Alchemy is Also Magicby TedectiveChaptersLike Father Like SonPainting with your FamilyTechnically MagicMeeting Cobalt SkyLike Father Like SonHe woke up to a rumble both internal and external. His father, Cliff, was making wheat pie in the kitchen of the house. His mother, Silksand, was cleaning out the dust that had accumulated over the course of the night. "Mom, get out of my room," said Ridgeline as he took note that the quake this time was closer to the house than last time. Ridgeline's mother replied with a smile as she trotted out of the dim-lit room with a broom in her mouth. The small colt fell back down onto his hard grey bed.. "Well Cliff, it seems our little pony is old enough to tell others to stay out of his room," Silksand softly spoke. Cliff could be heard laughing in the other room. His voice was gentle in the coarse environment they all lived in. The days were seeming to shift into each other. This day went just as every other one did, boringly. Ridgeline ate some wheat pie, went to school, had a boring trot home, doing as many chores as were thrown at him, and before the sun set, Ridgeline would ask his father what he was painting this week. Cliff was painting a green field, blue skies, and a golden brown village of happy ponies eating many apples. Ridgeline went to sleep that night both happy and jealous for the imaginary ponies in the imaginary town of imaginary fertility. The next morning, Cliff was making wheat pie again. Ridgeline was an only child. He went to a small school in a small town. His life at this point could hardly be considered life at all. The sky was always grey, and pegasi were rarely there to move the clouds. The earth had been dry and infertile for years. Through earth-pony magic though, the plants stayed alive long enough to make bare minimum food. Minor quakes rippled the ground often, keeping the houses small and quickly built. Unicorns had mostly moved to more habitable, friendlier places long ago. The earth ponies couldn't make the distance to a better land and had to endure their entire lives in boring isolation. There was still hope though. In the very plants of the scorched earth lied colorful, brilliant hope. Cliff had a peculiar job in the town. His job was to inspire, create, and generally distract ponies from their miserable day-after-day chores. He did just that, and so much more. Cliff was a painter, not a very good one, but a motivated one. He would spend all day looking for plants to crumble and press into dyes. He would spend nights mixing and stirring. When he would have enough paint, he would create lovingly crafted pieces of art. So beautiful to this drab world were his paintings, that his inspirational works were placed on display so everypony could see his work. Even the ones that the town couldn't understand very well were met with marveled mares' mesmerized gazes. Silksand was always happy with what Cliff painted, but would be swamped with chores to really see the paintings in detail. Silksand was a loving mother who looked after her only child Ridgeline. She tended the house and kept Ridgeline out of trouble. When she wasn't at home, cleaning and cooking, she would be out in town with her young colt close to her. To the town, this family was a great help to them. Silksand would trot down the rough gravel roads and look for something to help out with. Somepony always needed help from her. Whether it be getting a kite out of a tree, moving aside the wreckage of the last house hit by a quake, or bucking extra apples that the farmer ponies couldn't get on their own. Silksand was a very helpful pony because she felt that with the lack of unicorns, somepony else had to take the responsibilities of the town. She wasn't alone though, Ridgeline was always there by her, assisting in helping the town. Silksand always made sure that her colt was there for anypony who might need a job done. So this day began the same as every other one. Ridgeline woke up to the smell of wheat pancakes cooking in the other room. Bland but carefully cooked. His mother was picking up empty wooden crates that had fallen during the last quake. A slight breeze swept through the house and brought in a distraught moth that had only recently been outside. It fluttered about trying to find where it came from until Silksand noted its existence, dropped the broom and walked over to a wall. She opened a window and the moth more than happily rushed out of it. "Glad to be of help," Silksand muttered under her breath, "Ridgeline, did you see where the moth came from?" He pointed to a crack in the wall. The crack had deepened during the quake and dawn was shining through it. One layer of plaster later and Ridgeline's room was as dark as the other three rooms of the house. The pancakes were as dull as the earth underneath them, and filled with as many cracks. This breakfast wasn't terrible though, it also had a rare treat to go with it. Applesauce. Out in the distance, an off-key set of bells rang a long forgotten song, signaling that school was now taking in students. "Ridgeline you're going to be late!" said Cliff from another room. "Alright I'm a goin..." "Now Ridgeline, pay attention today, you might find your special talent through research," Silksand soothed as Ridgeline casually trotted to school, mentally noting his blank plot. He was definitely going to be late if he went at this pace. "And hurry too!" Cliff knew that his son was trotting too slow without even seeing it. So school went by as every other day. Ridgeline payed full attention to new subjects that the teacher, Ms. Clover, was talking about. "Okay class, today we're going to be talking about magic." A series of sighs filled the air as jealous earth ponies heard the word 'magic'. Ridgeline's was one of them too. "Ms. Clover, why do we have to learn about magic? It's too hard to understand and unicorns are never around for it to actually be useful," a bored colt muttered, half expecting the teacher to brush it off and ignore him. He was a dark green and his cutie mark was a bushel of wheat. "Well mister Hay, The reason you all are going to learn about magic is because unicorns aren't the only magical race in Equestria." Another series of sounds came about then, this time it was more of an intrigued "Huh? sound. Ms. Clover blushed ever so slightly at her own charisma. "You see magic is everywhere, even in you my little ponies. You are much stronger than unicorns and pegasi because of magic. Well... also because you actually use your muscles, but that can only do so much. Everything has magic in it, and that magic is usually overlooked as a simple characteristic or other more logical explanation. Today we are going to perform some of that magic. Who knows, maybe somepony here will fly today." The eyes of the small fillies grew bigger than what a cuteness scale could handle. Ms. Clover was especially happy with the excitement she ensued on the class. But this hope was dashed when a rumble sprang forth from the ground. Filles looked to each other and their faces went from happy to a usual glum mood, the quake reminding them of their surroundings... of their meaninglessness. "Now now class, nothing too bad about a quake. Look, we'll get to do magic some other time. Right now we need to find out which houses were brought down and bring them right back up. Kay?" When the rumbling stopped, Ridgeline looked out the window while the door out of the class was being bombarded with exiting fillies. The whole area seemed about right. No house in the town was breaking down, but of course Ridgeline couldn't see the entire town because the hills it was built on were as wavy as the sea that he had read about in books. There was a small billow of smoke coming from far away though, and Ridgelines heart sank when he realized where it came from. "Mom... D-Dad." As the rest of the class poured out, Ms. Clover looked back in to see if anypony was still inside. Ridgeline was missing. She looked around and saw a small grey pony galloping away to a cloud of black smoke. "Ridgeline!" She was too far away for him to hear her, let alone allow her to catch up to him. Ms Clover shut her eyes and turned her head to the rest of the class, opened her eyes, and straitened her face. "Just looking for broken houses. Let's check on Mister Wheatley's house. That thing has been rickety for five quakes now." Ms. Clover looked over her