Guardian of the Sun

Chapter 2: New Dawn’s Fire

Blaze was roused from the blissful depths of sleep with a groan, though even his unintelligent mind was able to surmise that the persistent tapping on his side wasn’t doing him any favors. It was something that he was familiar with, and even as his mind began to clear, he recognized what was happening, and that this was a routine he frequently shared with Star in the mornings when their mother was unable to come downstairs He’d be asking about breakfast in 3. . . 2. . .

“Blaze Burn, wake up: I’m hungry.” Star mumbled at his side, giving the elder pegasus a little harder shove in an attempt to get him to emerge from sleep slightly faster. When the mumbling began, his ears perked up, and he nudged Blaze even harder, though it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on the elder colt.

“I’m up. . . I’m up.” Blaze finally managed to grumble, though he immediately followed up by rolling onto his side and putting his back to his brother, his hooves sleepily fumbling for the blanket that had been pulled from away from him. Star wasn’t much a fan of that, so he jumped over Blaze and hit him with an even harder nudge, making sure to put his weight behind it. He repeated his demand to his brother, who was steadfast in staying in bed.

Blaze groaned, and he tried to pull a wing over his shoulder, only for the very sudden and painfully immediate realization of his mistake. His wings ached horribly, and as he slowly drifted back into full consciousness, he had to wonder just how he had managed to ignore the screaming muscles for so long.

It was as if the entire world was making damn sure that he got up sooner rather than later, or at least, that was how he felt. So, with a clenched jaw, he struggled to his hooves, failing twice in the process and barely managing to hold his own weight up.

‘Maybe that was just too much exertion for me in one night.’ he thought tiredly, cracking his eyes open to the light bleeding into the large room. ‘Any more of that and I’ll never be able to do anything: I’ll just be too sore.’

Though his vision was finally clearing up, there was still enough fog over his eyes that he couldn’t quite make out everything in the dampened interior. The morning sun shone through the rafters easily, but the floor was obscured by just enough shadow that he could barely make out his own brother next to him. He sat there and let some life creep back into his burning limbs, then he forced the sleep out of his eyes and more attentively scanned the room, making a note that most of the other ponies had opted for remaining massed together to cling to whatever sleep they would muster.

He envied them.

Star nudged his shoulder again, reminding the elder that there was business to attend to, then backed away enough for the two of them to have room to leave their bedding. The small colt blended into the shadows easily, though the sun was steadily rising, and the levels of light inside were gradually erasing the darkness around them. The herd of sleeping ponies in the center were becoming more distinct, and the two brothers silently skirted the group, clinging to the remaining shadows as they made their way to the charred door.

Blaze forced the door open just enough for the two to slip through the gap and left the tangible suffering and misery behind them. They stepped into the street, and as the weak rays of sunlight fell upon them, it finally dawned on him why it was that the group of ponies were all still huddled together: Star had woken him up near the break of dawn.

“Um. . . Star, you do realize that it’s. . . like. . .” he stifled a yawn before continuing, “way too early for us to get anything, right?”

“Maybe for somepony looking to buy something. But you weren’t going to buy anything, were you?” Star looked at him with an expression he didn’t quite have a word for, but he wasn’t able to force himself to look at the colt: those words cut deep. He shuffled to keep up with the small blue colt, now feeling a wave of confusion as he tried to find some way to answer that.

“What-what makes you think that?”

“Well. . .” Star looked at him for a second, then his muzzle snapped shut and he mimicked Blaze’s anxious shuffling.

“You know what?” Blaze sighed, pulling his brother in for a hug. “Never mind. It doesn’t really matter, because you need to eat and that’s the end of it. Why don’t we get you somewhere to enjoy yourself while I find us breakfast, huh?”

He took the opportunity to look away from his brother, looking at the mass of battered buildings and piles of rubble as he thought of some way that he could protect Star from this. He wanted to buy himself enough time that he’d be able to process that Star had somehow managed to figure out that they had no money to buy anything, and then he could work on solving the immediate problem of getting food. They continued in silence for a bit, until they started reaching the busier parts of town, and the central street was getting close.

He could hear the faint sounds of morning life for the ponies of the capital, which meant that time was running short for him to reach a solution and get food. He refused to let Star in on the dirty details of his plans, so there was no way he could just take his brother along to the markets. . .

