//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Talent // Story: Chronicles of the Glow // by Rusty Parker //------------------------------// Chronicles of the Glow Written by: Rusty Parker Edited by: Wanderwing ========================================================================= 3 Talent The spare bedroom was well lit, but that didn’t stop Tick from drifting straight off to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. With all that had come to an end today, Kalk couldn’t help but be happy to see her finally resting. She just looked so peaceful, so relieved. Whatever weighed her down back in class seemed to have been lifted from her shoulders. Her hoof watch lay on the nightstand directly next to the bed, reflecting light wherever it‘s metallic surface faced. Outside the slot of a window, the night wasn’t exactly set in yet outside, the sun still leaving the town in an orange glow. Kalk turned his attention to the portrait that hung from the wall next to the bedroom door he stood in. In it, there was a orange and yellow mare, a little gray and yellow filly, and a Kalk which showed as being a little less gray in the mane. “So, it’s come to this again,” he whispered, his eyes staring into the eyes in the portrait. Their painted faces were unwavering, but Kalk didn’t let up on his stare, as if he expected them to move any second now. He let out a deep sigh, lowering his head in defeat to the portrait. “I… I won’t let her down,” he stated, now raising his head back up. His eyes met that of the mare in the painting, and were locked there. Several tense moments passed, the unicorn trapped in the memories the portrait radiated. There was a knock at the door, snapping him out of his mental lock on the figure. Kalk shook his head, and walked to the door, opening it without hesitation. There was no real crime in Beacon, largely due to the shadow beasts. Who would even think about doing such things when they all needed each other to survive? There was a red manned, tan coated unicorn on the other side of the door. “Kalk! Good evening, how are things going?” she asked, her horn glistening with energy as she held a brightly lit gem in her levitation magic. “Glitter?” he asked, a questioning look coming over his face. “What are you doing out this late? Do you know what time it is?“ he continued to question as he stepped aside, letting her into the room. She smiled sheepishly and let out a bit of laughter as she walked into the room. She presented the gem as if it were an answer to all his questions, her magic holding it before him as Glitter smiled triumphantly. “Nothing to worry about, this would scare off any shadow beast!” she announced with confidence. Now that Kalk looked at it more closely, though through wincing eyes, he noticed something distinct about it. Unlike the classic diamond shape of a hexagon, this one was a shaped as if made from various cones forged together at their bases. It resembled a star, glowing much brighter than any other gem Kalk had seen around town. “My Celestia, where did you get this?” he asked, unable to contain his curiosity. “It’s not like any gem I’ve seen in my life. And that’s saying something!” he exclaimed, still looking over the crystal in amazement. “I have no idea where it’s from, to be honest. An old friend brought it by the shop Monday,” Glitter stated, bringing the gem to her own eye. “This has been my little project ever since,” she said as she spun it over, beaming at her success. “Whenever I wasn’t helping a customer or taking care of the family, that is,” she added, a small smile folding up from the corner of her mouth. “Wait just a second… You said ‘an old friend brought it by,’ What did you mean by that? Who was it?” asked Kalk, still confused about this whole situation. “Better yet, why is this thing so important that you would risk coming over here at this late an hour?” he pressed on. Her only immediate response was to smile wholly, her teeth showing bright white in the light. “Oh, you’re gonna like this,” she said, looking at him now in anticipation for his imminent reaction. “It was Blitzy who brought it to me!” Glitter exclaimed, her head held high. Kalk blinked several times, his mind bringing back memories from long ago of the ambitious little colt who wanted to be a Wonderbolt one day. Kalk smiled at the thought of how proud the pegasus had made his parents at such a young age. It dawned on him then that he hadn’t seen Blitzy in a long time. “He’s back then? In town?” He asked, a smile dawning on his face. Glitter, looked up, rubbing her chin in thought. “Not right now,” she said, a little upset that he had to leave so soon. “But he said he’d be back this time… and he seemed sincere this time,” she added, clutching to the hope that he hadn’t lied. Glitter turned her eyes back to a thoughtful looking Kalk, who was now looking out the window at the sky, a smile on his face. “Yes… yes this could work quite nicely,” he half whispered to himself, looking up at the orange and red clouds in the distance. Kalk still hadn’t found a suitable