//------------------------------// // Inexperience // Story: Forgotten: Sunrise // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// "Class one... Three... One... Two..." Sunset mumbled to herself as she pulled books off of the shelves one by one of the Crystal Castle Library. The two-story repository took up considerable castle real estate, and was easily one of the largest rooms in here, only rivaled by the throne room, dining room, and the Crystal Heart chamber. They wouldn't be spending nearly as much time in here as they would in the public library down the street. Right now, the unicorn's only priority was separating spell tomes from every other type of book, and otherwise didn't care how books were organized before they were loaded into the Scouticus outside. "So did you have a longer-term plan for these books?" Sunny asked, a couple shelves over. "Not at the moment. I know you want to reprint as many of these as possible, but I'd really like to make sure they're safe first." "How often did unicorns self-teach themselves magic?" the earth mare asked as they continued stacking up books, sorting between Spell Tome and 'Other'. "All the time," Sunset answered. "It's entirely possible for simpler spells. It's actually how a lot of the Gifted Unicorn students got their start, with how many spells they can teach themselves before their parents realize that they're considerably talented, and takes them to the entrance exams in Canterlot. It's the more potent stuff where inexperience can be dangerous." Izzy was slowly roused by the chiming of her unicycled alarm clock, tapping the top to stop the constant clanging of small bells in the wooden box. She sat up in her bed, and immediately saw her frizzy mane in the mirror of the dresser on the far side of her bedroom. Yup, was time for a shower. She trotted over to the bathroom, and turned on the faucet, immediately switching the flow of water to the shower head. The longest part of any shower was washing her incredibly long mane, but it was always worth it to her. Once her mane and coat were satisfyingly clean, she stepped out onto the bathroom rug and shook herself off, before stepping over to her sink and mirror, grabbing the blow dryer, and caught a glimpse of her shadow against the shower curtain. "Huh, what d'ya know. Hitch was right. That shadow does look like a knife." She spent the next twenty minutes getting her mane and tail curled just the way she liked it. By then, her coat and mane were completely dry, and she was ready for the day. After going back over to her nightstand to put on her bracelet, she headed down to the kitchen and fried up some oatcakes before sitting down at her dining table. While she brought her plate of breakfast to the table, what was already there was a book she had been studying for the past few days, ever since she had gotten back to Bridlewood. 'Weather Wizardry: Influencing the Forces of Nature Izzy remembered how Sunny had discovered through her research that pegasi used to be able to control the weather, mainly through manufacturing thunderheads and other types of rain-producing clouds. So why couldn't unicorn magic do something similar? That was exactly the question that this book was answering. Some of the old ponish was tricky to understand, and she also didn't understand what the 'IV' was on the binding. But it was an interesting look back to how unicorns learned magic back in ancient times. She didn't get even two pages further before she finished her oatcakes, and she decided to save more for later. It was time to head into town and see how Alphabittle was coming along with his new study material. Putting on her saddlebags, she replaced her bookmark, closed it, and deposited the tome into her right bag, before turning to her front door and headed out into the Bridlewood morning. If she was brutally honest with herself, Bridlewood hadn't yet experienced the same influx of tourists that Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights had, but it was slowly increasing. Zephyr Heights had put up a cell tower right behind the Crystal Tea Room, and it allowed much quicker communication with friends abroad. She was even able to see some snippets of Pipp's concert that Sunset had participated in, and their new unicorn friend would be visiting here in a few days. The last she heard, she was going to be dropped off on the way back from the Crystal Empire. She was immensely looking forward to it. Izzy's gait paused when she heard a faint boom in the distance, and she looked up ahead, wondering what had just happened. She was still a half mile out of town, but she already saw that a good portion of the forest had been disturbed, as flocks of birds took to the sky. The unicorn took off down the path at a full gallop deeper into the forest towards the source of the sound. As she began to pass the first dwellings in town, ponies were poking their heads out of their windows or coming out of their front doors, wondering what they had heard as well. Fear began to creep into Izzy's mind as she made her way through Bridlewood, and the panicked voices began to become clearer. She was close enough to the center of town where she now saw the smoke rising through the canopy into the sky. Her four hooves skidded to a halt as her eyes widened in shock as she saw the scene she was closing in on. The Crystal Tea Room was engulfed in flames. Ponies ran in multiple directions out and away from the most popular spot in town. Some crying for help, some calling for buckets of water. Izzy galloped forward as Gloomy Sonnet stumbled out of the front door through the smoke, in a coughing fit as her lungs fought for air, and she seemed to be the last pony to come out of the burning wooden structure. Unicorns scattered around began to carry and levitate buckets of water back, throwing the water towards the plumes of fire lashing out from the windows as it sought oxygen. Izzy's anxiety only continued to climb as not only did the fire slowly spread and come closer to other trees and structures, but she also didn't see Alphabittle in the crowd. Her breathing quickening, she reached back into her saddlebags and pulled out the spell book, frantically flipping through the chapters she had already read, looking for something she knew she had read the other day. If this fire wasn't brought under control in the next few moments, everypony and their homes would be threatened. Finding the page she was looking for, she gave it a quick read, and collected herself as best she could, given her surroundings. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to channel magic through her horn. "Imber!" Izzy cried out. A continuous brilliant blue beam shot out from her glowing horn, rocketing towards the sky, breaking through the canopy and stopped dozens of feet above the forest, as magical energy began to gather at the bright white point in the sky. Half of the ponies scrambling around the Crystal Tea Room had paused at the sight of Izzy's spell continuing to feed into the sky. Dark gray clouds began to appear and circle around the mote of light as thunder began to rumble in the newly forming clouds. Izzy stood firm as her entire head tingled intensely. She kept on taking deep breaths, focusing on keeping her magic flowing into this spell, knowing that everypony's homes, possibly the entire forest, depended on it. The spectacle in front of the burning building had quelled the panic considerably, and ponies got a little more organized as the calls for more water continued. The lilac unicorn fought back tears as the tingling began to get painful, and she felt rain began to fall through the canopy, starting as a light drizzle but was slowly picking up. Her legs nearly ready to give out as her body rapidly weakened from the magical expenditure, she was determined to stay on her hooves. She opened her tear filled eyes, looking up to confirm that the rain clouds had expanded sufficiently enough to cover the immediate area and beyond. Finally, her skull feeling like it was moments away from splitting, she took in a sharp breath as the magic in her horn cut off, and she fell to the muddying ground in exhaustion. The intensity of the rain had built to nearly a monsoon, and the ponies of Bridlewood saw that the fires that had originated in the Crystal Tea Room was stopped in its tracks, allowing them to focus on the center burning building, as the surrounding trees and town was no longer in immediate danger due to Izzy's magical downpour. Still coughing, Gloomy Sonnet got herself collected enough to come over next to the now prone and soaking wet Izzy, kneeling down next to her, lifting her head out of the mud and made sure she was still breathing, as she whimpered softly in pain.