Fluorite Vapor could feel a burning sensation wash over his flank. He opened his eyes to see the room of the inn glowing a dim turquoise enough for him to barely see the features of the room,but otherwise radiating an oppressing darkness. He had tossed and turned over the course of the night, leaving him in a twisted position over the top his sheets. He couldn't move, but he could look down at his flank. The mark there taunted him, the burning sensation intensifying. The eyes of the mark squinted slightly and the edges of the mouth quivered as though it was laughing at him. The mark glowed in uneven waves, reminiscent of a fire flowing beneath the skin. Fluorite looked up from the mark to see the shadow figure from before. The figure's muzzle opened with an unsettling audible tearing, revealing an endless hole behind the dark severed web of shade. The shadow enclosed about Fluorite, the cavernous maw threatening to swallow him whole, but at the final moment, the fiery light from Fluorite's flank erupted over the living shadows. The sudden brilliance made Fluorite wince, but upon opening his eyes, the room's darkness no longer weighed upon him, the visions were gone, and his body was once again his own.
As much as his heartbeat and sweat eagerly pushed him to take action, Fluorite resigned himself to sleep as much as was possible. He was going to be meeting with the Cutie Mark Crusaders tomorrow, and he needed to be as agreeable as possible, the recent lack of sleep has already made him irritable, the most he could do was try to sleep for now.
Fluorite walked to Sweet Apple Acres as he was instructed the day before. The sky was covered with a grey blanket of cloud, and the winds were chilly. Autumn had settled comfortably over Ponyville.
"I suppose Nightmare Night is just around the corner..." Fluorite mumbled to himself. With the words spilled a barely visible cloud of his breath. "Glad I brought my scarf." He said while bringing the beige length of thick fabric over his chin.
Sweet Apple Acres was a pleasant sight. The trees were devoid of their fruits, but the farm still felt full and lively, especially with the Apple family out tending to the land in preparation for the coming winter. Fluorite could see a large red stallion hitched to a cart of barrels moving swiftly from one spot to the next. An orange mare was talking with a yellow one, standing beside one tree that looked rather unhealthy.
The orange mare wore a tattered Stetson over her blonde mane. Her physique was strong, suggesting she had been tending to the orchard for most, if not all, of her adult life. The yellow mare had a striking crimson mane pulled up into a bun with a pink ribbon tying it off. Her body revealed the same time and work in physical labor, but her comparatively youthful coat obscured the muscle somewhat.
"Ah think it's high time we let this'un go, Bloom." Said the orange mare with a sigh.
"Ah see where yer comin' from AJ, but Ah'd say it could turn out another year r' two if we take care." Said the yellow one, inspecting the bark of the tree.
"Um-" Fluorite interjected tactlessly.
The two mares turned at the sound and saw Fluorite standing before them sheepishly.
"Can Ah help you?" Asked the orange one.
"Well, I- um... I was told to come here to meet with the Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Said Fluorite. He wasn't given much instruction at all, other than going to Sweet Apple Acres. Now that he's here, what was next?
"Well, Ah guess that's me then." Said the yellow mare. "Mah name's Apple Bloom, this here's mah older sister Applejack."
"Pleased to meet you..." Fluorite said with a small nod of his head.
"Likewise, uh..." Applejack stalled.
"Oh! Fluorite, Fluorite Vapor!" He said as he dipped his head further to hide the reddening of his cheeks.
Apple Bloom spoke again. "Well Fluorite, who told ya to come out here?"
Fluorite looked her in the eye. "Sweetie Belle said that you would make a plan by noon? I don't really know if that involves me, but, like, um..." Fluorite's eyes wandered away as he lost his words.
Apple Bloom looked first at Fluorite's mark, then nodded to her sister. "Ah guess duty calls." She said with a shrug. "Come on Fluorite, if Sweetie Belle said we'd meet, then we're gonna have to go to the meeting room."
"Right!" Fluorite said excitedly, as he followed Apple Bloom away.
