Beyond My Yearsby PinktuxcatChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 1Most pegasi parents decide on a name for their child before they are born, unlike unicorns or earth ponies, who wait to see what the gender and coloration of the foal will be, then decide on a name suiting that child. For example, earth pony parents will see that the foal has a bright coloration and is a female, and will name her “Daisy Dewdrop” and unicorn parents will have a foal that is male and is dark colored and will name him “Night Spark” or something to that effect. Often, out of pure chance, the name is relative to the pony’s special talent. It’s that way for pegasi too. I don’t claim to understand why this works, or how the chances are so high that the talents are relative to the names, but maybe it’s a parent thing. I have no children, so I wouldn’t know firsthand. Most parents, of all the three nations, tell me the same thing – you get a feeling, and you just know what to name them. More prominent in the mothers, though, so personally I believe that the foal growing inside the mother can somehow let the mother know who he or she is, that they can almost bring forth that feeling of certainty in the mother that helps choose the perfect name for the foal. Perhaps it’s time I introduce my point. I am Sunshine Daydream, also called “Sunny Day” and more often simply “Sunny”. I was born in Cloudsdale to Thunderstrike, my father, and Breezy, my mother. My coat is pure white, and my mane is medium blue, with a sky blue streak. My eyes are golden yellow, like the sun itself. Of course, my name fit perfectly, and as is pegasi tradition, was chosen before I was even born. My bloodline is pure pegasi, counting back generation to generation, all the way to the time of Commander Hurricane. No, I am not related, but that is as far back as anyone can recall their genealogy in the pegasi nation. I am a wonder to most pegasi in my community. Why? Because though I am of pure pegasi blood, I was born without wings. I was given a different gift instead. I am a unicorn. I was often looked upon as an affliction to my family; a unicorn born to a pure pegasi bloodline! Surely, there was an affair somewhere down the line! But family records do not show such things. So I became an unexplainable oddity. I had siblings, 3 of them, Stormcloud and Lightning Wings, my two brothers, and Sea Gale, my sister. All of them were born pegasi, as they should be. Growing up a unicorn in a world full of pegasi was hard. Since I wasn’t born with the same abilities as my brothers and sister, I had to be accompanied everywhere. A cloud home isn’t exactly suitable for someone who can’t walk on clouds. When I was just a little filly, I wandered outside my home, which was settled on a cloud yard. I had taken one step off the porch and fallen clear through the cloud beneath me. I remember my only thought – what had I done wrong? When Sea Gale, a year older than me, stepped outside to play, she never fell through the cloud! Why did I? Luckily, my older brother Stormcloud had been on his way home from school and saw me sailing downward from our home and quick as a flash had me in his arms, carrying me back home. At that point I had been sobbing. Why had I been cursed with a useless horn, instead of wings like everypony else I knew? After that incident, my parents thought it best I was shipped off to Canterlot to learn magic and hone my own natural abilities, rather than risk falling through the sky again. I was so young… I was a scared little filly, being sent away to school far away from my family. But my parents reassured me that my place was on the ground, rather than in the sky, and that the only way to discover who I was and to gain my own cutie mark was to learn magic like the other unicorns. To be honest, up until that point I hadn’t really considered myself a unicorn. Everywhere I looked in Cloudsdale was Pegasus ponies. Earth ponies really didn’t care for the sky and unicorns rarely ever visited, except for the safety inspectors of the weather factory. Quite often I forgot about the horn protruding from my forehead. I didn’t know how to do magic, and since there was nopony in Cloudsdale to teach me, I hadn’t really given it much thought. As for the lack of wings, well, I often forgot I didn’t have a pair, which lead to close calls, but none as life-threatening as me falling through the cloud my home rested on. So I was on my way, a little unicorn filly born to Pegasus parents, terrified out of my mind of what was to become of me and how different the ground would be from my home in the sky. Chapter 2As it would happen, Princess Celestia herself heard of the oddity of the unicorn born to pure pegasi blood, and requested that my first stop be to the castle so she could converse with me on the matter. At this point, I was really freaked out. First I get sent away from everything I’ve ever known and everyone I’ve ever loved to a strange place I’ve never been, to learn about a skill I never knew I had, and now I have an audience with the Princess at her request! I was shaking in my horseshoes, to say the least. As I walked through Canterlot Castle’s halls, I admired the craftsponyship of the various statues and stained glass windows all around me. Serious skill had been put into each delicate work of art. I briefly wondered if this was a talent other unicorns possessed, or if all unicorns’ special talents had to do only with magic. I figured that would be a good question for the princess to answer. “Welcome, Sunshine Daydream, to Canterlot. It is an honor to meet such a rare pony, a unicorn born into a pure pegasi bloodline. Tell me, young one, do you know and utilize any of the magic you possess?” “I-I… Um, well, I…” I stuttered, unceremoniously. Suddenly my brain snapped into gear. This was the princess! “Your majesty!” I exclaimed, bowing low, my horn touching the red carpet that lined each and every hall of Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia laughed, a merry sound, like clinking of champagne glasses at a party. I would never forget how pleasant the sound was, as long as I lived. “Come, my little pony, there is much to learn.” “About what, Your Highness?” “Your magic, your special talent, your heritage, and how rare it is for such a pony to be born out of a pure bloodline such as yours.” I gasped. “So there are others like me? Other unicorns born to Pegasus parents?” She frowned slightly. “No. You are the first of that kind. The most common is earth ponies born to either pegasi or unicorns of pure blood. It is quite common to be born lacking an innate skill in that respect. It is another thing entirely to be born with a different ability altogether.” “So… how often are pegasi born to earth ponies and unicorns?” I asked. “It is very rare, but Pegasus ponies can be born to unicorns. Their natural-born magic manifests not in the form of a horn, but in the form of wings. They also possess a kind of magic within their wings that isn’t natural to other pegasi, such as being able to create weather types with much more ease and on a greater scale than other pegasi. There was one pegasus born to unicorn blood two centuries ago that could create a hurricane with one circle over the sea. She would dip one wing in the water and make a wide circle, then at the place she started, she would shoot straight up and a massive spout would emerge at her wingtip. It was her special talent, and also a very good example of the kind of magic pegasi like that possessed. Other pegasi tried to replicate her storm systems, and it took ten fully grown pegasus ponies just to replicate one hurricane the size that she could make them in the same amount of time she could make them. “It is rarer still for pegasi to be born to earth ponies, but the kind of magic they possess often is honed with nature, such as the breezes that used to be created to remove the autumn leaves from the trees before the Running Of The Leaves was begun. Another type is the ability to know which plants longed for water or sunshine more than others. They would create a small raincloud over some plants or create or destroy a cloud over others simply because they knew it was what the plant or tree needed or desired. “The next rarest are unicorns born to pure blood earth ponies. Again, they possess magic honed with nature and their skills include spells that find the most fertile soil or water underground. With their natural abilities they can also use telekinesis, as all unicorns can but their special skills usually involved the earth. “Until recently, I had never heard of a unicorn born to pure blooded pegasi before. I imagine it’s about as rare as pegasi born to unicorns, but there have been no other examples of this phenomenon until you. You are a very special filly, Sunshine Daydream.” Through her entire speech I had considered one thing: my own special talent. “Thank you, Princess. Do you… do you suppose my special talent will have to do with the weather even though I’m a unicorn, since I was born into a Pegasus family?” Princess Celestia looked thoughtful. “Hmm… It is possible. It would make sense given the other examples with an inversion of your situation. But it does not always happen that way. A pony’s special talent, the one that gives the pony their cutie mark, does not always have to do with their physiology. It is born within you, who you are truly meant to be, from the inside out. It may have to do with the weather, but it could be anything, my little pony. That is for you and you alone to discover for yourself.” I mused on her words for a moment, before she spoke again, a bit more regally this time. “I will show you to your room. Because you have no family living here in Canterlot, I have decided to take it upon myself to look after you, so you will be living here, in Canterlot Castle, for the time being. I expect you to be diligent in your studies and report to me any findings you have about your situation, even the most miniscule, should it have any effect on you, young one. I am most curious to find how your situation will play out for you.” We had arrived at a simple wooden door that was to be my room. “Of course, your Highness. I’m very grateful for this opportunity!” Princess Celestia smiled. “You are very welcome, Sunshine. Enjoy your time in Canterlot. Study hard, discover who you are, and most importantly, make friends!” She was gone in a flash. I opened the door to reveal my new room. The room was absolutely filled with bookshelves and books lined even the floor and covered every inch of the table in the center of the room. Was this Twilight Sparkle’s room when she lived here? It had to be. No other pony was as concerned with knowledge as she was. Twilight’s time in Canterlot had been only a few years before she moved to Ponyville but the amount of books in this room looked to be reading material for several decades! I had wondered briefly if the Princess hadn’t accidentally led me to the castle’s library, but why would the library be so small? And it certainly wouldn’t have a bed in the corner. At any rate, my journey was about to begin and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of it! Chapter 3Several years had passed since my first day in Canterlot. During that time, I had taken the princess’s wishes to heart and studied unicorn magic nearly as religiously as Twilight Sparkle had. I didn’t forget about friends though. As a young filly I joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders and gained a dozen friends instantly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had grown exponentially since the original three fillies started the organization as a little club in Ponyville ten years prior. I had learned about the group from a couple of blank flank fillies in my magic kindergarten class shortly after starting school. As nervous as I was, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make friends AND get my cutie mark at the same time. After 3 years of being in the group, it was apparent that I wasn’t going to get my cutie mark through them. I was the oldest member of the group, no longer a little filly, but a young mare. All of my friends had grown up and earned their cutie marks one way or another, moving on to bigger and better things in their lives. They all encouraged me to keep trying, but ultimately just caused me jealousy and disappointment that I was far behind them. “Princess Celestia?” I had asked one day, “Do you think I’ll ever get my cutie mark? I’m very skilled in magic, only a few levels behind Twilight Sparkle. I’ve tried everything I can think of. I even planted a garden on my veranda hoping somehow farming was my cutie mark. Nothing is working. I can build machines with ease too, but if that was my special talent, I would’ve gotten a tool of some sort as a cutie mark. Something is wrong with me.” I sobbed, holding my head in my hooves. “Nothing is wrong with you, Sunny,” Princess Celestia reassured. “Granted, I haven’t seen as late a bloomer as you in many years, but remember, you are a special case. Perhaps your cutie mark is a special case as well.” I was still distraught. “But Princess, I even tried working with the weather. My spells are no stronger than any other unicorn playing with clouds. I am not like the pegasi born to unicorns. My unicorn magic isn’t honed to weather. Maybe I don’t have a special talent…” “Every pony has a special talent. Don’t give up just yet. I believe you should look to the past for your special skill, since you’ve tried all modern forms of magic.” “You think my special talent is something that’s been gone for hundreds of years? Like playing an outdated instrument or learning a dead language?” She smiled. “I’m not sure. As I’ve said before, that is up to you to discover. It was merely a suggestion. Perhaps you should look into the historical section of the Canterlot Archives for more direction.” And so I did. I poured through volume after volume, turning delicate page after delicate page, searching through every book, scroll and manuscript that had ever been written since the dawn of time. Well, not quite. I did go through many, many books, scrolls and manuscripts, and most of them were weathered and falling apart in my hooves, but there was far too much for me to go through. It would take me the rest of my life just to read everything in the archives. I decided to focus on Starswirl the Bearded’s works. I knew from Twilight Sparkle’s writings and findings on magic, that she held him as the highest unicorn magician to ever live. Well, that was before she had redone his messed up spell and ascended as an alicorn princess. But to simply go through Twilight’s works would be to skip every important piece of history she had founded her research on. And that meant I would have to research Starswirl’s spells myself. There were three separate magics Starswirl had studied: physical modification, psychological alteration, and quantum mechanics. Every single one was was far more advanced than I was sure I would be able to do with my magic, but nevertheless, I had to try. I began with the physical modification, the easiest of all three magics. Twilight Sparkle had been able to alter different objects into something they were not, such as rocks into clothing, or books into sandwiches, although the latter she did only once, absentmindedly, and never studied on an empty stomach again. She was able to do other types of physical modification, like growing facial hair and eventually was able to do the most advanced spells, age spells and species changing spells. I heard Spike, her dragon assistant, had flipped out after being turned into a pony, but calmed down and enjoyed his new body after learning the spell wore off after a few hours. After studying age spells and practicing them on some of my garden flowers, I wondered, why wouldn’t high level unicorns, such as Starswirl, age themselves down when they got too old, so that they might achieve a sort of immortality through regeneration, like a phoenix? I decided to ask the princess. “Advanced level unicorns such as Starswirl DID age down for a few centuries to keep themselves alive long after their time has passed. However, consider this: when you are able to stay alive forever, and your friends and family have long passed on, despite your wishes to age them down with you, wouldn’t you eventually stop aging down and let nature have its way with your mortality?” I considered this. “I suppose that does make sense. But what about higher level unicorns who didn’t care about such things? King Sombra for example? Couldn’t they age down forever and rule with evil as long as they liked?” Princess Celestia nodded. “That is correct. And there have been a few such unicorns who have done that very thing. All of them grew tired of their reign of terror, though, finding in their wisdom of years that they are missing something, namely the love of their peers and subjects. Eventually they gave in and I gave them appropriate punishment, as well as pardon if they promise to never use the aging spell again.” “As for King Sombra,” she grew stoic, “he was young in his leadership. I had grown tired of trying to reason with unicorns such as he, and attempted to step in, only causing more pain for the crystal ponies, because he enacted a protection spell that would hide away his kingdom and himself for a great number of years.” “I later discovered that he had hoped that a force greater than himself would have overthrown me, and unsuspecting, he would launch his own attack upon his return and vanquish the foe that overthrew me, thus bringing him to leadership of all of Equestria. He had not yet used the aging spell, and luckily, never got the chance to.” I had learned much from a simple question, and had so many more regarding the other spells and the other magics. But there would be time for all that later, once I had studied more. “Thank you for your time, Princess,” I said, bowing. “Always a pleasure for your company, Sunny. Come to me with any other questions you have in your studies. I’m here for your guidance, whenever you need me.” With that, I retired back to the library and to the huge pile of books and scrolls that were sure to unlock the reason why I didn’t have my cutie mark yet. I would figure this out if it took the rest of my life, I vowed. ‘And if I have to use the aging spell to do just that,’ I mused, ‘I certainly will.’ Author's Note The plot thickens! >:) Chapter 4I studied as hard as I could, and by the time I’d run my course of physical modification spells, I could do many of them, but on a lesser scale than most high level unicorns. I could transform a rock into any object, even food, I attempted once, but though the appearance was of whatever other thing I changed it to it would always have a bit more weight than the actual object I was imitating. I had once transformed a rock into an apple, and, out of curiosity, eaten the apple, recording in my notebook that the apple was a bit dryer and less flavorful than real apples. The true distinguishing point was when I was finished, my stomach felt like I had eaten a handful of rocks, rather than an apple. And indeed I had, as I learned, when the object was broken apart with a weaker spell such as mine, the rock would revert back to its original state. I had, essentially, eaten a handful of rocks. However, as weak as my spells were, I was undaunted. I could still use age spells on plants easily, and on smaller animals, though it took some time. I hadn’t tried it on myself yet, because I knew it would take a lot of time and effort, and I didn’t want to get stuck in the body of a filly or of an old mare and not be able to cast the aging down spell. I could change my mane and coat color with ease. It was far easier than any of the other physical modification spells. Light spells are some of the first any unicorn learns, next to levitation, and since all color is just a trick of light, the spell was effortless. All I had to do was bend the refraction of light on my mane to a different angle and there it was: a new color. I experimented on how long the physical modification spells would last by changing my mane and coat color both, and letting it stay that way as long as it would last. Since it wasn’t a permanently cast spell, I figured as soon as I fell asleep at the end of the day it would wear off through the night. But the next morning, my mane was as red as it had been when I bent the light rays. And my coat was still orange. It was a strange combination, for sure, but it was easier for me to tell when it wore off. It lasted over 3 days before I decided to uncast the spell. Once my studies in physical modification had been exhausted, I moved on to the next: psychological alteration. This was a tricky one. I couldn’t just cast the spells I learned onto myself because if they worked properly, I wouldn’t have the sense of mind to undo the spell. And I couldn’t cast it on any small critters because I couldn’t understand them, and wouldn’t be able to gauge their responses to the spells. I had to find willing test subjects. Even just one would do. With Celestia’s permission, I put an ad in both the morning newspaper, The Sun Sentinel, and the evening newspaper, The Moon Monitor. After a few days I received a deluge of applicants, all young mares and stallions my age, hoping to earn a few bits and possibly get their name in the books for some big scientific discovery. I weeded out the ones I knew weren’t fit for the experiment through short interviews. Some of the ponies seemed like they were already suffering some sort of mental illness and I was not the mare they needed to see. It took me two weeks to interview and assess each mare and stallion, but I finally decided on one of each: a soft-spoken earth stallion by the name of Foamy Shores, and a Pegasus mare named Dewdrop Prism. Foamy Shores was a light green-blue color, with an even lighter silvery-green mane. His cutie mark was a blue ocean wave, the same color of his eyes. He was quiet and a seemed a bit shy, but all I saw in his eyes was kindness and determination. He would make a great test subject. I was curious to see if I could unlock some of his shyness, and perhaps bring out his wild side through mental changes. Dewdrop prism was a light blue mare with a mane of three dark colors: Red, green, and orange. Her eyes were as yellow as mine, and her cutie mark was a drop of water, same color as her coat, but lighter, and a rainbow curved above it. She was a mirror opposite to Foamy Shores, loud to the point of being almost obnoxious, and extremely outgoing. When the two met for the first time, she introduced herself, then immediately slung a foreleg over his neck and practically shouted in his ear that she knew they were going to be fast friends. Foamy Shores, however, looked as though if he could curl up into a ball and disappear, he would in an instant. I studied my test subjects for a few minutes, evaluating their reactions to each other, and knew that they were the perfect pair for my experiments. I grinned at the thought that my experiments were about to begin. I couldn’t wait. The scientist in me had been brought to the surface, and cutie mark or no cutie mark, I was bound and determined to see my studies through to the end. Chapter 5Three weeks had passed since I gained my two assistants, for they had become more like assistants to me than mere test subjects. I was surprised to see just how close they had become to each other, and even more surprised when I found myself enjoying their company more than just the promise of a magical experiment. They were my friends. I never had friends in Cloudsdale. As I said before, being a unicorn in a world full of pegasi was difficult. Even when I was able to walk around on solid, non-cloud floors, the other pegasi foals avoided me. It was like I was diseased or something. No one wanted to lose their wings by catching the “horn curse” I obviously had. They all knew it wasn’t the truth, every pony had seen another unicorn at least once in their lives, but I figured the parents were the ones telling the foals not to talk to me or play with me. I was the social outcast. Even after coming to Canterlot, after hearing the princess talk about special talents and magic, my main focus was not friends. I never really thought about it much, but Twilight Sparkle was my role model. I just hadn’t planned on living my life exactly like hers. I wanted friends when I was younger, I really did. But there comes a point in a young filly’s life when she realizes that she hasn’t made a single friend and she might never have one. It was when I hit that point that I decided to make magic my only friend. I was happier studying and practicing spells and magic than trying to make ponies who didn’t like me want to be my friend. I couldn’t make somepony like me if they just weren’t going to. So I gave up. But now… now I had two assistants who had become my friends: Foamy and Dewy. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. I had taken up magic because I was a unicorn without friends. Now that I had them, should I continue my studies? Is it really what I’m meant to do? Or was it just a void to fill the emptiness my new friends had suddenly filled? These questions raged in my mind and in my heart during every small experiment we went through. The emptiness on my flank still shouted at me, urging me to continue practicing and studying magic. But when Foamy and Dewy invited me to go to the beach with them, somewhere I’d never been, I pushed the thoughts of my cutie mark, my destiny, my magic, my experiments, and everything else that had been the focus of my life to the back of my mind, and went with my newly found friends. It was time I enjoyed my life. The beach was a curious place. Ponies littered the sands all the way from the shoreline back up to the dirt paths that led back to the town. We were half a day’s journey away from Canterlot, since beaches don’t typically work well on a mountainside. I wasn’t sure what city we were closest to, but I thought I heard Dewy say the outskirts of Manehatten. Foamy Shores loved the beach more than any pony else there. Of course, given his name, and his special talent, talking to sea creatures, it was expected. There was a time, long ago when the myth known as sea ponies supposedly existed. I surmised that if it was true, and they had been around millennia ago, Foamy Shores was a distant descendent of those sea ponies. Dewdrop Prism was no stranger to the waters lapping up on the shore either. Foamy was able to buck a wall of water up at an angle and it would spray droplets across the surface. Dewdrop figured out that if Foamy could get the wall high enough, she could show off her special talent, flying through the drops, and creating a rainbow of color. “How do you do that, Dewy? Flying through the drops should just make you wet, but you come out completely dry and with rainbows behind you! Shouldn’t that only happen if you make a sonic rainboom?” I asked. “It’s easy, but I guess you wouldn’t understand how wings work, since you’re a unicorn. Don’t give me that look!” She scolded. I had raised an eyebrow incredulously. She knew of my origins from Cloudsdale. “It’s one thing to study them and it’s another to own them, Sunny. But anyway, to satisfy your filly-like curiosity, I bend the shape of the droplets to best refract the light into different colors. It’s like how natural rainbows were formed before the pegasi designed the weather factory.” “And the difference between this and a sonic rainboom is…?” I prompted. “A sonic rainboom is different than this… that has to do with speed. This is light. Even you should know the difference between the two; you’ve been studying all those spells! Didn’t one of Starswirl’s works have something to do with the speed of light versus the speed of sound?” “Well yeah… I guess I could check up on that when we get back to the castle.” “WHEN we get back! Don’t rush it, Sunny! Right now, let’s just have some fun in these awesome waves!” said Foamy galloping in a circle and splashing everypony nearby. Being near the water seemed to bring him out of his shyness. “Oh, hey, I can do it all one color too!” said Dewy. “All purple or all red - if it’s a color of the rainbow, I can bend the drops to it! Wanna see?” She gestured to Foamy and he bucked another wall of water up. Again, Dewy shot through it, twisting the drops until she was followed by a streak of purple, the color she’d chosen. Some other ponies gathered around to watch Dewy and Foamy perform their tricks. Dewy’s talent reminded me of the spell I used to change the color of my coat and mane and the empty feeling suddenly returned. Ponies all across the beach were showing off their special talents and more than a few of the ones closest to us I caught staring at my blank flank. I trotted up to where our stuff was lying further away from the shoreline, and threw a towel over my back so it covered the spot where I was lacking a cutie mark on both sides. Still, the stares of the other ponies burned in my mind. Was I really that odd? Of course I was, the first unicorn born to a pegasi family and far enough past fillyhood that I should have my cutie mark, but didn’t. I was an oddity on all sides, especially the two sides lacking a cutie mark. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to rush back to my research and study harder than ever. But when I looked back to the shoreline and saw Foamy and Dewy splashing each other and laughing, their manes slick with water and the sun glinting off the droplets hanging from their coats, I wanted to be with them, laughing and belonging. I had a decision to make. I watched the two a moment longer before throwing off the towel and rushing back to join them. As I said, it was time I enjoyed my life. And who better to do that with than my new friends? Chapter 6Later that evening, as we sat on the beach watching Celestia’s sun set and Luna’s moon rise, Dewy posed a question. “Do you know what it’s like to lose your purpose – your destiny?” “I don’t even know what my purpose is, Dewy,” I answered. “How can I know what it’s like to lose what I don’t have?” She sighed and shuffled her hooves around a bit. “I’m just… I’m afraid for my future.” That puzzled me. “Afraid? Of losing your purpose? I don’t think that’ll happen. What, are you afraid your cutie mark will vanish off your flank?” I smirked. She shot me a dirty look. “No. Of course not. But I’m afraid my purpose is gone…” “Okay, Dew, explain. We’re a little confused here,” said Foamy. “Okay, it’s like this. I’m a Pegasus, right? Well pegasi are supposed to control the weather, organize it, design it, create it, etc. But think about it. What happens when your cutie mark is outdated? You lose your purpose in life.” “How can your cutie mark be outdated, Dew? You’re a Pegasus, you control the raindrops. You make little rainbows!” “Exactly! Ok, you know I’m related to Rainbow Dash, right? We’re both a part of the Rainbow faction of Pegasi. Her father is my uncle on my mother’s side. He used to make rainbows. He was a very young colt when he discovered his talent. But it happened right at the turn of the Technological Pony Era, right before the Rainbow Factory was built. Do you understand what I’m getting at here?” “Um… Your uncle worked at the rainbow factory after it was built because it was his talent?” Foamy answered, scratching at his ear. “No, he didn’t. He NEVER worked there. It STOLE his purpose in life and he resented it. Pegasi used to make everything by hoof: clouds, rainbows, all of it. But when the Rainbow Factory was built, there was no need for any rainbow-making pegasi. ANY Pegasus could make rainbows there. They didn’t need to have a special talent for it.” “So, what did he do then, if he was no longer useful?” I asked, genuinely curious. “He joined the Ponyville weather team, Storm Division. He met a nice Pegasus mare. He settled down, got married, had a few fillies and a colt. That was his life. Generic, uniform, expected. All the joy of finding his talent was sapped from his life when they built that factory. And I’m afraid the same has happened to me.” Foamy looked concerned. “What do you mean?” “My talent is similar. Rainbow Faction, remember? I make miniature rainbows from bending individual raindrops. Neat trick, cute talent, but nothing useful.” “It’s special all the same, though. How many pegasi have that same talent?” I posed. “Well, none that I know of, but that doesn’t make it any more useful. And look