Guardian

Chapters

Prologue "Homework"
Chapter One "The Oncoming Storm"
Chapter Two "Words and Deeds"

Prologue "Homework"

Deep purple hexagons steadily rose from the wooden floorboards as they slowly formed a protective dome. This lattice of magical force crept over a knit pony doll with mismatched button eyes and purple pants with white polka dots. Smartypants, being a toy, gave no indication of surprise or discomfort as the framework cut off any means of escape. The toy’s owner on the other hand, wore a look of utmost concentration as sweat dripped down from her brow. Twilight Sparkle took a moment to wipe her forehead and brush aside her purple and pink mane as her spell neared completion. The purple filly smiled slightly to herself as she mumbled, “This must be the closest I’ve gotten all day.” Unfortunately, the excitement broke her concentration as the frame cracked and shattered into hundreds of fading, purple shards of force.

Her smile quickly furrowed into a frown as the spell faded. “Ugh! Why can’t I get it right?!” Twilight shouted.

“I’m not sure Twily, but you’ve got to be pretty tired by this point,” explained Shining Armor. The white unicorn colt stood up to make his way toward his sister. “You’ve been practicing since we got into your room four hours ago,” he continued. In fact, they hadn’t even begun unpacking Twilight’s bags after she returned from Princess Celestia’s school earlier that day. At this point, the only furnishings in the filly’s room were her bed, a small number of empty bookshelves, a writing desk, and her favorite stuffed toy.

“I know, but this is the first chance I’ve had to practice another pony’s special talent spell,” Twilight pleaded.

“If Princess Celestia says you can learn the spells of other unicorns then I’m sure you can,” Shining Armor consoled. “However, nopony learns everything in one day and it’s getting dark outside,” he concluded, pointing outside to the snowy winter evening.

“Well, I am a little thirsty…” Twilight confided. “Can we practice some more after the break?” she asked.

“Of course, Twily,” her brother responded. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I can get you some cocoa if you want or… perhaps some of your favorite tea?” he asked.

“Really?!” Twilight exclaimed. With a wide grin on her face, she raced out into the hallway and downstairs toward the kitchen. Like most things in the household, this room was well organized and contained only what furniture was required. Shining Armor jogged down the stairs after his sister as she waited patiently at a table set aside for the family meals. He smirked as he opened the door to a relatively spacious pantry, retrieving some packets from a jar and filling a kettle with water.

“So how was your first semester at the school sis?” he asked as he removed a pair of mugs from a nearby cupboard while levitating the kettle onto the stove to boil.

“Where should I start?!” Twilight began. “I’ve worked diligently at my magic the whole time. I even learned how to transmute a quill into a feather duster,” she said as she frantically glanced about for any loose feathers.

“Impressive…” he responded, thankful that the frigid weather had driven off Canterlot’s bird population for the winter.

“The principles behind it are very…intriguing,” she continued after searching her mind for a brief moment. “Still, I’m really excited about my special talent!” she beamed.

“Right, Princess Celestia mentioned something about using the unique spells of other unicorns,” Shining Armor said, pausing to take a dip a teabag and now boiling water into one of the mugs. “But I always heard that was impossible, right?” he asked, raising an eyebrow while passing the mug to Twilight.

“Based on what I’ve learned, that’s the general conclusion, yeah,” she answered, blushing slightly. “I stumbled across a pretty unusual talent, but I still have a lot to learn before I’m going to go studying other pony’s spells,” she instructed.

“Well, I’d bet my bottom bit that you’ll figure it out Twiliy,” he confided. “Still, why do you want to study my spell first? Wouldn’t dad’s be easier to learn and more up your alley?” he inquired.

“Yeah…” she trailed off. “His astronomy map is pretty useful, and I love watching the constellations at night, but I wanted something…more…” she continued before taking a sip of her tea.

“Hey, no pressure Twily; I was just curious,” Shining Armor said. A pensive expression crossed the colt’s face as he stared into his tea mug suspended in the air with a simple spell. The usually talkative filly grew quiet as her brother scanned his mind for some other topic to keep the conversation going.

“Have I ever told you how I got my cutie mark?” he asked with a half-smile.

Twilight cocked her head to the side for a moment before responding “No, you always changed the subject when I asked. Why do you bring it up?”

“Well, I figured that maybe if you knew how I learned my spell, it could help you master it as well,” he explained. Twilight’s eyes grew considerably wider as she looked toward her brother.

“You mean it?!” she shouted.

