Unicorn x Unicorn

by Typewrittensoul

Chapter 3

As the clock struck eleven Twilight made certain that everything for the tutoring session was in pristine condition. The physical space had to be clean and orderly lest something distract the young mind that would soon be under her charge from fully engaging in the lesson: she trotted around the study room that she had reserved weeks prior, inspecting the bookshelves that lined the walls; the syllabus and worksheets placed neatly on the table; textbooks and reference scrolls set in order by expected difficulty.

Rehearsal took up the bulk of the two hours Twilight gave herself for preparation, yet even when she figured out how to deal with six different scenarios depending on her student’s learning style—which would be determined by a few exercises prior to the lesson’s conduction—she still had a serious case of butterflies in her stomach. It didn’t help that her own esteemed teacher Princess Celestia remained prominent in her thoughts. Comparisons raised Twilight's expectations for herself.

What’s more, the Neighagra Falls incident definitely made an impression on the young mare. Twilight had to admit that the drills she and her classmates had been doing these days took on a different feeling since taking part in a battle. When compared to the high adrenaline, high tension stakes of real life-or-death fighting, it just seemed inappropriate to use stationary targets or even ones that moved back and forth in a simple pattern. There was so much activity and volatility that made Twilight realize, looking back, that had she known more; taken care to prepare for the mayhem to truly prepare her. Had Cadance not intervened, Twilight feared what sort of damage beyond the town of Neighagra Falls would have taken place before Princess Celestia arrived.

A light knocking echoed out from the front door, drawing Twilight out of her thoughts. “Hmm?” Twilight hummed aloud when she heard it. Anxious that it was only her imagination playing tricks on her, another set of knocks made her heart skip a beat. “It’s really her!” she chirped in surprise. Though unwanted, her subconscious took initiative to hedge on her excitement. “Then again…” Twilight mumbled quietly to herself. She waited for a final confirmation before answering the door.

Perhaps it’s just a lost pony asking for directions, a voice quipped in her mind.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Twilight gave a pout and muttered in reply. She gained some conviction to check on the visitor whether there was another knock or not, as though to spite the voice. As she moved forward grasped a sheet from the table with her magic before opening the door. When the top of the spiraling spire steps came into view, a white-coated filly looked up at her, her gray-green eyes full of expectation. “Hello there. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I’m your tutor…” she glanced down at her sheet to confirm the name of her student. “Sweetie Belle?”

The little filly’s voice squeaked in excitement as she called out, “Yep. That’s me.”

“It’s good to see you here right on time,” Twilight observed. “That’s a very good habit to have.”

“Thanks! My mom said that when she dropped me off, too.”

Twilight chuckled and nodded in further approval to the filly’s pleasant demeanor and excellent manners. It wasn't too much trouble that the mother had already left. In fact, it spoke volumes to how much trust she apparently had in her child. Twilight took a step back then said, “Please, make yourself at home. We’ll start in just a bit after I give you the lesson materials and syllabus.”

Making a silent nod Sweetie Belle entered as prompted. She followed closely behind Twilight and much to the mare’s enjoyment the filly gasped in awe at the study, looking around at the shelves upon shelves of books. Twilight couldn’t hide a smile while walking over to the table with the prepared materials.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Ms. Sparkle,” she began to say though Twilight felt the need to interrupt.

“No need to be so formal, Sweetie Belle. Twilight will do.” She guided the filly toward her seat and watched her would-be student hop onto the chair before sitting on the floor behind the numerous notebooks and sheets of paper.

“Oh, ok,” Sweetie said in understanding. Her eyes took note of the items placed before her on the table as she continued. “Twilight, will I get to meet Trixie or Sunset?

“Hmm, perhaps.” Twilight hadn’t thought to involve her classmates in the tutoring session, but it definitely made an interesting idea to have the girls provide their own insights to better round out her student’s magic education. “I’ll have to ask about that.”

“Cool!”

