Author's Note

Weekend update! Yes, I know I'm pretty late. things have been crazy busy ever since the pandemic, which meant an increased workload for yours truly (I'm considered 'essential personnel'). Though, now that most of the procedures are becoming easier to keep up with, I've finally got more time on my hands! So, enjoy.

Regreme, as always. A grand standing ovation to ya for sticking around to edit and proofread.

Ch5; Muck Draw

Nobody seemed to have the courage to go first, instead opting to stare at one another for the longest time. It got pretty awkward pretty fast.

“U-um, excuse me?” the unicorn mare nervously spoke up, “M-my name is High Exposure. I’m sorry to ask, but aren’t you the Wire Wraith?”

The question was directed toward Sam. Everyone turned toward the surprised wire conduit, some in curiosity and wonderment over finally getting to meet the hero of Canterlot in person, the others in just bewilderment over the new nickname. Recovering quickly, Sam cleared his throat and put on a cheeky grin, stringing his hands together only to pull them apart with wires strung between them.

“Well, I haven’t heard that name in a long time,” Sam said with a smile.

He seemed to weave the wires randomly, effectively turning them into a messy set of knots. Though, with a flick of wrists, the tangle of wire snapped taut. The shape of said wire easily resembled the outline of a pony.

The ponies and griffon gasped in awe at what they just witnessed.

“Wow!”

“Marvelous!”

“I-I’ve never seen anything like that!”

Basking in the attention, Sam exaggeratedly gushed, “I know, I know. I’m pretty awesome like that.”

The ponies and griffon were impressed indeed, but their attention soon drifted back toward the other three humans that had accompanied the princesses. The blue earth pony seemed to be analyzing them all with a critical gaze before speaking up.

“Hello, I’m Simple Piece,” he introduced himself in a measured tone, “I don’t want to sound rude, but I was told that there was only one human we’d be taught by before yesterday. Er, like I said, not trying to sound ungrateful.”

Before Sam could answer, Natie stepped up and gave a welcoming smile, something she had been practicing ever since having to work with a more public image.

“Her Highnesses asked for all of us if possible,” Natie lied, “Sam is skilled in his own right, but they thought it’d be even better to have more expertise.”

Simple Piece’s ears flicked while he regarded this new info. The three other humans all raised a hand and each manifested their element in the palms of their hands. The ponies awed at the display. Simple Piece hummed and smiled in satisfaction before extending a hoof out toward Natie. Although confused a little at first by the gesture, she soon understood the stallion’s invitation to shake hands. She clasped her hand over his hoof and shook.

“Thank you so much for all your help, then. I’m really looking forward to learning about Conduits,” the stallion cheerfully said while shaking.

It seemed that the friendly exchange was what High Exposure needed to untense from her own apprehension. More greetings were exchanged between the ponies and the humans, some a little less welcoming than others in Lu’s case, but introductions went smoothly enough.

That is, except for the griffon, who had remained rooted to his original spot. He continued to fidget nervously with his talons. Anytime he caught eye contact with anyone else, he immediately tensed up and looked away.

Sam approached him, which made the griffon flinch, but remained rooted to his spot like it was his only safe zone. The others watched as Sam placed his hands on his hips and smiled widely.

“Hey there!” the wire conduit announced chipperly, “Name’s Sam. You can call me that, or the Wire Wraith, or the half dozen or so other nicknames I’ve got. Seriously, I’ve got plenty to choose from.”

Natie watched as Sam tried his usual lighthearted approach, though it seemed this griffon wasn’t easily swayed by this easy-going demeanor.

The griffon finally spoke up, if only above a whisper, “My name is Gabriel…”

“Gabriel, eh?” Sam continued to act friendly, “Well, Gabriel. Nice to meet’cha! So, full disclosure, never really taught someone how to be a Conduit, but hey, guess we’ll both learn something new today!”

Sam’s encouraging words didn’t seem to have the intended effect as he had hoped. The griffon flinched even more harshly, almost as if he wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear.

“Human,” Aegis Flare called out, “I appreciate your eagerness to build friendships, but we should be getting started.”

Although a little disheartened by the griffon’s apprehension, Sam clapped his hands together and nodded in agreement.

“Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, “I think we can leave this to the humans’ care. Besides, we have an important meeting to get to this morning.”

Twilight looked disappointed that she couldn’t stay and watch, but her mentor was right. Sam and his friends had their tasks, and she had her own.

Twilight nodded and gave them all a quick wave, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Take care everyone!”

The ponies and griffon bowed to the departing royals. Sam and the other humans all gave courteous nods and watched as they left. Now on their own, Natie devised a simple plan of attack to tackle their goal. She carefully considered each of her fellow human conduits’ strengths and weaknesses, even taking their alien charges’ first impression into consideration as well.

“Ok,” she said, “Aegis Flare, was it?”

The stalwart pegasus perked up at his name being called.

“So, here’s what I’m thinking. We’ll split up to divide the work. Each of us will work with one of you,” she motioned toward the equestrian conduits, “If one of us or you needs some help, we’ll swap around where we can.”

“Hmm...that sounds reasonable,” Aegis Flare hummed.

Turning to the equestrian residents, he spoke up, “Listen up, as Miss Chanelle said, we’ll divide you between the humans to start your lessons. They are your mentors, so listen to their instructions. If you have any objections, please voice them now.”

The ponies and griffon shared some apprehensive looks between themselves, but had no real protests to speak of.

Satisfied by the silent agreement, Aegis Flare turned back to Natie, “I think we’re ready to start then. Ms. Chanelle, did you have a preference on how they should pair up?”

Natie thought about it for a moment. Of course, she wasn’t too sure herself. As much as she wanted to defer to Sam, as he was their expert of this world, she knew he would just try to pass the responsibility back to her out of hesitation. The look on the wire conduit’s face clearly displayed just that in any case. Regardless, he was the only one among them that knew more about this world, so Natie knew who might be best paired with him.

“Sam,” she called out.

The wire conduit straightened up.

Natie pointed to him and then to the griffon, “Can you pair off with Gabriel?”

“You’re the boss,” Sam mockingly saluted, then stood next to said griffon, “Don’t expect miracles, cause damn it, Jim, I’m a conduit, not a miracle worker.”

Natie sighed internally, unfortunately knowing the movie reference. Next up was Isabelle.

“...Isabelle, how would you like to help...Simple Piece, was it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Simple Piece nodded.

Isabelle sheepishly accepted Natie’s proposal and moved to the aforementioned stallion’s side. This left Natie with one final pairing, although one particular human did not seem all that pleased with the arrangement. High Exposure looked equally uncomfortable under the concrete conduit’s gaze.

“Lu-”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lu cut her off, “Let’s just get this crap over with.”

Natie would make sure to watch over him every so often.

“Ok,” Natie cleared her throat, “Today will be about fundamentals and introductions. Lu, Isabelle, Sam, just give them some basic exercises on affinity and manifestion.”

While the ponies and griffon looked confused by the terms, the humans nodded. They each herded their charges to an open area of the training field and got to work. Natie breathed a sigh of relief. The first step in her own program from earth she was working off of was working. As much as she hated relying on a method she and her fellow activists were still refining, this seemed like the appropriate time to implement it.

Her thoughts began to wonder as she watched her friends converse with the Equestrians, changing and developing her activists’ method as she watched. It was still rather odd to think about how her first lessons were not being used for humans. Or the fact that she was on an alien world to begin with. Maybe it was Sam’s movies she would hear in the background, but she secretly always thought ‘first contact’ would have been a lot more scary...and with more lazers.

She was so in her thoughts, she almost didn’t hear the pegasus, Aegis Flare, sidling up beside her. She glanced down at the auburn colored pony. He was very stern looking, his steps measured and controlled. Sam was right. He was a soldier by trade.

“How long will it take for them to complete the program?” he asked while still watching the others.

Natie thought for a moment, “I’m not sure. This is the first time I, or any of us, have really tried this.”

Aegis Flare grunted in understanding, “Still, it’s better than nothing. I may have had my abilities longer than them, but I’m still learning everything there is to them myself.”

Natie cocked an eye toward the stoic pegasus. She’d only seen him use his conduit powers once, but by the looks of it, he was already fairly proficient in them.

“If you wouldn’t mind me asking, Ms. Chanelle. Would you be able to train me as well?” Aegis Flare asked.

