//------------------------------// // SA1-C7: Morning Struggles // Story: A Deer Named John - Teapot Tales // by Tael_Spinner //------------------------------// Shield Breaker I yawned quietly then stared at the underside of the bunk bed above me again with half open eyes. Comet’s bed. My ears twitched, straining as I tried to catch even the sound of my roommate’s breathing. Nothing. Typical. I didn’t know how anyone could sleep so peacefully. I know I couldn’t. Too many memories and my mind still ran over the magical skills I had to show mastery of to Ochre tomorrow. The first night, I had checked to see if Comet was actually breathing. It was almost impossible to tell when I found the bat pony had wrapped his wings about most of his body and head. I nudged him with a hoof. For that, one wing had risen and a single purple eye stared back at me. That one glare was enough to send me scrambling back into my bed. With another glance up at the bed above me, I lit my horn, hoping the glow from it wasn’t enough to disturb Comet. Snatching a pouch from the floor, I quickly brought it to me before pulling my blanket over myself, including my head, in the hope of hiding more of my magical glow. I sucked in a breath and held it, my horn still glowing, lighting up the blanket cavern I had created. My ears turned to the room beyond the blanket and my eyes tried to peer through to the bunk above. Nothing moved. No one spoke. I let my breath out softly but continued to listen. I did my best to hold back a yawn. Sure, I was tired, but I still couldn’t sleep. Yep. Comet was still asleep. All was silent, except for my memories as I opened the pouch and rummaged through it with my magic. Before I landed with Jackie and her family, my only real friend was the one bag which followed me everywhere like a puppy. From my Grandmother’s house on the day she went to the hospital, to the placement centre, to the first of many homes and back again. The near endless driving. My grandmother… Abuelita. One of the few Spanish words I still used. I felt the corners of my mouth perk up. She was my first memory. She was also my happiest. From the moment I could walk, I swear she had me helping her to cook. Even if I was just playing with the dried corn kernels or smooshing the tomatoes between my fingers. Even if I wasn’t allowed to do much, I always watched and listened as she made the trickier things; stews, tortillas and especially anything with chilli peppers. She didn’t want me accidentally rubbing my eyes after handling them. The only times I did it… I cringed at the memory of how much to stung. My grandmother would quickly snatch me up and cuddle me as she poured milk in my eyes; singing softly of songs I can’t remember. “Do your best today, Jacob,” she would say as she finished helping me get dressed. “If you do, no one can say you never tried.” What little of my smile had grown suddenly fell. I didn’t get to go to her funeral. I still haven’t seen her grave. I was told I was too young. Sure, I was six at the time, but she was the only one who wanted me around. I scrunched my nose at the memory and turned the pouch upside down then gave it a violent shake. A bunch of round pebbles dropped onto the bed in front of me, giving off a few little clacks as they hit each other before sitting still near my forehooves. As I glanced at the blanket above in hope Comet hadn’t heard the pebbles, more memories crept in through the night. Visiting my parents wasn’t very different from some of the worse homes I was sent to. The screaming. The sting of a hand against my cheek. Every word dragging me lower and lower. Worthless. Nothing. Useless. I bit my teeth together then shook my head. With my drifting thoughts clearing again, I wrapped my magic around the pebbles and lifted them from the mattress. In only a few seconds I had them twirling in a circle around the empty space of my blanket cavern. It was a test I had to do. One Ochre expected me to pass and it was only a few hours away. The brightness of my horn grew along with the small hum which accompanied the use of my magic; any unicorn magic to be honest. It was a weird thing they got right on the show. It was a good distraction at first. Slowing down and speeding up the pebbles as a group, then keeping all but one moving together while I made that one do tricks. But as I kept going, and I found myself yawning more and more, my thoughts drifted back to the memories of my human life… The social workers, psychologists and counsellors. None of them– I blinked away memories of their faces. The look of sad acceptance in their eyes, the pity the spoke, all aimed at me. “Unfortunately, I don’t see his prospects improving. Nine homes already. Four this year alone. I wouldn’t call all that constant shifting around conducive to nurturing a stable mind.” I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to see that counsellor or any of the others again. Even my placement officer at the time didn’t want me. I was just a file he wanted gone. “What do you want me to do? The best place for him would be with a relative. Besides his parents, who adamantly refuse to take him, the rest are dead.” My teeth clacked together as I clenched my jaw so hard to drown out the words. My face soon ached from the force. The more I tried to shove the thoughts away, the