“Of course Twily; it’s been far too long since I should have told you that story,” he responded. “I can’t hide from it forever…” he said, taking a look out the window at the slight flurry of snow beginning to fall in the backyard.

“Why would you need to hide from your own spell B.B.B.F.F.?” his sister asked.

“It’s not the spell as much as a mistake I made. It didn’t end up as badly as it could have but…well, it would be easier to start from the beginning, right?” he said looking the filly in the eye.

“Affirmative, I’m ready when you are,” she said slowly, gently levitating her tea cup up to her lips to take a sip.

“I guess it all began when mom was pregnant with you, so she had to take time off of her job. Dad was working at the university still and I was attending Clover Elementary School here in Canterlot,” he began.

“Wow, I bet you were a bright and talented student Shining,” his sister said beaming.

“Well, as far as grades went, I was an average student with a bit of a weakness in the magic department, but mostly I had trouble fitting in, and I was always getting into fights…” he responded.

“Who in their right mind would want to fight you?” his sister asked glancing at the much larger colt.

“I’ve always been bigger than my classmates and anypony with something to prove would want to fight me,” he responded. “The most important fight was a few months before I got my cutie mark, when I helped a young filly by the name of Lightning Bolt…”

End of Prologue

Chapter One "The Oncoming Storm"

I remember that day well. Grey clouds covered the sky like a down comforter and the wind was really kicking up. Until recess, it had been a pretty normal, boring day at school. I did what I always did for recess; I went to the field to practice levitation on some rocks. I’ll admit I didn’t have a lot of friends, since most ponies were scared of how big I was. The few that weren’t knew I was a bit of a wimp when it came to fighting for myself so they didn’t pay me much attention.

For whatever reason, it took me a long time to get the hang of magic. I couldn’t really place why at the time, but I always felt some sort of apprehension whenever I tried to use it. For whatever reason, I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to control it so I always tried too hard to reign in my magic whenever I used it. Still, today went well enough for the first few minutes and one of the rocks even got a few inches off the ground, much to my surprise. Sadly, this wasn’t an indicator of how the rest of my day would go.

I glanced toward the playground equipment and saw a white pegasus with sky blue hair being harassed by four other kids. I couldn’t really tell what it was about but I guessed the ball being passed magically by the unicorns of the group had something to do with it. After I started walking over, their shouts became distinguishable. “Too slow!” said a green unicorn colt with a deep blue mane as the ball looped sideways when the pegasus tried to catch it.

“I thought you said you were fast!” jeered another unicorn, this one purple with a white mane. He took control of the ball and slammed it in an arc over the pegasus as she dove for it. He then directed it toward the ground where a tan unicorn with a brown mane took control. “C’mon, all you have to do is touch it once!” she yelled. The pegasus screamed in frustration as she flew toward this last unicorn who waited until the last moment to fling the ball in a curved motion toward the last member of their little group. He was a red earth pony with a brown mane who stood almost as tall as I did, but not as large. He grasped the ball in his mouth and took off with a loping gait I didn’t think possible for an earth pony.

“Guys, stop it!” I yelled. “She just wants her ball back!”

“That’s kind of the point of keep-away you moron,” said the tan filly.

“Look, I don’t need your help, I can get it back,” the pegasus blurted through gritted teeth. She just caught up with the earth pony when he turned around and spit the ball back toward the unicorns as the green took control of the ball again. He gingerly lifted it into the air until the pegasus dived for it once again. She followed as he yanked back toward the ground and would have finally gotten the ball if the purple unicorn hadn’t shoved it toward the side at the last second. She tried to pull out of her dive too late as she skidded and bumped along the grass until she finally stopped in a small pile of mud.

The group of bullies did exactly what I was expecting. Each one of them laughed as merrily as their lungs allowed them to. I looked at them and then to the pegasus slowly trying to pull herself out of the mud. It had caked her mane, coat, and hooves to the point where you could see very little else except brown. My mind blazed with simultaneous thoughts of pity and anger but ultimately I couldn’t think of any other possible reaction.

“Enough!” I cried as I galloped toward the closest member of their group. The purple unicorn’s eyes nearly doubled in size as I ran up and slammed my horn into his chest. The colt went flying backward as the others simply gaped, slack-jawed at the sudden provocation. For what could have been at most a few seconds, I could not hear a single errant noise from the entire playground. Even the wind seemed to pause so it could take stock of what I had just done.

