The following morning found me waking up with the vestiges of my dreams slowly fading away. I brought my hand to my eyes to find that they were watering. “Why am I waking up crying?” I was thoroughly confused, as I tried to grasp what my dreams had contained, all I could vaguely remember was a quiet glade lit by torches and some classic rock playing. It felt like…it felt warm. But as I tried to remember more, the dream fell away to nothingness, leaving a hollow feeling in its wake.

Smacking my lips in reaction to my cotton mouth I dragged myself out of the warm bed and out into the basement to use the bathroom. After cleaning myself and grabbing a drink from the faucet, I returned to my room and walked over to my trunk. Putting the key in and giving it the required flick I opened the setting that let me down into the storage room. I had mentioned this before but never really went into detail as to what it was like down there. The room was around 10’ by 15’ and had a ceiling sitting right at 9’. The back of the room was filled with shelves that contained various bits and bobs of stuff. Old trophies from past battles or monsters I’d slain, my entire book collection (best to not let Twilight know about them, at least not yet) even just random stuff I thought would have some form of use in the future.

The majority of the room was filled with stuff like this. However, leaning against the wall tucked between two shelves was one of my most significant training tools. Through a lot of trial and error, I had managed to construct a magical faraday cage out of celestial bronze. The task had taken a good couple of months. The entire reason for having one though was so that, A. I would be able to actively tell that I was in an area of high magical density by training myself to feel the myst, and B. so that I would have a chance to directly get away from magic’s influence. At one point I felt like being surrounded by the myst was getting me to close to Hecate, however, at this point in my life, I figured that actively trying to avoid places where she would be able to spy on me was fruitless.

As to the relevance of this now, I figured the best way to teach Twilight about using ambient magic was to let her get a feel for what it was like to not be surrounded by it at all times. Thus began the arduous task of hauling the thing out of my trunk. After twenty minutes of heavy lifting up a ladder, I managed to get the entire thing out. It wasn’t really all that heavy, but damn is it award to lift some of the panels up the stairs. After getting everything out of my trunk, I made my way to the kitchen with the intent of greeting my hostess, only to find that it was Spike in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Ho Spike. Does Twilight always make you put the meals together?”

Spike laughed “she doesn’t make me do it. But If I want anything even remotely edible I do. Twilight can’t cook to save her life. I tend to do most of the household stuff, making meals, cleaning the library, shelving books, laundry, you know, stuff like that.”

I nodded with understanding “you are going to make some mares very happy someday little dude. At least if Mares are anything like the woman back where I am from. Some of the girls from camp used to talk about how they were holding out for a guy that can cook.” Spike blushed at my compliment.

“You really think so?” I nodded in assurance and Spike looked around for a moment before continuing “do…do you think a mare like Rarity would be impressed with something like that?”

I scratched the stubble on my chin “well I don’t know who Rarity is, so I can’t really speak on that? Why, is she a mare that has caught your eye?” Spike blushed and nodded almost imperceptibly, so I pushed for more information “well tell me about her. How old is she, what are her interests?”

He got a dreamy look in his eyes “She’s wonderful. She had the purest white coat with a gorgeous purple mane. She is a bit older than me though. I think she is in her mid-twenties, but she loves fashion and everything that comes with it. She’s….She’s perfect.”

When he mentioned the age difference, I noticed something that could end up biting him “Hey Spike…how old are you?”

Sticking his chest out “I will have you know that I am 14.” He spoke this with a manner of pride in his voice.

I figured as much “Hey Spike, just a question but, is Rarity the only mare you have feelings for? Do you know any mares or colts your age that you find interesting?” his face told me very quickly that he seemed to be offended about the colt comment “Hey don’t give me that kind of look, I’m not one to judge, the Greeks were very open about that kind of thing. You would never have to worry about me thinking less of you for being interested in colts. I for one have no room to speak on that.”

It took Spike all of five seconds before he connected the dots “wait… you mean you like Colts and mares too?” He realized his mistake in words rather quickly as he slapped his hand over his mouth.

Smirking “nothing wrong with it, I say to each their own. As long as no one gets hurt, then there isn’t really a problem in my mind. But to get down to the brass of it, Spike I think Rarity is a bit too old for you mate. Now I’m not saying that it couldn’t happen, but I am saying that Women most often don’t go for younger men. At least not when the age gap is as big as yours is with Rarity’s. So I ask that you take this next bit of advice with a grain of salt.” He looked at me with confusion at this comment “It means to look at the advice with a bit of skepticism. Don’t act on it as if I’m some all-knowing guru or something. But my advice is this, Start looking around for fillies or colts in your age group first, get some experience under your belt. Then after doing so for a year or so, see if you still feel the same about her, if you do, try to pursue her, if not. Well then at least you have some better experience to go off of. But I have to ask what kind of relationship do you have with her at this point?”

