"Mornin'!" Starlight pounced atop Sunburst, awakening them swiftly. "So, I hear somepony wants to learn some spells?"
"I know spells." Sunburst fought Starlight off with laughs. "Cut that out."
Starlight let Sunburst push her free to her hooves, off their bed. "You know them, but you haven't cast half of them, which is a lousy kind of knowing. You say that changed, and I'm all for that! Time to practice."
Sunburst flicked an ear back. "I'm... interested, but I thought I'd check in with Cadance and Shining?"
"They can wait a little longer." Starlight rolled her eyes, glowing horn grabbing Sunburst's magic book. "Seperate out which ones you've already actually cast. It's time to be serious about you. You couldn't be a wizard before, now you can. No more waiting."
Sunburst rolled her eyes in mock exacerbation even as she levitated several texts over with a grin. Trust Starlight not to let rigid restraints like breakfast or business stand in the way of priorities when there was explosive magical potential to unleash!
Selecting an intermediate spell volume, Starlight bounced eagerly on her hooves, practically vibrating. "Ooo what about that wicked cool self-duplication trick? I wanna see a dozen of my bestie dazzling me at once!"
"That's a good one." Sunburst's horn glowed with potential power.
Starlight emphasized her plea with a dramatic flop across Sunburst's bed, tongue lolling out exaggeratedly. "Wait." Her joy fractured a little. "the way you're saying that... You cast this already, didn't you?" She swatted a hoof at Sunburst. "The whole point is to try new things out! Are you scared? Don't be. Your body is, at your own words, finally listening."
Starlight tapped at her horn. "Yours is listening. Time to stretch it."
Sunburst bit her lip, eyebrows knitting. She couldn't deny feeling inexplicable intimidation tugging her from within to stick with safe sure bets rather than risk overextending boundaries so recently expanded...
Seeing the uneasy shift in confidence, Starlight gentled further, squeezing Sunburst's hoof between both her own. "Hey...wasn't trying to shame you into anything, Sunny. I just...know how much brilliance is in here-" she tapped the horn lightly- "and in here." She rested a hoof over Sunburst's heart.
"I'll never force it. But neither will I stop believing you can grab destiny with both hooves...and one hell of a spell," she finished with a tentative smile.
Exhaling tension slowly, Sunburst leaned into her oldest friend, confidence stabilizing again. "Well said as always...how about we start with something flashy yet gentle? Aurora projections can be delicate work but may make for inspiring practice."
Starlight's grin returned in force. "Now that sounds beautiful! Floor's all yours Maestra - wow me!"
Sunburst didn't read the book. They knew the spell. They just couldn't cast it before. "One two, one three," she sung to herself, testing her internal horn muscles and their control. Yes, they were listening to her. "And..." She opened the paths, allowing magic to flow. With them, she began the song of music, filling the room with bright colors that swirled and flowed as she created her own aurora.
Starlight clapped with naked joy. "Love it. Love every single bit of it... But..." She leaned in with a smirk. "How about something solid and heavy? You love avoiding those. Light shows are so... light. It's in the name." She hopped in place. "Throw me."
"Pardon?" Sunburst cocked a brow.
"Throw. Me." Starlight turned away and pointed at her bottom. "Send me flying across the room. Time for revenge for the last time I annoyed you."
Sunburst blinked rapidly, mind briefly short circuiting at the concept suddenly presented in such alarmingly casual tones.
"I...you...that's...." She stalled out entirely, sputtering. Did Starlight comprehend the sheer forces involved tossing an entire pony body - bones and organs and barely restrained magical chaos - through the air??
As her friend continued staring impatiently over her shoulder, haunch extended awaiting action, Sunburst veered between hysterical laughter at the utter ridiculousness and faint nausea picturing this ending very poorly.
A wiser voice cut through the turmoil, one she was still learning to heed within. Her magic flowed with purpose now yes, but care and conscience must coach its course. She need bend to no reckless whims, only her own discretion's steady guidance. Centering peace returned on the next measured breath.
"While I admit some past...perturbances might seem to excuse your peculiar request..." she began gently. Starlight started indignantly. Sunburst simply continued, tone final yet fond:
"I must decline catapulting my dear friend through my lovely home today."
"Coward." Blunt, cold. Starlight's horn, and the rest of her body, glowed with her magic as she lifted into the air several inches. "I can throw myself just fine. You've seen it."
She soared around the room, snickering. "What's magically flying if not throwing yourself, constantly? Throw me. Do it. When you get good at it, then you can throw yourself."
She came down right in front of Sunburst. "I'm tired of being the only unicorn flyer, and I know you have the power hiding in there. I know you know how to do this. You just have to do it. If it makes you feel better, throwing somepony else is a lot easier than doing yourself. It's really easy to lose track of everything when you grab yourself and give a good toss."
Sunburst's eye twitched watching her impossibly bullheaded friend literally diving around the room as makeshift ammunition. How any finite store of magic could possibly keep a whole airborne pony continuously aloft was beyond her. Clearly Starlight embraced the impossible then proceeded to gallop recklessly past it daily.
Sighing, Sunburst lifted the gently protesting Starlight back to solid ground with her own violet shimmer. "My dove, if you truly have your heart set on being callously flung about like common luggage, perhaps we start small?"
Her horn glow intensified around Starlight, encapsulating her within several smoothly spherical bands of light until she resembled a levitating pony-shaped pearl. With an apologetic grin, Sunburst lightly tossed the glowing sphere up and down like a hoofball.
