//------------------------------// // Mothers... and Father // Story: Harmony's Clown // by SciWriter //------------------------------// “He used to spend a lot of time with you, you have an idea where he might have gone?” Asked Mr. Snow.                 Twilight let her friend and the pastor into the castle. “Not in particular,” Twilight admitted.                 “Think someone could have… kidnapped him or something?” Rainbow asked.                 Twilight almost laughed out loud. “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to be insensitive. Seriously though Rainbow, I would be FAR more concerned about any idiot trying to kidnap Dark than Dark himself if that were the case.”                 “How powerful is Dark exactly?” asked Mr. Snow.                 “Not exactly a matter of power…” Twilight said.                 (***)                 Upon Rainbow’s request, because Dark was so interested in it, and as a way of showing trust, Twilight had a while ago taken on Dark as an apprentice of sorts, teaching him magic defense. She thought back on one of her early lessons with him.                 She walked towards a large empty palace room with the then thirteen-year-old. “So then,” she walked in ahead of him and over to a small chalk board she had set up. She took a ruler and pointed it a crude drawing of a unicorn. “There are three major stages of magic prowess. First is what most unicorns achieve, magical awareness. This would be the stage my dear friend Rarity is at. She knows she has magic power, and she can even use it on a regular basic, but she hasn’t even the slightest comprehension of what she is capable of with it… eee- considering her mood swings that’s probably a good thing. Awakening is the second stage,” The colt sat down, tapping his hoof on the ground as he listened, obviously impatient to start DOING something.                 Twilight picked up a ruler with her magic and tapped her chalk board. Dark shook himself awake. She pointed at a second image, this one of a crude unicorn levitating along with a few other un-identifiable objects. “As I was saying, and you’ll want to pay attention to this, awakening is the second stage. Awakening occurs after a unicorn discovers just how much magic power is in them, and has an experience with it’s raw manifestation that causes them to… I guess understand what they might be able to do. My raw manifestation experience happened about when I got my cutie mark actually. You wouldn’t believe the stuff I made happen. I tapped my inner well spring of magic… not sure how. For some unicorns, magic awakenings just happen, but there is a way to sort of… force them I guess.” She thought for a moment. “It can be dangerous though, as there’s no telling what you’ll do- but hey, ALICORN,” she said flapping her wings. She turned around, grinning at Dark, who gave his lip a small bite, not sure what to make of that look. “This is REALLY ill advised I’ve been told, unless you have enough unicorns to stop someone’s magic from going out of control but I am an eighty-year-old alicorn, pretty sure whatever you can do, I can handle.”                 “I can’t really do much without warming my horn for like twenty seconds… really I’m more a hoof to hoof guy,” Dark said.                 Twilight got up, staggering her legs. “Oh you’d be surprised, but I won’t be. Always wanted to study an awakening up front- ready? I am…” Twilight wasn’t kidding, she would be one of the very few able to witness an awakening, it was a chance to study something ponies knew very little about. Time for- science!                 Dark stood up nervously. “What should I do?”                 “Sit down again.” He obeyed. “Close your eyes, empty your mind of distractions, just listen to my voice.” Dark closed his eyes. Twilight started getting excited, this was going to be it! “Now, we’re searching for the source of your magic. It will look like a flame… it may not be red… actually, tell me, what color is it? Try to visualize a magic flame.”                 “Um… it’s um… pink… what does that mean?”                 “Colors can mean things… as angry as you get I was expecting straight red really… relax, look at the flame.” He breath slowly, eyes still closed.                 “I see something else… something with the flame.”                 “Put everything else out of your mind.”                 “It’s not going away… it’s like a plate of some kind.. a swirling black and gray mass of… something… what is it?”                 “Mmm-I-don-know,” Twilight said with a shrug. “Block it out,”                 “It won’t go away.”                 “Then ignore it- look the next step is you’re supposed to reach into that flame…” Twilight warmed up her horn. “Try to grab it…” the young unicorn’s eyes flipped open, turning white.                 The purple alicorn, the teenager, the black board and Twilight’s ruler all started levitating independently as Dark’s horn glowed white. A beam suddenly shot out of his horn and fired straight at Twilight, a shield going up around her, blocking it. She smiled, all too easy.                 