It was a beautiful day in Canterlot, the sun glistened off the golden roofs of the castle, birds sang in the eaves of houses and trees, but, nopony wanted to join my expedition into the Everfree Forest! I sighed as once again a unicorn I had been chatting with shook his head and trotted away.
“Sweet Celestia, is nopony in this city brave enough to go?” I sighed and brushed my brilliant orange mane with its light grey streak away from my eyes. “Probably should have tried Ponyville instead.” I looked over at my neatly organized presentation board on the table next to me, detailing my trip. All I needed was a simple poison joke flower to show to my students for my Magical Flora and Fauna class. Was that too much to ask?
“O-oh my gosh, i-is it really you?”
I turned around to see a light orange unicorn stallion with white stockinged hooves and a brilliant vermillion striped mane standing next to my table, his spectacles falling down his white-striped muzzle as he stared at me. “Well, that depends, who do you think I am?” I asked, a small grin on my muzzle.
“The f-famous Wonderbolt, Fire Streak!” he said as he adjusted his spectacles to their proper spot on his muzzle.
With a chuckle, I nodded. “Got it right in one. Though, that is former now. I retired about a year ago now.”
“Oh, I know, I know.” He nodded his head and rubbed a hoof through the goatee along his chin. “I was there when you finally performed the great barrel-roll quad-aerial inverse twist for the first time. I-it was amazing!” he gushed, then coughed and blushed as he turned away for a moment. “S-sorry, I’m just a huge fan ever since then. Though, I hear you retired to be a teacher?”
“Heh, yeah that was one of my more impressive tricks,” I said, chuckled, then nodded. “That is right. Teaching was always my goal when I finished my time with the Wonderbolts. May I ask the name of my number one fan?” I winked at him when I noticed his blush grow even deeper.
“Oh, my name is S-Sunburst,” he stammered and adjusted the collar of his blue, star-patterned cloak. He took in a deep breath and then pointed at my sign. “S-so you are looking for s-someone to enter the E-Everfree forest with you?”
“Nice to meet you Sunburst!” I beamed, then nodded. “Yes, I am. You see,” I cleared my throat and pointed a hoof at the presentation myself. Perhaps I had finally found somepony! “The next magical flora I plan to teach my class about is the poison joke flower, but, on my own, it would be quite difficult to obtain safely. Even simply touching the flower or its leaves will leave one contaminated by its poisons. There is a way around this, of course, and that would be to use a pair of dragon-hide padded mittens, thanks to their magic blocking capabilities, but with us being friends with the dragons now, I’d rather not anger any of them.” I chuckled and turned back to look at him.
“O-oh for sure!” Sunburst nodded. “I’ve seen some angry dragons in my travels, n-not the best creatures to get angry.” A shiver ran down his neck at just the thought. “Anyway, I’m g-guessing that is your reason for finding somepony else to help?”
Well, this was going better than anypony else so far! “Once again, you are correct!” I beamed and pointed to a note on my presentation. “Another way to gather the poison joke is with unicorn magic. A unicorn can safely trim the flower and place it in a magically sealed container for later study. Unfortunately,” I spread my right-wing out beside me. “I don’t have that luxury.” I held out said wing to Sunburst. “So, Sunburst my friend, would you be willing to help me out? The section of the forest we would examine for the flowers should be safe this time of year. The timberwolves will have finished their mating season and it is far enough away the hydra are rarely nearby.”
He smiled so wide that I almost feared his cheeks would break, but he took my wing in both of his forehooves and shook it vigorously. “I w-w-would be honored to h-h-help y-y-you!” The tips of his ears turned bright red and lowered slightly. “S-sorry about the s-s-stutter, it c-comes out much w-w-worse when I am nervous or e-excited.”
“That is just fine,” I said as my heartbeat quickened a bit in my excitement. “Welcome to the team then, Sunburst! Can you be ready to catch a train to Ponyville in about an hour? I want to make sure we have plenty of time to get back for my class tomorrow afternoon.”
“O-oh, absolutely Fire Streak! M-meet you at the train station soon?” he said and grinned.
“I’ll be there with our tickets.” I nodded. “Oh, and I shall provide necessary supplies for the trip, but feel free to bring anything else you think we might need.”
“W-will do, Fire, can I call you Fire?”
I nodded.
