”Today's the day.”

Hokey Smokes looked up a the building, knowing that there was going to be a test today. He had practiced, daily, different tasks to try to cover what it might be. What would the task be? There were so many things that could be done by magic, so many things that it could be. They would want to see how powerful he was, what type of talent he had, if he had the potential to actually be a student there. His mom was supportive, but that didn't really help in this case. What would happen if he failed? What would happen if he went home with the knowledge that there wasn't any chance that he was going to be able to live up to the expectations set forth by the constant belief that he would succeed. At that point, the constant praise from his mom was the thing that worried him. He didn't want to fail her, didn't want her to think that there was something that he couldn't do. There was nothing that could help with that right now, though, and the young colt could only go in there and try to do the task at hand. Failure might happen, but he knew that it was a definite if he didn't try.

He could only hope that the test wasn't too hard.

The room, the one that he was going to be tested in, didn't help with his paranoia. It was a large room, with plenty of chairs. This was likely one of the many rooms that were used as classrooms, with there being large classes of unicorns who came for the lessons that were only taught within this prestigious academy. There were three people, however, who were staring down at him. None of the three looked to be that excited, and all three of them had the same expression on their faces. These were the ponies who would be judging him, his talent. In a way, they were judging his worth as a student, they were judging his worth as a unicorn. That might have b been a little harsh, but it was how Hokey Smokes saw it. A unicorn had a horn, and magic. To him, it would be like a pegasus that couldn't fly. There were likely more things that were a factor, but the young colt wasn't exactly in a position to do a lot of deep thinking. Right now, the main thing that was going through his head was what would happen if he wasn't able to do the simple task ahead of him.

There was a small egg, and his task was to make a small bird come out of it.

How was he supposed to do this? All of the things that it meant to hatch a bird. While he was still a colt, books had told him everything about it. Nutrients were fed to the developing bird, along with the heat that kept it from dying. After a certain amount of time, different depending on the species of bird, changes would happen that would lead to a small bird breaking from the shell. That was the miracle of life, or more accurately it was the process of which a bird was made. Hokey Smokes knew this, the basic knowledge, but it didn't give him all that many ideas about what it was that he was supposed to do. A panic overtook his face, and then he looked over to the people who were watching. They still didn't look excited, there was even a yawn that told him that they were losing the small amount of interest that they had. What was going to happen if he didn't start soon? He had to think of something, had to do something. It would all have to start with him getting a grip on things, he had to stop panicking and get to thinking.

They wouldn't ask for him to do this unless it was possible.

“We don't have all day, Mr Smokes.”

A breath was taken as he went through all of the knowledge in his head again. There really wasn't a lot that he could really do, really think to do at least, that would end with the bird being born. Only one thing came to mind, one thing that he hoped would actually work. His horn started to glow, the egg soon being covered with the same color. Sweat started to drip from his forehead, the spell that he was trying was something that he was creating right then and there. Out of everything that he had done, everything that he had put himself through, hatching a bird wasn't on the list. It hadn't even been anything that he had thought might be asked of him. The glow started to increase, both around his horn and around the egg. Nothing was happening, though. From everything that he had thought to do, it should have been forming a baby bird right about now. He was putting in too much effort to fail, though, so there was only one more thing that came to mind. Hokey Smokes was going to try to touch his horn to the egg, hope that the metaphorical spark of life was something that could only happen that way.

When he walked over and touched the egg with his horn, he quickly saw the spark and felt himself being thrown backward.

One final burst of light happened as the horn met the egg, and it came from the egg itself. With any luck, that would be what was needed. A lot of things went into the birth of a baby bird, one of which was something he wasn't sure he could replicate. It was all about time. The only thing he could do now was wait to know if he had failed or succeeded. Hokey Smokes slowly stood up, looking at the egg that was starting to move. A few cracks started to form, and eventually a small bird made its way out. It had been a success, he was going to be able to join the school.

“Hey! Wake up! Twilight should be back soon. I don't think you'd want to be asleep when she gets here.”

A yawn escaped as he stretched, the morning had come entirely too quickly. His dream had been a good one, another memory of times when things were better than they were now. Would he even be able to do that trick again? At the current pace of what he was doing, it might happen eventually. Hokey Smokes still remembered what had happened that day, how he had been able to adequately pass. It hadn't been great, but it had been something that had caused the life he had experienced up until now. Eyes looked around, wondering if he should offer to help with the books. There had been a few scattered around when he had gone to sleep, each of them giving small clues about what he needed to do. When he looked around right now, however, there weren't any. That didn't make any sense to him, he knew that there had been books here that he needed to do something about. There should be some books here, anyway.

“I'm used to having to pick up books.” Spike said, almost as it he had read the stallion's mind. “You wouldn't believe how often Twilight practically empties entire shelves during her longer study periods.”

I can believe it. To him, he still didn't think that Twilight Sparkle was doing what she did out of some sense of kindness. From everything that had happened, and from what he had heard about her, the mare seemed to like to solve problems. That being the case, Hokey Smokes was sure that was what she saw his current predicament as. She was simply going to solve a problem, and he was going to go back out there and find out where his parents were. He didn't need anything more, didn't really want anything more, than to hug his parents again. Thinking about it right now won't help me, though, I have to figure out.. actually I need a good bath right now. It's been a while since I've had one. Eyes drifted to Spike for a moment, and then he gave a small grin.

