Episode 6
勇気
The courage test
Everything is clear, except the persons around. I am in a newborn's room. A baby is crying. A dark figure is leaning over the baby's crib. A mare is yelling at the dark figure that is leaning over the baby's crib. Her coat is a dark green. Her mane and tail are black with a white streak in them, and they are quite long. She is a unicorn. Her eyes are a deep and hypnotizing blue. She wears a golden pendant shaped like a lightning bolt, even if it is not her cutie mark. A stallion then speaks. His coat is a silvery grey. His mane and tail are brown, short and messy. He is a unicorn. His eyes are grey, and he has a beard.
"Stop! Let go of my son! Give him back!"
The figure stops leaning over the crib. He puts something on his back, then he turns to face the stallion.
"It can't be helped. Your son must disappear, and you know that."
The mare begins to cry like her baby. The stallion growls, and attacks the figure. He tries to take back his son, but the figure prevents him. The baby falls to the ground while the stallion and the figure fight more ferociously, bumping into shelves and causing pots to fall to the ground and shatter. One of the fragment cuts the baby's face, causing a somewhat deep wound. The figure breaks free of the stallion, takes the baby and leaves the room. The mare then yells between sobs.
"NOOOOO! MY FOAL! GIVE ME BACK MY FOAL!"
The stallion walks over to the mare and tries to comfort her.
"Don't worry, honey. We'll get him back."
Everything begins to swirl.
I woke up covered with sweat. I brought my hand to my forehead and I swept the sweat away. I got up and I went to the desk where my notepad was waiting. I opened it and wrote down the date, the time and everything that was new about my dream. Tony then stirred in his bunk.
"Whaa? Noah, what are you doing?" He asked, sleep obvious in his voice.
"Making a new entry in my notepad..." I simply said.
I then read what I had written. I was happy with it, so I closed my notepad, then I began to go back to my bunk, but I stopped when I realised exactly what time it was.
"I'll be on the beach." I said.
I then put on some more decent clothes, then I left the house silently. I walked to the beach, deep in my thoughts. I already knew I was from Equestria, but it was the first time I saw my parents. I was somewhat happy with that, but something else was on my mind. Now that I knew I was The Origin, I could easily feel my own power, as well as the power of others. I was planning on trying to learn to control my power on my own when a voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Good. Now imagine the branch on fire."
I stopped walking and I looked ahead. I saw Hikari and Sakura. The latter was training. I smiled when I saw her, and I immediately felt embarrassed. Her revelation of the previous day was still in my mind, and I still couldn't understand the way I felt.
"Hey, Noah." Hikari said, snapping me out of my thoughts again.
"Hey."
I walked down the path to the beach. I went to a spot where I wouldn't be a nuisance to Sakura's training. I sat down and I closed my eyes. I then began meditating.
It was about one in the afternoon when Markus came to the beach. He was running. Once he was on the beach, he stopped to regain his breath. He then spoke.
"When we come here each summer, it is custom to go in one of the caves on the cliff side for a little courage test."
I face palmed. Markus knew I hated the courage test.
"When are we going?" Tony asked, eager to show-off like usual.
"We are going now. I won't be doing it this year, though. Hikari and Tony will be the first to enter the cave and put down a candle on the small stone altar. Once it is done, it will be Sakura's and Noah's turn to go."
I face palmed again. One day, I'll get my revenge on Markus. Once it was agreed by everyone but me, we all followed Markus to the cave.
When we arrived near, Markus began to run towards the cave. We all ran after him, but when we reached the cave entrance, Markus was nowhere to be found. And beside the cave entrance were two lit candles. Tony took the two and handed one to Sakura.
"I guess the courage test has begun, right?"
Tony and Hikari then walked in the cave. The candle slowly but surely got further and further until it was no longer visible. Sakura and I were left alone. I tried to avoid looking at her, which proved far more difficult than I had imagined.
After about twenty minutes, I was getting nervous as Hikari and Tony should have been back a long time ago. I gulped and I began to walk in the cave. Sakura followed me.
"Shouldn't we wait for Tony and Hikari to be back?"
"Yeah, but it's been more than twenty minutes since they entered the cave. something must've happened."
Silence fell between us. The flame of the candle slowly danced, giving away its warm glow that pierced right through the darkness of the cave. After about three minutes of walking, we came to an intersection. There was a sign that showed the way to the stone altar. I took the candle and I went to the right tunnel, which was the wrong one to take if one was to go to the stone altar. I saw nothing of interest and I gave the candle back to Sakura.
I then went to the left tunnel, and I waved for Sakura to come.
"The altar is at the end of that tunnel."
We walked down the tunnel for about five minutes before I stopped. Something was weird. Usually, people, either my dad, Markus or the locals, would hide in the tunnel to scare those that did the courage test. But there was no one, which made me more nervous. I wasn't the bravest of all, but I still wouldn't get scared of easily. But now, I was down right spooked.
"Let's hurry,okay" I said.
We then hurried down the tunnel. Not long after I had stopped, someone jumped out of one's hiding spot, scaring me in the process. I screamed like a little girl and I clung to Sakura's arm, shaking like a leaf. Sakura was laughing. I then realised it was Markus. I then quickly regained my senses, and I punched Markus on the shoulder.
"Idiot!" I said.
Markus was laughing is ass off.
"I knew you were a scaredy cat, but I didn't knew you were a 'little girl' type of screamer!" Markus said between laughs.
"Yeah, yeah... Where are Hikari and Tony?"
"Dunno. They should've passed here a while ago."