“Great, great,” he said and wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead. “S-see you soon then!” With that, Sunburst trotted off back into the crowd.
“Oh, thank Celestia!” I said as I let out a deep sigh, and started to pack away my things. It was nice to meet fans, and from the sound of it, Sunburst would be a fun one to work with. This would be a pleasant trip. We’d find the flower and be back before sunset. Could I get any luckier?
I nervously paced near the train station, my saddlebags bulging against my barrel, two tickets held in my right-wing, as the top of the hour drew closer. “Oh, I hope he didn’t change his mind,” I mumbled. “He’s a fan of mine, of course he will show, right? I mean, who wants to disappoint somepony they admire?” I stopped in my hoofsteps as my eyes grew wide. “Or will he be too nervous about spending time with me, thinking I won’t like him after I get to know him and that will devastate him so much because of his admiration?”
“Calm down, sonny, he’ll come.” I glanced over at an older unicorn stallion who sat on a bench near the entrance, his fur light grey with a black-and-white-peppered mane. “You seem like a good, young stallion,” he continued as he smiled warmly at me. “If that other stallion truly likes ya, he’d be stupid to stand you up.”
“What? Oh! No, it um, isn’t like that, sir-”, I turned away from the old stallion as I heard hoofsteps cantering our way.
“We shall see,” the old stallion chuckled, stood, and trotted away. I turned to see Sunburst as he dashed toward me, his cloak whipped back and forth in the wind behind him.
He came to a stop in front of me, sweat dripped down his face. A scroll fell out of his saddlebags and rolled open to my hooves. “S-s-sorry for almost being late,” he gasped as he took in a few deep breathes. “W-wanted to m-make sure I had everything and l-lost t-track of time!” He wrapped the scroll in his magic and rolled it back up, then placed it once more in his saddlebags. “W-we haven’t m-missed the train, h-have we?”
I shook my head. “Nope,” my ears perked up as I heard the screech of the train whistle, followed by the clickity-clack as it made its way down the tracks. “Actually, looks like you are just in time. Here comes the train.” I grinned and waved a wing down toward the tracks. “Let’s go meet it.”
Sunburst nodded and followed behind me, the train whistle shrieked once more as it drew nearer. I could now see its bright blue and pink hues and the thick smoke pouring out of it. The train station was full of activity, ponies dashed here and there, some dragging heavy suitcases behind them as they made their way to the gates, eager to be on their way, while a few, buff, uniformed stallions and mares lined the outer ranks, ready to take the tickets from the noisy crowd.
“Thanks, by the way, for agreeing to this,” I said as we took our spot in line. “Was starting to think nopony would come with me!”
“Y-you’re welcome!” Sunburst grinned. He had finally stopped panting as the train pulled up to the station and stopped with a loud hiss of steam and smoke. “I thought Canterlot loved the Wonderbolts. I’m s-surprised nopony else was willing to join, e-even if things could get d-dangerous.”
“I thought so too. Turns out they only care for whoever is a current Wonderbolt.” I sighed as I shook my head. “Stupid trends and fads.” The line moved quickly, ponies who had exited the train trotted off to the left of us, as the ones in front stepped onto the train and dispersed to find their seats.
“Here you go,” I said as I hoofed over our tickets to a waiting conductor stallion and led the way to our seats. Luckily, our car was mostly empty, with only an elderly grey coated pegasus mare with a white mane fast asleep in the far corner. A strange smile was on her muzzle. Probably some funny dream? Eh, didn’t really matter.
Sunburst and I took a seat near the middle and placed our saddlebags on the seats beside us. I stretched out my wings and wiggled a kink out of my back before I settled deep into the plush seat. “So Sunburst, you live here in Canterlot?” I asked as he settled into his seat as well.
“F-for now, yes,” he nodded as he reached up to adjust his spectacles. “Though after that attack by Lord Tirek, I’m thinking of moving to the Crystal Empire. D-did you know that was the only place he didn’t go? I heard it was because he hates the cold.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said and winced a little, that had not been a fun week. “I still remember feeling him drain the magic from me. Never felt more useless,” I mumbled, tilting forward as the train continued along the tracks. “We Wonderbolts are supposed to be there to help in times like that!”
“D-don’t worry, nopony could have b-beaten him alone,” Sunburst reassured. “Ever since the e-elements were rediscovered, a lot h-has been happening in Equestria.”
