//------------------------------//
// Chapter 44: Fire Surges 
// Story: Secrets of the Everfree 
// by PaisleyPerson 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 44
Fire Surges


Despite Wild Flower’s assurances, I watched the clock for the entire hour, and was there just a little early to pick up my son, which prompted a little more grumbling from my sister. While she was still griping, Fluttershy reported that he had been been on his best behavior, and had hit it off with the breezies. They were reluctant to see him go, and I almost let him stay a little longer when I heard them chirping goodbye and pitifully waving farewell. Still, we had a playdate to attend, to I turned us around and headed for Sugar Cube Corner, passing by Applejack and Twilight on our way.
Spike, Blaze and Nova had evidently finished their ice cream and moved on by the time we arrived, but the Cakes were still expecting us. Pound and Pumpkin were almost three years old by now. Despite the age difference, Cup Cake was certain they’d get along fine. And that they did. Pound and Pumpkin thoroughly enjoyed the company, and weren’t overly rough with Charcoal. Though, not much else could be expected of Pound Cake. Pumpkin did upset him once when she tried to swallow Charcoal’s ferret, but other than that, the three got along just fine.
“They’re growing up so fast,” I commented to Mrs. Cake as we watched from the back.
“It seems like just yesterday they were just foals,” she agreed.
“But we made it through the terrible two’s, somehow,” Mr. Cake shook his head. 
“It really wasn’t as terrible as everypony makes it sound,” his wife assured. 
“I hope that proves true with thestral foals, too,” I appreciatively took a sip of the hot chocolate I was offered.
“Mommy! Charcoal won’t share!” Pumpkin bawled. 
“Charcoal Stormwood, give Pumpkin back her toy, please,” I sighed. My little boy was proving to be quite the stingy fellow. Of course, I knew he wasn’t going to obey, so I was already halfway out of my seat, preparing to intervene. Pumpkin was tired of waiting, however, and decided to take matters into her own hooves. She had experimented with levitational magic bursts as a young filly, and now attempted to reignite that magic. Though weak, the faint blue glow of magic surrounded the rubber chicken in Charcoal’s grasp, and gently tugged at it. 
“Pumpkin! You shouldn’t take things from other ponies,” her mother scolded, expecting Charcoal to become upset. Rather, the colt appeared fixated with the toy being yanked away by some invisible force, and even let go. With no more resistance, the levitational bubble accidentally flung the toy back before flickering out. Luckily, the hold hadn’t been strong enough to throw it but a few feet, but it did land on Pound’s head. The young pegasus began crying when the rubber doll lightly bounced off his head, more due to the fact that he was startled than hurt.
“Pumpkin,” her father groaned, moving over to console his distressed son. Charcoal cocked his head as the other boy began to cry. Char barely struggled to breathe life to a flickering blue light not far from Pound.
“Charcoal, no fires!” I exclaimed, instantly utilizing my own fire to counter his. Charcoal’s fire didn’t seem to be spreading, however, quite well controlled. Mr. Cake pulled Pound a little closer, but tentatively reached out a hoof to test the waters.
“It’s alright. It isn’t even hot,” he reported.
“That’s not to say it won’t suddenly flare up.” My white flame was finally encroaching on my son’s, prepared to overtake and extinguish it. But then the children started cackling!
“It’s so pretty Momma!” Pumpkin exclaimed, running up to examine the blue fire more closely.
“It’s blue!” Pound concurred, body no longer trembling from sobs but from laughter. Distracted by the interruption, I lost focus, and my fire blew out. Pumpkin carefully reached out to poke the flame. “No, Pumpkin! Daddy said not to play with fire!” Pound wailed, suddenly worried for his sister’s well-being. He looked up at his father, hoping his sister’s punishment wouldn’t be too severe. But his father just watched, rather intrigued. Charcoal laughed, and the tiny light rose up, twisting around Pumpkin’s hoof. It traveled up her body to settle around her neck. 
“It tickles!” she squealed, happily trying to brush it off. 
“Pumpkin!” her mother cried. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to coax a new fire to life. I wasn’t talented in this field to begin with, but the task proved harder as my stomach tied itself into knots. If Charcoal’s fire got out of control now, it could seriously injure Pumpkin! 
The flickering, gently-swaying tongues of Char’s fire gave the impression of a blue feather scarf, and as the innocent little girl she was, Pumpkin flaunted her new accessory with great pride. Charcoal raised a second light for Pound to play with.
“Stay away from there, Pound!” Carrot pulled his well away. Meanwhile, Pumpkin continued to play with her scarf.
“Pumpkin, that’s dangerous!” I finally managed to bring a small white spark to life, and hastily guided it along. It overtook Pound’s stray fire first, and the pillar grew and writhed, twisted and expanded as Charcoal and I fought for control of the white-and-blue fire. I was surprised at how much resistance he put up. I finally did overtake his flame, and I let the bonfire dissipate in a quiet puff. I was far more worried about Pumpkin; if Charcoal got too worked up, the fire could blaze and burn her. So, I made sure to keep my fire as cool as thestrally possible while conquering the flaming blue snake. Pumpkin finally looked a bit scared as both of us battled for control around her very head. She finally dropped to the floor, quaking in fear with her eyes squeezed tight until it was over. Charcoal cried out in protest when he realized the fun was coming to an end, but was finally forced to submission. Only after I finally put out both fires did her mother rush forward.
“Pumpkin dear, are you alright?” she crooned, scooping up the filly and gently rocking her.
“It was scary,” she wept, welcoming herself to her mother’s embrace. 
“I-I’m so sorry,” I shakily stuttered, horrified that my son was capable of instilling such terror. When we were isolated in the Everfree, nopony ever thought much of fire surges. Everypony as fireproof, and any flame that got out of control could be swiftly and efficiently put out by pretty much anyone. I hadn’t thought of the consequences such a “harmless” surge could wreak on defenseless ponies in the rest of Equestria- especially not friends as close as the Cakes. The look on Mr. Cake’s face told me that if we were normal customers, we’d have been kicked out by now, but since we were Torch’s family, he didn’t have the heart. I decided to excuse myself. “I’ll just go...”
“It’s alright, dear. We know he didn’t mean-” But before Cup Cake could finish her sentence, we were gone.





