Chapters Prologue - Shadows of the Past
"Caeda, put the scythe away."
"You only cared about me because you thought I was somepony else!"
"Put the scythe away, Caeda."
"You keep treating me like "her," but I'm not!"
"Caeda--"
"And you're too much of a coward to admit it!"
"Brother, wake up!"
A mare with a lavender coat and a long, turquoise mane shook a stallion with an off-white coat and a messy deep-blue mane awake.
"Come on! We're going to be late!"
The stallion sat up, rubbing his eyes.
"For what, now…?"
"For the anniversary of the-- you know, the thing!"
The stallion's eyes widened a bit.
"Oh yeah. I'll be out in a minute."
"You better be! I don't want to be late like last year… and the year before that… and the year before that…" said the mare as she left the stallion's room.
" 'Kay." said the stallion as he slid out of bed. He walked over to his closet and took out a sweater and a big coat. He shivered.
"I know… It won't be long, okay?" thought the stallion as he put on the sweater and coat and walked out of his room.
"Are you sure you want to wear all those coats?" asked the mare, who was waiting for the stallion. "It's a really nice day today."
"Aww, come one, sis. You know me." the stallion replied.
"Yeah."
The stallion and the mare went outside to the chariot waiting for them. The stallion stopped the mare before she stepped on. He turned her to face him.
"Hey, are you gonna be okay?" the stallion asked, putting a hoof on the mare's shoulder.
"…Yeah." the mare replied. "C'mon, we've been doing this for ten years now. And it's not for me. It's for Emerald…"
"Okay." said the stallion. He helped the mare onto the chariot. "Let's go."
The stallion and the mare landed in a large, open field that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Another mare with a light green coat and a deep green mane was waiting for them near a small patch of flowers.
"Blue Fire. Aurora." said the green mare to the stallion and the other mare.
"Emerald." Blue Fire and Aurora replied.
"Are you ready?" Emerald asked.
Both of them nodded.
A giant claymore suddenly appeared in Emerald's hooves. She raised it up and plunged it deep into the ground where the flowers were planted. With a loud rumble, a big door was elevated up from the ground in front of Blue Fire, Aurora, and Emerald. Emerald looked back at Blue Fire and Aurora and nodded. Hesitantly, she pushed the giant door open and the three of them walked inside, the door returning back into the ground upon them entering.
Blue Fire, Aurora, and Emerald walked down a dimly lit hallway of what seemed to be the ruins of a castle. Dozens of doorways connecting the hall with a labyrinth of other rooms were at every corner. However, the group navigated their way through the halls as if they had done so a thousand times before. Finally, the group ended up in front of large door with a snowflake cutie mark etched into it. The door was severely damaged, with hundreds of scratches and slash marks decorating its surface. Emerald put her hoof against the wall.
"At least there's less damage than last year…" she mumbled.
"Hey, Em." called Blue Fire.
"Hm?"
"Take your time in there." he said, looking back at Aurora, who was looking at the ground with a guilty look on her face. "We might be a while."
"Oh… okay." Emerald replied before she took a deep breath and walked into the room on the other side of the door.
Blue Fire went over to Aurora and sat down next to her.
"…I thought you said you were okay."
"I-I thought I would be fine after doing this for a decade now, but apparently I still can't face the pony who I caused their misery… I-I know that Winter isn't mad at me, b-but I still can't stop feeling that it was all my fau--"
"Hey. No one blames you for what happened. Not me, not Emerald, and not Winter. We're all at fault. We all ignored her. We're all to blame, so don't carry all of it. Okay?"
"B-but--"
"No buts."
Aurora snickered. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
"O-okay."
Emerald peeked out of the door in front of them.
"She's doing fine, and she's ready."
Blue Fire looked at Aurora and nodded.
"We're ready." said the both of them and walked through the door.
Blue Fire dove headfirst onto the carpet as soon as he entered the front door of his house.
"That was exhausting…" he said, his voice muffled by the carpet.
"Emotionally or physically?" asked Aurora, who sat herself on the couch.
"Mmm… physically." Blue Fire replied casually.
"Oh come on! You have no stamina at all whatsoever!" complained Aurora. "I still don't know how you landed the job as the Royal Reaper..."
Blue Fire sat up and put his hoof and his chin.
