//------------------------------//
// I - Lost 
// Story: The Leap 
// by LoreLove 
//------------------------------//

	It had been several weeks since Starlight had been accepted among Twilight's close friends. Of course, it wasn't without its own wariness within the group. The powerful spells and other tricks Starlight could pull off was almost worrying to Twilight. Thankfully, the unicorn seemed more inclined to be a better pony.
Training with her, Twilight had noticed many different spells that were either combined into others or even made up from Starlight's knowledge of existing ones. It was nothing short of impressive. A few times, the princess of friendship had to take some notes herself. It was always a bit thrilling to her to learn new things and study them through and through.
Those notes also carried their own worry. As much as Twilight liked the idea of new uses for simple spells, the idea of altering well-known or even higher level spells wasn't exactly the safest thing. Luckily, she had also taken the time to figure out counters to most of them. Oddly enough, some of the counter spells were just as dangerous to perform if things weren't properly worked out.
Twilight sighed as she looked up to the party cloudy sky. It was getting late and the sun had set beyond the horizon. With barely enough light out, the pony let her mind wander on just how hard the pegasi or earth ponies had it. Did they have just as much trouble with keeping weather under control or the food like she did with magic? Rainbow Dash and Applejack made such things look so simple.
The thought made Twilight smile some. She probably made her own tasks look just as easy to them and hardly knew it. It was something she did pride herself in, though she hardly liked to flaunt it.
“Head in the clouds?” came Dash's voice from behind.
Twilight let out a soft giggle and nodded to her. She couldn't hide her expression while being lost in thought. Probably looked like she daydreaming.
“Yeah, just been thinking about things,” Twilight responded, glancing over to see her blue pegasus friend doing a casual float on her back.
“You always think! You never just let things be,” Dash teased before smirking.
“I know,” the alicorn admitted with folded ears. “I just like to understand things, though.”
The pegasus blew a raspberry before rolling her eyes and flipping over in the air. Twilight knew Dash didn't enjoy looking too far into some things. She didn't blame her, though. It wasn't for everypony.
“Psh, yeah, but you should take a breather once in a while, Twi!” her friend urged, lazily floating nearby.
Dash was right. Sometimes it was good to not think so heavily on things and relax from studying. It wasn't as easy for Twilight to do, though. She had plenty she wanted to get done before taking some time to 'chillax' as Dash liked to say.
As the two walked along, they discussed their day and the plans for the next few, should Equestria not be in need of saving. They were getting close to attending a party that Pinkie Pie had wanted to throw. Thankfully, they had talked her down to more of a late picnic party rather than setting up the castle again only to clean it shortly after.
Before then, Twilight still had to help Starlight out with a few more spells. She was late enough on cleaning up her long list for the day. All that was left was a tiny bit of training with Starlight, to set up the picnic area, and then just enjoy the night. At least she could finally do what Dash always urged her on about.
“Twilight!” came a voice to their left.
A glance showed the unicorn in training trotting over with a smile. Despite mishaps, Starlight really was trying to do better. It just might take time for her to properly get those friendship lessons down. Twilight knew how troubling those were. A brief reminiscence of when she first came to Ponyville brought a smile to her muzzle.
“Hey, Starlight!” the alicorn called back. “Are you ready for a quick training session today? Er, well, more dawning onto the night with the twilight out now.”
The two laughed while Dash rolled her eyes.
“Rarity and the others are already waiting on us, though,” Starlight mentioned, giving a nod in the direction they were headed.
“It shouldn't take long. Just a few minutes to test out deflection and teleportation,” Twilight assured her.
“You two eggheads should give it a rest,” the pegasus groaned, swooping around and letting her legs dangle uselessly.
Twilight gave a soft giggle before she playfully rolled her eyes and looked to Starlight. The two gave a nod before Dash zoomed off.
“I'll tell the others you two will be by in a moment!” the rainbow maned pony called out.
The testing of spells had varied over the past week. It had normally been by the book with the exception of simply drawing up more power to use them. Lately, it seemed both of them had been trying to work out any errors in combination spells. There was always an extreme likelihood of something going wrong, so they had to play it safe with counter spells at the ready.
The sudden zap of a beam near her hooves had Twilight instantly jump back. She forgot her own rule to stay alert. The ground gave a light sizzle as smoke rose before another shot came her way. The deflection angled the beam to the ground at her side.
Bright colored magic went across the gap between them as the two tested out various beams and shields. Some of the beams erupted in a glorious fashion Trixie would be proud of. Others nearly broke or cracked the conjured shields with how much power they kept putting behind them. One shot even managed to clear a hole in the clouds without effort.
It didn't take long before they were both taking a break and panting lightly. Some beams curved, some almost traveled the full circumference of the shield, but they were both strong and knew how to hold their ground or ease up. It was certainly going to be a quick session for the day.
Next up, Twilight made a simple gesture with her head and lit her horn. In an instant, she popped out of place and zapped back in near a tree. Starlight eagerly teleported to her as well. Another blink and she was twenty yards into the air. The unicorn wasn't far behind, using her own full-body levitation spell to stay afloat.
The two popped in and out of sight all over the area. One after the other, guided by magic and testing their own sensory spells to find each other, they continued the swift teleporting for a bit. It was getting easier for Twilight to find Starlight after her leaps with magic. The combination spells of the teleport with a guidance spell to home in quicker was one of the very novel ideas Starlight had made. It almost made Twilight a tad jealous, but she couldn't help and admire the amazing talent.
