Any minute now...

I found myself nervously pacing by the door, constantly pausing to look at the clock. Fluttershy was due anytime now, signaling it would be time to go to the library and meet the rest of her friends. Rarity had been in her room ‘sprucing up’ as she put it for over an hour now, so this left me with time to think, time to worry.

I know the two keep saying such good things about the girls, but what if I make a foal out of myself? Say something I shouldn’t, do something I shouldn’t? I don’t want to make a bad first impression, I just want everypony to like me.

I paused my pacing to look up to the clock once more. 6:45pm on the dot. I felt myself begin to sweat a little.

Fluttershy said she would tell Twilight Sparkle about me, and about how I look. I can assume she relayed this to the others as well, but... what if they think it’s weird? And then there's Rainbow Dash, what if she's mad at me for yelling at her! And then there’s—

I was startled by a soft knock at the door, causing me to jump. I turned to the door and opened it slowly.

“H-hello?” I asked, although unnecessarily. As expected, a familiar butter-yellow pegasus was on the other side waiting. She gave me a warm smile.

“Hello, Prism, it’s just me,” Fluttershy replied.

I returned the smile before gesturing inside. She nodded and followed me in. I felt a lot better to see my pegasus friend. Just being around her seemed to put my mind a little at ease.

“Is Rarity ready?” Fluttershy asked, walking across the room to the base of the stairs.

I shrugged. “She's been up there for over an hour, now. I’m beginning to worry something may have happened to her.”

Fluttershy covered a small laugh. “No, thats just Rarity being Rarity. She takes her time getting ready to go out; I’ll go get her,” she replied before disappearing up the stairs. A few minutes passed before the yellow pegasus came back down to the Boutique, pouty fashionista in tow.

“I was almost ready, darling,” Rarity huffed.

“Yes, I know, but I don’t want us to be late, Twilight is expecting us,” Fluttershy commented before turning to me. “Ready to go, Prism?”

I nodded before heading for the door and grabbing my cloak. Throwing it over me, I looked back to it. Rarity was right, it really was a lovely color.

I have used my cloak to hide myself from the world for years, but tonight a whole new group of ponies would see me for what I really was. The idea still had me a little nervous, but turning back to see the reassuring smiles of the two mares helped ease my mind. Fluttershy gestured to follow with a turn of her head, as she and Rarity made their way out the door. I forced a small smile and quickly followed.

Well, here goes nothing.

* * * * * * * * * *

Luna’s moon was out in full tonight, softly illuminating everything as far as the eye could see in a warm white glow. It was nights like this that made it feel as if the ground was alive with magic. The light reflected from the snow and onto the surroundings, making everything surprisingly bright and clear, considering the late hour.

I couldn’t help but slow my pace, taking in the awe-inspiring, wintry night. The view was very different out here, than it was back in the city.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Fluttershy asked, slowing her pace to match mine.

“Yes, very,” I replied, looking to her. “While I have never cared too much for winter, I can’t deny the beauty the season can bring.”

The yellow pegasus nodded. “Oh yes, winter can be very pretty; but with all my animal friends hibernating it can also get a little lonely...” she replied, looking over to me with a small hint of a frown.

I went to reply, but was distracted by a knocking ahead of us. Apparently we had already arrived, and Rarity had taken it upon herself to make our presence known. I paused and examined the library as we waited. It was... a tree house? Or would it be a house in a tree? Whichever it was, the ‘building’ was a large tree. While I couldn’t make out finer details in the soft lunar lighting, I could see that it had a certain cozy aesthetic appeal, not unlike Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Come in!” called a voice from inside. Rarity’s magic enveloped the door and opened it for us. Fluttershy was the first to enter. I began to follow behind her, but paused in reluctance, just before the door.

“Go on, darling. You haven’t a thing to fear, they won’t bite,” Rarity assured.

I slowly nodded before entering.I didn’t get but a few hoofsteps in the door before two ponies raced up to greet me.

“Hi!-my-name-is-Twilight-Sparkle!” greeted a lavender unicorn mare extremely enthusiastically. She had a frazzled indigo mane with a softer purple and magenta stripe accenting it. She wielded an unnaturally wide smile and had dark bags under her bloodshot eyes.

