Chapter 2
Practice Mode
Cadance was not having a good morning. She had woken up early as usual and gone on her morning flight, but it just wasn't the same. Back home—her old home now she supposed—she had been one of the few pegasi in town. As such, it was expected of her to rise early and help with the weather if it needed any management. In Canterlot however... there was just no need for that, the city had a dedicated weather team that managed it all year round.
She didn't want to admit it, but this left her somewhat restless, and flying around just to exercise simply wasn't the same. It also didn't help that the entire population of Canterlot was nothing but stuffy nobles or self centred ponies looking for the next thing to improve their own reputation. Her adopted aunt insisted that there were plenty of nice ponies living in Canterlot whom she could make friends with, but if they existed then she certainly couldn't find them.
Cadance let out an exasperated sigh. It also didn't help that Celestia had cancelled their magic lesson together. While she had mixed feelings on her new aunt, she was one of the few ponies she had to talk to that was also good company. She had really looked forwards to this, it was the high point of the week as she struggled to get used to her new life as royalty.
Of course, it wasn't just that Celestia had cancelled on her. 'Nooooo, she had to dump Sunset freaking Shimmer on her.' Celestia's prized pupil was probably the mare she liked the least in all of Equestria. Sure, she hadn't been opposed to the idea of becoming friends with her when Celestia had first introduced the two. But it was very clear from the outset that Sunset despised her for some reason. She had tried to be polite with the unicorn and give her some space, but no, Sunset had seemed set on picking fights and tormenting her at every opportunity.
Cadance glanced around her room. And now? Now she was sitting in her room waiting for the unicorn to show up to once again 'help her' with learning magic. She snarled, the last time Sunset had tried to 'help' with her magic education she had spent the entire time making fun of her inabilities or being upset that she was stuck 'foalsitting a grown mare'.
She planted her rump on the floor took a deep breath. 'Okay, no need to get worked up before she even gets here. Sure, she was acting strange at breakfast and being really talkative but that doesn't mean that she won't find a way to ruin this.' The clock on her desk showed that it was almost noon. Sunset had promised that she would show up around noon so they could get started early—as she put it anyway—and have most of the day to dedicate to her studies if needed. Maybe she should take the time to clean up a bit before Sunset showed up? Not that there was much to clean up in her room anyway, but it would give a better impression she figured.
"Okay, my room is still a mess, but it will have to do for now," Sunset told herself as she stuffed yet another tome back into it's designated spot in the bookshelf. The floor was still covered in books she had pulled out earlier in the morning to look for publication dates in. The desk also had several books lying about in piles but that must have been from before she awoke here. She had also stuffed the note from Celestia on the desk when she came back, she'd look over it later when she had more time on her hands. 'I really hope she bought that story. If she knew what was actually happening I would be in so much trouble.'
Then again, Sunset was already in trouble. She had not expected to get roped into helping Cadance, but it definitely seemed like something her former mentor would pull. 'Since I'm back in time, that means that even the slightest of things I do will affect the future. Ideally I should stay away from everything as much as possible.' Sunset let out a sigh. While a good idea on paper, it was not really possible to take herself out of reality... not outside of using the mirror anyway. Even if that was something she wanted to aim for, it would still be a few weeks left till it opened again, assuming her memory was correct. So for now, she might as well try and make this as pleasant as possible for everyone involved.
Looking over to the clock hanging on the wall, Sunset noted that it was almost noon. She really needed to be off if she didn't want to be late. Thankfully, the walk through the castle to where Cadance's suite was located was quite short, so it wasn't long before Sunset found herself in front of her door, and with great hesitance knocked. Sunset was a bit worried about the two guards standing on each side of the door, but it seemed like they were content with ignoring her, at least on a surface level.
"Oh, you're here," Cadance said as she opened the door for her.
"Why wouldn't I be? I did say noon, right?" Sunset raised one of her eyebrows.
"Yeah it's just... never mind. Why don't you come in and we can get started?" Cadance took a step to the side and gestured with her hoof for Sunset to enter.