“Aren’t you worried about Sombra returning? Or something worse? If you move to the Empire?”
Sunburst shook his head. “Long as the Crystal Heart is filled with love, nocreature with ill intent can easily get inside. T-that is w-what I have r-read at least. With no new danger every week, I can concentrate on my magical studies.”
I nodded and leaned my right wing against my chin as I watched him. “Magical studies, eh? So, did you go to Princess Celestia’s school, then?”
His cheeks turned bright red again as he squeezed his eyes close as if in pain. “T-that is k-kind of a l-long s-story,” he stuttered. “To sum it up though, yes, but I f-f-failed.” He turned away for a moment, his ears drooping. “Who wants to be a g-great and p-powerful w-wizard a-anyway,” he mumbled.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I soothed as I patted him on the back with a forehoof. “We can’t all be another Twilight Sparkle after all, right? And that is okay. You are a great pony, I’m sure, Sunburst. Maybe this trip will help show you that?”
“Heh, y-yeah, m-maybe,” He turned back to look at me. “Thanks, Fire, f-for being so understanding.”
“Anything for my number one fan,” I teased and winked at him. Sweet Celestia, why did I seem to like making him blush so much? Was I that bored? “Anyway,” I coughed, clearing my throat, and sat up a little straighter. “The patch of poison joke shouldn’t be too hard to find. Last I heard there was a nice sized one only about a mile into the forest. Are you good for a little hike? We’ll likely be cutting through some vines and thorns at a few places, but other than that we’ll mostly be staying on the path.”
Sunburst nodded, his ear tips still a little red. “I’m n-not in the best shape, b-but I can do a s-simple hike like t-that.”
“Excellent!” I beamed. “I think this is going to be a fun outing.”
“M-me too.” His ears perked up as he adjusted his spectacles once more.
It wasn’t long before the train arrived at the Ponyville station, steam and smoke billowed from the front, as I heard ponies in other carriages stand and start to gather their things. “Ahh, here we are!” I stood and strapped my saddlebags back between my wings. “Are you ready for an adventure, Sunburst?”
“Oh, w-well yes, I s-suppose so?” He stood and levitated his saddlebags around his barrel.
“Then let the adventure begin!” I led the way outside to the station platform. “Now, it is hmm about two pm,” I said as I looked up at the station clock. “That means we have about seven hours until Princess Celestia sets the sun. Should be more than enough time to find and bag a specimen and catch the last train back to Canterlot!”
Sunburst nodded. “S-sounds good to me. D-do you know w-where to look then?” he asked as we trotted down the dirt path.
“For the most part, yes, though being a ‘joke’ flower, sometimes they like to tease their would-be victims and move anywhere from a few feet to a few hundred yards away from their original spot.” I lifted a rolled-up scroll from my saddlebags with one wing and unrolled it. “That is why I have this map that updates their position daily, so at least we will know where they were, as of yesterday.”
I held it out on one wing toward him and he picked it up in his magic. “Hmm yes, that shouldn’t be too f-far,” he murmured, still trotting along as he examined the map. “Oh!” he gasped as he ran into me. “S-sorry Fire! W-why did you- stop.” He glanced up from the map as I pointed with my right-wing. “Oh, we’re here.”
Before us stood the entrance to the Everfree Forest, the light faded into a gloom only a few yards past the first trees. It was quiet, almost too quiet, as if the forest awaited us. At least I didn’t see any glowing eyes staring back at us! But, didn’t mean there was anything less deadly nearby. “Be on the lookout, just in case,” I whispered and took the first steps into the forest.
We stayed silent as we trotted along the path, ears perked for any sounds of wildlife. The ground was dry and sandy beneath our hooves, the bushes and trees around us still. “Um… h-here’s the m-map back,” Sunburst whispered as he levitated it over to me.
“Thanks,” I said back softly and held it up in my wings. “Let’s see, yes it hasn’t moved spots since I looked yesterday. Which means,” I looked up from the map as we reached a crossroads. “We head left!”
“It’s j-just so eerily quiet in here,” Sunburst gulped as he followed. “Is it always like t-this?”
“Not always, no. Part of the reason I wanted to get in and out before sunset, most of the fauna that lives here are nocturnal. Except for the timberwolves, who seem to come and go as they please.”
