//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 Broken Lives 
// Story: Unwelcome Visitor 
// by The desert brony 
//------------------------------//


Unwelcome Visitor
Chapter 10
Broken Lives


The pitter-patters of a foal’s hooves were only heard by the very pony racing across the town of Ponyville. Sweetie Belle had been worried when the sound of a scooter whizzed by not ten minutes ago. Her fears were confirmed when Blaze had been stopped by her older sister a mere moment ago. Her oldest friend, and fellow crusader, was in need of help and she needed it now! It was times like these that Sweetie wished that she knew how to teleport like some of the older ponies, like Twilight or the princess. That thought was quickly overridden by her need to find Applebloom. She raced past the library, Sugar Cube Corner, and the Town Hall, which was still abuzz with activity from this morning and many more houses of Ponyville’s residential district. The road faded from the well trampled dirt to the path that had two narrow ruts cut into it from the repeated use of carts going to and from the town.

It was a relief to her when the Apple farm came into view. Its lush green trees were standing tall much like the very family that planted them. On any other day, Sweetie might have been tempted to acquire one of the succulent fruit as she headed to the farmhouse, but with Scootaloo in need of help, her temptation would have to wait.
Turning off the path, Sweetie passed under the sign that welcomed ponies to the orchard. With the farmhouse in sight, she hit the porch and banged on the old wooden door. In a single moment, she realized that she just ran from Ponyville proper all the way to the farm.

When the youngest member of the Apple family opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of a young pearl white unicorn gasping for breath. The red mane earth pony raised an eyebrow at her disheveled friend. “What `n tarnation are ya doing here Sweetie Belle? I thought ya`s was grounded like me?”

Sweetie held up a hoof while taking large gulps of air, trying desperately to catch her breath. “Scootaloo… ran away!” She spoke between breaths before collapsing.

“What do ya mean she ran away?!” Applebloom screeched a bit too loud. “Sweetie, what happened? Do ya know where she went?” The earth filly quickly became panicked at this sudden turn-of-events.

Sweetie, having finally caught her breath, looked at her friend, her worry written all over her face. “I don’t know what happened! All I know is that I heard Scootaloo wiz by my sister’s shop and her father was trying to catch her. He was stopped by Rarity and he said something like ‘I made Scootaloo mad and she took off’.” Picking herself up, she grabbed her fellow crusader and lead her into the orchard. “I think she might have gone to the clubhouse first. If we hurry, we might catch her before bolts again!”

With Applebloom in tow, the two fillies ran off into the orchard. A large red stallion stepped out of the home a moment later. With a single stalk of hay tucked into the corner of his mouth, Big Mac headed away from his home in search of one particular pony.


^^^


Blazewing had trotted home in defeat, but hadn’t spent long within its walls. Just long enough to wrap and put away the food. On his way back out, he had grabbed his bit bag and locked the door. He walked the streets of Ponyville, his mind filled with self-loathing comments both old and new. “Talk about a spectacular failure that was. You not only managed to shatter your marriage, but also fucked up your chance to make your filly happy. Hope you’re proud of yourself, because I think your cutie mark represents how you crash and burn at everything.” Blazed shook his head clear as he passed restaurants and other businesses in favor of Ponyville’s only bar. He pushed open its doors, the wide room was well lit and was fairly busy tonight. Every table was full of locals having a drink after a long day and gossiping about the news of earlier today. This left only the bar proper which was devoid of anypony, but the bartender himself, a bald malt brown earth pony with a recently trimmed goatee.

The bartender looked upon Blaze as he placed his bit bag on the bar and took a stool. “What can I get`cha?” His voice was rough and harsh, as if he spent much of his youth yelling.

Blaze looked up and met the eyes of the bartender. “A bottle of your hardest liquor.” The bartender gave him a nod and procured a bottle that surrounded by a pure black cover with no markings, save for a silver kite shield with two crossed swords over it. The featherless daredevil sighed as he watched the bartender pour a shot of milky white liquid into the glass. The first gulp ended with Blaze hacking as if he had swallowed liquid fire.

The bartender was about to remove the bottle when Blaze’s hoof shot out and stopped him. “I said the bottle, not a shot.” The bald earth pony studied the orange stallion and was intent on taking the bottle, until his eyes fell upon the featherless appendages of the pony before him. It didn’t happen often, but this bartender had seen his fair share of pegasi unable to fly. “Just don’t go overboard. It’ll only slow ya healing.” With that said, the bartender set the bottle down and walked to a table that required attention.

