Sarosian

Chapter 5: Burning

“Twilight?”

The sun was setting. It was the first time in my life that I could watch the sunset, and I didn’t want to…

“Equestria to Twilight!”

I just stared at her- it was all I could do. There was nothing more that I wanted. She kept saying my name though. I tried to respond, really, but, I couldn’t. My mouth opened to respond, But… Nothing.

“We should really get going!”

I couldn’t speak. There were no words to say. I had fallen for a princess, so I did what anypony would do in my situation…

“Oh for the love of Celestia… Snap! Out! Of! It!”

I continued to stare at the pony standing beforeme, her expression completely unreadable.I watched as she put both her hooves on my shoulders…

“You have a job to do!” Raindrops shook me violently, causing me to take stock of the situation at hoof. I shot into the air from my seated position, spiralling towards the next cloud within a single leap range.

It was morning. It was sunrise.

I glanced towards the rising sun, as it peered over the lake far east of town as Raindrops put herself between me and the celestial body. “Have you snapped out of it yet?”

I shook myself, forcing myself to forget about the previous evening. I tried to speak, but words still escaped me, so I nodded to Raindrops.

“Alright, so you’re with me?” I nodded again. “Great. Now, I know that it’s your first actual day on the job, but so far, for the entire time the sun has been rising, you’ve been doing nothing but staring at it. I understand if you’ve never seen it before, but do it some other time... Like when you’re not supposed to be working!”

I took a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time to daydream. I was supposed to be working.

“I know this is your first proper shift, but since you’ve spent over half of it staring at the sun, you get to help me put away the cloud order arriving this afternoon.”

Not that I had any plans for the rest of the day after work. As much as I wanted to talk to Twilight again, I had spent yesterday cooped up within my house, afraid to even step outside in case I ran into the princ- Twilight! She wants you to call her Twilight! Remember that!

I shook my head and focused on the yellow mare before me. Work! I was at work! I could panic later.

“Alright, now that you’re here, let’s get rid of what’s floating around. We’re scheduled for zero coverage…” Raindrops turned away and flared her wings. I followed her actions and stood beside her. “You can take care of the northern sector. Start east, and work your way back… Unless you really want to stare at the sun as you fly.”

Raindrops took off, tilting towards the south as she flew. Alright, the northern sector. I looked to my left. There weren’t that many clouds… I kicked off from the cloud I was seated on, making sure to remove it from the sky as I left.

It’s alright, everything will be fine… I just got caught up in the moment… I mean, I only stared at her… It’s not like I did anything stupid…

*

“So how was that for sight seeing?” Twilight asked me without looking. Her gaze focused intently on the horizon… Mine directly on her.

I didn’t respond, a thousand thoughts galloping through my mind. I pushed myself back into a seated position, keeping my eyes glued on Twilight.

As I had pushed myself upright Twilight turned around to look at me, her eyes meeting mine. “Are you alright?” She asked, her eyes remaining as bright and wide as the sun I was supposed to be watching. I could hear the sincerity in each of herwords; she had genuine interest in my wellbeing. I shuffled my wingsslightly; the implicationsof my earlier revelation came at that moment.

I couldn’t have a crush on a princess. She’s no different from Princess Luna! She’ll live for thousands of years and still look like she does today! What would she do to me if she found out anyway? Are there laws against this sort of thing? I backed away slightly, sitting on the edge of the cloud.

“Twilight?” Her tone started to sound worried, she stood up and took a step closer. “What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth to answer her, but no words came out… I couldn’t speak… I couldn’t breathe…

Twilight set both her hooves on my shoulders, staring directly into my eyes as her horn started to glow. She was casting a spell! Could she read my mind? Would it tell her what was wrong? I didn’t want to know… I couldn’t let her know! I stepped backwards, my back legs slipping off the cloud as my body followed. I performed a quick roll to correct my fall and shot out my wings. Flying away as quickly as possible was the only thing I could think of doing right now.

“Twilight!”

