//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: A day of fire, week of rest, and going home // Story: A New Starting Point // by Lunar Flarion //------------------------------// ---A few hours after chapter 28’s end--- Star flapped her wings through the night air, her cloak around her figure and her hood up to block her image from those below. Her hearts slow, rhythmic beat matched that of her wings. The moon had fallen below the horizon with her magic. She held a frown on her face, though gave a slight chuckle at Flare’s reaction to her lowering the moon. Yet, the smile faded quickly, for what she went to go do was more heartbreaking than any knife or sword could bare. Though this was important to her, even as the cold wind snapped at her exposed wings, she continued on to a nearby hill, not too close nor far from her castle. She flew for an hour, and finally, she had reached a few feet short of her destination. Little Moonlily’s blanketed the hill, each smelling beautiful. She looked up, her destination in sight and her heart skipped a beat. There, standing at the top of the hill, in full view of the sky and henceforth the moon once it rises, were four gravestones. Star’s heart ached, and she felt as if a crack had formed in it. Using her magic, she plucked four Moonlilies from the ground and walked over to the graves. She sat in front of them and laid one flower on each. There was no sound, no wind, the air stood still as she let herself calm down, to allow that crack to heal slightly. Finally, with a shaky breath, she looked at the first grave, and said softly,” Hello, mom...” She turned to the next,” Hello, dad.” Then the next and her throat tightened,” Hello, Silver Lining... my beautiful daughter.” Finally, she turned to the final grave,” Hello, Bright Sky... my handsome son... Happy birthday.” She fell silent as if she hoped to hear their voices again, yet the hope was wasted, for no voices came. Her head fell slightly as her wings moved to close around her. She felt a tear force its way out and down her cheek. Her hoof moved and gently landed on the stone surface. It had been nearly fifty-three years since his death. Blood Moon was only 1 year old at the time, he never got to know how great his uncle was. That is when she felt another tear drip down from her cheek until she started to sob softly. Her sobs echoed down the hill, yet became faint for there was no wind to carry it to town. Her cries lasted an hour, then finally, she got her calmed down and used her cloak to wipe away the tears from her eyes. She stood up and lit her horn, for she didn’t carry enough energy to fly home, yet just enough to teleport home. With a flash, she disappeared, and as the flash illuminated the area, her mother’s grave shown to bare one name. “Luna” ---Next morning--- Flare awoke in his room, right off the bat, he felt weird. The room felt much bigger than it actually seemed to be as if this was once a storage room for something, but the walls were covered in wood than painted over with the color of choice, which in this rooms case, was a rather dull grey. Other than that, the room was rather empty, there wasn’t any natural light since there wasn’t a window either. A few simple, electric torches were the only forms of light that the room was given. Flare stretched as he got out of bed, the bed had the familiar feel to that of Prim’s bed. Though this one made his back disagree in pain. He left the room, not sure of where to go, maybe to grab some breakfast? He was kinda hungry and could go for some pancakes or waffles. “Well...” Flare quipped as he looked down the hall,” Time to find the dining room again.” “Well, I think I can help with that,” A familiar female voice stated. “Hello, Ms. Star,” Flare replied as he turned to look at the mare. “Hello, Mr. Flarion,” Star mocked light-heartedly back. “Heh, nice try,” Flare smiled,” But my last name isn’t Flarion.” “Star isn’t mine either,” Star smiled back. “Then we both failed.” “That we did.” ... The two snorted at the rather bad joke. “Just follow me, I wish to speak with you,” Star said as she started to walk. At this point, Flare felt like the main character in a game who has to follow AI around, but he did it nonetheless. “What do you want to talk about?” Flare asked. “Well,” Star started,” My s... son didn’t get his fighting nature from nowhere.” “I’m not fighting you,” Flare stated. “I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy,” Star shrugged,” But I have seen from that little book you gave Night that skeletons of your kind can go “berserk”, correct?” “Yes,” Flare confirmed. “Have you ever done it?” Star asked,” Have you ever gone berserk?” “I’ve gotten close,” Flare muttered,” But never close enough, I’ve let my hatred go, but that was a mistake since it wasn’t