at the Crystal Ponies up north! If there was ever a case of losing one’s purpose it’s that entire kingdom.” “How so?” asked Foamy. “Look at their cutie marks! Practically half are from speaking Ancient Equestrian while the other half is from bread-making.” “And...?” I prodded. “And those are pretty outdated, don’t you think? I mean, who besides the princesses speaks Ancient Equestrian? Buffalo? Griffons? Changelings? Zebras? NONE of those races speaks anything but their own tongue and modern equestrian. And if they do speak Ancient Equestrian, it’s because they are a historian. The Crystal Ponies aren’t historians, they LIVED history!” “And when is the last time you baked bread in the old fashion, in a brick oven outside? The point is their cutie marks are outdated. Disappear for that long, then reappear in the future, and you’re bound to have technological advances that surpass your abilities. Any foal born in the Crystal Empire during THIS age will more than likely have a more advanced cutie mark. Or something useful or entertaining. Remember what Princess Celestia said about the history of cutie marks?” “Cutie marks of the past were about function and necessity.” I recited dully. “They were about the means of living to a pony, what they needed to survive. After the Technological Age of Advancement about 500 years ago, cutie marks adapted and the need for function grew less and less. Cutie marks became more about a pony’s personal purpose, rather than their societal purpose. When did this become a history lesson, Dewy?” “Ugh, don’t you get it?! If ponies can exist with outdated cutie marks in this day and age, what if you’re one of them? What if you have a talent that’s from the past? We should go to the Crystal Empire and research it!” The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I hadn’t tried anything from the past. All my methods and experiments were geared toward what I could do right then. She had a point. I needed to explore all my options if I was ever going to find my purpose. And hey, even if I was an outdated pony, I could always live in the Crystal Empire or something. Author's Note Sorry it's been so long since an update, been busy working and hadn't had a burst of inspiration to write in my off time. Hopefully this chapter will open more ideas for me to bring the story into the direction I want without just cutting to the end I have in mind. Chapter 7“So… it’s alright if I take a break from my lessons to visit the Crystal Empire?” My ears twitched as I struggled to keep them from flattening in worry. “Sunshine, my dear, you aren’t taking a break, because you are still researching your unusual condition. You have my complete permission to spend time learning about the Crystal Empire and its ponies with your friends.” “Thank you, Princess!” I dashed off to tell Dewy and Foamy the good news. Unbeknownst to me, Princess Celestia had begun a letter to a pony very special to her. “My dear Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I am allowing a student of mine and two of her friends to visit your Crystal Empire to learn about its history and its ponies. She is lost in herself but understands friendship more easily and fully than Twilight did before I sent her to Ponyville. Perhaps you could do me a favor and educate her on the purpose of the Crystal Heart as well as the history behind it? I would be ever in your favor, for I feel that Sunshine Daydream is every bit as capable of great magic as Twilight herself, and needs only to understand herself more to utilize it properly. Thank you, Cadance. I hold thee forever close to my heart, Princess Celestia of the Sun” Some time later my friends and I were on the train that would take us north to the Crystal Empire. As we crossed the border into the kingdom, we all felt a tingling sensation wash over our coats and manes. “Woah, WHAT was THAT?” asked Dewy, inspecting her wingtips to make sure no harm had come to them. “I have no idea, but it was definitely weird,” said Foamy, checking his hooves, stomping them on the train floor to try and shake the ‘fallen asleep’ feeling he’d gotten in his legs. I myself began rubbing my horn, the tingling sensation feeling to me much like after-magic, when a unicorn emits more magic than what is typically used for an action, and the nerves beneath the horn react. It would be like lifting a sandwich with the magic force enough to lift a boulder. Not only would the sandwich skyrocket higher than intended but it would also explode from the sheer magical forces being placed on such a small surface area. Foals in magic training often have this problem, when trying to force a magical action while not having total control over their magic yet. When I first started at Celestia’s school, I blew up more than one apple on occasion. Suddenly we had arrived. The train’s doors opened and we all eagerly leapt out. As soon as our hooves touched the Crystal Empire’s ground, a change occurred. An unseasonably warm for the north breeze washed over our coats and ruffled our manes, and when we looked at each other, we were shocked. Our coats and manes were shining like crystals and our manes were styled in ancient ways, trinkets adorning our manes and tails and for Dewy and I, our ears had been bejeweled each with a set of earrings. “Does… does this always happen when somepony visits the Crystal Empire??” I wondered aloud. “Not every time, but when it’s a pony’s first visit with pure intentions, it will.” Before us stood a beautiful alicorn mare: Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire. We bowed low before her. “Ah, my little ponies! You must be Sunshine Daydream! Princess Celestia let me know of your arrival. She also mentioned your friends, but did not give me their names. So, if you don’t mind, would you care to introduce yourselves?” “Not at all, Princess,” said Foamy. “I’m Foamy Shores, one of the Earth Ponies from the seaside settlements attempting to strengthen the bonds with the Sea Ponies.” Dewy scoffed. “Sea Ponies? Good luck with that. Every time I swoop down over the ocean when I see one to say ‘hi’, they swim down and away from me! They’re unfriendly, and your settlement is never gonna be able to change that.” Princess Cadance frowned slightly. “Sea Ponies are very friendly, however very shy and fearful of what lives above the surface. Perhaps you should not swoop down toward them like a predator. It scares them. Try sitting at the coastline until one approaches you, miss…” “Dewdrop Prism, but everyone calls me Dewy. I’m from Cloudsdale. Color faction. And hey, maybe I’ll try that next time. They should know by now not to be afraid of Pegasi, though. When have we ever hurt Sea Ponies?” “Well, actually, hundreds of years ago, Sea Ponies were thought to be mythical. So every time a Pegasus was out flying over the ocean, they would try to capture one to prove its existence. Sea Ponies probably just haven’t gotten over that instinctive fear.” “Geez…” Dewdrop looked shocked at the thought of her ancestors literally hunting down other ponies. “Yes, but that is not the history lesson you came here for. Sunshine, why don’t you explain to me your predicament? I assume it has something to do with your bare flank?” “Well, it actually has everything to do with it. I can’t gain my cutie mark. I’ve tried every modern thing I’m capable of, and yet I still haven’t gotten my mark. Years ago, Princess Celestia suggested I look to the past to find my destiny, and I dismissed it once I started studying Starswirl the Bearded’s magical works. I thought perhaps magic was my destiny but it would seem that it isn’t helping much. These two are my friends now, but when we first met I had chosen them to be my assistants for my magical experiments.” “I see. Well, come along, and let me tell you the history of the Crystal Empire. What do you know of it so far?” “Ooh! I remember what they taught us in school just after the return of the evil King Sombra!” Dewy flew up into the air and hovered as she spoke. “Our teacher said that King Sombra had a darkened heart and enslaved his entire kingdom to mine crystals in the underground caves. He put a protection spell on himself and the kingdom so that if he was ever attempted to be overthrown, everything would vanish in time and reappear later on to defeat Princess Celestia, and all the memories Equestria would disappear with the Empire. And it did vanish and reappear years later as though not a day went by. And he returned but was defeated by the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and yourself, Princess.” Dewy grinned at herself. She had actually done very well in school academically, despite Pegasi schools focusing on the body and not the mind. “That is partially correct,” said Princess Cadance, “but you are missing vital pieces of information to the story. King Sombra wasn’t always evil. No pony is born with a darkened heart.” We were near to the center of the main city at that point, the castle looming over us and just before us was a shining blue light, hovering between two crystal spikes. “The Crystal Heart…” whispered Foamy, as though speaking the name would cause it to vanish. “Indeed, my little pony. An artifact with a history as painful as it is beautiful. Let’s sit here on these benches and I will tell you the real, full history.” We sat down, and as we did, Princess Cadance’s horn lit up in a light blue aura. “I’m going to actually show you the history, because it loses the same feel simply being repeated.” A blue mist settled over my eyes, obscuring my vision for a moment, and then I saw the truth of the Empire for the first time. “I hope you don’t mind if I narrate as you view the story. It helps if there are any questions.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ King Sombra was not always evil. Nor was he always a king. Before he was King Sombra he was Prince Sombra, and before he was Prince Sombra, he was simply Sombra, the peasant outcast of Unicornia. The unicorns of Unicornia were very snooty, and unkind to those they felt were ‘beneath’ them. They are the ancestors of the nobles and elite of Canterlot today. Sombra disagreed with the other unicorns because he was of a genuine and kind heart. So he left Unicornia and set out to discover a place where ponies could live in Harmony with each other and care for one another. This was before the time of Hearth’s Warming and before the founding of Equestria. He traveled to other nations and lived with all for a time. In the south he lived with the Zebras, but though they were kind, they were afraid of his strange magic, which was unlike the herbal magics and natural healing magic all Zebras possess. Eventually, he traveled north, where he discovered the Crystal Empire, though at the time it was not an empire, but merely a large city made of crystals mined from the caves beneath the city. As he walked through the Crystal City, he noticed that none of the ponies seemed to be unicorns or pegasi, although they seemed more magical and delicate than simple Earth ponies. Except for one pony who WAS a Unicorn, the city’s heir to the throne, Princess Amethyst. Sombra marveled at the beauty of the Crystal City and of its citizens, whose coats sparkled with the same intensity and luster as the very walls of the city itself. But most of all, he was enamored with Princess Amethyst, a regal Unicorn with a shining lavender coat, bright pink eyes, and a glittering mane of yellow, pink, and blue. “My ponies,” she exclaimed, “Let the love and light within you shine, so that you may power the Crystal Heart and spread joy all across this place.” At that moment, every Crystal Pony knelt and touched their forehead to the ground. Zigzagging lines of blue raced across the city into its center, where a blue heart carved from crystal began to spin. Suddenly the light burst outward from the heart and washed over the city, all the way to the borders. Sombra felt a joy and peace he hadn’t in ages settle in his chest and mind. He was truly happy. He found what he was looking for in this crystal place: a home. As the years went by, Sombra had the opportunity to introduce himself to the Princess and as he was the only other unicorn besides her residing in the city, she offered him the position of her personal royal guard. He accepted. More years passed and Sombra was still happy. The subjects of the Crystal Kingdom, as he’d come to call it, treated him kindly. The princess even more so. It was apparent that over the years she had grown fond of Sombra. Through the prodding of a few of Sombra’s friends he admitted his feelings for Princess Amethyst and she admitted hers for him. On the eve of their wedding, Princess Amethyst asked Sombra if he would soulbind with her. To Sombra’s puzzled look, she explained that if two or more ponies touch the Crystal Heart, their thoughts, fears, hopes, desires, and truest feelings will be open for the others to view and feel. A soulbinding was complete only when the ponies truly understand each other’s hearts, minds, and souls, and the Fire of Friendship would appear around them. Sombra agreed, but it was to be his biggest downfall and worst regret. Prince Sombra and Princess Amethyst were happy in ruling their kingdom in the two years to follow their soulbinding and wedding. Princess Amethyst became pregnant with their foal, and the whole kingdom rejoiced. However, not every love story has a happy ending. Near the end of her pregnancy, Princess Amethyst became very sick. Though the cause of her sickness was never determined, it was apparent to all the best doctors of the kingdom that she would either live and the foal would not survive, or she could sacrifice herself and the foal would live on. She decided on the latter out of love for the unborn foal. Sombra was in despair. He had finally found his place of belonging, his home, his love, and now his foal, and now it was being ripped apart at the seams. He could not be consoled. Four weeks after Princess Amethyst’s decision she started to go into labor. The doctors quickly removed the foal and tried desperately to keep Princess Amethyst alive but it was in vain, and she passed. The Crystal Heart was not lit that day. The foal survived, and it was a small unicorn filly, the spitting image of her mother, but pink. Sombra, even in his sorrow, loved the young filly and named her ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’ because she was his love’s song and the heir to his throne. Less than a year had passed and Sombra was not himself. He withdrew from his subjects and was irritable at best when around them. Servants now fully cared for his daughter. Sombra’s heart had been torn in two. There was only one thing he could do to rid himself of the despair and sorrow he felt. He went to the Crystal Heart and reversed the soulbinding. As the spell took all the love for Princess Amethyst from his heart, he had an idea. Why stop at just his love for her? Every time he saw his young daughter he was reminded of Princess Amethyst. He amplified his spell and the Crystal Heart removed the love he had for his daughter too. Sombra loved his subjects and cared for them, but he didn’t want to any longer. He amplified the spell once more and with that, the Crystal Heart removed all the love from his heart. There was nothing but emptiness and hatred left in the shell that had once been Prince Sombra, the kind unicorn ruler who loved and wanted to be loved and live in Harmony with everypony. The hatred changed him, molded him into something awful, and he became a pony everypony feared. He demanded the subjects call him ‘King Sombra’. He sent his daughter away to Unicornia so that he did not have to see her again. He forced hard labor in the mines on everypony. He did not care. He did not love. He only hated. Gradually the world changed in the couple decades to follow and when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rose to power after the bonding of the three nations, they discovered the Crystal Ponies in the north and tried to reason with King Sombra. But there was no love in him. He had hidden away the Crystal heart and destroyed all that was good in the kingdom. Just before the kingdom disappeared from Sombra’s curse, a message was sent to Celestia. ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is furthermore in your care until my inevitable return. And I WILL return. Sombra.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The blue haze lifted from my eyes. “Wow,” was all I could think. We all sat there, silent, staring at the glowing Crystal Heart that caused so much pain, yet spread so much love across Equestria. “And now you know the truth,” said Princess Cadance, sadly. Author's Note I wanted to explore King Sombra's untold backstory and thought this was a good way to do it. It also ties in why Cadance is the ruler of the Crystal Empire but didn't disappear with the other ponies. You can make up your own story of how she discovered who she was and ascended as an alicorn before the Empire even reappeared. Chapter 8My friends and I spent a good portion of a month in the Crystal Empire. We stayed at the Crystal Palace as Cadance’s royal guests, since I was Princess Celestia’s student. Being the royal student had its perks, but I never felt right using them. Just like Twilight had been, I wanted to stay out of the limelight. Besides, it was easier to hide my lack of cutie mark if I stayed out of public eye, something Princess Twilight had never had to worry about, since she gained her royal personal student status and cutie mark essentially at the same time. During our stay I learned more than I ever dreamed about the history and magic of the Crystal Empire and its citizens. The magic was old and deeply rooted, not in each individual pony, but in the soul of each pony as they intertwined. This was the power that allowed them to soul-bind, and join together in any situation. Even being located in the frozen wasteland of the north, the Crystal Empire itself was situated on a small piece of paradise. The Crystal Heart not only spread love and unity throughout Equestria, but also kept the boundaries of the Empire at a comfortable temperature. With this, ponies were able to trot about without the need for coats and scarves, until they needed to use the train to travel. Since it was out of the boundaries of the Empire, the train station was as cold as the rest of the north. Since the Empire was so warm we were able to relax as though we were at the beach again. Crystal ponies milled around us, their daily duties a testament to how much royal status the Empire had had back when the world knew readily of its existence. The Crystal ponies who worked firsthoof for royalty shined the walls and windows of the palace every day, and most of the rest of the crystal ponies sold wares or practiced trades. The school was advanced, I was happy to see. Ever since the return of the empire, Princess Cadance felt the need to start her own royal school and try to catch the long-lost crystal ponies up to the technological advancement of the rest of Equestria. They had never even seen a train before the day the station was completed and the train pulled into the station for the very first time. Because Cadance realized that none of these ponies knew anything more than of crystal magic and the basics of economy and survival, she employed a number of newly graduated teachers from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to work in her own school in the Empire. There was a bit of a barrier between the unicorns and the crystal ponies at first, because the magic that unicorns are taught, the magic that comes from within, is harnessed and released through the horn that all unicorns are born with. Crystal magic differs from that, because the crystal ponies need an outside source to channel their inner magic. Learning this new idea intrigued me. When a magical crystal pony is born, it is hard to tell at first. Unlike the rest of Equestria, where a unicorn is born with a horn and a Pegasus is born with wings and an earth pony is born with neither, a magic crystal pony has to discover the magic he or she possesses within. They call it “The Crystal Calling”. When the crystal pony feels The Crystal Calling, they are drawn to a specific piece of crystal. That crystal is then attached to the pony in a way of their choosing, and they must not lose it. If a Channeling Crystal is lost, a magic crystal pony will never be able to use his or her inner magic again. Basically it’s one pony per crystal, one crystal per pony. Some ponies choose to simply have a pendant or an earring or a bracelet fashioned with the crystal as the centerpiece, but some of the more extreme ponies take drastic measures to ensure the crystal is not lost. These ponies have a dangerous procedure done where the crystal is actually filed down smoothly, and then inserted into the chest cavity next to the heart. This is because the crystal ponies believe that true inner magic comes from the heart. The greatest risk of the procedure is that the medical technologies are lacking, so each time it is done, the risk of death is great. This risk has gone down since the technologies have been updated. For whatever reason, the procedure does cause the magic to be stronger. The crystal is what the crystal ponies use to channel their inner magic outward. You will never see a unicorn crystal pony, but that doesn’t mean that magic doesn’t abound. It is all around in the Empire. Not every crystal pony has the ability to channel their inner magic, just like unicorns are the only ones who can channel magic when compared to pegasi and earth ponies, yet we are all ponies. I learned that the Crystal Calling may come before or after a cutie mark is gained and the mark may not even have a thing to do with the ability to channel magic. I was not particularly surprised to hear that, given my own situation. I also learned of some rare and thought-to-be lost diseases and afflictions concerning cutie marks. The one everypony knew of that still exists is the Cutie Pox. Quite common for young fillies and colts. However, there are two different strains of a supremely dangerous cutie mark disease thought to have died out two hundred years before the Era of the Ruling of the Royal Pony Sisters. They didn’t die out; they simply vanished with the Crystal Empire, the last known place of infection. And as the Empire returned, so did the disease. The first strain affects fillies and colts on the cusp of receiving their cutie mark. The infection is slight, no signs or symptoms, but when the pony begins to receive their mark, a burning sensation engulfs their flank on either side, where the mark is supposed to appear. The burning sensation continues until the mark is fully received, which, for infected ponies, can take hours or even days to appear, rather than instantaneously, like healthy ponies. There is no cure, prevention, or treatment. There is no way to tell if a pony is infected. The disease can’t even be studied. There is no way to tell if it’s passed on genetically or if it’s a bacteria or anything. It just happens. And there’s no way to stop it. The worst part is the burning increases as though the pony’s flank has been set on fire. Newer medicine can’t even temper the pain from the flank. Anesthesia wears off in minutes. It wholly makes the experience of gaining one’s cutie mark an undesirable one. Once the cutie mark fully appears, the burning sensation disappears, as though it never happened. Usually. With the second strain, it begins like the first, no symptoms, affection young fillies and colts who have yet to gain their marks, no way to stop the pain… however, the second strain continues far into adulthood. It’s a painful sting that can last up to three hours periodically. It doesn’t happen every day or every year, and may disappear for years at a time but it always comes back full force. And there’s still no cure. I began keeping a journal. Foamy and Dewy encouraged me to try more activities in the Crystal Empire but nothing I tried worked. Three and a half weeks passed and I was ready to try something else. Dewy suggested I travel to other nations. I agreed. The next stop was the grasslands and desert nation of Zehara. Chapter 9The train ride to Zehara was a long one, just south of Equestria. You would believe, from the way ponies speak of it, that Equestria is the name for the whole world. Not at all! Equestria is just the name of the country of ponies, same with the Griffon Borderlands, the Zehara Plains, the Dragon Mountains, the Changeling Swamp Caves, etc. The world is larger than just Equestria. But Equestria is the magical crux. Each country has their own ruler or rulers, but only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the two Demi-Goddesses who can control celestial bodies, and for this Equestria gets the most notoriety out of all the nations. There are rarely wars between Equestria and other countries, and often Princess Celestia tries to step in and control the battles between other nations. Of course, the Changelings are a different story. When the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, and her army attacked, they claimed to be feeding off of love. While that’s true, the Changelings don’t truly understand the concept of love except to their Queen. It really is a hive-mind. Honestly, the only emotions the Changelings understand fully are fear and hatred, which accounts for their putrefying and decayed look before transformation. But back to the subject at hand: the Zebranic nation of Zehara. While the nation of Equestria is the hub of magic, this doesn’t mean other nations are NOT in possession of magical abilities. The Zehara nation is special, in that only they inherently know how to design and execute spells through potions. It can be a learned skill for anypony, but only Zebras are born with the knowledge of herbal brews and special concoctions that make magic happen. Zebras, like the ponies of Equestria, earn cutie marks at their coming of age, and are the only other species known to do such. Donkeys don’t gain cutie marks, and neither do mules, although it’s unknown why a crossbreed between a pony and a donkey would not inherit the cutie mark trait from the pony parent. A mystery of nature, I believe. As the train pulled into the station, dust flew up all around us. I was glad no one in our car had opened any windows. There were a few makeshift fans brought up by the engineer but they did little good to cool all of us in the train car down. It was hot, scorching, really. Poor Foamy was panting in a corner, and Dewy was fanning both of us with her wings. She didn’t seem as affected by the extreme heat, but then again, most Pegasi were immune to more extreme temperatures. They had to, to be weather-controlling ponies. It wouldn’t do good to need to bring in a cold front and be shivering so much your wings won’t beat properly. That kind of thing could cause accidents, like dropping the cold front on a farming town and ruining a crop with frost. Nevertheless, I was grateful to Dewy for the extra fanning. The train car’s doors opened and a sweltering wave of heat rushed in. We stepped out into the blistering sun and I squinted. “Shouldn’t there be some kind of weather control over here? I know this is a desert land, but still. How can the Zebras stand this heat?! There’s got to be somepony here who can control this weather!” exclaimed Dewy, sweat starting to break out on her fur and her wings sagging a bit. “There aren’t any winged Zebras, unless they’re a Pegasus/Zebra mix. They exist but usually only in Equestria. The Zebras are a proud nation and don’t really like interbreeding,” I explained. “So, no, there are no weather Zebras.” Foamy frowned. “Well that’s kind of racist. Equestria accepts all kinds of ponies. And non-ponies. Why can’t they?” “Foamy, when’s the last time you saw a Changeling welcome in Equestria? Or a Griffon who wasn’t met with some hostility? Or a MATURE Dragon greeted with open arms?” I paused. “You’re right, Equestria accepts all kinds of ponies. But usually only ponies. You have to admit, our nation is kind of racist too.” Foamy mused over that on our walk into the city. The city of Zecronai was one of mostly dirt roads and huts of mud, but it was their nation’s capital. The largest building, and only one made of gold and marble, housed their ruler, King Terapizo the 4th. The name itself means “Ruler of the Striped” in the native tongue. As a proud nation the Zebras still spoke their native tongue, but many preferred Modern Equestrian outside the home. We had passed a few of the huts and to be honest, they were pretty dilapidated and rundown. The kingdom, although rich in its magical abilities for potions and brews, was obviously not rich in other senses. We were literally walking through a mud pit in the desert. I wondered what I could possibly get from the Zebronic nation that I couldn’t learn from a book of potions and brews back in Canterlot, but I was on a mission and I would not fail now just because of a little doubt. “Welcome to the Zehara, young ones. Can I help you with something?” an older male zebra greeted us as we passed some shops. “Actually, we were hoping to learn about the Zebronic culture and about the types of talents exhibited here for cutie marks,” I answered. “I assume your quest has to do with your empty flank?” he asked, glancing behind me. “That’s right. We came from the city of Canterlot in Equestria up to the northern Crystal Kingdom and found nothing particularly useful. We’re pretty much on a worldwide journey at this point.” I said sadly. “Fear not, pony friends, you will learn much about our culture and our cutie marks, but be aware that they differ greatly from your kind of marks,” he said with a smirk. “Ours not only arrive at the coming of age and one’s self-discovery, as yours do, but are much more laced with mystery beyond that. Come with me and I will show you.” “Thanks, but, who are you, exactly?” I asked, trotting up behind him to where he was leading. “I am named ‘Unhaido’. It means ‘wise teacher’ in Equestrian.” Dewy fluttered up to where I was walking and landed. “But if you’re a teacher, then why aren’t you in the middle of a class? Where are your student foals?” “Look at my cutie mark,” he responded, pointing at his left flank. “It is a circle, and in the center are two interlocking infinity symbols. This is what I meant when I said there was mystery behind the cutie marks we bear. An Equestrian pony who is destined to be a teacher of foals will have a more literal cutie mark; a blackboard or such, however – I am not a teacher of foals. I am a teacher of the unknowing.” Dewy fell back and scratched behind her ear with her hoof as Foamy sidled up next to her. “What the hay is this guy talking about?” she whispered to him. Foamy shrugged, a half-cocked smile on his muzzle, as though he knew some great secret. “Keep listening, I suppose,” he answered her. “A teacher of the unknowing does not teach foals. A teacher of the UNLEARNED teaches foals. I show our ways and customs to those who do not know about the Zebronic nation. As it is my talent and skill, I could easily tell you were unknowing, despite the fact that you are clearly outside visitors.” Meanwhile I was soaking all this in and formulating questions in my mind. “Can you teach an unknowing to make potions and brews as well as your more advanced Zebras here?” I asked, hopeful and fearful of his answer. “Unfortunately, I cannot. All that you can learn from us is also in books. The measure of an Equine’s self-worth and talent cannot be taught. As is in your Equestria, a Zebra can only learn a talent from his or her inner knowledge. That, my friend, is not something I can teach you. Not even if you were born of our land. All I can do is help you to understand our ways and customs.” My heart sank. We came all this way, on a hot train, through the desert, to the last magic practicing nation outside of Equestria only to find out that not a single Zebra would be able to teach me how to do their kind of magic any differently than I could find in a book in the Royal Canterlot Library. “Fear not, though, even if I cannot teach you what you came to learn, you are still welcome in our fair nation. Perhaps you will learn something you were not expecting to. You are still an Unknowing, after all.” Where could I go from here? I wondered, as we continued to follow Unhaido through the dusty streets. Would I ever be able to find my cutie mark without magic?