Taken a little aback by the sudden request, Natie thought about it. It wouldn’t be too difficult to offer him a few pointers and still keep an eye on the others. The electric conduit smiled, and nodded. She and Aegis Flare began their training by explaining their respective abilities. The electric conduit listened intently about all the ‘Light’ based powers that the pegasus had. This was certainly a new type of conduit power that Natie had heard of, but she would not let that deter her from doing her best to teach.

Across the field, Isabelle was nervously fiddling with her fingers, unable to look the blue earth pony in the eye. Natie had told her and the others to ‘go over the basics’, but that was easier said than done in her opinion. The blue stallion, however, waited patiently, never once giving off a sense of annoyance at this delay.

“So...Um, I-I guess we can start by introducing ourselves,” Isabelle finally spoke up, “Oh! Wait, we already did that earlier.”

Simple Piece shook his head, “No, it’s okay. I’m a bit nervous about this, too. I could tell you a little more about myself, if you’d like?”

Isabelle always was more comfortable around people she knew more about. She thought that if she did hear his story, she’d feel more comfortable in the long run. She nodded her approval.

Simple Piece, without missing a beat, offered up his hoof to shake, which Isabelle accepted while he reintroduced himself, “My name is Simple Piece, and I’m a Potter from the hamlet of Whinnyapolis.”

“‘Whinnyapolis’?” Isabelle echoed with confusion.

“Just to the east of Vanhoover,” Simple Piece explained, but only received more confused looks from the human, “Ah, that’s right! Humans aren’t from this world. I’m sorry if I confused you.”

Isabelle was quick to soothe the pony’s concerns, “No, no! It’s alright, I just didn’t understand where those places are. It’s not your fault.”

“I’m still sorry for confusing you,” Simple Piece said before turning and pointing to his left, “Whinnyapolis is that way. North-west of here, about 200 kilometers.”

‘Ponies use the metric system?’ Isabelle pondered to herself for a moment, “I see, that’s pretty far away.”

“Yeah,” Simple Piece said, “but it’s home.”

“Mr. Piece? I hope this isn’t too personal, but Sam had told us about ‘cutie marks’, and I was wondering what yours is?” Isabelle sheepishly asked.

Simple Piece looked over his flanks to which his namesake came from and smiled, “It’s alright. Ponies actually love to use them as ice breakers anyways. You can sometimes learn a lot about a pony by them, too. Did Mr. Reed tell you how we get them as well?”

Isabelle nodded, thankful she hadn’t committed some sort of faux-pas.

He cleared his throat as he recited what must have been a tale he was very fond of, “My family is actually from a line of accomplished masonry workers. My father took up his father’s business when his father couldn’t keep up with the demand.They traveled all the western coast of Equestria until my father met my mother in Whinnyapolis and settled down.

“My mother was an artist, mostly with glassworks. I grew up watching my mother make glass figures since my father went out on jobs for long periods of time. I loved how my mother made glass look like works of art, but when I tried to do the same when she taught me, I kept misshaping the glass or cracking it. I tried working with my father on one of his jobs, and although I loved the feel of something more solid in my hooves, I wanted to do something more than build structures or houses.”

“I saw a pottery class being taught in one of the towns me and my father were working in, and he gave me a chance to try it out,” a wistful gaze fell on his own cutie mark as he continued, “I watched as some of the other ponies in the class were making amazing works from clay, and I just felt like I was meant to be there. My first project was simply to make a bowl on a potter’s wheel. The clay was much easier and sturdier to work with than glass. I loved it, but it didn’t stop there. A simple bowl wasn’t enough for me. My mother’s teachings in glassworks helped me to decorate and shape the bowl into something else. I made it larger, so I could put designs on the outside. The teacher and other ponies almost couldn’t believe that it was my first time working with clay. I put some simple hoof print designs around the outside, just for some decoration.

“The class was only for a week, but I completed my first vase in three days, and when it came out of the kiln, I felt so accomplished with what came out, even if the designs were simple. It just happened that on that day, I got my cutie mark too!”

It was an endearing tale. Isabelle couldn’t help but feel happy for the stallion and his accomplishment.

“I’m so glad I got to hear that,” Isabelle clapped her hands together, “It was wonderful.”

