Blaze

by Blazing_Mane01

Chapter 11.) The Calm Before The Storm

It's all I could do to keep my hooves and wings from traveling for Canterlot. The elder's life is in danger, Celestia herself is also in peril, and these ponies are taking what seems like FOREVER to prepare. I very impatiently pace up and down the sides of the railroad tracks, feeling a flame of anxiety raging away at my insides.

We regroup at the train station. About a half-hour has passed since each pony departed to brace themselves for what could be a long trip, but may also be a gory fight. I'm so relieved - in a sense - by their presence now that I throw my hooves in the air.

"Finally!! What took you all so long!?"

The element bearers all attempted to speak their reasons at once, only making me more frustrated. Everypony seemed determined to get their point through over the others. During this struggle to overtalk one another, I continued to grow hotter. So much so that the fire in me moved from my stomach to another location...

My horn.

I threw my head up towards the sky so nopony would be scathed by my eruption. Nopony except me; I've never experienced this before, and some of the flames trickled back down to dance across my coat. The recoil dug my hooves into the ground, steadfast. I felt my legs turn to stone, my eyes shrink to the size of needle heads, and my teeth were grit so tightly they could fracture any second.

The other ponies shrieked and drew cover from my explosion. It was draining me fast. After a few seconds, the fire completely died out. I stood there, still unable to move except the serious case of twitching that I've now developed, watching the inferno race into the atmosphere and die. Watching it all vanish somehow grants me mobility again, and my belly meets the ground. Following closely was a loss of breath, a cascade of sweat, and calls of worry from six - well, maybe five, knowing Fluttershy - colorful friends of mine.

"What was that all about?" AppleJack wanted to start a conversation.

But all I could do at the moment was try and catch some air through some heavy inhales and groan. I finally managed to say, "Ow..."

"'Ow?'" Rarity found it necessary to mock me.

"Hey, guys," I said in between breaths, "Don't make me... get too hot, okay?"

Twilight put her hoof in. "Wait, you mean you did that involuntarily?"

Now having regained a little energy, I take a standing position. "It just happened. I felt it moving, and that's when I threw my head back. I guess it's because I got too angry."

The others had confused looks posted on their faces. Obviously I didn't play my cards very well, but I didn't even know all my cards so I guess I should've expected this. All traces of confusion left their faces simultaneously, however, as a whoo-whoo wakes everypony up. I shift to my left to find the train approaching the station.

"You... aren't going to do that again... on the train, are you?" Fluttershy poked my back very gently with a hoof.

I shook my head and say, "I promise."

Just as she steps onto the train, the doors begin to close. An overly timid pegasus pony almost instantly does a 180 and jumps back from the closing door and onto my back. Unaware of the situation at the moment, my breath escapes, but only for a second because she's not that heavy. My eyes reel around to the location of the incident, where I see three pink butterflies staring me down. Fluttershy's cutie mark. I glimpse over them to find their bearer looking back with innocent eyes as well. When our eyes meet, she instantly starts to blush and turns her head away.

"Hi, Fluttershy!" I say in an upbeat tone in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Saying that makes her yeep, followed by a slip and she falls off to her left. She picked herself up rather quickly, though, and gave a shy smile back, while making an odd noise that sounded kind of... cuddly. Then she walked off to join the other ponies.

Judging by what the others have said about Canterlot prior to this trip, it's probably going to take another half-hour before we arrive. The element bearers took this time to show each other what they decided to bring along. From the other side of the cart, I can see books, scarfs, food bundles, and unsurprisingly a party cannon. Twilight then takes a second to observe where I am, confirms, then picks up what looks to be a tiara and about five different necklaces with her magic. This catches my attention, as I attempt to see past Rarity, who so perfectly placed herself sideways to block ninety percent of my vision. But much to my relief, Twilight stepped away from the group and started to approach me with the jewelry.

"These," she begins to say while my eyes fix on the accessories, "are the Elements of Harmony, Blaze."

"Wait wait wait, this jewelry is responsible for locking away two of the darkest foes since you all became their bearers?"

"They look flimsy enough, don't they?" Twilight replaced her small smile with a laugh, but quickly re-replaces her smile. "But yes, these are the strongest weapons known to Equestria, as far as Celestia knows."

"Whoa! Okay, point those things somewhere else, then!" I pretend to be scared. My victim bought the bait, as a giggle escaped her mouth.

"No, Blaze, they have to have their respective embodiments wearing them or otherwise they're useless."

"Why?"

"Beats me. They just do..."

Not wanting to dwell on a topic that went nowhere, I change to a slightly different topic. "Hmm... so, how do they work?"

Twilight shrugged. "Well, I don't know exactly how they work, but when the six elements are brought together, they start to emit pulses of pure magic that cleanses or seals away evil."

"Do they need to charge before using this magic? Because if so, then they may be useless if the shadow is still in Canterlot. I doubt he'll let you meditate so you can amplify them."

"They don't take NEARLY as long as you may give them credit for. They only need about ten seconds with us in a particular formation to become 'charged.'"

"Oh, okay..." I yawn. Still drained from that blast, I decide to close our conversation for now. "Well, I'm gonna try and take a cat nap. If I fall asleep, wake me up when we reach Canterlot." I wave as I turn to go to the cart in the back.

"Okay. See you, Blaze." She smiled and waved back.

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[Still Breeze]

Epic war coming up! Yay!