Element Aura, a red earth pony with blue eyes, and a black mane with a lightning blue stripe through it, sat in a room with Shevia, a white pegasus. Shevia paced back and forth through the room with a look that said ‘I’m done.’
She finally sat down at her desk, which had been filled to the brim with papers, pencils, pens, etc. She turned to Element Aura. At this point, she was fed up. “Element Aura,” she said picking up her clipboard, “you’ve run from foster homes from Manehattan to Fillydelphia.”
He looked back at her. He was almost surprised at her tone. How, and why, was she so surprised? He’d been doing this for years! He leaned back in his chair and started brushing his mane back. “I can take care of myself.”
She looked at him. “If you call—,” she stopped to read the clipboard, “—‘stealing food from garbage cans’ taking care of yourself, then Mr. Aura, your life is going to be a nightmare.” He knew the whole, stealing food from garbage cans thing wasn’t really on there, he knew Shevia just wanted to “prove a point.” She looked at another piece of paper, “Element Aura, I was lucky enough to find a family who is willing to take you in,” she looked at him to see his expression. To her surprise, it hadn’t changed at all. He knew it was better not to entertain her. She sighed, “please, give these ponies a chance.”
He nodded, “okay Shevia.”
She nodded and got up and walked to the door, she told him to pack his stuff up and be ready by five o’clock. He nodded and walked out of the room and to his dorm. He opened his draw and took everything he owned. From bits to books to heck, even the clothes. He folded the pajamas and other suits neatly and placed them into his suitcase. Then he got a necklace and a pocket watch, the only things he had from his parents. He closed the suitcase up and lay in his bed until five, then he’d be in another foster home.
Element Aura stood on the doorstep of his next foster home. He wondered if Shevia had already told them about his tendencies of running away. To Element Aura, running was like the first survival skill he learned, besides basic self defense. He flashed back to a time he had to fight for himself.
A young Element Aura walked down the dark alleyways of Manehattan, looking around each corner. He had to be on his guard at all times, no matter what happens. He saw a sack and walked towards it. He reached for it, then the sound of hoofsteps caught his attention. He turned to see three older colts facing him. He looked at them and then back the sack. “Oh, sorry, is this yours?”
The first one stepped up, “no, but it’s going to be.”
Element Aura took a step back. The colts advanced on him, then in a panic, he turned and bolted for the sack. He grabbed it and kept on running, now with the colts chasing him. He looked at a few trash cans. He jumped on one, then jumped to a nearby ladder. He climbed up as the pegasus took flight. He started climbing faster as the pegasus got closer. Then he used his hind legs to kick the pegasus in the face and continued to climb. He got to the roof and kept running across rooftops, at least those he could reach. He jumped to another building and climbed through an opened window. He closed it and hid behind some boxes. He would stay there until night, then it would be safe to move.
Night came and Element Aura could leave. He climbed down the buildings stairs. He opened the door and looked around. He crept out of the building and moved to his current home. The trek there was both boring and painful, as anypony could jump out at any moment. He was still a bit paranoid but still pushed on. After a few minutes, he’d reached his house, a mixture of cardboard, trash cans, blankets, and a whole host of other things. He opened the “door”, a piece of newspaper, and walked to his “bed”, an old mattress, and sat down
He opened the sack, which had a few Bits. He was happy as he wouldn’t have to raid another ponies camp. He lay in his bed and closed his eyes.
Element Aura woke up, and with a feeling of uneasiness. He reached for a club he’d forged out of a stick, some rocks, and rope. He stepped outside, where he saw one of the colts from the previous day. He hid and slowed his breathing. He looked at the pony, who was walking around the camp, as if scouting it. Element Aura took the club, and slammed it over the colt, knocking him out cold. Element Aura quickly ran in and grabbed his saddlebags and filled them with anything he needed, then he grabbed the sack and went outside. He grabbed the unconscious colt and dropped him in a trash can a few minutes away. He took off for the streets. As of now, he was on the lam again. He headed in one direction, the direction of another town, another adventure.