*

“Twilight!” A hoof-sized rain cloud splashed on my face. I spluttered at the sudden intake of water instead of air, wiping my face with a hoof to remove the excess water. “What happened to you Twilight? You were fine the other day… But that’s twice today that you’ve just… Stopped…”

Once I had finished coughing, and replaced the water in my lungs with air I looked up at Raindrops. “I- I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” I tried to figure out what the next step of the order was. We had already counted the crates, and ordered the clouds. It was time to move them into storage.

“What’s going on? Somepony in town giving you trouble?”

I nodded slowly, taking a rope in hoof to move the crate of sparkys. “You could say that.”

Raindrops took the guide-line for the crate and eased me towards the first hangar. “Who is it? Anyone who gives my workers a hard time needs a lesson in manners.” As I untied the rope and attached it to the next crate Raindrops followed me along for the same procedure. In total there were thirty-five crates. Five sparkys, twenty-four rain clouds and six ‘gusties’ as Raindrops called them.

I sighed heavily. What else was I supposed to do? Let it affect me for as long as I live? “No, it’s not like that.”

Raindrops finished tying her rope and signalled for me to start pulling the crate. “Alright, so tell me what it’s like then.”

After moving the second crate into position and removing my rope, I moved on to the third crate with Raindrops not far behind. “Well...” I paused for a moment, trying to figure out how best to word my emotions.

“I get it, Twilight. You don’t want to talk about it. It’s fine, really. But I don’t want this affecting you at work, so if there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask. Because a pony on the weather team not paying attention is a disaster waiting to happen.”

We packed away the rest of the sparkys without any issues. The only communication between the two of us being either directions or affirmations. Usually by Raindrops telling me to start pulling or to untie and move to the next. Thankfully we could move the crates containing rainclouds two at a time.

“Hey, Raindrops?”

“You’re going to tell me anyway, aren’t you?” I nodded slowly, untying my rope from the stored crates. “Alright, we’ll take a breather, I’m sure your wings could do with a rest anyway.” The yellow pegasus flew to the ground, taking  a seat under the tree where I’d almost dropped a raincloud on her just two days prior. “Who’s causing you trouble?”

“It’s Twilight.”

“Yeah, I know who you are, who is-” Raindrops stopped herself, she motioned with her hooves for me to ignore her previous statement. “The princess?” I nodded. “What’s she done? Made a decree stating you can’t live here?”

“Well, no-”

“Look, between you and me, I’d do whatever I could to stay away from her.” I tilted my head in response, not quite understanding what she meant. “Just listen for a moment, will you? Now, I don’t know how much news hits the underground, but Twilight Sparkle is the single-most targeted pony this side of Celestia herself.

“We’ve been under attack, brainwashed, enslaved, transformed and almost wiped out because of her. All because she’s Princess Celestia’s personal student. And it’s just a matter of time until another ‘all powerful’ this or ‘worlds greatest’ that will come around and hurt anypony close to her.”

I shook my head unsure on how to respond. At first I thought that Raindrops herself was crazy, but I remembered each story that Twilight had told me on my training day with Rainbow Dash. Each event Raindrops had mentioned lined up perfectly with the stories Twilight had told me. Getting each event from a different pony gave me the perspective of an outside observer. “If it’s that bad, why still live here?”

Raindrops blushed slightly at my question. “Honestly?” I nodded. I couldn’t understand why Raindrops would have such strong opinions on Twilight, yet still live within the same town as her for no apparent reason. “I, uhh… I kinda have a thing for Rainbow.” Raindrops concluded, looking off at the rest of the crates that we hadn’t stored yet, gaining a dreamlike trance. I just stared at the yellow pegasus. “Don’t look at me like that. Can you blame me? She’s fast, athletic… If you ask her for help she’ll drop everything to lend a hoof. She’s all sorts of amazing…”

“You really do have a crush on Rainbow…” If only because I liked Twilight for almost the same reasons.

