Campfire Tales, The Legacy of Fireball
The sun was just barely dipping below the horizon, dying the clear sky to a mix of pink and orange, as if the sky was a large watercolor painting. All around, nature was preparing for the night, birds were tucking in their wings for the night.
, rabbits were bounding into their holes, ready to sleep until the morning. Green grass swayed to and fro as a soft wind blew through the Everfree Forest. It was a sight unlike any other.
Through the forest trudged a group of about seven or eight ponies. The leader seemed to be nothing special, his coat was a blazing orange with his wings resting on his sides, his mane a shining yellow, his eyes were red, and full of life. "Hay, Eight," He said, turning to face a jade green pegasus walking next to him, her blue and brown streaked mane and tail blowing in the wind, "Remember our first time here?" He chuckled as he remembered.
"Ya mean when we came here to find you because you ran away from Canterlot cryin'?" The green pegasus, known as 8-bit, said in her usual sarcastic way. Atop of her head laid her young daughter, Doyja. She was a small filly, with a slate gray coloring, and two white dots above her sunny orange eyes. Doyja's mane was an off-white with a very faint hint of gray at the tips.
"Hay," Retorted the orange one, "It's not my fault I couldn't read, write, or speak until I was almost fully grown!" The smile faded from his face, as he turned his head away from his companion.
"Fireball," Said 8-bit, softly, " I'm not makin' fun of you, I'm just sayin', ya could have picked a better memory,".
Fireball didn't speak for a long while, and 8-bit was beginning to worry. "Err.. Fireball, are you okay?" She asked, but never got an answer. The little slate gray filly on her head yawned. Why Doyja would sleep on Eight's head, I will never know.
"There!" Cried Fireball, breaking the long silence he had caused, "Look foals, this was my favorite camping spot as a foal."
The fillies and colts gathered around to see what Fireball was talking about. All they saw was an empty dirt circle, encompassed by trees. The leaves of the trees gave off a faint glow, a memory of a tale almost forgotten.
One of the fillies stepped up, she was a small one, almost too small, she had a shining blue coat, like her mother and red eyes like her father, her mane and tail glittered many colors in the setting sun as she bounced over to her father and asked, "Daddy, is this the camping spot?" In a sweet and innocent voice.
"Yes, Little Feather," He said, looking at his daughter, "I used to love this place..." He drifted off thinking of all the good memories this place held. Even the darkest memories here had a certain light to them, as if this spot had an effect on the pegasus, like nothing could ever sadden him here.
"OK everypony, Silver Blade and Shyheart should be here soon with the tents, so let's gather wood for tonight's fire!" The orange pegasus spoke in such an upbeat manner that the fillies and colts could not resist listening to him, so they split into several groups and searched in all different directions, scavenging the forest for just the right piece of wood.
Little Feather bounded back to the circle first, a bundle of sticks in her mouth, followed by several colts with pretty much the same cargo. They all set their sticks into the place that Fireball designated as the fire pit.
After all of the groups had returned, a voice rang out from above. The voice was beautiful, as if all of nature had contributed its sweetest sounds to make this voice, "Fireball, we're here with the tents!"
"Shyheart!" Fireball yelled with delight, "Where are you?"
The pegasus landed gently next to her husband, cuddling up against him, lovingly. Her blue coat mixed in with the orange of his, her pink mane draping over Fireball's back, as she rested her head on his neck.
Fireball took a long moment to enjoy this before he asked," Where's Silver Blade?"
"He's a little bit behind, he should be here soon," Replied his wife, the shy quietness slipping back into her voice.
"Leave it to Silver to drag behind," Commented Fireball, chuckling. Eight-Bit shot at glance at the orange stallion, "Keep talkin' 'bout my husband like that and you'll have a bruise on you bigger than Doyja." She snorted at him.
