//------------------------------// // Prologue (Rewritten) // Story: Flames Within These Feathers // by Starshine Dart //------------------------------// Prologue: Rewritten _______________________________________________________________________________________ I wake up to find myself in a grassy field, and with the sun in my eyes. I lift my hoof to block out its blinding rays, while getting up to take a look around me. I don’t really see anything other than the field itself, save for an eerie-looking forest next to it with obnoxious amounts of plant overgrowth. Strange, I don’t remember this place. Wait. Forget remembering this place, I can’t remember anything. Why can’t I remember anything?! There’s got to be at least something that I remember. There’s got to be. As if by luck, something was coming to me. Vermillion Blaze. My name. Well, that would be useful to know. Is there anything else? I wait, in the hopes that something else might come to me, but it looks like that’s all I can remember. Looks like my amnesia and I are getting along wonderfully, so far. So, I’m in the middle of nowhere, without my memory. What do I do? There’s nothing around me except for the forest, and it doesn’t look too welcoming. It’s even emanating its own, ominous fog. There seems to be nothing else around me for miles. The forest might be my only choice, after all. Reluctantly, I take my first steps towards the eerie forest. Once I get in, I find that it seems just as intimidating on the inside as it does on the outside. It’s very dark, and the canopies of the trees make even the sky hard to see from here. That, and I have to either duck or sidestep to avoid branches and vines every 3 seconds. Definitely a place I would rather not be in. Because of all the vines and branches everywhere, I’m trudging through this forest at a snail’s pace. But that would all soon pay off. After treading through this path for so long, I can see a small clearing. Yes! I can finally get some room for my wings, now. I step out into the clearing, stretching my wings as I go along. It definitely feels a lot better, after being squeezed in with all those plants. I look around to see if there’s an actual path I can take, but it doesn’t take a genius to guess at what I found next. More trees everywhere. On the bright side, there’s a small lake off to the side. Just in time, too, I was starting to get thirsty. I walk towards the lake, to find it surprisingly clear, enough that I can see my own reflection. Well, now’s as good a time as any to see what I look like. I look into the lake, and there I am. A pair of golden eyes stares back at me. My mane and tail were both red and yellow, looking like they were on fire. My coat is a dark orange, or vermillion, to be more accurate. I look on my flank to find that my cutie mark is a small flame. Hopefully, I can remember what it means soon enough. I take a few seconds for me to continue looking at myself, to make sure that I’ve remembered my image. Then, I dunk my head into the lake and take a long drink. The water’s refreshing, and it has already sated my thirst. Well, it’s time to move on. I take a few steps forward to try to navigate the forest, but not before a shrill scream comes out of nowhere. I quickly turn around to find that the source of the sound is coming to the left of me. If somepony’s in trouble, I’ll be there to help. I speed off towards the direction of the scream, as fast as I could. I would attempt to fly, but I would easily get tangled in the branches and vines. That, and I forgot how to fly as well. Wonderful. I run as fast as I possibly can towards the source of the sound, ducking under branches, jumping over roots. I hear the scream again as I step out of the foliage into another clearing. There’s a butter yellow, female pegasus being circled by a pack of wolves. But they look … unnatural. They’re made out of … branches? I had a feeling that this forest had much more up its sleeve. The wolves continued to circle the pegasus, who was frightened out of her wits. She desperately tries to communicate with them, to get them to stop, but it didn’t seem to do any good. Enough of this. Those wolves are getting a beatdown. “Hey!” I yell out. The wolves look to me in curiosity. “Pick on somepony your own size!” I pick up a rock off of the forest floor, and hurl it as hard as I can towards one of the wolves. The rock hits hard enough to make an audible impact upside a wolf’s head. The wolf staggers and returns the favor with an angry glare towards me, along with a menacing growl. Just as I expected, the wolves took their minds off of the pegasus they were assaulting, and now to me. It’s going to take a lot more than these guys to try to stop me. The wolves run towards me, with vengeance in their eyes. They show their teeth, giving off a nasty smell, probably their breath. Ew. They begin to circle me now, and they all run in to begin an attack. Using my wings for extra propulsion, I jump just before they attack, causing them all to claw each other. I land a few feet away from the pack. These wolves may look scary, but they’re definitely not very smart. After realizing that they had completely missed me and instead hit