Forces of Natureby canonkillerChaptersDelugeDabbleDinnerDelugeWe all know somepony who's just a little bit different from everypony else. Maybe they have the most beautiful flowers in their garden, even while every other lawn is drenched in snow. Maybe when they're angry, light-bulbs blow out. Maybe it rains when they feel sad. Maybe they light up rooms they walk into, or change the whole atmosphere in a dreary way instead. These ponies may have something to hide. Red June is one of them. "Of course, Miss Cheerilee!" The pale plum Earth Pony frowned down at her newest student. "Miss June, a cookie doesn't seem like a suitable lunch to me. Do your parents know that you don't bring healthy food to school?" The recipient of the message, a young red Earth Pony with a green mane, smiled and nodded. "O'course! I wouldn't do nothing without my parent's permission. They let me eat junk food at school because I eat lots of real expensive health food at home. Real expensive." "Red June, I know that moving to a new place is hard. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" The filly took a deep breath, glancing over at the clock. As Cheerilee went to prompt her again, the bell rang. "GottagoMissCheerileegonnabelate!" The teacher sighed as the filly ducked under her hooves and escaped. She looked down at the untouched cookie on the desk. "Happy Birthday Pound Cake." She read aloud. "I didn't know she was friends with the Cakes." June trotted down Mane Street, glancing at the vendors she passed. Her stomach rumbled with the absence of the cookie she'd 'borrowed', and each delectable treat she passed shoved the ache deeper into her guts. "Are you alright, Miss?" June looked up, meeting the concerned gaze of a pale green Earth Pony with a pink mane. She had a red bow in her hair that matched the apple in her Cutie Mark. "You don't look to good." "I'm fine." June muttered, flinching as her stomach growled. "Jus' a bit hungry." The mare smiled, turning to a cart beside her and picking up an apple in one hoof. "Here you go." "For me? I don't have anything to pay you with." "This one's on the house." The pony promised, hoofing her the fruit. "Don't you run along hungry, now." Red took the gift quickly, backing away in the way she always did when presented with things. The mare looked down at her worriedly. "Are you sure you're alright?" "Fine!" Red June squeaked, backing away, "perfectly fine!" The mare watched as the foal turned tail, vanishing into the crowd. She turned as a second pony walked up beside her, a dull blue stallion with a black mane. His Cutie Mark was an small rainbow. "Is that her, Florina?" The mare nodded. "You'll be following her, right, Spectrum?" "Of course!" He frowned, prodding her shoulder with a hoof. "I'm not stupid." "Are you sure?" He snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'll bring her back to the house. Tell the others we're coming." "Will do." Florina nodded, turning back to her stand. "That'll be four bits, plea- oh, Fluttershy, dear, did Angel get into the stores again? Here, have them for one each. I really don't mind." Spectrum's nose scrunched up as he trotted into a dank alley, the smell of garbage and rot almost turning him back. He saw a flicker of green around the side of a box, and trotted on. "Hello?" The green tail vanished behind the box. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Slowly, a foals' muzzle peered out from beside the box, staring up at him with fearful green eyes. "Who're you?" "My name's Spectrum. Florina sent me, to make sure you were alright." Red June took a cautious step out of the box, shaking tufts of dried grass from her sides. "Well, I'm right fine." Spectrum knelt down on the dirt, peering at the small grass nest inside the flimsy shelter. "Was jus' playing, that's all," she explained. "I knew yous were followin' me." "Look, it's going to rain tonight. Would you like to come and stay with me?" "I'm not s'pposed to follow strangers." Red stated. Spectrum sighed, tapping a hoof on the ground. A small swirl of green spread around his foot, curling across the alley and snaking up the wall. The top of the swirl vanished over the edge of the building, and Spectrum looked up, ears flicking impatiently. A bright blue Pegasus landed on the edge of the building, pink mane billowing around her face as the wind picked up. "What is it, Spec? They need me up in the clouds." "Florina says this kid's one of us, and she won't come with me. I need backup." He paused, looking between the two girls. "Uh, Red June, this is Electric Blue. Blue, this is June." "Pleasure to meet you!" Blue grinned, dropping into the alley. A thin bolt of static jumped from the tip of her wing to the wall. "Spectrum here's a pretty nice guy, even if he does call me at the worst times." "H-he... color... wall?!" Red June backed away from the two ponies, staring at the large green swirl. Blue rolled her eyes, glaring sideways at the pale blue colt. "Wow, you didn't even ease her into this? Maybe this is why Florina's in charge of apprentices." "I had everything perfectly under control!" Spectrum protested, waving a hoof. "I just tried to call for backup!" Electric Blue took a deep breath. "Okay, kiddo, you know about the basic pony powers, right? Magic, flight and strength?" Red June nodded. "Well, some ponies are really special. They have great power, from generations of diluted bloodlines meeting again. Some ponies can create color, and become great artists." Beside her, Spectrum tapped his hoof, changing the tall insignia on the wall from green to blue to red before finally making it vanish. "Some can bend lightning to their very control." She looked towards a blown-out porch light hanging down the alley, and it flickered to life. She took Red's hoof in her own. "And some ponies can bring the very nature of the world into bloom." She gently pressed the foal's hoof to a crack in the pavement, lifting it slowly enough that Red could see the small flowerbud growing from below it. "N-no! I'm not a... a freak! I'm normal! Normal!" She backpedaled, staring at the small flower, which had opened happily. "I'm a regular Earth Pony!" Blue stretched out a wing, holding Spectrum back as the foal fled. She vanished into the diminishing crowds. Above, a peal of thunder started the coming storm. "Let's go home." Red June pressed up against the side of Sugarcube Corner, trying to stay as dry as possible under the small overhang. Her mane and tail were limp with rain, and her coat hung wet and spiky. She shivered as the wind changed, driving waves of icy drops into her dry space. As she cowered, the cold beginning to seep too deep for her to care, she was dimly aware of a pony walking up to her. There was a soft 'fwish', and the pellets of rain hitting the filly stopped their deluge. Red June looked up, seeing the softly smiling face of a Pegasus mare, brown mane darkened to black and pressed to the sides of her face in the downpour. Her pink coat was slicked smooth. "Hey." Red murmured a response, curling up into a shivering ball. "You okay?" "You don't hav'ta help me." She muttered. "I don't need your pity." "It's not pity." The mare replied, sitting down. Her one wing still hung over the filly, keeping the rain away. "I was lost too, once. Well, I've been lost more times than I care to admit. The thing is, sitting around and catching cold isn't going to help you find yourself." "So? Maybe I'm not lost at all. Maybe I'm right where I wan'ta be." "I think the place you want to be would be closer to the sun." She lifted her other wing, a soft breeze from the movement rushing through the rain and punching a hole through the clouds. June squinted as the sun shone through, filling her with warmth. "So, you're one of them." The mare nodded. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're one too." "I'm not a freak." Red June frowned, scuffing at the ground. "My name's Airheart. I'm an Air freak, just as Spectrum is a Color freak and Blue is an Electricity freak." The mare nodded to herself, brown mane starting to dry in the sunlight. "But the freaks-in-training are in charge of dinner tonight, I'm sure they wouldn't mind another guest." "Freaks in training?" "Freaks who haven't come into full control of their powers." "Oh." Red June looked down at her hooves. Airheart smiled, "Why not come sit in on dinner? You look like you could use some delicious, honey-drizzled hay fries with garlic and daisy dipping sauce." June found herself nodding. "Uh... I guess so." Airheart crouched, lowering a wing so the foal could scramble onto her back. As she took off, an Earth Pony snuck around the side of Sugarcube Corner, peering after the vanishing ponies. Her olive-green hooves pawed at the dirt where Red June had been sitting. "So, you're finally becoming one of them." The mare's gleaming green eyes narrowed. "And to think, I had such high expectations of you." The mare looked up at the cloudy sky, only vanishing - and doing so at a swift gallop - when the door to Sugarcube Corner swung open. Mr. Cake stuck his head out, retreating inside as the downpour soaked him to his skin. "I could have sworn I heard somepony out here." Dabble"So," Florina started, swallowing a mouthful of waffle, "today, you're going to learn something." June sighed. "Don't I do that at school?" "You would, but today's a Saturday. Weekends are for extra-curriculars, and this is one." She slid a notebook across the table, blank save for a hastily-scribbled schedule on the front cover. June caught it, reading it over. "To do; visit training sessions, get groceries, make lunch, talk to Spectrum, make dinner, settle any arguments, sleep." She glanced up at her mentor. "This doesn't seem to have anything to do with me." "Wrong again!" Florina gestured towards the empty table, evidence of breakfasting earlier scattered about. "I let you sleep in so that you wouldn't be bothered by the others, but we're going to visit them while they're training. You're going to train with them." Red June almost choked on a mouthful of waffle. "But I'm not one of them!" "Every Elemental can learn small portions of other Elements. Our personal Earth training will go on later, but for now, you get to dabble." She quickly downed her drink - it appeared to be cider - and stood up. "Now, we're going to visit Sun Glimmer, Shady Daze and Bee Bop at the park, along with their mentors, Silverwing, Night Shade and Fiddlesticks. You're going to learn just what a properly trained Elemental can do; oh, and some of our graduates will be there too!" Florina led Red June past all the exciting things like the ice cream vendor - a teal Unicorn who had been referred to as 'Sherbet' as Florina called back a hello - the fountains and the hoofball field to a small grove of trees on the edge of the park. As the shade enveloped them, Red June noticed the small group of ponies lounging around. Some of them she recognized; the blue-gray coated Shady Daze, blue Unicorn Sun Glimmer and a second blue filly who she had yet to learn the name of, along with their mentors. Red June followed as Florina officially introduced them. Beside Shady Daze was a dark blue mare with a navy mane and tail, a Unicorn who had come from Canterlot to aid in training Ponyville's high concentration of Elementals; Sun Glimmer's mentor was a tan-coated, gray-maned Pegasus colt named Silverwing, who was currently altering the patterns of light the leaves were casting on the grass; Fiddlesticks was the filly's - Bee Bop, she learned - mentor in Sound, relaxing against a tree with one hoof on a small leather case. The other two mares with them were not mentoring or in training; Florina explained that they had 'graduated' from their apprenticeships and chosen to use their Elemental talent elsewhere. The green-coated Unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, was once a Sound apprentice, and she had one of her favourite instruments with her. The second mare, a gray Earth mare with bright purple eyes, was another Sound graduate, her instrument alongside her as well. "Unlike the other Elementals, which can control their powers with their bodies, most Sound Elementals need a focus object that can help them channel their energy. Sound, like Fire, is a very passionate Element, and it takes a strong pony to channel their energy through their vocal chords instead of a separate focus," Florina summarized, sitting down in the cool grass. "Octavia chose the cello, Lyra chose the harp, and Fiddlesticks chose the fiddle. Bee Bop has yet to decide." "I like singing!" The filly commented, hopping up, "I really think I can do it!" "Now, Bop, you have to relax." Fiddlesticks muttered, sighing. "Your Element will do you no good if you get too frantic to focus." "Sorry." The yellow-maned Pegasus dipped her head, still smiling. "Can we start now that June's here?" The Sound mentor rolled her eyes, but nodded. Lyra and Octavia set to unpacking their instruments, and the other mentors and apprentices perked up. "June," Florina whispered, "these are all common songs, so you should know the words. Sing along if you think you can, but don't overshadow Bop. She's been having some difficulties lately." Red June nodded, trotting over to the other apprentices. A small cacophony set up as the three instrumentalists made sure their tuning was right, and then the gentle hush followed. Bee Bop puffed out her chest, wings fluttering, as Fiddlesticks started into a basic tune; the Heart Carol. The other two instruments joined in, an odd but melodic combination. "The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart!" Red June snorted in surprise at the filly's voice; it was incredibly resounding, striking something deep that she didn't know she had. She didn't know exactly what it was, either, but the way the filly's voice melded with the instruments was too perfect to keep her fretting. "Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few, laughter and singing will see us through!" June muttered out a soft 'see us through' with the other foals. "We are a circle of pony friends, a circle of friends we'll be to the very end!" The instruments fell silent as Bee Bop yelped in surprise. She spun excitedly, grinning at her flank. A small lyre, similar to the one on Lyra's flank, glittered softly as it set in. "I got