shoulder to try to find Ridgeline. He was seen again running up another hill, but really far away this time. "Mom! Dad! Are you two okay?!" Ridgeline was shouting at a pile of burning rubble, smoke clinging to his eyes and mane. It was hard to breathe. Possibly ten minutes ago he was overjoyed with the possibility of performing real magic, not some cheap trick. Now, he was choking on the fumes of his own house burning, looking for his parents. "Get down son! It's easier to breathe and cooler down here!" Said a fatherly voice, unlike the normal soothing voice Ridgeline was accustomed to. He looked down and started laughing at them. They looked so funny rolling over to him. "Stop laughing and get down!" Said another non-soothing voice. This time it was from Silksand, and she also looked funny. Ridgeline plopped down laughing and rolled over to meet them, laughing all the way over. "Why are you laughing dear? Our house is burning! All of our things with it." Silksand gave Ridgeline a curious gaze only to be met with one full of happy tears blackened by smoke. "I'm laughing because you two look funny rolling around," Ridgeline babbled through giggles while rolling as well, but not in any direction, "And I'm happy because you are both fine." Silksand and Cliff looked at each other and gained the same face as Ridgeline. They all laughed and rolled about in the dirt, happy that they were all alive and well. None of them even cared for whatever was in the house. A broom, a pan, two beds, some bottles, and crates that kept falling off of other crates. A moth fluttered about above the billows of smoke looking down upon this humorous scene. Painting with your FamilyAnd so here they were, laughing in front of their burning home. All very much happy to see each other. The house, very much not a house anymore, crumbled as more and more fire danced about it. As the fire consumed more of the family's belongings, they laughed more and more. All the things in the house didn't matter right now, and probably never did. The 'valuable' belongings were broken, cheap, and easily replaceable. There however was one thing of importance. A painting, not the canvas it was on, but the paint itself. Fire danced about in a mix of herbs and fruits. It melted their dried form and liquified into a pool of multicolored paint. "Dad, your painting! It's still in the house. Are you sad about that?" Ridgeline asked now that he had calmed down. "It was a place that I've never seen. Only fitting that nopony else sees it. Out of my imagination, and back to oblivion. I'm alright with that." Cliff was having one of his 'righteous' moments again. Ridgeline would pay utmost attention during these phases, and did so then. "However, I'll need a glass jar. Care to help me look for one son? Silksand, I think it's time to show Ridgeline a little trick I picked up when traveling..." Silksand nodded and started rolling again, minding the smoke that was mere inches above their heads. A few moments later Ridgeline had a jar pressed tightly against his chest with his two front hooves and rolled in the direction of Cliff. He was laying down like a dog on watch, staring with wonderous eyes into the fire that had consumed his grey dusty prison. His focus was broken when a rolling Ridgeline had crashed into him, sending them both down a hill. "Watch it Ridgeline! We need the jar in pristine condition for this to work." "Dad, just what is it that we are going to do with this jar?" Asked a curious Ridgeline. "Well... when the fires die down to a safe amount, we're going to take a look back into the house. I have a feeling that this may work, though I've been wrong before." "Wrong about what?" Ridgeline was a small colt. He didn't get all the reassuring jokes thrown about by parents. So he did what every other small pony would do. He questioned everything. "Never mind that, I think the fire is beginning to die down. Yup it certainly is." It was a roaring flame of chaos and hardly recognizable as anything more than 'on fire'. A small group of ponies came up from a hill then, and Ridgeline noticed a few of them as familiar. "Ms. Clover! It's great to see you! Are there any houses that need remade?" Asked Ridgeline before Silksand could turn a cheerful smile at their company. "Yes, as a matter of fact there is Ridgeline. Yours." Everypony laughed and the newest additions to the party were choking on the smoke, but then they decided to join the crazy rolling ponies. "Well, it's wonderful to see you are all alive and well. When the fires are down, we'll come back and help you rebuild." "Thank you very much for the assistance Ms. Clover, but I think we can have a house set up before next morning. We are, after all, earth ponies." Silksand was happy to see a positive response from Ridgeline's teacher's face. So then as miraculously as they came, the party of helpful ponies left. They rolled down the hill thinking about how silly they looked, and got up as soon as they were out of the smoke. The burning house did start to die down by then though, and Cliff made a smirk of 'I told you so!" at Ridgeline. The fire didn't last long after that. By the time the sun set, behind clouds, what remained at the top of the hill was three ponies, ash, and something else entirely. "Okay, time do see if my little plan will work. Lets just look over here and... aha!" Cliff noticed immediately a small pool of paint that was spared the fate of flame. As the fire burned up, the paint spilled down. "I've waited so long to do this..." Cliff smirked as he opened the jar, and scooped a large hoof-full of paint into it. Then, plucking hairs from his mane, he looked at the two other ponies and gave them a look of 'What you lookin at?'. "What you lookin at?" "You." Ridgeline said, again not getting the cliche jokes of older ponies and just resorting to basic logic. "Well... Okay then!" Cliff wasn't normally sneaky, but somehow he was hiding in plain sight. He trotted over and plucked quite a few hairs from Ridgeline's mane. they were brown and almost indistinguishable from Cliff's. "Ow! Don't do that!" "Silksand dear?" Cliff looked over at his wife who met him with a gaze of 'Why do I put up with you?'. "Because you love me dear." Silksand wasn't shocked that Cliff had just read her mind, but did pluck some hairs of her own. They were a light grey. Not from again, but just her natural mane color. "Alright. Now I need... let's say... some leaves! Yeah, this stuff needs to be a little greener." Three leaves later and the bottle was horrible looking. It had paint, hair, and leaves in it. Truly nopony would ever take just one glance at this peculiar thing of 'art'. But with every jar of leaves, paint, and hairs, Cliff did what should be done. He threw it, sealed, into a nearby fire. The glass bottle burst to colors and rumbled to life as soon as it touched fire. It shot out light of brilliant color, rainbows and white light, but maybe too much green. "Darn, I think I added too many leaves, or maybe I shouldn't have even added one! Oh well, it seems non-lethal so lets take a gander!" Cliff was happy to see that the bottle didn't simply explode and leave him to be embarrassed with his 'idea' gone to waste. "Excuse me dad, but... what is that?" Ridgeline's eyes were completely fixated on the, now not too ugly, bottle. "I mean yeah I know that it is paint, hair, and leaves... maybe too many leaves... but it looks... magical." Cliff raised a brow to his son's wild theory. How did he guess that this is magical? With a grin, Cliff hoofed the bottle over to Ridgeline and said two very unexpected words. Two words that Ridgeline had never wanted to hear when anywhere near this bottle of liquified stuff. "Drink it." "Dad! I don't wanna! It looks gross and it's glowing!" Ridgeline was really determined that this would kill him if he drank it. Cliff just looked at Ridgeline and grinned. "Well, if you wont drink that, then I'll make us up a batch of wheat noodles!" Everypony cringed after hearing those words in the same sentence. Cliff may have been a good painter, but not every artist is great at every art. Cliff was especially terrible at noodles, and wheat simply couldn't be made into anything noodly. "Alright you win dad, but will this kill me if I drink it? Because if it does, I'll kill you." Cliff shrugged his shoulders, very hard to do for a pony, and gave a grin. "Great to see you