“Yep, definitely cool huh?” Twilight made sure to write the idea down in her teacher’s notes. “Well since we’ve started off with a bit of a detour,” Twilight said, deciding to use this moment as a segway toward the lesson she had in mind.

Not knowing the mare’s plan Sweetie felt like she did something wrong. “Sorry,” she said in response.

“What? Oh, it’s nothing to be sorry about, Sweetie. In fact it’s made me want to start with—even though we won’t really touch upon it for a few weeks from now—something I think is quite interesting.” In a quick touch of magic Twilight placed the large book placed on the left corner of the table in Sweetie’s reach. “Now open up your book to page three hundred and ninety four.”

Sweetie Belle did so with a bit of effort, nudging the large tome open with her snout at first before using her hoof to flip the rest of the pages. Knowing full well the topic contained within that section, Twilight watched Sweetie’s reaction to a detailed illustration of a fiery maned and wild-eyed pony with bat-like wings.

“Whoa,” Sweetie said. “Cool.”

“Quite the opposite,” Twilight joked and chuckled a bit at her own joke, though it didn’t immediately dawn on her that the filly wouldn’t understand that. “That, Sweetie, is an ifrit. It’s an ancient infernal creature from Saddle Arabia, said to be extremely gifted in magic and spells, to the extent of supposedly being able to grant wishes.” Sweetie Belle listened with curiosity and wonder as Twilight continued. “The truth however is much more sinister. They trick unwitting travelers into making what they think are wishes while actually sucking away their magic to feed on. Like other magical carnivores, ifrits are unable to grow in large numbers because of the difficult and austere living conditions are opportunistic hunters. In other words, they survived by taking advantage of others. But because they had such a large appetite it was never enough. Ifrits only consumed magic, instead of being a part of its cycle.”

“Oh,” the filly murmured from hearing this, her dreams of making all sorts of wishes now dust in the wind.

“You see, just like the ifrit, those who use magic only for themselves ‘will eventually be destroyed by magic.’ That’s probably one of my favorite quotes from Cyril of Ibexine, by the way. A bit hard on the tongue in the original language, but that’s not what’s important here. Magic isn’t simply a form of energy that unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies and alicorns use on a daily basis. For many races and species magic is a way of life.” Twilight felt a bit of joy from how impressed Sweetie looked and continued her lecture. “Now let’s return to the main topic of this first conference, ‘Introduction to Magic: History and Principles’. You can see the chapters we’ll be going through on the syllabus I set on the table…”

---

“Before we take a break, do you have any questions?”

Sweetie gave a pout and admitted, “Twilight, my head’s sort of hurting. When are we going to learn magic?”

“But...we were,” Twilight said, unsure what else to say.The lesson plan on history of magic was pretty self explanatory, and she was sure that knowing where magic came from was a major building block to truly appreciating it. Twilight observed the filly rub her head and was honestly stuck in a situation she hadn’t contemplated.

“Huh?” Sweetie gasped in surprise. “But all we’ve done is talk.”

Twilight quickly tried to have Sweetie see things her way. “In order to properly use magic, you must first learn its history.” Twilight saw her quietly contemplate the explanation. It was about a minute before she made eye contact with the filly again.

“You were able to fight the Crystal Empire when all you got was a lecture from the Princess?” Sweetie Belle asked with measured belief in her tone.

Twilight blinked and said, “Well no, of course not,” she said. Besides asking to become their teacher, she recalled that day years ago, the first thing they did on the first day were practical exercises. Of course Twilight never intended to only provide lecture in place of practicums, so on that point it wasn’t entirely a fair assumption of the lesson so far. But a seed of doubt was planted, nonetheless. “I had planned it for later, but I guess there’s no harm in helping to review your spellcrafting, then.”

Picking up the itinerary and a feather quill she made the appropriate edits to the original schedule. “Now, what spell would you like help with, first?” Twilight asked with eager anticipation.

The filly looked down, her ears pinned against her head. “I...can’t cast any spells,” Sweetie Belle confessed.