Cadance's room was much sparse than what one would expect from royalty. This made sense to Sunset, as she hadn't been a princess for very long after all. Still, while the suite was quite a bit larger than her own, and way more lavish, it distinctly lacked many personal affects or possessions. She shook her head. She was here on a mission, not to study interior décor. Finding a good spot on the rug, Sunset sat down and got comfortable.
"Okay, so, I must admit that I'm not quite sure how we should go about doing this," Sunset said.
"Me neither if I'm being honest," Cadance replied as she herself sat down opposite of Sunset with a comfortable distance between the two.
'Well, I'm a bit rusty on most kinds of magic at this point, but teaching her shouldn't be a problem since I doubt it's any advanced stuff. I just need to figure out what level she's at.' Sunset reasoned.
"Okay so, how about we figure where a good starting point is then? Did Princess Celestia draft up a lesson plan for you or anything?"
"I don't think so? If so she certainly didn't give or show it to me," Cadance said while shaking her head.
"hmm, well, what was the last thing you worked on then? And also, what spells do you currently know?"
"Well..." Cadance looked over to her desk and grabbed a book in her magic to float over. "Celestia had me read this, and work through the material. The only things I'm really comfortable with casting right now is levitation as well as the ...umm... matchmaking spell I just cast instinctively."
Sunset looked at the cover of 'Thaumatics 101' and rolled her eyes. "Right, I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She let out a sigh as she grabbed it in her own magic field, opened it, and skimmed through the chapter list. This material was dull, oh so very dull. She vaguely remembered having read it herself many years ago. Most unicorns would already be mostly familiar with the things in it just naturally from living and using their horns, so if anything it served more as a reference manual for introductory academic studies. Sunset glanced up from the book at the pony across from her, Cadance was clearly fidgeting over something at this point.
"Okay. So this might be a strange question, but... how do you learn?" Sunset asked while closing the book and putting it on the floor. The question must have caught Cadance off guard because she was taking her time answering.
"I'm not sure if I know what you mean. I'd imagine I learn the same way as any other pony?" She eventually said.
"Well, okay. I guess I shouldn't have jumped ahead, sorry." Sunset wasn't quite sure how to best explain it. She certainly wasn't an expert on this. Why hadn't Celestia just gotten Cadance a tutor from her own school for unicorns?
"I guess an example might help, but the gist of it is this: Most people, er ponies, learn new things in different manners. For some the best way to learn something is just reading it from a book, for example." She lifted the book in front of her to emphasis. "But others learn better by having the very same thing simply explained to them by someone. Then there are others that learn better by getting their hooves dirty and doing the thing they are studying rather than just hearing about it."
"Huh, really?" Cadance said while putting a hoof to her chin.
Sunset nodded. "Yeah, everyone learns in a different way, so it's helpful to figure out what works for you. That way you can better apply yourself." Cadance let out a 'hmm' as she seemed to ponder Sunset's words.
"And, if I had to guess, absorbing with vigour from books just isn't your cup of tea, because if so you would probably already have gone through this book yourself," Sunset said as she floated Thaumatics 101 back to Cadance's desk.
Cadance nodded. "Yeah I guess I'm not like you in that regard..."
"Oh I'm not really one to absorb from just reading either."
"What? But you spend all day and night reading books?!"
"Oh sure, but that's mostly just reference material. Most more complex spell books I have are references for their given field, rather than just dull text books like that one," Sunset said while gesturing at the desk. "I'm more for the hands-on approach myself, so once I have a subject I want to try, I get the reference material, and then I jump in experimenting with it myself." Sunset smiled.
"Huh, that's... a bit different than I expected of you."
"Hey, what can you do, and if it works it works, right?" Sunset shrugged.
"I supposed," Cadance answered while pawing the floor with one of her hooves.
Cadance seemed really fidgety and off her ball to Sunset. 'I guess it shouldn't be surprising. We never really got along very well... or rather, I used to be quite awful to her back then, wasn't I?' She slumped a bit at the realization. Still, she had promised to help the alicorn, so now she had to follow through with this, even if neither of them were entirely comfortable with it.
