The Element of Light

Chapter 3: The First Day in Ponyville

5 months later:

Light and Zecora were walking through the darkened forests that surrounded the Zebra's hut. Light could feel the twigs and shrubbery of the trees crack underneath his hooves as they walked. They were headed towards the small, rural town that stood in the distance. Even though Light had gotten more than enough time to prepare for the days ahead, he was still a bit.. unnerved by the whole situation. The two left the outer reaches of the Everfree Forest, only to be greeted by flowing fields of green. "Hey Mom.." Light said as he turned his head towards his caretaker. "Do you think they'll accept me? You know, the other elements?" Zecora let out a light chuckle, causing Light's nerves to calm.

"Of course my dear, they are not the ones you should fear." she smiled at him. It was only a couple of days ago since the Zebra had told him that he would be leaving her home, to live in the nearby town of Ponyville.

There appeared to be a modestly sized cottage in their way. Several woodland critters could be seen outside, scattered in the grass and trees that stood before the wooden cabin, it seemed strangely cozy to Light, he decided to go and take a closer look. The unicorn charged off through the tall grass, causing it to rustle past his legs, he stopped just a few feet away from the cabin's walls. "Hey Mom! Who lives here?" he yelled back at her.

“A dear friend to animals big and small, Fluttershy is know for her kindness to all.” She said as she caught up with Light. “She is one of the mares I have spoken of, who most of Ponyville have come to love”

“Oh that's good to know, guess I have to give befriending her a go.” he rhymed as he gave her a sly wink, causing Zecora to chuckle slightly as she nudged him with her muzzle, signaling him to move forward. Suddenly, a soft humming could be heard, coming from the other side. Slowly, he made his way around the humble home. He could see a pegasus, tending to the animals that surrounded her home. Her coat was yellow, and she had a long, pink mane. Her eyes were closed as she hummed a cheery tune, unknown to Light.

He couldn’t help but feel like he had seen her before somewhere. But he simply couldn’t remember. The pegasus was busy feeding some carrots to her little bunny, but he didn’t seem to agree to this at all. He took the carrot out of Fluttershy’s hoof and threw it into the grass. he crossed his arms as he gave her a stubborn look.

“Oh Angel, you know these carrots are good for you” she tried to reason with her furry little friend. “Just one, for me?” she pleaded, sending him a begging stare. The bunny turned his back to her in response before running off into the forest. Fluttershy sighed heavily in response.

The two approached the timid pegasus. “Good mor-” he got interrupted by a sudden shriek of fear. Fluttershy leaped several feet into the air, swiftly maneuvering herself behind a nearby tree. Which proved to be a futile disguise, seeing that they could see her wings shaking from either side of the tree. Light turned his head towards Zecora. “Does this happen often?”

“More than you can imagine.” she chuckled in response. The zebra trotted over to the tree. “You can come out Fluttershy my dear, there is nothing to fear.” she tried to reassure the frightened pegasus. An eye peered from the base of the tree, growing wide as she saw her friend.

“Oh Zecora..” she whispered, Light could barely hear it. The cyan eyes turned their gaze towards Light, inspecting him closely. “Who is your friend?” she mumbled, even softer than before.

“Of course my dear, this is Light, my son, and he will be staying in Ponyville this year.” she said as she pointed her hoof towards the unicorn, who wore an awkward smile as he waved at her. After a few seconds of merely staring at each other, Light decided to shatter the silence.

“Nice to meet you!” he exclaimed in the friendliest voice that he could muster. He extended his hoof for a proper greeting. Sheer willpower was the only thing that enabled Fluttershy to bring her hoof to his. She mumbled something that Light was unable to hear. “excuse me? I didn’t quite catch that” he said as he brought his head closer in an attempt to hear what she was saying.

“Likewise” she whispered softly, turning her gaze away from his azure eyes as she let go of his hoof. “I.. I have to go and.. find Angel! Yes, that’s it. I have to find Angel.” she whispered before charging off into the woods.

A confused look spread across his face as he turned to Zecora. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked in amazement.

“Oh no don’t think that, she is always like this and that is a fact” she whispered back to the worried stallion’s ears.