Simple Piece chuckled, “Thank you. It’s always nice to share.”

Isabelle hummed in agreement, “I wish I could hear more, but I think we should get started with teaching.”

Simple Piece nodded in understanding. Isabelle certainly felt more comfortable with the idea of teaching, and the tale gave her just enough time to think about where they should begin.

Isabelle closed her eyes and lifted her hands up in front of her in a cupping motion. Simple Piece watched, intrigued by what the human in front of him was doing. Light began to sprout from the human’s hands. The source of which became apparent as the flame grew larger for all to see. It looked like a flickering candle cradled in her palms. Isabelle opened her eyes and kneeled down for the astonished pony to see.

“I’m a fire conduit,” she explained, “The way I’ve always seen it is that I am like this flame.” She nodded toward the flame in question, and they both watched as it grew larger. “Both warm and inviting. I know it’s silly, but it’s how I learned to understand my powers and myself.”

Simple Piece listened intently as Isabelle went on about how she learned to manifest her powers as she did now. The blue stallion took in every single word she said, nodding or humming as he took it all in.

“So, I guess this is a bit to ask,” Isabelle said, letting the flame in her hands putter out, “but what kind of conduit are you?”

“Sand,” Simple Vase responded simply.

Isabelle was only slightly surprised by how well the pony conduit was taking this all in, “Ok. I know this was a lot to take in, so if you’d like, we can stop for today.”

“Actually,” Simple Piece responded, “I think I’d like to give it a try.”

“A-Are you sure? It’s ok if you want to take it a little slow.”

“No, I’m sure. I think I know what I should do.”

Isabelle watched as the earth pony closed his eyes and raised his hoof out in front of him. His face contorted into a look of concentration. After a few seconds, flecks of dust began to swirl around his hoof. More of the dust appeared, and Isabelle realized that it was actually sand. She was stunned. She was amazed that he was able to manifest his ability with such control in such a short amount of time. Simple Piece opened his eyes and smiled at his accomplishment. It also helped to see the approving looks Isabelle was giving him.

So, with her lesson going smoothly, they continued on. As for another conduit of the concrete variety, his lessons weren’t going as smoothly.

“No, no!” Lu growled, “You need to just manifest it and blast it out! Like this!”

The concrete conduit thrust his hand out toward the wall of concrete he already made and blasted the face with more shards of concrete. The target looked about ready to crumble from how much he had taken his frustration out on it. High Exposure looked about as worse for wear. She considered herself a patient mare, but the way this human was berating her, not to mention his blunt personality, wore on her patience like nothing else.

She had at first been completely scared, even intimidated, by his harshness. Though as time passed, she began to see him more as one of her ritzy customers that could never be satisfied. In any big city High Exposure’s been to, there was always that one snobby, rich stallion or mare that just had to have the ‘perfect’ picture for an occasion. She had dealt with them all and their ridiculous demands.

‘I just need one more photo for my album.’ ‘You need to have better options for deals.’ ‘The sunset just has to be in the shot behind me.’ ‘But I’m only picking these photos, not all of them. Just give me a discount.’

All those and more of the many, many whiny demands came back to the stressed out mare. More often than not, she’d always grin and bear it until the customers were out of her mane and then scream into a pillow or something. Ever since her conduit abilities manifested, she had closed her business to avoid the added stress. Though thanks to Lu, that stress was being piled on exponentially. With the human still shouting in her ear, she snapped and let go.

The ground shook from the all mighty stomp of High Exposure’s hooves. She let out a frustrated cry of aggravation, and miniature spires of concrete burst from the ground in a line from her to the concrete target that Lu had set up. One last spike of concrete rose and split the target in half and showered the surrounding area with bits of the stuff around it.

The training grounds was quiet. High Exposure regained enough clarity to realize that she was breathing heavily and all eyes were on her. Realizing what she had done, she shrunk back and cowered, fearing that she had done something bad. However, the human conduit, Lu, began to laugh. High Exposure turned and gaped at the hysterical human that was teaching her. She thought he was insane, that she was about to be reprimanded or worse. What happened instead was not what she was expecting.

