The Hearth's Fire? It's like Imagine Breaker with pyrotechnics.
I stood in front of the mirror; a white “towel” barely covering my lower half. I had been ignoring a blatantly obvious thing the whole time I was washing myself, and it was time to confront it head on!
Looking down at my crotch, I prodded around the front for any sign of my penis. I even went so far as to drop the fucking towel. “Having a new body is fun and all, but there is one thing that’s been pestering me.” If an actual phallus was there, my hands would be violating the absolute fuck out of it! “Where in the Blue Hell is my dick,” I thought angrily, etching a frown onto my face as I gave up.
With a sigh, I picked the towel off the clean white tile and went back to drying myself off. Walking out of the bathroom while using the towel to wrap myself back up, I stepped into the Living Room just to see Sunset using a spoon to eat some soup. The broth was brown with a fine layer of melted cheese and bread on top. The smell of onions wafted around the vicinity as I placed a hand on my hip and licked my lips.
“French Onion Soup? Don’t mind if I do!” I cleared my throat with a smile. Sunset wasn’t looking at me as she responded.
“So you finally decided to leave my shower?” Sunset slowly turned her head up to pay me some attention after shoveling another spoonful of soup into her mouth. “I hope you cleaned yourself rathe- PFFFFTTT!” Her soup was instantaneously sprayed all over her table as I leaned up against her wall.
Offering a suggestive smile, I held out a claw and flicked my index finger back towards myself in a “come hither” manner; slowly, as if I were trying to touch a spider’s web without alerting it. “I don’t bite...” I purred, watching as Sunset fell off her loveseat in embarrassment.
“PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, IDIOT,” Sunset roared, turning her head away from me while pointing at my body with a hoof. “Don’t just walk around a lady’s house in nothing but a towel! Have you no manners whatsoever!?” That same hoof became a golden blur as he waved it up and down, keeping her head turned away from me as I strolled over to the coat rack.
“What’s the big fuss all about this time, Sunset? You didn’t seem to have a problem with me being naked on your couch,” I pointed out with an actual finger, indicating where my scaley-ass was sitting only half-an-hour ago. My eyes widened as Sunset turned her head back around to face me, and I cut her off just as her mouth opened; figuring out why she was acting the way she was.
“Don’t tell me you ponies view “suggestive apparel and situations” as smut,” I tilted my head to the side in askance, but in truth; I knew I was right simply by the way she was now stuttering over herself. “Apparently I’m right. Your kind doesn’t get aroused by simple nudity, as you are around it every day. So, “skimpy wear” is your softcore, huh? Which means if I pose like this...” I grinned and placed a claw behind my head, cocking my entire body to the left. The other claw pulled the front face of the towel towards Sunset, while I on-purposely flicked my head forward to have my mane spillover and conceal my right eye.
Sunset just stared at me with her mouth open.
“I’m waiting for you, Princess~,” I cooed, making sure to hiss at the end like I had touched something hot. Fluttering my eyes, I whipped my wet mane back into place and stared at her stoically. “How long are you going to stay over there, my honey. Why not be a bad bear and stick your hoof into the hive?”
“STOP IT!” Sunset practically slammed her hovering spoon down into the soup bowl and magicked over a dark-brown throw pillow. She then buried her face inside the material, hiding the painfully obvious blush that had already claimed both tips of her ears.
“I could get some socks for you, dear. Slip ‘em on nice an’ slow, just so that I could watch your face as the fabric caress those flawless flanks and legs of yours~. I’m getting excited just thinking about it~!” I licked my lips loudly, making sure to slurp as my abnormally long tongue nearly covered the entirety of my maw.
“JUST LEAVE ALREADY! WE’LL VISIT STONEHAVEN TOMORROW AT NOON! DON’T BE LATE!” She cradled up into a little Sunset Ball of embarrassment on the loveseat, using one hoof to keep the throw-pillow against her face while she used the other to point at the door. “I WASHED YOUR CLOTHES TOO!”
“Stop yelling,” I stated simply, picking up my recently washed jacket and slipping it on; followed by the pants, the belt, and then sliding Zaelstrom into the space between the right pistol holster and my hip. “It’s quite unbecoming of a lady, Sunset. What do you want me to do with this towel?”
The pony tilted her head minutely from the cover of her pillow. “Wow, you’re practically shining! I guess your scales just lose their luster as the day goes on, perhaps? Oh, and just leave the towel on the coat stand.” Sunset waved her hoof in dismissal, dropping the pillow from her face. The blush was still on her cheeks as she went back to her soup.
*Fesssterrr... Feeeeeed...*
I paused on heading out at the familiar hissing voice of the Denizens. The letters of warning spilled into my head from Atharva’s letter, making me turn around with a sheepish smile on my face as I shut the door.
“Uhh... you wouldn’t mind too terribly if I had dinner with you, right? I’m actually out of supplies for my ship.” I held my claws up so that the inside-wrists were touching while I drummed the tips of my fingers against one another. If I didn’t get food here, I could always do what I was taught to do by my dad... hunt. This new predatory body could tear any type of game to shreds in seconds, which- even though it worries me to say this -stimulated the idea of leaving more.
“YOU...” Sunset stated sharply, puffing out her cheeks the way a miffed woman would do when something didn’t go her way. All the air came out like a deflating hot air balloon, making me smile as she closed her eyes. “Fine. Whatever; just don’t do anything like that again, please. You have no idea how bad that was.”