With the bottle to his right, Blaze poured a second shot into his glass. For a few minutes, he scowled at the milky liquid as memories replayed in his mind. The angry face of Raindancer flashed in his mind and he quickly chased it away with the shot. As this drove away the memory, another surfaced to take its place. The scowl of an angry filly and the pain of her words drove him to pouring a third shot and gulping it down with vigor. The rapid consumption of two shots caused another coughing fit from Blaze and forced him to take a moment before preparing his next. It was easy to forget how quickly alcohol effected pegasi, a fact Blaze chose to ignore tonight. Every motion of his head, Blaze felt like his brain turn from solid to liquid and left the room beyond the bottle nothing but a haze. It was in this state that Blaze felt the least; should a memory come bubbling up, he merely rocked his head and banished them before taking a shot. He had heard the bartender talk to him a few time, but he just waved him away with a hoof.

Across the bar, a purple earth pony sat at a large round table surrounded by her drinking buddies; friends she had made over the years of drinking at this bar. They shared stories of adventures they partook in years ago, telling the tales to their newest drinking member who looked the worst out of the group. The mare held a tall bottle with a slim neck and a wide base high above her as if offering it to some unnamed alicorn. Bringing the bottle down gently, she tipped the mouth of the bottle, letting the last of the burgundy liquid fill a glass that sat in front of the newest member. “Okay, Caramel, this is the last glass. If you can drink the last of my special batch then you are welcomed with open hooves!” Berry Punch shouted in her drunken jubilance.

As for the young stallion in question, it was clear to any sober pony that he has had enough. Caramel sat in his chair rocking from side to side, hardly able to hold his body upright. Both of his hooves held onto the table for support as the world around him swirled in ways that made the lights dance like fireflies caught in a tornado. When his eyes finally rested on the glass of wine, a determination broiled within him as he reached out to the glass with an unsteady hoof. Clutching the glass near the top of its stem, Caramel lifted it clear from the table.

For Berry Punch, this was a rite of passage to drink with her and her buddies. Of the many townsfolk that tried to drink an entire bottle of her wine were met with utter failure in the form of simply passing out or vomiting all over the floor and sometimes both. So needless to say, it was hard for Berry to find good drinking buddies that could keep up with her; or at least till the bar closed. In truth, if Caramel didn’t finish the glass, she would welcome him no matter what. Tonight, she wasn’t disappointed, Caramel tilted the glass and chugged the last of the wine in a single go. The table burst into a single cheer and the entire members of Berry’s drinking party cried out “OH-PA” right before Caramel felt that the floor was a good place to take a nap. With laughter all around, Berry stood up and declared in a not so quiet voice, “I’m going to grab more drinks!” then turned and headed to the bar to order. That was, until she got halfway and spotted the only stallion on the stools. “YOU!” Berry pointed a hoof to Blaze as she flipped from joyous to seething rage.

Blaze was called back from the bottle to the waking world as the shout had forced the whole bar to settle. Turning his body to find the disturbance, he was met with a very pissed off purple mare pointing a hoof at him “Well, crap. I should have known Berry would be here, after all, where else would she be. I guess I’ll try to be civil.” Blaze dropped from the stool and faced Berry Punch with a casual smirk. “Hey Berry, long time no see. Are you sober enough to trot home or do I need to fly you home like old times?” ”Wow, is that what you call being civil? I’d hate to hear what you say when you’re being nice.”

To Berry, his nonchalant attitude merely pissed her off even more. “Hey. HEY! Just what do you think you’re doing showing your face back here?!” Berry’s screams had now turned every head in the bar including the bartender.

Blaze was starting to become agitated with Berry screaming at the top of her lungs. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m having a drink. I would think that much is obvious to a mare that enjoys drinking.” “You’re only drinking because you fucked up.”

Berry’s frequent intoxication was well known in the town. She had never been violent, but the sight of Blaze had sparked many unpleasant memories within her. “So what if I can drink like a fish. At least I’m not a stallion who sleeps with a mare then runs off!”

Blaze’s featherless wings opened defensively. “Well, what do you know? Old Berry Punch is going for the low blows tonight,” The words were out long before Blaze could catch himself. “If you’re still harping on that stupid false rumor for ten years ago, it makes me wonder who else in this town still believes it.” “At this point, almost every pony in town thinks you’re a scumbag.”

“I wasn’t talking about that, stupid! I was talking about how you knocked up Raindancer and left! You’re a pig, Blazewing. Nothing but a worthless stallion that is full of himself!” Berry cried out.

Once his name was out in the open for the whole bar to hear, Blaze could see the lights turn on in everypony’s head; at least those that were still awake. Now the faces around the bar turned from confusion to loathing the orange stallion. A few stallions from Berry’s drinking group had made their way to her side like bodyguards. “I stand corrected. Everypony does think you’re a scumbag.” The bartender was behind the bar to the farthest corner fiddling with something under the counter. Blaze had his backside to the bar, wings outspread, crouched and ready to fight. “Yeah and who bothered to tell me that she was pregnant? Nopony, that’s who! Not a single letter ever made it to me telling me that she was going to have my foal! And if any here still remembers me then they know full well I would have dropped everything. My pride, my wings, and even my job just to be here for that, but what happened was a whole lot of nothing! Not a word from Ponyville in almost ten years and it’s from an orphanage telling me I had a child from a mare that I love with all my heart!” Blaze was yelling so to be heard by everypony in the room, not caring if anyone outside could hear.

