Chapter 56
Moving Out
“It’s good to be back,” Torchwood sighed as we stepped off the train.
“You can say that again,” I agreed.
“YOU GUYS ARE BACK!” I’d half been expecting a pink blur to come hurling at us when we arrived, so I sidestepped just in time. Pinkie ended up tackling Charcoal behind me instead, sending the luggage he’d been carrying fly everywhere.
“Sorry,” I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Can’t... breathe...” he gasped for air.
“Oops! Sorry Charcoal!” Pinkie hopped off my son and reacquired me as her original target. I braced myself for impact, and luckily didn’t topple. “Did you guys have fun?”
“Loads!” Lilac grinned. “Best vacation ever!”
“Awesome! You’ll tell us all about it at your welcome back party, won’t you?”
“Welcome back party?” Torchwood bemusedly rolled his eyes.
“Yeah! At Twilight’s castle tonight! You have to come! Cheese Sandwich and I worked really hard to plan it!”
“Cheese is back in town, is he?” I winked.
“Yep!” she dreamily confirmed. “Anyway, it’ll be tons of fun! Everyone’s gonna be there. See you tonight?”
“Sure, Pinkie,” Torchwood consented.
“Yipee!” She bounced off, even happier than when we’d arrived.
“She’s so weird,” Charcoal grunted, still picking himself up.
“But fun,” Lilac put in. “And she’s throwing a whole party just for us!”
“We weren’t even gone that long,” my son rolled his eyes.
“That’s Pinkie for you,” Torchwood chuckled.
“Probably just an excuse to work with Cheese Sandwich again,” I grinned. He smiled.
“That too.”
“Wait a minute... I’m still grounded. I guess that means I can’t go,” Charcoal sagged with relief.
“Lockdown isn’t a punishment for you- you stay in your room all day long anyway. I think you need to come with us,” I smirked. “What do you say, Torch?”
“Absolutely,” he slyly winked.
“But-!”
“No but’s. As part of your punishment, you have to come to the party and stay for the entire time,” Torchwood sentenced. Charcoal growled in irritation, never one for any sort of social event.
“What are you pouting for? That’s the best punishment ever!” Lilac exclaimed.
“For you, maybe.”
“Come on. Let’s go home and unpack before the party,” I beckoned. The kids finished picking up the dropped luggage before scurrying after us.
We were approaching the hill past Rarity’s house leading to ours when the door to the Carousel Boutique flung open.
“You’re back!” Petticoat burst out and didn’t tackle Lilac as Pinkie had, but slid to a stop just in front of her and initiated their special hoofshake. “It feels like you’ve been gone forever!”
“I know!” The two completed the ritual and hugged each other.
“You heard about the party at the castle tonight, right?”
“Pinkie met us at the train station to tell us,” Lilac giggled.
“Which means we get to hang out all night! Candy, Thunder Cloud and I were going to go get ice cream. Wanna come?”
“Can I, Mom?”
“You girls are going to have all night together at the party,” I reminded.
“Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase?” both begged. I sighed.
“Ask your father.” They both expectantly turned to Torchwood.
“Oh, I suppose,” he sighed.
“Yay!”
“Thanks, Dad!” Lilac gave us both a quick hug before dashing off to join her friends.
“One’s too social, one’s not social enough. What are we going to do?” Torchwood teased, bumping Charcoal with a wing.
“Get over it?” our son sarcastically retorted.
“Char,” I sighed. He’d been so much more polite after the hippogryph/running away incident, but maybe that was just because we were guests in someone else’s house. “Well, I want some help unpacking, but after that you’re free to go sulk in your room some more.”
“I don’t sulk. I think.”
“About what?” Torch saw opportunity for a good conversation with our son.
“Private stuff.”
“Girl stuff, by any chance? You’re about that age when-”
“What?! No way!”
“I’m only teasing,” Torchwood laughed. Charcoal pouted.
“Mostly cutie mark stuff, if you must know,” he grumbled.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “You know, I used to think a lot about it too.”
“Yeah, I know, Mom, you got yours late, too. But that doesn’t really help me.”