I chuckled and made my way back over to the couch, sitting down while placing both my arms on the hard back rim. Completely stretched out, I sniffed the air a little bit more. “You wouldn’t happen to have anymore of that soup, would you? Because let me tell you; I’m so hungry, I could eat a hor-” I paused.
Sunset stopped her spoon on the tip of her lip and looked at me from the corner of her eye. “... You were saying?” I could almost hear the mile-high slamming episode she was building up to.
Panicking, I just went with my gut. “Whores! Yup, a whore’s fetus!” I smiled at her as the spoon dropped from her aura. It took me a while to figure out what I had just said, and when I did, well; let’s just say I wasn’t too good at swallowing my worries right then and there.
“... Excuse me!?” With her teeth deadlocked and grinding, Sunset rose from her loveseat: stormed her way over to the couch, jumped up, placed both her hooves on both sides of my neck, lowered her face near mine, and then glowered deeply. “I believe I asked you a question, Silas,” Sunset demanded forcefully, ramming her snout into my own as I smiled at her in a little bit of fear.
“... Did I mention how nice you smell?”
That wasn’t my finest hour. The wooden door I flew through and the unforgiving dirt-path leading up to Sunset’s house likened to agree.
“Really, dickweed? You really tried the ‘smell’ thing again? Truly!? It’s a wonder something hasn’t come out of the woods and sodomized you yet.” Frowning after reprimanding myself, I slowly picked myself up and dusted off. If this was going to be a thing, then someone could just take me off this planet right now.
After properly cleaning myself off, I made my way back to Judgement as the sun started to disappear behind the trees. The area had become dark quite quickly, considering the sun was just beating down on me earlier.
The sound of flapping wings gave me pause as Altaria landed on a branch next to my head. Turning to face her, the Bullivian Gigantecles tossed a red apple at me with a smile. I grabbed it out of the air, rubbed it on my jacket, then took a nice big bite out of it. I knew the fruit wasn’t going to be enough in settling the surely voracious appetite of the nanomachines.
“CAW,” Altaria enthused as she flew onto my shoulder, nuzzling my face. It felt like a million toddler hands were trying to haymaker me. Altaria nuzzled for a little longer, eventually settling down while using her wings as a set of blinds to cover her body.
“I guess that’s how she sleeps? Huh, so she’s like a bat in regards to slumber? That’s pretty freaking nifty for a bird with no bat-like characteristics to take note of.” I bit into the apple again, nearly destroying it with my powerful teeth as I ripped half of it to shreds within my maw. I figured there was another two bites going for me if I was lucky.
“Mm,” I swallowed. “This is where flying could come in handy. I mean, I got wings, yeah; but that don’t mean flying comes with a few flaps. I wonder if flying is like driving a car...” I trailed off, stepping over a fallen tre-
I pouted. “This wasn’t the way I took to get here....”
Peck. Peck. Peck.
“Leave me alone, Alty. I don’t want to talk about it,” I responded bitterly. Out of everything shitty that has happened today, I didn’t expect my last endeavor to be getting hopelessly lost in the fucking woods. Sighing bitterly, I leaned back into the oak I decided to rest on; scooting my buttocks up against its base.
Peck. Peck.
“Yes, Altaria; I know I’m lost. You don’t have to be so peckish about it,” I stated sorely, burying my face in my claws. Altaria cawed comfortingly, nuzzling my neck with her hard beak a couple of times as if it would help. “This is so messed up. All I wanted to do was eat some fucking soup, and now that’s not even an option.”
Altaria cooed next to my ear, giving it a reassuring pat with her wing. I couldn’t help but smile at her antics. I lifted my head so that she’d stop messing with it, opting to pet her on the head as recompense for her loyalty. There was a moment where she flew off, leading me to believe that she had moved on to better things.
Looking up into the canopy above, I could just make out the stars the night sky. I smiled and thought about the flowing mane of the moon princess I had met in my dreams. She was quite gorgeous, that Princess Luna; with the way her blue eyes sparkled with an eternity’s worth of bravado and steadfastness. The way her soft face rippled with a mask of interest in stoicism only added to her mysterious beauty. I could’ve lost myself inside that pretty little face of hers forever; if she’d let me.
“And when she turned around? I’m a Scale-Furry to be sure, but damn! I think her parents knew what they were doing when they made her the princess of the moon!” I smiled like an idiot, dreaming of plump-
Floomph.
I frowned and looked down, thinking I’d see Altaria messing with my belt. You could only imagine my face when two other “heads” stared back at me. Freezing up, I scrounged my face up in fear at being caught in a position like this.
“Noooo! Why now!? Why now!? As much stimulation I was giving that area back in Heinz’s shack, you’d think they’d come out! All I did was think about Luna’s flanks one time and now I have two smoked logs just laying across the fireplace! And to hell with the notion of ‘stoking the flame’!” Snapping out of my frightened daze, I did what any male in my situation would.
Sucking in a heavy amount of air while avoiding channeling my flame into it; I proceeded to scream my fucking lungs out. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“I’m done for. It’s been thirty minutes since that scream happened. Someone should’ve found me by now!” I shivered against my tree, glaring daggers at my penises while trying to make them shrink back into my scales. My pants were on the left side of me, and my claws were wrapping my body up in a massive hug. Even the cold air was ineffective at quelling the rigidity of my two ‘towers’.
