//------------------------------// // children // Story: Tom walks // by Mr Stargazer //------------------------------// Tom awoke with a snap, sky magic coursing strongly through him. Two children came to his mind. The first strong as the burning sun and wise as time itself. The second with a will of a rushing sea and the heart of the moon. He loved them both…for they were his daughters, even as Twilight would be. Twilight, with her love of books and knowledge that knew no bounds. He loved her already. Knowing that he would never be revealed made his heart break. It was a piece of him, a small part that brought the harmony necessary, yet it meant so much. Tom stood and went through his morning routine even though it was hours early. After preparing breakfast, he left to go about his day. Rarity woke to the sound of Tom moving around. She got up after he left and cleaned herself. She was thinking about her dream. Did Luna really visit her in her dreams? It seemed unlikely… Wait, had she not said that there would be proof? After Sweetie Belle left for school there was a knock at the door. "Yes?" there stood a unicorn guard. "Miss Rarity?" "Yes, I am her." "I was ordered to show you this and then destroy it." A small note floated out from beneath the armor. Its words were simple. It was not a dream -Luna "Have you read it?" "Yes." The piece of paper burst into flame and the particles were scattered on the wind. "Good day, Miss Rarity." The Element of Generosity closed the door shaking. So Luna wanted her to spy on Tom… Why was this happening to her? Of all the things that could have happened this was the. Worst. POSSIBLE. THING! She had started to…what was she going to do? A few minutes of panicking later, she remembered that Tom had left an hour earlier for Twilight’s. She was not sure why the Princess wanted her to track him but… She went for the door. ***** Tom arrived at Sugarcube Corner. The previous days’ events had prevented him from going to Pinkie Pie’s place for a cupcake and to improve his relation with her. As he drew close, Tom was surprised to hear Twilight. "Listen, Pinkie. I just need to run a few more tests. After reviewing Tom's theory and adjusting my instruments I was able to detect the different kinds of magic in all our friends. With further examination, I even saw that Tom's theory of the nature of magic was correct. But now when I measure you, I find the strong presence of all the kinds of magic, just like in the Princesses! However, I can't figure out why you did not turn into an Alicorn! My paper to the magic board won't be complete until I can explain why some ponies with your condition becomes Alicorn and others do not!" "Oh, Twilight. I would but I just have SO many cupcakes to make and the Cakes won't be here to ba..." Twilight put her hooves up on the counter as Tom walked in. "Come on, Pinkie! It will only take a minute." "The reason she is not an Alicorn is because she lacks sky magic, Twilight. Did I not tell you this yesterday?” said Tom, butting into the conversation. “It is something you must be born with or your mind would shatter from the strength." Twilight grew angry. Who was he to make such claims? She had spent the whole night trying to disprove him and instead she had proven him correct. Now he was claiming the one thing she was unable to prove and acting angry that she had not accepted his assertions without question. Who does he think he is?! "How could you possibly know that?" she asked through clenched teeth. "If you seek proof, use your instruments on Celestia as she lowers the sun. You will see that the power comes not from her but from the sun itself. That is sky magic. It is not about having magic inside you but of being in tune with the fundamental magic of the universe. You are either born with it or you are not. Pinkie is not. This reminds me, Pinkie would you be so kind as to give me that cupcake you promised?" "Of course, here you go!" "Thank you." Tom left an infuriated Twilight, headed out the door, and turned towards out of town. Was she angry at me? he thought. I wonder why? **** Rarity could not believe she had been wrong that Tom was going to Twilight’s. Where had he gone? How could she find…oh, there he is. Tom was walking towards the edge of town. Why was he doing that? The fashion designer followed him, her heart hurting ever so slightly at the thought of what she was doing. *** Tom’s power was building up. It seemed that he had not sealed it as well as he had thought. If he did not use the extra power it would continue to build, burning his new flesh. It was not meant to hold such strength and that is why he had kept most of himself out of the body. Now, with so much of his nature folded into