[Magic Camp] The painter, The Princess, and the Tutor [Zoebel12/steeleagle/bellosh101]

[Pretzelparty]

It seemed as if that the new princess' magic camp had been a success so far. There had been may applicants, ponies of all sorts came from across Equestria to learn more about the kind of magic each of their species' possessed. Pegasi, Earth ponies, crystal ponies and the naturally magically inclined unicorn was here to learn from Princess Twilight's carefully chosen instructors.

One pony in particular was here for not only that but in the hopes of meeting the princess herself. This pony was an enthusiastic and tomcoltish young mare from Trottingham's nobility; her name was Presteza. This mare came from a long line of talented spell casting unicorns in Trottingham and as a result she was told many times as a filly that she had a lot of potential and could be one of the best... although she soon revealed she could still barely use telekinesis on anything even as a mare; her paintbrushes being the only exception. Because of her family's unique pedigree and showing some promise in some areas she was originally going to be sent to the School for talented unicorns in Canterlot, however she instead chose to embrace her perceived destiny as a painter and after being watched over by her brother she began to travel on her own. She didn't regret her decision to travel the world at all, but she did have this niggling feeling in the back of her mind that she had to at least try and get over whatever was causing her magical problems... and so she applied herself to this magic camp.

During her time on the road she had met quite a few interesting ponies. some of her most enjoyable events had been a unique event in which she had kissed a certain farm mare she had befriended some time ago and helping out on said pony's farm during the harvest of the zap apples. Here she also met a pony who turned out to be a magic tutor, a pony named Ingrid Marie. This same mare had actually at one point been her big brother's pupil when he was at the school in canterlot so if anything she might be helpful. Once Presteza saw that Miss Marie was an instructor she was sure to ask her if she might be willing to help her overcome her magical problems.

It was around mid-afternoon in the magic camp and with the end of the opening ceremonies and the introduction of the instructors, Presteza had been sure to schedule a session with Miss Marie soon at the library cabin. She had decided to come early and kill some time here... maybe these book could help out in some way. As the silver maned unicorn approached the bookcase to take a book from it she paused and looked around to see if anypony was around... although she didn't check behind the case if somepony was already here but was just being quiet.

"Well... my friends said practice makes perfect...." thought the mare before she concentrated and her horn soon lit up, a book being engulfed in her magical aura. Slowly it began to come loose,"Don' mess it up, don' mess it up..." she whispered to herself before the aura surrounded several other books on both higher and lower shelves. The moment the mare looked up hoping to catch the book in her teeth she went wide eyed as an avalanche of book blanketed her.

"Stupid... useless... magic..." muttered the mare before she began to try and dig herself out. "Now I'm gonna 'ave ta clean all this up..."

[Bellosh]

Even before classes began at Magic Camp, Chief Counselor Ingrid Marie already found herself scheduling one-on-one training session. The young unicorn mare that Ingrid would be tutoring later in the library today was a curious pony; an artist named Presteza. The younger sister of a Gifted Unicorn School graduate, she never enrolled in the institution because her magic skills were not that very exceptional.

But that wasn’t the complete story. Once in a blue moon, Counselor Marie encountered a unicorn that thanks to some unknown condition, were prone to magic misfires. One really infamous unicorn could cause mayhem just by uttering figures of speech; which for some reason, she neglected to curtail. But Presteza was a truly odd case; her misfires were caused by sneezing; something Ingrid Marie learned personally the first time she encountered the young mare in question.

Ingrid and Presteza agreed that after lessons ended for the day, they’d meet in the library cabin. Yet just as Ms. Marie prepared to open the door into, she heard the sound of multiple objects crashing into something. Wincing from the shock of the unexpected noise, Ingrid tepidly trotted into the cabin, sighing at the sight of Presteza digging her way out of a pile of books. Surely there was a good explanation for this. “Tsk tsk tsk,” the middle-aged unicorn levitated the books off of the girl, proceeding to arrange them into two unsorted piles; “You haven’t been sneezing again, have you Ms Presteza.....?”

[SteelEagle]

Twilight had spent her time at the camp well enough, inspiring- or doing her best imitation of it- the students and faculty to do great things together in their studies of magic. It wasn't her only stop for the day but it had been a good first one. All across Equestria, Twilight's camps about magic were opening up and thousands of ponies were attending or teaching. If it all worked, then ponies young and old and of any species would know everything applicable to them regarding magic. Even Pegasi and Earth Ponies would understand the why of magic and the how of magic, as despite their inability to use it they were impacted by it every day of their lives.

So she had a simple plan: get the best and brightest teachers with those most willing to learn, inspire them to greatness, and let the results speak for themselves. She had therefore made one of her first stops at a small camp in an isolated part of the lakes and done what she could. It was a success as far as she was concerned and she looked forward to visiting one of the others, but fate had intervened so roughly that she found all of her intricate scheduling utterly ruined by the events of a few minutes. As she had prepared to leave, a fierce gale sent a nearby hail storm over the route she had planned to take en route to her next destination. As a Princess she had planned for such contingencies, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to have to wait a few hours- hours she plainly didn't have- until they gave her the all-clear.