“This is bullshit. Not only am I lost, but it seems like there’s no one for miles. Who knows how long I’ve been in-”
“Silas.”
Widening my eyes, I hurriedly looked to my left only to watch as Sunset Shimmer came through some green shrubs. Her horn was glowing in a soft light-blue light, which only served to affirm that unicorns must be the master race on this planet if other races exist. “Magic is too OP for them not to rule over everything! It would be in my best interest to find out more about these ponies, even if I said their habits and lives didn’t matter. Luckily for me, I have a pretty good idea on who to ask-”
I gave a grunt of surprise as Sunset’s horn poked me on the forehead. Rubbing the offended spot with a glare pointed at her, I grabbed my pants an slid them on. For some odd reason, my supercharged libido disappeared the moment Sunset showed up, leaving me completely bare at the crotch. “At least I know they’re there for future reference.”
“Thanks for taking the time to find me, Sunset. Gauging from that luxurious yellow night-robe; am I safe in assuming you were just getting ready for bed?” I tightened my belt with a sigh, patting the sides of my hips to adjust the comfort levels. “And for that matter; would you mind telling me the time and date?”
“Yeah, I can!” snapped Sunset. “Some ponies enjoy sleeping the night away without interruption from alien screams. It’s midnight, marking the start of November eighteenth; you’ve been lost in my backyard for two hours.” She sassed, tossing me an annoyed glance as we walked back towards her cottage... if that’s where we were going.
“Are we headed back to your place; or are you taking me to mine,” I asked, walking through the shrubs milliseconds after Sunset did. We were back in the “forest”, but I growled to myself in irritation as my eyes fell upon something too ironic to be funny.
“That’s her cabin. I wandered around in a large-ass circle for no reason!?” Gritting my teeth in irritation, we came up to the front door within a minute and proceeded inside. The living room was illuminated in her glow, making my eyes blink as they tried to discern the dimly-lit place of rest.
“Take the couch; I’m going back to bed.” Sunset peeled off to the right and proceeded down the hallway. I had to catch her now, or else my back would pay dearly for it in the morning.
“Wait,” I called, causing the mare to sigh deeply and turn around. “The couch; it was built for a pony,” I explained, making Sunset frown as she adjusted the rollers in her mane.
“Well if you look at the only quadrupedal being that owns this house; yes, it was made for a pony!” She glared at me, causing my face to drop with severe amounts of irritation on it from being treated like an idiot.
Taking my index finger, I pointed it at my face and remained silent, making sure a frown was there all the while.
Sunset continued to glare at me. “What? You’re not tired or something?”
I didn’t move.
“The couch is comfortable to me, if that’s what you were fishing for-” she paused, her mouth locked into an ‘O’-shape as she slowly nodded in understanding. “Right; the couch is too small. How I didn’t see that coming, I’ll never know.” She turned back around and trotted down the hallway. “Come on, then. You’re bunking with me tonight.”
“I regret everything,” Sunset stated in a lustless voice, making me snicker as I continued to spoon her. “Why must you be so Celestia-damned big, you oaf? All I want is to sleep...” Her lustless tone turned into a low whine as she snuggled down into her pillow, trying her best to move the rest of her body away from my own.
My head was resting on hers; my muzzle basically breaking every roller in her mane as I snickered lowly, the deep vibrations causing Sunset to sigh in exasperation. “You like me, little pony; just admit it already,” I sassed with a smile, prodding her in the back with a finger. She inhaled, before bucking me in the shin with a back hoof.
I yipped in pain, a function I had never expected to be possible in coming from a dragon’s mouth. “That hurt, you yellow menace! It’s not like I had control over how large my body would grow, y’know!”
Her response was to buck me in the shin again, causing me to jerk the same leg back in pain. “Good. Maybe now you’ll back up some, hmm? Or would you like another kick for your troubles?” Her question was light-hearted in tone, but I could see the frown on her face from my vantage point down my muzzle.
“Back up where, you insipid eyesore? I have this amount of room left; that’s all! If my proximity is bothering you; then why didn’t you sleep out on the couch? It is big enough for a pony after all,” I pointed out with a glare towards her peeking eyes.
She looked away, using her magic to completely pull the tan comforter off my body and wrap herself up in a cocoon of tinted brown. “Don’t ask questions! I offered you the bed, and I don’t find that couch to be comfortable anyway; so there! Good luck going to sleep completely exposed to the draft, idiot!”
“Why is she suddenly so mad!? What did I do!? I just can’t wrap my mind around this mare for my life!” I placed a claw on the covers and pulled sharply, sending Sunset into a seemingly endless tumble of brown, yellow and red. After five seconds of rapid spinning, I was finally rewarded with the covers I grew to covet.
Sunset landed with a dull plop sound, grunting as her stomach made contact first. Her horn went straight through her pillow, and I watched with a scared intake of breath as her eyes opened into a ferocious glare. The sound of grinding teeth filled the air, making the scales on the back of my neck tingle in anxiety as I rolled over, exposing my back to the surely angry mare of fiery destruction.
“Get out.” Sunset’s voice was cold; colder than the draft I was feeling earlier. Scientists have long struggled to obtain Absolute Zero, but the secret to it rested well inside the voice of a tiny pony with the ability to utilize magic.
Like lifting me up, for example.
