Element of Fire

"Twilight... Twilight! Are you okay?"

Twilight tried to open her eyes, in attempt to find the voice. It wasn't Celestia's voice anymore, it was... Spike's.

"Are you okay?" he repeated, this time with less concern, now that Twilight was somewhat awake. Groggily, the unicorn mare got up, anchoring herself with both of her forehoofs on her new bed.

"I-I'm okay..." she said. "Just- I had a bad dream."

"Okay... well, I woke up early to make breakfast, but you were mumbling in your sleep. Right now, it's noon."

"Oh dear Celestia! How could I stay in bed for so long?"

Twilight scrambled out of bed, and prepared herself for the day, heading towards the bathroom. Using her magic, she picked up the brush and began to fix her unkempt mane into its usual style. While brushing her hair, her horn glowed brighter as she picked up a toothbrush. Although she was cleaning herself up, she could not scrub away the nightmare. It was still fresh in her mind, hanging there like an apple, waiting to fall.

As Twilight stepped into the kitchen, Spike had finished cooking breakfast; pan- fried veggie dumplings, her favorite! Along with that, Spike made a two bowls of a light broth soup, two glasses of water, and a plate of egg custards. She sat down on the chairs, staring at the plate of dumplings before her.

"How did you make breakfast? We didn't bring any glasses or plates," Twilight asked, elevating one of the dumplings.

"Oh. I woke up early, remember? And, I brought a lot of bits to buy the food. But I'm sure Princess Celestia had something to do with the whole thing."

"Yeah... that makes sense. She was the one who let us live here, after all."

"Yup. Oh... Twilight, what was that, uh, dream about?"

Twilight let out a sigh. She bit into a dumpling, and chewed thoughtfully, savoring the flavor. Most of the time, ponies would forget about their dreams, with only a trace of what happened left. But nightmares were easier to remember.

"Well, remember when Princess Celestia was talking about the avatar state?"

Spike bit his lip, thinking, then nodded. "Yeah. I was taking notes about it. They still might be in your saddlebag."

"I was in the avatar state," Twilight continued. "My eyes were glowing white, which was probably a sign of being in the avatar state, and I was hovering."

"Woah. Was that it?"

"No. The equalists-supporters... they were trying to fight me. I got knocked out and fell."

"What? You got-"

"Oh no-no, I didn't get knocked out, the dream-version of me did," she quickly restated, cutting off Spike. The dragon scratched his head, but looked up at Twilight. He nodded, and Twilight continued explaining her nightmare.

"Then, I heard Celestia's voice. She said that if I was killed in the avatar state, the avatar cycle would end. Then there was a comet-no, there was already a comet in the beginning of the dream, but it got closer. But the dream ended, since you woke me up." Once she finished explaining, she wrapped her magic around the spoon, and began to eat the soup. Slowly sipping, Twilight waited for Spike to respond. He was quiet, then sighed.

"I don't know what that means Twilight. But the comet... it was probably Sozin's comet!"

Twilight remembered a something from the element book, something about a comet giving even more power to a fire-bender. And, fire had been her first element she chose to start with for that very reason...

"Spike," she said in a calm tone. "I understand how this may sound... but I want you to teach me how to firebend."

The baby dragon dropped his egg custard onto the plate. "What? No! I would love to, but I'm a terr-"

"I know, I know. But I need to know how to bend an element, and I chose fire."

"Are you sure? You already have magic."

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't learn how to bend another element, aside from magic."

"Uh..."

"Exactly." Twilight's mind spun. She wanted to say more, and it sounded much better in her head than out loud. What else, what else?

"Spike, I want you to teach me the basic but still important fire-bending moves. Sozin's comet is coming in approximately 6 weeks , and it should aid me if I'm in danger."

After a couple more minutes, the dragon had made up his mind; he was going to teach Twilight Sparkle to fire-bend. He didn't think that her claim was thorough enough, but Spike didn't question her- as the avatar, it is her job to learn all five elements, and he was going to be her mentor. Which is the main reason why he didn't want to help her, but still, he had to. For Twilight.

"Alright, I will. I must warn you, I'm not a good teacher, and fire-bending may be a bit difficult.

"Perfect! Thank you Spike, thank you!" she said, knocking her bowl of soup off the table. Twilight gasped, and immediately caught the flying bowl in mid-air. Drops of the broth floated back to its porcelain bowl. She looked at the floor, checking for any leftover spills, but everything was fine. She sighed in relief, and continued to sip her soup.

After breakfast, Twilight and Spike headed out for a quick walk, and stumbled upon Applejack. At first, the lavender unicorn did not recognize the area they were in, but remembered the party from last night. Applejack had said that she lived in Sweet Apple Acres, and here they were. Perhaps there was an empty space somewhere so that the two can train in peace-after all, Applejack was one of their new friends, and since Celestia had said making friends would help Twilight with magic, she should at least spend more time with her. In fact, she was determined to make her new friends the best friends she could have.

"Howdy, there, Twilight!" Applejack's voice cut through Twilight's thinking like a knife. "What brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"

"Oh- hello! I just wanted to hang out, and-"

"Aw, shore doo! You came at the right moment, 'cause it's break time for me!"

