Sonata stared at the rock lying in front of her with a fearful expression on her face. She knew what she had to do, but she was worried about whether she could pull it off.
“Relax, Sonata. It is a very simple spell.”
The blue filly looked upwards towards her mentor, surprised by her words.
“And besides, even if you fail, nopony will know except me,” said Luna. “Then I shall simply help you improve so that you can succeed the next time.”
While still worried, Sonata was reassured by her mentor’s words. Thus, she turned her attention back to the rock and began to sing. As she did, the stone became enveloped in blue light. Slowly, the light got brighter, and the rock’s surface began to change.
Suddenly, the magic aura surrounding the rock blasted away, hitting Sonata and sending her flying away. Fortunately, Luna caught her before she could be hurt.
“Owie…”
Luna looked at her young pupil with worry in her eyes.
“Sonata, are you alright?”
“I’m okay,” the little blue filly said as she rubbed her throat. Luna smiled in relief, then turned her attention back to the rock.
“Well, you managed to change it, at least.”
Sonata looked towards the rock, and was disappointed to see that, rather than a gemstone, it had turned into a hunk of coal.
“Oh. I thought it was going to work.”
She looked downwards dejectedly. However, before she could get too depressed, she felt her mentor's wing draping her reassuringly.
“There is no shame in failing, Sonata. Nopony gets anything right on the first try. And besides, you still have very little experience using your magic for… more varied purposes.”
Sonata couldn't help but feel that Luna had just remembered the more hostile ways the sirens had used their magic in the past. Nevertheless, she smiled back at the dark blue alicorn.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“Please, Sonata. Call me Luna.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you, Luna.”
Luna chuckled softly before turning back toward the hunk of coal.
“So tell me, Sonata. What do you think you did wrong?”
Sonata scrunched up her face as she thought. She then looked up at her mentor.
“Did I sing too not-loud?”
Luna couldn't help but laugh.
“Oh, your singing was loud and clear. And your voice is beautiful.”
Sonata began to blush and turn away. Luna smiled, though it faded away as a thought entered her head.
“When you sang, what were you thinking about?”
Sonata lifted her hoof to her chin as she thought.
“Well, I was thinking what I always thought whenever I sung,” she answered. “It was usually something about being needed and adored by everypony. That what my sisters… told me.”
As a look of sadness took over Sonata’s face, Luna mentally slapped herself for opening up her old scars. Thinking quickly, she looked towards the crib that lay at the edge of the room.
“And what were you thinking about when you hatched him?”
Sonata looked up in confusion, then looked in the direction that her mentor had pointed. She then saw the little purple dragon sleeping peacefully within. Immediately, her thoughts went back to the night she'd returned to Equestria, and how Luna had told her to hatch the egg.
“Well, I was thinking about my mommy.”
Luna's eyes widened in surprise. Aside from her sisters, Sonata had not made any mention of her family.
“My mommy used to sing that song for me when I was little.”
Sonata blinked, and then added “I mean, when I was littler than I was before I came back. Because I was little, then I got big, then when I came back I-”
“Yes,” Luna interrupted. “I see. And… what did you feel when you sung that song?”
Sonata scrunched up her face as she tried to remember how she'd felt when she sung her mother's song.
“Well,” she said finally, “ I was mostly thinking about the little baby dragon that was inside the egg. And I thought about how cute and little he'd be, and how he'd need lots of love and kindness, and how my mommy always gave me love and kindness…”
As Sonata finished speaking, she felt sadness seeping into her once again. The memory of her mother was just as painful, if not more, than the memory of her sisters. However, before she could be overwhelmed by her feelings, Luna began to speak.
“Tell me, Sonata. If you were to focus on those feelings instead of the bad ones, do you believe you would have better results?”
The blue earth pony looked up at her mentor in surprise.
“Will that really work?”
“We’ll never know unless you try,” Luna said with a smile. Although Sonata was still apprehensive, her mentor's encouragement was enough to give her the determination she needed.
“Okay! I'll try that!”
Luna nodded approvingly, and then set a new rock in front of Sonata. The blue filly grinned with determination, and then began to sing. This time, however, she focused on the positive feelings that her mentor had told her to think of.
Once again, the rock was enveloped in blue light. This time, however, it did not send her backwards, and Sonata's magic reshaped it into a hexagonal shape, turning it clear as it did so.
Luna watched in amazement as the rock turned into a piece of quartz. Finally, the magic around it was dispelled softly, creating just enough push to lightly ruffle her pupil's mane.
“Well done, Sonata.”
Sonata poked an eye open, and grinned at the sight of the transformed object.
“Princess! I did it!”
Luna smiled at her student's glee, and then raised the crystal in her magic.
