Autumn

by canonkiller

Magic is Sunshine

Obsidian finally got up from where he was sitting, tears still streaming down his face as he crumpled the smaller of the two scrolls in his claw.

What about the other... the other scroll? The insistent voice, although being silent for a long time, always returned. I know it has much less value to you, but I believe it is worth reading as well.

"It was a decoy. I know Sunrise's powers. She was... is... fully capable of intercepting the sent message before it came. She would read it, find Spike, read my message, write her own and send it along, secretly. I have full assurance that the message she sent wasn't read by anyone else. Just...us..."

No. Kha insisted. I do not know what other interaction you have had with overnatural beings, but I am not like them. I have not looked at that paper other than the first accidental lines, and I do not intend to read more. That was between you and Sunrise, and I believe you deserve to keep it that way.

"Oh... thank you." Obsidian wiped the tears from his cheeks, standing up and taking a few deep breaths. Tilting his chin up and pushing out his chest to look stronger, it was all he could do to keep from crying again.

Just read the other scroll. Is it not worth reading how the rest of the ponies feel?

"Nah, he wouldn't have woken anyone else up. But Twilight's magic is attuned to messaging, and she would have found it and told him to write a reply. Being that he has scribe training and all."

Go on, read it. Go on go on go on.

"You sound like an overexcited foal! Fine, I'll read it." He could feel Kha's concious huddled playfully in the front of his mind, almost giggling with excitement. "Anticipating much?"

OPEN IT!!

Obsidian laughed and unrolled it, scanning over the words. "Oh, Twilight must have told him what to write."

Obsidian,

I know you must be having conflicting emotions about all this. All of this...well, everything. Spike, did you write that? Spike! The pause and everything? Stop writing! Ugh, you got sarcastic in your old age. Fine, whatever,

I heard a quote once, 'It's a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.' I thought it applied to you. Good luck, Obsidian. Good luck with everything. If all else fails, I'll welcome you back with open arms. We all will.

You don't have to be a worldsaver to be loved.

~Twilight Sparkle

(and her ever-present and loyal dragon scribe, who is awesomely awesome and extremely handsome, Spike.)

You did not just write that!

"Well?"

I LIKE PONYVILLE PONIES! AND DRAGONS!

Obsidian laughed at his mental friend and realized that not only had his breathing steadied, but that he felt happy. Happy.

Running his paws along the ash-caked wall, Obsidian cheered and pranced outside. Happy.

Sunrise pouted as Twilight hooked her by her tail and swung her onto her back. "It takes practice, but your father was much harder to catch."

The yellow dragonness climbed up Twilight's mane, setting her chin gently on the mare's forehead. "Why do I have to stay?"

The Unicorn paused, one hoof in the air, and for a second Sunrise thought she had broken her. "Um, Twilight? You okay?"

"SpikekeepgoingaheadIneedtotalktoSunrise."

"H'okay, whatever." The large dragon picked up speed until he was jogging, bouncing ahead to the front of the group.

Twilight began walking again, albeit much slower. "Look, when I was a filly,"

"Not again."

"Oh, be queit and listen to your elder. Fine, I'll shorten it. When I was little, and the Element of Magic was at it's most active, there were a lot of dangerous things around Equestria."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Twilight continued without listening. "There was Nightmare Moon, when, against whatever Celestia had said about my safety, I went after her. With five other ponies, we found and rediscovered the Elements. And unknown to anyone, we received the memories of all the previous Bearers."

"Again, what does this have to do with me?"

"And now, I'm going to pass the Element on to you. Sunrise." She looked back over her shoulder, grinning in a slightly disturbing way. "May the wind speed your wings, and the stars heed your calls. Although there is no material object I can give you, I want you to have the Element." It will come when you need it.

Checking to make sure everypony had moved on, Twilight slid Sunrise off of her head and waited for her to scarmble onto her hind legs. Twilight's horn lit, and for a few brief moments, a spectral silhoette of a crown graced her forehead in varying hues of violet, before she touched the tip of her magic force to Sunrise's head.

The light grew brighter and darker at the same time, as it simmered to a purple hue and lit the surrounding area. Sunrise tried to close her eyes, but they were fixed open, and Twilight's as well.

It went dark again, suddenly, and both creatures stumbled back. Twilight looked worn from the ordeal, while Sunrise was glowing. Literally.

Her scales were edged in a mystical purple fire, while the once-red crests along her head, cheeks and tail had morphed into a pale lilac color. When she opened her eyes, or at least focused them, the once-pink irises had taken on the color Twilight's used to be, and while the slitted pupils remained the same, their color had turned purple as well, darker than that of the iris. Her once-yellow scales had not turned purple, for overuse of the colour, and instead an orange-pink. The skin on her wings had only changed breifly from scarlet, and were a deep orange. The thicker scales on her belly were a deep blue.

Twilight laughed. "Me and my friends were born into the Elements, there was nopony to pass them down to us... I never knew your color changed."

"Think of how Tigerjay could look!" The now-violet dragonness giggled. "All pink!"

"I don't know about that." Twilight added. "We've been using the Elements without Pinkie and Fluttershy, but they haven't done anything major since we split up..." Her pupils shrank. "Spike, you're the new Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed.

"Have you gone off your rocker?"

"No! I figured out what's going on! IT'S PINKIE PIE AND FLUTTERSHY! That's what's been missing! That's why we can't do anything big with the Elements! Like Spike activated the Elements before with Discord, but it wasn't strong enough!"

"I am not understanding."

Twilight turned to Sunrise, grinning. "No, you go find Obsidian. You should still be able to tap into his teleport. I have to go find Kindness and Laughter."

"I've never done magic before!"

"You're Element has. Trust it, and you'll be fine. Separate your future from our past. Good luck."

Twilight teleported away, leaving a decidely smaller flash of light than normal, and left Sunrise alone.

A forgien feeling ran through her scales. Magic. Ancient magic. With a brief smile, she reached out to Obsidian's magic, and burrowed into it. following his path.

"Good luck to you too."