Raindrops stood up, flaring her wings in the process. “Alright, breaks over… Let’s put the rest of these clouds away.” The yellow pegasus took to the sky faster than I could ask another question. But at the risk of having to work longer hours, I silently followed Raindrops into the sky, dragging the rope behind me.

Tying up the next two crates, Raindrops directed me into the next space within the hangar. After another three rounds in silence, the pegasus cleared her throat. “You can’t speak a word of this to Rainbow Dash, you know…” I nodded quickly, understanding her wish for silence. Another two sets of crates later, and she spoke up again. “Are you going to tell me what the princess did that stopped you dead this morning?”

I finished untying the rope and moved to the next pair. “I… Uh, I kind of have a thing for her.” I paused for a moment, waiting for Raindrops’ reaction. But when nothing came, I turned around to find her missing. I unhitched myself from the rope, floating to above the crates, scanning the skies for the pegasus. Just before I’d finished a full rotation, a tuft of cloud slammed into the side of me, causing me to crash land on top of a crate I’d tied the rope to. “Are you crazy?” I shouted out at the pegasus, who was hovering a few hundred hooves away. “What’d you do that for?”

Raindrops flew back into speaking range, landing on the crate I had just before slammed into. “Am I crazy? What about you? Didn’t you hear what I told you? Nothing but bad luck follows that mare… Not to mention she’s like, a bucking princess! It’s not like you’re going to live for as long as she will!”

“Who puts you in charge of who’s a good pony and who’s not? I can’t help that I feel that way for Twilight, it’s not like I can control it. And what about you anyway? Rainbow has her fair share of bad luck too you know… Besides, basically every point you made as to how you feel toward Rainbow I can use for myself towards Twilight.” I stepped forward, not backing down to Raindrops’ claims.

“Alright, alright… I get it. I had the exact same argument with Cold Front when I discovered my feelings for Rainbow.”

I paused for a moment, returning to a passive stance. “How long ago was that?”

“Just as winter started,” the yellow pegasus glanced up at me. “For all of winter I’ve felt this way, and never has there been an opportunity to tell her how I feel… I’ve had enough time to think about it to know that it’s a bad idea to ask her. She probably already knows… But, I can’t say anything to her without these thoughts…” Raindrops continued to stare at me, as if I had some sort of answer for her. Her eyes glazed over as she continued to stare at me… No, not at me… past me...

I turned around instinctively, wondering what drew her attention. A cloud of thick black smoke rose in the distance…

Fire…

I turned back to look at Raindrops who flared her wings out and threw the rope over her shoulder. “I want you to head over there and see if you can set up a perimeter. I’ll bring over as many rain clouds as I can, and it won’t be long until Rainbow gets here to help me. If there’s anypony in that fire I want you to get them out. Don’t let any earth ponies or unicorns into the flames.” I gave a quick salute to the yellow pegasus and took off towards the pillar of smoke. Reciting my orders over and over.

Set up perimeter.

Get anypony out of the flames.

Don’t let unicorns or earth ponies inside.

I pulled into a dive several hundred hooves from the edge of the fire, finding myself on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres as the fire seemed to have originated at the edge of Whitetail Woods. I stood beside a strong fence, lining what appeared to be the edge of the property. A dirt road bisected the fence as the gate which normally blocked it stood open. Well, that was convenient... A perimeter already set up within reasonable range of the smoke, without any excess work. Not only that, but the fire was much too far out of town to leave anypony in immediate danger. Unchecked, the fire would probably cause a lot of damage. But with Raindrops on the way with the clouds, this seemed easier than expected.

I lifted myself into the air, surveying the orchard. Nothing seemed out of place, or at least from what I could see. Until I saw an orange pony gallop down the road and towards the fence. I floated back to the ground, standing in the centre of the road. The orange pony skidded to a halt before me, until I realised it was one of Twilight’s friends that I’d met the other day… Applehat, or something…

“I’m sorry, but you can’t get any closer to that fire.” I said to the mare, who shook her head and snorted.

