The park was rather nice. It was not large, but there was plenty of open space available. The luscious grass was a deep green with a few thick trees that provided ample shade for the ponies relaxing underneath them. There was a lack of swingsets or other playground equipment, so the colts and fillies entertained themselves by playing tag or jump rope while their mothers called out words of caution, which were cheerfully ignored.
Aside from a few double-takes, nopony reacted to Twilight or the princess standing around in plain sight. Political apathy was evidently a problem in Equestria.
The weather was ideal to go out. The sky was light blue and a few fluffy clouds drifted overhead. It was also pleasantly warm. Twilight had to remind herself that she was in a warm, green park in the middle of what the atlas offically called "The Frozen North."
"Exactly how does the Empire do it?" Twilight wondered.
Princess Twilight seemed confused. "Do what?"
Twilight spread her hooves expansively. "Manage to make a perfect climate without even having a trace of the Arctic conditions that, according to your atlas, should be below forty degrees and under about twenty feet of snow."
"Well," Pinkie Pie started while Twilight braced herself for something ridiculous, "there was this really mean old king, and then the Princesses fought him, and then the king made the whole Empire vanish for a thousand years. And then the Empire came back, and they were all sad, but then Spike found the Crystal Heart and it helps make the kingdom really nice."
"The Crystal Heart feeds off of the love and positive emotions of the residents of the Empire and harnesses the magical energy to generate a force field with a illusionary projection as well as create a milder climate," Princess Twilight translated.
"And what about King He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Twilight asked.
Princess Twilight looked around, as if checking to see if anypony was listening in. "We don't say his name in public. Especially not in the Crystal Empire," she said in an ominous tone.
"Wow," Twilight said, "and here I thought Equestria was a nice place to live."
"Magic is a tool. It can be used for good... or for not-so-good. Some ponies are infamous for using the not-so-good kind."
"So... would there be magic that's banned?"
Princess Twilight pursed her lips. "Technically, no. All forms of magic are legal so long as no harm is intentionally done and the unicorn in question can pull it off. But in practice... there are just some kinds of magic a sane pony won't use."
"Ever," Pinkie Pie added dramatically.
"Good to know," Twilight said. "So what's step one in doing magic a sane pony would use to get herself home?"
"Step one is finding something that we can practice with," Princess Twilight replied, "I think that there are a few rocks that we can-"
"Like this one?" Pinkie Pie asked, balancing a small stone on her nose.
"Actually, yes. Where did you find it?"
Pinkie Pie flipped the stone up into the air and caught it with one hoof while she pointed to a patch of flat grass a few steps away from herself with the other. "Right over there. Hey Twilight, catch!"
Pinkie Pie tossed the pebble and it bounced off Twilight's forehead. "Ow!"
"Pinkie!" Princess Twilight admonished.
"What? I said catch," Pinkie Pie protested.
Twilight sighed in frustration and turned her attention to the object which she was going to be familiarizing herself with for the next untold period of time.
The rock about as large as Twilight's hoof. It was triangular and coarse, with a sharp pointed end. She picked it up experimentally, feeling its weight. Not as light as a feather, but close enough to it.
"Remember how you made the pages turn yesterday?" the princess asked.
Twilight nodded.
"That was a very simple form of levitation. Usually, we would still be focusing on flipping the pages today. But, accounting for your potential ability, we'll skip right to levitating entire objects."
Twilight hoped she did not look as nervous as she felt. "Okay. How do I do that?"
"As I said, turning the pages and lifting an object stems from the same spell: telekinesis. It's just what you did yesterday, just a little harder," Princess Twilight said reassuringly. "The first thing you need to do is clear your mind and relax, so take a deep breath."
Pinkie Pie took in an exaggerated gasp of air, held it with her cheeks puffed out, and exhaled. Both Twilights stared at her.
"Pinkie Pie," Princess Twilight asked, "what are you doing?"
"Taking a really deep breath," Pinkie Pie replied.
"I think she meant why," Twilight specified.