the one I am normally supposed to get.” “What do you mean?” Star inquired. “I’m part fire elemental, when I go berserk like I’m supposed too, I’ll most likely be engulfed in flames,” Flare stated,” Don’t ask how I know that.” “Hm... would you like to see that?” Star asked,” You know, for a study or an experiment!” “You really just want me to fight you to see what my powers are, don’t you?” Flare asked, obviously not amused. “Tsk...” Star replied,” Stop being able to see through my plan!” This made Flare chuckle,” Fine... how about this, after breakfast, we have a little fight.” The mare smiled. “On one condition,” Flare smiled as he said that. “What?” Star replied, a challenger-like smile placed on her muzzle. “I make the rules,” Flare stated. “As long as they are fair!” Star chimed back. “Fair enough,” Flare smiled as he pointed at her wings,” You can’t fly during the fight, but you can use these to propel yourself forward.” Star smacked her lips and thought about it for a minute, then nodded,” Alright, that seems fair.” “Shake on it,” Flare said. “Alrighty,” Star replied, she grabbed his hoof and gave it a firm shake. ------ As the two ordered, ate, and finished their breakfast, Star had started to think of a good place to fight. Of course, the fight was more for fun, and she couldn’t help but be driven this way, her son loved to play fight with her, no matter how many times she won, he always came back with a better plan to try and defeat her. She has fought with Sithis in the same way, but with more violence involved, though that had gotten boring to her after a few days. After all, he may have been one of the best Dragon Guards but that didn’t mean he could take on an alicorn when she was trying. However, Flare seemed to be different in a way. She had spied on that book and found that most of his body, if not all, were made of pure magic. His attacks would be stronger than that of an average or even slightly above average unicorn. Physically, she wasn’t sure if magic affects that trait. “Hm... maybe we could fight at the old fighting ring,” Star mussed. The old place was deep within the mountains, it was where she trained with her mother, where she trained her foals. The place was well protected, the thick rocky interior and exterior were perfect for absorbing alicorn blasts that were at a decent charge. “Old fighting ring?” Flare asked, which broke Star’s thoughts. “Yeah, very good place for practicing powerful attacks,” Star stated,” I think it would be the best place for our fight.” “All righty,” Flare shrugged,” So, where is it?” “Well,” Star horn glowed,” It’s far from here-” *POOF!* Flare stumbled a bit as the world faded from one place to another. A heavy darkness settled upon them. Flare felt cold stone and the room felt way larger than any he had been in before. He looked around, the red glow of his eye fell upon Star’s face. “-But with a simple spell, we can get there in a blink of an eye,” Star smiled as her voice echoed. “Mind turning on the lights?” Flare asked, his voice echoed as well. His eye may glow, which allowed some sight in the darkness, however, he felt he is going to need to see much clearer if he were to fight Star on an equal field of battle. Star chuckled and her horn glowed once more. Soon, hundreds of pink lights filled the open room. Flare was taken aback by the sheer size of the room or more accurately, cavern. In the light pink lights, he could see stands on either side of them, in front of him, right behind Star stood a large metallic door large enough to probably allow Buster to enter this cavern. Another thing that caught his attention was the fact that they stood upon an elevated surface, the ground around the large square platform had been dug out. This was definitely meant to host fights, there wasn’t a doubt about that fact. “Okay,” Star smiled, her voice echoed once more,” Since you are a guest, you get to have the first attack.” “Weird way of treating the guest...” Flare admitted,” But all right.” The attack happened in an instant, dulled metallic objects crashed through the floor below the mare. She was taken off guard and rose quickly with the objects. As they climbed, Flare quickly lowered them and Star was forced to join them, however, she didn’t move past and under the floor, as they did so she splatted against the cold stone. 50! The red number shined brightly as Star got back up. She was slightly dazed, but she held a firm smile. “I forgot that you had magic,” Star joked, ”It has been a while since I fought a magic user.” “Well, you can attack next,” Flare didn’t waste a second, he didn’t hear her comment. His eyes were firmly planted on the mare’s body as he waited for her to attack. For him, time slowed as she lunged forward with great speed, her hoof held high and ready to slam against his muzzle. He quickly rolled out of the way and Star’s hooves scratched against the ground as she came to a sudden stop. Flare got back up on his hooves, his heart pounded against his chest, he looked down for a quick moment. This time, Star saw an opening and took it. She sped forward once more and slammed her hoof into his chest, this sent him clear over to the other side of the platform. 