One week later...
Sunset Shimmer sat in one of the back rooms of the schoolhouse, having converted it into her private office, carefully reading through the fourth chapter of Sigils, Seals, and Shields, the Class V tome that Misty had found up in the Crystal Empire.
She had decided that if she was going to dare take a crack at spells this advanced, she might as well start with defensive-based spells. Shields wouldn't be dangerous to her surroundings if they failed. With her office door open, she heard the front door to the building open and shut, followed by a "Sunset?"
"I'm back here, Sunny," the unicorn replied.
The earth mare came to her doorway, cradling a flowerpot that had... Some kind of vegetable protruding from the soil.
"Hey there, Sunny. Practice is going well, I take it? What have you got there?" Sunset asked.
"This is the 'unexpected results' part I was talking about. I was practicing growing specific fruits, and I don't know if I told you, but before I started working in the museum, I ran a smoothie cart for a living, and with smoothies, you're combining fruits and veggies together all the time, so that's what came to mind when I was instantly creating fruit, then this happened."
Sunset looked at the fruit in the pot as Sunny set it down on her desk. It looked like a small tree, and on it was a single fruit, that looked like a pear, up until about halfway, where the tip became much more yellow and textured like a banana.
"So... What were you thinking of?" Sunset asked.
"Combining a pear and a banana, for the pear-nana delight smoothie," the earth mare answered.
"Be right back," the unicorn told her, getting up and leaving the room for a moment. She returned with a wooden cutting board and a chef's knife. She pulled the odd-looking fruit from the branch, set it down on the cutting board, got it as steady as she could, and began slicing it up into bite-sized pieces. Once that was done, she picked up a piece, gave it a sniff, then shrugged, and popped it in her mouth.
"Yup, that definitely tastes like a 'pearnana' smoothie to me," Sunset told her, immediately going for another piece. Sunny followed her example and tried a bite herself, and her taste buds immediately loved it, going back for another slice.
"Well, I think you've just proven that this is going to revolutionize gardening and farming in Equestria," Sunset told her.
"How?" Sunny asked.
"Well just think of the new possible flavors, not to mention the space that will be saved in gardening plots and farm fields. I'm surprised that Izzy hasn't come to you and asked for an entire spectrum of flowers yet," Sunset answered.
"Well, um, she kinda has," the earth mare admitted.
Sunset chuckled.
"Well, I can definitely clear you some time for a demonstration for the classes tomorrow. I could definitely source a blender if you want to get back into smoothie making for a day. What do you say?" Sunset asked.
Sunny popped another slice of pearnana into her mouth.
"I'd say let's do it."
Izzy drove her new scooter down the main path into Bridlewood, not wanting to be late to class; apparently there would be smoothies today.
With her new vehicle, she had kept herself plenty busy with the faster-paced unicycling, and looked forward to offering these services in Maretime Bay when she visited. But right now, she was looking forward to what Sunset called a special class demonstration, which would apparently involve smoothies. She got several waves and greetings as she passed by unicorns not attending class today, which she returned while keeping her eyes on the road ahead. Pulling up next to Sunset's schoolhouse, she parked her scooter, then headed inside, where she saw a few students already mingling, as there was about five minutes before class was scheduled to start. She took her seat up front, seeing Sunset and Sunny up at the front desk behind more than a dozen flowerpots.
"You sure about this, Sunset? I have never taught a class before," Sunny said to the headmare.
"Don't sweat it, Sunny. Because you won't be teaching. I will be. You will be the demonstration. All you have to focus on is your new magic," Sunset assured her.
"Alright, if you say so," Sunny replied, bending down underneath the counter to put two blenders up on the top of the bar, and plugged them in.
"Alright class, let's get settled down and seated," Sunset announced, picking up her clipboard to take attendance, finding Misty was not present, for the third day in a row. "Now, we've got a guest demonstrator with us today, I'm sure most of you are already quite familiar with Ms. Sunny Starscout here. She and the earth ponies of Maretime Bay are experiencing something phenomenal; acute agrokinesis has begun to manifest in all earth ponies since the reunification of the tribes. In simpler terms, earth ponies have magic for the first time in recorded history, and I've asked Sunny to demonstrate how Equestrian agriculture is about to be turned on its head in more ways than one."
