Distant voices shouted out in the still, black night. The sounds echoed through the air and faded out. Silence returned and the night regained it’s peaceful composure. The village slept on.
A short distance from where the voices had sounded, a smaller figure emerged from an alleyway and glanced around before sprinting on down another seclusive alley.
As she emerged again, an outcry sounded out to her left. A small group of ponies stood where she was looking, all holding torches and wearing looks of both exhaustion and anger.
The men began to run towards her when suddenly their torches extinguished. Darkness enveloped them, and the hooded pony fled.
She again had reached another intersection when she collided with somepony and was thrown down to the ground.
Her hood fell revealing her appearance.
She had a smooth, glossy, light honey colored coat. Her wide, bright eyes were blood red with speckles of a fierce orange woven in. Coating her cheeks were ash grey freckles that seemed as though they could be blown off like sand with a single wisp of wind.
A slight breeze blew her thick hair around her head. Another breeze stirred it again, making it seem like crackling flames dancing around her face.
Even without movement, the pony’s mane seemed to be alive. The brilliant orange that dominated her mane’s color crackled and swayed in accordance with the lighter orange that highlighted the flame here and there.
She was both beautiful and dangerous.
The pony sprang to her feet and used her magic to pull her hood back onto her head.
The pony she had run into stood statue still staring at her. This individual also sported a traveling cloak which concealed his identity.
“I have been expecting you, Fiamma.” The man spoke in a quiet, musical voice that faded away like a traveling gust of wind. “It would have more appreciated of you if you had not caused such a skirmish amongst the townsfolk. No matter. We must depart immediately.”
Fiamma’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Why should I trust you, Agua?” Her soft, melodic voice echoed softly over the shouts of the ponies she had distressed. “The last time I entrusted myself in your dank company, my life was almost extinguished. You think me to be foolish enough to do that again?”
“May we at least have our discussion elsewhere? Your friends that you left in the dark are approaching us.”
“Very well.”
Both ponies extended their wings and shot up into the air, soaring over the entire village and landing moments later in an abundantly filled field.
“Well?” Fiamma snapped. “What is it?”
Agua smiled. “Oh, how I have missed you, Fiamma!”
He shot towards her without warning and kissed her.
Under the pressure of his lips, Fiamma let out a hiss, and an eruption of scorching heat appeared, blowing Agua backwards into the air.
He let out a distinct howl of pain but managed to keep himself up in the air.
Agua’s cloak was on fire, but within a second, the flame was extinguished by a sudden quenching of an enormous wave.
He flew down to the ground, grinning, even though his cloak was completely burned and ruined.
His sleek blue coat was much like hers, as was his flowing ice blue mane, which was streaked with traces of the sea's foamy white.
Agua’s aqua eyes sparkled with mischief and something else mysterious.
“Not bad Fiamma. I see that you still have your wits about you.”
“As do you, Agua. I see that nothing has changed. Your head is still in your ass.”
He smirked once again.
“As I was saying,” he continued, “We need to go into hiding.”
“We already are in hiding, you complete munter!”
“Ah, I see you do not understand, as usual. What I mean to say is that we cannot let anypony see us. No one at all.”
“Is he searching for us?” Fiamma asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Are Nuvola and Erde safe?”
“I already warned them.”
The two stood in silence for several minutes.
"I thank you greatly for your word of caution, but now, I must depart."
As Fiamma spread her wings, Agua called out, "Don't I get a goodbye kiss?"
Fiamma smirked.
"In your dreams, fish brain."
She took off and rode the wind, deciding that improvising her hideout would be her best option.
After many long hours of traveling, Fiamma was passing overhead a forest when something in her peripheral vision caught her attention.
Leaves, twigs, and other assorted thing you would find in the woods were being stirred by a gust of wind. The power of the breeze strengthened and began to spiral up, taking the things it had stirred with it.
The twister rose out of the forest, just above the tops of the trees, and moved to an unhealthy area of the forest where it dispersed and dumped it’s contents.