Conscious of time drifting away, he finally found some sort of a solution, now that he was reaching somewhat more familiar territory: there was a small park very close by. “Hey, Star? Remember that small park we passed by on out way out here yesterday? Why don’t you fly over there real fast, since it’s just around the corner, and bring me back anything that I could make you a toy out of?”

The mention of a toy was all Star needed to perk up and immediately take to the idea, nodding enthusiastically and already buzzing his wings to float off. He beamed brightly and prepared to take off, stopped only by Blaze’s hoof shooting out to hold onto him. “Meet me this side of the marketplace once you’re done, then we can eat and figure out what we’re gonna do after that.”

The blue colt nodded happily then took off, leaving Blaze standing there with a worried expression. He watched his brother disappear behind a side-street before he managed to tear his attention back to the immediate task at hoof.

Steeling his resolve, he pulled himself along the alleys towards the marketplace slowly filling with life, his thoughts turned to what would even be possible to get for food. There were shops, no doubt, but he knew those that weren’t already open would be locked shut, and the stalls wouldn’t have anything of use out. He slipped onto a small street, intending to turn and take it into the massive central street, when he found what was on the menu for breakfast.

An accident involving two late-night carriages had left a few crates of supplies sheltered in the shadows on a building, hiding just inside the edge of the alley across the smaller street. He glanced down both ways of the street, confirming that he was alone, then he bolted over to the pile of supplies. He sifted through the boxes as fast as he could, finding three of the five to have befallen some terrible fate, and their contents already erased from existence. He stepped to the fourth, which had a section of the corner torn open, the valuable contents already looted by somepony first. He felt a rise in his disappointment, but he held onto hope as he turned to the final crate. Hoping that he would be somewhat lucky, he spun around, pulling his hind legs back and bucking with all his strength, crashing through the wood after two attempts.

“What d’ya think yer doin’ there little colt?” a coarse voice asked from just behind him, enticing him enough to stop trying to pry the wood fragments apart and spin around. Standing before him were a trio of rough-looking stallions, all of whom must have crept up behind him. They stepped fully into the sunlight streaming onto the street, identifying them as deadbeats donning ragged clothes. To him, they looked like homeless ponies who were going to fight for their treasured scraps.

Except for the obvious leader of the trio, a burly brown pegasus with a mottle green mane and ruthless green eyes that sparkled with a sadistic glee: he wore a felt hat that was, at least, undamaged and a gold chain swung from his corded neck. “Looks like the buggar’s tryin’ ta get into our loot.”

‘What do I do?’ Blaze kept repeating to himself as he eyed the three guys down. He figured that he might be able to get a surprise shot on one of them, but then he’d either be stomped or slammed into a wall. The two earth ponies chuckling to themselves in the back wouldn’t have been that hard to evade, but this hulking pegasus in front of him. . . there was no way around or away from him.

“Look, “ he began slowly, his thoughts racing for some way out of this. “I hadn’t realized that this was already claimed loot, but I do believe that scroungers gotta watch their bags, right? It’s, like, the rules that you take what you can, whenever you can. . . so, how about we come to some kind of arrangement? I just look into this one little crate, since you’ve already gone and claimed the other four, and I’ll let you have whatever I don’t want; sound good?”

“Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves a brave lil’ bastard.” the hulk said with a smirk as he looked over his shoulder to his buddies. Then he slowly turned his attention back to Blaze, his smirk shifting into a violently wicked grin. “And you know what happens to thieves, don’t you?”

Blaze gulped, but maintained his composure enough to puff out his chest and not look like he was as terrified was he was. He was pretty sure he failed.

“Well, I guess that really depends on who’s dishing out the punishment, though I suppose it doesn’t really apply to me: I’m just happening upon some trash left out by somepony. I’m no thief, just some poor foal trying to scrounge for anything to survive. . . whereas the three of you are looking quite like a trio of thieves.” he replied, doing everything he could to keep his fear from creeping into his tone.