"Hmm… Well, for me, executing ponies is more taxing on me emotionally than physically. And I think I'm pretty strong emotionally."
Blue Fire's eyes suddenly widened. He shivered, clutching his chest.
"...I'm gonna take a nap real quick." said Blue Fire as he stood up, pulling his coat tighter around him.
" 'Kay. I'll make lunch."
"Okay." Blue Fire replied as he walked towards his bedroom.
Once Blue Fire arrived, he closed and locked the door behind him, and slid onto the floor. He held his head, his heart beating quickly.
"That was a little much, huh?" thought Blue Fire, breathing heavily. "Yeah. Good thing nothing else is happening this month."
Blue Fire felt a chill down his spine. He frowned.
"…No? What's gonna happen?"
Author's Note
THANK. YOU. ALL. SOOOOOOO. MUCH. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
*takes a deep breathe* I know it took a long time but that's because I had like three writers blocks, actually re-wrote it like five times, and then school, problems, and school problems slapped me in the face. But I finally got past all of it, so here it is! I hope you all like the rewrite!
Chapter One - Broken Butterflies
Blue Fire laid down on the field outside his house after he had eaten lunch. He looked up at the clear, blue sky, watching the clouds slowly make their way across it. Blue Fire sighed.
"Couldn't we just have a month of doing nothing?" he thought. "No events, no trials, no executions, nothing. Just one month where we could recover..."
Blue Fire felt a short soreness in his chest.
"…Yeah, that's probably not going to happen anytime soon, huh?"
Blue Fire sat up.
"Huh? You want me to--"
Suddenly, Blue Fire was picked up by an invisible force.
"This is new." Blue Fire snickered, kicking his hooves, which were floating off the ground. "I guess we're going here-- wait, now we're going over there-- okay now we're going back…" commentated Blue Fire as he was being dragged left, right, and around the field.
Blue Fire finally settled under a giant cherry tree that was on the side of his house. The breeze carried dozens of cherry blossoms past Blue Fire and into the wind. Blue Fire caught one of the blossoms in his hooves.
"Cherry blossoms..?"
Blue Fire looked up at the sun. He shielded his eyes with his hoof. There seemed to be something falling towards him.
"What is that..?"
Before he knew it, a figure of light crashed into Blue Fire's hooves and sent them both flying into the ground with a loud crash.
"What the…" Blue Fire mumbled, shaking the dirt out of his mane. He looked down and gasped. Ensconced in his hooves was a little pegasus filly with a white coat and a mint mane. "Oh my gosh." Blue Fire whispered. His mind was swimming with a million questions. "Who was she? Why was she here? What happened to her? Why did she look like…" Blue Fire suddenly dropped the filly and the ground and backed away.
Aurora came racing out into the field towards Blue Fire with a giant paintbrush beside her. "Blue Fire!" she yelled as she approached them. "Blue Fire, what ha… oh my gosh..."
Aurora joined Blue Fire in staring at the mysterious little pegasus, who seemed to be peacefully sleeping in the grass.
"She looks so much like Tia and Caeda…" whispered Aurora. "But she's a pegasus, not an alicorn or a unicorn…"
"Well, we'll know when she summons her Treasure." Blue Fire replied. "If she's Tia, it'll be a sword, and if she's Caeda, it'll be a scythe. And if she's neither, it'll be something else."
"But how do we know she can even summon her Treasure? Caeda took at least a year before she could summon hers, but Tia found hers…"
"Remember, we can't treat her like Tia or Caeda. We can't make the same mistake twice."
"…Yeah."
The little filly shifted in the grass. She fluffed her wings, then opened her big, pink eyes at Blue Fire and Aurora.
"Hey there, little fella." Aurora said quietly.
The filly didn't respond; she just continued to stare at Aurora.
"Ha, um… can you tell us your name..?"
The filly blinked.
"No…? Okay then… Blue Fire, help me!"Aurora said through her teeth.
Blue Fire summoned a piece of parchment and a quill.
"Can you write you name?" Blue Fire asked the filly.
The little pegasus nodded. She took the quill in her mouth and wrote her name on the parchment.
"Let's see what it is." Blue Fire said as he took the parchment from the filly when she was done. When he read it, his eyes widened and he dropped it on the ground.
"W-what?! What was it?!" Aurora asked Blue Fire. Aurora looked down at the piece of parchment her brother dropped. It read "Tia."
