//------------------------------// // Misty // Story: Forgotten: Mists of Bridlewood // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// "Alright, so over the weekend, feel free to continue practicing with Class I levitation spells. If you get bored, and want a little bit of a challenge before we start Class II curriculum, juggling with your magic is a great way to hone your dexterity. Just, make sure it's with nothing fragile," Sunset said, looking out over her last class of the week as they returned her gaze with attentive eyes. "Lastly, before dismissal, I know I told you all if you had any questions about magic that you were afraid to ask face to face, to put them in the Anonymous Questions box by the door." Sunset Shimmer lit up her horn, and detached the wooden slotted box from its spot next to the front door, floating it over to her desk, unlocked it, and lifted the hinged lid. "Looks like just one today, and it is..." Sunset paused, floating the folded piece of paper up and unfolded it. "Is it true there is a potion that can turn a mare into a stallion?" Sunset had to take a moment and chuckle. "I see that stories of Princess Twilight have been starting to circulate around a bit. She apparently won a magic duel by using a spell to turn a mare into a stallion. I can tell you that it was almost certainly an illusion. While potions can be just as powerful as spells, to my knowledge, I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'gender fluid'. With that being said, please enjoy your weekend." As the unicorns of her class began to put on their saddlebags and turn to the exit, Sunset turned to the light blue unicorn in the front row who was putting her Magic 101 into her saddlebags. "Misty? Would you mind staying around a moment?" She said. Misty looked up at her and nodded as the tables started to empty out. "I-I'm sorry, Miss Shimmer. I've been trying, I really have been," the mare told her as Sunset walked around the curved bar, which had been converted into her desk. "I know you have been, Misty. I just wanted to come and make sure that you're not getting discouraged or anything as a late arrival. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't giving the impression that this was an elite school, because that's the only magic school experience I had in my fillyhood. Everypony has their niche in magic, and I promise that I will try my best to find yours." Sunset's three classes had been of varying skill levels. The fillies and colts class was understandably more novice, and her two adult classes were still more geared towards beginner spells. But if Sunset was internally honest with herself, her newest student, Misty, was struggling with even the most basic levitation spells. To her credit, she had been sitting up front and paying attention to everything that she had to teach. The couple of quizzes that she had taken had received adequate scores. Knowledge wasn't the problem; in Misty's case is was sadly a matter of ability. It had reminded her a lot of her brother, Sunburst. "Thank you, Miss Shimmer. I promise I'll keep trying hard," Misty said as she got up, got her saddlebags strapped around her midsection, and turned to exit. For just a moment, Sunset curiously eyed her simplistic butterfly cutie mark as she made her way out of the school. Sunset did a quick walk around the tables to make sure nothing got left behind or nothing was going to be left too messy or cluttered for the weekend. It hadn't been bad for a second week. Satisfied with the state of her 'classroom' for the weekend, she made her way back to her desk to begin getting things in order before she went out for dinner. She didn't even get a single folder put back together before her phone resting off to the right began to vibrate, and the screen lit up with an incoming video call. Sunset glanced over at it, and immediately smiled at the avatar on the screen. She picked up the phone, slid the tip of her hoof across the screen to accept the call, and held it up to her face. "Evening, Sunny. How's it going?" She asked. "Well, I've been wanting to call you all week, but I didn't want to interrupt the flow of your week," Sunny said. "Why, what's going on?" Sunset asked, leaning back in her chair. "Well... See for yourself..." Sunny said, and the feed from her camera was jostled for a moment before she got her phone turned around, and Sunset's eyes widened at what the earth mare was showing her. "You did that in just the short time I've been gone?" Sunset asked, looking at a crystal and glass lighthouse that didn't look anything like Sunny's home had when she had left for Bridlewood a couple weeks ago. "That's just it. We didn't do anything. This just appeared overnight a couple nights ago. Isn't it absolutely amazing?" Sunny asked, turning the phone back to herself. "And that's not all. Watch this..." Sunset watched closely and quietly as Sunny set her phone against a fence post and stepped off into the grass. She looked back and made sure she could see herself in the camera, and then returned her attention to the grass in front of her. The earth mare took a deep breath, raised her hoof, and the very tip of it began to glow green. She placed her glowing hoof on the ground, and the grass around it began to glow, moments before a sunflower sprouted up from the ground, grew rapidly, and in a matter of seconds, was taller than Sunny, and was in full bloom by the time the mare took a breath and took a step back. She looked up at her work, before trotting back to her phone and picked it up. "I mean, just look! Earth pony magic!" Sunset was too stunned for words at the moment, and Sunny had to double check to make sure she hadn't accidentally disconnected the call. "Sunset, you good?" "That also just started happening in the past few days?" Sunset asked. Sunny nodded on-screen. "Everypony in town can do it to an extent! You should see how excited Sprout is, you know, because it's pretty much a namesake for him. Anyways, I was wondering if you knew anything about it." Sunset quickly gathered her thoughts. "No... I mean, earth ponies have historically had natural affinity for farming, flora, physical strength, and endurance. But what you just showed me? Sunny, earth ponies have not had that kind of magic in all of recorded Equestrian history." Sunny's eyes widened along with her smile. "Wow! Earth pony magic for the first time ever! This is so exciting!" Sunny nearly squee'd. "I won't doubt that's it's very exciting, but don't forget to be careful. Just like unicorns and pegasi, if earth ponies have magic of their own now, they have to use it safely," Sunset advised. Sunny nodded. "Hitch has been brainstorming guidelines for the past few days. He's got a lot on his plate too. He found a huge egg on the beach a few days ago!" "An egg?" "Yup! Way too big to be a seagull or turtle. He's got it incubating at the station for now. But enough about our adventures over here, has everything been going good with your new school since we last talked?" "Pretty good, yeah. We're taking things one step at a time. For now I'm doing three classes a day, four days a week. One for the fillies and colts, and two for older ponies. Things have been pretty smooth sailing, except... Well, except for my late arrival." "Late arrival?" "Her name's Misty. Showed up at the end of last week, after classes had gotten started. We had already drawn a lottery to see who would be in my first batch of classes, but it felt wrong to shut a newcomer out just because they were out and about, and I was able to squeeze her into one of the last available spots of my last class for the day." "That's great, what's so strange about that?" Sunny asked. "Well, I've been keeping my eye out for any naturally talented unicorns who can assist with teaching classes, like Izzy. But Misty has caught my eye because, well, I don't want to sound rude, and I really don't want to sound like a snobby supremacist, but it's because she can barely do anything. The unicorns who didn't get selected for my first set of classes, I handed out Class I books to all of them, I'm talking about the baseline stuff, the simplest of the simple stuff. Misty is having trouble even with that. I want to help her find what area of magic she's good at, but in the meantime, is it really fair to have her in my first set of classes when more able unicorns are stuck waiting?" Sunset asked. "Hm. It's a valid concern, Sunset. You want to make sure all your students are good uses of your time. Maybe ask around town about her, find out what her hobbies are, what area of Bridlewood she grew up in. Maybe the better you get to know her, the better you can get to know the magic inside her," Sunny suggested. Sunset smiled, and heard her stomach grumble for a meal. "Thanks, Sunny. Well, I've got to go grab some dinner. Enjoy your weekend!" With a smile and a wave goodbye, the call ended, and Sunset turned her screen off. Quickly organizing her desk before she got any hungrier, she got up, grabbed her keys, and before leaving her desk, turned to the back wall where she had put a filing cabinet under the counter, and pulled the top drawer open, running the tip of her hoof through her student files, going to the 'M' section and pulling a file folder out. "Good idea, Sunny. I think I'll do just that over dinner."