"So, what do you think is the most ideal way for you to learn?" Sunset offered.
"...I'm not entirely sure if I'm honest," Cadance offered with trepidation.
Sunset sighed. "Okay, executive decision then!" She put on a smile and got up on her hooves.
Cadance followed her with her eyes as Sunset walked over to the door, opened it, and put her head out. The two guards were indeed still there, as expected. 'Good, one of them is an officer... let's see, what would the best way to do this be?' She did not remember Equestrian insignia markers in the slightest—assuming she ever knew them—so she would have to guess, but she would need a third pony for the idea that was forming in her mind.
"Can I have a word with you, Captain...?" Sunset prodded the guard, hoping she wasn't completely off base.
"Stout Shield, and how may I be of assistance?" He replied while turning only his eyes to face her. The guards really were as stoic as she remembered them being.
Sunset sighed from relief having been correct in her guess. Now she just needed to follow it up by convincing him.
"I'm wondering if you can spare one of your recruits to help us, that is to say Princess Cadance, with her magic training?" Sunset gave her best smile.
"Hmm, that shouldn't be a problem. Naturally they will not come to harm, correct?"
"Oh, obviously not. They might get somewhat bored though, so feel free to send someone that you don't think too highly of. They will, after all, be stuck with the two of us for the entire afternoon."
"...Right, I'll have someone sent for." He had a light frown on his face.
"Great! Oh and make sure they are a pegasus, and tell them to join us in the castle gardens say, some fifteen minutes from now?"
Not waiting for a reply, Sunset retreated from the door and closed it again, letting out another sigh. She still wasn't quite used to being authoritative again. Given how she had been before, anything that reminded of her old behaviours unnerved her. Obviously this was different and she wasn't sinister about it, but it was still not something she was very comfortable with. Leading her friends? That was one thing, ordering others around was a different matter entirely.
"Why the castle gardens?" Cadance interrupted her thoughts, making her turn to face the alicorn.
"Oh you'll see," Sunset smirked.
Cadance glanced about the gardens, she wasn't sure what to think anymore. Sunset had left for elsewhere saying she needed to 'grab a few things' as it were, so now she was just seated in the grass waiting for her supposed tutor to return. Cadance frowned, she wasn't sure what to think anymore. The mare she had interacted with was obviously Sunset, she was as brash as usual for sure, yet... Something about her was definitively different, she wasn't intentionally picking on her for once. Not only that, she seemed to actually be trying to be nice? Cadance wasn't quite sure how to think about Sunset's behavioural changes.
A cough from her right interrupted her thoughts. Turning to face the disruption she found a pegasus outfitted in the traditional royal guard armour. His coat was a saturated yellow with a two tone white and brown mane.
"Yes?" She asked while tilting her head their way.
"Private Spark Shott, reporting for duty your highness." The stallion was standing at attention, looking Cadance in the eyes.
She never really got used to how the guards acted around her. What did Celestia say she was supposed to do in regards to this again? Something about making sure the guards knew she didn't expect them to be so tense? He was still standing there staring at her with his hoof raised to his head. 'Crap, I'm supposed to say something, right?'
"Err, it's all right, no need to be so worked up?"
"Yes ma'am!" He said while finally dropping his salute.
Cadance sighed, everything about being royalty was such a pain. All the formality, everypony constantly at her hooves to do whatever she asked. No one ever treated her like a normal pony anymore, and she sorely missed that.
"Pardon me if I'm being rude, but what am I supposed to do? I didn't get much of any briefing."
"For now, we wait. Sunset Shimmer apparently had some brilliant idea for an outdoors magic lesson. I know about as much as to what we are going to do as you do Spark," Cadance replied as she looked over to the stallion, whom tilted their head slightly.
'Did I say something odd? Ugh, I bet I was too informal or something.' Cadance suppressed a groan. Thankfully she did not need to consider the matter anymore, her gaze catching an amber unicorn heading out from the castle. It seemed like Sunset was carrying something with her in her levitation field; It looked like a wide wooden bucket and a ball.