110! The pink numbers flashed against Flare’s mind as he stood up. He grunted as the pain started to fade, he didn’t expect that, he thought they were taking turns. That’s when it hit him... again. Star appeared to his side and slammed her hoof into his shoulder, which sent him flying again. However, Flare recovered quickly enough to disappear and reappear to her side, and he didn’t hold back. He pulled back his hoof and slammed it right into her lower jaw. She didn’t go flying, but she was downright dazed from the punch. 96! 50! He smiled and winced at the number. He smiled since it was an increase from his last attack, but winched since he didn’t know how much damage she could take. He took her daze and used it to “check” her stats. His eye narrowed as he checked each stat. Mother “Star” Moon Attack: 100 Def: 30 HP: 10,000 Yeah, she could take a beating from him. Though he had to watch his own health carefully, since he wouldn’t like to feel the pain of being dusted again. His original HP sat at 2,500 now it sat at 2,340. She soon fell out of her daze and her head was now back in the game, though she did hesitate a moment before she attacked to rub her jaw. She disappeared from the ring for a moment, then appeared at the center of it. Her horn glowed a bright pink as she raised the front half of her body. In an instant, she slammed her hooves down and created a large shockwave that made Flare stumble, then she let loose her charged attack. Flare fell to the floor in a vain attempt to dodge it and dodged it he did, though he hissed as the tip of his horn was singed by the blast. He got up in time to dodge another beam attack and counter one with his own. The skull that appeared quickly opened with a torrent of low charged blasts. Star put up a shield which blocked most of the attacks, yet what she didn’t expect was the skull to ram its own horn so hard against the shield that it cracked a hole right through it. She felt a rush of adrenaline as she used her magic and threw the skull back at its summoner, who grabbed it as well and set it right. She should be feeling fear, but she wasn’t, whether it was the cold adrenaline that rushed through her veins, or that fact she hasn’t had a fight like this in a while, she couldn’t help but crack a large grin. “Why are you smiling?” Flare’s voice came out in a low growl, something he didn’t intend to do. “It’s been a while since I had this much fun in a fight,” Star smiled wider, then remembered why she was here, not just to fight, but to get him angry enough he goes berserk. So far, with her unfair attacks, it seemed to have chipped a bit at him. That book did help a lot since it said that attacks in his universe take turns for each opponent. She felt the ground shake beneath her and rolled to the side as a barrage of hundreds of slightly less dulled object jutted through the ground. She jumped back again as another set broke out from underneath her. She felt a hoof slam against the back of her head. She stumbled and picked up the stallion and threw him across the platform, his body gave a hard thump as he landed. “Come on!” Star bellowed,” Is that all you got!?” Flare’s form shuttered a bit as he stood. In the pink light, Star could see black veins start to appear on Flare’s body, but they quickly disappeared as Flare took a deep breath. Flare looked at her and his red eye gave a slight hint of blue. *Ding~* Star felt the gravity alter around her like it became heavier than before. She looked at Flare, whose hoof was pointed directly at her chest. She looked down and saw a small heart glowing a dark blue placed in the center. “This is your soul, the very culmination of your being,” Flare stated coldly,” You see, some monsters have a way of manipulating the soul of another creature, mine is to alter and manipulate the gravity of the area around you to make it hard for you to move. This magic will damage your soul and lower your hp, as well as let me do... this. ” His hoof shot up quickly and Star felt her body jolt into the air. Just as quickly as it started, she felt the sudden stop and grunted as she hovered in the air. Then she felt the gravity around her increase and she slammed into the ground. Once more, she let off a grunt and slowly got back up. “You’re holding back,” Star spat. “So are you,” Flare stated as the numbers finally showed themselves of his last two attacks. 