//------------------------------//
// Part 1 
// Story: Bearers of Nature 
// by TwinQuasars 
//------------------------------//

	My name is Soul Seer. I was born in raised in a town called Saddle near the northern border of Equestria.  I am an Earth Pony with the unique gift to see into the souls of other ponies.  I can see their “spark”, the source of their unique talent that makes them different from every other pony.  I can look at it in great detail, and I can even see their talent before their cutie mark manifests.  I was quite the late bloomer; my power did not manifest (along with my cutie mark) until I was a young stallion.  When the fillies and colts in town learned of my gift, many of them came to me to learn what their special talents were.  For a while, I complied with their requests, but I eventually came to realize that I was denying them an integral part of learning about who they are.  This came with realization that I didn’t know what I was truly meant to do with my talent.  For the time being, I decided that I would become a fortune-teller, using my gift to give advice to other ponies and make prediction about their future based on what I could infer from their souls.  I had traveled for a long time, and had yet to find my purpose, when I had arrived in a town known as Ponyville.  This is where my story begins…
It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.  The pegasi had made sure the sky was clear of clouds for Market Day.  The various stalls and booths were set up around town, peddling goods from ponies all over the countryside.  Soul Seer, who had camped out just out of view of Ponyville last night, arrived with his cart and found a spot for him to set up his fortune-telling booth.  It comprised of a simple tent and a small wooden table, which would sit between the customers and him.  He also donned a pair of dark glasses that concealed his eyes.  He put up a sign outside his tent, identifying his services, and took his place behind the table.  Alright, he thought, let’s see what kind of ponies live here.  While he became a fortune-teller to make some kind of living, he admitted to himself that it was also a convenient excuse to look at the souls of many ponies.  Though he believed it wrong to look at a pony’s soul without consent, he was nosy by nature, and enjoyed looking through ponies to see what secrets they might be hiding.
The morning was rather quiet, as Soul only had two customers.  The first was a young mare with a stallion.  Soul didn’t need his powers to tell that they were in love, and as the mare asked common questions for one in her position, he clearly saw that their souls were compatible, and answered her questions as such.  They seemed happy when they left, and he was happy for them.  The thought crossed his mind, one day…  The other was a young stallion who was down on his luck.  Soul sympathized with him, reminded of his own search for meaning.  He searched the stallion’s soul and gave him advice that would hopefully lead him to success.
The sun was at its peak, and Soul was beginning to feel hungry.  He was wondering where he could get a cheap meal when a pink mare with a poofy pink mane bounded into his tent.  “Wow! This is so cool!” the pink earth pony said at a rapid pace, “You must be new to Ponyville because I know everyone in Ponyville and I’ve never seen you before.  Are you really a fortune-teller?”  Taken aback by her abundant energy, Soul was a little slow to respond.  “Yes, I am, but I’m only stopping through.  I’ll probably only be here for a few days.”  
“Oh, I see.  You’re one of those traveling ponies.  I don’t think I could do that, as that would mean leaving all my friends behind, even though I’d be making new friends along the way.”  The energetic mare continued, “Well, welcome to Ponyville.  My name’s Pinkie Pie.  I’m sure we can be the bestest of friends!”  
“Yes, I’m sure we can,” Soul responded with slight reluctance in his voice.  “My name is Soul Seer, and it’s nice to meet you.”  
“Oh, that’s a neat-o-riffic name,” Pinkie declares, “sounds mysterious.  I bet it goes with your cutie mark, too.  A blue circle with a sparkly in it looks super-duper mysterious to me!”  Soul chuckles a bit, “It signifies my special talent, just like any other cutie mark.  Since you’re here, would you like your fortune told?”  Pinkie hops into the air a bit, “Oh, yea! I totally would!  You know, I do a bit in fortune-telling too, just for fun.”  
“Really?  Well, I can assure I do things a bit differently.”  
“I can tell because you don’t have a crystal ball or anything.”  
“All I need are these,” he says while taking his glasses off.  
“Oh, your eyes are the same color as your cutie mark.”  
“Indeed they are,” he says while point across the table. “Now if you would just stand there for a moment, I can work my magic.”  Soul closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath.  He releases the air slowly then opens his eyes.  Pinkie was slightly shocked to see that both of his eyes were now solidly bright blue, seemingly glowing from some internal light source.  Soul was also shocked at what he saw inside Pinkie’s soul.  “This can’t be!?  I’ve never seen anything like it; two sparks!  One much brighter than the other.  So intense.  What is this?”  He broke contact, closing his eyes and bringing his hooves up to them.  