About then, a small pebble rolled from the bushes and stopped at Fireball's hoof. A moment later, a Silver earth pony with a gray mane emerged from the same bush, pulling behind him, a cart with about four or five tents inside. "I hope you don't mind Fireball, but I sent your wife ahead, because she couldn't wait to see you." Doyja cried from Eight-Bit's head, "Daddy!"
Fireball turned to his wife and said," Shyheart, I told you to go with Silver,"
The blue pegasus blushed," I'm sorry, Fireball, I just get anxious when I don't know where you are,"
"It's ok, dear, right Silver?" Yelled Fireball to the silver stallion.
He nodded, "Yup. Though, I did want to make sure she didn't hurt herself on the way up."
About now, the fillies and colts were getting anxious, they knew that fireball was going to tell a story tonight, and the waited, with much anticipation, for the time to come to hear it. Little Feather stepped up to her parents, climbing on top of her father's back to ask, "Daddy, can you tell us the story now?"
Fireball thought for a minute before saying, "Yes, ok everypony, gather around the fire pit, and I'll start the fire and tell my tale!"
The ponies eagerly sat onto various logs and stumps, all waiting to hear Fireball's story. With the blink of an eye, Fireball ignited the wood, starting a blazing fire, warming the ponies around it and began, "Let's start with when I was just a young colt, I had been raised by dragons ever since I could remember. Despite being giant, fire breathing, cave-dwelling, forest torching, giants, they were kind and loving parents, raising me even though I wasn't one of them. I was treated just like the other dragon foals, I was taught to fly when i was young enough to walk. The only drawback was that I was never taught, by them, to speak our language, I was taught the language of dragons. My adoptive scaly parents let me roam free throughout the land, I flew through the clouds and back down to ground dodging rocks and boulders as I swerved across the mountains. My parents never let me go anywhere farther than the end of the mountain range.
I was always curious about myself when I was young, being the only pony in a family of dragons. One day I asked my mother about where the others of my kind were, if any existed.
"They are beyond the mountains, young Fireball, they are in a bad state of being, however. They are all hiding out in the once great city of Canterlot. That, my son, is why your father and I forbid you from flying out of the mountain ranges, we don't want you to get involved with the struggles they are facing," Said my adoptive mother, even though I wasn't hers she still raised me and loved me as her own.
"But mother..." I would whine, "How will I know how to be a pony if I never meet any other of my kind? Can you at least tell me about my parents?"
My mother let out a deep sigh, stirring up the ashes that nearly coated the floor in the volcanic cave we called home, "Fireball," She said, "Your father and I found you abandoned in the Everfree Forest, you had nothing but a blanket wrapped around you, and a note written in the language of the ponies, a language that only a few select dragons know... I'm sorry Fireball, but I can't help you."
I decided that it was pointless to argue with my mother and hope to meet my kind. I went about my daily life as I usually did. I flew with my dragon friends in the mountains, and I had myself convinced that I would never get even a glimpse of ponies... I was wrong.
One bright afternoon, my parents were feeling gracious and said that I may go a small distance from the mountains, into the plains that lie beyond. I eagerly dashed away for the plains, wondering what I would discover there. As I was flying over the plains, I noticed something that caught my attention, a small trail. After following the trail for quite some time, I came to a large group of odd looking structures. I poked around in them and saw that these were not natural, they were built.
"Who in Equestria could have built these?" I pondered aloud, as there was no reason to keep a secret where I was. I decided to look around for a hint, a picture or something. All I found after a few minutes of searching was a few signs written in an illegible language. I had decided to give up and fly home when the setting sun reflected off of something that caught my eye. I flew over to the object and found a picture. The picture was of a pony, she had a light blue coat, her rainbow mane blew in the wind as she struck a pose that inferred she was saying, "Bring it on!". That was all of the proof I needed. I flew back home to my parents as fast as I could, tightly clutching the picture in my tiny hooves, hoping that now, maybe, my parents would let me find my own path in life, and find my kind..."