//------------------------------// // 37 - The Times They Are A Changin' Finale // Story: Raison D'être // by mechafone //------------------------------// The town hall's doors opened and spilled it's contents out into the chill night air around nine in the evening. The sounds of dozens of ponies talking, laughing, some crying, filled the air. It wasn't long until the night was quiet as seven teenagers and a baby stepped out into the fall chill. "Oh, man..." Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her wings out. She was finding it hard to keep her eyes open after all the action. She simply laid down on the ground and curled up, yawning once more. "You guys let me know when we're ready to go. I'm just...gonna..." she trailed off, falling asleep on the cold ground. Rarity gasped, as if sleeping on the ground was utterly scandalous. But she, too, succumbed to a dignified yawn as she pressed a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, my. Well girls, I, for one, am simply bushed, if you'll excuse the term. It's been such an active night, I simply must return home. I have some much needed beauty sleep to catch up on." She turned to Ditzy and gave the pegasus a gentle hug. "Good night, dear. You can rest assured that I'll see you tomorrow." Rarity turned and waved goodbye to the girls before giving Spark a slightly suspicious stare before heading towards her store. Fluttershy, who had been hiding from the large crowd, sidled up to Ditzy, nuzzling her affectionately, then gave little Dinky, who was asleep between her mother's wings, a kiss. "I need to go home and rest up. I have a big day tomorrow...I think everypony does." She smiled over at Spark Storm before giving him a quick hug and making off for her home, now located at the edge of the Everfree. Pinkie Pie yawned and trudged to Spark Storm and enveloped him in a hug. While she was close, she whispered, "I'm gettin' a combo that tells me you're getting yourself intro trouble. Behave yourself tonight!" Spark looked at her with shock and was about to tell her to mind her own business when she pulled away and waved her hooves at him in a mystical fashion and spoke in a drawn-out voice, "Yooouuuu didn't heeaar aaaanythiiiiing!" "Pinkie!" "OOoooOOoOoOOOoo..." Applejack and Spark Storm both brought their hooves to their faces and sighed. Spark turned around and looked at the ponies left at his side. That left Applejack, Rainbow Dash asleep on the ground, and Ditzy with her daughter. He smiled wearily at his friends and went to nudge Rainbow awake. She murmured her distaste to return to the waking world. "C'mon, cuz, it's time to go home." Rainbow groaned and whined and flipped back and forth on her sides until she finally opened her eyes and got to her feet. She nearly fell over until Spark pressed against her side and gave her a dirty look. She smirked and leaned her head on his shoulder. "What do you think you're doing?" He demanded, considering letting gravity have her. "I'm tired, Spark, carry me." "...You're kidding, right? I'm not carrying you all the way to...wait, where are you staying tonight, Rainbow, and I swear I will drop you on the hard ground if you forgot that I can't fly." Applejack snickered while Ditzy watched with sleepy amusement at the family argument. Spark was about to walk off when Rainbow jumped across his back lengthwise. "Whoops! Too late. Spark, march!" She aimed a hoof down the street while Applejack and Ditzy laughed. "Let's get Ditzy home, then we'll see about a place to sleep for the night. Move move move! Sleep-time's a wastin'!" Spark had a flat, annoyed look on his face as he held his cousin aloft on his back for a moment before just deciding to go with it. This was the third time from as many friends that he'd been getting weird vibes from. "Fine...weirdo." He smiled over at Applejack and Ditzy. "C'mon, guys. Let's get you home, Ditzy." The three of them walked in companionable silence until they reached Ditzy's home around nine-forty. Ditzy turned to look at her friends, the biggest, happiest smile on her face that Spark had ever seen, and yet..."Thank you...all of you. I'll always remember this night..." She lingered, like she had something else to say for a moment, then turned and slipped into her home. Their job finished, Spark and Applejack wandered towards Sweet Apple Acres. After a moment, Rainbow took flight off of Spark's back and started walking with them. "Oh, now you're awake?" Spark said, slightly annoyed that she'd made him carry her all this time. She turned to frown at him, a look that said, 'Are you stupid?' Spark frowned right back at her. He finally stopped and faced her, his stance both aggressive and defensive. Rainbow took the same stance, a slightly more aggressive look on her face. "Are you gonna tell me what's bothering you or not, Rainbow? It's getting on my nerves!" "Are you stupid? I just gotta ask, 'cause...if we'd let you walk Ditzy home, alone, there was gonna be trouble." Applejack stopped to watch, a disapproving look on her face. "What are you talking about, Rainbow?" Spark asked, his wings