"Cinder Rath, yur'ah comin with me," called a voice with a distinctive South-Equestrian drawl.
In the darkening evening hours, walking down the cobbled streets of Vanhoover, several ponies stopped suddenly. All eyes turned to the center of the street, where a two ponies stood. One pony, a unicorn stallion with a charcoal black coat and a swept back two-tone red mane, had his back to another pony. The one that had called him out was the well known and respected Equestrian bounty hunter, Grand Trapper, an Earth Pony with a dusty brown coat and a shaggy brown mane even darker than his coat, atop his head was a flat-topped hat with a wide brim.
Hushed voices whispered all around, perking the jet black pony's ears, "Cinder? That arsonist?"
"We better get out of here, or he may send us into HER embrace," another murmured, causing his eyes to roll. Baseless rumors.
All the ponies around could feel the tension in the air, some leaving immediately while others all cleared to the very edges of the cobbled street, looking on in a mixture of awe, confusion, and fear.
"Tsk, can't you just leave me alone, Trapper?!" the unicorn spat, not facing the one behind him, but stamping his hoof against the smooth stones of the road. Sparks flew from where his hoof struck. The rest of the onlookers started to flee now too, as a feeling of danger became more present. "I just want a normal life! Just leave me alone and forget everything that happened before! Let me settle down somewhere for once and have some peace!"
Cinder's voice was shaky with already evident emotion. A mixture of sadness and anger laced his tone as his horned glowed a deep crimson hue.
"We both know ya can't do that, Cinder," the hunter said snidely, "E'rrywhere you go, ya end up burning down entire buildings with your magic. Ya've even murdered innocent ponies with the fire."
"Innocent ponies? Don't make me laugh. The ones that died were as innocent as changelings," the jet black unicorn spat back. This hunter didn't know the truth. Nopony did. Nopony ever bothered to listen to him. He hadn't wanted to kill those ponies... even if they had made him angry.
Trapper took a step forward, his hooves clicking on the road as he growled, "That j'es goes to show that ya really can't give up yer criminal ways. Ah know all about every last one of yer crimes, even them fires ya started when ya were in school! Ye'll burn again and ye'll kill again, so don't even bother pretending to be anything more than a murderer!"
It wasn't his fault! It wasn't his fault! Why couldn't anypony ever see his side? Why did they always look at him as the criminal instead of the victim he was? It wasn't his fault that he couldn't control it. Nopony could possibly understand just how terrifyingly violent the flames were. It was so infuriating that he could never get a chance to explain himself! Why wouldn't anypony give him the chance?!
Cinder turning around violently, his anger got the better of him. He stamped his hooves down on the ground as hard as he could. Before he could consciously stop himself, flames raced out from his hooves, streaking out in two lines along the gaps in the cobblestone. They traced a line to a building on either side of him before igniting them immediately in a burning inferno.
The remaining ponies that had been watching paniced and started to run, screaming, "Run! He's going to bring the Death Princess down on us all!"
Cinder's crimson eyes went wide as he saw the flames rise up at an incredible rate. There had to be ponies in the building! He moved to take a step towards one building when Trapper quickly moved to block his path.
"Ya damned idiot! Look what ye've done! Don't ya dare try to make things any worse!" the stallion bristled his hide in a display of contempt and aggression. "The bounty order is to capture ya alive, but I will kill ya if ya put even one more life in danger!"
'Tough talk for an Earth Pony,' Cinder thought to himself, doubting that even with the reputation of an ace bounty hunter, this pony could manage to surpass the flames.
