Horns to the left of me, wings to the right.

[letteropener]

Who: The pony princesses and those who would accept their training.
What: The training offered by the pony princesses to those who would accept it.
Where: Ponyville, the Town Square.
When: A couple of days after their welcoming message.
Warnings: Possible comedic violence and mild language. Possibly some pegasus just won't know what went wrong.



Ponyville Town Square, the right side as you face town hall:

Above this half of the town square, a couple dozen clouds floated peacefully in the sky. They ranged the gamut from a friendly, puffy white to an angry, solemn grey that threatened but didn't deliver thunder and rain in awesome amounts. Somepony had clearly cordoned off the ground below with acquired fences, benches, and other makeshift barricades to keep innocent Rarities ponies from wandering into the training field and getting soaked, hailed on, lightning-bolted, blown away, or generally harassed by wind.

Princess Luna awaited those pegasi who have come for lessons in weather control.

Ponyville Town Square, the left side as you face town hall:

Dozens of random objects festooned the area around here, lined up in order of weight -- from feathers, pebbles, and quill pens to a heavy statue and a bathtub. Princess Celestia waited at the front of this 'line', such as it was, for those unicorns who signed on for her basic training program. Though she hoped that at least some will prove adept pupils at telekinesis and might be able to move on to other lessons, she has provided nothing else yet; after all, to best challenge a unicorn, you must find spells that lie within their talents.

Comments

UNICORN TRAINING WITH PRINCESS CELESTIA

[letteropener]

[brodakota]

North appeared in the town square, eager to start training.

While he didn't mind being a pony, and managed to figure out walking, and even trotting a bit, he still felt very vulnerable, especially where his new found magic was concerned. He could move a tree branch or a rock, sure, but not with much accuracy.

And this could be the first step to dealing with his feelings since that fight with the Meta.

He looked around. Maybe he was the first one here?

[lessabrasive]

The first, but not the last. A little heavier set than most unicorns, Lin trots easily into the square proper, regarding her surroundings with interest. The entire place was designed with pony convenience in mind - naturally - and while her owl had made himself decidedly scarce, her priklemake did his best to keep up beside her.

Though she didn't recognise him immediately, the colours were familiar enough that the charcoal mare had a fairly good feeling about addressing the younger unicorn.

There was a smile for North as she approached. "Is it anything like you expected?" Whether she means having four feet or a unicorn's horn is anyone's guess.

[brodakota]

North nodded in greeting, trying to rely on his memory of voices to figure out who was speaking.

"I can't say I ever expected to become a pony," North admitted with a laugh. "Much less a magic one. What about you?"

He wondered if Lin could still do that bending thing as a pony, or if she was relying on magic now to.

[trademark_skull]

This was going harder than he thought it would. He got just a few little sparks out of his horn, but nothing was happening, he couldn't even lift a feather.

Maybe there was something he was missing, this was so different compared to the kind of magic he was used to.

Eventually this caused for some crouching in shame. Even his Spirits couldn't seem to cheer him up from it.

[letteropener]

Celestia watched him struggle for a moment with faint concern, attempting to judge where he might be going wrong. As he dropped down, she rose and stepped over.

"Am I correct in thinking you have experience with magic in your normal form?"

[trademark_skull]

Ears perked up before the rest of him. But he didn't move, or at least, didn't bother standing back up.

"I-I do... Something isn't right."

Emizel tried everything he knew as a normal kind of mage. Something was not translating quite right though.

[colorbymemory]

Namine was at least used to the concept of using magic. Ienzo had been teaching her for some time now, so she knew most of the basic spells, and advanced versions of those that were essential (Cure, Fire, Blizzard, and Aero). That was human magic, though. No spell she'd ever tried actually allowed her to lift something.

So she shouldn't have been surprised when her attempts to lift the feather made it look as if it was being blown around by puffs of wind. Namine sighed, while Batty chittered encouragement. C'mon Person, you can do it!

[letteropener]

Celestia watched this display for a minute, before stepping over to Namine's side. "You have experience with magic as a human, then."

No need to ask; she had quickly learned that the humans who had become unicorns seemed to share that trait, for the most part.

[colorbymemory]

Namine smiled a greeting at Celestia, then nodded. "Yes, Ienzo has been teaching me."

If the way her Spirits were painted hadn't given Celestia a hint as to who the new unicorn was, her voice should.

[wavesinherheart]

Aqua, for her part, was at least familiar with the idea of using magic to lift things. Of course, from what she'd heard from Celestia, whatever she was supposed to be doing wasn't quite the same as a Gravity spell, but she'd always been inclined to favor magic over anything else.

That said, it still took her a few tries to get the hang of 'grabbing' the feather, but once she managed to get that down moving the feather from point to point wasn't all that hard, even if it was that it could still use a bit more fine tuning, especially in the lifting it particularly high off the ground department. But it was a start, and she was always willing to learn.

[letteropener]

"You're progressing quite wonderfully," Celestia said with clear approval as she stepped over to watch Aqua's progress. "You seem to have taken to the principles very quickly."

[wavesinherheart]

Aqua offers a pleased sort of nod in return. As much as she thinks that it's a good start, it's always nice to hear that someone else shares her opinion of things.

"Thank you. It's going to take some getting used to, though."

PEGASUS TRAINING WITH PRINCESS LUNA

[raisethemoon]

Luna herself, having finally set up the area to her satisfaction, waited on the ground for the pegasi. She wasn't even sure all of them could fly yet, after all, and getting up to the clouds would have to be the first step. Summoning storms worthy of battle could maybe come second or third.

Re: PEGASUS TRAINING WITH PRINCESS LUNA

[dork_of_keys]

Sora was doing fine with flying. His landings needed a little work, but he wasn't really worried about that. He figured they'd get better over time.

