BOOM!!
Blaze Meza gasped and threw her hooves over her ears, half acting with a late reaction, half checking to make sure that they were still there. With an explosion as loud as that, they should have disintegrated into ash and blown away. But nope, they were still there. Phew. How would she have been able to carry on her guard duties if she couldn't hear?
Poking her head back into the library, Blaze's eyes widened at the destruction she saw. Someone - or some draconequus, she mentally added, spotting the rather shocked-looking Laughter teacher floating in the air, had blasted a huge hole in the library wall. Bits of flaming stone and brick had been thrown across the floor, as well as the scattered remains of several books that would never be read again. The carpet was scorched, discolored, and in some places ripped from where it had been hit by the splinters of tables broken from the falling debris. Two whole bookshelves had been knocked over and now lay in pieces on top of their demolished contents.
Blaze bit her lip and began thinking of something truly terrible to say as she marched over to the Lord of Chaos, intending to give him a piece of her mind. But she stopped in her tracks as she realized that Discord, however much of a troublemaker he might have been, had not been the cause of the explosion.
The draconequus had dropped down to land beside another being, this one a young, very light pink foal with a curly purple-and-blue mane and two rather large wings popping out of her back. Abnormally large wings. No, even that was an understatement. Blaze started in surprise as she saw that this filly also had a long unicorn horn attached to her forehead. Every so often it let out a burst of tiny yellow sparks, resulting in a jolt that shook the tiny alicorn's entire body.
Another alicorn? Really? Blaze hadn't been in Equestria very long since her return from her travels, but she had thought that five alicorns were quite enough. Now there was a baby one. It was never going to end.
Discord studied the foal intently, his shocked expression fading into a rare one of concern before flashing quickly back into his usual nonchalance. "Well, Flurry Heart, you really have outdone yourself," he commented, snapping his fingers. The wall began to rebuild itself, the carpet healed over, the bookshelves righted themselves, the chairs and tables put themselves back together and stood up, and all the books were restored to their previous versions and went flying back into their spots. Everything was put back to normal. Not that he couldn't help adding just the slightest recognition of his efforts. The next students to check out those books were in for a very nasty surprise. "Other than me, you are the only creature in Equestria with pure chaos boiling inside of you. You're quite the powerful little princess."
"I'm not a princess," said Flurry Heart tiredly. Her voice was very soft and quiet, so much so that Blaze had to strain her ears to hear her. It almost reminded her of Fluttershy, the former Kindness teacher(and retired Hero of Equestria), but there was something different about it, something that left a shiver running down the guard's spine instead of the welcoming warmth that the animal caretaker spread wherever she went.
Blaze didn't like that very much. She began to try sneaking out, stepping quietly away in hopes of escaping back into the hallway before the pair noticed her. But, as usual, the Lord of Chaos wasn't having it.
Why me, Blaze thought miserably as she was lifted up by a yellow aura and carried over to the only two creatures in Equestria with pure chaos boiling inside of them.
"Excuse me, but I just had to ask" said Discord gravely, floating back into the air as he set her down on the floor. Oh dear, thought Blaze with a grimace. Is this gonna be another embarrassing conversation about my lack of a helmet? "Have you seen Herbert anywhere?"
Blaze didn't know what to say. "... Her... bert?" she repeated.
"You know, the evil ghoul who wears the red sweater knit by the giant pink armadillo who lives underneath his house, likes burritos because he's from Taiwan, and is the long-lost son of Thanos Cat?"
"... Thanos Cat?"
"Oh, never mind. If you don't know who Thanos Cat is, then obviously you're not intelligent enough to know it when you see him." Sighing, the Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Blaze stood for a while, staring at where he had been. The pink alicorn was nowhere in sight.
"You know what," she said to no one in particular. "I'm just gonna pretend that didn't happen."
With that, the guard left the room.
A few seconds later, a scream was heard from down the hallway. Several students rushed to the scene, only to find a yellow earth pony guard with striking red and orange hair being chased around by a ghost wearing a sweater. Shaking their heads, they went back to their business. Another day, another one of Professor Discord's pranks.
1,116 years ago...
Gusty threw open the shutters of her bedroom window and bathed her hooves in the warm sunlight, smiling. Everything was going to be perfect. She could already tell. It was a perfect kind of day, the kind of day one sang songs about because they were just so perfect. The birds had already beaten her to it, but Gusty didn't care. She never cared about not being first.
Gusty sped downstairs and flung the front door wide open, taking a deep breath.
"Morning in Baltimare shimmers!" she sang as she skipped along. "Morning in Baltimare shi-i-ines! And I know for abso - yikes!"
This last exclamation was uttered as Gusty suddenly crashed into a unicorn who clearly hadn't been there before and had no right being there. He was a gray stallion with a black mane, and he was carrying some sort of bag over his shoulders. But what struck Gusty the most were his eyes. They were a very bright green that reminded her of her hair.
"Whoa, Gusty," he said in a friendly voice, helping her to her hooves. "Are you okay?"
"Yes fine thank you and wait - how do you know my name?" Gusty asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
The gray unicorn looked at her, seemingly puzzled. "You... gave it to me. Remember?"
Gusty rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. When would I have done that? I've literally never seen you before in my life."
The stallion's puzzled frown began fading into concern. "I deliver mail to your house every single day."
He does? To be fair, Gusty had never taken particular notice of her mailman. But she could have sworn she'd at least known his name and what he looked like. "No you don't," she replied. "Graying Papers does."
"Graying Papers retired four years ago," said the unicorn flatly.
