Firo Blaze

by Firo Blaze

Complicated

Zacora came late in the day with a bag full of potions and other remedies. Even after Twilight had explained the circumstances they where in Zacora wasn't prepared for the surprise that Firo held inside the cottage. Things were a little more settled this time around. All the mares were standing around to watch Zacora fiddle with her new patient. Firo wasn't as enthused as Zacora seemed to be. In fact she was dreading every touch and theory the zebra came up with. The thing she felt worse about was the fact that all the mares were watching her, staring at her like a wild wounded animal. On the contrary, that was exactly what she was; a lost mysterious creature who needed help in order to find the answers she needs.

"What do ya think is wrong with 'er?" Applejack asked.

Zacora shook her head and put her hooves on either side of Firo's face. "I am afraid for this is the beginning that will leave our minds spinning." Firo gave a confused look towards Applejack, who in turn said nothing.

Princess Twilight stepped over to the two. "What does that mean Zacora? That we are all going to get huge headaches dealing with this?"

"'Bout sums it up, Twi." Rainbow said. "I think we should just get Cadence and Luna here. They can help us. I can fly and get them, I am the fast flyer you know." Dash winked at Firo which made her face turn red.

"OH MY GOSH! She can change color!" Pinkie exclaimed jumping around the cottage. She was instantly hushed by Twilight.

"Fine, Dash, do get them and be back here so-" Before Twilight could finish Rainbow was out the door and halfway to Canterlot. Firo was amazed, like she always was when she saw how fast pegasi could fly. Twilight let out a frustrated sigh and stared intensely at Firo. "You guys want to hear a story. It when I was called by Princess Celestia to go into that portal. I was instructed to never tell anypony what happened, but seems that what is happening here today has a lot to do with the portal, I might as well." She ordered everypony to take a seat, all except Zacora and Firo; who were now moved onto drinking different remedies.

Princess Twilight started explaining what happened.

A few hours had passed, before Luna and Cadence made it to the Cottage. Firo remember seeing Luna before in her dreams, but she couldn't recall her before that. She's never heard of Cadence before, but she did notice that there was something off about the Princess. There where dark circles under her eyes and her belly was sticking out, but not enough for anypony else to notice. Firo wasn't even sure why she noticed, but the smirk on Zacora's muzzle showed that she knew what Firo was thinking.

The elements of harmony all bowed to their visitors. Everypony exchanged a "hello" and "how are you". Firo sat awkwardly; there were so many ponies in the small cottage that bit was almost overwhelming. She was used to solitude, not parties everyday. Firo's eyes shifted to the two new Princesses on the scene; Luna and Cadence. Cadence seemed to be the only one who was panting from the fly.

"Oh, my! This is..." Cadence said startled. "Um... I was not expecting that."

Twilight motioned for Cadence and Luna to take a seat. Once they did so all the mares were positioned in a circle around Firo ready for an interrogation. Zacora poked Firo with a sharp stick making her jump. A small part of her wished that she hadn't run away. She knew that she had to escape, but this was all so complicated and jumbled that she longed for being alone.

Princess Luna stared at Firo, but seemed to be looking someplace else.

"Princess Luna and Princess Cadence-" Twilight said with a tinge of bitterness in her voice "-thank you for making time to come and meet us to talk about the issue here. Firo Blaze came out of the Everfree Forest sometime today and told us not to trust Princess Celestia."

Cadence gave a confused look. "Why? Princess Celestia has been nothing but kind for as long as I've known her. How could I not trust her just like that?"

Twilight nodded at Firo to get her to tell what she told the elements. Firo went over what happened in the field with Celestia with as much detail possible and how it led to her imprisonment. She stopped to catch her breath in certain places in the story. Firo could feel pressure building in the back of her head while she told her story. She had the feeling as if she was saying something wrong, but she has to do this. Even if it hurts somepony she still has to put an end to Celestia's reign as a Princess. If it turns out not to be Celestia and it is simply an imposter, then Firo will have saved Equestria. Either way madness will be stopped and that is all Firo wishes. When she finished Luna was the first one to speak.

