Some time after the Summer Sun Celebration, the town of Ponyville had more or less returned to normal. Workers from Canterlot, being paid by Princess Celestia, had been sent down to repair any and all damages caused by Nightmare Moon and had fixed them in only a couple of days.

Twilight Sparkle had been requested to remain in Ponyville by Princess Celestia for numerous reasons, the most political being that it was wise to keep the Spirits of Harmony close together, lest there be another disaster of some kind. Another reason was that the Princess would not have the time to teach Twilight as she had been previously; with Princess Luna reformed, she would have to be taught how to live in modern day Equestria.

There was, however, a third reason: Cloud Calculation, the stallion who aided the Spirits in finding the Elements of Harmony, needed to be tutored in magic to allow Twilight to study his mysterious magical ability.

On the day of the Summer Sun Celebration, Cloud had discovered that he had the ability to summon a strange kind of magical, circular platform. This circle allowed him many benefits, as he and Twilight had learned together that day. Since then, not much more had been learnt, but they had come up with a name which fit its supportive abilities:

The Support Circle.

Two weeks had passed since Twilight and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon. On that day, she had expected life to become significantly more exciting. Unfortunately for her, the biggest change was having a second idiot to take care of.

“Okay,” groaned Twilight, “I’ll go over it one more time, are you going to write it down this time?”

“Y’know, it’s not easy to keep up with you when you refuse to slow down,” Cloud moaned. “Especially since I only learned how to write a couple of days ago.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“You keep saying that, but I still have a hard time believing it.”

“Oh boy, here we go again…”

“How is it possible for you to have a perfectly fine understanding of how to speak and read and yet you have no idea how to write?! It’s inconceivable!”

“Can we just hurry this up?” Cloud asked, disgruntled. Twilight tutted.

“Fine.” Twilight turned to the blackboard behind her and began pointing to various locations over it as she spoke, “I’m going to teach you, again, about the three Ts.” Cloud began slowly taking notes in a notebook he had been using for studying. “The three Ts refer to three of the key spells a Unicorn can learn; telekinesis, teleportation and telepathy. The-”

“Wait a minute!” Cloud interrupted, still writing. Twilight huffed impatiently. “Okay, go on.”

“Telekinesis is, by far, the easiest of the three. It’s often the first spell learnt, and is used in day to day life such as, for a random example, writing.” She waited for a moment, but Cloud made no response, focused on his notes. “Teleportation is moderately more advanced,” she continued, ”and is generally only learnt in late teenage years if the Unicorn in question is either powerful enough, or if they have studied and practiced for a long enough time on the subject.”

“So,” Cloud interrupted, “you called these ‘key spells’. I think I’ve realised why; they’re spells so… raw, that they can be figured out or accidentally cast without ever being actually learnt, right?” Twilight smiled.

“Correct. This is why you were able to teach yourself to teleport and use telekinesis two weeks ago. However, the third T, telepathy, is a much, much more advanced spell. If powerful enough, a Unicorn can learn this naturally too, but it’s exceedingly rare. Of course,” she continued, a hint of smugness to her voice, “I am one of the exceptions. I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student for a reason.” Cloud made sure to write down that Twilight was a smug asshole.

Before they could continue, Spike came out of the kitchen with a tray of pancakes.

“Oh, thank you, Spike,” thanked Twilight, “you’re just in time for our lunch bre-” But before Twilight could finish her sentence, Spike had already finished the platter.

“Hm? Oh,” Spike swallowed, his mouth still full of food, “sorry, Twi, that was for my snack time.”

“Spike, you’re a g-” She was cut off by Spike once more, this time coughing up a scroll.

“Now that’s magic,” said Cloud, applauding, “I’ve yet to learn how to digest pancakes into scrolls.” Twilight rolled her eyes as Spike unfurled the scroll.

“Hear ye, hear ye,” read Spike, “Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of - eh, yadda yadda yadda - cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest.” A few seconds after finishing, he coughed up the tickets to the Gala in question.

“Wonderful!” Twilight exclaimed. Cloud looked confused.

“The what now?” He asked.

“The Grand Galloping Gala is a formal event held around the beginning of Autumn,” Twilight explained. “All sorts of important Ponies will be there! I’ve never been allowed to go before, I turned eighteen only this year, you see.”

“Interesting,” Cloud replied. He smirked before throwing a foreleg around Spike’s shoulders. “So, which of us lucky guys are you taking to the Gala?” He joked. Twilight pretended to go into deep thought, smirking all the while.

“It’s a tough choice,” she played along, tapping her chin, “but given the circumstances, I’ll just have to take… Rainbow Dash!” The three of them laughed. “In all seriousness, the second ticket is already yours, the letter is just a formality. I imagine the other Spirits will get their tickets in the regular mail.”

