//------------------------------// // Semester Break // Story: Remedial Studies // by Rose Quill //------------------------------// “You seem unusually relaxed, Sunset,” Celestia said as I broke off from channeling an illusion, panting a little. “Would this have anything to do with your outing with Twilight the other day?” I tossed my mane out of my face and smiled. “Maybe,” I hedged. “It’s nice having someone to connect with like that. I mean, Starlight and the rest of her friends are great, but I can’t discuss magical theory with them the same way I can with Twi. And…there are other things.” My mother smiled in that way that made ponies think she knew all. “I’m happy for you two,” she said, leaning forward to nuzzle me. “And maybe you’ll see more than a few unexpected benefits as well.” I frowned as I lifted my teacup to sip. “What do you mean?” “Well, if I know Twilight as well as I think I do,” she smirked. “You might wind up having quizzes even when not at class.” She lifted her own teacup and held it out slightly. I rolled my eyes and topped off our tea. “I already had a teleport session with her today,” I mumbled. “Seems she’s eager to have me out of these ‘remedial classes’ as soon as possible.” “Speaking of that,” my teacher said, horn flaring up. “Let’s take a look at where we stand with your tests.” The clipboard containing the missing classes we had agreed on back when I returned floated over in her magic. I moved to sit next to my mother, her wing slipping over me as I did. It was warm and comforting, but in a different way from Twilight’s wings. On the clipboard, I saw that several items had already been checked off, including Friendship Studies, Transfiguration, Evocation, and Potions. Today’s session focused on Thaumaturgy and Enchantment, and I was proceeding rather well in those. Which meant that I had two fields of study left, my two weakest fields: Divination and Diplomacy. I tried to stifle a groan as I saw what was left, but the gentle chuckle from my mother made it clear that I failed at that. “I’m certain that we can take our time with those two particular subjects, Sunset,” she whispered, leaning down. Her ethereal mane drifted across my back and I felt the tingling of the magic contained within soothe my tight muscles. “After all, Diplomacy isn’t something one learns over a few days. It takes years of actually exercising the skills you do learn in a classroom. This is something even Twilight and Luna have difficulties in.” “But what about Cadence?” I asked. “She hasn’t been a ruler as long as Luna.” “Cadence has a way of reading ponies that is a little different from what Luna and I can do.” She put the clipboard down. “Being able to understand ponies as my sister and I do is something we learned over years of learning. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, but it is something that gets easier with time.” She gave me a squeeze with her wing. “You’ve done very well the last few weeks. You haven’t forgotten nearly as much as you thought you had.” “I suspect you're a little biased in that opinion,” I giggled. “Well, you haven’t set anything on fire this time around,” she mused. “It’s a step forward.” “It was one time!” I exclaimed. “And I fixed the carpet afterwards.” A chuckling trill sounded from the cage at the far end of the room. I turned and stuck my tongue out at the brilliant red bird within, cleaning her feathers a little too innocently. “You have no right to talk, Phil,” I said. “After all, you were the one that forgot to cool off before sitting on Blueblood’s back.” The phoenix gave an indignant squawk and turned away from us. If she could have, I’m sure she would have crossed her wings in a huff. The laughter that poured from my mother’s mouth was more musical than any I had heard since my return. “Do you mean it?” Twilight gasped, leaning forward over the table slightly. “You’ve almost finished the make up tests?” I nodded, chewing the raspberry in my mouth quickly. “Just got two things left, apparently. She is about to go on a visit to Neighpon, so I’m essentially on term break for the time being.” Twilights wings were almost buzzing at her sides with her excitement. “This means we can start with advanced studies!” she gasped. She teleported in a scroll and quill and started jotting down notes, her eyes wide in excitement. None of the other ponies at the open air cafe seemed to view this as odd. Starlight giggled. “You’re in for it now,” she stage whispered. “Make sure she doesn’t spend all your dates quizzing you, now.” I looked straight at the other Unicorn. “You’ve a lot of room to talk, Star,” I said as Twilight continued to mumble to herself and scratch out notes. “What’s this I hear about you and Maud?” She turned a bright red and hurriedly brought her mug to her mouth, looking away. I grinned and reached out to pull the scroll away from my marefriend. She blinked and looked up as my red aura surrounded the scroll and rolled it up, keeping it just out of her reach. “I know that this might be a foreign concept to you, Twi,” I grinned. “But being on a term break means I don’t want to learn anything new. I want to take the time and relax, hang out with my friends, one in particular, and see what all there is to see around here. I’ve got some ideas that even you might like.” “Oh?” “Mmhmm,” I purred, moving to sit a little closer, and passing the scroll over to Starlight. “There just happens to be a new bookstore opening in Seaddle next Tuesday. I happen to know that they claim to specialize in rare and out-of-print books.” I leaned over and put my head on her shoulder, looking up into her eyes that were open in excitement, though I wasn’t sure if it was the prospect of new books or my proximity. That was a little discouraging, but that’s what you get when you date an incurable bibliophile, I suppose. Before she could respond, a loud thud came from around the corner of the building. Turning, we saw a somewhat bedraggled Juniper walk up to us, using her wings to brush dirt off her body. A few leaves and twigs were in her mane and she looked a little embarrassed. “Another rough landing?” Starlight asked, pulling the detritus from our friend’s mane. Juniper nodded, pushing her glasses back up. “I still don’t quite have it down,” she sighed. “I can get up and stay up, but landings…” she sighed. Twilight smiled. “You’ve only been here a couple weeks,” she said. “Trying to adjust to a whole body and a set of limbs you’ve never had before can be tough. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get reliable use out of my wings.” “I’ve heard you crashed rather spectacularly, if Rainbow is to be believed,” I teased. I turned to face Juniper as the purple Alicorn turned beet red. “Nervous about heading home?” I asked. She shook her head. “Not especially,” she said, poking the tabletop with a hoof. “Well that’s good,” Starlight said. “I knew taking a vacation would help ease your worries. How much longer are you going to stay, so we can plan a big going away party for you?” The pegasus shook her head. “I’m not.” I frowned. “What do you mean?” She glanced down for a moment. “I don’t know when.” Starlight tilted her head in confusion. “I’m not following, Junie.” Juniper looked at me and I saw a little bit of conflict and shame in her eyes. “I don’t want to go back.” she said softly.