“Damn!” Lu smiled as he went over to inspect the concrete target, “I take back what I said about you ponies. You aren’t all a bunch gay wusses.”

The mare fell to her haunches, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. The human that had spent the last half hour berating, and belittling her had actually given her what sounded like a compliment.

“I...Thank you. I just- Wait, what did you say about ponies?!” High Exposure angrily snorted.

Sam and Gabriel watched the exchange between Lu and High Exposure. The camaraderie that the two seem to be developing was something that was totally unexpected for the wire conduit. Sam couldn’t help but feel both happy and a bit jealous. Although, now was not the time for distractions.

It had just been over an hour. In that time, Lu, Natie, and Isabelle had developed a steady rhythm to their methods of teachings for their pony apprentice. However, it seemed that Sam and Gabriel were firmly stuck on square one… not for the lack of trying though. The griffon looked away dejectly from High Exposure and her slow, but steadily improving aim at the targets that Lu conjured up.

“Hey now,” Sam tried to sound optimistic, “we’re just getting started. It just takes practice!”

Gabriel flinched and shrunk in on himself even further than before. It seemed like no matter what kind of encouragement Sam tried, it just all fell by the wayside.

“Why...why don’t try some target practice? Like Lu and Exposé over there?” Sam asked.

Gabriel looked over at Lu and High Exposure once again, then back at Sam, this time with a bit of fear.

The griffon gulped and shakily replied, “I-I don’t know, Sam. I don’t think I can do it.”

The grayish-brown griffon was practically shaking. Sam was unsure of how to get through to the fear-strickened griffon. He had tried everything he had been taught back in Curdan Cay back when he was first starting out, minus the excruciating torture and abuse, of course. He hated admitting it, but Augustine’s instructions were invaluable when he was still learning how to control his power.

Sam put on another smile, “Come on! We tried breathing exercises, visualization, and muscle memory training. Why not just try jumping into the deep-end? Figuratively speaking, of course. We don’t have a pool around here to go swimming. Note to self; ask Sparks if the castle has a pool.”

The griffon looked conflicted. Sam could tell something was holding him back. He’d seen what Gabriel could do. At least, potentially. During their other exercises, the griffon had shown he was an ‘ink conduit’, as evident by the splotches of the colorful stuff across the training grounds around them, and even some on Sam’s clothes. It was an unusual power, and one Sam had never come across before, but it wasn’t the first time he’d met a new type of conduit before. Yet, the problem remained that the griffon was still having trouble even just manifesting his power in a stable way.

“Ok, if you think it’s best, Sam,” Gabriel answered.

Sam was having difficulty getting through to the fearful griffon as well. He thought it was just nerves, but this was something else. Regardless, Sam had to try, and that meant setting up some targets for the griffon to practice on.

“Yo, Lu!” Sam called out.

Lu growled at having been interrupted in the middle of his lesson, “What do you want, Asshole?!”

“Need some targets over here to practice on!”

“Make them yourself!”

“I would, but then I’d take away the only thing we keep you around for. It certainly wasn’t for your ugly mug, that’s for sure!” Sam shouted back with a smirk.

The concrete conduit fumed with clenched fists and jaw. Concrete rose from his body into a hardened pillar over his head. With a roar of anger, he lobbed the heavy slab of a projectile at Sam. It moved way too slow, and Sam only had to sidestep a few feet to the left to avoid it coming down on him. There was a round of confused, panicked, and angry looks thrown their ways, but Natie and Isabelle reassured the uninitiated that this was fairly typical so long as it didn’t escalate and Natie didn’t need to step in.

“Thanks!” Sam smirked, “Could use a few more if you can spare!”

“One’s all you’re getting!”

“Appreciate it!”

Sam turned back to Gabriel, who seemed terrified at what just happened.

“Ah, don’t look so worried,” Sam offered some reassurance, “His wind-ups like that are always so slow, you can see it coming from a mile away.”

The griffon didn’t seem too reassured, but Sam tried to press on.

“So, now that we have our target. We’ll step back a couple feet and see if you can hit it.”

Sam ushered the dazed griffon into position and faced him toward the concrete pillar embedded before him.

“I can’t hit that from here,” Gabriel shook his head.

“Sure you can,” Sam said.

Raising his arm toward the concrete target, wire strands began to emerge from his outstretched palm.

