A Day of Learning

by Xhoral1865

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Celestia
Length: 2188

Celestia teaches Twilight a new spell for her to practice.

After spending a week of not visiting her student, Celestia decides to cancel all her plans for today and just spend some time with Twilight. She teaches the little filly a new spell to help with her concentration. Come join their day as Twilight figures out how to properly cast this new spell.

Art work: Cartoonlion

Published 2014-03-27 03:20:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-27 03:20:04 UTC

Let's learn a new spell

Lets learn a new spell

“Wake up, Twilight. t’s morning.” Celestia softly said, nudging the little filly with her muzzle, “It’s time for breakfast.”

“But I don’t wanna get up.” Twilight mumbled into her pillow.

“The chefs are making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.” Celestia offered.

Twilight’s ears perked up at the mentioning of chocolate chip pancakes, but she still didn’t get up from her super comfy bed. Celestia would need more than the promise of chocolate chip pancakes to get the little filly out of her bed.

“How about I teach you a new spell today and maybe, if you’re a good student, I’ll even teach you another one after. How does that sound?” Celestia said.

Twilight shot out of her bed and bolted for the door of her room. “I’ll race you to the breakfast table!”

Celestia chuckled at her student. She would refuse anything when she needed to be woken up, but ask her if she wanted to learn a new spell and it was like she never had any problems in the first place. It was such a nice thing that she was so eager to learn. It didn’t help that when presented with a book she would devour the words off the page like a parasprite. She left her student’s room and went after Twilight, albeit at a more sedated pace.

It was halfway through eating her pancakes that Twilight finally spoke up. “Princess, what spell are you going to teach me today?”

“Well, we could-”

“Can you teach me how to teleport?” Twilight interrupted, “Or maybe you can teach me how to make myself invisible!”

Celestia grinned at this. “I hope a certain somepony isn't planning on going after the cookie jar again.”

Twilight’s eyes turned to pinpricks and she looked everywhere but at Celestia. “Um...uh...Maybe?”

Celestia grinned more widely at the panic in her student’s face. “Twilight, if you want more cookies you need only ask. Still, you need more food other than cookies and pancakes. Now go clean yourself up and get ready for today's lesson.”

Once Twilight had finished cleaning herself she walked to Celestia’s bed chamber to begin her magic lesson. She entered the room and spotted Celestia sitting on her bed.

“Hello, Twilight are you ready for your magic lesson today?” Celestia said.

“Yes, Princess. I sure am!” Twilight said, her face breaking into the usual huge grin she would get when she knew she was about to learn a new spell.

“Alright then, since you’re ready lets begin.” -If it was even possible Twilight’s face had an even bigger grin on it- “First, we are going to meditate so that you can focus your energies and get into a calm state of mind.”

Twilight let out an almost inaudible whine. “But meditating is boooring, Princess. Can’t you teach me a new spell first?”

“Alright, since you’re so set on using magic without a calm mind, levitate that pillow over here so you can sit on it.” Celestia said.

”Yay!” Twilight cried. She wrapped the pillow in a purple aura and lifted it into the air. Then it fell out of her magic. Twilight gave a sheepish look at Celestia then tried to lift the pillow again only for it to fall out of her magic once more.

“What’s the matter, Twilight?” Celestia asked, a slight smirk on her muzzle.

“I..I think I would like to meditate now.”

Twilight sat down next to Celestia and started the pattern of inhaling for a count of seven and then exhaling over a count of seven. She breathed in, counting as she did so. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven.. After the count finished she exhaled. One...two...three...four...five...six...seven. She then began the process again and kept meditating for half an hour. She and Celestia had done this many a time but had the chance to be together in a week because the Princess had to take care of her Princess duties. It had made Twilight a little complacent about keeping to her meditation times. She was starting to regret that because she couldn't clear her mind of her thoughts well enough to reach the state of mind that meditation requires. Eventually Twilight did clear her mind of thoughts and once she did she waited another five minutes before she was ready to continue with the lesson.

“I’m ready, Princess.” Twilight said.

“Are you sure about that, Twilight?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, Princess.” Twilight replied, looking down at the floor and shuffling her hooves.

“Alright then. Today I am going to teach you how to concentrate your magic into a ball. This is to improve your concentration and magical endurance. Be sure to only use a small portion of your magic for this since it is your first time doing this. If it would go out of control the ball of magic could implode, so be sure to keep your concentration at it’s highest.”

Twilight's eyes widened at the mention that the ball might implode. “Are you sure?”

“Why do you ask that, Twilight?” Celestia asked, hoping to reassure her student, “You have been meditating every day, right?”

Twilight’s cheeks grew a bright red, “No, I haven’t. I've been reading though! Lot and lots of reading. That's kinda like meditating isn't it?”

Celestia gave Twilight a stern look, “I’m surprised at you, Twilight. You usually stay to the schedules I give you.”

“I’m sorry, Princess. I promise I’ll meditate more.”

“Good. Now, lets get back to our lesson. What you need to do is gather the magic in your horn and imagine it floating in a ball in front of you, like this.” Celestia gathered a small amount of magic in her horn, which then floated out in front of her can coalesced in a yellow ball with her cutie mark on it. Once she finished she looked over to Twilight and nodded her head.