“You think that because nopony wrote to you is a good enough excuse to not come back and swallow your pride! You could have come back at any time in those past ten years, but you didn’t!” Berry screeched. “You could have come back and apologized, but you didn’t! You left and Raindancer cried almost every night since then. The only thing keeping her going was Scootaloo and she even cried that you weren’t here. I know because she came to me to cry her eyes out! She loved you and you abandoned her when she needed you the most!”

“The only reason you’re so pissed off is because you got used and you’re blaming everypony, but yourself! I wanted to have foals, I wanted to be a father to Scootaloo, but nopony can see that!” “Well, it was nice knowing you, Blazewing. But I’m sorry to say that you’re an idiot.” The full weight of his words hit the entire bar like steam train hits a deer. Every adult in Ponyville knew what happened to Berry back then, but despite what happened, not a single pony in town ever put the blame on her. Now, the entire bar had turned to Blaze with hate in their eyes. Nothing would stop them running him back out of town for good. Before the flood of drunken ponies could pounce, the door to the bar was forced inward by a large red earth pony.

Big Macintosh stood in the doorway with a stalk of hay in the corner of his mouth. He felt the boiling anger in the room and it was all directed at his old friend. Big Mac strode in between the crowd of angry drunk ponies and Blaze and stood facing the mob. “Naw, I see ya’ll are mad, but I need ya to let somepony do some talkin' first.” Mac stomped his hoof on the wooden floor and from the door an orange filly with a purple mane and tail trotted in. “If any ya’ll interrupt before they’re finished, ya will be bucked like ma apple trees.”

Scootaloo placed herself just a few hooves away from her father and stared at him. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from her fit of crying back in the clubhouse where her friends and Big Mac found her. Her friends walked in on her clutching a Rainbow Dash plushy that Scootaloo made herself, curled up into a corner, thinking of running away from Ponyville forever. Applebloom had pulled her from the corner and gave her the biggest hug she could muster with Sweetie Belle joining soon after. When Scootaloo finally became calm, Big Mac had walked in; although, it was more of him sticking his head through the door. He didn’t say much, but somehow, he had convinced Scootaloo to come with him. Now, she was here facing her father and she needed to ask the questions she truly wanted to. “How did you meet mom?”

Blaze watched his only child trot from the door to him and wanting to pull his gaze away from her, but couldn’t. The redness of her eyes told him of the pain she went through just a few hours earlier. He had been expecting more verbal hate from her, but when her question was voiced, it befuddled him at her lack of anger. “I met your mother here in Ponyville. I was doing some tricks for the local foals to excite them about the carnival. I tried to do one of my dad’s tricks, but messed it up and I crashed right into Raindancer.” “And I, the drunken voice in your head, will explain that you were an idiot for trying that stunt.” Blaze chuckled. “She took it rather well and I offered her two free tickets to the show as an apology. I didn’t see her again till the festival started and she was walking around with Cheerilee who was dressed in the ugliest fashion of the time.” A member of the mob snorted at his own mental image of the school teacher back in the day. “I talked with her for a bit, but I had to leave to start the show. It was that moment that I felt my attraction to her and I put more effort into that night’s performance then I ever did before. When I found her again, she and Cheerilee were taking photos and I asked if she wanted a picture with and an autograph. She accepted without hesitation and as Cheerilee took the picture, I kissed Raindancer.” A few aws and snickers floated from the mob “Yeah, she didn’t take that too well did she, idiot.” “She hit me hard for that.” At this Blaze chuckled at the nostalgia.

“Wait, if Cheerilee took photos then where are they?” Scootaloo wondered out loud.

Blaze snorted at this, “they are in a photo album that was stuffed in a box in the spare bedroom.”

“Oh.” Scootaloo was going to find that album later, but her daughter-father talk needed to happen now. “What did you do after she hit you?”

