Chapters The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
An orangy-yellow mare strolled through the fields, her long, dark orange hair trailing in her wake. It was usually in a tight pony tail, but the mare had decided to let it free this evening. She paid no attention to the fireflies dancing around her, for her mind was on a separate matter. She turned around to glance at her flank, which bore a cutie mark of a kumquat half, showing the bitter, lemony flesh. She sighed, turned around, and kept walking.
Kumquat was an Earth Pony, and she lived with her family of three older brothers and her parents on an orange farm. There they picked, cleaned, sorted through, and sold oranges, like any other orange farm. They had a nice little buisness running, and though their oranges weren't world-renowned, they were still pretty tasty. It was just the type of thing that you would expect. Everyone in the family happily worked their long and tedious hours, watering and weeding away. It was simple, rustic, old-timey, quiet and, most of all, normal. All except for that little patch of kumquats growing in the South fields.
One evening like this, when she was a filly, Kumquat was liesurely strolling the orange orchard, when she stumbled into a new patch that she had never seen before. There were, as she later described it, "baby trees, with baby oranges growing on them." Curiously, she reached up to grab one, and bit away the peel as she would with any other hanging fruit in her family's farm. It was so cute! Just a little baby orange, and it would probably be the sweetest of all...
She took a bite. Her joyful smile turned immedeatly to one of disgust. She spat the "baby orange" out of her mouth, it tasted like a lemon! The nasty surprise had really shaken her. And it had been such a lovely day, too... She shook her head. It WAS a pretty fun surprise, and she loved a good prank, even at her own expense. She wondered if her parents and brothers would like this prank, too! She picked a whole basket full (because when you're an orange farmer, you take baskets with you wherever you go) and brought it to her family, presenting them as baby oranges. Her father was delighted, because the farm next door had found a way to make baby apples, and they had sold a fortune of them, so he was excited to see what profits these fruits would yield. He didn't even try one before whisking the entire basket off to the market cart.
He came home the next day, weary and beaten. " 'Parntly those baby oranges taste like lemons," he said, sitting down. "Got a whole lot of smack talk 'n scoldin' from th' buyers today..." Kumquat smiled. It was a harmless prank, it was good entertainment, and surely her father would get over it, right? Her cutie mark appeared, a kumquat half, showing the bitter flesh inside. She would be a prankster, but a different kind of prankster. One whose pranks could only be laughed at by her.
Kumquat laid down in the grass. Her energy was spent, and another horrible prank had been brilliantly excecuted. She wondered, though, was this really her true talent? Making others feel horrible for her own enjoyment? She stood up suddenly, with a determined look. No, this would not be her future. She was an independent mare, and she was going to go about her life as she chose. She turned back to her house, trotting through the orange fields. She was going to make people like her, and see her as a good pony, because everypony knows that some things you have to grow to like.
And the fireflies followed after her.
The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
A dark brown, sturdy stallion was walking the fields tonight. He silently watched the sun go down, watching the last of his freedom disappear. It was when the full moon was up that he would lose himself. He might hurt somepony. He might hurt himself. Who knows? But tonight, he and his pack would hunt, and the stallion hoped not to wake up with equine cuisine in his short, light, leafy, green hair. The sun went down, and the full moon was now fully above the horizon. He could feel magic coursing through his bones...
There was silence.
It wasn't silent a few moments before, no, it was quite the opposite. An entire pack of timberwolves was howling into the night, signifying the first day of Zap Apple ripening. They were about to feed, on a small, brown colt, when... he howled with them.
The colt wasn't frightened. He laughed and howled along with them as if the bloodthirsty pack was just a litter of playful puppies. The timberwolves were stunned, and while they stood frozen, the baby Earth Pony happily climbed up their tree-like hides. It was a fateful night, where the right howl or the tiniest spook could send the baby crying, and end everything for him... but he was fine. It was incredible. The pack looked at each other, the six total that there were, and they looked at the colt (who was currently nibbling on the ear of the eldest wolf). The eldest gave a soft look to the colt, and looked sternly at the others. They seemed to understand. "No eating."