The very moment she had finished speaking, the pony next to her spoke up.

“And-I’m-Pinkie-Pie!” chimed a bubblegum pink mare with a ‘poofy’ darker pink mane. She also wore an unnaturally large smile. I shrank back a bit from the sudden welcome.

“H-hel-”

I was quickly interrupted by the lavender mare. The two ponies spoke in turns, with no delay in between each other, or their speech.

“Are-you-really-an-albino-unicorn?”

“Do-you-prefer-muffins-or-cupcakes?”

“Does-your-cutie-mark-really-have-no-color-too?”

“I-love-cupcakes-myself-but-muffins-are-great-too-if-you-love-muffins-there's-another-pony-who-also-loves-muffins-here-in-ponyville-would-you-like-to-meet-her?”

“Is-it-true-what-they-say-about-your-magic?”

“Whoa, nelly!” interrupted an orange earth pony, dragging the other two excited ponies away from me. “Give her some room, girls; there will be plenty ah’ time for questions later.” The mare turned to me with an apologetic smile.

“A’might sorry about my friends, they’re just excited. The name’s Applejack, I run Sweet Apple Acres along with my brother Big Macintosh, sister Apple Bloom, and our Granny Smith,” she announced, extending a hoof to me, which I slowly, reluctantly met with my own.

She grasped my hoof with her other forehoof and gave it many strong, friendly shakes. I quickly lost balance and fell to my haunches once she had let go.

“N-nice to meet you, too... Applejack,” I replied softly as I collected myself and got back to my hooves.

The orange mare had a blonde mane tied back in a tail, but her most prominent feature was a large Stetson hat that adorned her head.

“Come on in,” Applejack instructed.

Nodding, I followed her inside beyond the doorway. It opened into a very large, spacious room where rows upon rows of books lined the the walls. Despite the building’s interesting appearance outside, one look on the inside and anypony could instantly tell that this was in fact a library. I paused a moment, scanning the walls of books, deep in thought.

This isn't nearly as big as the Manehattan Public Library, but this is a impressive collection nonetheless, there must be hundreds of books here... I wonder if there are any on painting or scale models?

I made a mental note to visit again later to browse the selection.

“Come say hello, Rainbow,” Applejack called, turning to a cyan pegasus in the corner of the room. The pegasus looked at me before shooting a hint of a glare and looking away.

Applejack gave her a puzzled look. “Uh, well, okay then. Anyway, that there is Rainbow Dash,” the orange earth pony commented, gesturing back to the rainbow pegasus.

My ears fell as I sank down. “N-nice... to m-meet you.. R-rainbow Dash,” I stammered out, watching the cyan pegasus nervously.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too,” she replied flatly, not bothering to look back to me.

“Rainbow Dash! You are being absurdly rude to our guest,” Rarity declared, turning to her. “Apologize to her, at once!”

Rainbow Dash turned to me briefly. “I’m sorry,” she said half-heartedly before quickly looking away.

Rarity shot her a glare before turning to me. “Ignore that brute, she will come around,” the fashionista assured me.

Twilight Sparkle approached me slowly with a sheepish smile. “Eh-heh-heh... uh, sorry about earlier, I guess I got a little excited. My name is Twilight Sparkle, what's your name?” the lavender pony asked, looking to me expectantly. Everypony, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, focused their attention on me, watching me. I felt extremely nervous, and very much in the spotlight.

Fluttershy slowly walked up to me and leaned in close, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s okay, go ahead and introduce yourself.” She gave me a warm smile, which I couldn’t help but return. The yellow pony withdrew her hoof, and joined me at my side.

“I-I’m, P-pri-”

“Prism! You made it!” called out an oddly familiar voice.

Everypony in the room turned to face the sudden outburst. A small purple dragon was entering from a door across the room. I immediately perked up at the sight of the friendly face.

“Spike!” I returned happily, rushing up to greet the small dragon.

Twilight turned to Spike and me with a puzzled look. “You know this pony, Spike?” the lavender mare asked quizzically.