With a sigh, Blaze pressed on. “The festival was over for the day and when my parents found out I had kissed a mare without it being consensual, they told me to find her and apologize. I was going to do that anyway, but when I started wandering around town, I was having a hard time finding a pony who knew her, until I walked into Sugar Cube Corner. It was there that I met Pinkie Pie for the first time; she was just this pink ball of energy that never slowed down. When I finally got a word in telling her I was looking for a particular mare, she piped up and said she knew ‘everypony in Ponyville’. At the time, I didn’t know your mother’s name and I was working off her cutie mark so when Pinkie told me her name and where to find her, I was all set to fly over when I was stopped. Pinkie shoved a box in my hooves and said it was a peace offering and took off. I was confused as to what she could have done to your mother, but I soon learned what it meant to be friends with Pinkie. I took the box and flew to your mother’s home; I knocked and waited for about thirty minutes when I heard your mother scream from behind me, ‘What are you doing here!?’” Blaze shuddered as the memory focused on Raindancer’s face. “You know your mother’s anger very well, but before you were born it was like facing off against a manticore. So, when she stomped up to me, I did the only thing that came to mind. I opened the box and yelled, ‘I’m sorry!’” “That saved your flank, just for a minute.” Blaze chuckled again which turned into a roaring laughter. “She didn’t even hear me because, as soon as I opened the box, she lost all focus on me and devoured the mini-cakes inside. Your mother eventually looked up from the box; her face was completely covered in chocolate and I couldn’t help, but laugh. I’ll tell you Scoots, you may never know how hard it is to care that you’re getting your flank beaten by a cute mare whose face is covered in frosting.” Blaze had to take a moment to calm down or risk laughing again. “She stopped when her parents came home and she was forced to patch me up. That was when she and I truly started talking, I apologized for kissing her at the carnival and she said she was sorry for beating the snot out of me.”

Scootaloo snickered at the end for she had caught her mother indulging in some cakes she bought every now and then. With a frown, Scootaloo stared at Blaze wanting him to answer a question her mother never did. “Umm, how did mom get all those scars?”

The good mood that Blaze found himself in was destroyed by that question. His head dropped, his ears folded back and his color darkened a few shades. “It happened in Trottingham a year after she and I got married. Your mother and Cheerilee had come to see me perform and made it into a vacation so they could relax. The night of my last performance there, she and Cheerilee left early and were attacked by a unicorn on their way back to the hotel. I ran into Cheerilee as she was running away, but I didn’t find your mother in time.”

“She was attacked? What kind of pony would do that!?” Scootaloo had asked her mother a few times how she got her scars, but Raindancer never answered. The fact that her mother was attacked had disturbed her greatly.

“The insane kind,” Blaze said with a hated tone growing in his voice. “The local guards said he was suffering drug withdraw and was most likely after money to buy more; that was two days later while your mom was recovering in the hospital. She lost her ability to fly that day due to the doctors having to focus on saving her life rather than her wings.” With a sigh, Blaze let his flank rest on the bar’s wooden floor.

“That was before Manehatten?” Scootaloo inquired.

Blaze gave a nod with his head “Yeah, it was before Manehatten. And speaking of Manehatten, that’s what I was going to talk to you about at dinner.” He stopped and took a deep breath before gazing into his daughter’s eyes. “That night in Manehatten was the night of the Phoenixwing’s one hundredth anniversary of its founding. Every member of the team was celebrating except for me; I was saving that for when I got home. As the hour ticked on, my team left the bar to go sleep off the booze, but Sunbright, our captain, was still going strong. I blame her tolerance to alcohol on her father; that pony could drink three or four bottles of wine and not get sick. But Sunbright could only handle two, so when she finally hit her limit, she was far too drunk to fly straight. I didn’t even know we were being followed when I left the bar with her. I knew Manehatten well enough to know where all the hotels were so I took her to the closest one.” His voice had dropped an octave during his tale. As his gaze pulled away from Scootaloo, he waved a hoof in the air as his voice began to rise. “I didn’t know at the time it had changed owners and was turned into a risqué love motel. And that is all anypony would ever listen to. No one bothered to listen to the fact that I have no romantic interest in my captain. She’s like a little sister to me and ever since then, nopony would bother to hear how, the moment I got her into the room, she puked all over me!” This earned a cringe from everyone in the bar. “For most of the night, she spent moaning with her head down praying to the porcelain throne, but did anypony listen to me? No! Not a single pony would listen. Not the press, not Ponyville, not even… your mother.” Blaze’s voice sunk back down at the end. His wings fell limp and his color darkened once again. “I tried to convince her that was untrue, but she wouldn’t listen. Much like this room today, the ponies of Ponyville hated my guts so much that the mayor told me to leave. I didn’t want to, not for a second. But when the one pony who I felt would believe me turned and bucked me in the face, it was hard to convince myself to stay. It was that moment that I felt I had lost everything. The only thing I had left was my career and now I’ve lost even that!” Blaze ended this statement with slamming his head into a cushioned stool.

“What? What do you mean you lost your job?” Scootaloo’s mind flashed back to a few days ago, when she witnessed Blaze and Sunbright quarreling during the show.

