//------------------------------// // The Unimportant Visit // Story: A blaze rekindled // by RedBlack //------------------------------// *Calming Blaze POV* I take a stretch as I arrive in Ponyville with a train. Currently, I've taken on a disguise of a pony that doesn't exist to make sure I can get what I came here for. I saw that the tree library was burnt to a crisp, but a few items should still be there. If lucky, at least a normal picture of mother. For now though, I came here for the Timberwolf heart. Chrysalis sent a letter, said she successfully took control of the hive. I'll request shards of the black stone later, then I'll finally make mithril. With those, I can ask the old craftspony to make my weapon. He'll accept since I'm practically royalty right now right? Hopefully. He was said to be pretty stubborn about making gear for violence. Last time, he, along with 8 different craftsponies from even outside Equestria, supplied the entire revolutionary army with equipment. As I walk inside Ponyville, it reminded me of my first week back. The peaceful town full of weird and unique folk. A truly thriving community built on friendships and trust. A serene smile finds its way on my face as I walk towards the leftover remains of the burnt library. Or, where it was supposed to be. I slightly scratch my head as I look at the dug up ground of where the library used to be. They filled the ground back, but the traces of digging it up remained. I ponder a bit as I looked at a few hoofprints. A trace that tells of strong hooves. A timid trail of weak steps. A trail of four hooves at a time. Finally, a trail of calm and practiced steps. "And Rainbow would be flying" I flatly say as I start heading towards Twilight's castle. Whilst walking, I look up to the sky as the pinkish orange take over the sky, proudly displaying the beauty of nature. With a deep breath, I let out a satisfied sigh as I walk. "Twilight, Spike, how are you two doing?" I ask, a bit surprised at finding the two one the way. Spike was holding a stack of pillows for some reason. "Uh, hello?" Twilight confusedly greets me. I get a slight smirk as I observe the two looking at each other with a puzzled look. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Twilight asked with a nervous smile. I give a chuckle as I raise my white hoof. I put it slightly above my face as I drag it down halfway, revealing the top half of my face, lined with fire. Taking my hoof away, I stare at their shocked reactions. "Blaze! It's good to see you, you should've written a letter so we could pick you up when you came" Twilight cheerfully said. "It's fine, I just came for a slight visit, I'll probably head back to Canterlot tomorrow" I say as we start heading to the castle. "Really? You never really do that though, in fact, I don't think I've seen you just, go somewhere, without a big purpose or because somepony told you to" Spike added with a raised eyebrow. Did I always act like that? "Huh, never knew that about myself" I mutter as we enter the castle. "Well, it's usually hard to notice small habits like that" Twilight said. "Yeah, I guess so" I calmly reply as we keep walking. "So, did you have a purpose for the visit?" Spike asked. "Oh right, I came here, mainly because I wanted to get the Timberwolf heart, and I thought I should visit since it's been a while" "Well I'm grateful that you did, the castle would feel a bit more homely with you around" Twilight said. "Oh, I can't sympathize, but I understand your point, big castle with empty hallways, it's bound to start feeling like it's not your home" "Yeah, and with you around, it's kinda like old times, right when I first came to Ponyville" she finished with a slightly somber tone. I give a small smile at her. "Yeah, I guess I've been away for quite some time by now huh?" She chuckles at my response. "Come on, let's get to the map room" Spike suddenly piped up as he sat on Twilight's back. She gave a slight frown before I asked her a question. "Uh, you mean the room with six thrones?" "Yeah, when me and the girls sat on our designated seats, a table grew from the ground and it started projecting a map of the entirety of Equestria" she said with a slightly excited tone. "The ENTIRETY of Equestria you say?" I ask as I start feeling a bit nervous. "Yeah, that's what I said" I gulp dry air as the next words leave my mouth. "Does it happen to be made out of crystals?" I ask, hoping for a different answer despite knowing. "Yeah, how'd you guess?" Spike asked. Twilight just pointed at the entirety of the castle as Spike gave a sheepish chuckle. I, on the other hoof, got even more nervous. If this is the map that I used before coming here, then it means something truly unexpected is going to happen soon. "Hey, why do you still have the disguise by the way?" Spike asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Hmm, oh, I guess I just forgot" I reply as I drop my disguise. Flames cover me from top to bottom, almost like how a changeling uses their magic, except the flame is orange and is stuck to the body. "Wow" the two stare with slight awe at my ability. "Why does yours look like that?" Twilight asked, ready to learn about something new regarding magic. "Well, I guess you can say I've fully stepped into alicornhood" I calmly comment