“O-oh, w-well, at least we will k-know when one is n-near, with that s-stench.”
“Long as the wind is blowing the right way,” I said and nodded. As we drew closer to the spot marked on the map, I breathed a sigh of relief when the song of a sparrow chirped somewhere nearby. “Oh, good, the birds are starting to sing. Everything is going to be just fine!”
“Yes, I-I have read about sparrows being good indicators of when trouble is about. They are u-usually silent if there is danger nearby.” Sunburst let out a deep breath and grinned at me. “So do you plan to just show the class the flower, or a-are you going to u-use it on y-yourself?”
I laughed and patted him on the back. “Oh Sweet Celestia, no! It will just be for presentation. Most of its changes might be harmless and easily cured, but it is different for everypony, and I don’t want to risk it playing a dangerous joke on anypony.”
“R-right, right,” he nodded and pulled a book out of his saddlebags. “There have al-already been reports on w-what it did to Princess Twilight and her f-friends. M-mostly harmless t-there, but s-still not something I r-really want to w-worry about. I’m e-enough of a j-joke as is.” He flipped through the book, ears drooped slightly, as he gazed at a passage about halfway through.
“Hey,” I spread my wings out to stop him in his hoofsteps. “Don’t be so dismissive of yourself, okay? So you failed at Celestia’s school, lots of ponies do that. Do you know the graduation rate each year?” He shook his head. “About twenty percent on average. It’s a tough school, but even those who don’t make it through? Many of them still end up going on to do great things.”
I tapped a wing gently against his cheek and winked at him. “Who knows? If you do end up moving to the Empire, that might just be the great thing you accomplish.”
“Oh, r-right. I’ll s-stop Sombra if he r-returns a-again.” Sunburst mumbled as he put the book back in his bags.
“See? There’s the spirit! Come on, let’s find those flowers, then, how about I help you look into that move?”
He nodded. “O-okay. Thanks, F-fire.”
“Think nothing of it, my friend.” I smiled over at him, then turned to continue along the path.
We seemed to be lucky as we trotted along, for all the spots along the side of the path, where thorns or vines should have been, looked to have recently been plowed through by some large animal, and I didn’t even need my tools to clear the way. My wings fluffed up in excitement as a faint glow of blue appeared behind the next line of trees. “We made it!”
Sunburst trotted up next to me and adjusted his spectacles. “Y-yes, it s-seems we have, and d-didn’t run into anything either.” Together we crested a small hill and paused at the top to look down at the wave of blue below us. “Wow, t-they are b-beautiful!”
“That they are,” I nodded, as I watched them bend to and fro in a light breeze. I reached into my saddlebag with one wing and pulled out a magically enhanced glass jar. “Shall we go gather our sample?”
“L-let’s do it!” Sunburst led the way down the hill, while I lifted off into the air to hover above the poison joke flowers.
“Just be careful not to step into the flowers,” I reminded him. “Stay near the edge and I’ll point out a good one to you.”
“O-Okay,” he nodded and paused as he reached the end of the hill, a few hoofsteps from the first flower. “Y-you be c-careful too! I m-mean, don’t they produce p-pollen?”
“Yes, a little,” I lifted a little higher above the flowers. “Think I am okay here. Now, let’s see…” I hummed as I flew over them, looking for the perfect one. “Ah, how about that one?” I pointed a hoof at a particularly tall poison joke flower, its petals a little darker blue than its companions.
“S-sure,” Sunburst nodded and wrapped his magic around it, cutting it off a few inches down its stem, and levitated it over to his side of the flowers. “G-great! Now just to-to-to-“ I watched as his ears fell and eyes grew wide, a hoof pointed to something behind me.
I slowly turned around, smelling it before I saw it, as my own eyes grew wide- a timberwolf! It let out a loud growl, eyes burning green, and swiped a wooden paw at me before I could move. The momentum tossed me against the hill behind Sunburst, and I moaned in pain as my wing smacked against the hard ground.
“A-are you okay?” Sunburst asked, a quiver in his voice as he raced over to me, the flower still wrapped in his magic. He jumped as the timberwolf let out a long howl, and we could hear other howls answering the first one.
I hastened to my hooves, ignoring the pain piercing through my wing, and nodded. “Yes, yes, just RUN!” I yelled.
