//------------------------------// // 18 // Story: Seven Lights // by Fresnor //------------------------------// “Come on! Why do I have to go to Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera when I can't even stand her?” Scootaloo sat at the family dining table as she pouts at her sister after having heard about having to go to the other filly's party. With all that the pink filly had teased her with over the years she wasn't very enthusiastic about the coming day. “So you just want to leave Sweetie Belle to deal with her all alone? I know that Rarity is going to be there since the Rich family is one of her best customers. Besides it's a Pinkie party and her family is paying for all of it. At least she's paying for everything so you might as well have fun with it.” Scootaloo didn't look happy with this reasoning as she continued to pout at not being allowed to skip it. “Are you sure that you aren't making me go just because you also work with her father as well? I mean you do sell a lot of that stuff you find to him.” Aegis Flare turned from what she was doing to look at her sister with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head at her. As she turns back she thinks on how much her sister doesn't want to go and rethinks the idea of making her go. In the end she comes up with a compromise that could go either way. “How about this then. That morning I'm going to stop over at Twilight's so she can finally get some of that research done she's been wanting to do with my magic. After being around her these past few months there is no telling how long it'll take and might last through the party. So if that does happen then you can skip out on the party, but if she somehow manages to finish in time then you'll still have to go.” Scootaloo frowns as she considers this trying to find a problem with the offer. She would rather have a solid decision but after hearing some of the stories about the librarian she knew it was likely that she would take up a lot of time and this was probably the best chance she would get to miss the party. “Fine, if there isn't any other way of getting out of it. At least I'll be able to spend a bit more time with you since you always seem to be gone. When are you heading over to Twilight's place anyways?” Aegis Flare pauses for a moment as her sister's words hit her and she promises herself to spend more time with her when she can since she isn't going into the Everfree as much as usual. It was hard for her to balance out her work with being with her sister over the years but without their parents it was hard getting everything her sister needed. When she thought about it she was really drawing a blank as to who her friends were beyond Sweetie Belle. “I was actually getting ready to head over now. And you're right, I haven't been around enough though it's getting better at least. Making friends with those six really made me step back and think on what I've been doing instead of just doing the same old thing. Speaking of, you've actually been in town this whole time yet I don't think I've heard you speak about any foals other than Sweetie Belle. Why is that?” She got her answer as the young pegasus started sputtering and avoiding her gaze before she darts towards the door. “I'll race you to Twilight's, sis. We don't want to keep her waiting now.” The elder sister just shakes her head and looks on as the younger one takes off towards the library where everything had started with her friends. Gathering up her things she moves to follow her when she pauses as an idea hits her involving a certain dragon that could do with a few friends his own age as well. With the idea implanted in her mind she gathered up the few things she was taking with her into a small pouch before following after her sister towards the tree library. Once she arrived it didn't take long for the orange mare to find herself forced into a chair in Twilight's basement attached to a machine that she had no idea how to work. While she was expecting to go through some sort of examination she would have liked to have at least been given a greeting before being whisked away and strapped in to the chair. Twilight was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't even notice that Scootaloo was also in the basement and was exploring the area. That wouldn't be so bad with her sister there but with how she was strapped in she couldn't keep an eye on her when she moved behind her forcing her to use other means to keep track of her. “Scoots, don't play with that. I'd rather not have to deal with having to run from yet another explosion down here.” The filly jerked her hoof away from the bubbling glass containers and rolled her eyes at her sister when she noticed that she wasn't even watching her. As she turned to move away she wasn't paying attention to her surrounding as her tail impacted with another sealed container sending it rocking. Before it could fall over though Aegis Flare contained it with a barrier before setting it back where it was. “How about you go upstairs and do something with Spike instead of poking around down here? Maybe there are some comic books or magazines for your scooter up in the library to occupy your time with since you seem so bored down here.” The filly looked apologetic when she noticed her sister stop the object from falling before she nodded and rushed upstairs again to avoid any potential punishment. Through all this Twilight was watching with interest as she didn't see the elder sister look back even once but seemed to know exactly what was happening. “How did you know what she was doing behind your back like that? You never turned your head at all and I don't see anything that you could have used like a mirror yet you knew what she was doing and precisely used your magic to stop something from falling.” Before the orange unicorn could respond there was a crashing sound from upstairs, followed by a few rapid fire thumps. Her ears twitched a few times before she sighed and looked towards Twilight. “That would be the sound of my sister knocking over a smaller shelf of books, followed by Spike losing his balance on a ladder as he was putting away a stack of books. Scootaloo is now heading over to help him up,” she paused as another loud thump sounded from above, “and there goes that unicorn bust that you keep on the table up there.” Twilight just stares at her as she describes all this before she sneaks upstairs to peek out the door to verify what she said. When she sees that what was described appeared to be exactly what happened she looked back towards the other mare in shock. “What? These ears aren't just for decoration you know. It would actually be hard to tell that I was even adopted if you saw me with my parents.” Twilight