Blaze

by Blazing_Mane01

Chapter 25.) All You Had To Do Was Ask

"Did you just say 'son?'"

I quickly answered for the Elder, "No, Twilight. I'm sure it was just a form of endearment." I was planning to finish my sentence with a cheery attitude, but the information I suddenly wanted to share quickly brought me down. "I've never met my father..."

For a moment, both ponies had their mouths shut in thought, but I could tell that they both felt sorry for me. Especially the Elder. "...Well, uhh," he said slowly, "I didn't mean anything by it..."

"Oh, no. You're fine. Don't worry about it. I got over it way back then."

Even though I did my best to lighten the mood, the Elder still looked a little dumped on. In fact, he looked more so than he did before I said anything. Back in my fabricated past, seeing the Elder in a bad mood also got me in a bad mood. Not sure why; maybe his attitude is contagious.

"Halt!"

All three of us gasp in unison and look into the distance where the deepish voice came from. But not one of us moved from our spots. We knew running from the Royal Guard would be pointless, anyway.
Behind the three guards came the radiant princess of the sun, Celestia. I did my best to keep my poker face, but my ears just wouldn't perk themselves up. Eventually, my vacant smile followed their lead.
The first pony Celestia stopped to look at was her academic perfectionist of a student, Twilight Sparkle. I'm sure, at that moment, she wanted to explain to the princess what was happening, but Celestia's facial expression prevented her from doing so.
Then she set her sights to the Elder. It was then and there that I realized the Elder had no poker face on at all. He wasn't even trying to resist the evil stare he was exchanging with Celestia. And the princess fared no better.
And finally, her eyes glared unto mine. I couldn't help but lower my head as she looked at me. Her expression was just too scary to make eye contact for too long. As I listened to her steps get closer and closer, I feared for what she may do.

"Blaze."

I couldn't help but raise my head slowly. "Y-yes?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

before I could answer, Twilight bounded up. "Princess Celestia!" She used her magic to fish Ivory's diary out of the saddlepack she wore. "THIS is what's why."

Out of the corner of her eye, Celestia grabbed it with her own magic, as the magenta aura around the book faded into a bright gold. Slowly, she brought the book in front of her and opened it. I dared watch as Celestia flipped page after page of the diary.

"This book is what drove you two to free this monster!?"

I inhaled quickly. I needed to, because there was some kind of snap in my mind and it couldn't process it fast enough. Instantly, I stood up on all fours. "Did you even read through it, Celestia!? It contains critical information that claims Faded Ivory was behind all this! Source seems legit enough to me; after all, it IS her diary. Who would lie in their diary?"

Celestia didn't seem to take very kindly to my attitude. "You think this flimsy pile of paper is enough evidence to support such a horrendous scheme!? Have you ever thought that this diary may be... oh, I don't know... Counterfeit? FAKE!?"

"Well, whoever put the diary together did one hell of a job depicting what Ivory looked like when she was younger, then."

The princess only returned a frown. A rather large frown. It took her a couple seconds to reply, "It doesn't take close observation to note what Ivory looked like in the past. All it would take is merely a little tinkering with the mind. A mental picture. And they only had to imagine the picture there for it TO be. Such spells today are rather complex, and only those with high-level magic known only to the best of unicorns can conjure it correctly..."

Upon hearing the word 'magic,' Twilight's eyes shrunk, and she audibly gasped as if she was scared. I didn't pay much attention to it, until I understood what Celestia meant. But I still didn't play along. "You honestly think Twilight would do such a thing!?"

"Who said a thing about Twilight?" Celestia asked. "I was gonna say this evil stallion here, but now that you mention it, Twilight has been trying to keep a close eye on you, hasn't she? And she IS pretty skilled with magic, so..."

"No, princess! I would never do that, or anything like that!" Twilight had her hooves pressed together in front of her, begging before the princess.

Celestia looked to her out of the corner of her eye. "...Would you?"

Upon hearing those words, Twilight slowly looked down from the princess, and tears began to form in her eyes. As painful as it was to watch, I tried to comfort her. "...Twilight...?"

She sniffled, and gradually made eye contact with me. Her eyes were already red from the tears. "Yes, Blaze?"

To think she was the guilty party was too much for me. So it took me a while to smile and say, "Twilight... You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide. Please."

At that, she turned away again. "I'm so sorry, Blaze!"

I gasped. I'll honestly say, I did not expect to hear those words come from Twilight's mouth. At least not right now. Noticing my fear, Celestia continued, "Are you okay, Blaze?"

I ducked my head as well, and closed my eyes as tight as I could; whether out of pain or of anger, I wasn't sure. Whatever it was, I answered, "Whose side are you on, princess?"

"Hmm," she grunted as she walked around to my left. "Rather, whose side are you on? You trying to be a nice pony? Or are you following in your evil parents' shadows?"

I gasped once again. "Wait... Luna --"

"That's right, Blaze," She said as she continued to walk around me. "Princss Luna. Whatever happened to her? Wherever did she go? Why wasn't she with me when you first arrived here in Canterlot? Well, that's because... Well, let's just put it nicely. She was a bad girl, and she needed to be punished."

All the sudden realization has left me speechless. I could barely ventilate at the steady pace I was. Celestia, taking my silence for a reply, kept on, "Guards. Send these two to the undergrund caves. Now."

Instantly, two of the Royal Guard rushed behind me and each grabbed one of my forehooves. Two others gathered behind the Elder and repeated the process. "Yes, your Majesty."

But Celestia didn't seem satisfied. "Not him, sirs. It's her that I was referring to." She nudged her head to where Twilight lay motionless on the ground, shocked out of all response. "Simply putting the 'Elder' in the crystal dungeon would be too... 'nice' of me. No, he needs special treatment."

Once more for the fourth time, I gasped in shock. "No! Elder!" I managed to break free from the Royal Guard's grasp and dashed over to him.

"Be strong, Blaze," he said, and nudged me away. "I'm sure we'll meet again." That was all he had to say.

While I processed the meaning of his words, the Guards came back up to pin me down. By this time, the other two Guards had already got hold of Twilight, too, and I was dragged over to her side. I took this short moment to observe that her eyes were still red with tears. The way she looked back at me suggested that she never wanted me to get in trouble, either. I would've made more observations, but one of the forehooves of the Guards found its way into my face.