//------------------------------// // The Fire Within // Story: Draconic Awakening // by saber1994 //------------------------------// After looking around some, the pony spotted Elliot lying on the ground. As soon as she saw him she gave little thought before she charged at him. Once she was close enough, she turned her body one hundred eighty degrees and bucked her hind legs straight at Elliot’s head. Elliot clenched his eyes shut in fear. His mind racing as he was about to be brutally massacred by a random pony that he had never met. A short while after the pony’s charge and nothing happening, Elliot opened his eyes to figure out why the pony had stopped her assault. When he looked to his left he saw the mare’s back hooves hovering just a few centimeters from his face. They were surrounded by a purple aura. The orange mare had a strained look on her face as she tried to force her kick through Twilight’s magical grasp. “Applejack you need to calm down. We need to talk about this before you do anything rash,” Twilight said as she levitated the Applejack closer to her and farther away from Elliot. “What is there to talk about? Rainbow told me that tha thing that attacked Applebloom was in Zecora’s hut. Unless mah guess is wrong this is the thing that she was talkin’ about!” Applejack shouted as she continuously struggled against the magic that was keeping her from enacting her vengeance. Elliot then decided to speak up. “But I didn’t attack her! All I remember is waking up and seeing an injured filly! I tried to help, but she was scared of me!” Elliot said trying to remain as calm as possible. He was doing his best to seem calm and harmless to further get his point across. “Then why was she scared of ya?” Applejack asked coldly finally stopping her fight against the magic but still glaring daggers at the restrained human. “I don’t know, maybe because I’m a strange creature that none of you has ever seen before? Besides she had been clawed by something and I don’t have claws,” Elliot defended. Applejack scanned the human the best she could from her position. After seeing that he indeed did not have claws she sighed. After thinking for a short while she looked at Elliot with her eyes softening somewhat. “Tell me what you know happened before you saw Applebloom,” she said. Elliot told her the same story he had previously told Twilight and Rainbow Dash. After he finished, Elliot began to try and move again. Noticing that he was still restrained he looked up at Twilight. When she noticed that her magic was still active she decided to release it. Once he was freed Elliot stood up and stretched his limbs the best he could. Being sprawled on the ground without being able to move easily caused him to cramp up in almost every muscle that he had. Applejack paced around the room giving Elliot’s story some thought. Once a few moments had passed she looked Elliot right in the eyes. “Ah believe ya. However I still need to find out what attacked Applebloom. Since you were near her would ya mind helping find it? Ya might just recognize somethin’ that we wouldn’t,” she asked with a determined smile on her face. Elliot glanced around nervously. He wasn’t sure whether to believe this pony or not but something was telling him that he could trust her. After a few moments he took a deep breath and sighed. “Sure I’ll see what I can do,” he replied still not sure of his decision. It was then that Twilight walked up to Elliot and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry that I scared you. I was only talking about running more tests on the blood and examining the area that you showed up in. I promise that none of us are going to hurt you,” she said trying to reassure him. Elliot’s cooperation could possibly make this investigation easier and she wanted him to be completely on board with everything. Elliot looked at Twilight and shrugged. He still wasn’t entirely sure that he could trust them, but he wanted to find out what had hurt the little filly. After thinking it over once more Elliot decided that he was ready to start their little investigation. “Well we should probably get going. It would be best to start looking around while we still have some daylight,” He said giving a slight nod to Twilight and Applejack. The two ponies walked out the door and said goodbye to Zecora. Elliot decided to stay behind for just one more moment. He turned to the zebra and knelt down to look her in the eye. “Thank you for trying to defend me and giving me a chance,” he told her sincerely as he gave her a soft hug. Elliot then stood up and started making his way out of the hut. “See ya later,” he said as he pulled the door closed and met with the two other ponies that were waiting on him. After a short while they began their trip down the path that led out of the forest back towards