“Like hay Ah can’t! Mah lil’ sister is’n there ‘an ain’t nopony  gonna stop me from savin’ her.”

I turned around and looked at the flames, they were climbing the trees faster than I would’ve liked. “I’m sorry, but I have my orders-” I stopped. The second order I was given echoed through my mind.

Get anypony out of the flames.

“Your sister is in there?” The mare nodded quickly, looking for any pass beyond my stretched wings. “Alright, I’ll find her… But I need you to stay out here and watch the perimeter. I was told-”

“Yeah yeah, Ah know. Only pegasi can withstand breathin’ in a lotta smoke. Ah know, now go an’ find her Twilight. Please! She’ll be at her clubhouse… It’s about a hundred hooves in. Follow the road, it’s off to the right. Now go!”

I turned around to face the fire, taking a deep breath I took to the sky, making sure to keep myself above the road. A hundred hooves in, it wasn’t that far. But as the flames got closer, it seemed much further than it actually was.

Breaking through the first wall of smog, I rose in altitude, giving me a better view of the area. The road was harder to follow, but the smoke was thinner. I continued for a few moments, but saw nothing but fire. The road was gone from sight, the overwhelming heat causing my eyes to water, blurring any vision I had of the dirt path.

I flew past the far edge of the blaze, looping back for another pass. Clearing my vision, I flew lower than the first pass, focusing all attention on the path, looking for a clubhouse just off the road. It was then I saw a flash of white on the ground. Pulling into a dive, I landed in the middle of the flames, taking note of a treehouse not ten hooves from me.

I threw myself up towards the construction, taking note of the thoroughly charred steps up to the entry.

“Hello?” I shouted, pushing open the door of the treehouse. It was then I saw three fillies and a dragon, huddled together in a corner. Wait a minute, where had I-

“Oh my gosh, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom! Somepony’s here!”

The three other heads shot up. It was the same group of fillies that ran into Twilight and I the other day… It was then that Spike stood up, his eyes bloodshot. “Twilight! What are you- Oh who cares? Help us!”

I glanced between the four figures. This was going to get very painful. “Alright, let’s get out of here,” I lay down on the rug centred in the treehouse. “Everypony climb on. Spike, I’m going to have to carry you in my hooves.” I felt the three fillies jump onto my back, a death grip around my neck was established, while the middle one fumbled with her hooves over my wings. “Hey, don’t grab on so tightly.”

“Well, tell Applebloom that she doesn’t have to squeeze so tightly around me.”

“Ah’m not squeezin’ tightly, this is squeezin’ tightly.”

The three fillies yelled at each other until I felt a sudden decrease of oxygen to my head, causing me to cough. “Enough!” I shouted, causing all three to settle down. “Now, everypony sit still so we can get out of here as quickly as possible.” I glanced out the window, noticing the flames getting closer to the treehouse.

Pushing myself into a standing position, the extra weight took its toll. I was not looking forward to flying. “Alright, let’s get outside and ready to go.” I stepped out of the clubhouse, standing on the hoof-built balcony. “Spike, I want you to grab hold of my hooves. And for the love of Luna… Don’t look down.” The small dragon nodded quickly, grabbing hold of my forelegs. I reared onto my hind legs, wrapping my hooves around the dragon’s belly. Taking a deep breath of the acrid smoke-filled air, I shot into the sky, beating my wings harder than I ever had.

The heat from the flames both helped and hindered my efforts. I caught the hot air effortlessly with my wings, making the task of remaining airborne almost secondary. But with the hot air, came the smoke. Burning holes in my lungs with each heavy breath.

I couldn’t ascend above the canopy of the forest, causing me to take detours instead of following the road, dodging in and out of the trees that were, and weren’t currently alight. Slowing my pace, I took stock of the situation, flapping my wings tirelessly just to remain stationary. Walls of flame surrounded me, covering almost entire trees in flame.