It was a couple years later, and the small colt was a healthy young boy, with a green mane sprouting and a rich chocolate coat. The only blemishes that he had from that one night were the two, small, circular scars on his neck, from where he had been picked up by a young hunting timberwolf and carried to his, well, family now. It was the night of the full moon, and the colt was excited. It was the one time each month that he would be able to join his pack, truly join it, in the hunt.
Soon, a small pony stood there no longer. Rather, a timberwolf cub, about the same size as the colt, had taken his place. He breathed in through his long snout and the leaves rustled on his back. He turned to head back into the woods (not before a short howl, though).
Timber chuckled to himself. It had been a long time since that had happened. He now had a job in Ponyville, a house, and even a marefriend. He wasn't a mindless cub anymore. Err, colt. And when he was about to.. ugh... transform .... he had to be away from anypony and everypony that he might mindlessly mangle when he was a timberwolf.
The sun had finally set. Timber frowned. The irony... I transform into the very creature that I keep at bay and in the Everfree on a day to day basis. I wonder if my bosses have caught on about how I manage to communicate with them so well. I just hope... and the last of his thoughts were drowned out by a whirl of wind and leaves.
A timberwolf had taken the pony's place. He let out a long howl and waited for a response. Shortly after, the howls of an entire pack of timberwolves, and more, came from the trees of the Everfree. It was a happy howl, calling him back to the forest, his home. A wide smile grew on the timberwolf's face, and he bounded off into the treeline under the light of a full moon.
And the fireflies followed after him.
The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
A light, cream colored unicorn mare lulled her way through the fields, singing as she went. It wasn't any chipper party tune, but more of a hypnotic chant. It was if the whole world revolved around every note that her crystal voice sang. Even her swirly, free-flowing, orange and blue mane seemed to sway to the rhythm of her song. The fireflies in the field for their brief, magical moment, followed behind her, swaying as well.
"The words that I sing and the magic it brings
The tone of my voice makes you sway
You can't help yourself
As you feel yourself
Wanting to linger
To stay
Why try to run? Why, that's no fun
See how happy you'll be
When you want to stay
Feel the need to obey
When you choose to linger
With me"
She sat down, fireflies circling around her, though now in a natural way. Those circling her red necklace that glowed when she sang quickly got away from it, though. The unicorn laid her head down in the grass, with a look of gloom that usually wasn't there. She, for once, didn't have a plan at this moment, and there was nothing that needed doing, so she was content to enjoy the moment. Or, try to, anyway...
Siren sulked through the library with the rest of her class. She wasn't very eager when she found out that her class was taking a field trip to the Royal Canterlot Library, she was expecting something like a trip to "Pizza Pie's Pizza Parlor". Oh well. She was in Celestia's School for Gifted Young Unicorns, so she was supposed to like learning, but... Magic Kindergarden was just too early! This was her fillyhood, for crying out loud! She walked along, sort of near the back.. until a red glint caught her eye.
She saw a book sticking out of a shelf, spine decorated with lovely rubies. Her class hadn't noticed that she had stopped, and her presence wasn't missed, and besides, she was supposed to be learning, so... what was the harm? She grabbed the book with her teeth and struggled to pull it out. She couldn't hold it once she lost the shelf's support, so it dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Magic quickly wrapped around the heavy book, as Siren quickly picked it up and acted as if nothing had happened. Seeing that no one had come to find the source of the noise, she relaxed a little, and looked down at the book. After blowing away the dust of many forgotten year, she read the title, "A History of Sirens."
Siren sat in the grass, humming a tune. It wasn't anything fancy, it was just her voice aimlessly creating and weaving a song of her own. This song was different from any other that she had sung recently (or since Magic Kindergarden, for that matter). It didn't have any control over ponyfolk, and it didn't make ponies lose themselves. It wasn't anything at all like the song she had used to convince the upper class of Canterlot to accept her as one of their own, no. It was nothing like that. Nothing like any of the songs that helped her get into her almost dream-like life that she had today.
