Author's Note

Short chapter, and I'm sorry for that... but it's more of a elongated prologue so... enjoy! xD

Chapter One

Legs shaking. Heart racing. Deep breaths. I can do this. All the other ponies are watching me, staring at me, and there's a lump growing in my throat. So I cough, look right above their heads, and start to speak.

"As you all probably know, the Summer Sun Festival was where Princess Celestia rose the sun for all to see. Of course, now we don't have the Summer Sun Festival, but -"

"Sunwish, this is school," my teacher, Miss Honey Drop, says slowly, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Yeah, this is school stuff."

"We're in Homeroom, not History. And besides, we're supposed to be talking about what we want to do when we grow up. Talk about our destinies. So, will you please tell the class?"

Everyone stares at me. I hear a chuckle in the crowd. "Um, well, when I grow up... since I don't have my cutie mark and I don't really know how my life will turn out, I've always hoped I could... raise the sun, like Princess Celestia does."

The whole class erupts into laughter, pointing their hoofs at me. One filly snickers and shouts out "that's a dumb wish! You can barely use your horn, much less raise the whole sun!"

Fire burns inside me as I glare at the pony, watching them all laugh at me and my hopes and dreams. They have no right to scorn me for this. So what, I can't use magic right now. I'll learn, I swear I will...

Heat engulfs me as an inferno sweeps through the room. Fiery lights flash in front of me, and I can hear burning in the distance. The filly who laughed at me is now crying for someone to put out the fire. But why is there and fire, and why am I at the center of it? The flames dance yellow around the room as I watch my classmates run out the door. Smoke clouds my vision and makes my eyes burn. Fear. That's what I want to say I feel. But I also feel something else; power. And I hate it.

I don't know how long it is - seconds, minutes, years - until the fire is put out, but eventually, I'm left in a pile of ashes. Miss Honey Drop stands in front of me, her eyes locked on me, terrified and angry. She moves her gaze slightly, and through the mist and tears I can make out an image on my flank. My cutie mark. A sun. I look up at Miss Honey Drop and say softly, "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

An hour later, I'm sitting next to my parents in the town office, which was a nightmare to get into, since it's fortified so heavily. The fact that I almost burned down the whole school didn't help the matter. They think I'm a villain, maybe someone in disguise ready to destroy them all from the inside. I've heard them talking, and that's even before the meeting. My parents won't stop looking at my cutie mark. They're confused, obviously, but also afraid. Normally, they sit close to me. Now, they've taken a step back. I want to tell them that I won't hurt them, but after what happened, I can't promise anything.

"Your daughter is... special," the mayor says precariously. Surely if I wasn't here, the words would be harsher. "She couldn't use her magic and then suddenly, she can, in... unexpected ways. I feel like this could be something more than just -"

"She's not a monster from the outside," my dad says firmly, with an edge of worry. "We don't know what she is, but she's not that."

There it is. The uncertainty. "I don't know what happened," I whisper. "I was angry at them for laughing at me, and then there was fire and smoke, and then it got put out and I had this cutie mark."

"Yes, it's a very strange mark. It looks like Celestia's, but that can't be possible. It must mean something else. You did burn something, maybe it represents... fire?"

"I... I don't... know." I hate this. I hate not knowing.

"Well, we've all decided that the best thing to do in this situation would be to... remove you from the public eye." The mayor won't stop talking all slowly and weird. This scares me, along with what she said. "There's a metal shed in the center of the town, and there's a slot we could give you food and water through. It wouldn't burn, and -"

"Are you saying you want to lock me up?" I ask, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Sunwish, but you're... dangerous. Plain and simple. You burnt that girl who offended you. Now, I don't know why it took so long for this to show up, but since it has, we have to take precautions."

My parents nudge me towards the door as the mayor stands up. "Come on, sweetheart," Dad says softly, but I turn away from him and start walking faster.

I would run away. I really would. Far away from here where I couldn't hurt anyone if I made a mistake. But I can't. The world outside the walls is too dangerous. There are monsters, enemies, dark forces at work past our fortified borders, and running away would lead to certain death. Still, it tempts me. These people already see me as a monster. Why not give them what they want. Become what they think that I should be. Join the enemy ranks. I could -

"Fire," Mom gasps, and I look behind me to see that the ground is smoldering, a small fire burning next to my feet. So I breath, calm down, and the fire diminishes into thin air. "Honey, this is why we have to... keep you away from other ponies."

"I understand," I say, and I really do. Well, I understand why this is dangerous. But why it's happening? I have no clue.

We walk up to the shed. It's metal, small, and will probably make me very bored. I doubt there's anything to do in there. The mayor gives me a little precarious nudge towards the open door. From what I can tell, it locks from the outside, which means they don't trust me to stay inside. I frown, but before I can accidently set anything else on fire, I go into the shed. There's a dim light shining from the ceiling, but that's it. I'm surprised they gave me any light at all. Mom and dad wave solemnly as the mayor closes the door, locking it behind her, trapping me from the world.