“But what about-?”

“I’m too young,” Spike answered before Cloud could even ask. “Besides, I don’t wanna go anywhere near that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense!”

“Fair enough,” Cloud replied. “Anyway, where were we?” Twilight thought for a moment.

“Ah, yes!” She exclaimed, clapping her hooves together as she remembered her previous train of thought. “Spike, you’re a greedy bastard. I’m going to go out for some lunch.”

“Then I’ll go for a walk and review my notes,” said Cloud. “Maybe get a drink.” Twilight nodded.

“Alright, we’ll come back to this in an hour or so.”

The three of them headed out, Cloud and Twilight going separate ways while Spike rode on her back.

Little did they know, they were being watched.

Cloud was walking through the outskirts of town, going over his notes and thinking about the possibilities. If I can learn to use telepathy, Twilight’s lessons would speed up considerably. She mentioned that it requires a strong amount of magical power. I would’ve thought that she implies my telekinesis and my teleportation will be stronger by the time I’m strong enough to use it. Very likely. I would say endurance training would work best, but I should ask when I get back.

“Hey!” Shouted a nearby voice, growing closer. “Hey, you!”

I should also do a little experimenting with the magic bolt spell. With the excess energy from my Support Circle, I accidentally turned it into a magic beam. I might even be able to do it without a boost, though it would be weaker.

“Hey!” The voice shouted again. “I’m trying to talk to you!”

That’s enough studying for now, I seriously need a break. If I head back into town I might find Twilight and Spike, and I’ll probably have enough time to get a quick drink.

As Cloud stopped to turn back, something slammed into him, knocking him down. He dropped his notebook in surprise, sending it sailing through the air, landing straight in a nearby pond. No!

Cloud dashed over to the pond and pulled his book out as fast as he could. Shit! The ink’s gonna run!

Not giving any time to the Pony that knocked him over, Cloud summoned his Support Circle and flew as fast as he could towards the library, holding his notebook in a telekinetic grip.

From the tests he and Twilight had done, they had discovered that the fastest he could travel on the Support Circle was around twenty metres per second, or close to forty five miles per hour, making it slightly faster than the average running speed of a Pony. This speed, however, was not fast enough to stop his assailant from easily catching up and flying next to him.

“Hey!” Shouted Rainbow Dash, keeping up effortlessly. “Listen to me! I’m trying to talk you!”

“What the hell do you want?!” Cloud shouted back, trying to raise his voice over the wind.

“Gimme your Grand Galloping Gala ticket!”

“What?! No! There’s one being sent to y-!”

“That Gala is the one chance I’ll have to meet the Wonderbolts! I have to go!” She interrupted.

“Oh for-!” Cloud swallowed his anger in one last attempt to stay calm. “Just go away! I need to dry this book before the ink-!”

“Is the ticket in there?!” She interrupted again, pointing to the book.

“Yeah, sure, just go awa-!” Before he could finish, Rainbow made a mad grab for the book, accidentally slamming into Cloud and making him lose his grip on the book once again. The two of them cried out as the book fell, and they both flew after it. Rainbow, being much faster, got to it first and sped away with it. NO!

Cloud finally lost control of his emotions. He got a magic boost from his Support Circle and blasted a dozen magic bolts towards her. They caught up quickly, but not before Rainbow noticed them and used evasive maneuvers, easily avoiding them all but giving Cloud enough time to catch up. He snatched the book out of her grip, got another boost and teleported back as far as he could; about twenty metres.

Out of Rainbow’s sights, Cloud quickly flew down to a nearby thicket of trees. He dismissed his Support Circle and ducked behind a tree, the book in his grasp.

“What is wrong with her?!” He muttered to himself, breathing heavily. After hiding for a minute or so, he looked to his book. It was soaked, ink dripping off the pages, not to mention it was bent out of shape from the fast flying. “Twilight might still be able to fix this before it’s too late,” he continued muttering, ”but I need to find her as soon as I can. Gotta avoid the skies, or Rainbow will try to get the ticket again…”

As Cloud galloped through the trees, he didn’t notice another Pony who’d heard every word.

Twilight and Spike were sitting at a table outside a restaurant. Spike was holding a menu, trying to decide what to order.

“...And when we return,” rambled Twilight, “I’ll need to test if he’s able to use telepathy already. I highly doubt it, but I’m still uncertain how much his Support Circle boosts his magic.” Twilight didn’t notice the restaurant's waiter walking up to the table and asking for her order. “Even then, the mental disturbance it causes would give him trouble in even using telepathy, but-”

“Twilight,” Spike interrupted, “he needs to know your order.” Spike gestured to the waiter.

