//------------------------------// // The Sparkle // Story: Mixed Drinks // by SoralTheSol //------------------------------// Mixed Drinks I do not own My Little Ponies. And Suzy does not own me, don’t let her tell you otherwise either. Chapter Three: The Sparkle As they walked Twilight got a better look at the mare in front of her. She was a unicorn, with the same coat as her. Her mane and tail were flowing rivers of white and grey. Her cutie mark was an elegant glass filled with an amber liquid. They entered the farm to find Applejack on the couch, holding a mint green foal. He had no mark, not very unusual for a foal, and his mane was pure white. He pressed himself tighter against the orange mare as they got closer. “Soral, I got Twilight, she is going to try and help.” Suzy told the foal. Soral looked up at Suzy as she and Twilight Sparkle entered the room. He managed a shaky nod to her before looking to the floor. “Get it together Soral! You are twenty-four years old you should not be breaking down like a child.” He mentally berated himself. The pressure in his head spiked as they drew closer causing him to flinch. “Hi there, would you mind answering a few questions for me.” Twilight asked him. “Okay.” Soral whispered as head raised a hoof to rub his temples in a vain effort to get his headache to leave. He heard twilight say something but was unable to make it out. “What was that?” he mumbled out the question. “I asked if you could describe what you’re feeling right now.” Twilight repeated for him. Soral scrunched up his face in concentration, trying to search for other words than just pressure to describe what he was going through. “It—it feels like something is pressing down on my head, but it moves. It follows where you are and a smaller one where Suzy is.” He began slowly. “Then there are the other things that come with it.” He muttered. “Oh?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, there is a feeling like a knot in my stomach, anxious, I think. I am getting bits of…” He trailed off and looked to the floor again not willing to speak. “Idiot!” He berated himself. “Let me guess: curiosity, worry, confidence.” Twilight stated off a few emotions she was feeling at the moment. She winced when the foal pinned her with a terrified look. “Calm down, calm down.” She said quickly, waving her hooves franticly. Soral was looking at her intently now, not that he had a choice to do much else. Applejack had tightened her grip on him when his head shot up. At least it sounded like twilight knew what this was. “This is rare, but it is not unheard of. You have what is known as “Sight of Magic” a very unusual ability. I believe this is the first time you have felt anything like this right?” The student of Celestia asked. Soral looked to think about it before giving a nod. “Of course this is the first time I felt it, I was human before this.” He did not voice this however. One it would be rude, and it would be horribly out of character. “Sight of Magic is an ability that appears every now and again. Over the last few centuries it has been better tracked due to improvements in recording history and events. The Sight of Magic appears once every ten years, but that is only for female unicorns.” Twilight explained. “Yes, girl power!” Suzy mentally cheered. Soral leveled a glare at Suzy. For some reason he really didn’t like the signal he was picking up off of her. “In my studies, I have only found mention of two male unicorns to posses it in the last two hundred years.” Twilight explained. Soral felt his eyes widen at that comment. That was rare, that was very rare. “Uhm, I am not in any danger right?” He asked cautiously. “Danger?” Twilight asked, lifting a brow at the question. “Why would you think that you are in danger?” “Well,” Soral licked his dry lips as he considered a few reasons, granted they were human reasons but still. “I mean I am not going to become a test subject because of this am I?” “Oh!” Twilight said understanding his worry now, “Oh…” and trailing off in a fashion that did wonders for his confidence. She let out a nervous laugh when he pinned her with panic filled eyes. “I do not want to spend the rest of my life as some research specimen!” “Well, they are not allowed to do anything without your consent…” The mare said weakly. “That doesn’t fill me with hope.” Soral said flatly. “In fact, it does the exact opposite.” “Yes but I promise not to be too invasive—I mean I promise they won’t be too invasive.” She said giving him smile. All was quiet as Soral looked at Twilight with a bit of fear in his eyes. “Please let me study you! I never got to see this ability, I only ever got to read about it. The mares still alive that have it are either too busy, or have hidden away.” Twilight said franticly as she wrapped her hooves around the foal. “Uhhhh,” Soral tried to think of a way out of this situation when he realized this was Twilight Sparkle he was dealing with. “What is Princess Celestia doing here?” He questioned out loud focusing his eyes on a point behind the mare. “Princess Celestia I can explain!” Twilight said disengaging from the foal to explain herself before her mentor. Only to realize there was no Princess behind her. The sound of small hooves rapping against the wood alerted her to her target escaping. “Wait, come back!” Twilight cried about to give chase, when she was blocked by Applejack. “Don’t you have something else to do? Something the Princess sent you here to do?” The farm mare asked. Twilight Sparkle looked at her for a moment, before gasping and running out of the house. “Spike! We have to go!” She called. Grabbing the small dragon with her magic she lifted him to her back while heading down the road at a full gallop. Applejack just shook her head at the odd mare before turning to face the other lavender unicorn in her house. Suzy did not move at first, but the quiver in her shoulder and her chest made her thoughts on the situation all too clear. As if cued by some greater power she chose that moment to breakdown laughing. *-*-* Soral was galloping full-tilt away from the farm. He failed to pay attention to where he was placing his hooves and ended up tripping, rolling roughly off the side of the road and into some bushes. “Ugh.” Soral groaned as he righted himself. Then he felt the pulse that he was learning to associate with Twilight fast approaching. He ignored his bruises and crouched down into the bushes. “Ah Twilight, why did we have to leave? The food was great.” A nasally voice whined. Peaking through the leaves he could see the lavender unicorn trot up the road at a decent pace. He made sure not to make any sound that could give away his position. “Because Spike,” Twilight stated in an exasperated tone, “we need to check on