//------------------------------// // 11- Stay Strong // Story: The Flames of the Phoenix // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// The Flames of the Phoenix- Stay strong Zecora’s Hut (Caesar)         Ember had just returned again from meeting another Displaced and now, she was heading towards the hut of Zecora; the Zebra that lived in the Everfree Forest, to check on Caesar.         As she neared Zecora’s hut however, she noticed that both Zecora and Caesar were out and about in the small clearing around the hut. Zecora was standing close to the hut itself, while Caesar was running about doing some kind of spinning motion. But it didn’t look like he was simply fooling around as he had a serious face on and seemed frustrated about something. Presumably something to do with all the spinning.         “You okay there, Caesar?”         Caesar stopped and turned around to face Ember. As he realized it was her, he smiled.         “Yeah, just a bit excited. I managed to do ‘Defense curl’ in my sleep! So I was trying to do it again and see if I could learn it properly and maybe learn some other transfer-only moves.” He said happily. But right after saying that he suddenly sat down on the ground.         “Heh, guess I got to work on it some more, getting really dizzy…” He said, trying to keep the world around him from spinning.         While Caesar was recovering, Zecora came up to Ember to greet her.         “Good day Ember, You have come for Caesar as I remember. Caesar is so much better today, I don’t think he has any reason to stay.” Zecora said looking back at Caesar as he was getting back up.         “All this talk about his ‘moves’, at first I thought they were just a ruse. But alas I was wrong, this boy is quite strong.” Zecora said with a small smile.         “I can tell.” Ember smiled happily. “You look like you’re getting the hang of your abilities.”         “Yeah. I discovered early on that I can use any moves a Pikachu can learn. But it seems that the transfer-only moves are a bit more tricky. But I guess that makes sense, some of the moves don’t really fit a Pikachu. But I would still love to learn them… if it’s possible that is.” Caesar explained with a somewhat dreamy expression.         “Right… I’m starting to think that you don’t want to see Applebloom and the rest of your new family, do you?” Ember asked, folding her arms for a brief moment as her words caught Caesar’s attention. It made his ears twitch and his cheeks spark a little. “Applebloom is excited to show her new little brother to the rest of her siblings.”         “Oh, no. Of course I do! I was just so excited to learn about transfer only moves that I… forgot. Sorry.” Caesar said looking a bit embarrassed about having done so.         “It’s alright, little guy. You’ll have enough time to learn your moves afterwards, I promise.” Ember chuckled, offering the pikachu boy a place on her back to crawl on. “Ready to go?”         Caesar smiled and nodded once before jumping up onto her back before turning around while still holding onto Ember with one hand and waved towards Zecora.         “Goodbye Zecora. Thanks for taking care of me.” He said waving goodbye with his free hand.         “Bye Zecora. Thank you so much all of your help!”         “I guess there’s no reason being late, the time spent with you has been great.” Zecora responded while waving her own hoof at them until they were out of sight.         “So… um… how is Applebloom’s family? I mean, I’ve met Applebloom, but I don’t really know anything about her family…” Caesar asked, breaking the silence that had been since they left Zecora’s.         “You mean what are they like?” Ember asked. “Well, she has two older siblings. A sister and a brother and besides me, she also has a grandmother.”         Caesar nodded. “Yes, I think it would be good to know a little about them before I meet them, but I also think I should know more about… ponies in general. I mean, the only one I’ve met is Applebloom and she is only about my age. And I really don’t want to do something inappropriate or embarrassing only because I don’t understand something.” Caesar explained.         “Well, it’s kind of complicated if you ask me. But let me try to help,” Ember said, her flames taking the form of three kinds of ponies. “Applebloom herself is an earth pony. A pony that is one with the land. Therefore, they have a lot of talents that involve hard work and strength. There are only two other normal kinds of ponies. Unicorns that have horns and can control Magic and Pegasi that have a pair of wings and can control the weather in the sky.”         “Wait, magic?” Caesar asked, his eyes going wide.         “Yeah. Like mine, but different.” Ember said, pointing out her flames. “Think like when an Alakazam picks something up with Telekinesis or when Mewtwo teleports.”         “Oh, I think I get it… is it very specific in what it can do, like pokémon moves or can it do a lot of different stuff beyond what you mentioned?” Caesar asked, thinking about the possibilities involving magic.         “Yeah, but it varies depending on who uses it and how much power they have. Unicorns and Alicorns, a species of ponies only found in royalty, can control magic, but it is limited by certain guidelines. Like you can only use certain moves out of combat for you like Flash or Strength. However, another species called Draconequus though, that’s a whole different story.”         