//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve — Sick of Practice // Story: Cradle of Dreams // by AterHut //------------------------------// My head is still dizzy, but I can't say no to Teadrop just because of that. She was so worried yesterday that Luna knows what she'll think if I refuse. We'll just have a snack by the stream like last time, so that should be fine, right? Suddenly Teadrop broke the silence. “So… what was that?” That? Oh, she must be talking about the rock thing. “Ah, that… Well, I felt bad about being so lame at magic and wanted to learn it from the books I got recently, but Miss Velvet offered to learn the basics from her and I agreed. Today we taught me about this “territory” thing I've never heard of before.”  “Huh? You've never heard of territory?” She looks so surprised that it must be very common knowledge. “Uhh… Yeah, my old teachers probably  didn't think it was necessary for me to know that.” To be honest, it doesn't really  seem important for a housemaid to know about such stuff, so I can't blame them, but it would still be nice to know that it exists! “So you don't even know much about the basics of magic, do you?” It feels bad to admit it but... “Yup.” “Do you have those magic books you mentioned with you?” “Er, yeah, they're always in my saddlebags!” To be honest I'm still surprised that all this stuff fits in there. And I have no idea why wouldn't I just leave some of this stuff in my temporary room at Velvet's, but it just doesn't feel right. “Why?” “Do you want to read them together so I can explain them to you? Oh! It's not that I think you wouldn't understand them… I mean, of course you would! But learning together is more fun, right?! I mean, even if I'm a pegasus, it's still nice to know more about magic we all use, ha-ha...” There she goes, panicking again. “Sure! It would be nice if you could explain all that stuff to me!” What a day. I've spent the whole morning learning magic from an earthpony and now  my new pegasus friend offers to help me understand it. Whose race is known for its magical abilities after that?! . . . For the next few hours Teadrop read Twilight's magic guide aloud, stopping only to drink the tea she had brought. And as a grateful student I tried my best not to fall asleep and at least catch  a few words.  “...which will help you to understand your magic better! Phew! And that concludes the first chapter!” I did it! I didn't fall asleep, and now Teadrop looks all happy and proud! Absolute victory! “So, what have we learnt from this chapter?”  She looked at me with a whole sea of expectations shimmering in her eyes. Speaking of her eyes... "Oh! I just noticed you have different coloured eyes!" And no, I'm definitely not trying to avoid questions about things I'm supposed to know! I really just noticed that her left eye is purple and right is green! “Uh? Oh, yeah, that! Pretty cool, right? Ha-ha...” She looked a little too embarrassed for someone who thinks that's cool. "But back on topic: what have we learnt from this chapter, Rettie?" Damn it! Distraction failed! And her smile is kind of creepy now! “Uh, that unicorns should learn magic?” I tried to give her my smartest smile, but she looks very disappointed now. I'm screwed, aren't I? “Ahh, it can't be helped, I suppose. You've been practising all day, no wonder you can't take information very well.” Yep. That's it. I'm just tired, I swear! “But tomorrow we will read it all again and you will read it with me, alright?” “Yep, yep! Sure!” Lemme go home now, pretty please? She gave me a gentle smile for some reason. “Ahh, you really are incorrigible. I think that's enough for today. But don't overdo it tomorrow so we can study together! Good night, Rettie!” “Night, Tea!” Packing up my stuff wasn't as painful as it had been a few hours ago. Fresh air really is  the best medicine for my burnt horn it seems! Anyway, back to Miss Velvet's to finally get some rest! . . . “Oh? You're back already? You look like you've had a  good rest, so you won't mind helping me with dishes today, will you?” Wasn't I supposed to be resting for the rest of the day?! . . . The next morning I had nothing to do, so I went back to practice… again. But compared to yesterday there was no improvement at all. “I've been here for a couple of hours now, but still about the same old six metres!? Am I missing something?” And if I'm missing something important there's only one thing that can help me. I pulled out my great-grandpa's