“Hm? Oh, my apologies,” said Twilight, “I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich, please.” The waiter nodded before looking to Spike.

“Do you have any rubies?” Spike asked, getting a dirty look from the waiter. “No?” Spike sighed. “Okay, I’ll have the hay fries, extra crispy.”

“What do you think Spike?” Twilight asked.

“I think we have to try another restaurant. I mean, I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones? Ponies here are so racist...”

“I’m not talking about that, you idiot,” Twilight said frowning, “I’m talking about teaching Cloud.” Spike sighed.

“Twilight, what happened to your special lunch rule? You used to follow it like gospel.”

“I…” Twilight paused. ”You’re right, Spike, I’m sorry.” The waiter arrived with their food. “Ah, thank you. This looks so good!”

As Spike began stuffing his face with hay fries and Twilight went to take a bite of her sandwich, a crowd of Ponies stampeded past them and entered the restaurant.

“Erm, madam?” Asked the waiter from inside the doorway. “Are you going to eat in the rain?” Twilight looked around herself. But it isn’t rain- Wait a minute, what’s going on?

Though in a circle around her and Spike it wasn’t raining, outside of that circle it was pouring. Twilight looked upwards to see a gap in the clouds above them, occupied by Rainbow Dash maintaining it.

“Hey, Twilight!” Rainbow shouted down. Twilight frowned.

“Rainbow,” she replied dangerously, anger clearly in her voice, “I’m trying to enjoy my lunch.”

“I need to know where your roommate is!”

“Lunchtime is sacred, Rainbow Dash.”

“I lost him around Applejack’s farm, but I can still catch him if you know where he is!”

“We do not interrupt lunchtime.”

Rainbow Dash was about to continue shouting, when suddenly she spotted something.

“Nevermind!” She shouted down. “I’ve found him!” Rainbow flew through the gap and past Twilight. Twilight turned to see where she was going and saw Cloud sprinting through the streets, holding a very ruined notebook in his telekinetic grasp. Chasing him were Applejack and, now, Rainbow Dash.

“Cloud!” Applejack called. “I need that ticket to support my family!”

“GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU ORANGE FREAK!” Cloud screamed back, not seeing Twilight nor Spike at their table.

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back to her sandwich. It had been ruined by the rain.

“Alright,” said Twilight, standing up, “now I’ve got to punch a bitch.”

Finally closing in on the library, Cloud gathered the last of his energy and teleported inside. He fell to the ground, gasping and dropping the notebook. It fell to the floor, becoming a pile of disgusting mess, damaged far beyond repair.

“All I wanted…” he gasped, audibly panting, “was a walk… and a drink… Was that so much to ask for?!”

The front door burst open to reveal Twilight dragging Applejack and Rainbow Dash each by an ear with her magic. Spike came in behind her, annoyed that his second lunch was disturbed. He ignored everyone else, went over to the fireplace and started it up to warm the place from the rain’s cold.

“Okay,” growled Twilight, throwing down Applejack and Rainbow, “both of you, explain. Now!” The gulped and exchanged glances before messily giving a terrible explanation. By the time they had finished, Twilight was deep into a face-hoof.

Cloud sat next to Spike near the fire while Twilight yelled at the two idiots. He held the disgusting mess that used to be his notebook in his hooves and sighed.

“There goes a week’s worth of studying,” Cloud mumbled sadly.

“There goes lunchtime,” Spike mumbled with him.

Twilight stomped over to them and spotted Cloud’s notebook. She rolled her eyes before she teleported it into the trash and then teleported her own notebook into one of her hooves.

“Here,” she said, reaching out to give it to him, “I took my own notes. You can copy them down into a new book.” Cloud looked to the book. After a second, he smiled.

“Thanks, Twilight,” he thanked, fully genine. He reached out to take it-

“Sorry about all that, Twiglet!” Applejack exclaimed, slapping her on the back. “No hard feelings?” The book flew out of Twilight’s hoof and into the fire.

There was a long silence.

After a while, both Twilight and Cloud managed to sum up the whole day:

"FFFFFFFFFUU-!"

Author's Notes:

From the tests he and Twilight had done, they had discovered that the fastest he could travel on the Support Circle was around twenty metres per second, or close to forty five miles per hour, making it slightly faster than the average running speed of a Pony.

In case anyone's wondering, the average running speed of a Pony in this story is around 15 metres a second (or about 33 miles an hour). Cloud's in decent shape, so his speed is likely a little more (I haven't decided this for certain yet) around 17 metres a second (or 38 miles an hour). The Support Circle can (currently) travel up to 20 metres a second (or about 44 miles an hour).