“Well done, Sonata. You're quite a quick learner, if I do say so myself.”
She then moved the gem towards the crib. As it reached the sleeping baby dragon, he immediately woke up and looked towards the gem. He then smiled and grabbed it with his teeth, eliciting a shocked gasp from Sonata.
“Spikey! Don't eat that! You'll break your teeth!”
Before she could panic any more, Luna placed her hoof on Sonata.
“Don't worry, Sonata. Dragons eat gemstones, so their teeth are naturally hard enough to break down any object.”
Sonata gasped in awe.
“For realzies? Then... shouldn't they be made of rocks if that's what they eat?”
For a moment, Luna imagined a dragon made entirely of crystal. She laughed at the thought, then turned back to Sonata.
“Perhaps there are crystal dragons somewhere in the world, Sonata. But here in Equestria dragons don't turn into gemstones just because they eat them. Instead, they use the gems to power their magic. That is where they get their ability to breathe fire.”
Sonata nodded in understanding, then looked towards Spike. As she watches him chew on his gemstone, a thought occurred to her.
“Luna, if I ate a gemstone, would I be able to breathe fire?”
Luna briefly imagined Sonata screaming in pain as pieces of her teeth fell out of her mouth. Grimacing, she patted the little filly on the head.
“No, Sonata. Ponies are not meant to eat gemstones.”
“Wahoo!!”
Night Glider grinned as she watched her new friend following her close behind. She had been surprised, but thrilled to find out that Gilda was almost as fast as her, and so they had been engaged in several races since their first meeting. Even though the dark blue filly had won most of them, her griffin friend had proved to be more than capable of holding her own.
“Come on, Gilda!” she yelled out. “Is that the best you’ve got?!”
“You want speed?!” Gilda replied. “Get ready to eat my dust!”
The two racers continued to fly towards their goal, both flying unbelievably fast. As they passed the finish line, they grinned and bumped their front legs. They then began to chant their motto.
Junior Speedsters are our lives!
Skybomb soars and daring dives!
Junior Speedsters, It’s our quest
To someday be the very best!
The two flyers then hugged each other and giggled. As they broke the hug, Gilda looked towards Night Glider happily.
“That was so amazing! I didn’t know there were ponies who could fly that fast!”
“Well, I didn’t know there were griffins who could fly that fast,” Night Glider pointed out. “I guess we’re both learning right now, aren’t we?”
Gilda grinned and nodded. “So, are there any other ponies who fly really fast?”
“Nah,” said Night Glider. “I’m pretty sure I’m the fastest. What about you?”
Gilda’s face scrunched up as she began to think.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never really flown with other griffins.”
Night Glider raised an eyebrow.
“Why not? I mean, I’m too fast for most ponies to keep up but I still go out to fly with them. Why don’t you hang out with anypo- I mean, anygriffin else?”
Much to Night Glider’s surprised, Gilda looked downwards and began to whimper.
“Gilda?”
The little griffin didn’t answer. Concerned, Night Glider placed her hoof on Gilda’s shoulder, causing her to look up in surprise.
“Hey, don’t worry. You can tell me anything. You know that, right?”
At first, Gilda seemed hesitant. However, after a few moments, she began to speak.
“Back in Griffonstone, nogriffin cares about anygriffin else. We’re all pretty much on our own. Some griffins might help out, but only if they get a lot of money out of it. They’re all mean, just like those colts. And nogriffin is ever there to help you out.”
Night Glider’s mouth hung open. How could the griffins be such jerks? Didn’t anygriffin realize the importance of helping each other out?
“That’s so stupid! Everygriffin should be friends!”
Gilda rolled her eyes.
“You wouldn’t say that if you lived in Griffonstone. It’s a dump.”
Night Glider raised an eyebrow.
“So, you’re saying that griffins are just mean ‘cause they live in a dump?”
Gilda looked away uncomfortably.
“Um… maybe? I don’t know. I’ve never lived anywhere else.”
As Gilda looked around trying to avoid saying any more, Night Glider was struck by an idea.
“You know, most of Equestria is pretty nice. I’ll bet you could find a whole bunch of nice ponies here!”
The worried griffin turned back towards her friend, an uneasy look on her face.
“But what if they’re like those colts from before?”
“Ah, don’t worry about that,” Night Glider said as she waved a hoof. “I can totally handle any bullies that try to give you trouble!”
The dark blue filly gave Gilda a huge grin, which quickly coaxed a smile out of her.
“Um… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“YES!” Night Glider shouted as she flung her hooves around Gilda. The young griffin was momentarily surprised, but soon returned the hug.
“Best friends forever?”
“Best friends forever!”