Blaze cringed; he hadn’t meant to spill that until he had secured a new job. “Great job letting that slip out, idiot.” “Before the last show, Sunbright had gathered all of the post show team to make sure that they would be ready to pack everything after the show ended. When the meeting was done and everypony had cleared out, I was going to go find you and take you to lunch when Sunbright stopped me. Over the last ten years since Manehatten, she somehow got the impression I was falling for her, even though I never felt that way. She would do stupid things like flick her tail at me or have me meet her in the trailer after a show. But that day, she took it too far and said that she could be a mother to you, Scoots.” Blaze felt that since he had dug himself a hole, he might as well finish the grave. “During Dust Devil’s cannonball run, I told Sunbright that if she ever said anything like that again, I would leave. She told me that she was doing it for me, because she loved me. I got pissed off and said some rather nasty things back to her. Sunbright never got a chance to retort because Dust had finished, and it was my turn to please the crowd. I was so furious at Sunbright that I screwed up my stunt and got injured.” Blaze weakly flapped his for emphasis. “For years, I’ve wanted to tell the truth, but with nopony willing to listen. I just gave up and told myself to get used to it.” With a sigh, Blaze stood up to look at his little filly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t believe me when I say this but; I just wanted you to be happy.”

Scootaloo sat in a place that only adult ponies were allowed, listening to her father’s life story and the miseries he experienced. She was still very much mad at him for leaving her mother and never being there for her. How many of the days of bullying could have been prevented had he simply been where he belonged? Here in Ponyville with her and her mother, watching the two of them. Would they have had another foal? What would it be like to be a big sister? Scootaloo shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now was not the time to be distracted. She knew her mother had loved him, and she knew now that her mother blamed herself for him never coming back. She had known him for only a few days, but those days were full of him trying to make her happy. He had made an effort to help her get better at flying and even pushed her to get better. Those things were not something a dead-beat father would do. She was no egghead as Dash had so often called Twilight, but she was a smart filly and now it was time to make a choice. “Dad,” Scootaloo waited until her father locked eyes with her, “can we go home now?”

Blaze was only aware of the fact he started crying after he had scooped up his filly and held her tightly. The greatest sense of relief washed through him as he sat there in the bar holding his only child. She may not have forgiven him, but he knew that he now had a better chance to make it up to her. “Yes,” Blaze choked out “yes, Scootaloo, we can home.” Releasing his filly, Blaze took his bit bag and dumped quite a few of the shiny coins out, then ran out of the bar while grabbing Scootaloo and placing her on his back.

Big Mac and the other bar patrons just stood there as the father and daughter darted off. Most of them felt oddly torn between wanting to toss the daredevil out of town and letting him stay with his daughter. It wasn’t until Berry Punch walked over to Big Mac and crawled onto the large stallion and fell asleep that the tension in the bar finally settled. With shrugs all around, all the ponies paid their tabs and began their own journey home. Big Mac carried Berry and dragged Caramel back to Sweet Apple Acres for some proper rest.


^^^


Golden Harvest had tailed the flightless filly to her school, listened to her teacher spill the beans, then was rewarded with that filly screaming at her father, crushing both of their hearts with just three simple words. Then, much to her delight, after having nearly lost the two of them in their mad dash out of the home, she had witnessed Blaze trudge home just to lock up and start binge drinking. When the shouting match between Blaze and Berry had started, Harvest had felt nothing better would be possible, but when Blaze had simply said Berry was at fault for her drunken escapade that led to the birth of her daughter, Berry Pinch, she had wished she had popcorn as the whole bar was ready to kick his flank for that remark. Harvest felt blessed until Big Mac and Scootaloo had shown up. When Blaze was finished telling his side of the story, Scootaloo had forgiven him and the whole bar had just shrugged like nothing happened! Harvest felt her joyous mood crash and burn right into the sun that had long since set on Ponyville. As the bar was emptied, she too walked with them knowing they wouldn't question her sudden appearance. The crowd of ponies slimmed as each of the colorful mares and stallions walked into their homes and promptly went to bed. Harvest wasn't going to sleep tonight; she had things to take care of.


^^^


Scootaloo wasn't happy about being carried, but at the very least, she wouldn't be without a family again. She wanted to disbelieve him at first and she was unsure if she had even done the right thing. Maybe, in time, that question would be answered, but for right now, she knew that going back to the orphanage was not an option. Now back at home, she hopped off her father’s back just to be swept up into another hug. “Dad, come on no mushy stuff please, it’s not cool.”

Blaze let his filly go and laughed. “I thought the same way until I met your mother. Mushy stuff just happens and sometimes it takes you by surprise. You know now that I’ve finally explained myself to most of the ponies that hate my guts. Can I ask you a question Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Uh… I guess so.”

