Elements of Awesome: Volume I

Parteilich Spassig Pie was generally a laid back pony. Ironic, considering his mother’s hyperactive nature. His father couldn’t exactly be described as calm, either. But Party was relaxed. Not that he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, get excited. He had all the energy of his mother. He just usually bottled it up and stored it for times that required great bursts of energy. Like now.

Party stood over Dawn protectively. The unicorn was nursing her injured leg. Some fat pony had fallen on it. Thankfully, she looked to be only bruised.

Party glared at the trio of earth ponies before him. They were laughing cruelly. The smell of liquor was heavy on their breath, wafting through the air. They shambled closer to the pair, menacing looks in their eyes. Party stood his ground, refusing to let them near his friend. Alleys, fillies, and drunken colts never added up to something good. Not even something kinda nice.

Party never took pride in his size. He was built a lot like his uncle; sturdy, strong, and big. Oh, so very big. Unlike his uncle, the pink earth pony wasn’t muscular. He spent his days lounging rather than apple-bucking. But when it came to fights, his mass and energy were all that mattered. Party stepped forward to meet the leader of the drunken gang.

The lead colt snorted. He leaned into Party’s face, squashing his nose on the pink pony’s. He slurred something Party could only interpret as “make your move.”

Party did.

--

“Finally!” Lazuli exclaimed a couple hours earlier. “A city. A real, proper city with lights and beds and ponies -”

“And food,” Thunder cut her off. The other ponies murmured approval. After a couple days of nonstop walking, well, occasionally stopped walking, they were ready for a break. “Celestia, I’m hungry. And, for the last time, I don’t eat other ponies!”

Faith stopped shuffling toward Dawn. “What? Now, whoever said anything about that?” She resumed sliding away. The others chuckled half heartedly.

The six walked through the first open door they saw. Immediately, they stepped back out. Apparently, the city was far more open than Ponyville.

They trekked through town, hunting for something to eat. The more upperclass places were closed for the night, but food was food. They were willing to eat anywhere.

Party was impressed by the size of the city. He spent his entire life in Ponyville, and though it wasn’t exactly rural, it wasn’t large. The hustle of the ponies and various city noises that Ponyville lacked just bred excitement. This city was full of color, neon signs hanging above almost every door. It’d be impossible to sleep in this. Not that sleep seemed to enter the city’s hypothetical mind. It seemed that everypony was just waking up.

The group settled down at a small diner. It was a tight fit, but they managed to squeeze into a single booth. A tan earth pony smiled at them warmly. The bags under her eyes betrayed her cheeriness.

“Hi, can I get you anything?” She sounded tired, but kept her first-rate grin.

“Food, please.” Thunder winked.

The waitress let her smile slip for half a second. In its place stood a wicked glare. She looked as if she could unleash all of Tartarus on the pegasus without second thought. In a blink, her smile returned. She gave a half-hearted chuckle.

“Anything else?” She asked sweetly.

The group ordered, Thunder with a slight tremble. The waitress skated away. A few minutes, she returned with their food. It wasn’t good by normal standards, but considering it had been a full day since they ate anything at all, they didn’t much care about taste. Food was food. While they ate, the six attempted to plan out their next move.

“Dawn,” Lazuli said sharply, “I understand you’re worried about your mom, but we can’t keep going like this. What if this city hadn’t been here? Who knows what would’ve happened?”

“We would have kept going.”

“Until we starved? What if we weren’t able to find anything to eat?”

Dawn stared down at her hay fries. “I don’t know.”

“Exactly my point. This hasn’t exactly been campy funtime. We left Ponyville completely unprepared.”

“I never asked for you to come along,” Dawn said defensively.

Lazle gave her an annoyed stare. “I know. But we’re here anyways, and good thing too. You’d probably be dead if it weren’t for us.”

Dawn opened her mouth to protest, but she shook her head. Nothing came to her.

The other four watched in silence, not opting to take sides. Truth be told, Party was thankful for this little escapade. It was like a vacation, only more stressful and dangerous.

“At the very least,” Lazle continued, “We should buy some camping supplies. As much as I love our, er, tent, I don’t think I can stand being squished between these two lardbutts another night.” She motion to Party and Thunder, the group’s resident lardbutts.

“Hey,” Party responded, failing any other retort.

“But, seriously, we need to plan this out. We should figure out where we’re going. Maybe plan a route.”

“Uh, Lazle,” Dawn smiled sheepishly, “I don’t know where we’re going. Compas -” she poked her horn - “not a map.”

“Right,” Lazle consented, “but we could, at least, know where we’re going ahead of time. What if we have to sail across some ocean? We should know that ahead of time.”

Dawn thought for a moment. “That actually sounds like a good idea. How long do you think it will take?”

“No clue. Hopefully, it won’t take us more than a day.”

Dawn grumbled, but accepted. The six ponies ate the rest of their meal in silence. The waitress skated by, dropping off the check.

“Whenever you’re ready,” she said. Her tone indicated that ‘ready’ should be ‘soon.’

None of the ponies made an attempt to grab the bill. They ignored it in an attempt to delay the inevitable.

After a few minutes, Dawn stood to leave. The other stared at her questioningly.

“I just need some air.”