She almost felt bad. She knew that she didn't deserve to have the things she did, and who was she kidding? When was she ever going to use that yacht? It was all because of a single book that she had those things... Siren thought back to the years she spent pouring over the pages of the thick volume. Heh... I was so young... so foolish... Siren stood up. What have I been doing? Cheating? Lying? Shoving my way to the top? And for what? She started to pace the fields. I was a filly! Why do I feel bad now? A voice in the back of her head began to speak.
"You still feel bad because it's still your fault," it said. "You've known that what you were doing was wrong, all this time, but have you fixed it? No. You've just been studying that book as much as ever, learning new songs and such." No... stop... I don't use my songs as much anymore! "Don't you? Even now, you make the fireflies dance because you wish it so."
Siren abruptly shut her mouth, realizing that she had been singing this whole time. The fireflies that weren't swarming around her red, glowing necklace were dancing in circles around her, and when she stopped, they froze in midair before dispersing. Siren sighed. Maybe it's too late. Maybe I can't go back now, I already have everything, right? I can't reverse time...
"But you can reverse a mistake."
Siren stood up, and smiled. She went off in the direction of Canterlot Castle. After all, she had a book that she needed to return, and it was probably overdue...
And the fireflies followed after her.
The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
The frayed ends of a large, blue, ponytail dragged alongside a maroon pegasus as she moved through the fields at a lively trot. She was certain that the crew of the Black Stache couldn't have kept up with her, she had a knack for escaping these kinds of situations... Her pace slowed as she calmed down. A rest before she flew back to the maneland would be nice. The pegasus let her wings loosen and relax. She smiled. At least she had marooned them on a pretty isle...
Maroon guiltily flew away from yet another island. It was becoming a big problem. She'd crash the ship, one way or another, fly away, recruit for another crew, swab decks for a little bit, and then crash that ship. It was a never-ending cycle for her, and worse, every single captain had said that, "Ye might even get a cutie mAAAARRRRRk in swabbin' decks! Get to it!" Always the cutie mark. Always the cutie mark.
She wept softly as she flew away from the lonely desert isle that she had left the crew of the Wandering Pearl on. She blamed the tears on the salty sea air, but there was an inevitable truth that had to be said. Maroon hated to admit it, and she had suspicions about her name being related to her talent ever since she discovered what it meant, but she convinced herself that it only had to do with the maroon coat.
She hated it. Maroon was the color of sadness and gloominess. It was a quiet color, and a dull one too. Her favorite color was light yellow, just like her eyes. Light yellow meant adventure! Light yellow meant bold and dynamic! Light yellow was the opposite of maroon, and that was the best part. She really hated that color. Every time it was said aloud, it reminded her of her "talent"...
Maroon shook her head, and found herself flying over land. The little pirate town let her know immediately. She was soaring over Blood Island (named so because the island is in the exact shape of a splotch of blood). She chuckled. She always liked a pirate's humor (or stupidity, but they were one and the same). She swooped down to Earth and found her way into her favorite tavern, the World's End. She passed a large banner on her way in, with a picture of a red X over a pirate ship, and the words "Help Wanted!" She payed it no mind. She'd fallen for a thousand help wanted banners in her time.
Mind on the different shapes and sizes of the banners she'd seen, Maroon wandered into the tavern and got into line. It was an especially long line this time around, oh well. Maybe word had gotten out about the tavern's home-brewed Captain Goatbeard's Special. She moved forward in the quickly moving line, until she was at the front.
"Name?"
"Yeah, I'd like a double oat citrus burger, with extra citrus, please-" she started.
"DO YE THINK YER BEIN' FUNNY, LASS?!" shouted the grisly stallion in front of her. It was enough to shake Maroon back into the real world. She looked around and saw a small table in front of her, with two banners like the one she saw out front on either side. A quick glance to her left told her that the food line was far off, and that this guy definitely didn't want to take her order.
