//------------------------------// // 60 - Without You // Story: Raison D'être // by mechafone //------------------------------// It was a day that would long be remembered, especially for Anorax and Vinyl Scratch. It was a day that would forever cement their reputations as musicians and musical tech. For the Fighters, it was a day that brought joy, sadness, betrayal, bonds born of love, and bonds torn asunder. Trust would be broken, and trust would be forged, stronger than steel and born of love and comradery. It was a day that forever changed the lives of so many. Sapphire Snow stood at the edge of the town, looking out over Everfree Forest. She watched, tears falling from her face as Spark Storm disappeared into the shadows of the night, flanked by Sohl and Orea. They wouldn't be coming back, at least not in the foreseeable future. Not after what happened. Sapphire looked down at the medal in her hooves that proclaimed her the new leader of Celestia's fighters. She stared at herself in it's reflection, her tears pat-pat-pattering onto the silver and dripping onto the ground. What a horrible, wonderful day it had been. In the Fighter's training grounds, Lemon Pop paced around the center of the sparring area, tears of frustration and anger and anxiety falling from her face. She could feel a storm approaching in her wings, the same storm she'd been sensing all day. The events of the last hour kept playing back in her head, over and over again. She would've stayed out there all night if Gunslinger didn't come out to get her. She hadn't even noticed the heavy rain soaking her to the bone. "Lemon, c'mon inside. Yer gonna catch yer death out here, girl." Lemon turned on him, wings flared, a look of absolute fury on the normally cheery pony's face. "I betrayed her!!" she screamed, her breath coming hard and fast. Her face would be equally wet with tears had it not been raining. "I betrayed her trust! I..." Lemon sunk to the ground, her limbs shaking, unable to carry her weight anymore. The weight of her conscience was equally crushing. Gunslinger kneeled down next to her and put a hoof on Lemon's shoulders. "Now that's not true, and you know it, Lemon. You didn't betray her none." Lemon only sobbed harder, her shoulders shaking and her nose nearly to the ground. "I might as well have...it's only because he stopped me and told me to do what was right. If he hadn't, I..." Gunslinger sighed quietly. She wasn't budging, but she couldn't stay out here in this storm. He slid himself under Lemon's shaking body and hoisted her up on his back. He whispered to her comfortingly, his voice barely heard over the roaring rain as he carried her out of the storm. Twilight Sparkle stood at the stairs leading out of the castle, Emerald Skies at her side. They exchanged glances, sadness and worry in both their eyes. Neither knew what to say to each other now. The incident in the ballroom had been both fantastic and heart-wrenching, certainly something that neither of them would ever forget. Twilight, after having more than a year to get over her first crush, was again crushed as she'd seen the two of them dancing. Spark's movements, and those lights. If he hadn't told her that he loved her yet, his body did. The way he moved, the way he expressed himself. And then to have that happen. She didn't know whether to hate him for making her feel for him again or cry for him. The silence between the two bookworms was almost louder than the rain. Almost. Finally, Emerald started moving away from Twilight, out and into the rain. "Emerald? What are you doing? You're not headed out in that, are you? Please, stay! Don't..." Emerald paused on the steps, the rain neatly knocking his glasses off his head head onto the stone steps. He picked them up again and set them on his head, then turned back to Twilight, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, he spoke. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I don't want to stay in this place anymore. I'm going home now." Emerald knew he had more to say, especially to her. But the day's events wore on him, and he just wanted to go home. Finally, he turned and left down the steps, the heavy rain pounding on his back. Princess Celestia stared through her window as Spark Storm and his two companions finally disappeared into the Everfree. She was alone in her room, having been much too emotional to stand in front of her favorite student and the crowd that had borne witness to the most horrible experience she'd suffered since...she closed her eyes to those thoughts and pressed the tip of her horn against the window before her. She thought back to just twenty minutes ago: Had she made the wrong choice? Should she have listened to the warning in Spark's eyes? Could this all have been avoided? Fifteen Hours Earlier Bon Bon opened her eyes to the sights and sounds of the royal garden. Something was off about the place, because she didn't recognize any of it. Hadn't the gardens been in terrible shape because of the mock battle between Sohl and Lyra? Well, it had been mock for Sohl, but Lyra had taken it seriously and actually injured the harpy. And what was with that crazy spell-casting? As far as Bon Bon knew, unicorns didn't