So she had decided to retreat to the one place in this camp where it was possible to barricade oneself in a fortress of knowledge and armor herself in the firmaments of her gloriously achieved post, the library. Like all buildings in the camp it was new and space efficient, which was good as it was also small. If it wasn't for the well-designed interior that afforded the thin rows of specialty materials relating to course work. She found herself passing the time, engrossed in one of the many textbooks regarding the proper use and dispensation of elemental spells in adverse weather conditions. One of these conditions that seemed to be on the prowl today was sneezing unicorns. the most elusive breed of them all.

As Pressy unleashed the mucous kraken on those around her- the only explanation for the magical misfiring, as far as Twilight knew- Twilight was only then made aware of her presence. As lost as she had been in her reading material it was a shock that anything short of an explosion shook her out of her academic pleasure. And it was less shook and more knocked aside the head by falling books as Pressy's magical mishaps caused material to fall with rips and thuds to the ground. In her earlier years Twilight would have been more worried about the books, but a new dawn for a new mare and as she wandered over in wonder towards the disturbance, she relied on her magic alone to clean as she walked by.

"Ahh, Presteza, correct? I remember in your application you noted magical misfirings. Good choice in help- Ingrid is one of the best," Twilight offered as she took in the scene. It didn't take a scientist to figure out what was going and that was just as well since Twi was as close to a scientist as a princess could be.

[Pretzelparty]

The mare carefully began to excavate herself from the bookpile. she grumbled in annoyance as she looked around the messy pile of books. It was times like these that she considered giving up on ever getting control of her magic. However she came to this camp to do just that and by Celestia she was going to do just that! Before she finished digging herself out of her latest magical blunder she heard three sounds that made her wince reflexively.

“Tsk tsk tsk,”

Ugh... those sounds again. Presteza was no stranger to those sounds. She'd heard them many times from either one of her parents back home when she messed something up with her malfunctioning magic.

“You haven’t been sneezing again, have you Ms Presteza.....?”

Soon the mare found the pile of above her getting lighter as Miss Marie levitated some of the books off of her. It was probably her big brother Silver who had told Ingrid about her little magical issues. Having magical misfires caused by sneezes were such an embarrassing trait. She honestly couldn't imagine where she could have gotten it from. Her magic misfirings could be a massive annoyance even while painting... one time when she was in a park during spring she sneezed and enlarged her paintbrush to such a size that it fell on her and pinned her to the ground,"No, Miss Marie... " she said in a slightly exasperated tone."I was actually practicin' some teleki-wotsit and tryin' ta get a book off the shelf... It didn't work out too well..."

"Ahh, Presteza, correct? I remember in your application you noted magical misfirings. Good choice in help- Ingrid is one of the best,"

The mare nodded, not yet facing the princess,"Yep, that's wot my big brother told me. I just hope I'm not a lost cause fer 'er... I don' wanna wind up wastin' 'er time. I still don't know why I can't pull off even the simple stuff normally ... I mean when I was a filly I had my nose in the books all the time. I hope Princess Twilight is an nice as Rarity and Applejack said... wait a tic'..." The mare's eye widened and she hung her head before she turned and faced the pony who's voice she just now managed to match to a face,"Aw, Hayseeds! I'm sorry yer highness... I totally messed up yer library, I'm really sorry about this!" the silver maned unicorn was clearly wigging out at this point as she was going a mile a minute and promptly galloped about the library inspecting every book that Ingrid piled into the unorganized stacks,"Oh hay, please don' let me 'ave damaged 'em. this is not good! Wait was that scuff there already or did was it my fault... oh no is that page ripped?!"

At this point it seemed that the yellow-tan pony had more or less forgotten about Miss Marie and was now worrying her plot off that she might have offended the princess who stood before her,"I'm really sorry yer highness! sh-should I leave?" asked the mare in a desperate tone as she held her head to the ground, bowing deeply to twilight.

[Bellosh]

"No, Miss Marie... I was actually practicin' some teleki-wotsit and tryin' ta get a book off the shelf... It didn't work out too well..."

Oh, that was the reason this time around. Ingrid Marie just remembered that sneezing wasn’t the only odd thing about Presteza, as the younger mare was also all-around extremely deficient in magical ability. This was truly baffling for two reasons; one, that nearly all other unicorns have no problems at all with using telekinesis. Two, that strong magic aptitude on the mother’s side of Presteza’s family had always been passed down from generation to generation. For such a pony like Presteza to screw up a basic levitation spell then was a mystery worth exploring into.

"Ahh, Presteza, correct? I remember in your application you noted magical misfirings. Good choice in help- Ingrid is one of the best."

"Yep, that's wot my big brother told me. I just hope I'm not a lost cause fer 'er... I don' wanna wind up wastin' 'er time. I still don't know why I can't pull off even the simple stuff normally..."

“Ah, hello again Twilight Sparkle,” Ingrid Marie turned towards the princess, not getting a chance to say anything else before Presteza spoke up… who apparently did not recognize Twilight’s voice. The student really got antsy over the possibility that she might have offended the princess, so Counselor Marie saw fit to step in front of Presteza. “Leaving won’t be necessary,” the tutor authoritatively declared; “Books can always been mended or replaced, mmkay. Now then Presteza; I trust you’re ready for our tutoring session to begin.....?”