There had been a few other spells the alicorn wanted to try out with the teleport, but she also didn't want to keep her friends waiting long. Only a few more minutes and the two finally slowed down and leaped back to their starting area. It wouldn't be an easy task to incorporate some of the spells, but trial and error were always the process towards improvement.
“There you are,” Twilight heard Rarity say nearby. “Rainbow informed us you two had to train and we decided to come watch for a bit.”
“Oh, thank you, Rarity, but we're about done anyway,” Twilight explained.
“Nonsense,” the white unicorn said and added, “We won't let you squander your needed talent just to have a picnic. Now, continue on and Pinkie should be by with the confections soon anyway.”
It was true that Twilight needed to keep her skills sharp and not be lazy. She loved the fact she had such understanding friends. The thought brought a special warmth to her heart before she gave a nod and agreed.
Starlight readied herself for more of the training while the rest of their friends began to sit nearby and watch. Flashes of bright colors began once more with a few being carefully directed away from their onlookers. The ponied all gasped and stamped their front hooves a few times at well timed dodges or blocks. It felt nice for Twilight to have a small audience commend her on her studies going to work.
Everything was going great! Glimmer had managed to redirect a few projectiles back with her shielding, making Twilight have to knock the beam away or simply block it herself. The inclusion of such spells together was something that she hadn't even thought of. Her own combo spells had ranged from using more force to move Starlight than break the shield or even weaken only one point in the protection with a thinner beam. It was all fascination!
Some of the spells did get a little too close to her friends which had Twilight scrambling to activate a barrier in front of them. With so many different ways to block, attack, and dodge it was almost a little too much to remember. Coupled with the fact there were plenty of combinations to use, Twilight had her head full of various information during their training.
Various clumps of dirt had been popped free from the ground in plenty of missed or deflected shots. It looked like a miniature battlefield. Twilight wasn't too worried, seeing as she could rework the pieces back as if nothing happened in a reformation spell. It wasn't until she heard a loud gasp as Starlight was charging a beam that made Twilight worry.
A look to her friends had Pinkie standing on her hind legs with her front hooves against her cheeks. She looked surprised and in awe at the whole aerial engagement. Just Pinkie being herself. Twilight just wanted to make sure nothing had hurt them. When she looked back, the bright color of Starlight's beam filled her view.
There was a million different spells and ideas that blitz the alicorn's mind all at once. She was almost overcome with so many choices and her split-second decision making. In the end, her eyes closed as she tried to teleport away as quickly as she could. The familiar sound and sudden feeling of the ground beneath her hooves made her cautiously open an eye. No attack coming at her any longer.
It was a panicked move but one that saved her a nasty sore in the morning. At least she was okay and her friends weren't in any harm. The thought of her keeping her friends safe and still keeping up the training almost made her feel quite accomplished with herself. She took a deep breath as she looked along the undisturbed ground before turning to greet her friends.
Nopony was there. Not a soul stood where her friends were just mere seconds ago. The sudden change in a fact she had confirmed made the princess confused. Her gaze wandered around to find Starlight but she couldn't seem to find a sign of the unicorn anywhere. Something wasn't right.
“Girls?” Twilight called out, trying to think of where they might have gone. Were they hiding?
As she waited to listen for a response, she noticed something else. The ground had been unmarked by any of the prior session Starlight and her had taken part in. No holes in the dirt or clumps of the earth uprooted from their beams were to be seen at all. She didn't take full notice a moment ago for some reason.
“Rarity? Starlight? Where are you?” she called out a bit louder. The silence that came back was almost deafening.
Why wouldn't her friends answer her? Why was it so quiet? Twilight's mind slowly began running through scenarios that might have happened. Pinkie wanted to surprise her? Dash was doing another prank?
Twilight's heart beat quickly as she sat down and took a few deep breaths. There was no need to get scared right away. There always had to be a reason for something. The simple thing to do would be letting Dash get her laugh or Pinkie pop out from behind a tree or something. Just wait.
She nodded to nopony but herself as she thought more on the subject. That was all. She just had to wait. Any second, her friends would tell her she was fine and that it was all didn't intend to go so far to scare her.
Why couldn't she even hear the birds or any insects? Worry would not leave her face. The purple pony stayed in the same spot for several minutes, listening closely and looking around her. There was hardly any place to properly hide. The twilight above couldn't hide a group of ponies, could it?
There wasn't much left for the alicorn to do before she stood up and decided to try and locate Starlight with that newly concocted magic-find spell. Coupling that with her teleport should allow her to find the unicorn and hopefully her friends quickly enough. It took her a minute to collect her scattered thoughts before finally managing to work the spell.
The supposed jump to the location was quick and effortless, but a glance around showed her still in the same spot. Twilight had a hard time not letting the worry get to her as she tried again. Once more, the leap to what should have been in close proximity to Starlight kept her in the same place. It wasn't helping her slowly dawning fear.
Twilight quickly rushed over several feet and tried again. Yet again, she stayed in place. Not pulled back or moved anywhere else. She had no idea what was going on. Her mind raced as she stood still, doing her best to not let the panic rise any higher. She would have to figure things out. There simply was no other option. Twilight would figure something out.
All alone.