"I thought that Twilight would be lonely on her own, so I'm going to learn magic along with her so that she doesn't feel so nervous!" Pinkie Pie declared.
"I'm not nervous," Twilight interjected.
"It's going to require discipline and concentration," Princess Twilight warned.
"I can do it!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Do you even know the definition of concentration?"
"Sure I do! Concentration. Noun. The ability to give your attention or thought to a single object or activity. The ability to concentrate."
"Did you just quote the dictionary?"
"Uh-hunh. The Mareiam-Wester."
"Girls," Princess Twilight interrupted, "we need to focus."
It took Twilight a moment to remember that she was still holding a stone. She set it down gently on the grass, took a breath and exhaled, clearing her mind in preparation for the mental strain.
She took in another breath and exhaled. For good luck.
"Good," Princess Twilight encouraged, "now imagine the rock gently floating up."
"Okay." Twilight shut her eyes and concentrated on the stone. She willed it to shoot up.
She opened her eyes to find that the stone was still on the ground, unmoved.
She also realized that Pinkie Pie was straining hard with her eyes closed, facing her own stone. She opened them and smiled at both Twilight's bewildered looks. "Don't worry, Twilight, I didn't do well either my first time! My first party went a little bit better, but that's my special talent."
Twilight checked her flank for the Five-Pointed Star of Magical Destiny. "Yeah, well according to this, magic is my special talent."
"Well, not all Cutie Marks are exactly the same. And it's a star," Pinkie Pie said, "maybe it means you're good at stargazing!"
Twilight liked the thought of a stargazing Cutie Mark. Although she would have preferred a telescope in that case.
"But she and I are-" Princess Twilight objected before stopping herself, "never mind. Let's get back on track, shall we?"
Twilight tried not to smile at Pinkie Pie derailing and baffling the princess.
"Right!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "concentration and discipline!"
She slid a hoof across her lips like sealing a zipper. Twilight swore she could almost hear the sound effect.
"Just try again," Princess Twilight prompted, "learning new spells is tricky at the best of times."
Twilight nodded and tried again. No result, except Pinkie Pie making comical faces as she tried willing her own stone to move, opening her eyes as wide as dinner plates as she waved her hooves at the rock. Twilight snorted as she covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the comic relief.
She attempted it again a second time. And then a tenth time.
She had lost count when she opened her eyes to discover that Pinkie Pie was gone.
"Where'd Pinkie go?" Twilight asked.
"She said she saw a balloon and took off. You didn't hear her?"
Twilight scratched her head. "I heard her say something. I didn't know she was just going to take off."
"She means well, Twilight."
Twilight wished that Pinkie meaning well meant practicing with her until she succeeded.
Twilight wasn't sure how much time had passed after Pinkie Pie had left. Every minute seemed longer, at least. Princess Twilight claimed that she was starting to lift the rock a few centimeters of the ground. She had her eyes closed every time she tried to focus, so Twilight had to take her teacher's word for it.
Still, every attempt felt like failure. She had to remind herself that this was her ticket home, and she had to perservere, no matter how difficult it became.
It was easier, at least, to focus while Pinkie Pie wasn't around distracting her.
"Relax," Princess Twilight reminded her student.
She inhaled and exhaled through her teeth.
"Try unclenching your teeth," Princess Twilight advised.
Twilight took in air properly this time.
"Maybe we should just call it a day," Princess Twilight suggested, "this is starting to get to you."
"No!" Twilight cried, "I mean, no, thank you. I'm just a little... nervous. That's all. I can keep trying."
"I really don't think that's a good idea. Using magic for such a long time when you can't fully control it isn't something we should be taking lightly."
"I'm fine," Twilight insisted.
The princess – Twilight's mentor and guide – put a gentle hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "If you're frustrated, this isn't meant to be easy. And you are getting progress done, even if it's not the amount you're expecting."
Twilight's face softened. "Alright. I'll stop... just after a few more tries?"
Princess Twilight took her hoof off her student. "Two more attempts."
"Deal."