Blaze looked at her and now that all this misunderstanding had been explained, a question came to his mind. “Just how did you find out about the whole Manehatten fiasco?”

Scootaloo sighed: her father had explained his side; she might as well do the same. Trust begets trust, right? “Applebloom and Sweetie Belle found a magazine that printed the story. I went to Twilight to see if she would help me find the truth and she said it was false, then pointed me to my mother’s stuff that was being held by the Mayor. After I got those, I had to hide them before going to school, but I didn’t want to come home after school so I just walked around until Ms. Top told me that Ms. Cheerilee was the pony that caught you in Manehatten and told my mom, so I talked to her and you pretty much know the rest.”

Blaze looked dumbfounded at the little filly before him. “And you did all this in less than two days. Dang, Ponyville has changed if all of that could happen in just a couple of days.” Blaze grinned while he shook his head in slight disbelief when another question popped in his mind. “So, why did the Mayor have your mother’s stuff?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “The ponies at the orphanage explained it. They said because I was a ward of something, the Mayor had to hold that stuff until I was adopted or some junk like that. I only wanted mom’s diary because I figured that she wrote what really happened before I was born.”

Blaze nodded. “When you were in the orphanage, you were referred to as a Ward of Equestria, but that no longer applies. Scoots, how about we read your mother’s diary together. I missed a lot over the last ten years and I’m sure your mother wrote about them.” With a nod from his filly, the two ascended the stairs to Scootaloo’s bedroom. The first thing that caught Blaze’s attention was the pile of papers and folders that were poorly hidden by a single pillow.

Scootaloo bounded over to her bed and chucked the pillow off the mound of papers she hid that morning. She grabbed the diary off the top and opened it to a random page. After a quick read, Scootaloo’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Dad, what’s spelunking?”

Blaze looked at the diary to the entry marked. “Dear Diary, I had a great day today. Blaze left to go back to the Phoenixwings tonight, but at lunch, he treated me to a nice meal and I finally convinced him to go spelunking. I do hope to have a surprise for him when he gets home :) Only time will tell. Goodnight.” Blaze was flushed with embarrassment after reading the entry. It was dated a week and a half before the whole Manehatten fiasco. “Um, not to be rude Scoots, but I’ll have to tell you that some other time.”

Rather than get into another argument, Scootaloo decided to ask some other pony tomorrow. As the pages of the diary turned, her father was reading the entries out loud. As he went on, both of them noticed that the diary had days, even whole months missing, yet not a single page was torn from the book. After about eight months, the diary became coherent again and Scootaloo listened to her father read.

“Dear Diary, I know I haven’t written anything in the past month and a half, but it finally happened. I went into labor just three days ago. I was shocked because I hadn’t expected it to happen for another three and a half weeks. But today I sit here and write this at the crib-side of my little filly. I have decided to name her Scootaloo and I know she will be a hoof full because she’s so full of energy. I’m happy that my daughter is finally here but I still feel hollow that I’m one out of two ponies that should be here today. Blazewing, I wish you were here to see her; and more importantly so I could say I’m sorry. I knew deep down that Cheerilee was wrong about you and Sunbright. I knew you would were loyal to me but I think because I was pregnant I lost the ability to think clearly. I know that sounds like an excuse but I have no way to explain why I didn’t believe you back then. I hope you will come back soon so you can meet your daughter. Goodnight.” Blaze set the diary down and hugged his daughter. This time she didn’t pull away. When they returned to reading, the next entry was confusing to Scootaloo.

“Dear Diary, Today marks the third week of Scootaloo’s birth and a rather unwelcome visitor. My half-sister came to the house today with a proposal. She wanted me to give up the Deed that our grandfather had willed to me. I know I haven’t talked about it before but that was mostly due to the fact I was going to give it to Blaze and his team so they could have an off tour practice area. She said that because Blaze had abandoned me that I had no reason to continue holding onto it and that she and her twin could use it to grow more carrots. I have a hard time believing that is what she wants to use it for. I told her that Blaze didn’t abandon me and that he would return, and I pray to Celestia that it’s sooner than later. Scootaloo started crying and I heard Harvest ask if I was foal-sitting and I told her no. I swear the look on her face was priceless. She excused herself and I can only assume that she headed back to her farm. I need to go feed Scootaloo now before I put her to bed. Goodnight.” Scootaloo just stared at the pages as if they had just told her that she was full of cooties. “I have an aunt?”

Blaze stared down at Scootaloo with a raised brow. “You actually have two aunts from your mother’s side, Golden Harvest and Carrot Top. They’re twins and… Wait, Scootaloo. Didn’t you say Carrot Top sent you to Cheerilee about why I left?” The gears had started to turn in Blaze’s head. His thoughts didn’t make sense at the moment but he hoped his daughter would clear them.