"N-no sir!" she stammered, trying to sound a little less scared then she actually was.
"Then what be yer name, lass?"
"Maroon... sir!" she added quickly. He looked and sounded like the kind of guy that required sir at the end of every sentence.
"Maroon... promising. And what be yer special talent, lass? What's yer cutie mAAAARRRRRk?" the stallion barked. Maroon winced, she was hoping that this question wouldn't come up. She may as well warn the captain (she was assuming) what he was up against before she abandoned his crew too...
"Sir, I don't really have a good ship-worthy talent. My name is true to my story. All I can do is maroon ships, and as for my cutie mark..." she said, turning to show him her flank. She gasped as she saw it, though. It was blank no longer. Where there once was an open canvas of maroon stood a simple ship, with a huge chunk taken out of it. She looked back at the stallion, who was smiling devilishly.
"Yer hired."
Maroon now had a successful "Infiltry and Disposure" business going on. She would find out which ship was to be sunk (usually over some drunken fight that two captains had had), be welcomed aboard as a new crew member, (swab the decks a bit... this was her least favorite part) and then dispose of the ship. It raked in a lot of bits, and she finally felt... helpful.
As she walked through the fields, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for the poor, innocent pirate ponies just trying to make a living that she had marooned. But hey, bits were bits, and this job paid a lot of bits. She'd always found a nice island home for the pirates. Clean water, ample food and natural shelter, if needed. And fields, like this one. The islands with fields were the best.
It was a win win win situation. The targeted pirates were moved to paradise instead of brutally murdered, the angry pirates got satisfaction, and she got... well, payed.
Maroon shook her head. She couldn't daydream here for long. The sun was already setting, which meant that the crew of the Black Stache would think she was asleep. They would ambush her, and kill her. That was never good for her, or her client. It was time to leave. She waved with a sense of finality to the fireflies hanging in the air above her, spread her wings, and flew into the cool night sky.
And the fireflies followed after her.
The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
A black stallion walked wearily through the fields. He'd dealt with five fires today (One from Pinkie's cooking, one from a misfired spell, and three from his little brother) and each one covered him with soot. His coat was normally a light cream, and his mane a soft blue, but he was regularly seen in this state, as he worked for the Ponyville Fire Station. The fireflies tonight were glistening with a ferocity that would go unnoticed to anypony else's eyes. Not the unicorn's, though. He saw their glow as a reflection of his own pride. He was proud to be a firepony.
"For the last time, Pyro!" a very, very angry Jet Stream had said to his little brother one morning, yanking away a small box with his magic. "You can't play with matches!!"
"Stop being so overprotective!!" shouted a small, soft red unicorn colt. His mane was red as well, only it was a much deeper color. He had his brother's soft blue eyes. "It's not like I'm going to burn the house down, Jet..."
"That's what you said last week, when you got your cutie mark!" barked Jet Stream, pointing an accusing hoof at his brother's flank. A bright orange flaming cutie mark was painfully visible where most fillies Pyro's age would have a blank flank. "Come on, I'm taking you to Mom..."
"Jet...Jet...JET... JET STREAM!!! "
Jet Stream opened his blurry eyes to see his brother hunched over him, looking worried. It was weird, he had sworn he was just taking away the box of matches from Pyro. Maybe he was just sick and delusional. His forehead did feel hot... in fact... it was... burning....
"Gah!" Jet Stream sat upright immediately, shaking the flaming wood scraps off of his head. He looked back to see a fallen support post, which had crashed on him. Looking forward again, he saw his brother, Pyro, close to tears.
"There's no time to explain, we- we need to get out of here. The fireponies won't be here for a long time, and.. and..." Pyro stammered.