Fiamma glided towards the forest and into the clearing where the twister first appeared.
As she touched down onto the firm ground, she heard a small gasp, and suddenly, her vision was clouded by a thick patch of fog.
“Nuvola?” She called out. “It is just me, Fiamma.”
She waited, but there was no reply.
“Agua told you the news then, did he?”
“Yes,” A tentative voice sounded from somewhere behind the fog. “But before I show myself, prove it is you.”
A circle of flames appeared in the air above the fog. The circle shot more fire upwards into the sky before the entire thing exploded, and all that was left was sprinkles of fine ash falling from the sky as if they were snowflakes.
The cloud of fog disappeared and standing before Fiamma was a pixie like pony with a shimmering sky blue coat. Her mane was short, white, and accented with the green of leaves that float aimlessly in the breeze.
The pony’s muzzle was faintly tinted with white, and her wary eyes shone with relief and joy.
“Fiamma!” she cried, and ran in to hug her old friend. “You were not chased, were you?”
“I do not believe so.” Fiamma replied. “I am so happy to have found you, Nuvola. You look great, I-”
Fiamma was cut off mid sentence by a low, menacing chuckle.
The two alicorns huddled together.
“We must go, now!” Nuvola hissed. “He found us!”
“Fog him!”
The thick, dense clouds returned to the ground.
“Let us go into the air. I will protect us then better.”
The two shot into the air, and a fiercely burning ball of flame created a shell around them.
A deep, thunderous voice broke out from the almost still silence.
“You think that you will be able to stop me with a sad little fire? Ha!”
“No,” Nuvola growled. “We will stop you with what we are made of, not what we are able to make!”
She then whispered to Fiamma, “Cut the fire! I’ll distract him, you run.”
“Don’t worry,” she said to cut off Fiamma, “I will escape.”
“Fine.” Fiamma snapped. “I hope to see you in the future.”
“You will,” Nuvola insisted, “But right now we really need to get going.”
Fiamma sighed, and a second later, the ball of fire was gone.
As soon as she was free, she darted out into the open air and away from the fight that was about to take place.
Fiamma heard someone roar in frustration, and seconds later, an icy blast tore through the air and made contact with her body.
The next thing she knew was that she was falling, out of the sky, and back into the dark forest.
As she fell, her vision blackened, and the sounds she heard reverberated in her head as if she was in a tunnel.
When she hit the ground, all she was aware of was the pain etching itself into her body, and the distant sounds of a fight.
And then all was black, and the world gone.
When she had awakened, the only thing that Fiamma was certain of was that she had been asleep… or at least she thought she had been asleep.
Fiamma soon became vaguely aware of her surroundings and realized that she had been laid upon an almost impossibly soft bed with silken sheets that were cool to her touch.
Slowly and cautiously, Fiamma parted her eyelids, allowing her to take in her surroundings.
On her back, Fiamma was able to see the elegant canopy of the bed that stretched above her in a graceful fashion. Intricate details were etched into the mahogany in the shape of the petals of roses, leaves dancing in the breeze, and small animals such as squirrels and robins that seemed to have perched themselves on branches.
Draped over the canopy were long strips of raspberry satin that sported light patches from the sunlight streaming through the window to Fiamma’s left.
After her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she sat up and looked around the room.
The front of her bed was up against the light strawberry wall opposite a stone fireplace with several pieces of wood laying precariously inside.
To her right, a door stood, beckoning her to open it and discover where it would lead.
Fiamma swung her legs over the edge of her bed and cautiously jumped down.
She approached the door and slowly opened it.
Fiamma peered into a dark, narrow hallway and carefully advanced.
At the end of the hallway, Fiamma found herself in the doorway of a sitting room containing couches and coffee tables.
She found herself hurrying through the chamber and into the next area, the kitchen.
At the end of the kitchen, to her relief was a door that would hopefully lead outside.
