The cloudy winter afternoon gives off a somber energy to the town, no foals are out playing for fear of being caught in a storm. Sitting in the living room the images of that night haunt me with every chance they get, if I didn’t have my friends there I would have died that night. The voices of that night echo in my mind as clear as they were spoken, sending chills down my spine as they echo across my memories. The room falls cold, the flickering of the fire’s light fades as the flames disappear. Putting logs on the smoldering ashes the fire refuses to relight, standing back from the fireplace bracing myself to use my fire breath. Trying as hard as I can to produce the fire I feel nothing as I would before, the heat in my throat is vacant from my attempts.
“What in Equestria are you doing?”
In my labored attempts to breath fire I didn’t notice Twilight had come into the house. Defeated by my inability to use my fire breath I sullenly return to my chair. It’s already been two weeks since then and I feel like my health hasn’t improved at all even though Hearth’s Warming Eve’s magic isn’t as powerful anymore.
“No matter how hard I try, I can’t produce a flame since that night...”
Surely he has something to do with this, is this what he meant by it wouldn’t change my fate? His thunderous voice booms in my mind mocking me as I laid there dying. Why am I being targeted by him, what is so wrong with me being in this world that he has to eradicate me?
“You were near death, it might take you a while to get back on your feet. Don’t worry so much about your flames and just focus on what you can do.”
What am I supposed to do, my flame made me special, giving the ability to protect everypony. I’m the Dragon Knight of Equestria but I can’t fight anything that may threaten Equestria without my flame breath. I know she’s trying to cheer me up, but what if another crystal dragon finds its way here when I’m unable to fend it off.
“I do have some good news though, if you want to hear.”
“Sure, the day can’t possibly get worse.”
Sitting down next to the fireplace, a loud roar whooshes past me knocking me over. The air is hot, making it very hard breath. Looking around, the fire place is sparking with the light of a new flame. Did she really just toss a magic fireball pass my head?
“What are you thinking Twilight?!”
Wobbling as I sit back up, surprised at own reaction to fire. Even back before Hearth’s Warming Eve fire never gave me this reaction, what is happening to me? The holiday has passed but I’m still weak as a foal and now the heat of a flame affects me.
“Since when do you fear fire? What the hay happened to you?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it, can we drop it?”
The sound of her hooves clopping against the stone floor as she walks closer to me. I can’t bring myself to look her in the eyes without forcing myself to talk about it. She softly nuzzles the left side of my face.
“Well about that good news how about I keep it a surprise and you just follow me?”
She leaves no room to decline, lifting me up on my hooves with her magic.
“I’ll give you a hint, it involves giving you back which you’ve lost. It will take some time to get there though.”
Those words catch my immediate attention, does she really know how to bring my flames back? Rushing to get my winter clothing, thoughts flood my head of what kind of trials I’ll have to endure to get my flames back and the eerie feeling of being watched follows me no matter where I go. Taking my saddlebags into the kitchen I quickly fill them with food, as I don’t know how long this will take or what kind of weather we face.
“I have everything I need, can you leave a note on the table in case somepony comes to visit me while we’re gone?”
Her magic sends the pen flying across the parchment on the table. As the pen rests on the table we hurry out the door into the cold air as the sun sets across the western sky. Twilight trots ahead as I close the door behind us, making sure that I have everything we trot toward the western exit of Ponyville. The feeling of being watched follows me still, it’s almost as if they are very close yet still miles away at the same time.
“We have a long trip ahead of us, are you sure you have everything you need?”
She stands in the middle of the road, hooves planted with a stern stance about her. I’ve seen her serious side before, but this seems different.
“I have food for about a week, will that be enough or should we get more?”
Refusing to answer the question she regains her pace as we follow the road south that runs alongside the Equestria Rail tracks. The cold air saps my strength as we trot down the road, and the air only gets colder as the sun disappears behind the horizon. My pace deadens as I’m unable to catch my breath in the cold night air. The sound of Twilight’s hooves stops ahead of me, she must have heard me stop.
“Twi... light... can we stop... I don’t...”
My vision blurs, making me nauseous just having my eyes open.
“Blaze, come rest here in this clearing, I’ll use my magic to guide you.”
The feeling of her magic enveloping me helps ease the nausea as I move towards the sound of her voice.
“Almost... just a little farther... there, rest while I build a fire.”
The sound of logs clinking together as she hurriedly builds a fire to help ease my symptoms. The sound and light of a flame quickly surround us in the clearing, the heat is almost unbearable to me, does this mean the chaos magic inside me is almost drained again? Something doesn’t seem quite right about all this, but without my focus it’s hard to pinpoint anything. Closing my eyes to prevent some nausea the feeling of a warm body up brushes up against me.
“Everything will be better once we reach our destination, until then I’ll help keep you warm.”
Twilight must have laid down next to me while my focus was fading in and out. A soft cloth drapes over us both, probably that of a quilt as we lay next to the fire drifting off to sleep. The dream world eludes me as a still blackness invades my mind, the feeling of being watched follows me even here and makes it hard to rest. The sound of a voice unfamiliar to me echoes across the black stillness.
“Once he arrives, we’ll have everything we need. Now, begone!”
The dark world shakes with the power in these words, the voice seems to come from every direction but isn’t aimed at me. As the echo fades the light of the fire wakes me, was that voice in my head? Twilight is awake getting more wood for the fire. My vision isn’t as blurred making it easier to keep my eyes open.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
She seems a bit surprised I’m awake right now, with my senses returning to me I can almost feel eyes stabbing me like daggers from afar. Still groggy from my sleep I look around attempting to find the source of my paranoia.
