[Friday Afternoon]

[Teala’s POV]

Roxxie and I stood there stunned at what had just transpired. Our dear friend, Cyan Dusknight, was trying to stand up for us, and himself by going into a Magic Duel with our bully, Emerald Brace. Cyan had hoped to win and get Emerald to take back all the bad things he had said to us… In the end, we only saw Cyan in agony from not only in defeat, but screaming with excruciating pain from the magic explosion after trying to cast a teleportation spell. I couldn’t help but cringe from how much pain our closest friend was in, and there was nothing we could do until the aftershock dies down. I didn’t notice how much I tightly gripped Roxxie’s jacket sleeve from the horror that we just witnessed. We didn’t hear what was going on until Emerald’s boasting got our attention.

“YES!” He exclaimed. “From today’s duel, let it be known, that Unicorns are not only the superior race, but Cyan Dusknight… is a FAILURE OF A UNICORN!” He announced before he left laughing coldly, while his so-called friend, Copper Cut, hesitantly followed. After they left, Roxxie and I slowly walked over and crouched to Cyan’s side while he still lied there, grasping his horn from where the pain had hurt the most.

“Cyan?” I asked with my voice shaking, taking the initiative to see if he was okay. In an instant, Cyan jolted up from where he lay, and sprinted as fast as he could away from us. “CYAN! WAIT!” I yelled while I tried to go after him before Roxxie grabbed my arm, stopping me in place. “Roxxie! What are you doing?! We have to go after him!”

“Teala…” She said while looking down. “We need to give him some time alone.”

“ALONE?! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ROXXIE?!” I shouted. “Cyan is our best friend, and he needs us! How can you stand there and let him go?!”

“Teala, with a loss like that, I’d want to have some time to think if I was in his position,” Roxxie reasoned while still looking down. “Cyan had just lost his honor for trying to stand up for us. He has a lot going on his mind right now if he can’t speak to us without feeling shameful of himself. He needs to calm down, and think things through himself before he can come talk to us.”

“Excuse my language, but that is FUCKING BULLCRAP!” I jeered. “HONOR DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS SHIT! I WANT TO SEE IF OUR CLOSEST FUCKING FRIEND IS ALRIGHT FROM THAT EXPLOSION EARLIER! HOW CAN HONOR BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS HEALTH?!”

“AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HONOR?!” Roxxie screamed which jumped me back in shock from her outburst. What was more surprising though, was her expression as she finally looked up at me.

Tears were rolling down her face while she gritted her teeth, as if she was holding in the sadness while trying to do what she thought was right for Cyan at that moment. Right then and there, I knew Roxxie wanted to go check on him as much as I did, maybe even more, but with her having more experience with dealing with losses in matches, she knows what he was going through better than I was. What made this worse though, was that his and our dignities were on the line in that Magic Duel, and he must think he just lost all three of those at once, unable to protect us in the end.

I let go of some of my tensions and looked down with guilt. “I’m sorry, you’re right… I don’t know any better, and I didn’t think about his feelings… Some friend I turned out to be,” I broke while tears were now welling up in my eyes. A hand was set on my shoulder before I was pulled in a hug, leaving me unprepared at the gesture, especially since this was from Roxxie.

“You’re not a bad friend Teala,” Roxxie croaked while tears were dropping on my shoulders. “I want to see him too, but we need to give him time to calm down and think things through,” she pulled back and wiped what tears were in her eyes with her sleeve before she continued. “We can try to check on him in the morning and see how he is then.”

I nodded sheepishly in agreement. “That sounds good… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then… Good-bye Roxxie,” I bid before I unfurled my wings, and flew off back to my home at a fast pace while Roxxie stood there in the park.

[Roxxie’s POV]

I stood still on the grass while clenching my fists and teeth as Teala flew off from view.

“…Why?” I asked myself. “…Why didn’t you stop this before it freakin’ began?!” I exclaimed. “I should’ve stopped them… I should’ve pounded them, took the heat, and avoid all of this from happening… WHY CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT YOU STUPID BITCH?!” I berated myself as I stomped over to the pavement outside of the park grounds, dropped to my knees, and pounded my fists to the hard, stone covered ground. I didn’t care for the pain that was welling in my knuckles, as I was too angry at myself to notice. “STUPID! WORTHLESS! PATHETIC!” I continued insulting myself while I kept punching the ground. Blinded by fury, I didn’t notice how the ground started to shake around me. “WHY CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING FUCKING USEFUL FOR ONCE YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT?!” I exclaimed before I gave one more punch to the ground with all the strength I had on it until-

KSHKOOOM!