Scootaloo grew even more bewildered at the question poised to her. “Um, yeah. If she hadn’t then you would have told me anyway. I don’t what the deal about this is.”

Blaze blinked a few times before pushing himself off of the bed and crouching to be at eye level with his daughter. “Scootaloo, I know both Carrot Top and Harvest and if she still feels the same, I know Carrot would never tell you to go to your teacher about that. Between her and Harvest, Carrot actually likes me being her brother. Harvest, on the other hoof, never liked me and did her best to try and make life miserable for me and your mother. Carrot Top would have told you to just ask me.”

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow as her confusion continued to pile higher. “But why does Harvest hate you when Ms. Top doesn’t?”

Blaze pulled away and sat on his haunches. “I have no clue Scootaloo, and now that I think about it, Harvest would go so far as to try and tear us apart. The strangest thing is that I never did anything to her. No pranks or stuff like that…” Blaze trailed off doing his hardest to remember anything that he might have done to spite the yellow carrot grower.

“Um dad,” Scootaloo called to her father as now her curiosity was peeked at one particular thing. When Blaze had his eyes on her, she motioned to the diary again. “What’s a Deed?”

“Well, the way your mother used it, she was talking about a track of land.” Blaze said matter-o-fact tone. “And by what her diary stated, she was just going to hoof it over to me so the team could have some place to train or relax. That may be why Harvest is so negative to me, but I can’t help feel there is more to it.”

“Would this be a deed?” Scootaloo said as she pushed a large flat envelope to Blaze with her nose.

Blaze took the plain envelope and cursed under his breath as he fiddled with the small mettle tabs with his hooves. Upon opening it, two pieces of high quality paper were lied out on the bed. The first was, in fact, the very deed to a large chunk of fertile land on the other side of Ponyville from Sweet Apple Acre’s. The second paper, however, was titled “Last Will and Testament” but the pony named was not Raindancer. As Blaze read this document, he quickly became aware that this was the will of Raindancer’s grandfather, Storm Cover. Before Blaze could read much more of the will, a knock from the front door echoed through the home. Looking to Scootaloo, “stay here,” Blaze commanded before he made his way down stairs.

Scootaloo however was curious to find out just who would be knocking at- casting her eyes to her clock- eleven thirty at night. Leaving her bedroom and fluttering as quietly as she could down the stairs, she glanced up as her father opened the door and watched as he was kicked in the face by another pony. “DAD!” Rushing forward, her eyes focused only on Blaze until she was roughly picked up the nape of her neck. “No! Let me go! Dad, help!”

Blaze shook his head a few times from the blow that had disoriented him. Shakily, he got to his hooves as he watched a yellow mare with a curly orange mane galloping away with Scootaloo in her teeth. Only once before had Blaze ever let rage get the better of his judgment, but the sight of his filly being ponynapped right in front of him sent him over the edge. With a mighty bellow, Blaze tore after the earth pony in a blind furry. Between Scootaloo’s hollering and Blaze’s shouts of obscenities to the mare, it was of little surprise that ponies around town were drawn to their windows to watch the scene unfold. But none dared to leave their homes as the sight of a raging Blazewing tore up chunks of the dirt road in fury, save for a purple unicorn and her friends.

Blaze couldn’t feel the pain in his wings and left side as adrenalin coursed through his veins. The town of Ponyville passed by in a blur as Blaze galloped. The homes thinned and faded to grasslands that muffled the pounding of his hooves. The plains soon turned rocky and barren as three ponies came to a halt.

Harvest was breathing heavily through her nose, her teeth still holding a squirming Scootaloo as she gazed over the scar that was Ghastly Gorge. The sound of Blaze skidding to a stop behind her made her turn to face him. This was her last stand and she was going to make him pay.

“Put Scootaloo down now!” Blaze bellowed at the top of his lungs. He wanted nothing more than to get Scootaloo back and pound Harvest’s face into the dirt. He breathed in deep, but slow drags of air to help calm him.

Harvest reared up to her hind legs and spit Scootaloo into a waiting hoof. “Like I’m going to take orders from you. You and your stupid filly have cost me so much that I actually had to resort to this.”

Scootaloo continued to struggle against the older mare’s grip, but gained nothing from it. “Why are you doing this?” She grunted in her flailing.

Harvest scoffed at the filly as if she was nothing more than a maggot spoiling her crops. “Oh, I bet you would want to know. I bet you would want to know how your father’s family ruined everything!” She hollered the last part and shook the filly. “You,” turning to Blaze, “Your father and mother were the ponies that ruined my life. Sixty years ago, my grandfather, Storm Cloud, married an earth pony that was mine and Raindancer’s grandmother. From her our mother was born and married my father. Carrot Top and I were born first then our mother divorced, got remarried and had Raindancer. I didn’t even care that I had a half-sister at first and I did what I could on the streets of Manehatten growing what little carrots I could with my sister. My father, however, was struggling to make enough bits to keep paying the rent. That was until I found a way to make myself bits beyond what even a business pony could dream of.” Harvest laughed “It was so easy I’m not surprised many of my clients came back almost begging for more. Of course, when you sell a drug as potent as Black Salt I was bound to get rich and expand.”