[SteelEagle]

Presteza was taken aback less by the presence of the Princess and more by the small amount of chaos she was causing by misfiring. Twilight didn't blame her. She couldn't even begin to count th amount of times that she had messed up in front of Celestia and dwelt on her failures rather than her successes. More pointedly, she remembered packing her things a few times, convinced she was a failure and about to be kicked out of the castle for poor performance. Time and maturity told her those concerns were silly as they were part and parcel with learning, but she understood that fear. Presteza worried about messing up in front of the Princess as well as messing up the Princesses' plan and building, Twilight about upsetting Celestia. Different sides of the same coin.

Twilight was silent as Presteza freaked out, helping clean it out. She followed some of the student's more obtuse worries with greater concern than she'd like to admit. Scuffs and marks on books had greater worrying tics on her than she would think realistic. She found herself following up on them checking a few for scuffs or marks before she shook her head free of such worries. It was a scholastic setting and damage was expected, signs of use preferred over disuse and abandonment. She chuckled softly and shot a glance towards Ingrid, remembering a few instances herself where she took too much onto herself and cared far more about the appearance of her materials than could be reasonably expected. Ahh, students. Some things never change, only generations.

"You don't need to panic as much as you are, Presteza. I remember quite well being one of Celestia's students and worrying about such matters but really, you don't need to worry. I didn't choose these books to be placed in the middle of nowhere without the understanding that they'd get some scuff marks on them," She smiled and winked reassuringly, "also, stop the bowing! I said so at the speech. Or did I?" she looked over at Marie and shrugged, "I suppose not. I'm very busy today, excuse my inability to handle a single speech! Listen to Ingrid. She is one of the best. Probably has a few stories to tell of when she was helping me when I was a little filly. Speaking of, how are you doing so far, Ingrid? Any big secrets so far from your experiences at this camp? Can't wait to get some good, hard data so we can make adjustments for other camps," Twilight finished stacking the books properly, admiring her hoofwork for a second before shaking her head free of cobwebs.

"Ahh, I shouldn't intrude. You already have an amazing tutor in Ingrid. Please, continue."

[Pretzelparty]

"You don't need to panic as much as you are, Presteza. I remember quite well being one of Celestia's students and worrying about such matters but really, you don't need to worry. I didn't choose these books to be placed in the middle of nowhere without the understanding that they'd get some scuff marks on them," She smiled and winked reassuringly, "also, stop the bowing! I said so at the speech. Or did I?"

“Leaving won’t be necessary,”

Presteza thought a moment, "Yea...uh... it's prolly best not ta lie about it. I was kinda late so I only managed ta hear a bit o' yer speech." she admitted with a laugh mixed with nervousness and embarrassment. As much as she wanted to make a good impression on the princess, she knew honesty was the best policy. The mare pulled her head up from her bow and chuckled nervously,"Sorry fer the bowin' it's kind of a habit. My mum told me ta always bow in the presense 'o the princesses... but I guess I should loosen up a bit..."

"Ahh, I shouldn't intrude. You already have an amazing tutor in Ingrid. Please, continue."

“Books can always been mended or replaced, mmkay. Now then Presteza; I trust you’re ready for our tutoring session to begin.....?”

The mare gulped and nodded, giving a her best look of determination. "Ready, Willin', and able! Ya said earlier we'd start with me showin' ya what magic I did learn how ta do." the mare took off her saddlebag and set it on the floor beside her, Nosing through it she perked up before she pulling out a normal looking paintbrush. Since she'd gotten her cutie mark she'd been painting and she wasn't exactly sure what brought her to try this unorthodox casting method... beside the thought that it looked cool. Putting the paintbrush on a nearby table she ten took a juicy looking apple from the bag and after balancing it on her muzzle she threw it high into the air,"Be ready ta catch wot comes down ya two!" she said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Presteza took a deep breath and closed her eyes before they shot open and her horn began to glow, her magic aura engulfing the paintbrush and after the artistic tool floated above her head it began to swish and swing in the apple's direction. With each quick swipe of the brush it seemed it was being followed by a strong but small and precisely directed gust. For a moment the apple was held in the air as a series of glowing winds went over it. Soon enough the fruit resumed it's course towards the ground ... although this time it was in neatly sliced pieces!

Hopping up and nimbly taking a few of the slices that were close to her the mare caught three in her mouth and after some chewing swallowed with a gulp, "I wound up figurin' out some air magic on my own on the road. I been practicin' with it cause it helps me get ta places I normally couldn't reach without ... well y'know wings. I wound up learnin' that cuttin' ... thingy when I there was a boulder blockin' my way on an Unyasi road... after a bit o' work I managed ta cut through it no problem!" The mare seemed rather proud of this accomplishment by her tone, She really didn't use that ability much since it wasn't often needed but it was possibly some of the most complicated air magic she'd figured out on her own and she wished to start with her best hoof forward. "I also managed ta figure out how ta implement the couldwalkin' spell with my brush too!"

