//------------------------------//
// The Spark Ignites 
// Story: A New Life 
// by Darklordtheslayer 
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I had started to properly settle into living in Ponyville. I met some new ponies, got to know about the local area and started to gain quite a liking for my new home. All this took place in only a matter of days, so I decided to perhaps take a day to just relax and maybe go out for a light trot around the town.

That morning ended up with me having a lie-in and not getting out of bed until around noon, one of life’s little luxuries that I hadn’t had the chance to experience for a while. It was tempting to spend the whole day not doing anything but I decided against that as being cooped up in a house all day often made me feel very bored and under the weather.  

Eventually, I made a light breakfast and looked out at the landscape. Unlike the last few days, the sky was overcast and it looked as though it might rain. This however, would not stop me from leaving the house, in fact quite the opposite as I always welcomed the cool and somewhat refreshing feel of the rain on my coat.

As I finished my late breakfast and walked towards the door, I couldn't help but feel as though I had forgotten something.

“Was I supposed to do something today?” I thought to myself, desperately trying to remember whether I had anything planned.

I walked out door with this thought still occurring in my mind, almost making I forget to lock the door behind me and wonder why it was bothering me so much. I knew I had a tendency to be forgetful at times but I normally didn’t have to dwell on it so much before the answer presented itself.

By the time I reached the center of town, I had still not figured out what was bugging me.

“Was it something important?” I asked myself under my breath so that only I could hear. It had to be something fairly significant otherwise I would have probably given up on it by that point.

I looked up at the clock tower in the center of town, which showed the time as being half-past one and at that very moment, it struck me.

I felt myself panic as I remembered that I was supposed to see Rarity to pick up my robes and meet Twilight so she could help me with my magic that day and even let out a heavy gasp my plans for the day dawned on me. Without another moment’s hesitation, I began galloping over to the Carousel Boutique with a great sense of urgency, the likes of which I had not previously felt.

As I reached the boutique, I pretty much barged through the front door, causing it to swing back and hit the wall with a load bang. It took a moment for me to notice that Rarity was staring at me from across the room and she appeared to be quite startled by my disruptive entry.

“Sweet Celestia, you almost scared the life out of me!” Rarity squealed before regaining her composure. “Now what can I do for you, dear?”

I took a moment to catch my breath and noticed several differently coloured pieces of cloth and a large number of pins scattered about. This made me think that perhaps I was interrupting a new project of some sort, which made me surprised at the fact that Rarity’s reaction was so casual. Well, more casual than expected anyway.

I had to gasp for air but managed to give her an answer.

“I’m here… for the…robes...please.” I stammered hurriedly. 

“Ah yes, of course! I have them right here, ready to grace any wizard in all of Equestria.” Rarity replied with glee.

“Feast your eyes on this!” She called out whist pulling back a set of curtains, revealing the eloquent, pristine robes that were displayed on one of the many mannequins found all around the shop. They were absolutely beautiful, dark blue along the top with a very subtle colour fade leading to light blue around the hooves and a purple grape coloured belt. There was a multitude of sapphires all along the bottom of the material, helping to reflect the change in hue.  These robes had surpassed my every expectation and my only unaltered expectation was a steep price tag.

“I love them! Thank you so much for this Rarity. How much do I owe you?” I couldn't help but allow my satisfaction to show and would be prepared to pay just about any amount for such high quality apparel.

“Oh that won’t be necessary, first one’s on me.” Rarity answered with a wink.

A part of me thought “really?” but as I was already late to meet Twilight, I simply thanked Rarity again and quickly made my way out of the shop and towards the library. I thought to myself “I hope I’m not too late.” all throughout the way there.
When I finally reached the library, I saw Twilight walking out with a pair of saddlebags on. After a moment or two, she looked over at me with a face of both remembrance and surprise.

“There you are! I almost thought you weren't coming.” The purple unicorn called.

“I’m sorry about this; I almost forgot that I was meant to be here today. So, where do we start? I inquired eagerly.

“Well, I was about to head on a little expedition to the Everfree Forest, perhaps it would be a good learning opportunity for you. Oh and uh, you won’t need those fancy robes for this. You can hang them up in the library if you want.” Twilight retorted.

After leaving the robes at Twilight’s, we began to make our way to the Everfree Forest and discussed what exactly we were looking for and what we would be doing during our time there.

As we made our way to the forest, it started to rain in a light drizzle and it looked as though it would only get worse.
Once the pair of us arrived at the Everfree forest, Twilight told me to start looking for a variety of brightly coloured herb and flowers. She explained that these plants were for an alchemist living in the area who needed certain ingredients for some of her latest remedies and potions. While this did not initially seem to have much to do with actually learning magic, it soon became clear that potions can help to aid the development of magical abilities… after a lengthy lecture from Twilight.

I got to work on collecting the plants Twilight had specified until I heard a strange, wooden creaking sound. Thinking that it was just a branch moving in the wind, I decided to ignore it.

However, I could sense the sound getting closer so I looked up from the orangey-red flower I was picking and scanned the area around me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it made me very uncomfortable.

As I turned back around to face the flowers, I was suddenly pinned to the ground by a great, looming monstrosity. I found the creature’s entirely wooden structure most curious and it’s leering green eyes very unsettling. Before I could raise a hoof, the beast slashed across my face with a set of hardwood claws. I felt a trickle of blood run down my face; I knew that this wolf-like creature would not hesitate to kill me if I didn't do something. I was able to place my back hooves under the abdomen of my wooden attacker and managed to stagger the beast by kicking at full force, allowing me quickly stand back up. At this point, the light rain had turned into a downpour as we faced off.

As soon as I got back to my hooves, I saw three more identical beasts approach and thought that I had almost no hope of fending them off until I felt something being unleashed inside me.

I suddenly acquired a feeling of great power as the pack of beasts prepared to attack. As the first one pounced, I shot a fireball from my horn that hit it directly in the center of the chest. This caused the beast to be forced backwards as the other three made their move. As they got closer and closer, I focused all of my magical energy at the ground in front of me, hoping for one decisive and powerful spell that would save me from this situation.

I waited for the three creatures to pounce before releasing the energy I had focused into the ground. As they leaped, I felt all of the muscles tense up in one painful contraction and I could hear thunder in the distance as I unleashed the energy in one large wall of fire which caused them to fall into hundreds or perhaps even thousands of smouldering pieces upon impact. Before it was over however, I spotted the beast from earlier coming back for one more attempt at my life. This time, I imbued my right hoof with magical flames and charged into the wooden challenger. As we were about to collide, I forced my hoof straight into the face of the wooden beast.

The problem with the hostile creatures was over, but my strength was spent. The outburst of destruction had taken all of my energy and stamina and I sank to my haunches, breathing heavily and trying desperately to recompose myself.

I then felt a hoof on my shoulder and turned my head to see that it was Twilight.

“Oh my gosh! Are you alright?” Twilight asked worriedly. She seemed to be panicking slightly as there was a look of worry in her eyes.

“You saw that, huh? Yeah, I guess I’m okay.” I knew that I was in rough shape but would try to hide it until we got back to Ponyville.

“I think we should get back before any more of those things show up.” Twilight suggested in a concerned tone.

“Y…yeah I agree.” 

It was getting hard to hide the fact that I was completely exhausted, but I walked along with Twilight for some time, feeling the cooling rain as some kind of blessing from Celestia herself until I could feel my legs weakening and fell, almost unable to move.

“Night Spark!” 

That was the last thing I heard before falling unconscious…