Part 1: How to cast with confidence

💥Part 1: How to cast with confidence💥

“P-Punch you?“ stuttered Misty. She hadn’t been expecting the lessons to start so soon and especially hadn’t been expecting them to start like this

“Yeah! Go on!” Said Sunset, stretching a little and getting into an active stance. “I want to see what we’re working with!”

Misty quibbled a bit, and glanced back to Zipp who had a curious expression on her face.

“Have you ever punched anypony before?” Asked Zipp.

“N-No!” Replied Misty.

“Well, you know what they say! First time for everything!” Zipp said. “Go get her, girl!”

“Uhm… A-Are you going to punch me back?” she asked nervously to Sunset, who was a taller and much stronger looking pony.

“No. I promise you, I am not going to attack back” She said, smiling. Misty trusted her.

“Okay… here goes…” Misty said. She had to psyche herself up a bit, but with a big cheer from Zipp, she ran forward with her eyes closed.

“HHYAH!” She said, flailing her hooves around wildly at Sunset.

Sunset simply jumped out the way, Misty falling to the ground in a small pile.

“Come on! You can do better than that!” Said Sunset, smiling as she flicked her mane.

Misty turned around, a determined expression forming on her face. Keeping her eyes open this time, she waited until the last moment to throw out a hoof. Once again, Sunset simply jumped backwards, causing Misty to stumble once more. Letting out a grunt of frustration, Misty glared at her.

“How am I meant to punch you if you keep on jumping out of the way?” she asked.

Sunset just grinned.

“... OH.”

Misty realised what the actual ‘test’ was.

Okay.

“No more messing around, Misty…” she grumbled to herself. Her eyes narrowed as sunset stood there, ready for Misty’s next attempt.

Misty ran forward towards her, but at the last moment, hopped to the left and threw another punch! Sunset narrowly dodged out of the way, but it was a lot closer!

“Better! Come on! I know you can do it!” She said supportively. “You’ll need to use your head!”

“I AM using my head!” She said, thinking hard. Sunset was paying real close attention to her, and would likely be able to read any of her movements. So she’d have to try to distract her!

“… WOAH IS THAT A DRAGON?” She said, pointing up into the sky. Sunset turned around to look. As she did, Misty ran up to punch, but Sunset rolled out of the way just as she approached, laughing.

“UUGGGH!!!” Misty groaned in frustration. “If I had known that this would be difficult then I wouldn’t have suggested it!”

“Hey Mists!” Zipp called out to her. Misty looked around.

“You’ve got a horn! Use it!”

Misty blinked.

Use your head.

Oh… OH!

She looked back to Sunset who was grinning. “We’re here to learn magic, aren’t we?”

“Right!” She said, and activated her horn…

And then just sort of…

Stood there.

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

…

Misty didn’t do anything.

“Are you… going to do something?” Asked Sunset. Misty whimpered. “I’m… not really that good at it without my book…” she said. She cast the one spell she had managed to master; the spell that made her book float over to her.

“Oh.”

Sunset tilted her head, glancing over at the book.

“The book is just instructions, right?” She asked.

“Y-Yeah. All the magic is in me already! I think…”

“Awesome! So we don’t need it then!” She said, and grabbed the book with her own magic. “Zipp! Catch!” She said, Frizzbeeing it over to Zipp. Zipp caught it in her mouth.

“Sunset…” Misty was about to complain, but Sunset interrupted.

“Misty! Remember, this is all about you getting better, right?” she said. “And the only way to get better is to figure out where you need to improve!”

Misty’s ears flattened and her eyes narrowed. What spells COULD she do without the book?

There was basic levitation, of course, but she doubted that she’d be able to lift somepony like Sunset without resistance. She could remember the teleportation spell but had little practice with it. She didn’t want to end up halfway across Equestria and need to be rescued again like last time. She could sort of remember the spell that turned her friends into Seaponies, but not only would that not be useful right now, she didn’t have any of the correct components.

And then of course, there was…

Misty’s eyes brightened.

That spell!

“O-Okay… I’m ready…” she said, a new found determination in her voice.

“What have you got planned?” Asked Sunset, who got back into position.

“Can’t say! That’d ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it!” She said, and without warning leapt at her!

Sunset wasn’t expecting the sudden movement but was still able to dodge out of the way.