teacher for the pegasi in his class, the town being relatively void of young and adult pegasi due to their escape method. Now that Blitzy was going to be back, as he likely wouldn’t be able to bear breaking two promises to his childhood friend, Kalk knew just who to ask. Blitzy wasn’t one to abandon his home, his dream and family simply lead him elsewhere. He turned to Glitter, a fading smile on his face as his mind brought him back to the conversation at hand. “Well, that’s great to hear and all, but I assume you didn’t risk life and limb just to give me some good news?” he asked, looking to the gem once more. “It’s not like I intended to show up at this hour,” she said after a moment of thinking her answer over. “I was here about an hour and a half after my colt got home, but there was no sign of you,” she said while she rubbed the back of her head with a single hoof. Kalk turned slightly and looked over his shoulder at the closed door, a smile crossing his face as he did. “Yes, sorry, I was… busy. Helping a student after class,” he said, not quite sure if now would be the time to come out with what had happened yet. Knowing the mare before him, she’d rush into the room where little Tick slept and wake her with an overdose of comfort and reassurance. It could wait, and Kalk was too tired himself to be explaining everything at the moment anyway. He turned back to Glitter, his smile gone before she was able to see it. Glitter looked a little confused, but moved on none the less. “Right… Anyway, about why I’m here,” she said, pulling them back on topic. “I never thought that a gem could be made to give off light eternally, there were never any that could hold enough energy to do such a thing,” she explained, pausing for a moment to stare at the ceiling and think. “This here gem,” she began again, pulling the small star toward her with her levitation spell. “It has that kind of power! It took a week, but this baby will never run out of juice!” she finished, holding her head high. “I think I see where this is going,” Kalk said, looking at Glitter as they both smiled. “Shall I get the letter started now? The sooner the better, eh?” He asked, pulling a drawer across the room open as he approached the desk. Held in the envelope of his magic was a piece of parchment and a capped ink well, floating to the desk as he pulled up a feather for use as a pen. “Where should I start?” he asked, the pen in the ink well and the parchment lay flatly across the fine wooden surface. Glitter laughed a little. It was comical to her that Kalk, her teacher from when she herself was a filly the age of her children now, still knew her well enough to be able and understand her motives. “To our great princess, leader to all in Equestria, Celestia,“ she stated, over dramatizing the Princess’s title on purpose. Kalk smiled, and began to write with the feather in his magic, each stroke leaving a thick black line of ink. He knew already what she needed; a letter asking for more gems of the same kind for the sake of keeping the citizens safe. He had been around longer than the rest of the town, and Celestia knew him personally and she trusted him to an extent. Kalk didn’t do this often, only when he thought the town absolutely needed something, and these gems would definitely be needed if the shadow beasts kept coming into town on their little search. He wrote for a few minutes, being sure to punctuate why the gems were a necessity. Kalk added the finishing touches, signing his name in what most would call an illegible scribble, and folded it to be mailed. “This should be suitable, I’m sure Celestia will listen. The shadow beasts are a serious threat after all, and if we could get these gems ourselves by any means we would,” he stated, listing off various facts to reassure Glitter. She smiled openly at him, her teeth reflecting white in the glow of the gem. “Thanks Kalk, I’ll send Blitzy your way when he shows up. He works as a mail mare anyway,” she said, levitating her gem toward the door. Kalk had gotten up, and was now walking over to the door, ready to see her off. His horn glowed, reaching out to the door and pulling it open slowly. Outside, the red glow of the evening was an evident calling card to the night to come. Glitter’s ears lowered, having not realized how long she had been over. “Oh no, better get going now,” she said to herself, pulling the gem along with her as she brushed past Kalk, through the doorway. “I trust this gem, but I don’t think my life would be a good thing to pit against that trust… not yet anyway,” she said, turning to Kalk as she spoke. “Get going, I’ll see you some other time,” said Kalk, smiling at her. His smile faded and he looked up to the clock tower, seeing the time was around seven thirty. “Goodbye, Glitter,” he said, not wanting to hold her any longer. She turned and began her trot down the road, a little faster than she would normally at that. “Yea, have a good night Kalk!” she called back, not stopping for a moment as she went toward the center of town. He watched her until she was