Caesar rubbed the side of his head. “That is quite a lot to think about… but… isn’t it unfair?”         “Well, it really focuses on you and your strengths. Draconequus like Discord though,” Ember said, showing a fiery projection of the Spirit, “-are masters of Chaos Magic. Almost like a legendary Pokemon. They can learn any move and master it with ease depending on the guidelines they follow.”         “Reminds me of a move that allows a pokémon to learn a move it observes permanently, don’t remember what it’s called though… But I was more hinting towards the fact that Unicorns and… Alicorns you said? - well, while they get to use magic, pegasi are limited to flying and earth ponies have a connection to nature? Isn’t that like… far less possibilities for them?” Caesar asked while looking at Ember with a frown.         “Honestly, it depends on that ponies talent. There Cutie Mark on their flank that they earn tells a Pony what they’re skilled at and how they could help others. As for the Pegasi, they can control the weather and are responsible for the rainy seasons in Equestria while Earth Ponies are the only ones capable of growing food.” Ember finished for a moment… before speaking again. “It’s like a cycle. Are you familiar with the Pokemon of Alpha, Omega and Delta?”         “You mean the ruby, sapphire and emerald remakes that came out on Nintendo 3DS?”         “Yeah. Groudon represents the Land. Kyogre represents the Sea and Rayquaza represents the sky. Now… think about that and then think about this. Earth Ponies represent the Land, Unicorns represent the magic that flows through this land like the waves of the sea and the Pegasi represent the weather and the sky. Does that make sense?”         “Yeah, I think I understand… wait a sec,” Caesar suddenly began to search for something in his pocket and quickly got a 3DS XL out. It was black and had a golden motif of a Pikachu on it. He quickly opened it up and began writing everything Ember told him on virtual notes with the little stylus that came with the small handheld gaming device. “There, now I won’t forget and… what? how come it’s charging?” Caesar asked, completely baffled and glad at the same time that he wouldn’t have to worry about charging his gaming device. Not noticing that his cheeks were buzzing slightly with electricity.         “Seems like your cheeks react to electrical devices. Since Pikachu’s are electric types.”         Caesar quickly put a hand to his cheek and felt that they truly were reacting to something. Looking down to the device in his hand he frowned.         “That doesn’t make much sense… I mean, you can’t just carelessly charge something by using a random power source, you have to take into account the stuff like watt, ohm and things like that. Otherwise it could break!” As soon as he said that Caesar seemed to realize exactly what he said and immediately let go of the DS, afraid of breaking it. The DS fell to the ground which fortunately consisted of soft dirt. Looking at the DS Caesar saw that the small light indicating that the device was charging had turned off and that his cheeks had stopped reacting him holding the DS.         “I… I guess I’ll have to be careful with it. Think they possibly have regular DS chargers for sale somewhere around here?” Caesar asked, already suspecting the answer to be no.         “Yeah. You kind of are a human light socket.”         At that Caesar suddenly grew sad and and his eyes began to fill with tears.         “Y-you mean I won’t be able to play on my DS, ever?” Caesar asked with a trembling voice.         “I never said that. What I was trying to tell you is that over time, if you control your powers, then you can play your DS without damaging it.”         With hope returning, Caesar sighed and jumped of Ember’s back to pick up his DS and quickly shoved it into his pocket. Looking around some Caesar tried to judge the distance they had already traveled during their conversation.         “How far is it until we’re there? Maybe I could walk rest of the way? I don’t want to be an inconvenience…” Caesar said, realizing he should probably have said something about that earlier.         “Actually,” Ember replied as the two of them soon reached a clearing. “We’re here.”         “Oh.” Caesar simply replied as he took in the sights of Sweet Apple Acres. Everything from the Massive trees to the bright red barn. Outside the barn, Caesar could see a huge red stallion and a orange mare. Both of them earth ponies. Then, Applebloom came out, turning around to see both him and Ember, filled with Joy and Glee.         “Oh. Hi Applebloom nice to-” was all Caesar managed to say before Applebloom tackled him with a hug, making him fall over from the sudden “tackle”.         “Looks like somepony’s excited to see you.” Ember giggled.         “App-Applebloom, Air!” Caesar managed to squeeze out as he was suffocating from the highly effective assault.         “Aunt Embah, who is this little Critter?” Applejack asked as she trotted over to the both of them. “And why is Applebloom hugging him like tha?”         “Applejack. Big Mac. I would like the two of you to meet Caesar. He’s a lot younger than me, but came to Equestria the same way I did. Since he’s around Appleblooms age, I thought we would let him stay here for the time being and let him have fun with Applebloom and her friends. Plus, it’ll be good to have extra hands-er I mean hooves on deck for when Zap Apple season is coming.”         “Zap Apples? What’s that?” Caesar asked, his curiosity overwinning his confusion about Ember’s use of the word hooves when he clearly had hands.         “They’re special apples that only come around during the spring.” Ember first said. “But I believe Applebloom can explain more about them.”         “Yah, ah reckon ah can do dat,” Applebloom stated with a smile. “Come on Caesar, Ah show ya where tah trees are.” With that, the Filly and the Young Boy were soon walking over that direction. With it though, Applejack now looked at her Aunt with a raised eyebrow.         “Is there somethin’ we need ta know about him? Because he looks a bit… different than you or Frost and it isn’t like ya to just bring a youngsta home like a stray kitten. Ah know you want ta help tha boy, but we need ta talk about this as ah family first.”         “Applejack, when I found him, he was dying of a common cold from sleeping a night in the Everfree forest. He’s scared and with abilities that he doesn’t know about. If Zecora and I didn’t find him when he did, he would be a goner. I owe it to him to help him feel comfortable and have a family here he could call home.”         Instantly, Applejack donned a face of worry.         “Ah goner? You mean he’h be … dead. Goshdarnit, I guess it was a good thing ya found him… He’s gonna be alright, ain’t he?” Applejack looked towards the acres that contained the currently completely naked Zap Apple trees where the youngsters had gone.         “I found him only yesterday and he’s had some time to rest, so he should be fine. If anything does occur though, I can go back to Zecora’s and see what’s wrong. He’s quite the curious soul despite being timid at times. Almost makes me think of Fluttershy.”         “Really now... “ Applejack frowned a little. “Ya said yesterday, didn’t ya? So how come he’s already out and about, Ah reckoned he’d be restin’ still?”         “Well, I found him yesterday. Zecora might’ve tended to him for a while before I showed up.”         “That must be it… So, does he… ya know, eat the same as you?” Applejack asked Ember with an awkward look on her face.         “I’m an Omnivore and rely on meats, fruits and vegetables to stay healthy. Caesar might be the same, but something tells me that it might be different. We’ll just have to wait and see. Plus, Apple Bloom gets to see what it’s like to take care of a little brother.” Ember smiled, watching as she saw the filly interact with the youngster. During this though, she felt a familiar tug and realized that she was being called upon.         “Hey Mac, Mind watchin everypony for a little while. I gotta go somewhere real quick.”         “Really, go where?” Applejack asked.         “That part doesn’t matter. But what you should know is,” Ember looked back at her family and smiled. “I’ll be back.”         Before Applejack could even ask about it, Ember disappeared in a small plume of flames, slightly burning the ground beneath where she was standing. Elsewhere…         “Hey, Moondancer.”         “Yes Kaoru?”         “Why do you have a feather in your mane?” Kaoru asked as she pointed at the brightly colored feather that was in her hair.         “Sonata gave this to me, something about it being a good luck charm or something.” Moondancer said as she levitated the feather toward Kaoru, allowing her to look at it a little more closely.         “You think she got it from a store or something?”         “Highly doubt it,” the Unicorn replied back. “The Feather is a rare phoenix feather. You can’t find these in stores now-a-days because of the limited amount of them that are around. My guess is either she found this lying around… or she did something dumb and bought it off the black market in exchange for tacos.”         “I’m gonna go with the taco one.” Kaoru said as she tossed the feather aside. However, in doing so, the small feather began to glow brighter than it once did as a flame began to flicker. “Oh crap! Quick get something to put the flames out!” The two of them didn’t have the time to react properly as a figure emerged from the flames. A woman who appeared to be just as old as Kaoru in it with a burgundy scarf, gray shirt and dark blue jeans.         She soon looked up, looking around the room. “Hello.”         “Great, more Displaced… Can’t I ever get a moment of peace for once in this messed up world?” Kaoru said as she hid under the covers with Moondancer.         “Well, hello to you too.” she replied sarcastically. “I’m going to go out on a whim here and say that you two are ghouls.”         “Moondancer is, I’m not anymore.”         “Your tone doesn’t match your words.” The woman told her, noticing how the voices weren’t in synch. “Besides… it’s surprising for me to meet someone like you. I’ve already met a few other Displaced… Well, most of them were morons and one of them was… something else. I didn’t think you two would find my token.”         “That was Sonata that found it.”         “Yet, it only reacts to other Displaced… Trust me… I’ve been around over 1500 years and-.”         “Woopty fricken doo, your old big deal.”         “No, you don’t because you cut me off. I am immortal… A tortured Phoenix.” Ember told her. “And I can tell that you are in pain.”         “If you’re here to try to cheer me up, then good luck with that. Because the last displaced didn’t help, and he was annoying to the point where I wanted to gut him.”         “Unlike him, I can actually do something.” Ember told her. “But it requires you to trust me. All people have good intentions, but our opinions at times clouds our vision to where we only see the negative side of things.” She then sighed, looking back at Moondancer before looking at Kaoru again. “Now… do you trust me?”         “....Fine I’ll trust you, but if you do anything I don’t like then I’ll have Moondancer or Sonata throw stuff at you.”         “Fair enough,” Ember replied, softly touching her forehead just once. Kaoru might not have been able to see anything happen on the outside, but what was going on was on the inside. That single touch on her forehead had a massive wave of Life Force flow through her body, acting as white blood cells to fight against bacteria. Burning away any remnants of Carnage Kabuto and the bands that bound her. Allowing her body to return to normal. “There… done. Your body should mostly be back to normal. My energy is the same powers as a phoenix when it dies and is reborn from the ashes. The circumstances that held your body down are now different. Your will is what you need to have you become a ghoul. Not a material object… Also, you gained another… interesting ability.”         “What ability?” Moondancer snarled, thinking that Ember did something to her.         “Easy there, I didn’t harm her. Since the energy I gave you is not going to disappear anytime soon, you can split it into multiple selves.” Looking at Kaoru, she sighed before giving her a simplified explanation. “Think Agent Smith from the Matrix.”         Kaoru looked at Moondancer, before looking at the Pyromancer again. She only had one thing to say in response. “Oh, F*** the hell yes!!”         “So how many can she make of herself?” Moondancer asked.         “That… depends on the amount of energy she uses. She may have a lot of energy, but each clone takes a small amount for her to control. Also, she can mentally command them and they’re linked with the original body. Which means if the clones get hurt, the original host feels the same pain. So I say that two should be your limit now until you learn how to control it and make more.” She told them, explaining it step by step. “However, remember, the same energy that allows you this ability is linked to what’s healing your body. Which means the more clones you have, the slower your body heals.”         “So I have to be more careful than how I was before. Damn, and I was so enjoying the quick healing factor.”         “Your healing though should have your body be back to normal in about four hours.” Ember advised them, looking back at Moondancer before telling Kaoru something else. “But I think there’s one other thing that you’re overlooking regarding yourself, Kaoru. Remember what I first said before Moondancer asked about the clone ability?”         “I get the feeling they’ll have different personalities of their own I take it?” Kaoru asked.         “Well, that’s the thing. You wanted to stay human correct?”         “Technically I’m half, just without the darkness around my one eye or kagune.”         Ember sighed, looking back at Kaoru. “Maybe it’ll be best if you try your abilities now. That way you can see for yourself.”         “And how do I do that fire lady?”         “Just think of it in your head. Your brain is a canvas and you are the brush. Whatever you think of will be created.” She replied.         “.........”         “Just snap your fingers, Kaoru.” Moondancer said.         “Oh okay.” With a snap of a finger, two different versions of herself appeared next to her and Moondancer. “Well…… this is interesting to say the least.”         “Since you are half human and half ghoul, the two clones you made represent that,” The Pyromancer explained, pointing at them. “The one on your left is the human you. The one on the right is the ghoul you.”         “Naw really? I couldn’t tell.” Kaoru ghoul side said sarcastically.         “Sarcasm is not your best trait.” Ember deadpanned. “Plus, I’ve been patient with you. I don’t think you really want me to demonstrate what I’m fully capable of. In my world, my rage is the reason why the badlands were created.”         “Lady, I’m friends with a Displaced who can simply change a world with just a simple thought. Compare to you he’s scarier.”         With a snap of her fingers, a bright and blinding ball of fire that was a miniature sun appeared in her hands. “Oh trust me, one who imagines things to happen is ineffective if you don’t believe in his tricks. Where is your friend anyways?” She asked, standing up and walking towards the door.         “Outside talking to his breezie friend, why?”         “I was just curious.” She replied. “From the way you described it, he seems to be just as strong as I am.” Opening the door, she noticed the small charm hanging on the door and turned it around, seeing the notice from the previous visitor Kaoru had. Taking it off the store, she stored it in her pocket before turning around to notice another pony seeing her. One who was carrying an entire rack of tacos.         “What is this, Taco Tuesday?”         “Well it is Tuesday silly… Wait a minute, you’re not Kaoru!”         “No, but I did heal her-.”         “Chrysalis we have an intruder in our base!” Sonata yelled as she pressed the alarm button on her communicator watch.         “Oh come on! Seriously!?!” Ember yelled, turning to the Displaced and her Unicorn friend. “Kaoru, get out here and calm down your friend. She thinks I’m an intruder and-. Oh, for phyrron's sake, STOP SCREAMING ALREADY!!!”         “Quick get the guns we gotta protect the tacos!” Sonata said as she held a lifebar in her hooves. “I’ll deal with her. The rest of you get the boss.” The pony soon got her weapons and tried to hit Ember by firing a barrage of bullets. Only for a purple screen to pull up in front of Ember, labeled “IMMORTAL OBJECT” like the command in Sword Art Online.         “No fair! That’s cheating!”         Ember sighed, facepalming to herself. “It isn’t cheating if it’s true…”         “Hacks! I call hacks!”         “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH, TACO LADY!!!”         “IT’S STILL HACKS YOU CHICKEN LADY-!!!” The moment that Sonata tried to fire again, Ember held up her hand and a small wave of heat had her guns turn into piles of Ash on the floor.         “I’m called the Tortured Phoenix for a reason. It’s not a title. It’s what I am.”         “Don’t care.” Sonata said as she pulled out a rocket launcher. That caused Ember to flinch a little, wondering where the hell does she keep all these things before having another wave of fire knock Sonata backwards.         “To be fair… You almost had a point. But let me fill you in on something… I’ve been alive for 1500 years, I hate everyone equally when they have the nerve to piss me off, and no one gives a damn about who the hell I am…”         “Oh cry me a river chicken lady.” Sonata said as she unpinned a grenade and dropped near her.         “Call me a chicken again and I will have half a mind to leave you kentucky fried. Besides… you do realize that you are just destroying your own base right?” With that, Ember used her abilities and energy to teleport herself to where she was outside the door. “So… jokes on you.”         “Please this is a normal thing for me.” Sonata said as she appeared next to Ember. “We can patch this place up in no time.”         “Yes, but how are you going to explain to your boss, who I believe is standing right behind you, all the property damage you caused?” Ember said, pointing a finger behind her. “Because I only came here because Kaoru summoned me. Not to cause any trouble whatsoever.”         “Oh… well why didn’t you say so earlier?”         “YOU WERE FIRING GUNS AT ME WHEN I WAS TRYING TO CALM YOU DOWN!!!” Ember shot back.         “You could’ve just made a barrier around yourself and said it while I kept attacking you.”         “To be fair, I use violence as a last resort… Also, I’m being serious about your boss being behind you… Is your boss a changeling?”         “That’s Queen of the Changelings to you, human.” Chrysalis said before patting Sonata’s head. “Good job Sonata at attacking somepony in our base.”         “You do realize I’m the reason why Kaoru is back on her feet, right? She’s herself again and can clone herself.” Ember told them. “Also, Sonata here tried to blow up your base with a rocket launcher.”         “To be fair this is pretty much a normal thing for us when she does that.”         “Not really considering the fact that I’m not normal. Sonata can tell you that.”         “The part about you being immortal, yeah I overheard the conversation you had over her communicator. Which I’m not impressing seeing how we meet certain void dwellers that can deal with those that are immortal.”         Ember sighed, looking back at Chrysalis. She seemed just as stubborn as Applejack back home. “Yes, I’m well aware of that, but I’m a different case. Nevermind that, I was in your hideout here because Kaoru summoned me.”         Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, looking at Sonata before looking back at Ember. Unconvinced. “And how did that happen?”         “My token was the phoenix feather Moondancer was wearing.” She sighed, showing them an example before having it turn into flames. “Anyways, you may be relieved to hear that I helped mend her back to full health. Whoever tried helping her really needs to obtain a medical degree first before trying to help anymore patients because they screwed up with Kaoru big time. Also, she has some new perks that you might want to pay attention too.”         “Well sorry if I don’t have the proper equipment like most hospitals do.” said Adagio glaring at Ember. “You try patching her up without the use of your fancy displaced powers, and equipment that’s made from spare parts from the junkyard. This league isn’t funded by anyone, so don’t mock my abilities as a doctor seeing how you never had to operate on somepony without the use of magic or displaced powers.”         Ember sighed a little, looking back at Adagio. “You didn’t hear the last part of my sentence did you?”         “I did, but you also mocked my medical skill. Something that no one should mock especially from a displaced who never operated on somepony without the use of her powers.”         “My intention was never to mock. To phrase it differently, I’m sometimes brutally honest.” The Pyromancer apologized to Adagio as she continued. “The trace of both the bands that were holding her in place and the poison in her body has been removed and her body is back to normal. Give her a few hours and she’ll be back to normal. Also, don’t be surprised when you see three of her walking around the place.”         “Great, as if one of her was enough.” Adagio said annoyingly.         “The thing is, right now, Kaoru is half human, half ghoul. The two clones of her are based on her human and ghoul side and she has control over them. But still, Kaoru told me something… interesting. Something of another Displaced here besides the last one that came here. I believed he was known as The Visionary.”         “If you’re looking for Gremmy, he’s outside on the roof.”         “Gremmy?” Ember replied, chuckling to herself for a minute. “Sorry, I just thought you said Gummy for a minute.”         “No, she said Gremmy.” Gremmy said appearing next to Ember.         “Why this is a surprise,” The Pyromancer turned around, looking at the visionary. Seeing the look on his face and his blondish hair definitely surprised her because Gremmy was not like who she assumed for him to be. “When I first heard of this visionary, I expected you to be…… older.”         “1,599 years old, the reason why I look young is because I don’t age.”         “Welcome to the club. Same here. 1500 years and counting.” She told him. “I’m going to take a guess that you either imagined yourself to live this long or is it something else?”         “I’m imagination incarnation, can’t die until the end of time.”         “That sucks. I’m the tortured phoenix, reincarnated. My powers and my immortality were given to me from a dying phoenix. If you were to kill me, I’ll just rise from the ashes again.”         “So you’re pretty much just one of those kind of Displaced.”         Ember raised an eyebrow when she heard Gremmy refer to her as kind. “I’m not quite sure what you mean by kind, but power wise, my rage is the reason why the badlands were created back home.” That response got Chrysalis and Sonata to look at her in shock. Eyes wide open as they stared at her.         “And I meet a Displaced who can destroy a world with the power of gravity, your point?”         “Not trying to prove anything. You’re actually the first Displaced that actually took my interest. The others I met were a bunch of renegades who blamed me for destroying their car, a bunch of idiots as the Ginyu Force that were being trained by Mr. Popo and some guy as Ultron. So, you and Kaoru are actually the ones that I like better than those guys. Most of them except for Ultron act like idiots at times.”         “You tend to get use to it from time to time when meeting other Displaced.” Ember nodded her head in agreement, looking around them and realizing just how much of an open space they were in. If she wanted, she could challenge Gremmy in a fight. However, her concern was that it would track unnecessary attention. Especially since these guys were vigilantes.         “I’m going to assume you overheard me talking about Kaoru?”         “It’s not that hard to hear or feel your presence in this world.”         “So you already know about her new abilities. Expected… But what about your… other companion. I heard Moondancer refer to her as Lotus?” Ember asked, mentioning the name of the breezie. She had heard of them before, but never saw one in the flesh.         “Over here chicken lady.” Lotus said munching on a piece of gummy worm.         “ … I’m letting that slide, but just like I told Sonata, I have half a mind to leave someone kentucky fried if they call me that again.”         “You and I both know that you would be in trouble with Gremmy here if you even think about trying that.”         “ … Fair enough. Besides, you should be thanking me for helping Kaoru.” Ember told the Breezie. “She’s back on her feet again and now has two of herself like if it’s Agent Smith from the Matrix.”         “Just like Arima, but different.”         “Quite…” Ember sighed, “So, what else is there that you need me for. Because I’m being tempted to start calling Sonata Police Girl right around now… I am curious though as to see how Gremmy’s powers serve him…… in combat.”         “You really think you can beat Gremmy, Master of Imagination?” Lotus asked while laughing.         “Not exactly beat… I just want to get a chance to unwind. I haven’t been able to use all of my strength in such a long time that I have been itching for a fight. Plus… I believe you can’t imagine something in which I can’t destroy.”         “Wanna bet, because you’re the fifth Displaced that said something like that.” Ember smirked, her eyes giving off a fierce predatory glance as a golden fire like aura around her. The second she saw Gremmy blink, she blazed forth a trail behind her before grabbing Gremmy’s face and setting off an explosion.         “I can only use my full strength for two to three minutes, but it makes my flames as hot as a thousand suns. So… let’s make this fight worth it!!!”         “*sigh* And here I thought I could relax for a while, but it seems I have no choice but to fight.” Gremmy said as he dust himself off and pulled out four keys. “Unlock code 2345.” He said as the keys broke into pieces. “Over confidence will get you killed.”         “Thanks for the tip.” She replied, adopting a low combat stance as her legs got into a crouch. “Remember though, this is only lasting for a limited amount of time. This is technically how I relax.”         Just don’t blame me if you get wrecked.”         “Same here.” Ember grinned. The Fires around her began to rage as they burned the ground by her feet. With a snap of her finger, Molten flames burst forth from her, heading towards Gremmy from all sides in front of him. She watched as he easily swerved to the right to avoid all the flames entirely, but the Pyromancer had more tricks up her sleeve with the next blast she fired as it grabbed onto Gremmy’s wrist.         “Get OVER HERE!!” She yelled, trying to yank Gremmy off of his feet. Only problem though was that we wasn’t budging.         “What part of imagination did you not understand?” Gremmy said as he made the fire like rope disappeared from his wrist. “I can imagine anything that you would think of, for example.” Gremmy snapped his fingers as Ember heard a snapping sound coming from her right leg. She instantly fell on one knee as she placed a hand on the ground. “I can imagine your bones to be a brittle as a cookie.”         “Heh… true… But… it puts me in a position I wanted to be in.” She snickered, her energy forming around her hand. What happened next was a molten fist emerging from behind Gremmy, smacking him forward. “The first few attacks were to observe your moves. Now… I know how exactly in order to proceed.” The Pyromancer now began to stand again, using an ability she had called Remedy. It allowed her to divert a significant amount of her energy to reinforce the bones in her body. “I haven’t fought like this in centuries… Let’s have some fun!”         “This should be interesting.” Gremmy said with a smile on his face. “But even I know you can’t keep healing your body forever.” The Visionary point his finger at Ember’s right shoulder. “Let’s see how good you are when I imagine your healing factor slowing down.” with that a hole about the size of a water pipe appeared on Ember’s right shoulder. Ember’s first reaction was forcing her flames onto the hole, burning her in the process, but using the method to close the hole. Fighting through the pain, she twisted her wrist, which in turn caused Magma to erupt from below Gremmy’s feet in a fiery upward blast. Almost like a volcano erupting.         “Did you really think that move would work?” Gremmy said walking out of the Volcanic eruption. “It’s not that hard to figure out most of your moves seeing how they fire based attacks.”         “If you think my fire is ordinary, then that is your first mistake.” With that, Ember released another plume of flames. However, this time, it actually burned his sleeve. Another plume burned the edge of his hood as he slid backwards. But another thing caught his attention when she quickened her reflexes, surprising him with a newfound boost of speed as a hand of burning heat tried to tear off his jacket.         “Huh. It’s a good thing I had made a copy of myself during that little fire show of yours.” Gremmy said appearing on the sidelines with a drink in hand. “Little bit of advice Ember, never think that you’re fight the real person or enemy sometimes. Because they can pretty much get a lot of info on you just by watching you.” He said as he made the imagination clone of himself disappeared. “Interesting way of using your life force to increase your attack power, but you’ll have to do better than that if you’re even able to stand up against someone as strong as me.” Gremmy said as he flicked his finger sending Ember through an abandoned building nearby. “Now that I know that little trick of yours, I’ll have no problem defending myself from that.”         “Touche’. But you’re forgetting one thing. Your time is almost up.” She reminded him. “I only said three minutes.”         “For person who’s supposed to be strong, you really are a disappointment.”         “Yet, this isn’t my world. I would have enough power to burn down the entire world, but with great power comes great responsibility. I don’t use it to play games or have fun. Mine comes with a purpose… You can’t imagine anything if you can’t use your brain. Now, if you would excuse me, I’m going to say my goodbyes to Kaoru.” With that, the Pyromancer walked back on inside, passing Sonata on the way in along with a stunned Lotus. Soon, she arrived back at Kaoru’s door and knocked on it briefly.         “Ha! Jokes on you I can…..wait are you calling me an idiot?”         “Kaoru, it’s Ember. I wanted to make sure I said goodbye to you and Moondancer before I go back to my world.” She told her. Soon, the door slowly crept open, with Moondancer on the other side of it.         “So how the fight go with Gremmy?” asked Moondancer.         “I got a good few hits in, however, I put myself on a timer since I need to get back to my family at Sweet Apple Acres.” Ember replied back to the Unicorn. “Otherwise… He was… well… I don’t normally say this, but he was kind of boring.”         “Said the girl who put herself on a time, what do you expect when you do something like that?”         “Honestly, I thought he would show a little more effort. All he used his powers for just made me think he was trying to run away from conflict instead of actually fighting. He tried slowing me down, preventing my healing abilities, and teleportation. I first expected him to have actual combat maneuvers rather than just dodging and weaving. He seriously needs to learn responsibility.” Ember told the Unicorn as she closed the door behind her.         “One, he did the dodging and weaving to get info on you. Second, unless you can actually go all out on him then he’ll go all out on you. Third, you think those are the only moves he know? If you haven’t notice he’s pretty much a god like being, minus the abuse of power and stuff. Be grateful that you didn’t piss him off like the last pony did.”         “I get that. The entire thing was like the beginning of a game of chess,” She said, comparing the board game to their tactics. “Early on, both sides would be hesitant to take a move. I was ironically doing the same thing with all three of the points you said. I was trying to see how Gremmy would act and respond and he was doing the same to me… However, I wonder one thing now…”         “And that is?” Kaoru asked.         “What if there’s a backlash to his abuse in power? Something he never saw coming. You don’t know that you would have Cancer until the doctor finds out and when they do find out, it might be too late for them… I just wonder what would Gremmy do when he begins to feel backlash.”         “That might be hard for him to feel that seeing how he has no physical body. And even if that did you need something that can actually do that to him. But I’m sure somewhere in his life something like that happen and he made himself immune to something like that.”         “You’re not far off” Gremmy said catching Moondancer and Kaoru off guard.         “Heh… thought you would be there listening in.”         “When someone is talking about me I listen in. To answer your question I had a backlash once a few years ago. So, to prevent that from happening again, Lotus gave me a labodyme.”         “Interesting… do go on.” Ember insisted, letting him continue.         “That and she had me keep my brain hidden.” Gremmy said as he open his head like a can. “Empty like the vacuum of space.”         “Strangely enough,” Ember mentioned, “There are similarities between us. Just that the circumstances are different. My backlash was… my rage. My anger and fury created the badlands after a group of hunters snapped the neck of my friend in cold blood after I refused to kill a young buffalo that stole food from them. It was then that I realized I needed to learn how to control my abilities more and not let them control me. I spent over 1000 years mastering it so an event like such would not happen again.”         “Well better late than never. Lord knows you don’t to wait too long before you did something like that in the later future.”         “Actually… the friend who died… His brother lived on. I helped him start his family… and he included me in it.” Ember told them as she looked back at Gremmy and Kaoru.”         “Let me guess, someone from the apple family?”         “Golden Apple. His brother’s name was Red Apple and his Daughter was named Granny Smith.” The Pyromancer recalled. “Now, I have two nieces and a nephew to add onto that. With one of them being extremely desperate along with her friends to get her cutie mark.”         “Oh, the cutie mark crusaders.”         “Yep. Well, I need to get back.” Ember told them. “It’s been fun, but Applebloom is now trying to help a young boy I found who basically is a living Pikachu, so I better get back before his lightning sparks a forest fire. Kaoru, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. Stay safe.”         “Yeah, you too.” said Kaoru waving good-bye to Ember. This was before she disappeared in a small column of flame and was no longer in the room. However, seconds later, Sonata came rushing in with a bucket of water and accidently splashed Gremmy.         “Oh, Sorry! I thought there was a fire in here! I could smell the smoke from the-.”         FWOOSH!         “-Kitchen.”         “SONATA!!!”         By the time Ember returned home, the sun had begun to set. She felt bad for being gone too long. The Mancer though was soon told otherwise when she felt something jump onto her shoulder.         “Aunt Embah!!”         “Hey there, my little bloom.” Ember greeted, nudging her for a little bit. She felt glad that she finally got the chance to come home. “How is everything?”         The Apple filly just smiled, letting Ember inside as she decided to rejoin her family. In the distance though, from the mountain cliffs, a pair of sinister eyes were soon locked on to Ember from a distance.         “So… this is the family that you care for so much…” She sinisterly spoke as Anivia was about to fade away with the darkness that was setting. “Enjoy them while you can, Tortured Phoenix… But let me assure you… Anyone who dares try to stop me… they only have one fate. And that fate… is death.” End Chapter 11