The Elements: Book 1 Fire

by Jazz

Daily Struggle I

As Black Flame awoke in his bedroom with a groan due to the sunlight gleaming down on his black mane and parts of his red muzzle. "Nuhnn..."

He walked into his small bathroom and took a shower. He had a fairly small house, but he still struggled with the bills. He had two bedrooms. He didn't own a television or a fancy bed; it was only a small twin bed set. His closet had a few clothes and some muddy old boots. There was one bathroom, a small kitchen that he used also as a dining room, and a tiny living area where he kept the books he wrote and sold to other ponies, but his main income was his own little store where he sold herbs and vegetables from his garden. He had a fair pricing system arranged for the customers he served.

He went into his kitchen and got himself some cereal. As he ate, he read the daily newspaper. The usual: Robbery on 38th and Trotting Road, a murder every now and then, and every once and a while, he would have read about a protest against the new king, King Trotfall. Whenever that wasn't the case though, it was a rather cheery town.

Once he finished eating, he went outside and opened up his little stand (he didn't have enough to own a proper shop, so he sold on his front lawn in a booth instead) and pulled up a sign. He was having a sale on hay. Soon, a brown earth pony came up to him.

"May I please have some herbs?" she asked Flame. When the herbs had been placed on the counter top of the booth she replied with "Here," and she passed him the money she owed him. She trotted off with her flat mane blowing in the wind.

"Come again soon!" Black Flame advertised swiftly before the mare left sight.

It wasn't long before a few other ponies came along. He was almost out of stock when he put up a closed sign so he could have the rest of the day to tend to his garden. He harvested some carrots and flowers and returned to his small shop to see if he could sell them off right away. He sold to three more customers and left to water his cabbage. He returned to find seven more ponies (three unicorns, two earth ponies and two pegasi to be exact) waiting in line. He tended them and planted some brand new plants before harvesting some spinach and a pumpkin.

Finally he resolved to stay at his booth having finished tending to his garden. While he was sitting on his stool, he saw groups of ponies coming over to buy. He had two more customers before 7:27 p.m. and he had to close down. When 7:30 p.m. came around, he carried his leftovers (there weren't many) to a wheelbarrow and closed his door as he entered his house. He went to his small bedroom and sat his flank down on the bed.

"Wow, that was.... a great day, actually! One of my best. I wonder why on a Wednesday I've been so busy," he pondered to himself.
He was quite tired from his day, so at 8:00 p.m. after his "soup in a can", he went to bed.

His dream was rather strange. He dreamed he had two sisters and a brother and that his mom was sitting on a throne, looking very regal as she ordered somepony to do horrible things for her. She wore a diamond crown with a blue sapphire on it and wore a yellow dress with an orange tint to it. The pony he felt was his father in the dream,on the other hoof, looked sad on his throne, gazing up at the sky. His crown was thorny and had one violet rose. His father's outfit was gray and blue, with a slight mix of black, but one could still tell he was a handsome stallion. when he looked at them he was supprised to find his mother was no longer a unicorn, and the stallion wasn't either- they were both alicorns!. He saw a flashback of his mother like she was before: a small town unicorn with a purple mane and a gray coat. Back then she always had a smile, even if it had always been fake, but this mare was frowning, looking displeased at her servant. The servant had drifted from obeying her command to try and cheer up the king.

Greedy Bastard! Black Flame thought. Who does she think she is? How ungrateful!

Black Flame woke up, startled. He looked out the window (he had a small window). Black Flame sighed then frowned and cried. He didn't know why, but he just did. He missed his father now. He hadn't seen him in five years, but he wanted to see this colt. He knew deep down that this was his father, not just a dream. Princess Luna had no doubt given him this vision for a reason- to see his father. For real.