WIld Magic Research: Ponies Needed

“Let’s check the list again, Araneus.” Brave Storm suggests, holding a list in front of her face as she walked through Ponyville. A star spiderling resting on the peak of her mohawk rolls its eight eyes before scuttling down to her forehead and climbing on her nose horn. 

“We have a plastic terrarium- temporary because you’ll grow and need a bigger cage. We have two weeks’ worth of honeyberries from Sumit’s Hollow. I’ll ask a flyer if they’re willing to bring a biweekly supply for you. I’ll pay them of course.” Brave Storm explained her list and spoke aloud to her pet. “We have soil, I brought some over from your cave. Of course, I’ll have to get fresh substrate every so often, too. So maybe we’ll be making a few trips to Summit’s Hollow ourselves. Do you like that?”

Brave Storm was so caught up in reading over her list of responsibilities and equipment to take care of a star spider that she didn’t notice Araneus waving its front four arms frantically trying to get her attention. She noticed too late as she walked right into a pony and felt them fall over. Brave Storm gasped and helped the pony up with a rapid onslaught of “I’m sorry” coming from her mouth.

“No, it’s my bad. I shouldn’t have been standing in the middle of th- Brave Storm!”

“Wha-? Oh, Summer Solo!” Brave Storm whinnies as she recognized the red-ish gold coat and the curved horn of the unicorn before her. “Wow, I didn’t expect to see you in Ponyville. What brings you here?”

“I decided to swing by the Adventure’s Guild and there was a fishing request here,” he answers and opens his mouth to say more but freezes when he notices the spider crawling along the earth pony’s cheek. “Brave Storm? Not to alarm you, but there’s a spi-”

“Oh, that’s Araneus.” she cuts him off, worried that he’ll slap it (and her) if she waits too long. She brought her hoof to her cheek, the spiderling climbed on without much fuss and Brave Storm requested, “Say ‘hi’, Arrie.”

Araneus brought two of her front limbs together and waved them eagerly at Summer Solo, who released the breath he was holding onto with a laugh. Brave Storm brought her pet back to her hair before returning her attention to Summer Solo and noticed a vertical cut across his nose.

“What happened?” she asked, gesturing to it.

“This? Funny story, I met Red Herring- do you know her? You talked like you knew everypony in tow-” Brave Storm nods and gestures for him to move on- “She was teaching me how to fish and I managed to get a bite really quickly. The issue is, I wasn’t expecting it, so I pulled the rod. With my hooves instead of my magic, and uh, fish was stronger. The line snapped and hit my nose. It was probably the biggest fish in that river, too.”

“Told like a true fisherpony.” Brave Storm remarks with a laugh.

“What about you? You look… off. Did everything go all right in those caves?” he asks with a tilted head. 

“Oh, the caves were fine. Met a colony of bat ponies that were trapped by a giant spider since the magic surges began,” she explained. “I’ve just been having awful nightmares since I got back. That reminds me- Arrie, make sure I buy a new dream journal.”

“Do you want to talk about them?” Summer Solo offers, gesturing to a cafe he took a liking to.

“No, that’s what the journal is for.” Brave Storm answered bluntly and changes the topic. “So why were you stopped in the middle of the street?”

After getting over his shock at Brave Storm’s bluntness with a shake of his head, he gestured between a couple of buildings. Very faintly in the shadows cast by the building, a sparkling flyer tried to catch the attention of all who walked by. 

“I’ve seen a few of those in the trash and didn’t pay it much mind.” Summer Solo explained. “I wonder what’s on them that’s causing ponies to throw them away.”

“Only one way to find out.” Brave Storm replied, gently bumping into Summer Solo’s shoulder as she walked by. While the flyer was so colorful and bright from afar, it was surprisingly not very hard to read. Clearly, a very competent spell caster laid the enchantment on these.

“Aid in the research of Wild Magic. Professor Golden Sage is conducting research into the nature of Wild Magic and needs your help.” Brave Storm reads aloud and turns to Summer Solo, “Professor Golden Sage? Is he with the Canterlot magic school?”

With a frown on his face, the unicorn offers nothing more than a shrug as he continues reading, “Ponies of all kinds needed, no magical abilities necessary. Help us further our understanding of this amazing phenomenon.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Arrie.” Brave Storm coos as she notices the spiderling shaking nervously. “Nothing like what happened to Moon Widow is going to happen to you. I won’t let it.”

“Can you believe this?” Summer Solo asks with a scoff. 

“Where does it say to go?” Brave Storm asks, using one hoof to hold Araneus and the other to gently pet it.

“You’re not actually thinking of going, are you?”

“So what if I am?”

“Nopony should be messing around with Wild Magic! I don’t care if they’re from the most prestigious magic school or Star Swirl himself, it’s dangerous!” Summer Solo protests. “Who knows what this pony will do to you?”

“I know that it’s dangerous! I’ve experienced firsthoof how dangerous Wild Magic is!” Brave Storm yelled, her teeth gritting. Feeling her muscles shake, she placed Araneus back into her mane so she didn’t accidentally hurt it. 

“R-right. You actually fought Moon Widow.” Summer Solo muttered as he hung his head. He turned to look back down the street and felt embarrassed as he saw ponies staring at them. He felt even worse when he remembered that even though he doesn’t know any of them, they all probably know Brave Storm.

“It’s not just about Moon Widow.” Brave Storm said as she stood up and locked eyes with him. “We can’t fight something we don’t understand. And if something bad needs to happen to me so that way you or somepony else can stop these Wild Magic surges from hurting more ponies, then so be it.”

“Brave Storm, you don’t have to do this-”

“Yes, I do,” she interrupted as she walked away, leaving him alone with nothing but his thoughts and feelings in the alley.