“Was someone here just now?”
My question seems to catch her off-guard, stopping her in her tracks.
“Nopony else was here, are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”
Maybe she’s right, but a strange feeling engulfs me that I just can’t shake. Twilight throws a few logs on the fire, giving it enough fuel for the rest of the night. She lifts the blanket with her magic, laying down against me at my side. A twinge of hunger hits me as she nuzzles my side, searching my left bag for a large apple. The sound of her magic being used hits my ears as a large apple is pulled out of my bag. This whole trip is because of her wanting to help me, am I that special to her that she’d go this far out of her way to help? Turning to face this wonderful mare, I have to thank her properly.
“Thanks Twilight, you’ve done so much to help me I don’t know...”
My words are stopped as she gazes into my eyes, my heart thumps hard being given away by our closeness. Her heartbeat is felt by me causing mine to intensify. Does this mean my heart has chosen her, how do i even know? My thoughts are interrupted as she lunges towards me and embraces my lips with hers. A rush of emotions rush within me, but a feeling of dizziness comes over me as a sharp pain attacks my head. She nuzzles my face, looking happily at me.
“That was sudden.”
I’m almost too shocked to speak.
“You say that like you didn’t enjoy it.”
“I’m not saying I didn’t, it’s just...”
Dizziness overtakes me and causes my head to wobble.
“Hurry and eat your apple Blaze, we have a long trip tomorrow and you’ll need every ounce of strength left.”
She holds the apple up with her magic as I take bites from it, the food helps calm me some. She plants another kiss onto my right cheek, this time it causes less of a reaction but still makes my heart race.
“You’re so cute when you’re shy like this.”
Is she mocking me or giving me a compliment? With the apple finished I lay my head down and close my eyes wondering what my dreams will hold for me again this night.
“Beware Bewaaaaaare!”
The strange voice startles me, waking me into another black space.
“You will feel great sadness this day!”
The voice echoes across the emptiness, with an air of importance. The voice fades away without any explanation. The dead air give way to sounds of Twilight’s voice.
“Blaze. Blaaaze, wake up.”
The feeling of her muzzle nudging my cheek pulls me back to reality, slowly opening my eyes I feel somewhat better than the day before.
“Good morning sleepyhead.”
She leans in and steals another kiss from me, making my adrenaline rush through me. A headache begins to form, causing me to cringe a bit.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing Twilight, I’m just... not used to that yet, but the headache sure doesn’t help.”
With her horn glowing pointing right at me, my headache seems to fade. The glow on her horn seems a little different today though, is she using a new spell on me or something? When the glow fades a smell hits my nose causing my hunger to skyrocket.
“That smells delicious!”
The sound of metal clanging together fills the clearing as a spoon controlled by magic stirs a pot over the fire.
“It’s vegetable soup, hopefully it’ll give you energy. We’ll need every bit we can get when we set out today.”
She pours some of the soup from the pot into a wooden bowl and sets it down in front of me. The smell is intoxicating, causing my stomach to burst into song about the meal.
“Thank you Twilight, for everything.”
I can feel emotions rushing over me, this mare cares so much for me. Thoughts of if we can live a life like this after we do whatever it is we came on this journey for; of being together with Twilight.
“If you don’t eat it soon it’ll be too cold.”
The cold air seeps in as those words reach me causing me to shiver. Quickly slurping some soup, the flavor is beyond words but delicious will have to suffice. I have never had such great tasting soup in all my days, human or not.
“Geez Blaze, slow down or you’ll get indigestion.”
I can’t help myself, the soup tastes so good. I never knew she could cook so well, I could get used to this. Finishing off my portion of the soup, an energy I haven’t had for days comes over me. Why now of all times do I have energy? Is she healing me in my sleep, or is there something about being away from Ponyville that is letting me recharge?
“It’s time to set out, we should hurry to make up for lost time.”
Twilight gathers everything up with great haste using her magic, even putting the fire out letting the cold seep in making me shiver. Putting my coat on, images of last night invade my mind. A happiness I have never felt before fills me, making my heart pound as I remember more vividly stopping my progress.
“Blaze! Come on, you can’t sit there and just daydream.”
Her voice snaps me out of my daydream focusing me on the task at hand, our journey to somewhere unknown to me. For the first time in a long time I’m looking forward to this trip, no matter what it brings I feel in my heart this is worth any effort expended, but strangely that headache keeps pounding the more I think about what happened last night. The pain is bearable, but it’s slowly getting worse the more I think about it. The cold must be getting to me. With everything packed away, Twilight peaks out of the clearing motioning for me to follow, the journey continues.
We set out before noon, now it’s almost sunset and my hooves are sore; what I wouldn’t give to be able to fly right now. Stopping for a small snack out of my bags Twilight perches herself on a rock facing towards what is called the ‘Badlands’ on maps.
“We’re almost there, once we get into the Badlands we'll be able to rest in abandoned ruins.”
“What is it we’re looking...”
A large purple ball flies past us both stunning me at it’s size, the sound of flapping wings and galloping hooves behind us take me by surprise. Twilight looks behind me with a large smirk on her face, the air suddenly changes feeling dark and heavy.
“You’ve gone far enough, give back our friend!”
Why is Twilight’s voice coming from behind me when she’s standing in front of me? Is this some sort of prank?
“Thou hast fooled us this day, but thou trickery is done this night, Chrysalis!”