Jet Stream's ears perked. He looked beyond Pyro to his burning walls, he heard cracking wood... the smell of gasoline was in the air. His eyes widened as he heard Pyro murmer something about "My stash". Blue magic filled the air as Jet Stream latched onto his brother and started to create a shield before-
Boom. The flames had reached Pyro's hidden stash of gasoline under his bed, and the entire charred room blew to pieces, forcing the two ponies out the window. Jet Stream's spell barely had the time to cover his brother and his own front half, so his rear got thoroughly blasted with soot. They landed on the ground with a soft thud, but Jet's spell bounced into the ground, breaking their fall a little. Jet Stream stood up slowly, wincing from the pain in his hind legs. Upon standing up, he glanced at the neighbor's sprinkler, attached to their garden hose. He knew what to do.
Running over to the neighbor's lawn, Jet Stream yanked the sprinkler off of the nozzle. With his magic, he tried to turn on the water... but the support post had injured his horn and was messing with his magic. He ran to the wall with the water control, and turned it to full blast with his mouth. It was slightly disgusting, seeing as the unicorns in his family did everything with magic, but he gave that no thought. Using what strength he had left in his back legs, he sprinted to the garden hose and pointed it at the flaming house.
When the fireponies eventually arrived, the house was drenched. There was nothing left for them to do. Jet Stream had taken care of it all. And now... Pyro stood over his blackened brother, hoping he might wake up soon. He'd passed out from exhaustion long ago, and he hadn't been conscious yet. The fireponies took the pair back to the station to get them cleaned up. Pyro came out unscathed, he had a knack for fire safety, but Jet Stream... he was definitely going to need a cast on both of his hind legs for a few weeks, or maybe even a few months.
Jet Stream awoke, a day later, to find himself in a comfortable bed next to a window overlooking the town. He was completely clean and devoid of fire remnants, for once... He sat up in bed, but immediately regretted it as pain shot through his hind legs. He looked down to see two well-managed casts, and...
A cutie mark. Jet Stream had earned his cutie mark. It was a garden hose nozzle, spraying water. Pure pride showed on Jet's face. His cutie mark... he was meant to help ponies and be... a firepony.
The same pride, accompanied by a fresh layer of soot, accompanied Jet Stream this night too. He'd saved many ponies in the past (but one survivor was saved many, many more times than the others...), ponies that wouldn't be saved with the previous fire station runnings. He'd been employee of the month for five years in a row, and each month's award was well-deserved. He did, after all, get practice.
The smell of burning wood filled the air. He turned around to see a trail of smoke drifting from his backyard. It was probably Pyro, and he should probably check on him... then again, Pyro had gotten a lot better at controlling the flames recently. Maybe Jet could enjoy this one moment of peace and serenity, forgetting about his life and letting himself drift away with the fireflies...
Then again. This was Pyro we were talking about. Yeah, he should probably go check on him. He sighed, stood up, turned around and trotted towards his house. He saw the pillar of smoke grow bigger, rolled his eyes, and broke into a full run.
And the fireflies followed after him.
Chemical Reaction
The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.
A light yellow, mint green maned pegasus weaved between the blades of grass and slow, peaceful breezes. His every step was planned, his every action purposeful. His dark blue eyes scanned the area, taking in all that was around him. The fireflies, the sunset, the blades of grass, the fireflies, the breeze, the fireflies... The stallion shook his head. What was happening? He took a step closer to the nearest splotch of light and squinted his eyes. It was the strangest thing, he glanced in the air, yes, it was true, the fireflies...
They were in pairs. Couples. The pegasus lowered his head and continued to walk, though at a noticeably slower pace. He suddenly became very interested in the grass, the dirt, anything that wasn't the sky above and the love that it held. He barely glanced at his cutie mark, a heart, between a plus and a minus, before quickly turning back to the field before him. He sighed. Even here, when ponies couldn't make fun, the fireflies did.