Sunny gave Sunset's students a smile and nod.
"So before she accepted a position at the Maretime Bay Museum of History, Sunny ran a smoothie stand. For those unfamiliar, a smoothie is a thick, creamy beverage that is made from blended fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients. So, to start out, Sunny, could we get some strawberries?" Sunset asked.
Sunny stepped over to the flowerpot all the way on the left, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then raised her right hoof, and placed the tip on the soil. The class watched as her entire hoof glowed green, moments before the stems, flowers, leaves, and finally the fruit of a strawberry plant grew out of the soil to maturity in just a matter of seconds. The students gave soft applause and astonished murmurs as Sunny withdrew her hoof.
Onyx raised her hoof.
"Yes, Onyx?" Sunset called.
"So no seeds? Just fertile soil?" the unicorn asked.
"Correct, that's the most magical part. If you want the plant to last, the soil needs the right pH balance, but if you intend on harvesting immediately, there's no need," Sunset replied, as she lit up her horn and picked off the berries that had grown on the ends, depositing them in a nearby bowl.
"Alright, Sunny. For our next ingredient, let's do a combination fruit like you showed me earlier. Let's get a pearnana," Sunset said.
Stepping over to the next pot, Sunny repeated the motions of the previous pot, placing her hoof onto the soil, then a sapling quickly sprung out of the soil, producing a full-sized fruit within moments before Sunny reversed her magic, reverting the sapling to nothing to avoid damaging the pot, leaving the fruit.
"The agrokinesis can manipulate the plants both ways, they can be grown rapidly, and they can also be withered away," Sunset explained as she magically took hold of the pearnana over to a cutting board, where she quickly cut it into slices.
"As you can see, it's all mental, and Sunny can create fruit combinations that are entirely safe to eat," Sunset explained before popping a slice into her mouth. "If your smoothie ingredients are fresh and not frozen, then you generally add ice to your blender to make it colder, but this also may result in a watered-down taste."
Sunset tossed the strawberries into the first blender, then the sliced pearnana, before adding in a few ice cubes and a couple scoops of yogurt, before capping the blender and turning it on while Sunny continued with the magical fruit growing.
After a few moments, Sunset thought she heard something off with the blender motor, so she shut it off, only to discover that the vibrating noise wasn't coming from the motor. She looked down to the shelves, saw a glowing, vibrating book, and her heart nearly came out of her chest.
"Sunset, everything okay over there?" Sunny asked, who hadn't looked away from the flowerpots yet.
Sunset pulled the book off of the shelf with the quivering hooves, and confirmed that it was the enchanted messaging book, one of several that she had left Canterlot High with. She opened the cover, and flipped to the second page, after the letter she had written to her friends, and had gotten no response to.
"Sunset?" Sunny asked, finally glancing over and watched Sunset's expression go from shocked, to joyful, then to a look of worry. The earth mare stepped away from the pots and came over to Sunset. "Is everything okay?" She asked softly.
Finally, Sunset tore her eyes away from the book, and looked over at Sunny.
"Back in my office for a moment," Sunset told her softly, before turning to the class, most of whom were wondering what was going on. "Class, just a moment, sorry for the interruption."
With that, Sunset walked around the center wall back towards her offices, with Sunny right behind her, waiting for her to enter before closing the door, giving the two of them some privacy.
"What is it, Sunset?" Sunny asked.
The unicorn took a deep breath.
"Do you remember when I came back to Maretime Bay with the books I had taken, unsure of what to do with the Class V books? You told me there might come a time where we'd need them to face a threat."
"Yeah?" Sunny replied.
Sunset took a deep breath.
"I think that time is now."
With that, Sunset turned the open book towards Sunny, allowing her to read the message that had appeared on the otherwise blank page:
Surrender your school to my authority,
or I will rain fire down upon Bridlewood.