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[Celestia's School] The Magic Counselor Is In (Open to Magic Students & Faculty, All Others PM to Join)


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[colour=#008080]“It’s another glorious day in the School. A day in the School is like a day on the farm…”[/colour]

Mumbling nonsense to nopony, Ingrid Marie blissfully waltzed into her office, located on the higher levels of the alabaster spire housing Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Ingrid’s workplace was nothing too fancy; it was a moderate-sized, windowless room which comfortably housed the counselor’s desk and chair, a velvet couch in front of the desk for visitors to sit on, and bookshelves and filing cabinets off to the back sides. Tacky posters advertising the School’s various events and magic programs littered the walls along with various awards and honors Counselor Marie received over her years working in education (including her Ph.D. diploma from Canterlot University).

It was fifteen past eight when Ingrid Marie opened her doors, which meant that most of the School’s students were busy listening to homeroom announcements. This gave the counselor time to sit down and get out some paperwork for her to take care of. It wouldn’t be long before the first period ended; after that, any pupil with a free period could take a visit to the counselor’s office if they needed tutoring, career counseling, or any other sort of advice. Ingrid also welcomed additional visitors such as parents, teachers, and others who inquired about the School’s affairs. Typically, Ingrid left the door open when not in meetings; if anypony had to wait for Ms. Marie to finish, they sat on a bench nestled in the outside hallway.

All too soon, the bell signaling the end of first period rang, and Counselor Marie tossed her paperwork aside to prepare for visitors. [colour=#008080]“Mmkay Immie,”[/colour] Ingrid self-motivated herself; [colour=#008080]“It’s showtime!”[/colour]

OOC Discussion can be found here.

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Fire Heart walked down the white marbled hallway, her hooves making a defining clip clop sound that echoed throughout the area. It was her free period in her school's schedule, but instead of being in a study hall where she would normally be she was to speak with the school's counselor. It was mandatory for her to go and visit the counselor from time to time to review her progress not only academically (which was usually spelled out for her very clearly in her progress reports) but magically. After all, that was why her parents sent her there: to get a good education and to learn to develop her magic. To Fire the later part was code for "learn to prevent burning something or hurting somepony with your magic."

There was another aspect that she was going to speak with the counselor about, a requirement for a filly her age. That was the topic of a career. Although it was some time before she graduated from the school, it was common to prepare for possible career opportunities now.

And so, she stood before the doorway of the counselor's office, waiting to be ushered in.

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Hearing hoofsteps from the hallway get louder and louder, Counselor Marie looked at the doorway and beheld one of the School’s students, Fire Heart, trot to the doorway. [colour=#008080]“Ah, hello Miss Heart,”[/colour] Ingrid warmly greeted; [colour=#008080]“Come right in!”[/colour] While welcoming the red-coated filly, Ingrid reached out with her magic to open the cabinet containing Fire Heart’s file and levitated it over to her desk. Picking up a set of reading glasses on her desk, Ingrid put them on and took a quick peek inside the file just to make sure her information was up to date.

Ingrid Marie made every effort to track the development of every student enrolled in the school; as she recalled, Fire Heart had the gift of manifesting fire. While the filly had yet to fully control her pyrokinetic abilities, her instructors so far had every reason to believe that Miss Heart had the ability to learn how to master her gifts. The journey may be a hard and difficult one for Miss Heart, but then again, nearly all magic learners traveled along the same path. In that sense, Fire Heart was just like anypony else.

The counselor figured she would wait for Fire Heart to settle down on the couch before beginning the session. Meanwhile, Ingrid occupied herself by double-checking the contents of Miss Heart’s file.

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[colour=#FF0000]"Thanks," [/colour]Fire said as she took a seat. There was an unsettling feeling being in the room despite being cheery looking. Whenever she was in an office, she felt like she was eiher going to see the principal or that she was going to see a shrink. She knew this wasn't the case here, but there was still that lingering feeling.