Twilight’s horn started to glow and her face scrunched in concentration. She tried to get her magic to form into a ball just like Celestia’s had but couldn’t. She forced more magic into her horn, her face getting more scrunched until it looked like she had eaten something very sour. Eventually her horn started to leak wisps of magic which floated to a position in front and above her head. The wisps of magic slowly formed into a ball of purple.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door, startling Twilight and breaking her concentration. She let out a small shriek and jumped behind Celestia as her half formed ball of magic collapsed in on itself, making a loud pop!.

Celestia couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, “What’s wrong, Twilight?”

“You said it would explode if I lost my concentration!”

“No, I said it would implode, my dear student. All that meant was that it would collapse in on itself.” Celestia turned her head towards the door, “You may come in.”

A servant walked in and bowed to Celestia, “Your lunch is ready to be served, Princess Celestia.”

“Is it time for lunch already? Are you hungry, Twilight?”

“No, I’m fine.” Twilight said, her stomach rumbling a little.

“I think a certain filly’s stomach doesn’t agree with her.” Celestia chuckled, “Come on, lets go eat lunch.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After lunch, which was a wonderful salad for Celestia and a nice daffodil sandwich for Twilight, they returned to Celestia’s chambers to resume Twilight’s lesson on concentration.

“Now, shall we start where we left off?” Celestia asked.

“Yes!” Twilight cried.

They both returned to the spots they had previously been in before lunch and sat down. Twilight lit her horn and began to concentrate. Soon enough wisps of magic were coming out of her horn and going to the space above and in front of her head. Taking into consideration how much magic she needed the first time she tried this she used the same amount this time. An hour went by as she created her magic ball once again. Ten more minutes and the ball was three-fourths complete. Fifteen more minutes and the ball was now completely smooth and round.

Twilight opened her eyes, “Look, Princess! I did it!”Her ball immediately started to wobble and deform. She closed her eyes again and began her concentration once more. Another half hour went by while Twilight tried to stop her ball from imploding and finally succeeded, the ball becoming smooth once again.

This time Twilight made sure to keep her concentration while she told the princess that she had done it again.

“Wonderful job, Twilight,” Celestia said, “Now, try to make another ball while maintaining the one you already have.”

Twilight only nodded, afraid her concentration on the ball she already had would break. She closed her eyes once more and scrunched her face in concentration. Making one ball was hard for the young filly, but not hard enough to make her think she couldn’t make two of them at once.

As more wisps of magic left her horn it started to glow brighter. It was now becoming hard to keep her already made ball of magic maintained while creating a second one. It started to wobble and ripple, but Twilight wouldn't let it implode.

As her second ball began to take shape she could feel her hold on the first begin to lose it’s form so she began to concentrate on it more. Doing this made her half-formed second ball start to collapse. Eventually both the balls collapsed.

She stared at the space where the balls were. “This is harder than I thought it would be, Princess.”

“It’s only as hard as you think it is, Twilight. I know you will think of some way to create two at once.”

Twilight lay down and shut her eyes, thinking of a way to create two balls of magic at once with a way to maintain both of them at the same time. She stayed like that until a servant came and told them that dinner was cooked and ready to be served.

Twilight was willing to go to dinner, if only barely; she wanted to think about how to solve her problem. Celestia told her that she had often solved her problems over a plate of good food and drink.

While they ate Twilight thought about how to maintain the first ball while she created the second ball. First, she thought about doing what she had been doing, but just trying harder. She quickly dismissed the idea. Then she thought about making the balls on a smaller scale with less magic. No, that would work either. If she was going to make them, then she wanted them to be the best that she could do.

Dinner was almost over and she still hadn’t thought of a way to solve her problem. Two servants came up to Celestia and took her finished plate and empty cup in unison. Then the perfect idea hit Twilight. Of course! It was so simple! Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? Twilight quickly finished her food and followed Celestia back to her room to continue her lesson.

Twilight and Celestia once again sat in their previous spots. Twilight immediately lit her horn and began to concentrate. It took longer than usual but the wisps of magic eventually started to float to the area slightly above and in front of her head. They started to coalesce into the now familiar shape of the ball and began forming.

After several hours of tense concentration Twilight had finally managed to create two balls of magic and was maintaining them with minimal concentration. Celestia was proud of her student for figuring out how to make them. It wasn't a normal way of making the balls of magic. Almost all the students in her academy try to make them one at a time, maintaining one ball while the created another, but Twilight had cleverly solved the problem the students in the academy face. She had made them both at the same time. It took a much smaller amount of time and concentration than making them one at a time.

Twilight smiled up at her mentor as she held the balls above her head. She slowly made them orbit her head, her tongue protruding out of her mouth. “So how did I do, Princess? Did I do well?”

“Yes, Twilight, you did well. Now, it’s time for you to go to bed.”

A yawn escaped Twilight’s lips and she let her balls dissipate, being careful not to let them implode. “Okay. Good night Princess.”

“Good night, Twilight.”

Twilight left Celestia’s chamber and went to her room. She is going to be a powerful unicorn when she grows older. She might even rival Starswirl in that regard. She is also a very intelligent young filly for her age, outshining the smartest at the academy. Her future will hold great things for her. Have sweet dreams, my faithful student.

Author's Note

As usual, if you have any thoughts, comment on them. I'd love the see them! Criticism where needed, but please keep it professional. Hope you enjoyed it! :pinkiesmile: