Flamboyant Fire
The sun was beginning to descend from it's high perch in the sky, answering the call of it's guide. It spread out over the deserted fields, reflecting off the thin layer of snow and ice that clung to the ground. The light continued across the field, hitting a small, auburn farmhouse, it's two story frame structure also caked with a generous layer of snow.
Inside the farmhouse, in the southern most corner, was a nice standing mirror, it's surface letting even more light paint the room it stood in. Next to it was one of the occupants of the room, a tall stallion now, his deep ashen coat getting slightly darker with age, and his cerulean mane and tail hanging rather long for most of his age. But he didn't mind, he hadn't bothered getting it cut in a while, but he could easily do it tomorrow, tonight was too important for him to worry about it. He twisted round giving himself another look over, his main and tail brushed, his coat clean, and most importantly, his Cutie Mark looking as great as the day he got it. The deep silver shield was emblazoned with a cerulean horseshoe, with golden trimming running the outside of the shield. A phantom twinge went up his foreleg as he looked at it, a smile coming to his face. His memory came to an end as a loud knocking came to the door behind him.
“HURRY UP EDGIE, Or we're going to be late!” his sister called from the other side.
“Keep your shoes on, we've got at least four hours till the festival, if we leave too soon you'll freeze before it starts.” he called back, starting to gather up his thick winter saddle. He heard her audible groan followed by a laughing retort.
“You know I don't mind the cold, hurry it up shiny-butt, they are supposed to have sky-flowers tonight!” Fireblossom said opening the door and putting her head inside.
“Hey, get your snout out of here before Dad or Ma get mad at you for buggin me.” The elder brother said with a roll of his eyes. He was about to continue when a snicker from the other side of the room made him jump.
“Don't you go lying to your little sister now, you know she'll believe it.” The weathered voice said in a tone that was both loving and condescending. This was followed by a gasp from Fireblossom as the bolted past her brother into the room, and his pained grunt as he was shoved into the floorboards.
“Granny Roseblaze” They both said, one jumping, the other starting to pull himself up.
“Nice to see you little ones, are you all ready for the festival?” the question came from the cream colored mare with the vivid magenta and blue mane.
“I would be, but Edgie keeps taking so long.” Fireblossom answered quickly. “Are you going to be the special guest Mom and Pappy were talking about?! Oh, this is going to be so amazing, they are going to have Sky-flowers, Sky. Flowers. Granny, it's going to be great!”
“Ah” The older mare seemed to slip off to somewhere behind her eyes. “I haven't been to a festival in so long, and certainly not one with hanabi scheduled for many years.” She smiled at her old times.
“Han a batch?” Fireblossom asked at the weird sounding word.
“Oh, sorry dear, just another of some words from the old country, past...” She looked to Edgeburn for a second with a pleading look.
“Past Gryphus” he said rolling his eyes.
“Yes, from far past Gryphus. It just means what you call sky-flowers.” She grinned without Fireblossom noticing her slip at all. Instead the twelve year old filly just seemed to think for a minute before smiling.
“Well, alright, you should tell me about it again some time Granny, I'll go tell Mom and Pappy you've made it!” The magenta coated filly ran from the room with hardly a look back. Edgeburn watched her go and softly kicked the door shut behind her.
“Alright, the door was closed, and the windows are latched, how did you get in here?” he asked staring the older mare down.
“Would you believe me if I said through the furnace?” She said with a smile that seemed all too perfect.
“You're not even covered in ash, you'd at least be that if not burnt. Not to mention you'd have to be the size of a dog to fit through the heating vents.” Edgeburn said not buying it for a minute.
“What if I told you I was the size of a fox.” Granny Roseblaze countered with her smile never wavering. Edgeburn starred at her in silence for a while, unsure how to counter.
“You are a weird old mare, you know that?” He finally said, dropping his head with a sign.
“Tut-tut, respect for your elder, although you are perfectly right.” She laughed before moving to step out the door. “I'll go see if I can't relieve your folks of foalsitting duty and watch you myself, I'm sure they'd enjoy the free time.” Edgeburn cringed, he sometimes missed the naivety of foalhood, something his sister still hadn't lost.