Applejack’s farm. The short walk was met with an extremely uncomfortable silence. Elliot was walking in the middle of the path flanked on his left by Applejack and his right by Twilight. He would occasionally glance nervously at the two of them wondering just how dangerous his situation might be. He knew that with his injuries he wouldn’t be able to escape if they decided that he was indeed guilty of the attack. However Elliot wasn’t the only one who was still having trust issues. Applejack kept a constant glare and watched his every move. She was ready to chase him down if he decided to run. She had assessed his injuries and decided that if he did start to run she could easily buck his injured leg. No matter how hardy a creature, lacerated muscle wounds being reopened would easily bring them down. She also knew that with his arm in a cast it was most likely broken and useless. With her thoughts focused she decided that she didn’t need to worry too much. He wouldn’t be able to outrun her so she could keep looking forward and following the path. The trip seemed to go by uneventfully until Elliot suddenly felt a pain in his stomach. He tried to ignore it but the pain kept getting worse to the point that it forced him to collapse. Elliot was gripping his stomach trying to lessen the pain in some way. His two companion ponies stopped and looked at him first skeptically then they rushed to his side. Elliot began to cry out in pain. It was the most excruciating pain he could remember. “It… Hurts… It burns… so fucking… bad… What’s… happening?” Elliot tried to ask the two. He glared at the two thinking that maybe they had poisoned him or something. However the concerned looks on their faces told him otherwise. Twilight lit her horn up and touched it to his stomach. Elliot could feel a slight tingling sensation but otherwise the pain completely overloaded his senses. “There’s a strange magic. I’ve never sensed something like this before! I think there might be a powerful unicorn nearby,” Twilight exclaimed. She then produced a magic deflecting shield around the group to try and find out if that would alleviate Elliot’s pain. When nothing changed Twilight grew even more worried. She tried using what medicinal magic she could think of but it was no use. Finally just before Elliot blacked out from the pain, the burning sensation disappears. Elliot allows his body to relax and sprawl out on the ground. After the agonizing pain he just wanted a chance to rest and relax for a couple of minutes. After he had had time to catch his breath he slowly stood up and dusted himself off. Elliot looked at the two ponies still giving him worried looks. “Any idea what the hell just happened?” Elliot said trying to lighten the mood. However his voice came out strained and showed the massive amounts of pain that he had just suffered through. The two ponies just shook their heads. Still puzzling over what the source of his pain had been. Twilight was the one who felt most scared. She knew that the shield that she had put up was extremely powerful. There were only a handful of ponies that might have been powerful enough to force their magic past it. Thinking that Elliot had already made deadly enemies made her begin to think that that was the reason Applebloom had been attacked. After a short while of nothing happening, Elliot looked up and around the area. “I guess we should finish getting back to the farm. I feel fine now so traveling shouldn’t be a pain,” Elliot said. He had run out of ideas and was too worried to stay in the same place. He wanted to leave the forest and get somewhere more open so that he might be able to see who it was that had just tried to incapacitate or even kill him just now. After a moment’s hesitation the other two nod. Twilight didn’t want to worry the others even more with her own thoughts of the situation so she kept to herself. They started their trek back up and began to make progress towards the exit of the forest. Elliot sighed in relief as he saw the trees thinning and more grasses appearing. Another short time later the trio finally made their way to the area that Elliot had first seen the injured Applebloom. Elliot walked immediately to the tree he had slept under. “This is where I fell asleep and woke up,” he points to a small patch of blood on the ground, “and that’s where the little filly was when I woke up.” He grimaced trying to think of what would want to try and kill an innocent child like that. He suddenly began to feel a righteous fury building up inside of him. Revenge. It was the first word that came to his mind. He wanted to find whatever did this and exact vengeance on the vile creature. After he finally forced himself to calm down for a moment he looked to see what the other two were doing. Twilight was going around the area scanning