Prince of the Earth

by Lightning Flicker

Earthly Talents

Terran awoke to the sound of a tree creaking rather loudly, the sound was nothing unusual to the alicorn foal. He and his sisters had often gone to bed listening to the subtle rustling of the trees during the night. This time, however, seemed different. A low grunting was also sounding from...somewhere, he couldn't place it exactly, but upon raising his head a little, the sound of a loud snap followed by the groan of falling wood and the harsh thud of the tree hitting and compacting the ground snapped whatever sleepiness Terran had still been feeling clean from his mind.

Looking around, he quickly spotted what had been the source of the noise. A large tree had been split about two feet up from the ground. Faust herself seemed to be resting a short ways from it, a few beads of sweat moving over her forehead before she looked up and spotted the awoken Terran. She offered him a quiet smile as she moved over to him, his two sisters were awake as well now, Terran had been lucky to be waking up at the sound of the groaning wood. His sisters, on the other hoof, had simply been awaken by the loud crash, and the two were currently whimpering and clinging to the closest pony to them...which meant that both were clinging to their brother.

"I'm very sorry about waking you up so suddenly, my little ponies." She commented quietly, leaning her head down and nuzzling each of the foals in turn, a quiet smile coming to her features as the two filly's and colt slowly relaxed against their mothers gentle embrace. "I had thought I would be able to slow the fall of the tree...unfortunately, I was not quite fast enough." She gave a soft, embarrassed chuckle though her foals remained quiet.

Eventually, it was Celestia that spoke up, "Why's the twee on the ground?" She asked softly, looking towards the fallen tree. "Did it do somefing wrong?"

Faust's eyes alighted with silent laughter, it was cute, some of Celestia's troubles with speech, though she was slowly becoming as adept at it as Terran, and quickly. "No, no, it did nothing wrong. I was just looking in on some other ponies, they're creating villages with planks made from wood, as you've no doubt noticed, the winters are becoming more chilly, even for us." At this, Terran nodded his head slowly. He remembered their winters together, waking up covered in the powdered water and shaking off. Food had not been too hard to find, as it was still beneath, but it was far less satisfying...and now, with his sisters, it was a little harder to find food for them all. He also recalled that they had all been sticking very close to one another, curling up to their mother as much as she curled up around them, keeping one another warm.

"I'm going to be turning this, and perhaps a few other trees into something just for the four of us." Faust added on quietly, smiling at her ponies once more, kissing each of their foreheads before turning towards the surrounding area. "In the mean time, while I'm working on this, why don't you all go and play? Just remember to stay nearby, alright?" She asked them, Terran nodding as his sisters giggled, likely planning some kind of mischief while their mother would be busy with their...home? For some reason, that bit of information stuck out at him like a sore hoof.

Homes, those were what the earth ponies in the village had been building the last time the leaves had been falling and their mother had decided that they should take a look at the surroundings...and socialize. The one thing Terran hadn't liked was the fact that he, his sisters and Faust herself had all been disguised as earth ponies at the time, he didn't understand why they needed to hide their horns or wings, but elected to pout while his sisters had decided to gawk at the way they looked with neither their horn or wings.

Of course, the mention of 'going out to play' had also caught Terran's attention, he grinning lightly as he nudged his sisters, "C'mon, let's go." He insisted, after another nudge they ran off, towards the nearby lake that had been home to more than a few jumps in during the hotter summer months.

The lake itself was large, too large for Terran to see from one side of it to the other, not that he or his sisters had ever tried to circle around the lake before. After all, the sprawling meadow that they had always lived on seemed to provide enough for all of them, grass and flowers to eat, water to drink, shade to rest in. Everything that anypony could really want, so he thought. As he and his sisters came closer to the edge of the lake, Terran smiled. Even if it was the only body of water that they'd ever been by, he knew that this would always be his favorite...of course, a slight chill wind whisked over his back, causing him to shiver. Maybe now isn't the best time for a swim, he thought.

This, however, brought a slight frown to his form...if they weren't going to swim, they'd already done quite a lot of exploring around the meadow, so what was there to do? A look towards his sisters looking expectantly at him suddenly caused him to feel more self conscious. "What?" He asked, quietly as he looked from Celestia, then to Luna.

"Do you think that we can do magic?" Celestia asked, looking from him then back in the direction that they'd come from, a loud snap and the sound of another falling tree seeming to accentuate the little filly's words.

"I dunno sis...I don't think I could do anything like mama does." Terran commented, uncomfortable at the thought. Their mother did a lot of things, raised the moon and sun, and now she was straining her actual magic muscle...she was tearing down trees! He was sure there was even more she could do, but really...what need would there be for them to ever have to see her do more than what she already had.