around the corner, and then pulled the door shut. The ink well still lay on the desk, the cap off. In capping it, he brought himself back to the factor of the other teacher he was going to have for the class. There was himself and Blitzy, whom Kalk was certain would help, but who else was there? He needed an earth pony, someone who knew what it was to lack flight and magic but still appreciate the gifts he held. His mind filled with names, but he still had no real idea of who to go to first. It was a matter that he could wait to figure out though, there still the weekend after all. No, now that his mind was on school, he couldn‘t help but think of his students. There was Tick of course, one of the most promising having already gained her cutie mark, and that Pink Yellow who sat in the corner always seemed to be ahead of her game. But the one who Kalk’s mind really got caught on was Orange Cyan. He almost always understood a concept, and unlike the others, seemed eager to learn every little detail. Oh, he couldn’t wait to see how that one would turn out. He’d never seen the colt use magic before, not even to write, but he knew there was potential. Kalk walked down the hall now, pausing as he came again to Tick’s door. He looked in to find she was still asleep, snoozing soundly in the lit up room. He turned back to the picture he had been staring at before Glitter arrived, and smiled now. Yes, this lot was going to do amazing things. He wouldn’t let them down, and he felt it in his heart. “I promise,” he whispered, turning away from the picture his smile still dawned as he headed for bed himself. … “Everypony will get the chance to learn just what they can do today,” Kalk announced before the class early Monday morning. To his left was a brown and tan pony who the orange headed colt had never seen before. He had a cutie mark of grass, growing from one point and leading outward in a fan-like shape. To Kalk’s right stood Blitzy, wings held close to his light purple body. The colt was happy as ever, having seen the pegasus for the first time since the day they met. There was still no sign of Ditzy, and that worried him to a point, but seeing the mail mare himself was enough to bring a smile to the colt’s face. If he returned now, he would no doubt come back again. “Now then, to my right is a former Wonderbolt, an expert flier who will be teaching the pegasi in this class. His name is Blitzy,” Kalk said, allowing the pegasus to step forward. He looked around the room, smiling at all the young fillies and colts. “My my, you’ve got a lot bigger of a class here than when I was a colt myself,” he said to Kalk, then turned back to the class. “I’ll be showing anypony with wings and the guts to use em’ just how to do their very best in the skies,” he stated, a smirk across his face. “it’s a pleasure to meet you all,” he added after a moment. One pegasus across the room had a smile across his face, his hooves planted on his seat and wings extended. Tick, however, was shrieking back a little at Blitzy’s words, still unconfident in herself. He stepped back again, allowing Kalk to continue. “To my left, a well grounded earth pony who will be showing those of the earth how to be just as skilled with what you do as anypony using magic,” he said, the pony in question stepping forward. “I don’t need this over dramatic introduction, Kalk,” he stated, his voice deep and low. Now that Orange Cyan saw him a little closer, the stallion was a giant among even the adults. He made Kalk look almost like a colt in comparison. He must have noticed the stares he was getting, for he turned now to the class and rose his head, a plain expression across his face. The students in the room seemed to shriek away at his voice and size. “I am Greenhoof, and as you may have guessed, I am skilled with farming and the like. I’ll be teaching you what being an earth pony is all about,” he said, his voice still a deep tone. It seemed as though he couldn’t help it, like his size made it impossible for him to speak any differently. He stepped back, and Kalk nodded toward him before addressing the class once more. “You all know me already, or so I’d hope. I’ll be the one teaching the unicorns amongst you about the arcane arts and how to best control and use your magic to its fullest potential,” he said, a smile on his face as the unicorns in the room seemed to perk up. “Now then, lets all move out,” he added, motioning toward the two other teachers. They all filed out into the hall, grouping up with their appointed teachers. The two pegasi in the class found their way to Blitzy, and the six or seven earth ponies carefully approached Greenhoof. In the doorway, the orange headed unicorn looked over to Blitzy, who was smiling confidently at his two students. His teeth shone white, and his eyes shooting back and forth between them as he spoke. The only one in the whole class with a cutie mark, Tick, shied away each time he looked toward her. Blitzy must have noticed him, for he winked in the colt’s direction. He gave a smile in return, happy to see that