//------------------------------//
// Armageddon 
// Story: Tale of a Flame 
// by BlazeKindling 
//------------------------------//

The final days were here, and none could have predicted it. With the moon corrupted by Ignis’ dark plots, no pony could even try to lift it from its permanent throne atop the stars. None felt like any hope could enter their bleak, pitch black world. Even the remaining princesses gave up any hope to a brighter future. They knew Armageddon had come. But little did anyone know, their saviour was hidden from sight. Among the many, there was one with the potential of total redemption of the world. But he knew not of his gift, and just accepted life in the permanent blackness of the world.

Axle sat in his room, knowing that there was no way he would be able to see Blaze again. He had been locked up in the most secure confinement that Equestria could hold. He had been sealed in an underground bunker with multiple different doors, vault locks and guards all around the compound. Alone he sat, in the glass cube, under many different watching eyes. He felt like he couldn't breathe, and constantly pleaded for at least a glimpse of the sun. 

“Please! Just let me see the outside! I promise it won’t happen again!” He screamed at the guards, but they held still and just looked into the nothingness in front of them. He smashed his hooves into the glass, he became so enraged that he passed out. He felt like there was no one to help him, no one to set him free upon the world. He gave up after the first week.

Axle wiped the sweat off his brow as he finished up the car he was working on. He called the client's name, and he walked through the door to his new cart. Axle wheeled it out of his garage and out onto the street. The client paid and left. Axle walked back inside to rest after his long day of work. Soon after hitting the pillow he fell asleep. He felt the calming subconscious take over as he passed out, taking in the amazing feeling by the bucket load. He then woke up with a jump start. A low moaning was heard from his kitchen. He ran down with a baseball bat in wing, and charged the intruder. But no one was there when he entered. He looked around, but still no one was in. He dismissed it as him hearing things and went back to bed. He then woke up again to not the moaning, but… complete silence. No cart wheels grinding on the gravel road, no hooves cantering around. Just a disturbing silence. He opened his eyes, and didn't even feel the pillow  to his head. He groggily opened both eyes to find himself staring into nothing. A pitch black void in all directions. He got up, and noticed that he was alone. No pony in sight. Strange, but expected to a void like this. He wandered through the wasteland of complete black, and loneliness. He then came across a building. It seemed to appear out of nowhere, and took on a wooden form from the fog. Axle opened it’s doors to find no pony in sight, only voices. Some children playing with each other, some adults engaging in small talk. He felt as if he was going insane. Then, a ghostly apparition appeared from around the corner, and looked straight at Axle. He felt a shiver of terror as it approached him, walking slowly as if she was curious. She then talked in a pale and soft tone.

“Who are you?” She asked him. Axle shivered, but stood strong.

“Well, my name is Axle. Who are you?” He replied. She smiled.

“My name is Silver. Silver Spectre. If you’re wondering, no I'm not a ghost.” She said in a much friendlier tone. 

“Then what are you?” Axle shot back, his curiosity growing. She said nothing and her horn glew. Before Axle knew what was happening, she shot her spell at him. Axle shut his eyes, only to open them to reveal a nice, warm house. Silver had taken on a much less ghostly form. Axle opened his mouth to talk, but she shushed him and motioned for him to follow her. Axle trotted after her as she went back around the corner behind her. Axle ran around to see a dining hall with many different, scruffy-looking kids. 

“You see, this is a lost memory. A fragment of someone’s history chipped off. Any lost memories come here, to the Void.” Silver said as she walked. Axle was dumbfounded and his mouth refused to even open to talk. He silently walked behind her as she explained more.

“This used to be an orphanage before it met with a tragic end. Although many escaped from it, there was only one who died.” Silver pointed at an almost teenage colt with a long, curly green mane. He sat beside a smaller colt who looked almost the exact same as him.

“They were brothers, and they had a tight relationship. But unfortunately, like the Armageddon happening in your world, it came to an end when the older one was burnt into a crisp.” Suddenly, Axle felt a wave of nostalgia as he looked at the younger one.

“Wait, burnt? Are you saying that this orphanage burnt down?” Axle asked her. She nodded, and Axle knew exactly who those two were. Then, blackness filled his vision as he found himself in a small room. There was a black pegasus in the corner of the room, fiddling around with something in a can. Axle noticed the pegasus pour the contents of the can all over the wooden support beams. The strong smell hit like a truck, and Axle knew exactly what was going on. He ran over to stop the youngster from completing his dastardly deed. But he passed right through him, like a ghost.

“You can’t touch him, he’s only a memory.” Silver said in a more depressive tone. Axle watched as the colt drew a box of matches, and lit the gasoline ablaze. He then ran from the room, and out the front door. Axle watched in horror as the fire spread quickly, sending the beams crumbling down. The fire then spread to the revealed wooden ceiling. Axle felt the heat from his standing point and stepped out of the room, watching as the fire spread to the many walls around. He noticed outside, that the black pegasus had joined with a bunch of other orphans around an out of control bonfire. Soon, the entire complex was on fire. Silver explained that he could not be hurt by the fire, so Axle wandered around in the complex, only to bump into the young colt he had seen in the cafeteria. He followed him as he ran, and then stopped at the edge of the doorway the colt had stepped into. Under a fallen beam was the brother. The colt attempted to move it, but no use. He saw the youngster fall to the ground in defeat before the brother told him to run. He handed over a necklace and the younger brother ran. Out the front door and into the forest. Axle gave chase, and soon after the blackness took over his vision once more. He found himself at a small encampment, with the colt sitting in his makeshift tent. Axle heard shouting in the background, and a group of soldiers ran straight at him. The colt ran, but they soon grabbed him and dragged him off. Axle followed, and found them at a military camp. He gasped. He watched the colt be strung up, tied and bound to a stick, and then turned around on a spit roast. He watched in utter disgust as the colt screamed in pain, suffering the utmost pain and hell. A good six minutes passed, and the soldiers took him off, his mane charred and his skin nearly falling off. He was dragged off on a stretcher, and Silver spoke up from behind Axle, startling him.

“Disgusting, isn’t it? I’ve been forced to watch this same memory for so many years now, I've gotten used to it. But it is truly vile what the ponies of the past used as torture. They were trying to reveal if he was a changeling or not.” She sighed as she walked calmly after the two soldiers carrying the colt. Axle blacked out again, and saw the colt rise from his bed, changed. The colt had become Blaze, cutie mark and all. He felt his heart rip itself to pieces as Blaze looked into a mirror, screaming at his transformation. And then, blackness. Axle awoke to see the ghostly Silver at his bedside, casting some sort of spell on him. She shook her head slightly and opened her eyes, which for the first time Axle could clearly see. They were ocean blue, with a slight sparkle of cyan.

“So you got my message. Good. Remember that whenever you need to remember someone else’s memory, call my name. I'm happy to get visitors in the Void.” She said as she faded away into nothingness. Axle wiped his eyes, and knew what he saw was true. He got up from bed and walked down to the door, having insight on what to do next. Axle walked through the night, and to Twilight’s library. He knocked, but with no answer, instead a concerning silence. He knocked again but no voice arose from behind the wooden door. Axle opened the door, calling her name. He heard a slight muffled voice coming from upstairs. He ran up to see Twilight bound to her chair. He undid the tight knots and un-gagged her. The entire time she shook her head, but Axle didn't notice. The moment she lost the gag, she blurted out with a panicked tone

“IT’S A TRAP!”