harder I bit down and the faster the magic poured into my horn. I could still feel the training pebbles, spinning faster and faster in my magical hold. The hum of my magic grew along with the motion of the pebbles. Suddenly, the blanket was whipped away and I found myself staring into the flat, annoyed and upside-down gaze of Comet Streak. The blanket hung from the claws on his outstretched wing. Comet Streak said nothing. He just stared at me, squinting a little in the early hour. The glow of my horn lit both of us even though there weren’t any traces of sunlight peeking in beneath the door while words from my past swept up in my head. “Do your best today, Jacob. If you do, no one can say you never tried.” The way Comet Streak stared at me; I was sure he could tell what I was thinking. I felt the fur on my back stand on end. When he finally stopped staring, Comet Streak dropped from the bunk, landing with his back to me and his wings spread as much as they could within our confined room. “I am heading out. Weather patrol has asked for help.” He swept his mane back with a hoof and folded his wings against his sides before looking at me again. “It is still dark. You will need sleep for your test today.” I gave a cough mixed with a snort, straightened my back, held my head high and stated, “It is not a test. It is a demonstration of what I have learned since Ochre started teaching me.” Comet rolled his eyes then turned to the door. “Again, that is a test.” I turned my head away as he opened the door and I muttered, “Wouldn’t expect anyone but a unicorn to get it.” “You can think like that, if you want. However, do not expect others to agree.” My face suddenly heated up when I realised he had heard me. Stupid bat ears. Why didn’t he stay with Cremator? Without moving my head again, I watched him from the corner of my eye. Comet was standing just outside the open doorway, his eyes glowing like a tiger in the night. I quickly got back to spinning the pebbles with my magic but kept an eye on Comet. Comet Streak shook his body, spreading his wings out in the process. “Still, I suggest you sleep. You will want to be wide awake today.” He flashed a tooth-filled smile, one I had seen him use with the mares around the town. “You won’t want to be caught napping.” With that, Comet crouched as he shut the door. I caught the whoosh of air and flapping of leathery wings before they quickly faded into the distance. I let out the breath I didn’t mean to be holding then did my best to focus on the pebbles again. I had to be ready. I had to show Ochre that I could do what he taught me. Spinning them around and around. And, yawn, around… A…round… My eyes snapped open. I sat up so sharply I scraped my horn against the bottom of the upper bunk. Argh! I quickly ducked down and tried to gently rub it with my hooves. As I did, a light caught my eye. It wasn’t the soft white of the magic from my horn, I didn’t feel any magic rushing to it. It also was coming from beneath the door. I blinked at it. Light beneath the door. The door to outside. Oh, yay, it’s morning. Then my still rather tired brain kicked into gear. “Morning?” I gasped. “When did I fall asleep?” I threw off what little of the blanket was still covering me, sending the pebbles flying around the room and bouncing off the walls, and leaped out of bed. My eyes darted about the room as I could feel my panic rising fast! With no time to waste, I left the pebbles where they had scattered then burst out the door, not even stopping to make sure it shut behind me. Looking up as I ran, Celestia’s sun was already high overhead. I shook my head then forced my legs to move as fast as possible. “Crumpets. Crumpets. Crumpets! I’m so late. Ochre’s going to be mad!” I wasn’t exactly wide awake yet, so it wasn’t a surprise when I found myself distracted by a raspy voice I knew well from hours of watching television with Jackie. I slowed my pace as I searched for a particular pegasus with matching rainbow tail and mane. Quickly spotting her, I stopped to watch as she fluttered about in front of a blue pegasus stallion with white splotches on his coat. “That’s right! The Weather Patrol needs you!” Rainbow Dash declared, poking the stallion on the nose with a hoof as she pointed at him. “We have a delayed shipment coming in and we need all the ponies with wings we can get our hooves on to help shift it. Wouldn’t want Winter coming late, now would we?” Before the stallion could reply, Rainbow Dash pressed on. “Imagine it. Trees without leaves but nothing to blanket them. Animals wandering around half asleep not knowing if they should be hibernating. Nothing to soften the landing of an aspiring Wonderbolt practicing her moves. All the frowny faces of the fillies and colts who can’t make a snowpony. Do you want to be responsible for all of their sad looks?” She slipped down beside him and draped a front leg over his shoulders. “You wouldn’t want to be the one to have to tell them that Winter was late, would you?” Somehow, with all of that, the stallion still didn’t appear convinced. Rainbow Dash leaned closer to his ear, adding, “I could see about getting you a visit to the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale…” The stallion’s eyes widened. “The chance to see their colour palettes…” He looked at Dash who had flapped her way