Misty didn’t let up. She kept on running at her, swinging her hoof. Sunset didn’t have much trouble hopping out of the way of the swings. Misty was getting exhausted, and after a good minute of constant running, she stopped, panting. Sunset was painting a little too.

“Come on, Misty! You’re getting closer!” She said, and then raised an eyebrow when she saw the exhausted misty’s horn glow. She readied herself… What was she going to do? A laser beam? Teleport behind her? Animate a tree?

She didn’t expect to feel the heavy impact on the back of her head.

She let out a cry of pain and looked around to see what had just hit her. Zipp sat a little bit away with a small smirk on her face as Sunset looked at… the spellbook?

OH.

Sunset looked around just in time to see Misty appear RIGHT in her face, and punching her right on the snout! Knocked off balance, Sunset fell onto her rear, hoof on nose. That hurt WAY more than she thought Misty was capable of.

“HA! YES! I DID IT! HAAAA! WOOOO!” She said, Twirling around in a circle as she celebrated. Zipp gave a cheer of support. After a few moments, Misty slowed down and looked sheepishly at Sunset, who had a smile on her face.

“S-Sorry! Are you ok? I didn’t mean to hurt you that much! And I know we said I shouldn’t use the spellbook but I technically didn’t USE the spellbook! I just used the book part! Which wasn’t very honest of me, i’m really sorry but-”

She was interrupted by the sudden hoof on her shoulder, which made her immediately sit down.

“You did it!” Sunset said excitedly. “You managed to work out a way to hit me! That’s amazing! Well done!” She said, smiling wide. Zipp was behind her, smiling too. Misty’s cheeks flushed with pride as she shyly shuffled her hoof on the floor.

Through the contact and with them both having their elements, she could hear Sunset’s mind crystal clear.

“She’s going to be so fucking powerful.”

She shuffled away nervously with a little smile.

“Thank you…” she said, getting to her hooves. “Uhm… what’s the plan now?” She asked. Sunset paused. She didn’t seem to know. “Uhhhhh…” she whipped out her lesson plan and scanned through it. She smiled a tiny bit.

“It just says ‘Get some rest, Sunsun.” Heh…”

Misty tilted her head slightly, as she felt the emotion emanating from Sunset.

Longing.

“I guess now we should show you the brighthouse then!” Piped up Zipp. Sunset looked up and quickly nodded, putting away the lesson plan. “Sounds good! I’d love to meet all of your friends! Especially Sunny. I feel like we have a lot to talk about.”

“Well then! Follow me!” Said Zipp, who started to trot off back towards the brighthouse . Misty nodded slowly, but her view was fixed on Sunset. When Zipp was a little bit away, Misty said quietly to Sunset: “are… you ok?”

“Hmm? Yeah, why do you ask?” Said Sunset, who had just taken off her element and placed it into one of her many bags. Misty frowned; it was going to be harder to read her now.

“Well… it’s just that… you seemed a bit…” she said, slowing down as she realised she didn’t even know what she was trying to ask.

“A bit what?“ she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sad?” Misty said, tilting her head. Sunset let out a little sigh.

“I guess I am, a bit. Back home is a little complicated right now, but none of that matters! This week is about YOU! Not me, remember! Now, you two go on ahead a little, I’ll catch up! Just got to work out where I put all of my presents…” she said, smiling.

Misty nodded quickly with a smile, but concern filled her face as she walked away. Sunset did seem keen to come here…

“All good?” Asked Zipp, head tilting as Misty approached.

“Think so! She’s a bit distracted by… something. And I can’t read her too well when she doesn’t have her element on… but! I’m sure if it was important she’d tell us!”

“True.” Said Zipp, nodding, glancing back at her. A little smile crossed her face as she leant in close to Misty.

“Can we please talk about how pretty she is!?” She said in an excited whisper. Misty nodded, a similar smile spreading onto her lips.

“I know, right!? She’s so cool!? Why can’t I be that cool!?” She responded in a similar tone.

“Come on, Mists! Less of that!” Said Zipp, giving her a nudge. “You are cool! You just punched a Unicorn from an alternate universe!”

Misty smiled a little, but didn’t really believe it.

“MISTY! Z-ZIPP!”

Both Mares heads turned to see Hitch Trailblaze, sheriff extraordinaire, running towards them. “ARE YOU OK? SPROUT TOLD ME SOME SORT OF FIRE DEMON WAS ATTACKING!”