The teenager disappeared. Twilight quickly turned to see him behind her and a beam coming right at her. She sent her shield up again quickly. “Weird, that was almost strategic, this is just-“ the unicorn disappear again and appeared above Twilight, falling on her, the black board shattering as he did. She fell to the ground and quickly rolled out from under the teenager, who started floating again, his horn continuing to glow. “This should have stopped in a few seconds… what the hell?!” The ruler came flying at her as she ducked and a beam of light shot at her. Twilight barely got her shield back up in time, the beam sending a constant stream at her.                 The unicorn dropped to the ground, his eyes still white. “Dark, WAKE UP!” she shouted. The beam kept coming at her. Twilight felt strain on her own magic, Dark was no where near powerful enough to break her shield with force, but the force he was delivering just wasn’t stopping. “Dark, I don’t want to hurt you… I’ll have to respond… do you want to hurt me?” Suddenly, as Twilight looked on, two huge eyes appeared behind the unicorn and opened, the floor starting to rumble. “DARK!” she shouted loud as she could. “I… I’m sorry Dark-“ she closed her eyes and teleported, appearing to Dark’s left, slamming her shoulder into his right ear and causing the teenager to fall down, rolling on the ground.                 The unicorn got up, shaking his head. He blinked and looked at Twilight. She gave a nervous smile and held her head down. “Dark?” she asked. “Kay, that was a screw up… sorry.”                 “You hit me…” Dark Sky replied.                 “I had to… sorry, I shouldn’t have tried this… what was that?”                 “YOU HIT ME!” Dark shouted.                 “I had no choice-“ his full body slammed into her and she found herself flipped on her back in an instant, suddenly remembering Rainbow had also signed this kid up for judo lessons. She rolled quickly as a hoof slammed into the ground where her head had been.                 “You all think you can push me around, like him!” she found herself suddenly trapped in his magic and thrown across the room. “I-that was way easier than usual…” he paused.                 Twilight cautiously stood back up. “Dark… I don’t want to hurt you… please don’t hurt me?” she held her head down in a kind of submission. Twilight could easily have decimated this kid, but well, thrashing the kid of one of her best friends wasn’t a goal of hers. “Listen, something happened that wasn’t supposed to… what did you see by your flame exactly?”                 “It was like a plate,” He said closing his eyes. “Maybe like, dark swirling energy shaped like a place… I think there was some kind of energy coming out of it… maybe I can get it back up-“                 “NO!” Twilight shouted. He jumped back a little. “Kid, I don’t know what that was but you just tried to kill me… awakening achieved, but we are NOT trying that again. There was something… bad in that. I don’t know what it was, but I’m not risking calling it up again. Awakenings are like removing a cork on a bottle anyway, your power is out, we don’t have to remove the cork again. Now, if you don’t still want to kill me, let’s get to the third stage; trained.”                 (***)                 Twilight shook her head. “Oh yea, your kid can handle himself.”                 “Well he’s missing, so that says it all doesn’t it?” Rainbow asked. The three entered Twilight’s throne room. The other four element bearers were present.                 Apple Jack looked on with concern, while Pinkie nervously bit her lip and tapped her hooves. Rarity sat in her chair, looking at the map, levitating two rulers over it, like she was measuring something. Finally Fluttershy sat feeding nuts to a large hawk.                 Rainbow flew over and sat down in her chair, Twilight doing the same. Twilight looked at the chair Spike used to use. He had since moved on and was living in the dragon lands these days, training to fight the outer demons with the rest of his kind.                 Twilight spoke up. “Let me start by saying, Rainbow, we WILL find him. Rarity will be working with the police on tracking him if he’s in the city. Fluttersy and the Apples will work together to search the everfree and Pinkie will see if anyone around has seen or heard anything. I’ll try to keep the media at bay… though yea, the public will probably have some idea of what’s going on pretty soon.”                 “And me?” Rainbow asked. “What should I do?” Mr. Snow, realizing his usefulness had probably come to an end, turned to leave when she put a hoof on his back. “No- I don’t know why… you’re the first person who realized with me something was wrong… can you stick around?” He nodded and sat on the floor next to her throne. Rainbow bit her lip. “Ya know… you’re not the first stallion to sit there… kinda remind me of him.”                 “Rainbow, please don’t look at me in that way, I’m a married stallion,”                 “No, nothing like that, I just… this is scary… okay? I’ve seen enough ponies go missing, die… just… I’ve seen enough. But this is too soon, he’s still in his twenties- Twilight what do you want me to do?! Something, I’m gonna go nuts-“                 “Calm down,” Twilight said. “You’re panicking and it’s understandable why. You’re too close, it’s just a fact, you can’t be objective. We’ll take care of things for you, you just be available if you have to answer questions.”                 “He’s MY son!” Rainbow shouted.                 “We respect that,” Twilight replied. “We’ve all had a hoof in raising him, remember?”                 (***)                 Rarity:                 “Oh come now dear, I’ve waited a long time to get you in here, I know there is a fine gentlestallion under there somewhere,” Rarity said as Dark glared at the ground. She rolled her eyes.                 “Clothes don’t make you.”                 “Don’t they?” Rarity asked continuing to work on fitting him with a suit. “Look at you, with your mane scattered, you rarely wear any clothes and the scars from the fights you always get into are prominently displayed. You’re just thirteen, but adult ponies see you coming and they’re scared.”                 “I don’t get bullied- none of my friends do either.” Dark replied.                 “Just how many friends do you even have, two?” Rarity shot back. He growled. “Oh dear, I’m so frightened.”                 “I can kick your butt!” he shouted standing up.                 The white unicorn turned around and looked him in the eyes. “Try it.” Even at his age, he stood eye to eye with her, her only a few inches smaller. Still, Rarity did not flinch. Her eyes however changed to show pity. “I can see it in your eyes. The only stallion you ever had to look up to was your father. You have ponies you care about, your siblings, your few friends… your mother?” he looked down again. “You’re not fighting me are you?” No response. “You’re fighting yourself. You’re afraid you’ll become what he was. And why wouldn’t you be? That’s all you’ve seen. Good stallions are out there, but you’ve only had contact with good mares… please sit down. I don’t want to hurt you, just make you look respectable. That’s something you want yes? Respect.” He sat down. She went around him and brushed his hair into a simple comb over fashion. She then put a few clothes on him. “The fact is, you won’t become a mare, and you know it, so when you look at me and my friends, it doesn’t give you so much hope, does it? You won’t be a mare, but still,” she moved a mirror to reflect him. There he sat, dressed in a white suit, mane combed down, and a red bow tie. “Look, don’t you see? You don’t have to become your father. Look at yourself, you can become better. You can be good.” He blinked at the reflection. Tears were welling up in his eyes.                 “He… he dressed like this… it was the only time I knew he was safe…”                 “Do you want me to-“                 “I like it.”                 She sighed. “I’ll choose to take that positively. I’m not a religious pony myself, but I’m going to recommend Rainbow take you to a local church. You don’t have to adopt their beliefs, but when ponies have a higher purpose, sometimes it influences them into better persons. I think there, maybe you’ll find a good stallion to look up to, someone you can hope to change into. I’ll do what I can Dark, you’ll see, you’ll see the good you can become, not just the bad.” She looked at one of her racks. “Now, let’s keep going. Black is an amazing color to work with.”                 (***)                 Pinkie Pie                 “Yea, she said my magic’s color was pink, what do you think that means?”                 Pinkie shrugged. “How should I know, magic’s not my thing kiddo.”                 “Yea but, I figure, you… you’ve been alive for so long, maybe you have different knowledge… you know things everyone else doesn’t and all maybe?” Dark replied. “You can’t have been alive like a century and all you do is cook and tell jokes.”                 “HEY!” Pinkie shouted at him. “Not polite to talk about a mare’s age,” she smacked his shoulder. He smiled rubbing his shoulder. “But you think jokes and cooking are silly huh? But you see I’ve discovered something.”                 “What?”                 “Well hang on… hold this for a minute,” she pulled a live octopus out of her mane and plopped it on him.                 “The crap!” he fought with the creature for a few minutes until Pinkie took it back.                 “You get back in there Herbert,” she put the creature back, Dark chuckling. “I think I got moves no one else does… had them for a while kiddo,” she said.                 “How do you do that?! Is it an earth pony thing?”                 “No, it’s a humor thing. This is Equestria, emotion has power. Because of all the laughter and sweets, so much positive emotion is around me, I can do pretty much anything. Few others can do the stuff I can.”                 The colt got back up and sat by her. “Do you think I could?"                 Pinkie twisted her lips at him. “Your cutie mark is a kazoo and a shield… kinda doubt you’re gonna reach my level if your talent is divided. Still, whatever you have to do in life, remember, keep a smile. You’d be surprised at the power of just a good attitude.”                 “Found plenty of power in a bad one…”                 Pinky scrunched her eyebrows at him. “You think so? But here’s the problem, a good attitude gives you power, and bad one… controls you.”                 “What’s the difference?” he asked. “Kids back down from me when I look mean enough.”                 “They rally around you if you can relate to them instead- course you can’t always rely on that. But the question is, who do you want to be in the end? You can’t live an angry life and not still be able to live in peace. You’ll drive everyone away eventually. That’s just how it goes. You’ll have friends I suppose… really just ponies afraid to cross you or ones who want your muscle until you lose it.”                 “I… I think my anger will always be there. No matter what I try, I always feel it.”                 “I find, that fighting a bad nature doesn’t work, just create a new one and the old will fade with time.” He sighed to that, “I know you’re not sure, but you’ll see, you can change, I know it. I believe in you.” She gave him a side hug.                 (***)                 Apple Jack:                 “Grounded, grounded!” the other foals chanted as seven year old Faded Light tried to run away, his wing in a cast. Two of the pegasi flew ahead of him and started shouted straight in his face, the colt crying and hunching down. “So pathetic!” one shouted. “Poor baby!” said another.                 In an instant the two pegasi were slammed into each other, their heads smacking into each other and them dropping to the ground, slowly recovering. The other four unicorns and pegasi took off running, seeing the black unicorn running in with a huge glare on his face. “You wanna pick on MY brother?!” he shouted. “C’mere!”                 The two slowly tried to get away, but their heads throbbed too much. Magic slammed the green one into the ground while he stood over a blue one. “Please… sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… please” the blue colt started pleaded.                 “He hit a tree, you think it’s funny?” asked Dark. He looked to the left seeing a series of large trees nearby. “Let’s see how funny you think it is!” he levitated the colt into the air.                 “NO! Stop, please!” the blue colt struggled, as Faded Light cried on the ground, covering his eyes. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-PLEASE!” SLAM!                 Dark was thrown to the side, his side in pain as he scrambled to the ground, his horn warming up as a rope quickly snapped onto it and his head and pulled into the ground and a back hoof slammed into his shoulder and he was tossed back again.                 Dark rolled and ran forward a few feet and spun on his back hooves, horn warming up again as he turned and glared at the earth pony now facing him. “Distance bitch!” he yelled. The rope went around his head again as the earth pony used her mouth to pull left and her foreleg to pull right, Dark being yanked off his hooves just as he fired off a beam, the mare moving her head long before his shot fired.                 The colt moved to roll back up again when a hoof slammed into the ground inches from his face, he moved to go the other way but a second hoof was on his other side. “Apple Jack!?” he shouted. “You really think you can beat me? I’m a unicorn, I’ll win in the end!”                 “If’n yer dumb enough to think it works that way, even after ah just laid ya out, theys shoulda been laughin’ at you,” she said glaring down at him. She picked him up and tossed him right. “But go ahead, try again ya moron,” He took off running several meters away as AJ just stood there watching. When he thought he was good distance out, he warmed his horn and sent out his magic to capture AJ to levitate her. He succeeded in grabbing her as a rope snatched around his neck again and he was yanked into the air. His levitation stopped and they both dropped to the ground. The rope quickly pulled him to the ground as AJ moved so fast with it, it was like she a magic all her own. He shakily recovered, trying to think what he had done wrong. “That’s the problem with ya’ll. Yer arrogant, angry and yer really stupid enough to think all yer bull honkey will actually work! Well listen ta me, there’s always a bigger pony out there, yer never the best, never the strongest, never the nastiest, and the more you put yerself out there like this, eventually you’ll meet em’- and ifn’ that guy r’ gal ain’t nice like me, you won’t survive.”                 