Meanwhile, at Ponyville’s local library, Twilight Sparkle was busy reading her personal copy of “The picture in the House.” A book which she had read countless times before, not that it mattered to the studious mare. She sat on her lavender bed, the blanket covering her up to her waist as she used her magic to flip the pages of the dusty tome, smiling contently as the scenes danced in her mind. Twilight had always been a clever pony, the personal prodigy of Princess Celestia herself, but her studious, uptight nature had caused her to become a bit of a recluse, only leaving her adobe when instructed to do so by her friends. Sadly, this had caused the Ponyville Library to be in a state of total disarray, piles of stacked books covered the floors, arranged in an order that only Twilight Sparkle could understand, to Spike’s great dismay.

The young dragon was given to her after she had hatched him from his egg, so many years ago. Twilight herself, was of a very young age when she accomplished this feat of magic, which earned her a place in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He was her assistant, but she saw him as a friend. Spike however, regarded her highly, in a way, she was like a caretaker to him. He looked up to her, he never had the courage to admit it though. He was always happy to help whenever she needed him.

Meanwhile, the said dragon was downstairs, picking up the books and novels that were scattered across the room, and putting them in their designated place, just like he would do everyday. But this time it was different, he stumbled through the room, taking the books in his grasp one by one, and practically hurling them into the usual holding place, groaning in annoyance all the while. The poor dragon could not remember the last time that he had gotten a good night’s sleep. He looked up at the dim light, shining from the candle in Twilight’s room, piercing the creaks in one of the library’s many ancient doors, he sighed in dismay. “Twilight never has any time for me these days..” he sighed as he started to carry the last pile of books. “I don’t need any praise, but a ‘thank you’ would be nice once in a while..” he though to himself as he took the last book in his grasp, stretching his arm towards the highest shelf of one of the many bookcases that stood in the Library’s main floor, but he simply couldn’t reach it. He stepped unto the first shelf, in an attempt to reach his goal. “Nearly got it..” he groaned as he stretched his legs to get that last edge.

“Spike! Could you come up here for a second!?” The young dragon got caught of guard by the sudden noise, causing him to fall to the floor. In the heat of the moment, Spike frantically held on to the edge of the bookcase, causing it to fall over. Moments later, a little dragon head emerged from the sea of books that were scattered across the library’s floor. Spike groaned in pain, putting his claw to his head as he did. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking dully at the excruciating mess, that he would undoubtedly have to clean. He raised his claws into the air, roaring angrily. He could hear a sudden gasp, coming from behind. Twilight was standing at the end of the stairs with an angry look on her face as she gave Spike a stern look. Spike sighed heavily, knowing all to well what was about to happen.

“Spike!? What is this mess?” she yelled with a hint of anger in her voice. “What did you do!?” He simply sighed in response. He picked himself up from the ground, causing the layer of books that covered him to shift.

“I’m sorry, Twilight..” he sighed.

“Sorry is not going to cut it mister.” she told him. “You’re not leaving until this mess is cleaned.” she said, sending him another stern stare. The dragon’s eyes shot open wide as he heard those words.

“But Twilight!” he exclaimed. “That’s going to take forever, it’s my night off remember?” he yelled as a hint of anger started to make its way into his voice. He simply stared at her in disbelief.

“Well, the plans have been changed. I want this clean by tomorrow.” Spike didn’t even bother arguing with her, it was a lost cause anyway. He sighed as he stepped through the countless books. It seemed that Spike had become more of an assistant and less of a friend to Twilight lately.

Light and Zecora were trotting happily across the road leading towards the rural town of Ponyville. They could see numerous tall buildings and structures emerge from behind the hills. He was just about to turn his head towards the zebra to ask her about the inhabitants of the town, but he got cut off by a blue blur, flashing past her head and hitting him in the side, causing him to soar a few feet through the air before hitting the tall grass, that stood at the side of the rode, with a loud thud. A sudden sting of pain filled his body as the grass rustled past it.

He investigated the source of the impact, and rather quickly, he noticed a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus, sitting in the grass beside him. She put a hoof to  her forehead as she shook it vigorously, to rid herself of the dizzy feeling that plagued her mind.  “Hey! Sorry about that buddy! You should look where you’re going.” she laughed towards the stallion who was groaning in pain due to some random pegasus flying into him.