For a brief moment, Pinkie’s constant smile vanished.  “What wrong?”  
Recovering from the sight, Soul put his dark glasses back on.  “It’s as if you had some other power in you, separate from your special talent.”  
Her smile quickly returned.  “Oh, maybe you saw my Pinkie Sense.  See, sometimes I get these twitchy-twitches, and they tell me when things are about to happen.  Or maybe you saw my Element of Harmony…”  
Soul looked up quickly. “Wait, what?  The Element of Harmony?  What is that?”  
“Oh, they are super awesome!  See, me and my friends happen to be the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, which is this power we have used to defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord!”  A look of surprise came to his face.  “Incredible!  And you say there are more of Elements of Harmony?  And your friends carry them inside their souls?”
“Sounds like it.  Would you like to meet them?”  
“I would like very much!”
Pinkie Pie starts hopping around with excitement.  “We can make it a party!  With balloons, and streamers, and food and games, and then you can meet the girls!”
“I’d rather not make a big deal out of it, but alright.  Where is this going to be?”
She stops hopping for a second.  “That’s right.  Mr. and Mrs. Cake are busy around the shop today and probably wouldn’t appreciate a party at the Corner at the moment… Oh! I know!  We can have it at Twilight’s house.  I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“Alright and where is that?”
“It’s the library in town.  It’s in a ginormous tree.  You can’t miss it!”  She lets out a loud gasp.  “Ohmygosh!  I have to get things ready!  I’ll see you there in one hour!”  She then bounced out of the tent, leaving Soul standing there, slightly confused.  
“Alright then…see you later.”  His mind was racing, but it was disturbed by a growling coming from his stomach.  I better get something to tide me over before the party, he thought as he walked out into the bright sun and closed up the tent behind him.


********

After grabbing a bite to eat, Soul finds himself outside a large tree, functioning as a building, with a sign depicting an open book hanging near the door.  This looks like place, he thought as he knocked on the door.  He was surprised when the door quickly swung open, a horn was sounded, and confetti shot at his face.  He quickly backed up and had a stunned look on his face when Pinkie Pie appeared in the doorway.  “Well, come on in! Glad you could make it,” she said, with a perky smile on her face.
“You certainly do work fast, don’t you?” He said is he recovered from being startled.
“Planning a party is the easy part, and I want to work fast to get to the fun part!”
Soul walked inside, taking in the room slowly.  The room’s intended use was indeed that of a library, as all the walls were lined with shelves filled with books.  There was also a staircase the lead up to another room.  Balloons and streamers were located all around the room, just as Pinkie said there would be.  There was also a table in the center, where various foods, mostly baked goods, were located.  He also noted the five other ponies that were in the room with him.  Besides Pinkie, there was another Earth pony, two unicorns, and two pegasi, though only one was airborne.  They were conversing with one another as I walked in.
“Look, all I’m saying is that I would have a liked a little more warning before she went and planned a party at my house,” said a purple unicorn, sounding slightly annoyed.  
“Ah chill Twilight,” remarked an orange pony wearing a hat, “we won’t make a mess.  It’s just us and that other fella Pinkie met.”  
“You really should just relax,” chimed in a white unicorn with a styled, purple mane.
Pinkie’s energy caught everyone’s attention. “Okey dokey lokey! He’s here!”
“Well it’s about time,” called out the cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, hovering over the food table.  “I enjoy a good party as much as the next pony, but I should be taking a nap right about now.”
The white unicorn approached Soul.  “Don’t listen to her, darling.  She’s just a bit cranky, that’s all.  My name is Rarity.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Well, howdy there!” shouted the orange Earth pony. “Name’s Applejack.  Have you had a chance to try Sweet Apple Acre’s famous apples, ‘cause I can guarantee they are the best you will ever eat.”
Before Soul could respond, the rainbow-maned pegasus flew up next to him.  “The name is Rainbow Dash.  You may have heard of me.  I’m the only pegasus to have pulled off the legendary Sonic Rainboom.  Twice!”  She then pointed over to a yellow pegasus, who was trying to hide behind Applejack.  “That there is Fluttershy.”  The timid pegasus made a barely audible “hello” 
“She’s a little shy around new ponies,” the purple unicorn went on to explain, “but she’ll warm up to when she gets to know you.  My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I’m a student of Princess Celestia.”
