//------------------------------// // 3 A Little Flame // Story: Rise of Opaline // by WhisperFace //------------------------------// “Opaline?” She jumped off the bench as her name was finally called. The door opened for her. A brown unicorn she recognized from her research sat several seats back. Next to that unicorn were the last two ponies Opaline expected.  Princess Twilight sat in the middle chair, her lavender and pink mane flowing with power. She had a long horn on a longer neck and large swan-like wings. Opaline’s eyes danced. She had never seen an Alicorn. Of course she had heard of the two that helped rule the crystal empire but she wasn’t from the center of town. The Princess fluttered her wings absently, and Opaline felt something. Her shoulders tried to shift similarly. That was what made the Princess the best, wasn't it? Being an Alicorn with the abilities of all three types of ponies?  The third pony in the judges seat was her father. Opaline grinned. She strutted to the front of the classroom. She pulled her saddle bag off with her mouth and plopped it down.  “I have something for you before we begin,” Opaline said. She reached into her bag. She pulled out the Ursa minor plush. Her horn sparked violently as she hovered the little stuffed bear to the brown mare.  “What’s this?” The mare said. She took the little stuffed animal gently. “I read that your daughter loves Ursa’s so I brought that for you.”  Opaline stuck out her tongue as she levitated. A chocolate bar toward the princess. “Did you bring something for everyone?” Princess Twilight asked. “I tried,” Opaline said. She ran her hoof through her mane. “I didn’t know you’d be here, Princess. But I hope you like chocolate.” The Princess smiled gently. Opaline nodded. She was sweating already but she had one more. She pulled a flower out of her bag. She had to improvise but she knew her Papa would like a red flower. She hovered the flower over to her father slower than the other two. She was starting to pant.  Her vision began to cross. The brown mare said something. Opaline shook her head. She stood up as straight as she could. “Could you say that again?” she asked the mare.  The brown mare pointed to the opposite door. Opaline looked. A grey stallion rolled in a cart. Atop it sat a globe full of flickering light. Opaline handed the grey stallion a  small ring with a Rose Quartz on it. The stallion smiled. He shook his head. Opaline frowned. Was it the wrong stallion? She pulled out a chocolate bar instead. “A thank you for your time,” she said.  The stallion laughed. “We aren’t supposed to take gifts from the applicants.” Opaline lowered confused eyebrows. She glanced at the Princess whose eyes shone with mirth as she munched on the chocolate bar.    Opaline’s head lowered. “Oh ok. Um, thank you for bringing in the…test.” The brown mare smiled at the purple crystalline filly. She made an encouraging motion toward the glass ball of flickering flame.  Opaline focused on the glass sphere. She stepped closer. Her saddle bag slumped behind her.  In the heart of the glass the fire flickered. Opaline got close to the sphere. How was this a test? She looked at the judges. They held their clipboards in a magical grip.  She looked at the sphere of fire again. Maybe she needed to get the fire out.  Her horn sparked as she tried to pry at the sphere. She levitated it searching for weak spots. If the fire was flickering that meant the sphere had to be hollow right? She started to get light headed. Opaline placed the sphere on the floor.  She spun the sphere with one hoof. The fire spun the opposite direction. She narrowed her eyes. Well there was one sure fire way to free fire from a hollow glass sphere. She touched the sphere to see if it was hot. When it didn’t burn her she picked it up.  Opaline lifted the glass sphere high above her head. The princess’s eyes widened. Her father held out a hoof.  Opaline smashed the glass sphere onto the ground. Magical fire burst and flickered around her. Ponies cried out. Her father called her name. Fire surrounded Opaline; she coughed at the heat. She breathed in, but instead of air the fire pulled into her throat.  The clear magic around her horn burned and sparkled the colors of an opal. Pale blue and white fire wreathed the little unicorn. She stared down at her shaking hooves. Opaline laughed. She laugh long and hard. She spun and danced. Her rear burned. Light and fire. This was beautiful. Her flank tingled. Opaline stared at her back leg and saw the horn with a plume of fire on either side.  “Fire magic! My special talent is fire magic!” she said. She hopped from foot to foot. A pail of water splashed across Opaline. It soaked her hair and extinguished her horn.  “Hey!” She looked over to see her father. He held the pail in two hooves. His ears were back and his eyes wide. “Papa look, I got my cutie mark!” she said. “Yes, you did,” he said.  Why didn’t Papa look happy? Opaline looked around. Fire burnt the walls, scorch marks covered the front two rows of desks. Opaline licked her lips. The Princess’s smile was gone. “So when do I start?” Opaline said.