Purity Corruption

by TheBlox

Island of Independence

High in the sky, Drake carried Altruise through the air on his back. The filly was already feeling homesick since they left Trottingham, but even more-so knowing there was nothing to go back to. She’s been awfully quiet during the flight, which was understandable to Drake. Soon the flight took them over the ocean.

“Where are we going…?” Altruise asked the pegasus, feeling very distant from home.

“Where I live.” Drake exclaimed. “It’s a safe location. We’ll arrive in just a few minutes.”

“Oh… Okay.”

“You doing alright up there?” Drake noticed her quivering.

Altruise looked below her and gulped, then lowered her head closer to him, holding on tighter. “Uhh… I’m a little afraid of heights, but… I’m okay.”

Drake turned his head to talk to the filly easier, “Should I fly lower?”

“Would be nice…” Altruise exclaimed nervously, “And, maybe a bit slower.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry.” Drake apologized, looking forward again, “I’m not used to flying with another pony on my back.” He decelerated and lowered his altitude, flying closer to the open waters more gracefully. They were about fifteen feet above the ocean; Altruise raised her head again, looking at the view around them. Though the height was intimidating, she couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful feeling to be soaring through the air like this.

Drake turned his head to the filly, “This better?”

“A lot better, yes.” Altruise exclaimed, smiling.

“Aha. I knew you could smile.” Drake caught her, looking ahead again.

“Uh?” Altruise paused briefly, and chuckled at his reaction. “Yea, well…” She sighed and watched ahead, feeling the warm breeze rush through her mane. “Thank you.”

Drake turned to look up at her again and smiled back at her, “Hey, any time. If you want to fly again just let me know.”

“No, not for that, I mean… for everything.” Altruise exclaimed, “You saved my life back there. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t come…”

“Oh…” Drake nodded and looked ahead. “You’re welcome.”

Up ahead in the distant horizon, Altruise could see a body of land, surrounded by water on all sides.

“An island?” Altruise asked, looking down at the pegasus, “Is that where you live?”

“Yep. Since I was a young colt I’ve lived there all by myself.”

Altruise paused, and asked a further question, “Is this where you went when your parents, um…”

Drake could hear her hesitation, and he nodded. “It’s okay. Yeah, this is where I went. After they died, I just flew off without knowing where to go. And I found this place. Quiet, peaceful… I liked it. So I stayed.”

There was a pause, and he noticed she went all quiet again. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I just…” Altruise wiped a tear from her eye with her hoof, “I can’t stop thinking about my parents.”

Drake sighed and nodded, closing in near the island. “Yeah, I know. It’ll all be okay.” He decelerated as he got closer to the beach, and landed in the sand next to the ocean. He knelt down, giving Altruise room to slide off his back.

She slipped off to his side and her hooves landed in the soft, warm sand. She looked at her surroundings to examine where she was likely going to be staying for a long time.

It was a tropical place with a palm tree forest casting throughout the island. Off to one side there was a large mountain of neatly shaped rocks. It was indeed quiet; the only sounds heard were the gentle waves of the ocean and birds chirping in the trees.

“I’ve never seen a place like this before…” Altruise exclaimed in both awe and curiosity.

“Well, you can go wherever you like on the island.” Drake welcomed.

“Is that mountain active?” The filly asked, raising her head with her ears to their sides, peering over at the rocky mountain.

“Huh?” The stallion chuckled, “No, it’s quite alright. That isn’t a volcano.”

“Oh.” Altruise’s ears perked and she kept turning her head examining more of the island. She trotted into the forest of palm trees and looked up into the leaves at the very top where the coconuts were. She licked her lips and stood up on her hind legs, leaning her front hooves against the tree.

“Oh, um, food. Right.” Drake flew up into the tree and plucked a coconut, letting it drop into the ground below. Needless to say, he wasn’t exactly used to having other company at his island, let alone being a host.

Altruise walked up to the coconut and looked down at it. She knew it was edible, but had no idea how somepony was supposed to eat one. Hunger on the brain, she opened her mouth and tried biting into the solid coconut. Her teeth clamped down onto its shell, and it rolled away from her when her teeth bit together, failing to bite into it.