each other, they look around for me, angrier than ever. I chuck another rock at the group, this time hitting one in the eye. The wolf howls in pain as it struggles to get the stone out of its eye. But, the other two aren't done with me yet. Let them come at me; if they want to harm that pony over there, then I’ll make sure they find themselves on the receiving end. They make a mad dash towards me, intent on revenge. Let’s see what else I can give these guys. One of the wolves takes a swipe at me while the other goes in for a bite. I duck under the former and sidestep the latter. These guys are starting to get sloppy. I rear my legs back, and give one of them a clean buck to the face, just as it is about to go for another slash. The impact sends the wolf backwards, sprawling on the ground, causing the creature to howl in pain. That left one. This time, these guys look like they’re done screwing around. The wooden creature quickly slashes at me, which I dodge, but it then catches me in the face with a much more powerful hit. I stagger back away from the wolf. The wound it left behind burns and stings. It comes back for more. Good. This isn’t over yet. The wolf attempts a pounce, which I easily avoid. Unfortunately, one of the two wolves that I had gotten out of the way comes back to tackle me over to the other, which traps me under its giant paw. It menacingly growls and raises its claws for a final strike. “No…,” I mutter. “This isn’t over…,” If they think I’m finished, they’re dead wrong. Try to hurt an innocent pony, and you will pay the price. “GET OFF!” I yell in fury, as I raise my hoof for a strike at its face, but it doesn’t reach far enough. Is it over for me? I close my eyes as I wait for the hit, but it didn’t come. Looking back, I see something … unexpected. The wooden creature’s head had caught fire. I have no idea how, but that doesn’t matter now. The wolf gets off me immediately, and runs around to panic and howl in pain. It flees into the foliage, followed by its friends, who each took a quick look at me before whimpering and running off. I … won. I don’t know how, but I won. I get up. “Yeah…” I groan. The pegasus who had been attacked runs out of her cover to rush over to my side. “Yeah … you better run! And I never want … to ….” I can’t finish my sentence. Everything was fading out. I got increasingly dizzy. What’s going on? I see the same pegasus desperately asking me questions and looking into my eyes. I can’t hear her, or anything else. Soon, everything fades to black. What’s happening now? _________________________________________________________________________________________ I wake up for the second time that day. Except this time, I’m in a blank, white, void. I can’t make heads or tails of what’s happening, and I still can’t remember anything. I get up, and as I look around, there’s really nothing to see. It’s just this blank, white expanse that goes on for as far as the eye can see. I have no idea how I’m even standing in this place. What do I do? There’s nothing here. I’m alone. Would I be alone here, forever? I was already confused and frightened enough when I woke up in that field, and now there’s this. I give in to tears. They stream down my face like a river, and my sobs echo out through the expanse, as if to solely mock me. To remind me that I was alone here. Soon, my crying received a response. There is a vaguely shaped wisp of flame with wings that comes out of nowhere. I follow its path, and it’s quickly circling me. The circling motion creates a pillar of flame around me, that grew closer and closer. What’s going on now? Would I die here? There is nothing more that I can do. I simply sit there and wait for death to come. The fire is soon within close range of me, its heat sweeping across my body. Soon, the flames make contact with my skin. But … it didn’t burn? The fire quickly engulfs me in no more than a second. However, where I’m expecting a searing, burning and agonizing pain throughout my whole body, it actually feels cool, like snow. The flames perform their intricate dance across my body, but they are cool to the touch. I simply lay there, just relaxing. But as I sit back, I feel something snap within the inside of my mind. Am I getting a memory back? It came to me in bits and pieces. At first, I had no idea what it was, but as soon as I could put the pieces together, I suddenly fall. The flames are gone. Although I can’t see anything for miles in this void, I feel like I’m falling anyways. I scream as I quickly plummet. But, I hit nothing. Why is it that today, everything turns against me and confuses me beyond belief? As I continue to fall, I’m suddenly blinded by a bright light, and I soon wake up. _________________________________________________________________________________________ I slowly open my eyes, sit up and stretch my legs and wings as I yawn. Taking a look around, I find that I’m in a hospital bed. I must have been moved here by somepony after passing out. I take a look at myself in a nearby mirror to find bandages in a few places on my body. On my shoulders, my chest, and one across my cheek. Looks like those wolves didn’t give me that bad of a beating. Wait … the