getting better at jokes kiddo, but honestly, it won't kill you." Ridgeline looked at the liquid. It seemed to look back at him. It was glowing and swirling despite any movement on Ridgeline's part. It smelled like clean air mixed with mint. Giving it a shake, Ridgeline noted that it wasn't as viscous as paint should be, let alone paint with leaves and hair in it, which brought up another point. The hair and leaves were gone, probably melted or burned in the heat, but Ridgeline felt in his mind that they were still in the bottle, in the liquid. Giving it one final look of disgust, Ridgeline slurped it down. It tasted awful. Despite it's refreshing smell, it tasted like rocks, bitter flowers, old cheese, and way way too much green. "Way too much green dad." "Really? I didn't think you would be able taste color son. So here's the bigger question. How do you feel?" Technically Magic"Hey dad, why are you just staring at me? Cliff looked at him for what seemed an eternity and started to say something. It sounded more or less like somepony had replaced Cliff's words with a long drawn-out incomprehensible blah. "Hhh... Ooowwww...." Cliff didn't even really seem to see Ridgeline. The colt would move a small distance away and Cliff would slowly look back to him. "Aaarrree...." Ridgeline got it then, and laughed at his dad's attempted words. "hahahahahaha. Dadyouaretalkingreallyslowlyrightnow." said a hyperactive Ridgeline. He seemed to have an outline. And the outline seemed to be moving. Cliff looked at his son and then got it, and increased his speed of talking to a near mindless babble. "OkaysonIthinkI'vegotit." Ridgeline gave a very quick nod in approval. "Okay son, I think I've got it." Said a slowly moving Cliff. Silksand stood in awe, wondering why everything was going fast, why her child was babbling, and why Cliff was babbling too. Ridgeline could understand his dad now so he thought that whatever the drink did, it was over now. "Aww dad! That drink's effect didn't last anywhere near as long as I thought it would!" "Okay, I have no idea what our son is saying now dear," Cliff said over his shoulder to Silksand, who simply looked shocked at Ridgeline. "Is he going to be so... hyper... forever?" "No, just for a couple of hours. But to him, two hours would seem like a few days. We'd better make him some food and fast. His metabolism must be murder." "Okayitstillworks. I'mgoingtogorunaroundnow! Bye!" Ridgeline vanished behind a cloud of kicked up dirt and ash. Everything was so slow that Ridgeline could happily do whatever he wanted and nopony could stop him. But he was nicer than that, so he walked through town and waved at the ponies that slowly turned to a shocked expression. Ridgeline found it amazing that when somepony dropped whatever they were holding, the item fell slowly too. But something was bothering him. Something was making him feel very very bored. He felt an urge to walk a little faster, and then a little faster. Before he knew it, he was running at his top speed. Adrenaline was pumping as he pressed onward. Ridgeline couldn't believe that he was running so fast that he had to snap back to reality just to steer away from a strangely green tree. And then another. And then another tree was in his path. Ridgeline didn't feel that tired at all, even though he was pressing himself to the limits, and beyond that entirely. He was running as fast as he could, and the world around him was as slow as it could be. "This is..." He gasped as his voice seemed much higher pitched than he remembered himself being. "Oh! The Trotler effect," said a very high pitched Ridgeline. This place seemed weird, foreign, and beautiful. It took a few seconds for Ridgeline to register that he had traveled very far, very fast. He had no idea where he was, but a trail of hoof prints and dust could lead him back. But Ridgeline didn't really want to go back just yet, and slowed down a little. Running in very big circles, he was able to slow down even more. He reduced his speed to a very slow trot, but couldn't actually stop just yet. As he brushed past beautiful plants and very fertile earth, he had an idea. "Ms. Clover said that magic is in everything," said a Ridgeline much like how his voice should be, "Dad made that drink out of plants too. Well... and our manes, but there's magic in that too." He gathered as many plants as he could pick up and decided that that just wasn't going to cut it. Instead, he took some large leaves, as big as he was, and made a make-shift basket. It was huge, colorful, and best of all, it could be used for more drinks. Ridgeline thought that there was some sort of vocabulary that he was missing but didn't feel like asking his slowed-down dad right then and there what the word was. "I think that this might be enough," said a very large pile of plants and pretty rocks. Before he initiated ludacris speed, Ridgeline noted that all that stuff would just fly back as he flew forward. So he did what every sensible pony moving at the speed of sound with a pile of plants and rocks did. He moved it all right in front of him. Feeling that everything was going to be fine, he headed off again. In reality, Ridgeline couldn't bear to be 'standing' around any longer. He had to move, and he had to move fast! The wall of things didn't bother him at all, he looked down at his hooves when he felt that he was moving fast enough now. Even with hyper sight, his hooves were a blur of grey and dirt. He was moving really quickly. Following his own trail back into town, he followed a few curves around trees that he couldn't even see behind the mountain of stuff. Just for fun he said a few jokes on the way back home. "My voice is higher pitched than your voice!" He then ran much faster. "Well my voice is higher than yours!" He was a blur of high-pitched laughter. Suddenly, the tracks stopped. He was home. And then he wasn't. He had overshot his destination, and making a sudden turn with all this stuff in front of him didn't seem like a good idea. So instead, he moved around very slowly in a large circle back to his house, slowing down as much as he could on the way there. "Eee!" is all that Cliff heard as the air itself ripped him to his left. Darnit Ridgeline! What is that thing on you? As he brought himself back up, a very large thud shook him to the ground. Right in front of him were some very exotic plants. "That's my boy! I already know he wants another potion. But first, I need to make him a dinner." Cliff waved as fast as he could to the grey blur 'standing' in front of him. It sort of grew another blur off of its side, and it shrank back into it. That's the fastest wave I've ever seen. Just like that, Ridgeline was gone again, a breeze told Cliff where he went off to. A large pile of things still lay at his side. "Well... let's just take a peek at what he found then, then I'll make a dinner. With what all this looks like, we're going to be eating very well today." Ridgeline was happier than he ever was. He had been running nearly at the speed of sound. With the joy of a thousand happy ponies, he yelled "I AM THE FASTEST PONY IN EQUESTRIA!" MEANWHILE IN PONYVILLE! "Somewhere.. Somepony... said they are faster than me..." said Rainbow Dash. She knew when she was challenged. All she needed to do now was find out who and where this 'fastest pony in Equestria' was. MEANWHILE IN WHEREVER THE STORY IS I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET! Ridgeline zipped past everypony he saw, and everypony he thought he saw. By not carrying that large mass of plants and rocks, he was able to turn with much greater ease. He tried a jump, and he stopped feeling the ground under him. His legs were still flailing, trying to grab some air to run on. All this running didn't affect him in the least though. In fact, Ridgeline felt like he could run for hours more! But his mind trailed off to a better idea. All that stuff could make what a few hairs, paint, and leaves couldn't. Ridgeline thought that if he ran fast enough, he would shorten the length of this amazing affect. So without any effort, more or less releasing more control to this urge to run faster, he hit the ground and started to bolt as fast as he could. (He was in the air the entire time of the 'idea'.) So with the determination to create more of this stuff, and the adrenaline of running, Ridgeline accomplished what everypony would always