Darkness of Ages - Book 1: Greyhield

by YoungQuillMaster

Chapter 25: The True Son

The colt, Blaze, blinked a few times, the revelation that he had just received being almost too much to handle. Blaze looked the stallion up and down for a sign that he was joking, but Flint’s body language asserted that he was the telling the truth.

“B-but, how? How could you be Blaze Eternal? I have those memories; you can’t possibly be the real Blaze Eternal. This just isn’t possible.” Blaze reasoned with himself and with Flint, his mind looping around and around as it tried desperately to find some sort of logic that would uphold what he had grown to know as true.

“I was sent here nigh onto eleven years ago,” Flint explained in a calm tone, “But instead of finding my way out of the forest, I became lost, and slowly regained my memories while trapped in a perpetual state of disorientation and extreme alert because of the creatures of the forest.” The stallion continued. “I eventually found my way out from the forest and found Ponyville, though by then I had grown into a stallion and had had my fraudulent memories destroy, thus destroying whatever protection and time of acclimatization I may have had.”

"B-but, why did you lie to me then? Why would you change my memories like you say you did?" Blaze questioned, feeling a mixture of confusion and anger towards the stallion. Flint sighed, the subject obviously being a touchy one for him. After a few moments of silence, Flint looked Blaze in the eye.

"Because I'm not the stallion my father thought I was." Flint stated plainly, causing the colt to shrink back slightly. "My father believed I was a strong pony; that I was a born fighter, but he was wrong. I'm nothing on my own, and being in this future as I am, I am so very alone. I barely had friends in my time, and this time was so different I had no way of trying to get friends." Flint closed his eyes, turning his head to the floor. "I'm nothing but a coward. I knew it, but hid it from my father to the point he was assured I was the right choice."

"F... Blaze, you aren't a coward," A very confused colt Blaze stammered; "You saved me from Timberwolves in the Everfree forest. You trained me to be a warrior and never once backed down from one of my stupid challenges when I was still getting over my arrogance."

"As I said," the stallion replied, "I'm nothing without other ponies. You're presence was enough to make he a bit more courageous. And even then, I changed your memories with no better reason than my sheer cowardice hiding behind a guise of intelligent planning." The young colt lifted an eyebrow in confusion. The stallion looked up, opening his eyes, his gaze meeting Blaze’s. "I was scared, and I knew that Greyhield would be returning soon enough, and so I changed who you were after you told me how similar you were to my original cover story. I took you to a ruined hut that I occasionally used as a refuge and planted a few vague whispers of my memories in your mind that I hoped would blossom and make you play my part."

"Wait, you mean you changed my memories because you wanted me to play your part in your stead?" The colt Blaze asked, not completely understanding what the stallion was getting at.

"I was worried that when Greyhield finally did appear, and I went to face him, that he'd kill me in no time at all, so when you appeared, I rationalized that if you took my place that if you died, I'd still have a chance, and in fact would have the element of surprise on my side." The stallion explained.

"So let me get this straight, you rationalized your fear away by saying that if I had died to Greyhield, thinking I was the true Blaze Eternal that that would be alright?" The young Blaze asked in an exasperated tone. The stallion lowered his head in shame.

“I realize my mistake.” The stallion said in a low tone.

“Realizing your mistake doesn’t cut it!” Blaze shouted; his mane fluttering up as the fur on his shoulder waved slightly. “You were willing to sacrifice a pony because you were scared?”

“I tried to ensure your well being by preparing you mentally and physically.” The stallion replied, returning his gaze to the colt.

“Preparing as much as you did doesn’t come close to compensation!” Blaze continued to shout; his mane turning black, staying in the air for several more seconds. “You were willing to let a pony die because you weren’t comfortable, and that is NOT alright! I learned during your training to never leave a pony behind, that sacrifices were only to be made when necessary, and…”

“AND YOU CALL SACRIFICING THE FIRST LINE IN YOUR BATTLE FOR CANTERLOT NECESSARY!?” The stallion roared, slightly changing into his own rage shift for a brief moment. “There were so many other possibilities for success, but you chose the route that called for sacrifice, am I so much worse when I sacrifice one for the many than you when you sacrifice the many for the few?” Blaze felt as if the wind had been kicked out of him as the enraged stallion took several steps forward, closing the distance between the two ponies.

"I-I... there wasn't any other way." the young Blaze replied, attempting to get his wits about him again. "I analyzed the facts we had concerning the skill of the reptilous and the skill of our army and saw that most every other tactic either called for a larger sacrifice or did away with the sacrifice either a little or completely, but in so doing lowered our chances of success by a larger margin."

"You could've found another way, you could've..." The stallion began once more, only to watch as Blaze completely shifted into his enraged form.

"I may have had that chance, but you had that chance for a certainty!" The enraged colt roared. "Don't measure me by your double standards, because I might just be able to make you seem just as bad without having to change my standards." The stallion snapped, and entered his own rage shift, his coat becoming a pure white while his mane became a raging, blue, fire.

"Your life is nothing compared to mine! You have had ease, while I have had nothing but hardship after hardship!" The stallion retorted. "I've had to leave all my family behind in another time and grow old without their presence, and when I return to my time I'll be completely different than when I left in a very drastic and immeasurable way."