…
It wasn't long until the three of them set off for the nearby field. Edgeburn shivered slightly under the slight wind and it's chilling bite. His sister however bounded forward, deep indigo mane flashing back and forth as her saddle struggled to cling to her movements. Even worse, his grandmother wasn't even wearing a saddle, let alone a scarf, but she seemed even less concerned with the cold than Fireblossom.
“Aren't you a bit cold without a saddle Granny?” Edgeburn asked, he still hadn't, in his eighteen years, even come close to understanding his grandmother.
“Oh, I guess I should be, but. HEY, LOOK OVER THERE!” she yelled pointing ahead of them. Edgeburn and Fireblossom looked, the one looking for anything dangerous the other just looking for the sake of giggling as she scanned the area.
“There's nothing there Gra-” Edgeburn started as he turned back to face her. “n How in Equestria did you get that?” He interrupted himself as he saw his grandmother now sporting a long flowing cloak made of what looked like heavy cotton.
“Grandmother magic, I'd say you'd understand when you're older, but I don't see you being a grandmother in your lifetime.” She replied as she moved forward, the flame pattern on her cloak dancing with each step. Edgeburn looked at her with disbelief but trudged on.
“I will never understand you Granny Roseblaze” he said more aloud to himself than to anypony.
“If you did I'd be extremely surprised.” she responded as she continued to lead the way.
…
“FIREBLOSSOM!” Edgeburn yelled as he raced through the fields, trying to find where she had wandered off to. Her vibrant colors should have stuck out like nothing else as the silver moon graced the sky but he couldn't glimpse her anywhere.
“Keep looking boy!” his grandmother's words came as she too ran through the snow covered fields, each of them looking for a snowbank she might have fallen into.
“I can't find her, FIREBLOSSOM!” Edgeburn called again coming to a stop with heavy panting and his Grandmother at his side.
“Tartarus, why did you yell at her boy!?” She said whipping her head back and forth.
“I, I, I didn't mean to, it just slipped out.” he stammered.
“What did you even say?” the question hit him square in the chest, making him gulp.
“That she was being silly, wanting to make sky-flowers...” he said, his head sinking low.
“Do you really think it's silly? That she couldn't ever do it?” His Granny was seething.
“No, it just... slipped o” He was cut off.
“If you didn't think it, then it can't just have slipped, and if it wasn't true you shouldn't have been thinking it in the first place. So help me, if your sister is hurt, you'll never get the chance to lie to her again!” Edgeburn fell silent with his head hanging low.
“Even if she's ok, I’ll never lie to her again, not even in my thoughts... I’ll even say everything I’m thinking to keep myself honest. I swear on my word as a stallion” He muttered more to himself than anyone. He kept his head hung though, he didn't deserve to look up right now. That was, until he left a leg across his back, in a soothing comforting way.
“You just gave your word as a stallion for the first time... even I have to respect that. If you keep it, nothing bad will ever come of it. Now lets find her, we've wasted enough time.” Granny Roseblaze said forcing a small smile forward. Edgeburn just nodded in approval. Both stood there as the first firework of the night burst into the air, sending colors and lights in every direction against Luna's painted sky.
“The first Winter Moon Festival for Princess Luna and Fireblossom is missing the fireworks.” he sighed, looking around for any movement. Another firework lit up the sky shortly after and his face flashed to concern as he looked to his grandmother. Her face also held the same look as they turned back to watch the fireworks continue to dance across the Night Goddess's canvas.
Without another word, they broke off sprinting, knowing exactly where to find Fireblossom.
Twenty minutes of sprinting, stumbling, crashing through snow, and panting heavily were rewarded to the two relatives as they finally came close to the hill where the fireworks were launching. Just one technician seemed to be overseeing the event, eyes slightly glazed over as his attention focused on the show in the sky, and not entirely on the pre-lit rockets.
“Have you seen a small magenta filly with an indigo mane?” His granny asked immediately.
“Nah, no fillies are even supposed to be near here, hey, you two know the observation hills are at least twenty minutes back that way right?”
“We know, but please, you have to help us look for her.” Edgeburn said glancing around frantically.
“Look, we can look around but the finale is coming up and we don't want to be anywhere near the rocket when it goes up.” He said pointing a hoof to a tall red and purple rocket.