Aurora stared looked at the filly, then at Blue Fire, who was lost in thought, and back to the filly. She shook her head.
"Tia's what we called Clementia, but it wasn't her actual name. The filly's actual name is Tia so they're different… I think."
"But the resemblance is uncanny." Blue Fire remarked.
"A-are you sure that "Tia" is your name, sweetie?" asked Aurora, turning to the filly.
The filly nodded.
"Do you have any friends of family that you remember right now?"
The filly shook her head.
"Do you remember anything before you fell?"
The filly shook her head again.
"Do you have anyplace you can go?"
Tia shook her head once again. Blue Fire turned to Aurora. She nodded.
'Well then," said Aurora, picking up Tia and putting her on her back. "Let's take your new home."
Blue Fire watched Tia from inside the house as Aurora excitedly prepared a room for her. He stared blankly at the little filly from a window as she was observing a butterfly outside.
"I wonder what her Wish looks like…" Blue Fire thought curiously. "I wonder…" He looked around to make sure no one was watching. Blue Fires suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He cried out, then abruptly covered his mouth. Tia glanced at Blue Fire through the window, then returned to playing with the butterfly. "W-what was that for?!" Blue Fire clutched his chest. "You're gonna get us caught! " He sighed as the pain melted away. "Yes, yes, I know. But just this once. I have to know…"
Blue Fire took a deep breath. A large scythe covered in a sort of black ink suddenly appeared in his hooves. It glowed with a colorful, yet dull phosphorescence. Blue Fire readied the scythe, then sliced the air in front of him. Although the scythe seemed to cut through nothing, it made a large tear in the thin air before Blue Fire. A warm, blue, mystical light glowed softly through the tear in space. Blue Fire dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.
"Ha… we… did it… Easier… than last… time..." Blue Fire said in between breaths. "Heh… at… least we got… a good… exercise… I… think we… needed that..." After Blue Fire had recollected his breath, he stood up and walked toward the tear he had made in space. He frowned. "No, I'm not saying you need to work out. Why would you need to? You're just little wisp of fire after all..." Blue Fire argued as he passed through the tear into another dimension, the tear closing itself once he had stepped inside.
Blue Fire was floating in a sort of magical plane. There was no floor for miles. Blue Fire looked around the blue dimension. He spotted something a few meters away.
"There it is."
Blue Fire flew eagerly towards the thing he had spotted. His mind was racing.
"I'll finally know what all this is about. " Blue Fire thought excitedly.
Blue Fire slowed down when he was a couple feet away from the object. He floated gingerly toward it. When Blue Fire was close enough where he could see it clearly, he heart skipped a beat.
"No way…"
Floating in front of Blue Fire was a half of a purple butterfly. It was fluttering its wings gently, as if it was longing for something.
"It's other half."
Blue Fire conjured up an image of a half of a red butterfly. He compared it to the purple butterfly.
"Caeda's Wish is an exact mirror of Tia's…" Blue Fire realized. "What if…"
Blue Fire adjoined the picture of the red half-butterfly to Tia's Wish. A perfect match, except there was a minuscule star-shaped hole in the middle of the butterfly's thorax. There was still once piece missing.
"What could it-- gah!"
Blue Fire suddenly became dizzy. His vision became blurry. He started falling down the infinite abyss of the plane. His whole body felt weak. All he saw was a small blob of white and mint before his vision blacked-out.
Chapter Two - Wishful Dreaming
About a decade ago...
"My… my Wish?"
"Yeah. Your Wish is kinda like your soul. It's what drives you to live, and it keeps you alive. Your Wish takes the form of something that represents you. Me and Aurora's Wishes take the form of blue-ish flames."
"'Cause your names have to do with fire?"
"Yeah."
"How do you know what you and your sister's Wishes look like? I thought you couldn't see them."
"Well, you can see your Wish if you're on the brink of death and you're looking at a mirror."
"Really?"
"Yeah, no kiddin'."
"Okay... So, can you decide your Wish or does "destiny" or something control it?"
"There's a lot of questions and answers that kids like you shouldn't worry about, but from what I've seen, I think that everypony has like a "default Wish," a Wish that they are born with, like destiny, but they have the power to change their Wish."
"What if you don't change your Wish?"
