Raven was staring at a small, light blue horn. The horn moved left, the horn moved right. "Hm. It looks fine on the outside..." The white unicorn scratched her chin and backed up.
As Raven backed up, Aqua put a hoof back on top of her head and hissed lightly.
"It hurts to touch, yes?"
"Yeah, It does. Not a ton, but it hurts the harder you touch it. If something is just touching it, it's fine. But if something hits it, yeah. I just screwed up and accidentally hit it. Anyway, it's been painful on and off the last two days, but since early yesterday, it's barely lessened at all."
Sounds like mana fatigue. "And does it feel tiring to cast anything last time you did?"
The filly shook her head before hissing in pain again. "Ow. Hit it again. No, not noticeably."
"So you haven't cast since early yesterday?"
Aqua shook her head again, this time slowly. "No. A few days ago when It did this, I did, and it ended up doing something and then it felt pretty much entirely better."
"You said something happened last time. Do you know what it was?"
Cotton spoke up. "Her horn made an audible cracking sound."
Raven's eyes widened and she opened her mouth.
The filly cut her off. "Yeah, but it felt better instantly. Look can I just try it again?"
Raven looked up in thought. She idly noted that the pegasus was looking to her for an answer. From what she said, it sounds like a symptom of that disorder mentioned... Unfettered Horn Disorder, was it? Maybe...
"Uh... Raven? You good?"
"Hm?"
The filly was facing her, still holding her horn. "You just got silent. Can I?"
What? Oh right. The unicorn rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry. Give me a moment." Raven then leaned to Cotton so she could whisper.
Cotton shook her head with a smile while looking at Raven. "That wouldn't work. Aqua can hear when anypony whispers in the same room."
Aqua smirked and giggled. "No, you all just can't whisper, I swear... Though, I suppose with my ears, maybe I can just hear better too."
The pegasus gave off a long-suffering sigh and turned back to Raven with what looked like a tired look.
The filly spoke up. "Hey, Raven I got a quick question slash request. Do me a favour and put your ear near Cotton's back. Also, Cotton, don't move. I got an idea."
Raven tilted her head but slowly moved to the pegasus sitting next to the filly. "Okay..?"
"Do you hear her heartbeat? how near are you?"
Cotton shifted and tilted her head. "Why are you testing it with my heartbeat?"
The filly shrugged and smiled through her grimace. "I don't know. It's nice to listen to. Plus, I know how loud it is. Anyway, Raven, how close are you?"
Raven noted the pegasus shift back slightly halfway through what Aqua said. "Around two hooves away."
The filly smirked. "Your hooves or my hooves?"
Raven glanced at the filly's hooves before looking at Cotton's back. "Around five of yours."
Aqua snorted. "Can you hear it?"
She shook her head. "No"
"Get closer... Actually, just get close enough till you can hear it. I'm curious." Aqua rubbed her horn. "Ow."
Raven slowly leaned in further before she began to hear a quiet pulse. "At about one of your hooves away. I have to really listen for it."
Aqua nodded as she got a little closer to the pegasus. "Ok cause If I get a little closer, I can hear it from about where I am... I can't right now, but if I got a little closer I could."
Raven began to move back to her seat before freezing. That's... creepy. "That's... fascinating." Raven noted Cotton very slightly leaning back from the filly.
Aqua shrugged. "Yeah. I'm cool like that. Anyway," Jokingly, "Anyway, am I allowed to cast, mother?"
The unicorn sighed. It should be fine to at least lest... "Alright, but only do it slowly. Very slowly. Don't use a lot of power, either." She looked around before looking at her saddlebag. That should work. Raven pulled out an empty notebook she needed for her next class. Laying it down on the table in front of Aqua, she spoke up. "This should do. It's a notebook I'm going to use later."
"Thanks. I'll try not to destroy it." Aqua rubbed her horn one more time before she put her hoof down and began to light her horn. Her frown grew as the notebook shakily rose. Lift up Raven's saddlebag "Yep, it hurts. Starting to feel like a headache, but where my horn is. Also harder to move it than a day ago."
"Alright. Is the pain getting worse over time?"
Aqua spoke through clenched teeth. "How am I supposed to know? I just know it hurts. It's slow if it is. I won't notice it. Same as the whole thing with frogs."
Raven tilted her head. "What?"
The filly rolled her grey eyes. "Look, Y- Ow. Yes, it's getti-" Aqua's eyes widened as she flinched and froze. The notebook she was holding suddenly became steady.
Cotton reached out a hoof and tapped the filly on her wither. "Aqua..? Are you okay?"
Aqua didn't respond for a second. Then, she shook her head, horn still lit. The filly tilted her head and looked confused. "It... Okay... I think it did the thing again."
Raven leaned in. "The crack from earlier?"