I had enough time to realize how much trouble I was in just as the others bolted forward to defend their hurt friend. I ducked under the ball, forgotten until this point, just as it came hurtling toward my head thanks to the green colt. Tan in the meantime used the distraction to kick up dirt and pebbles in my face. It didn’t really hurt, but I could hear the quick gallop of what could only be Red charging to my right. With all the dirt in my eyes, it was all I could do to turn and brace for impact. The hoof caught me right on the nose and I staggered backward, struggling to stay on my hooves and get the dirt out of my eyes. There was more galloping from my left now and I heard Green scream, “Kick his flank!”

I was sure the fight was over then. I couldn’t see, couldn’t fight, and it was three against one when I caught a white blur careen into Red a fraction of a second before he could smash me. “Thanks!” I exclaimed at my savior while wiping the last of the dust from my eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing!?” she shrieked in response.

“Helping you!” was all I could think of to say.

“Whatever, let’s finish this quick, ok?” she replied hurtling back into the air.

I was more than happy to comply as Red stood back up. Purple continued to roll on the ground but Tan thrust the ball with her magic into the air against my new pegasus ally. Green didn’t wait to see what happened but began harrying her with further clouds of dirt and debris. Fortunately for her, these dispersed in the air too much to be much of a threat but the ball could move in all sorts of unpredictable ways. Sadly, I was too occupied with Red to be of much use as he kept weaving back and forth, looking for an opening.

I reared up, trying to get some reach for when my opponent charged, but this made it awkward for keeping up with him. My friend dived against Green, using the dirt as a screen as she swooped by, striking him in the horn. He grasped his head as the ball continued to follow the pegasus. The ball trailed behind but it was moving slower and in more predictable patterns as Tan started panting and sweating profusely. Red took my glance as the opening he needed and charged forward once again from my right side. This time I was able to see him as I jumped forward and bucked, clipping the colt in his side as he skidded off course. To his credit, he wheeled around quickly and was staring me down with fire in his eyes when all of use heard a shrill tweet pierce the air.

As one, we turned toward the direction of the disturbance and I can only guess we all had the same reaction on our face when Miss Chain Reaction, the school’s science teacher, came cantering up, complete with whistle in her mouth. “Well, I was going to tell you to stop fighting, but it seems you’re all a step ahead of me,” she said in a flat voice. We all continued to stare for a moment before each of us tried to draw her attention at once.

“Ma’am, I…” I began.

“I didn’t do…” Red started.

“It was their…” Tan said.

All of our voices were drowned out as the unicorn with the red frizzled mane and yellow coat blew on her whistle once again. Her eyes flared as brightly as the particle explosion that was her cutie mark. “I don’t care who started it, or why. There will be no fighting on school grounds and I will make sure all of your parents know what has happened here today,” she said in the same flat voice. “All of you will go straight to the principal’s office while I start getting a hold of your parents. Now!” she finished.

“Yes ma’am” we all said, continuing our strange sort of unison.

After we all got to the office, there was little else to do but wait to see our parents. I couldn’t help but get a sinking feeling as the four I was fighting earlier kept trying to bore holes through me with their eyes. I didn’t figure they would want to say much to me so I turned to the pegasus filly and said “My name’s Shining Armor. What’s yours?”

“Lightning Bolt,” she replied, doing her best to examine every nook and cranny in the carpet.

“Lightning Bolt, I’m sorry I got you in trouble,” I whispered, trying not to glance in the direction of my opponents from earlier.

“You could have just left them alone, moron,” she whispered back.

“But, they hurt you, and they stole your ball,” I responded.

“Yeah, but now that we fought them, we’ll get in trouble the same as them,” she replied as she glanced up at me for the first time. “Look, I…know you were trying your best for me, but you didn’t have to get in trouble for it,” she said.

“I’ll admit, it wasn’t my best idea,” I said giving her a half-smile. “I just…had to help somehow,” I continued.

“Yeah, and you got a bruise for your trouble,” she countered, pointing a hoof at my nose. “You’re an idiot. A brave idiot but…” she sighed. “Look, I don’t really have any friends here and you did a very selfless thing for me today even if it was…” she said.

“Stupid, I know,” I finished, wondering if I meant it. “I think I get what you’re saying, and for what it’s worth, I could use all the friends I could get here myself,” I said, staring back at the ground.

“Shining Armor, get over here this instant!” commanded an all too familiar voice from outside the door.

“That’s my dad…I think I have to go now,” I managed to say, wincing.

