to the world. It is as if there was nothing for it to grab onto in my world while here it can actually take root," I responded.
"Hmm. Well, with what you said, that doesn't surprise me because ponies have been known to break out into musical numbers," Twilight said.
"Musical numbers? Like with song, dance, and music?" I asked, a little dumbfounded at what I heard.
"Yes, there is magic baked into this world, so everything we do has some form of magic, even singing and dancing," Twilight said.
I was about to say something when Spike walked out of the kitchen carrying two salad plates. The salads looked identical, save one had croutons, and one didn't. Spike handed me the salad with croutons, which caused Twilight to make her gagging face again before she took the other one in her magic.
"Nasty," Twilight said as she started to walk towards the kitchen.
"They're fine. Oh, in my world, they used to have so many flavors of them," I said.
"La, la, la. Not listening," Twilight said as she entered the kitchen, causing Spike and me to laugh as we followed her in.
As we entered the kitchen, I felt a shiver run down my spine, like I was being watched. Shaking this feeling, I noticed a fresh newspaper on the counter. When I looked closer, I noticed that the main article discussed yesterday's race and included a picture of the two pink ponies. Shrugging, I took my seat, but before I could start eating, Spike held his hands to his mouth before letting out a loud burp.
Spike burped a puff of green fire, and smoke came out of his mouth. However, that did not last long, as a scroll formed from the ashes and smoke and landed in the middle of the table. Twilight did not waste any time taking the scroll and opening it.
"I didn't think I would get a response this soon," Twilight said as she started to read the scroll.
"What does it say?" Spike asked.
"Oh, it says," Twilight said as she read the scroll aloud for Spike and me.
Letter
My dearest and most faithful student, Twilight.
Thank you for informing me of your new and very unique friend, Jack. I cannot say that I have ever seen or heard a human using magic. I would very much like to meet Jack in person along with his pendant as soon as possible. I know today is too short of notice, so I would like to ask that you and Jack come to Canterlot tomorrow.
Attached to this letter are two first-class round-trip train tickets. I hope to see you and Jack tomorrow.
Princess Celestia
Jack
As Twilight finished reading the letter, she pulled out a pair of gold train tickets and set them on the table. I felt a little nervous that I was being summoned to speak with the ruler of this land, and I had been here less than two weeks. Twilight looked slightly panicked, even though she said it would most likely happen.
"You were right. She wants to meet me," I said as I took a soft bite of my salad.
"Finish your salad quickly. We have to prepare," Twilight said as she started scarfing down her salad.
"Twilight, slow down. You have all day to prepare," Spike said.
Twilight started to chew slowly before lifting her head from the plate, "You're right, Spike, but Jack, after we finish, I want us to get ready for tomorrow. I want you to have a good impression on Celestia."
"Okay, we will, but these croutons are giving me a bunch of work," I said as I put one of the croutons in my mouth, causing Twilight to gag and Spike to laugh.
Celestia
"Sister, are you sure?" Luna asked me, a look of worry on her face.
"Yes, Luna, I want to see if what you and Twilight have said is true," I said as I looked out the palace window towards Ponyville.
"I never saw his face. It was only a feeling. And the power his body held. what will you do if it is true?" Luna asked.
"I don't know. But that pendant was his, but Jack was not his name. I don't know," I said.
"Last time this Jack was here, he had a quarter of the royal guards chasing him down the halls," Luna said.
"Yes, speaking of which, can you do me a favor, Luna? Can you please inform the guard that no one from the guard or any other staff is to speak about what happened? I don't believe he has told Twilight yet, and if it is not him, he should be the one to tell her, not the brashness of the guard," I said.
"Yes, sister, what will you be doing in the meantime?" Luna asked.
"I must think. Telling them tomorrow was not for them. It was for me," I said.
"Yes, well. I shall inform the guard, and then I shall retreat to my quarters. Good morning, Celestia," Luna said as she started to walk towards the throne room doors.
"Good night, Luna," I said as I continued to look toward Ponyville.