Thousands of ponies depend on him everyday, but none of them know it.
When spirits fall in love...then anything is possible. Sometimes they fall for mortals and they show their love for one another. Soon afterward a baby is born that will inherit some of the traits of the spirit. This is the story of Clay Roc, son to the most powerful destruction spirit in all of Equis.
I gently take in the landscape just outside of the window around me. Crowds of ponies line the sidewalks and streets of busy downtown Seaddle as the lunch shift had just been let out and everypony was in a hurry to either go and get some much needed food or get a much needed break from the work environment. There is not a cloud in the sky, letting the harshness of the sun beat down onto the landscape with a fierce intensity, but my mind pays little attention to these minor details as my vision is directed to a much farther away object. Towering high into the sky some 57 miles from where I was located now was the beautiful but terrifying appearance of Mt. Mazama , a massive stratovolcano that even at that distance casts a deadly metaphoric shadow across the entire surrounding landscape. It is a beautiful mountain, with flanks that gently cascade down into the surrounding landscape seem to convey a sense of absolute serenity. The crater at the top is almost a perfect circle, undisturbed by either its past eruptions or the elements of nature that now claim the summit. The only sign of it actually being a volcano from where I sit is a small steady stream of steam and gases pouring up from inside the crater into the air.
"Hmm, calm for now but how much longer will you be that way?" I think questionably as I gently stretch my pair of massive fire colored wings out behind me, still not used to being tucked away for such and extended amount of time without being unfurled. But hear in the setting I was currently in unfurling them was just not possible as there was not enough room and the last thing I want to do is have somepony accidently step on my wing with one of their hooves. So I keep them tucked into my back, albeit uncomfortably as I continue to stare off at the towering form of Mt. Mazama.
"Mr. Roc, are you alright you seem...distant." A warm and cheerful voice says, breaking me from my intense gaze towards the mountain and back into the classroom towards the front where a tall earthpony mare stands near a chalk board, eyes masked by a overhead projector light.
"Yea, sorry Cheerilee I just got distracted that's all." I say putting my hand behind my head in slight embarrassment.
"Oh it's alright, I know that you are paying attention dear so no need to get embarrassed, I'm not calling you out." The light pink mare says before with a smile she turns back around and resumes her teaching. Sensing that the danger had passed I give a slight sigh of relief and in doing so accidentally relax my wings muscles on my back allowing them to fall to my side. This makes a loud bang on the desk next to me as the massive 8 ft wing smothers the desk and occupant in a torrent of soft feathers and heavy muscular flesh.
"H-hey Clay can you move your wing please!" A strained female voice says from underneath the large wing, causing me to gasp and swiftly remove it from the desk, quickly folding them back into position on my back as I look over to the lavender colored unicorn mare sitting across from me with an embarrassed look.
"Sorry about that Twilight, but every once in awhile I got to stretch them or they will get cramps and with wings as sensitive as mine...yea you know the rest." I say grimacing slightly at the thought of the last time someone had just stepped on them, much less a major cramp as Twilight starts giggling softly, making my heart beat quicken within my chest.
"I remember that day like it was yesterday." Twilight says sarcastically, giving me a warm smile that highlights her already beautiful equine body making a small blush form on my face.
"Y-yea thankfully though Rarity was there to help. I must say she is amazing with her hands." With that compliment I can see Twilight role her eyes slightly as she fiddles with a strap on her backpack.
"Rarity works in fashion and I imagine that after all those years she may have learned something about anatomy. That and she is obsessed with your wings." Twilight says plainly.
"Her and Rainbow Dash." I utter in annoyance as I turn back around and stair out the window towards the volcano in the distance.
"You really think that volcano is pretty, you stare at it everyday you know and some ponies even say they have seen you flying around the crater." Twilight says in a calm tone, stirring me into a small smile despite what my current thoughts are.
"Because it is amazing. For something to be as pretty as that but at the same time one of the most deadly forces of nature on the planet just boggles the mind don't you think." I say happily as I turn back around to face Twilight just as the bell rings.
"Alright everypony, class dismissed and have a wonderful summer!" Cheers instantly erupt from the classroom as ponies eagerly rush from there seats towards the door.
"I think so to, but lucky for us we have been assured that the mountain will remain dormant for the time being by the EQGS." Twilights replies to me in a matter of fact tone as she rises from her seat and uses her magic to levitate the bag onto her back. However, this causes me to chuckle slightly as I stands up from my chair and look back out the window.
"Yea...as long as mother stays calm. I think to myself as I give the volcano a quick one finger salute and then turn back around to face Twilight while motioning towards the door. "Shall we go?" I ask energetically, moving over beside Twilight and offering her my hand, which she takes with a bright smile on her face.
"Alright, lets go and meet the others down by the snack machines near the front entrance of the school so we can decide what to do to start the summer."
"I am one step ahead of you on that one! Race you to the bottom!" I say happily, shoving Twilight playfully as I rocket past her to the door, followed closely by the clopping of hooves.
"Oh no you don't get back here!" Twilight yells playfully to me as I round the corner and instantly collide with somepony, sending them straight to the floor with a loud THUD.
"Damn are you alright-" I start to say as I look down to the pony who I had collided with and then quickly chuckle slightly. "Celestia we have got to stop "bumping" into on another like this." I say in mock seriousness as I extend my hand down to the white alicorn currently shaking her head to get the dizziness out of her eyes. However, even dizzy she still manages to take ahold of my hand and I easily pull her up to standing.
"Yes we do." Celestia says giggly as she removes her hand from mine and stretches her wings out behind her. "I was actually one my way to talk to you about something if you don't mind." Celestia asks me in her usual warm motherly voice as Twilight quickly appears around the corner smashing into my back and causing a massive wave of pain to shoot through me like a bolt of electricity. But in an effort to avoid shouting at the top of my lungs I grit my teeth hard and only let out a painful grunt.
