//------------------------------// // Growing Pains // Story: The Heart of a Healer // by beyondthegrave //------------------------------// The clear cloudless sky above the pastoral Ponyville served as a blank canvas for the lives of the colorful ponies living in their picturesque village. Ponies of all ages and creeds went about their daily routines; some haggled for a couple bit differences on their weekly grocery purchases, while others relaxed in the park where the song of the meadowlark could be heard, its warped warbles and cheery chirps brightening the day of anypony that passed by. Though on some sidestreet, above an old bakery, a mare had her work cut out for her. "Honey, if you sleep any longer, you're going to be late!" the voice of the mare called out in a strict but concerned tone. The mare flicked her ears at the sound of the shuffling and rummaging of sheets, but no immediately obvious sign of obedience could be heard. “I’m being serious, don’t make me come in there, mister!” the mare exclaimed as she trotted down the hall and carefully pulled open the door.  The mare slipped inside the small dark room and scanned it for the source of her resistance. Looking from left to right, she noticed that the window’s blinders were closed like she left them, but instead of being immersed in shadow, the tiny dull beam of a nightlight cast a revealing glow from its perch on the stand next to the dark wooden bedframe. Not wanting to draw attention to it, she quietly flipped off the switch and smiled at the sight of the younger pony’s form hiding under his soft woolen layer of protection. It reminded her of simpler times, but the smell of the old worn carpet and new furniture brought her back to reality.  “Just fifivph more mimnutes…” came the muffled pleas from the younger pony under the sheets; he knew the games were over at this point but tried to resist anyway. “No, Mystic, you said that an hour ago. It’s time you got up now,” a clip-clop of hooves filled the room, then the sound of the window’s blinders releasing, followed by sunlight shining into the bedroom.  The mare sighed and pulled the blanket off, revealing the sky blue form of her son attempting to pull the blanket away from her. His disheveled multi-tone striped upper mane covered his eyes, and his tail had the odd hair strand sticking out. As his brain registered the sudden change in light, Mystic groaned and rolled over onto his stomach in defiance. “Alright, you’ve done it now!” she said a bit deviously as she leaned in over him and began to tickle the back of his upper neck. Mystic let out choked squeaks as he pushed himself towards the bed’s headboard, away from his mother’s magic’s tight grip. "Stop… Mom..." his voice trailed off as he struggled to speak between the involuntary laughs and squeals. As she relented, he rolled over to glance at the mare just to be sure she wasn’t a changeling coming to steal a few more minutes of sleep from him. Pinkish frame, a pair of green eyes, and a brilliant yellow tail and mane, plus, a.. silver necklace adorned with a reflective heart pendant around her neck.   Yeah, everything checked out, it really was Sunny. Unfortunately. Or a good disguise. Mystic pulled the rest of the covers off himself, yawned, and hopped out of bed, his mother’s rude awakening helping the tiredness escape his body. “Ugh… it's that day today, isn't it? Why—?” he thought, whining in frustration. Sunny tilted her head in confusion as her son appeared entirely lost in his thoughts, “Hey, where are you? Equestria to Mystic!” she said as she gently nudged his forehead with her hoof. “I was just thinking about something. That’s all,” he said, annoyed. Sunny studied her son's face trying to read him while masking a look of worry with a tender facade. His mouth formed into a scowl, and his bright and shining eyes were dull and lifeless, making his expression a fortress of irritability. As much as she hated to admit it, the ability to reach her once bright star had become dimmer. She always thought of herself as a patient mare, but his short, terse, non-starter responses whenever she pushed him made her desperate to get inside his mind. She tried a caring approach and even demanding answers, but pushing him got her nowhere fast.  “Uh-huh, well, can you please start thinking about how you’ll be late to your first day of class if you don’t get your flank into the kitchen!” Sunny straightened out a few stray hairs from his mane and then shoed off. She gave him a look of encouragement but became distracted at the sight of something in his room. “Well, don’t just stand there! I made your favorite,” Sunny said from behind him, hoping to cheer him up. Mystic begrudgingly trotted down the unfamiliar carpeted hallway and instantly sighed. There they were, chocolate chip pancakes. He didn’t want to appear hypocritical, but the smell that wafted into his nostrils made his mouth water in anticipation and his stomach rumble.  “Yeah, when I was five! I told you not to make those anymore,” Mystic snapped impudently, giving her a mean glare as he turned around.  “O-oh, of course.. I just thought.. Anyways, w-well how about some oatmeal?” Sunny suggested, wanting to appease him. “My mistake, it was the pancakes you didn’t want anymore, but keeping your nightlight is fine, hmm?” “That sounds good,” Mystic replied tonelessly, but his ears indicated displeasure, dropping to the side of his head when he saw her holding that cutiemarkless saddlebag in her golden aura. “Darn it! I thought I pushed that stupid thing under my bed last night.”  “Okay, then, go on. I’m sure you can handle fixing your new breakfast. Hold on, let me check to see if you forgot anything else,” she said matter-of-factly as she lightly shook the bag floating in the air.   Mystic couldn’t tell if she was being spiteful but didn’t bother asking. “The only one who forgot something is you,” he snapped back at her internally. Mystic went over to the cabinet and pulled it open, taking the first bowl that he could reach with his magic and brought it over to the sink.  Five minutes passed and he got his oatmeal off the stove.   "Mystic, you’re just going to have to eat that on the way,” she said urgently, expectantly waiting for him to grab his bag she left on the table. Mystic had no appetite but knew there’d be more questions if he didn’t eat, and also, he definitely didn’t want to be seen eating in class. So, he resolved to quickly stuff the hot porous mush down his throat, making his stomach ache in protest.  “Hungry?” Sunny chuckled and said jokingly, “I guess you don’t have to worry about that now.” Sunny lightly nudged her son towards the door. “I’m going, okay?!” Mystic thought, annoyed, unable to hide the anger on his face. "I just want you to make a good impression on everypony," she said before smiling and hugging him. “Come on, let me walk you to school.” Sunny guided Mystic out the door and trotted beside him down the road. A comfortable silence rested between them, until the schoolhouse came into view, and the rolling hills and green pastures could be seen beyond.  Before letting him go, Sunny turned and pulled him into one last tight hug while whispering loving wishes into his ear. Mystic nuzzled back slightly but then abruptly backed off and coughed to break the tension, recoiling from her overzealous embrace. He hoped nopony saw that, but somepony probably did.   =========================~♡~♡~♡~========================= When they arrived, Sunny said her goodbyes, and Mystic took a deep breath and entered the schoolyard full of fillies and colts playing before the first bell. Mystic sighed, he knew nothing about them, but already felt discouraged. “It’s gonna take forever to start over…” Mystic’s vision shifted past them for a moment, and was surprised when he saw the building his class was located in. It was a single wooden structure with red paint that was peeling off and wood that was chipping with age. As he looked around some more, he noticed there was a white picket fence running around the perimeter that was clearly in disrepair. “Can they seriously not be bothered to clean this place up?” he thought before the bell from the belltower rang with a loud, shrill, metallic clang. Mystic shook his head at the noise and begrudgingly made his way inside along with the other foals. Everypony made their way to their favorite seats, friends sitting next to friends, cliques next to cliques, that sort of thing.  Mystic chose a seat at the back of the classroom, and a few minutes later, the teacher cantered into the room. She was a maroon earth pony with pinkish hair and eyes to match. "Good Morning, everypony!" the teacher said, her voice dripping with an unusual amount of excitement and cheer. "Good Morning Ms. Cheerilee!" the class greeted happily. “Hmph, that totally didn't sound forced,” Mystic grinned, thinking he made a clever observation.  "Today is a very special day! Does anypony know why?" Crickets. A couple smiled politely, but most ponies just gave her bored deadpan expressions.  "Sheesh, tough crowd," Ms. Cheerilee cleared her throat and beamed with delight.  "Well, anyways, I'd like to announce that we have a new friend joining us all the way from Canterlot today!” Ms. Cheerilee pointed her hoof at Mystic, and his heart shot up in panic as his pupils dilated.  “Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself?" Ms. Cheerilee said patiently.  Mystic wiped the smarmy grin off his face and mentally kicked himself for not thinking of this scenario. “Oh, darn it all! Nice one, Mystic,” he reprimanded.  Mystic lurched himself out of the desk and onto his hooves, his hind legs stumbling when he landed. “No, slow down! That was way too fast.” In an effort to regain control, Mystic slowly shuffled his way to the front of the classroom, hoping he could maintain a cool demeanor if he slowed down. But, the illusion was shattered when his knees buckled, making him stumble as he made his way to the front of the class.   At this point, Mystic was certain the ponies in the class were sneering at him as a drip of cold sweat rushed down his face. His hooves shook, making him wobble around as he shifted his weight, any sense of coolness completely lost. Ms Cheerilee took his nervousness into account and said warmly, trying to encourage him, “You’re doing great dear. We’d love to know a little bit about you.” Mystic gulped and said, "Um, h-hi everypony. My name is Mys-sti-cc Hea..” he said, stammering out his name like he forgot it.  Mystic tried to scavenge up some moisture for his next batch of words, but his throat was barren, making his pronunciation sound weird and alien. “I-I'm from Canterlot, but m-my m-om and I-I just m-ov-ed here to P-Pon-yvill-e,” Mystic scuffed a hoof on the floor and struggled to find anything else interesting to share about himself.  “I, uh… What else?!” he paused, desperately trying to think of anything. Mystic felt his horn heating up, and in response, shook his head in an odd manner, desperately trying to fend off the sensation. “Celestia, please.. Not this again,” he pleaded, but a slew of tiny blue sparks bounced out of his horn onto the floor, dancing around in a sick, mocking display. Mystic stifled a gasp at the sight of his magic betraying his will and made some unnatural throat-clearing noise to try and finish his speech.  “I-I really like stargazing and l-learning new s-spells.. a-and.. a-and.. um yeah.." He said timidly, eyes downcast, hoping if he didn’t look at them, he might disappear.  “Why did that have to happen now?!” Mystic thought as his stomach twisted in knots. Mystic's shoulders slumped, trying to hide his red, flustered face by tilting it to the side, but it was useless. He swore he could almost feel their derisive gazes that he knew they were making.  The class said nothing at first, but their faces told him everything he needed to know. Any chance of him being liked had been ruined. To Mystic, it felt like hours, but it had only been a minute until the silence was disrupted by somepony in the back of the classroom. “What? He can’t even control his magic?” a pink earth pony blurted out, making the foal sitting next to her giggle. Ms. Cheerilee loudly tapped the blackboard with her hoof and glared at the filly responsible for her rude comment, and she suddenly became very quiet. “See me after class, Ms. Tiara,” she said sternly and frowned. "Thank you for sharing that with us, Mystic! I'm sure you'll fit right in! Why don't you take your seat so we can get started?" she said in a soothing motherly tone of voice.  Ms. Cheerilee's reassuring words helped calm his nerves, if only slightly, and Mystic breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but as he clumsily returned to his seat, he swore he could still hear them whispering about him. “Okay, class, today we’re going to talk about physics! The study of change…”