“Let’s not do any rash, Sunset! It was just a joke, right?” I stated into the eyes of Satan herself; they were actually on fire. Light-blue flames kicked from the recesses of her eyes, hanging outside the corners and floating like they were caught in a breeze. Her whole body was shaking in righteous fury, causing me to swallow the mountain blocking my airway.
“Just... Go sleep... ON THE DAMN COUCH!” Her voice morphed into something demonic at the last part of her exclamation, and I was promptly sent through the door to her bedroom at blinding speeds. I had to close my eyes, fearing that the wind pressure alone would bne enough to cut the sensitive organs.
It wasn’t even a full second before my body made friends with the counter in the living room. My spine, ever the gracious neighbor, went to the counter and offered it a bowl full of my disks as I keeled over. Moaning in pain, I slowly reached out a claw and clutched at the tan carpet, using it as leverage to slowly pick myself up.
*Unsatissssfieed... sustenanceeee...*
Propping myself on the counter, my eyes locked onto the only appliance in eyeshot that could possibly satisfy the ravenous micromachines inside my body. I definitely didn’t want them to devour my body from the inside out; not if I could help it, anyway.
“Right. So I’m probably going to get the snot beaten out of me for doing this, but I rather have a sore ass than a burned one; that’s for sure.” Sighing deeply, I made my way over to the refrigerator and opened it from the left. The cool air washed over my body, reminding me of the produce aisle in a grocery store.
As I peered inside, my face gradually began to sour in repulsion at how much... well... pony food there was! “A white tin marked with ‘Hayfries’ on top? Hay waffles? Hay pancakes!? Ponies might be herbivores, but I don’t think a single drop of animal meat goes inside these foods normally!”
True to their names, the foodstuffs proved to be made- if not then stuffed -with hay. I eventually disregarded the four body shelves representing the top part of the fridge, bending down at the knees to have better access to the bottom drawer. Pulling it out quietly, my eyes quickly scanned what I had thought to be the designated place for vegetables if Equis’s fridges were set up like Earth’s.
I snorted. “Why... in the Blue Hell... is there hay in the fucking bacon!? Haybacon Strips!? Really!? God, these ponies are so annoying... no wonder I don’t care much in learning about them!” My frown couldn’t be any deeper as I moved the white package out of my way, searching for anything edible. “Or you could go to fucking sleep and stop trying to raid her fridge. Maybe she’ll reward you with a good breakfast?”
My brain was making far too much sense for me to really acknowledge right now. Hungry nanites were preparing to feast on everything inside my scales for all I know! It clearly doesn’t care in the slightest, apparently. “Or you could stop being stupid for once and stop acting like we’re different, asshat.”
I paused for a moment, allowing that thought to be concentrated on for a couple of seconds. Curving my eyes up to look at nothing in particular, I entertained the motion of going to sleep while ravenous alien symbiotes devoured my pancreas and ejected it from my anus because I wouldn’t feed them.
Needless to say, the image was enough to make me continue rummaging through her fridge. On the norm’; I don’t really think about things as much as I should, which is probably why a lot of stuff happens to me- “Hey, a pear! I’ll take that and.... these grapes! Perfect!”
Taking a firm hold of the teardrop-shaped fruit in my left claw, I tossed it into the air a couple of times just to get a feel for it. Now, I don’t know what tossing fruit in the air does, but the dull slap that happens when it collides with your claw again is so damn satisfying. The pear was small, and with a shrug of my shoulders, I tossed it into my mouth and began chewing it down.
“Mmm,” I hummed in satisfaction as the fruit made contact with my stomach. Seeking more nourishment, I walked over to the sink after shutting the fridge door, turning the water on by the bar-shaped nozzle. Cold water ran through the grapes and out the holes in the bag, draining into the metal sink. The sound of water going down pipes echoed throughout the kitchen, making me freeze up and perk my ears.
If Sunset heard that, then my time as a resident on Equis would be gone before first light, even if I tried telling her that sapient symbiotic nanites were demanding sustenance at the cost of my body if I refused.
Thankfully, however, the draining water did not wake Sleeping Satan in her hellhole. Jostling the bag softly to remove any excess water, I made my way over to the loveseat and started eating the grapes by clawfuls. It took me five minutes to finish the entire bag of grapes; at least seven branches worth of the succulent ovoid fruits.
I tilted my head back with a sigh, kicking my feet up onto the table as I undressed myself. Now that I think about it, Sunset’s probably gonna kill me for getting dirt from the outside onto her loveseat.
My jacket came off easy enough, but I struggled with my pants for a minute or so. When the articles of clothing were removed, I reached for the light-brown lever on the side of he loveseat recliner. My feet were used at the same time to push the table away slowly, allowing room for the hidden leg compartment to swing out.
Sunset must keep it well-oiled, because it made no noise at it stretched out. I saw fit to place my legs down then; snuggling into the soft material of the recliner with a deep sigh of satisfaction. The only thing to do now was go to sleep...
....
....
“...” I opened my eyes with a frown. “... Annnnnd sleep’s not on the schedule for tonight; that’s just great,” I thought with distaste, placing both of my claws behind my head. “This is just great. Who knew my insomnia would transfer over with my soul? I know I didn’t.”
Boredom was now setting in quickly, causing my frown to deepen. Sucking my teeth in irritation, I used my legs to compact the leg rest back into the recliner and stand up, grabbing my jacket before heading outside.
