~ 3 ~

The Art of Practicing

"Okay, girls, let's start again from the top," Twilight said again, for the hundredth time in a row. Applejack and Fluttershy panted of exhaustion. When the girls finally came home yesterday, Applejack's family were extremely exited that she had come home at last, Fluttershy's animal friends were relieved that she was alright, Sweetie Belle and her parents thanked Celestia that their daughter/her sister had come home alright, and Pinkie Pie was welcomed home, and Rainbow Dash had the accomplishment of walking back home. Only...

She could no longer stay in her house.

So she spent a night at Fluttershy's, who allowed her with welcoming arms. And now Twilight gathered Fluttershy and Applejack (with the others just watching them try) then tried to teach some magic to them.

At first, Twilight just wanted them to practice levitation rather than attempting to automatically do the transformation spell. "It's easy!" Twilgiht said, pushing the apple at the center of the room. "Now, just concentrate on the apple. Imagine it's floating towards you," Twilight watched them try. Nopony's horn was glowing just yet, but the ponies were making screwy faces of how hard they were trying. After several hours of watching them struggle, Rainbow walked over to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Pinkie Pie bounced over with her, her wings flapping, but not flying. Rarity blinked slowly at them, then looked at the book she was reading on the floor. Fluttershy finally gave the apple "her stare", since she was running out of concentration ideas. Still, her horn did not glow, and there was no magic coming from it. The pink-maned pony sighed, then stopped struggling. She looked at the apple with sheer concentration, however, she was also relaxed. Applejack took her concentration off the apple, turning to Twilight.

"Twilight, how do you even know we have magic in us?" The country-accented pony asked Twilight. "We were only giv'en horns, and how do you know if there's any magic in 'em?"

"Well, if you were given horns, then you both should be able to practice magic. Every unicorn knows at least a little magic."

"But I'M no unicorn!" Applejack plopped down on her hind quarters. "I'm an earth pony, and I always will be!" Twilight sighed.

"Look, Applejack, I know that magic was never your thing, but could you just give it a chance?" She looked at Applejack with her pupils huge. "For us?" Applejack looked at Twilight, then sighed in defeat.

"Well, alright, Twi, but I'm tell'en you, we've got no magic-"

"LOOK! LOOK, I'M DOING IT!" Everypony turned to the overjoyed Fluttershy. Rainbow and Pinkie poked their heads out of the kitchen, Rarity stopped reading her book. Sure enough, there was a pale blue glow around Fluttershy's horn. The apple also had a blue glow around it, same as Fluttershy's horn, she stomped her hoof from her concentrating so hard, and the apple lifted off the ground. Everypony stared in awe as Fluttershy began levitating the apple towards her. It was only just a few centimeters off the ground, but still, impressive for a beginner.

"Well done, Fluttershy! You did it!" Twilight congratulated her friend. Fluttershy smiled modestly, which broke her concentration, therefore the blue glow ended. The apple rolled around on the ground, making Fluttershy disappointed. "Does that prove my point?" Twilight said to Applejack, who was completely stunned.

The purple earth pony trotted over to Fluttershy, delighted that Fluttershy had gotten it. Rainbowdash trotted over as well, the rest of the ponies did, too, congratulating the shy pony on what a great job she has done. Fluttershy modestly dipped her head.

"Oh, well, I'm still not that good..."

"Aw, Fluttershy, you're still just a beginner. It takes loads of practice to levitate." Twilight explained to her friend.

"And lots of time to perfect it," Rarity added, her wings ruffled as she said so. "Twilight, dear, are you sure they'll be able to break the spell? Fluttershy and Applejack? It would make more sense just to go over to Canterlot and let the Princess break it." Applejack nodded.

"For once, ah actually agree with ya, Rarity. So one of us made an apple float. That doesn't mean we'll be able to break a curse." Pinkie Pie bounced in, giving an idea out to the crowd,

"Hey! I know! Maybe Zecora knows how to break the spell!" Her new pink wings fluttered with happiness, making Rainbowdash slightly miss her wings. Twilight thought for a moment.

"Well, it could work, but I don't think even Zecora's potions can break this spell. This isn't poison joke, you know. This is one of Queen Chrysalis's spells. It's probably age-old. I mean, in that prison she put me with Cadence, no pony knew about it. Until now. She could've learned much more than that about Equestria.

"Well, it's worth a shot, isn't it?" Rainbowdash said. "I don't think I could handle a lifetime without wings. I'd go insane!"

"Sorry, Twilight, but I don't think I'd want to be a unicorn. I mean, I did get that apple to float, but I don't think I'll be able to preform something that could break the spell." Fluttershy gave Twilight a sorry face. Twilight sighed.

"Alright, alright. I see your point. We'll see if Zecora knows anything, and if she doesn't, we'll go see the Princess."

"Just a thought, but what if even the Princess doesn't know how to break the spell?" Rainbowdash asked. Twilight looked at her friends.

"If the Princess doesn't know how," she said, looking dark, "then I know some other pony who could break it. But I doubt she would."