Spike turned to her with an affirmative nod. “Of course! I meet her at the Manehattan train station a few days ago; shes awesome!” Spike exclaimed before turning to me. “I was beginning to worry the cops caught you, and that you were arrested or something.”

There was a long, awkward silence as everypony stared at him blankly.

Spike looked around the room at everypony’s blank expression. “...What?” he asked with an oblivious shrug.

Everypony quickly turned their attention to me.

“Cops?” Applejack asked skeptically, with a mistrusting gaze.

“Arrested!?” Rainbow Dash added, narrowing her eyes at me suspiciously.

My ears fell back as I shrank down to the floor, smiling back sheepishly. “I-it’s, not what you think!” I replied nervously.

“Not what you think?!” Rainbow Dash spouted before flying over and landing in front of me. “What are we supposed to think?” She looked down to me with a mistrusting glare.

“I-it’s... a long, s-story,” I stammered out, almost frightened. I slowly began inching away from the skeptical pegasus.

“We have time...” Applejack added, joining the cyan pony standing before me and looking down to me suspiciously through narrowed eyes.

“Now girls, I’m positive there's a perfectly good explanation,” Rarity cut in, pushing the two skeptical ponies away from me.

“She doesn’t exactly strike me as the criminal type,” Twilight added, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head.

“Prism,” Fluttershy called to me softly before leaning down to me. “Listen, I know you're a good pony, so don’t be afraid to tell us what happened, okay?” She gave me another of her comforting smiles.

I stood back up to my hooves with a long, hard sigh.

“Like I said, it's a really long story, but...”

Everypony formed a half circle around me as I began. I decided to explain the the whole situation to the girls in detail, from the beginning: Fluttershy had fallen into tears at my mention of Mr. Wiggles and his fate, Rarity briefly fainted as I told the story of my paintings’ demise at my hooves on the rooftop, while everypony was extremely worried and concerned at my mention of how I almost ended my life that night shortly thereafter.

I went on to explain my encounter with the firepony and how I had run away. I gestured to Rarity as I told them all how I found Rarity’s dress in Snooty’s shop, and how it inspired me to come and start anew in Ponyville.

Spike helped me tell the story of our encounter at the train station, and how he helped me escape capture. Everypony had gasped at my mention of how I ran into the Everfree Forest that night to evade capture from the two police officers that pursued me. Twilight and Fluttershy added how dangerous it was for me to go into the forest alone, and at night. I once again turned to Rarity at my mention of how I threw away my saddlebags to help me run away.

“So that's how you lost your belongings,” she commented, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

“Yes, they were too heavy for me to run with, so I had to get rid of them,” I replied, nervously pawing at the floor with a hoof. “I was desperate to get away, but when I escaped, I realized how foalish it was to drop them; starting over in a new place with nothing to your name normally doesn’t get you very far, I imagine.”

I managed a small laugh at myself before falling silent for a few moments. “...While in the Everfree, the danger didn’t end with me evading the officers...”

I looked back up to the girls as I told them of the cockatriace I encountered in the forest later that night. Fluttershy looked particularly worried.

“How did you get away?” the yellow pegasus asked with great concern in her voice.

“I didn’t...” I replied slowly, looking to the floor. “It turned me to stone.”

Everypony gasped as their eyes went wide in shock.

“Oh my stars, darling! What happened? How did you get free?” Rarity asked, taking a few steps closer to me.

I managed a warm smile before looking up to meet her. “A zebra named Zecora found me in the forest the next morning. She used some herbal remedies to heal me,” I answered. “She told me I was unconscious for several days thereafter, and that I was very lucky she found me as soon as she did.”

“Well, That would explain why it took you so long to get here,” Spike added matter-of-factly.

“Yes, but I owe her my life. If not for her, I would still be in the forest right now.” I replied with a nod.

Rarity stepped back before waving a hoof at me. “Anyways, sorry for the interruption, darling. Please, do continue.”

I again nodded and continued my tale of how Zecora had escorted me to the outskirts of Ponyville, and how I found my way to the edge of town from there. I turned to Rainbow Dash sheepishly and noted my encounter with her, and how I had yelled at her and ran away.

“I was only trying to say I was sorry,” the cyan mare huffed before turning away, crossing her forelegs as she hovered in place.