flesh it was destroying him. His body would burn up completely in about two hours, so he was in no hurry. If worst came to worst he would just use his power to cancel out all magic within a certain area. Walking near the forest edge, he contemplated how to release his power without informing his daughters of his exact presence. He walked for an hour before coming near the apple farm of Applejack and began to loosen the grip on his power. He pushed out with his mind and influenced them to come. He might as well if he is out here. It was at this moment that three shadows formed on the woods’ edge and one began to speak. "Be gone, traveler. These forests are not for...." The Tree Spirit stopped, recognizing the Great One. They walked out of the woods, their eyes wide with evident fear. The three bowed low before tom as he stood there. "Old one, we have followed your instructions. None have died in the whole of the forest save animals. Would you ask more of us?" "No. Have you chosen names yet?" "Yes, master. I am Treeline and these two are Runningwind and Nightleaves ." "No, I mean for your kind." "Oh…no master, we have not." "You cannot use the name of the Timberwolves. Your kind is different from them now... I name you Tree spirits. Go in peace." "Yes, my master. You are too kind." "I am no one's master. Be gone." The three wolves stepped back into the woods, still facing him the entire way. "You may wish to make yourselves known to the pony officials, but they may not understand your goals. Oh, and yes." Tom focused and spoke with a whisper. "Do not tell the ponies about me after revealing yourselves." Treeline shivered as he felt the compulsion to obey. "Yes, Old one." And with that, the three turned and entered the woods. His power grew a step father with a grinding crack. He winced and gasped. The wind ceased and the birds landed to sit still. All the hair on his mane seemed to move into place. It was good to be in his element. He smiled, content with the world. Until he felt the panic and confusion from three fillies as the little unicorn began to lose control of a glider. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were running and screaming as Sweetie Belle flew uncontrollably through the sky on a hoof glider. If Tom was not still unfolding he could have just teleported her to safety, but he would not reach that strength for ten seconds after she crashed into the barn. Without intervention, she would not survive. Tom galloped toward the barn, his mane flowing in the wind. His power was well above the level necessary to hide from his daughters when they were this close, and he was growing stronger fast. Even as he worked to save a little girl, massive magic-based psychological warfare descended on him from the Princesses. All they wanted was his position, but he pushed delusions onto them and resisted. He did not want to hurt them so his options were limited. As he ran to the barn, a hundred yards away, the young filly crashed through the roof still holding onto her glider. He ran through the door and sighed in relief. He was alone, and the first one on the scene. He ran over to Sweetie Belle and winced. Her life energy was draining and would be gone in seconds. Her horn was snapped off, every rib was cracked, the spine was broken in three places, only one eye was in functioning order, and a large piece of wood was piercing her chest, grazing her heart and piercing one lung . Almost every organ was ruptured. Her eyes blinked open, untold agony in her one function eye. Her lips parted. They mouthed ‘Help me.’ Tom took all of his spare power, throwing it at the filly. Every foreign body in her flesh was teleported into nothingness. The young filly screamed as her bones realigned and healed in two seconds. Then the flesh followed a second later, causing her to slip into a blissful unconsciousness. It took him a total of seven seconds to heal the little filly and delete her memory of everything up to just before she hit the barn. "SWEETIE BELLE! SWEETIE BELLE! OH DEAR SWEET CELESTIA, NOOO!" Tom took only a moment more to remove all the blood and finish restoring Sweetie Belle to full health. Then he reached out with his mind to warp space and teleport to an empty crate in town. At that same moment he cast a wide magic suppression field, working around the hospital and other important areas. Then, in but a second, he pushed his powers so low he was basically an earth pony. This hurt badly enough to cause him to shed a tear but it was worth it. It was worth it… What have I done? ****** Rarity was screaming and crying as she ran into the barn. It was not often you witnessed your sister's death. A part of her mind was wondering what she should wear to the