Still, the accusations stung, prodding Cinder's anger more and more as his shocked eyes changed to a livid, hateful light. Who was this pony to judge him? Who was Trapper to decide such things?! Even as he rejected the persecution, the words prodded at a dark place in Cinder's heart. He looked back at his flank, seeing the cutie mark he felt was nothing more than a curse for him, a roiling, violent flame, symbolizing the immense magic he found so hard to contain. To others, it would seem to be his mark as a fire-starter and dangerous tendencies.... or maybe it was his view that was wrong. Maybe his Cutie Mark has always been trying to tell him that he was destined to be a worthless criminal that would bring suffering and death to others. That dark emotion started to grow, and flames danced in a circle around Cinder, who clenched his eyes tight at the conflicting rage and sadness inside him.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. The horn on his head burst in ruby light and fire emerged all around him, writhing like a living entity. The intense wave of heat and burning air rushing from the unicorn caused Grand Trapper to stagger backwards, the magic was even more intense than he'd ever seen it before, even compared to his two previous attempts to catch Cinder in Manehattan and Baltimare.
"Ah have no choice, for the safety of everypony in Equestria, ah will put an end to ya, Cinder, bounty or no bounty!" Cinder's eyes flared wide at those words, and he saw Trapper rushing forward, preparing to charge straight through the flames in an instant and attempt to deal a quick and fatal blow. Just looking at Trapper pissed Cinder off now, the ignorant hunter sparking his flames to even more violent levels as they lashed forward from both sides of the unicorn. Like two forehooves reaching out for a strike, the appendages of flame surged at the charging pony. With surprising agility, the seasoned hunter dodge dodged once, then twice, narrowly evading the scalding inferno and leaping forward. He thrust his hoof forward. striking Cinder directly on his horn.
This turned out to be a horrible mistake. Certainly Trapper may have dealt with many unicorns before, Cinder was sure, but the black unicorn's magic was much more volatile and dangerous than anything he had witnessed before. When the earth pony's hoof struck the horn, a small crack appeared on the tip, and immediately the flames took on an entirely different nature. Instead of protectively coiling around Cinder, they erupted all over him as he screamed in pain from the blow, the flames shooting out and enveloping Trapper, the force of their release sending him flying back violently, he tumbled harshly across the road and crumpled in a heap on the cold stones. Through the roiling flames, Cinder could barely see that the pony's eyes and muzzle were badly burned, as well as his right forehoof, which had struck the horn, and his entire right side, which had the fur stripped away by the flames, the skin black and cracked as blood started to barely trickle out of the cauterized flesh.
The flames did not stop though, swirling around Cinder Rath as he fought an inner war with himself, his rage blending together with his bitter depression. The flames spread up from his hooves, causing him to shout in pain as lines of fire started to trace over every part of his body until a web of fire was burning the fur and skin from him in terrible agony. This had never happened before, and he couldn't even begin to imagine why only now the flames were harming him, they had never so much as charred a hair on him before. But he couldn't think clearly about that through the blinding pain that made his vision go nearly white. He could only think to get away, not from the flames, but from everything, just to run and get out even if he was going to die like this. Turning his head and trying to see through the pain and scalding fire, Cinder looked to the west and saw the edges of the city, beyond which were dark hills and trees. He didn't have time to think about it, he simply concentrated all of the magic he could muster into his horn, willing forth the spell, and in a flash of ruby light, he vanished towards the dark hills he had seen.
Cinder's black hooves crumpled the grass beneath them, the tiny leaves withering and browning, even in the chilly night. Smoke and a few pale ashes lifted off of his charcoal coat as he staggering forward. The smoke and ashes left black streaks in his short, dark red mane, the lighter red line in it almost entirely blackened. Even his short tail was nearly completely black with char. His injured horn sporadically sparked here and there, the damage seemingly minor, but he was just barely losing a tiny trickle of his strength constantly. Behind him, the brilliant orange blaze of the still-burning buildings in Vanhoover had burst into horrendous flame, painting his coat with an eerie light, and revealing the terrible raw flesh exposed by the burns of his own flames. They snaked over every part of his body. The ball of flame that covered his haunches, his cutie mark symbolizing his infernal nature, seemed to flicker and writhe across his hindquarters with the light of the blaze behind him, as though trying to halt his shaky, weakened steps. His anger had ebbed, and now he was left with just the darkness in his heart that had been pushed to the surface.