He was looking a little down at my suggestions “well I help her out a lot when she is working at her boutique.” I rolled my hand forward to indicate that I wanted him to continue “and well I help her dig up gems when she needs them for her fashion lines. I spend a lot of time around her come to think of it.”

I nodded with understanding “well has she shown any kind of interest in getting to know you better?”

Spike was a little glum thinking back on it “No…no I don’t think she has ever invited me to anything that wasn’t work.”

Thinking quickly “has anyone else ever tried to get you to go out and do something for fun before?”

He shrugged “I guess Sweetie Bell and the CMC’s have invited me to stuff before, they tend to invite their friend Pip as well.” I noticed a ting of blush when he mentioned the younger mares and this Pip.

“Okay then, how about the next time that they invite you to spend time with them, you go. As long as you aren’t ditching out on getting something taken care of for Twilight, you should be fine. And if they wanted to hang out today, I don’t think that would be an issue. At least not this morning, I have some plans that involve Twilight that will likely take all morning, so that should leave you free. What do you say?”

He grumbled, “I guess it just feels weird to try to look for others besides Rarity.”

I dropped down so that I could look him square in the eye “hey I know it sucks to try new things sometimes, but if I never did that, I wouldn’t be here right now. It worked out great for me, and I know that it will work out for you as well.” Spike looked at me with what could only be described as awe in his eyes.

“You really think I have a better chance with kids my own age?” I nodded.

“To tell you the truth Spike, you are a good-looking guy, bring you up to eighteen, and you will be beating the mares and stallions of with a stick. So how about you finish up whatever it was that you were eating before I came in here and run off to find them. I can take over and get something made for Twilight.” Spike jumped at me and gave me a hug, at first I was shocked, but after getting over it I hugged him back.

He pulled himself from me and grabbed a bowl of what looked to be sapphires off the table and ran out the back door. From behind me, I heard someone speak “that was really nice what you did for him you know.” I turned on the spot to find Twilight leaning against the door.

Shrugging it off “Naw, kind of figured that he needed a male’s perspective for a change, nothing against you or your friends, but being surrounded by mares all day will give him a skewed point of view when it comes to dating, kids going to be a Casanova someday though. I can tell he has what it takes to be a real knock out.”

She smiled “So where you being honest when you told him you were bi too?”

Stepping over to the stove I realized that Spike had been about to start pancakes, picking up where he left off I began to put some together for us to enjoy “I never lied to him, Just because Hecate is one for secrets doesn’t mean I am. Why? Do you have a problem with us being the way we are?” I gave her a withering glare, almost challenging her to give me shit about it.

She held her hands up defensively “not at all, most mares are. At least I know all of my friends are. I’m not really sure what kind of population of the Stallions are known to swing both ways, but I always figured that limiting yourself to only being with one gender would limit your options for happiness.” She was blushing up a storm and added in an almost inaudible mutter “not that I have any experience with dating that is.”

Realizing that she didn’t intend for me to hear it, I let it slide. “Cool then, glad to know that this world isn’t as full of bigots as my world it. But let’s drop that topic for now. Pancakes?” I held out a plate for her to take.

Taking the plate over to the table we ate in silence for a few minutes before I spoke again. “So I figured that I would start us on training today, I want to see what we could accomplish.”

Her eyes sparkled at the thought of doing new magic, finishing off her current bite “I would love to learn more magic. How are we going to star?”

I smirked knowingly “well first thing is first. After we finish eating you may want to change into some workout clothes. My training will be both physical and magical.” She deflated at this.

“W-what does physical training have to do with magic?” She was nervous, and I could tell.

Looking straight at her I continued “technically, nothing. The kind of magic that I will be teaching you is almost entirely spiritual, but I have found that keeping a healthy body will go leaps and bounds toward having a healthy soul. Don’t worry though; I plan to start us off slowly at first, just a lap around Ponyville to start. After that gets to be easy, we will increase the workload. While you finish your lap, I will put together my study aid.”

