Summer Songs

by Seeking-Sparks

Colors and Clay

“This isn’t working.”

Melody Gold’s hooves were coated in slippery wet clay and she was trying desperately to control the spinning wheel in front of her. Somerset was sitting across from her, perfectly shaping a gorgeous and unfairly tall vase. Melody mused distantly that she really was quite pretty.

“Brace your front legs against your back ones. It’ll help steady your hooves so you don't keep knocking the clay off the wheel.” Somer looked up and smiled slightly at the wilted mess of clay on the unicorn’s wheel. “You’ll get it.”

Melody blew her bangs out of her eyes and flicked her tail. She had already been at the cottage for an hour and so far she only had a few discarded scraps of clay to show for it. If she kept going at this pace, she would spend the rest of her life with Somerset. At that thought, her hoof slipped and she ruined yet another piece of pottery.

“Fuck!”

Somer raised an eyebrow as she washed the clay off her hooves. “Better keep that mouth of yours clean while my clients are here.”

Melody snarled at the clay and threw it into the scrap bin, grabbing another chunk and slamming it down onto the wheel.

“Clients?” she asked as she wet her hooves and tapped the pedal with a back hoof.

“I have a tattoo appointment in a few minutes.”

“What are tattoos?”

“Permanent marks made on the body using ink and a needle.”

“Oh! Like the designs on your legs?”

She looked over her shoulder and saw the ghost of a smile on Somer’s lips.

“Exactly. Kirin don’t get cutiemarks so tattoos have long been part of how we express ourselves and decorate our bodies.”

Somer started setting out her tattoo materials, including a scary looking assemblage of needles and ink. Melody felt her stomach clench and she turned back to the clay, trying not to think about how much that process must hurt.

She listened as Somer and her client talked about the design, and she listened as the mare breathed deeply and whimpered through the inking. She risked one glance over her shoulder to see the needles held fast in Somer’s aqua magic as she carefully traced over the design on the mare’s ear. Melody let out a deep breath and turned back to the clay, her stomach twisting weirdly. She apparently wasn’t a fan of needles.

By the afternoon, Melody had made one lumpy, uneven bowl and an entire mess of the clay studio. When she presented it to Somer, her cheeks were red and she avoided eye contact. But Somer just laughed and set the bowl on a nearby shelf, alongside a few exquisitely carved and decorated pieces.

“What? Why would you keep it?”

Somer looked at the bowl. “Your first finished piece is special. Can’t ever get rid of that.”

She eyed the coral mare up and down and the edge of her lips quirked into a smile. “Besides. I know you’ll make more. You have an entire shop to replace, remember?”

Melody grinned. “As you keep telling me.”

Somer put on a record and they cleaned the shop, wiping down all the wheels and counters, leaving her cottage sparkling. As Melody walked home, she realized that she never told Twilight that her wings had disappeared.

“Oh well.” The unicorn yawned as she stumbled through the front door. “I’ll tell her tomorrow.”

Once again, she collapsed into bed. Sparks and River found her later that night, fast asleep and backwards on her bed. They laughed to themselves and tucked her in properly, each kissing her on the forehead.

“I think working with Somerset is going to be good for her.” River whispered as they walked back to their room.

“Yeah?” Sparks pulled back the covers on their bed.

“She hasn’t made any friends since her last very special somepony.” River was brushing out her long blue-streaked mane when Sparks wrapped her in a hug from behind. The pegasus buried her muzzle in the soft fur at the back of her wife’s neck.

“Can you blame her? He was a disaster. As most stallions are.”

River chuckled. “I think you might be biased.”

Sparks gasped in fake indignation. “Me?? Biased against stallions? Never.”

They both laughed and climbed into bed, River tucking her wife into her hooves.

“I’m proud of her though.”

Sparks yawned and smiled, her eyes falling closed. “We did good with that one.”

River kissed her ear and pulled her in tighter. “I love you babe.”

“Love...too….”

They drifted off to sleep together, cuddled up safe and warm. When Melody rose before dawn, they hardly stirred.

oOo

“Somer I swear you’re lying to me.”

The kirin’s eyes flicked up from the bowl she was spinning on her wheel. She bit back a smile and used the tip of her hoof to carve a beautiful spiral up the sides of the bowl.

“Oh? About what?”

Melody’s eyebrows were pinched and she had her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth. She was clumsily fighting with a wet lump of clay on her wheel. The clay was slightly off center, so it kept running into her hooves instead of spinning gracefully like Somer’s.

“There is absolutely no way you do this without magic.”

Somerset laughed, a rhythmic, infectious sound. Melody looked up and couldn't bite back the grin that spread over her lips.

“No really! There is no way you do this all by hoof. I’ve been at this every morning for a week and all I've made is a mess.”

Somer shrugged and gestured to the small collection of bowls next to her. “And yet I have done all these with you sitting right across from me.”