Puzzled at the hard fruit, Altruise went up to it again to try and take another bite, but it just rolled away again on her when she tried to bite it. Drake just watched, not sure if he was supposed to help the filly or if she was supposed to figure it out by herself. What would a parent do?

The filly made another attempt and grabbed onto the coconut with her front hooves so it wouldn’t roll away. With the fruit now secure in her grasp, she tried to take another bite out of the coconut, but her teeth just scraped the edges.

“Uhhh… Need help?” Drake questioned her like he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to ask.

“How are you supposed to eat these things?” Altruise grumbled, banging on it with her right hoof while she held onto it with her left.

“I uh… Should I help?”

Altruise looked up at the flying stallion with an expression on her face that signaled he was asking a stupid question.

“Sooo, that’s a no?” Drake assumed.

“Yes please.” The filly requested with a monotone irritated voice.

Drake nodded and flew down to the unicorn and took the coconut out of her hooves. He brought it over to a flat rock and placed the fruit on top, then raised his front hooves, dropping them on top of the coconut. It smashed open with a cracking sound into a few chunks, and the coconut milk ran down the sides of the rock.

“There.” Drake stepped back from the coconut and allowed Altruise to proceed. Altruise approached the coconut with a clueless expression.

“You eat the white layer on the inside of the shell.” The pegasus explained. Altruise shrugged and bit into the edible core layer of the coconut. She chewed it a few times, then her chewing slowed down and she had an indecisive expression on her face, whether she liked the fruit or not. It had a very interesting taste to say the least. She started chewing with her mouth open, figuring out the new flavour in her mouth before she finally decided to swallow it.

“Um… Do you like it?” Drake asked, though with the expression she just made he kind of doubted it.

“It’s interesting.” Altruise replied, taking another bite of the fruit. She chewed on it for a bit before making another weird facial expression.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t need to eat it.” The pegasus insisted. With that remark, the unicorn spat the chunks of coconut out of her mouth and looked up at Drake with an assumed apology look on her face.

“Is there anything else on this island that is edible?” Altruise asked, smacking her lips trying to get the taste out of her mouth. Drake was beginning to realize just how much work taking care of a filly was going to be.

“Uuuuh…” The clueless stallion shrugged.

Altruise paused for a moment, waiting for Drake to possibly offer something else. “Are coconuts all you eat here?” She questioned, beginning to think living here was going to have a burdened menu.

Drake blinked a few times, thinking how he was going to reply to that. “Yes.”

Altruise’s jaw dropped and she sat in the ground with her stomach making a hungry growl. “Don’t you get bored of eating the same thing over and over again?”

“I’m not picky.” Drake simply answered. “And coconuts are good for you.”

“Bleh.” The unicorn made a disgusted face with her tongue hanging out. Drake’s patience was beginning to flip, but he tried to reason this with the filly.

“Well… What do you like to eat?” He asked abruptly, pacing around in circles. He then got an idea and flew off over the forest. Altruise watched him land somewhere in the midst of the forest momentarily, then spotted him flying back into the air toward her. He landed near her with a quill and a piece of paper in his possession.

“Here.” Impatiently, he dropped the paper and quill in the ground, “Write a list of what you will eat. I’ll fly off the island and get it.”

“Where did you get this quill and paper?” She asked curiously.

“I have a shack off in the forest where I keep my things.” The stallion exclaimed, pacing around again. Altruise nodded and illuminated her horn activating a levitation spell. She lifted the quill and paper, when suddenly to her surprise they caught fire in mid-spell, and her horn was producing electrical sparks.

“AH?!” She panicked and immediately turned off her spell, and the quill and paper crumpled up in the flames, turning into ashes in the sand. Her eyes were frightfully wide. “W-why’s this happening? I thought I was trained enough! Why’d it burn?”