“...you can’t.” Twilight said after a pause. Yet another setback; something else she had never even imagined as a possibility. When Sweetie Belle nodded, Twilight tried to choose her next words as carefully as possible. The filly looked on the verge of crying, after all.

Twilight had already managed to cast a few spells by the time she was Sweetie’s age. In fact, though she couldn’t fully recall, she managed to cast an incredible spell that impressed the princess enough to have her be a student. “...I believe that there’s a bit of a misunderstanding, Sweetie Belle.”

“There is?” The filly asked with a bit of hope tinging her tone.

“It’s not so much that you can’t cast a spell, but that you just haven’t cast one yet. I can’t be certain what it’s like for Trixie and Sunset, but for me, casting a spell feels like writing a well thought out, fully edited report. Up until that point, doing research, learning how to write sentences and how best to string words together to make those sentences are all important steps to do that. You certainly know all of the steps to make a report, you just have to put one together. Casting magic, however, is a bit more instinctual. I’d almost liken it to, well…imagining my horn light up to attract fireflies on a clear summer night. Do you understand the difference?”

Gears were turning in her head. “I...think so?”

Twilight presented a confident grin as an idea popped into her head. “Let’s look at a few examples of non-unicorn spell casting, okay?”

Her curiosity was piqued. Sweetie hadn’t expected to hear about non-unicorn magic. Her eyes widened and lit up in excitement. “Sure!” she cheered loudly and hopped a foot off the floor. Twilight proceeded to lead the filly around the study area. First, to the cauldron where potions had traditionally been made. Of course more precise instruments of measurement were available today. Twilight spent a short moment explaining a bit of the cast iron cauldron’s properties before turning toward the beakers, glassware and bunsen burners when Sweetie Belle asked, “What’s this do?”

Twilight looked back over her shoulder to see the filly. “Oh, that’s…” She spotted a hot plate she had been using to do research on a particularly exotic form of potion making based on what was known from information gleaned through defectors from the Crystal Empire.

“Wait, what’s this?!” Sweetie asked with increased excitement, cutting Twilight off. She rushed over to the glassware where and started poking and prodding a flask filled with a red liquid.

“D-don’t!” Twilight grasped at the flask in her magic but to her dismay, her concentration broke from a sudden rapid ringing of the doorbell and she dropped the flask onto the table. It bounced with a loud clank right for the filly resting her forelegs on the table’s edge. Sweetie Belle shrieked in surprise, unable to jump away fast enough. With her eyes clenched tight, the filly’s horn sparked and the glassware tumbled away in a different direction before falling to the floor with a crash. Crystal formed out of the puddle on the floor, but Twilight was too awestruck by what she just saw to notice.

It wasn’t exactly a spell, but a sign of magic, however weak, was still a positive sign. More importantly though, was the filly’s safety. She looked over Sweetie with breath held to be sure she wasn’t harmed.

Looking back at her teacher, the smile on Sweetie’s face was bright enough to light up a cave. “Twilight!” She exclaimed. “Fireflies!” she exclaimed to the now bewildered mare. “It felt just like you said! I concentrated really hard for fireflies to appear all around me.”

The doorbell rang in rapid succession again, tugging at Twilight’s attention, who wanted no less than to congratulate Sweetie on her accomplishment. “H-hold on, please!” Twilight called out to the door. She looked back to Sweetie Belle. “That was amazing, Sweetie! I’m really proud of you!” She’d have liked for Sweetie to learn under less terrifying circumstances, but results were results, as Goethe had once said.

“Thanks, Twilight!” Sweetie cheered in a happy tone.

After mussing up the filly’s mane, Twilight switched back to the door and rushed over to meet the apparently anxious visitor. “Sweetie Belle, are you here? I’m here to pick you up” A voice called out from the other side of the door. “You’re not causing trouble for your tutor, are you?”

“Just a moment, please!” Twilight called out.