“I-I’m really sorry about that Rainbow Dash... I was just so scared that somepony had seen me for what I really was,” I replied shyly in shame. “I was worried that everypony would think I was a monster or a freak if they knew my secret before they got to know me.”

She turned to me with a look that hinted at some guilt. “I didn’t think you were a freak or a monster... I was just, surprised,” she commented, before regaining her composure. “It’s not everyday that somepony white as snow pokes their head out of a snowbank to talk to you, ya know.” She looked away again, forelegs folded and eyes closed.

I sank down a bit. “But... I really am sorry for everything, Rainbow Dash, could you find it in you to please forgive me?” I asked, slowly straightening back up.

The rainbow pony hummed. “Hmmmm, I dunno...” she replied, before opening an eye towards me with a playful smirk. “Well, I suppose I could forgive you, just this once.”

I managed a big smile in return. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash!”

“Ah, don’t mention it.” She dismissed my notion with a wave of a forehoof.

My smile quickly faded as I recalled what happened next. I turned to Fluttershy as I explained my mishap in town, after the encounter with Rainbow Dash. I told how I had planned to return to Manehattan to accept my fate, and how that’s when I bumped into Fluttershy.

She then helped tell my story of our encounter, and relayed what I had told her, about her being my very first friend. Everypony else looked at her, bewildered, as if not believing what the yellow pegasus was saying.

Rainbow Dash held out a hoof before speaking up. “Wait-wait-wait... So what you’re saying is, before meeting you, she has never had any friends before?” she asked quizzically before turning to me.

I slowly shook my head. “Everypony avoided me in school, and those who didn’t, bullied and teased me for being different,” I replied. “After that, I began avoiding contact with other ponies, unless I absolutely had to. ... Eventually I came to hate going outside.”

“Goodness, Darling! Why that's just, just... Horrible!” Rarity exclaimed, taken aback, covering her muzzle with a hoof. She turned to Fluttershy. “Why, that explains so much!”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “She’s been through a lot,” she added empathetically.

Pinkie Pie, who had been quiet up until now finally spoke up. “Wow, no friends... I can’t imagine what that must be like...”

The pink pony quickly perked up to a cheerful demeanor. “I know! let's throw her a PARTY!” she exclaimed, jumping and hovering unnaturally in the air, while confetti exploded from seemingly nowhere. “It will be a ‘Prism has made lots of friends’ party!”

Twilight Sparkle shot the party-happy pony a stern look before deadpanning. “Pinkie...”

The pink earth pony looked to the lavender mare before quickly fell to the ground, landing on her haunches. “Oh, right...” she replied, visibly disappointed.

Twilight let out a hard sigh before turning to me. “Anyways, go on, Prism.”

I now turned to Rarity, as I explained how Fluttershy and I left the cottage to meet her. I decided the leave out her initial reaction from our meeting for the fashionista’s sake. After all, she didn’t know any better. Rarity helped share the rest of my story. She also made note of our magical mishap in the boutique.

“Twilight, we have something important to discuss with you later, involving Prism’s magic,” Rarity announced.

Twilight nodded before turning to me. “Speaking of her magic, when Fluttershy had told me she was an albino, I was confused. I had never heard of an albino pony before,” she commented. “So, I started doing some research, and was quite fascinated with my findings. I was up all night, reading every piece of material I could find in the library on the subject; which was surprisingly very little. I had to resort to the archived texts in the basement for any definitive answers.”

Rarity approached Twilight hesitantly. “That would explain the...” Rarity paused reluctantly, biting her lower lip while waving a forehoof in circles at the lavender unicorn. “Dreadful, composure.”

Twilight looked up to her hair before looking back to Rarity with a sheepish look and smile.

“What did you learn?” I asked with great interest, taking a few steps forward to the studious mare. “To be honest, I don’t know much about my albinism, only that I am one. Nopony I met in Manehattan seemed to know anything about it either.”

Twilight walked over to a desk across the room and levitated some papers. “That’s probably because the last documented albino pony was over four hundred years ago, seven hundred for the last unicorn, according to the texts I found,” she commented, while looking over her notes.