Chapter 1Most pegasi parents decide on a name for their child before they are born, unlike unicorns or earth ponies, who wait to see what the gender and coloration of the foal will be, then decide on a name suiting that child. For example, earth pony parents will see that the foal has a bright coloration and is a female, and will name her “Daisy Dewdrop” and unicorn parents will have a foal that is male and is dark colored and will name him “Night Spark” or something to that effect. Often, out of pure chance, the name is relative to the pony’s special talent. It’s that way for pegasi too. I don’t claim to understand why this works, or how the chances are so high that the talents are relative to the names, but maybe it’s a parent thing. I have no children, so I wouldn’t know firsthand. Most parents, of all the three nations, tell me the same thing – you get a feeling, and you just know what to name them. More prominent in the mothers, though, so personally I believe that the foal growing inside the mother can somehow let the mother know who he or she is, that they can almost bring forth that feeling of certainty in the mother that helps choose the perfect name for the foal. Perhaps it’s time I introduce my point. I am Sunshine Daydream, also called “Sunny Day” and more often simply “Sunny”. I was born in Cloudsdale to Thunderstrike, my father, and Breezy, my mother. My coat is pure white, and my mane is medium blue, with a sky blue streak. My eyes are golden yellow, like the sun itself. Of course, my name fit perfectly, and as is pegasi tradition, was chosen before I was even born. My bloodline is pure pegasi, counting back generation to generation, all the way to the time of Commander Hurricane. No, I am not related, but that is as far back as anyone can recall their genealogy in the pegasi nation. I am a wonder to most pegasi in my community. Why? Because though I am of pure pegasi blood, I was born without wings. I was given a different gift instead. I am a unicorn. I was often looked upon as an affliction to my family; a unicorn born to a pure pegasi bloodline! Surely, there was an affair somewhere down the line! But family records do not show such things. So I became an unexplainable oddity. I had siblings, 3 of them, Stormcloud and Lightning Wings, my two brothers, and Sea Gale, my sister. All of them were born pegasi, as they should be. Growing up a unicorn in a world full of pegasi was hard. Since I wasn’t born with the same abilities as my brothers and sister, I had to be accompanied everywhere. A cloud home isn’t exactly suitable for someone who can’t walk on clouds. When I was just a little filly, I wandered outside my home, which was settled on a cloud yard. I had taken one step off the porch and fallen clear through the cloud beneath me. I remember my only thought – what had I done wrong? When Sea Gale, a year older than me, stepped outside to play, she never fell through the cloud! Why did I? Luckily, my older brother Stormcloud had been on his way home from school and saw me sailing downward from our home and quick as a flash had me in his arms, carrying me back home. At that point I had been sobbing. Why had I been cursed with a useless horn, instead of wings like everypony else I knew? After that incident, my parents thought it best I was shipped off to Canterlot to learn magic and hone my own natural abilities, rather than risk falling through the sky again. I was so young… I was a scared little filly, being sent away to school far away from my family. But my parents reassured me that my place was on the ground, rather than in the sky, and that the only way to discover who I was and to gain my own cutie mark was to learn magic like the other unicorns. To be honest, up until that point I hadn’t really considered myself a unicorn. Everywhere I looked in Cloudsdale was Pegasus ponies. Earth ponies really didn’t care for the sky and unicorns rarely ever visited, except for the safety inspectors of the weather factory. Quite often I forgot about the horn protruding from my forehead. I didn’t know how to do magic, and since there was nopony in Cloudsdale to teach me, I hadn’t really given it much thought. As for the lack of wings, well, I often forgot I didn’t have a pair, which lead to close calls, but none as life-threatening as me falling through the cloud my home rested on. So I was on my way, a little unicorn filly born to Pegasus parents, terrified out of my mind of what was to become of me and how different the ground would be from my home in the sky.
Chapter 2As it would happen, Princess Celestia herself heard of the oddity of the unicorn born to pure pegasi blood, and requested that my first stop be to the castle so she could converse with me on the matter. At this point, I was really freaked out. First I get sent away from everything I’ve ever known and everyone I’ve ever loved to a strange place I’ve never been, to learn about a skill I never knew I had, and now I have an audience with the Princess at her request! I was shaking in my horseshoes, to say the least. As I walked through Canterlot Castle’s halls, I admired the craftsponyship of the various statues and stained glass windows all around me. Serious skill had been put into each delicate work of art. I briefly wondered if this was a talent other unicorns possessed, or if all unicorns’ special talents had to do only with magic. I figured that would be a good question for the princess to answer. “Welcome, Sunshine Daydream, to Canterlot. It is an honor to meet such a rare pony, a unicorn born into a pure pegasi bloodline. Tell me, young one, do you know and utilize any of the magic you possess?” “I-I… Um, well, I…” I stuttered, unceremoniously. Suddenly my brain snapped into gear. This was the princess! “Your majesty!” I exclaimed, bowing low, my horn touching the red carpet that lined each and every hall of Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia laughed, a merry sound, like clinking of champagne glasses at a party. I would never forget how pleasant the sound was, as long as I lived. “Come, my little pony, there is much to learn.” “About what, Your Highness?” “Your magic, your special talent, your heritage, and how rare it is for such a pony to be born out of a pure bloodline such as yours.” I gasped. “So there are others like me? Other unicorns born to Pegasus parents?” She frowned slightly. “No. You are the first of that kind. The most common is earth ponies born to either pegasi or unicorns of pure blood. It is quite common to be born lacking an innate skill in that respect. It is another thing entirely to be born with a different ability altogether.” “So… how often are pegasi born to earth ponies and unicorns?” I asked. “It is very rare, but Pegasus ponies can be born to unicorns. Their natural-born magic manifests not in the form of a horn, but in the form of wings. They also possess a kind of magic within their wings that isn’t natural to other pegasi, such as being able to create weather types with much more ease and on a greater scale than other pegasi. There was one pegasus born to unicorn blood two centuries ago that could create a hurricane with one circle over the sea. She would dip one wing in the water and make a wide circle, then at the place she started, she would shoot straight up and a massive spout would emerge at her wingtip. It was her special talent, and also a very good example of the kind of magic pegasi like that possessed. Other pegasi tried to replicate her storm systems, and it took ten fully grown pegasus ponies just to replicate one hurricane the size that she could make them in the same amount of time she could make them. “It is rarer still for pegasi to be born to earth ponies, but the kind of magic they possess often is honed with nature, such as the breezes that used to be created to remove the autumn leaves from the trees before the Running Of The Leaves was begun. Another type is the ability to know which plants longed for water or sunshine more than others. They would create a small raincloud over some plants or create or destroy a cloud over others simply because they knew it was what the plant or tree needed or desired. “The next rarest are unicorns born to pure blood earth ponies. Again, they possess magic honed with nature and their skills include spells that find the most fertile soil or water underground. With their natural abilities they can also use telekinesis, as all unicorns can but their special skills usually involved the earth. “Until recently, I had never heard of a unicorn born to pure blooded pegasi before. I imagine it’s about as rare as pegasi born to unicorns, but there have been no other examples of this phenomenon until you. You are a very special filly, Sunshine Daydream.” Through her entire speech I had considered one thing: my own special talent. “Thank you, Princess. Do you… do you suppose my special talent will have to do with the weather even though I’m a unicorn, since I was born into a Pegasus family?” Princess Celestia looked thoughtful. “Hmm… It is possible. It would make sense given the other examples with an inversion of your situation. But it does not always happen that way. A pony’s special talent, the one that gives the pony their cutie mark, does not always have to do with their physiology. It is born within you, who you are truly meant to be, from the inside out. It may have to do with the weather, but it could be anything, my little pony. That is for you and you alone to discover for yourself.” I mused on her words for a moment, before she spoke again, a bit more regally this time. “I will show you to your room. Because you have no family living here in Canterlot, I have decided to take it upon myself to look after you, so you will be living here, in Canterlot Castle, for the time being. I expect you to be diligent in your studies and report to me any findings you have about your situation, even the most miniscule, should it have any effect on you, young one. I am most curious to find how your situation will play out for you.” We had arrived at a simple wooden door that was to be my room. “Of course, your Highness. I’m very grateful for this opportunity!” Princess Celestia smiled. “You are very welcome, Sunshine. Enjoy your time in Canterlot. Study hard, discover who you are, and most importantly, make friends!” She was gone in a flash. I opened the door to reveal my new room. The room was absolutely filled with bookshelves and books lined even the floor and covered every inch of the table in the center of the room. Was this Twilight Sparkle’s room when she lived here? It had to be. No other pony was as concerned with knowledge as she was. Twilight’s time in Canterlot had been only a few years before she moved to Ponyville but the amount of books in this room looked to be reading material for several decades! I had wondered briefly if the Princess hadn’t accidentally led me to the castle’s library, but why would the library be so small? And it certainly wouldn’t have a bed in the corner. At any rate, my journey was about to begin and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of it!
Chapter 3Several years had passed since my first day in Canterlot. During that time, I had taken the princess’s wishes to heart and studied unicorn magic nearly as religiously as Twilight Sparkle had. I didn’t forget about friends though. As a young filly I joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders and gained a dozen friends instantly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had grown exponentially since the original three fillies started the organization as a little club in Ponyville ten years prior. I had learned about the group from a couple of blank flank fillies in my magic kindergarten class shortly after starting school. As nervous as I was, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make friends AND get my cutie mark at the same time. After 3 years of being in the group, it was apparent that I wasn’t going to get my cutie mark through them. I was the oldest member of the group, no longer a little filly, but a young mare. All of my friends had grown up and earned their cutie marks one way or another, moving on to bigger and better things in their lives. They all encouraged me to keep trying, but ultimately just caused me jealousy and disappointment that I was far behind them. “Princess Celestia?” I had asked one day, “Do you think I’ll ever get my cutie mark? I’m very skilled in magic, only a few levels behind Twilight Sparkle. I’ve tried everything I can think of. I even planted a garden on my veranda hoping somehow farming was my cutie mark. Nothing is working. I can build machines with ease too, but if that was my special talent, I would’ve gotten a tool of some sort as a cutie mark. Something is wrong with me.” I sobbed, holding my head in my hooves. “Nothing is wrong with you, Sunny,” Princess Celestia reassured. “Granted, I haven’t seen as late a bloomer as you in many years, but remember, you are a special case. Perhaps your cutie mark is a special case as well.” I was still distraught. “But Princess, I even tried working with the weather. My spells are no stronger than any other unicorn playing with clouds. I am not like the pegasi born to unicorns. My unicorn magic isn’t honed to weather. Maybe I don’t have a special talent…” “Every pony has a special talent. Don’t give up just yet. I believe you should look to the past for your special skill, since you’ve tried all modern forms of magic.” “You think my special talent is something that’s been gone for hundreds of years? Like playing an outdated instrument or learning a dead language?” She smiled. “I’m not sure. As I’ve said before, that is up to you to discover. It was merely a suggestion. Perhaps you should look into the historical section of the Canterlot Archives for more direction.” And so I did. I poured through volume after volume, turning delicate page after delicate page, searching through every book, scroll and manuscript that had ever been written since the dawn of time. Well, not quite. I did go through many, many books, scrolls and manuscripts, and most of them were weathered and falling apart in my hooves, but there was far too much for me to go through. It would take me the rest of my life just to read everything in the archives. I decided to focus on Starswirl the Bearded’s works. I knew from Twilight Sparkle’s writings and findings on magic, that she held him as the highest unicorn magician to ever live. Well, that was before she had redone his messed up spell and ascended as an alicorn princess. But to simply go through Twilight’s works would be to skip every important piece of history she had founded her research on. And that meant I would have to research Starswirl’s spells myself. There were three separate magics Starswirl had studied: physical modification, psychological alteration, and quantum mechanics. Every single one was was far more advanced than I was sure I would be able to do with my magic, but nevertheless, I had to try. I began with the physical modification, the easiest of all three magics. Twilight Sparkle had been able to alter different objects into something they were not, such as rocks into clothing, or books into sandwiches, although the latter she did only once, absentmindedly, and never studied on an empty stomach again. She was able to do other types of physical modification, like growing facial hair and eventually was able to do the most advanced spells, age spells and species changing spells. I heard Spike, her dragon assistant, had flipped out after being turned into a pony, but calmed down and enjoyed his new body after learning the spell wore off after a few hours. After studying age spells and practicing them on some of my garden flowers, I wondered, why wouldn’t high level unicorns, such as Starswirl, age themselves down when they got too old, so that they might achieve a sort of immortality through regeneration, like a phoenix? I decided to ask the princess. “Advanced level unicorns such as Starswirl DID age down for a few centuries to keep themselves alive long after their time has passed. However, consider this: when you are able to stay alive forever, and your friends and family have long passed on, despite your wishes to age them down with you, wouldn’t you eventually stop aging down and let nature have its way with your mortality?” I considered this. “I suppose that does make sense. But what about higher level unicorns who didn’t care about such things? King Sombra for example? Couldn’t they age down forever and rule with evil as long as they liked?” Princess Celestia nodded. “That is correct. And there have been a few such unicorns who have done that very thing. All of them grew tired of their reign of terror, though, finding in their wisdom of years that they are missing something, namely the love of their peers and subjects. Eventually they gave in and I gave them appropriate punishment, as well as pardon if they promise to never use the aging spell again.” “As for King Sombra,” she grew stoic, “he was young in his leadership. I had grown tired of trying to reason with unicorns such as he, and attempted to step in, only causing more pain for the crystal ponies, because he enacted a protection spell that would hide away his kingdom and himself for a great number of years.” “I later discovered that he had hoped that a force greater than himself would have overthrown me, and unsuspecting, he would launch his own attack upon his return and vanquish the foe that overthrew me, thus bringing him to leadership of all of Equestria. He had not yet used the aging spell, and luckily, never got the chance to.” I had learned much from a simple question, and had so many more regarding the other spells and the other magics. But there would be time for all that later, once I had studied more. “Thank you for your time, Princess,” I said, bowing. “Always a pleasure for your company, Sunny. Come to me with any other questions you have in your studies. I’m here for your guidance, whenever you need me.” With that, I retired back to the library and to the huge pile of books and scrolls that were sure to unlock the reason why I didn’t have my cutie mark yet. I would figure this out if it took the rest of my life, I vowed. ‘And if I have to use the aging spell to do just that,’ I mused, ‘I certainly will.’ Author's Note The plot thickens! >:)