"Now," Princess Twilight advised in an authoritative voice, "I want you to picture every single thing you can about the spell, from the stone to the effect on the grass around it. Make the image in your mind as vivid as possible."
Twilight attempted another try. This time, she made sure to focus on every little detail: the tiny rustle the grass made as the stone bobbed up and down slightly as it drifted upwards, the-
"Hey guys! I'm back!" Pinkie Pie declared in the loudest way possible.
It made Twilight wonder why she had missed her.
"You know, it's really hard to find a place around here that sells juice boxes," Pinkie Pie commented as she dropped a brightly packaged box off her back and rifled through it, "and the line was so long. It was three whole minutes long! I thought I was going to go crazy!"
You can't go to where you already are, Twilight thought to herself.
"Here," Pinkie Pie said as she took out a juice box with a cartoon Princess Cadence winking on the front and offered it to Twilight, "this will cheer you up!"
Twilight examined the carton. It was "Crystal Berry Punch," which was "royally delicious," according to the front of the cardboard packaging. She took an experimental sip, and smiled as the sweet taste parched her dry mouth and quenched her throat. "Mmm. Wow. This is really good!"
"Thank you, Pinkie," Princess Twilight said graciously.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie Pie said, "it's my pleasure to help my friends! Especially friends that have been working so hard and for so long!"
"It hasn't been that long," Twilight said.
Princess Twilight glanced at her student. "We've been at this for two hours."
Twilight looked up at the Sun and confirmed that it had indeed moved across the sky, marking the passage of time. Had it really been two hours?
It was a wonder that Pinkie Pie was around for most of that time. Twilight had estimated Pinkie Pie's attention span to be that of a dog's, divided by a factor of how many shiny things were in view.
"You know, I really don't like how they're using Princess Cadence to advertise," Princess Twilight said as she hovered the juice box, turning and tumbling it about to examine every inch as if there was a hidden secret inside.
"But I heard Princess Cadence loves them!" Pinkie Pie said.
"I've heard her mention it, but it doesn't mean they can just put her on their merchandise!" Princess Twilight protested.
"Why not? She looks kind of funny!"
"Maybe it's a little... invasive," Twilight agreed, "but I don't think there's anything stopping them." She trotted over to the box containing serveral more juice cartons and added, "especially since there's a quote from her."
"I'm sorry, Twilight," Pinkie Pie said to the princess, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"No!" Princess Twilight said, "not at all, Pinkie. I just disagree with how somepony is doing something, that's all."
"And we don't have much space to complain," Twilight pointed out, "you've gone out of your way to make me feel less embarrassed about myself, and you've brought us drinks that you bought just for us. I know I haven't shown it, but I really appreciate how you're trying to make me feel at home, Pinkie."
"Do you really mean that, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked, her eyes glittering.
"Yes, Pinkie. I do."
"Does this mean we're friends?"
"Well, I... yes. It does."
Instantly Twilight was crushed by Pinkie Pie's embrace.
"Ohmigosh this is the best day ever!" Pinkie Pie squealed, "I'm friends with my best friend twice! That's like... like double friendship! Two totally tenacious Twilight's for the total price of two! So many tees!"
Pinkie Pie let go and started bouncing around and cartwheeling while singing "I'm friends with Twilight! I'm friends with Twilight!" while said Twilight took the oppourtunity to breathe.
"That was really nice of you to say that to Pinkie Pie," Princess Twilight said, "I know she can be a little overbearing..."
"I meant it," Twilight said earnestly.
The princess smiled, and then indicated the stone that still sat on the ground in front of Twilight. "Care to give it one more try?"
"Maybe this time I'll get it more than two centimeters off the ground," Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie's head snapped towards Twilight as she stopped in midair before zipping over to the rock. She shoved a hoof into her thick poofy mane, procured a tape measure, and set it up next to Twilight's stone. "All right! This time we'll have precise... uh..."
"Measurements?" Princess Twilight suggested.
"Yeah! Measurements!"
Twilight tucked all her legs in, sat down, and leaned close to the pebble. Later, she could not say why she had done it, only that it felt right at the time.
