Firestorm

Chapter 1

The Colt in the Ice

A small colt was running from three spirits. The three spirits were made entirely of ice, and they resembled the skeletons of horses. They had a ferocious bloodlust and would not stop until the colt was dead. Why kill this colt? They have already killed countless others like him before. The spirits roared and screamed at the colt, sending a trembling vibe throughout the area. The colt, still running, was screaming for help. Behind him and his pursuers was a huge city. The city was being destroyed by more of these spirits, but each creature was different in its own unique way. Some were made of ice, some controlled lightning. All of these creatures were destroying this city, which used to be filled with tall temples, courtyards, and many homes for its inhabitants. The area surrounding the city used to be a desert, but now, it is littered with the blood and corpses of those that tried to escape or fight these terrible, murderous spirits. Some were even moving, wounded ponies still trying to get to safety. The palace that resided in the tall mountain was in ruins. It used to house a pharaoh and his queen along with many of their subjects.

As the city was being destroyed, the colt ran to the nearby mountains while trying to escape the three ice spirits that were chasing him. The colt climbed up one of the mountains and found a cave to hide in. He ran deeper into the cave as the creatures followed him in. He reached a chamber where he was cornered. When the spirits arrived, the colt backed itself against the cave wall. The spirits breathed ice that froze the colt into the wall. The colt screamed helplessly as he was consumed by the ice. After the colt was completely frozen, the creatures left the cave to finish off the city outside. The colt was never seen again, left to be frozen for eternity.

A dragon was returning to its cave to see if he still had most of his gold and gems. He became worried that some of it may have been stolen while he was gone. He was away from his cave longer than usual. The dragon decided to fly farther than before to scout the area and find more gems. He was almost depleting the area closer to his cave. When he entered his cave, he was relieved to see that his loot was left untouched. He went to rest after a long flight when something caught his eye. On one of the walls of the cave, there were a few holes. This cave wall was different from the rest of the cave because it was only a multitude of rocks piled on top of each other. Usually, the dragon ignored this wall of rocks, but when he looked closer, he could see something glowing. When he put his claw against the rocks, the wall, which was eroding as time went by, collapsed, revealing a tunnel with ice covering its walls. The rocks that fell also had ice on them. The dragon decided to go through the tunnel, unaware that his cave was bigger than he thought.

As the dragon exited the other end of the tunnel, he saw a small shrine and started to walk towards it. There were small candles surrounding a set of stairs. The candles were still lit, and the stairs led to a wall with writing on it. The stairs were in a half-circle, and the wall had two pillars against it, each pillar set at each end of the stairs. To the right, a skeleton could be seen. The skeleton unsettled the dragon as it forever pointed its hoof at the ice-covered wall. The wall had writing that the dragon couldn't understand. On the stairs, near the candles, there was a piece of paper with a picture. The picture had a red circle with rays emitting from it.

When the dragon approached the wall, he could see that something was inside the ice. He carefully thawed the ice to see what was in it. When the dragon stopped to look at the object, he noticed that it started to move. He quickly resumed melting the ice. He started to be more precise as to not burn what was frozen. The dragon was amazed to find a small colt in this newfound chamber. The colt had a grey coat with a red mane and tail. The mane had one stripe of white along it. He was shivering and freezing; his body was as cold as the ice he was trapped in. The dragon held the colt in one of his wings and tucked him near his body for warmth as he went back through the tunnel towards sunlight.

When he returned to the mouth of the cave, he laid the colt down in the sunlight. He didn't know what to do. He quickly gathered any sticks and grass nearby and made a fire for the colt. The colt, unconscious, started to move a little. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around with a confused look. The colt was afraid at first because he didn't know where he was. When he saw the dragon, he got up and backed away slowly. He was scared. When the dragon saw that the colt was alive, he was aware that he couldn't leave him on his own. With an annoyed sigh, he decided to take care of the colt.

Under the care of the dragon, the colt learned a lot about this new world he was suddenly a part of. He learned about the different types of animals and races, the different towns and cities, elementary education, and spells and incantations. Day and night, the dragon and the colt spent time learning about Equestria.

The dragon had a lot of spell books in his cave, taken from many places around Equestria. Since the colt was a unicorn, the dragon figured that teaching him basic spells like levitating objects would make his life a little easier. The colt seemed excited when the dragon finally transitioned from things like geography to magic. The dragon was impressed of the colt's ability to learn spells quickly. With this ability, the colt became interested in some books that contained fire spells. The dragon became a little worried. Even though the colt was a fast learner, fire spells were very dangerous, especially for a colt. But before he could stop him, the colt was already heading back into the tunnel. The dragon chased after him, but the colt was too fast.

When the colt returned to the place where he was frozen, he saw that the candles were burned out. He decided that he can reignite them as practice. The colt, sitting in front of one of the candles, concentrated and imagined in his mind that the candle was starting to catch on fire again. The dragon finally caught up with the colt. He finally noticed that the candles were not lit. However, the dragon just assumed that the colt extinguished them. He found the colt slowly lighting the candle with the use of magic. The candle was starting to give off smoke. The colt tried even harder, imagining the cinders reigniting and making the candle lit again. When the colt opened his eyes, he saw that the candle was lit. The colt was very proud of himself, and decided to take it a step further.

The colt, feeling ambitious now, wanted to see if he could control the flame and make it "spread" from candle to candle. The dragon decided to stand back and watch, ready to aid the colt if something goes wrong. The colt figured that if he could make the flame grow and lean towards another candle, he could light the nearby candles that way. He practiced controlling how tall the flame can be. He concentrated on making the flame bigger. As he closed his eyes, the flame started to grow bigger. The colt tried to make the flame lean to a candle sitting right beside the one he was using for practice. The flame was starting to lean now. It started to light the other candle. When the colt saw that he lit another candle, he wanted to see if he could control how hot the flame was. The dragon set up a fire pit near the wall, still covered in ice. The dragon lit the fire for the colt, and the colt concentrated once again. As the colt used his magic to increase the heat of the flame, the ice started to melt. However, when the colt saw the ice melt, the flame suddenly went out. The fire burned the firewood quicker than usual because of the colt. His interest in these types of magic, however, led him to practice more.

As time flew, the colt started to become better at fire magic, and the dragon, with growing confidence in the colt, wasn't as worried when the colt practiced. Soon, the colt was practicing to the point where he could make the flames move around him. He could take the flames from the candle and make it move like a comet would. He even learned how to control a blast of fire and make the cinders reignite and use as a source for fire. When the colt felt satisfied with what he could do, he noticed a mark on his flank. The mark was a flame set over a crescent. The colt knew now that fire magic was his talent, and decided to name himself "Cinder Flare" because of it.