//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1:New purpose  
// Story: Hearthfire The Sands Of Time 
// by Predman1227 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 1: New purpose.

Location: Barrier Lands of Equestria.

Time: 3/10/2024

Theran Razorblade

“Snow. I hate snow.”
Theran Razorblade walked alone down a snow buried path with the icy cold seeping through the gaps of his black, battle-scarred armour. Every part of his body was covered in light Nightsteel plating, save for his pointy light grey ears that stuck out of gaps in his helmet. His crimson tail flicked wildly as the strong winds hammered at his back. His boot-covered hooves sank deep in the fresh untouched snow, sending shivers up his legs and along his spine. He squinted his bright blue eyes through the slits in his black and rather plain helmet that covered all of his face . The only detail was a long scar that went down the right side of his helm. 
“I need to find some shelter soon before I freeze over.” Theran thought as he took cover behind a near by large boulder and with his magic, he levitated a map out of his saddle-bag.
Theran’s horn glowed a soft blue as he studied the map. Unlike normal unicorns Theran’s horn had been sharpened to a fine point long ago to make himself look intimidating. “Fuck, I’m on the wrong road again.” Theran muttered, as he ground his sharp teeth together in frustration. Also unlike other ponies, Theran was only half pony, mostly from his mother’s side. His father on the other hand wasn’t pony at all.
With a grunt Theran stuffed his map back in his bag and continued down the path. The narrow canyon made him feel uneasy, it was a perfect place for an ambush and Theran really wasn’t in the mood to be robbed. He continued walking and to his luck he made it to the end with out getting his throat cut.
“Ok, now where do I go?” He thought.


Theran was met with two paths leading to different locations. The only thing he could do now was pick his path. But before he could, Theran’s wolf-like ears straightened up as he heard a sound on the wind. It sounded like a cry. Theran knew all to well these roads were crawling with bandits, highway ponies and other things he would very much like to avoid. Even knowing that, Theran couldn’t help but find out what and where those cries were coming from.
“Fuck this is stupid.” Theran muttered as he as he made his way down the path on his right and followed the cries.

The path curved around a small hill and when he made it past the bend, he could see, not too far away was a small settlement. Theran wondered if anyone was around so he slowly moved toward the black buildings to get a better look. From closer inspection he found the black on the buildings were scorch marks from what he assumed was a powerful fireball spell. The lack of smoke told him it wasn’t recent, so he didn’t have to worry about rogue magi. It also meant this place whatever it had been, was now abandoned. But he could still hear the cries and when the wind blew in his faceplate, he picked up the musky scent of male earth ponies and something else. Alert, Theran moved quick and silent as he took cover near one of the burned up buildings and moved a long its wall. When he got to the corner he heard the cries louder this time, so he poked his head around the corner and saw two earth ponies blocking an alleyway. They weren’t looking in his direction but Theran could tell they were bandits form their matching set of fur clothing, daggers and well, they smell like shit. What caught Theran’s attention was the small body at the end of the alley.
It was a foal.


The foal looked no older than 8 years old, with a blue mane, tan coat and big green eyes. The foal was also a unicorn.
“Damn,” Theran thought, “That foal looks half starved.”

Indeed the foal looked very skinny, so much in fact he could his rib cage. Theran’s ear twitched as one of the bandits started laughing, and approached the young pony. His friend hung back also laughing. The filly’s eyes widened with fear as the first bandit pulled out one of his daggers with his teeth and moved closer.
“Shit,” Theran thought in alarm, “Is he really going to do what I think he going to do?”
Sure enough the bandit swung his dagger at the foal. The foal was quick though and moved away, the dagger missing by inches. With out thinking Theran cast an invisibility spell, pulled out his steel sword with his right forehoof and charged on two legs at the bandits.

Bandit up front looked over his shoulder but saw nothing, only to find his throat had been cut clean through the middle and collapsed with a dull, gurgling thud. The Bandit with the dagger spun around  too slow as his chest was impaled by Theran’s blade. Theran decloaked and looked the bandit in the eye. The bandit’s lips were dripping with blood as his twitching yellow eyes stared straight back at Theran’s. With a twist and a sharp pull, Theran’s blade escaped with a flow of arterial blood and the bandit fell forward and lay still. Theran snorted.

“That’s what you get you fucker.” Theran sneered.

Theran flicked his sword once to get the blood off and slid it back in its sheath. That’s when he noticed the foal was gone. He didn’t have to look far as he saw an open door in the ally way’s wall and he could smell the foal's sent coming from within. Slowly he moved to the door and peered inside. It was dark but Theran could see no problem in the dark, so he walked in and closed the door behind him. He was standing in what appeared to be some kind of old shop. There were shelves inside but they had long been picked clean by wonderers and other bandits no doubt. It was dead quiet and Theran had to strain his ears just to hear anything. Silently he moved through the room, looking around every corner to see if he could find the foal.
Nothing.