notes, but only to see Miss Velvet's hoof on top of it. “Huh?” When did she even get here?! "Going to read during your break instead of letting yourself rest?" “Uhh, I just felt like I was stuck so wanted to see if there were any good tips in there, he-he.” "Are you going to always rely on this book? After all, it's going to end someday, you know?" Huh? I mean, she's right but… “I… I haven't thought that far yet…” “Then rest a bit and start thinking. It feels much better when you find a solution yourself, doesn't it?” “Yes ma'am!” . . . "So... what else can I do besides close my eyes and concentrate?" Suddenly all of my motivation to learn is gone after the first second of trying to think. Come on, it's just a little bit of thinking, it can't be that bad?! “So, uh, I have to reach further than seven metres, right? So I just have to, er, reach further?” Thinking is definitely not my strong point today. “Ahh, I wanna take a break.” Wait, I'm already on a break, aren't I? Maybe I should do something unrelated to magic during it? I think Teadrop mentioned that she works in some kind of cafe nearby. I haven't walked around the town much since I've got here, maybe it's a good idea to visit it then, I can relax a bit, right? “Well, "the brightest ideas come to the free mind” they say?” I remember reading something like that in one of comics before, comics are basically books and books can't lie, right? "Miss Velvet! I'm going to take a little walk round town!" “The cafe where Teadrop works is down the street!” “Thanks!” I'm too tired to be surprised by other ponies reading my thoughts at this point, so whatever, down the street I go! Which direction “down the street” is tho? . . . After wandering around the local shops for a while, I finally noticed the big “Cafe” sign. Looking around I noticed Miss Velvet's bakery in the distance. “So “down the street” meant literally down the street. Fair.” I made sure I had my bits bag in my saddlebags and entered the cafe. “Welcome! Oh-” Yep, I know that voice,I got lucky and caught Teadrop on her shift. “Sup. Cosy place to work in, hm?” It was the middle of a weekday, so there were only a few ponies wandering around. “Uh, Hi Rettie- Uh, I mean, I'm at work so welcome! Oh dear I've already greeted you, haven't I?!” There she goes, panicking again. “Alright Tea, just do it again…” She took a deep breath in. "Welcome! What would you like? Feel free to choose a table and grab a menu if you'd like!" She said it with a wide smile on her face, which made me notice that her hair hides her right eye even more than usual. But I don't think I should ask her about that here. Besides, come to think of it, I've never been in a cafe before and  I have no idea what ponies usually order here. “Uh, I will take the menu please.” It's getting awkward to just stand here in silence, so getting a table sounds like a good decision.  “Sure! You can take one here!”  Teadrop pointed to the pile of menus. I took one and went to a free table in the corner.  It has very few pages, but it's full of names I've never heard of before. Seriously, who came up with the name "fat pink donut"?! Oh, it looks like the last page is drinks! I remember Teadrop naming that weird pu-erh tea! But more importantly, one drink from the list caught my eye… I think I need to let her know I'm ready to order, so I gave Teadrop a little wave. She looked around, as if someone else should  be taking orders, but, with another sigh, she came out from behind the counter and walked over to my table. “Ready to make the order?” “Uh, yes, I'd like to take one muffin with coffee plea-” “Coffee is not on the menu.” Huh? “But it's right here-” “Coffee. Is. Not. On. The. Menu.” “... One muffin with pu-erh tea please…” “Would you like anything else?” I don't think that coffee workers are allowed to drink tea with their customers so… “No, thanks.” “All right! Your order will be ready in a few minutes!” What. Was. That?! I double-checked the menu and the coffee is right here! But her smile got so creepy when I just mentioned it! I looked in her direction. She looked all happy and relaxed as she made my order. She really seems to really enjoy her job. I couldn't help but smile at her. Maybe I should relax a little more during my practices as well? She seemed to notice that I was staring at her and, slightly blushing, turned away from me. Or maybe it was just my imagination. Who knows.  . . . “H-here's your order! Let me know if you need anything else!” I jumped a little in surprise. It seems that I thought for a second and lost touch with reality a little. “Oh! Thanks!” Ah, she already ran back behind the counter. The next second, the strong aroma of tea hit my nostrils. Welp, my coffee break is a tea break now I guess. . . . When I had finished my muffin, I went to the counter to pay for it. The little colt took the order from Teadrop and hurriedly ran out of the cafe to join his friends, somehow managing to hold four cups of tea in his magic field at once. I guess some unicorns are just more gifted than others, huh? "Hey, don't run like that with hot stuff, you'll fall and hurt someone!" When she said that, probably because of getting distracted by Teadrop's shout,  the little colt actually felt and naturally lost concentration on his  magic and dropped all the hot cups. Luckily, I somehow managed to catch them with my magic before the hot tea spilled over his friends. “Hey, didn't she tell you not to run, punk?! Ahh, whatever, are you guys all right?” As if nothing had happened, the colt jumped off the ground, grabbed his cups out of my field, stuck his tongue out at me and ran off with his friends.  “You little…” “Ah, let them go, Rettie…” …Whatever.  “How much for me?” “Uh, pu-erh with one muffin is… seven bits!” A little expensive for a simple muffin and tea?! Although the tea was very well made. Well, I guess that's how cafes work. “Your training is paying off it seems.” She giggled softly and went into the back room. “Huh?” I looked at the trail the colt's muzzle had left on the ground. About… fifteen, no, seventeen metres?! “Yeah, definitely …”   . . . “And then he fell and I caught them! Seventeen metres away!” “Yeah, yeah, but even if it's so, I won't teach you anything new until you repeat it here.” Miss Velvet stuck a rock in the ground near the place where I usually sit. “Now show me how far you can reach with it.” Okay, just relax, I've already done it once today, right? Miss Velvet started to roughly count the metres out loud. “Six… seven… eight… You've definitely made some progress." Ughhh why is it getting so hard, relax, relax! It was so easy when I caught those teacups! “Nine… Nine and a half… Ten… It doesn't seem you can push it much further, so I'd suggest you stop before you burn your horn again.” But. I. Know. I. Can! “Eleven… twelve…” Miss Velvet's voice grew more surprised. "Thirteen... fourteen... fifteen!" I dropped that god damn stone there. It burns so hard that I can't stand it! “Ouchouchouchouch! Where's the rain when I need it?! “Impressive result I'd say! Well done, Rettie!” “Yes! Yes! Finally! Ouch!” I was so happy that I jumped a little, but my head didn't seem to like it at all. “Ugh, ahem, so… will we finally start learning new stuff when I'll recover a little?” “Nope.” “Huh?! You said you expected fifteen metres from me and I made it! Why not?!” “I said I expected that from you by the end of the day. Of yesterday. Today you said that you're capable of reaching seventeen metres away, so that's your new goal. Give your horn some rest and come back to practice tomorrow.” With that, Miss Velvet headed back to the bakery. “NO! WHY?! THAT'S UNFAIR!” I couldn't help but roll on the ground and whine. I was so happy to reach the fifteen metre mark and now it's not enough and it makes me so angry! But I'm still happy but… It's so mixed and messed up now! “Urghhh, I don't wanna keep doing it again and again! It's soooo boring! Tomorrow… No. Today I will reach twenty metres so Miss Velvet won't make me do that dumb exercise ever again!  Yes…” But my head feels so heavy right now, so I should get at least some rest at first... . . . In the evening, as usual, Teadrop visited my bakery. Or should I say came to visit Rettie? Ah, whatever, it's the same thing right now. “Good evening, Miss Velvet, you won't believe what Rettie did today!” “Caught cups of hot tea off a falling colt's magic field seventeen metres away?” "She caught the cups... О. Of course, she's already told you about it. That took the fun out of the news. Where is she though?” Well, at least she didn't lie to me about her achievements it seems. “She was in the backyard as usual when I told her to get some rest after almost burning out her horn, but I haven't seen her come back in here, she'd better not keep practising right now or I'll… Ah, whatever, we'd better just go and check on her.” I swear, if she keeps training right now, I'll make her arse burn harder than her