“Oh. You mean Sunset?” Asked Zipp, raising an eyebrow and motioning at the rapidly approaching bacon horse.

“She’s my friend! And my new teacher! Did Sunny not tell you?” Asked Misty. Zipp now looked incredibly confused as Sunset reached the trio.

“Uhhhhh…” said Hitch, who was now staring at Sunset Shimmer with confused awe.

“Heya sheriff. You that cop Misty’s told me about?” Sunset asked nonchalantly.

“U-Uhh… yes! I'm the sheriff of this town.” He said, regaining composure.

“Huh.” Said Sunset shortly. “Is there no royal guard?”

“Well, we don’t really have royalty here.” He said awkwardly. “Sooo… not much use for a royal guard… unless you head to Zephyr heights. They’ve got a queen, and you just so happen to be in the presence of one of their princesses!”

Zipp groaned a little.

“Oh.” Said Sunset, before her eyes suddenly widened. “OH! YOU’RE A PRINCESS!?”

Zipp looked confused. “Yeah… did… Misty never say?” She asked, looking over at Misty who shivered as she found all eyes were now firmly placed on her.

“U-Uhm! No, not really, because, I know that you don’t really, like being seen as a princess…” she said nervously. “So I didn’t say anything.”

Zipp’s smile grew. Sunset just looked between them in impressed confusion. Hitch just blinked.

“How in Equestria did you manage to bag a princess?” Said Sunset in a light tone.

“Well… she asked me, actually…” she replied with a little laugh. Sunset jaw dropped. “Girl? You never told me you got propositioned by ROYALTY?”

“It’s really not that big of a deal…” said Zipp, rubbing the back of her mane with a hoof.

“I don’t really see her as Royalty. I just see her as Zipp!”

Hitch went to contribute but the last statement was so cute that he gave up and just smiled.

“Heh…” Sunset laughed a little. “Come on, then, lovebirds!! To the… SHIT one moment I forgot a bag. she said, and hurriedly rushed back. The trio watched her go.

When she was out of earshot, Hitch turned to the other two.

“How is she so pretty?” he said in disbelief.

“I KNOW!” the Mares said in unison.

-

“So this is where all of the magic here comes from?” Asked Sunset, head tilted as she looked up at the translucent and prismatic beam shooting up into the sky.

“Yep! As far as we can tell, anyway.” Said Zipp. “There’s a set of crystals up there that our world's Twilight infused all the magic of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns into it. If it’s moved, magic ceases to function here. So, you know. Don’t do that.”

Sunset looked impressed. “That Twilight sure is a wonder, isn’t she? And she sealed it away to stop the fire Alicorn from taking it?”

“Yep…” said Misty quietly.

“Which you did! Sorta- well, at least she won’t be back for a while. And once I'm done with you, you’ll be able to flatten her in moments. That’s all that matters, right?”

“Right…” said Misty, sounding more unsure than ever. She moved forward and opened the door.

As the three walked in, Sunset suddenly found an Izzy standing directly in front of her.

“ARE YOU SUNSET SHIMMER.” She asked, eyes huge and dazzling.

“Uhh… yeah?” She said.

“YAAAAAY!!!!!!”

Izzy immediately wrapped her legs around her in a tight hug, tail wagging like an excited puppy. “THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST DAY EVER! ANOTHER UNICORN BEST FRIEND TO KEEP!”

Sunset laughed at this, returning the hug a little awkwardly. “Is she always like this?” She asked.

“Oh, you have no idea.” Said Zipp, smirking as she walked past the unicorns. Misty and Hitch followed her in.

Eventually Izzy detached herself from the hug, and practically dragged Sunset over to a huge display of friendship bracelets she had made.

“Pick one pick one pick one!” She said excitedly, practically bouncing up and down on the spot.

“Haha, uh, is it ok if I do it a little later-“ Sunset started but was interrupted as Izzy was suddenly giving her a death glare.

“Pick one.”

“Okay! Okay, I will!“ she said, rolling her eyes a little. She scanned them over for a few moments, and eventually picked one that had a blue and purple theme, mixed with some sparkles. “This one reminds me of you, so I’ll take it!” She said, putting it on her front hoof. Misty looked with wide eyes. It was super similar to hers.

We’re matching!??

“And now, a LIVE EXCLUSIVE, pipsqueaks…”

A voice was reverberating round the main room of the brighthouse. Zipp groaned and placed a hoof on her muzzle in exasperation. Misty just let out a little giggle.