“Uh, is it supposed to have a tail on it? Like one of hair?” Edgeburn asked, squinting to see it clearly in the dark.
“FIREBLOSSOM!” him and his granny yelled before the technician could reply. Edgeburn felt his hooves surge forward, ready to protect his little sister, but he wasn't fast enough. His speed just wasn't anything compared to a rocket, and he could tell the fuse would set it off before he could get there.
But there was still hope. Granny Roseblaze, looking as spry as ever raced past him, her cloak seemed to trail off her and burn up as she ran, her features getting blurry with distance. She reached the fuse moments before it was about to send off the rocket, jumping on it, smothering the sparking wick with her body.
“Awe, Granny, this was supposed to be the best one.” Fireblossom said innocently as she sat on top of the rocket.
“Child... do... you... realize... how … oh... just a minute... whoo... close... that was... I nearly lost my tails to fright.” she said panting after her long run. Her breath slowly began to return to her as her grandfoal and the technician caught up, the one running and the other winging over.
“It's ok Granny, Mr. Sky-flower stallion forgot this.” Fireblossom beamed as she clicked a small fire starter in her teeth.
“NO!” Three cries rang out as the spark caught the wick, quickly burning its way inside the rocket. Granny Roseblaze reared up to try and grab Fireblossom as the rocket roared to life, hot flames billowing over her. Edgeburn felt his legs go out from under him as the technician pulled him back, away from the takeoff ignition and searing flames. With it's roar realized, it shot into the sky, pulling Fireblossom out of reach.
Without missing a beat, and seemingly unscathed, Granny Roseblaze turned to the technician with shaking eyes. “FLY, GET HER, HURRY!”
“I, I, Can Can't! It's too dangerous, it'll explode before I get there!” he stammered out.
Flames seemed to actually jump around Edgeburn's grandmother. “I'll give you dangerous if you don't save my Grandfoal!” She said advancing on the scared pegasus. She raised a hoof to strike him, her aim set on his face, until a deafening boom shook their world.
“...” Edgeburn's mouth hung open in shock as he looked at the place where his sister had been, now aflame with blue, yellow, orange, purple, and even a hint of teal as the last firework went off in dozens of stages.
“Fireblossom...” He felt his grandmother slump to the ground, tears starting to fall. He flicked his ears, a slight ringing in his ears. He could tell what his grandmother had said, but he couldn't hear anything else, they were rather close to the rocket it seemed. He shook his head, a sharp ringing making this moment even more unbearable.
But it wouldn't go away, no shaking, no shifting his ears, in fact it seemed to be getting louder. With an angry look to the sky, he was ready to curse everything that had even been, when he saw something hurtling towards him. The closer it got, the louder the ringing, and the more his tears flowed.
“Granny...” he said, shoving her flank, smiling just a bit. She looked up, her senses so overloaded she didn't think to do anything but comply. Her ears perked soon, and her eyes narrowed as she got up in time for her favorite greeting ever.
“EDGIE, GRANNY, I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!!!!” Fireblossom screamed as her wings carried her down, her first controlled flight. She was smothered almost immediately, her brother and Grandmother pulling into a hug.
“Fireblossom, you're ok... wait? You're ok?! Not hurt or anything?!” Edgeburn asked incredulously.
“Nuh-uh, the fire wasn't even that hot, the boom was fun though. I am going to make Sky-flowers Edgie.” She said with a smile.
“That you are... but I still don't understand...” he started, noticing something else different about her. “What happened to your tail, it's all puffed out?”
“Oh...” Granny Roseblaze raised a hoof to her mouth. “that explains a bit actually. Oh dear, oh dear, oh.. well, this isn't exactly bad, but oh...” she seemed to be thinking eight things at once.
“Granny, what's wrong?” Edgeburn and Fireblossom asked in tandem.
“Oh nothing, you just might get to figure out some things about me and Fireblossom sooner than I expected is all.” She said with a nervous laugh.
“What, like you two are just now magically resistant to fire?!” Edgeburn asked, now realized what had happened in the last few minutes.
“Well, you see the thing is, yes.” The old mare said with an awkward smile. “Oh, I'm going to have some explaining to do.”