the pegasus still remembered him. It was someone. Now that he thought of it, he really should be getting to- “Not intending to fly today, are we?” a voice shot out, shattering the colt’s thought. He couldn’t help but yelp out in fear, flinching severely at the voice. He turned to see it was Kalk, standing directly behind him. He was still in the class room, having left something or another on his desk. “Relax, I’m only playing with you,” he stated, grinning slightly at the colt, “Now come on, we have a lot to go over, and it’s best not to keep the others waiting,” he added, nodding his head toward the group of three unicorns that had congregated further down the hall. “Uh, yea… sorry,” the orange headed colt said, rubbing a hoof against his mane in embarrassment. “Don’t be, nothing for you to worry about,” he responded as they walked down the hall side by side. “I needed to get the key to the magic labs anyway.” “Really? Magic labs?” the little unicorn asked excitedly, bouncing up and down as they walked. Kalk nodded, happy to see his enthusiasm. He bounced ahead of his teacher, not wanting to waste any time getting to their destination. Kalk laughed a little, this one was always so energetic. “I’m kinda nervous…” the orange headed colt heard one of the unicorns in the group say as he approached. “Yea, me too. I only ever did magic once,” the biggest of the group said. “But it was awesome!” she added as the fourth reached the group. “Cool!” he said, bringing his bounce to a stop. The other three in the group brought their eyes to him, giving him a look as if he shouldn’t be speaking. “So… what did you do?” he dared to ask, despite the scrutinizing looks. The dark blue manned filly snorted out of her nostrils, not wanting anything to do with him. “What does it matter to you?” she said, giving him a threatening look that brought him to his flank. The colt only tilted his head in confusion. All he did was ask a question… was that really so bad? He asked questions all the time. “Well, you said it was awesome…” he said looking down as they all continued to stare. One shook her head as if disgusted. “So what was awesome about it?” he asked after a few seconds, lifting his head as he spoke. She looked at him with one eye partially closed, giving him a terrible and angry stare. She seemed to ooze her disdain from her very being. “Can’t you just shu-” “Alright then, let’s get a move on,” Kalk broke in from behind the colt, halting her in mid speech. She immediately lost any sign of having been angry, perking up at the sight of him. The others had also stopped their beaming stares, and were now looks up toward Kalk with smiles. The colt was a little stunned, having thought he could be hit by one of them if it had gone on much longer. He also looked up toward his teacher, and gave the only true smile in the group. He rose, and Kalk continued, “We’re going to the magic labs, second floor up. There, we’ll be going over some basics of magic, and a little later on in the day you’ll all get to try some of it out for yourselves,” he said with a smile. “I can’t wait Mr. Kalk!” the blue manned filly announced in a high pitched voice as he began to lead them to the stairs. It was so much different from the sound the orange headed colt had heard just seconds before coming from her mouth. It had been almost like what he’d heard coming from some of the shadow beasts he saw in his nightmares, or heard outside in the middle of the night. As they walked on, he held pace with the group. He kept looking over to her, not sure what to think of her. As if from nowhere, she was back to the beast she had been before Kalk had come. She looked over to him with the same, threatening look. He lowered his ears and stopped momentarily to bring himself lower to the ground. She seemed to drip with the poison she so well wished to fill him with. When she was a few paces ahead, she waved her head forward, not wanting to keep on looking at him. He didn’t know why, but she really seemed to… to hate him. They all did. What was so bad about him? What made them so annoyed to tell him to buzz off all the time? He just wanted to be friends. After a few moments, he lifted himself back up and began to follow. This time though, he kept his distance behind the rest. … The wind over the town was roaring fiercely, a common phenomenon considering the density of the thick, impenetrable forest that the winds had to go over. Beacon always had some form of breeze blowing over it, since it initially created an infinite pocket of low pressure for the ocean of air swirling down to fill. Atop the school house, the second highest location in the town, three pegasi stood with their hair flailing in the wind. “As you both know, flight can be very dangerous in winds like these. It can cause you to lose control, and at high elevations, this can be the end of you,” said Blitzy over the roar of the wind. “Now, I know you two both know how to fly already, but you’ll still need to be very, and I mean it, very careful when we reach the top of the trees,” he continued, looking