When it was becoming more and more apparent that Sunset was going to have an entire village worth of unicorns eager for magical knowledge, Sunny and Phyllis set her up with a quiet workspace on CanterLogic's second floor. The unicorn was grateful enough for the spare bedroom in Sunny's lighthouse, but she had to admit, the expanded desk space was working wonders for getting organized and getting a baseline lesson plan lined out, and the cafeteria food wasn't half bad.
'Is this what it's like having a 9-to-5 desk job, or what being Twilight's Arch Mage would be like?' Sunset wondered. Would she have spent countless days with her muzzle buried in spellbooks from dawn til dusk, assisting the Princess with whatever magical conundrums came up? Or would she have been able to assist in teaching a class or two at the School for Gifted Unicorns?
But this wouldn't be a 'class or two'. It would be running a school. She could put it in as many informal terms as she wanted; that's what it was, and she still didn't believe she was fully qualified. Guiding eager and willing learners was great, but what if she had to deal with somepony... Like she used to be? Egotistical and power-hungry? Magic had been gone for generations, and now that it was back, the Spirit of Harmony was right; there would undoubtedly be those who would want to use it for nefarious purposes. If the need arose to defend Equestria, would her students be ready?
Would she be ready?
Sunset knew she was getting ahead of herself. She was on Step 2; that would potentially be Step 637. She glanced over at the stack of books; 200 newly produced copies of Magic 101: The Fundamentals of Unicorn Magic. That would go in one wagon, and all the other books that hadn't gone into storage here at CanterLogic would go in another wagon. She had arranged with CanterLogic to be able to rapidly produce any books that she would need to copy to hand out to her students.When she heard that Izzy would be coming by to see her to Bridlewood, she knew it would save an extra trip.
It would also let her give Izzy a proper apology for the stunt she had pulled a few weeks earlier. She hadn't forgotten that the unicorn had managed to keep the citizens of Bridlewood calm and understanding after her thievery stunt, and she was willing to bet that the fact that they were so willing to learn from her was due to Izzy as well.
There was a knock on her door, and it opened to reveal the lilac unicorn.
"Hey there, Sunset. I know I could have sent you a text to let you know I was in town, I wanted to come personally and make sure there's no hard feelings," Izzy greeted, stepping into the small room that had been serving as Sunset's 'office'.
"You're coming to see if there's no hard feelings? After what I did?" Sunset said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.
"Not about the books, but honestly, I didn't really dissuade anypony from coming to a magic class, even when I saw that it was beginning to become the entire town," Izzy said.
Sunset gave her a gentle smile.
"No hard feelings, promise. The prospect of teaching so many is a bit daunting, I will admit, but I couldn't turn anypony away from wanting to learn about magic in a more formal setting, especially for the first time in generations. I'm going to give it my absolute best effort. You, and every single unicorn in Bridlewood, have my word. In fact..."
Sunset turned back to her desk, and reached to the far corner, and turned back to Izzy with a book the cerulean-maned unicorn recognized.
"'Weather Wizardry: Influencing the Forces of Nature'. This book is full of Class IV atmomancy spells. From what you told me, you used one to put out what could have been a disastrous forest fire, after just reading it twice?" Sunset asked.
"It was kind of an emergency, and I gave myself a migraine for nearly a week," Izzy explained, half nervously.
"Well, even if your emotions were elevating your magic, the fact that you successfully performed a Class IV spell after just reading it twice, and getting away with just a migraine, tells me that you've got some innate talent."
With that, Sunset stepped forward and offered the unicorn the book.
"Izzy, I'm wondering if I could ask you something. Would you like to be my teaching assistant?"
Izzy's eyes widened as she accepted the book in her magical grasp.
"Really? Me?"
"In return, I can offer you some one-on-one instruction several times a week. What do you say?" Sunset asked.
Izzy's stunned smile widened.
"Yes, absolutely. I'd love to."
Sunset gave her an affirmative nod.
"In that case, let's go grab some dinner to celebrate. My summer vacation is over. Now it's time to show some unicorns some magic."