"Ah, good, looks like we are all here," Sunset said as she looked at the two others as she approached.
"You still haven't explained what we are going to do Sunset."
"Oh, that's simple. Tell me princess, how familiar are you with buckball?" Sunset smiled.
"I know next to nothing about it."
"Great! Me neither!" Sunset proclaimed with a grin.
Cadance was flabbergasted, did Sunset really intend them to play ball games? And how would any of these even help her learn more magic? This seemed inane, not to mention, this was nothing at all like the Sunset she knew. She had expected at best to be forced to sit through reading stuffy books all day, what was even going on anymore?
"...and how will this help me with magic?" Cadance asked pointedly, she might as well get her answer she figured.
"Well, I figured you're more the type to learn from doing rather than reading a stuffy old book, so this seemed like a better way to go about things."
"That doesn't explain how taking part in sports will somehow teach me how to use this thing," Cadance said while tapping her own horn.
"Well, obviously not with that attitude," Sunset said while rolling her eyes. "A buckball team generally have a unicorn on it and you will serve that role."
"And how will that teach me magic?" Cadance proclaimed with perhaps a bit more strain in her voice than needed.
Sunset sighed. "Okay, so: The book you were working through is just dull theory on how unicorn magic work. The kind you'd normally give to an earthpony or a pegasus that are trying to learn the theory of how it works. Most unicorns will innately just learn this stuff by using their magic every day."
"Right..."
"So we are going to work on your levitation skills. This will eventually teach you what you need to know about the basics of unicorn magic. Speaking of which, the next time you have a lesson with Princess Celestia, ask her for some more practical material to study instead. Like a reference manual for basic spells like using your horn as a flashlight and that sort of thing, it will help you more I'd argue."
Cadance scuffed. "My levitation is fine. Plus, you'd think Celestia would know better than you the best way to form my education." Sunset seemed to stop, as if to consider her words, for a few moments before replying.
"Hey Cadance, think fast!"
"Wha-"
She did not have any time to react as a red blur flew over and hit her straight in the face. She let out a cry in pain and took a step back. 'To tartarus with her, I knew trusting with even the most basic of social decency was a mistake!' She snarled.
"What was that for?!"
"...I guess that was sent a bit harder than I intended, sorry," Sunset said while looking apologetic.
"That does not explain why you'd hurl a ball at my face in the first place!" Cadance all but yelled.
"Well, to prove a point primarily." Sunset looked down, not meeting her eyes.
Of course it was to prove a freaking point, it was always something like that with Sunset. She was half tempted to just walk away and later tell Celestia about what just happened, it would probably cause another spat between the two. Cadance sighed and tried to calm down, she had promised Celestia to give this a try.
"Well?"
"Huh?" Sunset said looking up again, seemingly not quite sure of herself.
"What was the point that was so important as to throw a ball into my face?"
"Well... that you wouldn't catch it."
"...Pardon?"
"You said your levitation is fine, but I have seen how you perform while we dine together."
"You weren't much better this morning," Cadance reminded her, causing Sunset to blush.
"Yeah I, uh, I guess I don't really have an excuse for that. But still, my point stands!" Cadance raised an eyebrow.
"Most unicorns are so used to using their magic that it becomes second nature," Sunset continued. "As such, most would have unconsciously tried to grab an object quickly moving towards them in their magic field."
"I... suppose I see your point." Cadance let out a sigh. "That still hurt though."
"Sorry, I didn't intend for it to actually hurt." Sunset's ears lowered themselves.
"It's... fine, let's just get on with what you had in mind." Sunset nodded in response and walked off a bit to the side and started drawing out a circle in the grass using her magic.
Looking over at the other pony in the vicinity, it seemed like private Spark was trying their very best to avoid being noticed, having taken a few steps back during their spat. He visibly gulped when she looked at him, clearly being out of his element.