The moon was high in the sky, glittering down on the wildflowers beside the path up to Sunset’s cabin. “... Princess of the Night, huh? Hmph; she does a good job.” Looking down again, I made my way over to the middle of the path and prepared myself for the thing I was wont to do when sleep eluded me.
Once I reached my destination, I gave a mighty sigh and got into the proper position for some push-ups. But before I got down to business, a sudden thought gave me pause. “Siri; you’re still here, right?”
“... Yeah? What do you want?”
“You said that the Sirios Unit is good for exporting, importing, and storing information, right? Well if that’s the case, could you try playing some music from my memory? Keep it low, though. I don’t want to wake up the red and yellow anti-christ in the cabin.” I waited in the up position, hearing a couple of whirring noise from within my cranium.
“Alright, so you don’t suck too much. You’ve definitely earned points with me for liking rock and heavy metal.” Siri’s voice was filled with acknowledgement, as if she was finally paying attention to me. Which I wouldn’t put past the hologram, considering she’s basically been ignoring me this whole time.
“If that’s the case, you should be looking at what my IPod albums are like. Be a beauty and play the one named “Sound of Madness”, please.” I waited until the sound of a war-like cadence filled my head, slowly giving way to a faded guitar riff. This began a crescendo of sound until the scratchy voice I had come to love came in like a crashing wave upon my consciousness.
“Take it and take it and take it and take it and take it all~” Sung the scratchy voice of Shinedown’s lead, causing me to begin my push-up routine.
My arms were screaming at me from their positions on both sides of my body. I stared up at the moon; my eyes beginning to grow heavy from all the fucking push-ups I had done. The whole album repeated, and that’s a full-hour of music. “Five-hundred... haah... and sixty-two push-ups... I did.” I breathed in and out as the music finally cut off with the opening drum fill of the first song starting up again.
“This sucks. My eyes are heavy, but it’s not from being sleepy. I thought working myself out was going to do the trick, but apparently; Sigma Draconians work a little differently than humans.” I closed my eyes and sucked in the floral scent of all the wildflowers. “At least I’m weary enough to initiate fake slumber.”
I settled down against my jacket, shifting my wings a little bit as I fluttered my eyes. “... I’m such an idiot. Sunset has a good amount of patience to her, seeing as how doing a quarter of the shit I’ve done to a human girl would get my dick put through a cheese grater and lightly salted with a hint of lemon juice.”
Grimacing at the brutal image, I allowed myself a few more awkward thoughts before severing connection with the outside world.
“... And we’re back in the Station.” I tucked my claws into the bottom pockets of my jacket, sucking my teeth at the familiar scenery.
“Why yes,” A smooth male voice cooed to my left, causing me to turn around sharply. I frowned at the Draconian, dressed in a pinstriped tux with white undershirt and sky-blue tie. A black low tophat sat on his head, with a sky-blue stripe going around it as well. “And you’re not without good company again, it seems,” he enthused.
Raising my eyebrow, I cracked my neck from left to right as I inspected his grey feet and scales. A sky-blue mane sat tucked into the back of his tux, while two bold strands fell down to the bottom of his pecks. Everything about this guy resembled me to a tee.
“Mind explaining who you are, mister? I sure as hell don’t know.” Taking my claws out of my pockets, I opted to cross my arms and tap my foot.
“Heh,” he laughed. “Aren’t you a little too self-entitled? Nevertheless, I go by many names. Some call me the Other Side: Dark Shame, The Mirrored Entity,” he paused, lowering his head and the brim of his tophat to cover his face completely. “Master of the Flaming Soul... Silas Tre’Rexum Epista, at your service!”
‘Silas’ took a deep bow at the waist, removing his top hat and throwing it into the darkness with a flick of his wrist. “So yeah, that’s the gist of it,” he stood back up, smiling all the while as he patted his chest twice; causing the fabric to transform into what I had on. but with the colors inverted-
“Oh,” I stated with a head bob, finally piecing together this puzzle. “You’re supposed to be representing my dark half, right?” I tilted my head to the side as I stared at him, watching that same smile creep outwards even more.
“Oh I assure you, Justin Richards; I’m so much more than black or white. My soul, however, was trapped here by that bastard planeswalking dragon. I was recording the Ark’s first flight as its passenger when he beat me in a game of chess inside my mind, forcing me to cooperate with his machinations.” Silas walked over to my fountain and felt it up with a smile.
“Lucky for you, I’m not in the mood to fight right now, human. You should feel honored that I haven’t attacked you yet. The planet you’re on now would have been reduced to ashes in a matter of minutes if I had my way with my body.” Silas touched the fountain with single finger, making it explode into a million meteoric pieces of sky-blue and black armageddon.
All the pieces touched my Station, lighting it up in sky-blue flames. It was a pillar of fire that licked at me from my close position to the wall. Silas turned around with a sly grin; as if what he did was enough to break my concentration.
“You have no idea what lies within your Will, Mr. Richards. You’re playing dressup in the body of a king, who contested the Goddess-Queen easily. I daresay I was feared by her, because my power was the only one strong enough to take her and those useless Denizens for a trip.” Silas explained as he unzipped his jacket, showcasing his own pair of sky-blue underbelly scales.
