I Guess It Can Be Useful . . .
I Guess It Can Be Useful . . .
Someponies imagined magic to be an undeniable force for good, to be subjugated and bent as they saw fit. Gabbro was not so ignorant. Magic was as dangerous as wildfire, and every bit as powerful. It, like anything else could be corrupted at the drop of a hat. That was the undeniable truth, as sure and constant as the earth below his hooves. No creature had a right to mess with that kind of power, and Gabbro would stand by that belief as long as he lived.
It was a perfect day on the Pie family rock farm. Most ponies would have called it "dreary," but Gabbro was not so ignorant. The thick blanket of clouds covering the farm were a blessing, not a curse. They kept the temperature cool enough to allow for the immense amount of physical labor required to maintain a working farm. Today, it was especially important, as they were moving a batch of heavy rocks from the east field to the west field.
Gabbro grinned at his grandfather from across the traces. There was nothing that filled him with pride quite like pulling a heavy load alongside him. "It's a good day for working, eh, Grandpa?"
"Right you are." Igneous smiled back, then turned his attention to the path they were taking. "It's downright good of you to show up. I thought I'd never get this shipment moved in time."
Gabbro grinned, thrusting all of his teenage weight into the collar. "You know I love to work, Grandpa. I was waiting for the chance to come out." It was the truth. He had begged and pleaded with his parents for weeks, but they insisted that he stay in Ponyville and socialize. Of course that was far from the real reason. They wanted to make him continue his magic lessons with Twilight. Now that he had a valid excuse to leave, he had practically flown out the door.
Igneous nearly got left behind when Gabbro pulled faster ahead. "Celestia, you're strong, boy. Been working out?"
"Yeah. Every day." Gabbro flushed, avoiding his grandfather's gaze. Though he loved physical labor more than any earth pony ever could, he simply did not have the strength that came so natural to them. He, like every other unicorn in Equestria seemed cursed with a strong dose of wimp-itis as Apricot so eloquently put it. Though Gabbro pushed his body to the utmost, he still had less than half his father's strength.
Igneous must have read his thoughts, because he shot him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry so much. You're a lot better off than any unicorn I ever met."
Gabbro winced at the word. He hated the very sound of it. That simple word set him apart from the rest of their family, and connected him with the two ponies in Equestria he never wanted to be associated with. The all too vivid image of a unicorn mare in a white dress came drifting to the forefront of his mind; her voice, as harsh as nails, shouting curses at his father. It made him sick all over. "Grandpa, please don't call me that."
"Why not?" Igneous stopped, slamming Gabbro's neck against his collar. "That's what you are. There's no shame in that."
"You don't understand." Nopony does. "I don't want . . . I never asked to be a unicorn." He lifted a steel grey hoof, gesturing to the collar around his neck and the wagon. "This is the kind of life I want. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just like you."
Igneous sighed, lowering his head and pulling on. "Son, you can't keep denying what you are. It's not healthy."
"I'm a hard working pony, just like you and Dad and Mom. That's all I need to know." Gabbro pulled on, ignoring the older pony's stare. I'm not denying it, I'm rejecting it. I don't want anything to do with magic. I won't be like them, I won't.
"And then you add the rocks." Maud deadpanned the instructions, as she watched Apricot hop around the barn in a creditable impersonation of her sister. Bouncing around the way she was, she looked like an apricot colored ping pong ball. It was starting to make her nauseous.
"Rocks? Rocks? Which kind, Aunt Maud?" The eight year old darted around the bins of rocks stacked against the wall.
"Here." Maud held up the bag of powdered shale used in their rock candy. It was their family's secret ingredient, and one she personally could have eaten all by itself. Rocks were incredibly tasty, despite the stigma against them.
Apricot happily dumped the bag of powder into their kettle, stirring with a vigor only rivaled by her parents. "This is going to be so tasty," she spoke around the wooden spoon in her mouth.
"Sure. You can stop stirring, now." She took the spoon from the child before she ruined their mix. "You've got to let it sit, then we break it up."
"Okay!" The filly trotted after her, eyes darting around the farmyard. "It's so open." She galloped around like crazy, laughing and giggling the whole way.
