The Archives of Equusweyr

by Coranth

7. Archive #7 - Of Fire Sign and the Return of His Waking Days

We believed our Prince might remain in this state – mostly interred upon the Golden Throne with only brief periods of waking – forever! Would our beloved Prince ever awaken completely again? It seemed unlikely – so damaged was his mind – and lo, the Everfree Princedom despaired! We, his mortal Subjects, might have remained this way for as long as he sat, frail upon the Throne of Equusweyr—if not for the Mare whom strode into our Everfree City one day as if she owned the place; as though she were merely returning from a long, long journey, rather than visiting our fair City for the first time.

She was a Pegasus of Percheron stock, and if we were giants to normal Equestrian Ponies, then she was truly a titan, utterly towering over even the tallest of us due to being twice the size of even the largest Everfree Pony! Her crimson-orange coat and shocking white mane, coupled with her enormous size, made her appear highly intimidating; thus, we made no move to intercept her (visitors were always welcome in our City and she was no exception). Instead we backed the hell off and watched in awe as she strode up to the Gate of Dawn and waited to be let in. And indeed she was—after only the briefest of psychic scans; as if the Weyrmind had foreseen her coming!

Practically bashing the great Gate of Equusweyr aside - so fast did she enter - the mysterious mare stormed into the Royal Palace and swiftly approached the Golden Throne whereupon she was intercepted by the Templars. As they closed ranks about our Prince and his hoofmaidens, however – brandishing their weapons should they need to protect him – the giant mare showed them no fear; in fact, she stared them down! The Templars would have none of this! Who was this arrogant mare to come before our Prince without showing proper respect? Some moved to intercept her – perhaps to escort her out – but as they did so our Prince awakened. Eyes opening, flickering briefly with psychic power, he bade the Templars stand down with the gentlest gesture of a hoof. Then, softly, he sang:

"… Should've told you... This is no ordinary day.
Everything here will be okay.
She won't hurt me. She'll heal the scars I never show.
She is a fire sign you know.
Now that she's here; won't let me go…"

"Fire Sign?" I queried. "That's your name?" Glancing at me briefly, the titanic mare nodded. "Aye," said she, softly, "it is. Now den…" Returning her attention to the Golden Throne, she moved to our Prince and – as we all looked on with great unease – she murmured, "Let's 'ave a lookit yeh…" and then she did so, humming thoughtfully. A moment later, her brow knit with concern and, with us all looking on, softly she asked of our Prince, "Can yeh open yer mouf, little 'un?" To our surprise, our Prince obeyed her, and when he opened his mouth wide that the mare, Fire Sign, might look within, we all received a great shock! In addition to the normal teeth of an Equestrian Pony… our Prince possessed canine teeth; the teeth of a carnivore!

Upon seeing this, his Templars stepped back a touch, their ears flattening against their heads, whilst the three Weyrtouched Unicorns whom were his hoofmaidens gasped softly with fright, clutching their chests. "Oh, buck up and grow a pair, will yeh?" snapped Fire Sign at our display, rolling her eyes. "Ee's still yer Prince an' 'is teef make 'im no different, now!" She was right, of course. Chastised, the Templars returned to their former positions – guarding him – and his hoofmaidens, misty eyed, returned to tending him, kissing him softly, whispering apologies. Our Prince seemed to understand, for he murmured gently, leaning into their soft kisses, touches and nuzzles.

"Right," barked Fire Sign, once things were back to normal, "I need to talk to 'is Doctors…" And so it was that a pair of rather apologetic Templar escorted the giant mare to the Royal Clinic—or perhaps she escorted them, so small were they in comparison to her. Upon arrival there, Fire Sign queried our Prince's Royal Physicians as to his symptoms and – after hearing all they had to say – she grew thoughtful, gently rubbing her chin with a massive hoof. "So…" murmured she, "you say 'ee only wakes briefly? Dat 'ee seems weak, an' 'as 'ardly any energy?" When the Physicians nodded, immediately, Fire Sign concluded, "Yep. Lack ov iron will do dat to yeh. In short, fellahs: 'ee needs a li'l change of diet. Ee needs meat wiv 'is veg."

At her words, the Royal Physicians faced each other in a state of shock! They had always known that their Prince wasn't a true Equestrian Pony – that he had in fact once been an Extra Equestrian, a member of a species called - [DATA RESTRICTED. ECHELON ACCESS REQUIRED.] – an omnivorous race, from a place far, far away. However, as time went on, the Royal Physicians, and our Prince himself, perhaps… simply forgot that he hadn't ever been a pony. All this time the Royal Physicians had reccommended to our Prince the diet of a normal Equestrian Pony… Could the solution to our prince's ails really be that simple? When asked the question, Fire Sign guffawed heartily!