The uneasy feeling was seemingly heightened by the fact that the Ingrid Marie had retrieved her personal file from a cupboard and was reviewing it. gazing at it, it looked rather big to her, although she didn't see how the other files were to compare. She wondered if the fact that her magic was more on the volatle side that made the file bigger.

[colour=#FF0000]"So, I'm here for my review meeting, but you probably know that," [/colour]Fire said with a chuckle, trying to break the awkward silence.

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In Ingrid Marie’s double-checking stupor, she failed to notice that Fire Heart made herself comfortable on the couch. Once Miss Heart finally announced that she came for her mandatory review meeting, the counselor hurriedly closed her file and apologized; [colour=#008080]“Eh, sorry about that; got too caught up looking this over.”[/colour] Ingrid mentally slapped herself; she’d been counseling too long to make painfully rookie mistakes like leaving pupils to flounder in silence. Oh well, now was the time to ease Miss Heart discomfort… and she knew just where to begin.

[colour=#008080]“Mmkay then, thank you for coming here this morning, Miss Heart. By coming now, you’ll be able to spend your lunch period actually eating instead of waiting on that bench out there.”[/colour] Chuckling at her own joke, Counselor Marie continued onwards; [colour=#008080]“From what I see, you’re doing quite well academically wise. There’s really nothing I have to talk to you about your grades. Of course, if you have any issues with your academic performance, you can raise them with me and I’ll give you advice on resolving them to your satisfaction.”[/colour]

And now Ingrid came the real meat of the meeting; [colour=#008080]“Now, I understand that your special magic ability lies in pryokinesis. According to what I’ve read, you have had difficulties in mastering your control over fire. That’s to be expected though; if we unicorns could cast any type of spell for the first time without having to practice first, well… we wouldn’t need this School, now would we?”[/colour] After winking to Fire Heart, the counselor proceeded to ask; [colour=#008080]“Could you tell me specifically what you feel gives you the most trouble in inducing fire?”[/colour]

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Fire's words seemed to have broken the counselor out of her daze. Fire wondered if Ingrid did this often when looking at a student's file. But with the two convening, the two set to the task of the review.

First was the grades. No surprise there from Fire about the fact that they were fine. Although she was not the strongest pony in her school or even class, she was a hard working student. Her grades did show her focus on certain subjects, doing very well in things like Magical Theory and English while doing an above average job on things like Math and History.

Then came her magic. After all, that was why she was there: to control and build on her magical abilities. It was because of this that she felt was a beneit and a black mark. If her magical control wasn't so lacking, she might have missed out on being in such a place and yet it was a continual battle for her to work with. This could be said especially with the fact that others in her class, while possibly being not as powerful in their magic, had more control over it.

[colour=#FF0000]"Well, I don't really have anything about grades that I can think of right now. As for my magic, I can start it just fine but it's the control that's the problem. I always thought it was due to my emotions. When I'm calm, I can cast fire magic fine and control it. hen I'm angry or excited I easily burst into flames and have trouble controlling it and extinguishing it. The thing is that just when I think I get the hang of it, it flares up again."[/colour]

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Counselor Marie stroked her chin with her hoof while Fire Heart described how her emotions caused her magic to ‘flare up’. Indeed, it was not unknown for unicorns to lose control of their powers when they’re extremely happy or mad and so forth. Ingrid already had a few possible theories concerning what exactly ailed Miss Heart, but the counselor needed to ask a couple of questions beforehand. [colour=#008080]“Hmmm, so I take it you’ve been trying to suppress the specific feelings that bring about your… flare ups, am I right? If so, what calming techniques have you been using to prevent your flare ups? And how long have you been using them for?”[/colour]

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Fire thought about what techniques that she used to calm herself. She had received some advice about her magic from a few ponies, some of them professors but some of them others. She tried to remember in particular what Sergeant Bonfire and Princess Luna said.