Drake was speechless and a bit surprised and wide-eyed himself. The fire went out on its own in a few moments with just a pile of black charred remains of paper and feather. “It’s okay, I can get another—”

“No, it’s not okay!” Altruise interrupted with sudden frustration, “This is exactly what I’ve been training NOT to do! Why am I screwing up on even the simplest spell when I was doing so well before?”

“You’ve been having problems using your magic?” Drake asked, kneeling next to the filly to listen.

Altruise nodded, “Princess Celestia trained me in the last few weeks to help me fix it though. I needed it to be tamed so I wouldn’t hurt anypony with it.”

“The Princess herself trained you?”

Altruise nodded, “Before that I was a walking disaster, I couldn’t activate a simple spell without practically destroying everything around me!”

There was a pause between the two. Drake understandingly placed his hoof on her shoulder. “So explain to me, why were your spells so amplified?”

The filly put a hoof to her chin and thought out loud, “Well, the Princess said that it was mostly a cause from anger.”

“Then perhaps the reason this is happening is because you’re still mourning over your parents.” Drake determined, “You must be feeling anger, if that’s what sets it off.”

Altruise thought about it, and the image of her parents being murdered flashed in her memories. With a sigh, she frowned and nodded. “Yeah.”

“It is true that anger can bring out the worst in us.” Drake exclaimed, “But such incredible magic should not be tampered with.”

Altruise looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean, tampered with?”

“Well, it sounds to me like you were perfect the way you were before you were being trained by the Princess.” The pegasus explained, “Trust me, you don’t need her to show you how to use your magic.”

“But look what I did to the quill and—”

“Altruise.” Drake interrupted her with an assuring speech, “You see, you have a gift. A gift of the most powerful magic anypony has ever seen. You shouldn’t be taming it. You should be learning to control it.”

Puzzled, Altruise tried putting heads or tails on the difference. “Isn’t taming it and controlling it the same thing?”

“No, it is not.” Drake declared, “You said she was taming it. Tame, meaning weakening, so you’re no longer capable of doing those magnificent things that she considers destructive.” He expressed himself with enthusiasm, “You should be taught to control it so that you can use the magic exactly how you desire to the most amplified of your ability.”

Altruise paused, thinking about what he was explaining to her. She put her hoof on her chin, realizing he had some good points, but there were flaws in this. “But what if I hurt somepony with my magic?”

“How could you hurt somepony if you knew exactly what you were doing with it?” He replied with further explanation, “If you could control it perfectly with no flaws, imagine what kinds of things you could do?”

The unicorn looked off to the side, nodding slowly with an expression of realization, staring into space deep in thought. She never thought of it this way before. At first she thought it would be safer to soften her magic, but she began to think of the things she would be able to do with her magic at its full potential if it were under her control. She would be able to do amazing things and make big differences. Snapping out of her epiphany, she looked back up at the pegasus with further doubt.

“How will I be able to even do that though? If the Princess won’t train me to control it like that, then who will?” She raised a brow.

“I will.” Drake declared, standing tall with commitment. Altruise looked up at him like he was nuts.

“But… you’re a pegasus.”

“Indeed I am, but you see, my father was a unicorn; he was one of the greatest I’ve ever known.” Drake explained, “I may not be a unicorn, and I cannot use magic, but I know a thing or two about it. I’ve always been fascinated with spells, so I’ve always got my father to tell me how he did them. That and I’ve read many of his books.”

Altruise jumped, at first with full excitement and eagerness, but she quickly turned back down to feeling like it was a bad idea. “What if I hurt you though? You really don’t want to see my magic when it gets so overpowering…”

“If you keep fearing the worst possible outcome of your magic, you won’t see the true potential it has.” Drake declared, “Take a leap of faith.”

The filly took a moment to think about it, but this put a smile on her face. Ever since she discovered her tremendous magic, she had felt that her power was a curse. However, Drake let her see it in a whole different prospective; it was a gift. She stood tall and nodded agreeing to the task with determination.

“That a girl.” Drake patted her on the head. “Come with me to my shack and write down that list I wanted. And when I leave the island to get your food, if you want you can look into the books I still have from my father which I still keep.”

