“Alright Sweetie, are you ready for your test?” Twilight lowered her clipboard, pushing her glasses up slightly. Because they weren’t proper glasses, they had a tendency to slip down. Besides, Twilight found the action comforting. Sweetie stood in the field, and nodded. Bracing herself, she watched as Twilight fired a bolt of magic off, hitting Sweetie. Sweetie was pushed back slightly, but suffered no damage.

“Your ability to hold it after a hit could use some work, but it definitely stood up to my attack. Very good. Ok, next up is the Beginner tests.” Twilight motioned toward Applejack, who had begrudgingly agreed to be the test subject. Sweetie smiled, and walked over to the fire pit. Using Spark, she lit it with ease. Moving on, she doused it with a gush of water from her horn, expertly controlled so Applejack didn’t get wet.

Sweetie threw some pepper at Applejack, who began to prepare a sneeze. Sweetie cast the spell, and followed up with a itch-removal, before finally knocking Applejack out. Waking her up, Sweetie allowed Applejack to stand, before tripping her over with telekinesis. Finished showing off her mastery, she bowed to Twilight. Nodding, she put a tick into the first box.

“Alright, intermediate now.” Twilight went up and grabbed a cloud, which Sweetie leapt onto with only the barest spark of her horn. Standing there, she created an explosion of smoke, and teleported directly next to Applejack. Applejack picked up a stick as Sweetie fired a few fireworks into the air. They were nowhere near the level of Trixie’s, but they had some color to them.

Turning, Sweetie stunned Applejack, and moved instantly into the disarm spell, knocking the stick away. Finally, she reared up, and then knocked Applejack back with her spell as she slammed her front hooves into the ground. Applejack didn’t go too far, and Sweetie was puffing. Gasping for breath, she turned toward Twilight.

“Not bad. They could all use a little more work of course, but that’s a pass.” Twilight smiled warmly, and ticked the second box on her check-board, and deposited it into her saddlebags as she walked over. Sweetie pulled out the book with the spells, a hopeful look on her face. Twilight nodded, and Sweetie beamed a jubilant smile.

“That’s right Sweetie, it’s time to move onto the advanced spells. Now, these are going to take weeks to learn to cast, let alone master. But I have no doubt you can learn them without my tutelage by now.” Twilight smiled, bowed, and both she and Applejack began to back away quickly. Sweetie looked to the first spell, the one that Twilight used to give her wings. Horn glowing, she followed the book closely, and tried to cast it.

Naturally, it exploded.