“Right, well, we can talk more tomorrow if you want,” she said, smiling slightly. “Thanks for the effort, but next time, make sure you watch your own flank too,” she suggested as I got up to leave.

“I’ll try Lightning Bolt. See ya tomorrow,” I said, slowly trotting out of the room where three colts and a filly continued to try to kill me through hatred alone.

“So, was this Lightning Bolt you’re fillyfriend?” Twilight asked while hopping excitedly.

“What!? No, she was just a friend,” Shining Armor stammered, taking a step back.

“Are you sure? Maybe I should tell Princess Cadance about your secret love,” Twilight said, grinning to herself.

“Why would you tell the Princess?” he said too quickly.

“Well, it’s obvious that you like her, and she would want to know about your other fillyfriends, right?” she asked with a sickly sweet tone to her voice.

“What?!” he repeated. “Who said I liked her?” he continued.

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll just tell her that you don’t like her then,” she continued with too much disappointment in her voice.

“Wait, I never said that…I mean I don’t…but…” he stumbled before finding his next argument. “Fine, but if you’re going to tell her that, I won’t continue the story,” he said.

“Well played B.B.B.F.F.,” she said, giving her brother a half smile. “But I really think you should tell her how you feel at some point, don’t you?” she advised.

Shining Armor sighed and declared “I will. But you are way too smart for your own good, you know that right?” Twilight simply smiled as she sat back down. “Now where was I…” her brother continued.

Dad was right outside and due to his ragged purple hair, half-closed eyes, frowning lips, and occasional snorting; I was beginning to regret my actions. I glanced back to see he was still carrying his saddlebags still stuffed with star charts, a few books, and his prized telescope hastily put in a case. “Dad…” I began.

“Don’t,” came the reply.

“But Dad, please just…” I stubbornly continued.

“Shining Armor, now is not the time,” he interrupted.

The journey back home was ponderously slow and I knew of libraries with more conversations. It turns out, ten minutes from the school was entirely too far away. I felt like the sun was nearly set by the time we got to the front door and Dad turned to me before I could make my way inside. “How many times am I going to have to take you home before you stop this madness?” he asked.

“Dad…I know that I made a mistake, but there was a filly in trouble and…” I started.

“You didn’t get a teacher,” he said flatly.

“That’s…well…that’s true,” I said.

“You aren’t at school to fight, you’re there to learn Shining Armor,” he continued. “You’re mother and I both love you, but you have to stop getting into trouble. You’re a smart colt and strong as well. I wager you could give most of the foals at school a good thrashing if you really wanted to but that’s not how we raised you,” he finished.

“Yeah, but Dad, I was trying to protect someone, doesn’t that count for something?” I asked softly.

Dad smirked slightly and said “Something, yes, but there are many alternatives to fighting. Your mother would be the first to inform you that training and authority make a protector, not just desire. Shining, I understand why you get in all these fights, but I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I know Dad, I just…” I trailed off.

“I’ll discuss your punishment with your mother, but know this, I love you Shining, and I only want the best for you. Now go inside and get ready for dinner,” he said, opening the door magically with little thought and less effort. I cantered inside and tried to close the door with my magic but ultimately settled for a soft kick instead.

“Dear, our colt got himself in another fight!” Dad announced.

“Did he win?” Mom called back.

“I swear, you’re just encouraging him,” he grumbled as he strode off toward his bedroom.

Mom trotted into the front of the house as I was making my way to my room. “So how many was it this time kiddo?” she asked with a smile.

“Four, three unicorns and an earth pony,” I replied. It was best to give mom as many details as possible. I went over the whole fight, including what caused it. Mom listened with a slight smile but she had a habit of wincing every time I mentioned where they hit me. She seemed a bit disappointed by Miss Chain Reaction’s interference but nodded when I was finished.

“Quite the ruckus it would seem,” was her reply.

“That’s what you always say Mom,” I said, laughing despite myself.

“Well, it’s true!” she replied. “Son, I respect what you’re doing, and I understand where you’re coming from. I used to be quite the little fighter in my day…” she said wistfully.

“Yeah, but you’re a detective now, right? I mean you have training and a badge…” I muttered.

“True,” she answered, giggling. “However, you don’t do much fighting as a detective. I protect people with my wits now, not with my hooves.”

“I know you do important work Mom, but sometimes you have to help people right then and there,” I argued.

“Sometimes you do…but you can’t always step in for everypony,” she sighed.

“Huh? Why not?” I asked.