Aqua waited a second as she rubbed her head, no longer grimacing. "Well, not quite... I didn't hear a crack. It... I suppose the best way to describe it is like feeling something shift..." Aqua barely sneered, though Raven noticed it. "In you... Though I doubt you two know what that feels like..."
What. Raven looked at cotton. She was looking at her with a shocked expression.
Turning back slowly, she saw the filly shook her head. "Actually, maybe you have, I don't know you two as well as you do. Anyway, it almost felt like the bone moved. It was extremely uncomfortable for a split second, but then the pain was mostly gone."
What do I say to that? "Uh..."
Aqua continued, despite the lack of response. "Like... Think of something being sore, but not quite painful after getting your arm crushed or whatever. So like the aftereffects of pressure, I suppose..."
Cotton was the first to respond. "Do... you mean like a headache?"
The filly nodded. "Yeah, kinda. Headaches are caused by pressure, after all. So I guess maybe just a headache but in my horn instead."
Shaking off her confusion, Raven commented. "That does sound like using your horn too much after a magical workout..." Raven looked up. Perhaps it's because of that... "You said that the Doctor mentioned that your horn would grow further as you do?"
"Yeah... Is that it? Cause I could see it..." The filly sighed as a smile blossomed. "I remember when..." Aqua shook her head and topped her smile. "Nevermind... That's off-topic. So, do you think that's it?"
The unicorn mare slowly nodded. "It might be. I'll look into it..." Raven blinked and realised the filly hadn't dropped her notebook. "Aqua, you can drop the notebook, by the way.
The filly hummed to herself and giggled. "Oh yeah. I actually forgot about it." Aqua put the notebook down and frowned again. "Am I back to a no magic policy till then?"
"It would probably be safe."
"Gotcha. So only do it while alone. That way no one'll find out."
Cotton sighed.
Probably the time to ask about that... Raven looked at Cotton. "Cotton, may I talk to you for a second?" She glanced at Aqua.
Cotton nodded. "Give us a second, Aqua."
The filly shrugged. "Ok."
Raven led the way out the door and closed it behind the pegasus. There was nopony else in the hallways. Is this why I was chosen? Raven mentally sighed before turning to Cotton. "So-"
Cotton leaned in and cut her off. "Whisper. She might not be able to hear it."
Raven nodded and joined in on leaning in. "What was that comment that Aqua made?"
"The one about the shifting feeling?"
The unicorn nodded.
Cotton sighed deeply. "As you know, she's at the orphanage. She was found asleep right in front of the main castle doors. Nopony knows how she got through the outer walls to even get there."
Raven blinked.
"Yeah... She was sent to us so we could help and find out what happened... But that hasn't been fruitful. Aqua is... hesitant... to talk about what happened."
Raven looked at the marble tiles. "Oh."
"We assume she's had bad things happen to her, and are trying to help, but she's slow to accept it as well."
Raven looked back up at the pegasus. "But with what she said?"
Cotton had a sad look on her face. "That isn't the first time she's said concerning things... It hurts me to see it, but I can't go prodding her about everything. She won't open up that way."
"Oh." Raven wasn't an expert on this topic.
"I've tried asking her about it. She's denying it, but... how else could she know about things at her age?" Cotton slowly shook her head. "Yes. It's very concerning, and sometimes you can't tell if it's intended to be a joke, but... we're trying to help."
"Oh." That's... Raven glanced at the door leading to the filly. I'm sorry, Aqua.
"Yeah." Cotton began to speak at a normal volume. "Okay, let's not make her wait too long."
Raven nodded and pushed the button on the door, opening it. Cotton went inside first. Raven followed her inside, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. Moving to pick up the notebook with her magic, Raven noted Aqua's ears following her as the filly shifted in her seat. Cotton had sat back down in her seat. "So, once more, Aqua... Try to avoid using magic."
She rolled her grey eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I got it... No fun allowed."
Raven noted that Cotton shook her head silently with a sad frown at Raven.
Aqua spoke up with a sarcastic tone. "I love not being able to do the one interesting thing. It's so fun."
The pegasus sighed. "All right, Aqua. Let's get out of Raven's mane."
The filly nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I gotcha." The filly held her hooves up to Cotton and waited for the pegasus to pick her up.
The pegasus headed to the door and began to push it open. Cotton turned back to Raven. "Thanks for the help, Raven. Hope you feel better."
Raven furrowed her eyebrows as the two exited. I'm not sick, though... Wait... Is it to throw Aqua off...? Raven thought back to the pegasus and nodded slowly. Raven shook her head and glanced at the clock. I've got some time to do some work... She sat down and picked up the notebook. As she picked it up, Raven noted that it was open and that there was an empty page ripped out. Raven tilted her head. Cotton did say Aqua used to draw a while ago...