//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Am I A good Pony // Story: Keys of My Destiny // by RageLokiCat //------------------------------// "Ugh, my head. Why is it pounding? Did I get drunk again? Even I know that's a bad idea on a Sunday..." I said, staring at the ceiling as the throbbing pain in my head slowly subsided. I didn't move for several minutes, before a sudden realization made my sit up in panic. "Oh crap, if yesterday was Sunday, that means today is Monday. I should be at the library!" I said, jumping out of bed and running over to the door. I did a quick once-over in the mirror, making sure I was at least moderately presentable before rushing downstairs. Fluttershy was in the kitchen, cooking something in a moderately shallow pan. "Good morning, Blaze! Where are you off to in such a rush?" She asked, looking at me curiously. I slowed, looking at her in confusion. "Uh, work? It is Monday, right? I should have been there an hour ago." I said, confused. "Oh, right, of course. I'm sorry; I forgot you wouldn't have known. The Mayor stopped by last night after you went to bed to say that they're doing renovations on the library today, and it's closed, so you didn't need to go to work. But you wouldn't have known that, due to, well, being asleep!" She said with a giggle. I face-hoofed, before turning and walking slowly into the kitchen. "She could have told me that sooner. I wouldn't have had to panic my way out of bed this morning. How did she even know I lived here?" I grumbled. "Well, at least it made getting out of bed easy, right?" She said with a grin, looking at me. I smiled back, her happy mood making it hard to be annoyed. "You're certainly cheery today. Did something happen?" I asked with a smile as I stopped next to her. "Nothing in particular; today just feels like a good day to be happy!" She said with a huge and fairly silly smile. I chuckled before slowly shaking my head. "Whatever you say. Whatcha cooking?" I asked, looking down at the pan. My eyes opened wide as I recognized what she was making. "Just a simple pancake breakfast. Were there pancakes in your world?" She asked, looking at me. I gasped; my face nearly the picture of ecstasy. "Were there EVER! Pancakes may very well be the single best thing ever invented." I said with glee. She laughed and shook her head. "Well, I'm glad I don't have to worry about you going hungry this morning. I'll be done in a few minutes, and then we can eat." She said, looking back to her cooking. "How did you even know I would be awake at this time to have breakfast?" I asked curiously, looking over at the table. Seeing it wasn't yet set, I began working on that, to pass the time while I waited. "I have my ways..." She said, doing her best to look crafty, but it seemed so odd with her. "Sorry, you can't really pull that look off, it's so... Not you. You're even scarier; when you're doing some sneaky we can't even tell..." I said with a tense laugh, trailing off. "Oh well. Anyway, I didn't know, I guess we both just got lucky." She said, stacking more pancakes onto the already-towering pile next to her. I looked over in surprise, shaking my head as I watched her carefully balance them. I guess we did. If I hadn't gotten up or hadn't liked them, she'd have had over a dozen too many pancakes, but if she had only cooked for one, she'd feel guilty if I did get up. I thought as I finished setting the table. She carefully carried the plate, piled high with the glorious food, over to the table and placed it down in the middle. Next, she placed a small pitcher of maple syrup on the table, as well as some butter. She poured us both a glass of cider, which I verified was of the non-alcoholic variety. We're not having a repeat of the party. That would not be good. I thought. Finally, everything was ready, and we sat down. I quickly grabbed a pile of pancakes and put them on my plate, looking up only once to see Fluttershy giggling at me. I smiled and went back to work, applying butter and maple syrup to my pancakes before rapidly devouring the entire stack. "Sweet Celestia, these are amazing! You're such an awesome cook!" I said happily around my mouthful of pancakes. She laughed again and shook her head, portioning off a more reasonable amount on her own fork. "Shame on you; talking with your mouth full!" She said in mock astonishment before resuming her more polite pancake consumption. I didn't let anything silly like talking interrupt the rest of the meal, I instead quietly ate a quantity of pancakes that I doubted anypony could ever rival. Eventually, we finished, with Fluttershy having eaten only three and a half out of the nearly twenty pancakes, while I assimilated the rest. "Being a pony is awesome! If a human ate that much they would probably die, but that's obviously not the case now." I said with glee as I helped her clear up and clean the dishes. Like usual, it didn't take long with the two of us, and soon we were done. "So, what do you have to do today?" I asked, looking over at Fluttershy. "Various pet and animal related things. Help a few different ponies give their pets baths, find Bonbon's missing kitty, help a pony with training crystal wolf pup, from the crystal empire... I'll be busy most of the day. What about you, since you don't have to work today?" She asked curiously, looking over at me. "Well, I was going to go see how they're