stares at the thestral-like ears thoughtfully as she moves back to look over her notes again. “I did forget that you mentioned how good your hearing was before, but I didn't realize that it was that good. There really hasn't been many studies on ponies that are a hybrid of tribes so I didn't expect your hearing to be as good as a full-blooded thestral. Are there any other thestral traits that you have you never mentioned before?” The other unicorn just shakes her head at this after thinking back for a moment. “There is nothing that I know of, though I can't say if my voice would have been able to copy their echolocation since those timberwolves ruined my voice. I probably never would have known how good my hearing was if it wasn't for my father since I always heard him coming home at night while my mother never heard him. In fact not many hybrids with thestral traits would know what they could do considering how their society is. I only have been able to keep in touch with one of my aunts on his side since the rest of his family looks down on him for marrying a unicorn. They are more traditions to such an extreme that any ponies that fall outside of them get shunned.” Twilight grimaces when she hears this information before she sighs. “I can't believe that there are still ponies like that in the more modern times. I mean I get Ponyville's tradition of not using magic for certain events like Winter Wrap-up but to actively ostracize ponies just for being a bit different just feels wrong.” Silence falls over the room for a moment before the purple librarian clears her throat while disconnecting the orange mare from the machines.. “Anyways I think that's about all the information I can get with just these. Some of the readings are almost non-existent but that is most likely due to your inability to read unicorn runes. There are a couple that are abnormally high, one of them which looks familiar for some reason, so there are a couple practical exercises I would like you to try while wearing this.” Twilight levitates a ring connected to wires onto Aegis Flare's horn before bringing out a few dense balls of metal of varying sizes. She considers them for a moment before sliding the largest one forward and pulling out a new scroll. “All right then, just start channeling your magic into this and this machine will record how much you use and estimate your personal mana reservoir. Since you can't access the natural mana field like most unicorns I'm not sure what to expect.” Aegis Flare eyed the metallic ball before tapping it with a hoof before looking back at Twilight. “Are you sure this is a good idea? You do remember what form my magic can take, right?” Twilight just waves off her concerns with a hoof as she focuses intently on the machine. “Oh nothing should go wrong. They're made of a highly magic resistant material and I doubt that you can do anything to damage it.” With a sigh Aegis Flare shakes her head before focusing on the orb and pouring her magic into it. She held back a bit at first but when she had to struggle to maintain her focus she closed her eyes and started trying harder. As she increased the amount of power she was forcing into the orb it started to get easier as if the resistance was fading. With Aegis Flare's eyes being closed and Twilight being totally focused on the machine, neither of them saw that the ball of metal was starting to turn a brighter color than the dull gray that it originally was. It steadily moved from the dull gray to a rosy color and eventually a bright golden color, causing the ground below it to start to smolder. Both of the mares realized that something was wrong at around the same time as Twilight caught the scent of something burning and the pressure holding Aegis Flare back suddenly ceased as the ball started to melt. “Ack! Flare, stop! Too much power, too much power! Where's the water at!” As the orange mare stopped channeling her magic into the object Twilight started darting around looking for something to douse the sphere with before it could cause too much damage as small fires began to spring up around it. Aegis Flare just sighed and shook her head as she focused on a spell that she didn't like using as it was overly draining for some reason. Twilight froze in place when her gaze passed over her friend to see her suddenly shoot a stream of water from her horn, putting out the fires and rapidly cooling the metal causing a cloud of steam to form. Once the steam cleared she noticed that the other mare had collapsed to the ground panting from her exertion. “How did you do that? I thought that your magic was limited only to spells involving fire and your barriers?” The panting pony just lay there for a few more seconds before she struggled to her feet and started walking over towards the pouch of things she had brought to the library and started digging around. Twilight started to look impatient as she was apparently being ignored though her eyes widened when she saw the other mare pull out a vial of silvery liquid and quickly downed it before turning back to her looking a bit rejuvenated. “Oog, I really hate having to do that spell, it never feels right. I did mention that I've done that spell before and, while originally it was because of poison joke, I remembered how it felt and found that I could still cast it even though it drains me quickly. And what is that look for?” While she explained; Twilight just stood there with her mouth agape looking at the empty vial that was still sticking out of the pack. It isn't until a hoof is waved across her vision that she is able to recover with a shake of her head. “Did you just drink a vial of liquid mana without even stopping to think about it? Do you know how much it costs even for a small amount like what you used? I could probably replace everything in my lab with just three of those!” Aegis Flare raises an eyebrow at this as she reaches into her pack and pulls out a brace of a dozen, minus one, more vials of liquid mana. As she looks them over Twilight's jaw drops in shock over seeing such a valuable commodity just being casually handled. “Huh, I didn't know these were worth that much. It explains why the formula for creating them was written in code in my mother's logbook for her potion brewing. I never thought to try and sell them when I found out exactly what they were for as well as how hard it was to make them. I try to make as much as I can at one time as counting out individual grains of ingredients is a bit nerve-wracking since that one grain can be the difference between a good potion and an explosion waiting to happen.” Twilight's jaw just opens and closes soundlessly for a few moments before she just sighs and shakes her head in exasperation before she mutters to