Twilight opened the door only to have it swiftly smack against her snout in greeting. “Sweetie?” A mare asked as she trotted in. She looked about in search of the filly when a pained groan caught her attention. She realized what happened and hurried over to help the other unicorn off the floor. “Oh dearie I’m so sorry!” Then the mare said with wide eyes, "Wait a minute. Aren’t you...you're Twilight? The Twilight Sparkle? Well I’ll be!"

Being recognized by ponies she didn’t know was still something that she was getting used to. While it’s always happened to a certain extent as one of the princess’ students, Twilight noticed that the frequency increased after the Neighagra Falls incident. "Um...yes. Can I help you, ma’am?"

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Sweetie Belle’s mother, Cookie Crumbles. Call me Cookie or Cee Cee, just none of this ma’am stuff, y’know? Oh, and especially no need to introduce yourself. I mean, gosh it’s such an honor to make your acquaintance, hun,” the mare gushed with a smile. “Twilight Sparkle teaching my daughter. Just wow.”

“R-really? Well...nice to make your acquaintance, too.” Twilight took a step back from the doorway. “Please, come in.” She led the mare over to where Sweetie was. The filly was busying herself with pushing the glass potion around on the table an inch at a time.

“Oh goodness!” she exclaimed with a titter at the sight.

“Mom! Check it out!” Sweetie clenched her eyes tight and as soon as her horn lit up in a pale green the flask skirted along the table yet another inch. As soon as she heard the glass scrape against the table she opened her eyes and looked back to the other ponies. “Ta dah!”

“I don’t even know what to say!” Cookie said happily. Twilight was speechless herself when she noticed that the mare was almost close to tears despite the big smile. “I tried my best to teach her but didn’t even know where to start.”

“Your daughter is very talented,” Twilight admitted. “It honestly wasn’t much work on my part.”

She turned to face Twilight and took a moment to collect herself. “We don’t really have anything in the way of money to pay for her tuition to attend on a regular basis. Which is why finding out about this tutoring opportunity seemed like a gift from the Princess, herself.” Twilight was aware that Academy was open to tutor non-students but for a price. It was common for affiliate institutions to charge even students for their attendance, as they didn’t have the vast coffers that the main academy had for room, board and other things.

“My husband and I—he would’ve been here if he didn’t sprain his back playing a round of golf last week—we were planning a trip but decided to use it for her fees. It’s our little surprise present for her.”

Twilight was taken aback by Cookie’s offer and moved to keep the mare from taking out a pouch of bits from her saddlebag. “No, that’s ok! I wasn’t planning to charge anything for this tutoring session, so it’s completely unnecessary. If anything, I’d prefer to be paid by seeing Sweetie Belle’s happy smile after taking the exam.”

“W-well, that’s the thing, you see,” the mom said. “As hard as she tried, Sweetie unfortunately didn’t pass the entrance exams last month. She hadn’t been able to even show a sign of any magic until now, after all.”

“Oh. I see.” Twilight didn’t realize that Sweetie had already gone for the exams She still had a second and final chance to apply, but not for another year. “Well…” Twilight began to say, trying to think of something. “She’s an excellent student and I’m sure we can work something out with the local Academy affiliate where you live.”

“But I couldn’t, Twilight. It’s quite generous of you, and I really do appreciate it, but we’ve only just met. I haven’t the slightest idea how to pay you back!”

“Like I already said, Cookie. I’d prefer to see Sweetie pass the exam instead of any amount of bits. More importantly, it would be a shame to let her potential go to waste.”

The mare seemed like she wanted to shed a happy tear once again, but simply sniffed and wiped her eye while flashing a big smile. “Well, if one of princess’ students says that, how can I say no?” With a nod she looked over to her daughter and nodded a second time. “I can’t thank you enough, Twilight. Really.”

Twilight didn’t know how to respond, surprised but how important a result this had to have been for Cookie. She couldn’t imagine what sort of expenses would have accrued if a private institution was involved. Without warning Twilight was embraced in a hug. “Thank Celestia for your kindness, Twilight,” she heard Cookie say. It lasted a few seconds leaving Twilight completely speechless when Cookie Crumbles broke the hug and stepped away. “Sweetie Belle,” Cookie called out to her daughter. “It’s time to go.”