to hovering in front of the stallion, a knowing grin splitting her muzzle from cheek to cheek. “Count me in,” he said with a nod as he shook his wings and ruffled his feathers. “Well, come on then!” Dash beamed, with a swoop of a hoof. And, without checking to see if the stallion was following her, the rainbow pegasus shot into the sky, yelling, “And that’s ten for me. Those tickets will be mine!” I stood there, blinking up at the sky as the stallion took off after Rainbow Dash but nowhere near as fast as her. Did I hear right? I scrunched my nose and frowned. Winter was late? I quickly shook my head. No, no, no. Focus. Need to get to Ochre. And I darted off toward the middle of town, passing other pegasus ponies searching for anyone else with wings to help them. Truth be told, running blindly through town was what nearly had me slapped in the face with a very long dragon tail. I ducked as it sliced through the air where my head had just been. Then I jumped as it whipped back through where I stood. I gritted my teeth together and lit my horn with magic, anger flaring within me before I even landed to face my attacker. An attacker who had his back to me. It was a long, snake-like dragon whose tail was swishing back and forth in front of me. I glared at its pale blue scaly hide and did my best to not be distracted by the ridge of deep blue fur along its spine, running from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. It looked so soft. I just wanted to pet– I shook my head violently and snatched back the hoof I had raised to reach out to this wild beast. What I saw just beyond the dragon of blue was a sight which had me refocusing on my magic; two pegasi. The first was a stallion of dark grey coat and silver-blue mane. The second, a mare of pale purple, her light blue mane was wildly tipped with white highlights as if their hair was lined with icicles. The dragon snarled at both of them, coiling its body as if preparing to strike, just like the snake it sort of resembled. The two pegasi took a small step back each. Seeing their danger, I stuck out my chest and steadied myself. My horn was raised and ready to sling some magic. It was time to be a hero! As I was about to step forward and unleash my magic, a brownish-red leg suddenly blocked my path. My anger at the pony stopping me quickly disappeared along with the magic around my horn when I found Ochre standing beside me, his attention fixed on the scene in front of us. “Wait and look again,” Ochre said without looking at me. I blinked at my mentor then turned to look at the dragon. I didn’t see what he was talking about until a voice piped up from within the coils of the dragon. “No, no, no. Cass!” A fully-grown bat pony mare, with brown coat and purple mane, was doing her best to push the dragon away from the pegasi it was confronting. Not that she was getting anywhere with the bigger creature. When I saw the dragon rear up and prepare to strike, my heart started racing. I lit my horn again and the bat pony mare yelled, “Cass– Don’t!” The serpentine dragon thrust its head forward, jaws open wide, flashing its wicked sharp teeth at the two pegasi. The hiss it released morphed into a snarl. “No touch, Bringer of Food.” Other ponies, who had stood around watching, scrambled out of the way. Still Ochre held his leg in front of me to keep me from charging forward. I stared at him, stunned that he would let this moment continue yet in awe of his bravery. Surprisingly, Ochre looked incredibly calm. Quickly looking back at the pegasi, I was about to shout a warning at them when I noticed something about them. They were just as calm as my mentor. In fact, they actually looked annoyed. “Ugh, we don’t have time for this!” grumbled the pale purple pegasus. The name tag hanging from the lanyard around her neck reminded me of the passes we had back at the convention. My horn was still glowing, magic flowing through my body, my eyes fixed on the dragon, ready for an attack at any moment. Even as the dragon hissed and growled, the full length of its tail lashing viciously from side to side, Ochre stepped forward. I moved to stop him, the intensity of my magic growing, enough to strip the shadows from around us. Before I could lift a hoof, Ochre turned his head to me, locked me with a piercing eye from beneath the brim of his hat and shook his head once. I froze to the spot under his strong gaze and felt myself shrink, along with the magic within me. I bit hard onto my bottom lip, nervously watching as my mentor stepped up beside the raging reptile without even a glance in its direction. His eyes were focused only on the pale purple pegasus in front of him. “Getting a little late for the first snow of the year, don’t you think?” Ochre asked, his voice just as gruff and commanding as ever. The pegasus with the pointy, icicle-like mane visibly bristled and ruffled her feathers at the accusation. I frowned, my magic easing a little as I focused on her. Wait. Isn’t that Cloudchaser? Hearing her voice confirmed it. If Jackie had been here, he would be bouncing in excitement right now. I grinned to myself as Cloudchaser grumbled her response. “That’s why we need all wings in the air we can get our hooves on.” My mentor turned his head just enough to give the bat pony and her dragon companion a sideways glance. “Begging