[colour=#FF0000]"Well, some of my professors gave me general tips on how to control my magic like deep breathing and meditating, but that didn't work. I learned from another pony that if i concentrate on something and feed my emotions into it, my flames will die down eventually. There was another pony though that said that magic can't be forced into calming down, that it has to run its course and it if it is not focused on intensely, it may die down on its own. The point is, I don't have an exact way to control my fire magic every time."[/colour]

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Processing all of Fire Heart’s information, it was extraordinarily obvious to Ingrid Marie that with all the contradictory advice the fire-hearted scholar received, it was no wonder she had no sure way of controlling her flames. Still, as Miss Heart’s testimony neither confirmed nor denied Ingrid’s top theory, the counselor had one more question to add to her line of interrogation. [colour=#008080]“I’m going to ask you a very personal question now, mmkay,”[/colour] Ingrid said with a tiny touch of gravity in her voice, [colour=#008080]“Did you ever make a habit of holding back any of your uhhh… emotions in question before you first discovered your pyrokinetic abilities?”[/colour] If Miss Heart replied with an affirmative, it would mean Counselor Marie was on the right track…

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The red unicorn knew that the counselor was trying to help. It was inevitable that the topic of her ability would be directly related to control. After all, magic was all about manifestation and control. Some could do both fine, while other ponies lacked in one of those areas. And since her magic was so closely tied to her emotions, it was no wonder why the discussion reflected on her attempts to calm herself.

[colour=#FF0000]"Well, I really don't know how to answer that. I mean as a foal I was happy most of the time and didn't get upset often. I guess there were times when I held back some emotions so I didn't upset my parents. Even in school I tried holding back some emotions, even when some ponies bullied me. I do remember that I fiound i could create fire n accident. A bully was makng fun of me andI got so mad I began yelling at him and then I burst into flames!"[/colour]

Realizing that she was rambling too much Fire Heart paused to collect her thoughtsbefore continuing.

[colour=#FF0000]"So... I hope that answers your question."[/colour]

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(ooc): Look out! Here comes Professor Krashkop!

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[colour=#008000]"How could I have been so forgetful!" [/colour]an elderly glasses wearing Pegasus shouted from above, flying towards Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. [colour=#008000] "I lost all track of time vhile vorking on mein last experiment! I hoped to visit vith mein old friend Ingrid Marie today. I knew her from mein early days teaching at Canterlot University! Hmmm. Let's see here. I know she has her office on a top floor, I vill land on dee rooftop to save time und steps, ja!"[/colour]

The green Pegaus with gray mane descended upon the flat rooftop. Misjudging the distance (as he normally does), Professor Krashkop makes one bounce before beginning to roll on the roof. When a janitor pony opened the rooftop door, he then screamed and jumped out of the way as the rolling Professor entered the stairway leaning downward. After some audiable bumps and bouncing in the stairwell, the Professor rolled unto the waiting room floor, stopping only when he collided with a wall.

[colour=#008000]"WOW! [/colour][colour=#008000][colour=#008000]Dat vas better den most of mein landings!" [/colour][/colour]Professor Krashkop neighed as he got back up on his four hooves and moved wobbly over to take a seat, waiting for his turn to enter Ingrid's office.

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Yep… just as Counselor Marie predicted, Fire Heart’s ultimate source of her magic troubles most likely originated from the days when she had yet to recognize her potential. Summoning Miss Heart’s file with her magic, Ingrid began to telekinetically toss various papers around the room in search for a particular document. After emptying three-quarters of the file like so (and leaving quite the mess of papers), the counselor found what she was looking for; a report from the filly’s old school detailing her very first flare up. Unfortunately going by Ingrid’s swift read-through, the report failed to elaborate on what previous events led up to Miss Heart’s first magic incident. Sighing, Counselor Marie knew she would have to press the student further on her potentially-traumatic experiences to be absolutely certain of the accuracy of her guidance.