"Listen," Luna kept her eyes on Firo and she immediately knew that they both shared something in common; being a prisoner. "I knew about this... My sister imprisoned me for the monster I had become. However, that doesn't mean I was blind to the world. I could still see and hear the dreams of ponies of Equestria. Sometimes, my mind stretched further than that. I can tell you now that magic can hurt more that it can help in the hooves where it is not meant to be. The more I tried to stop my jealousy the more it turned corrosive and dangerous. I would not have strayed from my room in the Castle had I not thought this was an importance." She stopped and closed her eyes. "My sister seems fine in the eye of the public, but outside of that... She's a monster. Not worse than what I was, but a monster none-the-less."

Princess Twilight shook her head. "That's not possible. I don't believe that she could have hid this for that long. She told me everything, taught me how to correct my spells and she was there when I missed my parents."

Luna opened her eyes and sorrow filled them to the point of over flow. "She may be kind, but she has more secretes that just Firo Blaze. I've seen her best secrete yet... And some ponies have gotten hurt because of it."

"Is that why your neck is bleeding?" Firo announced. She could hardly see it because of how Luna's hair was positioned, but she could see enough of it to know it was there. "What did she do to you?"

Luna looked at Twilight specifically when she talked. "I got in her way when I should have just held my peace."

"What was she doing?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Luna shook her head while Zacora stopped poking at Firo to see what damage was done to the princess. "It is true who did this to you." Zacora said. "You were told to sit and watch a loved one being hit and fought."

Everypony looked at the Princess of the night with compassion. She spoke with a heave voice. "We are here to talk about my sister not myself. Princess Twilight it time you deal with the thought of things not being how they should be. Celestia should be how you remember her, but for some reason she has changed."

Rarity spoke up. "Firo had said that when she was a filly she saw Celestia have glowing green eyes; Like Queen Chrysalis."

Firo saw Cadence tense up. "No, she can't be. That's impossible... Back then she wasn't strong enough to be able to do that. Even so we got rid of her, so then we shouldn't be having this conversation. I don't see how it would be Chrysalis." Her voice snagged on the name.

"If it is not her then I am sad to say that we are very unprepared." Rarity said.

Applejack sighed. "Ah have ta be leavin' now. We are very busy at the farm and they need my help. I say that we all get a good nights rest and continue this tomorrow. This is all very confusing."

Twilight was quickly to reject. "Princess Luna and Princess Cadence got here only a little bit ago. I don't think it would be a good decision for us to quit now."

Rainbow Dash stood and stretched. "I think Jack is right. We all have things that we need to do. Cadence and Luna can both come back or they can stay at your castle for the night. Hey! Why don't we move Firo to your castle? We wont be so cramped while figuring this whole thing out."

Fluttershy gave an unnoticed, "I'm sorry."

"No." Twilight said shaking her head. "Moving her would take too much effort. Ponies would start asking questions that would be difficult to answer."

Luna gave a small smirk. "I've been around long enough to have seen and learned many spells. Plus, one of my gifts is getting around unnoticed by all the ponies of Equestria. I know your talent is magic, Princess Twilight, however you are only beginning to learn about spells."

Twilight sighed making it obvious she didn't want Firo anywhere near her. "Fine, we will meet tomorrow at the castle to talk more about this. Cadence, Luna are you two going to stay at my castle?"

Luna nodded without hesitation. Cadence didn't answer as quickly. "I can, but I might have to leave to take care of something. I asked Shinning Armor to take care of the kingdom, but you know how he is Twilight." She laughed a little and so did Twilight. Everypony else sat confused.

Rarity nodded to her friends and bowed to the princesses. "Well, I must go to work on dresses for Twilight's celebration party. Time flies, it seems like it was just yesterday that Twilight was made into a princess." She stopped to relish in the memories. "See you later girls." With that she left.