need words to cast magic. The earth pony looked around at the clean, pristine garden around her. There were no destroyed flower beds. There were no toppled trees, and no mud puddle where Lyra had nearly drowned. The tree at the far end of the palace had been moved, no scuff marks, no twigs or anything that seemed out of place, save for the fact that everything should've been out of place. Speaking of out of place, where's Lyra? she thought as she got to her hooves. As far as she remembered, she and Lyra had fallen asleep together the previous night - or was it earlier that morning? Either way, it was time to get up and find her girlfriend. Bon Bon began the search, starting at the entrance to the garden. It was here that she saw the mint green of her lover's mane, partially hidden by a fallen tree. "Reparare!" came Lyra's voice from behind the tree. Bon Bon gasped as the tree suddenly whipped vertically into the air and attached itself to the stump it had laid over. "Vita!" Lyra said, now visible. The tree did as she commanded, a healthy green moss appearing along the tree's bark, bringing new life to the tree. The unicorn let out a long, tired sigh, her work finally completed. She turned her head as her lover came into her field of vision, the sight of which brought a plethora of feelings to wash over her, all of them varying degrees of happy. A sultry stare from Bon Bon told the unicorn her girlfriend felt the same. The two met with a kiss, then they sat together with their foreheads pressed against each other. They stayed like this for a few warm moments. Soon enough, Bon Bon leaned back, a serious expression on her face. "Lyra, about yesterday...What kind of magic did you use to fight that creature?" Lyra looked away for a moment, a troubled look on her face. She had been hoping that Bon Bon would never need to know. She certainly hadn't been counting on using it to save her girlfriend from a sexy harpy. She finally let out a sigh of defeat and faced Bon Bon again. "Bon Bon, I've been keeping some secrets from you, sweety..." Emerald Skies let out a sigh of resignation as he crept away from the scene in the garden. Yesterday had been a very interesting and rather promising day. Over the last few weeks, Lyra had been coming to the library more and more, mostly to talk about the book that he'd lent her. Of course, she told him that it wasn't just for the pictures, in the end. She told him she had translated the book and actually managed to cast some spells from it. Over time, Emerald began to feel that Lyra was visiting the library more for him and less for the book. Even though she had told him months ago that she wasn't interested in boys, she seemed interested enough in him, interested enough to come and talk about everything but the book. To see Lyra make up for lost time with Bon Bon seemed to be the wake-up call they'd both needed: Lyra might have been attracted to him, but her love for Bon Bon trumped that, any day. So to top if all off, Lyra did what I came to make sure she wouldn't do: she used the spells against another sentient being and practically destroyed an entire section of the garden, he mused to himself. I can't even begin to imagine what the Princess is going to do to me...she gave that book to my family for safe keeping! You'd think it'd be safer in a small town like Ponyville instead of a big place like Canterlot, but noooo... Emerald cantered on through the castle, his mind wandering from Lyra, to the book, to what Celestia would do to him for failing to protect the book's secrets, and back again as he disappeared into the dark recesses of the castle. So you know what needs to be done, sweetheart? Good. Now go on, I think she's...go, go! Spark looked down at Sapphire stirring in his arms. The cool September air no longer carried the warmth of summer, and it was no longer a good idea to lay outside at night, for you'd wake up a popsicle. Spark looked up once more to see Orea disappearing towards the castle. He smiled; she'd take care of things tonight. For now, he had a soft little angel in his arms to take care of. Sapphire opened her eyes, and smiled up at Spark as he maneuvered himself above her, legs on all sides of her, spread to the side. "Oh hey there. Come back down here, it's cold," she said, her breath misting up between them. "Uh-uh." Sapphire pouted at his negative answer. "We're going to get some breakfast, then we'll go do some stuff." "Stuff, huh?" Sapphire remarked as she got to her hooves slowly. She stretched her body out,her limbs stiff from sleeping on the hard ground. She let out a sharp gasp as she felt Spark nibbling at the base of her wings. Caught in her lover's forelegs, she closed her eyes and let out a tortured groan. "Spark, you know what that does to me so early in the day..." "Mhm," came his response as he suddenly released her and ran ahead. Sapphire groaned again, this time in exasperation. "Hey! You tease!" The two young ponies ran and laughed and played under the sun as it warmed the ground and took away the cold left behind by the night. That day, Spark and Sapphire toured the city, traveled by air and by cloud. Spark had taken to traveling this way, Sapphire grabbing him a cloud and letting