Everypony else looked to me in shock.

Rarity slowly stepped up to stand before me. “I knew I had never heard of one before, but four hund—no, seven hundred years?” Rarity gasped. She and Fluttershy looked at me bewildered.

Fluttershy joined the fashionista in front of me. “I had no idea the condition in ponies was so... rare,” she added, tilting her head with a perplexed look. “Why is that, Twilight?”

The lavender pony turned to Spike. “Spike, if you would please.”

“Right!” the small dragon ran out of the room and quickly returned with a large stand-up chalkboard.

Twilight sat down her notes and levitated a piece of chalk. She began drawing an image of a pony on the board as she cleared her throat.

“Albinism, as everypony knows, is a condition that causes the host a complete lack of natural pigment,” she informed us.

After finishing drawing the image, she looked to Fluttershy. “Due to our natural affinity to magic, albinism in ponies works differently than it does in other animals.” The lavender pony turned back to, and gestured at her chalkboard. “Here we have a normal earth pony.”

Twilight drew arrows circling along the inside edges of the pony image.

“Everypony has magic within them, and that magic is distributed throughout our entire bodies. This goes for all ponies; earth, pegasi, and unicorns, alike. A pegasus’s magic is focused in their wings, while a unicorn, their horn. They still have the same naturally-occurring flow of magic throughout their entire body; just not as evenly dispersed as an earth pony’s.”

Twilight turned back to face us all. “Everypony follow so far?”

Everyone nodded before she turned back to her chalkboard and continued.

“Well, this natural flow is not only what helps keep us healthy and gives us our strengths, but it’s also what gives a pony’s coat, mane, eyes and cutie mark their color.”

Rainbow Dash held out a hoof. “Okay, so, I get that much, but what makes her so different?” the cyan pegasus asked impatiently, gesturing to me.

Twilight turned to her and held up a hoof. “I was just getting to that,” she replied, turning back to the board, and erasing the circle of arrows within the pony image. “Now, here we have an albino pony, the difference is...”

She drew a very small circle of arrows in the center of the image before turning back to face us.

“The albino pony suffers from a mutation that causes an abnormality in the flow of their magic. In other words, it’s trapped inside them, or bottled up if you will,” she continued. “This lack of magical flow causes a pony to lose all pigment, and the result is...” Twilight turned to me suddenly.

“Prism, would you mind taking off your cloak for us?” the studious mare asked, watching me expectantly.

I nervously scanned the faces of everypony in the room. All eyes were on me, with eager, curious and interested looks. After a few moments of silence, Fluttershy turned to me, leaning in close.

“It will be fine, Prism. Nopony here will judge you for the way you look, I promise,” she reassured before taking a seat next to me. “I’ll be right here with you.” The yellow pony held out a hoof before giving me a wink. She stole a small smile from me.

What would I do without her.

I slowly leaned down and removed my cloak, passing it to Fluttershy. I untied my restraining hairbands and unrolled my tail, before turning to face the rest of the ponies in the room. There were mixed expressions amongst the new ponies.

Applejack’s eyes were wide in surprise, while Pinkie Pie and Twilight had huge grins. Rainbow Dash had a smug look on her face as she turned to Applejack.

“See, what did I tell ya? White as snow,” Rainbow Dash remarked with a small laugh at Applejack.

Twilight Sparkle excitedly approached me, closely examining my mane and coat with a huge smile.

“This is—this is amazing!” she exclaimed, before looking between myself and Rarity a few times. “You really put Rarity’s coat to shame.”

The fashionista quickly scoffed at the comment. “Well, I try my very best to keep my coat well groomed, but I guess I simply can’t compete with a natural beauty,” she replied with a pouty tone and look.

I shrank down with a small blush at the fashionista’s comment.

Twilight looked to Rarity and deadpanned, “I meant her coat’s contrast, Rarity...”

“Oh, uh, yes, right, of course!” The fashionista smiled back and laughed sheepishly.

Twilight coughed lightly, getting everypony’s attention. “Anyways, as I was saying, the result is a pure white pony with fleshy pink to red eyes, and...” Twilight paused. She looked back to me and gestured for me to turn.

I nodded and did as instructed.