my Cutie Mark!" The others set in with a round of gentle applause and congratulations. Red June backed up into the shadow of the trees, flattening her ears against the world. "You're nothing but a freak." "Stay away from me!" "Are you alright?" Red June yelped as she snapped out of her daydream, calming down enough to recognize Shady Daze. The colt's blue-banded navy mane hung over one eye as he recoiled. "I'm fine." June muttered. "You... you know, she's the first of us to get a Cutie Mark." He seemed to struggle with small talk, so she didn't interrupt, "most of us have been here for a while. but we never seem to get our Cutie Marks in our Elements. At least, not in our normal practices." "Bee Bop just did." He frowned, "I know that! But we've done hundreds of these practices, and she only got her Mark now. She needs an ensemble, not just a partner. Most of us are like that." "How do you practice? Making shadow demons or something?" Shady went quiet, scuffing at the ground. The two sat in awkward silence. Shady Daze stood up, trotting towards his mentor. "I guess I'll see you at dinner." "Same." Florina trotted over, ushering Red back the way they had came. "Sorry you only got to join in with Sound, but Night says Shady's kind of out of it, and Silverwing needs them to train his Element, so they can't do anything today. Looks like we'll be cutting our visits down to the studio, and then I can do everything else on my own." "The studio?" "Well, maybe I'll drag you along for the groceries." "Spectrum!" Red June wormed around Florina's legs as the mare held the door open. The hallway they had entered looked as if some insane cloud had vomited rainbows in a very artistic and not-at-all-tacky way all over. Spectrum stepped out from a door down the hall, yellow paint flecking his gray mane. "Florina, June! You're running late!" "Of course we are!" Florina shouted back, closing the door. "Have you even met me?!" "Good point." He laughed, waving them in. "Come on! I decided the den needed a makeover." Red June trailed Florina as the mare led her down the hall, past Spectrum, and into the small room that he had indicated. It was a earth-toned room, dull browns and reds, and a stuffed bookshelf lined one wall. Small pieces of paper were stuck to the other one, which Spectrum quickly moved in front of before she could see what they contained. "You see, June, not all Elementals can do such flashy things like fire and earth. Color Elementals are very subtle, most of the time, like Sound." He nodded to the room. "This room has looked like this since I moved her, and I figured I should change it up at some point." "Don'cha have to cover all the furniture to keep from messin' it up?" "Most of the time," he agreed. "But I can control my powers well enough. The paint I'm wearing is from a different project." Florina rolled her eyes. "She's not your apprentice." "I suppose not." He sighed, lifting a hoof. A dark pigment began gathering around his hoof, shimmering like magic but slick like water, and he shivered as it began dripping. Without further ceremony, he stomped his hoof on the ground. The room changed from brown and burgundy to sky blue and white in a flash. Red June gaped at the room, the transformation having taken mere moments. The atmosphere of the room had changed completely; instead of seeming small and homely, it was large and bright, calm and welcoming. Spectrum scuffed his hoof on the carpet, the remaining liquid paling to a matching white as it left his fur. "And that," he concluded, "is the power of Color." Florina grinned down at her apprentice. "So, are you ready to embrace your power?" A dark olive pony hissed as she saw the foal nodding. The window grew over with vines as her anger grew, and she backed away from the house. "One day," she mare growled to herself, "I'll show her what it really means to be powerful." The ground opened up, and she was gone. DinnerGood things had a habit of happening in bouts. For instance, becoming an orphan had been a rather sparse time, followed by a few pleasant months of game-playing and story-making with the other foals at the orphanage. After that came the first move, leaving behind her friends and her sister's hometown, the mare being too young to adopt and too old to go with her. That was a rather sad time, followed by new friends, new games, new places. The cycle was a rather repetitive one. And then she had ended up on the outskirts of Ponyville, living in a house with a rugged old stallion and his brutish rat of a wife. Packing for the final move had been easy; she owned nothing more than a set of empty saddlebags and an old doll her mother had given her. When the doll was taken and her saddlebags torn, she left. She had ended up alone and tired in an alley, taking scraps from a nearby boutique and stealing food from vendor's carts until she enrolled herself in school with a smooth, flat stone and a payphone. Things had started to pick up from there. Now, she was sitting at a long, wide table, set with nineteen plates and dozens of foods. She had been given a seat between two foals; one was a orange-gold Unicorn filly with a two-tone red mane who had introduced herself as Firelock, and her other side was the only colt among the foals, a shy blue Earth Pony who had looked at her through a curtain of his navy-blue mane, who Firelock had introduced as Shady Daze. A foal at the end of the table jumped back as her plate exploded into flame. A copper Earth Pony with a brown mane jumped out of his seat, waving his hoof down and stifling the flames with the mere motion. Firelock snapped to attention as he looked her way. He sighed. "I told you not to stare at flammable things when you zone out!" "Sorry, Burnt Oak." Firelock sighed, looking down at her hooves. "Yeah, Firelock, look what you did to my sandwich!" The Pegasus filly frowned, holding up a black mound of ash. Her gray wings buzzed excitedly, and she threw the pile of soot at the other filly with a playful shout of, "you eat it!" Firelock's face vanished in a cloud of dust as the pile made contact. Her green eyes shone through the mask as she opened them. "You'll pay for that, Tornado Bolt!" The filly squealed and ducked as a bundle of fries shot overhead, pelting the gray filly behind her. The stocky Earth Pony turned slowly, fixing Firelock with an even, dark gray glare. "You hit Grace Lightning." Shady whispered, stating the obvious. As if noticing this, he continued, "you are so incredibly dead." The filly frowned, small blue sparks jumping from her hooves to the table. As the electricity started to expand angrily, a small, wavering voice spoke up from the other side of the table. "You know better." Grace's sparks stopped immediately, and she turned her attention to her plate. The speaker, an old Pegasus mare with a pale blue coat and pure white mane, scanned the table, pupils reflecting a faint blue sheen as she moved. "All of you. Off to the bathroom at once; once you're presentable, you can come back." She paused, eyes flicking to Red June. "June, go with them." Firelock and Tornado shuffled up the stairs in the next room, Red June following close