He listened with little hesitation, the two of us dove around trees and over bushes, the stench of the timberwolves breath right at our necks. I couldn’t tell how many had joined the first, but knew we were in serious trouble if we didn’t lose them fast!
We galloped up a hill, diving to one side as we reached a boulder as tall as Princess Celestia. A sound of cracking wood echoed behind us, one of the timberwolves, too slow, had run into the boulder and crumbled. Yet we kept going until the ground suddenly disappeared below us. Sunburst and I both let out a scream as we fell, the hill having ended in a cliff, and let out cries of pain as we hit the dirt- thankfully only about halfway down the cliff- and rolled the rest of the way, coming to a stop in a thick bush.
I shook my head, which felt like it was filled with marbles and blinked up to see Sunburst had landed on top of me, the poison joke, which somehow had made the trip with us, wrapped around his goatee like some kind of ornament.
“Oh-OH!” he mumbled, a look of surprise on his face, cheeks flushed, and scrambled off of me. “Ow! I-I’m sorry!”
“Oh, um, ow! It’s okay!” I panted, sure my cheeks matched his in color by the heat coming off them. Or was it the injuries? I looked up at the cliff we had just tumbled from, to see one of the timberwolves looking down at us. It turned away and walked back down the hill. “Wow, that was close,” I sighed and rolled over onto my hooves. I took a glance over my body to see besides some minor cuts and bruises, I seemed fine. “You okay, Sunburst?”
“O-oh y-yeah I think so,” he mumbled, his eyes focused on the poison joke still wrapped around his goatee. “Not so g-good maybe actually,” he shivered a little and pulled the flower off. “I-I think I might have run t-through the flowers in our e-escape t-too.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay, we got this,” I reassured him and patted him gently on the back. “Let me just fly up to see where we are and we can find a way back.” I spread out my wings only to bite back a yelp as my right wing collapsed against my wide in pain.
“Fire! A-are you okay?” Sunburst ran over to me and helped me back to my hooves. “Yeah, I’ll be okay,” I groaned and slowly extended my right wing to examine it. “Hmm, nothing broken, thank Celestia! But, not going to be flying anytime soon.” I reached a hoof behind me, only to groan once more when I discovered my saddlebags missing. “There go our supplies.”
“Mine t-too,” Sunburst nodded. “W-what should we do? W-when will the poison joke start to play its j-j-joke on me? A-are we going to b-be okay?”
“Woah, calm down,” I said as I patted his back with one hoof. “Ir depends on how much you came in contact with it, and how strong each flower was. I’d say anywhere from a few hours to early tomorrow morning. As for the rest, I have no idea where in the forest we are, and with no supplies, it’s not smart to continue alone, especially with both of us somewhat injured. I think it best we find an empty cave, gather some firewood, and make ourselves comfortable. We’re going to likely be spending the night.”
“B-but I thought you said it was d-dangerous at n-night?” Sunburst pulled his cloak closer around him at the thought.
“Yeah, that is why we need the firewood. Most of the creatures will stay away from smoke and an open flame. Are you okay to walk?” I asked as I put a comforting hoof around him.
He nodded, picked up the poison joke flower once more, and followed close beside me. Our mad dash from the timberwolves must have taken us deeper into the forest, as the further we walked, the thicker the trees became, and soon Sunburst lit up his horn with a light glow just so we could see where we were going.
As we searched for a cave, we gathered branches in Sunburst’s cloak, hushed except for the sounds of our hoofsteps. “If we don’t find one soon, we might have to just find a defendable spot to rest,” I sighed, my injured wing hurting more with each step.
“Of course, we need to rest that poor wing of yours,” Sunburst practically crooned and rubbed a hoof along my neck.
“Wha?” I gasped and jumped at his touch. “Oh, yeah, that,” I nodded. Wait, what happened to his stutter? “How are you feeling, Sunburst?”
“A little sore, but not too bad,” he chuckled as he stood a little closer to me. “Why? Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no, probably nothing,” I chuckled as well and waved a hoof at him. “Oh, wait, shine your horn over there!” I pointed at a spot to our right. My ears perked up and I let out a relieved sigh as I spotted a cave entrance reflecting in the light. “Oh good, let’s get inside and hope no other creature has claimed it!”