“I hope you never have to find out,” she said. Her eyes peered right at me but I got the impression she wasn’t seeing me at all. “For now though, we need to do something about all this fighting,” she said, winking.

“But Mom!” I protested feebly.

“No dear, your father has the right of it. We can’t have you fighting when other options are available. I know you were helping somepony, but I also know you can do better than resort to force every time. I’ll have to think on this, but you can at least expect no dessert tonight,” she said.

“Allright…” I moaned. Mom was not one to be trifled with and I couldn’t argue with her reasoning. “Can I go to my room now?” I pleaded.

“Sure thing dear, I’ll call you when we’re done cooking dinner,” she replied.

I crept my way into my room to catch the sun beginning to set out of my window. My bed was still disheveled from this morning so I simply jumped in to rest up from my earlier injuries. I glanced at The Canterlot Royal Guard through the Ages on my table, but decided I’d be better off going over today’s events instead of the past. I still couldn’t figure out what I had done wrong. Not exactly anyway. I mean, I knew I probably should have gone to a teacher, but why was it such a big deal to help a fellow pony? If I could, why shouldn’t I step in on another pony’s behalf? Mom was a part of the Canterlot Police Department and she must have been in lots of scraps helping ponies from all over Equestria but for some reason, my actions were different. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but my eyes ended up closing pretty soon after I hit the hay. I remember dreaming that night of Mom being carried off by a dragon as I helplessly watched. Her words, ‘you can’t always step in for everypony’, were echoing in my mind.

End of Chapter One

Author's Note

It was my intention to occasionally go back to Twilight and Shining Armor in the present day (as far as the prologue is concerned). In order to accomplish this without confusion I decided to present those sections in italics but I concede I’m not sure how well it will translate for readers. Please send me any comments or questions regarding the story and I will do my best to address them. Also, I recognize not everyone has the time to assist with editing, but I know my work is far from perfect. If you notice anything wrong, from a typo to massive grammar errors, please feel free to let me know. Thank you for taking the time to read the beginning of this story. With any luck, I’ll have another chapter done soon in addition to readers interested in a second chapter.

Chapter Two "Words and Deeds"

I awoke with my heart racing to keep up with the rain pattering outside my window. Sweat drenched my bed and I was shivering, even under my thick covers. I glanced out my window to see Canterlot blanketed by low, grey clouds and bombarded by millions of watery arrowheads. “Shining Armor, it’s time for breakfast!” Dad called from downstairs. I groaned, remembering suddenly that it was a school day and stumbled my way to the kitchen. The sweet smells of apples, cinnamon, and alfalfa greeted me once I managed the stairs to see Dad had made his patented apple clusters. “It smells good,” I managed to mumble as I sat down at the table.

Mom glanced up from the local section of the Canterlot Chronicle with a smile and said “Good morning dear, help yourself.”

Dad kept suspending the weather page through magic as he said “Do you plan on taking your umbrella this time? It looks like the Cloudsdale Weather Factory has rain planned all day today.”

“Nah, you know me, I like the rain in my mane,” I responded, taking a bite of a particularly large cluster. The juice ran down my chin as I reached for a napkin. Mom levitated it up to my face before I could finish reaching for it. “Thanks Mom,” I said.

“You’re as stubborn as your mother,” he said smirking and lowering his paper. “Very well, I’ll cast the waterproofing spell on your bags again, but be careful out there,” he finished.

“And make sure you use that stubborn streak for something wonderful son,” Mom said, tossing the napkin into the trash can at the other end of the kitchen.

After breakfast was over, I trotted my way out to the front porch and took a moment to take in the showers falling around me. I smiled despite myself and began cantering out to the path that lead to school. Despite the rain, there was still a good amount of hoof traffic as ponies began making their way to their various morning destinations. A forest of umbrellas disrupted the otherwise smooth streets of Canterlot and each pony who noticed me stared blankly at the lack of any protective tree of my own.

I was lost in thought when I heard a soft splash ripple through the puddle next to me, kicking up some water onto my legs. I turned to see the same white pegasus filly from yesterday. “Hey, I didn’t think I’d see you until I got to school,” I said.

“I’ve flown over you a few times before,” she admitted. “Sometimes I wanted to throw water balloons on your head since you never look up,” she finished.

I chuckled a bit despite myself. “Maybe you should stick to walking on a day like this. It must be pretty rough to fly,” I said.

“Eh, I like the rain in my mane, and pegasi are supposed to make rain anyway right? I figured I should get used to it,” she responded.

“Heh, I’m a big fan of rain myself,” I said, smiling.