[colour=#008080]“Alright, my little pony,”[/colour] Ingrid gently but sternly stated, not noticing the crashing noises and screams coming from the roof-top; [colour=#008080]“This may be hard for you to talk about, but I want you to…”[/colour]

*CRASH!*

Ingrid Marie jolted upon hearing something, or somepony, crash into a wall. Annoyed that she was disturbed right in the middle of discussing a serious subject matter, the counselor intended to ignore the offending sounds until she heard the familiar voice of an elderly pegasus talking to itself. [colour=#008080]“Clyde!!!?”[/colour] shouted the concerned yet impatient Ingrid as she galloped outside to see Professor Krashtop sitting on the waiting bench; [colour=#008080]“What’re you doing here? Are you hurt?”[/colour] The counselor wanted to get back to her meeting with Fire Heart as soon as possible, but it also wouldn’t do to leave one of her dearest mentors and close friends to deal with any potential injuries.

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Fire Heart watch as Ingrid suddenly started tossing papers out of a file she had on her desk with her magic. She hoped that it wasn't her school file that she was vigorously combing through. If it was, she didn't want any important papers lost.

The counselor was about to ask something very important. She could tell the severity of the situation by the look on the mare's face. It was the same face her parents gave her when they wanted to give her a "serious talk." It wasn't due to disciplining her most of the time, but it was a conversation that resulted in making sure she did or did not do something.

Before the counselor could finish, there was a thundering crash just outside the door. The sound caused Fire to jump as a small ring of flames appeared. It wasn't as high as it would have been previous to entering the school, but it still had the potential to cause damage. Luckily she jumped up before the flames burned the couch and thankfully the floor was made of marble and would not burn.

[colour=#FF0000]"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Hang on, I'll extinguish the flames."[/colour]

She closed her eyes and tried to tune out the chaos around her. It wasn't instantaneous, but after a few minutes, the fire did go out.

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Professor Krashkop shook his head to regain his bearing, then adjusted his glasses at the sound of his old colleague.

[colour=#008000]"Guten Morgen, fraulein!" [/colour]the still dizzy elderly stallion said with a smile. [colour=#008000]"I hope I'm not interrupting anyting, thought I'd just DROP in for a visit but I vasn't trying to do it literally."[/colour]

Glancing through the open door of her office, the Professor spotted Fire Heart's accidential flaming.

[colour=#008000]"ACH UNEEMAL!" [/colour]the Pegasus stallion shouted, pointing a front hoof towards the office. [colour=#008000]"Der is a fire in your office, fraulein Marie! Und it is burning dat pony in dere! Vee must act quickly!"[/colour]

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[colour=#008080]~Geez louise! I leave my office for one second and it’s already catching on fire!!!~[/colour]

Madly rushing back into her office, Ingrid Marie made it in time to witness Fire Heart’s attempt at extinguishing the sofa fire. Thankfully due to Miss Heart’s efforts, there appeared to be no threat of the flames damaging anything other than the couch. Still, the counselor wisely decided to swiftly gather up all the papers she threw around a couple minutes ago, least a stray ember catch any of the papers on fire. By the time Ingrid finished, the filly succeeded in putting the fire out, leaving behind the stench of ash and a charred sofa. Professor Krashkop was going to get an earful for this…..

For now though, Counselor Marie focused on salvaging her meeting with Fire Heart. True, another incident had occurred right on her watch, but controlling emotion-based magic was not usually easy for fillies anyway. Ingrid had to admit to Miss Heart’s credit that everything else in the office didn’t burn down… and that meant progress! Burying any outward expression of frustration, the counselor smiled and praised the young student; [colour=#008080]“Good, good. You clearly demonstrate the ability to limit damage caused by accidental triggering of your abilities. With plenty of tutoring and practice, you’ll one day achieve complete control over pyrokinesis.”[/colour] Ingrid figured that once Fire Heart felt reassured that she wasn’t in trouble or anything of that sort, the counseling session could recommence.

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Inadventantly Fire Heart, in her firey display, had caught the sofa she was sitting on partially on fire. After extinguishing her flames to avoid catching anything else, she tried to extinguish the couch fire. Thankfully, or unfortunately, there was only a slight char mark prssent.

Ingrid marie dashed in upon seeing the fire and started picking up and moving anything flammable away from Fire. The filly felt so bad that she had goofed up her counseling session. It was the same thing over and over: just when she thought her magic was under control, it flared up! She wondered if she would get expelled for this, forced to leave the place where she hoped would heklp her. What would her parents think when they heard the news? They'd probably put a dampening spell on her for good, leavening her a unicorn with little power and with the memory of her mistake.