now to the cliff like forest surrounding them. He pointed a hoof to the edge of the canopy. “There is a lot more turbulence there, around the perimeter of the tree tops, than anywhere else. Pierce that, and we’re golden.” “E-excuse me, Mister Blitzy?” asked Tick, as she held herself low to the flat roof of the building, her wings snapped close to her thin body. He nodded toward her as the other, not so intimidated pegasi drew his attention to her. “Um… Aren’t there a lot of monsters in the forest? What if we-” “I’ll be right there, ready to catch you if you get too close or start to fall, Tick,” said Blitzy, seeing the worry in her eyes. “I know this is all new to you both, since your so young. I wouldn’t let some mistake be the end of you. I’m a Wonderbolt, after all. You’ll be safe,” he reassured her with a smile. “Yea, we’ll be fine,” added the other student who was looking down at her. His mane was a bright green that contrasted against his dark brown coat. Tick rose a little, but still seemed intimidated by the looming thicket of branches above. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and forcing herself to calm down. She flew every day, what made this so much different than usual? A couple of branches? Sure, there were shadow beasts in there, but they would never come close to the light. She could do this. The eldest amongst the three observed his students steadily for a few moments, giving them time to prepare themselves. “Okay, time to get started then!” Blitzy said once he saw Tick’s reassurance. “Remember, the wind is going to try to fight your every movement once we reach the edges of town, don’t let up! Push through the current, and you should be able to make it to the other side of it just the same as if it weren’t there,” he reminded as his wings spread, their span wider than that of the two children’s combined. He lifted off the ground, pushing through the currents that sent his blonde hair flying back. Tick looked up to him as he gave several beats in the wind with his wings, pulling higher and higher before beginning to fly toward the canopy’s edge. The other pegasus began to beat his wings next, raising in much the same way Blitzy had despite much more stress being put on him. As he too flew upward, Tick bit her lip, looking now to her own wings. She could do this, Tick thought. She had to. Otherwise, what was she? An earth pony with clipped, frail appendages off to her sides. She closed her eyes, and pulled her wings out to her sides. She wouldn’t let that happen, there was no way she could. With a few beats, she felt her hooves rising from the ground. She felt herself pulling her eyes open, ready to make way to the canopy’s top. The wind blew strongly, making her wince, and yet still she pushed, not relenting. Her mother wouldn’t have given up, and there was no reason she should either. A current of wind blowing opposite the direction she flew caused her to turn a little off course, but with a grunt she pushed on. Push, push push push! She had to push through, lest she fell to an early doom. There was no way out of it now, if she stopped her forward momentum, she’d lose control and crash. With tears streaming from her eyes, forced out from the wind, Tick was able to see the edge of the trees getting closer and closer. She’d be over it in a few seconds… if she could hold on. The air around her was acting as a net, trying to pull her down the same way a fish net would pull up on a school of fish. “Just… a little… More!” she grunted out, her whole body in pain against the convulsing air. Her eyes shut tightly, her teeth clenched together, she felt she wouldn’t make it. The wind that was sucking her down grew stronger and stronger as she went. She was on her last leg, barely able to even stand the pain when suddenly, it stopped. There was no more force on her, and the unrelenting pain began to calm. Across her coat there was now only a light, soothing breeze. She opened her eyes, tears still strewn back across her cheeks, to find that she had made it! The trees below were at least one hundred meters away, and she flew over them with little to no effort. She was battered, sore and felt worse physically than she had ever thought possible, but she couldn’t stop herself from crying out in joy. She floated there, too happy to realize anything around her. The horizon… it was something she hadn’t remembered ever seeing. The forest was too tall to let anyone see where the sun went when it set, or for that matter, what there was beyond the entrapping woods. She looked around her wide eyed, shocked at how much there was to this world she knew so little about. The land continued on, uninhibited by anything. In the distance, she saw that the forest came to an end, and there were wide, open spaces she had never even dreamed of. There, across the valley ran a river… A real river! She whirled in circles, looking all around her. She was unable to close her eyes for even a second. The most shocking to her, though, was the enormous mountain that was behind her, past the town. It