doing on the library and when it'll be open again, then just wander around town and see if there's anypony that needs help; some job I could do to make a bit more money, since so far the library hasn't been a great source of income. That's all I've got planned though." I said, thinking about other work options in my head. She nodded, looking away. "We should get going then." She said, trotting up the stairs and heading into her room. I went up to my room and grabbed my own bags, buckling them carefully on before heading downstairs. Fluttershy came down not long after me, her bags full of animal supplies. "Right. We ready to go?" I asked her. She nodded, and we made our way out the door, heading off to Ponyville. The trip seemed to get shorter every time I made it, likely because I got more familiar with it. Her house was really only a kilometer or so away from the town, but it used to seem so much longer. "OK, this is my first stop. I'll see you later, Blaze!" She said as she suddenly took a sharp right, walking up to the door of a nearby house. "Bye, Fluttershy!" I said as I kept walking in the direction of the library. It didn't take long, as the library was only a few blocks away. There was scaffolding all around the building, piles of materials everywhere, and nearly a dozen work-ponies at various tasks. I could barely see the door. The Mayor was standing nearby, talking to a stallion who seemed to be in charge of the whole operation, as he kept interrupting their conversation to yell things out to various ponies. "Yes, Miss Mayor. We should be- You oaf, Bricks! I told you we only needed two batches of concrete mixed! Why did you go and make three! Anyway, yes, we should be on route to finishing mostly on schedule, sometime late this evening." He said, pausing to yell at a pony who was now staring worriedly at several containers of wet concrete. Jeez, is his name really Bricks? Talk about no freedom, it's like he was born to do construction. Why do they even need concrete, the library is literally a tree! Well, at least I know that I can work tomorrow. I thought, changing my course and walking away from the library. Walking through Ponyville, I eventually passed Applejack and Big Mac, both of whom were pulling large wagons full of building materials. I walked passed them, and then paused, before finally turning around and trotting to catch up with Applejack. "Hi! What're you two up to?" I asked, nodding towards their loads. Applejack threw a pained smile in my direction before quickly looking forward again and focusing on her work, her response coming a few moments later. "Oh, 'mornin, Blaze. Big Mac an' Ah are just haulin' supplies back to Sweet Apple Acres so we can build a new apple storage shed." She grunted, not looking over. "Oh, well, uh, would you like some help? I can't carry a ton, but I imagine anything is better than nothing." I said, looking from the towering pile of boards and other building supplies to the mare pulling them, wondering how she was even doing it. "How are ya gonna- Oh, right, magic. In that case, Ah'd love yer help!" She said, smiling again as they struggled up a hill. Focusing quickly, I grabbed several bundles of boards from both of their carts, and as I held them up I realized how they could knock every apple off a tree with one kick. "Holy- Wow these are heavy! Are these from stone trees or something?" I asked as we reached the top. Applejack laughed, appearing a little less taxed. "Ya don' have ta' tell me, Blaze. Still, it's good for ya. Ah imagine Flutters doesn't make ya work nearly hard enough." She said, smiling. I grumbled in response, but we both knew she was pretty much right. The trip was almost unbearably long, and on a few occasions near the end my spell slipped and I nearly dropped the boards. Applejack led me over to where they already had a bunch of materials, and I helped them unload and carefully stack everything into organized piles. "Say, Blaze, what do ya know about buildin' things?" Applejack asked, looking at me with a spark in her eye. "Uh, not... much..." I said slowly. Oh no... "Well, ah think it's about time ya learned, ain't that right, Big Mac?" She asked deviously, looking at her brother. "Eeyup." "Why do you hate me so much?" I whined as I lay on the grass next to a newly built apple shed. Applejack was carefully painting it the same bright red as the barn and Big Mac was hauling the scrap pieces of lumber off to storage. My entire body ached; I had just spent the last four hours lifting boards, hammering nails, raising walls and a roof, and I was already low on magic energy when we had started. "Ah don't hate ya, Ah just think it's good for ya to do somethin' physical for a change. Besides, it'll make ya stronger. We even fed ya!" She said around the paintbrush. I groaned and dropped my head back down in the grass. Getting up tomorrow morning will be... Difficult. I thought as I stared up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by. I must have dosed off at some point, because suddenly I was waking up to Applejack prodding me gently. "Ah hate to wake ya partner, but ya are kinda in the way of the cart." She said, pointing at the large cart full of apples that she was pulling. I grumbled quietly as I sat up, shook my head, and then finally stood up, backing out of the way. "Mmm, what time is it?" I asked as I buckled on my saddlebags. Applejack