“Okay!” Altruise beamed and followed Drake into the forest. He showed her the path to get to his shack.

“It’s not a very long walk to get there from here.” He exclaimed to the filly beside her. Altruise had a look around at her surroundings, learning the new jungle-like forest of palm trees. This was definitely a different place than she’s ever been to before. There were vines and bushes, and everything seemed to string together. It was interesting to say the least.

After a few minutes they arrived to Drake’s shack. It was made of wood boards like an old cottage. There were only a few windows on the sides and a wooden door; it was very plain.

“It’s not much, but it’s all a lone pegasus needs on an island like this.” Drake exclaimed, pushing the door open. The two ponies walked into the shack and Altruise looked at her surroundings. The shack was simply one room with an old wooden table in the center, a few pillows in a corner, and shelves all over the walls. Some parts of the shelves had collected supplies, and there was a big shelf of books.

“Those I gather were your father’s spell books?” She asked, pointing her hoof at the big shelf of literature.

“Yes. They’re quite old actually; he got most of these from his grandfather, which were passed along from previous generations.”

“Wow… Do you have a good place to start reading?” She requested, scanning the shelf of books.

“Hmm…” Drake reached up to the second top shelf and pulled out a dark purple book with silver straps. It was labeled The Art of Levitation.

“This whole book is filled with many secrets to different levitation spells.” The stallion explained.

“Huh? You mean there’s more than one type of levitation?” Altruise was only aware of the one she currently knew about, which was the standard levitation that most unicorns learn.

“Yes. There’s your basic levitation magic, zeroing gravity, self-levitation, levitating much bigger objects…” Drake listed a few before Altruise got excited about it and started hopping on her hooves for the book.

“Oh, I’d love to read that one!” She said with hype. Drake smiled and placed the book on the table in the center of the room. Altruise climbed up onto the wooden chair and opened the book to page one. The pegasus went and got another blank sheet of paper and another quill from another shelf, placing it next to Altruise.

“Alright, so you want to write that list first so I can get you something to eat?” He asked, interrupting her on the first paragraph of her study.

“Oh, yes. Almost forgot about that.” Altruise exclaimed, picking up the quill with her teeth this time to avoid another accident like earlier. She started to scribble a list into the paper, and when done she put the quill down. The pegasus picked up the list and read through it; some of these things he hasn’t even heard of.

“What’s a nacho?” He asked, looking down at the filly with a raised brow.

“Uh…” Altruise scratched her chin thinking of a way to describe it. “A chip with cheese on it?”

“Uh… Okay?” Drake continued scanning the list; some of the names of these foods almost sounded fake or unrealistic. “Are you sure this list isn’t going to make you fat?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Nachos? Doughnuts? Pizza?” He read the list back to her, “Pasta? Cookies? Cupcakes? Twinkies? French Fries? Pony Joe’s? Muffins?”

Altruise shrugged innocently, “I’unno, I just wrote down what I like.”

Drake looked at Altruise for a few moments in silence before he decided to put the list back on the table. “I’ll just go and get something without a list and hope you like it…” He concluded, turning for the door. Before he left, he turned back to Altruise again with a last minute suggestion. “For safety sake, I recommend you don’t use your magic while I’m away. We’ll get to that when I return. For now just do some reading.”

“I understand.” Altruise nodded respectfully. Drake turned back to the door and was about to leave when he heard the filly hop off the chair and approached him, suddenly giving him a hug.

“W—… Altruise, I.” Drake looked down at the filly, unsure how to react to this. It was obvious he wasn’t used to this kind of affection.

“Thank you for everything.” Altruise exclaimed, looking up to the pegasus with a beaming smile.

“Really, you don’t need to thank me for anything.” Drake said, gently trying to move away from her hug, “I’m sure any other pony would’ve done the same thing for you if they found you there.”

“Maybe, but nopony else did.” She exclaimed, making it harder for Drake to step out the door. With a long and unpleasant sigh, Drake knelt down and awkwardly hugged her back. Then he stood up and exit the shack through the door.