Soul noticed that he finally had a chance to talk.  “Hello.  I’m Soul Seer, and I’m glad I’ve had the chance to meet all of you.”  He turned to look at Twilight.  “Um, Ms. Sparkle, I’m sorry if there has been any trouble with having this party at your house, but I did really want to see all of you.”
Twilight responded with a smile.  “Please, call me Twilight, and don’t worry about it.  From what I understood of Pinkie’s story, you have an interesting reason for wanting to see all of us.”
“To be honest,” pointed out Applejack, “I didn’t really understand any of what she said.”
“It has something to do with the Elements of Harmony, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Soul addressed Rarity.  “I want to look at your souls and examine these Elements of Harmony that Pinkie told me about.”
“You can actually do that?” Twilight remarked, with a twinkle in her eye. “That’s fascinating!  You really must show me how you do it.”
“Of course.  Now, if you would all be so kind as stand in a line across the room from me.”  Soul began to take his glasses off, but upon seeing Fluttershy out from her hiding spot, he decided to leave them on.
As if reading his mind, Rainbow Dash spoke up.  “What’s with the shades?”
“Well, you see, when I use my power, my eyes…change.  I generally wear these glasses when fortune-telling so as to not disturb my customers.”
“Then why did you take them off for me?” Pinkie Pie remarked.
“I gathered you would find it more amusing then frightening.”
“It’s true!  I was a little shocked at first, but they sure are a doozy to see!”
“Cool!  I want to see!”  Rainbow Dash began to advance towards him.
“I’d rather not, if that’s ok.”
Applejack took a look at Fluttershy, who was standing timidly next to her.  “I understand.  Leave him alone, Rainbow Dash.  Let him do what he wants to do.”
“Aww…fine.”  Rainbow Dash mumbled as she hovered back to her position.
Soul prepared for the sight of the Elements of Harmony.  He remembered how bright Pinkie’s spark was.  He was going to have to push himself if he was going to get a good look at the Elements.  He opened his eyes and was immediately awe-struck.  The Elements were much more intense then when he saw the one before.  The sparks reached out and interwove with one another.  He could barely see anything beyond the Elements’ brilliance.  His eyes started to water and he could feel his legs becoming weak.  He had to stop.  He closed his eyes as his knees buckled and he collapsed on the floor.
When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Fluttershy was the closest one to him.  “Are you alright?”
“Yea, I’ll be alright.”
“You had us worried there for a minute, sugar cube,” Applejack’s voice spoke from nearby.
As Soul pulled himself into an upright position, he saw that all of the mares were crowded around him.  His eyes happened to pass by a window, where he saw three small fillies looking in at him.  They must have seen him looking back, he thought, as the heads quickly ducked out of sight.  “Until today, I never knew how physically draining my power could be.  I’ve never seen sparks so brilliant before.  Moreover, these Elements seem to be stronger when then are within close proximity of one another.”
“Well, that make sense,” Twilight explained, “Their power can only be used when they are all together.”
Soul stood in a silence for a moment, thinking over the occurrences of the day so far, as the other ponies looked on.  When he broke the silence, he addressed the room as a whole.  “It seems I may be staying in Ponyville longer then I planned.  With your permission, I would like to examine each of your Elements individually over the next few days.”
Rainbow Dash interjected.  “I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you looking into my soul and all.”
“I assure you that I have no interest in prying, and will only be examining your Element of Harmony.  Besides, it would be hard for to concentrate on anything else because of the intensity of the Element’s spark.”  He takes off his glasses and looks over at Fluttershy, with general concern in his eyes.  “Would that be alright with you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy bowed her head, avoiding his gaze.  “I…I guess that would be alright.”
Soul flashes a smile before turning his attention toward Twilight.  “I would also like to use your library from other research as well.”
“Of course.  Do you have some place to stay?”
“Not yet.  I just got here this morning, and I haven’t had the chance to look town yet.  I’m used to camping out in the open, though.”
“Well, you’re more than welcome to stay here.  I have a room downstairs that I occasionally use for late-night studying.  I even have an extra bed set up.”
“Thank you.  I’d appreciate that.  I should probably go pack up my tent and get my cart.  I suspect the market probably closing up now.”  He turned to Pinkie and gave a slight bow.  “Thank you for this wonderful party.  The food was delicious…” he then turned to Applejack, “…especially those wonderful apples.”
