//------------------------------// // A Broken Heart and a Fathers Love // Story: The Legend of a Shadowmare 2: Journey for Firefly // by JasontheDemon //------------------------------// Chapter 3: A Broken Heart and a Fathers Love The sun had risen and started to peek its way through the window of Fireflys room. The golden ray of light roused her from her peaceful slumber. Today was going to be the first day back to school since getting her new appendages. She was excited to say the least. When she rolled out of bed she noticed that her body was sore all over and it hurt to move her wings. ‘I guess I overdid it yesterday. Ow! There is no way I can fly to school with them feeling like this... oh well, I’ll still be able to show them off.’ She thought to herself as her dad made his entrance by bursting in the door like a young colt on Hearths Warming. Daemon was thrilled with the idea that he could fly with her today and drop her off. He had been waiting for this day for so long that he even borrowed Pinkies Party Cannon and shot it off, covering the filly in confetti and streamers. Firefly always saw her dad as not only her idol, but also as a friend because of his sometimes childlike behavior. He would play with her just like any other child her age would and tell her stories of his past adventures and the like. The two were inseparable and loved each other with all their heart. Right now Firefly was just confused about why her father was firing the celebration weapon in the house. “Are you ready for your first FLIGHT to school?!” Daemon shouted. Firefly flexed her wings slightly and cringed from the bolt of pain she received. Daemon's gleeful smile deflated into a disappointed frown as his ears flopped down. He knew her muscles were overworked from the previous day and she wouldn’t even be able to get airborne. There was nothing he could do and he accepted that fact with a sigh. “Okay, I get it. I will just have to wait till tomorrow then. You still need to go to school though.” He said, rubbing her mess of a mane. “I know! There is no way I would even think of missing school today! Man, when I show everypony what I have now, they will-” “Firefly...”, Daemon interrupted. “I know you will want to strut your new abilities, but please don’t. I would like it if you lay low for a while...” “Aww... okay, I’ll try.”, the filly said reluctantly, kicking the floor with her hoof. Later while she was setting off to school with her parents waving goodbye, Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel that something bad would happen today... something that was going to crush her daughter's heart. “Daemon, if she comes home crying today...” Fluttershy said, still waving while Firefly was nearly out of sight. “...I will handle it. Don’t worry.” Daemon replied, already knowing that her feelings about today were probably correct. Firefly was told to go behind the school today, which struck her as weird. However when she got there she found Cheerilee in the shadow of the building, apparently waiting for her. The day before, while the little Shadowmare was learning to fly with Rainbow Dash, Daemon had a talk with the dedicated teacher. He told her that Firefly went through a few changes and it would probably be better if Firefly was introduced to the class in a way to make them less prone to screaming in terror. When Cheerilee saw the filly, she was surprised but not scared. After a few moments, the instructor let out a small laugh. The way Firefly moved and behaved was no different from usual. She had her head low to the ground, making her look timid. A timid Shadowmare... for some reason Cheerilee found this concept adorable. The two ponies talked for a while to pass the time. They needed to wait until every colt and filly was inside before making the reveal since they certainly didn’t want a tardy student to faint upon seeing a demonic pony in the classroom. Cheerilee asked a few basic questions like ‘can you see any better with your new eyes’ or ‘have you learned any magic yet’. Firefly answered everything to the best of her knowledge and smiled from her teacher's interest in her. Cheerilee knew all of her students very well, but since Firefly's transformation, it felt like she could learn about this particular student a second time. When she was sure that everypony was in class, she guided Firefly to the door, stopping in front of it to hide the Shadowmare from the rest of the children. “Everypony... I have an announcement to make!” Cheerilee said, causing the class to go into an uproar from hearing that there was some important news. “As you know, our very own Firefly has always been a Shadowmare, even though she never had wings, horns, or reptilian eyes. I am telling you this because something wonderful has happened! She has decided to become a fully-fledged Shadowmare as of yesterday! Class... I would like to reintroduce... Firefly.” When Cheerilee finished her speech she moved from the doorway allowing Firefly to enter. The rambunctious class went dead silent when she walked inside. Suddenly the mustard yellow filly didn’t feel so good. All eyes were on her like in her fantasy, but they weren’t impressed... they were scared. Well, all but two. Gold Rush and Jade Charm, the biggest bullies of this generation, saw this as a great opportunity to destroy the shy filly’s self esteem. Firefly was always their biggest target because it was so easy to find a flaw and use it to rip her to shreds. They delighted in seeing the small Shadowmare cry. It made them feel powerful to wreak a honest-to-goodness legendary fairytale villain. The dastardly duo were told multiple times that the stories were not true and they should be nicer to Firefly, but they didn’t really DO nice. The thick tension in the room caused Firefly to feel unwanted and awkward. ‘I don’t think keeping myself from showing off is going to be a problem anymore...’ She sadly thought while making her way to her desk near the window. Firefly was caught in an unshakable daze during class. She had no idea that her change would be so distracting to her classmates. For hours she noticed the others glancing in her direction. She tried waving back once but it ended up scaring the filly and causing her to frantically get back to work with a fearful expression. Was this how things were going to be from now on? Were there no ponies that saw her the way she saw herself? Why didn’t they see that she was just a regular filly? These questions, and many more, buzzed in her head like a hive of angry hornets. At recess, Firefly was avoided like she had some deadly virus. She would move over to the swings and then everypony would instantly flee to the other side of the playground. She would attempt to play ball with them but they would then relinquish their game and go do something else, leaving the ball with Firefly... alone. What was wrong with her? * * * * * * While Firefly was having her troubles at school, Daemon was hanging around the house, helping Fluttershy tend to the animals. Over the years he got the hang of handling most of them, except ducks for some odd reason... ducks just hated Daemon and would attack him mercilessly. As he was feeding the chickens, he spotted Derpy delivering some mail. It had been a while since he had talked to her so he rushed over to chat. “Hey Derpy! How is everything?”, Daemon shouted to the cross-eyed mare. “Oh everything is great! The Doctor finally took me to the muffin planet! It was everything I dreamed and more...” Derpy said, sighing blissfully and salivating at whatever she was daydreaming about. “Uh-huh...? Well that’s... nice. I’ve been having a pretty good week too. Firefly finally went through ‘The Ritual’!” Derpy gasped and a tear formed in her eye. She walked over to Daemon and gave him an apologetic hug. Daemon wondered what had brought on this sorrowful display and asked, “Derpy? Is there something wrong? You're acting like I just told you somepony died...”. The grey mare let out a quick sob, but quickly caught it in her throat. ‘I didn’t think it was going to be this hard! Why now?! Why the hay did it have to happen now?!’ Derpy thought as she struggled to regain composure. “I’m sorry... I-I just remembered something sad and needed a hug. Oh... and you got this letter.” Derpy said sounding depressed. After Daemon took the letter, Derpy walked off with her head hung low, and at one point he thought he saw a teardrop hit the ground. He wanted to know what had her so upset, but instead he found his attention was drawn more to the letter than anything else... and with good reason. It was a letter from the Princess! Fluttershy made her way over to Daemon and asked about Derpy. Daemon had nothing he could say besides, ‘I don’t know’. The letter intrigued Daemon. Normally he would get a visit from Twilight who would bring the letter. Not once had he ever received one in the mail. Curious of what Celestia wanted from him this time, he tore open the envelope and read it. Dear Daemon, As you know, the anniversary of General Lux’s defeat is right around the corner. I know this is no surprise, but I grow concerned for Flara. She has been acting rather irritable as of late and is obsessing over her captive far more than usual. I fear that if this keeps up she will slowly lose herself in her hate of him. The General hasn’t been helping the situation either. He keeps picking at her mind and is breaking her mental stability down more each day. I suggest we turn the day of his capture into something brighter. If it’s not too much trouble, I would like you to hold a concert for the Lightmares every year on the same day he fell in battle. Please tell Flara that you wish for her to join you on this momentous day. It would certainly help if she were to take a day off to relax with you. Please don’t reply, I want Flara to be surprised. Sincerely, Princess Celestia A concert? On the day of his enemies defeat? That was only five days away! He didn’t want to do it, but it was not just for the thousands of free Lightmares, it was also for the good of the one he looked up to like a mother. She was there for him more times than he cared to count, and this was a chance to pay her back. * * * * * * School had just let out and Firefly was glad she could finally go home. She felt so alienated now. Nopony treated her the same. All she felt like doing was going home to lay in her bed and just stay there for the rest of her life. However her loneliness was going to be the least of her problems in a moment. Jade Charm flew over Firefly's head and landed in front of her, purposely blocking her path. Gold Rush waltzed his way up behind her. Firefly knew they were up to no good by the way they circled her, glaring maliciously. “Well... it looks like the freak just got freakier. Growing horns and wings overnight? That's just not natural...” Jade taunted. “Actually, it only took a few minutes and it’s perfectly natural for Sha-” Firefly began to explain but got cut off by Gold Rush. “Come on Jade, we shouldn’t be calling her a freak anymore...” the unicorn colt said, making Firefly feel a little better... until he finished his statement. “She’s not a freak, she’s a MONSTER!” Just like that her heart shattered. Monster? Was that how