//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Another Side // Story: Heroes of Harmony // by Nova Arc //------------------------------// Sparks and Frost stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. "Sparks," Frost said coldly. "Frost," Sparks responded with no such hostility. "Wait, you two know each other?" asked Rainbow. "Yeah," Sparks replied. "But not in a good way." "Damn straight," Frost spat. "What the hell are you doing here?" "Trying to start afresh. You?" "What's it to you?" Sparks sighed and looked at the girl beside Frost. "So, Relay, how's life been?" "Not bad," she replied. "Still a bitch, but you get used to it." "I know, right." Sparks could feel Frost staring daggers at him. "Look, Frost-" "We still have a score to settle." "Frost, take it easy," said Relay. "You don't have-" "What score?" Sparks asked obliviously. He saw Frost's hands glow with a light blue misty aura. "No." The aura swirled. "Frost, no. Not here, not now, not ever." His warnings went unheard. A blue bolt flew across the hall and toward Sparks. He put up his hand and a pink plasma force-field blocked the projectile. "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" "You must be showing your face here," Frost spat. "You were better off when no one knew where you were." "Frost, RELAX!" Relay yelled. "Get back, Re," Frost said, stepping forward. "Frost, you don't want to go down this road. It didn't end well the last time." "What?" Rainbow was confused. "What are they talking about?" she asked the girls, who were all as confused as she was. Another bolt flew at the plasma shield, then another, and another. Finally, before Frost could let another fly, Sparks converted the energy to a kinetic blast that pushed Frost back. "Do. Not. Do. This." Sparks said. "You don't get to tell me what to do." Frost threw a bigger bolt. This time, Sparks didn't react fast enough to stop it. The shield prevented him from being frozen, but not from getting knocked back. He landed at the girls' feet. "That's it." He got up and zipped over to Frost and pushed him back. Relay moved as Frost flew back. From the ground, Frost fire another bolt. Sparks dodged it, but it hit the wall, forming an spikey ice patch. Sparks ran at super speed, avoiding the following barrage. One stray bolt hit the chandelier chain and froze it. Sparks stopped when he saw it was above the girls. The chain broke and it fell. Sparks ran up the wall and jumped. He caught each chain in one hand and pulled them back together. He melted them back together. However, as he jumped down, a cold blast struck his chest. he flew back and landed on the ground hard. As he got up, he saw Frost drop from above, his fist covered in ice. Sparks covered his hand in plasma and their fists clashed with ground-shaking power, rattling the walls and floor. Sparks hit Frost with another kinetic blast, pushing him away. His pink energy streams around his hand were now turning silver with a slight blue tint. Frosts hands were covered in a bright blue energy. "What is going on here?" Both turned to see Vice-Principal Luna standing at the foot of the stairs behind Frost. Sparks looked around and notice that quite a few students had been watching. "I did not think it necessary to tell you that fighting is strictly prohibited in this institute." "Sorry," Sparks said, smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his head. "Guess I sorta lost it there." Frost looked at him in disgust. "You have got to be kidding me." He turned to Luna, then back to Sparks, both hands still glowing. "Frost?" Luna called. Frost hesitantly powered down, the glow dying slowly. "Very good. Consider this a warning. My sister may tolerate such tomfoolery and roughhousing, but with me, this is your first and only warning. Next time, there will be consequences. Am. I. Clear?" "Crystal," Sparks replied. Frost was speechless for a moment. But after feeling Luna's glare, he gave in. "Okay, fine. Whatever." He snapped his fingers and the ice patches and spikes in the room shattered and vaporized. "Fair enough," she said. "Mr. Flash, a word?" As they walked away, Frost turned to shoot a glare at Sparks and slid his thumb across his neck. Sparks took deep breaths, sighing with relief. "Well, that could've gone worse." "How?" asked Rarity. "And what was that all about?" "We... don't exactly have the best history..." "How bad is it?" asked Applejack. "Ah reckon it's pretty bad, seeing as he was fightin' as if he were trying t' kill ya." "Yeah. It's pretty bad." "So what is it?" "Just a feud," Relay said, joining the conversation. "They fought before and Frost doesn't think it's over. Must be a fire versus ice thing... well, plasma, not fire, but you get the idea." "But why so serious?" asked Rarity. "What could create such a rift?" "Well, it's over now," said Pinkie. "So, are we getting the food out or what?" The girls made their way to the kitchen. "C'mon Relay, you can help. You too, Sparks." --------------------------------------------------------------------- "You've got to be kidding me?!" Frost was livid, confused, and extremely impatient. "Why? How? When?" "Because he's helpful, Principal Celestia's request, just yesterday," Luna replied blankly. "And I wasn't told because?" "Of how you reacted now," she snapped. "That display of recklessness and brashness is utterly unacceptable and