“Ah well, thank ya kindly.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll familiarize myself with Ponyville.  Then we can begin making arrangements for my studies.  Again, it was nice meeting you all.”  With that, he put his glasses back on and went out the door.
Twilight looked around at the mares.  “I think that means the party is over Pinkie.”
“Aww, but we didn’t even play any games.”  Pinkie looked a little down-trodden, but managed to maintain her smile.
Rarity came up beside her.  “Come on, darling.  I’ll help you clean up.”
Twilight started up the staircase.  “Spike, are you upstairs?  I need your help cleaning up the downstairs room.  I also need The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.”


********

After returning to the library with his cart, the sun had set, and Soul wanted to check on his temporary bedroom.  As he opened the door, he almost slammed into a young dragon carrying a stack of books.  The dragon let out a yell and dropped the books as he nearly avoided the opening door, “Hey! Watch it!”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize…”  Soul finally got a good look at what he nearly crushed into the wall, “…you’re a dragon, aren’t you?”
The small dragon was busy picking up the books that he dropped.  “Yea, I’m Spike, Twilight’s assistant.  Are you the pony who’s using this room?”
“Yep, the name is Soul Seer.  Sorry about opening the door on you like that, I didn’t realize anyone was down here.”
Twilight’s voice came from upstairs, “Spike, are you alright?  I thought I heard you yell.”  She soon after entered the room.  “Oh, Soul, your back.  I see you met Spike.  He was just finishing clean the room.”
“Yea, we kind of ran into each other.”  Soul gave a quick smile to Spike, who was giving a little scowl in return.  “I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see a dragon here, even a young one.  Most of the tales of heard regarding dragons say they are ferocious monsters.”
“Most are, but I basically raised Spike since he hatched.  We’re practically family.”
Soul thought to himself, interesting, a tame dragon.  I’ve never tried to look at the soul of any other creature before.  I wonder if they even have a spark.  I might have to work on getting on his good side though.
“Well, everything should be set up down here now”
He finally took the time to look around the downstairs room.  Compared to main library room, this room was rather barren.  It only had a few small shelves that weren’t completely filled with books.  There was a small desk with a lamp on it, as well a single book resting in the center.  The bed was up against the far wall.
“It’s not much, but by the looks of it, you don’t have much either.”  Soul only had a small saddlebag over his back.
“No.  Besides my fortune-telling tent, I travel fairly light.”
“Alright then.  If you need anything else, just let me know.”  She began to walk out of the room before quickly turning around.  “Oh, right!  The book on the desk is the same book I read to learn about the Elements of Harmony.  I figured that would be a good place to start on your research.”
“Thank you, that sounds perfect.  I guess I’ll see you in the morning then.”
“Alright, good night Soul.”
“Good night Twilight.”
After Twilight had left and closed the door behind her, Soul went to the desk and opened the book to read.  He pulled out a notebook and pencil from his bag and placed them on the table as well.  It wasn’t until several hours later that we went to sleep.
He woke up late the next morning.  He slowly trotted over to the desk, which still had the book wide open and his notebook riddled with his scribbles.  He quickly read over his notes and thought that this was a good start.  His stomach reminded him that it was time for food.  He went upstairs into the main library.  Twilight was reorganizing some books when he walked in.  She turned around to address him, keeping the books afloat with her magic.  “You’re finally up.  How did you sleep?”
“I haven’t slept in a bed for a while.  It was nice.”  He took a look around the room and noticed something was missing.  “Where’s Spike?”
“He’s out picking up a few supplies around town.”
“Ah, I see.”  He heard a growling reminder from below. “Do you know a good place to get a cheap bite to eat?”
Twilight thought for a moment, still organizing her books.  “There’s a nice little café near the town square.  If you head towards the town hall, you can’t miss it.”
“Sounds good.  When would be good time for me to examine your Element?”
“Ah, hold on.”  Twilight levitated a thin book off a small table over to her and flipped it open.  “I can schedule for tomorrow afternoon.  Does that work?”
“She must be busier then she looks if she needs a schedule,” Soul thought.  He responded, “Uh, yea that should be just fine.”  He opened the door and immediately noticed the bright sun.  He quickly turned around and went back downstairs, returning with his dark glasses.  He took a step outside, smiled, and went on his way.
After enjoying a couple of Sweet Apple Fritters at the café, Soul decided to take a walk around town and mentally map out Ponyville.  He had seen the Carousel Boutique and Sugarcube Corner and was heading down a road which led to a schoolhouse when three fillies appeared before him.  He recognized them as the heads he saw in the window the day before.  “Hello there,” he decided he would play ignorant for now.