"Yeah, don't worry about it, this is normal for us," Cadance scuffed. Wasn't that the truth, she and Sunset would always end up arguing about the little things. She shook her head, things were... different today though. Sunset practically never apologized for anything, so it was hard to tell if she was being genuine. And this idea of magic education seemed like a farce at best, but then, what was the motive? If Sunset wanted the easy way out of having to help her, she could have just hung back in her room and offered pointers., all while Cadance herself dredged through that book. Impressing Celestia certainly couldn't be it either, if anything she would scold Sunset for playing around rather than taking her task seriously.
"So, private, do you know how to play buckball?" Sunset said as she trotted over, having finished drawing a set of two circles.
"Only a little bit lady Shimmer." Sunset nodded and floated the bucket over to Cadance.
"Okay, so, here's what we are going to do: Princess, you're gonna hold this bucket in your levitation field and your job is to catch the ball as private... uh?" Sunset stopped as she had clearly forgotten about introductions.
"Spark Shott."
"Right, you'll catch the ball that private Shott here will throw," Sunset continued.
"I prefer Spark, ma'am."
"That doesn't exactly seem too hard," Cadance decided to add.
"Well, the idea is that private Spark here won't necessarily aim for your bucket as he throws. This means you need to be both on your hooves moving around and also line up the bucket to the ball's arc."
"I assume you want me to be in the air for this lady Shimmer?"
"That is correct, also feel free to drop the lady part and just call me Sunset, it's getting a bit tiresome."
'Wait, she gets to do that?!'
"We'd need someone on the ground then lady- er, miss Sunset."
'Can I do that?!' Cadance glanced between the two of them, her pupils shrinking a bit. Could she just ask ponies to not use her title and they would accept that? Wait, step back, Sunset also found it tiresome when ponies used her title? She could have sworn that the unicorn used to revel in her standing, at least around Celestia.
"Yeah," Sunset nodded. "I'll take ground position and serve, you'll catch and then throw it to princess Cadance. Vary up how difficult your throws are to keep things interesting."
"Also I'm fairly sure this isn't how buckball is played miss Sunset."
"Yeah I'm not too worried about that," Sunset said while waving her hoof dismissively. "We're not trying to practice buckball here, after all, our goal is to help princess Cadance. And I think..." Cadance was starting to tune the others out.
But then again... Sunset never really struck her as the same flavour of stuck up as most of the aristocrats in Canterlot. Sure, she had a holier-than-thou attitude towards anyone that wasn't Celestia. But she also didn't mind getting her hooves dirty with direct insults or being snide. Most nobles would instead try to strike offence in more contrived and political manners. And while she had a superiority complex to be sure, it was likely true that she was one of the better sorceresses in Canterlot, even if she didn't have much of an achievement record yet.
"...I mean, sure, I can try and make some complex serves, it can't be much harder than football, right?"
"...I'm not sure if I know what that is miss Sunset."
"Eh, don't worry about it." Sunset got a thoughtful expression on her face. "Just don't get salty if you can't catch them." Spark Shott just groaned while Sunset snickered.
"You have to admit that was pretty funny private..."
Whatever, Sunset wasn't important here. If she could get away from just a little bit of the stuffiness that came with her title, that would be great. Having ponies just call her by name rather than by her title would certainly stop every conversation from feeling so stiff. The question was: Would Celestia even allow it? Well buck her, Cadance needed this if she wanted some sort of normality in her life again!
"...have you been listening princess?" Sunset said and started waving a hoof in front of her eyes.
"Waah!" Cadance jumped a bit. "Er, yes, definitely. Levitate bucket, catch ball, got it!" She proclaimed. Sunset did not seem convinced.
"Well, if you're sure your highness, then we can start as soon as we take our positions," Sunset said and started to trot in towards the center of the outer circle she had carved out.
"Just... just Cadance is fine, both of you." Sunset stopped and looked over to her.
"Er, are you sure? It would be seen as improper, you're a princess after all," Sunset prodded.
"I would have to agree with miss Sunset ma'am. It would be very bad form for me to address you without your title."
Cadance sighed, so she couldn't have this? No, she decided, she would not falter this easily.
"If we are going to do this I'd rather it be more casual, so yes, I insist." She looked between the other two, they seemed unsure. "...Don't force me to make it a royal decree, I'd rather this not be so... formal."