him push her about the city. The two visited the royal atrium, where Spark managed to piss off a peacock by imitating the bird rather well. By the time evening had come around, the two were both a bit exhausted from all the running around. Sapphire felt ready to call it a day, but Spark and the Fighters had different plans. "Spark, where are you taking meee?" Sapphire whined as he pulled her along through the palace. "I know you've got some big birthday bash going on tomorrow. We've done so much today already, what else could there possibly be?" The two of them stopped outside the ballroom. Sapphire gave Spark a flat look. "...In there? In the ballroom? You know I don't like slow dancing, Spark. Besides, we'd have to get permission to play music, and there's just a whole lot of set up, and..." Sapphire Snow trailed off as Spark Storm opened the doors to reveal that the ballroom was anything but empty. A resounding chorus of "Surprise!" rang out. Sapphire stared, dumbstruck as the entire Fighters team and dozens others waited for her. She turned to look at Spark, a proud smirk on his face. "What? I told you this was a surprise party. Did you think I'd let you get away with finding out about it and not change the time?" Spark chuckled and leaned in to kiss Sapphire's cheek. "Happy nearly fifteenth birthday, sweetheart. Now come on. I have something to show you." He reached down and took Sapphire's hoof in his and lead her through the crowd. Most of the ponies here she didn't know, but she knew they weren't from the richer districts. They were middle class and lower. A night in Canterlot Castle was as much a gift to them as it was to her. When Spark reached the center of the crowd, he turned to her and grinned. "All right, just wait here for a second, I'll be right back." He took off towards the stage and leapt up where Anorax, Lyra, and a about seven other ponies waited, bearing different string instruments. One of them sat at a piano, a unicorn. Spark stepped closer to his Halfling friend. Spark was practically bouncing as he asked, "Ok, um...what now?" Anorax and Lyra just grinned at him. "Dude, calm down, we got this. You remember what to do? You've got total control of what happens here, so be liberal, or be conservative. Just do it however you want it, as much as you want or as little. Just got have fun, buddy!" Anorax told him happily. Lyra gave Spark a wink as the dark pegasus turned around and hopped back over to Sapphire. Sapphire stared at Spark. He was trembling as he faced her. He was about to do something he'd never done before, and he was going to do it for her. After a moment, he turned and waved to Anorax, the signal to start. Anorax in turn waved at somepony hidden. The lights dimmed, leaving just Spark and Sapphire in the middle of the room. For a moment, it was deathly quiet. And then, the music began. It was a rising sound, a steady strumming of strings, a beat that would signify a faster pace with different instruments. With the strings the sound was gentle, yet underlying a certain excitement. Then, the cello kicked in, and Spark did the last thing Sapphire ever expected him to: He began to dance. Not the kind they did at the rave parties. He was dancing like Sapphire's mother always wanted her to. With grace, with balance, with beauty. He stood on his hind legs, twirling once with his wings partially spread. He dipped, he bowed, he twirled. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on the music. He suddenly began to pick up speed as a beat was added to the music. The cello began again with power, the strength in the strings exuding beauty, grace, and...light. Spark's wings flashed to life and sent bolts of electricity into the air, causing the crowd to panic for a moment, until neon lights of all shapes, colors and sizes dropped from the ceiling and fell into a mist just over the crowd's head, a magical reaction to Spark's electricity. Sapphire stared at Spark moving, expressing himself through the most beautiful dance she never knew he was capable of. Being a dancer herself, she could see his movements weren't as loose as hers, but he was putting his whole heart into this dance. Spark fell to one knee, then leapt up into the air and twirled, his wings sending electricity spiraling into the air. The lights came down in the same pattern, misting all over the dance floor, ponies everywhere cheering and jumping to the beat of the song played on stage. Soon, the music slowed to a crawl. Spark reached out and took Sapphire into his arms and leaned her back. As the song hit it's last drawn-out note, he kissed her. At the same time, he threw up one last electrical charge that covered everypony in lights. The whole room went up in loud, rowdy cheers. Spark pulled Sapphire back to her hooves and touched his nose to hers. Sapphire stared back at him, emotional tears in her eyes. Unable to stay still for fear of bursting into happy tears, she embraced him tightly, actually sobbing softly a little as the room erupted into loud cheers, congratulations, birthday wishes and more than a few calls for an encore. "All right, guys, all right!" Anorax's voice came over the microphone, drawing the crowd's attention away from Spark and