“Hi, are you really a fortune-teller?”  Asked the filly on the right, a white unicorn with a purple-pink mane.
“I am, but how did you know that?”
“I heard my sister mention a fortune-teller she saw yesterday.”
“…and we kinda saw you through the window,” added the filly on the right, an Earth pony with a yellow body and red mane with a big bow on top of her head.”
The pegasus filly in the middle, with her orange body and purple mane, nudged the yellow filly in the side.  “Why did you go and tell him that?”
“Well, if he’s really a fortune-teller, wouldn’t he already know that?”  The earth filly defended herself.
“Truth is,” Soul interjected before things escalated, “I did see you three peeking at me yesterday.”
The three fillies seemed a little sad and a tad embarrassed.  “We’re sorry,” the three said in unison.
Soul smiled, “Don’t worry about it.  Now how about you tell me your names?”
The Earth filly spoke first, “My name is Applebloom, and my big sister is Applejack.”
“I’m Sweetie Belle,” said the young unicorn, “and I live with my sister, Rarity.”
The orange pegasus was quick to finish, “The name is Scootaloo, and one day, I’m going to be as cool as Rainbow Dash.  Together we are…”
“…The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”  All three of them jumped in the air shouting this.  It wasn’t until now that Soul noticed that none of them had a cutie mark.  Not again, he thought.
“So mister,” Applebloom said with enthusiasm, “can you see into the future?”
“My name is Soul Seer, and yah, something like that.”  He said with a less energy.  He wanted to avoid giving them the idea that he could see their special talents.
“That’s kinda cool, I guess,” said Scootaloo, with a tad of a snarky attitude, “but it isn’t Rainbow Dash cool.”
“Do you think you could tell us our fortunes?”  Sweetie Belle asked, with a gleam in eye.  “We’re willing to pay.”
It couldn’t be avoided, he thought.  A customer is a customer, but I can’t really take their money.  I should be able to give them a reading without giving anything away.
“Alright, I can tell you you’re fortunes, but I can’t take money from a trio of cute fillies.”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle blushed just the slightest bit, but Scootaloo stuck her tongue out in disgust.
“Alright now just stand right there next to each other…like that, good.  Now just give me a moment while I channel my power.”  He was always more willing to put on a show when he was on the job.  He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nostrils.  When he opened his eyes, he went slack-jawed.  He tilted his head forward and his glasses slid off his face, revealing the solid blue orbs that were is eyes.  The fillies screamed in terror and ran off.  “No…it can’t be…there is something very wrong here…Wait!  Come back!”  It was too late, they had vanished.  “Horse feathers...no time for that now!  I need answers!”  He quickly grabbed his glasses and headed back to the library.
When Soul slammed open the door to the library, he was breathing heavily, and Twilight was staring at him with a face somewhere between concerned and annoyed.  “Soul, what was that all about?  What’s wrong?”
“Twilight, do you have a way of contacting Princess Celestia?”  He had slowed down to catch his breath, but he was still moving towards the downstairs room.
“Yes, Spike can get a letter to her.  Why?”
“I need you to send a letter on my behalf, requesting an audience with her?”
“Why?  What is this all about?”
Soul was downstairs, packing his small saddlebag with a few supplies, calling up to Twilight. “I can’t really explain right now.  I just need to talk with her.  I think she has some answers I need.”
“But do you need to go now?  Why all the rush?”
Soul emerged from the downstairs room, clearly frustrated.  “I just do!  OK?”  He realized he was yelling when he saw Twilight start to tear up.  “Look, Twilight, I’m sorry.  I just need you to do this one thing for me, alright?”
Twilight stood there for a moment, with an occasional sniff breaking the silence.  “There’s a train that will take you Canterlot.  That will cut your travel time in half.  I just wish you would tell me what’s going on.”
Soul sighed.  “Thank you Twilight.  When I know more, I’ll fill you in.”  He started to head out the door.  “I’m leaving my cart here.  I will be back.  I promise.”  With that, he promptly left, heading towards the train station.
Twilight stood there, drying the tears from her face.  “Spike, I know you’re there.
Spike quietly descended the staircase.  “What was that all about?”
Twilight didn’t look at him, instead staring at the door.  “I don’t know, but I don’t think it was anything good.”  She took in a quick breath and a look of determination came to her face.  She quickly turned to face Spike.  “Spike, take a letter…”