//------------------------------// // Liminal Creativity // Story: The Synthesizers // by Wiz Ahmad //------------------------------// Morning was approaching, and the night fading fast. Well before Celestia took over for her younger sister’s night shift, somewhere near the city’s center, a little dragon with a big heart and an energized mind was awakening, ready to begin a long and tedious but very rewarding journey – in a city intersection. Stretching, Smolder reached out and rolled over in her sleep, yawning in a half-awake state. The sound of a shopkeeper’s key quickly alerted her to the fact that she was a dragon smack in the middle of a city of elitist ponies, many miles from the safety of the school she attended. Pushing herself upright, Smolder rubbed her eyes and sat up on the bench, then stood up and peered under the bench to check if her beloved board was still there. Happily, it was. Hopping on, she began with a rotating scoop, which was a simple foot repositioning in a fluid and well-proportioned manner. Bringing her back foot forward, she then “scooped” the board’s nose backward while simultaneously using her front foot to bring the board around, returning to the same stance. Turning her whole body didn’t go so well, though, resulting in many slams. “Ow!” Smolder yelped for like the tenth time, rubbing her sore hip and arms. But after several more attempts, she got the hang of the motions required and refined it further using her front foot’s toes to swing the board around; in addition, she kept her upper body straight, instead of turning her shoulders simultaneously with the movements of her feet, thus allowing it to be done quicker. Next she simply rolled around, practicing her balance to allow for just enough nose lift to turn the board smoothly. It took countless tries – even after her gym session and the first experience up on the hilly meadow. Finally Smolder felt comfortable enough to do some actual, real tricks – though the sun had risen by now. Which meant the elite ponies would be out and about – and they wouldn’t take too kindly to dragons, given what Twilight had taught them in history class. But Smolder wasn’t going to back down over the mere opinions of some high-hung noses, and so she kept skating as the townsfolk begun their day, blowing out their fire-lit streetlamps, unlocking their shop doors, and opening shutters. “What-what is a dragon doing in our fair city?!” a scoffing shout was heard. Smolder paused and turned, eyeing a cobalt-blue stallion on the far side of the statue. She rolled up and gave a mocking wave before riding off, leaning and turning, using kickturns occasionally. After a good ride she sat back down on a bench outside a restaurant to relax… or so she thought. Barely a minute had passed before the townsfolk began ganging up on her. “Who are you?” “Get out of our city you vile creature!” “Dragons should be in the dragon lands, because they don’t know love and friendship like ponies do!” That sentence sent Smolder’s lungs surging with fire. With an angry breath, she pushed the half a dozen or so elitists back a good couple of yards before collecting her thoughts. “Excuse me, but who gave you the idea that friendship was limited to and controlled by you?” she snapped, staring squarely back into their now cowering eyes. “I am a student of Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship. Do you know what that school is? Have you visited it to understand its purpose? I’d suggest you do. And… give me some space, just like you would want some space yourself.” “But why are you here in our city?” one stallion still challenged. Smolder turned and locked her gaze right onto him like a sniper. “I’m here to cruise around, to have fun, and to try and invent – to come up with new ways to have said fun with this.” She held up her board, then spun it vertically with a flick of her fingers, before letting it drop to the ground, and rode off without another word. Finding another open area with minimal traffic, Smolder sat back to relax, fiddling with her board, before starting work on her next trick – nose up, front foot under the nose, jump and flick simultaneously to flip the board around and ‘guide’ it with her back foot. Jumping up, she could only get the board up and rotating sideways, landing forward instead and stumbling. After ten tries, she gave up and flopped down on the side of a fountain to rest. “I’ll get back to that one later,” she thought, reaching out and letting the water trickle down her scaly arms, cooling them down. Sitting back upright, she lowered her gaze and noticed how her board was resting on its side, with the edge facing up. “How about the edge of the board? The wheels could provide somewhat of an extended surface for my feet…” Eager to try out her idea, Smolder didn’t even wait for an opportunity to sneak away to an open spot – she simply slid off the fountain’s stone ledge and stepped onto her board sideways. At first it didn’t go so well. One foot on the back wheels and the board tipped up and over. Using one hand to hold the nose down, Smolder tried again, only to flip head over heels. Unfortunately, a unicorn mare was just passing by with a bag of fabric, thread, and other supplies – which all went flying and rolling out onto the street. “Hey!” she snapped, turning to face whoever had hit her. She turned a full circle. Smolder was already getting to her feet and picking up all the items. “Get away from me, you dirty dragon!” the mare snarled, taking a threatening step forwards. Smolder quickly looked down at her hands and held them up. “Look. Not dirty. Now, at least let me help you.” Without waiting for a confirming reply, she continued picking up all the items and neatly arranging them into the mare’s saddlebag, before holding it up, as if presenting. Still skeptical, the distrusting mare looked all over the fabric and thread. Not a smear of dirt or grime was to be spotted. “If I really was a ‘dirty dragon’, I’d have messed up all your precious items for the fun of it, laughed, and ran off. But I didn’t, because that’s not who I am,” Smolder explained. Flattered and humbled, the mare took hold of her bag. “Thank you…” “- Name’s Smolder.” “Thank you, Smolder.” “You’re most welcome.” “You too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get going before I’m late.” With that, the mare disappeared into the crowd, and Smolder was alone again, many ponies not even bothering to take note of her. Taking advantage of this invisibility, she tried to stand on her board sideways again, this time getting her front foot quickly on the front wheels in time with the release of her hand. Smolder quickly rose upright and fought for balance, only to fall again. After three tries she finally got it. Hopping off, and on, then back off again, she soon noticed that the board seemed to turn longitudinally a little, as if wanting to rotate. Could she get it to, though? Once more, Smolder hopped back onto her board, this time at a slight angle, remembering from her previous trick attempt that a vertical rotational force was needed to get the board to spin. Shifting her back foot slightly back, off the wheels and on the tail, she let her toes hang over the edge. All at once, she jumped, flicked the board hard, and spun 180 degrees. Many times the board failed to land right, and Smolder found herself biting her lip in pain as the soles of her feet hit the trucks’ bolts hard or slipped on the board’s underside. Taking breaks, the dragon kept work at it, adjusting herself a little each time. After what felt like the hundredth time, Smolder stretched her now sore legs out a little, walked over to her board, got the position proper, hung her toes out, and flicked hard. CLACK! The noise of wheels hitting the pavement hard split the air above the streets of Canterlot, and Smolder’s eyes went wide seeing the board flat, right side up, under her feet. She had just landed it! “YES! YES!” Smolder whooped, fist-pumping the air with delight, pride, and overwhelming joy. “Oh my, I can’t believe you actually pulled that off,” one stallion complemented. “I’d been watching you for a while and I thought that would be impossible, but you proved me wrong. Wow.” Still in glee and awe of her accomplishment, Smolder looked up and turned to look at the face behind the voice that had applauded her efforts. He had a smooth green-azure mane with a dark blue body, and a small burst of water as his cutie mark. “Thanks,” she replied with a smile, tapping the board’s tail and picking it up by the front trucks. “What’s your name?” “Cerulean Filter. I own and work at a large treatment plant here in Canterlot, and manage all the water systems to ensure everypony here gets fresh, clean water in every building.” Smolder’s eyes widened. “Could you show me it?” “Why not. You’ve kinda won me over with your footwork, after all.”