"Do you think I could ever go back to being who I was before you forcefully changed me to who I am now?" The young Blaze spat back. "I've risen in the ranks of the military under the pretense of being a pony from the past, sent with the knowledge of how to defeat our current problem, and now you come and claim that you are the real pony sent from the past. I don't even have any proof besides your word that you are telling the truth."

"You want proof of the fact I'm telling the truth?" The stallion asked harshly. "Fine, have my proof!" Flint drew his two swords and showed Blaze the hilt. "You can see the cutie marks of Flame Eternal and Silver Lining on them. How to locate them is one memory that I didn't give you for the very fact that I had already claimed them as my own." Blaze starred at the hilts, and sure enough, the two symbols he remembered as the cutie marks of those stallions were embedded onto the pommels of the blades. The realization dawned on Blaze, slapping him across the face with an icy sting as he came to his senses as pieces of what had been presented as his memories confirmed every detail of the blades, only a few more scrapes present than before, easily accounted for by all the battles doubtlessly fought with them after his memory.

"So... you really are the real one..." The young Blaze said in a solemn tone, his rage shift ending suddenly. Flint calmed his temper and returned to his normal form as well.

"Yes, and I am sorry for what I put you through in the past several months. I never meant to let it go this far." The stallion stated. "I only wanted you to lead the army and hopefully distract Greyhield while I snuck into his fortress and took him out, but he has been acting different than his previous visits to Equestria. This is the first time he has even assembled anything of an army to fight for him."

"Y-you really were telling the truth..." Blaze muttered before lowering his head in shame. "I guess that means I really am nothing more than an actor pony in a metal suit." Flint lifted Blaze's head with a hoof; his strong gaze boring into Blaze's consciousness.

"No, you are much, much more." The stallion asserted. "I may have given you false memories, but you learned all your skills through hard work, dedication, and perseverance. You climbed to where you are now, not because of whom you thought you were, but because of what others saw you could accomplish. It was you, after all, that initially beat the captain of the guard to become the guard's head trainer, and then beat one of the most powerful lieutenants in the force. I had no part in those actions except teaching a few of the techniques you used."

"But I'm no longer the pony others thought I was." The young colt said sadly, moving his head away from the stallion's hoof.

"No you aren't," The stallion admitted, "You're somepony much better. You truly deserve the name of Blaze Eternal, and the honor it may bring to you." The stallion stated. "I can see you are fit to do this work than I ever was. My father may have chosen me, but you were the far greater choice."

"Thank you, Flint, but... but if I'm not Blaze Eternal, than who am I?" The young Blaze asked, looking the stallion in the eyes.

"Exactly who you led your friend Amber to believe," Flint replied, "You are part of a group of traveling performers. You drew your cutie mark to gain acceptance, or so it would seem. I honestly never knew you for who you were before I changed who you were." Blaze nodded slowly, looking away in thought.

"So that means I really could've met my family in Canterlot if I had waited long enough." Blaze mussed. Flint walked in to Blaze's line of sight.

"Unfortunately... I have to tell you that no matter how long you had waited in Canterlot for them to arrive, you would've been left disappointed." Flint stated; a twinge of sadness evident in his voice.

"What exactly do you mean?" Blaze asked, focusing on Flint.

"After you left the forest on that first day, I searched the forest for your family." Flint explained. "I was going to direct them to head to another town before Canterlot, though as I searched for them I still hadn't had an idea of what reason to give, but in the end, I never had to come up with an excuse for it. When I found them, I discovered how fortunate you actually had been when you fell out of the wagon."

"W-what did you find?" Blaze asked. Flint sighed, turning his head away as he closed his eyes. "What did you find?!"

"I found a massacre." Flint stated; a pang of guilt etched across his words. "The wagon was reduced to splinters, and any supplies in it were either long gone, or as devastated as the wagon. But... but that wasn't the worst of it." Flint once again hesitated, taking a few deep breathes to calm down. "I found all of you family scattered about the clearing..." Blaze's eyes widened in horror as Flint continued, "It was hard to tell if there were three or four at first... but there were four coat colors I could find. I'm sorry Blaze, but there wasn't enough left to even burry." Blaze fell to his haunches, stricken with grief.

"I...I lost them... twice." Blaze breathed. "I lost them to my fake memories, and lost them to the world." Blaze said slowly, the full realization dawning on him as tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. "I never even said good bye to them." Flint sat down beside the shell-shocked Blaze, wrapping a leg around the pony's neck, drawing him in for a hug.

"I know how you feel." Flint muttered. "I've been there too." Flint hugged Blaze tighter as the young stallion lost the fight against his tears, and soon had streams of tears rolling down his cheeks as Flint shared in his pain, the two stallions lost to the world, and lost to time sharing in a small moment of release.

Amber stepped away from the door, the guards off for supper at her behest. She walked down the hall, the truth behind her best friend and his acquaintance weighing deeply on her shoulders as she went off to the ponies she called family, if to do not but enjoy their company with a new found respect that she had obtained.