Blazewing felt cold, his eyes shrank and his breath caught in his throat. “You sold Black Salt!” Now, more than, ever he wanted to grab Scootaloo and simply push this mare off the cliff. “That stuff kills ponies, how could you!”

Scootaloo now both afraid and confused about what was being discussed couldn't help but ask, “What’s Black Salt?”

Harvest shook the filly to quiet her. “Black Salt is the most addictive aphrodisiac drug that makes any mare or stallion last far longer in the hay and leaves them open to suggestions. In fact, before she became the mayor, Ms. Mare was my property. With a drug like Black Salt, I was bound to get mares and stallions coming to me begging for more. So with that, I started finding bigger fish that wanted to have a good time. The druggies rarely asked for money, so I was able to make a lot of bits from selling their bodies.” The grin Harvest had about her underground fame and fortune was swept from her face as she glared at Blaze. “That was until your parents came along.” pointing her free hoof at Blaze. “Your parents came into Manehatten and ruined everything. They stuck their noses where they shouldn’t have and found my dad working on a new batch of salt. The guards were called and he was hauled to Canterlot, tried and convicted and now will rot in that dungeon for the rest of his life. But not without a plea bargain releasing the name of the true mastermind behind the Black Salt operation. But thankfully, my daddy cares enough about me to not abandon me. He gave my grandfather’s name as the head of it all. But by then, my grandfather had taken ill and was hospitalized. When the guards marched into his hospital room, he died from the shock.” Harvest chuckled for a moment, but it quickly soured. “I was what I needed to take all the heat off me and claim the ignorant child role. I was then shipped here to Ponyville where Carrot Top had moved to before the whole operation started. It was a month later that I found out that my grandfather had left a large plot of land to Raindancer. I figured that it would be perfect place for me to recover from my loss in Manehatten. But go figure that she wouldn’t budge on helping family when she was being wooed by you-” pointing her hoof again at Blaze. “I found out that you were the son to the two ponies that ruined my operation so I hated you from the start. I also found out around that time that if Raindancer died, the deed to the land would go to the next eligible family member and that pony was me. So I started planning on how to get rid of both you and my half-sister. I had almost succeeded years ago when I was able to use an old druggie I sold my salt to. I slipped some into his food and had a good time with him as I told him to kill Raindancer. Too bad, he fail. If he hadn’t, I would be on that land pumping out Black Salt to all of Equestria and with all those bits, not even the princesses would be able to touch me.”

“You’re fucking mad Harvest!” Blaze roared. “You plan on dragging all of Equestria into chaos and you have the gall to think that you’d be untouchable?” Featherless wings flared out as Blaze puffed himself up to look bigger than he was.

“And it would have been a reality if this little twerp hadn’t been born,” Harvest shook Scootaloo rough enough to cause her to cry out in pain. “And you had never returned. Now that the guards are investigating what happened with the Mayor, my hoof has been forced.”

“What are you talking about? There are no guards investigating what happened to the Mayor. Just Hoof Cuff and his team of police ponies.”

Harvest took a step back coming dangerously close to the edge of the ravine. “No, you’re lying! An off duty guard from Canterlot was on scene when the Mayor was carted to the hospital.” Harvest didn’t believe Blaze, not for a second.

Blaze just shook his head at Harvest’s lack of understanding. “Hoof Cuff is a retired guard, you nitwit. Hoof Cuff asked a friend of his to come from Canterlot down to Ponyville to help with the investigation. If you even bothered to listen to other ponies, you would have realized that this morning.”

Harvest lowered her head. Her quick assumption and the words of her sister had misled her. The distant beating of wings pulled Harvest’s attention to in front of her as Ponyville’s resident problem solvers were making their way to the gorge. “Well, I guess our time is up and it’s time I bid you farewell.”

“You’re not going anywhere but jail, Harvest. I’ll see to it myself if I have to.” Blaze shouted.

“Well,” Harvest smirked “are you going to catch me while your filly falls to her doom?” With that, Harvest tossed Scootaloo into Ghastly Gorge then ran to the closest batch of trees.

Blaze pumped his legs and jumped into the gorge after his daughter. As both pegasi fell closer to the ground, Blaze reached out and pulled Scootaloo to his chest and turned his back to the ground. “Dad,” Blaze looked down to his only remaining family “I love you, dad.”


“I love you too, Scootaloo.”