your pardon, but I doubt the Weather Team truly needs all wings. Especially those lacking in the confidence to take to the skies.” The other pegasus snorted and said, “This is the largest shipment we’ve ever had to spread in such a short time.” I snorted to myself. Who was this pegasus to talk back to my mentor? Staring at him, something about the colour of his coat and that of his mohawk sparked in my mind. I shook my head and my mouth dropped open as I realised. The other pegasus was Thunderlane! Two pegasi ponies who, if I remembered right, were soon to be called up by the Wonderbolts for testing! I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Jackie was going to kick himself for missing this. While I did my best to bite down on my excitement, Ochre nodded at the bat pony again. “I have never once seen this one spread her wings and take all four hooves off the ground.” Being careful not to upset the dragon further, I slowly moved in to stand behind Ochre. Sure, his head wasn’t big enough that his jaws could swallow a pony whole, but he was definitely bigger than how I imagined Discord would be if he were around. Still paying the dragon very little attention, Ochre turned to face Cloudchaser again and, with his calm yet gruff voice, stated, “Ask the stronger fliers. You wouldn’t be wanting a rookie hurt on your watch, even if the first fall is a little late.” Cloudchaser shuddered and fluffed out her feathers. With a glance at Thunderlane, she shook her head. Without a word, she nodded at Ochre who returned the gesture. “What?” Thunderlane blurted. “We still need another five just to catch up with–” Cloudchaser thrust out a wing, covering Thunderlane’s mouth with feathers and cutting him off. Still looking at Ochre and the bat pony almost hidden among the coils of the dragon, Cloudchaser said, “Sorry, we didn’t know.” She turned her head to lock eyes with Thunderlane, adding, “We will try somepony else.” Ochre tipped the brim of his hat as the two pegasi prepared to leave. When Cloudchaser spread her wings, I finally caught a clear glimpse of the pass around her neck. It read: Hello, my name is Stormwalker! I stared at it for what little time I could before she took to the air with Thunderlane right behind her. Watching them fly away, all I could think about was why Cloudchaser would have a name tag with a different name around her neck. Brushing it off, I drew myself up and turned to face Ochre, a question waiting to burst from my lips. But, he was busy speaking with the bat pony; the bat pony who was having a bit of trouble dealing with the affections of their dragon friend… Their dragon friend who was much smaller, yet still much longer than a pony, than when he was raging at Cloudchaser and Thunderlane before. “Cass, please,” the bat pony said, doing her best to peer around the dragon’s almost constantly moving serpent-like body as he coiled around her, rubbing against as much of her as he could. “Stop.” Ochre touched a hoof to the brim of his hat while the bat pony tried her best to duck beneath the dragon’s tail to keep eye contact with my mentor. The dragon, Cass, pressed his shoulder against the bat pony’s side then rubbed the top of his head under her chin, much like the lazy cat with the never brushed, lightly matted coat, at one of the homes from before moving in with Jackie’s family. I shuddered. The house from before the one with the dogs who barked at me whenever I was in the room with them. I could still remember sitting at the top of the stairs with my foster brother at the time. Both of us listening as his parents explained the situation to the placement officer and social worker. All while the two big dogs barked in the background, even though they were out in the yard. “It isn’t his fault,” said my foster mother. Her voice was soft and calm as always, but there was lot of regret mixed in. “We’ve never seen him provoke them in any way. Our dogs just don’t like him for some reason.” My foster father at the time cut in. “He’s the only one, besides the mailman, to cause them to bark so much. Even Scott’s friends haven’t had this happen to them.” “We just think–” My foster mother let out a heavy sigh. Knowing what was coming, I pulled up my knees, wrapped my arms around them and buried my head in the space between. I didn’t want my foster brother to see me cry. “The fit just isn’t quite right…” The placement officer sounded just as disappointed as my foster parents. “Sadly, I can understand.” “We’re so sorry,” my soon-to-be former foster mother continued. “Hopefully there is some family and home that’s right for him, but…” I quickly shook my head, hoping to scatter the thought, when I saw the dragon bump his forehead against the bat pony’s own, leaving her stunned and rocking on her hooves. When Ochre turned away from them, I saw a smile on his snout. It didn’t stay long as his attention moved to what we were supposed to be doing. I nodded to him as he walked past me, leading the way to the practice area. He had helped the bat pony and saved Cloudchaser and Thunderlane from her dragon. Now, he walked proudly on to his next duty. I steeled myself before falling into step in my mentor’s wake. It was time to be very serious. Time to show him what I could do! We did our best to avoid the stalls being set up in the middle of town and, by