"Sure...lets chat." I say in a strained voice as Twilight get back to her hooves and quickly gasps as she runs up to me and put a hand on the spot where she had impacted my wings causing me to let out another longer grunt of pain.
"I am so sorry Clay I really did not mean to run into you!" Twilight says in horror as she gently tries to rub where she had impacted me at but I quickly wave her off.
"No...your alright...now I have to talk to Celestia for a second...you mind...going ahead without me?" I ask as I yank my wing from her grasp, instantly lessening the pain within my body as I breathe out a soft sigh of relief.
"What is it you need to talk about Princess Celestia?" Twilights asks honestly, causing the alicorn to brighten up and rest one of her hands on my shoulder.
"Just a update from my other pupil, nothing serious but as you know important." Celestia says in an honest motherly tone as I give her a sly smile.
"Alright then I guess I will see you downstairs, are you going to check in with me as well later?" Twilight asks honestly as she steps around me and starts to head towards the top of the staircase leading to the lower levels of the building.
"Yes I plan on it, but for right now I want you to enjoy your summer and keep practicing that friendship spell alright." Celestia says warmly, giving me a small thumbs up that I internally laugh at. But Twilight on the other hand seems all too happy to show her emotions as she sighs in defeat and folds her ears down to her head.
"Alright Princess, just remember to see me when you can." Twilight says turning back to the stairs and slowly starts to descend, her tail laying flat against her body and her body swaying from side to side. This continues for another minute before the clopping of hooves all but disappears and I turn my head back to Celestia.
"She seems upset about something." I say plainly stretching out my wings behind me, grunting slightly at the pain from earlier. Celestia now turns back around to face me, a look of knowing present in her facial expression.
"Twilight never does like it when I speak to others first, thinks it compromises her position as my star student." Celestia says calmly motioning me to follow her and I quickly do so, wanting to get our usual conversation out of the way so I can get back to my summer vacation.
"But we both know I am not your student and I already know why they cannot know any different."
"While that may be true, Twilight and the others also realize that you're a prince and have official duties." Celestia says in comfort, wrapping a wing around my shoulder and placing her hand in mine, giving me a soft feeling of warmth throughout my body.
"So...what is it that you wanted to speak about, I am assuming that it is about my mother?" I ask plainly, not wanting to let Celestia on to how her extra attention was making me feel. It was not that it made me feel uncomfortable, quite the opposite actually. The way Celestia, her sister and the rest of what I liked to call The mane six made me feel was beyond amazing. Having grown up with them, my friendship with them was always strong. However it all changed when I turned 12 when those feelings of friendship started to intensify dramatically. It started off small, me wanting them to pay more attention to me or standing slightly closer to them whenever I got the chance. Over the years these simple things grew into more complex things but most of the girls always thought it was just me being friendly. But Celestia and Luna with their good few extra years on them recognized it as they to felt a certain way about me as I came of my teenage years.
"The EQGS has detected more harmonic tremors coming from inside the volcano and an increase in the emissions of sulfur dioxide, are we going to have a problem?" Celestia asks me worriedly, stopping in her tracks giving me a serious look.
"Well to be honest I do not know right now, but I can tell you this much. Mother has been...stirring recently." I say giving her hand a reaffirming squeeze hoping that she will not be even further alarmed by me saying this.
"When you say "stirring" what exactly do you mean?" Celestia asks me questionable in response, albeit now with less panic present in her voice.
"Again I am not sure. She has been very calm up until the beginning of this week so whatever her reason is must have taken place then." I say conclusively as a loud sigh of relief escapes Celestia's lips.
"Okay that's good for now. But when you find out then please let me know, I need to stay informed on this for everypony in Seaddle and Equestria, that way we can do what is best for them." Celestia is still worried and I can feel it. It is just barely there, but it is still there and I know that I have at least one thing to calm her worried nerves. So I turn in towards Celestia and gently unfurl my wings draping one over her wing on my back and the other around her back pulling her closer to me. At first she seems confused at what I am doing and lets me know it with a strange look, however all of her question is solved as I reach up and softly plant my lips onto hers. Celestia's eyes grow wide for a second at the sudden contact but she quickly realizes what is going on and closer her eyes while bringing her arms to rest on my shoulders. Her lips are heavenly soft, warm and caring. But every time I kiss her it's like this and the feeling always makes me want to take it further. But yet as always despite the overwhelming sense of emotions that associate with kissing one of your special someponies, I manage to keep it to a simple kiss.
Eventually after an unknown amount of time passes, we reluctantly part from one another, but hold are embrace of hands and wings. Celestia smiles to me in a cute way, making me chuckle slightly before I slowly release my hand from hers and fold my wings back behind me.
"You know I wish I could do that with Twilight and the others but for some reason I just can't." I say honestly laughing as Celestia's happy expression turned to one of confidence.
"I know you can do it, just stay true to your feelings for them and you will know what to do when the time comes, just like with me and Luna." Celestia says warmly, filling me with feelings of warmth and hope. But she always has and that was one of the many reasons I had fallen for both her, Luna, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Thanks for the confidence it really means a lot to me and I will be sure to let you and Luna know about what the situation is with my mother soon alright." I say in heartfelt truth before I start to make my way back to the stairs, a happy smile on my face. However, unlike my current expression, one troubling question kept repeating over and over in my head, making my mind wander. "What is going on with mother?"
It did not take me very long to climb down the 4 flights of stairs to the wide open atrium at the bottom of the school. Currently it stands somberly quiet and still, evidence that it is in fact the beginning of summer break. However, I still keep my eyes on a swivel looking for anything that was out of place. In these instances it has always been a favorite thing of Pinkie Pie to pull a fast one on me, scarring me so that my wings would fly open and it would always end like that...always.