Sapphire for a moment. "I know you'd like to see ol' Spark cut a rug again, but for now we're gonna move the night along with...an encore! This one's the original song. What you heard was just a bunch of guys on the piano and strings." A rolled up piece of sheet music hit Anorax in the back of the head. "Very, very good players of the piano and strings. Now, get ready to dance!" Anorax went back to sit with Vinyl Scratch behind her tables, who flicked some switches and started a song, an electronic sound that repeated in different tones, much like how the first song had started. A voice began to sing: I can't win I can't reign I will never win this game Without you Without you The party was a blast. The light show, Spark's dance, the kiss, and the music. Both versions of the song were so well loved that nearly every single party-goer asked Vinyl for a copy. She had to start taking orders down on paper, as she ran out of all the copies she had. Spark and Sapphire had gone into their normal dancing routine to the second song. Spark never took his eyes off of Sapphire's, even singing some of the words to her since he'd been listening to it, gathering feeling and emotion for what he wanted to convey to her in his first dance. It brought Sapphire to tears, she didn't even know he could sing. He had a decent voice, from what she could hear over the music and the crowd. Once the song was over, the ballroom opened and in walked Celestia herself. Could the night have gotten any more interesting? Every single pony took a bow as the Princess stepped to the stage as the musicians cleared the way for her. When all was quiet, she smiled happily and inclined her head into the crowd. Ponies made way as a bluish green unicorn mare made her way to stand beside Spark and Sapphire. It took them both a minute to realize that it was Turbid Serocity. She now had a horrible scar on her right shoulder where she had been impaled, but she was healed, and looking happy. "Oh Turbid!" Sapphire squealed, and wrapped her mentor in her forelegs. Spark smiled happily to see his second teacher in good health, but something in the look she gave him told him to hold off on celebrating her presence. She wordlessly stepped up to Celestia's side, a small 5x5 box held in her magical grasp. As the entire Fighters team gathered around, the guests were escorted out of the ballroom for a private ceremony. "Now, my little ponies," Celestia began, her voice pouring over with pride and emotion. "I am so proud to announce that we are finally ready to name the new leader of my Fighters. Training has been intense, I know. But I know that over the years you have certainly earned this, Spark Storm." The silence in the room was deafening, especially to Spark. He wasn't sure he'd heard the Princess right. He took a tentative step forwards. "Oh, um...did you mean Sapphire Snow, your majesty? I...I haven't even been training to take over, Sapphire has..." he looked back at Sapphire, and wished he hadn't. She held a look that said she didn't comprehend what just happened. Spark turned around to look at his teammates. He saw nothing but guilty looks. "...Guys. What? Y...you're kidding, right? I-I'm not leader material, bes-" "Yes you are, Spark Storm." Spark turned around again, facing Turbid, who had spoken. Celestia frowned as Turbid stepped closer to Spark. "You have shown exemplary skills in the midst of battle. You have proven selfless. You have proven wise beyond your years, Spark. You can lead, you have the gift. Now stop being rude to the Princess and accept your awards." Spark took a few steps away from Turbid. This wasn't right. Sapphire Snow had been sent away for two years - two years for this. If they were just going to give the job to him, then why - " "Two years," Sapphire said, voicing Spark's thoughts. The Fighters formed a half circle around her. "Two years, Princess...You sent me away for two years! You took two years of my life away from me! You sent me away and I had to go through that and you take this away from me, too?!" "Stop!" Spark shouted. His heart was pounding now. His blood was rushing through his veins, and it felt so loud. Loud enough that Celestia seemed to notice. Something was off about Spark, something familiar, something very...upsetting. "L-Let's just put this to a vote, right now!" Spark stepped away from Sapphire and faced her. He stomped on the floor, an echoing noise in the mostly empty ballroom. "Right now. Everypony take a side. Me, or Sapphire." He glared at Celestia, demanding her permission for this method of choice. She stared back at him for a moment, then quietly dipped her head. "So be it. Choose, my Fighters." Spark turned his head to watch as the Fighters all turned to look at each other. Slowly, the group began to divide. Sweet Midnight, Lovely Lightning and Flash Fire came to stand beside Spark Storm. He glared at them, but Lighting gave him an even stare and put a hoof on his back. Spark turned to watch as Gunslinger and Frostbite turned to stand behind Sapphire, leaving Lemon Pop in the middle. Lemon looked between Sapphire and Spark. She trembled and whimpered like a lost child. She hated that the team was divided like this. All was quiet as she