Element Aura smiled at the memories that he’d just had. He almost laughed at the memory of him smacking a pony over the head with a club. The door opened, and out stepped a gold pegasus mare. He took a breath, here we go again.
“Hello,” the mare said politely.
“Hello,” Element Aura replied trying not to sound rude. Element Aura moved his eyes to Shevia, who moved her eyes to the mare as if saying ‘say your name.’ Element Aura internally rolled his eyes and turned his glance to Goldstar, “my name is Element Aura, what’s yours?”
“My name is Goldstar, nice to meet you,” she turned to Shevia and nodded, “thank you, we’ll take good care of him.”
“I know you will,” she replied. She looked down to Element Aura, “I hope you enjoy it here.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said. He walked into the house but he turned his head to see what the two mares were talking about. Shevia was whispering something to Goldstar. She nodded and walked inside. He quickly turned away as if he wasn’t looking. She quickly took his hoof and started walking him through the hall. He looked around to learn his surroundings, another skill he
learned on the streets.
“Come on, I want you to meet the family!” Goldstar said.
A family of mix-max ponies Element Aura thought. When he walked into the kitchen, he saw four ponies, two unicorns and two earth ponies, sitting at a table. Okay, maybe not that mix-max he thought.
Goldstar walked over to the table. “This is Platinum Moon,” she said pointing at the older pegasus stallion, “he will act as your foster father.” She walked over to younger unicorn mare, “this here is Silverheart, she’s your older foster sister. He nodded. He looked at his sister, who looked like every entitled mare mixed into one. She sat down like she ruled the gosh dang world. Then Goldstar moved towards the two young earth pony colts. “These two ponies are your foster brothers, Crimson Strike, and Boltfire.”
Crimson Strike was, well crimson with a grey mane and green eyes. Boltfire was orange with a black mane with red eyes. Element Aura took his seat. Goldstar handed him a plate of food. He kindly accepted it.
Element Aura walked up the stairs. He both needed a shower and needed to see where he was sleeping. When he turned the corner, he accidentally bumped into Silverheart
“Oh!” he said, “sorry! I was just—
“Move it, dork!” she snapped.
He didn’t flinch, but he was mad. “Oh! Sorry princess! What do I need to do? Clean the bottom of your darn hoof?!”
She lit up her horn. Again he didn’t flinch. She looked defeated then let the magic die down. “Just stay outta my, Street Rat.”
He blew a raspberry as she walked down the hall. She seemed to have heard it looked back at him. She stared daggers at him. He didn’t flinch, again. He turned to walk away as Silverheart murmured something under her breath.
“Hey, Element Aura!” somepony whispered.
He looked up to see who called him. It Boltfire. He trotted down to his “brother” to see what he needed.
“Hey Boltfire,” he greeted.
“Hey Element Aura,” he said back.
Boltfire seemed nice, like the friend you could rely on to help you on a test. Element Aura had many questions, but one question hit him in particular, “what’s her problem?”
He sighed, “she thinks being older and the biological daughter of mom and dad makes her superior to us.”
“I’ve dealt with worse.”
Boltfire cocked his head in confusion, “what do you mean?”
“Apparently I’m a Street Rat.”
“Oh. Well is there anything else you need?”
“Yeah, where’s the bathroom?”
Boltfire pointed to the second to last door in the hallway, “that one right there.”
“Alright thanks.”
“No problem,” Boltfire closed the door, then opened it again, “oh yeah, you’ll be sleeping with me and Crimson tonight.”
“Okay.” Element Aura turned and walked down the hallway. When he reached the bathroom, Crimson walked out wrapped in the towel. Crimson turned around and jumped when he saw Element Aura behind him.
“Jeez! We give you a place to stay and you give me a heart attack?” he said.
“Sorry!” he replied. Please don’t be like Silverheart.
“Eh, I guess it’s okay. Crimson Strike, nice to meet you.” He held out his hoof for a shake.