"Well, that's a bit of an unusual position for spells," Princess Twilight said, "but whatever works."
She closed her eyes, and focused. But an image of the juice box floated in front of her, and the tape measure that Pinkie Pie was holding for her with baited breath (that smelled like Crystal Berries.) She could imagine Princess Twilight standing right behind her, hoping that her student would succeed.
Twilight Sparkle felt a tingle. A tiny pleasant electric spark that traveled from her heart to her horn. Her mind rushed to the image of the stone, slowly pulling it upwards as if taking gently grabbing it with her own hand. She could feel a tug in her gut... and then it shut off. Twilight opened her eyes.
"So, did I get it two centimeters off the ground?" Twilight asked.
"Nope!" Pinkie Pie delcared.
Go figure. She thought she had something that time. A feeling she could not explain. A magical feeling.
"Buuut," Pinkie Pie continued, "you lifted it exactly five-point-seven centimeters!"
Now it was her teacher that took the opportunity to crush Twilight by grabbing her off the ground via magic and squeezing her. "You did it! I knew that if you tried, you could do it eventually! Five-point-seven centimeters is over double what you thought you could accomplish!"
"Twilight... crushing... me..."
Princess Twilight let go physically as well as loosen her grip magically. "Sorry. Just really excited. Let's go and celebrate!" Her stomach growled, and she added, "how about we get some lunch first? Then we can show you around."
"I was kind of hoping I could keep practicing," Twilight suggested innocently, "you know, since we already seem to have a bit of momentum going."
Princess Twilight smiled at her pupil's devious attempt to gain more practice time. "I think it's better we end things off on a high note."
"Yeah! Let's celebrate!" Pinkie Pie chimed in.
"Okay," Twilight relented.
"Oh! I know the perfect place! Shining Armor said there's a really homey kind of family-run restaurant that sells some really good Crystal Berry jam!" Pinkie Pie said as she wiped drool from her mouth. "Mmm... Crystal Berry jam..."
"Is it far?" Princess Twilight asked.
"Actually, it's really close! Follow me!"
As Twilight trotted after Pinkie Pie's bouncing figure, she spotted a small rock, almost the size of the one she had just been practicing on, right ahead of her. She slowed down her walking speed as she directed her attention focused on making it hover upwards.
The pebble rolled over in the grass instead. No spark or tingle.
"Hey Twilight! Time is food!" Pinkie Pie said as she ran back to Twilight, accidentally kicking away the pebble.
Twilight hurried her pace to catch up. "Sorry. Thought I saw something."
"Uh-hunh," Princess Twilight said, "I'm sure the rock just happened to catch your eye."
Twilight said nothing, only recalled Shining Armor's favourite word for the occasion: Busted.
"Hunh? Rock?" Pinkie Pie asked "I didn't see a rock. Was it pretty? Or shiny? Or pretty and shiny?"
"We made good progress today," Princess Twilight said to her student in a more gentle tone, "but magic takes a toll on ponies if they try too hard. And besides, you're not going to be in Equestria for all that long, so you might as well enjoy it while you can. The Crystal Empire is a beautiful place to go sightseeing. And I'm sure that everyone that you're waiting for back home are going to be fine."
Twilight met the reassuring eyes of her mentor. "I hope so."
"I know so."
Twilight hoped the princess was as sure as sounded.
Pinkie Pie's eyes furrowed in confusion. "What's everyone? And why are you using those weird words again after you went through the mirror?"
"Slang," Twilight explained.
"Yeah! Like that one!"
"Slang. Noun. Language peculiar to a certain group. An informal nonstandard vocabulary made up of abnormal figures of speech."
"Did you just quote a dictionary?" Princess Twilight asked.
"The Merriam-Webster. I like to read it when I'm bored sometimes."
"So what's the definition of 'measurement'?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"Measurement. Noun. Act of measuring things."
"Ooh, you're good."
"Not really. I ad-libbed both times," Twilight smirked.
"Cheater!" Pinkie Pie accused.
Both Twilight Sparkles looked at each other, and then giggled in unison.