"Hey you guys still here?" I ask questionable, taking light steps towards a few tables that me and them would always hang out at during lunch time. There is no response to my question, instantly causing my body to tense up and for my wings to start to flutter slightly behind my back. The atrium is so quiet now at this point that not even the hum of the white florescent lights enters my ears as I spot a pair of light blue eyes quickly dart into a set of folded up tables in a shadowy corner of the room farthest away from me. "Come on Pinkie Pie cut the shit I saw you!" I say in a mix of relief and irritation as I completely forget about trying to be cautious and start to fast walk towards the wayward corner, a slight silly smile starting to make its way onto my face.
"Aw you found me guess I should have hid better!" Pinkie Pie says in a fake depressed tone, jumping out of the shadows and looking to me with a warm smile. "Hey Clay its good to see you, too bad you caught me I was going to prank you!" The energetic pink mare says bouncing up to and throwing her arms around my torso, giving me a very soft and very affectionate Pinkie Pie hug. The sudden contact causes me to blush slightly as I feel my wings start to shiver with happy pleasure at being this close to one of the mares I felt was special and I quickly find myself putting my arms around her as well, bringing her into a soft but tight hug. My heart flutters at the contact of her soft pink coat to my sun tanned skin but that is not the only reason it flutters. I could only feel it for half a second, but I felt something that I had both never felt before and at the same time was completely know to me. It was the feeling of something very pure that practically radiated the feeling of revival and rebirth. At first I thought it was Pinkie Pie and I even put my cheek to her mane to see, but found that her energy was the same as it always is, lively and bright but not what I was currently feeling. So out of curiosity I started to look around the room as to try and ascertain the location of this energy. A quick sweep of the room reveals nothing and I am about to shrug it off when something outside one of the atrium windows catches my attention.
Staring dead at me through one of the bottom corners of the glass is something I had never before seen. She was not a pony as there was a lack of equine facial features but yet stood up on two legs and even seemed to resemble me in some sorts. She wore clothes just as I did, an oddity considering that I was one of the very few who actually wore clothes most of the time. Her "mane" also looked quite different than most ponies. Like mine hers only was on the top of her head, but it was much longer than mine that descended down her body in one giant straight wave. It was also a different color, a almost healthy grass green compared to my sun bleached blonde. Also like me from her back she supported a set of massive multicolored wings that made it appear as thought I was viewing the changing of the seasons. All in all considered what I was looking at I was stunned as never before had I seen something like this.
"Hello earth to Clay, you still there?" The silly voice of Pinkie Pie breaks me from my almost trance like stare and I quickly look back to the pink colored earthpony.
"Yea I am still here how come?" I attempt to ask plainly, however this does not work as I see Pinkie Pie furrow her brow at me in a playful manner.
"You looked out of it for a second, like you saw something strange out the window I could see it in your bright blue eyes." This statement at first makes me consider telling her about the strange looking thing I had seen out of the window, but I quickly decide against it due to the fact that Pinkie Pie may not simply have any answers.
"Nah, just wanting to get out of this building, it's summer time and I am ready to cut loose a little bit!" I say energetically in a thorough attempt to switch the conversation before she could ask anymore questions because once Pinkie Pie started asking questions then she would never stop until she got a straightforward answer. At first this does not seem to work as Pinkie Pie looks at me with a raised eyebrow but after a second or two her expression changes back into her normal happy go lucky and she quickly releases me and then bolts towards a few massive sets of metal doors leading to an outside picnic table where I can see Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy all sitting and having what appears to be a conversation.
"Lets go then summer is here and it is time to party like there is no tomorrow!" Pinkie Pie says energetically bursting though the double doors.
"Man I am glad she is so easily distracted!" I say quietly to myself as I also start to make my way towards the door, my mind still wondering slightly about what was looking at me through the window. But once I get near the door and puss them open, I push my thoughts into the back of my mind and instead try to focus on something that I could understand, seeing my best friends and getting a start to the wonderful summer!
"Hey everypony, sorry I took so long but you know how Celestia can talk, not to mention I was trying to avoid getting scared by that mare right there!" I say pointing a finger to Pinkie Pie with a serious look earning me a round of laughter from the entire group.
"Come on now it's not that bad!" Rainbow Dash says flying up from her spot on the table into my face, making me blush slightly and recoil backwards.
"What Celestia's talks or Pinkie Pie's antics with scaring me?" I ask honestly, playing along with the situation as it developed.
"Hey come on now, remember Clay you are a prince and one of her students." Twilight reminds me in a calm tone immediately cutting the laughter from the entire group off as we all look to her with incredulous looks.
"Twi ah think there just playin." Applejack says in a matter of fact tone.
"Really now darling, you did not think they were being serious, well minus Pinkie Pie of course." Rarity chimes in to add support to Applejack. But despite having the two ponies voice what was going on it still does not seem to stick with Twilight, actually it seems to make her upset as her ears turn down to her head and gives all of us a slight scowl.
"Come on guys! He should take being a prince and one of Princess Celestia's students seriously not act like it is just some joke." Twilight replies in annoyance.
"I-I actually agree with Twilight on this one. It is kind of a big deal to be royalty and one of Celestia's students, especially since you lack magic." Fluttershy says in an octave above a whisper, causing me to sigh in defeat as I look up to the sky.
"Alright lets just drop this subject, why are we even talking about this in the first place shouldn't we be talking about how we're going to kick off the summer!" I say jubilantly looking back down, seeing the mood shift from one of annoyance to one of excitement.
"I say we throw a party like we have done since freshman year, it has always been our way of kicking off the summer!" Pinkie Pie states happily.
"I agree with that one, nothing better than strong drink, good food and the company of close friends!" I say metaphorically casting my vote and that seems to get the nod of approval from the rest.
"That sir is 100 percent right and with my new brew I been makin we're gonna be more bucked up than ever!" Applejack states enthusiastically.