[Bellosh]

"Speaking of, how are you doing so far, Ingrid? Any big secrets so far from your experiences at this camp? Can't wait to get some good, hard data so we can make adjustments for other camps."

“The instruction period has only just ended for the day, Miss Sparkle,” Ingrid Marie reminded the princess; “The other instructors and I won’t assemble for another hour, so I can’t provide you with conclusive data just yet.” Like Twilight Sparkle, Ingrid would also be eagerly anticipating the reports from her fellow subordinates. A few hiccups would probably show up, many of the camp counselors having never worked as teachers before, but Ms. Marie had faith in their abilities to guide the students.

Following this exchange, Presteza went ahead and demonstrated the extent of her magic abilities. Two things struck Ingrid: one, that the young mare used an energy-inefficient ability to do a task that telekinesis could have accomplished easier. After making sure with her own levitation magic that none of the apple pieces dropped on her, the magic counselor noted how Presteza’s magic was channeled through her paintbrush. That truly was odd to somepony like Ms. Marie, who couldn’t see any logical reason for an unicorn to require an intermediary object to cast spells.

Curious to learn more, Ingrid Marie interrupted before Presteza could cast her next spell. “Pardon me for jutting in,” the older mare asked in a friendly inquisitive manner; “But I’m assuming there’s a reason that you use the brush for casting magic....?”

[SteelEagle]

Twilight wasn't all that concerned or upset that Presteza had missed her speech before her planned departure. Truth be told she was surpsied at the tunout, especially among the younger fillies and colts. It was early and they had much to do and as great an attraction as Twilight could be, she was not whho they had been instructed to attach themselves to for the duration of their stay. She was simply a nice little distraction and a distraction she could possibly be, so in truth she did not blame Presteza for her not being there. Better thah the message was delivered now than not at all in any case and Twilight rather enjoyed hammering the point home. She didn't want the adulation or worship that came with her position, just the respect due a pony who worked hard to do her best. Besides, better than dealing with a somewhat snarky Ingrid!

"That's good to hear, Ingrid. Just very excited. And no worries, Presteza. Most everypony still bows despite my pleas for them not to. I'm growing accustomed to it, sadly!" Twilight sighed and smiled, trotting to a nearby chair and levitating some books in front of her just before Presteza took the proverbial stage again.

Twilight watched as Presteza used her new-found air magic on the brush and fruit, levitating her pieces to safety as the artist finished. Inefficient use of magic in both application and style, but nothing too obtuse- creative use of magic was always a good thing. Without that, unicorns would never be able to shake off the dust and rust of generations of poor thought-form that prevaded Equestrian magical systems, and they would be stuck repeating what had already been done instead of innovating. But it didn't really do much for her, as impressive as it may be- the aether aural connection was seemingly strong enough for it to be used against boulders, but at such use she could easily just have gotten rid of them. Oh well- Twilight levitated a book in front of her and started to read about the use of fertilizer in Fet Lochian magic...umm, how about that spell? Book closed. Book levitated in front of her face to give her the appearance of a non-snooper even as the Princess snooped expertly.

[Pretzelparty]

Presteza was a bit relieved her tutor was able to catch the pieces, if they'd landed on Miss Marie it may have been somewhat comical but it wasn't worth a reprimand from her new tutor. The young student was pretty eager to explain what other uses she'd discovered with her air magic but it seemed Miss Ingrid had a question for her first.

“Pardon me for jutting in, But I’m assuming there’s a reason that you use the brush for casting magic....?"

The mare blinked a moment and then looked at her brush and face-hoofed. How could she forget to mention how she'd managed to use any of her magic this far if she could barely pull of telekinesis on anything besides the very object she held aloft this moment,"Ugh... I can't believe I forgot ta tell ya." she groaned to herself before she dropped the paintbrush only to catch it in her teeth and placing it back in her bag.

The story of how she'd began making use of her brush as a casting implement was an interesting story and it seemed it was one that was going to have to be told if she was to sufficiently answer Miss Marie's question,"Well that's an interestin' story actually!" she began. "Ya see I actually owe learnin' how to use magic like this to my brother. 'e traveled with me all over the place until I was old enough ta travel on my own. Once it was time fer us to split up, he refused until 'e taught me how to cast a barrier spell... oh 'old on a sec!" The mare suddenly got a bit of a twinkle in her eyes as she interrupted her story and began rooting through her bag.

Soon she pulled out several pieces of paper before she took out a pencil and began to sketch over them, making a sort of primitive flip book before taking it in her hooves and showing it to the two mares. Now her story could be both narrated AND illustrated for her audience,"So anyway, My big brother told me I had to find a way to make a simple barrier spells to block ... well whatever was threatenin' me at the time. Eventually I decided I'd let 'im try ta teach me. Each time I tried I wound up messin' up in some different way; sometimes I'd make a shield that couldn't block a fly, other times I'd make a huge shield that would completely cover me but both of them would shatter if anythin' touched 'em. One day he said I should try thinkin' of castin' magic like... well like I was paintin' and soon I managed to make a barrier spell like this and I wound up practicin' other ways in my down time and if I was bored."

