"Oof!"
I woke up to the sudden thud from being thrown on the ground. I was somewhat dazed from the impact, so I couldn't think straight away. But, I remembered everything once I heard another thud, somewhat close to me, followed by a painful yelp from somepony I know relatively well.
Then I remembered everything that just happened. Celestia had us thrown into the Crystal Caves for supposedly making up a false alibi so that we could free the Elder. Apparently, the Royal Guard had knocked me out so that I wouldn't see where we were headed, and so that I may never find my way out.
The 'false alibi' that I supposedly presented to save the Elder... was a diary. A diary that belonged to my foalhood friend, Faded Ivory. For the longest time, I thought it to be real. But, it seemed Twilight actually made up the whole thing so that we could sneak into the ruins of Canterlot and free him from his stone prison.
The Elder. There's a long story behind him. A few weeks ago, I ran away from the village I grew up to believe to be my home, because a large monster Ursa-looking thing destroyed everything. I eventually made my way to Ponyville, and the Elder -- Well, actually, the Ursa WAS the Elder.
According to Twilight's fake diary, the Elder was poisoned by Faded Ivory so that he would turn into the Ursa. How or why is still unknown. But yes, the Elder destroyed my village and killed everypony there, except Faded Ivory, which I believed he squished into paste before Celestia cleared up my memory.
I eventually went back to the village to look for the Elder again. At the time, I didn't know that he was an Ursa, but I found him, and brought him home to Ponyville with the help of my six new closest friends. It was there, that he destroyed Ponyville Hospital and ran out of Ponyville as an Ursa. The destruction of the hospital had caused many more deaths, the majority of which were doctors, nurses, sick patients, and, unfortunately, babies.
Out of Ponyville, he headed for Canterlot, where he caused more death and destruction. Most of Canterlot's population - at least half of it - was wiped out, along with the majority of the Royal Guard.
It was at the ruins of the throne that Twilight and the other Element bearers shot the brilliant beam of light onto the Elder, sealing him within the stone shell. Having defeated the Elder, we continued looking for Ivory, who I also didn't know to be guilty at the time.
Shortly after we returned to Ponyville with Ivory, Twilight and I went over her diary, which contained details of the poisoning of the Elder. We decided then and there that we were gonna bust the Elder out. So, in the middle of the night, Twilight and I warped to Canterlot, where we were successfully able to free the Elder. But it didn't take long for Celestia and the Royal Guard to figure out that we were there, and why.
Princess Celestia wasn't about to have the Elder, a crazy old stallion who destroyed Canterlot and murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of pony lives, freed and roaming once more. Finding us guilty without even letting us explain our reasons in detail, she had us thrown in here.
So that's that, and here we are. Still slightly stunned from the landing, I pick myself up slowly. Once I'm steady on all fours, I walk up to Twilight's side and nudge her. "You alright, Twilight?"
She groaned, and slowly turned over until she was on her back. When her eyes found mine, I could tell that she had been crying, for they are more red than white or purple. "I'm so, so sorry, Blaze..."
"Don't worry about it so much. I've already forgiven you, in a sense."
She sat up. "Still... you're only in here bacause I set the Elder free, because I brought you here, because I made the diary. It's all my fault..."
"It's okay. I know you wouldn't have done what you did if there wasn't a good reason --"
"But there is!" She stomped her forehooves on the rocks below her.
"Alright. Then, please, if you would be so kind as to enlighten me?"
She finally stood up on all fours as well. "Of course, Blaze." She took a deep breath, then let it go and continued. "I made the diary because Luna asked me to."
I nod reflexively, but it took me a second to hear what she said. I took my hoof off of her. "Wait, Luna asked you to make it? When?"
"About a month ago. I got a letter from Princess Luna, your mother, stating that Princess Celestia had been in a bad mood for the past few days, and that she was about to get banished or something from the Canterlot Throne."
"A month ago? But I hadn't even left my village a month ago!"
"Yes. The letter told me that her son and his father were taking refuge in a village somewhere far away from Canterlot. She said that, if he ever found his way to Ponyville, to inform him gradually on the matter at hand. It was there in the letter when it said to construct a fake diary of Faded Ivory, and Luna had specified exactly what to put in it."
"My father was with me?"