190! “I’m holding back cause your...” Star thought of an insult,” Weak! One blast and you’d... you’d be BEGGING for mercy!” “Your attempt to anger me by insults isn’t working,” Flare responded as he let her gravity go back to normal. “Right,” Star muttered as she stood up,” Your cold, hard to anger since you’ve locked away all of your emotions? You just let them simmer.” “Enough,” Flare spat,” I don’t want to fight anymore, it isn’t worth it, I don’t want to go back to the pony I once was.” ‘The pony you once were... the pony you once were-’ Star thought for a moment, then gave a devilish grin,’ The pony he once was makes him angry... I just hope he’ll forgive me for this.’ Star looked up and her horn glowed brightly, the simple spell she was going to cast would help Flare unlock his inner monster. She was blinded by her desire to not only to “help” Flare unlock this power, but she had grown thirsty for a good fight. Flare stepped forward, he thought the spell was going to teleport them back to the castle... he was wrong. When he got close enough, Star let the spell go and it crashed into him, pink tendrils wrapped around his horn and his eyes glowed an eerie pink. He stumbled backward and let off a low growl as he tried to shake the spell’s tendrils off. She was surprised the spell didn’t instantly take hold and did its work, maybe this stallion could fight back against mental manipulation? She watched on as the tendrils wrapped around his neck and he finally stopped his fight. The cavern grew silent and Flare’s body started to twitch and spasm. He took a step back and let off another low growl. That was when Star noticed the black veins once again as they slowly climbed up Flare’s front legs. She then noticed another color started to rise through his body, a light, teal blue color clashed against the black as if they both fought for dominance of the body. First, it was the black that gripped the throat and moved around his jaw, the blue followed shortly behind. The pink tendrils flickered, it started off slow, but soo it was apparent that the spell was going to drop. As the spell flickered, she saw that the glowing red eye and the red dots of past turned into a bright white, like the stars of the night. She felt a burst of energy as the blue finally caught up. Next, there was a blue light that blinded Star. She roared in pain and covered her eyes as the light intensified beyond any light she had seen before. Maybe a nightmare spell wasn’t the best course of action. She gave a low hiss as her wings covered her face. Then, when the light started to fade and she could see a little bit more, she heard a soft crackle, like a new fire that roared to life. She finally, she laid her eyes on where Flare once stood, but a large cloud of smoke blocked her vision. The crackle got louder and she could hear a low and angered breath came from within the wall of smoke. She waited for a second, and in that second, she swore she could see a faint blue light... and it got brighter and brighter. She then realized what it was and ducked quickly as a powerful beam of blue fire slammed into the metallic door. The smoke started to swirl like a twister, faster and faster till she felt herself start to be pulled into it. She didn’t know when it was going to end until it blew her back into the cavern’s thick rock wall. She winced and gave a squeak of pain as her wing was cut deeply by a jagged stone. She teleported just in time to dodge another blast of blue flame. She stumbled back onto the platform and then inhaled sharply as she looked at Flare. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. There stood a skeleton of a tall unicorn, the horn was curved, there was a large hole in the side of its head. Yet what made her jaw drop was the fact that it was surrounded by a brilliant blue flame. She knew it was Flare, yet she felt as if she had let a monster, a true monster loose. The stallion turned, the hollow eye sockets filled with a white flame that swirled violently. She stepped back, her heart now pounded with fear, no longer was this a friendly fight, this was a fight to snap him out of it and hope to be forgiven. Flare let out a horrid roar that dissolved into a screech as he charged forward, his hooves leaving behind a trail of fire. She teleported to one of the stands to escape the stallion. She heard the stallion give off a low snort as he looked around for her. He found her scent and looked directly at her, his eyes pierced her very soul. Flare gave another horrid screech and, instead of using his horn, held open his mouth and fired off another wave of blue fire. Star squeaked as she jumped out of the way. She heard stone crumble and crack from the fire’s force and looked down. In a flash of blue light, she felt a hoof slam against her