Up in Flames

Chapter 1

I felt the flames inside me burn hotter as the hatred swallowed all other feelings in my mind, leaving behind the pure flames of pain and guilt, that consumed all my power of will to control them and give them a direction. This direction was outside. Out of my body, trough my bones, trough the skin, onto my mane, my tail and my hoofs, igniting them in the orange-red light of real flames.

After years of practice I learned to concentrate my hatred to turn this inner heat out.

Now that I was at my training place deep in the everfree forest nobody could get hurt of a raging flame-Pegasus pony when the dark feelings would overtake me. I once again imagined the training dummy being one of my parent’s murderers. I looked into its sparkling green eyes, scratched the undergrowth with my burning hoofs, leaving just some burnt leaves and closed my eyes to take a deep breath.

I felt my heart beating faster as I let the memories take control over me.

Then, suddenly I opened my eyes, and in the same moment a firebolt shot in the direction of the dummy.

The next seconds felt as if time was stretched.

Slowly the bolt hit the dummy, a fireball expanded and then the whole place all around me catched flames. Every tree and every bush in a radius of 20 metres burnt down in a few seconds, only leaving some smoking ash piles.

My eyes widened as I realized the extend of my destructive powers. Frightened I spread my wings and hovered into the smoky air.

After I gained some height I looked at my former training area, that I had transformed into a grey, glowing, smoking spot deep under my feet. Now I needed some cool water,and so I flew off into the direction of seafoam cliffs to take a little bath in the dark blue waves of the near ocean. I smelt the salty air as I came closer the cliffs. I heard the sound of waves pounding heavily against the rocks. A cool breeze went trough my fur. The fresh air calmed me down as I sat on top of the cliff, watching the deep blue of the sea, that washed away the pain in my head.

Suddenly something changed in the water. The former regular waves changed into a chaos of bubbles and big and small splashes.

My mane dripped with water as soon as I stepped out of the shallows. The ocean's gentle waves caressed my hooves as I took a deep breath and made up my mind.

Today is the day. No doubt about it. Today is going to be the day I visit Ponyville, or any form of civilization fort that matter.

You see... Ever since... A long time ago, I stopped seeing ponies. The few friends I had became more and more distant, I found myself seeing them less and less.... Until one day, I stopped seeing them altogether.

It just stopped.

I moved to seafoam Cliffs, where I mined my own home, next to the beautiful ocean, and lived there. In peace.

I shook the water off and trotted up the beach, towards the Everfree Forest, from which I saw a bolt of fire- no- a pony emerge flying through the air into the shallows in which I had just been wading in.

Nopony ever comes here.

I trotted into the forest for I don't know how long until the fog made me unable to see, as it stung my eyes.

Wait. Fog doesn't sting, does it?

My eyes shot open as My throat felt constricted. This wasn't fog.

IT WAS SMOKE!!

Soon, my mind became clouded also, making it impossible to think or to tell direction. Even worse is that many glowing lights were beginning to fill my foggy vision. I ran one direction, but I tripped on a gray.. powder like substance. I stood up, coughing violently until I fell yet again. My rear left leg was caught in a branch. A bright orange branch.

My body screamed in fiery pain as I tried yanking it out, but only managed to scrape myself up badly. The flames approached, and I could only give out a loud plea for help.

Before I blacked out, two very special ponies appeared in front of me.

Two ponies I have not seen in years, yet they will always remain in my heart.

My parents.

The last thing in my eyes before I lost consciousness were not the violent scarlet flames, but were colder and more delicate.

Tears.

Tears held back, frozen in time, streamed down my face.

My plea for help echoed into nothingness, as did my vision.

Well, at least I would be seeing my parents again soon, right?

I'll be there to tell them that I'm sorry. I wasn't there to protect them. Or the young filly. What was her name? She seemed to have a mane just lik-

My thoughts were cut short as a burning branch snapped and hit me on the head, knocking me unconscious.