She sprinted to it and flung it open, only to have her path be blocked by a large, dark horse.
Fiamma looked up and recognized the individual in an instant.
She hung her head and bowed.
“Your highness! What an honor it is to be in you presence.”
Luna let the corners of her mouth curve upwards slightly.
“Thank you, Fiamma, but none of that now. We have much to discuss. Come.”
Fiamma moved aside to allow the princess to enter the building, and followed her in.
Through the kitchen she walked once more and back into the sitting room.
“Have a seat, please.” Luna offered.
Fiamma stepped towards the nearest couch and sunk into it’s plush cushions.
“Tell me,” Luna began as she dropped into the couch opposite Fiamma’s. “What do you remember?”
Fiamma was puzzled. “Remember what?”
“What do you remember of the events that occurred before you… fell asleep?”
Fiamma sat thinking for several minutes before realization kicked into her head.
She gasped. “Oh no!” Fiamma looked at Luna. “Do you know what has become of Nuvola?”
Luna looked at her with a kind of quizzical curiosity. “I do not, but I know she was not killed or taken prisoner.”
“Good. At least she is safe. I think.”
“The others have gone into hiding. Agua I know is fine, but I am not so sure about Erde… I cannot see his dreams that well. My theory is that he may have gone underground.”
Fiamma smiled. “That would be Erde. He is lucky that he can go somewhere where barely anyone can go.”
“Indeed. I am lucky that the citizens of a nearby village heard what was happening and contacted me. I was able to go quickly to the scene and rescue you before anypony else discovered you.”
“Mmm.”
The two sat in silence for a few seconds.
“Tell me,” Fiamma said. “Did he… Tumult… get away?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Although, Nuvola caused him major damage. He has spent all of your slumber recovering.”
“Wait- how long was I out?”
Luna smiled. “You were asleep for… a while.”
“How long is a while?”
“In your case? Fifty years. Tumult’s spell was very powerful. My guess was that he was going to put you to sleep, and after he won against Nuvola, he would capture you. But, you will not have to worry about him. I will keep you safe.”
“Hey!” Fiamma interjected. “I can take care of myself just fine!.”
Again, Luna smiled. “I am not sure of how aware you are of the danger of the situation at hand. The reason why Tumult wants to take you captive is because he wants your powers. He wants your control of heat, flames, and energy, Nuvola’s power over air, gases, and clouds, Erde’s abilities to control all things from the ground, as well as gravity, and lastly, he wishes to use Agua’s power to manipulate water in it’s every form.”
Fiamma was getting mad. “I think I know why he wants us Luna, and I mean it. I can take care of myself.”
“I am sure you can, Fiamma,” Luna noted. “But there will be one less element he can possible apprehend if you let me protect you. Do not worry. My sister and I will destroy Tumult.”
“NO!” Fiamma shouted, enraged by this proposition. “You think that I will sit in here for two hundred more years until you two find him? You duffer!”
Fiamma stood up and started to walk to the door.
“FIAMMA! NO!”
“LEAVE ME ALONE, LUNA!”
A wall of flames sprung up that separated the princess and Fiamma, and stood from the floor to the ceiling.
Fiamma stared at Luna, who was standing just beyond the fire.
She gazed past her appearance, her long, shimmering hair and sparkling eyes, and saw that under all that, she was furious.
“Oh and princess,” Fiamma added. “It would be unwise to try and go through this fire, because it would be the first one you would get killed walking through.”
Fiamma turned and was about to leave when she stopped.
A second later, the area Luna was in was completely surrounded by fire, including the ceiling.
“One of us elements is more powerful than both you and your sister combined. Instead of worrying about us, worry about yourself. If you aren't able to tell I have a… fiery temper. Don’t mess with me, or any of us. Bugger off.”
Satisfied that she had made her point, Fiamma walked out of the sitting room, through the kitchen, and left the small house.
She spread her wings and took off, not sure of where to go next, but knowing it would be far, far away.
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you guys think of the story!