"Not only that but we can keep with tradition, something that we specifically do." Twilight says happily, giving me a warm cute smile.
"Well then it looks as thought we have settled on something, anypony got any objections?" Rarity asks happily.
"Actually I got one if yall were thinkin of doin this tonight, cause right now my stock of booze is bone dry." Applejack mutters lowly, causing myself and the others to sigh, every ounce of are happy energy going out the window.
"Aw man, I was looking forward to getting down on the first night of summer! But I think I speak for everypony when I say we can't do that without Applejack's moonshine." Rainbow Dash utters in annoyance and a collective nod from me and the rest of the group confirms to her that she does in fact speak the truth.
"If you want to truly party and I mean PARTY! Then you have to have good drink, it is in the Pinkie Pie code of conduct!" The bright pink mare yells excitedly, causing Fluttershy to eep and quickly shoot up to hovering, an embarrassed blush present on her face that made more stallions heart skip a beat...ergo what mine is doing right now.
"W-well since it seems that this party is not happening then you think we could do something else?" Fluttershy asks in her usual quiet voice.
"What is it you have in mind Fluttershy?" I ask the hovering mare sympathetically to which her blush increases slightly and the rest of the group looks to her with encouraging eyes. This seems to calm the nervous mare slightly as she quickly comes back down to the ground.
"I was wondering I-if anypony would want to go explore the crater of Mt. Mazama." This quiet statement from Fluttershy has an immediate resounding affect on both me and the rest of the group as we all look at her wide eyed.
"Shit!"
"Fluttershy, the crater of Mt. Mazama is a place beyond dangerous why on Equis would you want to go there?" Twilight asks in extreme question.
"Not to mention it is illegal, even the EQGS is not allowed inside the crater." Rarity say in a matter of fact tone, reinforcing what Twilight had just spoken and this calms my nerve seeing that at least some are opposed to the idea.
"I gotta agree as well, we already get put in enough danger when we get quests and now you want us to do it...willingly? Sorry Fluttershy I think that were better off stayin put and getting some rest." Applejack says throwing her two sense worth in with what I hoped she would, her great asset of honesty shining through when needed the most. That now left Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash, one of which I knew was going to side with myself and the others and with that it should be enough to avoid an argument.
"You know what I change my mind...I have to disagree with you Twilight." Rarity say honestly, causing my eyes to widen once more and me to rapidly turn to face her.
"WHAT!" We all collectively say at once, looks of confusion spread across everyponies face, even Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie who normally nothing surprises.
"Oh come on now! All this talk of danger is to be expected and not to mention...we have him." Rarity says slyly pointing a finger towards me, causing panic to start rising in my system.
"Wait a minute Rarity is on to something. Yea, yea I remember seeing some photos Fluttershy took of you flying around the crater and sitting on its edge so you must know the area." Rainbow Dash states conclusively. This statement causes me to feel both a feeling of horror and of slight embarrassment at having my picture unknowingly taken and I turn to look at Fluttershy who's nervous eyes shy away from my gaze.
"Damn it Fluttershy!" This was the last possible place that I needed to be, especially with them knowing that I have at least some experience with the crater. Because just like always when they discover I know an unknown they are going to want to know more. Now that would have been alright in another circumstance, but this was one place that I swore no pony would ever adventure to. It had nothing to do with them, but it had everything to do with what could happen if they did. "If they wake mother then that's all she wrote!" But I had to at first see what the reaction of the others was going to be before I started to come up with a counter plan since if it died before it got going there would be no need to figure a plan out.
"Wait hot dog that's true. If Clay went with us then he could show us where to go and what to and what not to do!" Pinkie Pie says enthusiastically cheering on Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Okay, so those four are on board, as long as Twilight and Applejack stand their ground I should be alright." I think logically trying to suppress the rising feeling of fear in my system looking to Twilight and Applejack with a silent plea of desperation.
"I-I don't know Twi, it still sounds kinda risky if ya ask me." Applejack say calmly, keeping her honesty intact and not submitting to the unannounced peer pressure that the air was ripe with currently. Twilight nods her head and then looks to me, a look of sympathy shining brightly in her wonderful purple eyes.
"Clay, this whole thing is your domain so you make the call, what do you want to do." As soon as she says this, my body relaxes slightly and immediately I get ready to give a firm no. However, in the process of doing that, I made the mistake of turning so I could face them properly...not the best move I could have made. Instantly I am bombarded with the bright pleading eyes of 4 break taking beautiful mares that without warning start to make my conscious waver into possibly giving up on my resistance to fight them on making this decision. It is small at first but the longer I am draw to their beauty, the more I feel my argument starting to slip away.
"Damn it why did I have to like them. Got to resist...keep them from going to the crater!" I tell myself in a vein attempt to stop from giving into pressure. The silence from also seems to do me little good and as if they could detect the battle in my mind whether it be accidental or intentional, they start applying even greater pressure. The great battle in my mind started to swing more in favor of them being victors, but I fought with every ounce of will power my body could muster up.
"Come on Clay, pretty please." Rarity says to me in her voice that almost no colt could resist and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. From there all my resistance crumbled and the forces of their attractiveness gave cheers of loud victory inside my mind. I knew I was beat and in knowing so, I sigh and cleared my throat.
"Alright...we can go, but on one condition." I say in a firm voice, trying to at least keep some of my will intact.
"Yes! What is it!" Pinkie Pie says energetically, followed by woops from Rainbow Dash.
"You all must follow what I say to the word and when I say word I mean WORD!" I say putting emphasis on the last part, making it completely clear that I mean what I say.
"Sounds good Prince Roc, now lets get this show on the road before it gets too late." Rainbow Dash says quickly unfurling her wings and taking to hovering a few feet off the ground.