glanced quickly up towards the sun and she pulled the cart back into motion. "Ah'd say it's about two in the afternoon, maybe a bit later. Why? Ya got somewhere ta' be?" She asked, chuckling at she hauled the cart away. "Not in particular, just away from here." I said with a laugh, hoping she wouldn't be hurt. My fears were lifted when I heard another chuckle from the orange mare, and saw her shaking her head. "Don't ya worry, Sugarcube, Ah suppose ya can be done, for today at least." She said. I shuddered, hoping she wouldn't make me work that hard again for a long time. I headed off, back towards Ponyville, stopping once to wave at the country mare before focusing on the long and tiring walk that awaited me. Fortunately, much of it was downhill, and I found myself back in Ponyville only slightly more worn-out. It's not often I enter Ponyville from this side, I'm not entirely sure which way is fastest. I thought as I looked at the streets in front of me. Picking the left-most one on a whim, I started walking again, being sure to take note of landmarks. After only a few blocks, I came in sight of a playground and a small schoolhouse. There weren't many fillies or colts left, most appeared to be leaving with their parents. One foal in particular, a brown colt with orange mane and tail and a distinctly unusual hat, was still sitting in the playground. The hat in question wouldn't have been so odd, were it not for the fact that it was spinning rapidly, on a calm day. I shook my head, mentally telling myself not to question it, and looked down at the beeping device the colt was holding. It looked a bit like a handheld gaming device, and I paused. How do they have computers, when they don't even have electricity? My curiosity overwhelming my logical brain, I opened the small gate, intent on heading in, when I saw a trio of much larger, much older colts walk out of the schoolhouse. I watched them walk over to the brown colt with worry, knowing what was likely to happen next. The largest of the three stopped just short of the little one, glowering down at him. The brown colt's eyes slowly came up to meet his oppressor's for an instant, before looking away. He clearly knew what was happening too. "Hey, Fish-bait, where's my money?" The lead bully asked, still glaring down at his prey. "I... I... I don't... I don't have it. My mom said... She I was spending too much recently, and... She wouldn't give me more. I'm sorry..." The little colt said, shrinking down. Shit, if I help this colt now, he'll get destroyed later, but if I don't, Celestia only knows what will happen. Why do I always get the difficult choices? I argued with myself as I watched the scene before me unfold. The middle bully rolled his eyes, and with a long sigh, snatched the device from the brown colt's hooves. "Hey, give that back!" He whined pitifully, and I felt a stab of pain in my heart, but I still didn't move, save to quickly glance around and make sure there were no other adults in the area. "This looks pretty expensive; I think I'll keep it. Might make up for your poor performance recently." The bully said, looking down at the device. The brown colt didn't respond, only sitting there whimpering. The bully stopped and looked down, clearly waiting for something. When all he received were whimpers and the occasional half-sob, he rolled his eyes in disgust and dropped the device. The little colt quickly reached to grab his toy, but his efforts were cut short when a hoof came down hard on it, smashing it to pieces. "Ugh, so weak. You really think I wanted that piece of crap? We're going to pulverize you, and if you're very lucky and come with lots of money, maybe we won't do it again tomorrow, and the next day." The bully said, his buddies advancing on either side of the terrified and now freely crying brown colt, blocking any chance of escaping he could have had. OK, that's it. They've pushed their luck. I don't care if Twilight has to send guards, I'm ending this NOW. I thought, furious. Already I could tell that I was scorching the ground I stood on, as occasional puffs of smoke floated by, but I didn't care. "Hey, you three! Get away from him!" I yelled, slamming the gate the rest of the way open and walking in. The three looked at me, then at each other. The leader rolled his eyes again, and they turned away from the colt. I thought, for a moment, that they were simply going to leave, until they began walking straight towards me. I stopped, forcing them to come all the way over to me, and waited until the three of them stood in front of me. They were only just shorter then I, and they stood so as to make up for the difference. Had I not been already furious and past my point-of-no-return, I would have been scared, but at this point I felt nothing but anger. It wasn't a rational anger, but instead, more of an all-consuming rage that filled my entire body that was growing rapidly. The leader didn't seem to even notice the smoke or my anger, he just dead-panned and looked me straight in the eyes. "How about you mind your own damn business? I don't like it when worthless pieces of trash interrupt me." He said, not even blinking. I was taken aback at his confidence, but I didn't let it show, and I slowly smiled. I had survived bullets, duels, and spells the likes of which he couldn't even comprehend; I was thoroughly going to enjoy wasting him. "Have