as we approach the 'map room'. "Is that why your cutie mark changed?" Spike asked, grabbing Twilight's full attention instantly. "WHAT?!" she yelled out as she checked it herself, unable to believe it. I give out a nervous chuckle, knowing I'll have to spend an hour or so answering questions. "You can give me an interrogation later, for now, let's get inside" "No!" she suddenly pouted. It was oddly adorable. "Why?" I ask with a raised eyebrow and an easy smile. "Because I never get the chance, you STILL haven't told me how that mimicking of yours works!" she complained. Ah. I guess I never actually got the chance to do it. "Okay okay, how about this, I'm most likely gonna spend the night here, so how about I answer all of your questions tomorrow morning? I promise I won't run" I say, protecting myself with my hooves in front of me. She stared right at my eyes for a few seconds with a frown as I got slightly nervous. Even if she never exercises, she's still an alicorn, so her attacks would be pretty powerful, especially her magic. In the end, she sighed. "Fine, but I'm going to make sure you don't run" she said as she put a tracer spell on me. My face blanked as I watched her cutie mark blinking right on top of my chest. "First of all, I'm pretty sure this spell was made illegal at some point" I calmly point out as she stared at me with a determined look. "Secondly, did you just mark me as yours?" I ask with a smirk as her eyes widened to an almost unreal degree, fully realizing the implications of what she just did. Spike was laughing his ass off, holding onto his stomach area, though I could tell, what he was thinking about was much more innocent than what me and Twilight were thinking about. No matter how innocent she may be, she's still an adult mare after all. With a face as red as a tomato, she silently removed her spell and just put an alarm spell on me. "As nice as you are, I'm still underaged, so it wouldn't be appropriate" I tease a bit as she tried to silence me with her hooves. I just stood to my full height whilst trying to hold back my laughter, rising higher than her hooves could reach as she kept jumping to shut my mouth, seemingly forgetting her wings. "And I never knew you were so ki-" I get cut off whilst I was laughing as my mouth suddenly gets clamped up by magic. Before I could even react, I'm already forcefully lowered to Twilight's height as she grabs both sides of my head. "SHUT UP!" she yells, accidentally unlocking her Royal Canterlot Voice. I nod rapidly as she finally releases me. Ow. I guess, even if magic respects me the most, she has full control as the element of magic. My ears were slightly ringing. She was about to open the next door to our destination as I took a second to ponder about the worth of my next words. "Seriously, are you that mad about being single?" I ask with a teasing voice and a held back laughter as she turns to me. Ah. I almost immediately realize this as my mistake as I stare at her. Her face was blank, but her eyes were glowing with intense anger. I should run. After a chase scene that lasted about twenty minutes as Spike was lost somewhere in the middle, prompting him to just go to the map room by himself, me and Twilight enter as a burst of fire is alight on my head, easing the pain by a slight bit. She reads books all day, even if she's an alicorn, how could that hurt so much. Still worth it though. "We're home" Twilight cheerfully said as we opened another door, revealing the rest of the girls. "Welcome home!" they gathered with that shout. "I'm also here" I add as I step out from behind the door. "Blaze!" They shout in unison. I swear, they act like a class of foals sometimes. "Uh, you alright hun?" Applejack said as I slightly wince at the word. "I'm alright now" I enthusiastically answer as the fire on my head disappears. "If you say so" she said after sharing a glance with the others except Twilight and Spike. With a nod, we move deeper into the castle. Seriously, this place is huge. I swear it wasn't big enough for this long hallway from the outside. About 5 minutes into the trip, I had to start answering questions about my stay in Canterlot, my new fire ability and my cutie mark. "So, uh, we heard a shout about half an hour ago, what was that about?" Rarity asked after a slight silence. "Yeah, it was all quite, and then suddenly, we all heard Twilight shouting 'shut up' in that really loud voice that Princess Luna did during Nightmare Night and how Princess Celestia talks during important celebrations and stuff" Pinkie said in a pretty calm tone for her. "Well it-" I was about to try to tease her again but my mouth got clamped shut by her magic. The others just looked as they tried to figure out why. I tried to open my mouth with magic, didn't work. Tried it with physical force, it somehow felt stronger than diamond. "It's nothing to worry about" Twilight calmly explained to her friends. "You know, putting a muzzle on me just reinforces my previous point right?" I write in the air using fire magic and tap her on the shoulder. With that, I take off as she takes a few seconds to read and process it. I heard an 'oh my' from Rarity and a few snickers before I heard Twilight yell my name in anger. Anyways, I woke up the next day in one of the guest rooms with a sore eye.