Sunset finally seemed to accept this and nodded, Spark on the other hoof seemed unsure still, but eventually offered a polite nod himself.
"Right, if that's all, let's get started!" Sunset proclaimed. "Now, we will start easy and you only have to catch the throws Cadance. But once you're a bit more comfortable with this, I want you to try and catch the ball in your field before it hits the bottom of the basket. That's obviously harder, but it will train you in catching moving objects, while also managing multiple ones at the same time."
"Sounds like a plan." Cadance walked over to her designated spot at the outer perimeter of the circle.
Strange, this half-baked idea was somehow starting to make sense in her head.
Celestia closed the door to her private chambers and let out a groan. Agricultural planning was one of the more important topics to handle in her nation, but that never made it any less of a drag. Most of the planning from the previous year could be re-used, Equestria didn't exactly shift it's boarders much, nor have it's needs grow or decline very often. But they still had to go over it all to make sure everything was in order.
She looked over at the clock in her room, it was already half past three, and she had another long meeting to attend to before dinner. She glanced over to the stack of paper sitting on her desk, taunting her with it's presence. She'd likely be up late filling it all out once she'd had dinner. Well, no matter, she wouldn't let work interrupt her break, no matter how fleeting it was.
She walked over to the small kitchen that was attached to her chambers, filled up a teapot with water and put it on the stove. Some publications over the years had joked that Equestria ran on tea, and if there ever was a shortage the top level of their government would break down. It was obviously ridiculous and written mostly to poke fun at her seeming obsession, but sometimes she wondered if there wasn't a little bit of truth to it.
After finishing with preparing her tea she poured herself a cup and walked over to the main room. The desk was out of the question, she didn't want to be further reminded of work. Sitting down in general didn't feel appealing after having just come out of a long meeting. 'Balcony it is!' She opened the glass doors and stepped outside.
There was a light breeze in the air today, so Celestia took the opportunity to just close her eyes, enjoy the wind, and of course, her tea. She let out a sigh of contentment, she needed this. She just stood there enjoying the moment for a while before deciding to gaze about. There were a few pegasi in the air in the distance, either travelling about Canterlot or moving some clouds for whatever weather was planned. There also seemed to be some commotion down in the castle gardens.
That's strange... she didn't recall any garden parties planned today, and it was not a very large group. She decided to look closer, there seemed to be some sort of small gathering in the distance that were spectating an even smaller group. Wait... Wasn't that her niece? And her student? Her tea somewhat forgotten, Celestia took to the air and flew closer, not too close of course, she'd rather not cause a commotion with her appearance.
But yes, that was indeed Princess Cadance and Sunset Shimmer, as well as what looked like one of her guards based on his armour. It seemed like they were taking part in some sort of game. They had also attracted a bit of an audience of other castle staff, they tried their best to keep their distance and remain unnoticed as they spectated. This was... strange. It almost looked like the two were having fun together, but that couldn't be the case, right?
Cadance tiredly flopped onto her chair in the dining hall. They had been at it for hours, and if it weren't for the fact that dinner would be served shortly, Cadance would have lied down on her bed after her shower instead. She didn't need to wait alone in the dining hall for very long as she saw Sunset trot in and take her seat. The unicorn had clearly just showered herself as Cadance could see the moisture in their mane.
"...this matter can wait and be handled during day court." Cadance could hear her aunt's voice in the distance. "No I don't care if his father insists, Blueblood will have to go through the process, same as every other pony."
"I'm aware of that your highness, but he has been pestering castle staff and at this point we don't know what to do." Cadance could hear Celestia sigh as she and her aid entered the dining hall.
"Look, Raven, this will have to be resolved later, I already have enough matters that I need to look over today and I'd rather not deal with work as I dine."
"Of course your majesty, I will inform them of your decision." Raven took a bow before walking out and closing the dining hall door they had entered from.
"Long day aunt?" Cadance said.
"Something like that," Celestia shook her head. "But enough about work, I'd rather take this opportunity to relax," She proclaimed as she took her seat.
