“Can you grab that wrench for me, Azure Flame?” A brown and gold stallion in a hardhat asked, glancing over at the blonde maned unicorn.
“Certainly! Here you go!” He replied cheerfully, passing the metal tool over in his telekinesis.
“Glad to have you helping out, Azure,” Cotton Fluff said happily, smiling at the grimy stallion. She was working alongside the various helpers passing out cold drinks and refreshments, which was most welcome. It was a sunny summer day, and the sun was high in the sky, making the afternoon hot and the stallions sweaty.
“Anything for my favorite Mail-Mare!” Azure Flame said happily, taking a moment to look over the playground. After hearing that the playing area the foals frequented was falling apart, Azure had set aside some bits and had gotten the Canterlot General Affairs office to set up renovation funds. It was a part of the city, after all. He himself had decided to help out on the construction, and so was spending the weekend dusty and smelly, but happy.
“So, how’s it been, working under Prince Blueblood?” Cotton asked in a lull of work.
“It’s been fine,” Azure Flame said. “He’s been busy with other things recently.”
“That wouldn’t happen to be getting ‘busy’ with an Element of Harmony, would it?” A construction stallion asked, and Azure Flame nodded silently.
“Are you sure you’re OK, Azure? I know you had a… crush on Rarity,” Cotton asked cautiously. Azure just shrugged, and picked up a metal pole over his withers,
“I’m fine. She’s happy with him, and that’s all that matters.”
A giggle broke through the sounds of work, and Azure glanced over to the source. His mood plummeted when he saw the prince walking down the road, Rarity beside him, laughing at some comment he’d made.
“You know, we could do without you for a bit,” Cotton said, looking to where Azure’s eyes had drifted. “You could go say hello.”
It was tempting. Painfully so, in fact. More than anything, Azure Flame wanted to trot over to the street and greet his lost love… he wanted to, but he held back.
Azure took a deep breath, before turning back to Cotton with a strained smile. “No. No, it’s… I don’t want to get in their way. Besides… I promised, didn’t I?”
That said, he hefted the pole he’d let fall limp, and carried it over to the spot where the slide would soon go.
“I promised. So, I’ll work.” Azure Flame wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead, the hot sun causing it to bead up and drip moistly down his face. His tongue unconsciously lapped it up as it slid down his muzzle, and the saltiness of the fluid gave him pause.
What was he doing? Hadn’t he been somewhere else just moments before? Why was he back in Canterlot?
“Help!” A shrill voice cried out, and Azure turned to see Cotton pinned beneath a wooden beam. Without a second of hesitation, he rushed over and began to push and strain against the obstruction, trying to lift it off the mare before it crushed her.
Muscles burned as Azure Flame pushed against it. Magic snapped and sparked around his horn as he tried to use his telekinesis to help lift the fallen object. But it was too heavy! Other stallions were rushing over, some panicking.
“Azure Flame! It’s too heavy for you! You need to step away before you make the situation worse!” A construction worker shouted.
“But if I pull away now, the beam will keep crushing her!” Azure replied, refusing to budge.
“Ah! It hurts!” Cotton whimpered, and the alabaster Unicorn doubled his efforts to free her. Sweat on his fur from the heat made his grip on the pole weaken, and as he tried to readjust himself to compensate for the slipperiness, his magic flickered and fizzed out from the strain, and for a brief, terrible moment, the pinning beam wobbled. But as it did, a small gap became noticeable, and Azure put all of his might into that one spot. With a roar of exertion and muscle pains, he flipped the wooden bar off of Cotton Fluff, freeing the mother from her impromptu prison.
“Are you OK?” He asked, panting.
“Yes! Thank you, Azure Flame!”
“That was so brave of you!” Azure turned his head and saw Rarity and Prince Blueblood watching the scene, both with impressed looks.
“Um, thank you for the praise, miss,” Azure said, looking down in embarrassment.
“I’m impressed, Azure Flame.” The Unicorn looked up at the voice of his boss, and for the first time noticed how similar they looked with the coat and mane.
“I never could have done something like that. I’m… well, I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Azure Flame said, giving a small bow.
“Please, do not bow. We’re much too similar for that.”
Confused, Azure looked up, to find that the prince had been replaced with a mirror image of himself. Azure Flame staggered back in surprise, which only grew as everything burst into golden flames.
“Struggle. Strive. Survive. Your sweat is proof of these trials. For others, you work. For others, you suffer. No reward asked for. No reward wanted. The Salt of your Body quenches the fires. The first Trial of Salt is complete.” The words were thrown out at him, loud as thunder, and Azure Flame cringed under the roar of the voice and the crackling of the flames he was surrounded by.
“What…?” Azure managed to get out, before the fire closed in around him once more.