“If they have, I’ll chase them away for you,” Sunburst beamed and practically pranced over to the cave, the light from his horn brighter as he searched around inside. I heard some chittering inside, followed by a “shoo!” from Sunburst before a family of raccoons scampered away. “You can have the cave back when we leave.” He waved a hoof my way, where I stood by the entrance. “Come on, Fire, the coast is clear,” he beamed.
“Right, right,” I stepped carefully over to him as he gathered the wood we had gathered together and with a snap of magic, lit them on fire, before laying his cloak out next to him. He patted the cloak next to him, to which I plopped down on gratefully. “Thanks, Sunburst.”
“Anything for the best Wonderbolt ever!” he beamed. “Your grey coat looks like liquid silver in the firelight.” He ran a hoof along my shoulder, then wrapped me in a hug.
“Um, Sunburst, I think the poison joke is already affecting you,” I grunted, and patted his mane.
“You think so?” he asked and let me go for a moment. “What, what did it do? Is my mane pink?” He looked up at said mane, and giggled when he found that it kept its original color. “Nope! Not pink! I still have my goatee too, so it didn’t make me a mare, oh!” he looked down between his legs for a moment then giggled again. “Yep! Still a stallion! I don’t seem to look any different. Or sound different, my voice is its usual tone and volume.”
I sighed and put a hoof to his lips. “No, but you have stopped stuttering,” I said and pulled my hoof away when he leaned in to grab it up in a hug. “More uh… outgoing too,” I whispered as I felt a blush crawl up my cheeks.
“Well of course! What’s more romantic than sitting by an open fire with your crush! Oh!” He gasped and covered his mouth with his forehooves. “Darn, I ruined the surprise!”
I felt my eyes grow wide and my ears go red at his words. Crush? “Wait, wait, wait, I thought you were just my biggest fan?”
“Surpriiiise?” he grinned and held his forehooves out. “I wanted to tell you earlier how handsome I think you are and rugged and brave and strong and-”
“Right, um I get the picture,” I mumbled, my blush deepening with every word. He wasn’t just teasing me now, was he? Was it just the poison joke, or…? “Is that why you agreed to come on this trip?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to get to know you on a more personal level,” he crooned and moved a little closer to me. “You do like me, right?” he asked as he gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes I had ever seen.
“Of course, of course!” I nodded quickly and patted his mane. “There might be one thing you don’t know about me still though. Never told it to any of my fans or the press.”
He let out a soft purr at the head pats, then opened his eyes wide and wiggled in excitement. “Oh, oh, tell me, tell me!”
I chuckled, then leaned forward. “Okay, I’ll tell you. You know how I’ve never been seen with any mares or even had a marefriend?”
“I did always wonder about that,” he said softly, before rubbing his head against my shoulder. “Is it because you don’t like mares, hmmm?”
“Once again, got it one, Sunny,” I gave him a little boop on the muzzle. “I’m into stallions.”
“That’s excellent news! As I’m into stallions too, obviously,” he said with a little wave of his hoof. “Oh! We should date! I mean wouldn’t we be the cutest couple?” He trilled and tackled me in a hug.
“First of all, ow,” I lifted my injured wing away from him, to which he blurted out an apology. “Second, you are a really sweet stallion, Sunburst, and I think that could be possible, but,” I held up a hoof before he could let out a cheer of delight. “I am also a gentlecolt. I couldn’t take advantage of you like this, in your current state.”
“You wouldn’t be taking advantage of me, I want to be with you, Fire!” he sniffed, hooves still wrapped around me.
“You might not think so now, but what about when cured of the poison joke?” I lifted his muzzle to look into my eyes. “How about we wait to see what happens, will that be okay?”
He sighed and nodded. “Okay. Can we at least still cuddle tonight? Please?” He gave me those puppy dog eyes again, and all I could do was chuckle in return.
“Sure, I’d be okay with that, come here.” I nestled a little closer to the fire and held my left wing out to him. He rolled over under it and snuggled close, resting his muzzle against my shoulder.
“Mmmm you are so soft and warm,” he said and wrapped a hoof around my barrel.
“Heh, thanks, Sunny.” I let out a yawn and wrapped my left-wing snugly around him. The crackle of the flames next to us lulled me into a half slumber. “See you in the morning,” I mumbled.
“Mmm yes, see you in the morning, my Firery love,” he murmured back.