//------------------------------//
// Relapse 
// Story: Life of Cinder 
// by SandStorms 
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For the next week Cinder and Stone barely talked. Stone still stayed close to make sure Blitz didn’t try anything, but nothing past that. When they ate, Cinder sat at the far end of the table from Stone and never looked up at his friend. Stone didn’t push Cinder at all to talk, or bring up the plan either. When they sat in the dorms, Cinder lay with his back to Stone and looked over the family photo with him and his parents.
This went on all through the week. Stone hoped that every morning when they awoke that Cinder would finally break the silence between them; but every time, Cinder just got up and trotted into the bathroom to get ready for the day. Stone didn’t bother trying to break the silence, for he knew that he just needed to give Cinder time to relax. 
After another week of silence, Blitz struck again. 
Cinder and Stone sat at their normal table with Cinder at the far end. Cinder kept his head down and ate in silence. The conversation from that night kept playing over and over in his mind.
“I’m about to age out of the system. I have about two months left.”
“So Fire is just going to wait until you’re gone before he does something to me?”
“You need to get out of here Cinder.”
“What, you want me to run?”
“When I’m aged out yes, I want you to run away from this place. I can’t think of what Fire will do to you when I’m gone.”
Cinder had stopped eating at this point and just sat their lost in thought, then the flashback took over again.
“Where would I possibly go?”
“You could stay with me I guess, the orphanage will be giving me some starter money and a small apartment to stay in.”
Cinder forced the memory from his mind as Miss Grey approached the table.
“Are you finished eating Stone Wall?” She asked.
“Umm yea I guess.” Stone replied.
“Great! Come with me we need to fill out some paperwork in preparation for you to leave.” Miss Grey said, then she turned and walked for the door.
Stone looked uncertainly at Cinder before he got up and followed the grey mare out of the room.
Cinder watched him leave and the door shut behind him. He then looked back at his food and continued eating.
Thirty minutes had passed when hoof steps announced a newcomer to the table. Cinder didn’t even bother to look up thinking it was Stone returning from filling out the paperwork.
He was wrong.
Cinder felt a hoof on his shoulder as he was yanked around and found himself face to face with Blitz. To his side his two henchmen (Cinder had found himself calling the two pegasi lately) stood there blocking the sight of Blitz and Cinder from the rest of the ponies in the room. 
“Where’s little Stone Wall to protect you now dork!” Blitz taunted.
Cinder pushed Blitz’s hoof off his shoulder, “Go away Blitz.” Cinder said emotionless. He wasn’t in the mood right now.
“Oh boys looks like we are going to have to show this dork here a lesson of respect, and we might as well give him his punishment from earlier that has been put off for way too long, and we will have no trouble doing that since Stone has left Cinder all alone.” After this was said Blitz grabbed Cinder and pulled him to the ground.
One of the henchmen put a hoof over his mouth keeping him from yelling for help, while the other held his front legs down. Blitz sat on Cinder’s hind legs to keep him from kicking and started to send out quick jabs to his gut.
All Cinder could manage was to grunt with each hit. There didn’t seem to be an end to the beating. Blitz looked happy like he had been waiting for this moment for a while. Blitz then aim a hard punch a little higher up. Blitz hit him just below the rib cage right on the diaphragm causing Cinder to lose his breath. The henchman holding Cinder’s mouth seeing that his job wasn’t necessary anymore, as Cinder had lost the ability to speak, took his place holding one of Cinder’s front hooves. 
Blitz raised a hoof to strike Cinder in the face, “Stone abandoned you just like your parents did, and I guarantee your parents didn’t even love you. Why else would you be in here?” 
Cinder went numb with that. Cinder saw Blitz’s hoof smashing into his face, with each hit, Blitz’s hoof came away a darker shade of red. But none of that mattered, Blitz’s words cut deeper than any knife could and chilled him to the bone. The beating went on for a while, though Cinder had no idea how long, he had lost track of time.
Suddenly Cinder saw Blitz ripped off of him along with the two henchmen. He saw them smash into the wall leaving dints as they slid to the floor. Cinder then shifted his vision to his other side expecting to see Stone there, but Cinder’s eyes came into focus on none other than Dusty himself, he was wielding a stick that looked like a cross between a baton and a bat.
It must have hurt to be on the dealing end of that weapon, Cinder thought. Cinder looked into the eyes of Dusty as he looked over the assailants. There was a fire in his eyes that might be compared to the sun. It was the look of a father who had watched his own child get hurt, Cinder shivered. 
Dusty then looked at Cinder and his eyes clear of the fire that once was, and was now holding a look of worry. Cinder saw his mouth moving but heard nothing. He looked at Dusty as he kept speaking. He read only one word off of Dusty’s lips.
It was his name, Cinder!
Cinder felt the world fade away as Dusty scooped Cinder up in his hooves and rushed towards the door.
Then the world went black as Cinder fell unconscious.