She was not happy with the prospect of running around Ponyville “do you have any idea how far that is?! And why did you say ‘while you finish your lap’ are you not going to do any running?!” her last statement was accusatory.

Smirking “I didn’t say anything like that, I will be doing three laps. I just expect that I will be able to finish my three before you finish your one. Now please don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look like a mare that spends much time doing any kind of physical activity.” She blushed and nodded “I thought as much, for me, this is a pervasive thing, I can run a five-minute mile myself and seeing as the entirety of Ponyville is only about a one and three quarters a Kilometer around. Well, I normally do a 5K three times a week anyways to keep fit. And before you ask, for me to train you I will require the physical training. There is no option of getting one without the other.” She deflated at this. “Don’t worry Sparkles. It will be worth it in the long run.”

She blushed at the nickname “Why do you keep calling me Sparkles?”

Shrugging “it’s just a nickname, but if you don’t like It I can just call you Twilight.”

She shook her head and blushed again for some reason “N-no it’s fine.”

Shrugging I just continued eating. After our morning meal was cleaned up and settled in our stomachs, we walked out of the library. Twilight was interested in the pile of stuff that I had moved outside before making breakfast “Mag, um what is all that stuff?”

Walking over to it “Well the large sheets of metal mesh is for after our jog, the clothes on the ground are for training.”

She still looked confused “what do you mean training clothes, I thought that was the reason that you made me change?”

“Exactly what I said Sparkles, you are currently wearing your workout clothes, the clothing in that pile will go on over your training clothes.”

I watched her as she made her way over to pile, I smiled to myself as I noticed that she was walking to my pile instead of hers. She bends down with the intent of picking up the shirt, only to find that I was far too heavy for her to life “What is wrong with this shirt. It’s way too heavy to wear and run around in. I can’t even pick this up, and you expect me to put it on and run around!”

Laughing I walked over to her before lifting the shirt up over my head “not at all Sparkles, this is my pile of workout clothes. I don’t expect you to ever get up to this stage. At least not unless you push yourself that far. Your pile is the smaller one right there.” I pointed to the smaller pile sitting a few feet away from mine. “you pile doesn’t weigh close to what mine does, and just to be nice, I will only make you wear the shirt for the first week. It’s only an extra five kilos, no worse than wearing a backpack.”

She picked up her shirt and found it to be significantly lighter, bending down I picked up my arm bands and leg bands to add to my set. She must have been watching because she asked: “Um, I’m just curious but how much does your stuff weigh?”

Twisting my head to crack my neck I thought about it for a second to remember before answering her. “Well the shirt is 100 kilos, each armband is 25 kilos, and the leg bands are each 30. So altogether 210 kilos of extra weight.” I looked back at her and gave her my biggest shit eating grin. “Demigods have a different training regimen than that of your average person, or I guess I should get used to saying pony.”

Twilight seemed to be doing a bit of math in her head before she shouted at me “how can you possibly move in all that! You expect me to believe that you are wearing an extra 462.971 pounds and walking around like it was nothing!” I could tell that she was completely blown away.

Shrugging I just started my stretching routine “Yes, Yes I expect you to believe me that I am wearing the extra weight. At least I’m not wearing it all the time anymore. I went through a stage where I would wear this stuff all the time. Blame DBZ for it.” I could tell from her confusion that she had no idea what DBZ was and I didn’t really feel like clarifying it for her. “now I suggest that you follow my lead and start stretching, the last thing you want to deal with is a cramp when you run.”

We finished our stretching and began our run. As I ran, I noticed a few glances from the ponies of this village but paid them no mind. I just focused on my lesson plans, I figured that for the first week at least I would only place her in the Faraday cage for an hour or so each day to make her get a feel for what the myst feels like as it flows syrup like thought the air.

As I ran I also took note of how fresh the air was here. It felt so alive, so clean. I managed to make my 5k run in just over 15 minutes before I made my way back to the library to put together the faraday cage. It took me another 15 minutes to get the pieces reassembled, but I managed to get the last part into place just as Twilight stumbled around the corner “y-you a-are e-evil.” she sounded like she was going to pass out.

