//------------------------------// // Abilities // Story: The Ultimate Element // by Akamaru01 //------------------------------// The Ultimate Element Chapter 4 Abilities         YAWN. The pegasus mare had just woken up from a nice dream. She walked out of her room, and as she headed to kitchen, she saw a stallion cooking on the oven. The rainbow mare had almost forgotten that she is allowing a the blue and yellow pegasus to stay with her. “Morning, Lightning.”         “Oh. Good morning Rainbow Dash,” he replied, turning to look at the mare.         “What are you making?” she asked, smelling the delicious aroma. “It smells great.” She licked her lips in anticipation and hunger.         “Hay pancakes. Figured it was the least I could do for you, and they’re almost ready.” The pegasus had prepared two large stacks of fluffy, golden brown pancakes, complete with butter and syrup.         “Wow. These are great,” she exclaimed as she tore into the food. “I didn’t know you could cook.”         “Well, I have been living on my own for a while.”         “So how did you sleep last night?”         “Like a foal. That cloud bed you have in there is amazing.”         “Made it myself. Hey, after breakfest, I think we should start training in the gym upstairs. What do you think?”         “Sounds good,” he answered.         For the next few days, the two pegasi began to spend more time together. They usually did some sort of flight training, or talking about great fliers of Equestria.They had become best friends. It was a nice time for him. Sometimes, the stallion would look at his companion, and give a light smile, thinking that maybe he could stay in Ponyville. After all, he found something here he never could anywhere else. Friends. He would let this idea linger for a mere moment before releasing it. It would not be long now. He had a week, at most, before his body restored to normal, and he would need to leave. For now, though, he just wanted to enjoy this time with them.         “Are you sure that’s safe?” he asked the blue mare.         “Of course I’m sure. I know what I’m doing.” The speedy pegasus mare stood in the air, preparing a new trick, one that didn’t look like it would end well. She stood next to a skateboard, at the top of a large ramp. She stepped on the board, opening her wings and preparing to ride. Just before she attempted it, however, three little fillies came bouncing up to the stallion.         “Hey girls,” Lightning interrupted, stopping the mare from her trick. “What brings you here?”         “We wanted to hear about your travels through Equestria,” answered Applebloom.         “Yeah. I bet you have lots of interesting stories,” said Scootaloo.         “Alright then. I’ll meet you guys at the library in five minutes.”         “Thanks!” chimed the fillies in unison.         “See ya later Rainbow Dash. And I do hope you rethink that new trick. It’s a little extreme, even for you.”         “Don’t worry about it Lightning. I’ll be fine. Talk to ya later.” She waved a hoof to him in good bye, looking down the ramp.         At the library, the stallion began to tell the fillies about what he had seen on his journey. He spoke of terrifying monsters, some worse than those in the Everfree forest. He had seen large, and demonic versions of common animals, such as a 20 foot tall fox with multiple tails. He even once saw a small pack of Ursa Majors, which he only narrowly escaped. He had met large, menacing dragons, and each one of them have tried to barbecue the pegasus. On his journey, he had also encountered a tribe of zebras, and a herd of large ponies, twice the size of a normal pony, that called themselves horses. He had met many types of ponies, but none quite like his friends here in Ponyville, and they never seemed interested in him, or his adventures. It felt nice to finally have somepony to tell what he had been through to. The fillies listened so intently, they didn’t even notice when the door opened and two mares walked into the library.         “Applebloom?” The orange earth pony asked, a purple maned unicorn close behind. “Ya in here? Time to head home.” She looked over and found her sister with her friends and a blue and yellow stallion. At the sight of him, the earth pony put on a stern face, and motioned for her sister to follow.         “Do you still not trust me Applejack?” he asked with a bit of a sarcastic tone. The pony didn’t answer, but instead left without saying a word.         “I’m terribly sorry about that Lightning,” Rarity said, filling in the silence. “But you know how she is. Come along Sweetie Belle.”         “Alright sis.” The smaller unicorn stood and walked toward her sister.         “You should head home too Scootaloo,” remarked the older pegasus. The ponies had left the library, and the stallion began to think about how the farm pony really didn’t trust him. And she has every right not to.  --- The next day, the seven older ponies walked through the town, suddenly noticing a squad of royal guards heading toward the Everfree forest. “This can’t be good,” Twilight said. “We better go check this out.” The ponies rushed into the forest, taking only a few minutes to find the guards. They seemed to be looking for something. Their horns kept close to the ground, the unicorns themselves positioned in row, moving together as a unit. Several other guards scattered themselves around the trees, leaving no spot on the ground touched, and no stone unturned. Probably taking it a little too literally.         “Excuse me,” said Fluttershy. “Is everything alright?”         “Nothing you need to worry about,” one of the guards replied without looking at them.         “Well, I’m sure we can help ya’ll with whatever it is,” chimed Applejack.         “Well,” one of the guards began, clearly the leader of the group, turning to look at the seven ponies. “The princesses have detected a strange energy in Equestria.” Lightning took a silent step back. “They can’t pinpoint it, so they sent us guards to look for the source, because they think it could be dangerous.” The blue and yellow stallion crouched, trying to hide a little, and stayed in the back of the group. The only pony to notice being Rainbow Dash. “They don’t want you involved right now, but they will send a message if they need the Elements’ help.         “Well, alright then,” responded Twilight, reluctantly dropping the subject. “I guess we should head back to town.”         “I think that would be a good idea,” spoke the stallion. Rainbow Dash began wondering what could be wrong with him, but decided to trust that everything would be okay. All the way back to town, the stallion seemed to be acting nervous and scared. But of what? ---         A few more days had passed, and the blue pegasus would hate to leave in two more, but it had to be done. On that day, he could hurt a lot of ponies if he didn’t act carefully For now, however, he rested in his room, thinking about how he would survive the party pony’s last celebration for him tomorrow. She promised this to be the best one yet, and he barely survived the ones that came before. He felt a sudden surge in his body. Something had gone wrong. His body began restoring too quickly. This shouldn’t happen for a few more days, and yet his energy rose steeply. Oh no. Not now. This would soon turn into a dangerous situation. He had no choice, he knew what had to be done, although it would haunt him for the rest of his life. A few hours passed before the blue pegasus mare returned to her home. “Hey, Lightning. I’m back.” She heard nothing except for her own echo. “Lightning?” The mare flew into his room, making sure he wasn’t  just asleep, but when she opened the door, she saw that all of his belongings had disappeared. “Oh no.” She zoomed around town, searching for the stallion, asking her friends to help. When they saw no trace of him, they began to panic.         “He couldn’t have just left, could he?” asked the purple unicorn.         “I don’t know. He wasn’t supposed to leave for a few more days,” the pegasus responded frantically.         “We need to find him,” shouted the pink earth pony. “He hasn’t said good bye or have his last party yet.”         “And,” continued Fluttershy, “I think he and Applejack still need to make peace before he leaves for good.”         “And this proves that I was right. I told ya’ll he couldn’t be trusted.”         “Applejack, argue about him later, find him now!” The multi hued pegasus sounded impatient and irritated. “Now, I’m gonna go as high as I can, and see if I can find a trail.” The mare flew high, and at that moment she had never been more glad to have so many clouds. She could see a faint trail where somepony had moved through the clouds, as if trying to remain hidden. She gathered her friends and the three fillies, who had wandered nearby, into the hot air balloon. She strapped in Fluttershy to the harness, so the ponies can follow her, and started off down the trail. ---         The stallion could feel the energy growing. It began to get painful, so he had been forced to walk. Luckily he had already made it far out of Ponyville, and even if the others did discover him missing, they shouldn’t be able to find him easily.         “Lightning!” cried a voice from afar. What? That shouldn’t be possible! “There you are.” The rainbow maned pegasus was catching up to him. The stallion quickly opened his wings, and flew, despite the pain. He tried to outmaneuver her, but she continued to move directly in front of him, forcing him to turn away. She soon had him trapped on the ground, the others just arriving behind her. “Why did you leave so suddenly?” His tail began to glow softly, but he hid it so that nopony else could not see it.         “I can’t tell you right now,” he said nervously, looking for a way out.         “Why not?” the mare said with worry. “If something’s wrong you can tell us.” His tail glowed brighter by the second.         “Look, if you stay right here for a few minutes, I’ll tell you everything.” The blue pegasus broke the mares grip, and began to fly up, the mare trying to follow. The stallion turned and grabbed her shoulders. “Stay, please,” he said sternly. The look in his eyes showed how serious the situation had become. She floated back down with the others, watching silently.         The stallion flew up fast, his tail glowing brighter as he rose. The ponies below noticed his luminescence for the first time. They stood in shock and confusion. Soon after he reached the clouds, his tail erupted into an explosion of blinding light. It formed into a perfect sphere around his body, and once the light faded, the ponies on the ground saw the pegasus surrounded in a spherical cage of electricity. The sphere could easily be half the size of Ponyville, and shoot large bolts of lightning, both inside and out. The bolts that shot inside struck the pony, but instead of searing him, it appeared to be absorbed into his body. He looked to be in no pain, and in a few moments it ended.         The stallion floated to one of the few remaining clouds, thinking about running off, but he made a promise. He floated down to the ground, each of his friends with their jaws hanging wide open. He didn’t know what to say. Scared of what they might do, he stayed silent.         “That was awesome!” said the pink party pony. Not the reaction he really expected, but this is Pinkie Pie. Nopony can ever guess what she’s thinking. Her sudden exclamation snapped the others back to reality, each staring at the stallion with wide eyes.         “Lightning,” began the rainbow pegasus, drawing out the name a little, “what was that all about?” Her voice showed clear confusion, as did her eyes.         “I guess I should start at the beginning.” The pegasus sat down, as the nine other ponies leaned in to listen intently. “Basically, a few months before I was born, my mother was visiting the mountain below Olympus. At the time, a large, magical storm was moving through Equestria. Most ponies don’t know much about it, because it blew through to fast for them to take much notice. But that was enough time to strike my mother. There was magic in the storm, and it flowed through the bolt, into her, and ended up mutating my still forming DNA magically.” The mares couldn’t hold back gasps of shock. Twilight’s mind started wondering how such a thing should be physically, and even magically, impossible. Changing a ponies DNA? “We didn’t know about my ability at first, but when I was a young colt, there were a lot of bullies, and I got angry. In a split second, all of them had taken a blast to the flank, running home. My family and I were worried at first, but I did learn to control it better. However, it was too late, the entire town was scared of me, and hated me.” He looked away, dejected and upset. “Some wanted to lock me up, or send me to Celestia. When I was old enough, I decided to leave Olympus, and find a new home. No town I found would accept me once they learned the truth, though. Ponyville is the closest I’ve ever gotten to that goal.” At the end of the story, the pegasus began to walk away, not saying another word.         “Where are you going?” asked the yellow and pink pegasus.         “Away. I can’t stay any more.” He didn’t turn back, and didn’t stop walking.         The ponies looked at each other in shock, and the multi hued mare spoke up. “You don’t have to leave.”         “What?” the stallion said, confused. He was shocked into stopping. “Weren’t you listening?” he asked, turning back to them. “Did you not see what just happened? Applejack was right, I am dangerous. And I don’t want to put any of you in any danger.”         “But we’re your friends. And you said it yourself, you have it under control,” the pegasus responded, putting as much persuasion in her voice as possible.         “Lightning, Ponyville is your new home,” Rarity chimed. Lightning went wide eyed, confused and in shock at her words. At all of their words.         “Look Lightning,” spoke Applejack, “I know ah might have been a little rude to you, but I have to admit, that power oh yours is pretty special.” She kicked the dirt with a hoof. “And, ah guess I might miss yah a little too if yah left. Heck, I guess you earned my trust just by leaving to protect Ponyville.”         “Thanks guys, but I don’t know.” He shook his head, unsure of what to do.         “Oh, please, Lightning.” This time, the little yellow filly spoke. “I wanna hear more bout your powers. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.” The other fillies nodded in agreement.         “Why do you guys what me to stay?” he asked in a mix of shock and confusion. “I’m a freak, a monster.”         “Look darling,” spoke the fashionista unicorn, “you are no freak. You seem to be merely misunderstood. You are unique, and nopony should hate you for that.” She placed a hoof on his shoulder, trying to keep his spirits up.         “You guys seriously aren’t scared of me?” The pegasus was being shown a kindness he had never seen before, and he didn’t know how to react to it.         “Of course we aren’t,” replied the rainbow pony. “We’re your friends, and that’s not going to change.”         The pegasus had never had true friends, and he realized they were right, and he had never been happier. The stallion gave a smile, softly saying, “Then I guess we should go back.” The other ponies cheered as all but the pegasi climbed into the balloon, ready to head home to Ponyville. On the way, the stallion told the others about what he could do with his powers. His first ability he discovered had been being able to shoot electricity from his tail, and he could even control it while still connected. He later learned how to also create a dome shield and a wall, both of which could stop almost anything from moving through. His most powerful technique, though, he called “Lightning Mode”, and he had yet to master it. “By channeling my energy all through my body, I can transform his own body into pure electricity, starting at the end of my tail, and it slowly grows across my body. At the moment, I’ve mastered about a 5% transformation, anymore and I lose control of it.”         “Wait,” interrupted the rainbow mare, “is that what you were practicing before you crashed in Ponyville?”          “Yes,” the stallion said, blushing with a bit of embarrassment. “I was pushing the power a bit, and it caused an explosion. That electrocuted me, locked away the power, and sent me crashing into the ground.”         “Wow. So what happens in ‘Lightning Mode’?”         “It temporarily gives me incredible speed and an increase in strength and electrical power.” He sounded proud of his abilities, though he never had a reason to before.         “That’s pretty cool. I bet if you used that in our race, you probably would have won.”         “Probably, unless you used the Sonic Rainboom. No telling how that would turn out.”         “Are you guys gonna race like that?!” the fillies asked excitedly. “I would pay to see that race.”         “Girls,” remarked Twilight, “if they did that, I think Lightning would easily get discovered, and we’re trying to keep that secret for now. Pinkie, that goes for you too..”         “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony.” She made a few motions with her hoofs, appearing to lock her mouth shut and bury something. Lightning couldn’t make out the other gestures, but decided it must have been a promise to keep a secret.         “Thanks guys,” said the yellow maned pegasus. “This really means alot to me.” The ponies arrived back in Ponyville, and decided to rest after the day's events. As he turned in for bed, the pegasus stallion truly believed that he found what he had searched so long for, and he couldn’t be happier than he felt at that moment. End Chapter 4