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Starlight's muted voice echoed from within her radiant prison. "Though I will admit the acoustics in here are kinda wild..." She tested a few echoing shouts and laughed. "Now seriously, put some force into it!"
She knocked on the edge of the bubble she was in. "And what's with the bubble? Just grab me. You won't hurt me, and I asked you to do it. If it hurts, I'll say so and we can back off. Now come on!"
"You are really pushy." Sunburst kicked the ball, sending it rolling away, Starlight with it. "You know that?"
"Yes, yes I do." Starlight crossed her arms, staring even as she went around and around. "You know what'll shut me up. Angry? Good. Throw me."
Sunburst huffed with annoyance. "I really don't want to hurt you..."
"You already are." She touched her face to the side of the bubble. "Every time I have to ask, you're admitting that you don't trust me. You don't trust me to catch myself if something goes wrong. You don't trust yourself to not go wrong in the first place, but you are for sure not trusting me to handle myself. I'm a wizard." She rolled her eyes. "The best you know this side of Twilight."
"Did you just admit Twilight is better?"
Starlight scowled. "Throw me. Then it's my turn for that statement."
Sunburst bit her lip another long moment before finally conceding with a huff. This reckless rollercoaster clearly would not be deterred, but she could at least take some basic precautions first. A quick flash manifested protective barriers around anything fragile.
"Very well, if you insist..." Her horn flared brighter, Starlight's bubble popping with a shimmer. Before the other mare could celebrate, bands of light swirled swiftly around her torso and limbs, conjuring a lightly padded suit in chromatic hues. "Safety first though!"
Starlight blinked down at her new attire then dissolved into laughter. "What in Tartarus?? I look like a toddler dressed for playtime!"
She flapped her sleeved forelegs demonstratively. "I'm not made of glass, Sunburst! Now quit your fussing and chuck me already!"
Grinning despite lingering reluctance, Sunburst lit her horn and wrapped Starlight in the amethyst glow of her magic. "Brace yourself then!" She cocked a brow. "I'll try to be gentle..."
Swinging her head in a swift arc, she sent Starlight soaring with a sharp cry across the room to land unceremoniously upside down against a heap of pillows, hindlegs dangling comedically in defeat.
That defeat faded away almost instantly, turning into laughter. "You wonderful creature! That was fun." She rolled over to her belly and hopped up to her hooves. "See, not so bad. I didn't even break any bones I care about."
"Uh..."
"I didn't break any bones, Sun." Star huffed at the missed joke. "Now, your turn." She wrapped Sunburst in magic glow. "I'm going to throw you. Want to stop, catch yourself. That's the other half of magic flight. Throw yourself, catch yourself. When you can play catch with yourself, you're flying. Easy!" She lowered her brows. "It isn't easy. It took a lot of practice. Let's start."
She waved a hoof around the room. "On the other hoof, I do want to say I'm impressed. This many barriers, at once? Girl, you got magic going on, and it's making me excited seeing it. Sister of magic, show me you're my peer."
Before giving Sunburst a chance to reply, she flung the new potential wizard across the room. There was no sound, just a silent launch of her magic. "Catch!"
Sunburst's startled shriek dopplered past as she hurtled weightlessly across the room. Bewildered eyes met Starlight's challenging grin the instant before impact.
Then violet flames erupted around Sunburst's form, her trajectory sharply shifting to skid along the wall scattering sparks behind her. Hind hooves found improbable purchase there as if gravity suddenly remembered itself. Crouched against the vertical surface, she panted lightly from the surge of power responding inside.
"See?? Was that so hard?" Starlight crowed triumphantly. "And what an entrance! Very dynamic."
Shakily, Sunburst pulled herself fully upright, still maglocked in place several feet off the floor. She broke into disbelieving giggles. "Good goddess...how are you not constantly concussed careening about like that?"
Starlight smirked conspiratorially. "Oh I definitely was at first! But hey, only so many intact bones to break before you figure things out." She winked playfully. "Now let's get you airborne for real!"
Sunburst thrust up her hooves. "Wait!"
Starlight turned a hoof at herself. "You want a turn tossing? Sure." She chuckled darkly. "Taking turns is fun. By the way, nice catch, seriously. I was ready to... Nevermind, you didn't need my help. You're an adult." She crossed her arms. "I did this when I was a stupid teenager that didn't know better. Wow, did that hurt..."
"But you kept going?" Sunburst closed to paw at Starlight as if they'd find some new injury. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"I'm sorry you weren't there too..." An awkward silence passed before Starlight grabbed Sunburst, hugging them. "But you are here now. Throw me."
Sunburst clung tight, the decades between them falling away until they were awkward teens once more seeking solace no other could fully provide during storms no other completely understood brewing within.
Time hadn't healed all, but it had honed two tempered souls now able to name pains in hopes of preventing perpetuation. What was learning's purpose if insight gained couldn't enlighten younger versions once stumbling blindly down identical roads?
Starlight gave a watery chuckle, pulling back to nudge Sunburst's chin up with a hoof. "Hey now, enough gloom - Your turn."
Sunburst nodded, blinking fiercely.
"Then c'mon dazzle pony..." Starlight pranced back eyes aglow with fresh mischief. "Show me how the next generation surpasses ours with even bigger magic and even bigger hearts!"
She pointed expectantly down at herself with a playful smirk. "I'm still waiting over here! Or does my greatness intimidate after all?"
The training continued, with the two taking turns sending the other into the air. Sunburst didn't learn how to fly that day, but some practice was made towards that eventual goal.