“I’ll be back.” He declared, taking off into the air and soaring off the island. Altruise watched the pegasus disappear into the sky, and went back to the table to sit and read the old levitation book. For a book only about one type of spell, she was impressed at how thick it was. There must be much more about levitation than she had ever thought there would be. Intrigued, she read on.

* * * * *

Altruise had gone through about a quarter of the book before Drake had returned with food supplies in a basket an hour later. He stepped into the shack with the food and Altruise quickly turned to him when she heard him coming.

“You’re back!” She chanted happily as Drake put the basket of food on the table. Altruise took a glance into the open basket. There were a few different fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, grapes; there was a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

“You brought cookies?” Altruise exclaimed excitedly when she saw the cookie bag.

“Well I couldn’t leave everything off your list.” Drake chuckled, pushing the basket over to her. “Just don’t fill up on snacks. Is everything else in here edible to you?”

“Yep, this is perfect.” Altruise declared, picking an apple out of the basket by the stem with her teeth. She started chomping down on the fruit.

“I didn’t know fillies could eat this fast…” Drake said to himself silently; Altruise looked up at him and gave an excuse.

“I’m hungry.” She said with her mouth full, apple crumbs escaping her lips as she spoke.

“I can see that.” The pegasus just stood watching her eat. “When was the last time you ate anything?”

“Uuuuummm… Supper last night with my mom and dad.” Altruise replied, her talking slowing down with each following word in her sentence. She paused briefly and went back to eating her apple slower and went quiet again.

“Never mind.” Drake sighed; it didn’t seem what kinds of questions he asked her, everything triggered memories about her parents. It wasn’t going to be easy to help her get used to being an orphan. Altruise took a couple more bites and placed the rest of the apple back on the table, looking lost in her eyes. She chewed and swallowed the remains of the fruit in her mouth and sat silent for a moment.

“Thank you for the food.” She said politely in a silent tone. Drake could guess that she lost her appetite thinking about her parents again.

“You want a cookie?” He suggested, trying to cheer her up. She just shook her head and stepped off the chair, trotting slowly toward the door.

“I just need a minute… Can I step outside for a bit?” The filly requested.

“Uh, of course. Should I stay here?” Drake asked, unsure if she wanted him to follow her or not.

“I just need to be alone for a bit…” She said, exiting through the door. Drake sat on the chair and put his head on the table with a sigh.

* * * * *

By herself, Altruise wandered off into the forest toward the mountain, which the base of the mountain was just a few minutes from Drake’s shack. Looking up the side of the tall pile of rock, she sighed and began climbing. It wasn’t terribly steep, and not all too dangerous to climb, but it was very high.

After several minutes of climbing, she reached the peek of the mountain. Altruise stood on the tallest rock of the mountaintop and sat there silent. The chilly breeze blew by her, rippling her golden mane in the wind. She looked over the horizon, watching the sunset over the ocean. With a heartache and a few gasping weeps, she screamed at the setting sun.

“WHY?!!” She yelled standing up, with nopony around to hear her. Tears started escaping her eyes, thinking about her mourns. “It’s not fair…” She wept and sniffed, yelling at the sun again. “WHAT DID I DO?!”

She sat back down on the rock and rephrased her question in silence. “What do I do…”

As the sun lowered below the horizon, she saw its reflection in the water, rippling. Her watering eyes opened wide at the sight. The reflection reminded her clearly of the cutie mark of her parents’ murderer. The way the sun reflected in the water to her looked like a supernova rippling in the ocean’s waves.

She watched it every minute that passed before the sun finally disappeared, fully darkening the sky. Sudden anger began to fill her heart, and her sad expression slowly converted into an unforgiving frown. Electrical sparks emerged from her horn as she gritted her teeth.

From behind, she heard flapping wings approaching her. She jumped in surprise—her horn’s sparks vanishing—and she quickly turned around, seeing Drake flying toward her. He landed on top of the mountain next to her.

“You were gone for awhile, thought I should come check on you.” He exclaimed, sitting on a rock near the one Altruise was perched on. “Something I can help you with?”