Party waited a moment before following her out.

“Hey.” He rubbed his hooves together. “Cold, huh?”

Dawn smirked and shook her head. “Party, it’s like 70 out. I’m not cold.”

“Good point.”

The two ponies sat in silence outside the diner, just staring at the city. The sun had set hours ago, but no pony would notice any difference. The flashing lights were just as bright. Possibly brighter.

“Dawn,” Party started, his tone more serious than usual. “Are you okay?”

“Party,” she gave a soft laugh, “I’m fine. We talked this morning.”

The colt shook his head, his blond mane flopping about. “I don’t mean about that. I mean physically.”

She blinked.

“During dinner, you kept rubbing your head.”

“I was frustrated.”

Party snorted. “Lazle does have a point though. And that’s not all there is too it.”

Dawn sighed. “My, uh, my horn feels funny.”

Party bit his lip.

“It’s not funny,” Dawn said flatly. “It’s... It’s hard to explain. It feels like my magic is being stifled.”

Party raised his eyebrows. “Stifled?”

“Okay, I’m not sure how to explain this. Unicorns can feel magic constantly. When we cast spells, even basic telekinesis, we draw upon the magic around us. Some, like my mother, can harness more magic than others.”

“Okay.” Party nodded, pretending to understand.

“Well, I can normally feel a lot of magic in the air. But I think I’m losing it. I just feel a lot of pressure.”

Party sat there awkwardly. He knew nothing about unicorns and magic. Suddenly, Dawn grabbed him.

“P-Party,” she gasped. Her voice was strained. The unicorn’s horn began to glow white. She opened her eyes, and everything exploded into light.

Party fell a few feet, landing on something soft. He heard a yelp.

“Ow. You’re - ow - heavy,” Dawn grunted.

Party rolled off her. “Sorry. I, uh, what happened?”

“I might have, er,” Dawn chewed her lip. “There’s a chance I accidentally teleported us somewhere.”

Party blinked. He opened his mouth to respond, but he was interrupted.

“H-hey, there,” a pony hiccuped, “What’s you doin’ back there?”

Party turned, spotting three earth ponies a little ways down the alley. He stepped over Dawn protectively. They didn’t look friendly. Or, perhaps, they were a little too friendly looking. Either way, Party didn’t like them. “Go away. We’re busy.”

“Maybe we can help,” the shortest of the three ponies offered. His tone, and slurring, indicated he wasn’t really offering to help. He looked like he would just make their situation worse.

The trio stepped forward. Party stepped forward to meet them. The pink pony bristled, doing his best to appear intimidating. The trio laughed.

The leader grinned. “Make your move.”

Party, like most ponies, had a powerful kick. It was natural. Ponies were designed to kick. Sure, some had much stronger hindquarters, like Tart, but even the daintiest of pegasuses could really hurt.

A lot of ponies, however, lacked the same strength in their forelegs. Party considered himself an exception. The pink earth pony brought his legs down on the brown colt, putting as much of his weight into the strike as he could. The pony tumbled backwards, rolling into a wall.

The other two dashed toward Party. With surprising speed for a pony his size, Party dodged out of the way of the short pony. It went flying by, crashing into the floor. The third pony, a lime green colt, managed to turn and kick Party. But he wasn’t quite as stable. The green pony poked Party with his hooves and toppled over. Party started to retaliate, but the colt’s snore stopped him.

One down.

The short pony charged from behind. The leader also regained his footing and darted toward the large pink pony. Party delivered a kick to the short pony’s midsection. It grunted and stumbled into a wall. The leader, in turn, did the same to the blond maned pony. Party winced, but he brushed off the attack. He grappled the brown pony, collapsing the colt underneath his weight. The earth pony struggled, but Party quickly butted his head against the other’s. Sure that the pony was knocked out, Party turned toward the last pony.

The yellow earth pony leapt toward Party. The large pink pony braced himself, but the attack never finished. The colt hovered in air for a moment, and then was immediately slammed against the wall. The reddish glow around him faded.

“I’ve got your back,” Dawn said, winking. Her horn was glowing a dull red color. Party just grinned at her.

He bent down to help her up, but noticed the pained expression on her face. “Headache?”

“No,” Dawn snorted, “My leg. You landed on it.”

“Oh, sorry. Can you walk?”

Dawn put some weight on the leg. The leg buckled under her. “Uh, no. I think it’s sprained.”

“Okay then.” Party sighed. He knelt down next to the unicorn. “Climb up.”

“Are you-”

“Yes,” he said seriously. “I want you to ride me.”

Dawn giggled softly. She pulled herself onto the earth pony’s back, and the two set off to find their friends.

A few minutes later, Dawn tugged on Party’s mane frantically.

“Wha- ow - what?” He answered grumpily. It seemed like she had some vendetta against him for hurting her leg.

“I can’t feel her anymore.”

Party stopped and looked over his shoulder. Dawn’s eyes were blank. The reddish glow from her horn contrasted with the dark night.

“Dawn,” he said calmly, bracing for another Serious Discussion, “you can’t feel who anymore?”

Dawn was silent for a moment. Party felt her tears drip onto his back.

“My mom,” she whispered. Her voice was strained, threatening to silent itself. “I think she’s dead.”