stuff with her horn while Applejack just watched her work. Twilight came to the area that Elliot had said that he had slept at. When she scanned this spot she gasped and took a step back. She felt a faint signature of the magic that had just attacked Elliot. She began to feel even more worried her previous suspicions confirmed. She believed that they were dealing with a powerful rogue unicorn. She had no idea what the unicorn might want but if it had hurt Applebloom and framed Elliot it couldn’t be anything good. Both Elliot and Applejack noticed Twilight’s reaction. Elliot walked over to her and knelt down to her level. “What did you find?” he asked her feeling slightly worried. Twilight looked at him not being able to mask her concern. “It’s the same magical presence that just attacked you,” she replied. “I need to hurry back to the library and let the princess know of this,” she exclaimed panic in her voice evident. She turned and started to run in the direction of Ponyville. However before she made it very far she heard a sharp cry of pain come from Elliot. She immediately ran back to his side to see what had happened. Once she looked at him she felt the very same magical presence only this time it was much stronger than before. Elliot had fallen onto his hands and knees. He was in too much pain to even release the muscles holding him up. The same burning sensation in his stomach returned tenfold. Before he knew it he began to feel extremely nauseous. He managed to force his broken arm from holding him up and put it to his belly. Eliot couldn’t help it. He began to retch. For a few attempts nothing came out. However after his fourth wave of nausea swept over his body he felt the intense burning climb his throat and travel to his mouth. He vomited everything in his stomach onto the ground in front of him. Elliot then gained the strength to stand up. He felt extremely dizzy and lightheaded. The pain in his stomach had vanished. He didn’t have time to worry about the attack as he began to feel the very same heat attacking his feet and legs. Seeing the flames in front of him charring his pants legs finally made him faint. Twilight reacted as quickly as she recovered from the shock of seeing Elliot vomit flames. Once he began to fall into them she grabbed him with her magic and moved him out of the way. She saw Applejack beginning to panic. The flames were spreading outwards and would soon rage out of control and possibly burn down the entire orchard. Twilight watched as Applejack ran off as fast as she could to go and get some buckets of water and more help to extinguish the fire. Twilight, however, had been able to keep a level head despite the situation. Instead of panicking the way AJ had she surrounded the flames in a magic bubble. After a few minutes of constant effort the fire eventually burnt itself out due to not being able to get any oxygen. She fell onto her haunches trying to catch her breath. Containing the fire had been more difficult because it had been magical, not natural. Once she regained her composure she quickly trotted to Elliot’s side. She examined his body and noticed no distinct burn marks anywhere on his face or legs. The level of char on his pants indicated that he should have at the very least second degree burns. Twilight made a mental note to ask if humans were fireproof once Elliot was to regain consciousness. The sound of a pair of galloping sets of hooves pulled Twilight out of her thoughts. She saw Applejack and Big Mac running towards her carrying buckets of water in their mouths. Once they got there they both sighed in relief seeing that the fire had already been put out only managing to damage the grass in the immediate area and char the trunk of the nearby tree. “Thank goodness,” Applejack said exasperatedly, “Thank ya kindly Twilight. If it weren’t for ya we might’ve lost a half tha farm.” Big Mac offered a simple smile. “Eeyup,” he said before he noticed Elliot on the ground. He got into an offensive stance and let a scowl form on his face. Applejack trotted over to Twilight and gave her a tight hug. After she released the unicorn she noticed Big Mac ready to attack Elliot. “Don’t worry Big Mac, it wasn’t him who started tha fire. He also ain’t the thing that attacked Applebloom,” she told him while stepping in between the two hoping that if he lost sight of Elliot he would calm down more. Big Mac relaxed his stance and then looked to Twilight. “You know what happened?” he asked softly. Twilight shook her head. “I have a vague idea, but I’m about to go to the library and tell the princess about what happened. She might be able to offer some sort of help,” she said trying to not look too worried. She didn’t want to worry the Apples too much, and she didn’t want them to fear for their lives. “Applejack, could you