Chapter 4I studied as hard as I could, and by the time I’d run my course of physical modification spells, I could do many of them, but on a lesser scale than most high level unicorns. I could transform a rock into any object, even food, I attempted once, but though the appearance was of whatever other thing I changed it to it would always have a bit more weight than the actual object I was imitating. I had once transformed a rock into an apple, and, out of curiosity, eaten the apple, recording in my notebook that the apple was a bit dryer and less flavorful than real apples. The true distinguishing point was when I was finished, my stomach felt like I had eaten a handful of rocks, rather than an apple. And indeed I had, as I learned, when the object was broken apart with a weaker spell such as mine, the rock would revert back to its original state. I had, essentially, eaten a handful of rocks. However, as weak as my spells were, I was undaunted. I could still use age spells on plants easily, and on smaller animals, though it took some time. I hadn’t tried it on myself yet, because I knew it would take a lot of time and effort, and I didn’t want to get stuck in the body of a filly or of an old mare and not be able to cast the aging down spell. I could change my mane and coat color with ease. It was far easier than any of the other physical modification spells. Light spells are some of the first any unicorn learns, next to levitation, and since all color is just a trick of light, the spell was effortless. All I had to do was bend the refraction of light on my mane to a different angle and there it was: a new color. I experimented on how long the physical modification spells would last by changing my mane and coat color both, and letting it stay that way as long as it would last. Since it wasn’t a permanently cast spell, I figured as soon as I fell asleep at the end of the day it would wear off through the night. But the next morning, my mane was as red as it had been when I bent the light rays. And my coat was still orange. It was a strange combination, for sure, but it was easier for me to tell when it wore off. It lasted over 3 days before I decided to uncast the spell. Once my studies in physical modification had been exhausted, I moved on to the next: psychological alteration. This was a tricky one. I couldn’t just cast the spells I learned onto myself because if they worked properly, I wouldn’t have the sense of mind to undo the spell. And I couldn’t cast it on any small critters because I couldn’t understand them, and wouldn’t be able to gauge their responses to the spells. I had to find willing test subjects. Even just one would do. With Celestia’s permission, I put an ad in both the morning newspaper, The Sun Sentinel, and the evening newspaper, The Moon Monitor. After a few days I received a deluge of applicants, all young mares and stallions my age, hoping to earn a few bits and possibly get their name in the books for some big scientific discovery. I weeded out the ones I knew weren’t fit for the experiment through short interviews. Some of the ponies seemed like they were already suffering some sort of mental illness and I was not the mare they needed to see. It took me two weeks to interview and assess each mare and stallion, but I finally decided on one of each: a soft-spoken earth stallion by the name of Foamy Shores, and a Pegasus mare named Dewdrop Prism. Foamy Shores was a light green-blue color, with an even lighter silvery-green mane. His cutie mark was a blue ocean wave, the same color of his eyes. He was quiet and a seemed a bit shy, but all I saw in his eyes was kindness and determination. He would make a great test subject. I was curious to see if I could unlock some of his shyness, and perhaps bring out his wild side through mental changes. Dewdrop prism was a light blue mare with a mane of three dark colors: Red, green, and orange. Her eyes were as yellow as mine, and her cutie mark was a drop of water, same color as her coat, but lighter, and a rainbow curved above it. She was a mirror opposite to Foamy Shores, loud to the point of being almost obnoxious, and extremely outgoing. When the two met for the first time, she introduced herself, then immediately slung a foreleg over his neck and practically shouted in his ear that she knew they were going to be fast friends. Foamy Shores, however, looked as though if he could curl up into a ball and disappear, he would in an instant. I studied my test subjects for a few minutes, evaluating their reactions to each other, and knew that they were the perfect pair for my experiments. I grinned at the thought that my experiments were about to begin. I couldn’t wait. The scientist in me had been brought to the surface, and cutie mark or no cutie mark, I was bound and determined to see my studies through to the end.
Chapter 5Three weeks had passed since I gained my two assistants, for they had become more like assistants to me than mere test subjects. I was surprised to see just how close they had become to each other, and even more surprised when I found myself enjoying their company more than just the promise of a magical experiment. They were my friends. I never had friends in Cloudsdale. As I said before, being a unicorn in a world full of pegasi was difficult. Even when I was able to walk around on solid, non-cloud floors, the other pegasi foals avoided me. It was like I was diseased or something. No one wanted to lose their wings by catching the “horn curse” I obviously had. They all knew it wasn’t the truth, every pony had seen another unicorn at least once in their lives, but I figured the parents were the ones telling the foals not to talk to me or play with me. I was the social outcast. Even after coming to Canterlot, after hearing the princess talk about special talents and magic, my main focus was not friends. I never really thought about it much, but Twilight Sparkle was my role model. I just hadn’t planned on living my life exactly like hers. I wanted friends when I was younger, I really did. But there comes a point in a young filly’s life when she realizes that she hasn’t made a single friend and she might never have one. It was when I hit that point that I decided to make magic my only friend. I was happier studying and practicing spells and magic than trying to make ponies who didn’t like me want to be my friend. I couldn’t make somepony like me if they just weren’t going to. So I gave up. But now… now I had two assistants who had become my friends: Foamy and Dewy. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure of anything anymore. I had taken up magic because I was a unicorn without friends. Now that I had them, should I continue my studies? Is it really what I’m meant to do? Or was it just a void to fill the emptiness my new friends had suddenly filled? These questions raged in my mind and in my heart during every small experiment we went through. The emptiness on my flank still shouted at me, urging me to continue practicing and studying magic. But when Foamy and Dewy invited me to go to the beach with them, somewhere I’d never been, I pushed the thoughts of my cutie mark, my destiny, my magic, my experiments, and everything else that had been the focus of my life to the back of my mind, and went with my newly found friends. It was time I enjoyed my life. The beach was a curious place. Ponies littered the sands all the way from the shoreline back up to the dirt paths that led back to the town. We were half a day’s journey away from Canterlot, since beaches don’t typically work well on a mountainside. I wasn’t sure what city we were closest to, but I thought I heard Dewy say the outskirts of Manehatten. Foamy Shores loved the beach more than any pony else there. Of course, given his name, and his special talent, talking to sea creatures, it was expected. There was a time, long ago when the myth known as sea ponies supposedly existed. I surmised that if it was true, and they had been around millennia ago, Foamy Shores was a distant descendent of those sea ponies. Dewdrop Prism was no stranger to the waters lapping up on the shore either. Foamy was able to buck a wall of water up at an angle and it would spray droplets across the surface. Dewdrop figured out that if Foamy could get the wall high enough, she could show off her special talent, flying through the drops, and creating a rainbow of color. “How do you do that, Dewy? Flying through the drops should just make you wet, but you come out completely dry and with rainbows behind you! Shouldn’t that only happen if you make a sonic rainboom?” I asked. “It’s easy, but I guess you wouldn’t understand how wings work, since you’re a unicorn. Don’t give me that look!” She scolded. I had raised an eyebrow incredulously. She knew of my origins from Cloudsdale. “It’s one thing to study them and it’s another to own them, Sunny. But anyway, to satisfy your filly-like curiosity, I bend the shape of the droplets to best refract the light into different colors. It’s like how natural rainbows were formed before the pegasi designed the weather factory.” “And the difference between this and a sonic rainboom is…?” I prompted. “A sonic rainboom is different than this… that has to do with speed. This is light. Even you should know the difference between the two; you’ve been studying all those spells! Didn’t one of Starswirl’s works have something to do with the speed of light versus the speed of sound?” “Well yeah… I guess I could check up on that when we get back to the castle.” “WHEN we get back! Don’t rush it, Sunny! Right now, let’s just have some fun in these awesome waves!” said Foamy galloping in a circle and splashing everypony nearby. Being near the water seemed to bring him out of his shyness. “Oh, hey, I can do it all one color too!” said Dewy. “All purple or all red - if it’s a color of the rainbow, I can bend the drops to it! Wanna see?” She gestured to Foamy and he bucked another wall of water up. Again, Dewy shot through it, twisting the drops until she was followed by a streak of purple, the color she’d chosen. Some other ponies gathered around to watch Dewy and Foamy perform their tricks. Dewy’s talent reminded me of the spell I used to change the color of my coat and mane and the empty feeling suddenly returned. Ponies all across the beach were showing off their special talents and more than a few of the ones closest to us I caught staring at my blank flank. I trotted up to where our stuff was lying further away from the shoreline, and threw a towel over my back so it covered the spot where I was lacking a cutie mark on both sides. Still, the stares of the other ponies burned in my mind. Was I really that odd? Of course I was, the first unicorn born to a pegasi family and far enough past fillyhood that I should have my cutie mark, but didn’t. I was an oddity on all sides, especially the two sides lacking a cutie mark. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to rush back to my research and study harder than ever. But when I looked back to the shoreline and saw Foamy and Dewy splashing each other and laughing, their manes slick with water and the sun glinting off the droplets hanging from their coats, I wanted to be with them, laughing and belonging. I had a decision to make. I watched the two a moment longer before throwing off the towel and rushing back to join them. As I said, it was time I enjoyed my life. And who better to do that with than my new friends?
Chapter 6Later that evening, as we sat on the beach watching Celestia’s sun set and Luna’s moon rise, Dewy posed a question. “Do you know what it’s like to lose your purpose – your destiny?” “I don’t even know what my purpose is, Dewy,” I answered. “How can I know what it’s like to lose what I don’t have?” She sighed and shuffled her hooves around a bit. “I’m just… I’m afraid for my future.” That puzzled me. “Afraid? Of losing your purpose? I don’t think that’ll happen. What, are you afraid your cutie mark will vanish off your flank?” I smirked. She shot me a dirty look. “No. Of course not. But I’m afraid my purpose is gone…” “Okay, Dew, explain. We’re a little confused here,” said Foamy. “Okay, it’s like this. I’m a Pegasus, right? Well pegasi are supposed to control the weather, organize it, design it, create it, etc. But think about it. What happens when your cutie mark is outdated? You lose your purpose in life.” “How can your cutie mark be outdated, Dew? You’re a Pegasus, you control the raindrops. You make little rainbows!” “Exactly! Ok, you know I’m related to Rainbow Dash, right? We’re both a part of the Rainbow faction of Pegasi. Her father is my uncle on my mother’s side. He used to make rainbows. He was a very young colt when he discovered his talent. But it happened right at the turn of the Technological Pony Era, right before the Rainbow Factory was built. Do you understand what I’m getting at here?” “Um… Your uncle worked at the rainbow factory after it was built because it was his talent?” Foamy answered, scratching at his ear. “No, he didn’t. He NEVER worked there. It STOLE his purpose in life and he resented it. Pegasi used to make everything by hoof: clouds, rainbows, all of it. But when the Rainbow Factory was built, there was no need for any rainbow-making pegasi. ANY Pegasus could make rainbows there. They didn’t need to have a special talent for it.” “So, what did he do then, if he was no longer useful?” I asked, genuinely curious. “He joined the Ponyville weather team, Storm Division. He met a nice Pegasus mare. He settled down, got married, had a few fillies and a colt. That was his life. Generic, uniform, expected. All the joy of finding his talent was sapped from his life when they built that factory. And I’m afraid the same has happened to me.” Foamy looked concerned. “What do you mean?” “My talent is similar. Rainbow Faction, remember? I make miniature rainbows from bending individual raindrops. Neat trick, cute talent, but nothing useful.” “It’s special all the same, though. How many pegasi have that same talent?” I posed. “Well, none that I know of, but that doesn’t make it any more useful. And look at the Crystal Ponies up north! If there was ever a case of losing one’s purpose it’s that entire kingdom.” “How so?” asked Foamy. “Look at their cutie marks! Practically half are from speaking Ancient Equestrian while the other half is from bread-making.” “And...?” I prodded. “And those are pretty outdated, don’t you think? I mean, who besides the princesses speaks Ancient Equestrian? Buffalo? Griffons? Changelings? Zebras? NONE of those races speaks anything but their own tongue and modern equestrian. And if they do speak Ancient Equestrian, it’s because they are a historian. The Crystal Ponies aren’t historians, they LIVED history!” “And when is the last time you baked bread in the old fashion, in a brick oven outside? The point is their cutie marks are outdated. Disappear for that long, then reappear in the future, and you’re bound to have technological advances that surpass your abilities. Any foal born in the Crystal Empire during THIS age will more than likely have a more advanced cutie mark. Or something useful or entertaining. Remember what Princess Celestia said about the history of cutie marks?” “Cutie marks of the past were about function and necessity.” I recited dully. “They were about the means of living to a pony, what they needed to survive. After the Technological Age of Advancement about 500 years ago, cutie marks adapted and the need for function grew less and less. Cutie marks became more about a pony’s personal purpose, rather than their societal purpose. When did this become a history lesson, Dewy?” “Ugh, don’t you get it?! If ponies can exist with outdated cutie marks in this day and age, what if you’re one of them? What if you have a talent that’s from the past? We should go to the Crystal Empire and research it!” The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. I hadn’t tried anything from the past. All my methods and experiments were geared toward what I could do right then. She had a point. I needed to explore all my options if I was ever going to find my purpose. And hey, even if I was an outdated pony, I could always live in the Crystal Empire or something. Author's Note Sorry it's been so long since an update, been busy working and hadn't had a burst of inspiration to write in my off time. Hopefully this chapter will open more ideas for me to bring the story into the direction I want without just cutting to the end I have in mind.