you looked in a mirror recently? I think you'll find a better example of worthless there." I said, noticing with amusement that the two bullies on the sides had backed up a step, and they were staring at the ground where my hooves were planted. My opponent seemed surprised that someone was actually standing up to him, and he smirked. "Of course, we wouldn't have to deal with shit like you if your mother hadn't been such a whore. That explains your disgusting looks too; although on second thought, that might be your mother's genes." He said, knowing even as he said it that he had found a major pressure point. My vision began to go red, the now constant smoke around my feet turned into actual flames, and it felt like my entire body shuddered and grew a small amount. My speech centers shut almost completely down, only allowing me a few words. "My mother is... Dead." I said through clenched teeth, preparing to put my hoof through his jaw. "Well that's good; we wouldn't want more of YOU around." He said, knowing he had pushed me over the edge. He took one solid step back and took a ready stance, knowing I was going to attack him. His two compatriots looked at each other, and then the one on his left leaned in and whispered, almost inaudibly. "Uh, dude, have you seen him? He's literally setting the grass on fire, and I'm pretty sure he's getting bigger." He whispered, looking at me the whole time. "Nopony asked you, Moron. He's a cheating unicorn; it's just a bucking illusion. I'll end his 'hero' career, and then I'll finish with the brat." The leader said. The two on the sides looked at each other again, and then the one on the right leaned in. "Uh, he isn't using magic, his horn isn't glowing." He said, before backing rapidly up. The lead bully's eyes opened wider for just a second, before he narrowed them again. He is going to regret everything he said. I swear on Celestia's name, I will kill him. I'm going to crush the life from his worthless body, and I'm going... I'm going to... To... Enjoy it. I thought, until finally all thinking ceased in my mind. There were no conscious thoughts, only pure rage. I began to grow rapidly in size, until finally I was nearly as tall as Trahern was on just his hind legs. My mane and tail began to flicker and flutter, until they suddenly burst into flame. My mane grew down my neck and across my back, until it made a solid connection of flame with my tail. My ears grew sharper, and tufts of flame appeared on their tips. My teeth became sharp, and I bared them at my now terrified foe, roaring out a gout of bright yellow flame. My horn grew longer and moved higher on my head as I grew, pointed more downwards. My hooves grew larger, and a large split appeared in the front, giving them a cloven appearance. They gained ridges that made them look almost scaled, and they became covered in flame, much like much of my body. The scar from my bullet wound disappeared, and the aching in my body from working earlier that day was gone. My entire transformation only took a few seconds, and right as it appeared finished a third, highly feline eye grew just below where my horn used to be, set vertically compared to the others. As I opened this eye, I was hit by a blinding flash of insight, and dozens of new words of power became set in my mind, as clear as day. "We... Are Raging Star... And we- No, I... Will destroy you." I said, my voice resonating through my entire body. I reached out with my mind, grabbing the cowardly bully as he tried to run. As I held him in my magic grip, slowly crushing him, I watching him writhe in pain; each time I thought about what he had done to others, and everything he wanted to do, everything he had said, and everypony that he had hurt, I crushed him a little tighter. "How do you like it? Think about how much others have suffered because of you, and think whether a pony like you even deserves to live." I said. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the cutie mark crusaders and the brown colt, who were watching intently. "Wow Sweetie Belle, I guess you're not the only one who turns into a super-powerful magic rage-monster when someone picks on Button." Scootaloo said, staring unblinkingly at me. "Scootaloo, can we save that topic for later?" Sweetie Belle said, obviously terrified and trying to back away. "I'm with Sweetie Belle on this one; can we run please?" The brown colt, who apparently was named Button, asked. "You always go with Sweetie Belle's idea! When do you think we'll get to see a pony like that again?" Scootaloo asked as the four of them turned tail and booked it away. I turned my full attention back to my prisoner, who was currently trying to say something around his screams. "Please, I'm sorry! I'll never hurt another soul again! Please, Mercy!" He yelled. I glowered and roared at him. "YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF LIFE!" I yelled, preparing to end his suffering. Suddenly, a terrified voice cut through, one that was all too familiar, and the one voice that might save the colt's life. "Wait, Blaze, Please! You're making a mistake!" The voice yelled, and my three eyes looked over to see Fluttershy flying next to me. Tears were streaming freely down her face, and the look of sadness, loss, and horror on her face could convince you she had already seen the murder that was about to take place. I shook my head and yelled