//------------------------------// // Issue 03 // Story: Lightning Rod // by SlimShadow //------------------------------// LIGHTNING ROD ISSUE #03 “…And now we are right here talking to each other in the local Library.” I just finished telling her everything that I experienced since coming to Equestria. “Wow, that’s cool.” Pinkie responded, “So does that mean that you’re gonna be a superhero?” “Probably. Do you have superheroes in your world?” “We have a lot of superheroes like Twilight and Rainbow Dash. But if you’re talking about ones in comic books, yes. There are comic book heroes like the Super Stallion, Batmare, the Silver Bullet, and a group of three of them called the Trinity, and many others over at the comic book store. My personal favorite is the Blue Flame. He’s a unicorn that uses fire magic to save Manehattan from Dollar Stallioni and his mafia minions, and the Atomic Mustang and his searing radioactive eyes.” “Interesting.” I remarked. “Sorry that I’m going on. It’s kinda my thing.” “It’s alright Pinkie. We all have our things.” “Oh yes, definitely.” “I have a bit of a question: Where do the other humans meet up?” “Almost every night at Sugarcube Corner. We get out around one hour after sunset so that there are no onlookers, and we have a party with all sorts of snacks and punch and sarsaparilla, It’s really fun. You should come over after you’re done training.” “I will definitely come.” I heard the hoofsteps of Twilight clicking down the stairs. “I hear you’re having a nice talk with Pinkie Pie.” She was calling while coming down. “Yeah, I gained some interesting information from Miss Pinkie Pie.” I stated. “Just hold on a sec.” She appeared out of the tunnel with Spike holding some books. “Okay, what is this information?” “Apparently…” “There are five other humans here. They’re all living at our places, and we are all teaching them about our elements. I bet you’re teaching him about magic. Am I right?” Twilight was slack jawed. I answered for her, “Yes, she is.” “Well, I’m teaching this very brown skinned human about laughter. He says that where he comes from, there is no such thing as laughter. He came from a really dark place full of hate, guns, drugs, and all sorts of things that would make you cry.” I felt for the guy that Pinkie was talking about. The ghettos are a dark place that no good man deserves to live in. I haven’t been down that path myself, but I knew people who have. They struggled a long way to get to where they are. Some of them co-workers, some of them neighbors, some of them random people I run into on the streets of Downtown Chicago. Hopefully, Pinkie will do the same for that man. “But he doesn’t want to be a part of those things, so he stays put inside his home, not trying to get into trouble. He only comes out to work or buy groceries. He was in something called a car accident when he was hunting for a job. The next thing he remembered he was at my place.” “Heh,” I had an epiphany, “The last thing I remembered before coming here was being struck by lightning.” Twilight asked, “So do you think this is heaven?” “Yes, a bit.” I answered. “Well, don’t worry yourself too much.” Twilight assured me, “By my standards, you still have a body full of organs, so at least you’re not dead.” “Yup,” Spike followed, “Last time I checked I have organs.” “Me too.” Pinkie joked, “Those that are in my body, and those you play music with as well.” I laughed, then something came to my mind, “Oh, Twilight, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” “What is it, Rod?” “What are these Elements of Harmony?” “Oh, they are six elements that are really powerful when put together. They are Magic, Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, and, Pinkie’s one, Laughter. They each have something special to offer, but once combined, they can be a weapon that can change the world for the better.” “Wow, a weapon of mass-friendship, I gather.” I commented. “Oh yes.” Pinkie charaded, “A cool epic beam of rainbows going zoom straight on target transforming evil baddies back to their original happy selves.” Twilight was holding herself from laughing, “Exactly.” Then there was someone knocking on the door, followed by a Southern accent. “What the hay is goin’ on in there, Twi? I really hate to be left out of one of Pinkie Pie’s impromptu parties. Also, I need to check out a book.” “Come on in, Applejack.” Twilight shouted back. The door opened, revealing an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail, tied up in, dare I say, ponytails, with a tattoo of three apples on her flank. She was wearing a cowboy hat as well. She looked straight at me with a smile. “You must be that Rod guy all the human fellas been talkin’ ‘bout.” She then introduced herself, “The name’s Applejack.” “Nice to meet you, Applejack,” I smiled, “and yes, I am ‘that Rod guy.’” “Well, I hope ya feel at home here. This place might be strange to you but we’ll bring our Equestrian hospitality to any centurian being that comes ta visit.” Twilight corrected, “You mean ‘sentient,’ right?” “I know what I meant, Twi.” She then turned to me, “I might not have the vocabulary of a wiz like her, but I do