twitching just slightly. "You know what I'm talking about, Spark. You can't tell me you weren't picking up on Ditzy's feelings. I was picking up on it, and I'm like the thickest pegasus you'll ever meet! I don't usually get the cues, but damn, man! She's digging on you hard, and I'm telling you that if we'd left you there alone with her - " "Enough!" Applejack yelled into the night air. She frowned at the cousins, looking from one to the other. "We just got some peace in the village, let's not go back to fightin' and arguin' the second we fixed one problem!" Spark frowned and looked down at his hooves for a moment before assuming a more relaxed position. Finally he looked back up at Rainbow Dash apologetically. "You're right, Rainbow. I'm sorry for getting mad at you. You're just looking out for me, right?" Rainbow smiled and nodded. "Totally! I gotta look out for my family. I kinda got the sense that you were confused about Ditzy. Did something happen between you two?" Spark blushed. Recalling what Ditzy said and told him, she probably had confused him. She was his best friend, he'd never once thought that she loved him. And there she was, with a little foal. She seemed so mature, so...attractive, in that moment when she kissed him. He sighed and looked up at Applejack and Rainbow. He knew he could trust them. "She kissed me tonight. And she told me that she loves me." Both Rainbow and Applejack gaped in shock. Before they could say anything, Spark said, "But you can't tell anypony about this. It's why I'm confused, I guess. Don't worry," he said as he noticed they were about to protest, "I'm not going to do anything stupid. She's a mom, and I'm..." he sighed, looking down at his hooves again before bringing the two a confident smile. "...I'm in love with Sapphire Snow. I love Sapphire, I - " he stared out into the night air as he said the words for the first time and realized that they were true. He was in love with Sapphire. Rainbow Dash arched a brow, then looked to Applejack some kind of explanation. Applejack grinned and shrugged as she reached up to tip her Stetson back. "He's in love with Sapphire Snow. Nothin' to worry about here." After saying goodnight to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Spark Storm plodded sleepily back through town. He saw some lights still on in some houses, but he made no efforts to hide himself. He was tired, and he frankly didn't care anymore if somepony in the village spotted him, not after the issue with Ditzy. He was halfway to the library when a pony-drawn carriage came down the road. He moved aside to avoid it, but a call from the driver slowed the cart to a halt. Spark kept moving until a familiar voice called to him. "Spark Storm!" He turned and came face to face with Filthy Rich. Spark was nearly as tall as him now, perhaps only half an inch shorter. "Spark, it is you! Celestia, you've grown..." Spark stared in surprise at the older stallion as dozens of memories poured through his mind. "Rich, what is it? Who's there?" called a feminine voice from the carriage. Spark was pulled out of his memories as a mare peered out of the carriage. She was in her late twenties, a pretty periwinkle earth pony with a pink mane featuring a white stripe. In her hooves she held a small sleeping filly who's colors were inverted from her mother's. Rich swallowed hard as he looked from his pretty wife back to Spark Storm. "Oh, uh...Cotton, this is Spark Storm, you remember? From the..." he trailed off as he saw the look in Spark's eyes. Hurt. Betrayal. If things had been different, Rich could've been his step-father. So to honor Cherry Joy's memory, he went off and found another mare? Spark backed away from the older pony, then turned and ran off into the night. Rich sighed sadly as he watched the dark pegasus disappear into the darkness. He made to step back into the carriage when his wife put a comforting hoof on his shoulders and smiled kindly. "Give him time, Rich. He'll be alright, in time." She leaned down to kiss his forehead, then slipped back into the carriage with their daughter. Rich sighed quietly as he gave the darkness one more fleeting glimpse before climbing inside the carriage and informed the driver to take them home. Spark ran right past the library. He didn't know where he was going anymore and he didn't care. He kept moving faster and faster, houses passing him by in dark blurs. Finally he came to a stop at the edge of the village. It took him just a moment to catch his breath when he realized where he was facing: the path to White Tail Woods. He looked down at his hooves in thought, a hundred different memories and thoughts running through his head, the most prominent among them thoughts of his mother. He remembered when his childhood bully, River, had told him that River's brother, Filthy Rich, was dating his mother. He didn't even have an hour to process this information before she was found dead in a fire, later revealed to be caused by River himself. In that same hour, he nearly killed the pompous earth pony when he discovered his special talent, the electricity he could