"Wait now hold up, how is Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity going to get there, that is if Applejack even wants to go that is." Fluttershy says with a little more confidence than usual, causing Twilight to put a hand to her chin.
"I can teleport myself and one other with me and because of Rarity's recent training she can teleport herself but that still leaves on pony out." Twilight states in her calculating voice making me start to get hope that maybe we will not be making this trip after all.
"Well, actually I would love to but I got some serious stuff to take care of back at the farm. I mean if yall wanna do this party tomorrow and all." Applejack says in her honest voice once more and I give her an approving nod, secretly thanking her that she at least knows this is not the best of ideas. "Alrighty then Clay, will be seein ya tomorrow take care now." Applejacks states warmly as she turns around and starts to walk towards Laburnum Avenue, the heart street of Seaddle.
"See ya later Applejack, looking forward to some of that shine tomorrow night!" I say happily as the rest of the group bids their farewells to her as she quickly rounds the corner of the school and disappears.
"So with Applejack gone, now everypony is set and the adventure can begin!" Rainbow Dash says ecstatically causing me to sigh before giving Twilight the nod to proceed with what she had decided to do. With a reluctant look on her face Twilight steps up beside Pinkie Pie and lights up her horn a bright purple color.
"I will go along with this because you said so, but I still feel this is not a good idea." Twilight says in a worried tone, casting her eyes down to her hooves in an attempt for me to see the reluctance of her doing this but I reply to her with a small smile, silently thanking her for doing this for me. At this small show of gratitude I can see Twilight's mood slightly improve before she and Pinkie Pie disappear in a flash of purple light. Rarity also quickly follows suite, giving me a bright flirty smile as she as well disappears in a flash of bright blue light leaving me with both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Alright now, just keep in a descent formation and follow me, the flight up to the summit can be a challenge sometimes and Fluttershy don't feel bad about me being reluctant to do this, I just don't want to see you all get hurt." I say honestly as I unfurl my massive wings and give them three hard flaps, instantly getting me air born beside Fluttershy who looks to me with a deep red blush.
"T-thank you Clay, I promise to be careful." Fluttershy says in a shy voice before adverting her gaze from me to her hooves.
"I know, now lets hope the rest of the group does the same thing." I tell myself as I give my wings several more hard flaps and start to head into the bright mid afternoon sky.
It takes barely 20 minutes before myself, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash find ourselves circling near the summit of the massive stratovolcano. The trip in itself was not the problem, but as I had said it was the climb to the top. I had no problem and was able to make the 14,411 feet climb to the summit where the crater was and so did Rainbow Dash albeit with a little bit of trouble. Fluttershy on the other hand was not so lucky. I had to end up caring her the entire way up to the top which she profusely thanked me for the entire time. Now despite the volcano being extremely tall, the summit was not covered in snow and glaciers as a normal volcano would and this was due to the heat and invisible gas that was rising from within, keeping the would be normally frozen ground a good bit above freezing. The crater is dead calm, except for a slow steady stream of vaporized gas seeping up from small cracks and various extremely hot rocks. All in all the volcano was just as I had viewed it earlier in class, majestic and beautiful, but at the same time deadly and destructive. We quickly land on the large ridge of the crater edge next to Twilight who looks as thought she was having a science field day, picking up various rocks and minerals with her magic.
"Hmm, this pyroclastic material is very fresh, only a few days old...she has been one busy girl!" Twilight say energetically, causing me to sigh.
"If only you knew the half of it!" "Yea Mt. Mazama is an active stratovolcano, especially recently but nothing dangerous just a few crater based lava flows and pyroclastic material ejection, again all within the crater not dangerous." I say in a matter of fact tone as I look to a what appears to be a large ball of hardened lava in the center, my feelings of anxiety starting to grow with each passing second.
"I don't understand a lick of what you just said but this is awesome Clay, why did you not take us up here earlier!" Rainbow Dash says zooming down into the crater a little too close to that mass than I would have liked for her to.
"Alright then, if you all want to we can go down into the crater but you cannot under any circumstances touch that steaming mass in the very center, that is a heap of too thick to flow lava and one wrong touch can collapse it and if that happens, it will spawn a pyroclastic flow that will completely incinerate everypony inside the crater." This seems to get the attention of the mares beside me as Twilight and Rarity give me a firm nod before teleporting down into the crater.
"I think I will stay here." Fluttershy says honestly releasing me and sitting down at the inner edge of the crater rim, showing obvious signs of exhaustion. But instead of go into the crater with the rest of the group I decide to take a seat beside Fluttershy, putting one of my wings around her so she can be comfortable and adjusting my vision so I can keep an eye on the entirety of the crater.
It takes a whopping two and a half hours for the group to grow tired from exhaustion, the lack of water and slight heat from the crater floor causing them to sweat heavily. So it was not long before they had told me enough was enough and that they were done for the day. I told them that if they wanted to leave they were free to but since the volcano was close to my home I was going to stay for a while longer. They bought what I was telling them and quickly vanished, leaving me alone on the outside of the crater.
"Alright, now it's time to find out what is going on with mother." I tell myself as I spread my wings and jump off the edge towards the inside of the crater. With my wings spread the way they were I easily floated down to the floor and from there I quickly started to make my way towards the large mass in the heart of the crater.
"Mother? Can you hear me?" I ask tenitivly to which the crater floor shakes lightly and the gas output increases slightly.
"Yes son, it is so good to hear from you!" A sudden sweep voice says from the mass in the center as a pair of bright red eyes appears, turning the rock into pure black smoke. This black smoke then rises up about 6 feet then out of the smoke flames start to emerge. Slowly these flames start to consume the thick black smoke until I can see the form of an eagle taking shape within and then with a quick flap of the eagles massive wings the smoke completely disappears, leaving a massive eagle made completely out of fire standing in its wake.
