Flames of Blue

For the second time this week, I’ve been sent flying backwards by a fiery ball of… well, fire. Also for the second time, I’ve just woken up with a large shadow hovering over me.

“Agh!” I yelped, pushing myself backwards with my talons.

Looking back down at me, questioningly so was Jornad.

“Oh, hey, uh, mind telling me why you like scaring me when I wake up?”

“Heh, you scare easily. No, I am part of the forest, young one. I have the patience of a tree, meaning that I have

stood over you for the last three hours. I don’t plan your waking up, I just wait for it.”

“Three hours? Wait, why is it still light out… oh, the fire’s started.” I noticed, shaking my head to clear the grogginess. I got up, and looked at my feet.

“Was that all me?” I scratched my wing, puzzled.

“Was what you?” Jornad rumbled, sitting next to the flame.

“The explosion that knocked me out, what else?”

“Oh, that’s what it was? I thought that was thunder. I honestly don’t know what happened to knock you unconscious; I just came over here because I thought the seeding oak was on fire.”

At that I cocked my head, asking “What do you mean, seeding oak? The tree over there?” I pointed to the apparent oak tree sitting about thirty feet away.

“Yes, quite a tree it is. Every year in the spring, it releases thousands of acorns. As they sit, a monsoon washes over the island, and it spreads them to all corners of the landmass. The water that comes out of the clouds that day has a magic in it, one that ushers forth the roots and stems of the plants. Within a week, every last one of the trees has grown to its full size.”

“Huh, okay then. Makes sense; I can understand why you would be worried about the tree being on fire.” I stated, looking at the flaming pile of sticks in front of me.

‘Wait a minute…’

“Wait, did I, or did I not start that fire?” I asked, pointing at the flame in question.

“Oh, you did much more than start the fire. When your little explosion woke me up, it was almost night out, a storm brewing to the south. I looked out of my cave home, and saw some flames higher than the tree, and I assumed it was on fire. When I got over here, though, I saw that this is what had happened.” He gestures to the area around the fire, making my eyes grow wide.

“I did this?” I said, unbelievingly

“You mean you didn’t mean to do so?”

“No, not at all…” At that, I walk to the area around the fire.

Through the flickering light, I can see that the grass is singed down to about half its original height.

“Wow, do I really have that much power?” I said, causing Jornad to perk up.

“Of course you do. What you did though, was not use your normal magic. You used blank magic, which you wanted to turn to flame, and it did. The thing is, you didn’t tell it to go anywhere. So it just sat there. With nothing else to do, it exploded. You’re a phoenix, you have the power to control flame. That does not mean anything if you know not how to control it, though. Do you not know of your species?”

‘I know just as much of phoenixes and this “controlling flame” crap as a three year old knows of nuclear physics. How should I explain this? There’s no way I can go with the amnesia gimmick, it’ll fall off as a lie pretty quickly. I’ll just tell him I’m an outcast.’

“No, I was cast out as a fledgling.” I lied, trying to make and keep a sad, oppressed expression.

“I’ve never heard of that happening before in the phoenix culture. What happened to cause this?” he questioned.

‘Damn, think. What would happen to make a flock cast you out… ponyfeathers, what am I gonna say… feathers… Feathers! My feathers!’

Sighing, I continued. “It’s my feather coloring. They thought I was of a different species, and somehow my egg had gotten into their nest by accident. They fed me until I was large enough to fend for myself, and then told me to find my real parents. I believed them, what they told me, until today. I actually made fire… They never taught me how to control flame, obviously, because they thought me to be a regular bird.” I explained, giving myself a sad look in my eye, pretending to thoughtfully gaze into the night sky.

*Damn, you never told me you’re a good liar. If Pinocchio had said that, his nose would be half way across the Pacific by now, poking some poor pelican in the ass.*

‘Thanks for that beautiful image…’  I thought, mentally shaking my head.

Jornad, on the other hand, DID shake his head. “It’s strange how such noble creatures such the phoenix could do such a thing…” After a moment of silence, he continues. “...Of course, I could fill you in on the knowledge that they did not…”

“Oh, you would do that?” I asked, giving myself a perkier look.

“Anything for a friend.” He said, ripping up some grass and gnawing on it.

“You consider me a friend, even though the only two things I’ve done concerning you was attempting to steal from you, and nearly burning down the only source of food and wood this island has ever had?”

“Bah, nonsense. Those aren’t reasons to consider someone an enemy! Anyone is a friend until proven otherwise. Besides, if this island loses its resources, my son and I can just swim to the next island.” He slapped his lobster tail against the ground, emphasizing his point. I nodded, and proceeded to yawn.

“You look tired,” He continued, “Get some rest. I’ll begin teaching you of the use of magical energy tomorrow.”

“Alright, thanks. I owe you, and never let me say otherwise.” I say cordially, receiving a smile from Jornad.  I turn to where my sleeping mat lay, and cringed. The top layer of the entire mat was burnt to a crisp, a full half inch of charcoal lying on top of grass of questionable freshness. I turned in a circle, looking for a patch of fresh grass.

Behind where Jornad was getting up from was unaffected by the blast. As he got to his feet and walked off, I walked over to where the Henduraan lay; grabbing a patch of grass with my primaries, and lopping them off near the bottom with my talons. I then walked over to my old mat, and laid them on top of the charcoal, repeating the process thrice.

*Gurgle*

I looked down at my stomach and groaned. Of course I was going to be hungry; I had nothing to eat since breakfast. It seems I had been holding out pretty well with what little I ate during breakfast though. Meh. I look around for some stones to turn over, when my eyes land on the small metal box that was next to the arrow, and chain. I push it over, revealing a plethora of small insects.