call from his wings. Spark brought his hoof down in the dirt, sending chunks of rock and earth spraying up into his face and around the area. He really needed to talk to somepony, somepony who knew exactly what he was going through. He gasped as he realized he knew who he needed to see, and he'd been putting it off all day. Without a second thought, Spark ran off alone for White Tail Woods. The wind was cold, and it was picking up as Spark entered White Tail Woods after running for half an hour. Finally slowing down to a manageable trot, Spark made his way over to a grassy spot. The earth would be soft here, his unique night vision told him. He padded it with a hoof; it indeed gave a bit. He started digging, and didn't stop. Finally, he had a sizable hole. Spark reached up into his mane, nearly panicking when he couldn't find that precious seed. It had moved a bit during his trip, but he found it eventually. With a sigh of relief, he plopped the little seed into it's spot and covered it up. Next, he would need some water. Spark was going to find a source of water when the ground began to shake. Trees nearby toppled, kicking up entire waves of dirt and spraying it everywhere. Spark began to panic, for real this time as a humongous body began to emerge from the spot he'd buried Orea's seed. For a horrible moment Spark thought that Almalthea had tricked him and hidden herself in the seed. The nymph emerging from the hole was certainly her size. It's body was at least eight feet high, it's wings were covered in dried dirty and browned moss. The creature let out a long, low moan of what seemed like pain and despair, then it toppled over onto it's side and began to weep. As Spark's eyes adjusted to this new being, he saw something he didn't think possible. It was Orea's face, to be sure. But she had aged. If the nymph aging process was to be believed, she was in a body at least a thousand years older than he'd last seen her, which could have been no more than a thirteen old pony. At that age, Orea had barely hit 200. This...this couldn't be right. Spark's logical side of his mind wasn't letting him accept the possibility that this was in fact Orea. Spark approached the nymph carefully. He was still bugging out a bit at the size of her; he was barely big enough to match the size of her head and half her neck. He looked at her face again, maneuvering himself so he could see as she'd hidden it in her forelegs. He reached down and lightly tapped the hooves covering her face. Finally, her forelegs were lowered and Spark could see her face. Now he knew, without a doubt, that this was Orea. The face and body were older, but the innocent, sweet face was unmistakable. Orea stared at Spark. She sat up and looked down at him. She looked like she might cry again when a look of anger passed over her face. Spark leaped back as one of her hooves came down where he'd been standing a second ago and screamed in rage, "You forgot about me!" "Wait! Orea, please, I'm sorry, I would've gotten you here sooner, but - " Spark had to dodge again as Orea reached down to a fallen tree and grasped it as dozens of vines from her body wrapped around the trunk and swung it at him. He had to run along the branches on the inside of the tree and pop out the other side before it passed over him. "That is not what I mean! You forgot about me!" she repeated as she swung the entire tree at him again. This time, Spark lit up his wings and shot out the biggest thread of light he could muster, splintering the tree in half and destroying the vines wrapped around it. Orea let out a pained scream and she fell to the ground, the burnt vines retreating into her body. "Geez! Orea, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" Spark went to her and eased her into a sitting position as tears of frustration began to spill from Orea's eyes. Orea seemed to calm down for a moment, long enough for her to make sense of their situation. She was more than twice his height now. She'd never be able to be close to him as she had once been. And it was all the Changeling's fault... Spark wondered what he could do to help his friend when he heard voices and running hoofsteps. He turned around and gaped in shock as he saw Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash getting closer. He raised a hoof to his face and poked himself to see if he was dreaming. He sincerely hoped he was. Suddenly in a panic, he turned to look back at Orea, who seemed too engrossed in her emotions to take notice. Spark looked from Orea to his old friends and back. There was no way he was moving Orea now. He could hear them, he could make out Pinkie chattering away about her Pinkie sense. Of course, it had to be Pinkie. As the girls approached, they came to a slow crawl as in the dim moonlight they could make out the carnage that had occurred to the landscape. At least six trees had fallen over, either uprooted or the bases had eroded. The girls murmured quietly amongst each other until Rarity lit her horn up in a light spell. Immediately all five of them filled the air with screams of fright as they found