Element Aura returned the gesture, “Element Aura, nice to meet you too.”
Crimson nodded and let Element Aura walk in, “oh yeah, be careful, the water takes a while to warm up.”
“Alright, thanks.” He closed the door.
Crimson wasn’t lying. The water took like twenty seconds to warm up. When it finally did, he stepped in. About ten minutes went by and he stepped out. He searched through the cabinet for a dry towel. He grabbed a red towel. My favorite color. He wrapped himself up and walked out. He looked around, trying to make Silverheart wasn’t there. When he
knew the coast was clear, he walked towards his room. He opened the door and walked in. Boltfire and Crimson were already waiting.
“Hey Aura,” Boltfire greeted.
“Hey Boltfire, Crimson.” He sat on his bed. “What are we doing tomorrow?”
“Well,” Crimson started, “your coming to school with us tomorrow and—
“And we’re going on a trip to Canterlot!” Boltfire exclaimed.
“Yes, Headmare Twilight is taking us.”
Element Aura felt a smile form on his face. “I can’t wait!” he said, “I’ve always wanted to go to Canterlot.”
Just as he said that, Silverheart bursted into the room. “Did I here that right?! You three dorks are going to Canterlot?!”
Element Aura looked at her. All he said was, “buck yeah.”
She ruled her eyes and did one of those “annoyed self entitled rich pony” groans and left.
The three brothers laughed. Element Aura looked up to the moon. He smiled. Tomorrow was gonna be a good day.
Chapter 2: First Day in Ponyville
Element Aura’s eyes opened. Just as they did, the alarm clock went off. He got out of bed and went to turn the alarm off. He placed his hoof on the button and shut the clock off.
“You’re up early.”
Element Aura turned around to see Boltfire sitting upright, rubbing his eyes. Aura chuckled. “Yeah, I like getting up early.” He looked out the window. The sky was glowing a bright orange. He smiled looking at it. “Well, I’m gonna go use the restroom.” He walked to his bag and pulled out his toothbrush, then he walked out the door and into the hallway. No sign of Silverheart. He quickly made a break for the restroom. He turned on the faucet and washed his mouth and brushed his teeth. He walked out of the restroom. He walked past Crimson, who gave him a nod. He walked into his room and sat back down on his bed. He looked up to Boltfire, who was reading something.
“What you reading?”
Boltfire looked up, “Power Pony comics.”
Element Aura scoffed, “you’re really into that stuff?”
“What’s not to like?”
“I’ve never been into the whole bookworm thing.”
“Suit yourself. I’m gonna get ready.”
“Alright. I’ll head down for breakfast.” He got and left the room. He made his way down the hall and towards the stairs. Crimson caught up with him.
“Hey Aura,” he greeted.
“Hey Crimson.”
“Where are you going?”
“I guess to get breakfast.”
“Alright, I’ll join you.”
The two brothers walked downstairs, only to be greeted by Silverheart. “Look who’s up early!” she said in a “sweet” tone. “Mom and dad are out, so I made you all breakfast.”
Crimson kind of went grey, then he said, “yeeeaaahhh, we’ll just eat on the way to school,” and with that he turned and bolted.
“Wait for me!” Element Aura yelled running after him.
“Get back here you dorks!” Silverheart all but yelled as she chased them up the stairs, yelling at them like they were foals who got caught doing something bad.
The two brothers ran back to their room. They quickly closed the door and locked it. Silverheart started pounding on the door. They turned to Boltfire, who was sitting one his bed. “Plan B?” he asked.
Crimson nodded, “Plan B.”
They opened up the window and crawled out of it, saddlebags on. Boltfire was last time leave as he had to lock the window with a lock pad. The three brothers laughed as they walked to school. After about five minutes of walking, Boltfire felt his stomach, which started growling. “Jeez dude,” Crimson said, “are you that hungry?”
Boltfire gave an awkward smile, “yeah sorry, didn’t eat breakfast.”