Resting her head on the table, Cadance spaced out at this point, she was more tired than she had thought. Her horn was still slightly sore from the strain of being used hours on end. It wasn't until she felt a hoof on her shoulder that she realized that someone was talking to her.
"Huh?"
"I was asking how your magic studies went," Celestia said with a smirk. "But I can tell Sunset worked you hard at the very least."
She looked over to Sunset who just shrugged at her. "Yes... something like that. We were at it all day."
Celestia made a 'hmm'ing sound before leaning back in her chair. "And here I thought the two of you spent the day playing in the gardens."
Cadance stiffened, was that what they had been doing? She had assumed that Sunset knew what she was talking about, but maybe she had been deceived once again and been made a fool out of. Sunset herself didn't look worried, in fact she had grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and seemed to contemplate eating it, despite the fact that dinner was just about to be served.
Seemingly not getting an answer, Celestia turned to Sunset instead. "Though I assume you put Cadance up to this, since it was you who was put in charge of tutoring her today."
"Something like that," Sunset said while floating around the apple in her grip. "But I wouldn't call it playing, not that it doesn't hurt to have fun, but we were there with a purpose," She smirked.
"Oh? And what may that have been, my dear student?"
"Well, to put it bluntly, your teaching method sucked," Sunset said while looking up to her teacher.
"Pardon?" Celestia looked more caught off guard than Cadance could ever remember.
"Yeah, I don't think giving her stuffy academic books is the right way to go about things. I know Cadance is an adult here, but not everyone as academically oriented." Sunset turned and gave Cadance a small smile. "As such, I would in the future recommend that you assign her more practical oriented material that builds up her repertoire of spells, even if it's just basic ones."
Celestia seemed a bit too stunned to speak and merely nodded. I guess it was a bit shocking, but Sunset had been acting odd all day. She seemingly had no problem with kicking the ball with her hooves earlier, in fact, she seemed quite into it. Prior to today, Cadence really couldn't say that Sunset seemed like the type to be into physical exercise. Still, while she and her teacher often argued, it usually wasn't like this. Sunset rarely if ever talked back to Celestia, unless the topic was on making friends.
"While I can understand your reasoning Sunset," Celestia began, seemingly having gathered her wits again. "Having a good baseline understanding of magic is something I would considered mandatory. Most foals learn these things before moving on to other spells."
Sunset did not seem to be deterred, however. "While that is indeed true princess, it's a matter of how you learn it. I don't think we actually disagree here other than in method, in fact..." Sunset smirked and eyed her apple.
'Oh no.'
"Hey Cadance, think fast!" Sunset exclaimed and lobbied the apple straight at her face.
This time she had seen it coming and was ready. She grabbed it her field before it made contact with her face, barely. She scowled at Sunset, she really didn't appreciate it the first time, let alone a second time, but there was probably no point in trying to argue with the unicorn about it again.
"Would you please refrain at the dinner table at the very least?" Cadance struggled to keep the strain out of her voice as she spoke.
Sunset smiled and turned back to Celestia who looked between the two of us confused. "Most foals, as you aptly put it, learns these things before moving on to other spells. But they don't exactly learn it by reading academic texts, right? So I figured the best way to help Cadance was to have her do practical stuff using levitation to get her more used to her horn."
"I see..." Celestia said, she was clearly gathering her thoughts.
Cadance sighed, she knew this would not be the end of the matter. She really didn't want to sit through dinner with the two of them arguing about the best way to teach her magic. Thankfully she was saved, if just briefly, from the discussion raging on by the dinner being served.
"On another matter, Sunset while I know you have some doubts about princess Cadance, I still expect you to adhere to decorum and give the proper respect."
"Huh? Oh, right." Sunset had seemed confused for a moment. "Normally I would your highness, but Cadance asked me earlier to drop her title and refer to her by name only. She seemed quite insistent on it, even saying she would order me to if needed." Sunset smiled to both of us and started digging into her food.
Cadence could feel the sweat as Celestia turned to look at her questioningly.