The mare took a few seps back and brought her paintbrush back out and soon after it levitated forward and began to swing rapidly as if it were painting an invisible canvas until a bright blue magic shield formed in front of her, being formed by several smaller shields that looked like they were being painted into the air before her. After letting the two admire her example she poked her head out from behind it with her brush in her teeth like one of those bubble pipes some ponies liked to use,"Weird, huh?"

[Bellosh]

Ingrid Marie extended her hoof out to Presteza’s magic shield, and confirmed that indeed it couldn’t be penetrated. The magic counselor should have figured that a future member of the Royal Guard would have taught his little sister a shield spell. But what interested Ingrid the most was that Presteza couldn’t have accomplished the same spell without focusing her powers on the paintbrush. For whatever reason, the young mare relied on that thing as a clutch when casting magic, just like how a pony with ailing legs needed assistance from a cane.

After taking a few seconds to carefully consider her reply, Ingrid Marie asked Presteza a simple question; “Mmkay, I take it then that if given the opportunity, you would like to figure out how to cast magic without needing help from your paintbrush?” The elder mare assumed that at the very least, there’ll come a time when the younger unicorn loses her paintbrush. It would be very unfortunate if that left Presteza magically crippled as a result.....

[Pretzelparty]

“Mmkay, I take it then that if given the opportunity, you would like to figure out how to cast magic without needing help from your paintbrush?”

Miss Marie was entirely right about there coming a time when Presteza had been left magically crippled, in fact it had already occurred. "That's Right. I've been in a predicament without it before... When those changelings invaded on Nightmare night me and a couple other ponies were trapped in a cage by a changeling pretendin' ta be Rainbow Dash. That Jerk took my paintbrush and stuck it ta the ground with that slimy stuff." The shivered a bit as she remembered the instance when she'd finally gotten her Paintbrush back, she could still remember that weird taste in her mouth from the changeling goo. "I still wasn't used ta usin' wind magic ta actually fight with though so I tired myself out pretty fast fightin' 'em off but I managed ta hold out long enough and draw enough attention ta let the others free the real Rainbow Dash... point is I wanna try and get better at learnin' magic and stuff."

[Bellosh]

Oh, so Presteza was apparently part of that whole Nightmare Night nastiness too. Horrible business that was, or so Ingrid Marie heard. After attentively listening to the young mare and nodding at appropriate points, the elder unicorn chimed in; “Alright then, I suppose we should start with the basics. Hmmm, let’s see here...”

Ms. Marie quickly scanned the room for any decent-sized, light-weight objects which would be suitable for this first exercise, and found a convenient broom off in the corner. “How about you start by moving that broom with your magic?” Ingrid warmly pointed to the object in question. A trivial task to be sure; one more at home in magic kindergarten than a more advanced tutoring session. But Ingrid knew better than anypony that all the flashy stuff can’t be done without the mastery of basic spells, like levitation.

[Pretzelparty]

“Alright then, I suppose we should start with the basics. Hmmm, let’s see here... How about you start by moving that broom with your magic?”

Presteza gave her teacher a nod. She was actually rather familiar with this test, having done it along time ago when she was a young filly her first making use of magic. Back then however it seemed she had no problem lifting such an object. Walking toward the broom she took and deep breath and closed her eyes, her horn lighting up and engulfing the cleaning tool with her magic aura. If she remembered right she had to just make a few cleaning motions with it.

As she began to try and lift the broom up with her magic it levitated upwards and once she was sure she had caught broom perfectly in her aura she opened and eye curiously to see how she was doing. Smiling a bit as she watched the broom lift off the ground she thought, "W-wow... I'm really doin' it! c'mon Pressy, don' mess it up! Don' mess it up! Don' mess this up!" rather frantically in her head. Just as she thought that her magic aura that surrounded the broom began to spark before it flung high up into the air and launched up and slammed into an area of the ceiling above the princess, then falling down. The bristle end of the broom falling on twilight's head and enveloping her in a cloud of dust. The painter getting a look on her face that looked like she wished she could disappear for a moment before she went over to the princess, "Uh... Sorry, yer highness... I -I don' know what happened..."

Presteza was still pretty sure Twilight wouldn't be too phased but as she began to search through her saddlebag and then offered the princess a towel, it seemed that the still partially starstruck painter was once again a bit distracted by their royal observer. With a nervous laugh she tried to take a bit of the spotlight off of her last failure as she tried again, "So ... um wot do ya too have planned after the all o' this stuff is over? I'm Havin' my new friend Rarity visit my house in Trottingham later." While it probably wasn't taking her tutor or the princess' mind off her latest mishap it surely was working for her at least as she imagined her upcoming visitor arrive at the manor, "I'm real excited about it! She'll be the first friend I've met since travelin' who'll get ta stay in the manor! It's gonna be so cool!" as she smiled at the thought, the broom seemed to be moving almost as if by itself as it swept up the room neatly.

