The Celestial Trials: Orange
A stout unicorn was resting atop a large acacia tree when a bright orange flash erupted from the black emptiness above. He looked up, focusing his bright tangerine eyes toward the light with a smile.
Better late than never, he thought. Getting up, he took a branch of acacia and put it in his mouth, chewing with a pleasant sigh. Another so called “Pigment Bearer”? That’s the second one in a year. He hopped from the tree, landing on the concrete floor with a loud clop. He walked calmly, focusing his magic around his rather short body in order to release his inner power. The Orange power of Endurance and Willpower.
Dash’s form fell through the darkness, wind rushing over her feathers. Her weary eyes fluttered open, instantly closing again from the rushing wind. Despite her predicament, her demeanor didn’t change in the slightest. She was used to waking up like this - falling off clouds during her naps had happened on occasion to her.
Her wings snapped open to stop her careen towards the earth, making her go from ‘sack of flour’ to a ‘feather in the wind’. She floated to the ground, sliding to a stop on the smooth, cool concrete. Her wings folded to her sides, and she let out a rough snore as she again fell asleep contently.
Caldius swallowed his mouthful of acacia branch, the large thorns breaking audibly as they were pushed down his esophagus. He spat out a knot from the wood, hitting the sleeping Rainbow Dash on the forehead. He hoof-pumped the air in triumph.
“Heh, still got it,” he chuckled to himself.
He walked over, sitting by the prismatic mare. Her frame was covered with bruises and cuts, and her mane was all but totally matted. Her wings fared no better, the feathers astrewn in various directions. Mahiri must’ve done a number on her, he thought. Let’s see if Vista’s healing spells still reside within my memory…
Caldius began to focus, his horn encasing itself with a bright orange glow. The soft orange aura enveloped Dash’s body and her cuts sealed while her bruises mended. She stirred in her sleep, a pleasant grin spreading across her muzzle as her feathers re-aligned and were gently pulled back into place.
He blushed, knowing pegasi who preened each other usually had some sort of romantic or family relationship. She was probably thinking her special somepony, if any, was beside her in her dreams.
“Soarin… Cut it out…” Dash mumbled with a giggle as the orange aura faded, leaving her coat virtually spotless and her feathers straightened.
Caldius’ smile straightened a little, bummed that yet another mare was out of his reach. Damn… he thought, looking down at the attractive, sleeping mare before him. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all.
He bent down, poking Dash’s shoulder with his sharp horn.
“Hey, kid. Get up,” he commanded flatly. “I didn’t heal you so you could sleep all night.”
Dash stirred, her eyes shooting open and her smile reducing to a pucker. She jumped to her hooves, the yellow and red stripes in her mane and tail shining with a ferocious light.
“Who’re you?!” Dash yelled, her wings spread as wide as she could manage; the classic pegasus’ intimidation method.
Caldius backed away slightly, but only so he could get her wingspan into his field of vision. “Wow, what beautiful wings you have,” he charmed.
Dash’s face turned from a snarl to a confused, blank stare as the light from her mane flickered out. “Uh... thanks?”
“You are very welcome. Now, as to the reason you are here-”
Dash help up a hoof, closing her wings. “The “Orange Trial” I presume?”
“-Yes. My name is Caldius, and I am the Orange Prismatic Mage.”
Dash rolled her eyes. “Gee, I couldn’t tell from the orange gilded cloak, orange eyes, horn, and orange coat,” Dash deadpanned. “I’m not much for fashion, but you guys are hard to look at sometimes.”
Caldius looked at himself, and back to Dash. “Well take a gander in a mirror sometime, then tell us we’re hard to look at,” he rebutted with a smug grin.
Dash’s eyes narrowed and the red portion of her mane glowed with a faint but easily visible light in the surrounding darkness.
“Mister, with the day I’ve had-”
“Four actually,” Caldius corrected.
Dash’s jaw would’ve dropped to the floor like one of her fillyhood cartoons if it could. Her ears flicked a few times, wondering if she had heard correctly.
“... What did you say?” she asked, her voice a few octaves deeper than normal.
“What? About you being here four days?” Caldius snickered.
Dash dropped to her butt, head hung low as the thought of Scootaloo tore through her mind. She looked up to Caldius, who was now sitting in a brightly shimmering orange loveseat.
“What?” he asked, a sly grin still on his face.
“But how... HOW have I been here four days?!” Dash cried, her eyes threatening to let a few tears forth.
“Oh, I dunno…” Caldius couldn’t contain his pent-up laughter. He let it go with a long, almost manic laugh.
Dash looked back up, clearly confused and on the edge of anger. “What?! You actually fell for that?! Hah! You’re more gullible than you look, that’s for sure!” He continued laughing.
Rainbow’s mood was punched in the gut, and she cascaded over the edge of anger. She let loose a yell of rage, thoroughly getting Caldius’ attention and making his laughter cease. She lunged at him, her mane remaining dull as her mindset again turned to murder. She wanted nothing more but to see this unicorn choked with his own horn.