behind. "Why do I have to come with you guys?" She commented, sitting out in the hallway while the two fillies bickered over who got the soap. "I didn't do nothing." "Oh, you're the new kid. I forgot." Firelock turned her attention away, yelping as Tornado struggled to pry the soap from the filly's magic. Tornado Bolt pulled the soap free, lathering up her hooves before letting Firelock take it back. "Miss Knits likes to have a new apprentice make friends with two of the other apprentices to make training easier. It balances our skills better when we work together." "Great." June scuffed her hoof on the floor - it was wood, but it had an odd sheen to it - and sighed. "I get to make friends with freaks." The hallway suddenly filled with bubbles and smoke as a series of orange flames licked around the bathroom door. Firelock stepped out, remains of the soap bar smoldering in her magical grip. Flaming suds dripped from the doorway. Tornado Bolt peered out from behind a scorched shower curtain. "Freaks?" Firelock growled, the last of the soap dissolving in her magic. "You call us freaks?! We've accepted what we are! You're in denial!" "I'm not a freak!" Red yelled back. "Than what's that, huh?" Firelock waved a hoof behind the other filly. Red June turned around, suddenly aware that it took considerable effort to pry her hooves free from the floor. She looked down in horror, seeing vines wrapped around her hooves and plummeting down under the floorboards. Against the wall, a series of spiked vines had stretched out, waving tendrils dangerously close to the fillies. "I-I'm..." Tornado Bolt clapped her front hooves together, and the air in the hallway grew suddenly thick and humid. The flames struggling to cling to the floor dimmed and burned out under the pressure, leaving nothing more than semi-smoking piles of suds. "I'm not a freak." June muttered. "There's plant life coming through the kitchen ceiling." Florina called, trotting up the stairs. "Is everyone alright?" Airheart trotted up behind her, grinning. "Good job, Tornado. Did you remember to open a window to correct the pressure?" "Yes, mom." The filly droned. Firelock turned to Florina, small flames flickering from her coat. "We're just fine. She's the one causing trouble." "I haven't done nothing!" June protested. "If anyone's the problem, it's you, blowing up all crazy-like!" Firelock launched forward with a screech, pinning June to the ground. Flames licked off of her coat, scalding pink stripes of skin against June's scarlet coat. Screaming in fear, Red struggled, finding anything she did completely useless against the older filly. A rumble of thunder pealed across the hallway, and a sudden downpour erupted over the two fillies. Firelock's pelt turned cloudy with steam, and both fillies were quickly soaked to the skin. A young white Pegasus filly with a blue mane glared at the two for a few moments before losing her resolve and ducking behind a teal Unicorn with a golden-orange mane. "Firelock!" The brown-coated stallion yelled, stomping up the stairs. "We never use our powers to hurt other ponies!" The orange Unicorn ducked her head, glancing back towards June. "She called us freaks." Burnt Oak hesitated, snorting and staring down the new filly. After a pause, he tossed her head, beckoning Firelock to his side. "We'll talk about this downstairs. Florina," he glanced at the mare, "remember we have no need for apprentices that refuse to learn." Airheart quickly left after Oak and Firelock, Tornado Bolt trailing behind. Florina watched them leave before walking up to the filly, no expression showing on her face as she stomped a hoof and the flower wilted into itself and disappeared. "I'm very disappointed in you." June flinched at the lack of tone. "Firelock is a Fire Elemental, and is very emotional because of it. She, like you, lost her family. However, she lost hers in an accident of her own creation; she didn't know of her powers, and she set a curtain alight during a feud. They all perished in the flames. There's no doubt that this accident will bring her nightmares back to full force." Florina tilted her head, taking in the damage. "Most of us have been ostracized for our unique powers our whole lives. After all, it's wrong for Earth Ponies to be able to nearly-conjure a flower. It's wrong for a Unicorn to be able to move the air itself with a hoof-stomp. It's wrong for a Pegasus to move fire just as easily as cloud." "No, it's not." "Then why did you call us freaks for our powers? I think you'd be surprised as to how many ponies hold fragments of elemental power. After all, Pegasi can create weather, giving them Ice, Air and Lighting traits. Unicorns can change the world around them, using Fire, Light and Shadow. Earth Ponies care for their crops and the world around them, using Color, Earth, and Water." Florina sighed, looking down at the filly. "If you're not willing to accept that you're an Elemental, you might as well deny you're a pony too." "But I am a pony!" Red June shouted. "Then act like one!" Florina snapped. "You were raised to be friendly and tolerant of others, and I expect you to uphold that!" June shrunk back, the truthfulness of the mare's words stinging at her heart. "Tomorrow," she continued, "You'll be sitting in on some training and learning what it truly means to be an Elemental. Understood?" June nodded. "Good. Now get off to bed. Your room is the one with the leaf on the door." Red June rolled over in her bed. The room was sparsely decorated, no furniture save for a plain white dresser against plain white walls and plain wood floors, beside a plain white bed with plain white covers. It was comfortable, though, and she soon found she was having trouble staying awake. After a few silent moments, she heard hoofsteps outside of the room, quiet and small. "I'm sorry." She called out in the dark. There was a muffled sniffle, and then the hooves were gone. She hesitated, waiting for further response, before letting sleep wash over her. She was cold, and running, running, always running; the world sped by like it was spinning in the opposite direction, days and nights passing in hundreds as the thing behind her drew ever closer. Hot breath raced down her neck, feet pounding into the dirt-stone-grass that blurred underneath them, evaporating and condensing like mist as it tore through the obstacles around it. Fear, hot and copper-flavored, shot into her mouth as she tripped, teeth slicing through her lip. The world's manic spinning lurched to a stop, the thing looming over her, a dark olive shadow. It leered closer, closer, eyes glinting as it poised to draw out her secrets and her spirit, feet pressing heavily on her shoulders. A strand of saliva hung from the things mouth, and it hissed, lunging in for the- -Red June sat upright, sweat chilling rivulets down her back and shadows dancing around the white walls. "Are you awake?" A voice called from the hallway, "breakfast is ready." Red shook off the last of the night terror's grip, so entranced by the wafting smell of hay fries that she didn't notice the pair of green eyes watching from the window disappear, nor the solid beat of hooves on dirt vanishing into the morning din.