The three of us then resumed walking. After several minutes during which I kept looking around like a hunted beast for any hint of someone hiding and waiting to scare me, we arrived at the stone altar. And we also saw Hikari and Tony kneeling by the side of a woman who looked to be unconscious and heavily wounded. I gulped, and I soon realised that Markus and Sakura were running towards the woman.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
I ran after Sakura and Markus. I took the candle and went to put it on the stone altar when I saw something shine on the floor. I put the candle on the stone altar, then I went to the shining thing and I picked it up. It was a golden pendant in the shape of a lightning bolt. Just like the one my mother had around her neck in my dream.
I turned around and I looked at the woman. Her eyes were closed, so I couldn't tell what color they were, but something struck me. Her hair was black, with a pure white streak in it. And it was long. And the pattern of the streak corresponded to what I had seen in my dream about my mother. I walked to everyone.
"Mom?"
The woman then stirred a little, and she opened her deep and hypnotizing eyes, which were bigger than normal eyes.
"Light... Ning..." The woman muttered before falling back into unconsciousness.
Then, three River agents from Earth came running, cutting our only escape route. One of the men then lifted his left arm, lightning sparking at the tip of his fingers. He then shot a bolt of lightning, but I caught it the same way I had with Tom's lightning. I then shot it back at the man. He fell to the ground, a fuming wound on his chest.
The remaining two lifted their left palm upwards. In one of the men's palm appeared a fireball, and in the other's appeared ice crystals. They shot at the same time. Sakura had already put up a shield around us. Hikari was using her magic to heal the woman.
Then, lightning came from behind the two River agents. They both fell to the ground, fuming wounds on the back. Tom then appeared out of the darkness.
"I thought you might need help." He said.
We were just outside of the cave. Hikari was still trying her best to heal the woman's wound, but she was strugling. Sakura was also helping her, but she wouldn't last long. I felt my cheeks burn a little as I watched Sakura use her magic to try to heal the woman.
Suddenly, the woman stirred and tried to sit. But she let out a moan of pain and she stopped trying to sit.
"Are you okay?" Hikari asked.
The woman nodded. she then opened her mouth to speak.
"Thanks. I have been in that cave for almost a week, and I couldn't use my own magic to heal myself." The woman told us.
"Don't worry. You're safe now. What's your name?"
"My name is Floral Night, but everypony calls me Floral."
"I won't be able to do anything more to heal you. We need to get you to an hospital, but first, you need a new name to fit in. Take me for example. My name is Silver Light, but here I am known as Hikari."
Floral nodded.
"How about Hannah?" Sakura said.
"Hannah? It doesn't sound like Silver Light's name here."
"It's because her name is a Japanese name. Hannah is not really a Japanese name." Markus said.
"Actually, I had the Japanese word 'hana' in mind. It means 'flower'." Sakura explained.
"But she doesn't look Japanese!" Tony complained.
"There are several ways to write a name." I said, which seemed to have settled everything.
"Hannah... I like it."
We were waiting in the waiting room of the hospital. Then, a doctor came to Hikari.
"She will be alright. But I have never seen that kind of injury before. It almost looked like she had been impaled..." The doctor said, which made Hikari chuckle nervously.
The doctor then went back to whatever he had to do. Then, Floral Night came to us. We then walked out of the hospital and towards the house.
On the way, I tried to remain silent, but I couldn't.
"Are you my mother?" I asked.
Floral smiled.
"It is possible. My son was foalnapped almost sixteen years ago, and you do look like him. You even have a scar where my little Lightning Bolt received a fragment of shattered pottery."
I put a hand to my right eye and my scar. I then put my hands in my pockets. Something cold and metallic then touched my left hand. I took it. It was the lightning bolt pendant.
"I think this is yours."I said as I handed Floral the pendant.
She took it and looked at me. She then began to shed tears, which led to crying after a few seconds. Floral then hugged me.
"Lightning! I finally found you!" Floral said between sobs.
We were sitting on the porch of the house. Floral had told us her story.
A few days after I had been kidnapped - foalnapped for the ponies -, Floral and her husband began to search Equestria for me. They searched everywhere, but they never found anything. Floral had almost given up all hope after her husband had died in a fifth attempt at finding me alone until somepony gave her a clue about where I was. She followed it and clung to it.
It took her almost a year to finally open a portal to Earth, but as she opened it, River agents from Equestria came to her, running. They tried to stop her, and one even managed to impale her on his horn, but in the end, she managed to escape from them. And since she was weakened by the wound, her portal didn't hold after she had stepped in it.
Once she was done, I told everyone about my dream and the latest elements of it.
"I am glad I found you, Lightning..."
Everyone then cleared their throats, signalling Floral to call me by my human name.
"Oh, right. Noah, I am glad I finally found you. We can finally be a family -" "What is going on?" "- together..."
Dad then walked out of the house. He looked angry.
"Who is she?"
"Noah's biological mother." Markus said.
Dad's face then softened.
"Oh. Sorry. Do you have a place to sleep tonight?"
Floral shook her head.
"Then you can sleep here tonight. What's your name?"
Floral looked at us before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"My name is Hannah. And thank you for your hospitality, Mr..."
"White. But please, call me John."
Floral smiled shyly, then we all went inside to get a good night's sleep.
Next episode: "I start my training today. But Tom is the worst teacher ever. I wonder if there is someone who can teach me... Who is that man? What?! He's the one that kidnapped me sixteen years ago! And he says he can teach me to control my powers... I hope he won't try anything funny... And there is something fishy about his roommate... He seems... Chaotic... Next episode:
Episode 7
先生
Who can be my teacher?
Don't miss it!"
(c) 2014 The master of the game
