Twilight sped around the room, trailing after Luna. She skimmed the edges of the shelves that lined the walls and used all her strength to jump over the bed when Luna hopped across it.
“C’mon, Twilight,” Luna teased after swooping into the air. She gave her wings a flap, rattling the shelves and disturbing the bedsheets. “I’m not even going to use my wings after I come down. If you’re worried about my stuff, I can easily fix it.”
“I…” Twilight paused to suck down some air. They’d been at it for ten minutes and Luna had kept a constant distance from Twilight. “I got it.”
“Do you?” Luna shot down, and then lunged to the right. She rammed into some shelves, sending their contents tumbling, while she herself sprung diagonally to the ceiling. Rather than shifting her body around like Tantabus, she actually twirled mid-air so that her hooves hit the ceiling first. Taking the impact with her legs, she curled in a split-second and then bounced off the ceiling before gravity could take hold of her. In a blink, she was on one side of the room and then another.
Her afterimage left an angular blue trail that Twilight could barely keep up with. A second later, Twilight felt something rushing behind her and turned just in time for Luna to slam a foreleg down on her collarbone. Twilight fell to the floor again.
Luna loomed over her. “If you’ve really ‘got it,’ why haven’t you activated the Elements? Could it be that you didn’t take our talk to heart?”
“I did,” Twilight hacked. With shaky legs, Twilight got back to her hooves. Her bangs obscured her eyes. “I thought long and hard about what you said and I practiced.”
Luna’s eyes glinted. “’Practiced?’”
“It felt like I’d blow myself up at first, but when I was finally too tired to be tense anymore, I found the answer.” Twilight’s mark started to glow. “The Elements are connected to all magic, which means, as its Bearer, so am I. That means…”
Rainbow colored lightning crackled off Twilight. Multihued veins traced across her coat and up her horn. Her mane and tail flowed even though there was no wind, revealing her eyes shining with many colors as well. Although in her current form, Luna lacked a mouth, she had the sensation of forming a grin.
“I’m not limited to just unicorn magic!” Twilight launched off the ground with enough force to crack the tiles. Luna jumped out the way but Twilight slammed her hooves against the ground and chased after her. “I can’t access other magic for right now, but I can get Earth Pony at least! This is the Elements of Harmony: Earthen Cowl!”
“Interesting. Interesting.” Luna sped ahead, rebounded off some shelves, the ceiling, and back to the floor behind Twilight. Her horn vanished right before she struck Twilight in the back. The blow knocked the glow out of Twilight and she fell down. “You definitely can keep up better, but if one little attack like that is enough to stop the Elements, how can you hope to fight?”
“I’m… I’m just not used to actually moving and fighting yet,” Twilight huffed. “Earth Pony magic is easiest since it distributes magic through my whole body, but that also means the flow is easier to disrupt. When I tried Pegasus magic, it was similar, but the buildup in my back nearly caused me to pass out. I get the feeling if I ke—"
“Enough with the hypothesizing!” Luna sent a chill down Twilight’s spine even while she concentrated on cowling herself again. “It’s been ages since I’ve had somepony to really play with in the waking world and I don’t want to waste either of our time, so…” Luna’s wings merged into her sides. “I’ll keep things at Earth Pony level for now too. When you can catch me, we’ll take a break and then move up to the next level, are you ready?”
Twilight furrowed her brow. Remembering Celestia’s advice, she summoned her shaking grin. “Yes.”
“Then show some more confidence!” Luna bounded off the ground and Twilight gave chase.
~~~
“You’re sure about this, sis?” Big Mac, for probably the first time in his life, looked up at Applejack from his wheelchair. Both of his legs were bound in casts and bandages crossed his body. They were especially thick near his back. He looked out over the apple orchard that stretched to the horizon. “We can always ask Filthy fo—”
“No.” Applejack slammed a hoof down. “We’re already indebted to him enough for letting me intern with him, so at least I can stay here for the bucking. This is Apple family business: Apple Bloom is too young and still too hurt by all this, Granny is too old, and you need to recover.”