head, this sent her flying til she came to a stop as she crashed into the giant metal door. Flare had hit her chest and she held back a cry as her chest sizzled from the fire’s contact. Her body indented in the metal and her whole body ached. She opened her eyes as the pain washed over her, yet Flare wasn’t done yet. With a start, he ran at full speed and headbutted Star through the thick metal door. This time she roared in pain as she fell onto the hillside, she landed on her wing and tore another membrane on it. Flare’s body crashed onto the ground which left a small crater. Buts of the broken door fell on top of Star and she hissed with pain at the hot metal. She got herself up and stumbled a bit to keep herself upright. She heard grass sizzle behind her, she turned and stared death right in the eyes as he slowly approached. She thought for a moment that she was dead, there was no way to calm the monster she had let loose down... Until she remembered. Prim, one pony he cared about dearly was her. She opened her mouth to speak but flinched as she tripped on her hoof, it had been sprained in the fall. As Flare closed in, she forced herself through the pain, with a weak voice, she asked,” F-Flare... s-stop... w-what would P-Prim think if she saw you like this?” Flare stopped for a moment as if the words had gotten to him. Star wanted to smile, but she couldn’t, she had to put all of her energy into her speech. “Flare,” Star said,” You aren’t a monster... I’m not your enemy... no pony is anymore... you’re safe... calm down.” Flare gave a low groan and the fire started to fall. Star got back up and walked over to him as the fire soon died down, that of which left only the bones. His head forced its way up and its hollowed eye sockets gazed into her eyes. Flare’s right hoof slowly raised up and Star gently grabbed it. A small and nearly unseeable flame rushed up from his arm and onto hers. It penetrated her skin, leaving behind another scorched mark. She felt her body start to feel energized, her sprained leg felt a little bit better, now it just felt sore. She stumbled back and looked on as the flame started to heal her body. She looked back at Flare, whose body was now back to normal... yet he wasn’t breathing, no movement. She started to panic. --- 2 hours later --- Flare laid in the hospital bed hooked up to an IV and some other machines. The monitor slowly beeped away. Star sat next to the bed, her chest and wing were wrapped up in bandages and she was going to have to take them off so that she could apply an ointment. She watched as the doctors went to work, as they tried to make him stable. His heartbeat dropped to zero and they used all forms of magic to bring it back up. They said that he was going to be in a coma for a week, and she couldn’t feel any worse about what she had done. *Knock knock knock* Three soft knocks came from the door as a mare in doctor’s attire walked in, she held a clipboard. “My queen,” the mare stated with a bow,” We have found out why Flare had suffered such damage to his body internally.” “Why?” Star asked. “His soul, it is as you said, it is made of magic,” the doctor explained,” He used up too much magic and his body went catatonic after he gave you the healing flame” “Is there anything I can do to make his recovery faster?” Star asked,” He is expecting company soon.” “No ma’am...” The doctor replied sadly,” The best we can do is wait for a week to go by and have his magic restore itself naturally.” “I understand,” Star replied,” I must go, I have duties to attend, do not let him get any worse... okay?” “Yes, ma’am,” the doctor replied with a firm nod. This week was going to be a long one... --- Day 1 (After incident) --- Star had received word that the ponies sent to collect Flare and bring him back home had been dispatched to the forest. She told them to let them look around and return back home with whatever they had found. She finished up any paperwork, talked with Sithis, and went for a walk around her castle grounds, her mind still tortured by what she had done. She didn’t sleep soundly that night. --- Day 2 --- The guards had found a trail that may lead to Flare early the next morning. Star had told her officials to once again, not interfere unless they get close enough to the city that they can be allowed access without alerting any others to the city’s whereabouts. Star visited Flare later that afternoon, who seemed to be doing a little bit better. His heart rate had gone back to normal, but he was still hooked up to the machines. She sat there for an hour and asked for Flare to forgive her. Even though there was no response. She didn’t sleep that night at all, instead, she focused on the four guards who had set up camp near the house Flare had lived in before he came here. --- Day 3 --- The