funeral. But that was a small part; the vast majority was in absolute hysterics. When she ran into the barn she had expected to find Tom standing over a broken body. To her immense surprise, all she saw was a peacefully resting filly surrounded by debris. The unicorn ran over to her little sister, casting a spell to see what injuries she had sustained. Her tears turned to joy as she found nothing. Not a single bruise or broken bone. Somehow, Sweetie Belle had crashed through the barn roof and come out unharmed. She was still holding the sleeping filly when the others arrived. First came the rest of the Crusaders, followed by Big Macintosh and Applejack. Then, a medical team who examined the filly before leaving, muttering about just how lucky the filly had been. The one in question opened her eyes shortly after and immediately began to cry. It took hours to calm the two sisters down. Even the Princesses came by to check on the filly, exchanging concerned glances before leaving. It was only when she laid her head down for the night that Rarity asked the glaring question. "Where did Tom go?" ***** The two sisters were walking toward the village. An hour before, both had thought the answers were so close. The thing they sought had revealed itself. Power to match Discord had been used there, but even that did not do it justice. "We were handled like foals," said Celestia, lowering her head. An hour earlier, the Alicorn had been sitting in a struggling restaurant when every unicorn grabbed their horn. Every magic line in the area had been ripped from their grasp. They had immediately begun to trace his location. However, they had been attacked. Illusions and psychic attacks had held them at bay for four minutes as they stood still as a statue, their eyes looking into the distance. After a bit, all of the magic lines shifted. They could detect nothing. Even maintaining the spell around her tea cup became impossible for Luna. After a few moments the lines corrected themselves and their senses returned, only for every trace to be gone. Then they had gone to the farm in question. "Nothing… The place was bathed in magic but not a single clue pointing to the caster," said Luna. "Yes, not to mention the foal." "She was bathed in enough power to level a mountain without singing a single hair! I could feel the trace of energy. She should be dead. " "Yes, but she is not. What do you think of this ‘Tom’?" "If he is the being, then we have even more questions. We could not push ourselves down that far, but those eyes…I looked into them and felt like a child when he had…touched us," Luna mumbled. Both sisters remembered the feeling when he had touched them. It was…comforting. "What should we do about him?" "I have already told Rarity to watch him." Celestia stopped, a pained expression on her face. "Sister, did you not see the way she had comforted him?" "Yes, I did. What of it?" "Luna... She has feelings for him." "I would think everypony has feelings about anypony they meet." "No sister, romantic feelings." "…Oh." ***** Tom was alone, pacing in his room. In all likelihood, Rarity had seen him run into the barn. There would be questions, but that did not bother him now. Tom had a strict moral code to abide by. One: he would never lie. Two: he would not take direct action toward pony kind that would reveal him to the whole. Both were reasonable precautions but now he had broken the second one. He had saved a life. Not just saved it, but had been personally present. Now there would be questions and he would have to answer them or be ostracized. He would have to answer them truthfully because of the first rule. That would likely lead to him being ostracized anyways… Maybe he could lie, just this once? NO! Once he began he would never stop. In time he would be jabbering mad. It was so easy to start lying to yourself once you do so with others. Rarity came home late with Sweetie Belle and took her straight to bed. He had thought she went to bed but instead she showed up at his room. "I saw you go into that barn." Tom sighed. It was as he feared. "I was expecting to find you…over her, but instead you were gone and she was sleeping in the middle of that wreck of a glider." She stepped close. "For now, I am just glad my sister is home… Do I have you to thank for that?" "…Yes." "Thank you Tom, but what you did…no earth pony could have healed my sister. Who are you, Tom?" "I am Tom." His eyes were begging her to stop. "What are you?" "I am tom." A tear came out of his eye. They stood there for a time, Rarity looking Tom in the eye. "It's late Tom. Let's go to bed. Tomorrow evening, I will send Sweetie back to my parents and we will…talk." Nothing else was said. Nothing else was needed.