Element of Fire

"Princess Celestia," the royal chef Gold Leaf began, as soon as she stepped into the kitchen. "Your dinner has been made."

She smiled, nodding. "Lovely. Can you bring it to the throne, as usual?"

The chef nodded back. Celestia spreaded her wings, and started to fly towards the throne room. Two guards stood on each side of the entrance. They all saluted before stepping aside for the alicorn to pass the large, wooden doors that led to her throne; a gem-encrusted gold chair that was a few feet above ground, with deep pink cushions. There were five sets of stairs that lead to the throne, followed by a red carpet. The ceiling had a crystal chandelier that flickered with multicolored flames. Pastel pillars decorated with flags were placed symmetrically on either side of the room, along with stained glass windows with different artworks.

Soon, the chef arrived with a silver cart. On it there were four dishes, covered with silver domes. A clear teapot with blooming tea was also present, and a single teacup stood.

"Your highness, I hope you enjoy the dinner I made today," Gold Leaf spoke, removing the plate covers. "First, a refreshing salad with hibiscus petals as the appetizer. Second is the rich cream of carrot soup, topped with a hint of ginger."

"You never fail to impress me, Gold Leaf," Princess Celestia said, her mouth watering already from the sight and aroma of the food before her.

"Of course! You don't mind ginger in small amounts, correct?"

"I don't mind. I appreciate the fact that you put a hint of ginger."

"May I continue, your highness?" Gold Leaf asked politely. Celestia nodded, and blushed. This situation happened often, but the chef did not mind, or at least the princess assumed from his nonchalant tone.

"Anyhow, the third meal is the main course. I have prepared some rice, topped with steamed vegetables and a special sauce. And the last dish, is dessert; steamed pear. A new recipe."

"Thank you, Gold Leaf for your hard work. You may go now."

As she was finishing the last of the salad and beginning to eat the carrot soup, a small blast of green fire appeared, soon transforming into smoke. A scroll dropped to the floor.

A letter from Twilight.

Multitasking with magic, she took a quiet sip of the remaining soup on her spoon, and lifted the letter, unfurling it. Her student usually didn't send letters during the nighttime, so Celestia was surprised to even see the signature green fire of Spike appear before her eyes. Bringing the letter close, she began to read it aloud.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have something urgent to tell you. My friends and I had been kidnapped by the equalists, and were taken to the revelation. None of us got hurt- or at least, after the chi blockers attacked us. Anyways, I witnessed Sombra, leader of the equalists, take away a fire-bender's bending. I don't know what else to say aside from the obvious; we must find a way to protect benders from the equalists, and have this situation sorted out soon. Please respond back if you have any ideas, so that I can help, as the avatar.

Sincerely,

Your faithful student Twilight Sparkle

Celestia dropped the letter back to the floor, appalled. How could Sombra remove one's bending? It was impossible! Her mind spun with thoughts and theories, but she had to put them aside. She needed to do something about the equalists, before it gets worse. But how?

Perhaps she should arrange a meeting with all of the leaders and Equestrian council by tomorrow, but that would be too many ponies attending. Celestia could just have a meeting with the Equestrian council, but Twilight... should her friends come? No, she couldn't trust their manners, and Twilight would just report the outcome of the meeting to her friends, anyways. She would let Twilight and Spike come to the meeting.

Princess Celestia hastily finished the rest of her meal, and poured herself a bit more of the blooming tea before levitating the tea cup and teapot, a golden aura surrounding the two objects. The flower that blossomed when water contacted it swayed with the wobble of the tea, but otherwise nothing spilled.

Celestia turned to face the four guards that were still standing near the wooden doors.

"Something wrong, your highness?"

"Yes. Send letters to Fire Lily, Wind Chime, Jadestone, Kya and Cinnamon Toast. Don' forget to send a letter to Twilight Sparkle. We are going to have a meeting about the equalists."

"Yes, your highness. We will send them right away."

"Good, good," Celestia said. Deep down, however, she felt like it wasn't going to be good. Fire Lily was known to be a little hotheaded during meetings, and even infamous for disagreeing on many topics. Not to mention, the stallion on the radio said that the council-pony was planning on attacking the equalists during the arrival of Sozin's comet. She shook her head. She was going to find a way through all this chaos.

Twilight paced back and forth in front of the large, golden gates of the Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia had told them that they- she and Spike- would be part of an important meeting with the Equestrian Council, a council that represented the five different nations that were once divided. Twilight learned about them in school, and the most popular representative was Fire Lily, known for her grumpy attitude. She definitely wasn't prepared to see the councilmare, let alone the other representatives and Celestia. Thinking about Celestia made Twilight murmur to herself.

Spike, on the other hoof, groaned.

"What's taking so long?" he said, turning to see Twilight. Her pace grew faster, and her murmurs were louder. Spike raised his eyebrows. "Is there something, uh, wrong?"

Twilight turned to face the baby dragon, and began to slowly walk closer to him. Spike took a couple steps backwards, his tail already touching the gates.