It had happened again. Just like it always did. His past had caught up with him once again, and when his anger flared, so did the flames.... he lost control... After teleporting away from the city, into the hills outside the city, he had passed out from the pain of his wounds and the exhaustion of his flames eating up his strength to grow. Now he was on the lam yet again. There's no way he could stay in Vanhoover now. He didn't know if the pony who had confronted him was dead, but there was no way he would be the same again after what the blaze had done to him. And now even the black stallion's own flames had licked his body, the burns all over his body being the first he had ever received. The initial cause had to be the damage to his horn, but perhaps the flames were responding to his wish that he could burn up and disappear. That wouldn't be so bad, at least this nightmare he called a life would be over.
He collapsed into the ground, his wounds overtaking him once more. It felt like he was on the brink of death. But what did he care? Death would be a sweet release right now, and he was willing to welcome it with open arms.
As if to confirm the young stallion's fate, in front of him, through dark red eyes, lidded with pain, he saw the shadows around seem to lift up from the ground and coil tightly into a spiraling doorway. The roiling shadows were black tinted with the vaguest violet hues. Dark Magic without a doubt. But what who was casting it? What did it have to do with him?
From the whirling darkness stepped a figure he couldn't believe was real. He thought she was just a myth. It was the infamous and mysterious Death Princess. The Alicorn mare bore a dark lavender coat that seemed to flow into the night around her. The tall, graceful figure was a sight to behold, her long, deep jade mane falling back and over her shoulders as her blood red eyes looked down on him from up high. Her tail fell elegantly behind her flank in the same jade cascade, darker on the edges and lighter farther in. He could not see her Cutie Mark from this angle, but he figured it must be fitting to her Angel of Death status. Her height was well above that of the average pony, closer to that of Celestia herself. Her wings, lined from joint to tip by ornate metal plating, spread wide in a regal display. They accentuated the silver mantle she wore as she looked down on him for a moment, completely silent. Despite the imposing stoicism of her figure, he could almost venture to say that she was actually a beautifully dark sight to behold.
He had heard so many rumors of her in the last year, the Princess that seemed to come from nowhere, only appearing to ponies at their deaths, or when they are on the brink of death. Her presence struck terror into the hearts of every pony she stood before, even those who were spared the fate of her taking them to the afterlife. He chuckled a bit, surprised that he did not feel the same terror the rumors described, but instead felt even closer to death. Pushing up onto his foreknees, he looked up at the Death Princess and then lowered his eyes, waiting for her to take his life.
What he heard next surprised him.
"You are an unusual pony. Many fear my very presence regardless of their mortal state, but you don't. Defeat has been given greater importance." He looked up, meeting her piercing glare for only a second before lowering his head again, silent. She continued, "You are dying and yet you don't seem bothered by it. Many cry, scream and beg to be spared. Some even give up their eternal peace to live again no matter what the cost, but not you. Why is that?"
Why would she question him in such a way? He was just more confused now as he lifted his eyes again and said flatly, "You're the rumored Death Princess, aren't you? That means it's my time, right? Well, if it's my soul you've come to snuff out, go ahead and do it! I'm not gonna beg or cry. I've had enough misery because of my infernal magic to fill a lifetime! No matter where I go or what I do, the moment I get angry, I burn everything around me. No matter how I try to suppress my rage, I just end up burning everyone. I'm sure you've reaped my handiwork before, Death Princess."
A faint smile tugged at the Princess' lips. He could only guess she was thinking of the truth of his words. Indeed he knew he had slain other ponies. It was without question in his mind, yet he had never once intended to do so. When he got angry, his mind just locked down, and his flames moved almost of their own accord. "Indeed I have, but that doesn't mean I should judge you any differently. You have such inner strength like I've never seen before and your magic reflects that. Why are you letting it bring you misery?"
The raven stallion's temper flared, and his horn glowed scarlet with flame as he jerked his head up and looked her straight in the eyes. The dark red of his iris glowed a bright crimson as his anger broiled beneath the surface, even as he winced slightly, his horn sputtering meekly from the crack in its tip. The ground around him lit aflame in a circle, ringing him in fire that stood between him and the Princess, "It's easy for you to say! From what I understand, all you do is reap the souls of the dead! Ponies see you when they are on the brink of death and tell of how you walked away when it was not their time. You are merely the shepherd, not the one that slaughters the sheep! For all your power you are perfectly in control, you are not responsible for the deaths, you merely guide them out."