Maud rolled her eyes. Every time her niece came to visit, it was the same story; wasting energy for no particular reason. It was the least practical thing she could think of, but that was just the way Apricot was. "You going to come in?"
"Nope!" Apricot trotted over, green eyes sparkling with expectation. "Can you go exploring with me, Aunt Maud?"
"Exploring?" What is she talking about? Closing her eyes, she tried to remember back to when she was a filly. She supposed she had done something similar before. "Okay. Where?"
Apricot gestured grandly at the mountains behind the house. "The caves! Uncle Stalactite said there's a ton of cool things in there."
Maud clapped a hoof to her forehead. They definitely could not go in there. The caves were an endless labyrinth, and she only felt comfortable venturing inside them when guided by Stalactite. "Apricot, didn't Stalactite also say that you should never, ever go up there without him? He's gotten lost a few times, and he's a cave explorer."
"Awwe. But it sounded so cool!" She cuffed the dirt, pouting.
"If you want, we can go see the rock tumbler." Maud had never taken her up that way before. It was incredibly dangerous, but she was more than familiar with the area. They would be all right.
Apricot gripped her leg tightly, "Would you really? Am I old enough now?"
"Yup." She winked, starting to walk towards the tumbler. If they started now, they should be back in time for supper; a few hours at the most. Though, with the excited filly at her heels, it would feel a lot longer than that.
Gabbro dropped kicked last of the rocks onto the ground with a satisfying thud. Though he would rather push the rocks like Igneous, his unnecessarily long horn prevented it. He lifted his head, wiping the sweat from his midnight blue forelock. "Finished!"
Igneous walked over, kicking at the nearest rock with a small smile. "Placement's good, kid."
"Thanks." He turned his attention to the now darkening clouds. The weather on his grandparent's farm was notoriously difficult to understand. It, like the Everfree forest moved on its own accord due to the low lying valley the farm resided in. Gabbro, being only fourteen, had little experience reading "wild weather."
"Worried about the weather?" Igneous rubbed his forelock in that annoyingly patronizing way of his. "You've got a right to be. Big storm's coming in or my name isn't Igneous Pie."
"Big Storm?" Gabbro felt his stomach drop like a ton of rocks. His head whirled around towards the house. "Where's Apricot?"
Igneous shrugged, "With Maud and Cloudy I'd guess."
Gabbro's hooves began to shake violently, as an image of his little sister floated to his mind. If there was one thing in Equestria that fazed his sister, it was storms. Ever since their mother told them how she got her scar, Apricot had become deathly afraid of any type of thunder. If she was out in the open when it hit, there was no telling what trouble she would get into. "We've got to find her."
Before Igneous could so much as lift out a hoof, Gabbro took off at a dead gallop towards the house. He knew he was overreacting, knew that Apricot would more than likely be fine, but he could not shake the sinking fear that came with each strike of his hooves. Something was wrong, very wrong about the whole situation. A lone grew figure was standing in the sea of rocks when he drew close to the house. Gabbro slid to a stop, nearly knocking his grandmother over in the process. "Where's . . . Apricot?" He managed, despite the heavy breathing.
Cloudy placed a hoof on his shoulders, "Gabbro? What in Equestria's the matter?"
"Where's Apricot?" He repeated, a little more firmly than before.
Cloudy sighed, looking up at the sky with a frown. "Maud's taken her to see the rock tumbler. Though, I'm starting to worry about the rain."
"The rock tumbler?" Gabbro moaned, clasping a hoof to his forehead. Then, seeing his grandmother's questioning stare, he explained. "Apricot's really, really scared of storms. If she runs off in the rain, she could . . . she could . . . " He gulped at the horrid mental image of his sister's lifeless body being dragged from the raging river. "We've got to find her!"
"All right, Gabbro. I'll go with you, I know a shortcut." She gestured to his collar. "Take that off, you'll run faster without it."
He hastened to obey her, and together they started off at a hard gallop, being joined by Igneous as they left the yard. Igneous eyed his wife with mild confusion. "Cloudy, what's going on?"