rose high into the clouds, seeming to go up forever. It seemed as far away as the sun. It must be enormous, she thought. She couldn’t pull her eyes away from it, this mass of rocks and dirt that turned white half way to the clouds. “Does anyone live there?” Tick felt herself say aloud, a thought escaping her lips. “I would think so,” spoke a deep masculine voice from behind her. Blitzy flew nearer her, looking toward the looming mass in the distance just the same as she did. “I’ve never been there, but it makes the mountain that the Princess’ castle is on look like a filly standing next to somepony as big as Greenhoof,” he added. Tick looked to him, a smile on her face before returning her attention to the vast world before them. “I think I know why so many pegasi left our home when they got old enough,” she said as she closed her eyes. Blitzy turner to her again, a look of understanding coming over his face. “Yes… it’s a wide, wide world out there. Never know what you’ll find, who you’ll meet, or what you’ll see,” he said with a warm smile adorned on his face. Green brown had flown to them, and was now looking off into the horizon the same as Tick had. “Question is, what will you do?” Tick kept her eyes closed, a small smile crossing her face. She knew the answer without thinking, the thought ingrained in her mind screamed for her to listen to it the moment her new teacher had asked. “I am going to stay… How could I leave? I made a promise to stay,” she said, her voice turning to a rasp whisper as she spoke. Mother, she thought, I will not leave. I can’t, not after what you did for me. Tick felt her eyes clench more tightly as the thought siphoned pain from her. As always though, she was able to hide it. I will protect everyone, Mom. This world is vast, more than I could ever think before, but I will not abandon my home. She opened her eyes, the sight of the horizon entering her vision immediately. Her eyes went to the little town where she knew she would spend the rest of her life, and then to her hoof watch wrapped around her left front hoof. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling at the memory it contained. Indeed, it was far more beautiful than any sight she would see in her life, this memory. Her mother was still alive then. … The entirety of the second floor of the school house made up the magic labs. If not for the ceiling, one could mistake this room for a highly decorated roof or porch. There were countertops lining the white wall opposite the large, dark green chalk board. Various instruments rested on them, obviously for use in magical training. Huge, circular columns rose a quarter of a way into the room, acting as a gateway between the training and class areas. The same was for the opposite side of the room, having a central area for practicing magic and two areas for teaching it. Hanging from the high ceiling were sturdily hung gem stones, glowing more brightly than most to fill the enormous room. Lining the two walls within the practice area were targets, and in the center of the room were tables and pedestals with more instruments lying on their tops. It was in the class area that the unicorns had spent the morning, learning the various ways in which they could begin to use their magical talents. Kalk had given several demonstrations at his podium, using his levitation spell to pick up all four of them while they still sat in their seats, or lighting the room with blinding light. “So you see, my young apprentices, magic can appear in many different forms. If used properly, it can be a valuable asset to daily life,” announced Kalk as he was finishing up his speech. He gave them all a stern, much more serious look. His eyes traced from one student to the next as he spoke. “However, it can also destroy you if you cannot control it. Every time you use magic, your wielding a force that can often be very dangerous,” he said in a slow, solemn voice as he walked past them to the back of the room. He looked up at the wall for a few moments. “I have faith in each one of you, but please. Be cautious,” he finally said. He whirled around suddenly, new energy seeming to flow through his veins as whatever thought that occupied his mind was pushed away. “Let’s get started then!” he said with a smile across his face. “Over to the training labs with all of you, it’s time you put concepts to action. Try out some basic spells, light and levitation tend to be pretty easy to grasp,” he announced as they walked to the center of the room. The orange headed colt couldn’t help but have an extra bounce in each step, anxious to have finally come to this point. During Kalk’s explanations of magic, he had paid more attention than he did on even the most interesting subjects. He was finally going to be able to use magic! How could he not learn everything he could about it? The navy blue manned filly had given him angry looks and sneers all the while, but that didn’t bother him in the least here. In the halls, yes, and maybe even in regular classes. But here? It had been a dream of his to learn