Seemingly unfazed by the display of anger and magic, the dark Princess stepped forward, trotting on the fiery ring with a delicate but authoritative hoof. The flames vanished in an instant as she craned her neck down and met his gaze with a look that withered his anger and sunk him down lower into his depression. Her tone was harsh and scolding as she berated him, saying, "And yet I carry all the blame for their demise. I don't slaughter those I seek, but I can and that possibility is enough to justify my apparent villainy! You said it yourself! I am the Death Princess! When I appear, living creatures die! The day I can appear and just walk away is a good day. Perhaps you too should walk away from what your power has defined you as."
"....." He was unable to say anything in counter to the truth of her blame for pony's deaths; instead, he sunk back into his own personal issues. "It's not nearly so easy as it sounds... My past hunts me. Because of the ponies I have hurt, I can't go back to a normal life... and when I tried... when I tried to show that I could push all of my anger down and not let anything bother me.... I failed... One time I even nearly killed a mare I had fallen for."
"That just makes you a very powerful unicorn with a very mundane problem." The once towering stance the royal reaper took seemed to take a change. Instead the dark princess surprisingly revealed a interestingly softer tone. "You need to seek a new life away from all this suffering. Don't use the past as scars, but instead as a push to better yourself. The fact that we're still talking now is a testament to what you are truly capable of."
His ears twitched and barely perked up as he heard the change in the Princess' tone. His depression and disgust for himself was pushed aside somewhat and replaced with confusion. Was the Death Princess showing some merciful form of kindness before taking his life? Or was she really doing what he thought she was... offering him an out... an escape from all that plagued him? "Why.... why are you saying these things to an anger-prone murderer like me? No matter what I've tried I've never been able to push my anger down and control my flames."
Sitting upright and lifting his forehoof to look at his wrist, he noted the burn marks that maimed his fur, running up and likely all over his body now. "In the end, now it seems I'm eventually going to be burnt up in my own accursed blaze.
"There you go again. Placing defeat as your highest importance!" the Princess snarled with what was probably the first eye-roll of princess history. "You talk like you have truly given up, but I can see you really haven't and I can prove it." Purple and black sparks jumped from the Alicorn's horn. That was the only warning given before her spell of darkness was cast into his broken heart. Black flames, illusionary figments, wrapped over every scar the raven unicorn had on his body and in his heart. All of his pain came flooding back, physical and psychological, and attempted to burn its victim with the same intensity that his flames had brought to others. “This won't kill you, but this pain will never end on its own. The weak become consumed by it. Their bodies act as shells designed to carry a never-ending nightmare. Are you such a shell?!”
The spell overtook Cinder before he could react. Every nerve in his body, every single cell of his skin burned all over as though his flames were consuming him once more. Black glimmers of flame, tinted with violet tongues crawled before his eyes as he writhed and braced his forehooves into the ground, just barely keeping himself upright.
Why? Why was he even trying to stay upright? He should just fall over. It would be so easy to just fall over and fall into the darkness of his soul as he suffers the fitting eternal anguish he likely deserved.
So why couldn't he do it? Why couldn't he fall? he gritted his teeth, his mind reeling from the pain as he questioned his own heart. Was he really so stubborn? Did he really have such a thick head that he couldn't accept this, even when he believed he wanted to?
Almost against his will, his hind legs pushed up against the ground, pushing himself upright in a shaky, jerking motion. His eyes still glued to the floor, he didn't understand why he was still trying to get up. His mind wanted to give up, but his body just refused to fall down. "I guess... this is my nature," he muttered under his breath, gasping between pained breaths. He struggled to lift his head, feeling as though he had a ring of solid iron weighing around his neck as his dark red eyes met her staunch rubies. "If I really wanted to die... I suppose I would be dead already." Perhaps his flames had burned him as a way to slap some sense into him before, but this time the Princess had succeeded where they had failed.