at her. "Blazing Star was weak; he is no more. I took his body; giving him power beyond what his pitiful mind could ever comprehend. My name is Raging Star, and I will take what is rightfully mine. This world is full of worthless ponies; I will purge the face of Equestria of their vile impurities, and a glorious new age will rise! Today is the dawn of the flame!" I yelled, the flames on my body flashing brighter for a moment before fading back to their previous state. Fluttershy slowly shook her head. "No. That's not true. You're still Blaze; I know because you're still listening to me." She said, moving closer. I turned my head and looked at her. She made a good point, and I wondered if I should continue listening, or crush her with the pony I was already holding. "Blaze is one of the kindest ponies I know. He will do anything for his friends; help out any pony in need, even when he risks himself in the process. That Blaze, the Blaze I know and have come to... That I have come to be close friends with, he wouldn't do this. Nopony misses their family as much as Blaze, but not even he takes it out on others. Please, Blaze, if you won't stop for any other reason, stop for me. If this colt dies today, I will surely die too." She said, looking into my eyes. I blinked several times, looking from Fluttershy to the colt and then back again. I absentmindedly stopped crushing the colt quite as hard, giving a chance for his screams of pain to turn into whimpers. "For me, Blaze. Please." She backed up, hovering at a respectful distance, still crying. I looked at the colt that I was currently holding. I looked into his face, into his eyes, into his soul. Except for the darker lines on his face from his tears, he looked the same on the outside, but suddenly everything shifted into a different light. He stopped being a bully, whose existence was a disgrace to the planet, and I saw him as a young colt who had lost his way in life, possibly the well-loved son of the ponies who are his parents, maybe even a brother; a role-model who simply didn't know what to do and how to deal with life. His insults stopped being attacks on my identity and my own family, and I saw them as his way of convincing himself that he lives a good life, even if only by making sure everypony else is living a terrible one. "Oh Celestia, what have I done?" There was a blinding flash of light, and when everypony could open their eyes, they saw a collection of black and red energy around my horn. After a few seconds, it exploded away, and I suddenly felt very weak. The words which I had previously learned disappeared from my mind, with only one remaining, and I immediately recognized the word I had use in the fight with Trahern. As gently as I could, I lowered the colt to the ground, knowing I had broken many of his bones from crushing him. My whole body convulsed, and I began to transform again, back into my original pony body. The instant I was normal again, I blacked out; slamming into the ground long before Fluttershy could move to catch me. "You have an extraordinary gift for going over-board on your magic use." I heard a voice say, and slowly opened my eyes to see Twilight smiling at me. I quickly glanced around the room and recognized the same general design as my first hospital trip, which likely meant I was in the same hospital. "Why am I in Canterlot? And Wha-" I started, but she cut me off, holding a hoof over my mouth. "The others will be here soon; this will be my last chance to speak with you alone. Do you remember what happened yesterday?" She asked quickly, staring at me intently. I nodded in response. Everything was still perfectly clear for me; I remembered the colt's screams, the pure hatred I felt towards him, and the way that Fluttershy had saved his life and brought me back. "You have to know, that wasn't your fault. No matter what you think you did, you weren't actually in control of your body, not until the very end, which is when you did the right thing. What happened to you was much like with Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon." She said, standing back a bit. I gave her a questioning look; I had no idea who she was talking about. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Right, I keep forgetting you're not a local. About one thousand years ago, Luna's anger at being out-shined by her sister awoke powerful dark forces that were residing within her. It caused her to transform into a powerful, but incredibly evil, alternate form. Harnessing the power of the elements of harmony, Princess Celestia banished her to the moon for one thousand years. When she returned, my friends and I used the elements to make her good again. Or, at least, that's the short version of the story." She said rapidly, constantly glancing at the door behind her. "I hate to be selfish, particularly after I tried to commit murder, but I'm not being sent to the moon, am I?" I asked, swallowing heavily. She shook her head. "I can sense them nearby, so I'll leave you with this. I will explain everything, but you have to trust me. Everypony you are about to see knows what happened, but the only ones we haven't managed to convince of your innocence are Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and possibly Applejack; she's been hard to get through to. The princesses were particularly understanding, after what happened with Nightmare