She wanted nothing more than to be back to normal. If she could even remember what that was. Firo sat on the windowsill with her legs dangling over the edge, and her back pressed against the cold porcelain frame. The tower that she live was one-hundred feet in the air with vines crawling up the side like annoying snakes. She watched as three young filly's chased each other at the edge of the forest. The Everfree Forest was defiantly not free. She knew that more than why she was here.
It pained her to be so alone in this strange form. She did not understand it, but she oddly loved it. The beauty of this hidden creature that she was made no sense. The appendages on her arms, and legs. The new structure of her legs, that had taken a few days to learn how to walk on. She had not an idea to call the creature she was made, and even the Princess did not know. Firo made her way back into the single room of the tower.
Everything look perfect from where she stood, a four-postured set at the right side of the window with an elongated mirror next to it. The other side was plain with a stone wall, and a simple mahogany dresser that stood near by. The finishing touch being the hearth sitting in the back of the room, a crackling fire glowing within.
She ran her hand through her silk soft hair, a habit she found natural, and paced her room once again. Stopping at the mirror, she expected herself for the billionth time since her banishment. Although she has been this way for five years, she was still amazed by the anatomy. Long red hair, soft curves, pink lips, a curved nose with strong, imposing cheek bones, and the lightest color of tan skin that glowed in the blacken tower. Firo was dressed with a dirty wrap tightly bonded to her breasts, and a muddied pair of shorts which lay tight against her thighs.
She used a string, unraveled from her blanket, and tied her long hair back. After a long sigh, Blaze stared back at her cherubic face. It seemed so natural to her, this beauty hidden from the world, if only she could be free. That's what she really wanted, to be able to touch the grass without scorching it's fairness. If she closed her eyes, it was like she was really there. Stupid, she thought. Such a witless thought to have.
Firo opened her eyes to see someone else standing before her in the mirror. A beautiful pegasus with hair orange as a pumpkin, and as soft looking as a filly's blanket. Her coat was a sparkling crystal yellow, gleaming like the night sky. She stomped a hoof on the ground before dissipating into the air leaving nothing behind, but a star shaped cutie-mark that steamed with the red fire that surrounded it. Blaze looked at her own hip, which she assumed to be, and the chanting began again.
Blaze is a blank flank.
Blaze is a blank flank.
Rubbing her temples she paced the room again. How could she do that, cage her up like a bird. Firo is no bird, but she was not a pony either. Not anymore. How she had sobbed for days from the loneliness and guilt that follow her banishment. Now, she had no tears to shed. She learned quickly that crying was not going to help her. Nothing would help.
The sound of a metal grinding against metal ringed in her ears. She stared at the metal door next to the mahogany dresser, as it slowly made its way open. In front of her eyes was the most radiant pony that every lived. Her mane flowed around her in beautiful hues, and her coat was a shining white. She flapped her wings and bowed in attempt for peace.
"I have come, Blaze, to see if you have learned your lesson. The stars show me that your heart is not any longer covered in ice, but I must make sure that is true." Celestia steps forward, her lilac eyes filled with care and honesty. Her eyes are at the same level as Firo's now, but she lowers her head, and pointed her horn just below Firo's wrappings, close to her heart. Celestia presses into her ribs, when suddenly a glowing of gold starts to shine from where the Princess touched her skin.
Firo's heart started to pick up speed, erratically beating in such a way that terrified her. She was both terrified and confused, so she pulled away from Celestia, which made them both cry out from pain. It felt like her entire chest had been ripped out. She stood there, watching the Princess pant on the floor unable to move. Blaze's pain was dulling, and adrenaline started to wiggle its way into her. She moves in a daze, but hurriedly makes her way down the spiraling staircase, magically without a slip. After a while her legs begin to burn at every step she takes.
She saw light coming from the bottom of the staircase. It only took her seconds to make her way outside, where a world she no longer knew was calling for her freedom. She spotted four Pegasusi standing five yards ahead of her. Firo creeped along the side of the tower, her hand scraping against the cold stone. When she was on the other side of the tower, she ran into the woods, and didn't stop. As she took her first step into the Everfree Forest she felt her lungs closing in around her. She gasped, and slowly waded deeper into the forest.
It was quiet, the kind of quiet that makes you hear things on your own. It terrified Firo. A scrape against a tree, the ruffling of a bush, an echo of a sob; when was it going to stop? She spun around at the sound of a leaf crunching. Blaze looked down only to realize that it was her making these sounds. She was making the echoing sobs, the scraping of the tree, a leaf crunching, and the bushes ruffles. That thought helped her, but she knew she wasn't alone. It was an instinct she developed from years of being alone, she could always tell if someone else was near her.
Only one pony could sneak up on her. His black mane and white coat was such a contrast it always made Firo laugh. They were Pony Friends Forever, but neither of them expected forever to end so quickly.
It was cold outside, winter was on its way. All of Canterlot was preparing for it. Some of the ponies would get together in groups to sing at parties, or some would knock on somepony's door and sing to them. Firo still remembered the stallions wearing their striped scarves and winter boots, making their way to work, or wherever it was they went. She didn't know. She was always too young to know anything. Blaze was looking out of the window again, wishing she could play in the snow with the other children. Her mother came out of the kitchen, and laid on the couch next to Firo.
"What's wrong dear?" She stroked Firo's mane with her hoof. "Why do you look so glum? Tell mommy all about it."
Blaze leaps into her mothers arms. She fidgeted until she was in the most comfortable position; her head in between her mothers front legs, her muzzle buried in her mothers neck, and the final touch, her mother stroking her blood colored mane. "The other filly's made fun of me again. They say that I can't play with them because of my blank flank. I ask them nicely to leave me alone, but they won't stop. Then, they started chanting at me." She wipes her muzzle with her small hoof, "I just want them to stop, mommy. Can you please make them stop?"
Her mother kisses Blaze once on her horn, then on her ear. "My darling, Firo Blaze. You need to be stronger. You mustn't let them push you around. Do not ask them, make them. I am ashamed, daughter. Why can you not be more like your brother and stick up for yourself? We will not always be here to protect you." Her mother stands up and trots off up the stairs. She turns around and says, "if you do not learn now, I will have to use you as the doormat for the front door."
She suppressed the sudden memory. Her mother was her favorite idol, but now Firo realized that she was just as cruel as she was right. She let everypony walk all over her, if only she was more assertive. Maybe then she wouldn't have been banished for something she could never control.
Firo spots something at the edge of the forest. It was a wooden house, fit for one pony at most. She quickened her pace towards the building.
"Blasted Celestia," the words flew out of her mouth as she tripped over a slimy vine. But vines are not slimy, are they? She thinks. Firo looks down to see a green snake climbing up her leg with his beady eyes lock on hers. The scream died right where it began, and the only thing she could do was the only thing she knew how to do. Blaze kicked off the mildew smelling snake and ran for her life. She never ran so fast before in her life, she was out of breath, but she never felt so good.
It was something only few ponies kever really feel; something she's only read about in books. Freedom. The word flowed through her mind, and tranquilized her with peace. She was shocked to discover that she was out of the forest now, and only a few feet away from the cottage. Thinking about the startled reactions from the ponies that may be inside frightened her, but it was worth a shot. After taking a deep breath she knocked on the door, started when she found it was open. She pushed open the door saying, almost to a whisper, "is anypony home?"