A sudden look of pride swept across the Princess' features, and she declared aloud, "Torture of such a broken soul is never anything to find pleasure in, but to see that same soul rise above his internal struggle...that is joyous to behold. Moments ago you doubted yourself, but now it appears you could do anything. Your dying body achieving what many healthy specimens failed to do." An even stranger sight met Cinder's eyes as a surprising, full smile graced her lips. "What you feel is the pain your scars have given to you." she spoke gently once it clear the stallion was standing. "They will only hurt you for as long as you let them hurt you. The pain itself isn't real."
The young tried his best to take in the Princess' words, though it was not too easy, as the pain from the flames caused even his ears to ring. Still, he managed to understand what she said about the dark flames, that they were all in his head and if he didn't let them, they wouldn't hurt him. Taking a deep, staggered breath, he gathered his thoughts and reaffirmed himself. 'I really don't want to die,' he thought to himself, 'Something just doesn't feel right about dying right here, this way.'
With that thought, affirming himself, he felt the pain delicately flicker away like the gentle lick of dying flames, the illusionary fire before his eyes vanished, and he met the eye of the Princess for the first time unobstructed by animosity, a steadiness in his eyes for the time being.
"You're right, Princess," he chose to address her with the respect she deserved. Her method may have been rough and brutal.... but it seemed it was just what he needed. "Though I still don't know what to do with myself. I still don't know how to suppress my anger and keep the flames in check."
"It's true, you still have much to learn. Your power can still consume without control...just like mine." Suddenly her eyebrows perked up, as though a very interesting prospect had just been raised in her own mind. "How would you like me to teach you to control your power. You would have to give up your current way of life and instead spend it secluded with the undead, but there you would be safe to make mistakes."
Cinder blinked. And again. Once more.
"I-" he stopped, not even sure what to say. This Princess, who had popped up in rumor only recently, but was undoubtedly the genuine article, was offering to take him in? Granted, he didn't think he was really capable of harming her even if his magic went out of control again, but still, that she would make such an offer was nearly unthinkable to him. Still, who was he to question her. Ironically enough, if not for the Death Princess showing up, he probably would have died this night. If not for her, he would not be standing right now. In answer, instead of using what words he couldn't begin to gather, he lowered his head, kneeling down on bent forehooves, one foreknee pressed into the ground as he silently gave the most sincere display he could. He decided right then that he would swear himself to her from this night forward. His life belonged to her now.
"Today is a good day." she answered his wordless display or fealty. Coughing very slightly to clear her throat, she started with a formal introduction. "I am Princess Yamimoto Persephone, ruler of darkness and death. You may refer to me as Princess Persephone. Now you may speak yours."
"Princess Persephone," Cinder spoke softly, testing the sound of her name, before answering her order, "My name is Cinder, My Lady, Cinder Rath."
Despite the scene that had happened previously, the same towering stance Persephone appeared with had returned. However this time, it seemed that the reason was to be appear as a commanding leader as opposed to an intimidating figure. With her magic, a portal opened from the same darkness that has previously set her new pupil's soul alight, and had brought her to his now empty deathbed. Turning to the dark portal, she stopped midway and looked back at him. From this side view he could finally see her Cutie Mark, a heart dripping with blood. She spoke softly, yet with a commanding strength, "Come Cinder. Through there is Tempest Valley; your new home. I'll see to it that my nurses give you the medical attention you need."
Silent now, unwavering, Cinder looked into the dark portal of swirling shadows. His path was set and his old life was gone, as far as he was concerned. His first step halting only for a second was the only show of hesitation in his heart before he walked into the darkness and his new life. He was casting all else aside for the sake of his Guardian Angel, his Princess Persephone. Even if he was still weak and losing a trickle of strength every second from his horn, he could make this journey. He absolutely would.
He did not notice that, as he stepped into the darkness, his cutie mark was not the same anymore. Now instead of a simple flame, it had become a downward pointing broadsword with it blade set aflame with the burning intensity of his new resolution.