Along with her Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie said their goodbyes and left. Zacora stayed to poke at Firo and Luna, which both tried to push the zebra away to no avail. Fluttershy looked awkwardly at the five, but didn't say anything. She was thinking to say something but was too shy to raise her voice. Firo knew how she felt. She hoped that Fluttershy was never treated the same way for her shyness.

Cadence stood and stretched. "I'm going to head off the your castle now. Zacora, would you like me to escort you to your home?"

The zebra nodded and the two both said a farewell before they took off.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy with seriousness. "Fluttershy, no matter what you can not tell Discord about this. If he knows then he might go to Princess Celestia herself and ask her questions that might make this situation even more complicated. Understand?" Twilight was satisfied with a small squeak from Fluttershy before she abruptly left without saying much more.

Luna thanked Fluttershy for letting them stay in her house to talk about the uncomfortable topic. Firo continued to sit awkwardly and figured out where she fit in all of this. None of this would've happened if it wasn't for her. "Come on Firo, let us go to Princess Brat's castle." Both Fluttershy and Firo laughed. "Hold onto me." Firo did as she was told, but said goodbye to Fluttershy before she did.

When she grabbed hold of Luna she watched Fluttershy gasp and look around for a little bit before she called for her animals to come out of their hiding. Luna walked forward and Firo was shocked when they walked through the door. It hit her when they left the cottage that everything was black and white. Absolutely no color to be seen. The sky was pitch black with stars that moved constantly around a large moon straight above. Firo felt safe in this place of darkness; it was solitude at its finest.

The silence stretched between them until they reached Ponyville. Luna filled the gaps. "When I was younger I could manipulate my surroundings and hide from view. It was not strong back then and I would find myself visible in places I wasn't suppose to be. My father created a spell to give my gift the power it needed to really work. With that spell I could listen to the troubles of the kingdom. I will admit that it got stronger as I grew older, but it was my own slice of peace nonetheless."

Firo wasn't sure what to say so she remained silent. She watched as gray ponies went about their business. None of them seemed to even have a clue that they were there. Firo wondered how often Luna did this, so she asked. "Do you do this a lot?"

Luna nodded. "Sometimes it's the only thing that helps clear my mind. Celestia tends to clutter it when she's in a mood and I'm sure you know what that is like."

"I know that well. I really wish that none of that happened. Right now, I would be working and doing something important, useful. The way I am, I'm afraid that I'm causing more trouble then actually doing any good."

"That could very well be true."

Firo's heart sank. "Oh... Nice pick-me-up."

"I was not finished. That could be true, but if you never let yourself come to light no pony would ever be able to figure out about my sister."

"Couldn't you have told anypony?" Firo questioned.

Luna sighed. "Celestia put a spell on me after I came back to Equestria. She said it was to protect anything bad from happening again, however it was for her own good. When you put a spell on somepony, you either need their consent or need to have a lot of power. I said yes, because I trusted my sisters judgement. She used a lot of magic, but not as much as she would have had she forced it on me. When she did it I was not allowed to speak the secretes that she held. There was a loophole that I found out about; if somepony else knew her secrete, then was I allowed to speak of it. You are the key to letting all of Equestria know of what my sister has become. Do not, for any reason, loose hope in what you are doing."

Firo felt comfort in Luna's words. They had reached Princess Twilight's castle and she was put back by it. The castle was in the shape of a tree. Not what she expected from the princess, but she guessed it was what made the Princess comfortable. Twilight was leaving the castle in a hustle with Rainbow Dash flying above in a hurry. There expressions were light and happy, something Firo thought impossible after the day they had. As her and Luna settled inside of the castle Firo thought about what she saw. She thought, how can a pony be happy after such a complicated day? All of a sudden it clicked inside of her: All complications will be solved as long as your able to smile through them.

"Luna? How long has Celestia been acting this strange?" Firo asked from the other side of the room.

She answered somberly. "Longer than you know."

Comments

[mareutails]

Is it just me, or are there only two sentences?

[Firo Blaze]

4437378 Is it just me or did I just figure this out now? I have no words to express my stupidity... Just none...