The Elements of Chaos

by CarmenColor

Chapter three

Backfire looked around the library, feeling sweat begin to form on her face. Twilight looked at the six ponies in the library, searching them for answers. "Twilight, I'm really sorry..." Backfire tried to explain, but Twilight would hear no excuses.

"Sorry? Sorry? You've destroyed the library and all you have to say is SORRY? Why would you destroy a library?" Twilight advanced on Backfire, her horn glowing. Backfire didn't try to defend herself. She didn't want to cause any more explosions. Spike burst through the doorway to another room. He had heard Twilight yelling at Backfire.

"Twilight, stop! It was an accident! She didn't mean to!" Spike jumped in between Twilight and Backfire. Backfire was surprised that the little dragon was trying to help her.

"What do you mean? How could this be an accident?" Twilight asked, glaring at Spike now.

"Well, you see..." Backfire started to say, "I kinda, well, I didn't mean to, but..." The chaotic unicorn didn't know exactly why she felt bad about the library, but she did.

"She sneezed, Twilight. It was involuntary." Spike was still between Twilight and Backfire as he said it. Twilight snorted.

"A sneeze? A sneeze destroyed my library? How would that even be possible, Spike?" Spike looked at Backfire for a second before grabbing the feather duster.

"Sorry," he mumbled, brushing it against Backfire's snout. Her breath hitched and she tried to stop herself, as she had last time, but, again, she failed to stop the inevitable. "Stand back everypony." Backfire sneezed and caused another huge explosion. Twilight, after having picked herself of up off the ground, gaped at the unicorn that was unable to control her magic. "Do you think you could help her, Twilight?"

"I don't know, Spike, but for right now, I need to fix up all the books. Good thing I know them all by heart so I can preform the spells properly." Twilight began to cast spells on the books, and they seemed to fix themselves. Backfire was amazed at Twilight Sparkle's magical abilities. She wished she could do more than just make stuff explode.

"Um, we'll just be going now..." Backfire said, backing towards the door. The others followed suit until they were outside. The others circled Backfire once they were out of the library. "Uh, girls? What are you doing?"

"What is wrong with you?" Laze asked, "Why were you being so nice with that unicorn? Why did you say that you would be okay if she helped you with your magic? That's your special talent! Discord gave it to you!"

"Discord told us to infiltrate their group. I'm trying to trick her into being my friend. I don't actually like her, although I must admit, she is a very powerful unicorn. I wouldn't want to get into a fight with her."

"But we're going to have to eventually." The voice came from Soar Brash. Everyone turned to her. "It's true, you know. I think that each of us should go find our opposite element, and get to know them."

"But what if they don't like us?" Loner asked, "We weren't made to be friendly."

"Fake it," Soar said, "You don't have to act like yourselves."

"But if we have to spend time with our opposites..." Backfire shivered as she spoke, "Does that mean I have to spend more time with Twilight?" The others nodded. "But I don't want to go back in there and see the horrible things I did to her library. Not that it really bothers me, but it might bother her."

"Well, just get her to come out here."

"How?" Backfire regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Soar whispered something to Muddy and the black unicorn walked up to Backfire, her horn beginning to glow. She touched Backfire's horn with her own, causing the magic to jump to Backfire. The spell that Muddy had been casting, the most powerful one she could do, was building in Backfire's horn. The other ponies ran for it, partly to get away from the blast, and partly to find their counterparts as soon as possible.

Backfire's horn discharged the magical energy in a great explosion. Ponies screamed from their houses, and Twilight Sparkle came out of the library, eyes wide. "What happened? Did you sneeze again?" Backfire could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sorry," she lied, looking down at the charred earth below her. She felt a tug at her mane as Twilight began to drag her with her magic.

"We need to start practicing," she said, "before you hurt somepony. Probably yourself." she dragged Backfire all the way to a large clearing with a tree at its center right outside a large forest.

"Do I have to practice in there?" Backfire asked. Twilight turned to her.

"What? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That's the Everfree Forest. Don't go it there, Backfire. Not unless you're visiting Zecora, that is."

"Who?"

"Oh, I can take you to meet her later." Twilight cast a force field spell around the two unicorns. Backfire looked around in awe.

"Wow, Twilight. You're amazing," she said politely, though she was secretly terrified of the force field and the other unicorn. Twilight blushed.

"Well, it is my special talent." She circled Backfire, taking in the unicorn's features. She looked to have all the features that would indicate a very powerful unicorn, the exact same features that Twilight had even, but she couldn't control her magic. Why? "I want you to focus on this tree. Can you surround it with your magical aura?" Backfire tried to, and the tree did glow with her aura for a second. A second that ended the moment the tree exploded. The two unicorns were thrown into the force field. It bounced them back to where they were standing. Twilight stared at the smoking and charred wood in front of her. This unicorn had a lot of magical ability, maybe even as much as Twilight herself, but she could not control what it did.

"I'm sorry, Twilight," Backfire apologized, "I just don't think you can help me. You see, my special talent is explosions. Even if you could help me, what would I do? My special talent would mean nothing." Twilight trotted up the Backfire and examined the mark on her flank. She stared at it for a long moment before turning to the tree again.

"Do you want to be like this forever? Unable to use any sort of magic properly? I would die if I couldn't use my magic." Backfire rolled her eyes.

"Might I point out that you special talent is magic, and therefor it would be very understandable that you would be horrified at losing your special ability?" Backfire walked to the edge of the force field. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now." Twilight lowered the force field. Backfire left, galloping away from the other unicorn as fast as possible. She ran into a dark alleyway, hoping to hide there. A movement behind her made her jump, and she turned to see the rest of the Elements of Chaos sitting behind her.

"Sorry, Backfire. We didn't last long. Those ponies are just so...friendly," Muddy said, magicking up a brick wall between them and the street. In a flash of her horn, Muddy had created some blankets and pillows for them to sleep on. "This brick wall isn't real. You can leave whenever you want and come in whenever you want. Just remember where it is." Muddy laid down on one of the blankets and closed her eyes. The others followed suit. They had had a busy day, and none of them wanted to stay up any longer, despite the fact that the sun was still up.
- - - - -

Twilight had tried to follow her, but she had seemed to disappear. The purple unicorn sighed. They'd only tried once. How was she supposed to teach that mare if she didn't want to be taught? She shivered as a cool autumn breeze whistled through the streets. Why wouldn't a pony want to be taught how to properly control their magic? Twilight had no answer to that question. She had to find Backfire before she exploded something else, but where was she? Where were she and her friends staying?