The pegasus was a touch smarter than his two pals, who were gawking at Blaze’s audacity, and had seemed to notice that the colt had been slowly backing away from them. His wings unfurled ever so slightly, and he started fanning them enough to get a breeze going, puffing himself up to look even more intimidating. “Now look here, you little shit: I’m going to give you to the count of three-”

The threat was cut short, and chaos was sowed right then and there, when Blaze backed over a ceramic tile and promptly slipped on it. The tile was shot out from under his hoof, sailing straight into the pegasus’ nasty sneer, and shattered against his teeth. There was a split second where the stallion recoiled back, slamming into his two buddies, before Blaze rolled backwards to avoid slipping. He went with the roll, trying to use the perfect accident to escape, even though he hit his head pretty hard on the ground, and bolted upright so that he had enough time to get onto his hooves and away from the three before they caught him.

He had just started to gallop as fast as he could when he heard the sounds of hooves slamming into the ground as the three gave chase. Unfortunately for him, the hulk was a strong flier and had easily crossed the distance between them, slamming him into the nearest wall. The stallion had used him as a sled as they slipped into another alley.

The other two caught up in a moment.

“Don’t ya think that hurting others is a bad move?” the guy’s snout was dripping with blood, and as his mouth moved, Blaze could see that several teeth were now missing. His voice had dropped to a deep growl, and each word was tensed with almost enough venom to actually sting.

The stallion swiped at Blaze, slamming him against the wall again, then threw him backwards. The colt rolled with the blows, trying to minimize the damage he took, but he could feel the bruises that he’d be having for a while after this. He took the moment of freedom to look around, desperately looking for somewhere to escape to, but all he found was that they had wound up in a dead-end alley. He was in a very bad place right here, and with the stallion stomping closer, things didn’t seem to have any chance of getting better. “It ain’t right!”

“Buck, he’s losing it.” one of the two earth ponies mumbled in fear, and the pair stepped away from the raging pegasus. “We might want to get the hay out of here.”

“Yeah. . . you got this, boss! We’re gonna. . . um. . . go stand outside and just, like, be watch guards. . . or somethin’.” the second muttered just before he turned tail and bolted out of the alley. Blaze barely heard the words, but he figured that, had he actually been paying them any mind, he’d be terrified of their responses.

“Yeah. We got the entrance.” the first added as he spun around and bolted out as well. The hulk had spared just a brief glance at the two as they fled the situation, but it seemed that he didn’t care much to spare them much more than that: he turned around to direct the endless pits of his rage on the poor foal in front of him. When his attention was returned to the object of his anger, his pupils faded into pinpricks and his eyes became bloodshot, only terrifying the colt more.

Blaze had been scared before; he’d been worried about hurting himself when he was reckless. For him, it was one thing to be worried about a sprained wing, and another matter entirely to be faced with a brown pegasus so angry his face was blue.

The guy snorted in rage, and a ring of smoke blew out of each nostril, while his forehoof pawed at the ground, his head lowered and he looked about ready to ram Blaze down. The colt could only crawl backwards in utter terror, mumbling incoherently and waving a single hoof in an attempt to calm down the raging behemoth, until he felt his back hit the stone wall of a crumbled building.

‘I’m not making it.’ his mind was stuck repeating as the hulk planted his hooves and leaned into a charging stance. He swore he could see a bright light shining from some ethereal place, beckoning him to come take his place somewhere else, that this moment would be the last of his suffering, and that he’d finally be at peace.

Then the light was shut out by a clear image of Star taking the forefront of his vision, and he felt a surge of resolute hope, of resolve to do whatever it took to make sure he prevailed through this.

He watched as the stallion surged forward, watching for any indication of how the pegasus would react to him, then, when the guy lowered his head and shut his eyes to slam into the colt, he rolled to the side, letting the guy ram into the wall. He didn’t stop there, either, and chose to dive away before he missed his chance.

He jumped towards the exit, hoping that he’d make it out of this just fine, and then he made the mistake of looking back to see what was making such a loud commotion behind him. He saw the guy shaking off the crash into the building, and he could see that it had done nothing to deter the monstrous stallion for turning to pursue. He felt a spike of panic, and tried to put on a burst of speed, failing just as he made a discovery: there happened to be a convenient trash can laying on the ground, just in his way.