Applejack then lifted a hoof, signaling Twilight and Spike to walk under the white arch, which was basically the entrance to the whole acre. There was a scarlet barn that was the center of attention, and as they walked, Applejack gave them a quick tour of the area. It was vast, and quite long (although it was more verbal then actually-walking around the acres).

As they walked, the unicorn also explained her true intentions at the start; to practice her fire-bending. She was first worried that the earth pony would not let her, which was perfectly understandable, but Applejack simply smiled and showed them an abandoned barn.

"This here is a old barn our family be trying to get rid of, but we just keep forgettin'." She turned, and looked at the two of them. "Y'all understand where this heading?"

"Yup. Destroy the barn... if we can," Spike answered.

"Good! Now, I'll be a- watchin', too, in case somethin' happens." Her voice dropped to a more quiet, sad tone when she said those final three words, as if she remembered a bad memory. Twilight wanted to ask, but focused on her training instead.

Twilight mentally prepared herself, but didn't know what to do on physical terms. What stance should I be in? How should I breathe? When will I shoot fire from my horn? When? How? She stood in front of the old barn, taking in its details; it had a slight, musty odor, a dark, cavernous inside, faded red paint, and overall had an inadequate appearance, which made sense for something that has been abandoned. Then, looked back at Spike.

"Now, Twilight, I'm going to explain this the best I can."

"Okay."

"First of all, did your book tell you anything? Like, about fire?"

"Yes, it taught me that fire bending dragons were the original fire-benders." The comment almost made Spike grin with pride. "But didn't actually teach me all of the basic moves."

Spike nodded, then glanced at the barn, thinking. What should he teach first? He thought about it for awhile. Original fire-benders... that must mean ponies learned from the dragons. If he can recall some of the methods on breathing fire, then surely he can teach it to Twilight. That must be how the ponies learned to not breathe fire, but to instead, bend it!

Then, the whole lesson formed in his head, and he snapped his clawed fingers together.

"First of all, you have to learn how to breathe. Well, not relearn anything, but you have to breathe properly. This is really important, especially if you're a fire-breathing dragon," Spike explained. "Now, inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. This is a basic exercise." Spike demonstrated with closed eyes. When he opened them, he saw that Twilight followed his instructions perfectly.

"You know, you're not a bad teacher," Twilight said with a smile. Spike smiled back, unable to resist.

"Good. Now, fix your stance a little bit. Straighten up. And while you're at it, feel the sun, and its energy. It's the source of fire-bending... at least, for ponies," Spike said, chuckling.

"Spike, when am I going to shoot fire from my horn? I alre-"

"You will soon, Twilight. And since you're a quick learner, you'll be down with the basics in no time," Spike quickly replied, and took a deep breath before setting the old, abandoned barn ablaze. Applejack cheered. Twilight grunted, her patience growing thin. She wanted to create fire now, just like Spike.

"Yee-haw! Now that's one darn hay of a fire!"

Spike was right; it had taken only one week for Twilight to learn all of the basics, and she even learned how to control fire. Spike would breath out his own fire, or take some other source of flames, and Twilight would either make the fire smaller, larger or just move it around. Despite her excellent training, she couldn't produce fire. She tried many times, but it seemed like her horn refused. She was frustrated.

Her fire-bending routine was always the same; she would hang out with one of her friends, and trained there. Twilight didn't like to train at her own house, since there were too many equalist-supporters, and their meeting was tomorrow night. She had not told anypony else that she was the avatar, but it didn't take long until somepony else found out on their own...

"Sombra. I need to tell you something," Lieutenant said, his hoof gripped tightly to the telephone. Gravel Hoof was by his side, still as a rock. Maybe that's why his mother named him Gravel. The Hoof part... well, his hooves were shaking, a habit of his when his emotions were at its peak. Right now, excitement was the emotion Gravel was dealing with.

"Hm. Explain."

"I believe that Gravel Hoof and I have found the avatar, in Ponyville."

"What?" Sombra's voice was laced with disbelief. "Tell me more, now," he demanded.

As Lieutenant finished explaining everything, Sombra had come up with a plan.

"I want you to lure the avatar in with her friends. They will be one of the first volunteers to get their bending removed. Do you understand your task?

"Yes, leader."

"Very well, Brick. I will see you tomorrow. Our revolution truly begun."

Sombra hung up first. Gravel Hoof smiled, then plopped himself into a nearby chair, and started babbling about the revelation, and how it confused him when SOmbra said revelation and revolution. Brick sat down as well, blowing a lock of his mane away from his face, and began to zone out of his partner's chatter. He was proud to be Lieutenant alone, but now that he- and Gravel Hoof- had discovered the avatar, his pride grew. He felt honored- perhaps destiny was on his side, and luck.

He was lucky enough to see that newcomer Twilight Sparkle arrive in Ponyville. Gravel Hoof had visited Canterlot to check the equalists in the area, and noticed Celestia walk into a pony's home. He eavesdropped through a the barely-opened window, and all that Gravel heard was 'avatar' and 'Ponyville'. He had left earlier than planned, and barged into Brick's home, eager to tell his information. The gray stallion acted like a little filly at a candy store, and the thought of it made Brick snicker.