“I actually thought about mine more after I lost it than before I’d earned it,” I corrected. He said nothing, and I took it to mean he was willing to listen. “It was after Princess Celestia cast her ‘purification’ spell on me. It took not only my wings, but my cutie mark, too. Everypony thought it was just an unfortunate side effect, but I thought otherwise. After all, the spell was only supposed to take my wings, not my destiny. I thought that maybe it meant there was a whole other side to my thestral self that I never knew, that was vital in fulfilling my destiny. What if I’d been following the wrong path my whole life?”
“What did it mean?” Charcoal was wide eyed.
“I never quite figured it out,” I confessed. “Maybe part of my destiny was Torchwood. It was the princess’s spell that made him angry enough to lead a revolt, after all,” I fondly pecked him when he blushed. “But after we made up, I got my wings and cutie mark back, this time with a little extra flare.” I traced the heart outline of the fire. “Maybe love was the missing part of my destiny. I lost it after the transformation. But then again, maybe it really was just a fluke in the spell. Maybe it was something completely different. I don’t know. But you know what? It took me years before I realized that it didn’t really matter. I had- have- a beautiful family and amazing friends. What more could I want?” Charcoal looked at his hooves, mulling over my words.
“But I’m different,” he quietly sighed. “I mean, really, really different.” He temporarily shifted into his dragon body to demonstrate. “I’m part dragon, more so than typical thestrals. Dragons don’t have cutie marks at all. What if I’m not capable of earning a cutie mark because of the dragon side of me?” Torchwood and I looked to each other. He really had put a lot of thought into this. And he had a valid point. Maybe we weren’t taking it seriously enough.
“Cutie mark or no cutie mark, you’re still our son.”
“Your father’s right,” I agreed. “No matter what, we’ll always be here for you. The point is, don’t worry about it too much,” I kissed his forehead. “Now, let’s go unpack and say hi to-”
“BLAZE?!” Torchwood bolted from my side, and I whipped around in the direction he was headed. We weren’t too far from the house, and from here I could see a rather large, orange blockade in the doorway. It took only a second for me to register that this form was actually the back view of Blaze wedged in the entry. Charcoal and I didn’t hesitate to abandon the luggage and dash after him.
“Torchwood? Is that you?” Blaze wriggled and attempted to readjust so he could peer outside. This was only possible by spreading his forearms and twisting his neck. This gave him an upside-down view of the outside world.
“We’re all here,” Torchwood reported. “Minus Lilac. Are you okay?”
“A little... stuck...” Blaze admitted with great embarrassment. He dug in with his hind legs and attempted to yank himself out of the predicament to demonstrate. His shoulders were wedged tight. He didn’t budge.
“Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get you out,” I promised, fretfully touching his leg in assurance. The gesture did more to comfort me than him.
“Charcoal, you’re the smallest. See if you can get through Blaze’s legs and push from inside,” Torchwood directed. Charcoal moved to do so, and Blaze spread his arms even wider to provide enough room.
“How long have you been stuck here?” my son wondered as he wormed his way into the house.
“Not long,” he answered. “I’ve been trying to reach the pencils so I could write for help, but I couldn’t reach. I think I just made things worse.”
“It’s an art shop! You couldn’t find a pencil?” Charcoal did his best not to laugh.
“I found them, I just couldn’t reach them. My arms aren’t that long,” Blaze pouted, noting the distance between him and the nearest pencil rack.
“Alright, alright. We’re here now, and that’s all that matters,” Torchwood interrupted. “Okay, everyone. On the count of three, Acrylic and I will pull, Charcoal will push, and Blaze? Do what you can.” The dragon gave an affirmative nod from within. “Ready?”
“Ready,” we all chimed, taking position. I grasped Blaze’s tail, and he curled it around my arm to give me a better grip.
“One... two... three!” Torchwood and I both dug our hooves in, and Blaze’s hind claws sank into the dirt. His front claws scraped the wooden floor a bit, but that was the least of our troubles. Charcoal hovered to push against Blaze’s chest, but soon switched tactics and directly shoved against his wedged shoulders. This worked a little better, but Charcoal changed things up again and knocked against him in short bursts.