“...coming LIVE from the crystal brighthouse! We have a unicorn from…. wwwwait for it…. ANOTHER DIMENSION!”

Sunset looked up to see the pink pegasi suddenly leap off the balcony above them and swoop down. Pipp landed a few feet in front of Sunset, turning the camera round to show them both.

“This extra dimensional traveller is here to help train our very own ✨Misty Brightdawn✨on how to better do magic! So we don’t have another little…” she paused a little, her face dropping momentarily. “Accident.” Her expression lifted again as she shuffled closer to Sunset.

“So! Sunset Shimininer!” she started gleefully.

“It’s Shimmer.” she said quickly, tilting her head as she looked into the front facing camera of Pipp’s phone. “I didn’t even realise you had phones here… how are you holding that?”

Pipp opened her mouth happily to answer but paused as she actually considered the question.
“How AM I holding this-” she said slowly… “Ah well! Probably nothing to worry about!”

“So! As I was Saaaying…. How are you finding your time so far in Maretime bay?” she asked, tilting the camera towards Sunset.

Misty noticed Sunset’s cheeks flushing a little as the orange unicorn was suddenly thrown into the spotlight.

“T-Three thousand viewers!?” she said nervously.

“Yeppp!” Pipp confirmed gleefully. “And all of them are waiting for an annsswerrrr~”

“U-Uhhhhh…” she said, stalling awkwardly for a moment. “It’s good! Haven’t been able to see much of it yet, aha… I d-did get punched on arrival though! That was awesome!”

“You what? By who!?” Pipp said, camera tilting back to her slightly as she turned her head to look at Sunset.

Sunset went to answer but she stopped as Misty shook her head rapidly, waving her hooves. Misty did NOT want the whole of Equestria thinking that she punched anypony she didn’t know. She was already worried that she was an eco terrorist after she burnt down the harmony tree.

“M…….. doesn’t matter! Just a misunderstanding! It’s a lovely place!” Sunset said quickly. There was an awkward silence in the room for a few moments, before Pipp laughed loudly.

“AHHAAAHAHAH! Comedy must be different from other dimensions. ANWAY! Send your questions in the comments on the community tab! We will have a PROPER Q+A with her tomorrow! That's it for now, Pipsqueaks!” she said, and ended the livestream.

Shaking her head, she strutted up to Sunset.

“We have GOT to work on your online presence, girl! Don’t worry, we’ll get you all set up on clip trot tomorrow morning! We have a LOT of work to do to build your platform!”

“Clip Trot?” Was all Sunset managed to say as Pipp fluttered away up into the bedroom area, muttering about all the brand deals she’d be able to secure now that a pony from another dimension was living in their house.
Sunset let out an exhale of relief. “I don’t think I’m quite ready for social media here juuust yet.” she said with a smile.

“M-Me neither…” said Misty, approaching her again. She glanced around. “Does anypony know where Sunny is?”

“I think she’s still down at the bay” said Hitch, who was now tending to one of his animal buddies who had a sore wing. “I think there was a bit of a lunch rush at her smoothie stand.”

“Smoothie stand? The only Alicorn left in Equestria and she’s running a smoothie stand?” Sunset asked with some confusion.

As Izzy started excitedly telling Sunset about all of Sunny’s various smoothie types, Misty’s ears flattened as she started to worry. Sunset was asking so many questions… she had done a terrible job at explaining this dimension, hadn’t she! She was the worse at th-

Her R.A.S (random anxiety spiral) was quickly halted by the feeling of Zipp’s muzzle rubbing against hers. Misty could already feel her pulse slow as she returned the action. Zipp had gotten quite good at recognising the signs that Misty was slipping a little, and was always quick to show support.

“I’ll have to try some!” Sunset said after Izzy had meticulously explained every single flavour combination, and her gaze turned to Misty. “I’m… kinda tired now from travelling. Would you be able to show me where I’ll be staying?”

Misty looked blankly for a few moments before realising she was being spoken too. “OH! Uhm, yeah! S-Sure, It's… U-Uhm…” she stood up, shaking her head to clear it. “Follow me! It's in… the basement. S-Sorry its the only room that we’ve got free-”

“Don’t worry at all” she said, and followed her.. “Wouldn’t be the first time I've slept somewhere that wasn’t ideal.

