//------------------------------// // First Impressions // Story: A Spark in the darkness // by Burly Bubble //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle hummed to herself as she sorted through some books in the library. She had finished her daily checklist quite a bit earlier than intended, so she had to find things to do to keep herself occupied. Twilight sighed as she put the last book on the shelf. Today was just too uneventful. She was used to one of her friends having some sort of problem or needing to write a letter to the princess, but today was void of any conflict or letter writing. Twilight was about to just leave her house and see if there was something she could help anypony with when she heard a belch from the kitchen followed by the familiar 'fwoosh' of dragon fire as it delivered a letter. Twilight rushed into the other room to see a young drake retrieving a scroll from the ground. "Letter for you Twilight." Spike grumbled, obviously aggravated by the sudden letter interrupting his afternoon snack. Twilight swiped the letter from his claws with magic and quickly opened it, hoping for it to contain some sort of task for her so she wouldn't be bored anymore. That and she liked to help her mentor, but she was currently unbelievably bored. My faithful student Twilight, I apologize for not sending a letter about this earlier, but unfortunately I was caught up in various royal affairs. A student of my school for gifted unicorns has advanced extraordinarily through the classes. He definitely has much potential, but I feel he isn't living up to this potential in such a large class where he has to go at the class' speed. I am sending him to you so he can learn at a faster pace and so you can gain experience as a magic teacher. However, I must warn you this little unicorn is a special case. His name is Mystic Spark and you can expect him some time tomorrow. Don't worry about meeting him at the station as he is being sent by air carriage, however I'm afraid I was unable to find living arrangements for him, so I must ask if he may stay in the library's spare room. If you find this accommodation unsuitable, please let me know and I will make other plans for Mystic Spark. Your mentor, Princess Celestia Twilight read the letter again, to be sure she read it right. Celestia was entrusting her with a student of her own. She was going to be a mentor! Twilight bounced around the kitchen squealing like a schoolfilly. Spike grumbled something about how girly she was and drifted out of the room. Twilight hardly noticed him leave as she continued to hop around, thinking of things to do with her student. She would teach him spells, read books with him and... she couldn't think of much else. Nothing to do with teaching magic anyway. She would introduce him to her friends and show him around town but she felt she should do more than just that as a magic mentor. Twilight shrugged. There would be time to think up activities later. For now she had to ready the guest room which hadn't been used since she moved into the library. She'd offered it to Spike but he had chosen to sleep in her room and when Applejack and Rarity slept over, it only made sense to have them sleep in the same room as their host. That aside, she needed to dust the room, put sheets on the bed, set up a desk with a lamp so he could study. 'Finally, I have something to do!' she thought as she skipped up the stairs to begin her tasks. Twilight squirmed with anticipation. Her student was due to arrive some time today. The guest room had proven easy to clean and furnish, so Twilight had spent most of the previous day preparing today's schedule along with various lesson plans for the week which she would choose based on what he scored on a pre-test she had prepared. The princess wrote in the letter that he was a student with great potential, so the test she prepared began with some basics but quickly delved into some advanced magics. Should he be versed in the advanced magics, she would go straight into teaching him magics she was currently learning, thus achieving her mentoring duty as well as her studies. In the back of her mind she somewhat hoped he wouldn't be that developed, fearing he would replace her as Princess Celestia's personal pupil, but she quickly pushed the wicked thought to the back of her mind. Celestia wouldn't be so cruel as to abandon her for a more able student, and even if he were more apt than herself, she shouldn't begrudge him for it. He was going to be her own student after all so if he did surpass her, she should be proud not jealous. Twilight was so lost in her own thoughts, she almost missed the knock on the door. She rushed across the room and quickly opened the door with her magic. "Hello! It's so nice to meet you! My name is Twilight Spa-" Twilight stopped, confused. There was no one at the door. She leaned out and looked around, not seeing anyone other than some ponies sitting at the cafe. "Ahem." mumbled a voice from below. Twilight jumped, startled by the sudden noise. She looked down and saw a little lapis colored colt with a cyan-ish mane. On his flank was a grey and blue star shape somewhat like her own, but lacking the smaller stars that surrounded her own. "Uhm...," the colt began, "Miss Twilight Spah? Do you know a Twilight Sparkle? I was told I could find her at this library." Twilight was stunned for a moment, then giggled to herself. "Sorry," Twilight said, still giggling, "I just didn't finish my sentence. My name is Twilight Sparkle. You must be Mystic Spark. It's nice to finally meet the pony I'm supposed to mentor, but I wasn't expecting you to be so young." "Oh, um, nice to meet you. The princess told me all about you when she told me about her plans to send me here to study. I hope we get along nicely." Mystic replied politely, lowering his head in a bow. 'Aww, he's a little gentlecolt' Twilight thought. Twilight trotted towards the small table in the center of the room. Mystic followed her inside. "I've prepared a small agenda for us today so we can get to know each other, then tomorrow I'll give you a small quiz so I know how much magic you know. It's only a few pages, so it shouldn't take long. Then-" Twilight rambled excitedly. Mystic chuckled under his breath and muttered something about 'that's why' and 'not babying him'. Twilight looked at him, wondering why he chuckled, and finally got a good look at the colt's face. Staring back at her humorously were two grey eyes. So this is what the princess had meant about him being a special case. This little colt was blind.