“Ow! Hey, it’s working!” Blaze excitedly noted.
“Keep it up, Charcoal!” Torchwood grunted.
“Not so hard! I don’t want you sending an earthquake through my bones!”
“I’m not pushing that hard!” Charcoal retorted, ramming into him again. Now he was putting his whole body into it.
“Almost... there,” I panted, yanking again. The wood of the doorframe was groaning almost as loudly as the rest of us. With a resounding *CRACK* and the splintering of wood, Blaze flew back from the force. Torch and I scurried out of the way before he fell on top of us. Charcoal, on the other hoof, crashed forward with him. The two landed in an exhausted heap, panting in the grass.
“Are you okay?” I was back on them in an instant. Charcoal shook himself off, and slid down from Blaze’s plated stomach to let him up. The dragon sorely sat up, rubbing the tender spot on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I’ll live,” he groaned, dizzily shaking his head. “Sorry about the doorway.” Some of the molding had splintered off, and the wooden floor was a bit scratched where he’d been scrabbling for leverage.
“Don’t you worry about that,” I cradled his head, which was about the only thing I could get my arms around. He nuzzled me back.
“Guess I won’t be staying here anymore,” he sadly sighed, looking over the house. He gave a light whuff of mourning over the loss. “I’ll miss this place.”
“I’ll ask Twilight if you can stay at the castle for now,” I assured, burying my head within his scales.
“I crashed over at Spike’s while you guys were gone. I just didn’t think I’d end up living over there.”
“I know. I’m sorry, baby. We all knew this day was coming, but now it’s finally here.”
“You guys are acting like he’s leaving for good. He’s just moving into the castle,” Charcoal rolled his eyes.
“But it’s so different,” Blaze looked over the faded, peeling mural I painted when I first bought the place. “I pretty much grew up in there. I watched you grow up in there.”
“But it’s a castle! Why’d you miss a place like this to go live in the castle? In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t move out sooner.”
“Sentiment, I guess. You’ll understand when it comes time for you to move out.”
“Exactly,” Torchwood nodded. “But I think you better let us get your things.”
“Heh. Thanks,” Blaze blushed.
No sooner had we unpacked our luggage than we were repacking them with Blaze’s belongings. It was true that dragons hoarded treasure often out of greed, but the size of a dragon’s hoard often helped them attract a mate. We had talked Blaze into starting his hoard relatively early on for the day he did find a girl, especially since he was at a disadvantage in the fact that there wasn’t as much treasure available in Ponyville as the Dragon Craters. The meager collection of jewelry, gold and gems was currently stored in the corner of Blaze’s old room. Blaze patiently waited outside as Torchwood and I hurried to collect the possessions.
We’d given Charcoal permission to inform Blaze of the hippogryphs, and now he kept his brother company while they waited. Blaze listened intently and curiously, surprised by the fact that his brother knew and perhaps a bit disappointed upon learning Garble had kept it a secret from him. Though he didn’t quite believe us at first, he was soon eager to meet our new friends in person. Torchwood and I also spilled all that we knew about hippocampi. I finally felt at peace after clearing the air. My family looked just as glad as I did, too. No more secrets.
We planned to wait a while to leave, at least a little closer to the time the party started to walk Blaze over, so we’d only have to make one trip. Torchwood suggested we head out as soon as Lilac returned. Unpacking (and repacking Blaze’s things) didn’t take too long, so we passed the rest of the time outside with Blaze.
The boys were going to try and pass the time by playing ball, but Blaze’s untapped strength accidentally sent it spiraling beyond retrieval. After that, they began brainstorming an entirely new game that involved thestral and dragon fire. Torchwood and Charccoal wanted to try a new form of charades, creating shapes with their fire. Blaze, however, was unable to shape his, so this idea was quickly eliminated. Charcoal then reasoned that since dragon fire was able to teleport items, we could mash up hide and seek and capture the flag: we would divide into two teams, and one member had two minutes to hide somewhere in town (it had to be a destination agreed upon by the rest of the team so they could meet up later, of course). Meanwhile, the second team member would send their partner a flag, and the first team to capture the enemy flag won. The game would be far more fun with more ponies, of course, but four would suffice for now. Perhaps we could test it out now and recruit more players at the party. We were just about to start the first round when Lilac, Candy, Thunder Cloud and Petticoat returned.