She lunged, feeling no aid from her internal power as her anger took over. She was far slower than earlier, throwing her off and allowing Caldius to nimbly jump out of her path. Dash lost her focus for a fleeting moment, plowing face first into the acacia tree’s trunk. Her orange host simply sat where he had jumped and shook his head.
“Quite the impulsive one, aren’t you?”
Rainbow lifted her face from the tree, feeling a warm trickle down her face. Her blood boiled with rage- this time at herself.
“You know, I just used a considerable amount of magic to heal you, and this is how you repay me?” Caldius scolded.
She lifted her head from the tree, wiping her forehead and looking at her now dark red forehoof. She sighed, feeling her wound begin to pound and her vision double slightly.
“W-whatever…” Dash slurred. “So fix me again or something.”
Caldius frowned a bit at the mare’s demand. “Why? So you may embarrass yourself again?”
Dash attempted to rebut, but her speech slurred as her headache intensified. She collapsed, her wings flailing in a vain attempt to help her to her hooves.
Caldius chuckled to himself as he watched the rather pitiful sight.
“Whatever is the matter, ‘Rainbow Dash’?” her orange tormentor called over with strained empathy. “I thought you wanted to fight, not fall over like a helpless filly!”
Dash ground her teeth as his words hit her pride like a ton of bricks. She focused through the intense pain in her face and forehead, trying to block out her feelings of rage. She knew that the only way of winning these battles was to remain calm at all times and think things through. Easy enough… right?
“A-alright, let’s think things through here…”
But NOW it hurts to think, Star Prism interrupted. TRY not to hurt yourself, and by proximity, ME.
Dash shook her head violently in an attempt to shut him up. She could almost feel him in there being rattled around, cursing her name to the High Creator. It wasn’t until an acacia branch slammed into her flank that she finally snapped out of her stupor.
“HEY!” Dash yelled as she spun to see a large, thorny branch floating in a light orange aura.
“What the hay was that for?!”Dash yelled, looking from her now bleeding flank back to Caldius.
“Pay attention, “Dashie’,” he snickered.
Dash leaned over to her flank, pulling a massive thorn right from under her cutie mark’s lightning bolt. She spat it out, glaring at Caldius with a scowl that could melt steel.
“Okay Mr. Sherbert, what do you want?!” Dash hissed.
Caldius cocked his head to signal his confusion, before gesturing toward the floor behind Dash. She turned and looked down, seeing a dull glowing yellow crystal just within touching distance of her left hind hoof. She immediately recognized it, thinking of Mahiri as she turned to pick it up.
Caldius sat down, levitating another acacia branch over to eat. This was gonna be a helluva show. Rainbow reached for it, jerking her hoof back as an arc of yellow lightning jumped at her from it.
“What gives?!” she yelled to the crystal.
She quickly looked around with a raging blush, realizing that she had just yelled at an inanimate object. Geez. This trial crap is getting to me…
Caldius was holding a hoof over his mouth, trying to keep from breaking his “professional” image. Her antics had provided him with the most amusement in centuries.
“Just touch the damn thing alre-”
A bright flash of yellow erupted from the crystal, enveloping the shrieking Rainbow Dash in a dome of intense yellow light. Her screams were cut silent as the knowledge of Agility seeped into her mind, forever to be stored and used at will. As quickly as it appeared, the magnificent yellow dome of light had dissipated into a fog-like mist. The mist was funneling into the yellow portions of Dash’s mane and tail, making her go limp.
Caldius used a thorn from the tree to pick his teeth clean of his earlier meal before tossing it into his mouth and swallowing it whole.
“My, that was quite a display. I admire your abilities to create light shows," Caldius snickered. "Tell me, can you do anything useful?"
Dash awoke from her stupor, strangely calm. She could feel herself tapping into her power, her confidence and mental stability returning.
She was facing away from Caldius, seemingly looking into the blackness of the surrounding space. Her mane burst into a bright, shining red as she slowly turned to face him.
Caldius' cloak disappeared in a shimmering orange mist and he widened his stance. Dash's eyes glowed a bright crimson as they settled on her target.
"Enough showboating, Rainbow Dash! Show me you can harness MY power!"
Without a word, Dash's hind legs dug into the concrete floor from the force of her jump. Her wings snapped open and she flew straight toward Caldius, trailing a transparent line of red energy.
Caldius simply stood still, pointing his forehead forward. The contact came within a second, the tip of his horn exploding in a bright orange flash upon impact. The pressure concussion of the two opposing forces crushed the ground beneath, resulting in a massive crater similar to the one Rainbow had previously made in her fight against Kuvvet. The two combatants were hurled to the opposite and farthest reaches of the visible area, each bouncing a few times before skidding to a stop on their hooves.
The acacia tree was nearly blown over, rebounding and hanging over the edge of the smoldering crater.
Caldius had wavered only slightly, shaking his head and blowing a puff of air up onto his horn. His eyes finally locked onto Rainbow’s form. She was standing rigid and tall, a light aura of foggy white surrounding her form. Her breathing was even and slow, and she lowered her head with a puff of air from her nostrils.
“So!” she called over through the dust. “What’s your oh-so-special power?”