Dark fired a beam at the rope, snapping it in two. “I’m not just arrogant!” he shouted, his horn warming again as he turned to Apple Jack, but in a blink her hoof slammed into his face tossing him back.                 Dark wobbled to his hooves, staggering as his head started to throb. AJ glared at him as a cyan body slammed down between them. “ENOUGH!” Rainbow Dash glared at he orange mare. “AJ I will end you!”                 “Yer son is becoming a monster, if ah have to fight both of you to stop him, ah will!” Both mares locked eyes. Faded Light ran to his mother’s side. “Ifn’ he just stops on his own, we’ll just talk, but ah ain’t playin’ games with him. Ya’ll shoulda seen what he was tryin’ ta do fore ah came along.”                 Dark stumbled to his mother’s side, expecting her to give him a gentle wing hug, but she glared back at him. “I can imagine, can’t I Dark?” she demanded. He looked down, tears welling up in his eyes. She did bite her lip, but pushed herself up. “You can change but… I don’t… what-“                 “Let me alone with em’- even he’s not stupid enough to try again after the thrasin’ ah just gave em’.”                 “You just hurt my son!” Rainbow shouted.                 “Ya got a point, ah assume, but ah fail to see it. Ya wanna fight bout’ it, ya’ll can try too.”                 Rainbow sighed. “Fine, you had to fight him- he better recover or you’re not going to…” Rainbow grabbed her other colt and flew away.                 Dark sat down as AJ walked boldly towards him. He hung his head. “This really surprised you?” she asked. He looked away. “Maybe cause, much as you hate him, yer dad used violence, it worked, and you saw that. Now ya’ll think it’ll work fer you.”                 “Oh please, talk about violence, you thrashed me without even a warning,” he said back. “Talk like you know my dad, you’re no better!” he said, loud as he could with his pounding head ace.                 Applejack rolled her eyes. “Really? Oh ow, that hurt so much, ya compared me ta someone ya just said yerself ah don’t know. Ah suppose that was supposed ta be somethin’ sides the black hole of stupidity it was, but how bout we pretend ya didn’t say it an just proceed?” No response. “Ah’m not tryin’ ta say whose better, whose worse, not even sure what meanin’ there’d be in sayin’. Ah will fight fer what ah believe in an ah see the desire to do the same in you, but the difference is, ya’ll don’t know what the hell ya want so ya just do whatever. The way yer headed you won’t accomplish a damn thing.”                 “They were bullying my brother,” he finally said.                 “So bully them back. Stand up, insult them worse than they insulted him, can’t see why ya wouldn’t, but you were about ta take things to the next level.”                 “And why not?” he snapped, his head recovering so he could talk faster.                 “Because when you have no rules like that, you become the monster. What was yer father like? Ya lied, he broke bones right? Did ya learn anything from that, become a better pony, or did ya just- well end up like ya are?” She looked at the ground. “Suppose I wanted that ant there to move in a different direction?” Dark looked at the ant. “Ah could hit it, but it would end up Luna knows where. Ah could smash it, but then it would just be dead. I could put down bread, but ah don’t have any, so how about this?” she moved the dirt around the insect, it slowly changing direction. “Ah use action the situation calls for, ah have a goal and that determines those actions. Ah have rules. When you just do whatever, you don’t know where yer gonna end up.” She then smacked the ant into the nearby grass. “Go ahead, try to find it. Like find the direction of yer life right now.”                 “I can’t stand by when someone attacks my family.”                 “Ah can’t blame ya. Ah won’t tell ya not to defend em’, ah sure as heck do. Ah won’t tell ya not ta be violent, ah sure as hell am. But have a goal.”                 “You fought me, you only stopped cause you’re afraid of my mom,” he said back.                 “Ah respect yer mom. Ah’ve never actually lost a fight to her though after eighty three years.” On that note, Dark bit his lip, looking away. “Now, let’s get you bandaged up. Ah’ll call up yer ma and say yer stayin’ at ma place fer the night. Ah think maybe ya need ta spend some time round someone who just won’t take yer crap. C’mon.” He hesitated for a moment, then followed Apple Jack.                 (***)                 Fluttershy:                 Faded ran fast as he could, the bear fast on him. Dark ran after them, horn glowing, eyes starting to fill with tears. He had shot the animal several times, but it just wouldn’t stop. He charged his horn again, feeling something inside himself, like something else was about to come out… something that wanted to kill that bear even more than he did… he was about to let it out without regret.                 