Raison D'être

by mechafone

11 - The Truth About Us Part 2

Four Pegasi rocketed right past Canterlot. Lovely Lightning watched the castle drift further and further behind them, then moved closer to the leader of their little group. "Uh, boss-lady?" Sapphire kept flying, but she cast a glance at the yellow Pegasus. "What." "Weren't we going to stop at headquarters and let the seniors know what we're doing?" Sapphire snorted dismissively and actually poured on the speed a little.

"No. This might be going against the rules, but this is important to me. I have to talk to him." Lightning shook his head and sped on ahead of Sapphire, then pulled to a stop and got in her face. "Look, I can see he means a lot to you, but you have a responsibility to see our training through. All four of us could get a in a lot of trouble for even coming this far away from our mission!"

Sapphire got right back in his face, her forehead pressing against Lightning's head aggressively. "Well, then I guess you should've stayed back there! Abandoning my post was stupid, I get it. So why don't you all go back to Canterlot and wait for me to get back so I can get chewed out on my own time? Nopony's forcing you to do this with me!"

Behind them, Sweet Melody made a tiny little 'meep' sound and hid behind Lemon Pop. She hated her friends fighting.

Letting out a snort of anger, Lightning backed off, then flew around to comfort his friend. "All right, all right. You're right, we didn't have to come this far with you. We're all in trouble as it is. Guess we might as well see this through, huh?" He looked at the others. Lemon, Midnight and Sapphire nodded as one. "Thank you." Sapphire said, and hung her head with guilt. She had left her personal training completely on impulse when word had gotten around that Spark had left his training to "settle down" in Ponyville. She just wanted to know that he was doing what he wanted to do, and not regressing.

...Oh, who the hell was she kidding. She was madly in love with him, and she wasn't about to let him quit now. She'd never get to see him if he stayed in Ponyville. She looked again and smiled at the friends she'd made while training with the Fighters. "Let's go and get this over with, so we can get yelled at when we get back."

---

"Wow! So this is Ponyville?" Lemon Pop said as she cantered/bounced along the street. It was mid-day, sunny, warm, and the streets were filled with ponies. Sapphire watched the lively town, it's citizens completely oblivious to the fact that among them walked four undesirables. Sweet Midnight was practically leaning against Lovely Lightning. The two of them were inseparable, and all the attention the four of them were getting was unsettling the shy Pegasus.

Sapphire herself hadn't been back in town for six years, when she was six years old. Some things seemed to have changed. The orphanage was gone. That was because Righteous River, the bully in Spark Storm's life, had set it on fire. With Spark's mother still inside. She honestly didn't think that murder had been his intent, but she'd still stomp his face in if she saw him.

Instead, she saw somepony who made her blood stir. Mint Bank, the big oaf cousin of River's. He was at the bank, loading up big bags of coins into a carriage. It took only an instant for her to cross the long end of the street to get to him. Mint never ever saw him coming until he was pinned up against the side of the bank with a very, very angry Pegasus staring into his eyes.

"Ah! Whoa, please! Don't rob me, it's not even my money!...wait.." His eyes widened in shock as he realized the pretty face before him. He hadn't seen her since elementary school. "...Snow?" Sapphire gave him an even nod. She still had him pinned to the wall, and she wasn't letting up. "Where is he, Mint. You know who I'm talking about."

Mint started to sweat from nervousness. There could be two 'he's' that Sapphire meant, but he wasn't really sure which one she was referring to. So, when faced with uncertainty, he went with both answers. "W-well...River isn't here in Ponyville anymore...Cousin Filthy Rich sent him to some military camp some ways up north. And..." he paused, swallowing hard and lowering his voice. "...The other guy...he's at Sweet Apple Acres."

---

Spark Storm finished cleaning the plow from the day's work. He polished, brushed, and finally covered the big metal tool and put it back in the barn. He walked around to the front of the farmhouse, to the hill with the single tree at the top. He sat and surveyed his home. Celestia was setting the sun. He could just barely make out the tiny speck of light originating from a point on Canterlot in the distance. After a moment, the shine was gone. He was sure he'd seen her.

As he looked out over Ponyville. Such a peaceful looking place, and yet the violent past that it hid so well could not be kept hidden from his eyes. He had been there. He had lived it. And yet he kept hiding it as well, from others and from himself. Maybe Applejack was right...maybe he had to stop hiding.

He was still lost in thought when a mixture of colors caught his eye. Straining to find the source, he turned his gaze to the forest, where he could see a great big azure shape moving through the trees towards Ponyville. Is that...? No, it couldn't be...He thought, and yet, it could be nothing else. An Ursa Minor was headed straight for the town.