go through. In a flash of light, a light that could stay with him, a brilliant aura consumed Ridgeline. He felt very happy for seemingly no reason at all. He looked around to see if any side effects were taking place. Nothing here, no adverse effects and "WHAO!" It was red, yellow, and blue. There were three of them. Each was a glass bottle filled with a different color. They all aimed to the center of the mark. Yes, the mark! The most important moment of any filly or colt's life! Ridgeline had his cutie mark, and he thought it looked amazing. Well, I guess everypony thinks theirs is amazing but... wow mine is amazing! Suddenly, he could taste something peculiar. Mint. Everything tasted... minty. "Well I guess that's my queue to stop running now. Well maybe I should run home then." In a few moments on reality standards, Ridgeline was home. To his standards, it took twenty minutes of joyous running. He came 'home' to his father and mother. They were both still sifting through the giant pile of stuff that Ridgeline had brought in what seemed like days ago. "Youarestilllookingthroughallthatstuff?" "YesweareRidgeline! Aren'tyoudonebeingfastyet?" "Yeah,it'sgoingawaynow. Ineedsomefoodandsleep." "Okay. Wemadesomedinnerforyouandit'snotwheatnoodles." "Coolkaythanksbye." And with that, Ridgeline grabbed a few large leaves from the pile to make a bed with, ate a pear, an apple, a celery stick, and some wheat pancakes, and slept under the stars. A shooting star was amazing to watch in slow motion. Best. Day. Ever. Meeting Cobalt SkyIt was late in the night, everypony in the town was asleep except for one. Ridgeline. Nine years have passed since he found his talent in alchemy. He's moved out of Cliff and silksand's house too. He studies and gathers ingredients with the same feverish intent he had the first day, and every day between. This night, Ridgeline was trying to get a more elusive substance. "Darn! Another failure." The moon shone brightly over the sleepy town. The grass was in a rare state of healthy green. A gentle breeze swept over the dry night air, sending waves across the grass and shivers over Ridgeline's back. He looked like a foal swinging a glass jar around. Realizing that he couldn't just bottle his prized trophy, he resorted to more practical means of gathering. "Well, I didn't want to do this... but you forced me!" His self-encouraging voice was made awkward by his staggering trot over to a brown bag of many pockets. This was far too late for him to be awake and he knew it. But night time was the only way to get moonlight. Shuffling through his bag, Ridgeline removed a glass jar tightly sealed. Inside, a deep blue water released white tufts of clouds. The tiny sky was fused together as Ridgeline violently shook it back to a uniform liquid and chugged. "Tastes like sky," was all Ridgeline had to say before floating up into the drowsy night air. The lack of a ground pressing against him made Ridgeline feel invigorated and awake again. He swayed and danced in the air, relishing all the time possible of flight he had. "Okay, time to get some moonlight." He made some swimming motions like he was trying to reach the bottom of a lake and began to descend. He pulled another jar from the bag. This one had a glossy coating around the inside, almost a greasy sheen was around the interior of the small jar. 'Swimming' back up to enjoy the effects of this potion some more, Ridgeline back stroked closer and closer to the source of the moonlight. "Lets see how well juniper, toadstool, and honey can trap light." Upon uncorking the bottle, beams of light condensed, changed direction as a fluid would, and shot into the jar. A splotch on the ground grew darker as more light was pressed together by the invisible force of the jar's coating. Ridgeline watched in awe as a very small sphere formed in the jar. He closed it and marveled at the moonlight's luminance both from the jar and the moon itself. "Great! Finally I can find out what properties moonlight has!" "Look out below!" "Wha-oomph-" Rdigeline was nearly flattened by a pagasus who decided it would be a great idea to suddenly start falling. "AAAAGGHH! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" "No you're not silly! You can just fly around me," said the light blue pegasus as she hurdled to the ground, "besides," she squirmed in the air to get around the falling Ridgeline under her and suddenly she was on the bottom, "I can take the fall!" Ridgeline had no idea what to do. His levitation potion was wearing away fast, and he had to save a pony from committing suicide via sky-diving. He didn't even notice the fact she was grinning from her bad falling pun earlier. Too late. The sound of a light blue pegasus two feet away smashing into the ground wasn't at all familiar to Ridgeline. The sound that he heard though, was not at all what he expected. "That was fun huh?" "How did-" Ridgeline began, but was cut off with a happy smile not entirely directed at him. Something was a bit off about her face, maybe it was her eyes. Her eyes were entirely blue and had a slight fog over them. She didn't focus on Ridgeline's face as she stretched her wings and stood up from her 'landing' pose. "Hello, my name is Cobalt. Friends call me Cobalt. Enemies and my mother call me Cobalt Sky. People who don't know me-" "Yes I know, your name is Cobalt Sky. Mind telling me why you were falling to your death in the middle of the night?" "I always practice landings, you gotta know where the ground is when you fly as much as I do! Hey! What's your name? I don't recognize your voice." "Umm... Ridgeline." And she recognizes my face? "Great to meet you Ridgeline! So tell me now, what was a pegasus like you doing falling in the middle of the night?" "I'm not a-" "Not a what? A pony that knows why they were falling? I can answer your question! You were falling because I was on top!" Cobalt suddenly looked embarrassed, but still didn't focus her gaze at Ridgeline as she talked. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I was falling and you were under me and you were screaming and-" "There's something odd about you Cobalt, I don't know what though..." "Well there's something odd about you Ridgeline. I know though... You are tired!" "Yes, I am. I should get to bed, I have what I came here for." "Me? Because I can totally go to a sleepover right now! All I need to do is come over, then I'll sleep! Best. Sleepover. Ever!" "Umm, oh well what's the harm? Follow me!" "Okay, lead the way sleepy mister sleepover!" The entire way back, Ridgeline had to redirect Cobalt to the house Ridgeline had. Not very big, but away from the most common earth quakes that frequently shook the earth. Ridgeline had a nice home. But it would be utterly useless if Cobalt couldn't keep up! "Cobalt I'm over here." "Okay thanks!" They finally made it home, the sun would be coming up soon but Ridgeline needed some sleep. Upon the click of the door opening, Cobalt was suddenly right behind him. "Okay, where can I sleep?" "Umm. Over there, to the right of the entrance. On the guest bed." She was already asleep in the bed before Ridgeline entered the house. Too tired to care about manners and invitations, Ridgeline trotted around a corner to his bed and immediately fell unconscious thinking about the strange light blue mare in his house. She thought I was a pegasus... In his dreams, Ridgeline was in an orchestra playing glass instruments. He saw his father, Cliff watching him play and felt proud to be in the orchestra of glass. The ceiling was impossibly high and ornate. It was black and loomed over everything with small white spheres. The walls were painted with works of Cliff's artwork. Silksand was in the orchestra with Ridgeline then, replacing a random player with herself, and she played a glass drum. It made weird sounds. Then the ceiling turned blue and crashed down on the crowd, including Cliff. Ridgeline would be horrified in real life if this happened. In his dream though, the audience shuffled around and was miraculously on top of the now-blue ceiling that was now a floor as well. Everyone shouted out in applause for both the show of glass music and the blue death that safely struck the ground. Author's Note. I made Cobalt Sky. I might have subconsciously based her off of Captain Stormwing though. I know her personality is of mine when I'm on sugar. So I guess I give subconscious credit to CardsLafter and tastey credit to caffeine.
