//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Magic Lessons 
// by Sun Aura 
//------------------------------//

Sunset looked out to the crowd standing in the grassy CHS soccer field, all of them Counterparts to a Unicorn. All of them transformed. It was a thankfully small group. Most were from Canterlot High, since a lot of Adults couldn’t schedule time off work and a lot of Crystal Prep was being stubborn about ‘learning from Canter-not’. 
Still, there were a few more than just CHS students and staff, like Twilight’s brother, Sunset’s Counterpart(Shimmer), Lance , Shimmer’s cousin Sunburst, Twilight’s friend Obsidian, Sunny Flare, Starlight Glimmer, and two friends of Rarity’s named Fancy Pants and Fleur. They also had three Alicorns joining them, as Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, and Dean Cadence had to go to all the lessons. 
“Everyone, grab a ball,” Sunset instructed, only to be met with a few giggles. 
“Teenagers,” Starlight muttered. 
Thankfully, everyone did as instructed, and grabbed a ball with little fighting over colors. The balls were about the size of a softball, and about as weighted, though made of an actual soft material. They were on loan from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. They were good for practicing spells on, without much risk.
“First, let’s go with the basics,” Sunset said, lighting her horn. “Accessing your magic. Obviously, this is essential to spellcasting. It feels like a constant thrumming within you, but quiet enough to ignore. Try and grab onto it. You’ll know you’ve done it right when your horn lights up like mine has.”
She watched them struggle for a bit. Twilight and Rarity got it first, having used magic before. After them, it seemed like a certain group got it at once. Then another group, followed one by one by the rest of them. She waited until all their horns were lit in various colors.  
“Interesting,” she mused. “Next, try and grab the ball in front of you with your magic, and lift it to your face.”
She demonstrated with her own ball. Watching them try it out, she noticed something. They managed to do it in almost the exact same order. Sure there were differences, but the same ‘groups’ got it first. 
“Very interesting,” Sunset mused. 
“What’s interesting?” Twilight asked. 
“A lot of things,” she said. “Mostly, is that some of you are having an easier time than others.”
“And that’s different because?” Starlight asked.
“Because it matches your Counterpart’s skills and power,” she said.  “Keeping Twilight and Rarity out since they’ve done some of this before, we seem to have groups. Celestia and Luna are the most powerful in Equestria, being Immortal Alicorns. Shining, Lance, Starlight, and myself are all highly gifted, and while I haven’t met Obsidian’s Counterpart, I bet he is as well considering what I’ve heard of him. All of you seemed to get it almost immediately.”
“So the more powerful the easier you’ll have it?” Sunny Flare asked.
“Yes and no,” she said. “It also seems to go along with the learned skill your Counterparts had. After that group, was Lyra, Minuette, Sunburst, Sweetie Belle, Moondancer, Cadence, and Trixie. There’s a range of power levels and age there. In Equestria you have a one in Minuette to a two-point-five in Cadence, but all of your Counterparts have had some kind of Magic Schooling past what normal ponies learn. For everyone else, adults went first, then kids.
“This suggests that some of your skill followed over,” she continued. “I suspected it when Rainbow Dash was able to fly as soon as she got wings. This will also make it easier when we move on to group exercises, and eventually to more powerful spells. For now, try moving the ball around. Get a hold of how it moves. Be as extra as you want, go at different speeds and try abrupt stops sometimes, but try not to hit anyone. If you feel really confident, try to move it around you while you walk or talk.”
She made her own ball do loops as she spoke. As expected, the groups got a hang of it in the same orders. Still, she allowed herself to chuckle when she watched them weave their heads around to watch the ball. Some were more graceful than others, and as expected a few balls did go flying. Then again, that’s what Sunset’s magic was for. 
She made rounds, suggesting exercises for people as she went. She held a conversation with a few of those who wanted to try levitation without thinking. She especially gave attention to those who weren’t quite getting it. Once everyone had gotten a chance to play around with it, and they had stopped bobbing their heads around, she decided they’d gotten it down enough to move on. 
To stop them, she reached out her magic and grabbed all of the balls out of the air. Most of them jumped at the connection being broken. More than a few swore. 