I lay in bed at home, weeping. Charcoal was crawling about on the bed carelessly, having a high old time with his ferret friend. I watched him through blurry eyes. He was the love of my life, but it broke my heart to see the pain he could cause others. After everything; the creation of the seventh element; the reintegration of thestrals; and Princess Essence’s return, we were still tearing ponies apart. Maybe it would have been better if we stayed in the Everfree. Maybe...
“Hey, sis? Are you in there?” came a knock at the door. 
“Here,” I croaked, drying my eyes on the pillowcase as the door creaked open. I didn’t even turn as my sister strode in.
“Hey! I was just at the Cake’s looking for you. They... uh... told me what happened.”
“Oh, Wild Flower, it was awful!” I finally wailed, at last seeking my sibling’s comfort. To say she was surprised to find her older sister buried in her arms was an understatement, but she allowed me to remain tucked under her wings and even stroked my mane. “You should have seen the look on Cup and Carrot’s faces! They were terrified! The last time I saw anypony give me a look like that was when my friends first realized I was a thestral. When they rejected me. I could never bear to see the same thing happen to Charcoal.”
“Whoa, whoa, take it easy,” Wild Flower dumped me back on my hooves. “I think you’re overreacting a bit. Yes, Charcoal could have hurt Pumpkin, but he didn’t. It sounds like he was just trying to play. Everyone he’s played with so far is fireproof, excepting Pinkie, but I don’t think she’s been back since he started fire surges, has she?” I glumly shook my head. “You can’t expect him to know any better- he’s only two weeks old. No one can blame him for a perfectly natural fire surge. And no one is going to reject him.”
“Wild Flower... I-I’m scared,” I admitted, feeling my stomach lurch as the words rolled off my tongue. I was supposed to be the oldest. I was supposed to take care of her, not the only way around. I should be able to handle it. So why did I feel like the whole world was crashing down?
“Don’t be,” she crooned. “Where’s Torchwood, anyway? At work again? Shouldn’t he be here helping out? You obviously need an extra set of hooves right about now, or at least a shoulder to cry on. Mine’s already soaked.” I knew she was joking to make me feel better, and I humored her with a teary chuckle.
“I think he’s getting fed up with me calling him away from work all the time. It looks bad to the boss when he’s never there,” I responded. She rolled her eyes.
“Personally, I think he should always make time for his family, but whatever.” I suddenly paused when her words roused a familiar memory. It was a conversation we’d had when he decided to take on the new job. 



“Is that why you didn’t want to babysit for the Cakes? Because you didn’t think you’d have time with this new job?” I’d asked.
“Yes,” he confessed, “but I promise, I’ll always make time for you and the baby.”



I shook my head. This had to be paranoia, right? Torch promised to always make time for us. He wouldn’t let work overshadow his family... would he?
“Anyway,” Wild Flower continued, “that doesn’t matter. You’ve got a ton of ponies around here that love you and the baby. Rainbow’s getting the breeze ready, and Fluttershy’s still watching the breezies, but what about the rest of your friends? They’d be more than willing to help.”
“No! Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack aren’t fireproof! What if they get burned by one of his fire surges?” My eyes became wide with fear and my chest was gripped in terror.
“Okay, okay,” she calmed me down. “Well, what about Mom or Dad? No, wait, that wouldn’t work, they’re finally moving to the White Tail Woods. That’s not to say they can’t lend a hoof.”
“Too far,” I sniffed. “Meteor and Rose already moved on, too.”
“How about Tanzi, then? Or the Solo twins? Or the dragons? Or me and Cedar? We can come down sometimes, too. Hay, I bet even Discord could conjure some sort of fireproof spell if it really came down to it!” I suddenly realized how broad my options were as she rattled off names. My heart fluttered with a touch of hope. I’d been so caught up in trying to handle things myself that I’d almost forgotten that I didn’t have to go through this alone. 
“Come on, I’m sure Fluttershy can take care of the breezies herself. Let’s go check out what Dad’s up to.” Wild Flower trotted out of the bedroom, a reassuring, or perhaps self-congratulating smile plastered on her face. Either way, it lifted my spirits just that much more. I picked up the carrier, and tucked my son into the blankets.
“Okay.”





Journal Entry #4

xx/xx/xx

I knew raising a family would be a challenge, but I had no idea just how hard it would be. Today’s incident with Torchwood and the Cake twins was a huge wake up call. I almost let the event get to me; I nearly convinced myself it would have been better for thestrals to remain separate. I had no idea how much destructive potential we had. We can’t help what we are, and sometimes even our own power escapes us. But this is just another obstacle we’ll have to deal with. Just because things seem tough doesn’t mean you should give up. That’s when you go to your family for help. And that includes close friends. No one has to go through hard times alone; that’s something I almost forgot. After all, it takes a village to raise a child. I’ll be taking that phrase quite literally from now on.

-Acrylic.