“...a greyscale cutie mark image,” she added, gesturing to my flank.

I went wide eyed, blushing profusely at the realization everypony in the room was now staring at my flank. I quickly turned back around and sat to my haunches. Rainbow Dash and Spike lit up in a fit of laughter before Rarity turned to the two, casting them an icy glare.

“This isn’t funny! This is a serious discussion!” she scolded.

The cyan pegasus and dragon quickly quieted and sat down sheepishly.

Twilight turned back to her chalkboard, levitating a piece of chalk again. “There's more,” she announced, briefly looking back to everypony. “Since their natural flow of magic is obstructed, this also causes adverse effects.” She drew a few more images, one of a pegasus, and another of a unicorn. Twilight turned to face Applejack, and then Pinkie Pie.

“First, an albino earth pony’s constitution is far less than that of an normal earth pony. This leaves them weaker, more frail, and prone to sickness. This rule applies for all three types of albino pony, but more so with the earth pony then the others.”

Applejack took off her hat and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, while Pinkie Pie simply froze in place.

“Ah can’t imagine being plum tuckered all the time... And gettin’ sick often? Why, working the farm would be out of the question,” Applejack mused.

“Getting sick is no fun. Being sick means you can’t go out and play, or visit your friends, or eat sweets, or—” Pinkie Pie let out an over exaggerated gasp. “Or party!” She fell to her haunches, cupping her head with her hooves as a look of horror pasted to her face.

I took a step forward to Twilight. “That would explain why I get tired so easily, and get sick so often,” I commented before turning to Fluttershy. “It’s large part of why I dislike winter so much.”

Twilight casually gestured a forehoof to me. “A unicorn's immune system is already weak during the cold winter season, and in your case, it would be even worse,” she added matter-of-factly before turning to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

“Anyways, now, an albino pegasus. Because their magic is obstructed, it cannot reach, nor be concentrated in, their wings. This results in the disabling of flight.”

Fluttershy gasped while Rainbow Dash jumped up to her hooves and looked back to her wings, spreading them and giving them each a few flaps.

“You mean they can’t fly?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out in shock. Twilight shook her head. “Oh my gosh! If I couldn’t fly, that would mean... I couldn’t do tricks, I’d never be able to join the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dashed cupped her head with her hooves, letting out a worried cry as a look of fear adorned her face.

Fluttershy remained frozen still, eyes wide in shock.

Twilight then turned to Rarity and I. “Lastly, an albino unicorn...” She began pacing back and forth in front of her chalkboard, looking deep in thought. “They are the most fascinating of the three. While their natural flow is obstructed to their horn, yes, unicorns don’t just draw magic from their horn, they draw it from their entire body. This is why we get so exhausted after excessive magic use.” The lavender unicorn paused for a moment before turning to me. “But since an albino unicorn can still use their horn... they can tap directly into this obstructed magic.”

Rarity looked to Twilight, clearly confused. “So they can still use magic just fine, then?” Rarity asked, turning to me. “If so, why does Prism not use hers?”

Twilight looked to the fashionista, utterly perplexed. “Prism doesn’t use her magic?” she asked quizzically before turning back to me.

I shrank down. “I-I... I don’t really like my magic,” I replied slowly.

Twilight rubbed her chin with a forehoof. “Well... now that I think about it... I can venture a guess as to why,” she mused to herself.

Rarity gave her an impatient look. “And why's that? Why in Equestria would a unicorn ever desire to not make use of their magic?”

A smile crept across Twilight’s face. “Prism, would you be willing to show us your magic?”

“I don’t... really want to use it in front of anypony,” I replied slowly.

Rarity gave me a confused look. “Why ever not, Darling? It’s just magic, we have all seen it before,” the fashionista declared.

My ears flattened as I thought about it. “Mine’s different, it scares ponies... I have been teased because of it, bullied, called a monster, an abomination.”

Fluttershy, having broken out of her shock some time ago, turned to me. “Whatever is different about it, I promise nopony here will judge you because of it. Just like nopony judged you because of your appearance,” Fluttershy assured me. “And, um, besides, I am curious too. ...So, um, if it’s not too much to ask, and if it’s alright with you... Would you mind showing us?” Fluttershy took a step back, her ears falling back, as a guilty look overtook her face.