[Bellosh]

At first, it appeared that Presteza was going to magically pick up the broom normally. But Ingrid Marie kept a close eye on the young mare, anticipating the possibility of the learner psyching herself out. Sure enough, Presteza lost control and dropped her broom, right on Twilight Sparkle to boot. This was usually the point where Counselor Marie stepped in to give out advice, but the other mare insisted on engaging in small talk while trying again.

Ingrid took note how this time, the broom kept on sweeping while Presteza talked. The object did a fine enough job of sweeping away dust, even if it lacked the precision of a unicorn able to deliberately move it as they pleased. While Presteza seemed to be getting along fine for now, she’d have to learn focus eventually. More energy-intensive spells can’t be accomplished as intended if a spellcaster’s not paying complete attention to what they’re doing.

“Mmkay Presteza,” the instructor eventually interrupted the chit-chat, not personally caring about who this Rarity was; “I’d like you to drop the broom and pick it up once more. But this time, don’t let your thoughts overwhelm you. Clear your mind... and just pick the object up. No thinking about how you’re picking the broom up, no thinking about doubt; just reach out for the broom. Whatever your mind’s yapping about right now... shut it up.”

[SteelEagle]

The Princess had started initially reading the book as a cover for snooping, but it quickly became more than that. Fet Lochian magic was certainly a strange and mysterious subject, subverting its own potential with applications that neither helped nor hinderedthem in any large way. It was the product of an Earth pony society that used what magic was localized to aid the farmers and the worksponies rather than to any larger understanding of magic. Tht wasn't a rib on the culture of Fet Loch by any stretch of the imagination, mind you. It was a very results based culture that sought to use what magic they had to further their goals, which were on teh whole laudable. But something about it just set Twilight off in small ways that she knew were based entirely on her own opinions on magic, seeing potentially powerful magic unresearched knowingly by an unassuming populace bugged her. Future-

- And then the broom whacked her in the head, the bristles forcing their way through her well-coifed mane and past her horn which parted it like the bristle sea. It fell tothe floor with a clank and with it went her storied concentration, shattered like glass and driving her back into the world around her. She had no knowledge of who had hit her with the broom or why or what happened before it to ake it come about, but for a good second she was pretty annoyed as her horn lit up defensively without knowledge. Just as quickly as it had started, her anger died off when presteze took the blame and went to help the Princess. It was unneeded but the Princess wasn't one to deny a good bit of aid. Presteze brushed her with the towel as the Princess listened- ahh, she knew Rarity? Rarity would enjoy Trottingham. Certainly fit her character and styling, and she could show Presteza the ropes when it came to beauty. But the camp was about magic, and she needed to focus...and rib the teacher a little.

"It's okay, Presteza. My assistant is a baby dragon, I'm used to getting hit in the face. I just hope that Ingrid here is doing her best to teach you how to not smack Princesses in the face with brooms as I doubt Luna would appreciate it very much!"

[Pretzelparty]

"It's okay, Presteza. My assistant is a baby dragon, I'm used to getting hit in the face. I just hope that Ingrid here is doing her best to teach you how to not smack Princesses in the face with brooms as I doubt Luna would appreciate it very much!"

At first, Presteza was terrified when she noticed twilight's horn light up , thinking she was about to be blasted for the sudden accidental attack (as ridiculous as that sounded). Her fears soon dissipated as the princess' expression softened. Soon enough the princess was free of dirt and even seemed to have quite a nice sense of humor about it too, "Hehe... I'll try not ta make a habit outta it." she admitted before realizing she just said she had a baby dragon as an assistant! That was so cool! When they were finished here she had to make sure she learned abit more about him, she'd never had the opportunity to paint a dragon before, let alone a baby one. Getting to know the princess more couldn't hurt either for now though, both practice and Miss Ingrid called.

“Mmkay Presteza,” the instructor eventually interrupted the chit-chat, not personally caring about who this Rarity was; “I’d like you to drop the broom and pick it up once more. But this time, don’t let your thoughts overwhelm you. Clear your mind... and just pick the object up. No thinking about how you’re picking the broom up, no thinking about doubt; just reach out for the broom. Whatever your mind’s yapping about right now... shut it up.”

The mare looked around behind her at Ms. Marie's Words. The broom was indeed still going and sweeping up the room behind her and after a glance upwards she saw her own horn was still lit up in her characteristic bright blue aura. "Sorry about that, just a sec." With that the mare lick her hoof and touched it to her horn before the aura fizzled out and the broom dropped flat on the floor with a 'thump'.

As her tutor spoke, Presteza listened carefully to her. Her words about clearing her mind and not letting her thoughts overwhelm her were phrases she'd heard a few times as a filly but back then she'd always had so much trouble doing that. She had grown up now so maybe she had a slightly more disciplined mind that could manage to clear itself up at least a small bit, "I-I'll try, MIss Marie..." Taking a deep breath the tan colored pony approached and lowered her head, aiming her horn at the cleaning implement. Soon her horn once again became shrouded in her bright blur aura before engulfing the broom once more. Soon the broom lifted up, the one manipulating it keeping her eyes closed and as she tried to keep her mind calm she eventually made sure to lift the item upward slightly for now it seemed she was succeeding, the only fault with her attempt being the occasional shaking of the broom.