let out a soft sob, her tail curled between her legs. Spark watched as she took a single step towards him, and he immediately went to her, his forehead pressed against hers. She let out another sob at the contact, her tears dropping onto the marble floor. "Shh, shh," he whispered. He felt his own emotions welling as he comforted Lemon. He'd never seen her cry before, and it was a heartbreaking experience. "Spark, I...I don't know what to..." "Yeah, you do," he whispered to her, and raised a hoof to hug her to him. "You know what to do." He pressed his forehead to hers one last time, and walked backwards to the others. Lemon sniffled as she turned around to walk to Sapphire. Her best friend leaned in and pressed her forehead to Lemon's and smiled, but the strawberry-shaded pegasus looked away in shame. She had intended to go to Spark, and had betrayed her closest friend. She didn't deserve her friendship, not in her mind, anyway. And so the number was tied. Spark frowned and turned to Turbid and Celestia, who now felt terrible. She hadn't meant to split the team like this and make them choose between their friends. Especially poor, innocent Lemon Pop. "We're tied..."Spark said. "Not quite, Spark Storm," came the one voice Spark had hoped wouldn't speak up. Turbid stepped forward, a grim frown on her face. "I may be relinquishing my title, but I'm still a member of this team, and I get a vote. And I vote," she said, stepping towards him, "for you." Turbid stepped closer, her magic grasping the box and prying it open. She dropped the box as a thick, round silver medal attached to a ribbon floated to Spark. He refused to take it, an angry frown on his face. "Why? Why now?" He asked her quietly, barely masking his anger. "It was decided that I would present this medal to you on the very day I got out of the hospital, Spark. That was today. It was simply an unfortunate coincidence, I am sorry." Celestia sighed quietly. There was no helping this situation, the damage had been done. The Princess glanced over at Sapphire's group, where Sapphire sat looking at the floor. Frostbite looked unhappy, and Gunslinger was trying,without success, to cheer up Lemon Pop. There was no easy way to wrap up this unfortunate situation. "I am terribly sorry for how this has transpired, Spark Storm, but the decision has been made," the Princess said Spark felt his blood run cold as he heard Celestia's voice. No. Don't you do it. Spark's thoughts went unheard as Celestia continued, ignoring the glare from the dark pegasus. Taking the medal from Turbid a little more forcefully than she meant to, Celestia held the award over Spark's head, the ribbon billowing outward to fit over his head. "Spark Storm, I am proud to call you the new leader of my -" "NO!" Spark shouted. Celestia gasped in terror, as for an instant she saw Spark's mane and tail filling with stars. But then it was gone, a vision that had filled all her senses with a brief moment of dread, a very familiar feeling that she hadn't felt in many, many years. It was gone now, but... "...Spark, please understand," the Princess began. She took a single step towards him, the medal still sitting in her magical grasp. Spark took a single bound away from her, smacking the medal out of her grasp where it rang as it connected with the marble floor. Celestia stared at the angry pegasus in shock, as did the others. "Spark, please, just-" Sapphire began. She was silent as he whirled on her now, his eyes furious. "Don't you take this lying down, Sapphire Snow! You deserve this, you spent two damn long years away from me for this training, you specifically! Anypony that says otherwise," He said, turning slowly to Celestia and Turbid, "is off their fucking rocker!" Celestia reared back in shock and anger at his language and tone. She took a single step towards him, her gaze no longer peaceful. Just then, the wide window at the back of the stage burst into hundreds of tiny pieces as Sohl made her entrance. She circled around above the ponies down below and came to land in front of Celestia, Orea positioned on Sohl's shoulder. The nymph's grassy parts rattled threateningly. The room was quiet and tense as Goddess stared off against harpy and nymph. Finally, it was time to go. Sohl turned around and knelt down to run a clawed hand through Spark's mane. "You know why we're here. Orea's livid, Spark, and frankly, so am I. So what are you gonna do?" Spark was quiet as he thought for a moment. The Fighters behind him hadn't made a sound. Every last one of them seemed to know what was about to happen, yet they all felt powerless to stop it. Finally, Spark stepped over the glass and carefully picked up the silver medal in his mouth, then stepped quietly to Sapphire and tenderly placed the ribbon over her neck. He stared into her eyes, even as tears welled in both their eyes. Spark leaned in and lightly touched his forehead to hers once before he turned, and as one, pegasus, harpy and nymph walked out of the castle together under an angry sky. Thank you so much for reading Raison Detre. Please stay tuned for the next arc of this story, Legends Of Ponyville. Disclaimer: I do no claim ownership of Without You by David Guetta ft Usher. Respect.