they saw her? “I... I’m not a monster. I...” Seeing the weakness in the filly's eyes, Gold decided to finish her. “Face it! Nopony can like a monster like you! You should just surrender yourself to Princess Celestia and meet your fate! Shadowmares are evil, so you are never going to be any good to anypony! Everypony will always hate you so you’d be better off giving up now!” These words devastated the young Shadowmare. Nopony liked her? She was an evil monster? All of what they said struck her like a bolt of lightning, crushing the fragile organ in her chest. Everything that she thought would come of her change blew up in her face. Her world seemed to fall apart around her as her throat tightened and vision began to blur from the warm liquid streaming from her eyes. Home... she wanted to go home. Her wings were still in pain from the stress of the day before but she didn’t care. Firefly took off, flapping her wings with an unstable motion that made her efforts to get truly airborn go in vain, but she did manage to go faster than running alone. As the tears flowed from her face, the two bullies grinned, feeling triumphant. * * * * * * Fluttershy was making a snack for Firefly. Her daughter sometimes would have a bad day of teasing from her bullies or get her feelings hurt in some other way and Fluttershy made sure that something was always waiting for her to cheer her up. Today was a special though... it was either going to be great and she would finally be looked up to by her fellow classmates, or it was going to be horrible and she would be heartbroken. *SLAM* Firefly ran inside bawling her head off and ran into a closet, shutting the door behind her. ‘Of course! Nopony wants to look at her as the same sweet filly she has always been!’, Fluttershy thought, furious at the idea that other ponies could be so heartless. She started to make her way to the closet but was stopped by Daemon. “No... I said I would handle it.”, he sighed. Sting was whimpering outside the door. The loyal manticore knew when Firefly was sad and it always bothered him. Daemon told him that it would be alright in a little while and to wait upstairs for her. Sting grudgingly complied. When Daemon opened the door, at first all he could see was a few boxes in the dark, but as his eyes adjusted he could make out a small quivering lump behind them. The struggled sobs were almost too much to bare. He sat beside Firefly and closed the door just enough to allow a crack of light to shine through. “Wh-what’s wro-wro-wrong with me?!”, the filly bleated in despair. “Well for one you shut yourself into the closet...” Daemon said, trying to make the situation a little lighter with a joke. “No! I m-mean why do they h-ha-HATE me?!” Firefly shouted, turning to her father with a tear soaked face. “Who said they hate you?” Daemon asked calmly, causing his daughter to cringe from the overwhelming lack of a reaction. “J-jade and G-g-gold Rush said that e-everypony h-hates me-e, and they do-o!” Firefly said, still hyperventilating a bit from her weeping sobs. Daemon sighed and reached out with his arms for a hug, “Come here...” Firefly sniffled, coughed and wiped her running nose before stepping into her fathers embrace. He held her tight and started to sing... “Come stop your crying It will be alright Just take my hand Hold it tight I will protect you From all around you I will be here Don't you cry For one so small, You seem so strong My arms will hold you, Keep you safe and warm This bond between us Can't be broken I will be here Don't you cry 'Cause you'll be in my heart Yes, you'll be in my heart From this day on Now and forever more You'll be in my heart No matter what they say You'll be here in my heart, always Why can't they understand the way we feel? They just don't trust what they can't explain I know we're different but deep inside us We're not that different at all And you'll be in my heart Yes, you'll be in my heart From this day on Now and forever more Don't listen to them 'Cause what do they know? We need each other To have, to hold. They'll see in time I know When destiny calls you You must be strong I may not be with you But you've got to hold on They'll see in time I know We'll show them together 'Cause you'll be in my heart Yes, you'll be in my heart I'll be there from this day on, Now and forever more” The song managed to do the trick this time. Firefly stopped crying, but still looked rather down in the dumps. He had one last thing to tell her to show her what it meant to be a Shadowmare in this day in age. “Listen sweetie, I know it’s hard, but not everypony will like you right away. We are Shadowmares and even though we’ve never done anything wrong, there are ponies out there that just don’t understand that. When you grow up you will meet a lot of ponies... some will want to be your friends, some will be afraid of you, and some will be so scared that they will try to hurt you. Just remember that when you are bigger, all those fillies and colts that were mean to you, will regret not wanting to be friends with such an amazing little Shadowmare.” Daemons speech caused Firefly to crack a small smile. He knew that he was getting her hopes up, but he also knew that all she needed was a little motivation to get back in gear. In time she would find somepony who would like her and then that friend would tell all of his or her friends and so on. She just needed to stay strong until that day. He wouldn’t always be able to be there for her... which reminded him that he was going to leave for the concert in a few days. ‘Eh, I’ll tell her later’, he thought as he pushed open the door.