"Hello mother it is good to see you once more, I know it must be lonely up here without me around all the time." I say in a heartfelt tone as I run up to the eagle and gently try to hug the massive Firebird.
"Yes it is, but recent events have made my life a little bit more active than usual as you may have been able to tell." My mother replies to me calmly embracing me with her massive wings,
"Oh...is there a problem with something?" I ask concurringly, followed by my mother quickly removing its wings from around me, a look of anger present it her eyes.
"She has returned." She says in an angry tone, causing my eyes to open in horror.
"Wait you mean..." I start to say but quickly die off as I see mother nod her head in conformation. "Oh damn that's right, it is summer time."
"Yes and more importantly that Spirit of Nature has her daughter along with her this time!" As soon as she says this, images of what I saw in the window earlier come flooding back into my head.
"Wait, does her daughter look like me kinda just more nature oriented?" I ask in serious question, causing my mother's eyes to grow wide.
"Yes but that...wait, you have seen her haven't you?" The way that she states this question makes me worry about what my answer was, as if I gave it a certain way then it would cause a huge problem.
"Mmhm I saw her this afternoon why is that bad?" I ask honestly, earning me a sigh and light chuckle from my mother.
"It is possible, but for now let us not speak on this, with this revelation I must do some thinking." My mother says in a defeated tone before she slowly starts to from back into her solid sleeping state. "I will speak to you more on this some other time son, please be safe. I love you." As soon as she finishes this last word she completely solidifies back into her original position. Trying to wake her once more at this point was a lost cause so I slowly start to give my wings several hard flaps and rise into the air in preparation to return home for me to sleep as I was suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness.
"What the hell is going on here?! Who is this daughter and what does she mean by this could be bad?"
"Holy shit!" I shout suddenly opening my eyes shooting upright in my massive sized bed. My body is trembling whole heartedly and my heart is threatening to beat out of my chest as the world around me is made up of a bunch of blurs and oddly shaped objects. But without even having to think about it, I gently slide to the edge of my bed and scoot until I am sitting at the edge of my bed with my feet dangling onto the cool floor below, making the intense blurring in my eyes almost completely disappear. Now sensing that my eyes were back to the way that they should be, I wipe a thin layer of sweat off my forehead and look quizzically around my room. The first things my eyes come upon is what they stop and stair at for even after having seen it a million times, I was still intrigued by its lavish nature. Straight ahead of me merely a foot away from my bed stands a massive open window with a thin red and orange fabric blowing gently in early morning breeze. Into the fabric is sow lavishly designed designs of various colors that move like massive walls of flame across the thin fabric. Just on the outside of the fabric is a stretch of majestic woodland that seems to go on for many miles until it reaches the base of the volcano where it disappears and is replaced with the rocky terrain of an ancient lava flow now long solidified. "Wow, I have lived here for my entire life and that still captures my attention...such beauty." I think to myself as I lazily come to standing, stretching my massive wings out and wiping the sleep from my eyes. Once I feel that I have sufficiently removed the remaining sleep from my eyes, I walk over to the window and gently lift the fabric so I can get a better view of my surroundings.
The rising sun has barely started to appear over the distant horizon and the moon is still shining brightly high in the sky. The combination of lights from the two celestial bodies mix into a strange light that bathes the surrounding landscape in a dim whitish gold color. The gentle breeze is warm and full of life energy hard at work to prepare for the oncoming summer day. It is the polar opposite of the energy located inside the crater of the volcano, with that energy being ripe with the tell of death and destruction. But the energy in the air also triggers something inside me that makes me wonder as to the familiarity.
"This feels very similar to the energy the other day I felt when The Daughter of The Nature Spirit was around...strange." I think to myself easily as I take a deep relaxed inhale of air and start to walk towards the lavishly designed heavy wooden door that leads out of my room. On the door, a lavish carving of the volcano hand crafted thousands of years ago by Star Swirl The Bearded depicting the crater spewing forth ash and fire in a cataclysmic eruption. This eruption to me more specific was the last eruption in recorded history, the one where my mother completely destroyed the surrounding 200 miles of landscape and killed The Nature Spirit. But because spirits cannot die, she was reborn from her ashes and rebuilt the landscape to its former glory, thus completing the cycle of nature as it always has been. It was something that Luna had specifically go to me in tribute to my heritage as the only son of Mazama The Firebird and Celestia agreed I should have it as well. However, to me things such as this have been common place since I could first remember and so I pay it little attention as I push open the door, the only thought on my mind is meditating so I may relieve myself of some tension. Once I step out of the room I gently shut the door and start down a long elaborately designed corridor towards a small shrine room with a pool of molten lava and a statue of elaborate arrows forming a large triangle. I think to myself as I quickly move to the wide open room and give a quick bow to the statue and eye the pool of molten lava with eagerness. "Alright, time to soothe my mind and body." I tell myself in a relaxed tone as I draw close to the lava and allow the warm heat to impact my skin. Now had anypony besides myself done this, they would have been instantly set on fire but for me the rules are slightly different.
Because of my mother being a fire destruction spirit and having inherited her traits, I am 100% resistant to all forms of fire, poisonous gas and many other forms of harmful elements. Lava is no exception to the rule. The hot sensation rolling over my skin excites me and I find myself quickly checking to see if I was clothed before I would enter the bath because while my body may be immune, my clothing was most certainly not, a lesson I had learned once before when I lost a pair of good trunks. Feeling that I had no clothes on my naked body, I quickly take a delicate step into the bath. Instantly a low shiver of relaxing pleasure runs through my body and I quickly bring the rest of my body into the pool while completely relaxing my wings so I can lay back and get comfortable.