Candy Apple was an orange-coated earth pony filly, a shade somewhere between her parent’s yellow orange and goldenrod. Her mane was the brown of her father, but streaked with big swatches of bold red. She had inherited her mother’s green eyes, however, as well as her freckles. She also fashioned her mane similarly, tied with a ruffled green ribbon. Her tail, however, she preferred to leave loose, though a similar green bow was often tied at the very base. It didn’t really hold any hair out of the way, but looked nice. As of right now, she was still a blank flank.
Thunder Cloud was blue like the rest of her family. She had inherited her father’s midnight blue mane, but it graduated to a lighter shade in a style that reminded me of her mother. Her mane was kept short in a tomboyish fashion, bangs draping over her eyes but the rest swept back like her father’s windblown hair. She had also inherited his green eyes. She had small but powerful wings and a blank flank.
“Hey, Lilac!” Blaze waved.
“Hi, Blaze!” the little pink filly ran ahead of her friends to greet Blaze for the first time since getting back. She leapt onto his chest, using her wings to assist in gaining the necessary altitude, and spread her arms as wide as she could to give him a big hug. Though he could barely feel her tiny weight thud against his heavily armored chest, he pretended the impact had been far stronger, and lightly allowed himself to topple.
“Oof!” he playfully groaned, coming in contact with the ground. Lilac giggled from atop his mountainous chest. “Did you grow over vacation? I think you’re getting bigger!”
“Not as big as you!” she teased.
“Heh, yeah,” Blaze blushed, wondering if she knew about his previous incident. “Speaking of which, there’s something we- I- have to tell you.”
“What is it?” she cocked her head in curious anticipation. Blaze heaved a heavy sigh, causing Lilac to slide off his chest. He caught her with an open claw, set her down, and rolled over to his stomach.
“I’m moving out,” he confessed.
“What?!” Her clear eyes grew wide with distress.
“You’re leavin’?!” Candy and the rest of their friends dashed up to comfort her.
“I’m just moving into Princess Twilight’s castle,” he quickly corrected. “I... uh... don’t fit in the house anymore.”
“Whew,” all four girls sighed.
“I thought you were really leaving,” Lilac added, snuggling back up to Blaze’s orange scales.
“Not yet,” he promised.
“Yet?” Thunder Cloud suspiciously raised an eyebrow. Lilac made no further comment, so neither did Blaze.
“Do you girls want to head over to the castle with us?” Torchwood suggested.
“We’re going to help Blaze get settled in before the party,” I elaborated.
“Given Twilight says yes,” Blaze reminded.
“Blaze, it’s Twilight! I’ll bet Spike will want to be roommates!” Charcoal exclaimed. Blaze shrugged.
“Fair enough.”
“So, what do you say?”
“Well, we really just stopped by so Lilac could show us the cool stuff she got on vacation,” Thunder Cloud explained.
“Couldn’t we just meet you there?” Petticoat suggested.
“I’ll give you a lift,” Blaze bribed, gesturing to his back in emphasis.
“Really?!” Thunder Cloud gasped, eyes wide with excitement. Though she was already a strong flyer,
“Ooh, ooh, just a second,” Lilac said, dashing into the shop. We patiently complied and waited by the door. My daughter returned momentarily with a brown leather pouch in her mouth. She sat down to free up a hoof, which she emptied the bag’s contents into. It was the warped, partially melted, patchwork-looking vase saved from the glassblower’s shop. Shortly after we left the hippogryphs, Lilac asked Charcoal to fix it. Though he claimed he never wanted to see the hideous thing again, and Torchwood’s offer to repair it (properly) had been refused, Lilac’s pestering finally became intolerable. Charcoal reluctantly fixed the glass vase again, though it warped even more badly in his claws this time around. The claw print was painfully visible, and the glass was lumpy and seam lines were evident. Yet somehow, it was still identifiable as a vase. I was surprised it had held any of its original shape at all. That wasn’t to say anything would fit through the neck anymore...