The filly in question looked up from a book she was reading, her eyebrows arched up and lips upturned in a pout. “Aww! Can’t we stay for a little while longer?”

”We can see if that book is in the library back home, ok?” Cookie said, mussing up her daughter’s mane as she helped to organize the desk that was left in disarray since the lesson. Put it back on the desk so we can catch the train back home.”

“Ok…” Sweetie reluctantly did as she was told and followed her mom toward the door.

“You can borrow it if you like,” Twilight spoke out. She picked up the book, one about simple telekinesis, and floated it back over for Cookie to grasp it in her magic.

Sweetie’s eyes bulged wide in happiness when she heard this, grinning ecstatically between her mom and Twilight. “Really?!”

“Well aren’t you the mare that just keeps on giving?” Cookie giggled happily while placing the book into her saddlebag. “If you ever find yourself in Ponyville, don’t hesitate to give us a visit. I’ll make sure to cook up a soy bean hotdish for you.”

“I intend to,” Twilight said with a smile. “After all, I’ll eventually need that book back, right?”

Sweetie Belle giggled when she heard that. “Right. Bye Twilight!” she called out excitedly.

After the two of them stepped out Twilight looked at the clock. At twelve thirty, she was happy to see her first tutoring lesson end at just about the expected time. She eagerly turned to clean up and meet with Sunset like she promised when Spike hurried in, holding a rolled up scroll in his claw above his head. “Twilight!” He called out. “Twilight, the princess wants to see you at the castle for an important announcement.”

“Something important? Sure thing, Spike. I’ll just have to Sunset that-”

“No sweat, Twilight. The Princess wants to see her as well,” Spike added. “Trixie, too.”

The gears in Twilight’s head instantly began to move when he said that and then she made her way towards the door. She stopped when Spike rushed past her. “Whoa! Wait Spike, you’re not coming with?”

“No,” he grumbled a bit sourly. He turned around and jogged in place. “At least, not yet. I found and told Sunset, then you, now I gotta figure out where Trixie is. You go straight to the princess, Twilight. I got this handled.”

“I bet the princess is really happy to have someone as reliable as you, Spike,” Twilight said, feeling a bit of pride at how hardworking and determined the little dragon had become. After a grin and quick salute he rushed out ahead of her, not bothering to close the door behind him as he quickly but carefully went downstairs.

Since it was apparently important enough, Twilight decided that she could leave the rest of the clean up for when she came back. She went downstairs and out onto the main courtyard toward the palace, trotting at a brisk but not harried pace.“Twilight, there you are!” A voice exclaimed from across the courtyard. “Excuse me, do you have a moment?” Twilight halted and remained in place as a young mare, just about Twilight’s age, hurried over. It was hard not to recognize the pony that called out to her and harder still to ignore the curious glances of the ponies milling about that wanted to know why she would need Twilight’s attention.

Sporting a pair of fashionable, thin-framed glasses, Moondancer slowed her approach and trotted the little bit of distance left between herself and Twilight. “Oh it’s been so long, hasn’t it? Listen, I’m having a little get together after our classes tomorrow. Being the princess’ student I know you must be busy and all, but I would love it if you could come by.”

Twilight looked at Moondancer as though she were a stranger. They hadn’t talked in years beyond the courteous greeting or well wishes on birthdays or special occasions. It was usually Spike that helped in that regard, what with Twilight ever immersed in arcane research. Even though they were close back in magic kindergarten, these days the other pony might as well have been someone Twilight barely knew.

Moondancer had been just as studious and intensely focused on books as Twilight was, at least, before the latter became Princess Celestia’s student and spent more time with Trixie and Sunset. That wasn’t to say that Twilight had a decreased appetite to learn since becoming the princess’ student. It just so happened that Twilight now indulged in her pastime in the company of others, mostly her fellow classmates, and sometimes much to their chagrin.