I couldn’t help but smile at her shy, overly-polite antics. I looked up to everypony; they were all looking to me expectantly. Twilight approached me again, asking once more.

“Please?”

I let out a long sigh. “Alright... I’ll do it.”

The lavender pony’s expression instantly exploded into glee as she began to jump around the room. “Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!” she repeated, excitedly.

Pinkie Pie quickly followed suit, jumping behind the bookworm in equal excitement, repeating every “yes” and jumping in synchronization. Twilight stopped suddenly in place and Pinkie pie consequently crashed into her, toppling the two over. Everypony in the room laughed at the comical scene. Twilight, unfazed by the incident, dragged herself from under the pink earth pony and trotted up to me.

“Thank you, sooo much! As soon as I read about it, I couldn’t wait to see it!” Twilight turned and levitated a sheet of paper to the center of the room. “Will this work?” she asked, looking back to me.

“Yes, that will work fine,” I replied. Twilight let out an excited squeal, setting down the paper for a moment.

Rarity gave her an utterly dumbfounded look. “I still don’t understand what the big deal is,” the fashionista commented flatly.

Twilight quickly turned to her.  “Just watch!” Twilight focused her magic to her horn, suddenly turning out all the lights in the room.

“What the hay!”

“What in tarnation you do that for?”

“Whoa! Who turned out the lights!”

“Relax everypony, just watch!” Twilight assured them, levitating the paper once more. The resulting effect covered the room in a warm, purple glow.

“Ooooo, pretty!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

Twilight turned to me. “Okay, go ahead and take it from me when you’re ready.”

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves and exhaled; trying to take my mind off everypony watching me. After a few moments I looked up to the paper and focused my magic.

The purple glow around room faded momentarily, before being replaced by an explosion of vibrant colors. My magic’s field engulfed the paper as it illuminated the walls in a shifting sequence of vibrant, colorful light; the magical display creating a dazzling aurora borealis effect that danced along the library’s walls in a sea of every color imaginable.

Several long seconds of silence went by as the spectrum of colors continued to light the previously darkened room. I started to worry.

Did I... scare them?

Several more seconds of silence went by, and I shifted nervously.

I knew this was a bad idea...

I decided that was enough, and quickly let go of the paper. As it gently fell to the floor, I focused my magic to turn back on the lights.

There, stood seven stunned figures, all slack jawed and wide eyed. They remained staring to the center of the room where the paper had previously been levitating. Once again several long seconds of silence went by. My ears fell back as I sank down to the floor.

“I-I... I’m sorry... I won’t ever do it again...” I whimpered.

Rainbow Dash was the first pony to escape from the daze. She turned to me, awestruck.

“That. Was. Totally. AWESOME!” she exclaimed, jumping up to her hind legs and throwing out her forelegs for empathises.

My ears perked up as I slowly stood back up. “...W-what?” I asked, confused by the cyan mare reaction.

“That has got to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!” she replied, before pausing briefly and regaining her composure. “...Not quite as cool as my sonic rainboom though, but pretty close.”

Rarity was next to escape the trance. She very slowly turned to me. “Hub, baw, Wha?!” Rarity stammered out confused. She visibly shook herself, regaining her composure. “What in Equestria was THAT?”

“M-my... my magic,” I stammered slowly.

Rarity went starry eyed. “Oh my stars, darling! Why, that was the most beautiful, most amazing, most GORGEOUS display of magic I have ever seen in my life!” she exclaimed before her expression quickly shifted to confusion. “You were ashamed of that? Darling, that was simply magnificent! Why, such fabulous magic should be displayed more proudly!”

Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were next to escape the entrapment. Applejack simply fell to her haunches, while Twilight turned to me with an unbelieving look.

“I read that it was colorful, that it was beautiful, but nothing could have prepared me for THAT!” Twilight exclaimed, walking up to me. “Prism, your magic, it’s simply amazing!”

Applejack visibly and loudly shook herself before looking to me. “Gosh, Prism... that sure was pretty, I ain’t never seen anything like it,” she replied, getting to her hooves. “Honest to goodness, that was truly one of the most amazing thing I have ever—”

“Whoawow!”