I lifted my head as I heard the screams from the forest.

This voice....

It seemed as if i knew it.

Deep inside me feelings awakened, that remembered me on this one day, that split my family.

But why? Why did my family come in my mind as I heard somepony scream for help? And why don't I go after the screams? With an expression of fearlessness I hovered from the cliffs into the orange sky of this warm summer evening and flew towards the place, where I heard the voice last.

Oh no!

I knew from where the screams came...

My training area!

As I flew over the sheets I realized the smoke, that hung between the trees, coming from the source I feared it was.

The whole forest around the place of my former emotional outburst was up in flames again.

And between those flames there lay a blue Pegasus pony I knew from my fillyhood. I didn't trust my eyes as I landed besides him and spoke to him!

"Hey! Dude! Are you ok? Can you hear me?"

I awoke in an underground room which... really confused me. Wasn't I in the forest? I took a deep breath as I realized it was a dream, I am perfectly fine. But that still didn't explain why I-

"AGHHH!!" I yelled as I doubled over in pain, my burns and cuts now revealing to me as I lay on... Leaves? Powder?

My body jolted and twitched as I awoke for the second time, this time I knew everything was real.

I tried to grasp reality, to piece things together, but I was unable to...

A red pony stood above me yelling something, yet my hearing was muffled and I couldn't make out the words. I gave in to exhaustion as I slumped over and passed out.

If he was who I thought he was I had to get him out of here as fast as possible. I grabbed his hoofs and pulled him into the air, fluttering as hard as I could.

We were five, maybe six meters over the ground when his hoof slipped out of mine.

Shocked he opened his eyes as he realized that he was falling!

My eyes watered as wind poured into them. My mind just gave up. I knew I was falling. I looked around calmly. Nothing to hang on to. Well then, this would be unpleasant. I imagined it like my cliff diving, the way time slowed down when I dove and spread my wings to catch the uplift breeze., wings..

WINGS!

I forced my wings to open, which they did, catching the hot air from below and rising. Yet my body was in no condition to fly, swaying and rising awkwardly. I sighed a breath of relief as I made sense of what happened.

Apparently, escaping a fiery death and thinking while flying exhausted does NOT go together, so my wings snapped shut involuntarily and I dove down diagonally.

I was ten.. nine.. seven.. four meters from the ground, closing my eyes and bracing for impact. Instead, a salty smell wafted into my nose.

The ocean!

I let myself give in as I dove in the watery haven, several meters from shore.

All I really wanted now was a nap, I don't want to think anymore...

I saw him spreading his wings and heads towards him. I realized that he will not be awake long enough to prevent hitting the floor. I grabbed him under his arms and he fainted again. I was not strong enough to carry him the whole way to my home. I needed him awake. But how do you wake somepony up from such a comatose stadium?

Water!

I pulled him over the near cliff and let him fall into the ocean. At the moment he hit the water he opened his eyes, realizing the cool substance that surrounded him and calmed him down. Like in the old times. Like always. Water calms my brother down.

The water flowed around me, the many bubbles tickling my nose and eyes.

Hee-hee.

I exhaled and smiled, then swam to the surface, much confused yet giddy. This would be an awesome swim if it weren't for the burns or the open gash on my leg.

Well dang.

I sputtered and breathed loudly on the surface, the fire-red pony from earlier standing in front of me.

Wait.

Wait. WAIT!

Her features, her eyes, her freckles, her mane, everything seemed familiar. It was a pony I knew long ago.

A pony very special to me, somepony who shared every moment of my life with me.

My dear sister Firemane.

I gave her a drowsy smile, then for the first time in a long time, my mind was rushing with emotion! It felt nice!

I fainted.

Again.

I saw him faint and had to laugh.

Still the same weak nerves as in the old times.

I pulled the blue pony out of the water and lay him down at the beach while the sun set slowly, painting orange shades on the wide ocean.