Eureka: The Last Pyromancer

by Sir Hat


The Exile of a Mare

"Guilty."

The verdict was passed with a solid snap of a gavel. Only a soft ringing fluttered along past my ears, overtaking me, consuming me. I could only watch as the ponies in the jury stepped away. I was alone, I was an exile, and soon enough I would be sent to my death by a simple boat.

The ringing was all there was. My sight locked on my pure white hooves. I had sinned, and soon I would face the punishment fit for me.

I could only wait now, and pray that the death I had earned would be quick and painless, although more than I deserved.

"Rise, my little pony." I felt something rest on my forehead. "Look to me."

I slowly lifted my head, Celestia herself was standing proud before me. She removed her hoof and raised me onto my haunches with her magic. I slumped back down and kept my head towards the floor. "Rise." She called again.

I shook my head. "It's done, I've pleaded and failed."

"Rise." Celestia pulled me upright again, this time holding me in place while she looked me over. Her gaze was burning, an overwhelming sense of dissapointment racked my body and burned my skin.

"Princess please--" I was cut off as I felt a hoof swing around my back, pulling me tight against our royal leader, our regal mare. I felt my breath go shallow and heavy as she squeezed me. "Please...don't."

I felt a hoof travel up and down my back. "Shh.... Calm." She set me back down onto my haunches, standing proudly before me as the phoenix I'd created sat on her back. She looked at it, the creature now free of its cage. "I had these eradicated...to my knowledge none survived." The phoenix bounced up and down her back. "I'm glad to see my hasty judgment did not doom them."

I took a quick breath and looked up at my princess. "A demon, yet you're willing to touch it? You're willing to touch one as sickly and rueful as myself?"

The princess closed her eyes and nodded. "Ruin is not your card, nor is death. And exile is only a word my ponies use." She reached her horn down and tapped me on the forehead. A heavy thud hit the base of my brain and burrowed into my neck. "No...what you have done is a brave act, turn vile by laws to protect." She stepped back and looked me over. "How long ago it was, to watch villages burn and bodies turned to coal. To think it was my doing, to think it was my word." She hung her head. "To think one so soft would break my laws in such a way."

I lowered my head, resting my chin against the floor before our princess. "I'm sorry--"

"To break such a law for the betterment of others. To break my law in a time of only the most critical of moments. To understand and comply with the ramifications." She stamped her hoof. "No...exile will not be your punishment, but your cause." She turned her head to the western window.

I stood up, wiping the tears from my eyes and I stood beside her. "I have commited an unforgivable--"

"Far to the west, in a land lost to the ice, lost to the frost of the windigos and the over saturation of magic, I believe there is a home for one as brave as you." She turned to me with a stern gaze. "And I believe none other can survive the perils it holds." She nodded once at me. "I have a mission for you. One that will cost your life, your love, and your every fiber." She turned to me head on. "To save Equestria from the ice, to hold the windigos at bay, to stem the ice with rightious fire weilded in my name and the name of life." She tapped me on the tip of the horn. "But, will you agree? After our choices, and our judgment, I fear we may have lost your favor."

I stomped my hoof. "You have purpose for me!? Then direct me!" I stomped my hoof again. "Send me to fight! I will redeem myself in your eyes!" Again, this time sending a small crack into the floor. "My life is your--" My eyes burned as a loud drip took back my hearing. "--I am nothing! I am--"

Celestia threw a hoof around me and pulled my against her chest. "You are my everything. My subject, my friend, my little pony." She nuzzled my head with her lips. "And I fear I may never reward you as you deserve."

I took a deep breath and let my hooves wrap around her sides, resting myself against her. "Purpose...life...it's reward enough. Now use me as you see fit...for I am nothing--"

"Hmm." Celestia held my close. "But you are my everything. And, perhaps in time an unsung hero will save us all from the ice, lead by fire and sent by the sun." She pulled me close and nuzzled the back of my head with her chin. "In time you will fight for us all, I only hope you deem us fit for the struggle."

"Always." I squeezed her back. "Forever eternal, eternally loyal."



And so mare made immortal, Eureka was sent to hold the ice at bay. Her fire lights the western sky, and provides us with the warm winds from the cold land to the west. All nameless. All silent. Burning embers amongst a blizzard, she protects us from the frost.