Like Father Like SonHe woke up to a rumble both internal and external. His father, Cliff, was making wheat pie in the kitchen of the house. His mother, Silksand, was cleaning out the dust that had accumulated over the course of the night. "Mom, get out of my room," said Ridgeline as he took note that the quake this time was closer to the house than last time. Ridgeline's mother replied with a smile as she trotted out of the dim-lit room with a broom in her mouth. The small colt fell back down onto his hard grey bed.. "Well Cliff, it seems our little pony is old enough to tell others to stay out of his room," Silksand softly spoke. Cliff could be heard laughing in the other room. His voice was gentle in the coarse environment they all lived in. The days were seeming to shift into each other. This day went just as every other one did, boringly. Ridgeline ate some wheat pie, went to school, had a boring trot home, doing as many chores as were thrown at him, and before the sun set, Ridgeline would ask his father what he was painting this week. Cliff was painting a green field, blue skies, and a golden brown village of happy ponies eating many apples. Ridgeline went to sleep that night both happy and jealous for the imaginary ponies in the imaginary town of imaginary fertility. The next morning, Cliff was making wheat pie again. Ridgeline was an only child. He went to a small school in a small town. His life at this point could hardly be considered life at all. The sky was always grey, and pegasi were rarely there to move the clouds. The earth had been dry and infertile for years. Through earth-pony magic though, the plants stayed alive long enough to make bare minimum food. Minor quakes rippled the ground often, keeping the houses small and quickly built. Unicorns had mostly moved to more habitable, friendlier places long ago. The earth ponies couldn't make the distance to a better land and had to endure their entire lives in boring isolation. There was still hope though. In the very plants of the scorched earth lied colorful, brilliant hope. Cliff had a peculiar job in the town. His job was to inspire, create, and generally distract ponies from their miserable day-after-day chores. He did just that, and so much more. Cliff was a painter, not a very good one, but a motivated one. He would spend all day looking for plants to crumble and press into dyes. He would spend nights mixing and stirring. When he would have enough paint, he would create lovingly crafted pieces of art. So beautiful to this drab world were his paintings, that his inspirational works were placed on display so everypony could see his work. Even the ones that the town couldn't understand very well were met with marveled mares' mesmerized gazes. Silksand was always happy with what Cliff painted, but would be swamped with chores to really see the paintings in detail. Silksand was a loving mother who looked after her only child Ridgeline. She tended the house and kept Ridgeline out of trouble. When she wasn't at home, cleaning and cooking, she would be out in town with her young colt close to her. To the town, this family was a great help to them. Silksand would trot down the rough gravel roads and look for something to help out with. Somepony always needed help from her. Whether it be getting a kite out of a tree, moving aside the wreckage of the last house hit by a quake, or bucking extra apples that the farmer ponies couldn't get on their own. Silksand was a very helpful pony because she felt that with the lack of unicorns, somepony else had to take the responsibilities of the town. She wasn't alone though, Ridgeline was always there by her, assisting in helping the town. Silksand always made sure that her colt was there for anypony who might need a job done. So this day began the same as every other one. Ridgeline woke up to the smell of wheat pancakes cooking in the other room. Bland but carefully cooked. His mother was picking up empty wooden crates that had fallen during the last quake. A slight breeze swept through the house and brought in a distraught moth that had only recently been outside. It fluttered about trying to find where it came from until Silksand noted its existence, dropped the broom and walked over to a wall. She opened a window and the moth more than happily rushed out of it. "Glad to be of help," Silksand muttered under her breath, "Ridgeline, did you see where the moth came from?" He pointed to a crack in the wall. The crack had deepened during the quake and dawn was shining through it. One layer of plaster later and Ridgeline's room was as dark as the other three rooms of the house. The pancakes were as dull as the earth underneath them, and filled with as many cracks. This breakfast wasn't terrible though, it also had a rare treat to go with it. Applesauce. Out in the distance, an off-key set of bells rang a long forgotten song, signaling that school was now taking in students. "Ridgeline you're going to be late!" said Cliff from another room. "Alright I'm a goin..." "Now Ridgeline, pay attention today, you might find your special talent through research," Silksand soothed as Ridgeline casually trotted to school, mentally noting his blank plot. He was definitely going to be late if he went at this pace. "And hurry too!" Cliff knew that his son was trotting too slow without even seeing it. So school went by as every other day. Ridgeline payed full attention to new subjects that the teacher, Ms. Clover, was talking about. "Okay class, today we're going to be talking about magic." A series of sighs filled the air as jealous earth ponies heard the word 'magic'. Ridgeline's was one of them too. "Ms. Clover, why do we have to learn about magic? It's too hard to understand and unicorns are never around for it to actually be useful," a bored colt muttered, half expecting the teacher to brush it off and ignore him. He was a dark green and his cutie mark was a bushel of wheat. "Well mister Hay, The reason you all are going to learn about magic is because unicorns aren't the only magical race in Equestria." Another series of sounds came about then, this time it was more of an intrigued "Huh? sound. Ms. Clover blushed ever so slightly at her own charisma. "You see magic is everywhere, even in you my little ponies. You are much stronger than unicorns and pegasi because of magic. Well... also because you actually use your muscles, but that can only do so much. Everything has magic in it, and that magic is usually overlooked as a simple characteristic or other more logical explanation. Today we are going to perform some of that magic. Who knows, maybe somepony here will fly today." The eyes of the small fillies grew bigger than what a cuteness scale could handle. Ms. Clover was especially happy with the excitement she ensued on the class. But this hope was dashed when a rumble sprang forth from the ground. Filles looked to each other and their faces went from happy to a usual glum mood, the quake reminding them of their surroundings... of their meaninglessness. "Now now class, nothing too bad about a quake. Look, we'll get to do magic some other time. Right now we need to find out which houses were brought down and bring them right back up. Kay?" When the rumbling stopped, Ridgeline looked out the window while the door out of the class was being bombarded with exiting fillies. The whole area seemed about right. No house in the town was breaking down, but of course Ridgeline couldn't see the entire town because the hills it was built on were as wavy as the sea that he had read about in books. There was a small billow of smoke coming from far away though, and Ridgelines heart sank when he realized where it came from. "Mom... D-Dad." As the rest of the class poured out, Ms. Clover looked back in to see if anypony was still inside. Ridgeline was missing. She looked around and saw a small grey pony galloping away to a cloud of black smoke. "Ridgeline!" She was too far away for him to hear her, let alone allow her to catch up to him. Ms Clover shut her eyes and turned her head to the rest of the class, opened her eyes, and straitened her face. "Just looking for broken houses. Let's check on Mister Wheatley's house. That thing has been rickety for five quakes now." Ms. Clover looked over her shoulder to try to find Ridgeline. He was seen again running