Starlight clapped her hooves with a bright smile. "I'm impressed! I suppose, on some level, I shouldn't be, or less. You're a grown creature. If I say to do something, you can understand me, and reach for it. Then again, we haven't really tried this before. It's all new and exciting." She bounced a little on her seat, making it squeak beneath her. "Still, excellent work. You seem to have some basic control over your 'horn's output and frequency."

Ariel puffed with pride. "It's the most fun I've had in my life. Every time I try something new, I feel like I get closer to understanding it better." She flexed that magic finger of hers, making the glow of her pendant brighten, then go yellow, then blue. "So, I pass?"

"You more than pass." She reached over the desk to press a hoof to Ariel's beak. "Now, about your friend. That's an interesting theory you have. Dragon fire being their magic? Fascinating as ideas go, but there are some practical issues with delving into that."

Ocellus squeaked up from behind Ariel. "Problems?"

Starlight gave her two pupils an apologetic look. "If we accept that notion at face value, that sounds fascinating, but to explore it means having a dragon constantly puffing fire everywhere as they struggle to control it. That is, at the least, a mild fire hazard."

Ocellus opened their mouth in understanding. "I see! We don't want to burn the school down."

Ariel nodded along with that. "But, Smolder's a smart dragon. She knows she doesn't want to burn things down. If we just asked her not to, she could keep her practices to safe places."

Starlight cycled her hooves. "But where would those be? Equestria has far fewer stone caves to work in. And even the ones we do have are filled with flammable things inside them. Let's put that aside for now. I have two eager students before me." She sat up taller. "And both are ready to learn, without too much issue in the way. I will be using a different technique for Ariel than I would a unicorn student. You aren't a unicorn, nor close enough to one to ignore the differences."

Her eyes flit to Ocellus. "You have a horn. You could learn the unicorn way. In fact, I have a fair few books I could suggest to do just that. You don't need special tutoring, if you're self-motivating. On the other hoof! You could learn the way Ariel's learning, and it might be useful, as it may allow you to use your magic even when you don't have a horn."

Ocellus' wings buzzed with excitement. "I could do that?!"

Starlight spread her hooves with a smile. "Anything is possible with hard work and effort. But you'll have to study hard, and put in the effort. The bottom line is, as demonstrated by Ariel, if you learn how to flex that 'magic finger' without a horn, it won't matter if you have a horn or not at the moment. That changelings have access to magic is a known factor. It's just a matter of reaching for it when the obvious direction isn't there."

Ariel hopped up onto her hind legs to bow before Ocellus. "This is gonna be great!" She fell back to all fours. "Learning with a friend sounds way more fun than learning just by myself."

Ocellus did a hop of their own, turning into a bear as they rose. "It is!" She snorted in a bear way, ears on Starlight. "How do we begin?"

Starlight held up her hooves. "We need you both in the same place. Ariel, perhaps you could help Ocellus along. Ocellus has magic. They use it to shapeshift, much like your magic helps you change shape, come to think. Very similar. Help them learn how to move that 'magic finger' so they're just as good at it as you are."

Ariel turned into a seapony, then a hippogriff, then back again with a smile. Her amulet helped her with each change, a little flash with each transformation.

Ocellus followed along, eyes focused on Ariel's neck. Each time she changed, Ocellus shifted as well, becoming a changeling, a yak, a griffon, and back again.

Starlight smiled at the two. "I knew you two would get right into it. Go on." She made gentle shooing motions. "Come back when you're both moving that magic finger of yours. Ideally, I want you both to be able to show you can control the intensity and frequency of your magic." She pointed to Ariel. "Ariel does this with her glowing. How will this manifest for Ocellus? You tell me."

Ocellus turned their focus back to Starlight. "Oh! Okay! But, um, what will you be doing?"

Starlight tapped her hooves with a smile. "Thank you for asking. I'll be working on a lesson plan for both of you. Unicorn foal tactics would be a disservice. I need to translate unicorn spells to something you two can read and imitate."

Ariel rose up again. "Wow, really? We're lucky to have such an awesome teacher!"

Starlight scratched at the back of her neck. "Aw, I'll do my best, promise. Now, get on, both of you."

Ariel let herself fall down onto all fours again, racing to the door. Ocellus didn't bother with the transformation and simply flew after Ariel, eager to see what was next for them.