Twilight didn’t know why but at some point the less-than-social academic Moondancer bloomed into the well regarded student body president that she was known as today. The number of well-wishers was proof enough, and she didn’t even speak with the birthday pony to even wish her a happy birthday.

Despite all of that, it wouldn’t do to leave the invitation without any sort of reply. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but I’ll definitely let you know if I’m free.” It was the best response Twilight could come up with at such short notice.

Moondancer smiled and nodded, satisfied by the answer. “Yes. That’d be wonderful. I’ll be expecting your reply soon.” She turned and walked away, greeting the ponies she walked past.

“O-okay.” Twilight couldn’t understand why she felt a bit intimidated. Without her realizing it, Twilight let out a sigh of relief the moment Moondancer disappeared around the corner.

---

“Hey Sunset,” Twilight said in greeting to her classmate just outside the palace where they promised to meet a few hours ago. Sunset looked a bit somber before she noticed the other pony, then her expression normalized somewhat. Taking a moment to look around, Twilight asked, “Have you seen Trixie around?”

“Trixie? Last I saw her she was looking for you with Shining Armor,” Sunset said.

“Shining Armor?” Twilight asked in surprise. “He never came by to see me.” Sunset could only shrug.

“We’ll probably see little miss airhead when we meet with the princess.” After saying this, Sunset headed toward the castle entrancee.

“Right,” Twilight said with a nod, following along. For a quick moment Twilight’s thoughts turned toward Cadance. She hadn't seen her since the incident in Neighagara Falls, but knew she had nothing to worry about. She was sure that her foalsitter was alright. She had nothing to worry about, and neither did Shining Armor.

---

Twilight and Sunset found their teacher speaking with an attendant and waited patiently until her attention turned toward them. After he received his instructions the stallion bowed and left. Celestia looked to her cherished students. “Hello, girls.”

“Hello, Princess!” The two of them said in unison with a bow. Celestia responded in kind with a modest nod of her head. Just as she was about to ask, Trixie strode in, a goofy grin plastered on her face.

A number of questions arose in Twilight’s mind but her attention returned to the important matter the Princess had. “Trixie, Sunset, Twilight, we have much to discuss.” The girls followed their teacher, sharing similar looks of wonder regarding what Celestia said. They were led through the hallways, making a number of turns until arriving at the chariot hanger. To their surprise the space was bustling with activity. Teams of mechanics were working on three sets of chariots and it looked like there were an equal number of royal pegasus drivers on standby, checking over their harnesses and stretching their wings.

They all dutifully greeted the princess but focused primarily on the work before them. It seemed that Celestia viewed their productiveness quite favorably as her attention returned to her students. “Girls, in order for all of you to grow, it’s important to expand your understandings of magic. For a number of reasons, there’s only so much that I can teach you. That said, I’ve prepared chariots for each of you to meet teachers to learn different aspects of magic from.” Twilight had already taken note of the chariots. Her curiosity had increased after hearing that they were related to their training. “You’re all going to leave right away. Upon arrival to your destination your studies will begin.”

Twilight was taken aback by the suddenness of everything going on. She had her suspicions but wasn’t certain about what had brought this all on.

“Sunset, you’ll be going to the Southern Isles.” As Celestia said that, a broad chested stallion wearing flowers on his head approached. While it wasn’t all too out of place for a pony from such a far away place like the Southern Isles to be in Canterlot, Twilight knew through a reliable source—Spike, that is—that there was an important meeting involving a number of diplomats and representatives of Equestria’s allies today. Twilight recognized the stallion in particular. “Wakea is our honored guest that represents the Southern Isles here in Canterlot, on behalf of Madame Pele.”

With a confident stride Sunset walked over to the diplomat. She then bowed gracefully and said, “Ahau whakahonoretia ahau ki te whiriwhiri.”

“E mohio ana koe ki te reo?” He said in surprise. He continued with, “Ko ahau te tangata e whakahonoretia te,” before returning a nod of his head.

