> Fire, Water and Ash > by Rainbowdashizmagurl > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As usual, the club was quite packed. "So much for coming here to clear my head," muttered Azure Sunshine. The young unicorn was of average height and weight had dark blue skin, matching his eyes, and a golden yellow and orange mane, matching his tail. People sometimes told him it looked like sunshine reflecting off the ocean. His flank was bare of his cutie mark. He had no idea what his special talent might be, but unlike other ponies, he didn't really care and knew it would appear when the time was right. As for his magic ability, he hadn't really discovered what his limits were. Perhaps someday he would study complex spells, but for now, he was content with the occasional levitation, or other small trick he tried. "I don't even know why I came here," he said to himself. Clubs, dancing, and drinking weren't really his thing. But, he'd had the feeling that he should come here tonight, that he had something to do here. All he could see were drunk ponies either dancing or struggling to keep their cider down. "Ah screw this, I'm going home," said Azure Sunshine. As he was leaving however, the DJ started a different song. Sunshine stopped. "This song....I like this." Vinyl Scratch was known for her skills as a DJ, and Sunshine decided to just stay and watch her for a while. He was, himself, a violinist, pianist, and vocalist; it's always good to watch a fellow musician at work. He was suddenly distracted from Vinyl by the sounds of a pony coughing and puking, clearly having drunk too much cider. Sunshine turned and saw a pony kneeling over a trashcan throwing up with a nearby pony holding his mane back, keeping it away from the disgusting spray. Sunshine walked over to them, and saw that the sick pony was pale white/grey with a black mane and tail, along with what looked like, dark eye liner around his grey eyes. The pony helping the white pony was dark red with a red and orange mane and tail, the two ponies together giving Sunshine the image of fire and ash. "Everything alright over here?" asked Sunshine as he approached. The pony holding the white pony's mane simply turned, looked at Sunshine, and said nothing. In between bouts of puking and coughing, the pale pony looked at Sunshine, and said "Everything's apples and rainbows here, stranger." He continued to vomit and said "The stallion here holding my mane goes by the name of The Jester, and he doesn't say much. Most people just call him TJ. I'm Derick." He then shoved his head back into the bucket he'd been using. "The name's Azure Sunshine, but most call me Sunshine, or Sunny for short, pleasure to meet you, TJ and Derick," replied Sunshine. Derick suddenly looked ahead at the bar, and saw the bartender coming towards them. "You best hightail it out of here quick," urged Derick, "Old Bud don't like it when I don't pay the tab, and make a mess of his bar. Get out of here quick, or he'll throw you out as well." Sunshine hadn't brought any bits with him, or he would have paid for Derick's tab. A dark brown stallion suddenly appeared next to TJ and shouted, "You told me this time would be different, Derick! Where's my money?" Derick simply smiled and said, "C'mon now, Bud, you should know by now that I don't have a single bit to my name." This seemed to make Bud angrier, and he yelled, "Stallions, get these two colts outta my bar," and turning to TJ and Derick, "and don't you dare come back!" Snapping out of his reverie, Sunshine looked at Old Bud and said, "Wait, wait, what if Derick doesn't drink anymore tonight and just sobers up and leaves? There's no need to kick him and TJ out." Without looking at Sunshine said, "I don't know who you are, and to be frank, I don't care. Derick has made a mess of bar multiple times and owes quite a lot of bits now. He should consider himself lucky I don't force him to give me every last bit he owes me. Now, either stay out of my way, or you'll be kicked out with them." Two extremely strong stallions suddenly appeared and picked up a completely wasted Derick and quiet TJ by their manes. "Let them go," cried Sunshine, "you're hurting them, stop it!" "Get them out of--" Bud was interrupted as he was shot into his bar by a dark blue energy shot, causing several glasses to shatter and quieting the club. Even the giant stallions stopped and turned as it all happened. Sunshine was shaking as his horn glowed. "Ugh," he groaned and looked around, "What..? I've never done anything like that before." There was some stirring from the rubble of the destroyed bar and Old Bud emerged, covered in scratches and bruises and screamed, "GET THEM ALL OUT OF HERE!" The giant stallions continued towards the doorway and started throwing Derick and TJ out of the bar. "I SAID LET THEM GO," shouted Sunshine! He galloped towards them, horn starting to glow. He ran outside, caught both of them midair, and set them down gently. The giant stallions simply scowled at him, turned around and slammed the door. Sunshine quickly looked at TJ and Derick, and suddenly realized that they probably had no place to go. "Come on," he said, "You can stay at my house." TJ simply gave Sunshine a look of admiration and nodded. About halfway there, Derick collapsed and passed out. Using his magic, Sunshine carried Derick in the air to his house. "Finally....we...made it," Sunshine stammered and collapsed from exhaustion. It had been a long night.