up another hill, but really far away this time. "Mom! Dad! Are you two okay?!" Ridgeline was shouting at a pile of burning rubble, smoke clinging to his eyes and mane. It was hard to breathe. Possibly ten minutes ago he was overjoyed with the possibility of performing real magic, not some cheap trick. Now, he was choking on the fumes of his own house burning, looking for his parents. "Get down son! It's easier to breathe and cooler down here!" Said a fatherly voice, unlike the normal soothing voice Ridgeline was accustomed to. He looked down and started laughing at them. They looked so funny rolling over to him. "Stop laughing and get down!" Said another non-soothing voice. This time it was from Silksand, and she also looked funny. Ridgeline plopped down laughing and rolled over to meet them, laughing all the way over. "Why are you laughing dear? Our house is burning! All of our things with it." Silksand gave Ridgeline a curious gaze only to be met with one full of happy tears blackened by smoke. "I'm laughing because you two look funny rolling around," Ridgeline babbled through giggles while rolling as well, but not in any direction, "And I'm happy because you are both fine." Silksand and Cliff looked at each other and gained the same face as Ridgeline. They all laughed and rolled about in the dirt, happy that they were all alive and well. None of them even cared for whatever was in the house. A broom, a pan, two beds, some bottles, and crates that kept falling off of other crates. A moth fluttered about above the billows of smoke looking down upon this humorous scene.
Painting with your FamilyAnd so here they were, laughing in front of their burning home. All very much happy to see each other. The house, very much not a house anymore, crumbled as more and more fire danced about it. As the fire consumed more of the family's belongings, they laughed more and more. All the things in the house didn't matter right now, and probably never did. The 'valuable' belongings were broken, cheap, and easily replaceable. There however was one thing of importance. A painting, not the canvas it was on, but the paint itself. Fire danced about in a mix of herbs and fruits. It melted their dried form and liquified into a pool of multicolored paint. "Dad, your painting! It's still in the house. Are you sad about that?" Ridgeline asked now that he had calmed down. "It was a place that I've never seen. Only fitting that nopony else sees it. Out of my imagination, and back to oblivion. I'm alright with that." Cliff was having one of his 'righteous' moments again. Ridgeline would pay utmost attention during these phases, and did so then. "However, I'll need a glass jar. Care to help me look for one son? Silksand, I think it's time to show Ridgeline a little trick I picked up when traveling..." Silksand nodded and started rolling again, minding the smoke that was mere inches above their heads. A few moments later Ridgeline had a jar pressed tightly against his chest with his two front hooves and rolled in the direction of Cliff. He was laying down like a dog on watch, staring with wonderous eyes into the fire that had consumed his grey dusty prison. His focus was broken when a rolling Ridgeline had crashed into him, sending them both down a hill. "Watch it Ridgeline! We need the jar in pristine condition for this to work." "Dad, just what is it that we are going to do with this jar?" Asked a curious Ridgeline. "Well... when the fires die down to a safe amount, we're going to take a look back into the house. I have a feeling that this may work, though I've been wrong before." "Wrong about what?" Ridgeline was a small colt. He didn't get all the reassuring jokes thrown about by parents. So he did what every other small pony would do. He questioned everything. "Never mind that, I think the fire is beginning to die down. Yup it certainly is." It was a roaring flame of chaos and hardly recognizable as anything more than 'on fire'. A small group of ponies came up from a hill then, and Ridgeline noticed a few of them as familiar. "Ms. Clover! It's great to see you! Are there any houses that need remade?" Asked Ridgeline before Silksand could turn a cheerful smile at their company. "Yes, as a matter of fact there is Ridgeline. Yours." Everypony laughed and the newest additions to the party were choking on the smoke, but then they decided to join the crazy rolling ponies. "Well, it's wonderful to see you are all alive and well. When the fires are down, we'll come back and help you rebuild." "Thank you very much for the assistance Ms. Clover, but I think we can have a house set up before next morning. We are, after all, earth ponies." Silksand was happy to see a positive response from Ridgeline's teacher's face. So then as miraculously as they came, the party of helpful ponies left. They rolled down the hill thinking about how silly they looked, and got up as soon as they were out of the smoke. The burning house did start to die down by then though, and Cliff made a smirk of 'I told you so!" at Ridgeline. The fire didn't last long after that. By the time the sun set, behind clouds, what remained at the top of the hill was three ponies, ash, and something else entirely. "Okay, time do see if my little plan will work. Lets just look over here and... aha!" Cliff noticed immediately a small pool of paint that was spared the fate of flame. As the fire burned up, the paint spilled down. "I've waited so long to do this..." Cliff smirked as he opened the jar, and scooped a large hoof-full of paint into it. Then, plucking hairs from his mane, he looked at the two other ponies and gave them a look of 'What you lookin at?'. "What you lookin at?" "You." Ridgeline said, again not getting the cliche jokes of older ponies and just resorting to basic logic. "Well... Okay then!" Cliff wasn't normally sneaky, but somehow he was hiding in plain sight. He trotted over and plucked quite a few hairs from Ridgeline's mane. they were brown and almost indistinguishable from Cliff's. "Ow! Don't do that!" "Silksand dear?" Cliff looked over at his wife who met him with a gaze of 'Why do I put up with you?'. "Because you love me dear." Silksand wasn't shocked that Cliff had just read her mind, but did pluck some hairs of her own. They were a light grey. Not from again, but just her natural mane color. "Alright. Now I need... let's say... some leaves! Yeah, this stuff needs to be a little greener." Three leaves later and the bottle was horrible looking. It had paint, hair, and leaves in it. Truly nopony would ever take just one glance at this peculiar thing of 'art'. But with every jar of leaves, paint, and hairs, Cliff did what should be done. He threw it, sealed, into a nearby fire. The glass bottle burst to colors and rumbled to life as soon as it touched fire. It shot out light of brilliant color, rainbows and white light, but maybe too much green. "Darn, I think I added too many leaves, or maybe I shouldn't have even added one! Oh well, it seems non-lethal so lets take a gander!" Cliff was happy to see that the bottle didn't simply explode and leave him to be embarrassed with his 'idea' gone to waste. "Excuse me dad, but... what is that?" Ridgeline's eyes were completely fixated on the, now not too ugly, bottle. "I mean yeah I know that it is paint, hair, and leaves... maybe too many leaves... but it looks... magical." Cliff raised a brow to his son's wild theory. How did he guess that this is magical? With a grin, Cliff hoofed the bottle over to Ridgeline and said two very unexpected words. Two words that Ridgeline had never wanted to hear when anywhere near this bottle of liquified stuff. "Drink it." "Dad! I don't wanna! It looks gross and it's glowing!" Ridgeline was really determined that this would kill him if he drank it. Cliff just looked at Ridgeline and grinned. "Well, if you wont drink that, then I'll make us up a batch of wheat noodles!" Everypony cringed after hearing those words in the same sentence. Cliff may have been a good painter, but not every artist is great at every art. Cliff was especially terrible at noodles, and wheat simply couldn't be made into anything noodly. "Alright you win dad, but will this kill me if I drink it? Because if it does, I'll kill you." Cliff shrugged his shoulders, very hard to do for a pony, and gave a grin. "Great to see you getting better at jokes kiddo, but honestly, it won't kill you." Ridgeline looked at the liquid. It seemed to look back at him. It was glowing and swirling despite any movement on Ridgeline's part. It smelled like clean air mixed with mint. Giving it a shake, Ridgeline noted that it wasn't as viscous as paint should be, let alone paint with leaves and hair in it, which brought up another point. The hair and leaves were gone, probably melted or burned in the heat, but Ridgeline felt in his mind that they were still in the bottle, in the liquid. Giving it one final look of disgust, Ridgeline slurped it down. It tasted awful. Despite it's refreshing smell, it tasted like rocks, bitter flowers, old cheese, and way way too much green. "Way too much green dad." "Really? I didn't think you would be able taste color son. So here's the bigger question. How do you feel?"