But the counselor assured her with words that she actually did a good job controlling her magic.

[colour=#FF0000]"I feel like such a fool not being able to control this when I want to," [/colour]Fire said as she took a seat on the still smoldering seat, [colour=#FF0000]"but you were saying that you had more questions for me about my ability?"[/colour]

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[colour=#008080]“Ah yes, I uhh did actually,”[/colour] responded Counselor Marie as she sat back down on her chair. Ingrid didn’t want to admit it, but the professor’s crash-in really threw her off. A more cautious counselor would by now have suggested rescheduling the rest of the meeting for a later time, but Ingrid wasn’t one of those counselors. As long as Fire Heart trotted out of her room confident in her ability to eventually manage her fires, the session would be a success.

[colour=#008080]“So as I was saying before our uhhh interruption, ahem,”[/colour] continued the counselor; [colour=#008080]“I want you to speak about your past experiences being bullied and how you felt back then, as well as the day you first used flame magic. I’ll understand if this makes you feel ill at ease, mmkay, but I feel that an important key towards you achieving total pyrokinetic mastery lies in your past. So….. do you feel comfortable enough to begin?”[/colour]

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The stunned Professor Krashkop couldn't help but notice the way Fire Heart was able to retract her flames enough to limit the damage to the sofa.

[colour=#008000]"Vonderba fraulien!" [/colour]the elderly Pegasus stallion neighed. [colour=#008000]"Ingrid is quite correct! You are showing ability to control your magical powers. Forgive an old gray horse for panicking like I did. I should've realized dat dis is a unicorn school und dat magic is all part of dee curiculum. Again, I am sorry to have interrupted dis counselling session. I vill stay in dee vaiting room vhile you two frauleins continue. I am happy to vait until you have finished vith your vork." [/colour]

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[colour=#FF0000]"Err... well thanks sir," [/colour]Fire said regarding his compliment of putting out the fire. He was sure a strange pony, falling all over the place and then getting upset when she caught fire. She was used to that, ponies getting upset when she'd burst into flames. It wasn't something that was common after all.

[colour=#FF0000]"It's ok. I'm kind of used to ponies right now getting scared when I burst into flames."[/colour]

With the Professor returning to the waiting room, and the chaos contained, Fire was able to resume talking to her counselor. She was bringing up a sore time in her past, but nonetheless the older filly knew that it was for the best.

[colour=#FF0000]"Well there's not really much about that time in school. The teachers liked me, except one thought I had too much energy. As for the bully, he was a unicorn like me. He got his cutie mark early compared to the rest of the class. He was kind of a show off with his magic, lifting a playground ball into the air with his telekinesis so that no ponies could get it. He like to tease other ponies, something that I couldn't stand and would always defend them. When I did this he would come after me, calling me a 'blank flank' and saing that I was weak. One day I got so angry that suddenly I burst into flames. I didn't know what was happening, but the bully suddenly began to curl up into a ball, pleading with me not to burn him. The other ponies saw what was happening, and while they were happy that the bully was defeated, they were scared of me. Worst of all, I couldn't stop my fire ability, until a teacher helped me with her magic to calm me down." [/colour]

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Ingrid Marie slightly recoiled as Fire Heart gave her testimony on the day she received her cutie mark. While the official report on the incident did not particularly shine the events of that day with a cheery light, hearing it straight from the pony’s mouth drove the point home that Miss Heart’s cutie mark moment was in no way a happy occasion. Typically, earning a cutie mark gave foals affirmation to continue on the life path they’ve chosen for themselves. In Fire Heart’s case however, she learned that her talents were something to be feared rather than embraced. In many respects, a unicorn fearing one’s own abilities was far worse than mere bullying. To a colt or filly, dreading the very thought of who they are could be one of the most persistant tramuas possible… and unlike with schoolyard tormenting, one can’t mindlessly tell them “It gets better” and expect the troubled foals to cheer up at the prospect that their powers will vanish one day. No… pony biology didn’t work that way.

