Cann buried his head in his hooves. "Celestia when you asked me to investigate the possibility of spontaneous Alicornication, I realized a problem very quickly, how does a unicorn research flight and pegasi magic? I needed an expert, that's why I asked Thissdens to collaborate with me. You were the only Alicorn in existence at the time, and while you were expert at spell craft, you weren't exactly forthcoming about the pegasi aspect of your magic."
Celestia blushed. "Luna was always better at weather and wind manipulation, I enjoyed flying but my talents tended more towards spell craft."
"Interesting, I'll likely want to pick Luna's brain at some point. However, getting back to the problem at hoof, I felt the problem of a pony reaching alicornhood was two-fold. First, identifying if it were even possible. Second, distributing information for ponies thus afflicted to help them cope with it."
"Miss Sparkle here is the perfect example of what I wished to prepare for, a powerful unicorn having to deal with the issues of more magical strength than she has ever conceived, coupled the problems of how to learn how to fly when you've never had a set of wings in your life."
"Miss Applejack represents a new problem, but not an insurmountable one. Teaching an earth pony to use the gifts of flight and magic. She has nothing to unlearn, no preconceptions, she is a blank slate. Furthermore, enhanced earth pony magic, being passive, is unlikely to be destructive."
"Rainbow here... is the problem. She is a powerful practitioner of pegasi magic. I could no more help her with what she needs to know than a fish could teach a bird to breath water."
"Why is that professor?" Twilight looked puzzled.
"Magic is as magic does Miss Sparkle. Miss Dash here can be taught to use magic in the way a unicorn does, but she will be inclined to use pegasi magic first and foremost. Uncontrolled and enhanced pegasi magic would be every bit as devastating as unicorn magic. Perhaps more so in its way."
"Professor don't we all have that capacity now? To control weather and winds I mean?"
"Yes Twilight, but like any foal you don't have the knowledge necessary. You'll need training to do much with it, and like Celestia you may find it's not truly your forte."
Dash, in the meantime, was attempting to remain awake in the wake of all the "egghead" discussions. She decided she would speak up and at least direct some of this nonsense into an answer or two for her interests. "Yo prof, this friend of yours, he a good flyer?"
Cann turned to Dash. He chuckled a bit. "He flies well enough I suppose, considering his doctors insisted he never would in his life."
Dash turned her head in confusion. "What?"
"My friend's talent came about because of a fierce determination to prove everypony else wrong. It's a habit that never left him in academia."
Dash turned to Twilight, eyes crossed. "Psst, can you translate?"
"He says his friend is stubborn and doesn't like to lose."
"Oh! Why didn't he say so?"
"He did."
Dash turned back to the professor. "So he trains a lot?"
"He... does in a manner of speaking. His wings have never served him well, so he was forced to find ways to compensate for his shortcomings. He found ways to directly control the inherent magic of the pegasi whereas others had previously only made use of it innately."
Dash looked helplessly at Twilight again.
Twilight sighed. "Dash, I keep telling you, there is more out there to read than Daring Do! He said his friend had a disability, probably stunted wings or something, so he had to learn how pegasi magic works and use that to help out."
"Okay, so he can teach me how to fly... even faster?"
"Among other things yes. Thissdens doesn't have the sheer magic reserves of an alicorn, but that stallion knows more about weather manipulation than any pegasi currently alive."
"So he can help me do what exactly? Learn how to kick clouds better?"
"When Thisdenns is through with you, you'll be able to orchestrate the skies like a conductor in a pit. With a wave of your hoof you'll form and dispel storm systems. The skies will be your canvas."
Dash turned to Twilight. Twilight groaned. "Yes Dash, his friend apparently knows how to kick clouds."
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"NO AMBASSADOR YOU LISTEN! YOU WILL NOT THREATEN MY SUBJECTS. THIS WAS THE SOLE ACT OF A PRANKSTER. YOU WILL CONVEY THIS TO THE GRIFFON COUNCIL. HAVE WE MADE OURSELVES CLEAR?"
"... One moment your majesty, I think I may be deaf. Oh, there we are, I can hear ringing now."
"We are most sorry for our outburst. We have had a complication regarding a few of our subjects. They will be tended to. Please accept my assurances the accords with your people remain in place. The messages were not a declaration of hostilities."
"Very well Princess, I will assure my people the matter is tended to."
"We thank thee. Now we must take our leave of thee. We apologize for any indignity this may have caused thee."
Luna stood up, As she did so the telltale flash of scroll-fire sending appeared.
"Lu,
I need you to travel to Cloudsdale and locate Professor Hugh Thisdenns. It seems Cann will need his help with the six.
Love,
Celly"
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Professor Hugh B. Thisdenns sat in his office at the center for Pegasi magic studies at Cloudsdale University. He was looking over the plans for a machine design which seemed to serve no practical purpose.
"Why in the Nine Sorrel Hells would we need a machine to make rainbows?"
He sighed, and rested his eyes for a moment. Why, dear Celestia, why did his department seem to attract so many slackers? The study of pegasi magic had allowed him the power of flight. If he, a pegasus with only one functional wing (He had been born with a malformed stump on his left side) could learn to fly just by manipulating how the air moved what would a fully functional pegasus do with it? Every idiot in his class seemed to think it was going to be an easy A.
He had seen enough, the pegasus that had given him the plans had wanted feedback, he decided that would be an excellent way to get out a little frustration.
"Ms Dawn.
While I appreciate your creativity, your plans are incredibly flawed. Rainbows do not need to be manufactured, there is a plentiful supply. I sincerely hope you were joking, because the idea of extracting pigment from live ponies is clearly insane. Your assurances that the process would not be lethal notwithstanding, why on earth would you want to rob somepony of their colors to make something that occurs naturally? Please direct your talents elsewhere.
Hugh B. Thissdens"
Satisfied, he pulled the next note from his IN box.
He snorted, enraged. "Cann we haven't spoken civilly in five years and you have the gall to claim you want to collect a bet we never even shook on?"
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts of petty vengeance on his colleague.
"Yes? Come in!"
A guard in dark metal armor stepped in. "Announcing her royal highness Princess Luna!"
"Oh good, my day was looking a bit boring."