“Yeah, I’ve always loved it. I hope that someday I can make the best storms. Large ones, with lots of lightning and BOOMing thunder!” she said quickly.

“That sounds cool, I wish I could do something like that,” I said.

“Me too…” she replied softly. We kept walking for a time with no sound but the pattering of rain against pavement and the occasional clap of thunder off in the distance. I looked over at my new friend and saw her staring up at the sky with a pensive expression on her face.

“If it makes any difference, I’m not all that great at magic,” I admitted.

“Huh?” she turned toward me.

“Well, I can barely lift rocks, and I only get sparks when I try to cast a light spell,” I said with a half-smile. “I get the theory behind them, but I can’t seem to pass any practicums. I guess you could say I’m bad at being a unicorn.”

“Wait, what?! How could you possibly be bad at magic?!” Twilight asked. “I mean, you can catch wayward kites, split apples precisely in half, and fix up Smartypants. How is that possible?!”

“I had a lot to learn Twily. Magic depends a lot on the pony using it,” Shining Armor instructed.

“Right, Princess Celestia taught me the same thing. What I don’t understand is how there can be such a shift in magical ability…” she responded.

“Well, I think it’s less that my ability switched and more that…I understood it better I guess,” her brother conjectured.

“Wait, are you suggesting what I think you are? That you can…fail to utilize or even deny magical talent?” she asked, staring more at the table than her brother.

“Well, yeah,” he answered shrugging. “I mean, I’m not a scholar on the subject or anything, but I think that may be the case. Stress also seems to be a factor from what I can tell,” he explained.

Twilight continued to stare at the table in front of her but shortly thereafter simply nodded once. “Well, I guess I’ll ask what the Princess thinks about that. I’m sorry about the interruption,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about it Twily. Let’s continue…”

After I told Lightning Bolt about my problems with magic, she seemed to smile a bit though her eyes were still distant. “I can fly well enough, but I can’t seem to touch a storm cloud without electrocuting myself,” she admitted. “I guess you could say I’m bad at being a Pegasus,” she said, lifting off to float by my side.

We made it the rest of the way to school chatting about classes and teachers for the most part. It was nice to have somepony to talk to for once. “So, I guess I’ll see you at recess then,” I said as I started making my way to class.

“Uh, you forgot we’ve got detention for the next week during recess, haven’t you?” she asked with a frown.

“Oh…right,” I responded. “After school then?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” she said, nodding before trotting toward her class.

Clover Elementary School was a particularly large school, boasting ten main classrooms, science, music, and art enrichment rooms, a gym, and a gigantic playground. It was a beautiful building, complete with marble columns, vaulted ceilings, and a number of colorful paintings depicting young ponies studying and a few great inventors or thinkers. Clover the Clever had designed the school though apparently it was not built for many years, after Canterlot was thoroughly established. It supposedly was the style of education that Clover felt fillies and colts needed but educational doctrine wasn’t all that exciting for me.

The first half of the day was pretty normal. However, it was science day, and I always loved science day. That day, we were continuing to raise our butterflies, and they had reached the pupae state since the week before. The “bugs” freaked out a lot of my classmates, but I always thought they were kind of cute, in a weird sort of way.

“All right class, get your petri dish from the shelves,” Miss Chain Reaction said. From there, a small herd made their way over to begin collecting the pupae from their assigned spots. We made our way to a bulletin board to see who our partners for the day were and I made my way over to the assigned table. Moments later, a large earth pony with a red coat and brown mane delicately deposited his petri dish on my table before glancing up at me. I winced as I noticed the bruises clinging to his side.

“Uh, I don’t think I can work with him Miss,” Red declared as glaring eyes stared only at me.

“I don’t think you have much of a choice Flash Fire,” our teacher retorted as she trotted off to look at another student’s pupae. For my part, I tried to organize my paper, pencil, dish, and then repeated the process while I fumbled for something…anything to say. “You’re…really fast,” I managed to mumble.

“Yeah, you’re…pretty strong,” he mumbled back. We started doing the first part of the assignment, which was pretty much measuring and writing down changes like color, shape, and eating habits. For the most part, we each did our best to pretend the other was invisible, and did an admirable job. Still, it didn’t prevent me from getting a quick glance at Flash Fire’s paper as he flipped it over.

“Olive?” I asked, wishing I hadn’t.

“So I named her, what’s it to you?” my partner asked, his eyes daring me to respond.

“It’s fine, just…I didn’t expect…” I stammered.