Gabbro blocked out Cloudy's explanation, becoming absorbed in the steady rhythm of his hooves against the dirt. All he cared to think about was finding his little sister before something terrible happened. He was so preoccupied in his run, that he failed to realize he had left his grandparents far behind.
A series of thunder claps overhead told him his time was running out. Despite the now stinging agony in his legs, Gabbro kept going. Finally, he heard the familiar roaring sound of thousands of gallons of water rushing past. He stood, squinting in the perpetual spray bouncing off of the smooth rocks on either side of the raging river. The nearly deafening sound of the water was accentuated by the bone jarring sound of hundreds of rocks spinning in the massive wooden tumbler. It took all the volume he could muster to be heard over the river, "Apricot! Aunt Maud!"
There was no answer. Gritting his teeth, he made his way cautiously towards the tumbler. There, standing by the narrow walkway to the tumbler was Maud. The grey mare was drenched head to hoof in water. Her eyes shone with a kind of fear Gabbro had never seen before.
"Aunt Maud!" He trotted over to her as fast as his hooves against the slick stones would allow. "Where's Apricot?"
Maud raised a shaking hoof, pointing to the tumbler. There, clinging to one of the walkway's posts was a quivering filly. Her eyes were closed tight against the continuous onslaught of river water breaking over the walkway. Maud turned to him, eyes pleading. "I can't go out there! I'd be carried away!"
Gabbro moaned, "How'd she get out there in the first place?"
"She ran! I think she was scared!" Maud paced back and forth on the stones in front of the walkway.
Gabbro stepped cautiously onto the slick wooden surface. Instantly, he knew it was a bad idea. With a powerful rush of water from the river, he was knocked to his hooves and nearly carried over the rail. Gabbro gritted his teeth, looking back at his sister. How did she even get that far? "Apricot! It's Gab! Can you come closer to me?"
The filly seemed to notice him for the first time, and shook her head violently. Her little hooves were shaking like a leaf. Gabbro could only imagine how scared and cold she must be. He struggled to his hooves on the slick wood, and attempted to inch forward to little success. Every part of him wanted to go to her, but he could only watch helplessly as she clung to the post for dear life.
Gabbro cautiously backed off of the walkway, trying to reevaluate the situation. What could he do? There was no rope on hoof to throw to her, no feasible way of reaching her. Then he heard his sister's voice, coming as soft as a whisper, despite the fact that she looked to be shouting at the top of her lungs. "Magic. Gab use your magic."
Magic? Gabbro felt his stomach lurch. How could he have been so stupid? For the first time in his life, Gabbro did not even stop to consider the implications of using his magic. His horn surrounded itself in a blue aura as he focused every ounce of his concentration on his sister. Then, ever so slowly, Apricot was lifted into the air and brought closer to them. Gabbro gritted his teeth at the immense amount of effort it took to keep her stabilized. Finally, he managed to lower her to the stones at his hooves. He felt himself sink to his knees, limbs numb all over. I did it. She's safe.
Aunt Maud leaned over Apricot, feeling the shaking filly's sides with a hoof. "She needs to dry off." Her voice was barely audible over the cacophony of water and tumbling rocks, but Gabbro understood enough.
Without ceremony, he slung his sister onto his back and walked back the way he came. Once they had gotten far enough away from the tumbler, he set her down. Gabbro lit his horn once more, casting a drying spell Twilight had taught him once. Though he had never done it successfully before, the spell worked exactly the way it was intended. In a matter of seconds, her drenched coat was warm and dry. "There. How's that, Apricot?"
Apricot giggled, looking wide eyed at her dried hooves. "I didn't know you could cast spells."
Gabbro leaned down, hugging his little sister tightly. "Yeah, guess I can."
"It's nice." She yawned, closing her eyes. "You should do it more."
Gabbro wanted to protest, to claim that he never wanted to touch magic again, but, at that moment, seeing his sister safe in his hooves, he could not deny it had been helpful today. He laughed loudly, even as the rain drops began to fall on them. Magic was dangerous, and easily misused, but perhaps it was not all bad.
Author's Note
Wooo hooo! I finally wrote another short. I hope it was enjoyable. As always, comments are ever appreciated. Thanks for reading. 