[Bellosh]

In this second (or was it technically the third?) attempt of Presteza’s, the young mare managed to not let the object fall. Her control over it may not have been completely steady, but that was for Ingrid Marie only a minor step. Her student accomplished a major step towards complete control of levitation, and that deserved congratulations. “Very wonderful, you can let go now,” Counselor Marie warmly instructed, giving Presteza a little break; “Just remember to keep practicing with a clear mind, and soon you’ll have done levitation enough times that it’ll be like a motor skill for you. Anywho, feel free to resume your exercises when you feel ready, mmkay.”

[Pretzelparty]

“Very wonderful, you can let go now,” Counselor Marie warmly instructed, giving Presteza a little break; “Just remember to keep practicing with a clear mind, and soon you’ll have done levitation enough times that it’ll be like a motor skill for you. Anywho, feel free to resume your exercises when you feel ready, mmkay.”

After some effort, the silver maned pony managed to levitate the broom back the corner of the room, It seems that she still wasn't used to regulating magic normally as a few beads of sweat had formed on the unicorns brow. Reaching her hoof up she wiped her forehead clean. Looking to Miss Marie she smiled slightly bashfully,"Thanks, Miss Marie! I really hope I do manage ta get this... Imagine all o' the paintin's I could do at once if I mastered this sorta stuff!" Almost immediately mare's mind drifted back to her imagination. thoughts of herself holding hundreds of brushes all painting wondrous masterpieces, however she was quickly pulled by the sound of something equally pleasing.

*Bing bong!*

The lunchtime bell, almost as if signaled to the cream colored unicorn's stomach gave a noticeably loud growl. "Uh... you two wouldn't 'appen ta be hungry too would ya? Miss Marie wanna talk abit more about my magical situation over lunch?" She asked before looking to their royal audience,"And... um, Princess. It'd be awesome if ya could join us. If ya want to I mean!"

[Bellosh]

"Uh... you two wouldn't 'appen ta be hungry too would ya? Miss Marie wanna talk abit more about my magical situation over lunch?"

Like students of magic, instructors also needed to eat their lunch every day. While Ingrid Marie had initially planned to sit with her fellow instructors during lunch, she also saw no real reason to deny Presteza’s request. If something important had come up earlier and needed to be relayed to Ingrid, the counselor felt sure her subordinates would come up to her table anyway. “Sure, we can talk more at lunch,” Ms. Marie announced as she started her trot towards the camp cafeteria; “It’s always a good idea for teachers to spare time for their pupils. Isn’t that right, Princess Twilight?”

[SteelEagle]

Having a clear mind was one of the more important facets of understanding and using magic to do things you did not normally do with it. Just as with any skill, practice made perfect but with attempts at magic outside of a unicorn's range practice with a clear mind became of paramount importance. The muscle memory of an earth pony worked in somewhat the same way as only when practice and concentration could get the body- or in the case of magic, the aura- comfortable with the motions of a new skill could you start to use it when multitasking. It was good to see this most fundamental if fundamentally uninteresting skill was still being taught and that Ingrid was as persuasive a teacher as she ever was. It wasn't too long before Presteza had started to get the broom under control and even if it wasn't the most impressive control or movement Twilight had ever seen, it was a start. And that alone was a triumph for the day.

And then came the discussion of lunch, one thing Twilight couldn't deny herself any longer. Just like any mare she had needs and desires and these had only increased manyfold. One of those was her appetite, her diet launching itself into realms beyond counting by her measure. So she wa shungry and they were offering- but at the same time, one thing kept her from saying yes. At any moment she could be informed that they would be on their way and she would need to drop what she was doing to leave. She didn't want to be in the middle of the cafeteria and have to abandon what was sure to be a dozen inquiries from the students. She also didn't want to take away from the faculty by placing herself consistently in front of the students and possibly undermine what one of the faculty had said in class. Still, she was hungy.

"Of course I'd like to eat with the both of you. But I don't want to be in the cafeteria- don't want to cause too big of a fuss. Ingrid, would it be possible to use your office or the counselor's lounge instead?" Twilight tossed the softball to the head counselor and elite magical teacher. Twilight may be the Princess but Ingrid needed to be established as the camp's authority, even when it was just between them.

[Bellosh]

“Most certainly Miss Sparkle,” Ingrid Marie indicated her lack of objections to holding lunch in a more secluded space; “I can make some room in my office for the three of us. And we can trust Miss Presteza to show discretion by not mentioning this private lunch meeting. It wouldn’t do to stir jealousy amongst the other students now, mmkay.” Presteza surely got the hint to respect the wishes of a royal highness by not letting anything leak out.

Within two minutes, the group of three was already settling down in Ingrid Marie’s office. It may have been cramped, and the counselor needed to set her clutter of papers off to the side, but at least all three occupants could enjoy a prime view of the Nimbusgait Lake and its forested shores from the window. As each mare waited for a big salad bowl, refreshments, and miscellaneous tableware to be retrieved from the cafeteria, Ms. Marie engaged in idle chatter to pass the time. “I take it you are adjusting well to these surroundings Presteza?” the elder mare asked the younger, turning her gaze towards the pristine lake, in all its reflective wonder.