horn. We came out of the bakery and, to the safety of her arse, she was asleep. “Hey, Retite, I know it's still summer and all, but the evenings are getting colder, so wake up before you catch a cold or something.” “nineteen...twenty…” Huh? Does she talk in her sleep? “Waaaake uuuup, sleepy head! Teadrop won't wait here for you to wake up forever!” She finally opened her eyes and slowly stood up. She definitely seems to be in a way worse mood than usual. Had I overestimated her nerves and been too hard on her earlier? Now I feel bad about that. She easily picked up the rock, which was still on the same fifteen metre mark where she had left it, and pulled it towards her, as she approached the place where she practises. “Hey sleepy head, that's impressive and all, your friend is waiting for you, not the best time to keep practising! Go have fun and come back tomorrow! You'll easily get it tomorrow, no need to push yourself so hard today!” But she didn't seem to listen to me at all. Teadrop started to look worried as well, but we silently decided to see what Rettie is after. She sat up in her usual place and began to draw another line with the same old rock. “Five… Ten… Twelve…” She reached the mark she had left at fifteen metres. “Seventeen! Well done!” Rock already hid behind the trees, but she didn't stop. “Uh, Rettie?” Teadrop sounded very worried as she looked at Rettie.  I shifted my gaze to Rettie as well. She looked sleepy, as expected, but what I didn't expect to see was anger in her eyes. . . . . . . Was she angry at me for setting her goals slightly out of her reach? Or at herself for not being able to achieve them?  Or was it something else? I will never know that. All I could do is stand here and watch her prove to herself that she's capable of more than anypony expects of her. And even if it was only for the blink of an eye, a mere moment before her horn burned out, she managed to pull off a second layer of magic field. Not something you would ever expect from somepony so young. Not even from a teenage student, to be honest. I have to hand it to Mrs Wavers, she totally wasn't wrong about Rettie having an insane potential. “Is… that good enough now?” Rettie's words knocked me out of my thoughts. Teadrop already sat next to her, all worried about her friend, but all we could see was a smug, full of proud smile on Rettie's face. “Ah? Yes, absolutely! In fact it was when you hit the seventeen metre mark! You shouldn't have pushed it any further though, didn't we talk already about how bad it is to burn out your horn?” I don't know why I am even telling her off. I'm just at a loss for words for this, I suppose. “It's fine.” - To prove it she easily picked up her saddlebags and put them back. - “How far?” “Still not listening… Well, fair enough, I guess, I should have believed in you a little more after all.” And I really mean it. “It's behind the trees so you'll have to wait a minute for me to find out.” She just nodded at my words and I left her on Teadrop. … “Okay, so that was about fifteen metres mark, and this is seventeen… twenty.” Fifteen metres reach is the mark where most of the unicorns stop practising their magic. It's truly a rare occurrence to see a unicorn reach that far.  But the line doesn't stop there. What the… “Twenty-five…” I simply can't believe in that. “Thirty?..” If somepony would ever tell me that an eleven-year-old filly could magically reach for thirty metres, I'd have called them a fool. But here I am, seeing it with my very own eyes. Twice the distance I thought she would reach in a week.... At first I wondered if Mrs Wavers was right about this girl, and if Rettie was really worth teaching... But now, less than a week later, I'm wondering if I'm really capable of teaching her. “That's just straight up insanity.” First Amethyst, now Rettie.... Kids are scary these days, aren't they? Or is it just me being too old? Ah, who knows, all I have to worry about right now is pulling myself together and stop whining. I still have a lot to teach these girls. . . . When I came back and told them about Rettie's magic reaching for thirty metres, these two got so happy and proud, that even I couldn't dare to remind them that that was just the basics and that Rettie still had a long way to go. Yes, she's still just a kid and I shouldn't forget about that even after seeing such stunning results from her. As for now, I should just let her be happy for a while and get an actual plan for this girl.