“There’s a world out there, Mr. Richards. A world I had left in constant unrest, seeding the crop of destruction until the fools sought to cull the wheat.” His smile expanded greatly. “I don’t know why Nicol Bolas wanted you to have my body, but I want you to know that it was a mistake. You are not as wicked as I am; you don’t have the drive to be a king or top dog of any province.... you sicken me.”
I tilted my head to the side. “...Soooo?”
Silas just stood there, glaring at me now. “I killed so many of my people: so many Alphas, so many Omegas... so many Sigmas. My name has become synonymous with genocide, human; you’re life doesn’t even begin to compare; no one’s does.” My eyes widened a little bit when the flames surrounding my Station turned navy-blue, roaring at me like a hunting party of hellhounds yearning for my soul.
Silas’s feet left the ground as wisps of navy-blue flames came out of his heels, propelling him some three feet into the air and holding him there. “There is no equal to my power, boy. I have been given the sword capable of slaying the Gods themselves. It was only natural for me to want the throne of my people, and for all worlds at that! I am the Master of the Flaming Soul, the Genocidal Anti-Matter. My power is the Hearth’s Fire!” He shot all four limbs out, giving a harsh roar of triumph as navy-blue flames shot out in a star shape.
The noise of their ejection could be likened to a fleet of naval ships opening fire at the same time.
I lowered my ears to block the painful call of Hell itself; the air becoming unbearably hot as he floated back down the ground, leaving me speechless at his display of power.
“This is not a power for protection, Mr. Richards. This power claims lives; whether you’re aware of it or not, and it’s not possible to protect both your own and someone elses...” Instead of the creepy smile I was getting used to, Silas casted his head to the side and tightened his fists. “... I tried. Love is turned to ash: Happiness becomes coal, and Content melts away into sedimentary waste. You become a volcano, tilting on the edge of either erupting magma, or pulling a Vesuvius; killing those you hold dear for no reason other than to stop them in place, so that you have something to remember them by...”
“Coward.” I spat.
Silas made a sound like he choked on something, looking back up at me with a face of incredulousness. “...What did you call me?”
I shrugged my shoulders again. “It’s either ‘coward’ or ‘quitter’, but I know they both go hand in hand. So yeah, let me fix my face,” I crossed my arms again and glared at him. “You’re a coward and a quitter.”
It was enough of a taunt to get Silas to tear his jacket to smithereens with a mighty roar, shaking the entire realm of my dream and dispersing his flame wall. “You have NO right to judge me, HUMAN! You dare accuse me of COWARDICE!?”
“Yes,” I responded simply, my will unwavering against this SigmAsshole. “Just because it’s hard playing the role of a Hero doesn’t mean you take the Axe of the Dragon, Silas! Have some sort of empathy, asshole! You can’t honestly be that apathetic towards every-” I stopped myself, my eyes widening in realization of something crucial.
“So you’ve finally figured it out, hmm? That’s good,” Silas bit, cracking his neck with his claws. “You’re more like me than you know, boy. It’s easy playing the blackbird on the fence, but what happens when you have to chose either to steal the feed or find a worm? Guess you never went that far in, right,” Silas goaded, making me grit my teeth in anger.
“Shut up.”
“Oh? A soft spot, maybe? What gives you the right to judge me, Justin? You’re just as bad.”
“Shut up!”
“Your form of genocide is different from mine, but just as self-destructive. Killing off your want to care? At least I have a leg-up on you in regards to staying true to my feelings; fucking coward.”
That was the last straw for me.
“FUCK YOU!” I charged him without hesitation, going straight for the kill by bringing my claws to bear.
Silas angled his neck to the left, staring at me like a disappointed father does his son. “It’s not your fault, of course,” he continued, dodging each of my frenzied swipes with minimal effort. “The Cycle of Fault is a vicious one, isn’t it? It begins with a reclusive adolescence like yourself, who faults his parent’s actions for making him the way he is. Then the parents blame the government. And from there, in order...” He dodged my next couple of attacks as he went down the list.
“Next comes society: race, history, and then your species’ nature!” My attacks were rewarded with a savage uppercut to my chin as I came in again. I reeled back from the force behind the blow, which felt like someone socked me with the back end of a cannon.
“When will you accept responsibility for your actions, brat!? When will you take off the bib of apathy, and replace that shit with a tie of empathy!? How long do I have to sit through your insecurities in my own damn body,” Silas roared, pressing the attack this time.
I was hardpressed in dodging his attacks. His fists were iron gables, beating down upon my defenses like a soldier does a P.O.W. In time, his hits were enough to back me up onto the edge of my Station. My body leaned back of its own accord, acquiescing to the idea of a quick plummet to death.
“This ends it.” Silas threw a lightning-fast straight towards the space between my eyes, which I closed on instinct.
...
I cracked an eye open.
Silas was there, his fist mere inches from my face as he looked at me with a dropped jaw of horror. A couple of wet splashes were heard seconds later, causing me to look down.
There was blood. Red blood. My blood is blue.
Silas lowered his head, looking at half my arm; the other half was out through his back somewhere. In my fear of being killed, I had ended up punching straight through the guy. Silas stared for a moment or so longer, still trying to comprehend that there was a bulky arm invading his bowels and protruding from his back.
Slowly, he grabbed ahold of my arm and backed off, giving little grunts of pain as he finally popped off.
“... You used it. You used my Hearth’s Fire... but that’s impossible...” breathed Silas. “Somehow... you coated your arm INTO-” His voice crescendoed up in volume as he coughed up a lot of blood while continuing to back off. Silas’s claw erupted into navy-blue flames, which he then used to sear the wounds close. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” he roared in agony as the flames did what they were summoned to do.