the time we arrived in the field with trees barren branches and next to no one around, I was ready to unleash my magic and show how skilled I had become. I crunched some of the formerly pink leaves under hoof as I took my stance and prepared to summon my magic. Ochre had already set out the rocks and stones of different sizes he intended for me to use. All I had to do was wait for his direction while the magic built up inside of me. With a short nod of the old unicorn’s head, my horn burst to life, surrounded by its signature white glow. I wrapped each of the larger rocks in my magic and squeezed them with it as I lifted them all from the ground. I ground my teeth together as I lifted the rocks, forcing out even more magic to raise them higher before bringing them in to form a small circle above me. I didn’t need Ochre to instruct me from this point. I already knew what to do. Scrunching my snout and squeezing the rocks a little harder, I started them moving around the circle; slowly at first, but quickly speeding up. Soon, all of them danced at my whim. Floating on nothing but magic and a thought. My thought. My magic. I could feel it, deep inside my core, flowing through my body, filling it with a tingling warmth. Radiating out from my forehead and the horn standing proud. All while Ochre watched. I smiled at that, puffed out my chest and quickly forced more magic into the task, snatching up more and more of the training stones to sling in a circle above the space between us. The first few had been simple, keep them flowing in a circle. There were eight in total with the largest being bigger than my head. I smirked to myself as the task became easier as my magic flowed only to keep the rocks afloat. They could now spin on their own. Now it was time to show my mentor what I could really do! Squeezing the rocks to make sure I still had them, I reached out with my magic and plucked five more smaller stones from around me. As they rose to join the others, I started them moving in a different way. Poking my tongue out to the side and biting lightly on it, while I made the other four wait, I sent the first smaller stone darting through a gap between the spinning larger rocks. One by one I added the other smaller stones, watching them dodge, duck, dive, dip and dodge the others until I had a dance of rocks and stones happening above me. It was an act of magical dexterity, Ochre had told me. Using different amounts of magic to lift objects of different shapes, sizes and weights, A skill he said all unicorns needed to master. Not that it mattered, it was a chance for me to show him just how much I was capable of doing. Of course, spinning them in the air was all my idea. Something to keep me from getting bored while showing my teacher just how ready I was to move on to the next challenge. “You’re not focusing,” Ochre muttered as he slowly walked around my magical display. His tone stung and I felt my ears pin back, a hint of guilt at him seeing right through me. I stomped a hoof, crushing more dry leaves as I braced myself, even puffing out my chest to show my determination to succeed. “I thought I could show you exactly what I could do today. Then we can move on. Do something different.” Ochre paused, keeping his gaze low, eyes hidden beneath the broad floppy brim of his hat. Even if I couldn’t see his eyes, I caught the sound of his breath hissing between his teeth. “You asked me to teach you finesse.” “Yes, Master!” I said, blurting out more enthusiasm than I meant to. I caught the click of his teeth and saw his snout begin to scrunch. I quickly shrank, letting my magic fade and the stones it held swing lower. “Sorry, sir.” Feeling some of the rocks shift in my hold at the distraction, I bit down, squeezing them harder; dragging them all into the pattern I wanted. Forcing more magic through my horn, I added another three small stones to join the others darting between the bigger rocks. With so many to control, I had to keep them tightly held in my magic. By now I could feel beads of sweat trickling down the sides of my face and the back of my neck, but I had to focus. The faster the stones spun, the tighter I held them in my magic, just to make sure they didn’t shoot off and hit something or someone. I was concentrating so hard, I only heard the callomping of heavy hooves when they were right behind me. Sounding like they would trample me into the ground. I dug my hooves into the ground, tensed my muscles in case I was hit, all while staying focused on the rocks– “POINTY PONY!” With the speed and weight of a charging bull, yet the outer fluffiness of the softest sweaters, I was crushed straight down into the ground. I tried to hold on to the rocks and stones, gripping them even tighter in my magic. Then I felt my bones grind into the ground and a spike of pain stabbed through my mind. The air around us filled with earthy pops as my magic bit down harder than I ever intended. The rocks which somehow managed to break free were sent flying out in random directions, free of my magical control. I think most of them struck the trees around us as the sound of several wooden cracks reached my ears. The loudest one was followed by a groan of wood and several more cracks. When I was able to peek out from beneath the wiry fur which had swamped me, I watched a tree as its