guards had found his trail that lead to the moment where Flare met Sithis. She gave a weary smile as they followed the trail with new hope. When she left her chamber, she barely talked to anypony and went straight to Flare to check on his condition. Like yesterday, it had gotten better. A few citizens stopped her in the streets and asked if she was okay, for which she always told them she was. That night, before bed, she watched as the guards set up their mobile campsite. They were two days away from the city. --- Day 4 --- Nothing happened that day that was noteworthy, Flare was stable, the guards were on the trail and so forth. --- Day 5 --- The guards were close enough to the gates of the city, so Star sent out two of her own guards to come and collect them. She went to check up on Flare, who had finally begun to move, if only slightly in his dream-like state. She didn’t welcome the guards when they entered the city, she didn’t tell her guards to take them to the castle, she just ordered them to be taken to the nearest hotel. Star went to sleep that night with a headache. --- Day 6 --- Star met the guards at the hotel and took them to the castle where she explained where Flare was and what happened to her. She had nearly forgotten about the bandages, she had grown used to them. She offered the guards food, water, a place to bathe and finally a room to stay in for the night. She told them that Flare was due to wake up tomorrow, so they would have to wait. One guard questioned her, a female by the name Pale Aura questioned if they could trust her. Star reluctantly showed them to Flare. They asked more questions that night than hours of sleep they had gotten. --- Day 7 --- Flare woke up in a hospital room and right off the bat had a headache. He looked around his room and found that no pony was there. Why was he in here? He didn’t want to get up since he was hooked up to a lot of machines at the time. So he waited for an hour or so, finally, a nurse walked in and he asked for the reason why he was here. After the nurse’s shock went away, she told him what happened. As Flare heard the story, he looked away from the nurse every once in a while. He was still too tired to feel angry at what had happened. The nurse told him that Star would be over soon with four ponies that were had looked for him. Once again, he played the waiting game as the nurse left the room. --- “Right through here, your majesty,” the nurse said as she opened the door. “Thank you kindly,” Star smiled as she and the four other guards piled into the room. Her eyes landed upon Flare, who held a rather upset expression at the sight of her. “Hello, Star,” Flare said. “Hello, Flare,” Star gulped,” These are the ponies sent to escort you back home.” As Star said that, the four guards saluted and one stepped forward, it was Pale Aura. “Lunar Flarion, be the behalf of the king, Queen, and three royal sisters of the Vampony Kingdom, you are hereby allowed to return,” Aura stated, ”My crew and I here are to take you back safely, since we found you and have the coordinates to the Castle, we can teleport there instead of taking the long trek back home.” “Alright,” Flare replied,” First, I need to get these machines off of me.” Aura and Star nodded and called in the doctors, who unhooked the machines and allowed Flare to get out of the bed. When he tried to walk, he stumbled and fell. However, Star was there to catch him and help him along the way. After an hour or so, Flare finally could walk normally. Star smiled and told them to stay put, that she had something for the four guards and teleported away. For a mere second that she was gone, Flare looked at each guard and noticed that all seemed a little jittery. When Star came back, she held in her grasp four potions. “You’ll need to drink these before you leave the city,” Star explained,” Unlike Flare’s body, none of you hold enough magic to leave this place alive. So drink these now.” The guards were reluctant to do so but drank the potions, none of them wanted to test that theory or risk their lives more than they had to already. With the last bit of potion gone, the two unicorns in the group prepared to teleport Flare and the others back to the castle. Yet Flare had one departing gift for Star. *Smack!* Flare gave a firm smack to the mare’s cheek. She looked at him and gave a soft chuckle,” Yeah... I deserved that...” “Still, I would like to thank you for your hospitality,” Flare said as he offered his hoof. “My pleasure,” Star smiled and accepted his hoof shake. “Come on, Flare,” one of the unicorns shouted,” We’re burning moonlight!” Flare nodded and waved back at Star. He stood next to the guards, and with a poof, they disappeared back to the castle. Where Flare finally got back with his love, Princess Prim Bite.