"No, no, you can't treat it like how magic worked before," Amber shook her head. Though the identity of the pony she dragged in days ago was still a mystery to her, --with all the encrusted cinders and burns coating their body, even their gender remained a mystery-- their drive to learn about the new magic of the world was a bit of an indication of what they were like, as far as personality went; hardheaded, determined, and probably more than a little cocky. In fact, in many ways, Amber could even see herself in them.
The pony nodded, shaking more ash from their face and lighting their horn again. They'd spent nearly the entire day on basic levitation, but no matter what, the burnt pony seemed to hardly progress beyond preparing the spell.
"Alright, here," Amber sighed, letting the illusory background dissolve around them, "How about we take a break for now? I know you can't speak much yet, but if you ask me, I'd say that you still need to rest some more after what happened. Things like this take time to--"
She paused, cutting herself off. A faint aura of magic still enveloped the burnt pony's horn, and in front of her floated a single stone, conjured from thin air. Though it was hard to tell through the cinders, it almost looked like the burnt pony was leering at her.
"...O-oh, okay. I guess we'll continue then."
The burnt pony dropped the stone with a nod, their horn still flickering with magic.
Amber took a breath. "Well, you definitely seem to have both levitation and conjuring down through brute force and luck, so I guess we can move onto illusions or something. It's not like I really know all that much else myself, after all."
Frowning, the burnt pony gestured at the glistening bubble that protected them.
"Right, right. It's probably a better idea to learn how to make your own bubble first."
"Steady, steady now, careful!" Amber yelped, jumping back at a small explosion of sparks created by the burnt pony. "No, no, you don't just mindlessly pump mana into your horn. Think along the lines of a shield spell, but at the same time a fireproofing spell. It definitely helped me when I came up with the bubble spell, even if I was in a panic the entire time and throwing out whatever I knew."
The burnt pony raised a crusty brow, lighting their horn again. A crackle, followed by another shower of sparks.
"...Also, you can't just push it out directly. From what I understand at the moment, you need to link it to some kind of strong emotion of some sort. At least, I think that's how it works. Panic definitely seemed to help the spell out, honestly."
From behind their singed coat, it looked to Amber like they rolled their eyes. They lit their horn again, and the familiar aura coating of the bubble materialized over their body, lifting up and outward to form a small bubble around the burnt pony. With the bubble formed, the burnt pony glanced back to Amber, an expectant look in what was visible of their face.
As for the mare herself, she only looked on in confusion. Did the burnt pony really just link the spell with annoyance? Was that really how things were gonna work in this world? Just... link up an emotion --any emotion-- to your spell, and it'd work just as planned? She needed to test this.
"Alright then," Amber nodded, gesturing for the burnt pony to come closer. "Let's work on some basic illusions now. They might not be all that helpful at the moment, but it gives you a bit of peace-of-mind to set up a familiar place to be in."
Snorting, the burnt pony shook their head, sitting down where they stood.
"C'mon, I've been helping you learn all these new things, and I even saved your bucking life, and that's what you're gonna do in return? Treat me like... like trash?"
They snorted, tilting their head up in defiance.
"You know wha? Fine, be that way," Amber huffed, stomping off.
She lit her horn, casting her illusion spell around herself again. The ground melted away into a green hillside of lush grass, accompanied by a lone windmill and a light breeze. Sighing, Amber laid down on the grass, staring at the sky she'd created.
The burnt pony joined her not long after, sitting down nearby on the hill. They lit their horn as well, latching onto Amber's illusion spell.
"Wai-hold on, what?" Amber sputtered, her own hold on the illusion faltering as she stared at the burnt pony, "You can do that?"
The burnt pony didn't even so much as give her a glance in response. They instead kept their focus on the sky-- the very same sky Amber had just created. Clouds began to materialize under the false sky, drifting like giant white cotton balls through the air.
"Oh, I... I guess if that's all you're doing, then I'll let you continue."
Amber mentally slapped herself, How soft was she getting? Whoever this pony is, they were a fast learner, and might even surpass her sometime soon in magic, given their rate of progress. Until only moments ago, she didn't even realize it was possible to modify an already-casted spell, regardless of whether it was in Equestria, or... well, wherever the heck this place was.
Her mood softened. Maybe being softer was a good idea. Picking fights with everyone would serve no use here, not when everything around her was an infinite expanse of nothing. After all, even if they were quickly turning out to be a total jerk, being softer on others did score her a companion.
"Hey," she called, "I think it's probably best if you stop adding onto my illusion spell for now. You're gonna want to keep at least some mana in your reserves if you want to heal up at any decent rate."
The burnt pony glared at her again in response, but nevertheless stopped casting their own spell. Amber dropped hers as well, letting the illusion slowly dissolve around them.
Her eyes widened as the last bits of her illusion spell flaked away.