New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver


23 - First Spell

Comforting clapped her hooves excitedly as Twilight took her spot. "You look ready." Twilight was smiling gently at her eager little student. "I don't see many foals quite that excited for their first, especially without a talented parent to take after."

Comforting had Fluttershy, who did a poor job encouraging magic. Could anyone blame her? She was a pegasus. Her mom had done more to encourage flight in her gentle ways, but Comforting would never do that, just enjoy the occasional flight on her mom's back.

But she wasn't a normal filly, was she? "I would like to learn magic, please. I can do a lot more with it than without it." Also it was cool! Cool counted for points, right? She was fairly certain it did for that purpose.

Twilight nodded as her magic pulled over a blackboard covered in runes. "Then let us begin with a refresher and to see how you're doing. This is the magic alphabet, which I'm sure you're familiar with at this point."

Comforting had seen it before. "Yep! Do you want me to name them?" She kinda hoped not. She only had some of them memorized in terms of names.

"That won't help us. I need you to perform them, from the top left to the bottom right." She waved a hoof at the runes in the same pattern. "Flow smoothly from one to the next, to show you can. If you can complete that, we begin with the first spell. If not, no shame, just means we have to work on that. Magic spells will require precise control like that, a lot, so this isn't a step we can skip."

"I can... do that." Comforting sat up straight in her chair as she focused on the arcane letters. Her horn began to glow, even if only she could see it. Twilight could feel the letters? She wondered if she could ever do that. It felt like the kind of thing that'd pop up because Twilight couldn't see the magic. Since Comforting could see it, she probably would learn the appearance of the letters on a horn long before she figured out the 'feel' of them. Maybe she'd never figure that out. That was a superpower that only talented unicorn wizards had, for lack of magic sight.

The first to the second, slipping to the third. Comforting went through the arcane alphabet with her magic as smoothly as possible, though a new thought tickled. She was casting a spell, though it did nothing? Did they put those letters in that order on purpose, so they wouldn't do anything if cast just like that? She tripped over the 8th one, grumbling as she rewinded to the seventh and resumed.

Ocellus hadn't been wrong! Practicing with her eyes was very applicable. It wasn't exactly the same, but so close that learning one did bleed onto the other. It was like her horn was her eye, um, well, she could see it. She shook her head as she pressed onward, arriving at the last letter with a triumphant smile.

Twilight nodded in a short motion. "You still have some work to do." Her horn glowed as she drew on the board. "You get a C+, which is still very advanced for your age and time spent. Only time and practice can make that better." She tapped at the board with her magic. "You should have a copy of this in your book. Keep going over it until it feels natural to go from the start to the finish. Now, as for names --" Comforting went rigid "--You really should know them, but they are not required for reading and casting spells."

Comforting let herself go with a sigh. Twilight probably learned them all! She was a nerd like that. Comforting smiled at her studious teacher. "I will try. It hasn't been long, as you said."

"As I said." She nodded and flipped the board suddenly, revealing a specific spell. "And this will be your first spell, perhaps. Forgive the theatrics." It wasn't that theatrical, but it was surprising all the same. "I want you to try this, while focusing on this." She nudged forward a small metal ball.

Comforting angled her head at the ball. "Is that so... I won't hurt it if it goes bad?"

"Essentially, yes." Twilight cradled the ball carefully in her hooves. "I've used one before. A metal ball isn't likely to complain if you do anything to it, making it ideal. Any non-living matter will do, really. A metal ball just tends to last, so you can keep it around for the next time you want to experiment." She put the ball back down with a light thunk of contact. "Are you ready?"

"Ready to try," Comforting sang out with a big smile. With a glowing horn, she started with the first letter and on to the second. She could feel things were different right away. Those letters did something, and the soft warmth of magic was building rapidly as she went through them. It was a pity she tripped over a letter about a third of the way in, and it turned the sphere a plaid pattern in result. "Oops?"

"Oops." Twilight's horn glowed with a spell and the ball returned to looking like they made it of iron, and not painted. "Mistakes are a part of the process. That was a lesson I had to learn for myself." She laughed in almost a wheeze of painful memories. "I... thought I was failing, as a pony, the first few magical failures I had. I am glad to see you don't seem to have that reaction."

Comforting lowered her eyes to the ball and began casting the spell anew. "Just... relax..." She could feel the power building in her, in her horn specifically. She did not know what the spell would do, but she was aiming all her attention at the orb. She'd do whatever it would be to that ball. It would be so enchanted with... something.

But she reached the end, and nothing happened? "Huh?"

"Much better." Twilight didn't seem upset at all. "You cast the spell properly, but a little slowly. Were you trying to be extra careful? I've done that before." She waved it away like it was nothing. "Still a vital part. You did it, now do it faster. A spell done too slowly won't have any effect, as you can see."