The sound was made before I somehow punched through the ground like it was water, covering my arm up to my elbow. I sat there dumbstruck at what had just happened before I realized that my arm was stuck to the pavement. “H-huh? What the-?” Was what I blabbered before I tried pulling it out, but no dice. “H-hey! I can’t get out! Hello?! Anyone around here?! I need help!” I exclaimed, but all was quiet. “Dammit! How did I get into this, and how do I get it out?!” I struggled while trying to pull my arm up once again, using my legs to help me push upwards. “Grrrrrrgh! Come ON you stupid ground! LET. ME. GO!” I demanded before I punched my other arm to the ground. This time it had spread out around my immobile arm, making a hole big enough for me to pull it out, made me yelped in surprise, and the momentum got me to fall backwards to my back once more.

I groaned at the pain on my back before I got up to my hooves, and checked the ground I was previously stuck in. “What the fuck was that? How was that even possible?” I asked myself while I checked my arm that got stuck. It looked okay, dried blood on my knuckles aside, but there was no dust, dirt, or pebbles whatsoever on me. I looked back to the hole I somehow made, a clean, circular one at that, while I tried to use my not so bright brain to figure out what had just happened. “…Did I just do that earlier?” I asked myself.

I tried to think of what to do next to get some kind of similar result. I looked at the hole, and just stomped my hoof in place before a pillar of stone suddenly rose out of it, and made me jump back in surprise. “HOLY SHIT!” I exclaimed. “Crap crap crap, what do I do? How do I get it down? Uhhhh…” I asked in a panic while trying to figure out how to hide this strange scene. I just did the first gesture that came to mind. Circling my arms with an in-and-out motion while breathing in through my nose; pushing my hands down to a resting position in front of my torso, while I sided stepped and breathed out of my mouth; coming to a resting position I had learned from studying a martial art in the past; and the stone pillar slid back down to the way it was before I got my arm stuck there. I stepped back a few while I was trying to comprehend how I got the pillar back down. “W-what is this? How am I doing this? This is just getting WAY too weird for me. I’m getting the fuck out of here,” I decided before I dashed out of the park, and back to my house while I tried to forget the freaky thing that just happened out here.

[Teala’s POV]

The sky was in twilight as I briskly landed back to the front of my house. I didn’t bother paging Sigmund at the front gates as I was too frustrated to even think about formalities. I took out the house key that was in my purse to unlock the door before I opened it, stomped inside, and slammed the door behind me.

“SIGMUND!” I yelled angrily at the empty entry hall. I then heard hoof steps quickly, and loudly coming up before my trusted head butler arrived in his formal, calm self before it changed to concern as he looked at me.

“Master Teala, what is the matter?” He asked. “Did something happen?”

“Sigmund,” I said with a demanding tone, “I need some ‘stress relief’ posthaste. I’ll explain the situation then,” I concluded.

Sigmund’s expression went from concern, to understanding as he knew what I was talking about. “Yes, Master Teala. Any place in particular you would like to take this?” He asked.

“Near the fountain at the back is fine,” I answered. “Meet me there, and I expect it to happen in five minutes,” I ordered.

“Yes, milady,” Sigmund complied calmly as he quickly took off, and I briskly walked to the fountain in the back.

I ignored the greetings by the other maids as I passed by. I got to the fountain a minute later, and sat on the stony rim of the architecture. I crossed my arms, and one leg over the other while I wait for Sigmund with a stern expression. Three and a half minutes later, Sigmund comes through the door with two long, black cases. Holding one in each hand, he briskly walked towards me, and set them down before he bowed. “Four and a half minutes. Very good Sigmund,” I complimented the best I could in my mood before I got off from the fountain. “Is it in good condition?” I asked.

“Yes, milady,” Sigmund answered. “I just cleaned these this morning,” he commented before he picked up the case on his left, and presented it to me.