magic for as long as he remembered, and nothing could bring his mood down now that it was finally happening. They reached the central table in the training area, a wide, ovular stone slab that sat upon a single cylinder of stone at its center. There, Kalk brought into line a few of the instruments with his magic. He detailed each and how they were to use them. “This here,” he said, raising a small blue gemstone with two perpendicular steal bands wrapped around it, “Is a detector for light spells. We can’t exactly turn off the lights here, so this tool is the only way to really tell if it’s working. Simply cast your spell,” he said, as his horning began to illuminate at its tip. “And it will change color!” he pronounced, the little blue orb turning a deep orange in the presence of his horn‘s magical essence. “You’ll have to give each other some room for it to work right, though. Otherwise you won’t be able to tell all that well who is casting the spell.” “Mister Kalk! Why can’t we just look and see the glowing of our horns? I can see yours just fine,” asked the orange headed colt. Kalk gave a smile at this, pushing the gem aside with a hoof as he began to speak. “Yes, that may be true. However, not all of you will be able to get it bright enough to see in here. It detects the magic, not the light, so you’ll be able to tell if your channeling the right sort of energy,” Kalk explained as one of the other unicorns yawned. With a sheepish smile, he moved onto the next instrument. There were several that tested specifically for levitation precision, some that required you to simply move a tiny piece of sand through a maze, others that required being put together like a puzzle. It didn’t take long for him to conclude his explanations, and soon they were all soon allowed to try some magic out for themselves. The colt looked around him as he walked over to a rectangular table near the larger one they were just at. The others moved to their own areas, not paying him any heed. All except for the navy blue manned filly, who was actually smiling before she set eyes on him. Her eyes only stayed with his for mere seconds, but the message of disapproval was clear. She sat on the opposite side of the room with the other filly, facing directly away from the orange manned colt. He turned back around to face the tools that lay before him, the excitement whittling down and a sense of nausea replacing it. There were so many, he didn’t know where to start. He didn’t know how to start. All the memories of the hours they had spent in the class lab seemed to shriek away the moment he tried to access them. What he could recall was fleeting at best, his mind unable to focus in the suddenly hot room. He felt sweat beginning to creep its way to his back and forehead, and his breathing shifted to a much faster pace. He looked down at the trinkets below him, which seemed miles away despite his hoof being right next to one. He felt as though his very life hinged on this moment, like all he’d lived for up to this day was nothing if he couldn’t do magic here and now. He clenched his eyes shut, feeling and hearing his own heart beat as the adrenaline set in. He sat there for what felt like an hour, his eyes closed as he breathed deeply. The anxiety in his mind was completely intolerable, it was as if a brick wall was between him and rational thought. Every little attempt he made at starting to try turned to an utter lacking in self-confidence. He couldn’t do this, he thought. He was a unicorn, and he couldn’t manage to even try magic. He opened his eyes, remembering now clearly something that seemed to snap him from his sudden waves of duress. His sister had come home after beginning her first week of school, having learned so much more than he could even come to understand. She was strong, a filly who could master spells that their parents had taken years to perfect. Then, he had become depressed because he felt that he couldn’t compare to her. She was the stand out of the class at the time, no other able to perform as well as she did. What had he been? The colt no one talked to who didn’t have any friends. Yet still, something in the memory had calmed him, a warm feeling of relief and happiness. His sister may have been the best, but she thought he would be better. At some point, he couldn’t quite recall how, but he had ended up in the old clock tower, having run away to cry about how he couldn’t be like her. He was so outshined, and Mom and Dad had seemed to forget he existed when she started to show off her abilities. It was in that cold clock tower on a winters day that she had come to find him, curled up in a ball. Tears soaked his cheeks, and there wasn’t much light at all. “Orange Cyan!” she had said in a low whisper when she saw him, a plate half filled with food falling and shattering on the floor. He remembered seeing tears instantly spring to her eyes as she moved to him, wrapping him in a full embrace. They both cried, and after a while, she asked him why he had run here. He told her that she was so much better, why should