unbecoming. Whatever dangerous metahuman you dealt with in Manehattan has been dealt with." "The dangerous metahuman is in the same school as me!" "Actually, he's in the same room." Frost paused to process the statement, then went ballistic. "WHAT?!" Luna eyed him. "With all due respect, Director... HOW COULD YOU PUT ME IN THE SAME ROOM AS HIM?!" "Watch your tone with me," Luna snapped. "I am not as patient as my sister. I do not tolerate any form of disrespect. And our reasons for putting the two of you in the same room are our own." Frost grumbled. "What was that?" "Nothing." "Good. Now, dinner will begin shortly. You know were to go?" Frost left the office without a word, slamming the door behind him. As he left, Luna tapped the holo-computer on her tabletop and brought up a video chat with Celestia. "Are you sure this is wise, Sister?" "I asked myself that exact same question when I built this place," Celestia replied. "We can only hope for the best." "After the Manehattan incident, whatever relationship they had was terminated." "The keyword in my last statement was 'hope', Luna." --------------------------------------------------------------------- The dining hall, despite its relatively large size, was almost full. Three long tables lined the hall parallel to one another. In total, there were now almost thirty students, if not a few more, there. Sparks sat next to Rainbow, who sat next to Fluttershy, and Applejack. Opposite them were Relay, Twilight, and Rarity. Soon, Sunset joined in. "Hey guys," she said, taking a seat next to Twilight. "So, what did I miss?" "Hey, Sunny," Pinkie replied, cheerfully, as usual. "Not much. Just a rumble between Frost and Sparks." "The term 'rumble' is a bit strong, darling," Rarity said. "Wait, you two fought?" Sunset asked in surprise. "Yep," Sparks sighed. "Apparently he's still holding on to the past." "So, you gonna tell us what happened between you two?" asked Rainbow. "Nope. Rather leave that story in the past. What I can tell you is that we used to be close." "What separated you two?" "This." Pink streams of plasma orbited his hand, then went out with a spark. "Your powers? He got powers too." "Look, it's... complicated." "Did he get jealous?" "No, not-" "Rainbow, give the guy some peace, will ya," Applejack interjected. "It's his business and he doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to." "So-rry," said Rainbow. "Just curious." "Nosey's more like it." "FOOD'S HERE!" Pinkie came out of the kitchen door at one end of the hall, vines of hair holding up large bowls and dishes of food. Both arms were full, but she somehow kept her balance as maneuvered her way around the tables, lining them with food. "A little help, people?" Twilight and the others and some of the other students helped take some off Pinkie while others brought the rest out of the kitchen. By the time they were done, all three tables were occupied. Imagine different foods from at least ten different countries. Now make three copies of each dish, large enough for each to serve about ten to fifteen people, and place each copy on a table. That was the spread. "Despite my hyper metabolism, this is probably doing to make me gain a few pounds," Sparks said, staring in awe at the table of food. "Nah," Pinkie said. "If you're anything like Dashie and me, you'll be fine." "Can you please not call me that," Rainbow said. "Hi." Everyone turned and saw Frost standing behind Twilight. "This seat taken?" Twilight shook her head and he sat next to Relay. "So... not the best first impression. Sorry about that." Sparks was unconvinced, and he was the optimist on the table. Even Pinkie was constantly glancing at Frost. It was a whole fifteen minutes of silent eating until Rainbow broke the silence. "So, did Pinkie tell you guys about how she saved SSC with some other guy?" "Oh, yes," Rarity replied. "Very interesting." "He was the other guy," Pinkie said, gesturing towards Frost with the spoon in her mouth. "Wait, really?" Rainbow asked, surprised. "You never told us that part." "Really? When I mentioned ice powers, I thought it would've been obvious." "Pinkie," Twilight said, "I'm pretty sure there's more than one metahuman with ice powers... or any power." Pinkie gasped. "Really?! So there could be someone else with the same abilities as me?" "I fear such a possibility as much as I fear whether or not the universe can handle another such... anomaly." "Huh?" "Never mind." Sparks could feel chills run down his spine. He wasn't sure if it was Frost staring at him or using his powers. "So, you wanna say something or just keep staring," he said, not looking up from his plate. "I've got nothing to say to you," Frost replied coldly. "You know, you actually used to be cool. Now, you're just..." "Just what?" Sparks struggled to find the words. "I don't even know any more." "Well, then maybe you should've stayed home where you know the people around you better." "What is your deal?" Sparks asked, looking up. "You. You are my deal. You think this is some kind of redemption?" "If it was, it certainly wouldn't be for your sake." "Why would I accept anything from you?" "Because before you met me, what where you?" "THAT'S IT!" Frost shot up, his hands glowing blue. "You wanna go, let's go." "Frost!" Relay shouted. "Relay, stay out of this." "What is wrong with you?" asked Sparks. "What's with the sudden obsession of wanting to kill me now?" "This started when your entire family turned into walking time bombs!" There was silence. Sparks' fist glowed a fiery pink, almost red, as his rage built up. "What... did you say?" "Oh, I'm sorry. Is your super hearing not working? Or are your ears still ringing from the mini-supernova your sister made?" Sparks lost it. He jumped over the table and tackled Frost to the ground. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The girls tried to pry the two from each other before the situation escalated. It took the combined strength of Applejack, Rainbow, and Pinkie to pull Sparks away and keep him from incinerating Frost. "SAY THAT AGAIN! TALK ABOUT MY FAMILY AGAIN! GIVE ME A REASON TO VAPORIZE YOUR SORRY ASS!" "Oh, like you did to the-" He was cut off by a roar from Sparks that resulted in a blast of plasma almost burning his face off. He moved back to avoid the blaze. "There he is," Frost said, staring into Sparks' now blazing pink eyes, the pink tips in his hair turned bright red. "That's the you I know." "Whoa! Sparks, relax," Rainbow said. Sparks erratic breathing began to calm down, the ends of his hair returned to pink, and his eyes reverted back to yellow. "If that's who you knew, then you never knew me." He suddenly vanished, leaving a speed trail behind him. Everyone just stared. Slowly, they all returned to their food. Frost sat down, but received a mighty punch on his arm from Relay. "Ow! Why?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder. "Why? WHY?" Relay asked, frustrated. "How much more oblivious can you get? How about starting with you being a total jerk? Or is it jackass now? I forgot when you leveled up." "You're overreacting, just like he did." "Did you seriously just say that?" She slapped her napkin onto the table and got up. "Girls? Next time Sparks threatens or attempt to incinerate Frost, please, none of you intervene." She stormed off, leaving everyone utterly confused... almost everyone. "By the way, Pinkie," Frost continued obliviously, "This chicken is amazing!" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in their room, the girls talked about what happened. "So... I guess Frost has a higher villain factor than a hero one, huh?" said Pinkie. "Does anyone here have the slightest idea what their problem is?" asked Rainbow. "That was the second time in less than thirty minutes. And apparently, they're in the same room!" "I'd hate to wake up and find an entire wing of this beautiful mansion destroyed over a simple feud," said Rarity. "Was it just me, or was Frost actually edging Sparks into attackin' 'im?" asked Applejack. "Twilight? You knew Sparks. What can you tell us?" asked Rarity. "Well..." Twilight started, smiling sheepishly, "What I know is classified." "Twilight, Information on your mission in Seaddle was classified," Rarity replied. "Yet, we know every detail." "Trust me, you don't want to know." "I would," said Rainbow. "Ya couldn't stop asking the guy questions he didn't want to answer, and now you want to know his past?" Applejack asked. "It's because I don't know anything about him that I'm asking." "Believe me," Twilight said, "Some secrets are best left buried." "Actually, does anyone know where he went?" asked Fluttershy. "Back to his room," said Applejack. "Poor guy. Probably had to learn to sleep with his eyes open." "Learn?" Pinkie exclaimed. "Pfft! I was born with that talent!" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sparks lay on his bed motionless, staring up at the ceiling. "Hey there roomy," Frost said as he walked in, but he wasn't talking to him. He was talking to Bulk. "Sup," Bulk said back. Sparks ignored whatever conversation they were having and fell asleep. Sparks woke up at 5:00AM the next morning to hit the gym, which was a separate building from the rest of the school. It was rather big and had a boxing ring, an MMA ring, and a variety of weightlifting equipment and punching bags. He didn't like relying on his powers too much, so he practiced gymnastics, parkour, and various martial arts, including kickboxing and MMA. He set a large punching bag on a hook and went to work. As he trained, memories began coming back... but not all good ones. Gradually, his punches got more and more aggressive. A silver stream soon trailed after each blow. Finally, he pulled his arm back for a right hook and his fist and eyes burned with a fiery pink aura. His swing knocked the bag off its hook and ripped it in half, spilling sand everywhere. He was soon able to calm his breathing and saw the mess. "Great," he sighed. He took another bag from the rack and started again. "That was some swing." Sparks looked at the door and saw Applejack wearing an orange tank top, gray track bottoms, sneakers, and her trademark hat. "Yeah, I get that quite a bit." "So, this normal for ya? Hitting it early? Or just tryin' to let off some steam?" Sparks paused for a moment. "Something like that." "So what exactly went down between the two o' you?" "Just... a bad history." "Care t' share?" "Nope." "Y'know, talking about something usually makes you fell better." "Why does everyone say that. It's not always true." "You'll never know till ya try." Sparks swung heavily at the bag and paused on impact. "Look, I just don't want to talk about it, Okay?" Applejack stepped back. "Suit yerself." She got up and headed for the door. "Whenever yer ready, you can talk to me and the girls." "What makes you think I'll change my mind?" Applejack shrugged. "I'm optimistic. Plus, the truth always come out eventually." She walked out and Sparks was left in the gym, hammering at the bags. He hoped his wallet could cover buying new punching bags... A lot of them. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Sparks spent the rest of the day by himself. He sat in one of the oak trees, on a branch close to the top. It was a good vantage point. He stared over the campus, watching as the student went about their day, talking, showing off their powers, and just being themselves. It made him happy knowing that there was a place where people like him are actually accepted for who they are. It was a bonus that no one knew about his past, so he could start over. He smiled. "Wow." He looked up, surprised, and saw Pinkie hanging upside down from the branch above him. "You have a really cute smile." "Uh... Thanks." After what the girls had told him about Pinkie, he didn't bother trying to understand how she got up there, exspesially without him knowing. "So, you gonna come down?" "Nah. Kinda like it up here. It's... peaceful." "Hm. Y'know, you seem really nice, especially because you've calmed down after your bout with Frost." "Been doing that for a while. It's practically a skill now." "Cool. I've developed a lot of skills involuntarily, like being able to sleep while standing, eating cake while drinking a soda, knowing how people feel... But I was kinda born with that last one. Not sure whose side of my family that's from, but I know it's something I've been able to do for a while. Do you have skills like that? Stuff you just know how to do because you don't?" "Yeah, I guess," Sparks said, shrugging. Pinkie stared at him, her smile slowly turning into a blank expression. "Am I... bothering you?" Sparks shook his head. "No, no. Sorry. It's not you, it's me. Just got a lot on my mind right now." "I get it. Just making sure. I really don't like bothering people. I just want to be friends with them." "Me too. Guess it's harder for me," he said quietly. "Well, I'm off. Told the girls I'd hand out with them today. Though we do hang out together like every day, but I just like to make it official. Friendship and parties have that much in common. They both need to be treated with care and dedication." Sparks chuckled and when he looked up, she was gone. "Yeah. Well, friendship isn't a cheap luxury for me anymore." He thought for a while and decided to go see if there was anyone else he could talk to. He jumped down, turned, and bumped into someone else. He held his aching head. "Sorry," he said. He looked down and saw Double on the ground, rubbing his head. "Oh," Double said, looking up at Sparks. "Yeah. Sorry." Sparks helped him up. "Where were you?" Sparks pointed up at the tree above them. "Oh... Okay." They started walking back to the school. "So, uh, I guess I should thank you for bringing me here, huh?" "Meh. If you want to." "Yeah, well... Thanks. I really don't like owing people." "Yeah. You and me both. Consider whatever debt you owe me paid." They laughed. "What of your mom?" "She's back home, probably drunk as a pirate by now." "Was she always like that's?" "Nah. Just after my dad was shipped off with the marines. Got worse after I developed powers." "You seem pretty comfortable talking about this. Way more than most." "I've come to terms with it," he said, shrugging. "She doesn't care what I think of her, so..." "Do you ever feel bad about it? Thinking about her that way." "Wow. You suddenly got curious, huh?" "Sorry about that," Sparks said, scratching the back of his head. "Guess I got a bit carried away." "Nah, it's cool. Actually, now I don't really feel anything. It's not like I don't care about her. That kind of feeling is reciprocal. If she doesn't care, why should I?" "Maybe she's trying to get you to care so she can." "Been trying that mentality for seven years. Hasn't worked." Sparks sighed. He walked on with Digit and headed over to a group of students, each with unique, and sometimes odd, powers. One turned her skin to some kind of stone, another was holding what looked like a blob of jelly in midair, suspended above his hand, while another was juggling what looked like balls of burning or molten rock. Again, he suppressed the urge to confront him about the day before. He looked around, standing practically in the middles for the crowd, but didn't say a word. After a while, he zipped back to the gym and went back to hitting punching bags. He wasn't in the mood, not with all his suppressed anger anyway. He couldn't talk to people. He'd always though he had a screw loose. He was rather socially awkward, always being invited to conversations rather than starting them, he hardly just spoke to anyone for the sake of discussion. His powers didn't help. All he had were his frustrations and a way to get rid of them without hurting anyone... again. He went through another ten bags in less than twenty minutes and hit the showers in the gym, changed into a set of spare clothes he kept in the locker earlier. He walked out, but instantly regretted it. He now wished he had stayed in the tree. In front of him, just outside the gym, was Frost. He was grinning. "So, how's the whole anger management thing working out for you?"