I clicked open the buckles keeping it closed, and opened the lid before a rapier sword in its black scabbard was shown, lying on the red carpet-like pelt inside. The guard was silver colored, with a black leather tightly gripped around the handle. I lifted the sword out of its case, and made sounds of steel sliding as I unsheathed its blade out of the scabbard. I inspected the luster of the steel blade. It shined from the sun’s light reflecting on it, as if it was cleaned and polished recently like Sigmund had said. I held it in my hand in a stance, testing the weight, grip, and swiftness of the blade with a few swings and thrusts. “Excellent,” I concluded.

I haven’t told Cyan and Roxxie about this, or my parents either, but I have a secret hobby of practicing the art of fencing. I was fascinated with the sport when I first played sword fights with a few of the pegasi back at flight camp. They were blunted sticks at the time, yes, but something about it just felt right with me as I had wielded it. I was quite the fencer back at flight camp, and it was the only thing that kept my time there enjoyable; however, the other pegasi stopped playing with me after a while as I kept winning every time. When I had told Sigmund about my interest in this sport, he was happy that I found something that I could enjoy myself in. He was an expert in it as well when he was younger, and he still practices it while he wasn't working. He had offered to teach me the art of fencing the same day I told him, and I accepted it at the drop of a hat. He had only asked me to keep this a secret from my parents as they think this was apparently not something a lady such as myself should be doing; because of that, I couldn’t bring it up with Cyan and Roxxie when I had returned from flight camp as I wasn’t sure how they would react to my hobby. To this day, Sigmund had taught me fencing in secret when my parents weren’t around, and I practiced with him with eagerness to improve, or vent out frustrations like what I’m about to do.

I set the scabbard back in the case before I turned to Sigmund, who had his own rapier in his hand while in a stance, ready to take me on. “Alright Master Teala, tell me what has gotten you so riled up right now,” he requested while sounds of flowing water continued to come out of fountain’s artistic sculpture.

“Gladly!” I exclaimed before I charged in with a battle cry. I lashed at him with many fast slices and thrusts of my blade, while Sigmund blocked and dodged each strike with ease. “Cyan, Roxxie, and I were having a wonderful time! Right up until those savages, Emerald and Copper, budged in and mocked us coldly!” I exclaimed as I kept striking.

“Ah, yes,” Sigmund replied calmly as he continued blocking and evading. “You have told me before about how avaricious those two can be, and I’ve heard their parents aren’t any better. What happened then?” He asked.

“Cyan had to step in to defend the three of us,” I continued as I kept attacking. “For spatting on Roxxie and mine’s pony races, and for Emerald calling him a failure of a unicorn for not casting certain levels of spells!”

“How dreadful. I’d have stepped in if I was there,” Sigmund added in.

“So Cyan and Emerald had a Magic Duel with our dignities on the line,” I continued. “Which I did not care for as I was more worried for my friend than my title! Cyan ended up losing, and screaming in pain from a magical explosion for failing to cast a teleportation spell!” I gritted my teeth as I upped my pace of my strikes. I was too frustrated to notice how the rushing waters from the fountain were suddenly getting louder with the force of the spout. “I wanted to see if he was okay once the savages left, but he sprinted off, leaving us behind! I tried to catch up with him, but Roxxie stopped me and convinced me to leave him alone to think things through! I flew off and came back afterwards, angry at myself that I just stood there not DOING anything! I’m INFURIATED that I can’t do anything! What kind of friend am I for not giving Cyan my full support?! Urgh! I just want to find that damn Emerald, and SLICE HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF WITH MY BLADE!” I exclaimed with one more hard, loud clash of steel blades before-

FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The sound of forcing waters caught my attention as our blades were still in contact before I dropped my rapier. Sigmund pulled me to the ground, and shielded me from the falling water and stone from the sky while the sound of erupted waters continued. My anger turned to fear and confusion at what was going on before the rushing sound eased, and the water spouted to the same water rate like before.

Sigmund and I got up wet, and saw the damage of the eruption. The fountain’s sculpture centerpiece was destroyed from the middle-up, leaving the water system that was inside squirting the liquid from the pipes only. The ground shook as the top half of the centerpiece crashed to the side of the fountain, breaking into pieces from the impact. I fell back on my bottom at what had just happened, leaving me stunned from the shock, and sore from all my sword flails earlier.

