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

[letteropener]

"Do not think of this in terms of your bending," Celestia advised Lin. "Rather, think of it in terms of what your body can physically do. Telekinesis to a unicorn is as inherent as hands are to a human, even if it takes longer to master its use. Put aside the thoughts of it being 'magic' and treat it as something you can simply do."

That ought to give Lin enough of a lead to try again, so Celestia turned to North's question. "That depends on your talent. Do you know what it is?"

[brodakota]

North had to think about that.

"Well, I'm pretty handy with a sniper rifle, and Theta can help me form a shield. That's about it really."

Unless you counted worrying about people as a talent.

[lessabrasive]

How was that not like bending? Lin didn't say that aloud, though her ears flicked and stayed back as she considered Celestia's words. The (far) older mare had a point, and was certainly the more experienced.

She stared at the lighter non-earth based object again, took a breath and concentrated, light green eyes closing as she tried focusing the telekinesis around it. Once she thought she could 'feel' it, the fingers that made up her magic touch coiled about the feather, and tugged. ..And tugged. ..This was probably going to take a while, but Lin was very determined to succeed!

A sliver of attention was paid to the Princess and North's conversation, but she was too focused to eavesdrop fully.

[letteropener]

Celestia lowered her voice slightly, the better not to disturb Lin's focus. She thought Lin had found the right path, from all external viewpoints, and intended to let her metaphorically walk it.

"Do either of those things give you joy and satisfaction to do? A talent, after all, rarely becomes a truly special thing unless a pony loves to do it."