"Yes, Blaze. Don't tell me you haven't been at least a little suspicious of the Elder's colors? He's the exact same color as you, well, except for the old white mane and tail, of course..."
I nodded. "I guess you're right. Guess I might've hurt his feelings when I said what I said earlier, about never having known my father..."
"...Yeah..."
"Wait! I just remembered something! Celestia said that they found our village, but they didn't sense any hostility from the Elder so they let me go. But, she also said that she had to restrain Luna from taking me! But if she was already banished, then that..."
Twilight gasped. "You're saying Celestia gave you 'fake' memories?"
"Well, no... She didn't show me that part, but she did tell me afterward." I sort of had to think that one over. Even though it was high noon yesterday, it seems so long ago. Quickly getting back on topic, I ask, "So, the whole diary was a fake?"
"No no no, Luna made it clear that the information was all true. Banishing Luna, poisoning your father, corrupting Celestia's mind, making the impression upon you to make you think she was dead, solely so she could be with you because you would always protect her out of fear for ever losing her again."
I exhaled quickly. "So, lemme get this straight. You're saying Ivory twisted Celestia's mind, got my mother thrown out of the throne, poisoned my father so that he would turn into a monster, just so she could go out with me!?"
"I know! It's completely bogus! But, that's it, and it's all true."
"But that makes absolutely zero sense! Who would go through all that shit just to ask me out? And after she did, why would she think I'd go out with her anyway!? If anything, I'd probably avoid her even more!"
"Uhh, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say you were never supposed to find out about her plans..."
"Heheh. And all she had to do was ask."
"Hey, tell that to her, not me."
I chuckled, then cleared my throat in preparation to mock Ivory's voice. "Hi, Blaze, I just screwed up royal family matters to the extent that the damage is irrepairable! Do you wanna go out with me?"
I got Twilight giggling, too. "Pretty much."
Clearing my throat one more time, I said in my normal voice, "Okay, so Luna asked you to do this well before I ever arrived, which means that you've been playing a game with me ever since I showed my face. How much of it was a ploy?"
Twilight smiled and nodded. "Yeah, figured you'd ask that. Umm, okay, obviously the diary is fake. Well, trying to get you to stay over the library was the big plan, but you decided to sleep in the stars instead, so..."
"Oh yeah, the whole 'favoritism' thing. Yeah, I remember."
"I was gonna break it to you there. But you weren't convinced enough to stay with me. So, I had to get your attention in some other way, so I could show you in person. So that night--"
"You came out of your house and joined me at the lake. So that was all fake, huh?"
"No! Of course it happened! I needed your attention!"
"Okay, what about the romantic part? Was that fake, too?"
Twilight quickly shut up to that remark. A few seconds passed before she continued, "Unfortunately, Blaze, yes it was... It was the only way I could think to get the attention I needed fast enough."
"Hmm... Oh well..." I say, pretending to be sad and drop my smile and ears at the end.
Twilight quickly lowered her ears, too, as she prepared for a comforting sentence. "Well, in the beginning... When I first met you, I... I didn't even know you then! How could I love somepony I just met!?"
I perked my ears back up. "Wait..."
Twilight turned her head away from me once we made eye contact again, probably because she was trying to hide the embarressment of blushing. "But... After I had those two weeks to get acquainted with you, I started to understand you better. What you've been through, what you've sacrificed... What you've lost..."
I nodded, while my eyes were turned in thought. "...Yeah, I gotcha. And then...?"
"And then..." She brought her head to look at me once more, only this time her eyes weren't red at all. "Well, and then, it started getting real."
I sigh. I knew it. She had her sights on me over time as well. I answer, "Well, just remember; all you have to do is ask." I smile.
She smiled, too, and stared deep within my black windows. "Alright... Hey, umm, Blaze--"
I interupt her sentence by walking next to her and raising my forehoof over her neck, brushing through her mane as it goes. "Pssst. Hey Twilight."
She's doing a terrible job at trying to hide her blushes this time. "Y-yes?"
I raise my free forehoof and place it under her chin, drawing her vision deeper into mine. Just when our lips were inches away from meeting, she had closed her eyes and prepared for a romantic one.
And then was the very first time we had ever kissed.
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Blaze: Part Two
By Blazing_Mane01