At any rate, the counselor’s own guesses about the source of Fire Heart’s grievances were now largely confirmed. However, there was still one last question she desired to ask the filly to make sure she was absolutely correct. Lowering her voice almost to a near whisper, Ingrid asked; [colour=#008080]“Miss Heart, how exactly do you feel about your affinity for fire magic and the emotions that trigger you using it?”[/colour]

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Fire Heart wondered how her counselor would feel about telling her story. Granted the bully in her life did spark her ability, but she wondered how the fact that she received her mark in tragedy rather than haooy times would reflect the mare's opinions of her ability and her as well. Ingrid then asked a question that tugged on the very core of the older filly's being. The question of how she viewed her ability always weighed on her mind, and now she had to explain this battle to her.

[colour=#FF0000]"Well I can honestly say that I think my ability is a gift and a curse sometimes. Granted it's a powerful ability and i know I can in the future use it for something good, but on the other hoof I don't like the fact that other ponies seem afraid when I accidentally flare up like I did, how they think I might hurt them. I also can't stand not being able to control things either. Even when I think I'm able to control things, I then go back to start when I burst into flames again."[/colour]

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While Fire Heart’s assertion that her magic abilities were not completely a curse comforted Ingrid Marie to a degree, the counselor still deemed the student’s lingering fears unfortunate. Now with all things considered, the counselor theorized that Miss Heart’s overall apprehension concerning her gifts was the biggest thing holding her back. As long as the filly let fear control her, her magic would more or less also control her at inopportune moments. Briefly staying silent for a few seconds, Ingrid contemplated how to formulate what to say next.

After some moments, Counselor Marie spoke up authoritatively; [colour=#008080]“Understand this Miss Heart; yes, magic can be quite dangerous if used incorrectly. I’ve seen it go haywire dozens of times, myself. But if you spend too much time fretting over potential mishaps, you’ll end up expending more energy on worrying rather than getting comfortable with your talents. All you will accomplish is a self-fulfilling prophecy where because you think you’ll make a mistake, you end up doing so.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]“Here’s what I want you to do; whenever the thought of causing a mishap crosses your mind, stamp that thought out IMMEDIATELY. Replace that negative thought with a vision of you completely in control of your flame magic, and keep doing it every time you feel any kind of misgiving. Just as importantly also, practice pryokinesis every single day, whenever you have free time. For your benefit, find somepony or two to watch you when you perform. The more you routinely use your gifts in front of other ponies, the less you’ll be inclined to visualize them cowering in fear. Last but not least, make every effort to learn more about the nature of fire itself; how it ignites, what it’s composed of… right down to every last molecular detail. As scientists say, a spell bending the laws of our universe won’t work well without knowledge of what those laws are supposed to be in the first place.[/colour]

[colour=#008080]“Do you have any questions so far, Miss Heart?”[/colour]

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With the information gathered and analyzed by Ingrid, Fire waited as her counselor gave out her advice. She wondered how exactly she was going to help her with her situation. Granted the counselr probably saw things before of ponies beinunable to either manifest their magic or control it. But Fire's was strange as it was the type of magic mixed with her emotions.

The advice was staightforward but nontheless important. Ingrid offered not only one tip but several guidelines. First was the erasure of things that kept her locked in the feeling that she'd not control things. It made sense that she was her own worst enemy, creating a circle of doubt that would always fulfill itself. The next part was to think that she was in control. This was easier said than done, but she resolved herself to do this. Then was the matter of practicing in front of others. While Fire was apt to practicing just as her professors requested, usually this was done by herself. By adding others, it would boost her confidence. Lastly was the knowledge part where she should study about fire. This she admitted lacking but now she made it a priority.

[colour=#FF0000]"I don't think that I have any questions about what you said, Miss Marie. I know it'll take some time to break those habits of thinking I'll lose control, but I'll make it an effort to fix it."[/colour]

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