“W-what just happened?” I stuttered while still looking at the now broken fountain.

“This… This can’t be…” Sigmund commented in disbelief.

“What? Do you know what’s going on? Tell me! I demand answers!” I commanded as I got up from the ground, and turned to him.

“A thousand pardons milady,” Sigmund apologized. “But before I do, I want to try something to confirm my suspicions.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Master Teala… Would you please approach the fountain, and try to focus on the water in it?” Sigmund requested.

I stood there looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Okaaaay,” I drawled with suspicion before I complied. I looked at the pool of water in front of me, and closed my eyes. Out of instinct, I raised my hand up like Cyan does when he casts spells, and focused on the water in the pool. I opened my eyes once more, still focusing, but gasped at what I saw.

A blob of water was floating before me while it still rippled as it moved. I stopped my focus, and the water just dropped back into the pool before I stepped back in fear from what had transpired. “S-Sigmund… What did I just do?” I asked still in disbelief.

“My suspicions are correct then,” Sigmund started while still looking in the direction of the display. “It’s unbelievable as I’ve only heard of this in legend, but it seems there’s more to it than what I had thought,” he commented before he turned to me. “Master Teala, if what I’ve read is correct, then you have been blessed with a great magic. They’re only used by ponies who are able to tap into the potential that the six creators of this world left them. Judging by what had just happened, you have one of the creators’ ability to manipulate Water, Master Teala," he concluded.

I looked at my hands trying to take in and comprehend everything Sigmund had explained.

Is this true? Am I really able to do something like this? How does this work? How can I control it? This just seems too unnatural to happen, but it just did… I need to know more about this…

“Sigmund,” I said before I looked up to him. “I want every information that has to do with this… magic, and have it all ready by morning at breakfast. I’m going to take a shower and try to calm down before bed,” I finished.

Sigmund nodded before he bowed. “A wise decision milady. Please, get some rest, and I’ll take care of everything else from here. Would you like some dinner brought to your room?” He asked.

“I had lost my appetite after going through… that. Please put our rapiers away too while you’re at it, and thank you for your time Sigmund. I apologize for my behavior earlier,” I apologized.

“It is of no trouble milady,” Sigmund brushed off. “You have had a stressful evening, so your reaction is to be expected. Have a good night Master Teala,” Sigmund bid before I nodded, and made my way back inside. “Oh, and Master Teala,” Sigmund called, which I turned my head to him. “I’m sure Master Cyan will be alright by tomorrow. He’s quite the young stallion, that he is, and I doubt that loss will put him down for very long,” he finished.

I gave a small smile at his consideration for Cyan’s well-being. “Thank you Sigmund, and I hope so too,” I finished before Sigmund nodded, and I went back inside.

[Roxxie’s POV]

“And that’s why I came back in a rush,” I finished telling my afternoon to Mom over dinner, but left out the freaky thing that happened earlier before I got here.

“That’s just awful,” Mom commented. “That Emerald there really ticks me off. It’s not right ta spat other pony races like that.”

“I’m more worried about Cyan right now than my reputation really,” I looked down at my empty plate with ears folded. “I just hope he has things worked out by tomorrow.”

“Ah’m sure he will Roxxie,” Mom agreed. “You’ve told me plenty of times how strong Cyan is, and like you mentioned, he probably just needs ta cool off a little before he sees ya two.”

“I hope so,” I finished before I got up from the table. “I’m gonna freshen up and head in early tonight. Thanks for listening Mom.”

“It’s what Ah’m here for sugah,” she replied. “Ya take it easy now, and Ah’ll prepare a special breakfast in da mornin’.”

I nodded before I head upstairs to my room to grab a change of clothes, and went to the bathroom. I stripped down, turned the shower on, and wait for it to warm while I checked the mirror, but gasped at something new I found that I didn’t think would appear today.

“W-wait… Can it be?”

[Teala’s POV]

As I got to my room, I slipped out of my clothes before I grabbed a clean set for the night, and head to my personal bathroom. When I checked the mirror as I got inside, I stood there in awestruck at what I saw.

“N-No way… This cannot be…”

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