DelugeWe all know somepony who's just a little bit different from everypony else. Maybe they have the most beautiful flowers in their garden, even while every other lawn is drenched in snow. Maybe when they're angry, light-bulbs blow out. Maybe it rains when they feel sad. Maybe they light up rooms they walk into, or change the whole atmosphere in a dreary way instead. These ponies may have something to hide. Red June is one of them. "Of course, Miss Cheerilee!" The pale plum Earth Pony frowned down at her newest student. "Miss June, a cookie doesn't seem like a suitable lunch to me. Do your parents know that you don't bring healthy food to school?" The recipient of the message, a young red Earth Pony with a green mane, smiled and nodded. "O'course! I wouldn't do nothing without my parent's permission. They let me eat junk food at school because I eat lots of real expensive health food at home. Real expensive." "Red June, I know that moving to a new place is hard. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" The filly took a deep breath, glancing over at the clock. As Cheerilee went to prompt her again, the bell rang. "GottagoMissCheerileegonnabelate!" The teacher sighed as the filly ducked under her hooves and escaped. She looked down at the untouched cookie on the desk. "Happy Birthday Pound Cake." She read aloud. "I didn't know she was friends with the Cakes." June trotted down Mane Street, glancing at the vendors she passed. Her stomach rumbled with the absence of the cookie she'd 'borrowed', and each delectable treat she passed shoved the ache deeper into her guts. "Are you alright, Miss?" June looked up, meeting the concerned gaze of a pale green Earth Pony with a pink mane. She had a red bow in her hair that matched the apple in her Cutie Mark. "You don't look to good." "I'm fine." June muttered, flinching as her stomach growled. "Jus' a bit hungry." The mare smiled, turning to a cart beside her and picking up an apple in one hoof. "Here you go." "For me? I don't have anything to pay you with." "This one's on the house." The pony promised, hoofing her the fruit. "Don't you run along hungry, now." Red took the gift quickly, backing away in the way she always did when presented with things. The mare looked down at her worriedly. "Are you sure you're alright?" "Fine!" Red June squeaked, backing away, "perfectly fine!" The mare watched as the foal turned tail, vanishing into the crowd. She turned as a second pony walked up beside her, a dull blue stallion with a black mane. His Cutie Mark was an small rainbow. "Is that her, Florina?" The mare nodded. "You'll be following her, right, Spectrum?" "Of course!" He frowned, prodding her shoulder with a hoof. "I'm not stupid." "Are you sure?" He snorted, rolling his eyes. "I'll bring her back to the house. Tell the others we're coming." "Will do." Florina nodded, turning back to her stand. "That'll be four bits, plea- oh, Fluttershy, dear, did Angel get into the stores again? Here, have them for one each. I really don't mind." Spectrum's nose scrunched up as he trotted into a dank alley, the smell of garbage and rot almost turning him back. He saw a flicker of green around the side of a box, and trotted on. "Hello?" The green tail vanished behind the box. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Slowly, a foals' muzzle peered out from beside the box, staring up at him with fearful green eyes. "Who're you?" "My name's Spectrum. Florina sent me, to make sure you were alright." Red June took a cautious step out of the box, shaking tufts of dried grass from her sides. "Well, I'm right fine." Spectrum knelt down on the dirt, peering at the small grass nest inside the flimsy shelter. "Was jus' playing, that's all," she explained. "I knew yous were followin' me." "Look, it's going to rain tonight. Would you like to come and stay with me?" "I'm not s'pposed to follow strangers." Red stated. Spectrum sighed, tapping a hoof on the ground. A small swirl of green spread around his foot, curling across the alley and snaking up the wall. The top of the swirl vanished over the edge of the building, and Spectrum looked up, ears flicking impatiently. A bright blue Pegasus landed on the edge of the building, pink mane billowing around her face as the wind picked up. "What is it, Spec? They need me up in the clouds." "Florina says this kid's one of us, and she won't come with me. I need backup." He paused, looking between the two girls. "Uh, Red June, this is Electric Blue. Blue, this is June." "Pleasure to meet you!" Blue grinned, dropping into the alley. A thin bolt of static jumped from the tip of her wing to the wall. "Spectrum here's a pretty nice guy, even if he does call me at the worst times." "H-he... color... wall?!" Red June backed away from the two ponies, staring at the large green swirl. Blue rolled her eyes, glaring sideways at the pale blue colt. "Wow, you didn't even ease her into this? Maybe this is why Florina's in charge of apprentices." "I had everything perfectly under control!" Spectrum protested, waving a hoof. "I just tried to call for backup!" Electric Blue took a deep breath. "Okay, kiddo, you know about the basic pony powers, right? Magic, flight and strength?" Red June nodded. "Well, some ponies are really special. They have great power, from generations of diluted bloodlines meeting again. Some ponies can create color, and become great artists." Beside her, Spectrum tapped his hoof, changing the tall insignia on the wall from green to blue to red before finally making it vanish. "Some can bend lightning to their very control." She looked towards a blown-out porch light hanging down the alley, and it flickered to life. She took Red's hoof in her own. "And some ponies can bring the very nature of the world into bloom." She gently pressed the foal's hoof to a crack in the pavement, lifting it slowly enough that Red could see the small flowerbud growing from below it. "N-no! I'm not a... a freak! I'm normal! Normal!" She backpedaled, staring at the small flower, which had opened happily. "I'm a regular Earth Pony!" Blue stretched out a wing, holding Spectrum back as the foal fled. She vanished into the diminishing crowds. Above, a peal of thunder started the coming storm. "Let's go home." Red June pressed up against the side of Sugarcube Corner, trying to stay as dry as possible under the small overhang. Her mane and tail were limp with rain, and her coat hung wet and spiky. She shivered as the wind changed, driving waves of icy drops into her dry space. As she cowered, the cold beginning to seep too deep for her to care, she was dimly aware of a pony walking up to her. There was a soft 'fwish', and the pellets of rain hitting the filly stopped their deluge. Red June looked up, seeing the softly smiling face of a Pegasus mare, brown mane darkened to black and pressed to the sides of her face in the downpour. Her pink coat was slicked smooth. "Hey." Red murmured a response, curling up into a shivering ball. "You okay?" "You don't hav'ta help me." She muttered. "I don't need your pity." "It's not pity." The mare replied, sitting down. Her one wing still hung over the filly, keeping the rain away. "I was lost too, once. Well, I've been lost more times than I care to admit. The thing is, sitting around and catching cold isn't going to help you find yourself." "So? Maybe I'm not lost at all. Maybe I'm right where I wan'ta be." "I think the place you want to be would be closer to the sun." She lifted her other wing, a soft breeze from the movement rushing through the rain and punching a hole through the clouds. June squinted as the sun shone through, filling her with warmth. "So, you're one of them." The mare nodded. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're one too." "I'm not a freak." Red June frowned, scuffing at the ground. "My name's Airheart. I'm an Air freak, just as Spectrum is a Color freak and Blue is an Electricity freak." The mare nodded to herself, brown mane starting to dry in the sunlight. "But the freaks-in-training are in charge of dinner tonight, I'm sure they wouldn't mind another guest." "Freaks in training?" "Freaks who haven't come into full control of their powers." "Oh." Red June looked down at her hooves. Airheart smiled, "Why not come sit in on dinner? You look like you could use some delicious, honey-drizzled hay fries with garlic and daisy dipping sauce." June found herself nodding. "Uh... I guess so." Airheart crouched, lowering a wing so the foal could scramble onto her back. As she took off, an Earth Pony snuck around the side of Sugarcube Corner, peering after the vanishing ponies. Her olive-green hooves pawed at the dirt where Red June had been sitting. "So, you're finally becoming one of them." The mare's gleaming green eyes narrowed. "And to think, I had such high expectations of you." The mare looked up at the cloudy sky, only vanishing - and doing so at a swift gallop - when the door to Sugarcube Corner swung open. Mr. Cake stuck his head out, retreating inside as the downpour soaked him to his skin. "I could have sworn I heard somepony out here."
Dabble"So," Florina started, swallowing a mouthful of waffle, "today, you're going to learn something." June sighed. "Don't I do that at school?" "You would, but today's a Saturday. Weekends are for extra-curriculars, and this is one." She slid a notebook across the table, blank save for a hastily-scribbled schedule on the front cover. June caught it, reading it over. "To do; visit training sessions, get groceries, make lunch, talk to Spectrum, make dinner, settle any arguments, sleep." She glanced up at her mentor. "This doesn't seem to have anything to do with me." "Wrong again!" Florina gestured towards the empty table, evidence of breakfasting earlier scattered about. "I let you sleep in so that you wouldn't be bothered by the others, but we're going to visit them while they're training. You're going to train with them." Red June almost choked on a mouthful of waffle. "But I'm not one of them!" "Every Elemental can learn small portions of other Elements. Our personal Earth training will go on later, but for now, you get to dabble." She quickly downed her drink - it appeared to be cider - and stood up. "Now, we're going to visit Sun Glimmer, Shady Daze and Bee Bop at the park, along with their mentors, Silverwing, Night Shade and Fiddlesticks. You're going to learn just what a properly trained Elemental can do; oh, and some of our graduates will be there too!" Florina led Red June past all the exciting things like the ice cream vendor - a teal Unicorn who had been referred to as 'Sherbet' as Florina called back a hello - the fountains and the hoofball field to a small grove of trees on the edge of the park. As the shade enveloped them, Red June noticed the small group of ponies lounging around. Some of them she recognized; the blue-gray coated Shady Daze, blue Unicorn Sun Glimmer and a second blue filly who she had yet to learn the name of, along with their mentors. Red June followed as Florina officially introduced them. Beside Shady Daze was a dark blue mare with a navy mane and tail, a Unicorn who had come from Canterlot to aid in training Ponyville's high concentration of Elementals; Sun Glimmer's mentor was a tan-coated, gray-maned Pegasus colt named Silverwing, who was currently altering the patterns of light the leaves were casting on the grass; Fiddlesticks was the filly's - Bee Bop, she learned - mentor in Sound, relaxing against a tree with one hoof on a small leather case. The other two mares with them were not mentoring or in training; Florina explained that they had 'graduated' from their apprenticeships and chosen to use their Elemental talent elsewhere. The green-coated Unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, was once a Sound apprentice, and she had one of her favourite instruments with her. The second mare, a gray Earth mare with bright purple eyes, was another Sound graduate, her instrument alongside her as well. "Unlike the other Elementals, which can control their powers with their bodies, most Sound Elementals need a focus object that can help them channel their energy. Sound, like Fire, is a very passionate Element, and it takes a strong pony to channel their energy through their vocal chords instead of a separate focus," Florina summarized, sitting down in the cool grass. "Octavia chose the cello, Lyra chose the harp, and Fiddlesticks chose the fiddle. Bee Bop has yet to decide." "I like singing!" The filly commented, hopping up, "I really think I can do it!" "Now, Bop, you have to relax." Fiddlesticks muttered, sighing. "Your Element will do you no good if you get too frantic to focus." "Sorry." The yellow-maned Pegasus dipped her head, still smiling. "Can we start now that June's here?" The Sound mentor rolled her eyes, but nodded. Lyra and Octavia set to unpacking their instruments, and the other mentors and apprentices perked up. "June," Florina whispered, "these are all common songs, so you should know the words. Sing along if you think you can, but don't overshadow Bop. She's been having some difficulties lately." Red June nodded, trotting over to the other apprentices. A small cacophony set up as the three instrumentalists made sure their tuning was right, and then the gentle hush followed. Bee Bop puffed out her chest, wings fluttering, as Fiddlesticks started into a basic tune; the Heart Carol. The other two instruments joined in, an odd but melodic combination. "The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart!" Red June snorted in surprise at the filly's voice; it was incredibly resounding, striking something deep that she didn't know she had. She didn't know exactly what it was, either, but the way the filly's voice melded with the instruments was too perfect to keep her fretting. "Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few, laughter and singing will see us through!" June muttered out a soft 'see us through' with the other foals. "We are a circle of pony friends, a circle of friends we'll be to the very end!" The instruments fell silent as Bee Bop yelped in surprise. She spun excitedly, grinning at her flank. A small lyre, similar to the one on Lyra's flank, glittered softly as it set in. "I got my Cutie Mark!" The others set in with