“I like bugs,” he said. “It’s not a big deal OK?” he asked, stressing the last word. “You won’t tell anyone.” It wasn’t a question.

“That’s fine, it’s, uh, it’s a good name for her,” I responded, wondering if I would get detention for a fight I didn’t start.

We continued on with the project in relative silence except for the instructions necessary to measure our subjects and pencil scratches. Time continued to stretch on and on and as we were getting toward the end of our work, I could barely contain my desire for lunch. Finally, it was time to put away the pupae which I did with as much speed as I could muster. Flash Fire almost seemed to be racing me as he sped to put the cover back on his petri dish. He turned much too fast as he bumped into the table with more force than I thought possible. The table shuddered sideways and the cover he had been holding in his hoof fell and rolled into the petri dish, knocking it and Olive off the table.

“No!” was all he could manage.

I could do little else but stand and watch as this future butterfly fell to meet its destiny on the floor of some classroom. In the grand scheme of things she didn’t matter much, save to Flash Fire, but I still wished there was anything I could do. Time crawled at a slower pace than before as Olive continued to tumble until she finally came to a rest…about five inches from the ground. It was then I realized that it wasn’t time that slowed down, it was the bug. It was also the first time I noticed a faint purple glimmer around her. I must have been as surprised as the class.

I grunted, trying to bring Olive back up to the table without crushing her as she slowly ascended. Flash Fire snapped out of his confusion and lifted her up with his hoof. I stopped concentrating, panting heavily as he put the insect back in her dish and closed the lid. “Thanks,” he said, nodding slightly.

“Yeah…no…problem,” I offered in between breaths.

Without another word, he made his way to the line forming for lunch as I continued collecting myself. After another minute or so, I managed to get my dish back to its spot as well and made my way to the back of the line. Miss Chain Reaction led us to the cafeteria and dismissed us for lunch though she was quick to remind me that I was serving detention in her class instead of going to recess.

I looked around for Lightning Bolt during lunch, but I couldn’t find her. She might have been serving detention already, or maybe she was eating in a classroom instead. Sighing, I made a note to ask her later and made my way to the science room again after finishing my meal.

“Ah, Shining Armor. You’re here earlier than I expected. You can start your detention by cleaning up some graduated cylinders over there,” she said, pointing toward the containers by the sink. I moved in front of the sink and began setting about my assigned task. All things considered, it didn’t seem all that bad. Most of them were just dirty from old food dye or a few mixes for silly putty.

“Miss Chain Reaction…” I began.

“Yes?”

“You knew Flash Fire and I fought yesterday. Why did you pair us up for today’s assignment?” I asked while scrubbing.

She sighed and said “I know you don’t start fights Shining Armor but you seem to be very good at escalating them. Did you learn anything about your partner today?”

“Well…yeah, but you can’t let anyone else know, ok?” I pleaded.

“Of course,”

“Ok, well, he really likes bugs, like me, and he named his butterfly…” I started, wondering where this was going.

“Olive, I know, I grade his papers after all,” she said with a wink. “Flash Fire has had a hard time fitting in here with all the unicorns at this school Shining. I’m fairly sure he doesn’t have any friends,” she finished.

“But that doesn’t make any sense! He was with three other unicorns yesterday,” I protested.

“It’s far more complicated than that Shining. I think it would be best if you heard it from him. Next time you two work together you should find a way to learn about it,” she suggested.

“Wait, I have to work with him again? He barely talks to me and I know he’s mad about yesterday,” I said, incredulous.

“Yes,” she said, though her eyes seemed to command.

After waiting for her to continue, I sighed, “Ok, what should I do next then?”

She smiled and said, “That’s the spirit! Next you can set out the scales for my younger class. Be sure to get all the weights out for them as well.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” she responded, her grin seemingly doubling in size.

The rest of detention went swiftly enough. There were a variety of small odds and ends to collect, clean, store, or set out and by the time I was done, I felt pretty tired. Class continued after that on into the afternoon but I couldn’t get my new assignment out of my mind. I concentrated only on my task and the steady beat of water driving against the pavement outside. My thoughts seemed able to race the rain for speed but they accomplished just as much to solve my problem. I never heard the bell go off but after I turned to notice all my classmates had left, I shook my head, gathered my things, and followed.

I was still contemplating my next move when I looked up to see Lightning Bolt waiting for me right by the front door. Her mane looked disheveled and I could see a few singed hairs on her coat. Her face dropped all thoughts of Flash Fire from my mind as quickly as a chill running down my spine.