Altruise looked back out into the horizon where the sun disappeared. She sighed and shook her head, “Thanks anyway…”

Drake nodded respecting her answer and looked out to where Altruise was looking. “You know, when I first found this island, this spot up here is the first place I set my hooves. It’s my favorite spot to think.”

Altruise tried returning his conversation. “What do you think about?”

“It varies.” Drake replied, “This is where I go whenever something bothers me. I sometimes come here to mourn, to talk to myself.”

The filly looked over to the pegasus with her innocent eyes, “Do you ever get lonely here all by yourself?”

Drake paused briefly, and answered with a nod. “Sometimes.”

“I see…” Altruise looked back out into the horizon. “Well… I hope that since I’m here you won’t feel that way any more…”

The pegasus looked at the filly who kept her gaze on the ocean. With a sigh, he looked down into the ground beneath his hooves. “I’m really sorry about what happened to your parents. I’ve never known what it’s like to be a parent, what it means to take care of a filly of my own. So I’m very new at this whole thing… So I’m sorry if I’m not the type of parent or guardian you were expecting.”

Altruise looked at the downed pegasus feeling sorry for both of them. She stood from her rock and trotted over to Drake; she sat down beside him and leaned into him. “You’ve already done more than I could’ve asked for from anypony.” She said silently.

Drake looked up when she made this sudden act of affection, and he looked down at the filly next to her. At first he was going to stand and avoid it, but he couldn’t do that in this predicament. He quietly sighed and reached his front hoof around her shoulder and held onto her.

“I’ll do the best I can.”

From there, they sat in silence, both looking over the ocean. Minutes passed, and Drake felt Altruise lean her head against his side. He looked down at the filly who had apparently fallen asleep like this.

Drake was pretty well ready to go to sleep himself. He reached around the sleeping filly and picked her up, looking down at her peaceful face. With a sigh, he flew off the mountain with her in his hooves. He took her back to his shack and quietly entered through the doorway, being sure not to wake her. He circled the room, wondering where he was going to possibly put her to sleep; he didn’t have a bed, he’d always sleep under the stars.

In the corner of the shack he recalled that he had a few coloured pillows that he never used. He trotted over to the pillows in the corner and gently placed Altruise over top of them. Drake stepped back and watched over the filly as she slept there. He kept frantically looking around thinking there was something else he should be doing yet.

In the basket of food there was a soft white fabric sheet that they used so the fruit wouldn’t bruise in the basket. He quickly pulled the sheet out of the basket and unfolded it. He took it back to the sleeping unicorn and tossed it over her, providing her with a blanket.

Looking back at the filly, Drake figured that she was good there now till morning. He then turned for the door and left the shack. Stepping out into the forest, he looked up at the moon in the sky and rested in the grass. Putting his head down, he closed his eyes and went to sleep there under the stars.

* * * * *

Comments

[Obsidian Warrior]

Great story. But I found a few mistakes:

"Altruise shrugged innocently, “I’unno, I just wrote down what I like.”"
Shouldn't there be a d after the apostrophe?

"“Those I gather were your father’s spell books?” She asked, pointing her hoof at the big shelf of literature."
Please insert 'books' in between 'Those' and 'I'.

Yeah, that's all I can remember, but this is starting to get good, keep going!

[TheBlox]

408123
Thanks for the feedback, though both of those were written like that on purpose.
Altruise says "I'unno" like that in the comical sense, as to how it sounds when she says it. You know, the whole "I'unno" when you shrug stupidly or something. XD

"Those I gather were your father's spell books?"
If I put "books" between Those and I, she'd be saying the word books twice in the same sentence, and it would sound funny. She's pointing at the books as she says it, that emphasizes enough of what she's talking about.

The rules of writing dialogue differ from writing narration. They speak by how it sounds, not always by how it should be properly spelled or pronounced; especially considering Altruise's age.

But I don't know, I suppose that's just the way I think; seems every writer likes to use literature in their own different way. Again, thanks for the feedback; it's much appreciated. :)

[Obsidian Warrior]

408146

Yep. this is what I get from being a rushing American.
But yeah, I would write like that too.