“Yeah, having someone interrupt your Magic always feels weird,” Sunset said. “But that’s where our next lesson is going. I’m going to pair you off, and you and your partner will pass the ball back and forth for a while. As before, once you get a handle on this, you can try being extra and tossing it around or playing keep away.”
“Are we allowed to choose our partners?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“No,” she said. “Sorry, but I know your skills here and I think it’s best to practice with someone on your own skill level. I mean, if I pair someone who’s doing good with someone who’s still struggling, they could get frustrated and blame the ‘lesser’ partner. Or someone could over help and then they won’t get what they need.”
“I’m still going to try and pair you up with someone you’ll get along with,” she continued. “First up, Shimmer can be my partner.”
“Wow, because you get along best with yourself,” Shimmer laughed, walking over to her counterpart.”
“That, and your ‘Group’ has an odd number,” she replied. “Okay, Lance and Shining pair up. Twilight, you get Obsidian. I think Celestia and Luna can handle themselves, and Rarity-“
“I’ll pair up with Fancy!” Rarity cut her off, already clinging to the man’s arm.
“I was going to say Starlight,” Sunset said. “She’s a better match for you in magic power, while he’s a lot lower.”
“True,” Rarity smiled. “But if you pair me with Starlight, you can’t let her talk with Sunburst. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?”
Sunset sighed. Rarity was almost as stubborn as Rainbow or AJ, so she knew it would take a while to convince her.
“Fine,” Sunset agreed. “But everyone else still has to go with what I say.”
There was a murmur of agreement. She used her magic to pass back their balls.
“Alright,” Sunset continued.  “Starlight and Sunburst, like she said. Lyra and Minuette, Trixie and Moondancer, Sweetie Belle with Cadence…”
Once she paired everyone up, she began passing a ball back and forth with her Counterpart. While she was still unsure of why her Magic had changed color, it was helpful to see when Shimmer took the ball from her, as it changed from orange to turquoise. 
After a while, they began walking and passing the ball. Sunset watched everyone else’s colors change too, since she couldn’t feel for herself if they were doing it right. Pink to silver, magenta to red, gold to silver, violet to yellow, turquoise to yellow-orange, purple to a gray-pink, and green to blue.
Then she added an extra element to it. She had everyone stop and pick up a second ball. They were to hold the second ball in place while passing their original back and forth. It went wild, as she’d expected. Nearly all of them forgot which ball to hold and which to move and ended up shooting them all over the place. 
She soon moved them up to passing one ball and moving the other. Then the next step was to pass both back and forth. It was shaky at best, and even the quicker group began to have trouble with it. A part of her wanted to keep them going, but she saw how some of them were getting tired.
“Okay, that’s enough for today,” Sunset called, grabbing all of the balls again. 
“Really?” Trixie whined. “I could keep going with that.”
Don’t push yourself,” Sunset said. “Here’s your next spellcasting lesson! Magic takes energy, just like any physical activity. You can keep up any spell as long as you’re conscious and you have the energy to maintain it. Like physical activity, you’ll regain energy by eating and resting.”
“You sound like a video game tutorial!” Flare shouted. 
“Think of it like one then,” she replied. “Levitation is a spell that slowly drains your energy as you use it, and you wouldn’t notice it unless you, oh I don’t know, did nothing but that for a few hours. Something like Teleportation, on the other hand, will take a chunk of your energy. And again like a video game, your level determines how much energy you have to use. That’s why Fancy and Fleur are tired while Shining and Lance look like they could run a marathon.”
“Which is why, our lesson is over for today,” she continued. “But you do have some ‘homework’.”
There was a loud groan. Mostly from the teenagers. 
“Come on, guys, it’s Magic homework!” she laughed. “Whenever you can, practice levitating objects and moving them around. Get as complicated as you’re comfortable with, but remember that I’m not there to keep things from flying around. So don’t levitate knives.”
That got a chuckle out of everyone.
“No, seriously, don’t do it,” she repeated. “But next week, I’ll want you to show your skills. Then we might start with Hammerspace spells. Now go home and get something to eat.”