[Pretzelparty]

"Of course I'd like to eat with the both of you. But I don't want to be in the cafeteria- don't want to cause too big of a fuss. Ingrid, would it be possible to use your office or the counselor's lounge instead?"

“Most certainly Miss Sparkle,” Ingrid Marie indicated her lack of objections to holding lunch in a more secluded space; “I can make some room in my office for the three of us. And we can trust Miss Presteza to show discretion by not mentioning this private lunch meeting. It wouldn’t do to stir jealousy amongst the other students now, mmkay.”

Lunch with a princess -and- and magical teacher! this was so cool! The freckle faced could just explode in her excitement. Good thing she didn't and actually attempted to hide her excitement under a calmer demeanor. "That's great, Princess! I promise not ta hog the food!" she said with a playful grin and heading towards the door to head to the office... and then coming right back when she remembered something rather important,"Uhhh.... I jus' remembered somethin'; I don' know where yer Office is Miss Marie." she admitted with a slightly goofy and embarrassed smile. Soon enough Ingrid led the trio to her office. While pressy walked alongside her new acquaintances she spoke up to Miss Marie,"Anyway, No need ta worry Miss Marie. My lips are sealed..."

----Office----

“I take it you are adjusting well to these surroundings Presteza?”

The mare grinned as Miss Marie asked her the question,"Absolutely! Actually a lot more than I thought I would... I mean I've never been all that great with magic or even all that interested in it... I still remember all those books on advanced magic my mum read me when I was little before my cutie mark showed up and I started traveling. Really I was kinda worried when I first came since I wasn't sure wot ta expect and My history with magic is... kinda... awkward." Looking to the purple alicorn in the room she perked up a bit," But I thought if anypony could help me appreciate magic it'd be Twilight." Almost immediately the mare went wide eyed as she realized how she'd just addressed the princess. "Um ... sorry, I meant Princess Twilight... unless ya don't mind me callin' ya twilight. I-If ya want I can just go back ta callin' ya princess or yer highness again."

While she waited for Twilight's response she galnced out the window and awkardly blurted out,"U-uh Also, ya picked an awesome place ta set up this camp! I really should try and get a good view of the campus sometime and capture it..." Halfway through the mare's statement her voice seemed to lose that awkward tone as her thoughts once again drifted to her true passion.

[Bellosh]

"U-uh Also, ya picked an awesome place ta set up this camp! I really should try and get a good view of the campus sometime and capture it..."

Remembering her workplace conversations with Presteza’s mother, Ingrid Marie felt she knew enough about the young mare to finish her sentence; “...Capture it with paint, I’m assuming.” Pondering, Ingrid looked out the window herself for a few moments before turning back to the artist; “You’ll have to thank Miss Sparkle for this campus location, she insisted on spots like these for the rest of the magic camps. If you did bring along your art supplies along, I’m sure we could find a suitable vantage point for your... artwork, mmkay.” The counselor grinned; “I’d sure like to see it, and I’m sure Miss Sparkle would too.”

[SteelEagle]

Twilight could have eaten a giant head of lettuce in just a few bites, she was so hungry. It came to her in a rush the likes of which she had not felt until she became an alicorn where the hunger pains turned into hunger torture. She could rarely subside on the dainty little salads and other light greens she had enjoyed before. Twice or three times a day she found herself rummaging through her surroundings looking for something to shove down her gullet, which became something of a problem when she was with friends at a garden and those flowers looked oh so delicious. Luckily, the region they were in didn't have wild plant growth like Ponyville did so the chances of her being caught by the press munching on some grass outside of Carousel Boutique was relatively low. Relatively. Only because it wasn't close by. Rarity did something with her grass that made Twilight consider it neigh illegal!

What wasn't illegal was sharing her time with Ingrid and Presteza, even if a part of her still felt as if even here in the office she was violating a certain aspect of the teacher-student relationship. Even when he was here of their own pleading and invitation, she had places to be and ponies to meet and she wanted the teachers and students to be able to focus on themselves and forget about the Princess. But she supposed it was hard to do- could she have done that as a student with Celestia around? Maybe it was an impossible dream to think that they could ignore Twilight. But it didn't stop the Princess from having second thoughts about intruding on their time together like this. Oh well- she didn't have much of a choice now, and she better be ponyable with the others. Didn't want to give a bad impression and have everypony hate her with the passion of a thousand suns that Celestia dropped on Twilight as punishment for giving the royalty a bad name!

"Twilight is fine, Presteza. Preferred actually, especially amongst friends," she smiled, her mind working on the location, "and yes, this location is very special. It is isolated so distractions aren't going to be a problem, wild enough for the instructors to be alert, and close to safe zone of the Everfree in case of any expeditionary need. Camps near cities are doomed to distraction. Locations that are too tame don't encourage creativity and alertness from staff. And being close to the Everfree for camps in this region is important- here, Equestrian magic and the other-world out there are most starkly displayed," she smiled weakly, "the data and studied were very clear that this would be best..." she forced a smile, though she was honestly intrigued, "and I can't wait to see that painting, Presteza!"