dream! I just remembered something at the end of that dream … what was it? Suddenly, memories flow into my mind. Through them, I can only see myself, and everything else is an unidentifiable blur. I see myself … with fire in my front hooves. I’m shooting streams of fire, and throwing fireballs. Soon after that visual, I remember it all. My cutie mark, the flame. My talent is my ability to use my power. I lift a hoof in front of me and focus, and sure enough, a very small wisp of fire appears. I quickly dispel it; I wouldn’t want anything to catch fire. Soon after getting rid of the flame, the pegasus pony I saved earlier comes into the room. “Oh, thank goodness you’re awake!” the pegasus exclaims. “I’m so happy that you’re ok. Those nasty timberwolves hurt you pretty bad.” “It’s alright, I feel fine,” I explain. “But I’d like to know how I got here. Could you tell me?” The pegasus quickly shrinks back. “Um … it was … scary….” She seems to be pretty shy. Maybe I should be gentler in my approach…. “Don’t worry,” I reach out to her. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She takes a deep breath. A few moments later, she comes up with a response. “No … it’s fine ... I’ll tell you … if you’d like me to, that is…,” I smile. “Great, let’s hear it. Take your time, if you need to.” Looks like the new approach worked. The pegasus takes a few deep breaths before starting. “Well, um … after you passed out, I … couldn’t do anything. I wasn’t strong enough to carry you … I was so worried … although, two pegasi were flying by, and helped out … I still couldn’t do anything for you…,” she sighs before continuing. “I couldn’t do anything to help you, and you had put yourself in the way of danger to help me. You had gotten hurt … and … I feel terrible … I’m sorry….” I feel bad; I never meant to make her feel this way…. I reach out a hoof to touch her on the shoulder. She quickly looks to me with a surprised expression. I smile at her. “You don’t have to apologize for not being able to help. I’m ready to help anypony in need, especially if they’re being attacked, and even if it means me getting hurt. Now, you may not be able to do the same, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still help me, and you don’t have to, either. But, if you do want to help, I could certainly use it.” Please…. She continues to look down for a second, before looking back to me. “T … thank you. You’re a very nice pony … of course I’ll help you. What can I help you with?” Looks like it worked. She seems to be a bit more open now. Now, I can finally see if I can get some help. “Well you see, I can’t really remember anything,” I explain. She gasps. “You can’t remember anything? Anything at all?” The pegasus looks over to me with worriment in her eyes. “Well,” I begin, “Anything but my own name. But thanks to this strange dream I had, I’ve remembered something else.” She looks to me with curiosity. I lift one of my front hooves and summon a very small wisp of flame in it. She jumps back at its sudden appearance, before looking into it with amazement. I dispel the fire. “My cutie mark” – I point to the flame symbol on my flank – “Represents my ability to use this power, although I don’t remember much on using it anymore. Anyways, to get to the point; I don’t know who I really am, or why I’m here. I need help on getting my memory back. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need all the help I can get. So please … can you help me?” I beg her. Please…. She puts on a pensive look and thinks for a few moments before suddenly answering. “I know! Twilight!” Twilight … for some odd reason, it sounds familiar. Maybe whatever “Twilight” is, can help me further. “Twilight?” I ask her. “Yes,” She begins. “Twilight’s a good friend of mine, and she’s wonderful at using all kinds of magic. Is something wrong?” “No, it’s just that Twilight sounds very familiar. I guess I could start there. Could I please see her?” I ask. “Of course, but we should save that for another day” – She points to a window where the night sky is visible – “It’s getting dark out. But we can see Twilight tomorrow. The doctor said you would be discharged, then. You only have minor injuries, except for that cut on your face, which might take some time to heal. I’ll come to get you tomorrow morning, is that ok?” I nod to her. “That sounds great. But before you go, I haven’t introduced myself. My name’s Vermillion Blaze. What’s yours?” I inquire. “… Fluttershy. My name is Fluttershy. It’s nice to meet you.” Wow, I had expected her to be shyer when she introduced herself. I guess she opened up to me in the end. “Same here. Now, I think it’s best that I get some sleep for tomorrow. I’ll see you then?” I ask to confirm our meeting. “Of course. Goodbye, Vermillion.” I wave to her as she walks out of the room. Looks like help is on its way, now. I turn to the bedside lamp, and reach out to turn it off. After that, I simply go to lie down in my bed. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until now. I could go to sleep any second now, what with all that went on today. But I shouldn’t worry about that. Tomorrow will be a new day. I close my eyes, and sleep takes me instantaneously.