//------------------------------//
// Prologue 
// Story: Fire and Ice: The Elements of Harmony 
// by SquareZack 
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	"FIRE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Have you ever been raised by one of your friends? Not fun. I mean yeah, it CAN be, but when they're a bit over-protective? No. Not fun. What makes it even worse is when they're hardly older than you. That's how I was. After my parents died in a horrible earth pony/unicorn incident, Princess Celestia thought it would be nice for my friend Ice to take care of me. She was just a bit older than I. She's about 17, and I'm, what, only 14? Yeah, I'm 14. 

Okay, so three years doesn't count as 'a bit', but it's nice, in a way. Ice never lived with anyone, really. Besides taking care of me, I mean. She just made her home in an abandoned house one day, and seemed to take care of herself from then on. Ice is an earth pony, like me. She has a long and VERY light blue mane with a few white stripes that ALWAYS cover half of her face; her tail's pretty much the same way, except it's not that long. It's actually a bit short if you ask me. Her coat is almost the same color of her mane, a very light blue, kinda like the color of the sky. 

Her cutie mark is an ice shard. (Duh, her name's ICE for crying out loud!) And for an earth pony (I prefer pegasi, to be honest) she's actually very pretty! I had caught myself staring at her flank at times, but that's not what I'm talking about. I don't think of her like that, it's just that I need somepony to love or something. Anyways... I myself look a LOT like Ice, except for the color scheme. I have a red coat, and I mean RED. Like redder then the reddest apple in Equestria red. I had an unusually long mane, it was an extremely dark red, and my tail was the same except it had one big yellow stripe. 

My tail was just as long as my mane, if not longer. My cutie mark was, obviously, a small flame. Ice never tells anyone how she got her mark, she's so cold. I, however, got mine when I got burned by a small fire in Canterlot. Nopony knows how it started, it just... started! Anyways, I really don't see how fire could be a talent or whatever, what I really don't get is that I have an amazing ability to... errr... how do I say it? "Get inside other ponies' minds"? Whatever. I'm a really good negotiator. I just don't understand how I got a flame as my cutie mark. 

"FIRE!" Ice shouted from the kitchen, interrupting my thoughts. 

"COMING!" I yelled back. 

I like my home here in Canterlot, it's really nice. Ice and me, our house isn't so big. Just a kitchen, a living room, and two bedrooms with their own bathroom. I was just about in the kitchen when Ice yelled. 

"FIRE YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" She had her back turned towards the stove. 

"I'm right here," I replied kind of smart-like. Then my tone changed to a hurt kind of tone. 

"I've been here watching you yell at me without even turning from our breakfast." I said sadly. "I thought you cared about me enough to at least turn around while you yell..." Oh dang I was good. Ice, being as over-protective, parental, and loving as she is, immediately broke down; the kitchen was filled with her sobs and apologies. She hopped over to me (our kitchen is pretty small, three hoof steps and you've circled the edge of It.) and nuzzled her head next to mine in an apologetic hug. She's SO easy to manipulate, as is everypony here. I even got a nice view of her flank while I was being hugged. 

"Oh I'm so sorry, Fire." She sobbed. "I'll pay more attention to you than I do my cooking." Which, by the way, was FABULOUS!!! That is, if it hadn't burned while she was cuddling me. Ice was an amazing cook. She had a very nice flank too... NO! STOP! I can't keep this up! 'Ugh, I think I'll go outside, maybe spy on the Princesses today.' I thought, and moved on with my day. 

At Canterlot Castle, I somehow found the window to Celestia's bedroom cracked open. I saw two figures, the two Princesses inside! I sneaked underneath the window and tuned my ears in. Luckily, I knew the Princesses' voices very well, and didn't have to see them to know who was talking. 

"Dear sister," Princess Luna started. "We simply cannot stand for this! Discord, although we have banished him, is coming here to take his revenge!" Same old, same old. Luna is paranoid of Discord returning. She has been since a cotton candy cloud arrived in Ponyville on its own free will a month back. I was just about to leave when 

"You're right." Celestia, you've GOT to be kidding me! "Discord has shown signs of return, and they are growing more frequent. We must take immediate action." 

Luna gave a deep sigh of relief. "So you finally believe me." 

"Yes, dear sister, I do believe you, and I should have listened to you earlier. We must call the elements of Harmony to aid us again. I am going to write a letter and send it to Ponyville." She didn't need to explain to who, Luna already knew. Shoot. But about these Elements of Harmony? Sounds like something I should check out! And I sneaked off, back home to Ice, who just finished making Lunch. "Here you go, dearie!" She said in her usual, happy tone. Good. Now I just need to find a way to Ponyville.