To Ashes
"The medics tell me you are refusing pain relievers."
Vigilant Shield looked up at his Princess, the beautiful creature he had sworn to protect all those years ago, and nodded. "That is correct, Your Highness."
"May I ask why?" For ponies who only saw Celestia at public events the perception was that the Princess never showed any emotion, save for a faint, benevolent smile. But Vigilant had guarded Her Highness for a very long time, and thus he knew how to read the crook of her lips and the slight furrowing of her brow.
"You need not worry about me, Princess. My pain will pass soon enough. Healing should be saved for the healable."
"You deserve to be comforted," she urged. "You of all ponies deserve at least that."
He smiled, though it scorched his nerves to do so. "Your safety is my comfort, Your Highness. No, I'm not being sappy. It's far too late for me to start with the wishy-washy stuff. You are the light of Equestria, in so many ways. You keep us happy. You keep us safe. And it has been my honor to keep you safe."
"Captain..."
"You are the sun," he continued, "and everypony knows better than to touch the sun lest they get burnt. Still, for a while I was able to feel your power. You're a blaze, and it's everything you can do to not snuff out us little flames... That's all this is, really. Do not mourn a candle burning out."
Celestia shook her head emphatically. "None of you are candles, Captain, not to me. Not ever."
The Princess he had served for most of his life gently draped a wing over him. It was soft and cool, a balm to the overheated skin beneath his fur. For a moment Vigilant wished he could lie like that forever.
But he could not, one way or another. So he hauled himself to his hooves, swaying slightly. "Captain Vigilant Shield, requesting a leave of absence."
"Granted, of course," Celestia replied, smiling with every part of her face but her eyes. "Enjoy your rest."
He hadn't really planned where he would go when he started walking. Devoted to the Guard and his Princess since graduation, he didn't really have a home in the city, choosing instead to stay in the barracks. What's more, he had no family. There was just never enough time...
So he found himself passing through the gates of Canterlot and, an hour or so later, through the nearby village of Ponyville. His every step brought a new wave of pain now, and his skin was starting to crackle and smoke. He could smell his own burning fur. He was glad he'd kept his armor on, his helmet narrowed his field of vision. He didn't have to see himself.
What he did see was a large boulder. He climbed it and sprawled out, basking as he once saw lizards bask. Back when he was younger. Despite his own incredible heat, that of the sun felt surprisingly good. A few apple trees lent his hind legs some shade, balancing everything out. He closed his eyes. It was peaceful.
"Uh, excuse me?"
Vigilant popped an eye open and saw a filly, and earth pony, looking back up at him. "Yes?"
"What're y'all doin' in the orchard?"
"Just soaking in the sun." He smiled at her, but didn't raise his head. "Would you like to stay a while and talk with me?"
"Ah'm not supposed ta talk ta strangers," the filly told him.
"But you are."
Her eyes went wide as she realized that she was indeed talking to an unknown pony. She snapped her mouth shut and took a step back. Vigilant laughed at the situation, though his mirth was cut off by a bout of wheezing. The filly's caution was superseded by concern and she asked, "Are you okay?"
"Honestly? Not particularly. But I'll be fine soon."
"Why, what's gonna happen soon? Are the other guards gonna come get you?" Once again the filly ignored the parental edict. She was starting to remind him of how he once was, back when he was a colt. In fact, the two of them could have been the same pony. The only differences were coat color, his grey and her orange, and their sexes.
"No. Tell you what, since I don't want to get you in trouble with your parents, how about we introduce ourselves? That way, we won't be strangers anymore."
The wheels spun in the little filly's brain as she worked her way through the loophole, convincing herself. Then she nodded. "Okay. Ah'm Applejack."
"Hello, Applejack. I'm Vigilant Shield. Tell me, does your family own this orchard?"
She nodded again. "Uh-huh. Sweet Apple Acres, home of the best apples in all of Equestria."
"The best, huh? A bold claim."
"It's the truth!" Applejack insisted.
"Alright, alright, you've convinced me," Vigilant soothed. "Know what, though? I grew up on a farm, too."
"Before you were a guard?"
"Before I was a guard," he confirmed.
"Why'd ya ever leave?"
He smiled softly. "I felt something tugging me away. Like destiny had something else in store for me."
"Ah felt the same way! That's why Ah came back when Ah got mah cutie mark. Ah thought Ah didn't wanna be an apple farmer, but then Ah realized Ah did!"
Vigilant pressed on. He didn't have much time. "Can you guess what I was afraid of most when I lived on the farm?"
"Bein' grounded?"
"Well, my second biggest fear then," he conceded.
"Ah don't know..." Applejack scrunched her face up as she thought about it.
"It was fire."
Applejack cocked her head in confusion. "Fire?"
"Yep." He waived his foreleg at the trees around them. "We didn't have as much land as your family seems to. One bad fire could've destroyed a whole crop, and we'd have been ruined. I used to have nightmares about it. Then my father found out."
"What'd he do?"
"Well, after he explained what a subsidy was, he told me a fire would only be positive, in the long run."
"What?! But... yer crops would be all burned up!"
"That's right," Vigilant said. "Then the ash from the dead trees would fill the soil with precious nutrients, so next years crop would have it that much easier."
"Ah guess that makes sense." The little filly didn't seem entirely convinced, but was willing to go along with it all the same.
Vigilant propped himself up so that he could breathe a bit easier. "Now, this property seems to touch the Everfree, is that right?"
"Yeah."
"Do you ever look at it?" he asked.
"Sometimes..." Applejack shivered. "Ah don't like it, though. It's scary."
"Oh, yeah. One of the scariest places in all of Equestria, and that's coming from a royal guard. But you know what it's full of, besides scary monsters?"
Applejack thoughtfully rubbed her chin. "Trees?"
"Trees! Big trees, small trees, not-trees. The forest is chock-full of plants of all kinds. So, so many plants. And every year they drop more seeds. Now, because it's so crowded many of those seeds don't grow up at all. Some do, they grow nice and tall, but most end up stunted and cramped."
"That's... kinda sad," Applejack muttered, frowning.
"That's where the fire comes in. It burns away the old, clears out the undergrowth, so that new life gets a turn."
"Huh, Ah never thought of it like- Mr. Vigilant, yer leg!"
Vigilant looked down. One of his forelegs was now glowing, like embers being stoked. It wouldn't be long now.
Applejack rushed forward, trying to examine her new friend's injury, but Vigilant quickly pulled away. In shock, she cried, "But doesn't it hurt?!"
"Not anymore, Applejack. I lost the ability to feel it a little bit ago."
"What... what happened? Why didn't you tell me?!" She was crying now, for a pony she'd only just met.
"What happened doesn't matter, not anymore. As for why, well I suppose I was being selfish." Flames were licking across his body, casting a red tint on the bawling filly. "I didn't realize I wanted to be with somepony until I saw you. You... you really reminded me of myself, when I was your age."
Applejack sniffled and put on a brave face, trying to do the right thing despite her obvious fear. "Do- do ya have a-a-anypony? That Ah should tell?"
"You're remarkable. You really are." His face was serene, and he paid no heed to the choking fumes. "And you're going to be a fine tree one day, I can tell. So you grow up big and strong, and don't worry about me. I'm just clearing the way."