A Spark Neglected

by Firebrand

to ashes

"I'm home." Firebrand timidly called into the apartment as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

No answer came.

His mother usually greeted him, but today she was nowhere to be found. The lights were all off. The fridge was empty. Most of the furniture was missing. The kitchen table, normally clustered with paperwork and files, was, for once, bare. The only thing on it was a small book with a note resting on top of it.

Citrus—

I know what you did, and I won't stand for it anymore. I try to nurture you and love you and care for you, but this is just too much.

You need to change, mister. I turned a blind eye in the past, but this needs to stop. What if you hurt somepony. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your actions?

The handwriting was messy and aggravated. She had been shaking as she wrote. There was a large space, and a single line of text at the bottom of the page, written in a much calmer script:

This book was on our doorstep, addressed to you. I don't know what it is, and I don't want to know.

Firebrand shoved the note aside. She didn't mean it. She couldn't mean it. She had to care for him. He was her son.

He grabbed the book–a small, leather-bound tome with gilt pages and a tasteful lavender ribbon serving as a bookmark–and sulked away to his thankfully-untouched room, sat down on the bed and flipped it open.

The name on the inside cover was a familiar one, one which sent a small chill down Firebrand's spine: Icarus.

He turned to a random page, and began reading. The hell is this? The pages of the book were filled with descriptions of various ponies, with conjectures about there lives and mannerisms.

He gently grabbed the ribbon bookmark, and turned to the marked page.

Yellow coat and fiery mane. He warned me about the lack of fire alarms in the building. Concerned with fire safety, evidently. Maybe a firepony (in training, given his age). Cutie mark obscured by coat. Front leg in cast.

Yeah, that's me, thought Firebrand with a worried smirk.

He turned the page.

The writing on this page was in shaky, almost illegible script:

He did it. He burned it down. I don't know what to do. I'm stuck in here. There's no way out, he's almost here. He'll kill me.

The final stroke of this line trailed off, a shaky line slashing across the page.

Why not? I don't have anything else. Not anymore. Not anymore. I have my bed, and this journal, and this lovely view of the city from my window. But now I don't want the view. It hurts too much to see the scar.

Firebrand raised an eyebrow. None of this made any sense.

I guess it's poetic, in the sickest of ways. Poor Icarus, got too close to the flames, and now falls...

I have to go now. He's almost through. I'm sorry.

Firebrand began laughing uncontrollably. This is all so wrong. I'm fucked up. This is fucked up. He reached across his desk and grabbed a book of matches, striking one and holding it up in front of his face. He tossed it softly, landing it squarely in the middle of the journal.

The paper turned black and then white, crumbling and flying away in the flame. The leather binding blackened and began flaking away, and the ribbon curled up and disintegrated.

He calmly left the room as the fire began to spread, aggravated by the various chemicals and reagents in his room. He made his way down the stairs out front, laughing as he went. Ponies began screaming as the fire spread to other rooms–most of them were still asleep. He turned briefly, just in time to watch the flames break through the ceiling over his room. Then, he left.

Comments

[FeverishPegasus]

I'd very much like to see a new chapter.

[Firebrand]

6905259 Me too. Maybe even a sequel. Maybe.

[Firebrand]

8145515 who the fuck is josh

[FeverishPegasus]

Noooooo. This story is completed? But I don't feel complete. I demand more!

[Firebrand]

8233778
I don't feel like writing too much anymore, unfortunately.
One of the projects on the table for release in the indefinite future, however, is an alternate-ending/sequel to this. I don't have a timetable for release or even a tentative outline yet, but it's something I am (or was?) planning

[FeverishPegasus]

8240404 My heart has been broken

Nah, but you can do whatever you want. As an amateur writer, I know that sometimes you've got to leave a story behind, lest you lose your passion for writing overall.