"O-of course I'm not wrong, I'm just a teensy weensy bit worried! I'm fine! Is there something wrong with being worried since I am the avatar, and about to face the council and princess of the sun? NO, THERE ISN'T! I'M FINE, JUST. A. LITTLE. WORRIED!"

As Spike's backside touched the gate, it opened, nearly making the poor dragon fall over. A royal guard walked up to the dragon and avatar, lifting his hoof, signalling to enter. He smiled, and Twilight stopped worrying. It was a familiar face- Shining Armor. A big grin appeared on her face, and she wrapped her fore-hooves around her brother's neck.

"Twily! I haven't seen you in a week or something! I missed you so much."

"Me too, Shiny. Me too."

After their quick reunion, Shining Armor looked at Spike, who smiled back.

"Good to see you too, Spike." he turned to face Twilight once more. "Sorry for the wait. The meeting area is to the far left. I would love to lead you guys there, but I'm on tower patrol duty. Bye!"

A couple minutes later, the two found the meeting area. All five representatives stopped their conversations as Twilight walked in. Every councilpony sat on a chair that was embellished to represent their corresponding element. Celestia was on the highest chair, in the center of the half-disk table; her seat was gold, not unlike her throne, with a large sun piece just above her head. Beside the gold chair was a slightly smaller, one to the right of her. The chair was made out of obsidian and splashes of silver, and decorated with depictions of the night sky. Princess Celestia pointed her hoof at the silver chair, nodding for Twilight to take her seat.

"Excuse me- uh, Princess Celestia," Spike started. "Where do I sit?"

"Oh- my apologies. The meeting is going to start now, since you're here. Do you mind standing?"

Spike sighed, and leaned against Twilight's chair. "No, I guess not."

After what seemed like an eternity, the meeting began. Princess Celestia first spoke, leading the meeting, acting as the chairpony. Fire Lily quickly picked on, saying her opinions out loud. She also shook her head and moved her hooves a lot.

"We should attack and destroy the equalists! Think of it as a war. good versus bad! Believe me, an action of justice should do the trick!" she argued, slamming her hooves to the table for the third time. "We need to do something to put an end to this quisquose!"

Wind Chime -the representative of air- shook his head.

"I disagree. My airbenders will not participate in the battle you wish for. The equalists didn't even attack yet! We should defend everypony, and fighting the equalists will be mandatory if they truly attack us first!"

"I agree with Wind Chime," Celestia said. She turned to Twilight, who remained silent the whole time. "What would you like to say, Twilight Sparkle?"

Everypony in the room faced her. Fire Lily's amber eyes glared at her, causing the lavender unicorn to gulp.

"Well, u., I kind of agree with Celestia and Wind Chime. There has to be another way..."

"Really? What do you want to do?" Fire Lily said, crossing her forehooves together.

"Well, we should protect everypony located in equalist hot-spots. Maybe send guards, the army, patrol... somepony. If something happens, then the guards will be ready to attack."

"But I believe using the power of Sozin's comet will help the fire-bending army with offense. Well?'

"Um..."

Twilight looked at Spike, who bit his lip. The dragon had no ideas either. The unicorn looked back at the fire-representative, who was quickly losing her patience. Twilight took a deep breath, and stood tall, trying to look confident.

"If you heard on the radio, the Lieutenant of the equalists said that he was sure you were going to attack during Sozin's comet. This must mean they might be planning something when that event arrives." Fire Lily opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight cut her off. "But, that would only strengthen the equalist's claim of benders being bad ponies. We should defend unless there truly is no choice."

Fire Lily shrunk back into her chair, thinking of something to say back.

"I must admit, you have... a point. But what are you going to do? You are the avatar, after all. Sombra will have to be faced soon, by my army or you."

This time Twilight shrunk back, staring at the table. She was right; Sombra had to be faced soon, either by her or the fire-bending army. But I didn't even fully master fire-bending! Twilight thought. Spike couldn't train her forever, and she wasn't a dragon. She needed a new master soon.

All of those chaotic thoughts formed a vision of her being defeated by Sombra. He cackled at her behind his mask, walking closer and closer...

"Miss Sparkle, pay attention!" Fire Lily's voice snapped  at her, bringing Twilight back to reality. "I said that you should face Sombra. The army will deal with the equalists. This will be your first task as the avatar. Understood?"

"Uh- yes. But Mrs. Fire Lily-"

"Miss Fire Lily."

"Oh- Miss Fire Lily, my fire-bending... I haven't mastered it. How could I face Sombra?" Spike looked up at Twilight, frowning. "Sorry Spike," she whispered.

Fire Lily laughed, and slowly walked towards Twilight. She placed her hoof on the lavender unicorn, and looked at her right in the eye.

"Don't you worry about fire-bending. When I'm done with you, you'll be the best fire-bender in Equestria. Second to me, of course."

As if Twilight wasn't intimidated enough, Fire Lily's horn began to glow, creating a bright blue flame. She gasped, and Celestia chuckled.

"She's quite an advanced fire-bender, isn't she?" Celestia remarked.

