//------------------------------// // x. Confidences // Story: Head Over Heels // by FoolAmongTheStars //------------------------------// Sunburst dropped to the ground with a huff, breathing hard as he recovered his breath, his glasses slipped over his sweaty nose and he raised a shaky hoof to push them back in place. A cool breeze swept past him and made the leaves of the tree he was under swayed, it felt so good on his heated skin that he sighed. Starlight walked over to him with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Sunburst, I should have given you a break sooner." "It's fine," he said quickly, still short on breath. "It's my fault for not practicing back at home." Starlight sat next to him. "But you memorize almost all the spells we gave you, that's impressive!" He shrugged. "Reading is easy, but when I try to cast them...I just can't!" She felt bad for him, she knew how hard he was trying and he had nothing to show for it. If Master Stygian's classes were like normal Equestrian classes he would probably ace them, but the old unicorn cared more about practical magic than the theory behind it, and that was were Sunburst floundered. That was why he'd asked her for help, even if Starlight herself didn't have the slightest clue how. "Maybe we should ask Sunset? She's knows way more about magic than me." Sunburst shook his head. "Sunset would just laugh at me, besides, you're a much better teacher than her." Starlight's heart jumped in her chest at the compliment, but her elation was dampened by his sadden expression. She looked around the small meadow for something to distract him and she spotted her saddlebag, which she left partially open when she took out her water bottle and saw the colorful pages of the comic book she was reading. "I was reading the comic books you left me." She said and his mood quickly shifted, he turned to look at her with a hopeful smile. “Did you like them?” “Yeah! But some parts were a little confusing: why is Daring Do fighting this mean pony? How come they don’t just talk it out?” “What do you mean? They tell you why in issue five.” Starlight paled. “Wait, there’s an order? Oh geez, I started with the book with the coolest cover!” She reached into her bag and pulled out the comic she was reading, which was titled 'Daring Do and the Final Showdown' in big red letters across the cover. Sunburst went quiet for a moment, then lifted his glasses to face-hoof himself. The sun was setting when Starlight and Sunburst sat on the floor of her room with a heap of comic books between them, magic lessons put aside for the day in favor of resting. Some were from last summer, others, Sunburst had brought over for this trip especially. Now Starlight understood his obsession for this colorful spreads after reading them — in the correct order, this time — the pictures were fun to look at and the stories were just as entertaining. It also served as a glimpse into the world outside of Sire’s Hollow walls, the modern world that Sunburst had been born to, and she marveled at the differences. “That’s a train!?” She asked suddenly, placing the comic book she was reading between them and pointing at the image. “Yeah, that’s a train, but the ones that run through Equestria are much bigger than that,” Sunburst said, somewhat confused by Starlight’s enthusiasm. Her eyes grew wide and he could practically see the fascination shining in her eyes. “Bigger!?” “Way bigger,” he said matter-of-factly, pushing the glasses up his nose. “You could put every creature in Sire’s Hollow in one of them, and still have room for the luggage.” Starlight’s mouth fell open, then she looked down at the glossy pages, after a moment she said. “I guess this is much more comfortable than using a teleportation spell.” “Well yeah, it’s designed to carry lots of ponies for long distances, besides not all unicorns con use a teleportation spell, that’s really complicated magic!” “Tell me about it,” sighed Starlight. “Master Stygian doesn’t let me practice that spell indoors or unsupervised, he says that I could get stuck on a wall or something…” Sunburst nodded distractedly as he flipped the pages of his comic, and when what she said finally registered in his brain, he looked up in astonishment and his glasses slid down his nose comically. “Can you really do a teleportation spell?” “I mean, I only learned the basics last winter, and I can’t teleport too far yet, and Sunset is way better at it than me…but yeah, I can cast it.” Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as her friend kept staring at her, did he found that weird? Sunburst pushed his glasses up his muzzle and sighed. “You guys really are amazing! You must know tons of spells that I can’t even dream of.” “It’s a lot of work but I learned lots of spells last winter,” Starlight said as she flipped the pages of the comic, “like the ones used for healing, to find lost things, to fix broken things, and magic that…” Starlight trailed off, gazing at the page with unseeing eyes. The young filly didn’t like to lie, but Stygian made her promise never to share what she learned with another pony. She didn’t think she could do so if she wanted to, because she didn’t quite understand the magic she’d been thought, she knew it was for something important as her teacher was so secretive about it, but beyond that… “Just…you know, more magic.” Said Starlight half-heartedly and ignore his questioning look. She wondered once she figured out the purpose of this strange magic, would it make it easier to explain to Sunburst? She hoped so, she hated keeping secrets from him.