Crimson stomach growled too, and so did Element Aura’s.
“Any place we can eat at here?” Element Aura asked.
“We could stop by Sugarcube Corner,” Crimson said, “maybe Pinkie, the cook and one of the professors at our school, has something.”
“I’m game.”
The brothers walked to Sugarcube Corner. When they reached it, Element Aura found it to be what appeared to a giant house made from all sorts of sweets. Crimson knocked on the door, “Pinkie, are you here?” he asked. A blue pony opened the door. “Oh, Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie in?”
“No deary, I believe she left for the school.”
“Oh, well we get something to eat before we get to school?”
“Sure! Pinkie said she had a special order just for you!” She left for a few seconds, then came back with a paper bag. “Here! But I think they’re only two cupcakes in there.”
Element Aura looked at her, “no it’s okay, really.”
“But I can’t let you starve!” She quickly ran back in for a few more seconds, then ran back out with a cupcake.
Dang she works fast!
He kindly accepted her offer, “how much?”
She smiled, “Usually it’s two bits, but since you’re new here, I’ll make an exception.”
He nodded and returned the smile. He held his hoof out, “my name’s Element Aura, nice to meet you.”
She shook his hoof, “Mrs. Cake, nice to meet you too.”
Crimson looked at a nearby clock, “look at time! We’d better get going!”
Boltfire looked at the same clock, “oh gosh, you’re right! We’d better get going, see you later Mrs. Cake!”
“See you three later!”
The three brothers started running towards the school. Element Aura looked up in front of him. He looked over to Crimson, who seemed to be talking to himself.
“You alright Crimson?”
Crimson looked back at him, “perfectly fine.”
Boltfire jumped in, “why do you always talk to yourself?”
“I don’t know I just—
“Ahhhhh!”
The three brothers skidded to a halt. They looked at the direction of the very high pitched scream. “Sounds like trouble,” Element Aura said, “come on!” The three ran toward the sound of the scream. As they got closer, they saw a huge crowd of ponies. They quickly moved through the crowd. When they reached the end, they saw a white pony with a purple mane and tail, crying near a pond.
“Professor Rarity!” Boltfire said running towards her. “What’s wrong?”
She looked at him, “it’s… it’s… Opal!”
The brothers looked towards the pond. There on a piece of driftwood laid a small white cat, looking as scared as ever. Element Aura looked at the cat. “Maybe we can wait for her drift to the shore,” he said. Then the driftwood flipped over and Opal fell into the pond, not resurfacing. He stared in horror as he watched the cat sink. Out of options, he quickly backed up and ran towards the pond. He took a big leap and dived into the pond. The last thing he heard was Boltfire yelling, “Element Aura—!
Underwater. That was where Element Aura was. He felt lonely and
claustrophobic. The empty, dark space below him made it look like something was ready to jump out and pull him down. He started swimming to where he saw Opal last. He looked up to surface to try and locate the driftwood she’d been floating on. Then, after a few seconds of swimming, he’d found her, struggling to swim to the surface. He quickly swam towards her. He grabbed her with one foreleg and used the other to paddle. He started to swim to the surface. But with each stroke, his vision started fading. He felt tired and dizzy as he tried to save both himself and Opal. He was almost there when his vision went black.
The ponies stared at the pond. By this time, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of Rarity’s friends showed up. “What’s going on?” Twilight asked.
Boltfire looked up, “Rarity’s cat fell into the pond! Our brother jumped into the water to save her and they haven’t resurfaced yet!”
They all looked to the pond. “Come on Aura, you can do it,” Crimson said. Then three bubbles popped on the surface of the water. Crimson and Boltfire’s hearts dropped to the bottom of their stomachs.
“They’re gone…” Crimson said, “they’re actually gone…”
The pony crowd stared in horror. A young colt and cat had died that day. They held a funeral service a few days later…
…Except they didn’t.
Splash!