a round of gentle applause and congratulations. Red June backed up into the shadow of the trees, flattening her ears against the world. "You're nothing but a freak." "Stay away from me!" "Are you alright?" Red June yelped as she snapped out of her daydream, calming down enough to recognize Shady Daze. The colt's blue-banded navy mane hung over one eye as he recoiled. "I'm fine." June muttered. "You... you know, she's the first of us to get a Cutie Mark." He seemed to struggle with small talk, so she didn't interrupt, "most of us have been here for a while. but we never seem to get our Cutie Marks in our Elements. At least, not in our normal practices." "Bee Bop just did." He frowned, "I know that! But we've done hundreds of these practices, and she only got her Mark now. She needs an ensemble, not just a partner. Most of us are like that." "How do you practice? Making shadow demons or something?" Shady went quiet, scuffing at the ground. The two sat in awkward silence. Shady Daze stood up, trotting towards his mentor. "I guess I'll see you at dinner." "Same." Florina trotted over, ushering Red back the way they had came. "Sorry you only got to join in with Sound, but Night says Shady's kind of out of it, and Silverwing needs them to train his Element, so they can't do anything today. Looks like we'll be cutting our visits down to the studio, and then I can do everything else on my own." "The studio?" "Well, maybe I'll drag you along for the groceries." "Spectrum!" Red June wormed around Florina's legs as the mare held the door open. The hallway they had entered looked as if some insane cloud had vomited rainbows in a very artistic and not-at-all-tacky way all over. Spectrum stepped out from a door down the hall, yellow paint flecking his gray mane. "Florina, June! You're running late!" "Of course we are!" Florina shouted back, closing the door. "Have you even met me?!" "Good point." He laughed, waving them in. "Come on! I decided the den needed a makeover." Red June trailed Florina as the mare led her down the hall, past Spectrum, and into the small room that he had indicated. It was a earth-toned room, dull browns and reds, and a stuffed bookshelf lined one wall. Small pieces of paper were stuck to the other one, which Spectrum quickly moved in front of before she could see what they contained. "You see, June, not all Elementals can do such flashy things like fire and earth. Color Elementals are very subtle, most of the time, like Sound." He nodded to the room. "This room has looked like this since I moved her, and I figured I should change it up at some point." "Don'cha have to cover all the furniture to keep from messin' it up?" "Most of the time," he agreed. "But I can control my powers well enough. The paint I'm wearing is from a different project." Florina rolled her eyes. "She's not your apprentice." "I suppose not." He sighed, lifting a hoof. A dark pigment began gathering around his hoof, shimmering like magic but slick like water, and he shivered as it began dripping. Without further ceremony, he stomped his hoof on the ground. The room changed from brown and burgundy to sky blue and white in a flash. Red June gaped at the room, the transformation having taken mere moments. The atmosphere of the room had changed completely; instead of seeming small and homely, it was large and bright, calm and welcoming. Spectrum scuffed his hoof on the carpet, the remaining liquid paling to a matching white as it left his fur. "And that," he concluded, "is the power of Color." Florina grinned down at her apprentice. "So, are you ready to embrace your power?" A dark olive pony hissed as she saw the foal nodding. The window grew over with vines as her anger grew, and she backed away from the house. "One day," she mare growled to herself, "I'll show her what it really means to be powerful." The ground opened up, and she was gone.
DinnerGood things had a habit of happening in bouts. For instance, becoming an orphan had been a rather sparse time, followed by a few pleasant months of game-playing and story-making with the other foals at the orphanage. After that came the first move, leaving behind her friends and her sister's hometown, the mare being too young to adopt and too old to go with her. That was a rather sad time, followed by new friends, new games, new places. The cycle was a rather repetitive one. And then she had ended up on the outskirts of Ponyville, living in a house with a rugged old stallion and his brutish rat of a wife. Packing for the final move had been easy; she owned nothing more than a set of empty saddlebags and an old doll her mother had given her. When the doll was taken and her saddlebags torn, she left. She had ended up alone and tired in an alley, taking scraps from a nearby boutique and stealing food from vendor's carts until she enrolled herself in school with a smooth, flat stone and a payphone. Things had started to pick up from there. Now, she was sitting at a long, wide table, set with nineteen plates and dozens of foods. She had been given a seat between two foals; one was a orange-gold Unicorn filly with a two-tone red mane who had introduced herself as Firelock, and her other side was the only colt among the foals, a shy blue Earth Pony who had looked at her through a curtain of his navy-blue mane, who Firelock had introduced as Shady Daze. A foal at the end of the table jumped back as her plate exploded into flame. A copper Earth Pony with a brown mane jumped out of his seat, waving his hoof down and stifling the flames with the mere motion. Firelock snapped to attention as he looked her way. He sighed. "I told you not to stare at flammable things when you zone out!" "Sorry, Burnt Oak." Firelock sighed, looking down at her hooves. "Yeah, Firelock, look what you did to my sandwich!" The Pegasus filly frowned, holding up a black mound of ash. Her gray wings buzzed excitedly, and she threw the pile of soot at the other filly with a playful shout of, "you eat it!" Firelock's face vanished in a cloud of dust as the pile made contact. Her green eyes shone through the mask as she opened them. "You'll pay for that, Tornado Bolt!" The filly squealed and ducked as a bundle of fries shot overhead, pelting the gray filly behind her. The stocky Earth Pony turned slowly, fixing Firelock with an even, dark gray glare. "You hit Grace Lightning." Shady whispered, stating the obvious. As if noticing this, he continued, "you are so incredibly dead." The filly frowned, small blue sparks jumping from her hooves to the table. As the electricity started to expand angrily, a small, wavering voice spoke up from the other side of the table. "You know better." Grace's sparks stopped immediately, and she turned her attention to her plate. The speaker, an old Pegasus mare with a pale blue coat and pure white mane, scanned the table, pupils reflecting a faint blue sheen as she moved. "All of you. Off to the bathroom at once; once you're presentable, you can come back." She paused, eyes flicking to Red June. "June, go with them." Firelock and Tornado shuffled up the stairs in the next room, Red June following close behind. "Why do I have to come with you guys?" She