There was a loud thud as everypony turned to see Pinkie Pie slowly picking herself up off the floor after having fell on her face. She suddenly jumped to her hooves and leapt across the room to me in a single, physics defying bounce. She slowly kept approaching me as she spoke.

“That-was-so-cool!-Please-tell-me-you-could-do-that-again-I-would-love-to-use-that-as-a-party- trick-at-my-next-party-” Pinkie pie took a huge gasp of air before continuing. “would-you-be-willing-to-do-that-for-me-please?-Would-ya-huh?-huh?-huh?” Pinkie Pie’s forehead was now against mine, and she was staring me eye to eye.

I quickly took a step back in discomfort. “I-I... don’t—”

“That was totally WICKED!” Spike exclaimed, arms stretched as he walked up to me. “I mean, I knew you were cool, Prism, but not that cool! ...Could ya do it again?”

“I...” I looked around at everypony’s faces, they were looking at me expectantly. “...Okay” I focused my magic at the sheet of paper once more and brought it before everypony.

Twilight walked up to it, closely examining my magic’s field. “I can’t even begin to explain it.” She poked the paper with a hoof. “There was so little information on an albino unicorns’ magic other than its visual display, ponies seven hundred years ago just didn’t have the tools or technology to accurately study it...” Twilight paused before quickly turning to me.

“Would you mind letting me study your magic? For science, of course!” the lavender pony asked excitedly.

I covered a laugh at the unicorn. “Yes, Twilight, you may. ...I am actually quite curious myself. It may help me come to a better understanding of myself,” I replied. Twilight grabbed my forehooves in hers and began excitedly jumping up and down in place.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

I withdrew my hooves and shied away from everypony. “This was... unexpected,” I announced, before scanning the faces of everypony. “Nopony has ever been happy to see my magic before. Like I said, I only have ever had negative reactions.”

Applejack approached me before gesturing a hoof to Twilight and Rarity. “While ah may not know much about the fancy-schmancies behind magic like them unicorns, Ah honestly can’t see how your magic would be a bad thing; it’s just different,” she added with a shrug.

I smiled back to her warmly. “That means a lot to me, thank you Applej—” I was rudely interrupted by a loud rumbling from my stomach. I quickly blushed, shrinking back sheepishly as everypony let out a small fit of laughter.

“Using my magic makes me hungry,” I announced, looking up to the sheet of paper I was levitating before setting it back down on the desk across the room.

Rarity rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Now that you mention it, we haven’t eaten yet, have we?”

“No, we haven’t,” I replied, scratching the back of my head with a hoof.

Rarity turned to Spike. “Spike, do be a dear and make the lady something to eat, would you?” the fashionista asked, batting her eyelashes at the dragon.

“Sure thing, Rarity!” Spike exclaimed before quickly disappearing into the next room.

“Isn’t Spikey-wikey just the sweetest thing ever?” the fashionista asked.

I turned to the room the baby dragon disappeared into. “Yeah, and he's just so cute too.” I froze after realizing what I had just said. My face quickly went flush.

Rarity shot me a sly, smug smile. “Oh, I know!” she replied, covering a laugh.

“Come on girls, lets find something to eat,” Twilight announced, heading for the next room.

“Oooh! I wonder if there are any cupcakes left!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing across the room after the lavender pony.

The rest of the girls and I followed suit.

We made our way through another room whose walls were also lined with bookshelves before entering the kitchen. Spike had finished preparing a delicious-looking daisy and daffodil garden salad for me. Rarity went on to comment how wonderful It was for Spike to treat a lady so well. Spike’s eyes seemed to swell up at her words. I tilted my head at the baby dragon.

He sure seems to act funny around her.

As I ate my salad, the rest of the girls ate leftover cupcakes from earlier that day; they looked quite delicious. Pinkie Pie informed me that she lived and worked at Sugarcube Corner, and that I really should stop by sometime for some treats. Having finished their food, everypony slowly branched off into conversation with one another, laughing and having a good time.

But all the while, I couldn’t help but feel that we were forgetting something...