he even exist? She cradled him as he wept out his reasoning behind having run away from home. “Don’t be silly, my precious little brother. You’re going to be a much better pony than I am, you know?” she had said, stopping his sobbing in its place as his eyes opened wider than he thought they would go. “I know you’ll be somepony great someday… So don’t cry… Orange…” She had stayed with him for the rest of the day, not letting him feel upset about anything. His sister’s words brought him such joy and happiness. She spoke with such sincerity, and looked at him as if she could see his very soul within. His lacking in confidence had been blown to pieces, and a fresh smile dawned on his once again eager face. The memory in and of itself brought such power to him. He looked down to the magic training equipment with intent, ready now more than ever to begin. The first of the trinkets he decided to test out was the blue gem. He figured that since the rest of his family seemed to have luck with them, he would as well. The orange manned colt inhaled, not letting the air escape as he mentally went over the process of using the light spell mentally. First, he channeled all his energy to his forehead and horn, as if pushing against an invisible wall in his skull. His eyes clenched tightly as he tried to put as much energy into the coming spell as he could. His horn remained without an aura of energy, as most did their first few times attempting magic. Next, he had to get the energy converted to light, so that he could prepare it to be released at his horns tip. It took a lot of mental focus, but he managed to get the same warm feeling in the front of his head that Kalk had mentioned. He opened his eyes, the energy now requiring little effort to maintain near the base of his horn. Looking to the gem, he saw it still remained blue. The final step was for him to force the energy out of his horn where it would glow brightly at the tip… If he could get it there at all. Kalk had told them that this part took the most effort, but he never imagined it would be on this scale. It was like trying to push your brain through your skull, it just seemed impossible. Yet gradually, he felt the energy move to the tip. It took a while, and near the end, he felt exhausted. But he had finally gotten the energy to where it could release. Bracing himself, he gave the final push as his very first spell released… and did nothing. The energy he had built up with effort seemed to have dissipated. Blinking, the unicorn looked down to the gem to find it was still blue, completely unchanged from its state at all. He looked around, and saw that the others weren’t having any trouble getting their magic to activate. The filly who seemed to despise his existence was moving the grain of sand through the maze with little effort, and the others seemed to have gotten their gem to turn orange on their first try. Maybe he had to try a different type of spell, he thought as he slid the simplest of the tools over to the center of his table. It was a really basic setup, just move the ball to the top of the tube with levitation magic and let it fall into the other tube. He prepped himself once more, bringing his horn to bear as he focused. Yet even after trying what felt like one hundred times, he still couldn’t coax the ball into budging. He couldn’t even use levitation magic, he thought as he felt panic set in. What unicorn couldn’t do that? It was the most simple thing there could be to do, just reach out with a small amount of channeled arcane energy and grab hold of something. Why couldn’t he do this? He looked around himself, only to find that the other students had halted their practice, and were snickering to one another. In seeing that he noticed them, they all burst out into laughter. The orange manned colt couldn’t stop himself from cringing visibly, not wanting to be anywhere near the magic labs suddenly. He felt helpless… He felt useless. Their laughing was the least of what he truly worried about. He couldn’t live up to his sister’s expectations of him, couldn‘t meet her thoughts of him. To her, he was the one who would be better than the rest, the one who could do more than any other pony in all of Beacon. He couldn’t bear it, the pain in his chest throbbed as he pulled himself more inward with each beat of his heart. The colt didn’t think, just ran. Ran out of the room and down the stairs, tears streaming down his cheeks. ========================================================================= Light! Brilliant, bright, soothing and warm light! It flowed like a stream down onto the world, anything in its path a mere observer to its majesty. As quickly as it had come, it was gone, vanishing into nothingness once more. “The…. Luminous One,” a voice whispered, rugged and unfamiliar in its tone. It came as a plea, begging to be listened to. Begging to be heard. As the light relit itself, the darkness enveloped from within. Blood guided all through the thicket. The darkness was alive, thriving with a new found force. Nothing remained still.