//------------------------------// // Learning the basics // Story: FizzleFloat, Filly of Chaos // by FizzleFloat //------------------------------// I traveled for a while, flying at a moderate speed. And when I was a comfortable enough a distance from Ponyville I decided to stop. "This should be far enough for now," I muttered to myself. Lowering myself back to the ground I took a good look at my surroundings. I had stopped near a stream; there were some mountains off in the distance as well. Earlier that day... When I left Ponyville I was faced with a difficult situation. The Everfree forest to be exact. I had come across it on my way out, and while I don't consider myself a coward I'm also not stupid. As cool as it would be to explore, the Everfree was just not something that I wanted to get involved with right now. Especially since I had just gotten here; I didn't know how to do anything with my magic other than floating. Going in there as I am now would be suicide. So I will not be exploring the Everfree forest. Not yet at least. I had decided that it would be better if I just went around the forest. With my mind made up I started my trek. There weren't very many obstacles in my path, at least none that I couldn't simply fly over, so my journey was pretty smooth. Had I not been able to fly I could only imagine how much harder traveling on hoof would be. Present... It had taken me around two or three hours to get this far at the speed I had been going. And now here I was setting up my camp. I chose this spot due to its close proximity to a stream; not to mention the nice view of mountains that were off in the distance. It was starting to get late if the position of the sun was any indication. It would be dark soon so I went out and gathered what I needed to build a campfire. Soon the sun began to set and the moon was rising in the sky, covering the land in a thick blanket of darkness. Aside from the moon and stars the only other light came from my campfire. Building it had been pretty easy but lighting the fire had taken me a while due to the fact that I had no experience with using hooves. It was nearly pitch black when I finally did it. I decided that I would start making plans the next day. So I curled up and drifted off to sleep, only waking up waking up when the fire would start dying and adding more sticks to keep it going. ... I woke up early the next morning which was very surprising as I was never much of an early riser before this. I was feeling refreshed and hungry. VERY hungry. It was only now that I realized, I hadn't eaten anything during the entire time I've been in this world. I guess I have been pretty distracted by all this, so much so that eating had not even crossed my mind. So I headed towards the Everfree, stopping at the very edge searching for some straight branches. I had kept my distance as I circled the forest the day before, glancing at it every few minutes looking for any signs of movement. Didn't want one of its inhabitants to sneak up and get the drop on me after all. When I gathered enough branches I quickly headed back towards my camp; once there I got to work on sharpening one end on each of the branches using the sharp edge of a stone I had found. Since I already had some practice using my hooves from the day before it didn't take too long to finish. Picking up half of the now sharpened branches I trotted over to the stream. I noted that there were a few rocks in the stream. After finding the largest one I put one of the branches in my mouth, leaving the rest on the ground an jumped towards the rock, nearly slipping when I landed. The water wasn't moving very fast so I was able to quickly find what I was looking for; groups of fish were passing by in the direction that the stream was going. I waited for a few minutes as not to disturb the fish, just watching them as they went by until a closely-clustered group swam by. Taking the branch I had into my hooves I thrust the sharp end into the water aiming at the group of fish. And missed. Huffing in annoyance, I waited a few minutes before trying again. This went on for a while, I even had to change out my branch a few times when they broke. But in the end I was successful in catching a handful of fish. They weren't very big but I had caught more than enough for lunch. Glancing up at the sky to where the sun was, it was already noon, so I headed back to my camp. It didn't take me nearly as long to light the campfire this time. Grabbing the branches I had left at my camp, I place the fish on one ent of each by inserting it into their mouths. When I was done I placed them over the fire to cook, turning them every few minutes. After the were done I started eating. And while I was eating I was coming up with ideas on how I was going to go about practicing my magic. By the time I finished eating I had already come up with a list of mental exercises that I could do to help me focus my magic. I was no stranger to magic theory; I had spent many hours a day for many weeks at a time studying magical theory. I had read other people's theories and even made a few of my own, and now that I have magic I can finally put them to use. Once my food went down I made my way back to the stream, finding a clear, dry spot on the ground and took a sitting position much like how a dog would. And when I was comfortable I closed my eyes, breathing in and out steadily until my mind was clear of all thoughts. I've always found that meditation allows me to focus much easier when I'm studying or doing something important. I meditated for about twenty minutes before I felt I was focused enough. Standing back up I proceeded to test my abilities starting with what I already new how to do. I visualized myself floating and soon after felt my hooves leave the ground. I practiced flying and even rotating in all the directions for a few minutes, then went on to other things. I spent the rest of the day figuring out some of my other abilities and growing used to them.