The flame quickly died down, and the fire-bender sat down. After a few more comments, the meeting was over. Fire Lily informed Twilight that their training would begin tomorrow, and that she must be on time.

Spike and Twilight left the castle. Remnants of Fire Lily's azure flames flashed through Twilight's mind. That pony must be very advanced to even produce blue flames. It was beautiful but a bit frightening. How could any bender stand a chance against that mare?

The two took a train ride home, and by the time they arrived it was a bit past noon. Owlicious greeted them both with a loud hoot, and immediately Spike went to the kitchen to fix up a quick meal. Twilight thought about those negative thoughts once more; of Sozin's comet, the equalists, Sombra... it was all too much. And, she was hungry.

"Spike? Is the meal ready?" she said, peeking at the kitchen. The baby dragon nodded, and pointed to the table. On top were two plates with sandwiches, and two glasses of water. She walked over to the plate closest to her, and nibbled at it. Twilight had planned to go to Sweet Apple Acres, where her friends would meet after the meeting, but she just felt... something wrong. She wasn't sure what emotion she was feeling, but it wasn't a good one.

Spike walked over to the plate opposite to Twilight, humming an upbeat tune. His eager claws grabbed the sandwich, and he took the largest bite he could. His gaze on the sandwich soon met Twilight's purple eyes, and he frowned.

"Whuss won Twilight?" he asked, ending the question with a swallow. Crumbs flew as Spike wiped his chin with a paper napkin. He repeated his question, except without food in his mouth. Twilight sighed, placing her sandwich down. "Is the sandwich bad?" she shook her head at Spike. The dragon was relieved to hear that, but it didn't answer his first question.

"Spike," Twilight finally said after a few moments of silence. "What if I'm not ready?"

"What do you mean? For firebending?"

"No- I mean, like, for being..." Twilight trailed off, searching for the right words to say. "What if I'm not a good avatar?"

Spike slammed his claws onto the table, shaking his head. He was shocked to hear Twilight even say those words. She was an amazing unicorn, and not to mention the avatar!

"No way! You haven't even became a fully-realized avatar!"

"Yes, I know that Spike. But I can't face a pony who can take away bending. There are other ponies out there who are better heroes than I am, and they don't have the avatar spirit inside of them. They could be a better avatar than I am. Just- I don't know."

Spike, this time, remained silent. He stared at the floor, pondering on what to say back at Twilight's own words. She had just called herself basically a useless pony. There must be something that he could say to cheer her up. Twilight was like an older sister to him- she was the one who hatched and raised him, after all. Whenever he couldn't help her feel better or anything, he felt almost... shallow.

"Twilight, in this world, you don't chose your destiny. Destiny... it chooses you. So what if somepony else could do something better than you? Their destiny is different from yours, and you are destined to be, well, the avatar."

Twilight gave a small smile, his words soothing her. He was right; nopony chose their own destiny. It was the other way around.

"Thank you, Spike. Do you want to go to Sweet Apple Acres?"

After the sandwiches, the two once again went to another destination, this time Applejack's farm. It was only a short visit, since Twilight was only telling her friends about the meeting with Princess Celestia and the Equestrian Council. As expected, all of her friends were there, waiting for her arrival. Twilight waved her hoof.

A green plaid blanket had been spread across the grass, and a basket stood in the center, filled with various types of apples, hoof-picked by Applejack and Big Macintosh. Not only were her friends there, but a little white bunny and a turtle- no, tortoise. The tortoise had a strange helicopter-like device attached to his shell, giving him the ability to fly. A brown and white dog barked and chased the flying reptile, standing on its hind legs every once in a while.

Pinkie Pie was the first to notice the two approaching.

"Ooh! TWILIGHT! SPIKE! How was the meeting? Was it boring? Did it have balloons?" she babbled, bouncing in her usual idyllic manner. Rarity laughed, pushing the curled lock of her purple mane that hung in front of her face with her magic.

"Darling, it's a meeting. It must be pretty important since Princess Celestia and the Equestrian Council was there. Not necessarily fun, but important."

"Wait a minute! Let me introduce you to some more friends! This here is Winona, Applejack's dog," Pinkie Pie said, pointing her hoof to the dog. "This is Fluttershy's cute little bunny, Angel!" The bunny stared at Pinkie Pie, and crossed its arms. It was as if he didn't enjoy ponies calling him 'cute'.

"And this fellow is Tank! Rainbow Dash's awesome turtle!"

"Tank's a tortoise" Dash snapped, her wings flapping faster with annoyance. That pony was good at introducing herself, but not others. Rainbow sighed.

Twilight smiled, sitting beside Pinkie and Rarity. Spike was more than happy to be next to his crush, and began chatting with her, stuttering on some words while Twilight explained what happened earlier. She took bites of her apple, alternating from eating to talking, levitating the fruit with her magical aura. The apple was crisp and tart, just the way she liked it.

She told her friends everything, except for her conversation with Spike. Twilight didn't want to bring the topic back on again.

And, if she did it would probably make Spike feel that his words didn't help her enough. So, she didn't mention anything about it.