Chapter 7“So… it’s alright if I take a break from my lessons to visit the Crystal Empire?” My ears twitched as I struggled to keep them from flattening in worry. “Sunshine, my dear, you aren’t taking a break, because you are still researching your unusual condition. You have my complete permission to spend time learning about the Crystal Empire and its ponies with your friends.” “Thank you, Princess!” I dashed off to tell Dewy and Foamy the good news. Unbeknownst to me, Princess Celestia had begun a letter to a pony very special to her. “My dear Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I am allowing a student of mine and two of her friends to visit your Crystal Empire to learn about its history and its ponies. She is lost in herself but understands friendship more easily and fully than Twilight did before I sent her to Ponyville. Perhaps you could do me a favor and educate her on the purpose of the Crystal Heart as well as the history behind it? I would be ever in your favor, for I feel that Sunshine Daydream is every bit as capable of great magic as Twilight herself, and needs only to understand herself more to utilize it properly. Thank you, Cadance. I hold thee forever close to my heart, Princess Celestia of the Sun” Some time later my friends and I were on the train that would take us north to the Crystal Empire. As we crossed the border into the kingdom, we all felt a tingling sensation wash over our coats and manes. “Woah, WHAT was THAT?” asked Dewy, inspecting her wingtips to make sure no harm had come to them. “I have no idea, but it was definitely weird,” said Foamy, checking his hooves, stomping them on the train floor to try and shake the ‘fallen asleep’ feeling he’d gotten in his legs. I myself began rubbing my horn, the tingling sensation feeling to me much like after-magic, when a unicorn emits more magic than what is typically used for an action, and the nerves beneath the horn react. It would be like lifting a sandwich with the magic force enough to lift a boulder. Not only would the sandwich skyrocket higher than intended but it would also explode from the sheer magical forces being placed on such a small surface area. Foals in magic training often have this problem, when trying to force a magical action while not having total control over their magic yet. When I first started at Celestia’s school, I blew up more than one apple on occasion. Suddenly we had arrived. The train’s doors opened and we all eagerly leapt out. As soon as our hooves touched the Crystal Empire’s ground, a change occurred. An unseasonably warm for the north breeze washed over our coats and ruffled our manes, and when we looked at each other, we were shocked. Our coats and manes were shining like crystals and our manes were styled in ancient ways, trinkets adorning our manes and tails and for Dewy and I, our ears had been bejeweled each with a set of earrings. “Does… does this always happen when somepony visits the Crystal Empire??” I wondered aloud. “Not every time, but when it’s a pony’s first visit with pure intentions, it will.” Before us stood a beautiful alicorn mare: Princess Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire. We bowed low before her. “Ah, my little ponies! You must be Sunshine Daydream! Princess Celestia let me know of your arrival. She also mentioned your friends, but did not give me their names. So, if you don’t mind, would you care to introduce yourselves?” “Not at all, Princess,” said Foamy. “I’m Foamy Shores, one of the Earth Ponies from the seaside settlements attempting to strengthen the bonds with the Sea Ponies.” Dewy scoffed. “Sea Ponies? Good luck with that. Every time I swoop down over the ocean when I see one to say ‘hi’, they swim down and away from me! They’re unfriendly, and your settlement is never gonna be able to change that.” Princess Cadance frowned slightly. “Sea Ponies are very friendly, however very shy and fearful of what lives above the surface. Perhaps you should not swoop down toward them like a predator. It scares them. Try sitting at the coastline until one approaches you, miss…” “Dewdrop Prism, but everyone calls me Dewy. I’m from Cloudsdale. Color faction. And hey, maybe I’ll try that next time. They should know by now not to be afraid of Pegasi, though. When have we ever hurt Sea Ponies?” “Well, actually, hundreds of years ago, Sea Ponies were thought to be mythical. So every time a Pegasus was out flying over the ocean, they would try to capture one to prove its existence. Sea Ponies probably just haven’t gotten over that instinctive fear.” “Geez…” Dewdrop looked shocked at the thought of her ancestors literally hunting down other ponies. “Yes, but that is not the history lesson you came here for. Sunshine, why don’t you explain to me your predicament? I assume it has something to do with your bare flank?” “Well, it actually has everything to do with it. I can’t gain my cutie mark. I’ve tried every modern thing I’m capable of, and yet I still haven’t gotten my mark. Years ago, Princess Celestia suggested I look to the past to find my destiny, and I dismissed it once I started studying Starswirl the Bearded’s magical works. I thought perhaps magic was my destiny but it would seem that it isn’t helping much. These two are my friends now, but when we first met I had chosen them to be my assistants for my magical experiments.” “I see. Well, come along, and let me tell you the history of the Crystal Empire. What do you know of it so far?” “Ooh! I remember what they taught us in school just after the return of the evil King Sombra!” Dewy flew up into the air and hovered as she spoke. “Our teacher said that King Sombra had a darkened heart and enslaved his entire kingdom to mine crystals in the underground caves. He put a protection spell on himself and the kingdom so that if he was ever attempted to be overthrown, everything would vanish in time and reappear later on to defeat Princess Celestia, and all the memories Equestria would disappear with the Empire. And it did vanish and reappear years later as though not a day went by. And he returned but was defeated by the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and yourself, Princess.” Dewy grinned at herself. She had actually done very well in school academically, despite Pegasi schools focusing on the body and not the mind. “That is partially correct,” said Princess Cadance, “but you are missing vital pieces of information to the story. King Sombra wasn’t always evil. No pony is born with a darkened heart.” We were near to the center of the main city at that point, the castle looming over us and just before us was a shining blue light, hovering between two crystal spikes. “The Crystal Heart…” whispered Foamy, as though speaking the name would cause it to vanish. “Indeed, my little pony. An artifact with a history as painful as it is beautiful. Let’s sit here on these benches and I will tell you the real, full history.” We sat down, and as we did, Princess Cadance’s horn lit up in a light blue aura. “I’m going to actually show you the history, because it loses the same feel simply being repeated.” A blue mist settled over my eyes, obscuring my vision for a moment, and then I saw the truth of the Empire for the first time. “I hope you don’t mind if I narrate as you view the story. It helps if there are any questions.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ King Sombra was not always evil. Nor was he always a king. Before he was King Sombra he was Prince Sombra, and before he was Prince Sombra, he was simply Sombra, the peasant outcast of Unicornia. The unicorns of Unicornia were very snooty, and unkind to those they felt were ‘beneath’ them. They are the ancestors of the nobles and elite of Canterlot today. Sombra disagreed with the other unicorns because he was of a genuine and kind heart. So he left Unicornia and set out to discover a place where ponies could live in Harmony with each other and care for one another. This was before the time of Hearth’s Warming and before the founding of Equestria. He traveled to other nations and lived with all for a time. In the south he lived with the Zebras, but though they were kind, they were afraid of his strange magic, which was unlike the herbal magics and natural healing magic all Zebras possess. Eventually, he traveled north, where he discovered the Crystal Empire, though at the time it was not an empire, but merely a large city made of crystals mined from the caves beneath the city. As he walked through the Crystal City, he noticed that none of the ponies seemed to be unicorns or pegasi, although they seemed more magical and delicate than simple Earth ponies. Except for one pony who WAS a Unicorn, the city’s heir to the throne, Princess Amethyst. Sombra marveled at the beauty of the Crystal City and of its citizens, whose coats sparkled with the same intensity and luster as the very walls of the city itself. But most of all, he was enamored with Princess Amethyst, a regal Unicorn with a shining lavender coat, bright pink eyes, and a glittering mane of yellow, pink, and blue. “My ponies,” she exclaimed, “Let the love and light within you shine, so that you may power the Crystal Heart and spread joy all across this place.” At that moment, every Crystal Pony knelt and touched their forehead to the ground. Zigzagging lines of blue raced across the city into its center, where a blue heart carved from crystal began to spin. Suddenly the light burst outward from the heart and washed over the city, all the way to the borders. Sombra felt a joy and peace he hadn’t in ages settle in his chest and mind. He was truly happy. He found what he was looking for in this crystal place: a home. As the years went by, Sombra had the opportunity to introduce himself to the Princess and as he was the only other unicorn besides her residing in the city, she offered him the position of her personal royal guard. He accepted. More years passed and Sombra was still happy. The subjects of the Crystal Kingdom, as he’d come to call it, treated him kindly. The princess even more so. It was apparent that over the years she had grown fond of Sombra. Through the prodding of a few of Sombra’s friends he admitted his feelings for Princess Amethyst and she admitted hers for him. On the eve of their wedding, Princess Amethyst asked Sombra if he would soulbind with her. To Sombra’s puzzled look, she explained that if two or more ponies touch the Crystal Heart, their thoughts, fears, hopes, desires, and truest feelings will be open for the others to view and feel. A soulbinding was complete only when the ponies truly understand each other’s hearts, minds, and souls, and the Fire of Friendship would appear around them. Sombra agreed, but it was to be his biggest downfall and worst regret. Prince Sombra and Princess Amethyst were happy in ruling their kingdom in the two years to follow their soulbinding and wedding. Princess Amethyst became pregnant with their foal, and the whole kingdom rejoiced. However, not every love story has a happy ending. Near the end of her pregnancy, Princess Amethyst became very sick. Though the cause of her sickness was never determined, it was apparent to all the best doctors of the kingdom that she would either live and the foal would not survive, or she could sacrifice herself and the foal would live on. She decided on the latter out of love for the unborn foal. Sombra was in despair. He had finally found his place of belonging, his home, his love, and now his foal, and now it was being ripped apart at the seams. He could not be consoled. Four weeks after Princess Amethyst’s decision she started to go into labor. The doctors quickly removed the foal and tried desperately to keep Princess Amethyst alive but it was in vain, and she passed. The Crystal Heart was not lit that day. The foal survived, and it was a small unicorn filly, the spitting image of her mother, but pink. Sombra, even in his sorrow, loved the young filly and named her ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’ because she was his love’s song and the heir to his throne. Less than a year had passed and Sombra was not himself. He withdrew from his subjects and was irritable at best when around them. Servants now fully cared for his daughter. Sombra’s heart had been torn in two. There was only one thing he could do to rid himself of the despair and sorrow he felt. He went to the Crystal Heart and reversed the soulbinding. As the spell took all the love for Princess Amethyst from his heart, he had an idea. Why stop at just his love for her? Every time he saw his young daughter he was reminded of Princess Amethyst. He amplified his spell and the Crystal Heart removed the love he had for his daughter too. Sombra loved his subjects and cared for them, but he didn’t want to any longer. He amplified the spell once more and with that, the Crystal Heart removed all the love from his heart. There was nothing but emptiness and hatred left in the shell that had once been Prince Sombra, the kind unicorn ruler who loved and wanted to be loved and live in Harmony with everypony. The hatred changed him, molded him into something awful, and he became a pony everypony feared. He demanded the subjects call him ‘King Sombra’. He sent his daughter away to Unicornia so that he did not have to see her again. He forced hard labor in the mines on everypony. He did not care. He did not love. He only hated. Gradually the world changed in the couple decades to follow and when Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rose to power after the bonding of the three nations, they discovered the Crystal Ponies in the north and tried to reason with King Sombra. But there was no love in him. He had hidden away the Crystal heart and destroyed all that was good in the kingdom. Just before the kingdom disappeared from Sombra’s curse, a message was sent to Celestia. ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is furthermore in your care until my inevitable return. And I WILL return. Sombra.’ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The blue haze lifted from my eyes. “Wow,” was all I could think. We all sat there, silent, staring at the glowing Crystal Heart that caused so much pain, yet spread so much love across Equestria. “And now you know the truth,” said Princess Cadance, sadly. Author's Note I wanted to explore King Sombra's untold backstory and thought this was a good way to do it. It also ties in why Cadance is the ruler of the Crystal Empire but didn't disappear with the other ponies. You can make up your own story of how she discovered who she was and ascended as an alicorn before the Empire even reappeared.
Chapter 8My friends and I spent a good portion of a month in the Crystal Empire. We stayed at the Crystal Palace as Cadance’s royal guests, since I was Princess Celestia’s student. Being the royal student had its perks, but I never felt right using them. Just like Twilight had been, I wanted to stay out of the limelight. Besides, it was easier to hide my lack of cutie mark if I stayed out of public eye, something Princess Twilight had never had to worry about, since she gained her royal personal student status and cutie mark essentially at the same time. During our stay I learned more than I ever dreamed about the history and magic of the Crystal Empire and its citizens. The magic was old and deeply rooted, not in each individual pony, but in the soul of each pony as they intertwined. This was the power that allowed them to soul-bind, and join together in any situation. Even being located in the frozen wasteland of the north, the Crystal Empire itself was situated on a small piece of paradise. The Crystal Heart not only spread love and unity throughout Equestria, but also kept the boundaries of the Empire at a comfortable temperature. With this, ponies were able to trot about without the need for coats and scarves, until they needed to use the train to travel. Since it was out of the boundaries of the Empire, the train station was as cold as the rest of the north. Since the Empire was so warm we were able to relax as though we were at the beach again. Crystal ponies milled around us, their daily duties a testament to how much royal status the Empire had had back when the world knew readily of its existence. The Crystal ponies who worked firsthoof for royalty shined the walls and windows of the palace every day, and most of the rest of the crystal ponies sold wares or practiced trades. The school was advanced, I was happy to see. Ever since the return of the empire, Princess Cadance felt the need to start her own royal school and try to catch the long-lost crystal ponies up to the technological advancement of the rest of Equestria. They had never even seen a train before the day the station was completed and the train pulled into the station for the very first time. Because Cadance realized that none of these ponies knew anything more than of crystal magic and the basics of economy and survival, she employed a number of newly graduated teachers from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to work in her own school in the Empire. There was a bit of a barrier between the unicorns and the crystal ponies at first, because the magic that unicorns are taught, the magic that comes from within, is harnessed and released through the horn that all unicorns are born with. Crystal magic differs from that, because the crystal ponies need an outside source to channel their inner magic. Learning this new idea intrigued me. When a magical crystal pony is born, it is hard to tell at first. Unlike the rest of Equestria, where a unicorn is born with a horn and a Pegasus is born with wings and an earth pony is born with neither, a magic crystal pony has to discover the magic he or she possesses within. They call it “The Crystal Calling”. When the crystal pony feels The Crystal Calling, they are drawn to a specific piece of crystal. That crystal is then attached to the pony in a way of their choosing, and they must not lose it. If a Channeling Crystal is lost, a magic crystal pony will never be able to use his or her inner magic again. Basically it’s one pony per crystal, one crystal per pony. Some ponies choose to simply have a pendant or an earring or a bracelet fashioned with the crystal as the centerpiece, but some of the more extreme ponies take drastic measures to ensure the crystal is not lost. These ponies have a dangerous procedure done where the crystal is actually filed down smoothly, and then inserted into the chest cavity next to the heart. This is because the crystal ponies believe that true inner magic comes from the heart. The greatest risk of the procedure is that the medical technologies are lacking, so each time it is done, the risk of death is great. This risk has gone down since the technologies have been updated. For whatever reason, the procedure does cause the magic to be stronger. The crystal is what the crystal ponies use to channel their inner magic outward. You will never see a unicorn crystal pony, but that doesn’t mean that magic doesn’t abound. It is all around in the Empire. Not every crystal pony has the ability to channel their inner magic, just like unicorns are the only ones who can channel magic when compared to pegasi and earth ponies, yet we are all ponies. I learned that the Crystal Calling may come before or after a cutie mark is gained and the mark may not even have a thing to do with the ability to channel magic. I was not particularly surprised to hear that, given my own situation. I also learned of some rare and thought-to-be lost diseases and afflictions concerning cutie marks. The one everypony knew of that still exists is the Cutie Pox. Quite common for young fillies and colts. However, there are two different strains of a supremely dangerous cutie mark disease thought to have died out two hundred years before the Era of the Ruling of the Royal Pony Sisters. They didn’t die out; they simply vanished with the Crystal Empire, the last known place of infection. And as the Empire returned, so did the disease. The first strain affects fillies and colts on the cusp of receiving their cutie mark. The infection is slight, no signs or symptoms, but when the pony begins to receive their mark, a burning sensation engulfs their flank on either side, where the mark is supposed to appear. The burning sensation continues until the mark is fully received, which, for infected ponies, can take hours or even days to appear, rather than instantaneously, like healthy ponies. There is no cure, prevention, or treatment. There is no way to tell if a pony is infected. The disease can’t even be studied. There is no way to tell if it’s passed on genetically or if it’s a bacteria or anything. It just happens. And there’s no way to stop it. The worst part is the burning increases as though the pony’s flank has been set on fire. Newer medicine can’t even temper the pain from the flank. Anesthesia wears off in minutes. It wholly makes the experience of gaining one’s cutie mark an undesirable one. Once the cutie mark fully appears, the burning sensation disappears, as though it never happened. Usually. With the second strain, it begins like the first, no symptoms, affection young fillies and colts who have yet to gain their marks, no way to stop the pain… however, the second strain continues far into adulthood. It’s a painful sting that can last up to three hours periodically. It doesn’t happen every day or every year, and may disappear for years at a time but it always comes back full force. And there’s still no cure. I began keeping a journal. Foamy and Dewy encouraged me to try more activities in the Crystal Empire but nothing I tried worked. Three and a half weeks passed and I was ready to try something else. Dewy suggested I travel to other nations. I agreed. The next stop was the grasslands and desert nation of Zehara.
Chapter 9The train ride to Zehara was a long one, just south of Equestria. You would believe, from the way ponies speak of it, that Equestria is the name for the whole world. Not at all! Equestria is just the name of the country of ponies, same with the Griffon Borderlands, the Zehara Plains, the Dragon Mountains, the Changeling Swamp Caves, etc. The world is larger than just Equestria. But Equestria is the magical crux. Each country has their own ruler or rulers, but only Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are the two Demi-Goddesses who can control celestial bodies, and for this Equestria gets the most notoriety out of all the nations. There are rarely wars between Equestria and other countries, and often Princess Celestia tries to step in and control the battles between other nations. Of course, the Changelings are a different story. When the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis, and her army attacked, they claimed to be feeding off of love. While that’s true, the Changelings don’t truly understand the concept of love except to their Queen. It really is a hive-mind. Honestly, the only emotions the Changelings understand fully are fear and hatred, which accounts for their putrefying and decayed look before transformation. But back to the subject at hand: the Zebranic nation of Zehara. While the nation of Equestria is the hub of magic, this doesn’t mean other nations are NOT in possession of magical abilities. The Zehara nation is special, in that only they inherently know how to design and execute spells through potions. It can be a learned skill for anypony, but only Zebras are born with the knowledge of herbal brews and special concoctions that make magic happen. Zebras, like the ponies of Equestria, earn cutie marks at their coming of age, and are the only other species known to do such. Donkeys don’t gain cutie marks, and neither do mules, although it’s unknown why a crossbreed between a pony and a donkey would not inherit the cutie mark trait from the pony parent. A mystery of nature, I believe. As the train pulled into the station, dust flew up all around us. I was glad no one in our car had opened any windows. There were a few makeshift fans brought up by the engineer but they did little good to cool all of us in the train car down. It was hot, scorching, really. Poor Foamy was panting in a corner, and Dewy was fanning both of us with her wings. She didn’t seem as affected by the extreme heat, but then again, most Pegasi were immune to more extreme temperatures. They had to, to be weather-controlling ponies. It wouldn’t do good to need to bring in a cold front and be shivering so much your wings won’t beat properly. That kind of thing could cause accidents, like dropping the cold front on a farming town and ruining a crop with frost. Nevertheless, I was grateful to Dewy for the extra fanning. The train car’s doors opened and a sweltering wave of heat rushed in. We stepped out into the blistering sun and I squinted. “Shouldn’t there be some kind of weather control over here? I know this is a desert land, but still. How can the Zebras stand this heat?! There’s got to be somepony here who can control this weather!” exclaimed Dewy, sweat starting to break out on her fur and her wings sagging a bit. “There aren’t any winged Zebras, unless they’re a Pegasus/Zebra mix. They exist but usually only in Equestria. The Zebras are a proud nation and don’t really like interbreeding,” I explained. “So, no, there are no weather Zebras.” Foamy frowned. “Well that’s kind of racist. Equestria accepts all kinds of ponies. And non-ponies. Why can’t they?” “Foamy, when’s the last time you saw a Changeling welcome in Equestria? Or a Griffon who wasn’t met with some hostility? Or a MATURE Dragon greeted with open arms?” I paused. “You’re right, Equestria accepts all kinds of ponies. But usually only ponies. You have to admit, our nation is kind of racist too.” Foamy mused over that on our walk into the city. The city of Zecronai was one of mostly dirt roads and huts of mud, but it was their nation’s capital. The largest building, and only one made of gold and marble, housed their ruler, King Terapizo the 4th. The name itself means “Ruler of the Striped” in the native tongue. As a proud nation the Zebras still spoke their native tongue, but many preferred Modern Equestrian outside the home. We had passed a few of the huts and to be honest, they were pretty dilapidated and rundown. The kingdom, although rich in its magical abilities for potions and brews, was obviously not rich in other senses. We were literally walking through a mud pit in the desert. I wondered what I could possibly get from the Zebronic nation that I couldn’t learn from a book of potions and brews back in Canterlot, but I was on a mission and I would not fail now just because of a little doubt. “Welcome to the Zehara, young ones. Can I help you with something?” an older male zebra greeted us as we passed some shops. “Actually, we were hoping to learn about the Zebronic culture and about the types of talents exhibited here for cutie marks,” I answered. “I assume your quest has to do with your empty flank?” he asked, glancing behind me. “That’s right. We came from the city of Canterlot in Equestria up to the northern Crystal Kingdom and found nothing particularly useful. We’re pretty much on a worldwide journey at this point.” I said sadly. “Fear not, pony friends, you will learn much about our culture and our cutie marks, but be aware that they differ greatly from your kind of marks,” he said with a smirk. “Ours not only arrive at the coming of age and one’s self-discovery, as yours do, but are much more laced with mystery beyond that. Come with me and I will show you.” “Thanks, but, who are you, exactly?” I asked, trotting up behind him to where he was leading. “I am named ‘Unhaido’. It means ‘wise teacher’ in Equestrian.” Dewy fluttered up to where I was walking and landed. “But if you’re a teacher, then why aren’t you in the middle of a class? Where are your student foals?” “Look at my cutie mark,” he responded, pointing at his left flank. “It is a circle, and in the center are two interlocking infinity symbols. This is what I meant when I said there was mystery behind the cutie marks we bear. An Equestrian pony who is destined to be a teacher of foals will have a more literal cutie mark; a blackboard or such, however – I am not a teacher of foals. I am a teacher of the unknowing.” Dewy fell back and scratched behind her ear with her hoof as Foamy sidled up next to her. “What the hay is this guy talking about?” she whispered to him. Foamy shrugged, a half-cocked smile on his muzzle, as though he knew some great secret. “Keep listening, I suppose,” he answered her. “A teacher of the unknowing does not teach foals. A teacher of the UNLEARNED teaches foals. I show our ways and customs to those who do not know about the Zebronic nation. As it is my talent and skill, I could easily tell you were unknowing, despite the fact that you are clearly outside visitors.” Meanwhile I was soaking all this in and formulating questions in my mind. “Can you teach an unknowing to make potions and brews as well as your more advanced Zebras here?” I asked, hopeful and fearful of his answer. “Unfortunately, I cannot. All that you can learn from us is also in books. The measure of an Equine’s self-worth and talent cannot be taught. As is in your Equestria, a Zebra can only learn a talent from his or her inner knowledge. That, my friend, is not something I can teach you. Not even if you were born of our land. All I can do is help you to understand our ways and customs.” My heart sank. We came all this way, on a hot train, through the desert, to the last magic practicing nation outside of Equestria only to find out that not a single Zebra would be able to teach me how to do their kind of magic any differently than I could find in a book in the Royal Canterlot Library. “Fear not, though, even if I cannot teach you what you came to learn, you are still welcome in our fair nation. Perhaps you will learn something you were not expecting to. You are still an Unknowing, after all.” Where could I go from here? I wondered, as we continued to follow Unhaido through the dusty streets. Would I ever be able to find my cutie mark without magic?