Melody shook her head. “Nope. Definitely some crazy kirin magic. I have no idea what that curved horn of yours can do!”

Raising an eyebrow, Somer just shook her head and floated over a small, misshapen bowl.

“Here. Maybe glazing will be more your speed.”

Melody took the bowl in her own magic, glowing gold this time. “You kept it?”

“Your first piece is special. I fired it the other day.” Somer passed her a paintbrush and pointed to a shelf full of paint pots.

“Just paint it however you like. I’ve got another load going in the kiln tonight.”

Melody took the paintbrush from her and caught the small smile that played at the edges of the potter’s lips. She sat down with the glazes as Somer went back to the throwing wheel. There was a slab of white clay covered in little circles of color, with names underneath each one. Seeing a beautiful light blue called “Spring’s Folly”, she grabbed the labeled jar. She unscrewed the top and squinted.

“Hey, none of these look right?”

Somer’s soft voice floated in from across the room. “They look different after I fire them. That sample plate shows what they’ll look like when it’s done.”

“Oh.” Melody eyed the thick paint dubiously but shrugged and dipped in her paint brush.

She held the paintbrush in her sparkling magic as it changed colors to match the shade she currently had on her brush. Melody smiled and closed her eyes. Whenever her magic changed colors, she could feel the lightest surge of power through her body. It felt like electricity rushing through her nerves. Even after years studying with Twilight, she still loved that little rush every time her magic shifted.

She swept long, curving strokes of color over the bowl, using the uneven shape to create rolling swirls of color that intertwined and ran smoothly alongside one another. Melody smiled as she worked, humming a soft tune and tapping her hoof. She began to nod her head, closing her eyes and humming heartily. Her voice started out quiet but quickly rose in volume as she pulled air deep into her lungs.

“For I had believed what I was sold
I did all the things that I was told
But all that has changed, and now I'm bold
'Cause I know
That I am just a pony
I make mistakes from time to time
But now I know the real me
And put my heart out on the line!”

Melody swished her tail and felt her magic switch again. She grinned as sparkling music notes began to drift up from her horn, swirling around her in a dazzling display of color. She spun in a circle and bounced her back legs to the beat.

“And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
Just like the magic inside of you
And now I see those colors
Right before my eyes
I hear my voice so clearly
And I know that it is right!”

The translucent music notes swirled through the air, playing the background piano and orchestra music to the song, perfectly accompanying Melody’s voice. She put down the paintbrush, bracing her front hooves on the table. She hung her head, eyes closed tightly. She knew this song by heart and the next verse made memories play rapid fire through her head. All the times she had been bullied for her magic, or for her two moms, or all the comments about her “unnatural” origin.

“They thought I was weak, but I am strong
They sold me the world, but they were wrong
And now that I'm back, I still belong”

Melody lit up her horn, tendrils of sparkling color wrapping around the little cottage. She opened her eyes and tilted her head down, letting the magic fall over the wet glaze she had applied to the bowl. Her voice never faltered for a second.

“Cause I know
That I am just a pony
I make mistakes from time to time
But now I know the real me
And put my heart out on the line
And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
And let the magic in my heart stay true
Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa
Just like the magic inside of you
Just like the magic inside of you…”

As the last word faded away, the unicorn let the magic fade too. The music notes disappeared in showers of dissolving sparkles and the light sparked out of her horn. Melody closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the music fill her soul and lift some of the tension from her shoulders.

“Wow.”

Her eyes flying open, Melody whipped around to see Somerset staring at her, wide eyed and slack jawed.

“Oh! Sorry! Gosh I forgot you were there. I’m so sorry sometimes I just…”

She gestured helplessly to the air above her. “Get lost in it I guess.”

She flushed a furious pink and ducked her head, avoiding eye contact with her new friend. But Somer just walked over and picked up the bowl. She held it in her aqua blue magic and turned it over carefully. The outside was painted in brilliant swirls of light blue, pale purple, and dark teal. There was the perfect black outline of a curled fire design painted at the center of the bowl, with tendrils of vines looping throughout the rest of the inside and up to the rim. Bits of sparkle were embedded in the paint, giving the pale, flat colors a shifting dimensionality that she had never seen before. Somer looked back at Melody, whose eyes were still downcast as she kicked awkwardly at the floor.

“You have an incredible voice.”

Melody finally looked up, her cheeks still burning. “Oh, uh, thanks. Guess I didn't get my cutiemark for nothing.” She chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof.

Somer looked at her for a long while. “I guess not.”

She held up the bowl, showing off the intricate black designs. “And this is gorgeous.”

Melody blushed even harder. “I..uh...your tattoos are so cool. I thought they would be fun to paint.”

Somer nodded and held up the bowl to show the sparkling pale outer colors. “And this?”

Melody seriously looked like she was going to permanently change color. “The colors of your mane.”

