A Matter of Life and Death

by The Daughter of the Moon

Chapter One

"Where's what?" Blue Fire said calmly, sipping on his hot chocolate.

Shining Spear, the captain of the royal guard, as well as his and Red Flame's childhood friend, was breathing heavily at their doorstep, her eyes darting around the room.

"The Reaper!" Shining Spear yelled.

"Oh, um, hi, Shining." Red Flame said nervously.

"Don't 'hi' me, Red Flame! Tell me where the Reaper is!"

"Haven't seen a Reaper 'round these parts, Shining." Blue Fire replied.

"Another false alarm?" Shining Spear grumbled after closely inspecting Blue Fire's face for any signs showing otherwise.

"Sorry." Blue Fire said as Shining Spear left, slamming the door behind her.

Blue Fire sighed in relief.

"Why does Shining want to kill the Reaper?" Red Flame asked his brother.

"Well, legends say that when you kill a Reaper, you'll receive a powder that can cure any illness, a one time cure. But if you kill a royal Reaper, you'll get a powder that can make you never get sick or injured. Wants the powder to cure her dad."

"Wowie! REALLY?!" Red Flame asked excitedly, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yup."

"That's… SO COOL!" Red Flame exclaimed. "We should help her, then!"

"What?! Why?!" Blue Fire yelled, startled.

"Because, you know, if our dad was…"

A eerie silence fell over the room. Blue Fire shuddered.

"No, we're not helping her. And don't mention… him." Blue Fire ordered as he left the room.

---

"Don't know why anypony would want to kill such an innocent, harmless little filly." Blue Fire thought as he stared at the filly, sleeping on his bed.

The filly stirred, and opened her big, pink eyes at Blue Fire. He stared at the filly in return.

"Hey, kid."

The filly just stared it him.

"Come on. Can't you talk?"

The filly shook her head.

"No?"

The filly nodded. Blue Fire made a piece of paper and pencil appear in front of the filly.

"Can you write?"

The filly nodded her head. She levitated the pencil and wrote on the paper. After she was done writing, Blue Fire took it back.

"Tia." Blue Fire read. "Is that your name?"

The filly nodded.

Blue Fire heard a knock on the door. He went to open it, and saw Red Flame standing there.

"Dinner's almost ready. I made fettuccine Alfredo tonight!"

"Okay. Be there in a second." Blue Fire replied as Red Flame left. Tia tugged on his jacket and pointed at the open door.

"Who was that?" Blue Fire guessed.

Tia nodded.

"That's my brother. After I stopped being a royal guard, he took my place so he could provide for the both of us. Never met a pony more selfless than him."

The filly gave him a sad smile.

With Tia following close behind him, Blue Fire went to the dining table and sat down, placing Tia on a chair next to him. Red Flame brought a delicious-smelling bowl of pasta to the table and sat down.

As the two brother's ate, Tia looked at the plate of pasta in front of her. She poked at it with her hoof cautiously. Blue Fire caught notice of this.

"Can't eat it?"

The filly carefully put a piece of pasta in her mouth. With delight, smiling, she began to eat more of the pasta.

"Heh. No one can resist your cooking, bro." Blue Fire complimented.

"That's because I, the Fantastic Red Flame, am the best cook in all of Rainum!"

"Sure you are." Blue Fire said, smiling slightly.

"So, brother, what are we going to do with the Reaper?" Red Fire questioned.

Blue Fire stopped. He hadn't thought of that. If he let her go, she would probably be killed. If he kept her, she--

Red Flame gasped.

"Are we going to keep it?!" He asked excitedly.

"Dunno, bro. But I don't see a reason not to--"

"YAY! I've always wanted to have Reaper!" Red Flame exclaimed happily.

"Since when did you want to Reaper?"

He scooped up Tia in his arms and threw her into the air, catching her in his arms.

"Hey, careful now…" Blue Fire warned Red Flame.

"YIPEE!" Red Flame shouted. Caught up in his excitement, Red Flame threw the filly through the window, making a large shatter. A large gust of wind entered the room.

"Red Flame! What were you thinking?!" Blue Fire reprimanded his brother as he fixed up the window with spell.

Blue Fire started toward to the front door to get Tia when she slammed open the door, shook off the snow on her, and plopped down on the floor, with an unamused look on her face.

"Kid, you alright?"

Tia didn't answer.

"Great. Look what you did, Red Flame!"

Red Flame looked at his brother with a sad look on his face, tears swelling up in his eyes. He ran towards Blue Fire and squeezed him tight, wailing.

"I'M SO SORRY, BROTHER!!! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!" He sobbed.

"Hey, hey, calm down, won't you?" Blue Fire said awkwardly as he tried to free himself from Red Flame's grasp. "It's fine."

Red Flame stopped wailing, looking up at Blue Fire with big, puppy eyes.

"R-really…?" He squeaked.

"Yes. Now could you close the door? Snow's getting everywhere."

Grinning ear to ear, Red Flame used his magic to close the door, still squeezing Blue Fire.

"And let go of me."

Red Flame let go of Blue Fire. He looked at the filly, who was still staring at him with an unamused look on her face. Red Flame ran over to the filly and started sobbing again.

"I'M SO SORRY, REAPER!!! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!" Red Flame wailed.

Blue Fire gave an exasperated sigh. He saw Tia make a mini umbrella appear and put it over her head, shielding her from all of Red Flame's tears.

"Man, that kid's one tough cookie to not have a scratch after that…" Blue Fire thought.

Author's Note:

Heh. That was good. Just a funny little chapter to get things started!

Comments

[The Daughter of the Moon]

6948979 Well, now it's out!

[grey mane]

For the two brothers:
“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

For Shining Spear:
“In spring, the snow must go; in fall, the leaves can't stay.”
― Marty Rubin

Great work once again.

[The Daughter of the Moon]

6951349 Thanks so much!

[grey mane]

6951389 You're welcome.