herself. “One of these days you'll have to show me all the things you find in the Everfree and what you do with them.” Looking over the most recent printouts she does a few mental calculations before she raises an eyebrow at what she finds. “Anyways thanks that that little accident and the data recorded from it I think I have a good idea on where you are. Your personal mana pool is one of the largest I've seen outside of the guard and university; easily within the top fifth percentile of unicorns. What is odd are the fluctuations I'm seeing when you were actively casting.” Twilight pauses as she glares at the small stack of three books that she had sitting on a nearby table before going back to the readouts. “I would like to say that this is because of your condition but I couldn't find much on spell blindness and the effects thereof. The last documented case was over fifty years ago and even then it was mostly done as a side note.” She looked thoughtful for a moment before turning towards the orange mare. “In fact what you've done has already proven many of the assumptions of your condition completely wrong. You never should have been able to even use that water spell but you still managed to do so just because of an accident with poison joke.” The purple pony ends her rant with a sigh as she shakes her head. “So many answers but now there are even more questions which need tools that I don't have here. I have a hypothesis with how some of your magic works but without a deep scan at a high end hospital I can't confirm anything.” Twilight lets out a huff of disappointment as she looks over all the information that she had gathered as she blocked out the world around her again. The other unicorn just watched her for a moment before she shakes her head as the purple mare goes through everything for what looks like the third time. Her ears twitch as a sound of scuffling catches her attention and she turns her head towards the door as it opens revealing both Spike and Scootaloo. “Come on, you don't really have to tell them do you?” “Yes, Twilight told me to tell her and if I don't I'll be the one dealing with her and not you. Hey Twi! It's about time for the party Pinkie was setting up.” Scootaloo sat back with a grumpy look on her face as Twilight's attention was pulled away to look upstairs in confusion. A look of realization crosses her face as she looks towards a clock in the room as it hits five past the hour and her eyes widen. “No no no no! I'm going to be late!” After a small whirlwind of motion she quickly organizes all the paperwork she was holding for later before she sprints upstairs and out the door as Aegis Flare hears it soon slamming open. The two sister's look at each other for a moment before turning towards Spike who had a hand over his face. “She forgot that she set that clock ten minutes fast again. Now she's just going to be earlier than she wanted to be.” As he walks away the remaining unicorn just shakes her head and gathers her things up before collecting her pouting sister and follows after her friend at a more leisurely pace. She knew that things would only get worse if she didn't do something so she tried to draw her sister into a conversation. “So did you have fun with Spike while I was down with Twilight in her lab? Other than that bit when you first went upstairs I didn't hear much of anything from you two.” Scootaloo's mood doesn't seem to improve much but she still isn't far enough gone to not answer. “Well it was fine up until he had to go and remind you about the party. He had a small collection of comic books that I hadn't read before. He said that he would let me know when he gets some more from some place in Canterlot that he gets them from.” The elder sister took that as something of a victory as it gave the younger someone else to speak and play with in town. In fact it gave another potential pony to watch after her sister during the times she was gone, though if what Twilight said was true she may need to rethink more of her work habits. She tried to raise her sister's mood more often as they made their way towards Sugar Cube Corner. Unfortunately she didn't have much success doing so as they arrive and she just hoped that something didn't go horribly wrong. <><><><><><><> Later “Ah sure am glad that Applebloom is finally getting to know other fillies her age. Ah don't know why ah didn't think to introduce her to both of your sisters earlier.” Applejack looked across the table to Rarity and Aegis Flare before glancing at her sister as she sat and talked with both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. “I agree with you dearie. Over the years I helped Flare here by watching Scootaloo when she had to spend a long time inside of the Everfree. There were times when I would have welcomed somepony else that I trust to keep an eye on them when I was busy and my parents were away.” Rarity brushes a lock of her mane away as she smiles at her sister getting along with the other two. “I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know until today that Sweetie Belle was probably the only friend that my sister had. I thought I mentioned Applebloom a few times when I was able to be with her but I guess nothing came of it.” Aegis Flare pauses as she looks at the other two mares and something came to her. “You know I didn't notice until just now, but they remind me of us in a way.” The other two look at her in confusion for a moment before looking back at the three fillies again. With her eye for detail Rarity was able to spot what she was talking about faster then the farmer. “Yes, I believe I see what you mean. Applebloom is much like Applejack was at that age and Sweetie is giving off that aura of shyness that you always had back then. And while she is a bit rougher than I, Scootaloo does have a habit of going after what she wants with a single-mindedness.” Applejack snorts at her descriptions but doesn't say anything about the first two, but the third... “Don't ya mean that she is the loud one of the group? Ya always were the one that got the most attention as ya loudly showed off the newest things ya made.” Rarity sniffs and turns her nose up a bit at this but the slight upturning of her mouth shows that it was mostly an act. The three then turn to watch their respective sisters again as the newly formed trio clap their hooves together. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Cookie Tasters, YAY!?” As the three rush off deeper into the party the three older mares turn to look at each other. “Am I the only one that got shivers down their spine when they did that?” When the other two confirm that they also felt it the look worriedly back towards the fillies and wonder what they may have accidentally unleashed.