“First,” Sam began to explain, “just like our visualization. Imagine your arm to be like a tube. A tube that connects to your source within you. Draw your source through that tube like I’m doing.” The wire strands stretched out a few more inches from his palm to emphasize his point. “Now that your tube is loaded with your source, it’s all about pushing it out, and away. Just like this.”

Sam cocked his arm back a little before thrusting it out again much faster. The wire strands, now projectiles, flew through the air, striking the concrete pillar in the center-mass with the precision honed only through years of practice. Proud of his accomplishment of getting the needle like projectiles to pierce the hardened rock, Sam smiled, only to frown when he saw Gabriel quivering nervously beside him.

“I-I can’t do it,” Gabriel managed to squeak out.

Sam was nearly out of his optimistic attitude. He’s tried everything with Gabriel, but he wasn’t mad at the griffon, just frustrated with himself at not being able to help him. Kneeling down beside the griffon, Sam put a hand over his feathered back. Gabriel tensed up, thinking that he had done something wrong. When Sam began to stroke his back in a soothing motion, Gabriel finally looked up, and found a patient smile on the human’s face.

“Look, I know it’s tough,” Sam said, continuing his soothing strokes, “but that’s why we’re here. To practice, and soon enough, to make it easier.”

Gabriel was still shaking, albeit not as much after Sam’s reassurance. Getting up from his haunches, the griffon took a slow, deep breath, just like he was taught. Sam stood up as well, and just let the griffon do his thing. Gabriel let the breath out slowly, counting backwards from three. He repeated this exercise once more. Once he felt like he was ready, he raised his taloned foreleg up. He imagined his foreleg to be a tube, and let that tube reach down into himself toward the well of foreign power he now possessed.

It felt strange, alien, and weirdly enough, comforting. He closed his eyes and let the feeling of his strange power well up some more, heeding his call. Sam watched in awe as colorful droplets of ink emerged from his talons and pooled in his grasp. Although weird at first, the feeling of the ink running over his talons was starting to feel natural. Maybe it was Sam’s constant encouragement, or his own sense of ‘normal’ slowly changing, but Gabriel was finally starting to feel a little more confident in his abilities, maybe even enough to do as Sam instructed and hit the concrete like he said. His eyes opened to take aim.

Then, he froze. Whether from a trick of the light, or his fear settling back in. Gabriel watched as the pillar of concrete morphed into something. Something that screamed and yelled, in numerous voices of both fear and hate, all directed at him. His own fear turned into panic, and with it, his focus waned. The ball of ink he was about to shoot out, rippled and expanded, unexpectedly fast, too, and before Sam had time to react. The ink bomb exploded and knocked him and Gabriel off their feet. The others took notice of the commotion and gathered around. Sam got up quickly enough, suffering only from a few bruises from the concussive force. His clothes and features were a different matter, as they were peppered with even more, larger splotches of ink from where he was hit.

Isabelle helped him up, and he assured her that he was ok. Gabriel, on the other hand, was a different matter. Aegis Flare and Natie were trying to help him up, but he wriggled away from their grasps, leaving inky trails all over them. He saw what he did and gasped.

“I’m sorry!” Gabriel blurted out, sobbing, “I-I just can’t control it!”

Sam tried to say something, but there was nothing he could think of to make light of the situation.

“I think we should cut the training short for today,” Aegis Flare offered.

The others agreed silently, and moved to leave. Everyone except Sam, Natie, and Aegis Flare.

Natie spoke up softly, “Sam, go with the others.”

“But I want to-”

He cut himself off before he could utter the word ‘help’. It was his ‘help’, his ‘teaching’ that caused this. He failed, and he knew Natie could have done a better job than he had. He accepted this, and slumped his shoulders in defeat before turning away to follow the others back to the castle.

Gabriel continued to lie in the dirt, sobbing to himself, knowing that it was his fault that he failed. These humans were here to help him. Teach him how to be a Conduit, but he couldn’t do it. These powers he had were unnatural and foreign. He’d never be able to control them. Keep from letting them run rampant. He knew the pony guard and the female human were watching him, probably debating on what they’d do with a defect like him. It didn’t matter. In the end, he was a freak and a failure.