He was more concerned with learning to use the new magic he seemed to now have access to. Fighting Nightmares without any magic was trying at best. Especially with a new form as well. Being a Pegasus was different enough from being a lion that the only thing fighting between the two forms really had in common was handling his Keyblade in his mouth. It would definitely have been easier if he had access to his familiar magic, but he didn't, so he had to learn some new magic. It was actually a fun prospect and his enthusiasm showed as he glided in for a landing in the town square.

Of course he'd flub the landing as he arrived for the lessons. However, like a cat, he just got up, shook himself out and tried to pretend it didn't happen. It wasn't like he'd gotten hurt from that.

"Hey, Luna."

[allfunandgamesuntil]

York trotted up to Luna and Sora. "Hi, Sora. Thanks for setting this up for everyone, your highness. I've kind of tried flying, but landing seems like it's more of a challenge. Carolina's forgiven me by now, I think."

Probably. He had kind of plowed right into her and knocked her into the river, but all things considered, it wasn't that bad.

[raisethemoon]

"Landing IS a common problem with pegasus foals." Luna had already noted Sora having issues with it as well, but refrained from commenting on it. "Most learn to fly among the clouds, so they at least have some cushioning..."

She glanced around, looking for any other arrivals. No one else was coming that she could see from here, but all the same, she wouldn't start the full lessons right away. "Will you both fly up to that cloud?" she asked, indicating a larger white one in the center of the area. "I would like to observe your technique."

[statisticallyterrible]

Chell didn't like any of it. Even though she had gotten the hang of four legs without much trouble, the whole notion of it disturbed her--a different body with different mechanics meant an entirely different thought process to control. That didn't even take into account the entirely new and unfamiliar appendages attached to her shoulders, a distinctly separate way of moving through the air than she'd become used to.

She didn't like it, even resented it a little, but it was what it was, and that meant she had to get used to it. This world had opened up for a reason, after all, so she'd use the parameters determined.

The expression on her face kept unconcerned as she approached the princess, but one more familiar with pony tells could easily pick out the bristling feathers and stiff-held tail signaling discomfort. She nodded to Luna in greeting.

[raisethemoon]

Luna certainly noted those physical tics, but she made no comment on it; that woman definitely would not accept any attempt at comfort from her. It was no worse than Agent Washington had taken the change, anyhow.

"You are here to learn about pegasus magic?" She asked, returning the nod. "Or perhaps flight maneuvers?" She hadn't gone especially in-depth on aerial combat with anyone else, though she would be willing to do so if she thought them capable. This question, though, was mostly to see if she could fly at all yet.

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva had spent her first few hours in Ponyville trying to figure out the mechanics of walking on four, instead of two, legs. She had a couple of bumps and bruises to show, but now she could walk well enough. (A gallop was a different matter.) Luckily, Abby was nice enough to help her back up each time she fell, even if Fluffy just kept laughing at her.

...Although, she couldn't shake the deja vu feeling that she'd done this before.

After going exploring for a bit, she found herself back at the Town Square, making a wide path around what was set up for the other ponies. She didn't have wings, so she couldn't fly...no horn, so no magic. No participation for her. She went a bit away from the set up, close enough to watch though, and sat beneath a tree. Abby and Fluffy sat next to her, waiting to see what happened with the other ponies.

Curling her legs under her as she watched, she wandered what she could contribute at this point.

[guerriera]

"Is this spot of grass taken, or should I find another tree?"

Carolina's approach had been rather quiet, coming in from one of the meadows outside the town rather than through it, and Lela mewed in greeting from up on her back, perched precariously on the plates of aqua-coloured horse armor.

She also hung back to enjoy the shade from the tree, eyeing the attendees to the lessons, and ignoring the way her own ears flicked and stayed back when she noticed Luna. Well. She wasn't going to give the Alicorn any reason to approach, and she DID want to see if North and York could learn anything useful.

At least the two mares could commiserate on having both pairs of feet firmly grounded.

[4letters4ninja]

Ziva glanced over at the sound of Carolina's voice. "All yours." She said to the other...pony. She apparently was a wingless-hornless pony too. If she noticed Carolina's reaction to seeing Luna, she didn't comment. There was probably some sort of justification to it.

"How are you doing with all this?"

[notquitedracula]

Soma cheated on the four legs thing. He cheated on the wings, too; both Nightmare and Giant Bat were currently firmly affixed in his mind, and from them he was learning how to control this new body. Admittedly, the wings were easier; he had flown before, after all.

Unfortunately for him, he was not only different from everyone present but glaringly so, being the only bat-winged pony there. If he'd harbored any desire to keep his true nature under wraps, this was probably going to let the cat out of the bag.

But.

Having gone through everything he had since the fight with the Meta, he had come to a few realizations. One, he wanted out of this world, which had none of his friends and a whole lot more enemies than he was really comfortable with. Two, it was high time he got his power - no matter its nature - under control once and for all, and for that he needed help. This world, which precluded the use of many of his more destructive abilities, seemed an ideal place for that.

Three... he was tired of being alone.

[raisethemoon]

If Soma was expecting his bat wings to be alarming, he certainly wasn't going to find that reaction here. "Oh!" Luna zoomed over as soon as she saw him, smiling in delight. "You are a batpony! How marvelous! Have you come to learn about flight as well?"

[notquitedracula]

This... was not the reaction he expected. Okay, it was kind of refreshing, but still, not with the meeting of expectations thing. "Yes, I do appear to be one, don't I?" Was that the kind of thing you said to someone who was apparently local royalty? Something told him it wasn't.

Unfortunately, now he had to dash her hopes. "I've got the flight and walking thing under control for the moment, I think. At least the flight, anyway. Everything else?" He shook his head (quite the novel experience in this new body, let me tell you), *Not so much."