The can slid out from under him with a surprising amount of force, and he started to wish that trash cans were made from steel that exploded on contact. The can slammed into the stallion, which did nothing to stop his advance, and seemed to actually further his bellowing rage.

As Blaze rolled backwards, scrambling to get his hooves under him so he could run, he tried to find some kind of reason in the mixture of utter terror and amusement in his mind. It was quite the sight he could behold: not only had the guy’s face gone a furious scarlet, but there was visible steam coming out of his ears. For just a moment, Blaze actually found some measure of amusement from the ridiculous sight before him, and even against his better judgment, he felt an unbearable urge rise in him. “You, uh. . . you know that you’re steaming, right?”

The stallion glared at him with wild eyes, then leaped into the air with wings flared, and mouth foaming. Blaze took the opportunity to dive backwards, trying to buy enough time to get his legs under him, though the larger pegasus was making the effort futile. Still, he had to try, so he bucked again, hoping for it to have done something.

He liked to think that he was fairly strong, given how young he was, but given how his kick hadn’t even fazed the hulking figure above him, he was starting to doubt that.

He tried to pull himself towards the street as the stallion planted himself over the colt, preventing him from getting very far. He still struggled, using his smaller stature to wiggle a tail’s-length up to the edge of the alley before the stallion grabbed him with both hooves, firmly ripping him off the ground. The pegasus had a vice grip on his shoulders, before one forehoof moved to his throat and he started squeezing with his full strength. Even as he started to choke the life out of the colt, he lunged to the side, slamming Blaze against the nearest wall, giving off a resounding pop upon impact.

His hooves flailing in a desperate attempt to break free, Blaze started to see the futility in resisting, even if his body was fighting for any chance for safety. He couldn’t breath, so he sent every thought and prayer he had that the Princesses would find some way to take care of his little brother. His vision started to blur, and his could feel a painful throbbing racking his body, and he felt himself slipping away.

He hoped that this agony would end soon.

There was the sound of a scuffle, followed by a couple brief grunts, then the rumble of hooves galloping towards him, before there was a particularly loud bursting sound. A second later, the hulk holding him let him go, and the two of them dropped to the ground, though Blaze wasted no time in struggling to his hooves to escape. He fought through the ragged coughing fit as he filled his lungs with fresh air, and hobbled away from the collapsed body of his attacker. Doing his best to bolt away, he barely managed to leave the alley before a new set of hooves wrapped around him, preventing him from escaping this abuse.

“Let me go!” he shrieked, thrashing in the relentless hold of armored hooves. He did what he could to break free, but he was still trying to recover from the previous attempt on his life, and his body was starting to shake uncontrollably. The firm hooves weren't trying to hurt him, however, and instead planted him to the ground, turning him so he could look at his new captor.

He found himself staring through a deep blue helmet to the concerned face of a Royal Guard. Well, he thought it was a Royal Guard; he’d never actually seen one before, and had only heard about them from his mother once or twice.

He stiffened up, either from fear or the sudden realization that he had narrowly evaded a very bad situation, and found himself staring directly into the guard’s worried orange eyes. There was a second where he was terrified for what was going to happen to him, but then the guard dropped him to the ground. Instinct was demanding that he run, after everything that he had just barely managed to avoid, but he couldn’t get his legs to move as the guard stared at him.

A flicker of movement to the side caught his attention momentarily, and he as glanced over, he saw another two guards throwing the other thieves into a caged wagon. Seeing the other stallions being dealt with eased him more than the presence of the guards, so he did what he could to relax as he turned to face the unicorn who had saved his life.

The armor-clad unicorn was large, even larger than the hulk of a pegasus he had just taken down, and the heavy plates of steel wrapping around his face and chest only improved his intimidating stature. He planted a heavy, armored hoof on Blaze’s shoulder, and his expression seemed to soften into something resembling relief. “It’s all gonna be okay, now: we ain’t gonna let some lowlifes hurt ya. But we gotta know what happened, so we’re gonna have to ask you some questions.”

The statement reached Blaze’s ears in a thick drawl, unlike most of the tones he’d heard from ponies in the city. He was caught off guard by the sincerity of the guy for a second, until he gathered his thoughts and nodded along. “I. . . guess that makes sense.”