Fluorite followed Apple Bloom until they reached a dusty treehouse among the less organized trees. The clubhouse was small, decrepit, and unsightly, but Fluorite could easily see that years ago it was a well-loved spot of peace and companionship.
"Is that the meeting room?" Fluorite asked.
"Well, it used to be." Apple Bloom answered. "Thing hardly fits two of us in there anymore. Can't well be meetin' if we can't breathe. We hadn't really needed to meet since we unpacked it though, all said, it's still the place."
"Good, you're here!" Called a familiar voice.
Fluorite turned to see Sweetie Belle alongside an unfamiliar pegasus. The young mare had a rich orange coat extending into her sleek feathers. Her wings were large, while most pegasi could pull their wings flush against their body, the tips of her wings extended just a hoof's length above her barrel. Her mane was a brilliant rose hue, and was cut quite short, even shorter than most stallions would cut it, her tail was cut similarly. Her body was refined with athletic polish, and an ethereal beauty flowed from her,focusing like whirlpools into her sharp lavender eyes. Fluorite Vapor could only try his best to not stare.
What the hay? Why is she so beautiful? Fluorite couldn't place it. It didn't make sense, he couldn't describe why or how she caught his attention with such power, but he couldn't deny she did.
"Fluorite, this is Scootaloo, the third member of our trio. Scootaloo, this is Fluorite... Vapor, right?" Sweetie Belle asked for confirmation. Fluorite could only nod.
"Neat, so what's your story?" Scootaloo asked flatly.
Fluorite struggled for words, but eventually found his balance as he explained the situation to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He described finding the mark, the trouble it caused him in Baltimare, and how Gabby directed him here.He decided not to go into detail about his sleeping troubles, but told them he would have nightmares, it wasn't really a lie anyway.
"Well, Ah can't say Ah've seen a Cutie Mark like that." Apple Bloom admitted. "Ah see why ya took Gabby's advice, but Ah can't say we've got a quick solution."
"I've got time." Fluorite stated. "I can't well do much work until I get it figured out anyhow." Can't well? Apple Bloom's relaxed speech is rubbing off on me.
"As much as I'd like to say the same, I can't." Scootaloo spoke with a small hitch of anger in her voice. "I've got responsibilities on the weather team, and it's the busiest season for us until the first snowfall. In fact, meeting now is using my lunch hour."
A flash of annoyance washed over Sweetie Belle's face before she sighed and closed her eyes. She mumbled something under her breath then spoke aloud.
"We've all got responsibilities, but Fluorite's going to be one of them for a while. As Cutie Mark Crusaders, we can't just leave him alone, can we?"
"Ah agree, although it's definitely gonna take some time, can't say how much. Might be this won't get figured out by us, but we should do what we can for now." Apple Bloom declared.
Scootaloo shook her head lazily. She turned her eyes to meet Fluorite's own. Her gaze was sharp, but the delicate, glassy orbs still looked beautiful to Fluorite, making a confusing mixture of emotion.
Scootaloo sighed. "Yeah fine. We'll do what we can, but the four of us meeting all together may have to be on a weekly basis. When we say it's going to take time, we mean it." She confirmed to Fluorite. "Most of our successes took a couple of weeks to sort out, and this one will probably be even harder. Don't come crying to me when it doesn't go as nice as you wanted."
"Scootaloo!" The other two young mares shouted.
"No, it's okay." Fluorite reassured them. "I get it, this is a strange situation and nopony has any guarantees. The fact that anypony would do anything at all makes me happy. Besides, I like it here in Ponyville... I wouldn't mind sticking around." Fluorite fought back the blush.
"Allright then, I've got to get back to the weather team, I'll catch 'yall later." Scootaloo said as she extended her wings. "You should probably meet with Twilight. It's as good a place to start as any." She said over her shoulder.
With a heavy swinging motion, Scootaloo's wings kicked her off of the ground, sending dust out in all directions. A few more powerful flaps and she was above the trees, swinging her body towards the town. The motions were fluid and natural, but the power behind every stroke of her wings was awe-inspiring.
Fluorite was very bad at not staring.