*Oh children…. IT’S DINNER TIME*

‘Oh dear God... Celestia? Just please don’t remind me of that video… ever. Please?’

*Huehuehue*

My brain was partially right, it was dinner time.

(Insert annoying intermission advertisement here)

Many a nom later, I lay on my mat, my stomach full.

“Ahhhh…” I let out a satisfied sigh as I breathed in the smell of smoke, which had become surprisingly pleasant in the last day or so. Not only was the charcoal under me simply nice to have, it was also functional. Blood sucking insects? Not around smoke, nuh-uh. They hate the stuff. Not only that, it was still warm.

I closed my eyes, rolling over. I was exhausted from the day’s happenings, and soon fell deep into Morpheus’s arms.

<<< ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>

There was a small town below me. It was night time, but I could still see fine. glancing at my left, then my right wing, I turned back to the place below me. It looked to be… ravaged. But happy. Everything was torn and twisted surrounding the town. I saw trees around the place, on a proceeding line of vegetation, covering a mass of stumps in between the town and forest. There was a wall, and there was a gate around the front of the town. Each of these features was gouged and ripped, and yet… the inside was teeming with life, happy-go-lucky citizens of a place with troubles long past. I liked it. It looked like a grand place. Suddenly, I noticed a light drizzle on my back, and heard a sizzling sound. I slow myself, peering over my shoulder to see a trail of flame coming off my back, wings, and tail feathers.

‘Fireflies can suck it.’ I thought dreamily, and noticed that down below, the town had stopped its activities… no, it was a different town. In fact, it was a village, based around a temple of some sort, a large pyramid. I hazily noticed the arrows flying towards me. Smiling dazedly, I pumped my wings once, somewhat noticing that I went up somewhere around thirty feet in less than a second. I flapped my wings lightly to keep myself hovering, and saw a missile of pure energy headed in my direction. Sizzling over my head as I fold in my wings, I dropped a good meter or two to avoid the magic. I snap my wings out again, continuing a barely registered flight pattern to avoid the longspears and magic, not to mention the poisoned and flaming arrows flying past me. Suddenly, I look over my shoulder, frowning at the color of flame that is emitted as I soar over my enemies’ heads.

‘Why,’ I thought distantly, ‘is my fire blue…’

<<< ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>>

I came around, but without opening my eyes.

‘I swear if something’s standing over me this time, I’ll use that fucking giga-blaster thing again.’

*Arm the missiles, buddy. With your luck, there’s an orc encampment waiting for your body to get medium-rare on the spit roast.*

‘Whatever…’ I mentally sighed as I gingerly opened one eye, taking in the light from the mid-morning sun.

*Coast’s clear, up and at ‘em.*

‘Shut up, I can tell.’

I opened both eyes, glancing around my mat as I sat up.

‘Fire’s out, but still smoking. I’ll drop some tinder on it to keep it smoldering. Damn I’m hungry, I’m gonna grab some grub real quick…’

Lol. Grub. It’s funny because I’m literally eating a fucking grub. And it tastes like blueberries. Nomnom.

After I’d gotten my morning breakfast, I flapped back to my sleeping mat. Next to it were my scattered possessions; A metal box, some chain, an arrow, string, four pieces of balsa, the flight-assisting ring, and a rolled up piece of paper. I picked up the ring, twisting it around in my talons.

‘I wonder how it works…’

*Magic, my friend. Magic.*

‘Yup, you’re right… I’m right. Dammit, I need to stop thinking to myself.’

*That’s not your choice to make, hehehe…*

Shaking my head, I reminisced on what I’m going to do here, in Equestria. Or… am I in Equestria? I know I’m on the planet Equis. That’s for damn sure. But where do the Equestrian borders start, and end? Is Equestria a country, or the name of a continent? Meh, I’ll ask a pony when I get to that area.

Speaking of which, where exactly am I right now? I know my general location, on an island south-east of the great southern rainforest. From what I gather from what Jornad said about it, that’s the southern border of Equestria, which means… I’m just south of Equestria! Sure is a strange place considering from what I’ve seen so far, compared to the show. Oh well.

*Speaking of Jornad, didn’t he offer you lessons on magic control today?*

‘Oh, yeah. I guess I’ll head over there now, but I need to set out soon. I don’t want to stay on some stinkin island forever.’

As I take off for Jornad’s cave, I recalled part of my dream from last night. Didn’t I have a flame trail? That would be badass. I looked at my tailfeathers, but no amount of flame was trailing behind me as I flew. Oh well. I’ll get it to happen eventually.

I finally landed at the entrance of his cave, looking inside for any sign of him.  I call out, my voice echoing in the dark hole. Something moved inside, and the smaller version of Jornad showed up in front of me. Rubbing his eyes, he stared up at me.

“Are you looking for my daddy?” he said, in the cutest, most fucking cuddly voice I've ever heard.

I resisted my urge to glomp the shit out outa him, and instead chose to simply nod in answer.

“He should be up there.” He said, pointing to the top of the hill with a paw.

I looked up, past the boulders near the entrance. Up on top of the hill that the cave was at the base of, I saw something glowing green.

“Huh, thanks. What’s your name, by the way?” I asked the kid.

“My name’s Pikooni, what’s yours?”

“I’m Cedar.” I said, beginning to take off.

“Is that Jornad? Strange…” I muttered to myself, as I flew to the top of the hill, glancing back down at the entrance to the cave. Pikooni had gone back inside, apparently.

It was, in fact, Jornad, and when I reached the top of the hill, he was sitting there, already staring at me, surrounded by a field of glowing, green light.

“Now in session, class is," he said.