one hay of a job takin’ care of the apple orchards.” “So I take it you’re a farmer?” “Darn tootin, Rod. You should come by to the ranch sometime. Maybe meet Tim.” “Tim... another human?” “Yup. Tim Delaney. He says he worked as an archaeologist or something like that. The main thing is that he digs up really old stuff.” “Interesting.” I sat back so I could hear the story of Tim Delaney until it was interrupted by Pinkie. “Ooh. I forgot to tell you the name of the man I am training. His name is Lavernius Samson. He just likes to be called Vern. It’s also easy on my tongue.” “Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind.” I turned back to Applejack, “So were you going to tell me Tim’s story?” “Yeah. What he mainly does is dig up dirt so that he can find really old things like bones, scrolls, hay even old castles. Speakin’ of which, he was workin’ at an old castle, trying to find some scrolls to get a clue on what the believed in. Sum’n about religion and stuff.” I was curious, “So how did he get here?” “He said the last thing he remembered was something really small like a pebble strikin’ his noggin, then every part of his body froze, then he fell to the ground. The next thing he knew, he was in my barn.” I laughed a bit, “Now I know I’m not dead.” “If ya wanna hear the rest of the story, you better shut your trap and listen.” Applejack put me on track. I nodded, “Okay.” “When I first found him, he was a mess covered in dirt, and looked like someone who needed some grub in his belly. I got a letter not long ago that I’ll be training someone to take the Element of Honesty to his world. So I took him into our family. At first he couldn’t handle a single bucket of apples, but once I taught him how to dig deep to find his inner strength, he was workin’ hard like nopony would ever believe. He can carry four buckets of apples at a time, and he can pull a cart full of eighteen buckets to the barn. He’s simply amazin’.” “Wow,” I remarked, “and all he needed was to find inner strength?” “Yup. It’s amazin’ what findin’ inner strength can do to a pony… or a human in that case.” “Indeed.” Twilight was reminded of something, “Oh, Rod, do you feel refreshed enough to try out that test again?” I was reminded of it as well, “Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about it.” “What’s this about?” Applejack asked. Spike explained, “We’re trying to figure out Rod’s specialty. Right now, we are figuring out if it is lightning magic.” Pinkie was excited, “Oh, it’s one of those fun filter tests to see what specialty magic a unicorn has. I saw one filly go through a test, and she got her cutie mark from it.” “So can we see the test?” Applejack asked Twilight. “Sure, just stay safely away from him and the equipment.” Twilight instructed. “Everything is set up downstairs.” As soon as everyone was downstairs, Twilight instructed me, “Okay, Rod, we’re going to do the same thing as last time. Are you ready?” “Yes.” “Okay, build up power, and release it when ready.” I started to gain energy more easily than last time, but I felt that I can gain more, so I concentrated more and more energy to my horn, and then I looked at the electrode target, but I felt like that wasn’t enough. Then I thought of Applejack’s words of ‘finding strength from within’ so I tried to find it, then I felt a phenomenal boost of energy coming through me, which translated to more power being concentrated to my horn. I felt it was enough, so I concentrated on the electrodes, and fired at will. The energy from the lightning bolt overloaded the ammeter and caused a small explosion. After the smoke cleared, I saw Twilight Sparkle with some soot on his face, widened eyes, and jaw slightly opened. Pinkie jumped up and down, “Oh my gosh! That was one amazing lightning bolt! There was that big BOOM! and huge flash of light that made my hair stand on end and it was super amazing.” “Indeed, That was amazing.” Spike admired, then asked Twilight, “What was the max on the ammeter?” Twilight was shocked, in the mental sense, “Twenty thousand amps.” Applejack was amazed, “Well Sir, I dub thee Lightning Rod.” As soon as she said that, I felt a tingle on my shoulders. I pulled back my shirt’s sleeves to see. I discovered a tattoo that looked like a unicorn’s horn made out of three spiralling lightning bolts. Twilight asked, “Did you have that before?” I was asphyxiated with it, “No, No I didn’t.” “In that case, congratulations on getting your cutie mark.” Twilight smiled. “Umm… what’s a cutie mark?” I asked. Pinkie answered, “It’s a mark that you get when you find your special talent that makes you who you are. My balloons mean that I am made for throwing big parties.” “Yep,” Applejack added, “I got my cutie mark for realizing that I needed to be workin’ at the ranch.” “And my mark is for my great magic abilities.” Twilight added her miniature story as well. “So you get those marks on finding your calling?” “Yup.” “Yessiree.” “Yes.” “So do any of the humans have these cutie marks?” “Yup.” Applejack answered, “Tim has a stone brick that has an apple on it, because of his strength that he found.” “Vern’s is fireworks, in all sorts of colors. Actually, all