Technically Magic"Hey dad, why are you just staring at me? Cliff looked at him for what seemed an eternity and started to say something. It sounded more or less like somepony had replaced Cliff's words with a long drawn-out incomprehensible blah. "Hhh... Ooowwww...." Cliff didn't even really seem to see Ridgeline. The colt would move a small distance away and Cliff would slowly look back to him. "Aaarrree...." Ridgeline got it then, and laughed at his dad's attempted words. "hahahahahaha. Dadyouaretalkingreallyslowlyrightnow." said a hyperactive Ridgeline. He seemed to have an outline. And the outline seemed to be moving. Cliff looked at his son and then got it, and increased his speed of talking to a near mindless babble. "OkaysonIthinkI'vegotit." Ridgeline gave a very quick nod in approval. "Okay son, I think I've got it." Said a slowly moving Cliff. Silksand stood in awe, wondering why everything was going fast, why her child was babbling, and why Cliff was babbling too. Ridgeline could understand his dad now so he thought that whatever the drink did, it was over now. "Aww dad! That drink's effect didn't last anywhere near as long as I thought it would!" "Okay, I have no idea what our son is saying now dear," Cliff said over his shoulder to Silksand, who simply looked shocked at Ridgeline. "Is he going to be so... hyper... forever?" "No, just for a couple of hours. But to him, two hours would seem like a few days. We'd better make him some food and fast. His metabolism must be murder." "Okayitstillworks. I'mgoingtogorunaroundnow! Bye!" Ridgeline vanished behind a cloud of kicked up dirt and ash. Everything was so slow that Ridgeline could happily do whatever he wanted and nopony could stop him. But he was nicer than that, so he walked through town and waved at the ponies that slowly turned to a shocked expression. Ridgeline found it amazing that when somepony dropped whatever they were holding, the item fell slowly too. But something was bothering him. Something was making him feel very very bored. He felt an urge to walk a little faster, and then a little faster. Before he knew it, he was running at his top speed. Adrenaline was pumping as he pressed onward. Ridgeline couldn't believe that he was running so fast that he had to snap back to reality just to steer away from a strangely green tree. And then another. And then another tree was in his path. Ridgeline didn't feel that tired at all, even though he was pressing himself to the limits, and beyond that entirely. He was running as fast as he could, and the world around him was as slow as it could be. "This is..." He gasped as his voice seemed much higher pitched than he remembered himself being. "Oh! The Trotler effect," said a very high pitched Ridgeline. This place seemed weird, foreign, and beautiful. It took a few seconds for Ridgeline to register that he had traveled very far, very fast. He had no idea where he was, but a trail of hoof prints and dust could lead him back. But Ridgeline didn't really want to go back just yet, and slowed down a little. Running in very big circles, he was able to slow down even more. He reduced his speed to a very slow trot, but couldn't actually stop just yet. As he brushed past beautiful plants and very fertile earth, he had an idea. "Ms. Clover said that magic is in everything," said a Ridgeline much like how his voice should be, "Dad made that drink out of plants too. Well... and our manes, but there's magic in that too." He gathered as many plants as he could pick up and decided that that just wasn't going to cut it. Instead, he took some large leaves, as big as he was, and made a make-shift basket. It was huge, colorful, and best of all, it could be used for more drinks. Ridgeline thought that there was some sort of vocabulary that he was missing but didn't feel like asking his slowed-down dad right then and there what the word was. "I think that this might be enough," said a very large pile of plants and pretty rocks. Before he initiated ludacris speed, Ridgeline noted that all that stuff would just fly back as he flew forward. So he did what every sensible pony moving at the speed of sound with a pile of plants and rocks did. He moved it all right in front of him. Feeling that everything was going to be fine, he headed off again. In reality, Ridgeline couldn't bear to be 'standing' around any longer. He had to move, and he had to move fast! The wall of things didn't bother him at all, he looked down at his hooves when he felt that he was moving fast enough now. Even with hyper sight, his hooves were a blur of grey and dirt. He was moving really quickly. Following his own trail back into town, he followed a few curves around trees that he couldn't even see behind the mountain of stuff. Just for fun he said a few jokes on the way back home. "My voice is higher pitched than your voice!" He then ran much faster. "Well my voice is higher than yours!" He was a blur of high-pitched laughter. Suddenly, the tracks stopped. He was home. And then he wasn't. He had overshot his destination, and making a sudden turn with all this stuff in front of him didn't seem like a good idea. So instead, he moved around very slowly in a large circle back to his house, slowing down as much as he could on the way there. "Eee!" is all that Cliff heard as the air itself ripped him to his left. Darnit Ridgeline! What is that thing on you? As he brought himself back up, a very large thud shook him to the ground. Right in front of him were some very exotic plants. "That's my boy! I already know he wants another potion. But first, I need to make him a dinner." Cliff waved as fast as he could to the grey blur 'standing' in front of him. It sort of grew another blur off of its side, and it shrank back into it. That's the fastest wave I've ever seen. Just like that, Ridgeline was gone again, a breeze told Cliff where he went off to. A large pile of things still lay at his side. "Well... let's just take a peek at what he found then, then I'll make a dinner. With what all this looks like, we're going to be eating very well today." Ridgeline was happier than he ever was. He had been running nearly at the speed of sound. With the joy of a thousand happy ponies, he yelled "I AM THE FASTEST PONY IN EQUESTRIA!" MEANWHILE IN PONYVILLE! "Somewhere.. Somepony... said they are faster than me..." said Rainbow Dash. She knew when she was challenged. All she needed to do now was find out who and where this 'fastest pony in Equestria' was. MEANWHILE IN WHEREVER THE STORY IS I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET! Ridgeline zipped past everypony he saw, and everypony he thought he saw. By not carrying that large mass of plants and rocks, he was able to turn with much greater ease. He tried a jump, and he stopped feeling the ground under him. His legs were still flailing, trying to grab some air to run on. All this running didn't affect him in the least though. In fact, Ridgeline felt like he could run for hours more! But his mind trailed off to a better idea. All that stuff could make what a few hairs, paint, and leaves couldn't. Ridgeline thought that if he ran fast enough, he would shorten the length of this amazing affect. So without any effort, more or less releasing more control to this urge to run faster, he hit the ground and started to bolt as fast as he could. (He was in the air the entire time of the 'idea'.) So with the determination to create more of this stuff, and the adrenaline of running, Ridgeline accomplished what everypony would always go through. In a flash of light, a light that could stay with