“Rainbow Dash!? Why don’t you look out for my son, you might have actually hurt someone.” Zecora said, causing Light to look at her with an irritated look as if to say. ‘This doesn’t count or something!?’

Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly as she brought her hoof to the back of her head, rubbing it in an attempt to suppress the pain. She got up from out of the tall grass, spreading her wings as she took off into the air, levitating a few feet above Zecora. “Gee Zecora, would you relax! I was just trying out this awesome new move. Well, up until  your son got in the-” She suddenly paused as she examined the rolling ball of white, coughing in the grass. “Son?” she asked with a tone of confusion in her voice.. She blinked dully at the Zebra for a while, trying to comprehend the information she had just received.

Light raised himself from the grass, stumbling on his hooves for a while, still groaning from the pain that he had just received from the tackling pegasus. A sudden surge of pain shot through his legs, causing him to fall over again. Zecora jumped over towards him, catching him just before he made contact with the ground. After she helped him up, he simply stood beside her, leaning on her for support. Rainbow Dash however, was still baffled by what she had just heard.

“Zecora has a son? No way! He’s not even a zebra! He’s a pony! A new pony... must be a spy!” Rainbow Dash was astounded by her own amazing sense of logic. She shot through the air, levitating just inches in front of him as she gave him a piercing stare. “Are you a spy!?” Zecora sighed heavily, this was the normal turn of events whenever the overly energetic mare met someone new.

“I’ve never seen you here before! Come on, spill it!” she began interrogating the stallion who could barely stand up straight as he was still using Zecora for support. The zebra stomped her hoof into the ground, catching the rainbow-maned mare’s attention.

“That is enough of that tone! Leave him alone.” she said to the invasive pegasus. Rainbow was now looking towards an angry zebra, an unnerving sight to say the least. Rainbow was known for having a brave persona, but even she was caught off guard by Zecora’s sudden change of personality, she had never seen the calm zebra get mad before. She landed gracefully on the floor, and looked down to avoid the zebra’s judging gaze.

“Don’t worry Zecora, I never knew you had a son. I mean, it’s not like you ever told us.” She said, her ears drooped down into her neck as she wore a fake smile across her muzzle.

“Did you even ask?” Light interrupted her, not really expecting an answer. He had become able to stand up straight without Zecora’s support. He gave Rainbow, who he deemed as a great annoyance, an angry stare. “What did you say your name was again?” he said, softening his stance.

Suddenly, Rainbow took off into the air, hovering a few feet above the two. She spread her wings to the midday sun. “Rainbow Dash! The one and only!” she exclaimed, flipping through the air as if it was nothing before landing on the ground once more. “And who might you be?”

she asked, having already forgotten the events that had transpired.

“My name is Light. Light Seeke-”

“Oh pony-feathers! I’m going to be late for my cloud schedule! See you all at the party!” she said as she flew off into the distance , not even taking the time to wave back at Light, who was now standing there, dumbfounded over the mare’s actions.

He turned his head towards Zecora. “Party?” he asked. She simply shrugged in response.

Light and Zecora had made their way into the centre of Ponyville. The unicorn had received a fair share of curious glances, but that was understandable for a newcomer. Light’s curiosity suddenly peaked as a delicious smell filled his nose. He stopped in his tracks, searching for the source of the aroma. It seemed to be coming from the large building, with the gingerbread roof. “Hey Mom, what is this place?” he asked, staring at the candy that served as the building’s decoration.

“A bakery is built here, where they make many treats, my dear.” She said. Light’s stomach rumbled at her words. He felt a sudden craving for banana muffins. Suddenly, the bakery’s door swung open as a puffy pink pony bounced out, holding a basket of sweets in her mouth. Her gaze fell on Light and Zecora, causing her to stop midair, hovering a couple of feet above the ground for a few seconds as her eyes grew larger.

“Um... Hi, my name is Light. I’m new here in Ponyville. It’s nice to meet you Miss-” he said nervously to the mare who was staring at him with the brightest of sparkles in her eyes. Suddenly, she leaped even higher into the air as she let out a loud gasp, only to run off at high velocity afterwards. “What did just happen?”