That’s when he heard a sound come from the back of the shop and when he got there he found another door, though this one was closed. He used his magic to slowly open the door and when he pushed it open, light shone through. The room behind was smaller but it had a hole in the roof, witch lit up the room with white light. Cans and old wrappers lay about and as he moved into the room he saw something shift near a bunch of cardboard boxes. Theran moved up to the boxes and saw a brown blanket. He could see a small figure underneath, so he lifted a hoof and poked it. No response. 

He did it again and the small foal burst out of the blanket and ran to the far wall. Theran just watched as the foal press himself as far as he could go in one of the corners of the room and looked at Theran with sheer terror in his bright green eyes. Theran tilted his head to one side and slowly moved closer. The foal squealed loudly and that’s when Theran realised the foal was in fact a filly and she started kicking her back legs against the floor and pressed herself harder to the wall as if she could go through it. Theran stopped a meter away from her and clammily sat on the floor and with his hooves he unstrapped his helmet and pulled it off. 

The filly gasped as her eyes fixed on his face. Theran’s face was a light grey and was oddly wolf shaped with a spiky fur like red mane. His nostrils looked pony but his, eyes, ears and teeth, all screamed wolf. The one feature that was neither pony nor wolf, was the long scar that went down his right eye. He placed his helmet down on the floor and pushed it toward the filly.

The filly looked at him in confusion, not sure what to make of this oddness. Theran gave her a blank expression and nodded once at the helmet.  Slowly she stood on all fours and moved up to the helmet. She lifted a tiny hoof and quickly poked it, making a dull metallic Dung. The sound made her flinch and her sharp intake of air through her nose made her face go all twitchy. With a loud sneeze she fell back on her tail and suddenly with a flash of green fire she transformed into something else. Theran jumped to back on all fours and couldn’t believe his eyes. The filly now had dark shell like skin with holes in the hooves, tale and mane. Transparent bug like wings now stuck out of the filly’s back. Her facial features, horn and mane colour stayed the same but there was no doubt. The filly was a changeling.

Moaning loudly she crawled and pressed herself back to the wall looking more terrified than before, as if she thought he was going to attack her. But he didn’t. What he did do was he lay down on his stomach and studied her with a curious expression. She was thinner than anything he’d seen before and he knew she would die if he didn’t do something about it. He used his magic to lift an apple he was saving, out of his bag and floated it over to the filly who again was confused. But not long after sniffing the apple did she sink her rather pointy fangs into the apple’s flesh. The apple was a lot bigger than her mouth and not too long her mouth was full of sweet apple. Theran smiled at how cute she was as she ate the apple. But when her big green eyes met his, something inside his head clicked. He frowned at the filly and for a second the filly’s eyes had a flash of fear again. He snorted loudly as he got back to his hooves and stormed out the room, leaving the confused filly behind.


“What’s wrong with you Theran?” He muttered to himself, “You know the rule, no attachments.” He stormed out through the other door and back into the alleyway where the bandits still lay. His head pounded as he struggled with himself. “Why didn’t I just walk away? AAAA stupid, idiotic, mother fu…” He stopped ranting at himself as he sensed the filly behind him and looked over his shoulder. 

She was standing in the door way still holding the half eaten apple, looking up at him with those big cute eyes of heir’s. “Please don’t go.” She pleaded in the most adorable way known to pony kind.

Theran’s chest felt heavy with indecision as he looked at the end of the alleyway and back at the filly. He did this several times, wishing he could go back in time. But when his eyes fell upon the filly’s he felt so helpless.

“This is so cruel.” Theran thought, “Why dose she have to be so cute?”

“Please,” the filly begged again, “Don’t leave me here. I…I… Achoo!” She sneezed loudly and dropped her apple.

“Fuck.” Theran thought now pressing one hoof to his head. “She’s sick.” The filly sneezed again and oh no, not a tear. Theran felt like his brain was swelling up, putting pressure on his skull. “But…I…But I can’t…” He sighed long and hard. The filly sniffed and wiped her tears way as Theran walked up to her and asked. “What…what’s ya name?”

The small filly had to crane her neck to look up at him and said in the sweetest little voice. “My…my name is…Summer…Summer Haze.”

Theran gave her a half smile as he said. “Summer Haze ay? Now that’s a name I’ve never heard before. I’m Theran.”

“Th…Ther…Theran? That’s a nice name.” Haze mused.

“The second one ain’t.” Theran implied.

“Oh, and why’s that?” Haze asked.

“Because it’s got to do with stabbing ponies.”

“Oh…right…that sounds like it hurts.”

Theran laughed at that, a full hearty chuckle. Then the wind closed in and made Haze sneeze again. “Come on, let’s warm you up and get some food in ya.”

“Yes please.”

And with that they made their way back inside and wait out the coming storm.