There was a brief moment of silence. Gusty's eyes strayed from the stallion's face to the letter he held in his aura. She could kinda make out the address and she clearly saw the name "Gusty" on it.
"Hey, is that for me?"
The gray unicorn gave a short nod and gently passed it to her before turning to leave.
"Wait!" she called after him. "I never did get your name!"
"It's Sombra!" he replied.
Gusty stared after him, biting her lip. Sombra. What kind of name was that? Her own name was very clear; after all, her talent was controlling the winds. But him? What was his special talent? Spreading somberness and darkness and death and destruction? Oooh, that had sounded very poetic. Somberness and darkness and death and destruction. Had she seriously come up with that herself? Humming her song, Gusty tore open her letter and began reading.
"Dear Gusty, your presence is requested at the Baltimare Pavilion tomorrow at five a.m. sharp. Ooh, how exciting. You have been chosen as one of the unicorns to give up their magic forever in order to raise the sun. " Gusty gasped, staring at the written cursive. "What?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Up in the sky, a light navy pegasus in full armor glanced down at the screaming mare before deciding that nothing was the matter and heading back up into the sky. It was Gusty, after all. She was always screaming about something. Gesturing to her four companions to follow her, she flew over a particularly large cloud and landed in front of the Commander.
Commander Hurricane was a thin grayish blue pegasus with a dark gray mane and eyes that flashed lightning whenever he got angry. Right now, however, his expression was one of deep worry. It cleared slightly when he saw that the navy pegasus and her troop were safe.
"Commander Hurricane, sir!" she said, saluting.
"Private Pansy," he said in a trouble voice. "Glad to see that you all, at least, have made it home safely from your expedition."
Pansy frowned. "Still no sign of Ironhead's group?"
Hurricane sighed, turning away. "That legion had Flash Magnus in it; there is still some hope. You're all dismissed."
Most of the other pegasi flew away immediately, but Pansy lingered a bit longer, thinking over the commander's words. She didn't quite have the same faith that he did. Flash Magnus was a great guy and all - indeed, one of the best out there (though of course Smart Cookie and Clover the Clever still dominated the "top", in her opinion) - but there had to be danger here in Equestria, just like there had been in their old land. Hadn't there?
Private Pansy had no idea.
Sombra sped up his pace as he neared the familiar alleyway, glad that his work was almost over. He always saved Gusty's house for the end of his rounds, since she could always be counted on to give him something to laugh over on his return home. Even if she was a bit forgetful, she was a good deal friendlier than any of the other ponies he delivered mail to. Two years since the Founding of Equestria and they were still having a hard time getting along with eachother. It was to be expected, of course, after countless years of hate, and Sombra was just glad that the Windigoes weren't with them anymore.
He could clearly remember the day they had come. Luna had been too little to understand, but he had no doubt that Selena remembered it as well. The blizzard had hit suddenly, violently, turning what would have been a beautiful summer day into an arctic wasteland. A year of endless cold and hunger had followed. When the news of a new land had finally come, the orphanage directors had left in more than a hurry, leaving all of the orphans behind. He had banded up with Luna and Selena and together, they had made it to Equestria. Friendship. That was the reason they were all still alive.
Sombra approached the tiny house and raised his hoof to knock, only to have the door burst open and smack him in the face. A darkish blue filly with a pale blue mane barreled out from within, jumping onto his leg and hugging it hard. A few seconds later, she let go and backed away, smiling a huge smile. "Sombra! You're back!"
"Hi, Luna," said Sombra, smiling back. That was Luna, all right. A little ball of energy, through and through: the complete opposite of her sister, who was shy and quiet. "How was your day?"
The smile disappeared from the filly's face. "Ugh. BOR - ING!" she replied, rolling her eyes. "And they put Selena in charge of the chickens again."
Sombra had a mental image of a white unicorn with a multicolored mane, stepping out of a large building and immediately being attacked by a large flock of chickens.
"I hate chickens," said Selena quietly, shivering slightly as she stepped out of the doorway.
Sombra grinned. "Well, when I'm an apprentice at the School of Magic, you won't need to work there anymore." He undid the clasps of his saddlebags using his magic and pulled out a scroll, holding it in front of him so that they could read the seal.
They both gasped.
"Your letter of acceptance!" Selena exclaimed. "It finally came?"
"Come on, open it, open it!" Luna demanded, pushing him into the house. "Whatzit say whatzit say?"
"Hold on!" Sombra laughed, teleporting the filly away from him. He used his magic to close the door and set the saddlebags down on the floor next to it, while still holding the scroll in the air. Luna watched him with awestruck eyes. "Wow," she breathed. "You're really good at magic."
Sombra chuckled. "I have no doubt that you'll be able to do that too," he told her.
"Really? When?" she asked. "When I get my cutie mark?"
Neither Selena nor Luna had their cutie marks yet. That was part of the reason that the older sister was so shy all the time: she was the only mare of her age not to have one. Sombra was the only pony who hadn't teased them about it, taking it as a sign that their destinies were greater than most anypony else's.
His own special talent was magic, or else he never would have applied for Starswirl's school. Which reminded him. He couln't stop himself from taking a deep breath as he unrolled the scroll. Was this it? Were his reams about to come true? Were all of their lives about to get infinitely better?
And then his eyes landed on the words "magic", "sun", and "dawn".
It wasn't a letter of acceptance at all.
He had been chosen to help raise the sun.
Author's Note
Ahem. So... Blaze Meza is the original character of my friend and does not belong to me.
Writing more very soon. :)