“The Element of Laughter you have just seen is Pinkie Pie, her joy and energy will never die” she said whiles looking amused at what happened recently.

“I’d say” he thought, baffled by the randomness of the moment.

They continued along the path towards the local Library, and Light’s anxiety got the better of him, as it so often would. “Magic” he thought to himself. “I could actually do magic?” it all seemed so inconceivable to him, to wield such power. There was something off about the setting however. The town, which had been buzzing with  busy ponies just a few moments ago, was completely empty, as if everypony just got up and left. “Where did everyone go?” he asked Zecora.

“Whatever do you mean, everything is fine as you have seen” she answered, wearing a playful smile on her face.

“But...” he argued. “never mind. Where is this Library anyway?” he asked, branding the disappearance of the ponies as insignificant.

“The library is right in front, we are now finished with our hunt” she said, pointing her hoof towards the massive tree in front of them. The Library appeared to be built into the base of the tree. Something that astounded Light greatly.

“Finally” he thought to himself as he felt his legs beginning to tire. He noticed a small dome which housed an observatory with a rather large telescope sticking out of the roof. Light was just about to open the door when a sudden thought came into his mind. He turned to Zecora. “Say... this is a library right?” he asked with a sense of doubt in his voice.

“Correct.” she nodded with a smile.

“A public one?” he asked

“Indeed” she said

“And this Twilight Sparkle lives here?” he asked, wondering why anypony would want to live in a local library.

“What are you trying to mention, why do you have so much tension?” She asked, unsure what he was getting at.

“Shouldn’t I ask for permission to come in?” He asked Zecora.

“Just open the door, and see what it has in store” she told him.

“I guess..” he said

He opened the door, Zecora was the first to enter, he believed in the saying ‘Ladies first’ after all. The zebra entered the room, followed closely by Light. The door closed shut behind him, only then did he notice that the room was completely void of light, he couldn’t see a thing. He could hear the muffled murmurs coming from the shadows of the room. He put his hoof to the wall, searching for the switch that would enlighten the room. He smiled as he felt the switch to his hoof, flicking it swiftly.

“SURPRISE!!!”

And surprised he was. Standing in the middle of the room, he was greeted by what he assumed to be nearly every pony in Ponyville. Banners hung from the ceiling reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’, confetti still floated through the air, tables filled with sweets and drinks were scattered along the wall and at the end of the room, stood a turntable, complete with pony DJ. The unicorn used her magic to levitate the needle onto the record, and the music started playing. “Wait.. what?” Light said, looking over to Zecora, who was busy talking to the pink party pony that they had seen just a few moments ago. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed with his hooves in the air. “Who planned this!?”

Suddenly, Pinkie bounced towards him. “Oh it was me silly!” she giggled loudly. “when you told me that you were new here, I just had to throw a ‘Welcometoponyvillesurpriseparty’ for you! By the way, my name is Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Do you like parties? Do you like cupcakes? Oh oh! Do you like muffins? We have lots of those here. Oh oh! Did you meet my friends? You must meet them all! Do you have any friends here? Where are you from? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” Light simply stared at her, his brain broken by the arsenal of rapid questions fired at his head.

“well, I don’t haven’t really met anyone here yet. I’m Zecora’s son from Zebrafrica and-” he got cut off by Pinkie Pie, gasping loudly.

“Zecora! Why didn’t you tell us you had a son?” Pinkie asked the Zebra standing next to Light.

“Silly Pinkie, you never asked.” Zecora smiled with a giggle.

As he glanced around the room in an attempt to find something to drink, he saw a table, standing on the other side of the room, complete with punch and glasses on the side. He moved towards his price. Just as he was about to pick up the glass he could hear somepony whimper from underneath the table. Suddenly, he noticed a pink tail, shaking from the table’s side. When he got a closer look, he saw Fluttershy, trembling on the ground, covering her face with her hooves. “Fluttershy..? Why are you hiding?” he whispered.

“Oh, I... um, well... I’m, well...” she said in whisper, turning away from his gaze.

“Why don’t you come out and party like the rest of the ponies?” he said, lowering himself to her face-level.

“It’s just... I don’t really like big parties... just all the ponies... I don’t want them all looking at me...”

