It was six months after he had started school, finally gotten in, and he had already hit the wall. Every other unicorn was able to do something that he couldn't. At least, Hokey Smokes didn't see anyone else failing to lift something as simple as two books. Every time he saw one of them try, it ended up happening. There were times when he saw them struggling with it, though some pulled it off easily. Whenever he tried, though, it seemed as though there was something wrong. There was something about this that was beyond him, something stopping him from being able to do it. He couldn't figure it out, couldn't come up with the secret of being able to lift multiple objects.

How was he going to do anything major if he couldn't do that?

Dreams of being gifted, much like the school's name had said he was, were starting to drift off. He felt like this was when Celestia herself would come down, berate him, then send him from the school. In the end, he would get sent from the school that made him happy. How would that make his parents feel? That was something else that he didn't want to think about, knowing how proud his mom was that he was able to get into the school. She had been so happy for him, now he was blowing it. Nights were spent studying, trying to overcome this problem. If Hokey Smokes tried, he knew he could come up with something. Night after night, he barely slept, for a whole week. It was only on the last day that it hit him, in the form of an arts and crafts project.

Somepony thought it was funny to throw one of those things.

When Hokey Smokes looked at it, he realized it was supposed to be something existential. It kind of looked like a bunch of trash that was linked together, though. Eyes widened, and then a hoof moved to his forehead. That was the one thing that he hadn't thought about. Every other time he had lifted something, he had been lifting that single object. When he had been lifting multiple things, it had been just that. Hokey Smokes had been focusing on one thing, then the other, and that split had been something that had caused his failure. There was only one way for him to figure out if this was the solution, at least for now. Two books, that was what he was having trouble with. Eyes looked down to them, the two books he had been studying. He focused on them both, as if they were as linked as the 'art' project that had pegged him in the back of the head.

Both of them lifted!

This time, Hokey Smokes was startled awake by his dream.

It was in the middle of the night, but that didn't matter. Why hadn't I thought of that? It's what I used to do as a little colt, to make up for my lack of magical strength. I haven't had to do that for a long time, but that doesn't really matter. At the very least, I should be able to lift those two books again. Maybe I'll even be able to lift three if them. That would be the most awesome news ever. At the same time, though, he thought about going back to sleep. The moon was still high, it wasn't the time to be making a lot of noise. Twilight Sparkle's been nice enough to let me keep passing out here, after all. I don't want to be inconsiderate, that wouldn't be right at all. But maybe I don't have to do it here. I'm sure there wouldn't be too much trouble if I walked out, did a couple of things, and came back in.

That made perfect sense to him.

Without any sound being made, Hokey Smokes made his way out of the library. He didn't go too far away, just somewhere that he thought he could find some things to test his old-new method. Fortunately for him, it didn't take long for him to be able to find small rocks, about five to be exact, for him to test it out. Books didn't weigh much, rocks weighed less, but none of that was important. He wanted to get the method down, and then he could focus on something heavier. First, I'll start with one... and then move up from there. Who knows? I might be able to lift all five. Wouldn't that be awesome! A deep breath was taken, and then he lifted the first rock. It wasn't difficult, not in the slightest. He hadn't expected it to be. As quickly as it dropped down, the second one obtained the same aura around it. In his mind, they were both linked by a string. That was how he visualized it, trying to make sure that he thought of them with the same togetherness that had helped him in his youth.

Both of them lifted!

Three hours passed, with him lifting various numbers of them to make sure that it wasn't some fluke. The good news was that it wasn't, he had discovered the secret that he had discovered a long time ago. Why couldn't he have remembered that before? Hokey Smokes could barely contain his joy, barely stop himself from yelling out that he had done it. The sun was just starting to rise, though, so it was likely not a good idea. And... now I should go get some breakfast. Maybe I'll be able to sneak back into the library. If I make it look like I was there the entire time, she won't say anything. That was an idea that didn't turn out to be a good one, since he opened the door to find a certain baby dragon looking at him.

“Whoa! You really scared m- I mean us, there. Yeah, us. We thought that something might have caused you to run away.” Spike started, looking back to Twilight to make sure that she didn't have a problem with being included.

Twilight merely rolled her eyes, smiling until she looked at Hokey Smokes. It must have been what she had said before. A few seconds of her staring, then she started to force a smile. “Yep. It would have set up back a lot if you had run off.”

The problem comes first. Then again, that's mean of me to think. She seems to be nice and caring, and she really seems to want to help. Hokey Smokes smiled back, before looking over at the meal that had been placed on the table. There were pancakes of some sort, with the drink being milk. It all looked delicious, but there wasn't any for him. Makes sense, I disappeared for a while. They thought I had run away, or at least he did. I don't really know what Twilight Sparkle though. Almost as if his mind was being read, Spike practically sprinted over to the cupboard.

“I'm sure Twilight won't mind if you have some cereal.”

“Nope, everypony needs breakfast.”

Soon the cupboard was open, and the cereal sat on the counter. Milk was gotten out of the fridge. “Allow me.” Hokey Smokes cut in, trying to show off with what he had figured out the night before. His horn started to glow, and once again he had to visualize them both linked in his mind. Both of them, cereal box and milk, lifted off of the counter. He had to keep focused, he knew that this was where things would get exceptionally tricky. First he poured the cereal, then the milk, and both were sat back down. Oh wow, that was a lot harder than I thought it'd be. Maybe it's the weights... they're so different. By now, he was slightly panting. It had been a tiring success, but it had been a success.

Twilight just looked at him, shocked. Spike couldn't help but rush over and give him a hug, which actually knocked him over.

“You did it!” Spike practically yelled. The only downside was that he was right there, and it really hurt Hokey Smokes' ears.