//------------------------------// // ...And Rivers of Flame // Story: The Life in Ponyville series: Thundering Rivers, Rivers of Flame // by SeaBreeze173 //------------------------------// …And Rivers of Flame 1 week later “OW! That’s tender!” Flame howled as River took the bandage of his muzzle. “Quit whining,” River giggled. Flame huffed and crossed his arms. “How does it look?” Flame asked anxiously. River gasped. “Oh no,” “What! Give me a mirror!” River hoofed a mirror to her fiancé. Flame tentatively raised the mirror until he saw his face…that was perfectly fine, save for a small scar over his muzzle. “Huh?” Flame glanced up at River, who burst out laughing. “That’s not funny.” Bolt laid on the couch, listening as Flame and River laughed in the adjoining room. It had been a week since Sea walked out on him after their argument in the hospital. They had ran into each other several times, what with them having the same friends, but each time Sea would glare at him and trot away, the girls following after her. Ocean Light walked passed the doorway of the living room, paused and looked in the room to see her son on the couch. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” Ocean sat down beside him. Bolt stayed silent. “Is it about you and Sea?” Ocean asked knowingly. Bolt only nodded. “Maybe if you apologize—” “Apologize?! To her?” Bolt said. “It’s Sea who should be apologizing. She just blew up for no reason! I should have seen it coming. It’s always the quiet ones,” Bolt crossed his arms. “Oh thank goodness,” Ocean said, trying to—and succeeding at—hiding a smirk. “Huh?” “I never liked that mare,” “You didn’t?” “Celestia no! I always knew there was something fishy about Sea Breeze,” Ocean continued. “She’s from a class higher than us. She is personal friends of a princess and the former Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard, knows another princess quite well and her parents are famous. That mare is no better than those Canterlot snobs. Only she’s living here in Ponyville,” “Wait a minute!” Bolt rose up from the couch. “Sea is wonderful. She’s kind, sweet, gorgeous, funny, an awesome cook, she has a beautiful voice, and she’s my marefriend,” Bolt’s ears perked. “I have to go to her! Tell her I’m sorry!” Bolt galloped out of the living room and out the door, the door slamming shut behind him. Ocean still sat on the couch, hooves on her lap. “Mission accomplished.” Bolt landed in the front yard of Sea’s home and galloped up the steps two at time. Ringing the doorbell, he stood back and waited. Sea Breeze opened the door, a smile on her face. “Hey Girls—Oh, it’s you,” Sea’s smile turned into a frown. Leaning against the doorframe, she crossed her hooves. “What do you want?” she spat. Bolt deflated slightly at the way her eyes were glaring angrily at him. “Sea, I came to apologize,” Bolt lowered his ears. Sea’s eyes widened slightly. Uncrossing her hooves, she raised a brow. “I’m listening,” “I’m sorry for what happened at the hospital. It was wrong of me to get mad at you when I was really mad at River. And myself, really. I just needed someone to take my anger out on and you were there. I’m sorry,” Bolt gazed at Sea, watching for a reaction. The grey pegasus’ glare softened slightly, but she kept her face stern. Sighing, Sea said, “I’ll forgive you,” Bolt smiled, but it disappeared when Sea continued. “But, you have to tell me why you hate Flame so much,” “Okay,” Bolt nodded. Sea’s glare completely disappeared, a look of surprise replacing it. “Okay? I was half-expecting some long drawn out stalliony description of extreme dislike,” Sea smirked. “Don’t worry. There’ll still be plenty of that,” Sea rolled her eyes, but her lips curved into a small smile. She grabbed Bolt’s hoof and spread her wings. “C’mon, I know where we can talk in private,” Sea landed in a field, a lone oak tree in the middle. Bolt touched down beside her and looked around. “I have to admit, it is pretty private,” Bolt commented as the two walked to the oak. “Yeah. I bring Angus here a lot to play ball with him. It also just has this calm feeling to it. I don’t know why. It’s a just a field with a tree in the middle,” Sea sat down in the shade of the giant oak. The tree had to have been around for at least one hundred years, maybe two hundred. Looking up expectantly at Bolt, Sea said, “I believe you were going to tell me a story,” Bolt chuckled and sat down beside the grey pegasus. “Yes, I was,” “So, tell me, why do you hate Flame Warden?” “I don’t know,” “What?” Sea deadpanned. “I’m being honest here,” Bolt looked down at his hooves. “I really don’t know why I hate him. Like you said, he’s nice. He always has been. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him angry or heard him utter a single curse word. “Flame and River have been friends since he moved to Ponyville eight years ago. I guess that’s when my resentment towards him began. Before he came along, River and I hung out a lot. Sure, I had my friends, but I almost always chose spending time with my sister over spending time with them. I looked up to River. She was always so wise and she always encouraged me to do what I thought was right and not to conform to society’s standards,” Bolt pointed at his cutie mark. “Without Riv, I wouldn’t have gotten this. If you can believe it, as a colt, I had no interest in soccer,” “You’re kidding,” Sea lifted a brow as Bolt shook his head. “I mean, I knew that you got your cutie mark while playing with River, but didn’t know that part of the story,” “I wasn’t a very sporty colt. I actually preferred doing academic things, particularly math and science,” Sea snorted and burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you never told me this before! This is gold!” Sea flopped over on her back. “I can just see it! Thunder Bolt, the math nerd!” “I rather like math and science, thank you very much. It’s much more interesting than history,” Bolt faked a vomiting motion as he said the word. Sea shot up and playfully glared. “Oh, you did not just go there,” “I just did,” Bolt glared back. The two glared at each other for several more moments before Sea started laughing again. “Thunder Bolt, the math nerd!” Bolt rolled his eyes. “You’re a hoot,” Sea giggled one last time and sat up. “Okay, I’m good now. Please, do continue,” “As I said, I enjoyed math and science,” Sea snorted again, but covered her mouth when Bolt looked at her. The mare put on a stoic face and made a zipping motion over her lips and acted as if she threw away a key. Nodding, Bolt continued. “River was the more outgoing one. She liked sports and doing out-doorsey things. Once day when I was eight, she convinced me play a game of soccer with her. I realized that I had a knack for it. It’s all strategy and patterns, kinda like math. I was able to almost predict River’s movements before she made them. After getting the ball into the goal past River, my cutie mark appeared. I quite surprised at having at a sporty cutie mark. I had been certain that I would have a talent for mathematics or science. “I was actually a little sad that I had a soccer ball on my flank. But River came through again and made me realize that soccer was my talent. She also said that an algebra formula mark wouldn’t look that awesome,” “She was right,” Sea stuck her tongue out “You’re just saying that because you hate algebra,” “Don’t forget calculus, trigonometry and geometry. Basic math is okay, kinda. It’s when you start adding in letters. X plus B divided by Z minus H multiplied by A equals Y over W. That’s when I’m out. Seriously, why are there letters in math? It’s already complicated without them!” Sea waved her arms in exasperation. “It’s not that complicated. You just have to find the pattern,” “Patterns are for dress making. Who do I look like, Rarity?” Bolt stared at his marefriend, her words going right over his head. “You look nothing like Rarity. I was just explaining—” Bolt was interrupted by Sea groaning and face-hoofing. “Just get on with the story,” “Okay, okay!” Bolt put his hooves up. He began once more. “River was my cheerleader, the one who was always there for me. She hugged me close when I was upset, kissed my cuts and scrapes when I got hurt. She was my best friend. A few weeks after I got my cutie mark, Flame moved to town. River was fifteen. It was like, one day my sister did everything with me, the next she was spending almost all her time with this other colt. She and I still spent time together, but it wasn’t the same anymore. Whenever her friends came over, she was always talking about Flame Warden. ‘Flame Warden this, Flame Warden that.’ ‘Flame’s so handsome.’” Bolt impersonated his sister, gagging when he finished. “I wanted to puke every time I heard his name. Then in their junior year of high school, he asked her out. Then they went to college together. Now they’re getting married. And moving away,” Bolt sighed and lay down on the grass. Sea lay beside him and nuzzled his cheek. “It just really stinks. It’s felt like I’ve been loosing my sister for ten years and now she really is leaving me,” Sea smiled gently and raised Bolt’s head so she could see his eyes. “Bolty, you’re not loosing your sister. River will never leave you behind. Even when she’s in Baltimare, she’ll still be with you. She’s always been there for you and she always will be, just like how I’ll always be there for Striker and Junie when they need me. Even when apart, siblings will always be together. You’ll never have a better friend than your sibling,” Sea kissed Bolt’s cheek. Bolt smiled and nuzzled his marefriend. “You’re right. I have a sister to talk to,” Bolt stood up and reached his hoof down for Sea. “And a future brother-in-law as well,” River nuzzled Flame as the two sat on the front porch of her home. The next day Flame would be on the train to Baltimare to start at his new job while River stayed in Ponyville to begin planning their wedding and so the couple wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. “I’m going to really miss you these coming weeks, Flame,” River sighed. “It’s going to be weird not seeing you every day like in Manehatten,” Flame responded, tightening his grip around River’s shoulders. “You’re going to come at least every other weekend, right?” “That’s what I’m hoping for, but it may change sometimes,” “I can’t wait for our wedding day. Six months is too long,” River pouted. “It’ll be here before we know it, Riv,” Flame placed a soft kiss on the blue mare’s cheek. “Oh I know you can do better than that,” River smirked. Flame chuckled and placed his lips on River’s, his soft touch making the mare melt in his arms. They didn’t notice Bolt and Sea landing in the yard. “Is this a bad time?” Sea said. River and Flame jumped in surprise and quickly pulled away from each other. “Oh!” River gasped, than smiled at the grey pegasus. “Hello, Sea Breeze. How are—” River’s smiled faltered as Bolt came into view from around the porch. “Hey, sis,” Bolt looked up sheepishly at the older mare. “Hi,” River glanced back and forth between her brother and fiancé. “Bolt, I, um,” “I need to talk to you,” Bolt said. He glanced over at Flame. “And Flame,” Flame’s eyes widened slightly and he nickered nervously. “You aren’t going to sock me again, are you?” Before Bolt could respond, Sea spoke up. “Bolty wants to apologize to you and River. He told me what’s gone on between the three of you for the past ten years. He feels that he’s been slowly loosing River and now that you and her are getting married and moving away, he is going to loose her,” Sea turned to River. “I’ve known about your and Bolt’s relationship for awhile, but I didn’t truly know how much he looks up to you until today. I love Junie and Striker with all my heart, but I don’t have a close sibling relationship with them. I wish I did, but they pretty much do their own thing these days. I guess I missed my opportunity,” Sea sighed and shuffled her hooves. River studied Bolt for a long time. Her eyes began to tear up slightly, but she sniffed them back. At that moment, she didn’t see the Bolt who was now a full head taller than her. She saw the little colt with an unruly mane and black ink blotched coat that she had to bribe to come outside with her. “Bolt, is this true?” the brown pegasus only nodded. “I’m so sorry. I just thought you really didn’t like Flame. The whole “protective brother” thing. I—gosh I was so stupid. How could I not see what my relationship with Flame was doing to the first colt I ever loved?” River wiped the tears from her eyes and covered her face with her hooves. Bolt slowly made his way to River and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m not going to lie, Rivvy. It hurt me,” Bolt wrapped his arms around River and hugged her tightly. “I’m sorry, too, River. I should have told you a long time ago. I guess we were both stupid, huh?” River giggled and hiccupped. “Yeah, I guess we were,” She released him from the hug and held him at arm’s length. “I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you. No matter where you are, no matter where I am, no matter how many miles are between us, whenever you need me, I’ll be there. You’re my baby brother and you always will be, even when you are old and grey, you’ll still my baby brother Bobo,” Bolt blushed at his foalhood nickname. “Get it?” “Got it,” Bolt smiled. “Good,” River ruffled Bolt’s mane with her hoof and hugged him tight once more. Flame walked up to the siblings and hung his head. “Hey, Bolt,” Flame said. “Yeah?” Bolt turned to the fiery-maned stallion. “Your sister is very lucky to have a brother as caring as you. I didn’t mean to come between the two of you. I guess we all act pretty stupid when we’re in love,” Flame chuckled, gazing lovingly at River. “I promise I’ll take good care of her,” “I know you will, Flame,” Bolt smiled.