The sun illuminated the rolling plain of white clouds that made up Cloudsdale. The great star in the sky was high for three in the afternoon, and it wasn't coming down soon. Celestia kept the sun out longer in the Summer, as she was known to do the same for the moon in Winter. It was her way of remembering her sister and cherishing her night, but balance was balance. And because balance was balance, the sun shone brightly from on high down onto Cloudsdale Elementary.
Chemical Reaction, unlike the other fillies and colts in his class, wasn't counting down the seconds until the official end of school for that year. Instead, he was scrambling to finish a paper, which looked like nonsense at a first glance. It was actually full of mathematical equations and graphs, depicting science that was way beyond his level. He'd made diagrams like this for every class (the one depicting the physics of the pony heart was by far the most difficult to pour into one page) but this one was his favorite to make. It was for science. Anything that had to do with science and the way things worked was wonderful, especially the phenomenons that were hard to explain. That was Chemical Reaction's specialty.
Ding
The first of four bells struck, and Chemical Reaction had to fight to get to the back of the classroom with everypony rushing to the door.
Ding
He practically threw the piece of paper on the desk, right before Mr. Cloud's blinking eyes.
"This is a cheat sheet to understanding the physics of raindrop formation!"
Ding
"I myself found the lesson easy enough, but you didn't seem to understand it much, nor did the class! I think this helps to make the lesson a bit easier!
Ding
"I spent a whole week figur-"
"Go, go on, Chemical! Enjoy your summer! I greatly appreciate the cheat sheet, but students can't be on school grounds after the final bell!" interrupted Mr. Cloud. He looked at Chemical Reaction's face and sighed. "Look, Chemical, the cheat sheet is greatly appreciated. I think I understand some things better now than ever before. But you need to go. School grounds are not for students once Summer vacation begins." Mr. Cloud got up from his desk and stood next to the small colt, who latched onto his foreleg. "Besides, I think you've got somepony looking forward to spending their break with you."
Chemical Reaction looked up from the hug and turned around to see a small pegasus filly, smiling. Her wavy, blue mane bounced as she waved her hoof excitedly.
"Come on Chemie, what are you waiting for??" she called. "Summer doesn't last forever, try as Celestia might!" Chemical Reaction rolled his eyes, and took one last look at Mr. Cloud. Then he dashed after the small filly, who was long gone out the door.
"Ocean, wait up!"
Ocean Breeze turned around to watch the colt try to catch up with her. She smirked.
"You're going to have to fly to catch up with this filly!" she called. A smile grew on her face when she say Chemical groan. "Aww, is Mr. Sciencey Sciencey No Athletics not going to be able to?"
"Hey!" Chemical started, as he ran to catch up with the now-soaring Ocean Breeze.
"Science is the foundation for all learning, and without it, we would never know how anything worked!" they chanted together. Ocean had the little speech memorized by now.
"Whatever, Chemie. Seriously though, what are we going to do first this Summer?" she asked as she sat down inside of a cloud hoop. Chemical smiled.
"I was thinking, maybe you could meet my friend from the other school? The one I told you about?"
Ocean dropped her quirkiness and looked down curiously and gliding softly to Chemical's level.
"You mean Sunrise Surfer?"
"Yeah, him. I'm sure you'd get along well, let's go!" And with that, Chemical Reaction took off to his house, with Ocean Breeze at his side.
The air was always so warm around her. Her name was fitting. Chemical could almost feel sand on his hooves and seagulls above him. Her voice was melodious, like the waves of the sea and the rhythm that came with them. It was magical. Not that he believed in magic, other than unicorn spells.
"Chemie? ...Chemie..." came the sound of Ocean Breeze's voice, but it seemed far away. Chemical Reaction shook his head and found himself bolting down his street, though he was sure he was in front of the school a few moments ago. He skidded to avoid crashing into his house, but he ended up bursting through the dining room wall anyway. Ocean laughed and dashed through the hole in the wall before it closed up. That was the nice thing about cloud houses. They were self repairing, and they could withstand the toughest storms because, well, they were the toughest storms.