Caldius smirked, reaching out with his telekinetic grip to the acacia tree’s horrifically thorned branches. He took a branch, snapped it off, and tossed it over to Rainbow’s hooves.
“Eat it!” he commanded.
Rainbow looked down at the thorn-emblazoned branch, cocking her head. The white aura that surrounded her form faded, and her eyes returned to their natural ceruse.
“Uh, you’re joking, right?” she called back, leaning in to sniff the branch.
A bright flash of orange lit up the space just in front of her, and Caldius appeared. Dash’s initial reaction was a defensive stance with a loud snarl. However, the look on his face seemed to quell her thoughts a little, and she relaxed her stance with a curious look.
“What?” Dash asked, staring at him with uncertainty.
Caldius levitated the branch over to her, positioning it near her mouth. “Open wide!”
Dash’s face twisted with fear, looking at the gnarly branch and imagining the thorns tearing her mouth to shreds.
Caldius’ nose twitched as he looked at Dash. He knew instantly what was going on inside her head. The fear of pain and the unknown.
Dash could feel something trailing down her neck. She looked back as far as she could to see the orange stripe in her mane begin to turn a dull gray. She was horrified.
“What the HAY?! My mane! What’s going on?!”
Through her panic, she could still hear a familiar laughter.
Oh my… So quick to judge, Rainbow Dash. I am beginning to wonder if my influence is even getting to you at al-
“Didn’t I tell you to shut it?!” Dash yelled at nothing.
Caldius put a hoof over his mouth to keep from laughing at Star Prism’s antics. “Alright, Star, I believe the filly is already frazzled enough, don’t you think?”
Great, now he’s talking to you, Dash thought.
Oh forgive me if I’m more of the social type than you are.
Excuse me, but I don’t think being social is gonna help me right now! Did you see the size of those thorns?! He wants me to EAT that!!
Caldius cleared his throat, making Rainbow return her attention forward. “What? Not hungry?” he asked.
He levitated the branch over to himself, sticking out his tongue and placing the thorny foliage onto it. Rainbow shuddered visibly as Caldius nearly inhaled it, chewing voraciously with loud, almost obnoxious crunching. Dash winced at every chew, watching with a mixture of awe and absolute dread at what he was doing.
He swallowed, more audible snaps and cracks of the tasty treat echoing throughout the vicinity from his throat. Dash had to turn away, grinding her teeth in anxiety. Her neck muscles clenched as the last audible pop of a thorn sounded, followed by the throaty swallowing noise of a starved Banshee. She nearly hurled.
Caldius let out a megaphonic burp, vibrating the ground and making the acacia tree shake a little. Dash’s current state of disgust kept her immaturity from taking over, and she didn’t laugh like Caldius and Star Prism had expected. Instead, she dry-heaved, holding a hoof over her face to keep from throwing up. The image of shredded gums and a slit throat kept appearing in her mind, and she cringed hard.
“Mmm, just like the blueberries from my grandfather’s pasture,” Caldius chimed blissfully. “Delicious!”
Dash’s face lit up with a sudden intrigued expression. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and her muscles suddenly felt like jelly. Saliva filled her mouth as visions of blueberries danced through her mind. She had finally realized that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast of the morning before her airshow.
“Oh my, by the look on your face, you seem rather hungry,” Caldius observed. He reached out again with his magic, grabbing a smaller branch of the acacia tree and pulling it free. Dash’s eyes followed it, her mind still thinking of the blueberries he had so fondly spoken of.
“Does… Does it really taste like… Blueberries?” Dash asked, not taking her eyes off the thorny branch.
Caldius chuckled, setting the foliage in Dash’s waiting hoof. “Only one way to find out, my dear,” he cooed.
Dash lifted the mass of prickles up to her nose, inhaling deeply. She could smell neither blueberry, or anything for that matter. Her suspicion was slowly beginning to rise once again.
“So tell me, Caldy,” Dash began, looking up from the acacia branch with her suspicion completely refueled. “Why doesn’t it smell like blueberries?”
The orange unicorn was nearly thrown for a loop with the question accompanied by Rainbow’s trademark suspicious glare. But he knew exactly what she was thinking, for how indeed could a thorny gnarl of thorns and wood taste anything like blueberries?
“Doubt,” he said flatly. Dash’s eyes opened slightly from their suspicious squint, replacing her previous look with one of question. “Doubt is the handicap of all endeavours great, and small,” Caldius went on. “It is the exact opposite of everything my power represents. Willpower.”
He again levitated the branch, bringing it over to his mouth. “You see, through your past Trials, you have had to only use your already exceptional physical prowess. However, my Trial is not nearly the same as my counterparts’.”
Dash’s eyes flicked from his face to the floating acacia branch and back multiple times, trying to piece together Caldus’ speech through her nagging hunger.
“You will learn to bend matter around you according to your deepest desires, using merely your will.”
Dash’s jaw dropped momentarily, before she shook her head and closed her mouth. Her wings flared and she scoffed loudly. “That’s flat out impossible,” she declared, looking up and away.
Caldius sat, looking Dash in the eye. “Then this is going to be quite the experience for you, hm?”
.