The Pack

by Shion Sonozaki

The Child's Curse

*A mutt dog of no real breed.

The morning; so full of movement. So full of awakening life, those who were restarting their next day with being out in the town square, the bright sun warming the sleepy townsfolk, the heated bright rays hitting their soft pelts, making their fur glisten in the daylight.

The inhabitants of this sleepy town were out, either to a coffee shop; buying their breakfast and chatting with friends before heading off to work, going to the latter occupation itself, lounging and enjoying the beginning of the day peacefully on a park bench.

Others were talking to friends that they just so happened to meet up with on this day, maybe others were at their sellers carts, trading money for whatever good they happened to be selling.

The town was alive and well, as so this could be seen through the eyes of a young filly, she who was beaming like the light rays, her violet eyes filled with wonder, youth and excitement.

She felt every step she took she was getting more and more mature, each pace with importance and hope. A fuzzy, age-old warmth filled her heart and soul as she headed to the place she was expected to be at.

This day, as so she had called it, was the most important day of her life. She was going to be taking the final exam for sorcery, looking to be the Leader’s Apprentice, or at least a well-known being in this small town. To get out and see the world and to have everybody know her face.

Her name was Virginia, her mother had said that she had always loved that name, how it made her tongue feel like silk whenever she had spoken it. How it made her feel happy and complete. Just as her daughter had done.

And now, young Virginia was going to make her mother even more proud of her by passing this exam. Or, at least she hoped so.

‘Mother would be so disappointed. I have to ace this! It... it-’ her thoughts were cut off by the sight of the building in front of her and she began to get nervous.

For a moment, her whole life’s thoughts drifted back to her. Before she began studying magic, she had wanted to be a mechanic. She was really good at machinery and other things, but it was the fact that she was a magical creature, and, for the sake of her mother’s warm smile, her destiny just spoke it out loud. She was going to become great, just like her great-grandmother once was.

Once she pushed open the door, and her foreleg hooves fell to the floor, a woman spotted her, gave her a warm smile and called over and escort to guide her to where she shall be testing.

When they got to the room, it seemed to be empty. All other life that was there were her parents, (she smiled and waved, as did they), the guard and his reinforcements, and a few pony drones sitting on a large wooden bench that was merged with the floor.

They always like the old fashioned way, opposite of her, and this was why she had imagined that stand to me made of metal.

She formally was ushered to the front by the guard and she took her place calmly and collectedly. A man came over to her pushing a cart, and she glanced over at him for a moment.

In the cart, or, more properly, resting on top of it, was a cage. Inside of the cage, sat a young cur*. She was supposed to make it mature, or “Age-up” faster into an adult dog.

The instructions were read out to her and she listened carefully, trying to get her confidence into her power.

The one rule of her kind and magic: Power and life-force rested on the same line. Bravery was vital in the life of one of her own. Confidence was power, and power was her life. And Virginia held all of these things in great amounts.

パック

"Uh, hey Twilight? Do you know what time it is?" Spike asked his companion in a pressing voice, silently hoping that she’d respond with the hiking trail idea.

"As a matter of fact I didn't. (Whew!) What time is it Spike?" (Drat!) He kept his claws crossed, but his spirit got the best of him, and he replied sourly.

“Time for...uh,... IT.”

A deep sigh of annoyance at how the words tasted bad on his tongue and sounded bad in his mind.

But his companion was the sheer opposite. “Oh, yeah! Thanks for reminding me, Spike!” Twilight beamed with gratitude as she gazed up at the clock tower.

“We have about ten minutes, so we don’t need to rush.” She told him, and began taking her time walking to the town hall.
Spike leisurely followed her, now deeply regretting telling her that. Of course, he did feel bad about blowing off Fluttershy.... right? Eh....naw.

What he did feel bad about was how he was acting. After the whole owl thing, you’d think that he would be used to this. Seems that was just a facade. The barrier had broken, and now this day had just turned more gloomy for him.

But the light began to shine like the bulb above his head. “You know, I said I would meet up with someone at the coffee shop this morning. you think I can go about now?” He asked her, putting on his best poker face.

He was going to save this excuse for really bad times, and now was one of them. Here goes nothing.

“Oh. Sure you can! Can you get me a jelly doughnut while you’re at it? Here’s my money.” Twilight replied. He accepted the bag of coins and walked off toward the shop, once out of sight he was smiling brightly, glowing with pleasure that his plan had worked.

There really was no person he had to meet. It was just a fake. But the promise of food, was not.

パック

The judges sat at the stairwell that was in the room. Virginia stood at her place in the front. The cur sat in the cage, looking up at her before chewing on the bars.

She studied the animal before looking back expectantly to her instructor. He gave a nod and she returned it with a small smile and a polite nod. Then, she began her work.

‘Now, remember the rule. I need spells. That’s what my kind is about. Spells and power. Confidence is power and power is life-force. I need confidence to gain power.’

She took a deep breath and began to gather all of the spells she could from wherever she could. She never fully understood where they get the power from. Their Life-Force? It rested on the same line, so she would just put that into it.

For a moment, she dared to let a few spells loose. A spark of a light appeared, and it died out like water over embers in a fire pit.

She stared at it, confused, her confidence fading. She shook her head and refocused on her work.

‘No. I must not lose bravery. Bravery is my power!’

She let out a few more spells, this time getting more of a reaction, but then nothing again. ‘What happened?! I am never this bad! Is someone cursing me?’ She thought morbidly.

A glance at her beaming parents sent her to start again.

She tried over and over, and every time she did, the spark grew bigger and bigger. Soon enough, while gritting her teeth, she got a large light to focus on the cur, which barked and snapped at the light.

Author's Note:

Third chapter, already there. It gets better, though. The next will have a bit more, but action and suspense, setting up the plot for the rest of the story. The Kanji in between segments means "The Pack."

Comments

[Shion Sonozaki]

2346917

I was thinking that before I wrote it. I do have another that is much longer than "The Pack", but it is a horror/macabre genre, and it goes by the name of "Slave R.O.M.A." (Not talking about early 1900's slavery, human lab test subject slavery) Since it has nothing to do with MLP, I can't put it here, but it's better. Maybe i'll just go with the horror and action suspense. I was more of a gore lover anyway.