top half toppled to the ground, landing with a heavy thump and the swish of empty branches. Still pressed into the ground, all I could do was stare at the destruction. The fallen tree. The trees with jagged splinters surround holes where stones had punched into their trunks, some all of the way through. And the clouds of dust which floated with what little wind there was before scattering across the ground. And there, standing with his body between us and the blast zone, watching it all, was my mentor. He had a shield of yellow magic up to protect us all; his mid-length tail waved on the breeze. I only watched him for a second or two before I hung my head. The test was over. I had failed. All the stones were doing as I commanded, moving around each other as I held them tight in my magical grip. And now… I let out a sigh as a rambling string of words continued to flow around me. Their tone deep. My body vibrating with them even though I couldn’t yet understand them. I turned my ears toward them, toward the one who had slammed down on my back. The one who had broken my concentration. I ground my teeth together. The one who made me lose control. If I still had fingers I would’ve squeezed them into fists as my anger rose. The one who made me fail! My rage snapped. I forced myself up on my front hooves and yelled at the sky, “JACKIE!” Jackie tumbled back and I was free. I threw myself onto my hooves then spun around to glare at him. Instead of letting me scream at him, Jackie simply grinned and forced a piece of paper into my face. I struggled to look what was on the paper before shoving it and Jackie’s hoof aside. I scowled at my huge friend, anger still bubbling inside of me, and growled, “I can’t read Equestrian.” Jackie, still grinning, nudged the paper in front of me again. I did my best to glare him into backing down, but he just stood there, big and bulky; a beaming smile fixed on his face. “Is flyer for First Snow Feast,” Jackie announced cheerfully, his voice deep and strong. I did my best to read the flyer but didn’t need to as Jackie rambled off all the things it listed before I get half way through. “There’ll be cakes and pastries and creamy things. Even things made by not ponies!” Jackie was so excited, he was bouncing in place. His heavier landings shook the very ground beneath my hooves, but it didn’t stop his excitement. “Is festival not on show. Jackie want see it!” I stomped my front hoof hard and glared at my friend, my horn glowing with magic again as I focused on my anger. “Jackie, you’re yakking again. And, I’m in the middle of a lesson. It can’t just be stopped for some stupid party just because we’re in Equestria and you’re living your dream. I have to take these things seriously!” Jackie stopped bouncing and his smile fell. He was quiet for a few long seconds while I continued to glare at him. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, even softer than Jackie’s normal voice since becoming a yak. “I-I’m sorry. I thought you would be interested to see a festival we didn’t get in the show. Especially with it being about cooking. I was just excited to tell you about it.” I turned and called to Ochre who was inspecting the damage from my rocks. “Master, we can restart when you say.” “Kid,” Ochre said, before turning and walking toward me. He kept his eyes hidden beneath the brim of his hat as he said, “Lesson’s done for today.” The aura surrounding my horn abruptly vanished. I stared at the older unicorn, my mentor. Stunned by him ending the session so quickly. Shaking at his rejection. It shook more memories loose as I sank back into my mind. I glimpsed my parents. Times of them standing in a doorway, darkness behind them, disgust on their faces. My mother sneering as she spat words, first at my grandmother. Years later, the social workers who tried to put me back with them. I never understood why they hated me so much. My grandmother always sighed and told me it wasn’t my fault, but she never explained it. I only got a little more from the social workers. Something about residency, other things about money. The worst was what my father had snapped at the social worker in Spanish in that meeting. It was why I let my connections to the language fall away and die. “Nunca quise tener un hijo!” He followed it up by spitting the next words at me even as the social worker tried to shield me from my father. “Nunca quise tenerte!” I wasn’t so good with Spanish, even then. Abuelita had done her best to raise me with English. She said it would be easier in the future for me if I embraced the words of those in power. Still, I took her other actions to heart. It took me a while to understand what my father had meant that day. I’d just lost my grandmother and I guess I was pretty numb at the time. But, when I finally did, I decided to bury it all and follow what my grandmother had wanted. I shook my head and found Ochre was no longer in front of me. Looking quickly around, I found him with a hoof on Jackie’s shoulder. Some of the smile had returned to Jackie’s snout. I frowned. Was Ochre going to take Jackie on as a student? Why? He didn’t have any magic! Ochre gave Jackie a simple nod then started forward, heading out from among the trees. I trotted after him, passing Jackie in the process. The heavy hoofsteps clomping behind me told me Jackie