Chemical sat up and shook his head, though he failed to shake off the bits of fluff that clung to his mane. He grinned at Ocean, who was trying hard to keep in her laughter.
"Come on," said Chemical Reaction. "Surfer should be up in my room." With that, the pair walked up the stairs and into the bedroom.
And Ocean Breeze stopped.
And Sunrise Surfer stopped.
They both froze, locked into each other's eyes, much to Chemical's confusion.
I don't get it... what's happening here? Where's Ocean's quick remark? Where's Sunrise's fear of meeting new ponies? Why can't they look away? This doesn't make sense, and everything always makes sense! Look for a new piece of info, look for something else, observe observe, what could be happening to make them act so weird?
Unless...
Unless this is what love is?
No! Look for something else, anything else... what if Ocean and Sunrise already know each other and they're surprised to see each other again? But no, Ocean asked what he looked like, surely she would've associated the picture I painted with one already stored in her memory... anything but love, anything but love... What if they don't like each other? No, elevated pulses on both of them, tensed joints too, and Ocean would be relaxed in the face of an enemy. Maybe Sunrise was especially bad? No, it's not like Sunrise to do anything horrible... not love, not love...
Chemical turned his mind upside down and right again, and he searched for anything, anything that could explain the strange behavior between Ocean Breeze and Sunrise Surfer. But each explanation was more absurd than the next, anything he tried came as more proof that love simply was the only reasoning.
Oh no... Oh no no no no no... This can't be... breathe, Chemical. Everything has an explanation. There's a formula for everything. Just take a step back. I can do this. I can do this! It's just unexplained, that's all! And I can be the first to explain love, oh, this is brilliant! I'll study love in the name of science, the world chose me, and with Celestia as my witness, I plan to do whatever it takes to help the world understand itself! Yeah! Now, where to start, where to start... of course. The two before me. But how do I begin to relate this to anything tangible? What if I, no... Think, Chemical. What if I think of their connection as a chemical...reaction... wait a minute...
He looked to his flank, and surely enough, there was a cutie mark. Chemical Reaction was destined to be a matchmaker, in the name of science. The heart between the plus and minus signs were good enough for him. And while introducing your crush to your best friend wasn't the most ideal way to realize your fate and destiny, well, he was willing to give this cutie mark a shot.
The fields were lonely. The sky was barely lit with the cold, far off stars. The fireflies were ready to leave, but they only lingered for the pony. The breezes were chilling, sucking up the last of the warmth from the sun. The evening no longer held its magic.
Chemical Reaction was lonely. His eyes barely shone. He was ready to leave, but he only lingered for the fireflies. The days were disheartening, sucking up the last of Chemical's hope for love. He no longer held his magic.
It was fun to be a matchmaker, it truly was. Mixing two ponies together to see what came out of it, learning from mistakes and analyzing every last detail from a date that went right. Yet, try as he might, applying what was learned from his experiments to his own behavior on dates, he could never find a mare. But, science presses on, and he could never stop studying.
There was always something new, something more to bring to the table, another variable to consider. But while science never rested...
Chemical could.
He stood, and flew a few feet into the air. He'd gotten considerably better at flying since he was a colt, taking the advice of a certain somepony that he needed to get out more. He still wasn't the best, but he'd improved. He flew higher. It wasn't so bad. There was bound to be somepony out there for him, but it would be selfish of him to think of only himself. There were already so many other ponies that needed his help, that is, if they hadn't already gone to Rainbow Wrap... he shuddered. Calling herself a councilor, who did she think she was? How could she be of any help when she couldn't get two hooves out of the clouds? Not literally, of course. Cloudsdale was her home. But if she couldn't bring herself out of her mind for a second, how was she supposed to bring herself to listen to other ponies' problems? It was beyond Chemical.
He shook his head, and flew higher. He didn't need to concern himself with Rainbow Wrap tonight. All he needed was rest. He stumbled in his flight and climbed higher, thinking only of his soft sheets.
And the fireflies followed after him.