“Ugh, not that thing. I thought I said I never wanted to see it again,” Charcoal recoiled from the abomination.
“This is the vase Charcoal and I got up in the Foal Mountains,” Lilac explained. The girls crowded around, no small amount of disappointment on their faces.
“Oh... uh... cool?”
“Sure is... somethin’.”
“It sure is... different.”
“Heh. I know. We paid for it after it broke. Then Charcoal fixed it... and it broke again.”
“Ooooooh,” her friends all nodded in unison, accepting this explanation as reasonable.
“You know, Lilac, you didn’t have to keep it after you paid for the thing,” Candy pointed out.
“I wanted to,” Lilac smiled. “It wasn’t really us that broke the vase anyway. A group of really mean ponies tried to rob us; they were the ones that knocked it over.”
“Lilac! You didn’t tell me that! That means you weren’t responsible for paying for it,” I sighed, lovingly stroking her mane.
“But I wanted to,” she repeated again. “Even though we weren’t the ones that broke it, it reminds me of how Charcoal chased off the bullies to protect me,” she flitted her eyes at her big brother, sweetly swinging her clasped forehooves. Everyone turned to Char, regarding him with both new respect and goofy grins. All the staring made Charcoal extremely uncomfortable; his face flushed bright red, his ears flattened, and he shuffled nervously. He hardly knew where to look.
“Quit looking at me like that. It’s creepy.”
“I think it’s cute!” Petticoat declared.
“I guess it is pretty sweet,” Candy agreed.
“Especially considering how ugly the vase is,” Thunder Cloud hissed in her ear. The two chuckled quietly to themselves.
“But now I want to give it to Blaze,” Lilac went on.
“Me?!” Blaze raised his eyebrows in shock.
“As a housewarming gift,” she clarified, offering the object. “To remind you of both of us.” Blaze gratefully smiled, perhaps even the beginning of a tear twinkling in his eye. He cradled the warped glass like a precious treasure in one palm.
“Thank you, Lilac.”
“That was sweet,” I proudly whispered in her ear.
“Are we ready to head out, now?” Charcoal interrupted before any further comments about their vase could be voiced.
“Sure, son,” Torchwood chuckled.
“Alright, all aboard.” Blaze crouched over so the young fillies could board.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Petticoat cautiously climbed atop his back.
“Aw, come on, Petti! It’ll be great!” Thunder Cloud assured.
“I’ve never flown before!” Candy enthusiastically exclaimed.
“Really? Not even with Mom or Aunt Rainbow or anyone?” Lilac stared at her friend in horror.
“Never,” Candy shook her head.
“Then you’re in for a treat. Dragons are awesome!”
“As long as you don’t fall off,” Petti fretted.
“You worry too much,” Thunder rolled her eyes.
“Easy for you to say! If you let go, you have wings!”
“Just hang on, and have fun!” Candy silenced her.
“You all ready back there?”
“Yeah, yeah!” Thunder declared, hugging his scales tight. “Clear for takeoff!”
“Hang tight!” Blaze’s haunches coiled, and his wings unfurled to reveal their full, impressive span. He sprung into the air in one quick motion, his thunderous wing beats nearly drowning out the four gleefully screaming girls on board.
Charcoal rolled his eyes, quite amused by the incredible volume four fillies reached with mixed shrieks of delight and terror. Torchwood hoisted the suitcase up onto his back, and prepared to take off with me. Both our wings were spread, prepared to take off when Torchwood turned back to our son.
“Come on, champ. Better keep up or we’ll miss our own party.” Charcoal heaved a sigh to remind us he’d much rather stay home, but unfurled his own wings. Only after he’d taken off in front of us did we take off.
I found the flight’s duration incredibly agonizing. I wanted to keep flying forever, for I knew that when we landed, one of my sons wouldn’t be returning home with us. It usually warmed my heart to hear any of my children laugh, but even as all of the children giggled and cheered, frolicking through the air, I felt miserable. Blaze was all grown up, now. He didn’t need me anymore. Perhaps it was selfish of me to feel this way, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.