Now it was Somer’s turn to blush. Her cheeks flared red as she bit her lip and smiled slightly.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Melody finally relaxed a bit, a shy smile on her lips. “You’re welcome.”

Somer cleared her throat and turned away from the blushing mare. “Let’s see how it looks after it’s fired.”

Melody let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding as Somer reached down into the kiln to rearrange the pieces. She began to wash off all her brushes and reorganize the paint jars.

“So, um, what was that song?”

Somer’s voice cut through the silence as Melody tensed and fumbled with the paint containers. They clinked against one another and wobbled threateningly at the edge of the shelf. Melody surged forward and caught the jars in her magic, settling them back farther on the shelf

“Oh! Shit. It’s called The Magic Inside. It’s an old favorite of my mom’s. By a friend of Applejack’s.”

Somer lifted her head out of the kiln and smiled at Melody, making her heart flutter lightly in her chest.

“You sang it beautifully.”

Melody smiled. “Thank you.”

Somer nodded, a note of finality to the conversation. She waved towards the kiln. “Well depending on how that comes, you may not have to bother with throwing again.”

Melody’s eyes lit up and her horn sparked pink. “Really?!”

The kirin laughed. “Yeah. That painting was exquisite. I’ll throw the pieces and you can glaze them.”

“Perfect!” Melody lifted up the last of the paint jars in her pink magic and turned grinning back to Somer.

The kirin was eyeing her horn. “What color is your magic?”

Melody glanced up at her horn. “Oh. Well my magic changes color actually.”

Somer raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

The unicorn smiled lightly. “I have two moms and when they wanted to have me, Princess Twilight and her student Starlight Glimmer made them a spell, using magic and pieces of their hair to make me.”

Blinking, Somer looked her up and down and squinted. “Oh. Are you Seeking Sparks and Running River’s daughter?”

“Yeah! You remember them?”

Somer laughed and reached under a cabinet to pull out a photo album. “Yeah! They were my counselors at Camp Friendship when I was a filly. I only went until I was about 6 but I remember the summer that they brought you with them. You were so little!”

Melody felt herself blush for the hundredth time that afternoon as Somer flipped through pages and pulled out a picture from her last summer as a camper. She was in the front, large ears all sticking out and her wild mane not yet grown around her neck. She was laughing, eyes bright and sparkling a golden tangerine in the summer sun. She was surrounded by a group of campers, and behind them were Sparks and River. Sitting squarely on Sparks’ back was a tiny little Melody, wide smile and still in diapers.

“Oh my Celestia….” Melody groaned good naturedly and hid her face. “I cannot believe you have that!”

Somer grinned. “I was only six that summer, so I’m not much older than you. But I do remember how excited River and Sparks were to have you join in with the older foals at camp activities.”

Melody just flushed harder and reached over to close the book. “Okay okay no more nostalgia for today.”

They put the book away and Melody hesitated in the doorway. Somer tilted her head and looked at her curiously.

“They uh - they remember you. My mom knew right away when I described you to her after the day in the market.”

Somer smiled. “Which mom?”

“Sparks.”

“Yeah I really liked her as a filly. I always wanted to hear the story about how she and River started dating. But she always refused to tell us that one.”

Melody smiled. “I know that story. Maybe I can tell you someday.”

Somer threw her head back and laughed hard. “I’d love that!”

Laughing along with her, Melody felt a warmth spread through her chest, but there was an anxious undercut.

“You, uh, never cared that they were two mares?” She picked at a spot on her hoof, avoiding eye contact.

Somer snorted. “Did I care that they were gay? Tartarus no. I knew I liked mares even back then. I never went back to camp really but I would visit on weekends and would see River when I helped out Fluttershy at the animal sanctuary. Even growing up I would see them walking around town together, unashamed of who they were. I really admired and looked up to them for that.”’

“Oh that’s awesome! I like mares too! No one else in school was ever like me!!”

Melody grinned at the kirin, ecstatic to find another queer mare around her age. She had known some of the students from Twilight’s school to be interested in creatures of the same sex, but she had attended the ponyville school. And there she had been the only one all the way until she graduated.

“That’s awful. I went to Twilight’s school cause that’s where my parents met. Though Starlight Glimmer was in charge by the time I went there. I knew a couple other queer creatures growing up.”

Melody waggled her eyebrows and smirked. “Did you get to date any?”

Somer went an adorable shade of dark pink. “I...went on a few dates. Nothing really since I left school.”

Melody Gold grinned. “Good to know.” She winked at the kirin then straightened up in a fake salute.

“See you in the morning, ma’am.” She winked again.

Somerset blinked and stammered. “O-oh y-yes see you tomorrow.”

Melody chuckled and closed the door behind her, heading towards Twilight’s castle. She had promised the princess they would work on magic today. Afterall, she had spent two weeks doing nothing but spending her days at the little art cottage at the edge of town. And they still had not figured out the spell that had given her natural pegasus-like wings.