It meant she was close! Comforting clapped with joy and started from the top. Nobody said being a wizard was easy. Nopony either, come to think of it. Most ponies failed at becoming a wizard. She was succeeding in a notable way, so did it matter if it took her a few tries to get it right? "Too fast." Twilight inclined her head. "Slow down just a little. You tripped over yourself trying to hurry. Da-da-duh-da-dumb." She was singing a beat. "That is how the magic should flow."

Comforting repeated the pattern to herself out loud as she glowed right along with the beat. The ball suddenly exploded in a variety of flowers in all directions. "Eee! Did I mess up?"

"Nope." Twilight patted a long-stemmed daisy gently. "This means you did it successfully. Congratulations, you cast 'Flower Carpet.' It works on basically anything, even living things. On a pony--" She gestured to herself with a smile. "--You will give them some flowers poking out of their fur and mane and tail. They can pull them free without pain, just possibly some annoyance. I'd ask permission before doing that."

"That would be rude." Comforting was too busy smiling at the ball of flowers. She made that! She created those flowers! "I did it... A spell!"

"You did." Twilight patted the shoulder of her student, smiling herself. She had succeeded at teaching an adolescent mind from nothing to casting her first spell. Pride swelled within her at the feat. "Now, the less fun part. You need to practice that. You need to be able to cast it without the spell here for reference's sake." She brushed the flowers clear of the ball, but lifted it with her magic to set heavily on Comforting's desk. "This is yours. Practice on it. I want this to be your first mastered spell."

Comforting brought up her hooves to cradle the ball. It was heavy, as if someone had made a sizable ball of iron. Who would even consider such a thing? "I thought it was hollow." No, it felt full.

"Its heaviness is part of its use." Twilight nodded at the ball. "It tends to stay where you put it and it doesn't break easily. Go ahead, make it sprout again." Comforting sat back, looking at the spell on the board. Her mouth moved without words as she practiced the magic in her head.

"Alright." Comforting waved her hooves at the ball as if telling a fortune. "Let's do this." She cast the spell that was becoming more familiar, but she tried to concentrate on... yes! Purple lilies were the dominant flower, sprouting up all over the ball in all directions. "You can change the flowers."

"The flowers are you." Twilight shook her head. "Not in any abstract way. They are your will manifested. The spell simply says, in laypony terms, 'I want some flowers to cover this thing.' It doesn't specify what kind of flowers, or how large, or much of anything else. The spell plucked all of those details from in here." Twilight tapped at Comforting's head. "The first time, you weren't even thinking of flowers, which is why they were so random."

"Oh!" Comforting sniffed gently at the purple lilies and found they smelled exactly as she imagined they should smell. This made sense if they were literally... exactly what she was thinking when she cast the spell. "Wow, that's great. But that means you could get distracted really easily."

"You could." Twilight chuckled as she turned away, tail flicking at the memories. "I've done that a few times... As a new magician, you will do that yourself. Don't panic!" That was hint enough that Twilight might have panicked a few times. "This is a natural part of learning this."

Comforting tried to lift the ball from her desk and grunted as her magic struggled with it. She could nudge it around, so she did that towards her waiting hooves. She went with the ball, falling right out of the chair with a surprised squeak. The ball rolled out of her grasp across the floor and came to a halt, mocking her.

But that hurt. Comforting sat up, rubbing where it stung the most. "That is very heavy."

"It... is..." Twilight had, perhaps, underestimated how physically immature her student was, despite any amount of mental advancement. "Leave that there." She reached with her magic and hefted the heavy ball out of the way. "Use this instead." And out came a rubber ball instead.

Comforting could cradle the rubber ball without issues. "Will it work?" Only one way to be sure! She covered the rubber ball in sunflowers, thick and many. She hadn't really focused on a color, so they were all kinds of colors. "Oops?"

"Oops?" Twilight inclined her head at the sunflower-covered ball. "Did you not mean for that kind of flower? They look lovely."

"In retrospect, I just kinda assumed they'd all be yellow." She nuzzled into the prismatic collection. "A lesson was learned."

"A lesson was learned," echoed Twilight with a smile. "You seem to be grasping this well. Take that home and practice with it. You can advance to the iron ball when you can comfortably lift it. Hurting you is not part of the lesson plan!"

"I hope not!" Comforting tucked the ball in her pocket. "Thank you, Professor Twilight."

Twilight darkened quickly. "O-oh! I... suppose that's correct. I admit I'm used to being called 'Teacher', 'Teach', or 'Princess' these days."

"Did I mess up?!"

"Professor is just fine." Twilight set a hoof on her student. "I look forward to hearing of your progress, but don't hesitate to come back if you want some help."