Sunset stuffed the last of the books from her floor back in it's original place. 'Okay, that clears up today's mess...' She glanced over to the reading desk which had two books lying open, as well another stack of two books in the corner. She quickly stuffed the note on temporal magic, that she had just dumped on top of everything earlier, into one of the drawers, she'd look it over some other day.
"Let's see here..."
She closed the top book and looked at it's cover 'Citrus Twirl's Advanced Rune Inscriptions'. Huh, so a book about rune crafting. She did recall that stuff being quite fun to mess with when she tried it years ago. Equestria was full of enchanted objects with various powers and abilities, in fact, most big name magi from the past took up at least one of the enchanting fields in order to leave their mark on the world.
Absentmindedly she reached for the spot under her neck before letting out a sigh. 'I wonder if it's possible to recreate my pendant?' It might be, she reasoned, but it would be quite difficult. From what she could gather when she had studied her old one, the magic in it was quite primal. She shook her head, maybe this could be something to put her time towards while here, but it would have to be later. She lifted the book as well as the other open one, which also seemed to be on the same subject, and put them back in their shelf.
Finally with some space avalible, she sat down and pulled out a piece of parchment to write on. 'Okay, so, I'm in the past, somehow. Either that or I'm under the effect of some seriously strong mind magic, but it wouldn't be the first time Equestrian magic went completely haywire.' She rolled her eyes. 'Still, it seems most reasonable to assume I'm in the past... for a given amount of reasonable.' First things first, she needed a plan on what to do. Today had been a mess and she'd rather not have a repeat if she could avoid it.
A good start would be to consider her options. The most obvious one was to just head through the mirror as soon as it opened. That would likely be ideal in many ways, she would have the least impact on the time line... and yet. The more Sunset thought about it, the less attractive the idea seemed. If she just left out of nowhere Celestia would wonder where she went and probably be hurt. As frustrated as she was with her old mentors antics today; she really didn't want to hurt her.
Furthermore, while getting back to the human world would be easy, but then what? Redoing schooling a third time was not in the slightest attractive to her, and while she could probably befriend the girls again, it felt wrong. They'd not be the people she knew nor had fond memories of. If anything it would be people that constantly reminded her of the friends that was now lost to her. And given her own impact, they would likely grow into very different people.
She wrote the option down on the list she was making, she didn't like it, but it was something. Another option would be to throw caution to the wind and just embrace that this was her life now. It was tempting, she could be on better terms with her old mentor as well as start a new life here in Canterlot. She didn't know quite where to start with that, but she was already a sort of acknowledged sorceress, it wouldn't be that hard to carve out a life.
Sunset groaned. The problem was, of course, that things wouldn't be that simple. She had been friends with Princess Twilight, so of course the mare had told her about some of her exploits, as well as well as the many threats she had stared down. In just a decade or so, not only would Nightmare Moon return, but so would Discord as well as the mad king of the Crystal Empire.
Sunset really should have asked the good princess to clarify the stories, it likely would have made her coming years smoother. At best Sunset had been told a summery of the events, from only one perspective. And she wasn't even sure if she remembered all the details she had heard correctly either. If Sunset decided to just go on with her life here, it was practically guaranteed to affect Twilight in some manner. After all, she was taken in as Celestia's student after herself.
She let out a yawn, it was getting late. She looking at the parchment in front of her as she narrowed her eyes, so far it only had two options, neither of which she liked. Thinking harder, what other paths was there for her to take? She could still stay in Equestria but ditch Canterlot and the royalty within. In a way, this was a combination of the other two choices she reasoned; she'd get away from everything and hopefully have a smaller impact on the future. While on the same time she didn't have to give up being a unicorn nor have to deal with the awkwardness of making friends with her old friend's proto-selves.
Sunset rolled up the parchment and put it in one of her drawers, she'd have to think of more ideas later, she needed some sleep. Her eyes travelled to the small pile of books still on her desk, what else was she working on before she left? The subject matter wasn't obvious from the titles, and yet... A feeling of dread was rising within her until it clicked. 'Wait... aren't these books from the restricted section?' Her eyes widened.
"...Crap."