Zipp gave Misty a little nudge as the two unicorns headed down into the basement.

As they left, Izzy shuffled over to hitch.

“Did Misty mention to you how hot Sunset was going to be-”

Hitch wasn’t expecting that, and spat out the glass of water that he was drinking.

-

Misty showed Sunset down to her room. Izzy had donated her old bed from bridlewood for the room (which they had transported in the flying motorhome that they of course had) but apart from that it was pretty bare. The old storage crates still remained. Misty hoped she wouldn’t mind.

“Not bad! I’ve slept in way worse rooms than this!” she said, throwing all her bags onto the floor with a heave. She took off her jacket, did a big catlike stretch, and lay down on the bed.

Misty hovered awkwardly for a few moments as Sunset settled down.

“So….” said Misty, shuffling further in and sitting by the bed. Sunset patted the bed. Misty nodded with an embarrassed smile and hopped up next to her. “What do you think of my friends?”

“Oh! They’re great!” she said, smiling wide. “Izzy reminds me of one of my friends from home! Only less…” she needed to take a moment to think. “... Less chaotic.”

“Than Izzy?”

“Oh, you have no idea… Hitch seems cool! Was a little worried when I saw that he was a cop, but he seems to care about his animals more than himself. Pipp is… Pipp will take some getting used to, but I can see why she’s so popular!” she said, looking up at the ceiling as she spoke. The pair could hear the usual noise of Pipp writing a new pop song in the rooms above them.

“And uhm… what do you think of… Zipp.” Misty asked anxiously.

Sunset let out a little sigh, and grinned at Misty.

“You are one lucky pony, Misty.’”

Misty felt an excitement build up inside of her as she wiggled a little bit where she lay. Sunset liked her girlfriend! This was the best news ever!

“Now… Is it ok if I'm just on my own for a bit?” Asked Sunset. “It’s been a long day is all, and I need a nap. After I've planned your lesson tomorrow, of course!”

Misty nodded but before she got off the bed she hugged Sunset. Tight.

“H-Hey! What's this for?” she asked.

“For being here… For agreeing to come. You’re going to make everything so much better.”

Sunset took a moment to reply. “I… Don’t think I will. It's you who’ll be getting better, right?”

“I… guess.” said Misty slowly.

“Besides! I really owe you one. I…” she stopped talking altogether.

Despite not having her element on, Misty could still sense the familiar feeling of sadness inside of Sunset.

“I think you know how bad It was for me when we first met.” She mumbled.

Misty shivered. When they had first come across each other about a year ago, Sunset was right on the verge of wiping her own memory so she didn’t have to feel the guilt of what she had done on her gambit to steal Twilight’s crown.

“You saved me then, Misty.” she said, voice wobbling a tiny bit. “This is the least I can do. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else at all right now.”

And there it was again.

Misty was getting the fuzzy emotion of unspecified loss emanating from Sunset Shimmer.

This was becoming too frequent to be random. Misty was stunlocked in her own mind. Why would Sunset want to keep something from her?

“You know…” she said, tilting her head a little. “You’re the only person OR Pony that I haven’t been able to read.”

Misty tilted her head, distracted from her previous train of though. “Read?”

“Yeah. It’s a lot more vibrant when I’ve got my element on, but I can generally get a feel for how somepony is feeling just by touching them. It's a near constant buzz when I’ve got the element on, and then if I touch them, I can hear their exact thoughts. It’s… bizarre to say the least.”

“Y-Yeah! I…I’ve started to experience things like that…” she said. “E-Especially when… uhm… I…” She mumbled, not wanting to relive the terrible experience of the battle against Opaline. “But…” her mind started putting things together. “You can’t… sense me?”

“Not at all.” she said, shrugging. “I guess since we kinda share the same power? I don’t know.”

Misty froze as she looked away from her.

She could hear what Sunset was thinking when she was wearing her element… and she could even feel the loss emanating from her now…

She knew she should just tell her. It would be the honest and easy thing to do!

…

But then she’d have to confront her about what was bothering her so much…

“That's weird…” is all she was able to say as she stood up. She turned around with a lil’ smile.

“Well! I’ll leave you now. J-Just head upstairs if you need anything!” Misty said. Sunset smiled and nodded.

“One more thing, Misty…” She said.

“Hmm?” Misty said, looking around.

“Prepare for the best week of your life!”

Author's Note

I wonder why Sunset seems so upset...

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