After listening to each filly's daily progress report over the last few days since they started their assignments again, Ancient Scroll had felt they were all making good headway into learning each of their respective branches of magic.
To Ancient Scroll, it seemed like each of them had somehow gained a massive boost in morale. They were practically tearing into their assignment with renewed vigor and Scroll himself couldn't be happier as a teacher.
When it came to studying, Ancient Scroll had found that not even Sunset could hold a candle to her lavender coated junior. Twilight hadn't gotten very far in her studies before and directly after Sunset had suffered her magic surge, but rather than pick up from where she left off, she had chosen to start her studies over from scratch.
The very night he had come back from his trip into town, she had gone into his study to tell him as much. A surprised Ancient Scroll had asked her why and she had given the following answer.
"I was distracted by my problems and couldn't focus on my studies," she shook her head and eyed the old stallion resolutely, "when I can't concentrate, the information doesn't stick as well, so I'm starting over and doing it right."
Ancient Scroll frowned slightly, giving Twilight the impression that he didn't approve of the idea. Inwardly however, the stallion had nothing but pride to show for the filly's decision.
Still...
"Are you sure you'll be able to finish both books on time if you do this?" he asked, "I know I said that I'd give you more time if you need it, but you strike me as a filly who doesn't like to miss a deadline."
Instead of the nervousness and hesitation Ancient Scroll was expecting, the lavender filly just waved a hoof dismissively at his concerns.
"I've finished twice as many books in a shorter amount of time," she said casually, "trust me, Uncle Scroll, it won't be a problem."
Ancient Scroll couldn't help but give a hearty laugh at the filly's confidence. He gave Twilight the go-ahead to restart her studies, curious to see just how true her claims were.
As it turned out, she had read through both books once for the simple pleasure of reading, and had gone back and read through them again for actual study. She already finished the first book a second time - writing very extensive notes in the process - and was halfway through the second reading of her second book.
All in the span of three days.
Within those same three days, Trixie had made a decent amount of progress as well - though still not as much as Twilight or Sunset. With some help from Twilight and her 'study aids', she had gotten better with the more complex vocabulary.
This went a long way in helping her read through her textbooks on Mind Magic and as the days went by, she found herself having to rely on the lavender pony less and less. As she became more invested in Mind Magic, she started thinking about how it could help her on the stage. She had even brought the topic up with Twilight on one of their trips outside the cottage.
"So let me get this straight," Twilight began eyeing Trixie skeptically, "instead of using prestidigitation in your magic shows, you want to try using Mind Magic?"
Trixie nodded with an eager grin and wrapped a hoof around Twilight's withers.
"Trixie's been reading about the amazing things one can do with Mind Magic," she turned to the frowning lavender filly with a toothy grin, "and she thinks it could really bring that oomph that Trixie's looking for!"
"I don't know, Trixie," Twilight said with an unsure expression, "most Mind Magic has to be done one-on-one and in close proximity to another pony for it to work," she shook her head, "the only real Mind Magic I can think of that would work for the sort of thing you're talking is about is Illusory Magic, but-"
"Exactly!" Trixie exclaimed ecstatically, "that's what Trixie wants to focus on! The only problem is..." Trixie finally removed her hoof from Twilight and backed away almost meekly, giving Twilight a sheepish grin, "Trixie would... need somepony to practice on."
Twilight just gave Trixie a flat look.
"Oh come on," Trixie begged, falling to her knees and grabbing at Twilight's forelegs, "Please, Twilight? Pleeease?"
"Trixie!" Twilight cried in exasperation as she pulled herself free, "first of all, even if I were to say yes, you'd still have to ask Uncle Scroll for permission first. Second" - she poked the blue filly in the nose - "the casting of any decent illusion takes a lot of mana - doubly so if you want to cast something that would be considered 'crowd pleasing'."
"Wha - you... but..." Trixie sputtered indignantly as she rose to her hooves, "just what are you implying, Twilight Sparkle? Are you saying Trixie can't handle a simple illusion spell?"
"Well... I mean," Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, "we're still just unicorn fillies, Trixie. Our mana wellsprings haven't fully developed yet so there's just some things we won't be able to do - unless we have a magic surge, but that-"
"What about those magic miracles Uncle Scroll was talking about?"
Twilight froze in mid sentence.
"Apparently we both managed to pull one off and do spells that were way beyond what we should be able to do. And we survived."
"Well..."
Twilight didn't know anything about magic miracles until Ancient Scroll had brought it up, so she couldn't really make an argument against Trixie. She snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see Trixie trotting away.
"Wait, a minute," she called out, chasing after the blue filly, "where are you going? Trixie!"
"Back to the cottage!" Trixie called out from over her shoulder. She was still clearly affronted by what Twilight had said, and it showed in the way she stomped off in the other direction, "Trixie will show you just how talented she really is!"
Twilight slowed to a stop and sighed.
"I didn't mean it like that, Trixie..." she muttered to herself.
Trixie however, had taken Twilight's words as a challenge. True to her word, she had gone back to the cottage and immediately began to double down on her studies. She flipped through her books until she found a passage on a particular spell she thought would be extremely useful if she could pull it off.