Lifting myself up I walked over to her and handed her a bottle of water. It was warm, but I didn’t want a bottle of cold water to shock her system. Taking the bottle from me she drained it before plopping down on the ground, I shook my head before walking over to her and lifting her back up on her feet, her blushing up a storm as I pulled her up by her underarms “W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”

“What I am doing is getting you back up on your feet so that you can cool down properly, sitting all bunched up like that will give you cramps and won’t do anything for getting oxygen back in your system.” After getting her back up on her feet, I moved my hands down her arms out to her hand so I could pull them up to lace together with each other on the top of her head. “keep walking around a little bit and hold your hand up here with your arms out. It should help keep your diaphragm open enough to work better” As I did this I notice a very pungent scent of Lavender, ink, and parchment coming from her all mixed with something I couldn’t place but almost smelt spicy.

Shrugging it off I let her cool down until I was satisfied that she wasn’t going to pass out.

“Well it wasn’t the best time I’ve ever seen, but we will work on that in the weeks to come.” I walked over to the door to the Faraday cage “Now what I would like you to do is to come over here and have a seat in this.” I patted the top of the cage. “inside you will find a pillow for you to sit on. While I will only run you around Ponyville three times a week. I expect you to spend at least an hour a day sitting in here meditating on the nature of magic and how it flows through the world.

Walking over to the cage she looked at it curiously “what is this thing?”

“I am glad you asked, this is one of my greatest creations, it’s a magical faraday cage!” She was still wearing a confused stare, so I elucidated further “as for what a Faraday cage is… well, the standard one is to block out electromagnetic waves, this one blocks out all magic. Inside this cage you will be completely alone, the natural magic that you normally are surrounded with is completely absent within its walls. Now don’t worry about anything. The door will never be locked, and even it for some reason it ever did, the walls are made of a very fine mesh of celestial bronze. they have some heft to them, but because you are not a demigod, you will be able to walk right out.”

She turned her head back to me with an unsure look in her eyes “I don’t know. It sounds a little far-fetched that something like this could cut out all ambient magic.”

Shaking my head “Just trust me okay. Go have a seat and do as I asked. I promise that this will be a new experience for you.”

She gave in and had a seat. As soon as I closed the door, she began to shift around as if uncomfortable “Why does the air feel so thin in here. It’s almost like the air is dead in here.”

I nodded my head in agreement “that is what a world without magic feels like, for most of my life that is what I felt. My world doesn’t have even close to the kind of ambient magic that this world has. when you are able to clearly tell the difference between an area with high magic and low magic, then we will move to the next stage.”

As we sat there, I noticed what seemed to be a build of magical pressure on the other side of the treehouse, figuring that it wasn’t a big deal I just ignored it, right up to the point that Celestia herself came running around the side of the library. It looked like she had vengeance in mind before she took in what she saw, after the flames of plasma left her hair she calmly walked over to me with an unhappy look in her eyes.

In a voice so quiet that only I could hear her “Hello Magos. Would you be ever so kind as to tell me why I suddenly am unable to feel my student’s magical signature and to inform me why she seems to be sealed in a cage?” I could tell that she wasn’t happy with me right now.

“I-I apologize C-Celestia, she is sitting in a magical faraday cage. She is begging her training to learn my new kind of magic. I am teaching her how to feel the natural flow of magic around her by cutting her off from it for a while. Thus the reason for the Faraday cage.” At this point, all I could do was put up a brave face and hope that she didn’t just vaporize me right there. I couldn’t believe that I had done something so stupid as forget to tell her what my plans were. At least my last night alive was pleasant.

As these thoughts flashed through my mind, I was shocked to feel her place a gentle hand on my shoulder “Please do not be afraid of me Magos.” I turned my head to face her, each movement was jerky due to the adrenaline rushing through me in what I had thought would be my last moment alive. “It pains me to see somepony like you with such fear in their soul. I can not imagine what your world was like that made you fear gods in the way that you do. I only ask that you give my sister and myself to show you that we are different. I mean you no harm, nor does Luna. I was terrified that something had happened to her, ever since I first met her as a foal. She has been a staple of my life. She is very precious to me. When her magical signature disappeared, I thought I had lost her.”

I took a shaky breath “I’m sorry for worrying you. It was never my intent to do so.”

She smiled back at me with all the warmth of her sun “I know Magos, I know. Please take care of her for me. I rest easier knowing that she is protected.”

I stood up and bowed to her “I will make sure she is.”

I didn’t notice her walking over to me before she lifted my head to look at her “I know you will keep her safe. For the both of us.” I had no idea what she meant by that but before I could ask she did something that nearly made me fall on my ass right there and then. She leaned down and kissed me on my forehead before disappearing in a flash of light.

shaking my head in a vain attempt to make sense of what had just happened, I uttered “What the fuck was that for?”