Everyone looked up to see Element Aura, defying all odds, carrying Opal on his back. He was doggy paddling towards the shoreline, bobbing under the water a few times before finally reaching the shore. He crawled onto the dirt, coughing up water as he tried to breathe. Many ponies came running to his aid. He let Opal down. Rarity scoped up Opal and hugged her. Element Aura stood on his hooves, but fell down due to exhaustion. A crowd of ponies swarmed him.
“Alright everypony, clear out! Clear out! Give’im some room!” Element Aura looked up to see an orange earth pony standing over him. She reached her hoof out. “You alright?”
He grabbed her hoof, “I’ve been through worse.”
She chuckled, “I’m sure you have.” When he was able to balance himself she said, “I’ve never seen a colt with your guts.”
“Trust me, from where I’ve lived, you gotta have guts.”
She chuckled again.
Crimson and Boltfire ran over to him. “Dude, we thought we lost you!” Crimson said.
“Yeah, don’t do that ever again!” Boltfire said.
“Maybe,” Element Aura replied. He looked at the sky. “There’s still time, you guys wanna get to school?”
“Yeah,” Crimson said.
Element Aura looked at the orange pony, “if I can leave.” She nodded. “Alright, last one there is a rotten apple!” And with that, Element Aura bursted into the direction of the school.
“Get back here!” Boltfire yelled chasing after Element Aura.
“Wait for me you sons of mares!” Crimson yelled chasing the two.
Element Aura ran down the Ponyville streets. Boltfire and Crimson Strike we’re catching up with him. Time for a shortcut. He turned down an alleyway.
“What is he doing?” Boltfire asked.
“He said he lived on the streets, maybe it’s a street trick.”
Element Aura ran through the alleyway. Then he found the spot he was looking for. He jumped on the garbage bins and jumped to the wall, then pushed off and grabbed the ladder. He climbed the ladder to the roof. He reached the roof and ran across the rooftops.
Boltfire and Crimson were neck-and-neck. Then they heard, “it’s over guys, I have the high ground!” They looked up to the one who yelled it. They saw Element Aura running across the rooftops.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Boltfire said, “who are you? The Mysterious Mare Do Well?”
Element Aura chuckled, “nope! I’m just good a parkour!” he yelled jumping down to the ground. Then an apple cart pulled up. Boltfire and Crimson skidded to stop while Element Aura continued to run.
“You can’t jump that!” Crimson yelled.
“Who said I was gonna jump it?” Element Aura yelled back. He got closer and closer.
“He’s gonna buckin’ jump it…”
Element Aura smirked and instead of jumping over the cart, he slid underneath it, surprising both Boltfire and Crimson. Element Aura continued to run towards the school.
“Aw come on!” Boltfire said.
“Come on this way!” Crimson said.
Element Aura looked back. The wagon passed but Boltfire and Crimson were gone. Must’ve found another way. He continued to run. Then he passed by a scooter shop. The scooters were on sale. Oh buck it.
Crimson and Boltfire continued running. The school was close. Boltfire looked at his brother. “We gotta be close now.”
“Yeah.”
They continued to run their way to school. It was clear Element Aura was long behind them. They’d won this race.
“Woohoo!”
They both looked up. Element Aura was riding a scooter across the rooftops. Are you bucking kidding me?! Boltfire thought.
“What’s good guys!” Element Aura yelled to his brothers.
“How in the name of Celestia did you get up there?!” Crimson yelled.
“Same way I got up here last time!”
“School’s up ahead!” Boltfire yelled.
Element Aura jumped off the roof and landed perfectly. The three brothers were neck-and-neck. The school was just up ahead. Then they all made a jump for it, which resulted with them in a pile. “I win!” Element Aura yelled.
“Nuh uh! I win!” Boltfire yelled.
Crimson popped up, “guys! We all win!”
“Eh that’s fair.”
“Meh I guess.” The three brothers got up and dusted themselves off. Boltfire looked at Element Aura, then pointed towards a giant building mounted on a mountain.
“Welcome to the School of Friendship!” Boltfire said.
