//------------------------------// // Rain Shine // Story: The Cutie Alchemist // by Visharo //------------------------------// Rain: a heavy fall Shine: to be eminent, conspicuous, or distinguished ------------------------------------------------------ Starswirl the Bearded groaned. This was the fifth sunrise since the storm started, at least, he thought it was. They hadn't left the cave since and nopony dared to, if they took a peek out, all they would see was a downpour, rivers of mud streaming past the cave entrance, trees and rocks floating like they weighed nothing. It was getting harder and harder to entertain the fillies and the cranky Granny Smith didn't help either. "Starswirl! Where ya at! One of yer daughters lookin' me funny!" As if on cue. Starswirl heaved himself upwards, trying, unsuccessfully, to ignore the cracks and aches in his back as he did so. Once he stretched everything out, he made his way to the green earth pony. "Fizzlepop, do you need anything?" The newest pony looked up with wide eyes. Since she had shown up, she hadn't spoken a single word except that one time she uttered her name. It has been...an adjustment with her here because of how quiet she was, quieter than Luna even. The maroon filly shook her head, her crazy mane shaking along, in response to his question before scampering off. "That filly, ah'm tellin' ya, she's gonna be trouble later. Ah can see it in her eyes." Granny nodded her head and spoke with such conviction, Starswirl couldn't help but agree. But not matter what he thought, he'll do his best to help her, like everypony else. "Granny?" "Whatsit?" "Do you ever think of the future? What is out there, for us, as a species?" Starwirl mused out loud, his left hand stroking his beard as he lounged on a not particularly cozy rock. "...did you miss mornin' chow? Yer spittin' nonsense, ain't nuthin' ah can do with nonsense. Come ask me again when yer done mumblin' yer heebie jeebies." The green mare made a waving motion with her hands as if blowing him away. Starswirl obliged. Deciding he didn't want to talk to anypony, Starswirl chose to walk around the cave. It was mighty impressive how big it was, enough to house 20 ponies, maybe more. He stopped moving and looked around, estimated again at 40 ponies, then continued moving. He made his way to the back of the cave where the chatter of the fillies faded away and left him in peace. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this wasn't how sound worked, but he ignored it. Right now, he didn't want to think. *** An unknown amount of countings later, Starswirl came out of his nothing-induced trance. It was like waking up slowly but he never felt asleep. It was a strange feeling. He stretched for a bit, got his blood flowing. He felt like thinking now. The first thought that popped into his head was 'words'. He nodded softly to himself, this was a valid thought. Over the past moons, oh so many moons, he has learned and created new words to help himself and those around him. Truly a fascinating phenomenon, the expansion of one's language. It was like tasting a new flavor or seeing a new sight, it was completely magical to Starswirl, even more than magic itself. For him, magic was simple, something he understood. It has boundaries and power, limitations and creation. It was beautiful yet understandable. Words...wasn't any of that. The power of words, in his mind, was immense as the night sky. One could mean everything and another could mean nothing at all. There are no limitations in words. Nothing about it is understandable, yet you need to understand. For a being who has endured a millennia without the glory of words, it was breathtaking. "Swirly!" Celestia's voice snapped Starswirl out of his thoughts. The panic in her voice brought him immediately to his hooves and he started running. Scenarios, thoughts, all sorts of things were running through his head before he stopped dead by what he saw. There, in the middle of the cave, a not moving Sunset Shimmer was being cradled by Granny Smith. "She ain't breathin'! Starswirl, ya need to do something!" The desperation in the mare's voice brought Starswirl to reality and he rushed forwards and made it to Sunset's side in record time. "What happened!?" He demanded, his gaze moving from one filly to the next. Cadance and Celestia were crying. Luna was looking away and Fizzelpop was watching with wide eyes. "I...I was trying to hic to...to teach her some muh...more magic, buh...but she started shaking uncontro...uncontrolla..." Cadance broke off her explanation with a wail before burying her muzzle into Starswirl's back and sobbed. "She...she caught on fire." Luna said plainly, but Starswirl could tell this had shaken her too. The gray stallion nodded before gently pushing Cadance away from him. Granny Smith immediately took the pegacorn...unisus and hugged her tight. Starswirl in turn took Sunset and started checking her over. Everypony, except Fizzlepop, watched with bated breath as they watched him. "Okay, she is still alive, but you need to step back for the next part." Everypony complied. Starswirl shut his eyes and channeled some magic into his horn. He's never done this before, but it seemed fairly simple. The more and more energy he drew up, his inner pleading for this to work increased. Then before he overloaded, he released in the direction of the prone Sunset. There was a bright light, then silence. Starswirl cracked open his eyes and saw that the filly didn't move, he collapsed in himself, despair slowly filling him up. He had failed. Noise and sight slowly started to fade away, leaving