---

Spark Storm wasted no time as he found himself gliding down over Ponyville. He -had- to get there as fast as he could, so he didn't have time to hide. Ponies everywhere were beginning to shout. He could swear that a few of them were starting to throw things. When he had no more under his wings, he dropped to the ground and continued running, darting in and out among the townsponies, both friendly and unfriendly.

It wasn't long before Ditzy was running at his side. He didn't give her time to talk as he turned to her and said, well ordered, "Ditzy! No time! Tell them all to get back! There's trouble coming! Biiiig trouble!" Ditzy didn't understand, but she still gave a salute and turned to the townsfolk, wings spread, and she raised her voice to get their attention. "GUYS!" She shouted. Most ponies that had been following the situation turned to look at her. "...We got trouble!" Spark Storm sighed and shook his head. She'd been getting more...well, ditzy as she got older. "There's a monster coming to town!" He shouted behind him.

"There's already a monster in town!" Came more than a few shouts from the villagers. Spark rolled his eyes as he kept running. He'd given them a warning, so he poured on the speed, becoming a dark blur. His wings started buzzing to assist in his speed, creating a long, luminous trail of light behind him.

---

The beast towered over the trees as it rose up on it's hind legs. It's sleep had been disturbed, and it was a cranky little baby. It stared down at the four little winged ponies it had been chasing. They'd woken it up, and it would chase them to the ends of the world, if it had to. However, they all took off into the air and disappeared. It's rage would not be satisfied until all the little creatures in it's path had been destroyed. It was then that a fifth one entered it's view. This one was dark and reminded the creature of the night. Yes, this one would do nicely.

---

Sweet Midnight stared at the horrifying scene before her. Did they really just leave Sapphire's boyfriend to fend off an angry Ursa Minor alone? She wanted to say something, but the scene was so tense, and she was so shy and Sapphire was being so scary today. Finally, she managed to lightly nudge Sapphire's side. "U-um...S-Sapphire, are we really going to -" "Yes." "...Oh. Ok." Midnight gulped. She'd rarely seen Sapphire so...intense. And angry. Definitely angry.

Lemon watched as the Ursa let out a deafening roar. And yet, Spark Storm stood his ground, his wings spread out in a threatening pose. She had to admit, for somepony with such funny wings, he could really look tough. She looked back at Sapphire, noting the 'Concentrating. Don't bother me' look. She sighed and shrugged inwardly. If this didn't work out the way Sapphire said it would, then her friend could be really be single in about ten seconds.

---

And yet, it went exactly the way Sapphire thought it would. First of all, a large crowd had followed Spark Storm, intending to personally throw him out of Ponyville. Second of all, every single one of them ended up owing their lives to him. In a single moment, Spark Storm had lit up the area with his wings. Sapphire had never seen his powers activated in the dark. It was like being in the middle of a thundercloud without having the cloud in the way. Long, thick branches of electricity jumped from feather to feather as he faced the cosmic beast.

It roared it's dissatisfaction at facing such a fearsome opponent. It was angry; it wanted something simple to smash, not a creature that could easily singe and damage it. It made a single lunge at the dark Pegasus before it was wrapped up in light and pain. The force of the blast was strong enough to push the creature onto it's back. The Ursa got right back up and turned tail. When all was said and done, the beast hadn't been harmed, and had simply been scared away.

---

Spark Storm let out a sigh as the blinking lights from his feathers slowly dimmed and then died away. He turned and noticed the crowd watching. Many of them looked proud, looked grateful. But many of them also looked wary. A Pegasus with attack power like that? It was unnatural, it wasn't right, and it certainly wasn't welcome in their town. Spark could see his sister at the front of the crowd.

Cheerilee's eyes were filled with tears. What a fool she'd been. How could she have blamed her brother for what had happened? If she had really thought about it, hadn't he discovered his talent that day? She'd always known it had been an accident, but she had still blamed her brother. With a guilty heart she took a few steps towards her brother. She stopped when she noticed the hoof he held up towards her. Her heart ached at this. Did he hold a grudge that she blamed him?

Her heart did little flips that she couldn't tell were good or bad when he approached her. The yelling and accusing continued as he leaned in to speak to his sister for the first time since that horrible day. "Cheerilee..." She let out a little sob, a hoof over her mouth to keep from breaking down completely. "It won't work, Cheerilee. I can't stay here. They fear me, and for good reason. Think well of me, sister. I love you." He leaned in and pecked her on the cheek before taking off down the road. He didn't stop until he'd gotten to the other side of the Everfree. He didn't look back. He'd made his decision.

Comments

[Jacensolo43]

Well, you have done it. You have pushed me too far. I tried to resist the urge, but you have crossed the line. You, my friend, have made a watcher. I will watch your every move, determine your strength, and if possible... your weakness.