"Well, it'll all work out in the end, I think. Emerald and Winter didn't really have any big dreams to pursue, they just wanted to keep the ponies of Rainum safe and prosperous because of their compassionate hearts. That's what became their Wish, so that's why they were chosen to be the rulers of Rainum."
"How did they find out what their Wishes were?"
"Well, Rainum is a very young dimen- I mean, kingdom. In the center of where Castle Regalious was to be built, there was this giant rock in the ground. It said that the master of its Treasure would be somepony whose Wish was to protect the peace and prosperity of Rainum, and would become Rainum's first ruler."
"What's a Treasure?"
"A Treasure is an object or tool that corresponds with your Wish. Every Wish is unique, and so is every Treasure. Like if somepony's Wish was to make delicious foods for everypony to enjoy, then their Treaure might be a frying pan."
"That's a lame Treasure."
"Well it'd be a magical frying pan."
"That's still lame."
"Anyway , everypony was called to Woodbridge and gathered around the stone. Emerald and Winter's Wishes reacted to the stone. They reached into the stone and pulled out a claymore and a bow. The claymore became Emerald's Treasure and the bow became Winter's treasure. And that's how they became the two princesses of Rainum."
"But that was pretty lucky that they found their Treasure. I don't wanna travel all over Rainum to find my Treasure."
"Actually, most ponies don't find their Treasures. Most ponies are able to summon their Treasures as soon as they find out what their Wish is. Emerald and Winter just got their Treasures a little later."
"Where do Treasures come from? Does somepony make them?"
"Jeez, you got a lot of questions, Caeda."
"Those who ask questions are the epitome of intelligence."
"Heh heh, yeah. No... pony knows who makes Treasures."
"You hesitated saying that."
"No... I'm just *yawn* tired."
"You're tired all the time!"
"Yep."
"...Wow."
"You can also name your Treasure. Emerald's claymore is named Mighty Gale, Winter's bow is named Snowfall, Aurora's is named Luminescence, and mine is named Inkandescence. It's spelled with a "k." 'Cause it's a paintbrush."
"Really? The name of your Treasure is a pun?"
"Yep."
"...Unbelievable."
"I know, right? I'm so clever."
"Wow... Well, can I see your Treasure?"
"Um... you can see Aurora's Treasure, since we kinda have the same Treasure. I don't really have it in me to summon my Treasure right now."
"Tch... Aurora was right. You do have zero stamina."
"Did she say that, now?"
"I heard my name. What are you guys talking about now?"
"Oh, hey sis. Caeda wants to see your Treasure."
"Actually, I wanted to see Blue Fire's Treasure, but apparently, "he doesn't have it in him right now.""
"Really bro? *sigh* Fine. Mmm... Here it is!"
"Wow! So cool! You summoned it so easily! So is your Wish like to make paintings or stuff?"
"...Yeah, but I haven't really painted that much recently."
"Well, as long as you're living, you're doing a good job!"
"Ha... yeah."
"I want my Wish to be for everypony to be feel like they are a part of a family and for them to be confident in who they are and their Wish!"
"...That'd be a nice Wish to have."
"Wake up, you lazy lumpsack!"
Blue Fire groaned, opening his eyes. He was laying in the field in front of his house. Aurora and Tia were sitting beside him. Aurora gave an exasperated sigh.
"I can't believe you! You conked out again ! You can't even watch Tia without falling asleep!" Aurora complained.
"Hey, babysitting is hard work." Blue Fire replied. He put his hoof over his chest. It was throbbing.
"Well, you can take a break from your "hard work" for now. I'm done with arranging Tia's room and I made snacks." Aurora declared proudly. "You're welcome."
"Heh, thanks sis."
Aurora picked up Tia and Blue Fire followed her back to the house.
Blue Fire collapsed on his bed after closing his bedroom door behind him.
"I'm dead tired... What? Yes, I know you told me so! I did it on purpose, you know." Blue Fire said in his mind. He sat up, thinking about the past events. "Why do I keep getting flashbacks from ten years ago? Why did Caeda and Tia appear in Rainum in the first place? Why do Caeda and Tia's Wishes combined looked almost exactly like Clementia's Wish? Except that one missing piece in the middle... What does this all mean? What's happening to Clementia..?"
Blue Fire gripped his chest.
"What's happening to my best friend?"