was still with us. My ears and focus remained on Ochre as he strode forward, heading back into town. As I neared him, I called out again. “If you don’t want to check my levitation magic, why not something else?” Ochre let out a heavy breath but never stopped his stride. “We are.” As we continued our walk, I began worry about where my teacher was leading us. The number of other ponies and creatures grew the further we stepped into Ponyville. I clenched my jaw. It would be difficult to show my skills to Ochre with so many others around. Even I knew my control wasn’t quite ready for such things. When we finally stopped, Ochre declared, “This will be your next lesson.” Looking around, I thought he had to be joking. There were stalls and even a few wagons draped in colourful bunting set up all around us. Ponies wandered from stall to stall, many of them I knew from watching the show, tasting foods they were offered. There was even a stage set up with outdoor kitchens where demonstrations were taking place. It would be just as dangerous as I thought to practice my magic here. I frowned as I looked to my mentor. Ochre simply raised his head to stare back with one eye, and said, “Spend time with your friend. Enjoy yourselves.” I opened my mouth to protest, but was shoved strongly from behind. As Jackie pushed me forward, I kept my eye on my mentor. Was he serious? Was this his way of telling me that he didn’t want to teach me anymore? Ochre simply watched as Jackie forced me toward the nearest stall, his face stern but otherwise unreadable. I felt Jackie nudge me with his shoulder a few times as we moved on, trying to get me to look at some of the stalls and the foods on offer. Sure, seeing an Abyssinian, dressed in perfectly clean chef whites, running a stall was an unusual sight in Ponyville, but I wasn’t in the mood. I constantly looked back to my mentor. Ochre’s expression never changed. All he did was watch. Although unicorns were the most common sight running the stalls and their temporary kitchens, there were a bunch of other ponies and creatures too. There was the well-spoken pegasus mare who plated up each dish for her customers graceful swishes of her wings and I’m pretty sure the wind itself. Every plate of food she made was perfect, not a single speck out of place. I frowned at it but Jackie just enthusiastically forced me on to the next stall or wagon. The strangest sight of all was the weird pony, hidden almost completely in a robe, with only their black hooves visible. While they walked from stall to stall, they repeatedly stopped to whisper into the ear of a tired, official-looking, skinny earth pony stallion. At least, I think they were whispering. I never saw their lips or muzzle and, even with my pony ears, I couldn’t hear a word from them. Everywhere they went, a group of ponies followed, all dressed like the press ponies of the show and all carried notebooks and pencils. A few even had cameras slung around their necks to capture everything they saw. My ears twitched at the whispers of the crowd and soon learned that the one in the robe was a food critic called Rare Taste. The only pony he appeared to speak to must have been his assistant as he acted as a barrier to the press ponies following them. “Here,” said Jackie, his snout beaming with a huge smile as he held out a small cardboard tub with something green inside and a spoon propped to one side. “Try this!” I did my best to shrug off his offer, trying to keep Ochre within eyesight as I silently wished to get him to restart our lesson from earlier. But Jackie kept dragging my attention back to the stalls of the festival and, annoyingly, I slowly became interested in watching the displays. Not so much the demonstrations, but the ways the chefs and bakers worked, especially the unicorns. There was such speed and skill oozing from their magical grasps. How they held a knife, the way they tossed the contents of a frying pan. It all just sucked me in. The stall operator Jackie had got the tub from was a large, gruff-looking goat with huge curled back horns, a solid, jutting jaw and a mean look in his eye. His scary image was slightly ruined by the chef whites and apron he wore. Still, his constant scowl did its best to make up for it. We soon found ourselves standing in front the counter at the back of a well-lived-in looking wagon. The fading sign above boasted the name “O’Nella’s.” Unlike most of the other bakers and chefs among the stalls and wagons, this earth pony cook was dressed in blacks. He didn’t appear to be putting on a show, either. I watched as he moved about the cramped quarters of his wagon’s kitchen, preparing two bowls for me and Jackie to try. “Do we have to try this one?” Jackie mumbled, doing his best to only be heard by me. I shrugged. “What’s wrong with this place? Has food to try like all the others.” “Well,” Jackie murmured, probably wishing I had kept my voice down as the cook’s ear twitched toward us. “There isn’t much in the way of presentation. Compared to the others, I mean. Even the bake sale stall put in the effort to make what they’re selling look nice.” “So what?” I shot back, no longer watching what the cook was doing. “That’s how Sugarcube Corner and the Candy Shop like their things to look. Doesn’t mean everyone wants to make things look perfect. What about