Moon. Doctor Whooves says he's seen this kind of thing before, so he's not surprised either. Anyway, I'm sorry this has all happened." She said, before quickly moving to stand next to the door. "Wait, why is Doctor Whooves coming? Isn't he just that, a doctor?" I asked, confused. She shook her head. "He doesn't actually know that much about healing, he just needed a chance to study you. Very few know this, and you must never tell a living soul, but he isn't from this world either. He is, or at least was, a time traveler. His ship crashed here, and it lost the ability to move since this isn't its home universe. Since then, he's been secretly helping the Princesses with other-worldly events, since he's the only one with any experience. He's also a scientist, which has been very helpful. Now hush!" She said abruptly, nodding towards the door. Suddenly, the door was flung open, and in walked Twilight's other five friends, Doctor Whooves, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Luna was carrying a stack of books which she gave to Twilight before resuming her position. I chuckled nervously, looking around the room. Pinkie Pie was giving me a death stare, and Rarity looked moderately sympathetic, but not overly so. Applejack was looking at me with contempt, and Rainbow Dash was avoiding even looking the slightest bit in my direction. Fluttershy was the only one who seemed even a little happy. Doctor Whooves was emotionless, as were the Princesses. "A lot of ponies for one small hospital room." I said, trying to lighten the mood, but my comment seemed to fall on uncaring ears. "Since everypony is already aware of what happened to bring us together, I'm going to skip that bit for the most-part. Blaze was possessed by a power much like the one that forced Princess Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon. That power, using his anger, forced his body to do some terrible things. Unlike Nightmare Moon, however, this power has been witnessed and recorded before. He was consumed by one of the elements of nature." She said, looking slowly around the room. There were a few shocked gasps, one of them being my own. What in Equestria is that? How did it get in me? Why did it cause me to try and kill? Why am I not asking these questions out loud? I wondered, but by the time I opened my mouth, Twilight had started speaking again. "Nopony knows how old the elements of nature are, there have been recorded sightings of their effects for as long as there has been writing. It's suspected that they were created when the universe was first formed, but again, we don't know who by. However, they have one key difference from the elements of harmony that we all know. These elements, the elements of nature, aren't only tools of good. The four elements: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, are the foundation of everything in the physical world, and their power is more balanced then the elements of harmony." She continued, met this time by almost perfect silence, broken only by the sound of almost a dozen breathing bodies. "When one of the elements finds a bearer, it gives the bearer powers that tend to manifest in odd ways. These can be good, or bad, and often tend to be a mix. For a while, the element and the bearer are only loosely connected, and their powers are limited. However, eventually something will happen, something life-changing for the bearer, and the fight begins. One side, either the good, or the evil, will take dominance over the bearer's body. Often the evil part will win at first, simply because it feeds on emotions that are more common to normal ponies. If the evil part wins, any good that ever resided in the bearer will be lost, and all of the power of the element will fall into darkness. The evil will control the bearer's every action and use their body to do terrible things. This is what happened with Blaze." She said, looking at me. As if on cue, everypony else but Rainbow Dash looked at me too, the looks on their faces ranging from wonder, to disgust. I awkwardly shuffled in my bed, unsure what to do. "Blaze was all but lost to us, until Fluttershy brought back the good in him, and it won. The evil in the element was expelled, left to harmlessly wander the aether until the rest of the element is returned. Blaze now has full, conscious control over the powers of his element, for which I'm grateful, because we will soon need his help." She said quietly. "What do you mean?" I asked, breaking the silence that had again fallen on the room. She lifted up a book and held it up for everypony to see. It looked incredibly old, and it was falling apart. This time, Princess Luna stepped forward. "This book, which has never been wrong before, I shall point out, speaks of a prophecy. Written inside is the warning of the return and third rule of King Sombra, and eternal darkness. It says that the only way to defeat the darkness is to bring together the four elements of nature, and use their powers to cleanse the world. These pages were previously missing, but they were returned to us by the Black King himself. Sombra knows we can't stop the darkness he is spreading without the elements, and we are certain that when we unite the elements, he will be there, and he will try to take them and use their power for his own evil plans. I wish there was another way, but darkness is already spreading across