what appeared to be a big timberwolf in their path, it's shining eyes bearing down on them with anger. Wait, anger? They calmed down as Rarity approached it cautiously. "Spark Storm, dear, is that you?" Rarity came close, a worried expression on her face. She took immediate note of the sour look on his face. Obviously he hadn't been expecting company, especially not at this hour. She then noted that he looked terrible. He was caked with soft earth, and his mane had twigs and leaves sticking out of it, as well as a bit of blood from some unseen scratches. "Oh, Spark, what have you been doing? You look like you've been in a terrible fight! Oh, just look at this..." The prissy unicorn began fussing over Spark's appearance with her magic, grabbing things that didn't belong in his mane and tossing them to the ground until he walked past her, a wing stretched out to pull her along, away from Orea. He approached the other girls, bringing the light from Rarity's horn. He gently pushed Rarity back into the group, his brows furrowed with concern. "You girls need to go home, right now." "But we were so worried..." "Y'all better come clean, Spark, what're you doin' out here, and what the hay happened, the trail is ruined!" "Girls!" Spark raised his voice in a huff. "You've gotta go home, now, before..." Too late. Orea had gotten to her hooves. She moved towards Spark Storm, towering over him and the girls. The five mares backed away, before Rarity let out a scream, "It's a monster!" Orea reared up on her hind legs, rage and indignity upon her face as she roared, "Monster? If it is a monster you wish to see, I shall show you a monster!" The girls backed away from the two before them. Fluttershy dropped to the ground with her hooves over her face, and both Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked ready for a fight while Rarity and Pinkie Pie backed away together. Spark suddenly rose to his hind legs, spread his wings, and sent up twin threads of electricity up into the air so fast that thunder erupted from his position and into the night sky. Both the girls and Orea fell back in shock at the display. Spark Storm looked from Orea to his friends, a look of fury none of them had ever seen on his face before. "The only monster here among you is me, and so help me if things don't calm down right now you're going to see why Ponyville named me so!" He dropped down to all fours and turned to glare at Orea. "These are my friends, they came here to help! Behave!" He then turned to the girls, his wings still raised. "This is Orea. She desperately needs my help, and she's a friend. Now like I said before, you all need to go home! I'm on a dangerous mission to help Orea, and it's not going to be safe. Please..." He sighed, lowering his volume as he approached Fluttershy, coaxing her to stand, his voice gentle. "Please go home before something happens to you. Any of you." The five mares shared a single glance between them. It seemed they had all made up their minds long before they'd arrived. Rainbow Dash dropped down in front of her cousin and put her hooves on his shoulders. "Spark, there's no way we're gonna leave you hangin'. Not now, not ever. Look, I'm sorry we called your friend a monster. Uh..." She glanced over at Orea, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. "You'll have to let us in on wha-er, who she is. Ok? You're not alone, Spark Storm." A chorus of agreements washed over the mares. Spark sighed and shook his head and backed away from Rainbow Dash. It was obvious he wasn't going to be able to get them to leave. "Just...give me a minute, would you? I need to talk to Orea..." As the girls stepped away, quietly whispering to each other, Spark reached up to touch Orea's cheek. He had to really stretch; she was taller than Celestia now, and even when she was sitting she was tall. Orea frowned down at him. The giant had tears in her eyes. She longed to hold her Storm the way she had before he'd left for Neippon, but she knew it wasn't possible anymore, and it never would be again. Her mother had sent her on a mission that would forever change her life, forever put her far away from Spark's world. "Orea, I'm sorry for all the confusion. I've gotta say, I have no idea what the hell is going on. I found your mother's forest in ruins, there were Changelings everywhere...I thought I'd lost you. Then, I found your seed in a little circle of amber, and I brought you here. Now you're..." he sighed and gestured to all of her, "...this. What's happened, Orea?" The mare just sighed and looked down at Spark Storm sadly, big tears falling from her face, splashing the ground and causing bright green grass to grow in the dirt. "Oh, my Storm...How I wish we could have been reunited under different circumstances. Everything is wrong...my mother and sister are dead. Slaughtered. And I..." she lowered her head until it was resting against Spark Storm's forehead, who winced under her weight. "...I must find the Dryads, if there are any left, and...I must repopulate the nymphs before the Changelings find them, or we will disappear forever..."