the Apples’ stand? They’ve always been happy and humble to let their food stand on its own.” If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed many of the people at the festival were now looking our way, attendees and chefs alike. Instead, I pressed on. “You think I care about some snooty chefs?” I thrust out a hoof and waved it in the direction of the nearest stall. “They’re the kind of people who spend all their time fussing about how food looks on a plate, wanting whoever it is served to to take a picture of it instead of enjoying the taste.” I scrunched my snout, curling my top lip back as I charged onward, not hearing the set of hooves stomping up behind me. “And, don’t get me started on what they think is a real size for a meal—” “How is it, such a pony in this little place, could possibly understand the difference between fine dining and the cuisine crafted in the back of a rickety cart?” My ears snapped back and I turned to find the pristinely dressed unicorn chef of one of the finest presented displays. The one where so many Ponyville residents and visitors from out of town for the festival had stood watching in amazement. Oohs and aahs had left their mouths so easily at the things he had brought forth; foods which looked like other foods but he claimed them to be something else entirely. He had impressed them with plain-looking little cubes of brown he had claimed to be just like the finest berries sourced for Canterlot’s best. Those watching had stomped their hooves lightly in appreciation and, by the point of my hoof, I had singled him out while ranting at Jackie. I had to bite my tongue. Even in the worst houses I had stayed in, there was still television. I saw shows I probably shouldn’t have along with commercials for cooking shows. People loved that stuff back home. Here, they didn’t have television so I had to snap my teeth together and just glare at this other unicorn. “Nothing to say when actually challenged, hmm?” He leaned in close to me and used his magic to lightly dust at my shoulder. I felt my magic rising within my core, the white glow starting to appear at the tip of my horn. Realising it was happening, I glanced around at the crowd. When had it become so big? I felt my eyebrows pull together in worry and I started to frown. Where was– Ah, my Master! He was still nearby. I locked eyes with him. He stared back then gave a single short shake of his head. No. I bit my teeth together even harder, forcing my magic down, back into my core. The chef chuckled at the sight. “Well, aren’t we spirited. Perhaps, if you know food so well and are stallion enough to back it up.” The chef took the chance to tap a hoof against my chest after each of my last three words. It wasn’t hard. Just strong enough to push my back a little, not enough to shift my hooves. “I’m sure one such as I, Perfect Plate, could learn a thing or two from you and your small-town ways.” My jaw was hurting from trying not to snap back at this pony. I didn’t say anything. I just looked to my teacher again. He watched me like he did with every training session. This felt like some kind of test and that he was judging me. I eyed Perfect Plate again as he leaned back, a smirk on his lips. “You would show us what makes you so special,” Perfect Plate stated, a sly smile slicing across his muzzle. “I hear there is still a spot to fill for the ‘home team’ in the locals versus the best cooking challenge in but an hour.” He raised an eyebrow and did his best to look down on me as he asked, “You can cook. Can’t you?” I glanced to the side where the Abyssinian and the earth pony cook from the wagon stood. Both of them were giving Perfect Plate some very angry looks. I swallowed heavily, but, before I could speak, Jackie loomed up beside me, glaring through his fringe at Perfect Plate and growled, “He can and he will!” I turned my head and stared at her, my heart suddenly pounding in my head at her words. Perfect Plate quickly backed away from Jackie’s interruption. “Oh, he cannot speak for himself now? Needs another without culture to say what he cannot? Hmm?” He turned and started to walk away. “See you on the stage, simple stallion!” While the others in the crowd wandered off to visit the stalls again, other than Ochre and Jackie, there were two who remained behind. “Such ego,” said the Abyssinian. She looked at me and said, “I do so hope you know what you are getting into, young unicorn.” “Not wrong,” agreed the earth pony cook from the wagon. “Not everypony has the privilege of attendin’ Perfect’s culinary school. Lots of us have built what we had from nothing but love of makin’ ponies happy with the simple things we cook.” He looked me in the eye and asked, “You got some kind of plan to take a challenge from the likes of him?” I swallowed, but my throat was dry. Jackie nudged my side with his shoulder, smiled and said, “He has a few things he could make. Put a little heat into the competition.” The Abyssinian nodded as she crossed her arms in thought. “If you have need of anything for the competition, simply ask. Since I have started travelling these lands of the ponies, I have become known by my flavours of trade. Ponies call me Exotic Spice.” The earth pony smacked my shoulder with a hoof, adding, “Same here. Name’s Sam O’Nella. If you got ideas, we’re happy to hear ‘em.”