"I need this, so many questions plague my mind and yet I have little to no answers. What did mother mean by what she says last night and why is this Daughter so important?" I ask myself seriously looking up at the statue. "Why do I feel a great cataclysmic event is going to transpire soon?" This question is what scares me the most as it was the front of a very vivid nightmare that I had received over the course of my sleep. However, thankfully because of the lava I am able to keep the fear to just barely over a fleeting thought, enough to keep my body calm but not my mind. "Maybe I should meditate on this." I think in surrender as I move myself to the center of the lava and come to seat in an Indian position and extend my wings out of the lava until they are fully extended to the sides of me and close my eyes.
Eventually, I manage to get my a lot of the tension in my mind to subside enough for me to focus my energy inward towards myself. As I do this the lava I am sitting in grows hotter and more relaxing. This builds for a few seconds and then subsides as I take a slow deep breath in and start to hum.
"Mons spiritus invoco te!" (Spirit of The Mountain, I call on you!) I sing quietly. "Sicut ignis vestri natus iam mitescere ignis vestri mihi. (As I was born of your fire, now let your fire calm me!) Ure confusionis silva meo. (Burn the dense woods of confusion from my mind.) Invoco ut ignis in opus." (I invoke the fire within to do this task.) I finish chanting and open my eyes to find the confusion that was once present in my mind was now completely gone. However, in its place was the dream I had and it was even more terrifying this time. The volcano spewing ask and fire high into the sky, mother in her completely awakened form towering within the massive clouds with wings spread to their full extent raining fire from the sky onto the surrounding landscape. The surrounding completely engulfed in ash, flame and death. Terrifying roars of other destruction spirits obliterating everything in their paths. However, in one lone corner something I recognized as the Spring Spirit trembles atop a massive tree as mother descends from the clouds to right in front of her. The terrified spirit starts to cry, but no mercy is show as mother engulfs her in her mouth. Then...nothing. "What happens after that I wonder, hmm maybe if I meditate some more then it may come to me." I tell myself as I get ready to repeat the process as to gain some more possible insight into the dream.
I repeat this process for well over an hour with no luck getting any farther than where my dream ends. Much to say this infuriates me to no end.
"Damn it all why can't I see further!" I say angrily standing up quickly from the lava, spilling some over the edge onto the stone floor below it. "This is not a good dream, especially if this past is trying to warm me of something in the future!" With that I quickly remove my naked body from the pool of lava and head for a small exit towards an open exterior hallway to the very front of my manor. "This is not good, especially with mother telling me The Spring Spirit is around not to mention her daughter and we know how that may play out." I tell myself in a less harsh tone than I had before as I step out into the hallway and stop just outside of the entryway. If the sun and moon were the highlights of the cosmos then where I am would be the highlight for Equis. This side of the manor is dominated by a sheer cliff that drops 200 feet down to a small river below that is highlighted with the colorful signs of summer along its banks. Birds sing their melodies and various woodland creatures scamper across the landscape. It has a feeling of warmth to it that is almost indescribable. "Damn, I love it out here, feels like nature is truly alive."
But that is where something within me snaps to attention and suddenly I feel a strange feeling start to grow in the pit of my stomach.
"Wait, I know this feeling...it's the same feeling I got the other day when... I start to say, but the sound of somepony gently humming coming from the woods catches my attention. It is a female voice with a hum so beautiful that not even Fluttershy could ever come close to matching. This humming then suddenly comes to a complete stop and with it, all the activity of the entire surrounding woods. Now with the silence even from where I am, can still hear the sound of footsteps gently walking along the bank of the river down below. They're soft and delicate, as if the one walking was afraid to step too loudly and wake something up. Then without warning, the energy in the air grows much more intense as I hear a distant bird give one solid chirp followed by a small inhale of breath.
"Fair...is, the white star of twilight, and the sky clearer at days end." The sweet sounding voice goes gently echoing off into the forest, making my entire body tremble with feelings of warmth and rebirth. "Fair...is, the white star of twilight, and the sky clearer at days end. But he is dearer, he is fairer, he...my heart's friend!" The voice cuts out for a second, giving me enough time to shake my head and refocus my attention on trying to find the source of the voice. "Fair...is, the white star of twilight, and the moon...roving to skies end. Fair...is, the white star of twilight, and the moon...roving to skies end. But he is dearer, more worth loving, he...my hearts friend!" With the end of the last line I spot something come into the opening and instantly I am completely blow away. It is the exact same mysterious girl from the other day just completely different. Now, I am used to seeing nudity, since everypony besides myself did not wear clothing most of the time (still do not know why) I got to see everything. But for some reason I find that this is different in some regards. It makes my cheeks flush red and I have to shake my head to stop myself from starring at her rather attractive female body.
"Come on Clay, everypony is naked!" I try to tell myself in attempt to explain my fascination, but nothing suffices. It was something completely new to me as I had never before seen a mare who had looked like this. But it was not only her body, but her knee long green hair, slightly tanned skin and her gentle eyes that reminded me of the brightest summer skies. With that gentle song of hers she has attracted the attention of many woodland creatures who follow her to a small rock near the bank where she sits and gently crosses her legs in an Indian style facing away from the manor blocking any frontal view of her. "That is the Nature Spirit's Daughter alright, but what is she doing here of all places?" I ask myself quizzically as without a thought crossing my mind, my wings gently unfurl and get ready for me to stealthfully glide down to the bottom of the cliff. Then, before I could think of something that may stop me from doing what I am doing, I slowly step up on the edge of the siding and cast myself out into the air. As soon as I start to fall my wings silently snap to a gliding position and with the precision of an eagle I start to descend towards the riverbank below. It takes me very little time to reach the bottom and I come to a silent rest 10 feet behind the mare. She is dead quiet right now, minus for the occasional shallow breath of air that would make her frame rise and fall. My nervousness is now at an all time high and I can feel myself starting to sweat slightly, but despite my body's protest I swallow my fear and gently clear my throat. "T-that was nice singing you know." I say in a quiet voice, causing the Daughter to quickly whirl around towards me, a look of confusion quickly being replaced with one of extreme happiness.