"'Ow d'you fink my kind got so big?" she asked, once she'd gotten herself under control. "The norf's where I come from; an' dere it's only ice! No grass to nosh on and the like. My kind 'unts Polar Bears and such, an' we eats ovver fings dat would kill so-called 'normal' ponies…" That said, the giant mare grinned revealing a monstrous set of teeth not unlike those of our Prince, and upon seeing them, one of the Royal Physicians, the General Practitioner, fainted whilst the other – a dentist by trade – was utterly beside himself; he was thrilled and wanted so much to examine those whopper choppers! Laughing at his enthusiasm, Fire Sign gently bunted him away with her muzzle.

"Look," stated she once the Royal General Practitioner had been revived, "yoo jus' leave everyfing to me, okay? I'll sort our yer – our – Prince, awright? 'Ee'll be up an' about in no time…" We noted the way she said 'our' Prince. She intended to stay… As it turned out – after a thorough reexamination of our Prince – we found that Fire Sign had been correct in her assessment; our Prince could indeed consume meat, any kind of meat, so long as it was very finely minced prior to consumption. Following this revelation, we decided – just for curiosities sake – to ask an Everfree Pony, as well as a Pony of the Alicorn Sisters to volunteer for an examination.

The results… were astounding: we… we all could include meat as part of our diet, for our stomachs were found to contain many of the same bacteria found in the stomachs of - [DATA RESTRICTED. ECHELON ACCESS REQUIRED] – the race our Prince had once been part of! Upon seeing the results of the exam, Templar Armand nodded thoughtfully, whilst poor Lyra Heartstrings of Ponyville was torn between unease and joy at being closer to the race of - [DATA RESTRICTED. ECHELON ACCESS REQUIRED] – which she loved so much, though she stated that she mightn't actually partake of meat, for doing so was taboo within Greater Equestria. (She eventually changed her mind, due to curiosity, though had to keep her meat-eating secret from her beloved Bon-Bon!)

And so, the revival of our Prince - and the strengthening of us all - began… with a hearty salad, and a bowl of warm chicken broth, as Fire Sign took over his care and slowly, gently, eased her way into his life. As he slowly regained his strength on a well-balanced omnivorous diet, the teal pseudo-alicorn began to wake more, and more, remaining awake for longer and longer periods of time. This heartened us all, greatly, life within our fair City booming as the Weyrmind spread the news of his burgeoning recovery. Of a morning, one could now see the Prince awake and alert upon the Golden Throne with Fire Sign, the mare so tall she actually sat over him whilst he sat 'neath her barrel as he partook of a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, or 'bangers and mash.'

Of an afternoon, he would partake of a wonderful Cesar Salad with finely ground chicken; then of evenings he would eat anything from roast lamb to lasagne and anything in between! Finally, as Celestia's sun slowly lowered to make way for her sister's moon, it wasn't uncommon for one of the Templar Guard to take a peek into the Equusweyr Sleeping Quarters and see the giant Fire Sign there abed with our Prince, though not in a sexual manner. T'was certainly quite a sight to see though; the great mare curled about our Prince, cuddling him gently against her belly like a foal as she told him a story, groomed him gently, or chewed softly upon his ears.

When at last our Prince regained strength such that he was able to remain awake for an entire day, with Templar escort in tow, Fire Sign took him out into Everfree City. Upon recognizing the teal-furred pseudo-alicorn – set atop the giant mare's back, between her wings, as a mother would carry her foal – those ponies whom saw him spread word. Eventually, the entirety of the Everfree Princedom rejoiced for it was the first time he'd been outside of Equusweyr since the Sunny Town Incident. To many, it seemed like a miracle! That day was greatly beneficial for our Prince as he was able to meet, greet, bless, and thank many of us, his mortal Subjects, for 'sticking with him' and continuing to believe in him.

He was also able to witness how his fair City had flourished—and with all we had accomplished under His Guiding Hoof, even during the time he'd been away, as he put it—he was immensely pleased! We, his Subjects, were as eager to see him, to speak to him, to touch him as he was to do the same to us, and though we mostly managed to curb our excitement upon meeting him, there were a few of us ponies whom got quite boistrous. However, a deathly glare from Fire Sign, along with a sharp retort from the Templars was enough to keep the rowdy at bay. Eventually, our Prince – who was, after all, still regaining his lost strength – became overwhelmed and more than a little weary; thus it was that he, Fire Sign, and his Templar Escort returned to the sanctity of Equusweyr.

Comments

[nothingtoseehere]

I don't usually enjoy instant alicorn self inserts (which is surprising, considering the state of my favorites tab) but this isn't bad at all. Have a fave and an upvote. For the latest chapter of Short Shorts, if nothing else.

[Liaf112]

I like this.