him in the black nothingness of despair. He could feel wetness in the corners of his eyes and a tightness in his chest. Before he could let out an anguished scream, a sudden gasp forced him to snap his eyes open. Sunset was alive! "Oh, ya sweet magnificent child!" Granny Smith grinned happily as I tackled the poor orange unicorn with the biggest hug imaginable. Everypony around started cheering, Luna included and Fizzlepop excluded. It wasn't before long before it became a group hug and Starswirl started feeling crushed. "Help! Granny!" "Oh, alright ya ninny. Leave the poor fellow alone." Starswirl waited until everybody calmed down and pulled away before he looked down at the now confused Sunset. "How are you, are you hurting anywhere?" A shake. "Good, good. I am sorry for not being there, I promise to help you with your magic if that is what you want." A nod. "Great! Now how about we go to sleep, it is getting late." Starswirl smiled as he made his way to his makeshift sleeping area. He did good. That smile quickly turned into a frown. Sunset caught fire, how is she still here? Was it like the fire from when she got pictures on her flanks? From the horror on Celestia and Cadance's faces, Starswirl guessed it was much different. He groaned slightly, tomorrow he will deal with it. *** "Alright Sunset, I want you to focus your energy into your horn. Not too much, but a slow trickle. Just let it build up." Everypony had gathered in the morning and were now sitting on the floor of the cave, watching Starswirl and Sunset do their magic. Even the cranky earth pony was here, watching with a mildly annoyed expression. "Good." Starswirl said after noticing a sparkling hue surrounding the filly's horn. "When you start feeling pressure, you can go ahead and release it, but make sure you aim." She didn't aim. It took several countings of panic before they could put out the fire on Granny's mane. After the fire was put out, the mare grumbled something about kids and how they can't be controlled and then left the circle. "Right, let us learn about aiming, shall we?" The gray stallion chuckled a bit before teaching the orange filly how to properly aim. By the moon rise, the two of them made great process and they only had to put out three fires. Sunset was beaming proudly at her accomplishments and went to sleep rather quickly, but had the biggest smile Starswirl had ever seen on her face. He also couldn't help but notice that the pictures were glowing slightly. He tilted his head at that. Maybe magic was less understandable than he thought. *** "Swirly, Swirly! The rain is stopping!" Celestia started beating her hooves into the stallion, forcing him to roll over with a pained grunt. "Come on!" Several more sunrises had passed and Starswirl had completely lost count, but the daily magic training sessions with Sunset did well to alleviate his boredom. After he finally rolled out of his sleeping area, did the words finally process. The rain was stopping! He quickly got up much to Celestia's joy and together they took off to the entrance. Sure enough, sunlight was streaming through the previously heavy clouds. Rain was still dripping from the sky, but it was significantly less then the previous sunrise. "Do ya think our hut made it?" Granny asked, her composure going down immediately as if she knew the answer. Which of course, she did. "I do not think so." "...consarnit it all." The green mare grumbled something before turning around and walked back into the cave. "What is that?" The sudden soft voice caught Starswirl off guard. He looked around and then noticed that Fizzlepop was the one that had spoken. Before he could ask what she meant, a light lit up in his head. She's never seen the sun. "That, my dear, is what we call, the sun." "It's beautiful." "Yes. Yes, it is." The two sat down beside each other and watched as the sun rose slowly, it's rays casting it's light through the rain and into the cave. Fizzlepop's mouth curved ever slightly upwards when some of it hit her face. It was quiet and peaceful, which was surprising considering how loud the other fillies are. Then he frowned, why were they quiet? He turned around and saw a familiar glow. He got up quickly and hobbled to where everybody else was gathered. The glass cup was being filled up again, but this time without a picture. It confused Starswirl, but he didn't question it. He watched as the glass cup was filled with a fiery teal light, it got so intense that he, and the others, had to look away in the last few countings. Then it was over. "And who might the leader of this merry band might be? In exchange I will give you my name." The decidedly NOT-pony lowered her massive bulk into a bow in which Starswirl could only stare in shock. "Hold it right there, filly. This 'ere, is none other then Starswirl the Bearded, our 'leader' through better or worse. Ah'm bettin' worse." Granny Smith added the last part with a cackle. The strange creature ignored her but did turn her head to look directly into Starswirl's eyes. "Greetings great Swirler of Star, you have quite the name. The power you wield must be immense and a destiny even greater! Unfortunately, I am graced with but a humble name, Shining of Rain. My future doesn't hold much for me, yet it is a vast one. With the proper introduction of leaders finished, it is the greatest of honors to be here. What are the rest of your names, oh great ones?" There was a silence, no doubt induced by the shock of this...polite? creature. Then it was broken by loud cackling. "Hooey Starswirl! Ya sure do have the best entertainment a mare could ask for!"