I was running out of options, and stamina. I had found the path again, but there wasn’t any direction that wasn’t covered in flames. I glanced back towards the fillies riding me, all three of them huddled up as tightly as they could. There was only one way out, and that was through the flames. “Hang on.” I said to the three. I felt the grip around my neck tighten, but it didn’t restrict my breathing.

I held my wings outright, angling myself forward to point just above where the path and the flames met. I continued to accelerate, trying to put on as much speed as possible before contact with the flames. Quickly in and out, the fire can’t be that thick.

I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side, angling my wings and causing my body to start ascending again, I threw us into the wall of fire.

An intense rush of heat covered my body. I felt myself dehydrate almost instantly, and every accumulated drop of sweat vaporised like a forcefully impacted cloud. For that moment, I prayed to Luna that I wouldn’t take the same fate.

But just as quickly as the heat came, an intense rush of cold followed. I was suddenly covered in water, causing my wings to close at the intense change in temperature.

I shook my head, freeing my eyes from the near frigid water, with just enough time to notice the ground fast approaching. I couldn’t land on my shoulder and roll because of the fillies on my back, and I couldn’t stop straight down because of Spike in my hooves… I quickly held Spike off to the side, and braced myself for the impact.

This was going to hurt.

*

Lights, blinding…

Eyes, burning…

Wings, strapped…

Breath… Easy?

I forced my eyelids shut and shuffled my hooves against the soft surface I lay upon. Pain shot through the left side of my body, lingering against my wing as I struggled to pull my thoughts together.

“You’re awake!” A voice said beside me. I knew that voice… It was- Twilight!

I opened my eyes, instantly shutting them again as the intense light nearly blinded me again.

“It’s alright, Twilight. Calm down. You’re at the hospital,” I turned my head towards the voice, opening one eye slowly in hopes that I wouldn’t be blinded from that direction too. Instead I caught a glimpse of the princess sitting beside me as I lay on a bed, the sheets of which were tinted a very pale blue. “How are you feeling?”

My head was throbbing, my left wing ached and the rest of me felt like I’d been thrown into a cave wall. “I’ve felt better…” I continued to scan around the room. It certainly looked like a hospital. Single window behind the princess with several chairs lined up underneath it. A curtain rod outlined the bed I lay upon with a white curtain hanging from roof to floor. Yep, definitely a hospital.

Twilight giggled to herself as I continued to scan the room. Until then I hadn’t realised that I was alone with her. I pressed my ears against the top of my head and looked towards the door, unable to look the princess in the eye. “It was very brave. What you did…” I heard Twilight’s voice as I relaxed my limbs, thinking back. Not actually able to remember why I was here. “Those fillies owe you their lives. And so does Spike,” A hoof took hold of my own, causing me to turn back and face Twilight. “I won’t forget this.”

I stared at Twilight’s hoof, hanging onto mine. But before I could respond the door to the room opened. I turned back to the door to see six figures enter my room in single file: The three fillies that I’d met with Twilight the other day, Rarity, Spike and the orange mare I hadn’t learnt the name of yet. Obviously word had gotten out that I was awake. Although I didn’t even remember falling asleep.

“What happened?” I asked the group, drawing a complete blank on everything before the fire…

Fire! I was looking for... Wait, what was I doing in a fire?

“You flew into the fire looking for us!” A young unicorn filly answered, one of her forehooves wrapped in a light bandage and part of the fur on her face was blackened.

“Yeah! An’ then you flew us all back to the farm!” A yellow filly continued, who had a bandage around her midsection. Her mane also looked unusually short.

“Sweetie Belle!”

“Applebloom!”

Both older looking versions of the fillies scolded their younger counterparts. The two young fillies folded their ears back and moved towards the door, sitting down just beside it. “You took a mighty fall when y’all escaped, but if’n you hadn’ done what you did, Ah’d be without mah sister. An’ for that, Ah’m mighty grateful.”

“As with Applejack, I, too, am grateful Twilight. Celestia knows what I’d do without Sweetie,” Rarity spoke, bowing her head slightly. “I am indebted to you, Twilight. My door is always open if you ever need anything.”