“You know what the doctors sa—”
“I know!” Applejack’s shout scared away a few nearby birds. She lowered her head. “But he was just saying for the immediate future. You’ll be up and fighting again in no time.”
“Nope,” Big Mac sighed. “Walking in a few weeks, maybe; bucking in a year if my recovery goes well. Fighting? It’s over, Applejack.”
Applejack snorted, turned, and marched off. “Sorry, Big Mac, there’s some bucking I need to do.”
Big Mac did not pursue her and just watched her go.
When she was a good distance away from Big Mac and into the orchard, Applejack started her work. With each kick to a tree, she sent apples tumbling into buckets below and thought over her plan: mornings at the farm for chores and harvesting, intern with Filthy Rich in the afternoon and evenings, ready the farm for the next day before bed. It would take a lot, but with her speed and determination, Applejack was convinced she could do it.
By nine, Applejack’s coat was slick with sweat and her legs ached. She kept kicking trees while going over the plan.
By ten, she was gulping down air. She continued harvesting.
By eleven, her legs were numb. She had never harvested this many apples in one go, and she was still only in the first row. Yet, her plan drove her on and the thoughts that went with it.
If everything goes like this, it will be fine, she thought while pulling herself to the next tree. The end of the row was in sight. She reared up her hind legs. And, I’ve studied its path, so I know it’ll show up here.
Despite the state her legs were in, she unleashed a kick hard enough to crack the bark and leave an imprint. Applejack gave a snort. Underneath her sweat-drenched hat, her eyes blazed. So come and face Apple justice, Black Griffon!
~~~
Shadowbolt and Rainbow Dash stood on the edge of a cloud. Below them stretched towns, roads, train tracks, and outposts. To the east lay a vast desert, to the west, some lakes could be glimpsed glistening in the morning sun.
Shadowbolt spread his wings. “We’ll patrol from the air for the morning, I’ll take the east and you’ll take the west. Do not go north or south past the latitudes we discussed. Keep constant track of me— I’ll send out jolts every ten minutes— if you spot anything, immediately fly to my location. Roger?”
“Roger,” Dash said in a mechanical but serious tone.
Shadowbolt grinned. “Good. Oh, and do be careful of your altitude. Buffalo have been spotted in the area and they won’t hesitate to spear a filly. A rainbow scalp would be highly treasured.”
With that, he sped off to the west. Dash took a breath and flew in the opposite direction.
~~~
“So…” the unicorn mare, costumed in a domino mask and a purple and beige bodysuit, looked over the application in front of her and then at Maud. “Tell me a little about yourself, Ms. Pie.”
“I enjoy the study and harvesting of rock clusters.” Maud produced a medium-sized pebble. “Boulder is my favorite because of his natural smoothness and distinct hardness. I was so proud the day I found him.”
“I see…” A bit of sweat formed on Mt. Mare’s brow. Why? Why did I think having an intern would be a good idea?
~~~
A vein throbbed on Sunset’s temple. “What. The. Buck?”
“Language!” Cadance gave Sunset a playful shove in the shoulder. She then walked up to and held open the door to the spa for Sunset. “This is an important part of being a pro.”
“Is it?” Sunset growled.
“Yes, and it will help with that attitude.”
A short while later Sunset found herself getting a hooficure with Cadance getting the same treatment next to her.
“I’m glad you decided to come in,” said Cadance.
“Not worth fighting it,” Sunset sighed. “I don’t see what this has to do with Hero work though.”
“Appearance and giving yourself some de-stress time are necessary to lead a balanced life as a pro,” Cadance answered. When she turned to look at Sunset, the intensity of her eyes quelled Sunset’s annoyance. “I always wondered why Twilight stopped talking about you, but I can see it now: you’re putting yourself under too much pressure. It makes you angry and you lash out like at the Sports Festival.”