“... Yooooo...” I drawled out in disbelief, bring my arm up as Silas’s blood fizzled out like water on a hot stove eye. “I... I just punched right through you, man,” I exclaimed in horror, using my other claw to pull at my mane in misunderstanding. “That shit shouldn’t have been possible! Aren’t dragons nearly impervious or something like that!? What the fuck is going on here!?”
“...Maybe Bolas wasn’t wrong...” Silas stated angrily, a large patch of white showcasing where I had ran him through with my arm. “Even so, what you did was a fluke; a spur of the moment. I have complete control over you and the powers you wield!” Silas ignited his claws, taking up a fighting pose which left a claw near his chin, while the other was opened with the palm facing me. “You’re two-thousand years too inexperienced to beat me, human. Just give up.”
I paused and weighed my options carefully. “If I give up now, he could take my body. Bolas said they were getting ready to pull the plug on me back on Earth, and that was quite a while ago. If I die here, there’s no telling what’s going to happen with my soul! Losing to him is not an option!” Steeling myself appropriately, I clenched my fists and snarled.
“You’re not getting this body, Silas Epista. You’ve had your fun. And I just figured out what you represent, too.” I pointed a thumb at the Gem of Becoming in my chest, giving a confident smirk as my only means of defense at protecting my lie.
Silas raised his eyebrow, looking at me as if I had grown heads from the tips of my ears. “Are you an idiot? Clearly, one of my punches from earlier did a good job of jarring you senseless, human. Why would I- who couldn’t really care about this stupid Station of yours -represent anything other than my severe distaste of sharing my body with a coward!” Silas laughed at me shortly afterwards, making my confidence wane a little.
“Shit. Uhhh... think, Justin, think! Mmmm, ah!” I cleared my throat in victory, giving my creepiest smirk just for Silas to drink in as he stopped laughing. “How could you possibly think of playing the fool, SigmAsshole? The sobby-as-fuck backstory you just told me was meant to discourage me from chasing the Hearth’s Fire; with the added bonus of showing off its destructive capabilities firsthand, right?” I tapped the side of my head with an index finger.
“There’s a brain in here, dumbass.”
Silas shook with rage, making my smile turn into full on laughter. “So I was right!? Holy hell; talk about your shots in the dark, right!?” I continued to laugh, right up until a navy-blue fireball barely missed the right side of my face.
That’s when I shut myself up and readied myself for battle.
Silas was ‘standing’ in such a way, that one would mistake him as being weary from desert heat. His right leg was bent inwards as he sagged his arms, giving half-laughs as his mane covered his face.
I hunkered down, knowing some freaky shit was on its way. And my guess was correct, because Silas snapped his head to the right and sunk his teeth into the arm. It cracked at the place of impact, spraying his blood everywhere as he tore it off.
“GRAHHHHHHHHHHH,” Silas roared in absolute fury, going straight for the other with the same scream. I had to hold back my liquid disgust as it came apart with the sound of someone removing an old piece of bark from a pocket of tree sap... and just as slowly.
His blood was pouring out now, draining itself onto my Station and spreading out. “Haah... haah... haah,” Silas weezed out. His mane was still obstructing my view of his eyes, but every once in a while, I could make out flames flickering where his arms should be.
“What the FUCK was that shit!? He tore off his own ARMS for Christ’s sake!” My thought process was moving in and out of lightspeed and hyperspace, trying to figure out his motive for maiming himself. Nothing was coming to mind, however, and that had me tensed up more.
“... Hearth’s Fire: Requip.” My vision was nearly singed from existence as Silas’s navy-blue Hearth’s Fire exploded out from his arms as he roared. The torrent of flames slowly formed clawed gauntlets that stretched all the way up to his shoulders. They were made out of nothing but Hearth’s Fire, which roared its power just as loud as Silas was right now. The whole Station shook once more, rumbling about as I snarled in caution of this place’s integrity.
“Will this hold,” I asked myself, stomping on the stained-glass for good measure. It didn’t crack, which was good. “Alright, I’m still good...” I looked up at Silas. “...For now, it seems. I need to come up with a plan to eighty-six this guy... and quick!” I watched as Silas fixed his stance, but kept his top half bent back.
“Can you do it? Can you defeat your Fear, Justin? Can you stop what causes your skin...” His body snapped forward, his eyes completely alight with black fire as was his mouth. Every time he talked, some of his red blood would spill out from his eyes and mouth. “The Hearth’s Fire is meant TO KILL EVERYTHING; GODS INCLUDED! WHAT CHANCE DO YOU HAVE, HUMAN!?”
Silas stomped a foot, and I widened my eyes as the force was enough to launch me into the air. “GRIT YOUR TEETH, BOY!” Looking down filled me with fear as Silas launched himself at me with his fist reared back for a demonic punch. I had no way to defend myself up here!
I nearly puked up all my organs as his fist slammed home into my stomach. The hit was hard enough to wind me as I also felt the organ I use to digest food explode and cover everything with its acid, setting my insides on fire as I ejected blood and acid from my mouth.