the outer edges of Equestria, and we fear that everything we know will fall within a month. We need Blazing Star to find the other bearers, unite their powers to save Equestria, and stop Sombra once and for all." She said. I started at her, mouth agape. "You can't be serious. I've literally been here for a week, and now you want me to save the entire world?" I asked, stunned. She nodded, as did Twilight. "I'm sorry Blaze, but you're an element bearer, which means you're part of this whether you want to be or not. I think you can handle the challenge though." Twilight said, looking at me with sympathy. I let out a long sigh, knowing that there wasn't a thing I could do about my fate. I didn't have anything to loose, my family was dead and in another universe, they wouldn't be missing me. The only one who might care is... I looked over at Fluttershy, who had a stunned look on her face. I quickly made eye contact with her, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She was thinking the same thing. "Which element am I, exactly?" I asked, looking at Twilight. She dead-panned at me, and I realized how stupid of a question it was. "Right, I have an affinity for fire magic, I set things on fire when I work too hard or get angry, and I turned into a giant flaming monster. I'm guessing I'm the element of fire..." I said, trailing off. "Good guess." Twilight said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She then turned and dug around in a bag she had at her side, eventually pulling out a pair of triangular pieces of metal that had small red gems in them. I looked at her with curiosity, and she walked over to the bed. "While you will always have control of the powers inside of you as long as you're alive, much like with the elements of harmony, you will need these to use your element's power on the surrounding world. We found them with you, in the school yard; Fluttershy said they appeared when you returned to your regular form again. These are the physical part of your element, and yes, encase you were wondering, they go on your ears. Using them isn't too complicated; when the time comes, they will work." She said, handing the pair to me. I looked at them carefully, inspecting them. They were made of a very bright silvery metal, it almost seemed to glow. They were also very light, most of their weight seeming to come from the crystals. I quickly put one on, noticing that it seemed to fit me perfectly. "These seem far too valuable to left me hold on to." I said with a chuckle. I could almost hear it echo in the room it was so quiet. This is the single most awkward conversation I've ever had. I thought as I looked down, avoiding eye contact with anypony. "They are incredibly valuable, if somepony, such as King Sombra, were to get a hold of all four sets, the damage they could cause is inconceivable, but you will need them to complete your task. With any luck, the other elements will also have theirs, and you won't have to search for them." Twilight said. "For the most part, there isn't anything most of us can do to help Blaze, except moral support. It pains me to say it, but we should all just go about our normal lives, and if he fails, then we'll have to come up with a plan B. I need to teach Blaze the spell that will help him find the other element bearers, and answer any questions he has, then I'll be out." Twilight said as everypony started to make their way out of the room. Finally, it was just the two of us again. "Did that seriously all just happen?" I asked, looking at Twilight. She nodded. "I'm afraid it did. I'm sorry we have to lay such a huge responsibility on you, but we don't know what else to do. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia have tried everything they know; nothing is working. Even Doctor Whooves failed to find a way to stop it. We'll all do everything we can to help, but ultimately, only you can do this. This spell really only works when one of the bearers casts it, and we need your power to complete the elemental alignment. I wish I could do this for you, but I can't." She said. I nodded, knowing in my heart that she was telling the truth. She quickly taught me the spell, which didn't even require any words of power. When I asked her why, she said it was because the power of the elements wasn't well hidden from the bearers, only to outsiders. "It's just about feeling the power; they're connected with the whole world, and it's not hard. I tried the spell before I came in to talk to you, and even I was barely able to detect you from outside the door. According to our records however, the element bearers have had no problems, being able to feel each other miles away." She said with a smile. "Oh, and before we go, there's one other thing that I thought you would be interested in." She said, floating the book of prophecies over to me. She flipped it open and set it down in front of me. "What's this?" I asked, not yet looking at the book. "The final part of the prophecy. We haven't been able to figure out what it means yet." She said, nodding towards it. I turned my gaze to the book on my lap. I read the two short lines out loud. "The flames will burn with rage, before the stars being to storm." I said. "Any ideas?" Twilight asked. I stared at it for several minutes, before it hit me. "Flame... Wait; Blazing Star, Raging Star... Twilight, I think this is talking about me!"