I shook my head slowly. “You don’t owe me anything. I was just following orders.”

“But sometimes, even following orders deserves special rewards,” A voice spoke from the door. I turned my head to see Raindrops enter. “And at the very least, you’ll get a few weeks off to recover.” The pegasus motioned towards me with a hoof.

It was then I actually noticed why I was in so much pain. My left wing was held out from my body, locked in place by more than a few devices. Bandages covered most of my exposed underside, but my left forehoof remained uncovered, telling enough of the story. Instead of my dark grey fur, I found the limb completely bare, showing several cuts in plain sight covered in a strange cream. I glanced around the room, seeing the faces of everypony just staring at me. “How long was I out for?”

“Only a few hours,” Twilight spoke, drawing my attention to the other side of the bed. “The doctors said that you’d broken your wing, cracked several ribs and would probably have a concussion. What is your most recent memory?”

I pushed my mind back, trying to remember the most recent event before waking up. “The only thing I remember is finding the treehouse… Everything else is just dark.”

“That’s alright. A mild concussion is expected considering the impact you had.” Raindrops motioned towards the door. “When Rainbow arrives we’ll have to fill you in on what happened after your escape from the fire. But until then, just rest. Today was the most eventful first day on the job ever recorded. So, you’ve certainly earned it.” Raindrops left the room, followed by the three fillies. Rarity and Applejack were not far behind them, which only left Spike and Twilight in the room with me.

I turned back to face Twilight, noticing her still holding on to my hoof. I tensed the appendage, causing Twilight to let go involuntarily. “Oh, sorry,” I spoke, not really wanting her to let go.

“No, that’s alright…” She mumbled in response. Not quite taking her hoof away, yet not just leaving it on the bed either. I turned my head back towards the door, seeing the young purple dragon sitting in the corner.

“Are you alright?” I asked the dragon, trying to get some form of conversation going in the room.

Spike looked up at me, nodding slowly before pushing himself into a standing position. “Y-yes… I’m fine.” He looked like he had escaped the entire ordeal without a scratch. Then again, I was sure that dragons weren’t actually harmed by flame.

But upon finding that the dragon wasn’t going to give an acknowledgable response, I turned back to face the princess. “Look, about the other day… I-”

“It’s fine, really.” The princess took a step back, looking over her wings and shuffling them slightly. “I understand.”

“You do?” I continued to question.

“Yes, I thought that I would’ve gotten used to it by now myself, but… I suppose not.” Twilight moved around to the other side of the bed, picking Spike up in her magic and placing him on her back. “I understand that you’re not used to talking with royalty.” Twilight almost spat the last word, as if she was disgusted with it.

“No, that’s not it at all.” I tried to defend.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to lie to me. None of my friends treat me like a normal pony. So why should anypony else? Why can’t they understand that I haven’t changed on the inside? These stupid wings aren’t worth it. Princess Celestia said that I’d earned them by mastering the power of friendship, when all they’ve done is drive everypony I care about away from me.” The princess turned back to face me, a single tear sliding down her muzzle. “But that’s fine. You didn’t know who I was before, so I can’t really blame you.” Twilight sighed heavily. “Thank you for saving Spike. I don’t know where I’d be without him. And my door is always open to you, if anypony gives you trouble anyway…”

“Twilight wait-”

“Alright, let’s get this over… with…” Rainbow stood at the doorway with Raindrops beside her. The two pegasi noticing the princess instantly.

“It’s alright, I was just leaving.” Twilight strode out of the room, increasing her pace as she continued down the corridor. A bright flash lit up the area outside my door before all sound of Twilight vanished.

Raindrops looked at me with a sympathetic gaze, assuming the worst. Not that what had actually happened was any better. The princess thought I was treating her differently because of the title she held, not because of the pony she was. I lay my head back on the pillow, hearing two sets of hooves move closer, Raindrops holding a quill and scroll. “Why don’t you tell us everything you remember.”

*