A shadow flew over him. A yellow pegasi dropped from the sky and slammed her back hoof on top of the bear’s nose, the whole animals stopping as Faded Light scrambled behind a tree.                 Dark stood in a staggered stance, his horn glowing, the dirt and dust around him starting to float as the excess magic flowed through the area. He was going to kill- soon as his mother’s friend got clear.                 The bear roared at the mare, claws out, the size comparison between them beyond obvious, like she was an ant standing against a lion. She slammed both front hooves into his snout and the bear jumped back. The bear roared again at her and she shot forward, smacking his nose from two angles, the bear jumping back again. It growled and she glared at it, wings spread. Then- the bear turned and ran off.                 Dark’s horn discharged into the air, firing off meaninglessly. “He should have torn you apart… what?”                 Fluttershy smiled at him. “Bears can be mean, but really that one was just playing.”                 “He could have killed my brother!” Dark shouted.                 “Animal play can be deadly, that’s why you have to respect them, and make them respect you.”                 “You make this place dangerous for Faded to play,” he stomped the ground. Fluttershy smiled at him, then took a small candy bar out of her saddle bags, flying over to Faded Light. She gave the candy to the colt, Faded coming out from behind the tree. “There you are, don’t worry, I’ve got ya,” she gently put a wing over the small pegasus, shading him as he ate. Dark hesitantly came over to them. “You have to understand bears to work with them. Sometimes, it’s about understanding what someone really wants… like why I didn’t bother offering you any, not what you want.” Dark sat down. She gave Faded a quick tickled, the colt giggling and returning to his food. Dark smiled. “With the bear, you have to play by a bear’s rules. Try to meet it force with force, you’ll never win without killing it, and good luck with that. But smack it on the nose and you can establish dominance… I don’t recommend trying it yourself, but if you have to, it’s really the only thing that will work.”                 “But chasing my brother was wrong!” he demanded.                 “Maybe, but the bear didn’t understand right or wrong. I’ll say you’re right, but not everyone thinks the same way, so you can’t reason with them all the same way. I see it all the time, making others think like you just doesn’t work. Require they think the same, everything falls apart pretty quick.”                 “Well… guess its pretty easy to use your brain like that if you’re so old- sorry, didn’t mean to insult you.”                 “I may be old, but it hasn’t affected my body, so I’ve long since stopped worrying about mentioning the number. But you really think you can’t learn?” she pulled a small carrot out of her pack. “Some animals respond better to a gentle demeanor than a dominant one, like this rabbit here,” she looked at a rabbit that had come close, but was hesitantly staying away. She slowly swept in her tail and hunched down, placing the carrot a few inches from herself. The rabbit slowly came forward, hesitantly, like it would sprint away at any second. Fluttershy just laid there quietly, waiting for it to come.                 The rabbit came and bit in, still watching her. She gently and slowly reached out a hoof. The rabbit danced back a bit, then forward, but she still moved steadily and slowly. Eventually she was able to pet the animal.                 Faded Light got excited and ran over, the rabbit zipping away in fear. Faded looked disappointed. “Oh… it’s okay Faded, you’ll learn some day,” she said, gently petting the colt.                 “Easy for him, he’s already gentle.” Dark said.                 “So hard for you?” Fluttershy asked.                 Dark pointed at a few of his scars. “Do I LOOK like a gentle colt?” Almost as if on cue, Faded offered Dark a bite of what was left of his candy bar.                 “Looks like someone thinks so,” Fluttershy said.                 He messed up the colt’s mane, “You can have it buddy, I’ll eat later.”  Faded happily returned to munching.                 “You can be so much more than a monster, you’ll see. I’ll show you.”                 (***)                 Mr. Snow                 Rainbow and her son walked out of the church. “Well… seemed a little goofy, but they follow Lightning like she was a great teacher, what do you expect?” She smiled.                 “”Be good or Imma kick your butt!”” he said chuckling.                 “She had a simple mind,” Rainbow said, laughing back.                 “I don’t know what you think is gonna happen here for me. I’m not even an impulse.”                 “Just call it a desperate attempt… maybe it’s silly. But I’m trying. I don’t know where to find a good stallion for you to look up to… kinda just stumbled into Silent Storm years ago. I’ve gone to singles bars looking for another husband… it’s always a bunch of over boozed losers. Couple other places too, but I don’t know where to look.”                 “Where do you look for good mares?” he asked back. Rainbow was about to respond, but she stopped.                 “I… I don’t know that either. Something has changed over the years. There used to be a lot of places for good ponies to hang out together… but now… I don’t know. Stallions have become so… so much more than they were- which is good I guess- but mares like myself, no one expects anything of us anymore. They expect the least. I want to blame Stemists, making stallions so confused about what to be, and making mares so hesitant to try to stand out because someone will accuse us of trying to manipulate… I don’t know.” She looked around. “Look, here come some kids, why don’t you just go hang out for a bit?” Dark hesitated, but she smiled and smacked his back to let him know it was okay. He ran off. Rainbow watched him. “Can’t be the only mare to ever ask this… what world am I putting you in little buddy?”                 He ran after the four children, one small filly and three colts. He slowly started to realize they were running off alone, but he had been by himself before, so he didn’t mind. Finally, he realized the filly was crying. She backed into a corner between two buildings. “Please… just leave me alone…” the two pegasi and one unicorn laughed at the small earth pony.                 “Please,” mocked the unicorn. “What are you gonna do if we don’t?”                 Dark came to a stop. He stood up straight. “She doesn’t have to do anything.” He said. The colts looked back. He realized they were all teenagers like himself, her looking around ten. “Cowards, all of you, c’mon, fight someone your-“ a solid hoof to the face and he was tossed back into the street.                 “Someone our own size?” asked the unicorn. “I ain’t got objections to that. She didn’t know where she belonged,”                 “I just wanted to see-“ she begged.                 “The buck you doing in a pegasi church?!” shouted one of the pegasi. “Earth eater!” The speaking pegasi slammed her against a wall. “C’mon, you think you can fly with us?”                 “NO!” he shot into the air with her. “NO! HELP!” she started screaming. Dark pushed up to his full size, the other teens coming around him.                 “Stop… stop…” anger shot through him, he glared at the two ponies now to his left right. Finally he screamed in anger- black energy floated up around him. He closed his eyes. He floated into the air, a large disembodied eye appearing behind him. “Put. Her. Down.” The pegasus landed, putting the filly down. “You idiots ran off to do your evil in secret…” his eyes opened, a red gleam showing in them. “But we always see what you do, and we love it, but come, let us all now play in secret!” The three ponies started to tremble looking at him, as tentacles rose up around him.                 A wall of white pushed around the group, slamming into Dark and driving him into the ground. The three teenage colts were tossed away like dolls. A brown pegasus with a light blue mane walked up, the air around turning cold. The three teenagers took off running.                 Dark looked down, hundreds of tentacles appearing all around him. They fired towards the pegasus, a huge wall of snow surrounding him and stopping the tentacles. Dark’s eyes were still giving off a red gleam, staring at the ball of snow now in front of him. A blast of snow shot at him and sent him back as the pegasus fired out after him.                 The pegasus threw a hoof at Dark, a tentacle blocking the hit, but not the snow that passed around and knocked the teenager over anyway. Dark rolled and got up, shaking his head. The tentacles disappeared as quickly as they appeared.                 Dark looked around. “What… where am I? What just happened?”                 “You know what happens when an impulse doesn’t use their powers… has them repressed somehow?”                 “Um… no.”                 “You just had an awakening. You’re an impulse.” The colt backed up, looking around himself in fear. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”                 “My mom… what… I have a bad feeling about what my power is…”                 “So do I… we’ll keep it under wraps, but you come back to church alright? I’ll train you to control this, but we’ll keep it on the down low till we figure out what it is.” Dark nodded.                 (***)                 Twilight reassured Rainbow again, best she could. “We all feel like his parents, we will find him.”                 Rainbow looked back at Snow. He nodded. “I see him as my son in a religious way, but he is one of my sheep. If he has gone astray, I will help find him. Trust me.” Her eyes widened and he could tell she did trust him. She trust him… perhaps a little more than someone who was hiding a damn lot from her.