Sunset flared her nostrils and glanced at Cadance’s horn. It did not glow, but Sunset still snarled, “Don’t think you can use your Talent ju—”
“My Talent would be useless if I couldn’t see the plainly obvious. Sunset, you need to relax and stop being so harsh on yourself. It’s made you prideful and unable to handle loss. Those that can’t handle loss are bound to wander a dark path.”
“Like a villain?” Sunset huffed.
There was a pause. Cadence closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Regrettably, that is one way, but it’s not a healthy mindset in general.” The grim look on her face was replaced with a smile. “That’s why I want this internship to focus on getting you looking right and taking on a positive attitude that can take you to all the right places!”
Sunset sighed and sank into her seat.
Day Three of Internships
Twilight bucked from underneath Luna’s bed. It split apart, sending fragments all over the room. Luna flipped through the air, having added wings back to her body.
“Ha-ha! You think that’s enough to knock me do—”
Twilight leapt up from the ground amidst the debris and plowed straight at Luna. “No, but it paused you for a second and that’s all I need!” Twilight reared back a leg, crackling with the Element’s energy, and flung it at Luna. “You’re i—”
Luna dodged at the last second with a flap of her wings powerful enough to scatter the remnants of the bed— Luna had moved all books out after the first day. With nothing to absorb the impact of her blow, Twilight plunged forward and then down. Luna zipped over and gave what to her might have been a light ribbing with an elbow, but it knocked the air out of Twilight.
Twilight slammed into a shelf and then slumped on the floor.
“Still need work on your follow-through but Tia was right, you are quite the quick learner.”
“Th-thanks,” Twilight coughed. As she got up, she sighed, “I’m still it.”
“On the contrary.”
Twilight looked up. The area around Luna’s left cheek was warped and smoked. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”
Luna laughed. “Nothing compared to what you did to Tantabus. Plus, this confirms your attacks with this ‘Earthen Cowl’ are imbued with the Elements. That will be most advantageous in the future.”
Twilight could not help but notice the way Luna sometimes slipped into using more advanced vocabulary over her bubblier playful wording, but suppressed the thought with a grin between catching her breath. “So now what? You chase me?”
“We’ve been at it for a while now, wouldn’t want you to get used to using this power just based on fighting me. It’s time we add some randomness to what you may face and do our duties as heroes!”
Luna spread her wings in a grand fashion. “It’s time to head out for the Everfree!”
~~~
Gilda grimaced. With the way her wings were raised, her tail resembling a coiled snake, and her blazing eyes showing through their bags, all the ponies on the street stayed a good distance away.
“Damn quack!” she grumbled. “‘Nothing wrong?! Just take some sleep medication?!’ What a ripoff!”
Just to exacerbate things further, a bolt of pain slammed into her head. She brought a claw to her head and stumbled into an alley. “D-damnit! This sucks!”
She pressed her back against a wall and slid down to the soggy ground. She took deep breaths but the pain did not go away. It intensified. Her feathers and fur bristled. The pain became so great that she slammed her head into the ground and clawed at the cobblestones with her claws, leaving small gashes in them.
As she writhed, her groans became more guttural and the marks she made with her claws deepened. A crackle of red lightning burst from her chest. Her claws lengthened, her muscles expanded, and even while struggling on the ground, it was clear she was getting taller. Her fur and wings darkened until they were a pitch black. Blood spurted out from her flanks as if something were trying to dig its way out of her legs. A mark appeared, that of a horn stained crimson.
She stopped groaning. Only a deep husky breathing remained— that of a beast ready to hunt.
“Hmmm.” Equality emerged from the shadows. “A bit more painful on your end of things, but much faster than before.” She strode around Gilda. Despite the air of intimidation Gilda sent out, Equality looked her over like she was inspecting a piece of art. “Well then ‘Black Griffon,’ shall we go check on Applejack?”