Celestia, for her part, seemed undeterred, "Well, I don't think we need to do stuff like mama...maybe we're good at other things?" She suggested.

Now that Terran actually thought on it, it made sense...they were Faust's children, it was unlikely that, even though they had very special parentage, they would all be good at the exact same things. "Well, I guess I can give it a try..." He murmured, shifting on his hooves before closing his eyes. He tried focusing on his magic, from the little bit of exercises that Faust had been springing on him, and his sisters of late, it had surprised him that, despite the nature of magic as he thought of it, his magic had leaned itself towards a feeling like sitting in the middle of their meadow, a warm breeze on his face and warmed dirt under hoof.

The warm, earthly glow of his horn drew the attention of Celestia and Luna, Celestia herself nudging Terran, which knocked his concentration off. "Hey..." he grumped, but Celestia just giggled.

"Well, I wanna know what you're gonna try and do before you do it." Celestia stated with her trademark smile, which seemed to infect nearby ponies and cause whatever mood they were in to shift to a far more happy tunes.

"Well..." Terran blinked, furrowing his brow in thought before smiling at his sister and pointing to the middle of the lake, "I'm gonna make something just out there, an island, I think." He tilted his head in thought, he was fairly certain that that was what it was called. Upon hearing Celestia give a snort of amusement, he shot her a slight glare, "I'm sure I can do it." He commented, though his stomach currently had butterflies in it from his boast. He wasn't sure he could actually do it, but he would certainly do his best on it.

Focusing once more internally, he groped about for the familiar sensation of his magic. It came much easier this time, taking a breath, he tried to shape something in his head...something that would be as much fun for himself as his sisters. Blinking internally, however, he was greeted by something like a nudge from some other entity in his magic. It had come from nowhere, really, and as he searched for what had given it, the presence was patient when he finally found it, and when he did, he was quite surprised.

Whatever it was was large, far larger than the colt had ever imagined himself to be, but it also seemed familiar. He could feel something like amusement as he prodded it carefully with his magic, like an explorer to a foreign country, it was then that he realized what it was as a second presence seemed to come to greet him, pulling him back and into himself seemingly as he gave a gasp. No more than a few hooves behind himself was Faust, smiling quietly down at Terran.

"I see you're doing a little extra magical exercise." She stated with a soft grin, which Terran returned sheepishly before she waved a hoof, "Go on, just don't strain yourself."

At his mothers blessing, Terran smiled a little more genuinely as he closed his eyes, pressing out to the other presence. It was around then that he was suddenly focused on one spot of the presence, and could almost make it out...the large lake, the meadow, he could see most of it just from his minds eye.

Smiling to himself, he focused a little ways into the lake, something that would be new and exciting for himself and his sisters...an island, how large? He certainly didn't want to make the lake smaller...and then he felt it, pockets of warmth just beneath the surface of the terrain. Directing the flow of one, his ears perked to the sound of a low grumble that seemed to be nearby...and then, as soon as he'd heard it, it happened.

The red magma from the 'vein' he'd been exploring started bubbling to the surface, like a wound. He apologised profusely to the large presence, but for now it almost seemed amused at his panic. This went on for a few minutes before he slowly opened his eyes and blanched at what he saw. A blackened, slightly smoking island had crawled its way up out of the water, it was mostly flat, though one end of it seemed to have created a lip of sorts, not that it mattered to him.

Smirking in satisfaction, he turned towards his sisters, but they seemed to have been brought speechless by something else entirely...and they seemed to be staring at his flank.

Turning his head in that direction, his own eyes widened as he spotted the new marking upon his flank, a decorative looking volcano with a bit of lava coming down from it's lip. He smiled towards his smiling mother, and in turn, his smiling sisters. "I have a marking on my flank!" He yelped after a moment.

Faust giggled at his exclamation, "It's called your mark, Terran, it shows what you're good at to other ponies...I'm very proud of you." She commented softly, "Your sisters will get their eventually, maybe even when they get to be the same age as you."

"That'll be really neat momma!" Terran practically cheered, the fact that he had found his special talent was exciting for him...he didn't think he'd be doing much with it, he and that other...presence weren't that familiar with each other. But maybe, just maybe, later on they'd become something like friends?

Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, he felt a light nudge from their mother. Blushing modestly as he looked up at her, he gave her a small smile as she spoke up, "That's very impressive Terran, but a new island...seeing as you made it for yourself and your sisters, I think that we should put plants on it that you'll all enjoy after it cools." Faust commented softly, happily. He was surprised in itself as his mother channeled some magic to her horn, some of the water from the lake raising and pouring over the small island, steam raising form it, though most of the water ran back to the water, the steam forming into a cloud which drifted up into the sky.