"Thank you my love." She says cheerfully, causing me to blush and quickly kick my mind into a high gear.
"What the hell did she just say?" "Uh...no problem." I state nervously, causing her to laugh and point to a space on the rock next to her.
"Come and sit for awhile love, enjoy nature at its finest!" The warmth in her voice is truly amazing and even with my feelings of weariness I feel myself compelled to sit with her. Slowly one foot is put in front of another until I am up next to her where she had motioned for me to sit at. I slowly slide into the spot beside her and then look to her with a warm smile. She returns the gesture then does something completely unexpected. She gently places one of her hands on my cheek and with a gentle force, pulls lips into mine. This action immediately causes my wings to shoot outwards and my now confused mind to start processing what is happening.
She continues to kiss me, even going as far as to put her arms around my neck and then sigh contentedly. My mind is racing at close to the speed of light as I do nothing but let her sweet lips linger on mine. It has nothing to do with the fact that she is actually doing the action, but all to do with the fact that I had plainly not expected it. My heart starts to race and I feel my body start to grow hot starting at the point of contact. This fire spreads through my body until it feels like there is molten lava churning within me and I start to feel my body relax into her. But, it seems that I am not the only one who can sense this fire as she quickly opens her eyes as she smiles slightly and then releases me from her warm lips, returning her hands to the rock. The entire expanse of the vast forest now seems to be alive with increased animal chatter and even the small river seems to have increased its pace.
"So...you must be a son of Mazama right?" She asks me in a warm voice, causing my insides to recoil at what she had just asked me.
"Y-yes and you must be the daughter of The Nature Spirit." I say in confusion, causing her to giggle once more and for a few butterflies to land in her hair.
"That is correct, how strange it must be." She says calmly. "To have a nature spirit daughter fall for the son of a destruction spirit." She finishes saying turning back to look at the animals across the stream.
"WHAT?!" My mind is instantly thrown into more confusion that it had previously been in and all matter of logic sailed right out of the window as I tried to wrap my mind around how what was happening was even remotely possible. "This cannot be happening right now!" I think to myself as I look through the vast expanse of trees to a rather distant rock right at the base of the volcano and notice that it appears that the strange light from early dawn had caused it to glow a bright orange color, as if it was superheated and I try to focus on that rock, giving me a distraction from look at The Daughter beside me. "How is this even possible, I need answers now!" I think to myself, completely oblivious to whatever else was going on around me, just wanting to try and keep my mind from being torn apart from question.
"My love, are you alright?" The Daughter asks me in a worried tone as she leans her head against my shoulder and gently runs her fingers along my jaw line, causing me to recoil and fall off the rock onto my back. The world becomes a haze as I feel my head come into contact with a small rock and I quickly sit up and place a hand to the back of my head. I wince at the immediate pain but sense that nothing was seriously wrong and so give The Daughter a small smile.
"Yea, takes a lot more than that to break me!" I state in a confident but not overly confident voice, causing The Daughter to giggle slightly.
"I guess it would be hard considering how much "breaking" your mother does." She states plainly, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh I get it, destruction and breaking very funny." I say in a humoristic sarcastic tone as suddenly I notice all the animals around us start to scamper away and for The Daughter to grow a worried look on her face. "Hey..." I start to say as I notice that my surroundings start to come alive with the sounds of eerie sounding whispers, sending my mind into a panic. "Where is it going to come from, how big is it?" I start to ask myself as the loud whispers quickly grow in intensity.
"Is something the matter my love?" The Daughter questions me softly and I break my concentration for half a second to look at her, my face full of alarm.
"There is a earthquake coming." I state plainly, causing her eyes to grow wide in panic.
"I must go then and protect the animals, keep safe and be careful." She says and in a flash she and the animals that were lining the rim of the small river are gone, leaving me now with only whispers and even more questions. However, those questions are temporarily put on hold as I hear a loud bang come from somewhere up on a neighboring hill and then the ground all around starts to groan and shake violently.
"SHIT!" I quickly role over onto my stomach and with a hard flap of my wings I am hovering off the ground, safe from any of the violently shaking earth. However, that piece is quickly shattered as I hear the loud snapping of roots being torn from the ground and which is followed the loud sound of something plummeting towards the earth. In the very brief second that it takes for me to register what exactly is going on, I on instinct look towards the source of the noise and find a massive redwood tree is barreling down on me at full force, its massive man crushing trunk just seconds away from knocking me out of the sky and sending me into the Great Beyond. But to me this is not easy to avoid and I whip hard to the right and the massive tree barrels just inches away from body down onto the ground below with a massive BOOM. However, this is the least of my worries as suddenly the entire whole of the surroundings now grow deathly silent, not even the sounding of wind is slipping by. The only sound I can hear is the subtle flapping of my wings and I quickly start looking around the sky and forest floor...nothing besides some of the fallen remnants of redwood trees and some twisted ground. But yet...I know something else is coming, but I don't know what it may be. "What is going on? More earthquakes?!"
This silence goes on for another good hour, me staying alert and ready for more activity as my skilled eyes trace the ground for any signs of more tremors and from time to time I would look up to Mt. Mazama to see if there was any sort of change in the majestic crater. The carter however has remained the same minus a few small ejections of massive quantities of gas which I make sure to take note of. For a brief second my mind actually considers flying to take a quick look into the crater to see if mother was stirring but for another reason something tells me if she is angry then me going could trigger a FWE or Full Wakeup Event and that is the last thing I need to do right now. Seattle I imagine judging by the strength of the quake is probably gonna be a little shaken up and with the buildings and other things ponies are gonna be in trouble.
_"Oh shit what about the mares!"_ I think to myself in horror...now taking flight and then quickly making my way to the stop that is closest to me and that would be the humble abode of Sweet Apple Acres.