"Not safe?" Smolder rolled her eyes at the news. "What is? Seriously, I know how to not set things on fire." She crossed her arms with a scowl. "So I work outside for a bit, what's the big deal?" She prodded Ariel with a clawed finger. "You did not tease me with this just to tell me I can't. Forget Starlight. I'm doing it just because she says I can't! Show me what you've figured out."

Ariel fidgeted a little at that. "Well, um, okay?" She laughed nervously. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you learning. I don't think any creature that wants to learn should be anything but helped."

"Exactly!" She puffed smoke in her annoyance. "So where do we start? You said controlling the colors and stuff of my fire, right?"

Ariel held up her crystal with a smile. "This is part of me, like how your fire is part of you." Smolder nodded with that. "So watch." She made her crystal glow different hues. "I'm doing that, controlling it. It's not a big magic, but it's my magic. Your fire is your magic, control how bright it is. Control its color."

Smolder gestured with a wing at the crystal. "You have something to hold onto. That thing is not me." She brought a hand to her throat, rubbing over it. "Well, hm." She spat out a little plume of fire into the air and held it, belching out flames in a low but steady fwooosh that didn't spread too far, but shimmered with orange and yellow light. "Fire," she muttered, having to stop her fire a moment to speak, but she was gushing fire soon after, focusing on the flames.

Ariel watched the display with wide eyes. The fire flickered gently, a constant flow as Smolder continued to blow her flames into the sky. It was mesmerizing, in its own way.

Smolder fell backwards, heaving for breath. "Wow, okay, that, mmm." She rolled to her side. "That's gonna take some practice." She rolled up with a laugh. "But thanks, for showing me the first step, and not counting me out before I even tried." She offered a hand towards Ariel. "Appreciate that. Some creatures are way too quick to assume stuff about dragons."

Ariel smiled at that as she shook Smolder's hand. "I don't know if it'll work like this for you, but I'm rooting for you!"

"All I wanted." She hugged Ariel, if briefly. "Now, dragon breath colors are usually emotional. Look." She puffed out her fire, focusing on sweeps of colors as she imagined herself experiencing various emotional swings. "See?"

Ariel did. Each moment of fire showed a slightly different hue, from warm and inviting orange, to deep and dangerous red. "That is very nice! You have way more specific control than I do. I'm almost jealous."

"I'm all jealous!" Silverstream flopped over Ariel's back suddenly, hugging her fellow hippogriff warmly. "Show me! I don't wanna be left out."

Ariel waved the crystal about, giving it a few attempts before settling on a deep blue for it to glow with. "You have a crystal too. You use it every time you switch between your two forms. The idea is to reach it when you're not doing that."

"Ooo." Silverstream held up her own crystal. Hers was subtly different, as each hippogriff's was. "Okay. I saw you working on it. I can do it, I think? Gonna try!"

Ariel watched as Silverstream closed her eyes and stood still, the crystal dangling from its cord around her neck. "Reach for it, in your head. It's in the same place, but instead of changing shapes, try to feel it, like a good friend you want to hug."

Silverstream mumbled softly. "Like, reaching for a friend?" She slowly brought her hands up to wrap around her crystal. "I do like giving them hugs." She stroked the smooth stone gently. "Even though they don't feel the same from one to another."

"And your crystal isn't mine. Each is a precious different friend. Give your friend a hug!" She closed her eyes as she clung to her own gemstone. "That's the first step. The second is just practice, lots and lots of practice."

"That sounds less fun." Silverstream giggled despite it, and her crystal flickered. "Oh! Look!" She snapped her eyes open, waving her crystal excitedly. "I did it! I have my magic finger! I'm a baby wizard too!" She let out a wild whoop, flapping her wings.

Ariel clapped along with her dear friend. "You're closer. But there's more to it. You have to be able to make it glow whenever you want it to, then you have to start doing colors. But you're so much closer! Good job!"

Smolder puffed smoke from her nostrils as she peered at Silverstream. "Nice work. We got three crawling. Starlight better be ready for us. We'll toddle over and see if she can help us go further." She puffed out some deep yellow flames that grew rapidly in brightness before fading away to almost invisible. "I'm feeling ready for more."

