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

Heartfire flew for hours, following no trail, guided by only fury and anguish. He flew until he could fly no longer, and even then, he ran into the night, until his hooves ached and his legs threatened to give out. After traveling an unknown distance, blinded by his emotions, he finally collapsed, unable to carry himself any further. He fell into a bramble bush, and there he slept until morning.

...

He awoke to the bright light of the morning sun burning into his eyes. He stung all over from the scratches he received from the brambles, and every muscle in his body was screaming at him. He could move to shield his eyes from the sun, but even that required great effort. He was beaten. He managed to flop his arm down in the right way to close the curtain. As he relaxed under the sheets out of the sun, he realized; He was inside someone's house!
At the sound of singing, he looked to the door. There was someone else in the house. The singing grew louder as the pony singing came closer to the door. The singing stopped just outside of the door, and the door opened. In walked in a tan pony with a brown, shaggy mane. When he saw Heartfire, his eyes lit up.
"Ah, you're awake! How are you feeling?"
Heartfire just stared at him, confused. "Where am I? Who the hell are you?"
The other pony stopped smiling. "Oh, that's right, I found you unconscious. Well, you see," He said, sitting in a chair next to the bed, "I was about to go to bed last night when I heard a loud crash outside. I stepped out to see you passed out in a bramble bush. I couldn't just leave you out there, bleeding, so I brought you in here, dressed up your wounds, and laid you down." He smiled and stood up, heading towards the door. "I'll bring you some food. You look like you need it."
Heartfire painfully raised a hoof. "What's your name?" He asked.
The other stallion smiled. "Mando. My name's Mando." And at that, he left the room.

...

Days had passed, and Heartfire was feeling much better. His scratches and cuts were scarring over, and his muscles were no longer screaming at him. It had to have had something to do with Mando's singing. Whenever Heartfire wasn't asleep or talking to him, he could always be heard singing one song or another. Whenever he was singing, Heartfire's pain seemed to ease and he felt like he could take on the world.
One day, another pony flew into the home.
"Joanna! Where have you been! I haven't seen you in days!"
The purple pegasus set down on the hard wood floor and folded in her wings. "I've been busy, Mando! You know the Wonderbolts rarely have any off time!" She looked through the open door at Heartfire. "Who's this?"
Mando guided her into the room. "This is Heartfire. He wound up here after a long journey, wounded. I took him in for a couple of days."
Joanna walked around to Heartfire's side of the bed and offered her hoof. "I'm Joanna, Heartfire. It's nice to meet you!"
Heartfire shook her hoof. "Glad to finally meet you. Mando always takes an opportunity to talk about his Wonderbolt friend."
She looked at Mando. "He's strong, even while bed-ridden." She turned back to Heartfire. "Well, you seem like a good pony, Heartfire. I think we're gonna be good friends."
Heartfire smiled, and remained smiling until they had left the room and closed the door. The second the door clicked shut, Heartfire passed out.

...

"Heartfire? Hey, Heartfire! You okay?"
He woke up to see a pair of golden-orange eyes in his face.
"Gaah!" He jumped backwards, startled. "S-skittle?"
Skittle looked at him and smiled. "The one and only!"
Heartfire couldn't contain his excitement. He hadn't seen Skittle since their separation after flight school. He ran up to the colt and hugged him.
"I missed you so much! Where have you been!?"
"Oh you know," Skittle said with a smirk, "here and there."
Heartfire just accepted this. It was typical Skittle. He acts bold sometimes, but typically, he's a shy colt. And Heartfire loved him for it.
"So, I hear you've been having... flashbacks."
Heartfire cringed. He hated remembering the past. It was full of painful memories. "Yeah... flashbacks..."
Skittle trotted up to Heartfire, nuzzling his neck. "Hey, take it easy, okay? I'm here now. Everything'll be alright."
Heartfire smiled and nuzzled him back. "Thanks Skittle, I appreciate you being here."
All of a sudden, there was a crash in the kitchen. Everyone jumped. Heartfire looked towards the sound. "What the fuck was that!?"
Everyone headed towards the kitchen, looking through the doorway as Heartfire investigated. He looked at the shattered window, and saw a trail of broken glass. He followed the trail to see a bundled ball of blue fur and feathers. He grinned as the ball shouted, "Goddamn wings, not wanting to go where I tell them!"
"Kat, dropping in for a visit, huh?" He grinned at her as she unfurled herself. She looked into his cyan eyes and blushed.
"S-sorry about your window. Damn wings don't follow orders well." She stood up and looked at the ponies giggling in the doorway. "What're you guys laughing at!?" Their faces flushed and the doorway cleared.
Heartfire laughed. "Kat, it's good to see you, though you're a bit late for the party. Get lost on the way here?"
She rolled her eyes. "What's that, another Northern Pony joke? Seriously, Heartfire, those are getting old." She shot him a sly grin.
"Hey, the jokes wouldn't be so common if you didn't make them so easy." He smiled at her again, making her blush, again.
She quickly changed the subject. "So, who else is here?"
At that, the front door opened and closed. "Well," Heartfire wondered, "who could that be?"
They trotted into the living room to see a dark green pony with a blue mane mewing and batting at Silent's nose.
"Deep, stop it!" Silent said, playfully. She covered Deep's mouth with her hooves. Deep then proceeded to lick her hooves, an action Silent wasn't exactly happy with. "Eww!" Heartfire walked out of the room as Silent wiped her hooves clean on Deep's coat.
He walked into his bedroom and flopped onto his bed. It was a long day, and all this excitement tired him out. He figured a quick nap wouldn't hurt.
He heard Silent shrieking in disgust from the living room. He smiled and fell asleep.

...

A pair of yellow eyes, glaring from the dark. An evil, maniacal laugh. Then the words. "Heartfire, my son, wake up. You must sow chaos in my absence. It is your destiny as my son." Then an image. A tall figure, walking into a clearing, the ground crumbling behind him, trees dying at his touch. Rocks turn to dust in his presence. He's the image of chaos, a monster from a bad horror movie. His very presence brings darkness to the eyes of onlookers. The weather changes erratically in his presence. It is storming as he approaches the mare in labor. He delivers the foal, the newborn hidden by his figure. His voice moves mountains into villages. "I will call you... Heartfire." The image of the foal appears, a small, grey and maroon pegasus with bright cyan eyes. "You will reap chaos in my absence" Heartfire screams, the monster laughs, and then, darkness and silence reign.

...

Heartfire jolted awake, the laugh still ringing in his ears. His friends were crowded around him.
"What was it, Heartfire?" Silent asked, "another flashback?"
"No," he said, shivering, "it was a dream... no, a nightmare."