“What happened?” I asked, speaking as softly as I could.

“A stupid dare,” she replied, in a nearly inaudible attempt to beat my voice. While there were no tears on her face, her eyes were still slightly puffy.

“If you want to talk about it, I want to listen,” I replied.

“I… I tried to move…a small storm cloud. There were some pegasi and they…”

“It’s ok, you can tell me,” I said, as reassuringly as I could.

“They said a small one was easy and that I could…push it back to the storm… and…and,” she stuttered.

“It wasn’t easy was it?” I finished.

She slowly shook her head and then stared down at the floor. “I got up to it…and hesitated. I touched it and, there was a big flash and I just plummeted, straight down. I thought…I thought I was going to die.”

“I…” I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that. “Did you see the nurse?” was the only relevant thing I could think of.

“I…um, yes. I managed to get my wings under control at the last second and only crashed into some mud,” she replied blankly. “Anyway, she said, well, I’ll be fine, but it still kind of stings.”

“I, is there anything I can do to help?”

“Explain why they laughed at me,” she whispered. I could see some of the occasional glint of tears as they welled up into her eyes. “I got hurt, and they laughed at me, they always laugh at me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, wishing I could think of anything else to say. “It’s not funny, and I don’t know why anypony would think it is,” I concluded.

She nodded, as if that was what she expected to hear and then took a deep breath. “No, it isn’t. But don’t go trying to beat them up Shining Armor, I won’t have either of us getting any more detention,” she said in a much more composed voice.

“Aw, but I just love cleaning beakers, I think it might be my special talent,” I replied, trying my best to grin. It felt like more of a half-smile.

“So, a pipe-cleaner cutie mark then? That’s not all that great,” she replied.

“Well, maybe not, but we both know I’ll never get one for cleaning clocks,” I retorted.

She groaned and said “or telling jokes.” We both chuckled at that and started making our way out the door. “Hey, thanks for hearing me out, and, well, for cheering me up,” she said.

“Eh, I may not have many friends, but I treat mine well.” We continued on in silence for a while, though I found it a natural pause. After a while, I turned to her and said “Hey, do you think maybe we could practice sometime?”

“Practice…what?”

“Well, magic in my case I guess, and weather in yours. We could help each other out, and maybe it’ll be slightly less dangerous than practicing alone,” I explained.

“Well, with a pitch like that, how could I say no? Still, it’s not your worst idea, and maybe it actually could help,” she answered, staring back up toward the sky.

“Well, how about tomorrow after school? We could go to the park nearby,” I mused.

“Sure, I’ll tell my dad. I’ve got to head east up ahead here, so I’ll let you know tomorrow morning,” she answered.

“Right, until then.”

“See ya.”

“Wait, so you just got your spell through practice?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Huh? No, that’s not the end of the story,” her brother responded, as his eyes glanced to the side.

“Yeah, but it’s been a long story and unless that’s how it happened, we won’t finish it tonight,” she responded, her eyes narrowing.

“Well, what if it wasn’t a single story, and more of a…lecture series,” Shining Armor said in a halting voice.

“So, like an advanced course, like home-school or an independent study?” she asked.

“Sure, why not?”

“Wow! You’re the best B.B.B.F.F.! Should I call you Professor Armor?” she replied.

“Um, sure,” he responded in the same tone a pony would use if asked by Princess Celestia to record her court proceedings for a day.

“Excellent. I think I memorized today’s lesson, but I’ll come prepared with parchment and quill for tomorrow. You can count on me Professor!”

The stallion sighed and looked down at his sister’s smiling face. “Alright, class will start thirty minutes after breakfast tomorrow. I’ll expect you in your place and ready to learn. Is that fair?” he asked with a smirk.

“Very. I’ll report in tomorrow,” she replied, turning and beginning to head to her room. “Race you upstairs,” she said, cantering off. Her brother, used to such indulgences, dutifully cantered after her.

End of Chapter Two

Author's Note

Well, this is the second installment. I want to apologize to any of you looking forward to it (if anyone) for taking my sweet time about it. Between work and my grad school I’ve found it difficult to keep at it but I hope my efforts reap some sort of enjoyment for all of you. As always, any and all comments are appreciated and please don’t hesitate to tell me of any grammar, spelling, or story errors you encounter. I’ll try to take less time for the next part, but I’m afraid I can’t promise anything in that regard. I hope you and yours are well and thank you for taking the time to read my attempt at writing.