take Elliot to Fluttershy’s? I don’t want to bother Zecora anymore than we already have.” “Sure thing Twi,” Applejack replied. She ran to a nearby barn and came back with a cart. After having Twilight help her hoist Elliot in she waved goodbye as the two began to head towards their respective destinations. Elliot woke up screaming. He looked around the room he was in and sighed. “Must’ve been a nightmare, there’s no way that I could vomit fire,” he laughed to himself some. Before he could relax he smelt the char of his pants. Elliot immediately looked at his legs and saw that they were miraculously unburned. After glancing around the room again he saw a yellow pegasus with a pink mane peaking at him from around a corner. Elliot cocked his head curiously. After a moment he realized that he had finally run into a pony that didn’t think it was a good idea to approach an extremely strange creature. He gave the pegasus a soft smile and waved her over. When she didn’t budge Elliot gave a soft sigh. “It’s okay, I promise that I won’t hurt you or anything,” Elliot said in the softest, nicest voice that he could muster. The pegasus crept a little closer but didn’t move too far. Realizing that she wasn’t just avoiding him because he was strange, he tried to stand up and walk over to her. Once he got on his feet he began to feel extremely dizzy and he started to fall straight towards the ground. Expecting to meet the ground, Elliot stuck his good arm out in an attempt to break his fall somewhat. Before he made contact he felt a pair of hooves catch him by the shoulders. He looked up to see that the pegasus had flown over and caught him before he could get hurt. “Thanks,” he said giving her a genuine smile. “Oh, it was no problem,” she said softly as she helped to lower him to a sitting position on the couch. After she released him she landed and began hiding behind her mane as she kicked her hoof on the ground some. Feeling slightly awkward Elliot decided to try and initiate a conversation. “My name’s Elliot. What’s yours?” he asked doing his best to not seem intimidating. The pegasus gave off a small squeak and tried to hide behind her mane even more. Elliot heard her mumble something but could barely make out a single syllable. “Come again?” he said trying to keep himself from giggling at just how shy this girl was. “Flut….” was all the response that he got this time. Elliot sighed and carefully moved off the couch and lowered himself so that he was actually looking up at the cowering pegasus. Elliot felt uncomfortable at almost lying down on the floor, but he felt that that would be the easiest way to get the girl to calm down. “One more time please,” he whispered trying to seem just as shy as she was. “Fluttershy,” she said, curling up and trying to make herself even smaller. “Well Fluttershy, am I correct in assuming this is your house?” he asked still in a soft whisper. He saw the bundle of pony give what he thought was a slight nod. He smiled to himself some and replied “Well it’s very lovely and I do appreciate you allowing me to use your couch to sleep a little bit.” The sincerity and calmness in Elliot’s voice seemed to get a reaction. Fluttershy poked her head up some and gave Elliot a soft smile. Glad that she was starting to come out of her shell slightly Elliot climbed back onto the couch. Elliot patted the spot next to him giving the invitation that he didn’t mind if she were to come and sit next to him. Fluttershy carefully came completely unfurled and hopped onto the couch. However instead of sitting next to Elliot she made sure that she squeezed herself into the corner of the couch as far from him as possible. Elliot couldn’t help but chuckle. While he knew that being this shy could be debilitating when trying to make friends he just loved how adorable she looked. Elliot leaned his head back some and allowed some air to escape noisily from his lungs. “You know Fluttershy, I hope we can be friends. Since you took care of me while I was unconscious, I just want you to know you can feel free to ask me for any favor that you might need,” Elliot said allowing some of the strength to come back into his voice. “O… Okay,” he heard her respond almost inaudibly. Elliot gave her another soft and sincere smile. Feeling tired again Elliot decided to get as comfortable as possible and fall asleep, this time willingly. AN: Incredibly sorry about the delay. In an attempt to make up for it I plan on increasing the length of all chapters from here on out. Hopefully I can find the creative juices to make them 5k words or more, but that might be a bit of a stretch until I can get better at writing in general. Anyway I still want to thank everyone for reading and still keeping track of my story. Yall are what makes spending extra free time writing that much worth it.