"Okay, now you try," Later said, peering down at the green filly as she walked alongside her.

In response, Kaylee screwed her eyes up in concentration. Her horn sparked to life, if only briefly, and then, suddenly, her coat took on the colour of her surroundings; her hooves were mottled with the earthen-brown textures of the dirt below, and the wooden bark of tree trunks rippled and shifted as Kaylee walked past. "D-did I get it?" the filly stammered, opening an eyelid cautiously.

"Heh, look at yourself," Later replied, grinning. She reached out a hoof and touched Kaylee's back for a moment, her own coat morphing into the green and brown colours of the forest. Then, she lifted her hoof, and she immediately was green again—not the verdant green of the bushes but the livelier, punchier green she had been before. "Yeah, I'd say that's really good. Just make sure you're properly dispersing the mana output," she added, seeing the strain evident on Kaylee's face.

"Y-yeah..." The filly jittered in place and the spell went out; then, she unclenched her teeth, breathing out. "I'll... make sure to do that."

"Just wait it out a few minutes, and you should be fine," Later instructed. "It's a bit difficult the first few times... but really, focus on the mana output and you'll be fine. I know it's easy to get distracted and try and focus on your surroundings, but that's not going to help the spell; it will act on its own."

"Right," Kaylee breathed. "I can do that."

Behind the pair, Scootaloo had been eyeing them curiously. "Is learning spells usually that easy?" she asked, turning to look at Cotton Fluff.

"I dunno," the brown mare replied, shrugging. "I don't do magic too much, to be honest. I know your basic levitation, teleportation, etcetera, but I never really had the need to learn beyond that, I'm afraid."

"Hmm..." Scootaloo hmm'd. "But I remember my friend Sweetie Belle having a lot of trouble learning spells like teleportation, and had to go through a lot of tutoring, and I think it's the same for most ponies my age. Not to mention teleportation, which I only knew a... super powerful unicorn to do."

Cotton raised an eyebrow. "That's strange. I can't imagine why that would be; I guess magic just comes more easily up here."

"I guess..." Scootaloo trailed off, thinking. She watched Kaylee attempt the spell again, this time keeping more of a cool demeanor, and she swore she could see something faint like steam or smoke rising into the air from the filly's horn.

"Kinda wish I could do magic like that," Flight murmured from Scootaloo's right. "It looks pretty cool."

"Hmm, yeah, I guess," Scootaloo replied, still gazing at Kaylee's camouflaged form. "I wouldn't give up my wings for anything in the world, though; I feel like I was born to fly."

"Heh. Do you think if I feel like I was born to do magic, I can just decide I'm a unicorn and get Later to teach me spells?"

Scootaloo blinked, and then turned to look at Flight. The yellow filly's expression was, as far as Scootaloo could tell, innocent. Scootaloo just bit her lip, ignored the filly's comment, and kept walking, her hooves crunching softly on the dirt.