Ariel shook her head. "Hold up. I know Ocellus is still practicing, and so should both of you. Just because you got one arm down doesn't mean it's time to burst into a walk. I'm excited too! Trust me. But let's get this first step down."

Smolder rolled her shoulders back. "Fair enough." She pulled her wings in tight as she closed her eyes. "Purple." She breathes out more of a blue shade. "Dang it." She breathed in, ready to try again without pause. "Orange." A nice deep orange hue flared up. "Yes!" She pumped her fists into the air as she opened her eyes. "C'mon, Silver. You can do it too."

Silverstream grasped her own crystal in both hands. "Gotta go find Ocellus. They'll wanna see this too!"

Ariel raised a hand to call Silverstream to pause, but the other hippogriff was already fleeing off to find their mutal friend. "She's really excitable."

"As if you aren't." Smolder smirked with a chuckle. "I think it's a hippogriff thing. It's adorable, but you guys get excited pretty easily."

Ariel tossed up her arms. "We just want to have fun and enjoy our lives. Isn't that worth being excited over?" She burst into soft giggles. "Way better than not being able to, trust me."

Smolder hiked a scaled ridge at that. "You're saying that like you have way too much experience with it. Is there a dark origin story waiting there? Because, if so, I want to hear this."

Ariel dropped her eyes to the ground. "Well, it's kind of a story I don't tell creatures often, but—" She grabbed a nearby chair and sank onto it. "It's kind of a doozy. It's from before I even was called Ariel."

Smolder tilted her head, giving Ariel her full attention. "Yeah? Tell me, please. It's not weird, right?"

"It's kinda a little, yeah." She shrugged with a helpless laugh. "Sorry?"

Smolder waved a hand at Ariel. "C'mon. Who am I gonna tell? You have my word, secret's safe with me." She mimed zippering up her lips.

Ariel rocked a moment. "Okay, so I was very very sick, a world away. I was dying, and helpless, and super sad. But then I was on a beach, and Silverstream found me. She rescued me!"

Smolder hummed at that. "Sick enough to die? Sounds like it was pretty bad."

Ariel laughed again, even more nervously than before. "Very. Very bad. The worst it could get. I feel so much better now." She thumped her chest. "I love this body. It's not the same one I had, by a lot, but it actually works, really well."

Smolder narrowed her eyes as she gazed at Ariel. "It works? Like how? Did you get the perfect body?"

"Compared the one I had?" She hopped up so high, she hovered on her flapping wings. "Yes! My old one was dying. This new one is so... chipper, and lively. I love it."

Smolder jumped back as Ariel hovered before her. "That's great! But like, how was your old one different?"

"Besides being super sick?" Ariel lowered to the ground. "It was also a guy."

Smolder blinked at that. "Come again?"

Ariel spun in place, gesturing at herself. "I was male! But that was the old me, not the me now." Looking from the outside, it was difficult to imagine Ariel as being anything other than the joyful female she was at the present. "Don't miss it. This body's way better."

Smolder took that news, with the feeling that she hadn't been prepared for what that would mean. "Male? Wow." She shook her head slowly. "You think you know a creature. Uh, no offense or nothing. The way you put it out there, it was, literally, a past life, right? Can't hold somecreature's past life against them. That'd be a jerk thing to do."

Ariel rubbed at the back of her neck. "I wasn't trying to hide it. Just, people have trouble imagining me as anything other than this." She shrugged with a little giggle. "And I am this. Hello. Now, let's practice that magic finger of yours."

Smolder shook her head, not willing to drop the subject quite yet. "But you were a male. You still remember that, right?"

"Hard to forget it?" Ariel inclined her head. "But I'm not that anymore. All lady."

"Crazy." Smolder punched Ariel on the shoulder and turned away. "Black!"

"Black?" Was that even a possible color?! Ariel watched with fascination.

Smolder huffed out black smoke from her mouth, casting up billowing shadows as the air darkened with it. It didn't last long, but it had been black, as promised.

Ariel applauded wildly. "Wow! You really are good at this."

"Aren't I?" Smolder let the last of her smoke fade away. "If dragon magic is fire, I'm already a wizard." She waggled her brows. "I just need to learn how to do spells with it."

Author's Note

The Young Six is sharing their excitement about this new idea. Starlight's gonna be busy.

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