commented, sitting out in the hallway while the two fillies bickered over who got the soap. "I didn't do nothing." "Oh, you're the new kid. I forgot." Firelock turned her attention away, yelping as Tornado struggled to pry the soap from the filly's magic. Tornado Bolt pulled the soap free, lathering up her hooves before letting Firelock take it back. "Miss Knits likes to have a new apprentice make friends with two of the other apprentices to make training easier. It balances our skills better when we work together." "Great." June scuffed her hoof on the floor - it was wood, but it had an odd sheen to it - and sighed. "I get to make friends with freaks." The hallway suddenly filled with bubbles and smoke as a series of orange flames licked around the bathroom door. Firelock stepped out, remains of the soap bar smoldering in her magical grip. Flaming suds dripped from the doorway. Tornado Bolt peered out from behind a scorched shower curtain. "Freaks?" Firelock growled, the last of the soap dissolving in her magic. "You call us freaks?! We've accepted what we are! You're in denial!" "I'm not a freak!" Red yelled back. "Than what's that, huh?" Firelock waved a hoof behind the other filly. Red June turned around, suddenly aware that it took considerable effort to pry her hooves free from the floor. She looked down in horror, seeing vines wrapped around her hooves and plummeting down under the floorboards. Against the wall, a series of spiked vines had stretched out, waving tendrils dangerously close to the fillies. "I-I'm..." Tornado Bolt clapped her front hooves together, and the air in the hallway grew suddenly thick and humid. The flames struggling to cling to the floor dimmed and burned out under the pressure, leaving nothing more than semi-smoking piles of suds. "I'm not a freak." June muttered. "There's plant life coming through the kitchen ceiling." Florina called, trotting up the stairs. "Is everyone alright?" Airheart trotted up behind her, grinning. "Good job, Tornado. Did you remember to open a window to correct the pressure?" "Yes, mom." The filly droned. Firelock turned to Florina, small flames flickering from her coat. "We're just fine. She's the one causing trouble." "I haven't done nothing!" June protested. "If anyone's the problem, it's you, blowing up all crazy-like!" Firelock launched forward with a screech, pinning June to the ground. Flames licked off of her coat, scalding pink stripes of skin against June's scarlet coat. Screaming in fear, Red struggled, finding anything she did completely useless against the older filly. A rumble of thunder pealed across the hallway, and a sudden downpour erupted over the two fillies. Firelock's pelt turned cloudy with steam, and both fillies were quickly soaked to the skin. A young white Pegasus filly with a blue mane glared at the two for a few moments before losing her resolve and ducking behind a teal Unicorn with a golden-orange mane. "Firelock!" The brown-coated stallion yelled, stomping up the stairs. "We never use our powers to hurt other ponies!" The orange Unicorn ducked her head, glancing back towards June. "She called us freaks." Burnt Oak hesitated, snorting and staring down the new filly. After a pause, he tossed her head, beckoning Firelock to his side. "We'll talk about this downstairs. Florina," he glanced at the mare, "remember we have no need for apprentices that refuse to learn." Airheart quickly left after Oak and Firelock, Tornado Bolt trailing behind. Florina watched them leave before walking up to the filly, no expression showing on her face as she stomped a hoof and the flower wilted into itself and disappeared. "I'm very disappointed in you." June flinched at the lack of tone. "Firelock is a Fire Elemental, and is very emotional because of it. She, like you, lost her family. However, she lost hers in an accident of her own creation; she didn't know of her powers, and she set a curtain alight during a feud. They all perished in the flames. There's no doubt that this accident will bring her nightmares back to full force." Florina tilted her head, taking in the damage. "Most of us have been ostracized for our unique powers our whole lives. After all, it's wrong for Earth Ponies to be able to nearly-conjure a flower. It's wrong for a Unicorn to be able to move the air itself with a hoof-stomp. It's wrong for a Pegasus to move fire just as easily as cloud." "No, it's not." "Then why did you call us freaks for our powers? I think you'd be surprised as to how many ponies hold fragments of elemental power. After all, Pegasi can create weather, giving them Ice, Air and Lighting traits. Unicorns can change the world around them, using Fire, Light and Shadow. Earth Ponies care for their crops and the world around them, using Color, Earth, and Water." Florina sighed, looking down at the filly. "If you're not willing to accept that you're an Elemental, you might as well deny you're a pony too." "But I am a pony!" Red June shouted. "Then act like one!" Florina snapped. "You were raised to be friendly and tolerant of others, and I expect you to uphold that!" June shrunk back, the truthfulness of the mare's words stinging at her heart. "Tomorrow," she continued, "You'll be sitting in on some training and learning what it truly means to be an Elemental. Understood?" June nodded. "Good. Now get off to bed. Your room is the one with the leaf on the door." Red June rolled over in her bed. The room was sparsely decorated, no furniture save for a plain white dresser against plain white walls and plain wood floors, beside a plain white bed with plain white covers. It was comfortable, though, and she soon found she was having trouble staying awake. After a few silent moments, she heard hoofsteps outside of the room, quiet and small. "I'm sorry." She called out in the dark. There was a muffled sniffle, and then the hooves were gone. She hesitated, waiting for further response, before letting sleep wash over her. She was cold, and running, running, always running; the world sped by like it was spinning in the opposite direction, days and nights passing in hundreds as the thing behind her drew ever closer. Hot breath raced down her neck, feet pounding into the dirt-stone-grass that blurred underneath them, evaporating and condensing like mist as it tore through the obstacles around it. Fear, hot and copper-flavored, shot into her mouth as she tripped, teeth slicing through her lip. The world's manic spinning lurched to a stop, the thing looming over her, a dark olive shadow. It leered closer, closer, eyes glinting as it poised to draw out her secrets and her spirit, feet pressing heavily on her shoulders. A strand of saliva hung from the things mouth, and it hissed, lunging in for the- -Red June sat upright, sweat chilling rivulets down her back and shadows dancing around the white walls. "Are you awake?" A voice called from the hallway, "breakfast is ready." Red shook off the last of the night terror's grip, so entranced by the wafting smell of hay fries that she didn't notice the pair of green eyes watching from the window disappear, nor the solid beat of hooves on dirt vanishing into the morning din.