"Never let it be said that Beatrix Lulamoon didn't put in the effort," she muttered with a determined grimace. With that statement, she decided to put all her focus into learning the spell, despite the difficulty. Lighting up her horn, she grabbed a telekinetic hold of her quill and parchment and got to work.
It was also around that time that Sunset had come into Ancient Scroll's study to finally reveal her history with Princess Celestia. He in turn had felt it only fair to tell the filly a bit about his own past with Frigid Gale in return. He had a few things to think about regarding the Princess after that, but decided to keep those thoughts to himself for the time being.
He had received another surprise the following afternoon when Sunset had requested to retry the exercise she had failed due to her surge. Ancient Scroll was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed to let the orange filly try again - albeit reluctantly.
Thus, the three fillies and Ancient Scroll once again found themselves in another clearing - this one further away from any flammable greenery. Everypony present was understandably nervous, including Sunset herself, but she resolved to do better.
She steeled herself against the pain of her past and prepared the necessary spells.
"Come on, Sunset, you can do this!" Twilight called out from further back, "you're better than you were before!"
"Trixie admits, she was impressed before," the blue filly added, "you almost managed to pull it off in one try despite Trixie's excep... expatate... expectations!" she jabbed a hoof in Sunset's direction, "you're stronger than Trixie gave you credit for, so don't disappoint her this time, Sunset Shimmer!"
"Don't rush it, little filly," Ancient Scroll chimed in, "take as much time as you need and concentrate. You'll get through it this time, just have confidence."
Sunset gave a nod and a small smile at the encouragement she received and turned to the task at hand. She put on a determined frown and tried to push the nervousness aside as she lit her horn. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Earth Molding spell she'd need for the actual pool.
She stomped a hoof and - just as before - a large hole gave way, forming a basin for Sunset to dump the snow into. Looking around, there was less snow to work with than before, as it had slowly but surely started to melt in the face of the oncoming springtime. Thankfully there was still enough for what was needed.
Sunset levitated piles of snow into the makeshift basin and once again had to stop to take a breather.
"Keep it up, Sunset! You got this!" Twilight yelled out, "just put all your focus into the spell!"
Sunset took a few more deep breaths and rose from her haunches as she prepared the Thermal Manipulation spell to melt the snow.
Focus on the spell...
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on slowly increasing the temperature in the area surrounding the basin.
Come on, Sunset... focus...
The air began warp and shift as the heat increased and the packed snow start to lessen as the water rose. She began to tremble with the effort of maintaining the spell.
Don't think about the-
Screams of ponies as they're eaten alive.
Rivers of blood staining the dirt.
White hot fire sloughing off your fur and skin.
Sunset's eyes snapped open and she inhaled sharply. The trembling escalated to violent shakes and the red aura around her horn began to spark as she fought to maintain her hold on the spell.
She was also desperately trying not to throw up in the process.
"Sunset!" Twilight cried, having noticed the orange filly's sudden change.
"Should... should we start running now?" Trixie asked worriedly.
"No!" Sunset yelled as she tried to get the spell under control, "I've got this! Just... just gimme a minute!"
She took a few shaky breaths, closed her eyes briefly, and opened them again - this time choosing to focus on what was going on in front of her instead.
It took a few minutes, but the spell slowly began to stabilize and Sunset was successfully able to create a miniature lake using only her Elemental Magic.
The others went to congratulate her on a job well done, but their cheer turned to concern when they approached and noticed the filly was still shaking. Twilight slowed her trot and observed Sunset with a look of worry.
"Sunset? What's wr-"
Sunset doubled over and vomited all over the snow laden ground.
"Sunset!"
She hurried the rest of the way over to the orange filly just as she finished losing her lunch.
"Sunset are you alright?" Twilight asked as she stood over a panting Sunset Shimmer.
Sunset didn't respond.
She just continued to pant as she wiped her mouth - silent tears running down her face.
"Do you need a minute, little filly?" Ancient Scroll asked as he trotted over, frowning in concern.
Sunset nodded and wiped her eyes.
"Yeah, I..." she sniffed, her voice slightly raspy from the ordeal, "I think I'm gonna hold off on Fire Magic for awhile..."
Ancient Scroll nodded in understanding and turned to the other fillies.
"Alright come on, you two," he said ushering them back to the cottage, "give the girl some space for now."
As before, Twilight gave Sunset one last look of worry before making her way back to the cottage along with Ancient Scroll. Trixie remained where she was and stared at the orange filly silently for a moment.
Sunset sat there lost in her thoughts and didn't notice Trixie step up next to her until she felt a blue hoof rest itself on her shoulder. She looked over to Trixie in surprise and saw the blue filly looking back with a sympathetic smile.
"Whatever you saw, it's over now," Trixie said reassuringly, "Just keep telling yourself that, Sunset. It's not much, but it helps... trust me."
With that, Trixie gallop ahead to catch up with Ancient Scroll and Twilight.
Sunset was left to stare after her as she pondered on what she just heard.