Terran watched the display with a look of foalish awe, and it wouldn't be far from the truth...he was still a small colt. He smiled as he looked towards his mother, then towards the island, now cooled by the water "Now then..." She smiled quietly, looking to the three again, "Since it's your island Terran, what's your wish for a plant to place upon it?"

"Um...I want something that tastes nice, but also makes for something that can be really comfortable with laying on." He commented with a light giggle. Faust's own giggle mirrored his as she smiled, closing her eyes before nodding, her horn glowing once more before a patch of green appeared on the island...and then some right near him of the same plant. "How does clover sound?" She asked him softly.

Terran had been distracted, however, the appearance of the plant had confused him, but now he moved to the plants, leaning in and taking a mouthful of the raw plant into his mouth. After chewing for a bit, he gave a light 'Mmm' before he nodded towards his mother, very pleased with the name and taste. Laying down on it proved to be just as comfortable as it had been edible, a contented sigh leaving the foals muzzle.

Faust smiled, satisfied with her work before turning to Celestia, "And for you, what would you like for your own flower?" She asked. She had assumed it would be a flower, as Celestia had been found more often looking at the flowers.

Celestia blushed, shuffling her hooves awkwardly, "W-well, I want something as big and bright as your sun momma." She commented softly, giving a soft giggle afterwords and smiling at her mother.

Faust smiled softly, nodding her head as she did so. Closing her eyes and focusing magic into her horn, a flash of finished magic brought several tall flowers to life upon the island, and a few next to the young Celestia, whom stared up at them in wonder. "Big and beautiful, I think we can call these sunflowers, because of what you wanted them designed after." She commented contently.

Celestia giggled, but nodded happily as she stood up on her hind legs to try and sniff at the new, wondrous flower before falling back to her hooves and giggling as she looked over at Luna, who shuffled quietly as Faust turned to gaze upon her youngest daughter.

"And what for you, little Luna?" She asked the filly softly, kneeling down to be eye level with her youngest daughter.

"I...I want something that looks nice, and can be like a dessert all on its own..." She commented softly, "M-maybe that blooms at night?" She asked softly.

Faust seemed thoughtful at this, then smiled before she nodded. Something sweet, perhaps? She nodded to her daughter before her horn glowed once more, water once more moving and then settling into a few pockets, after that there were a few flashes, floating plants appearing upon the small pools and then a few appearing on their side of the lake.

Luna blinked, trotting slowly towards it and sniffing at the flower, watching as Faust just gave her a gentle nod before she leaned in and plucked the blossom from the top of the lily. After chewing on it, her eyes went wide before smiling at her mom as she chewed.

"Do you like it?" Faust asked, giggling in amusement at Luna's mumbled squeal of joy, though Luna's quick hug of Faust's leg was a clear indication of how much she enjoyed her present. Faust then smiled, nodding quietly to her foals, "Now then, I should get back to our house, will you be alright?"

"Of course momma, " Terran replied, a smile coming to his features after he got off of his clover bed, "We'll be careful and everything."

Faust smiled softly, turning and then moving towards her work once more, she had a lot of work to do...even if they didn't need their home for a while yet, it was never too early to try and get it to get them used to having a home with a roof. They would need it, her little ponies, the Earth, Pegasi, and Unicorn ponies were not getting along as well as she hoped they would. She'd made them to cooperate with each other, but instead, they seemed merely to resent each other.

She knew that they would get over it, if not in this generation, then the next, and if not then, then the one after...things had not gotten far enough that the Windigo's were taking immediate notice of her ponies, but it still worried her. Perhaps she was just worrying too much, the cultures were still little older than Terran. She'd made sure they knew how to cultivate, in fact, those adults that she'd created had been made with childhood memories, there was more to it, though, but she didn't rightly wish to think on it now. She simply hoped things got better between them.

Then again...she also knew that things usually got worse before they got better. For now, though, she simply turned to watch Terran fly little Celestia and Luna to their play island and smile.

Comments

[Lightning Flicker]

Spent a while with trying to get the spelling and everything to be as...correct as I could manage, also, extra long chapter, woo! Again, sorry for the long wait. Hopefully inspiration will come a little quicker.

[Bealoreas]

Sounds interesting. I will track and read when I can.

[LunarLover]

Seriously this deserves the feature box. Its creative, cute, very humourous and im although any actuon has yet to take place i love the tranquil style of writing.

[Lightning Flicker]

Fixed a few things in the chapter, overuse of ellipses where they weren't needed. Gah, I wish I had more time in the day to work on this at times.

[The A I]

One problem with this story.
it hasnt been continued!

[Lightning Flicker]

Update for all you who still are watching for a New chapter, I'm finished with it but still need to tweak it a bit. Currently I'm at work but I should be able to get it written and posted when I have access to my computer later. Also hoping I'll be able to work on it faster, but work is a fickle thing with alternating work days.