him, a brilliant aura consumed Ridgeline. He felt very happy for seemingly no reason at all. He looked around to see if any side effects were taking place. Nothing here, no adverse effects and "WHAO!" It was red, yellow, and blue. There were three of them. Each was a glass bottle filled with a different color. They all aimed to the center of the mark. Yes, the mark! The most important moment of any filly or colt's life! Ridgeline had his cutie mark, and he thought it looked amazing. Well, I guess everypony thinks theirs is amazing but... wow mine is amazing! Suddenly, he could taste something peculiar. Mint. Everything tasted... minty. "Well I guess that's my queue to stop running now. Well maybe I should run home then." In a few moments on reality standards, Ridgeline was home. To his standards, it took twenty minutes of joyous running. He came 'home' to his father and mother. They were both still sifting through the giant pile of stuff that Ridgeline had brought in what seemed like days ago. "Youarestilllookingthroughallthatstuff?" "YesweareRidgeline! Aren'tyoudonebeingfastyet?" "Yeah,it'sgoingawaynow. Ineedsomefoodandsleep." "Okay. Wemadesomedinnerforyouandit'snotwheatnoodles." "Coolkaythanksbye." And with that, Ridgeline grabbed a few large leaves from the pile to make a bed with, ate a pear, an apple, a celery stick, and some wheat pancakes, and slept under the stars. A shooting star was amazing to watch in slow motion. Best. Day. Ever.
Meeting Cobalt SkyIt was late in the night, everypony in the town was asleep except for one. Ridgeline. Nine years have passed since he found his talent in alchemy. He's moved out of Cliff and silksand's house too. He studies and gathers ingredients with the same feverish intent he had the first day, and every day between. This night, Ridgeline was trying to get a more elusive substance. "Darn! Another failure." The moon shone brightly over the sleepy town. The grass was in a rare state of healthy green. A gentle breeze swept over the dry night air, sending waves across the grass and shivers over Ridgeline's back. He looked like a foal swinging a glass jar around. Realizing that he couldn't just bottle his prized trophy, he resorted to more practical means of gathering. "Well, I didn't want to do this... but you forced me!" His self-encouraging voice was made awkward by his staggering trot over to a brown bag of many pockets. This was far too late for him to be awake and he knew it. But night time was the only way to get moonlight. Shuffling through his bag, Ridgeline removed a glass jar tightly sealed. Inside, a deep blue water released white tufts of clouds. The tiny sky was fused together as Ridgeline violently shook it back to a uniform liquid and chugged. "Tastes like sky," was all Ridgeline had to say before floating up into the drowsy night air. The lack of a ground pressing against him made Ridgeline feel invigorated and awake again. He swayed and danced in the air, relishing all the time possible of flight he had. "Okay, time to get some moonlight." He made some swimming motions like he was trying to reach the bottom of a lake and began to descend. He pulled another jar from the bag. This one had a glossy coating around the inside, almost a greasy sheen was around the interior of the small jar. 'Swimming' back up to enjoy the effects of this potion some more, Ridgeline back stroked closer and closer to the source of the moonlight. "Lets see how well juniper, toadstool, and honey can trap light." Upon uncorking the bottle, beams of light condensed, changed direction as a fluid would, and shot into the jar. A splotch on the ground grew darker as more light was pressed together by the invisible force of the jar's coating. Ridgeline watched in awe as a very small sphere formed in the jar. He closed it and marveled at the moonlight's luminance both from the jar and the moon itself. "Great! Finally I can find out what properties moonlight has!" "Look out below!" "Wha-oomph-" Rdigeline was nearly flattened by a pagasus who decided it would be a great idea to suddenly start falling. "AAAAGGHH! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" "No you're not silly! You can just fly around me," said the light blue pegasus as she hurdled to the ground, "besides," she squirmed in the air to get around the falling Ridgeline under her and suddenly she was on the bottom, "I can take the fall!" Ridgeline had no idea what to do. His levitation potion was wearing away fast, and he had to save a pony from committing suicide via sky-diving. He didn't even notice the fact she was grinning from her bad falling pun earlier. Too late. The sound of a light blue pegasus two feet away smashing into the ground wasn't at all familiar to Ridgeline. The sound that he heard though, was not at all what he expected. "That was fun huh?" "How did-" Ridgeline began, but was cut off with a happy smile not entirely directed at him. Something was a bit off about her face, maybe it was her eyes. Her eyes were entirely blue and had a slight fog over them. She didn't focus on Ridgeline's face as she stretched her wings and stood up from her 'landing' pose. "Hello, my name is Cobalt. Friends call me Cobalt. Enemies and my mother call me Cobalt Sky. People who don't know me-" "Yes I know, your name is Cobalt Sky. Mind telling me why you were falling to your death in the middle of the night?" "I always practice landings, you gotta know where the ground is when you fly as much as I do! Hey! What's your name? I don't recognize your voice." "Umm... Ridgeline." And she recognizes my face? "Great to meet you Ridgeline! So tell me now, what was a pegasus like you doing falling in the middle of the night?" "I'm not a-" "Not a what? A pony that knows why they were falling? I can answer your question! You were falling because I was on top!" Cobalt suddenly looked embarrassed, but still didn't focus her gaze at Ridgeline as she talked. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that! I was falling and you were under me and you were screaming and-" "There's something odd about you Cobalt, I don't know what though..." "Well there's something odd about you Ridgeline. I know though... You are tired!" "Yes, I am. I should get to bed, I have what I came here for." "Me? Because I can totally go to a sleepover right now! All I need to do is come over, then I'll sleep! Best. Sleepover. Ever!" "Umm, oh well what's the harm? Follow me!" "Okay, lead the way sleepy mister sleepover!" The entire way back, Ridgeline had to redirect Cobalt to the house Ridgeline had. Not very big, but away from the most common earth quakes that frequently shook the earth. Ridgeline had a nice home. But it would be utterly useless if Cobalt couldn't keep up! "Cobalt I'm over here." "Okay thanks!" They finally made it home, the sun would be coming up soon but Ridgeline needed some sleep. Upon the click of the door opening, Cobalt was suddenly right behind him. "Okay, where can I sleep?" "Umm. Over there, to the right of the entrance. On the guest bed." She was already asleep in the bed before Ridgeline entered the house. Too tired to care about manners and invitations, Ridgeline trotted around a corner to his bed and immediately fell unconscious thinking about the strange light blue mare in his house. She thought I was a pegasus... In his dreams, Ridgeline was in an orchestra playing glass instruments. He saw his father, Cliff watching him play and felt proud to be in the orchestra of glass. The ceiling was impossibly high and ornate. It was black and loomed over everything with small white spheres. The walls were painted with works of Cliff's artwork. Silksand was in the orchestra with Ridgeline then, replacing a random player with herself, and she played a glass drum. It made weird sounds. Then the ceiling turned blue and crashed down on the crowd, including Cliff. Ridgeline would be horrified in real life if this happened. In his dream though, the audience shuffled around and was miraculously on top of the now-blue ceiling that was now a floor as well. Everyone shouted out in applause for both the show of glass music and the blue death that safely struck the ground. Author's Note. I made Cobalt Sky. I might have subconsciously based her off of Captain Stormwing though. I know her personality is of mine when I'm on sugar. So I guess I give subconscious credit to CardsLafter and tastey credit to caffeine.