the rest of the preperations for the Summer Sun Celebration. I also need to research more on Nightmare Moon.” “You’re still going on about that fairy tale?” Spike asked in a disbelieving tone. “All legends have some base in fact Spike. Nightmare Moon is real and we have to prepare to stop her.” Twilight stated firmly. Soral blinked at the byplay, he had almost forgotten about the main villain. He briefly wondered if he should try to tamper with any of the evens but realized a larger problem. He had no idea how to navigate Ponyville. He knew he was still close to Sweet Apple Acers but he felt no desire to head back. Suzy would just tease him about what had happened. There was also the matter of his new power. “Sight of Magic” was a complete mystery to him. It was also the only magic he had access to, even if it was always on. Perhaps he should try to get some practice with understanding it. He entertained the thought that he would be able to see magic later. After all why call it “sight of Magic” if it had nothing to do with sight. He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling in his head, the odd pressure that was not a pressure. Trying to make sense of the feeling just made his head feel like it was full of fog. Soral guessed that would make Twilight a lamp or something, because he still knew where she was even though everything else was now lost. Opening his eyes he saw that the mare had moved a good distance down the road. Maybe he should negotiate for lessons. Surely if he approached her in a calm manner she wouldn’t treat him like a lab rat… Right? Shaking the negative thoughts from his head he decided to follow the mare from a distance. He didn’t want her to see him just yet but he had no clue how to get to Ponyville from here. It wasn’t long before the town was in site. It looked so much different from in the cartoons. Though that was more to the fact everything had depth now that it simply lacked in the show. Ponyville was larger than what he thought it would be. Not some grand city but more than what he considered it to be. There was a definite small-town feel to it, privately owned shops, no big corporations taking up the land. Much more pleasant than some of the other places he has… Was that a McDonnalds? Soral stared intently at the offending sign that did indeed copy the McDonnalds logo to a T. The good news, the name was different, “Miss Mare’s.” They were still a food place but it seemed to be a real restaurant and not a fast food chain. Still it was a surprise none the less. He turned back to follow Twilight again, only to realize that he had lost sight of her. “Okay, not too bad, I just need to find her again.” He told himself. He closed his eyes to try and use the Sight of Magic to find her, only to cringe at the results. If the field was like being in a fog with a single torch to light the way, being in town was like seeing a city at night. Lights, all dancing to and fro, nothing about them to help pick one out from the other. He tried to get rid of the building headache by opening his eyes but he could still feel the points of magic moving about town. “Ugh, I should have stayed at the farm.” Soral groaned aloud. Now what was he going to do. He didn’t see anything he recognized from the show for a landmark, even then he had no idea how to navigate the town. Cartoons aren’t really great for gathering information. “Hi there!” A voice rang out behind him. Spinning around he came face to face with Sweetie Belle. “Umm, hello.” Soral mumbled, off guard at the sudden arrival of the filly. “My names Sweetie Belle, who are you? I have never seen you in town before. Are you here for the Summer Sun Celebration? Do you want to hang out?” The filly fired off in rapid succession. “My name is Soral. I am… new to town. Yes I am here for the celebration, and I guess we can hang out.” He said slowly, a little unsure, but it was better to follow Sweetie around than be completely lost on his own. “Soral!” Apple Bloom’s voice sounded just seconds before he was tackled to the ground. “Why did you run off like that? Ya' had me worried.” “Ugh, sorry Apple Bloom. Something weird happened to me and… I guess I panicked.” Soral admitted, getting up from the ground. He then looked between the two fillies. “Um, Apple Bloom, meet Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle, meet Apple Bloom.” Soral said getting the introductions underway. “Say, aren’t you in my class at school?” Apple Bloom asked the Sweetie Belle. “Yes.” Sweetie admitted, “So what do you guys want to do now?” “Could we go to your house?” Soral asked Sweetie Belle while rubbing a hoof against his head. “I think I need to lie down, or get some aspirin.” “What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asked, concern seeping into her voice. “I woke up a strange ability, and it is causing me trouble.” Soral muttered loud enough for both of them to hear. The two fillies looked at each other for a moment before Sweetie stepped forward. “Sure thing, follow me.” The white filly took off down the road at a trot. Soral gratefully followed after her, while Apple Bloom stayed close to his side. *-*-* Carousel Boutique soon filled their vision as they approached. Soral would admit to underestimating the size of Rarities home and place of business given what he had seen in the show. It was larger than his house back on earth. They entered through the front door, but Soral had the distinct Nagging feeling he forgot something important. “My sister Rarity is out at the moment, but I can let you lay down on couch for a bit.” Sweetie offered gesturing to a piece of furniture positioned near the back of the room. A fainting couch, he should have expected such from Rarity. Soral didn’t say anything, he couldn’t, the ache had grown into a steady throb and made everything hazy. He managed to nod to the now concerned looking fillies; he briefly wondered why they looked like that. That line of thought didn’t last as the moment he was on the couch he was out like a light. *-*-* “You’re sure he just passed out as soon as he lay down?” A voice questioned. “Yep, an' he was breathin funny, an' his head was hot.” An excited voice, Apple Bloom. “He said an ability of his was causing problems and he needed to lie down. What was he talking about?” Sweetie Belle, wait am I still. Soral opened his eyes blearily and tried to look around. A sudden welling of nausea caused him to limit those actions to a groan. “Hot.” He moaned out, realizing that he felt like he was baking in his own skin. “Damn, I should have gone after him sooner. He told me this was the first time he used the Sight of Magic.” The first voice said. More was said and by different voices but Soral couldn’t pay attention to it. He soon passed out again.