Twilight felt lost by what took place, never realizing that Sunset had learned the Southern Isles language—technically one of its thirty four dialects, actually—much less any foreign language. After nuzzling with the princess she looked to her classmates. “Guess I’ll be seeing you girls around,” Sunset stated simply. Without further ado she went to the chariot and hopped on. The pegasus team readied themselves with their pre-flight checks and soon took off with their two passengers.

“Twilight,” Celestia said to her, “You’ll be going to meet an old friend of mine in Shimmerwood. She needs a bit of help and I recommended you as the best pony to provide it.”

“I’m honored that you’d do such a thing, princess!” Twilight said, her focus now on her instructions. If her memory served her right, Shimmerwood was also south of Canterlot, but on the opposite coast. It was maybe a ten hour flight without stops. She wondered what sort of task awaited her, as well as how this was supposed to relate to her training.

“She’ll tell you everything you’ll need to know,” the princess continued, already understanding what sorts of things Twilight would be thinking about. “I needn’t remind you to behave, so all I have left to say is to be safe, Twilight. Spike.” She looked to each of them in turn with a kind smile and nuzzled them like a mother would.

“Of course, Princess,” she said with a smile after their familial embrace. Twilight stepped onto the chariot shortly after Spike hopped in, watching with amusement at how excited he was.

“Twilight’s got this in the bag, Your Highness,” Spike proudly declared as he found his footing within the open-air carriage. “You have my word!”

“I can definitely sleep soundly knowing that,” Celestia said with an appreciative smile. “Be sure to write me about your progress, alright?”

“Will do, Princess!”

“Sure thing!”

They waved and felt the chariot begin to move. It was a more-or-less smooth transition from takeoff as they rose into the sky,banking at a slight leftward tilt for a minute. Then they headed south, following behind Sunset’s chariot before taking different paths. She watched as the other chariot continued its course while hers turned toward a westerly direction.

“Isn’t this exciting, Spike?” Twilight said, hollering as best she could over the wind. When she looked over to her little assistant, she could only giggle when she realized that Spike already managed to fall asleep. As her mane fluttered in the wind, Twilight turned her attention elsewhere, glancing over her shoulder to where Canterlot, her home, was.

The fading sight of the picturesque mountainside city made her realize that this was the first time in her life she ever left Equestria. Admittedly a bit of unease grew in her chest from the completely new experience.At the same time, a giant smile broke out, stretching the corners of her mouth from ear to ear as she looked forward once more. She wouldn’t fail the mission the princess had given her. Twilight was certain of that.

Author's Note:

UGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH IT'S FINALLY PUBLISHED.......

Comments

[Mellow]

Hey, better late than never right?

[Typewrittensoul]

6374197
I was so hoping for a comment about the chapter, itself...

[Mellow]

6374320 Right, sorry.
Teacher Twilight's and Sweetie Belle's interactions were great and very believable if I'm to go of movie ideal movie teachers (wish I had, had teachers like that).
The chapter felt a bit short (probably due to only two major scenes being shown) but i still enjoyed it a lot.
I'm really interested in seeing the places each of the three go to as well as the different lessons they'll learn.

[keyanu]

nice chapter, twilight don't forget to tell moon dancer and sweetie belle's parents that you may be out for awhile

[Flashbunny]

"Right,” Twilight said with a nod, following along. For a quick moment Twilight’s thoughts turned toward Cadance.

The link on "Cadance" is password-protected; I assume that's not deliberate?

[Moonlight_Champion]

Nice job with this chapter. Sweetie Belle is best student! BTW, do the Elements work differently here or well this story deal with another magical item?
Also, is Trixe going anywhere?

[Emperor]

Even in an alternate universe, it seems Sweetie Belle is still a walking disaster zone

No mention of where Trixie went, I notice? Unless she already went to Nirvana, after reading about that goofy grin on her face and the mentions of Shining Armor...

[resonance]

ugh. a password protected story? thats gonna bother the hell out of me for the rest of the week.