"Well, it's time for the much balyhooed flying lessons!" Homeshine entered Home flapping furiously, carrying a cardboard box in two hooves, which she set down with a mighty THUNK!
Celestia and Luna looked up from their books mid-spell, which fizzled out on their horns with a crackle. "YAY!" "What are you going to teach us now?" "What's in the box?" "Is it food?" "is it magic?" "Is it heavy?" "It looks heavy." Celestia pulled out two iron barbell weights, each with a piece of rope tied around it.
Homeshine explained, "Today we're going to learn to glide and hover, two sides of the same coin. In hovering, one needs to flap at a constant rate, but not in any direction; the weights help with that so you won't nudge too far off course over time, but simply stay in place in the air. In glide, you're trading downward momentum for forward momentum; but you can't sheer to the left or right or it trades too fast, again the weight actually helps with that because it keeps you balanced under your centers of gravity. In hover, flap like crazy! More flap equals better! In glide, you know you're doing it perfectly if you never move at all. Most of my students immediately master one of the two on the first try, but have serious problems with the second. It depends on if one sees flying as mostly a glide or a hover. But in the end, they're really the same skill. A good flyer does both with equal measure."
Celestia tied the rope in a knot, anchoring her back-right hoof to the weight as she spoke, "I'm going to do glide first and get it out of the way, then I can spend the extra time on Hover. Hover sounds hard.
"Neuh-uh. I'm going to do hover first, flappity flappity," Luna repeated the tying motion on her back-left.
Celestia finished tying first and took off, right out the back door, "See? It's just a matter of staying balanced, with a little bit of right LEFT, RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT LEEEEEFT!" Flapping furiously, she at least managed to stay in one place.
Luna started out flapping and took off like a rocket right above her sister, soaring an ever-widening concentric circle three feet above the back yard, never moving once.
Celestia strained hard against her own wings, "I don't get it! I was always the studious one! Staying balanced, never moving. Brain over brawn. Smarter not harder. Why is this so hard?!"
Homeshine answered, "because you stay balanced though panic. You're always nervous, afraid you'll miss something. Perfectionist. You must achieve everything!"
"That's how you stay balanced! I protest!"
"No! It's how you stay in the air, true, but you wind up thrashing. It gives you better temporary control, but you wind up exhausting yourself. Let it go. Sometimes you will be slightly unbalanced, but you can't fix that by leaning too far the other direction. Trust yourself. You'll get it right, in time. Don't force it too early." Homeshine smiled and dashed over to Luna.
Luna complained over three laps, continuing as she approached her teacher and stopping as she glided away. "How do I ... stop with- ... -out crashing?"
Well, at least Homeshine didn't need to shout to be heard. There was no flapping at all here. "You're afraid to take any action in case it might be wrong. You're more afraid of crashing and disappointing me than actually getting anywhere. It's okay. I'm not disappointed. I'm not mad. I'm not angry. No one gets them both on the first try. The grass is nice and soft if you do crash; and no matter how many tries it takes, we'll still love you. We have all day. Try as many times as you want. Even if it takes a hundred tries and failures and crashes.
Celestia paused her flapping for a second to trace out her sister's path with her eyes, following along. On the next lap, Luna made eye contact with her sister and each saw the other's pleading look, Celestia as she swam through the air, frantically, desperately trying to stay aloft, Luna as she fought the air currents to stay balanced, unable to go in any direction.
They were doing it for each other, working hard to inspire the other, but they didn't need to, they both knew now.
Luna descended peacefully to a stop. Celestia gracefully pulled her counterweight over to where Luna had landed in a single arc. Perfectly.
Luna spoke first, looking up at Celestia "This flying ... it's more to do with the head muscles than the wing muscles, isn't it?"
"Just so," was the response; along with a hug.