My consciousness was already wavering after that hit, but Silas wasn’t done. “THERE ARE ARE NO BREAKS, FILTHY HUMAN!” I was swung around and sent towards the Station again, the force great enough to form a cone around my body. My back impacted the stained-glass, shattering my spine and ribcage as if they were some sort of cheap, knock-off figurines. The shards of rib pierced my lungs, deflating them like punctured airbags.
I couldn’t even scream as Silas flapped back down to the Station, landing next to my head with narrowed eyes.
“You will never escape your fear. You will never defeat me! And you will never use. The. Hearth’s Fire!” A navy-blue fist was cocked back as I coughed up some blood. Because of my recent spine injury, moving out of the way was impossible.
But... I don’t want to die here. I couldn’t die here! If I did, well; I’d be proving Silas Epista right; that I only think about myself and use my apathy as a means to escape responsibility in hurting others! I’m NOT going to be another Silas Epista! I’m going to be BETTER!
“You were never worthy of my power, Mr. Richards! NO ONE IS BUT ME!”
The fist came down like an avalanche of fire. And for some strange reason; a reason I could have no hope in comprehending by myself without help; Sunset’s face appeared before me.
“Don’t ask questions! You... you think I’m a friend? I think that oughta teach you who has the biggest horn, hmm? Don’t move your tongue, idi- AH!”
Silas Tre’Rexum Epista; the long hated Head of the Sigmanian Royal House on Planet Asla, couldn’t figure out what just happened. He was sure his fist was on a collision course with Justin Richard’s head; and he even foresaw it popping like a zit. But now; as his Hearth’s Fire is being held at bay by this... this... fakers mouth...
To say he was perplexed was beyond shallow in detail. In fact, a familiar feeling of gut-wrenching unease wormed its way into his heart and stomach as Justin slowly leaned forward, his whole body shaking even after the fact that Silas broke his back. He was sure of it!
“No... no YOU DON’T!” The King of Sigmas was not going to accept this poppycock as reality. Not if his other fist had something to say about it! The second strike made contact, jerking Justin’s head to the left as the right hook landed. A small shockwave pulsated throughout the Station from it, and Silas was sure he had crack his jawbone...
So why?
“WHY ISN’T HE LETTING GO!?”
“That’s right... I have a friend now. Not an acquaintance at school... but someone I actually enjoy being around. Would it be wrong then; for me to call her a friend even though I treated her so bad; even though I showed my whole ass to her and had the audacity to ask for a kiss on it?” My whole body was warm, heating up with something I couldn’t explain. It was as if someone was holding a million warm towels to my injuries, while placing my body in a sauna as well.
“I can’t lose to his clown! I need to know! I need to hear it from her mouth; that I actually have a friendship worth protecting now! I can’t die until I get my fucking answer, and I’ll go through gods and devils to make sure I DO!” I opened my eyes, just in time to have my head jerk to the left from an otherworldly amount of force slamming into it from the right.
“No! I’m not letting him go! He’s had his fun, beating me up like he did! I’m gonna have to return the favor, and then get my answer from Sunset! She’ll be happy I asked; I just know it!” I gave a guttural roar of pain as my spine snapped back into place, while the pieces of my ribcage were gathered up and seared together by something inside my body.
I kicked Silas in the stomach, sending him away a few feet as I sloppily got back on my own. Whatever was inside of me, searing all my wounds closed and melding my organs; I’m grateful for it; eternally grateful.
“How are you doing this!?” Silas charged me again, delivering a series of realm-shattering hooks to my face in rapid succession. “Why don’t you just stay down!? Why subject yourself to this much pain!? Do you not care for yourself; are you suicidal!? ANSWER ME!” That last one was an uppercut that broke my jaw again, making me stagger backwards... but with a grin.
“... Because it’s my win...” Now let me be clear. I had tried to take that moment in an attempt at sounding cool. Instead of the perfectly structured lead-off you might’ve read; in all actuality, it sound like I had said “...Breecwause ish mein ween...”. Which is not cool, in case you didn’t know.
That same warmth went back to work in fixing my jaw again. The bones and cartilage were regrown and seared to avoid any chance at coming undone. “... I have nothing to fear anymore, Silas. You’ve lost the game.”
“DON’T BE STUPID! You have death, and higher powers, and-”
“The list goes on and on, doesn’t it? I don’t care about higher powers, or death. If I can live out my life with an actual friend; I’m willing to die for anything. DON’T YOU QUESTION MY RESOLVE, SILAS EPISTA!” I charged him again, jumping into the air while cocking back a fist for a punch of my own.
“You’ve left yourself open, fool!” Silas ducked down then jumped up, sending his right fist out. My own right fist felt strangely warm, but I hadn’t the time to look at it as Silas and I clashed above my Station.
“There will always be a shred of fear in your heart! There will always be a- grrk!” Somehow, I had broken through his arm and slugged him in the face. His body slammed into the Station as he screamed bloody murder at having his back broken.
I landed on the ground, tucked myself in and rolled a couple inches, before standing back up over top of him. “Now you’ve lost for sure, Silas Epista. I don’t fear your, nor will I ever. Now go to sleep, asswipe.” I put everything I had into my final punch, aiming right for his stomach.
His eyes betrayed nothing as my fist made contact, folding him up like a lawn chair so that the top of his head touched his toes over my arm. The Station cracked and crumbled away from underneath me right as Silas let out his last breath.
And so I fell down into the abyss, the light above me slowly fading away as I closed my eyes.
“Silas! Silas! SILAS!”