Heartfire's Tale: Flashbacks and Nightmares (Part 1)

It was a dark, moonless night, and Heartfire had just taken the last swig of his whiskey. It was a common thing, stumbling through the dark alleyways of Cloudsdale, trying to drink away the memories. He slammed the empty bottle against the dark, grey storm cloud wall. The glass shattered, cutting the flesh around his hooves and embedding glass in his fur. He looked up and saw where he was. He was outside the exterior wall of the Factory, the dark grey walls glowering down at him like leering faces.

"Wha da fuk ish yous lookin' at!?" he shouted at the walls, slamming his fist into the wall. "This ish all yours faults!" He winced as the memories flooded into his head, buzzing through his mind like a swarm of bees. "AAAGGGHHH!!!" He screamed, the horror of those memories causing him agony. He saw flashes of an orange mare with a violet mane, saving him from the clutches of a terrible cyan pegasus, sacrificing herself to save him. As the memories continued to flood in, they became clearer, and he groaned with despair. No matter how much he drank, he always ended up here, outside these walls, reliving the memories of that day.

...

"Hey, Heartfire!"

He turned to see the orange pegasus flying up to him, a giant grin plastered onto her face.

"What is it Scoots?" They had been friends since the first day of Flight Academy, and they were almost never apart. "What's the massive grin for? What'd you do this time?"

She pouted. "Now, why would you assume such a thing of innocent old me? Don't you trust me?" Ever since they had become best friends, she had become a massive teaser, and Heartfire accepted this. It was what made their time together interesting. She smiled again, this time bigger than before. "I didn't do anything. I'm just excited for tomorrow!"

He was confused. "What's tomorrow?"

She giggled. "Why, the final flight exam, dork!" She gave him a playful push on the shoulder. "How could you have forgotten?"

He laughed. "I don't know, but I bet you that at least three people fail!"

She glared at him. "Don't joke about that. You remember the stories of what they do to flunkees?"

"What, that they get de-ported? Come on, that's just a myth. Your friend Fluttershy never passed her flight test, and look at her, happily going along her own merry way."

"Still, you don't know what happens afterwards."

"Oh, it can't be that bad. Stop being such a worry-wart."

Scootaloo sighed. "I guess you're right. If Fluttershy is safe, anyone who fails must be too, right?"

Heartfire smiled. "Right!"

They flew towards the parade grounds, where the instructor was lining up a set of young colts for their first flight test.

"Now, you maggots, you are here to learn how to fly for the pride of Cloudsdale. I am going to teach you everything you need to know in order to fly with the grace and pride of a Cloudsdale Pegasus. Are you ready!?"

The answer was, as per usual, a unanimous "Sir, yes Mr. Lancelot, sir!"

The only problem was, one pony didn't answer.

"I can't hear all of you!" The instructor trotted up to the small pegasus. She was a grey pony, with a dark rose colored mane. She had a streak of light blue running through the flowing locks. "What is your name, filly!?"

The small pony hesitated, obviously frightened by the large stallion.

"I said, what is your name!?"

She flinched at the booming tone. "Sh-shutterbug, sir!"

"What was that!?"

She stopped shaking. "Shutterbug, sir!"

"Do you want to disgrace Cloudsdale, disgrace your parents? Do you want to be sent off with the rest of the ponies that don't graduate!?" He was right in the filly's face, and his menacing threat sent shivers down Heartfire's spine.

"No sir!" She stood her ground, glaring straight ahead now, seemingly more confident than before.

"Then buck up, filly! This ain't no cake walk! Now pay attention!" He addressed the rest of the group, putting them through the maneuvers and flight patterns that they had to learn. He demonstrated the first one, a basic loop. "Now who thinks that they can pull that off?"

A hoof at the beginning of the line was raised. "I can do it!" He was a young, forest green colt, with blue eyes and a green and yellow mane styled backwards. He stood there with an air of confidence, proudly raising his hoof. "I got this."

He strutted out in front of the line, planted a hoof at the line the instructor had marked off, and got into position. The instructor looked at him, more than a little surprised. "You ready?" The green pony nodded his head. "Well then, go!"

The colt bolted off, arcing upwards into the loop. He was doing great, until he got cocky. He started spinning in the loop, trying to show off, when he veered off course and crashed into a passing pony.

"OW! Hey, watch it!"

Heartfire recognized that voice. He hurried over to the mare's side, when he realized who it was.
"Aurora! What are you doing here?"

He helped the yellow pegasus up, who in turn winced in pain.

"I just got back from the hospital. The doctor said I should be okay to fly, as long as nothing impacts it. But now," she looked at her now bruised wing. "Now I don't know if I'll pass the final exam."

He gave her a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll do great! You were better than any of us, at least before the crash."

She winced at the thought of the incident. The crash was not her fault. It was because of a strange green streak crossing her path, confusing her and causing her to veer off course. She had crashed into a fountain, breaking a wing. She went to the hospital, was fixed up, and sent on her way. Now, she was returning home to recuperate for the day before the final flight exam.

"Are you sure?" She had a genuine look of worry in her eyes.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm positive. You'll pass with no problem!"

She was convinced. Giving him a smile, she trotted home.

"Now, to deal with you." He glared down at the still dazed colt. He picked up the pegasus by the nape of the neck, bringing him to eye level. "What do you think you were doing? What did I teach you about show boating, Tom?"

The green colt's eyes stopped rolling around in his head. He looked at Heartfire sheepishly. "I was only trying to impress a filly. I mean come on, you can't say you've never done it!"

Heartfire dropped the green colt on his rump. "I have, but not when I was within sight of the instructor. Do that at the finals in a few years, and you're toast."

Tom huffed. "Fine. I'm sorry. I'll do better next time, promise."

"And?" Heartfire raised an eyebrow at the colt.

Tom sighed. "No more show boating."

Heartfire grinned. "Alright. Now get back to the instructor. Don't want points docked off of your grade for going missing during training."

Tom beamed, happy to be let off the hook. "Thanks Heartfire! Later!" And he was off.

"Are we done here?"

Heartfire turned to see the orange pegasus pouting behind him. He laughed.

"Yeah, we're done. Let's get to the arena. We need to catch the instructor's final briefing."

Scootaloo let out an exasperated sigh. "Finally! I thought you were going to console your girlfriend for forever!"

Heartfire shot her a look. "She's not my girlfriend, and you know that."

The orange mare laughed. "I know, I'm just giving you shit. Let's go before we're late."

And at that, they flew off to their final briefing.