“There wouldn't be a problem if I took a bath, right?”

“I wasn't going to say anything about it but... yeah, you should.” A finger pointed off toward the direction of the bathroom, and Hokey Smokes quickly trotted off in that direction

-Thirty Minutes later-

It had been a nice bath, perfectly warm water, but now it was time for him to get back to studying. Hokey Smokes was determined to figure out his problem, he was determined to be able to lift two objects. When he walked into the main room, ready to find a book, he soon discovered that his hostess was walking through the front door. It didn't take a mind reader to realize that the last few days had been difficult, or at least tiring. He didn't know what to say, so he simply walked over. If he wanted to know what was wrong, he'd have to ask. “What's wrong?”

His question must have caught her off-guard, or maybe Twilight Sparkle didn't expect him to walk up and ask, as the shocked look overtook her face. A few moments later, she simply shook her head. Whatever it was that was bothering her, she didn't want to talk about it. “Don't worry about it.” It didn't take a genius to realize that this wasn't true, but there was nothing that could be done about it. She took a few steps forward, Hokey Smokes made sure to move out of her way as she continued toward her room.

There might not be a single test that day.

“I'm going to take a nap. It shouldn't be longer than a couple of hours.”

That was his sign that there wouldn't be any tests today. Even though she had been able to get back quick enough, on schedule even, something obviously wore her out. Was it teleporting the long distance? If she doesn't want to talk about it, I can't make her. It's a real shame, though... Hokey Smokes had learned enough, recently, to know that hiding something like that wasn't something that led to anything good. I hope it isn't too bad. His gaze turned to the room, the door now closed to make sure that nobody went in there. I guess this is a good chance for me to go talk to Spike some more. He seems friendly enough, now that he doesn't think I'm trying to kill them all. He doesn't think that anymore, right? “Spike?” In his mind, the dragon might have been anywhere. He started to walk around, trying to find him, when he heard his voice. The only problem was that it was coming from inside the room, the one that he probably shared with Twilight due to the size of the library. It was wrong of him to want to listen in, he knew that there could be consequences that he didn't want to deal with.

He did it anyway.

“I don't know what to say to him, Spike. I thought I could fix it, but I'm no so sure anymore.” The voice came from an obviously distraught Twilight Sparkle. Was she talking about him? Why did she care so much if she was able to fix his problem? Wasn't he just another problem that had to be solved? Wasn't it likely that she was going to shove him out the door as soon as viable? Those ideas flew in the face of what he was hearing now. If she really did want to help him, Hokey Smokes would have to rethink his opinion about her. If she wasn't talking about him, then it would definitely be good to know.

“What do you mean, Twilight? Didn't the library have something?”

“That's the thing, Spike, it had only a single book about it. And it really wasn't all that helpful. When a unicorn loses their horn, they're not supposed to be able to get it back.”

“But that's what he said happened. And you saw him before, you said he didn't have one.”

“Well, yeah, but that's the problem. If I believe what he said, then he's the first case of something like this happening. That means I have no clue if he can even go back to normal...”

That wasn't the news that he wanted to hear, since this was obviously about him. Who else did she know that could have the same story? I'm the only one. What if she can't figure out what's wrong with me? What if I'm never able to do magic right again? It was worthless to stew on things, to think about the worst, but that was all that went through his mind. Twilight Sparkle had said that she didn't know anything like this, that she didn't know if she could solve his problem. Hokey Smokes didn't even know why it had happened. There was no way that he was going to be like this for the rest of his life. A unicorn that can't do magic is like a pegasus who can't fly. It's... unacceptable. He started to walk away, a defeated expression covering his face. What could he do, other than hope that she came up with a solution? His own attempts had brought his abilities back a little, but there were still things that he couldn't do yet. The main thing that he wanted to do, but still couldn't, was lifting multiple things. This had been something that he had done before, but for the life of him he had stopped thinking about the way he had started to be able to.

There was something that he did, something that had helped, and he had to think of it again.

At the very least, I can try to read a little more about the subject. The books that are about the basic spells should be right... here! A small victory was still a victory. Hokey Smokes grabbed a book, using magic, and sat it down in front of him. The book was about the practical application of minor spells, something that would hopefully tell him about lifting up two objects. It wasn't practical, after all, to only limit yourself to a single object. A breath was taken as he opened the book, and started to read every single word. In his mind, he knew that he would find the solution to the problem at hand.

-One Hour Later-

No solution was found.

This isn't right. There should be something. I know there isn't anything about my unique condition, but there has to be something about the practical application of this type of magic. It was almost as if it was assumed that something like this would be easy, as if he should be able to do it if he was able to do any of the other things. That wasn't the case, of course. Maybe I should just try to muscle through it again. It's either going to work really well, or it's going to fail miserably. Nothing will go wrong either way, I'm sure. Another deep breath was taken, and then he got another book from the shelf. There was no reason why he should start too large, something smaller would help him get the concept down. One eye looked at one of the books, the other stared at the second. His horn started to glow, and so did the first book. Another moment later, the second started to glow as well. The first of the two quickly lifted off the floor, which was completely expected. Once again, however, the second refused to do much more than simply start to shake. This time, it shook more than usual, but it still didn't lift. Once again, this was his sign that he had to muscle through it.

And, in the end, once again he was left unconscious on the floor with the first book soon following.