“Aww c’mon.” he cooed. “It’s not so bad, you just need to be brave, is all”

“Really?” she looked up to the stallion who was smiling down contently at her.

“Tell you what? I’ll stay by your side and make sure that nopony’s mean to you, ok?”

“Really?” she whispered as she raised her gaze from the floor, looking up into his honest eyes.

“Really.” he replied, causing the mare to come out of her hiding spot. She stumbled up on her hooves and smiled meekly at him.

After the heat of the moment had died down, and everypony started to mingle and interact, Pinkie called her friends together, not wanting to wait another second before she could introduce her new friend. The music still boomed through the dimly lit library. “Guys! Guys!” Pinkie exclaimed with her hooves in the air, causing her friends to give her half-hearted smiles, seeing that Pinkie often made a fuss about nothing. She wrapped her arm around Light’s neck. “This is-” her excited expression turned to one of confusion. “Oh silly me! I forgot to asked your name” she  gasped.

“My name is-”

“I’m so so so so so so sorry for not asking your name. Normally I’d ask the pony’s name straight off, but today I’m so excited! Especially finding out your Zecora’s son! Oh oh! Do they have cake and cupcakes where your from? Do like parties? Do you like this party? Do you like the music? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do yo-”

“Woah there, take it easy... my name is Light... Light Seeker” he said, turning to the other ponies that surrounded him. A unicorn mare with white a white coat and curly navy blue mane turned to him and smiled.

“And I am Rarity, but you knew that of course.” she said, extending her hoof to him for a civil greeting. Not really sure if ponies actually ‘shook hooves’ he took his hoof and put it to hers.

“Pleased to meet you, miss Rarity.” he said.

“Charmed, I’m sure. It’s nice to see that SOME ponies still have standards.” she said, turning her gaze to Applejack, giving her a smug look, causing the earth pony to cut her off.

“Will you get over it already!” Applejack growled, obviously talking about an argument between the two. Light wasn’t sure what was going on, but he preferred to not get involved. The earth pony turned to him. “Ah’m Applejack.” she smiled.

“Pinkie Pie! How many times do I have to tell you to not throw a party in the library without my permission!” The group all turned their heads at the sudden yelling. A lavender unicorn approached the group, looking unamused to say the least, she looked furious.

“Aww but Twilight it was for the new guy! See?” she tried to reason with her uptight friend, pointing her hoof towards Light.

Twilight turned to the silent stallion, causing him to raise his gaze to meet her eyes. Suddenly, a spark jumped between them as he looked into those deep purple eyes. “Wow..” he thought to himself. When he looked into those eyes, he could have sworn time had stopped between the two of them. There was something alluring about the mare that was standing before him that he could not quite explain. He could have sworn that he had seen her before, whether it was in reality or in his dreams. She had a lavender coat and a purple mane with a single pink stripe running through it.

“Oh...” she managed to utter, blushing ever so slightly. “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”

“My...” he spoke whiles trying his best to focus on what he wanted to say. “My name is Light Seeker, Miss Sparkle”

“Oh... just call me Twilight, please” she replied , still looking into his azure eyes.

He then looked from side to side with his eyes only, feeling nervous around this mare. The seven ponies had gathered in a circle by now.

“So where are you from if I may-” she asked him before she as interrupted by sudden spark.

A piercing pain appeared in Light’s mind, causing him to put his hoof to his head in an attempt to suppress it as he closed his eyes. The six friends looked at him with confused stares. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, emanating a blinding, white light through the room, it was so intense that everypony had to cover their eyes to avoid the sudden pain. The six friends however felt a strange warmth rushing through their bodies. It was almost identical to the feeling they had when they found their respective Element in the old castle where they defeated Nightmare Moon.

Light floated a few inches into the air as his horn started to glow with a light even brighter than his eyes. Suddenly, the glow subsided, causing Light to slowly close his eyes shut as his body became numb. He fell to the ground, hitting the wooden floor with a loud thud as his world went black.

“Light? Light!” Zecora’s sudden pleas were the last thing he heard before he lost his senses.

A/N: I'l like to give credit to my editor and friend Vozzlefox for helping me out with this chapter. You guys should check out his *story "Lately"... its awesome! :)*