of the other humans have a mark.” Pinkie stated. “Yup.” Applejack listed the names, “There’s Tim and Vern, the rest of the gang’s names are Greg Angel, Steven Sasaki, and this mysterious man just named Doug. But they’re all good friends with each other, especially Doug. I say you’ll fit in nicely.” “I can’t wait to meet all of ‘em tonight.” I was eager to meet them all, to hear their stories, and share them mine. My journey here, how I trained with Twilight, and how I got this new tattoo called a cutie mark. This will turn out to be the most wonderful week that I ever had, despite its rough start. “Oh, and about that book I wanna check out, do ya have ‘The Winds of the Orchard’ collection by Inka Blotta?” “I think I have it handy. I’ll find it once I clean all this soot from my fur.” “Alrighty, Twi. You can take your sweet time. I’m gonna stay here and keep Rod here company.” “You know what?” I suggested, “I’ll find the book while you wash up.” “Sure, Rod.” Twilight instructed, “The fiction section is on the second floor. Everything’s organized by author’s last name, so you can find it in the B section. I hope that helps.” “Thanks, Twilight. I’ll find that book no problem.” “And Spike, Can you clean this mess up for me, please?” “Will do, Twilight.” Pinkie just realized something, “Oh… I’m almost late to help out Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I’ll see you tonight, Rod!” “Will do.” I said as she dashed up the stairs and out the door in a flash. I turned to Applejack, “So… let’s find that book.” Applejack and I climbed the stairs to the second floor. I headed straight for the B books and searched for Blotta. “Blotta… Blotta…” I whispered to myself, trying to find the book Applejack was looking for. I found Blotta, with the first name Inka. She had several books in her section, but I found the one printed on the spine, “The Winds of the Orchard” I pulled out the around-100-paged book and handed it to Applejack. “Well, here’s your book. Do you need to check it out?” “Don’t worry. Twilight knows me well.” Applejack assured. “Well then, happy trails.” “You too, partner. I’ll see y’around.” She put the book in her mouth and proceeded out the library. I slowly made my way downstairs to lie on the couch. Some of the lemonade was still there, with a few slivers of ice in it. I grabbed my glass and proceeded to drink the rest of the lemonade when Twilight was washing up. With every drink I had of the lemonade, I had a thought of the past three days that had gone by. Even though I loved it here in Equestria, I still missed Earth, my family, friends, co-workers, band-mates, I even wondered how the Cubs and White Sox were doing. After a thirty minute reflection of my thoughts, I saw that I drank the rest of the lemonade. I heard Twilight call out from upstairs, “Did you find the book that Applejack wanted?” “Yup. Found it, no problem.” “Good.” She trotted down the stairs and talked to me, “I was amazed by that lightning bolt that you managed to pull off. Now I’m down one heavy duty ammeter, but it was well worth it.” “Thanks, Twilight. I have come a long ways from freaking out because I have a horn. I think I now have embraced it.” “I’m proud of you, but there’s a long way to go until Princess Celestia comes here. But after that wonderful achievement, I decided to give you the rest of the day off.” “Thanks, Twilight.” “So what do you want to do, since it is your day off?” “Maybe do some studying, learn new spells, oh, write a letter to the Princess.” “Might I give you a quill and paper?” “Yes, thanks.” Twilight galloped up to her room, and retrieved a quill, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper. She set it down on the table. I sat there and wrote, To Princess Celestia: This is Rodney Kasparov. I’m the human that Twilight Sparkle is training. Indeed, it started out rough, I admit I tried to pull out my newly given horn. I slowly adjusted to life here in Twilight’s library. She has taught me a lot in these last three days. She has taught me how to do spells that are unbelievable by our standards. I thought magic was only a trick with smoke and mirrors, but after my experience, I began to know magic as a fully fledged science. I learned spell after spell until I went to sleep, and then it was back to learning and practicing more spells. It’s been a rough grind, but now I have something to show for it: My own cutie mark. It looks like a unicorn’s horn made of lightning. I didn’t realize it then, but I do now, and that is who or whatever placed me here was right. It’s my new calling to come here to transfer the sixth Element of Harmony, being Magic, to Earth, my home planet. I imagine that there will be enemies, but I will do my best to fight them for the good of my world. I thank you, Celestia, for your encouraging words, and for believing in me. Again, I thank you, Rodney “Lightning Rod” Kasparov And so our hero has discovered his great power, and has a cutie mark to prove it. But what will happen at tonight’s party? What are the other humans’ stories? On the next issue: the other five’s stories! Watch your shelves, or subscribe for your next issue of LIGHTNING ROD!