“Good. So, tell me why that guy was attacking you?” his horn flared up a light beige, then a small notepad floated in front of him, followed shortly after by a quill.

“Well. . . I was just walking towards the markets, trying to think of something that I was going to get for breakfast, when the three of them jumped me. They started rambling about how I was stealing their stuff, though they didn’t even have anything that I could have stolen. . .” he had to pause so he could calm his nerves and try to stop his racing heart: he wasn’t really lying, just leaving out some details. “So I had tried to back away from them, when I slipped on some trash, and had accidentally hit that guy with something hard as I fell. It was an accident, I swear!”

“Okay, colt: calm down. I believe you.” the guard looked at him with a suddenly reassuring face. “It ain’t the first time we’ve had to deal with desperate bastards who stoop too low, but Ah’m mighty sorry that you had to go through this ordeal. Ah hate to bring it up, but we gotta know what exactly happened between the two of ya, so. . . what happened when you two wound up in this alley?”

“Well, I was just trying to get away after the accident, and the three chased after me, cornering me in there. The big one was really angry, which comes from what I’d have to guess that brick or whatever knocking some teeth out. All I was doing was just trying to get out of there, but he was after blood, and the other two just walked off to let him hurt me.” he felt a spike of fear as he recounted the events, as if realized just how close he was to losing everything he had worked so hard for. He wondered what would have happened to Star had these guards not shown up.

“Look, these guys were scumbags, criminals, and they were likely looking for trouble. . . it wasn’t your fault they attacked you.” the guard had looked up from the notes he was taking, and it had seemed that he had misread the emotions on Blaze’s face. “Still, you managed to defend yourself long enough for us to find the trouble and put an end to it before you suffered anything serious. If everypony was as brave as you were, I think most of us guards would have to be replaced by a bunch of foals, and we can’t have that.”

Blaze offered up a half-smile at the guy’s attempts of cheering him up. It was nice that he’d avoided that before anything terrible happened to him, and he sat there appreciatively as the unicorn used his magic to lift the unconscious thief. He eased into a much more relaxed state, now that the threat had been taken care of, and he wasn’t in any danger.

He turned and left the guards to deal with those three trouble-makers, hoping to get back to Star as soon as possible. After this encounter, he was starting to worry that going out to get supplies would be significantly more difficult than he had anticipated. He still wasn’t sure whether or not the two of them were going to stay inside the warehouse for much longer, as the ponies there didn’t seem interested in having even more residents; he just wished there was somewhere that he could much more easily protect his brother. . . the warehouse would have to do for now.

He traced his fleeing steps back to where the looted crates were, which remained hidden in the darkness of an unforgiving alley. The very last undisturbed crate was sitting there, and he wasted no time in pouncing on whatever scraps he’d be able to scrounge from this opportune moment.

Within the box, he’d secured a very lovely find of valuables, and a hefty-looking bag that jingled when he grabbed it. It was the stunning sound of coins that made his mouth salivate at the fortune the world had graced him with, and he greedily snatched the pouch to his chest, where he delicately slipped the bag open, revealing what appeared to be at least a dozen bits, maybe more. While the bits were the best of the treasures, he wasn’t going to waste the other useful items, so he patched together a ramshackle sack to hold the meager loot in, making a note to himself to invest in a saddle as soon as he could. As it was, he balanced the sack on his back and trotted through the darkened passages until he returned to the markets, which were significantly more populated now that the sun was rising above the treeline.

He pushed his way through the crowd, sticking close to the line of buildings, until he finally spotted a tiny blue colt sitting in front of a pile of rubble that must have been an impressive store in the past. Star appeared to be scanning the crowd with a determined expression, searching for his brother.

“Looking for somepony?” Blaze cheerfully called out. His muzzle split in a grin as he watched Star’s head whip towards him, then the tiny colt jumped into the air and bolted over to him. The larger brother braced for impact, then wrapped his hooves around the smaller when they collided. When the two separated, Star glanced over at the tattered cloth holding several clinking items and his face lit up with curiosity.

“Where did you get all that?” he asked as Blaze reached over and opened the sack in a grand display. Star sat and stared at the brim of the fabric as the items shifted and settled, clearly waiting with bated breath for his brother to spill the spoils.

“There were a few friends off in the city, nasty friends, and they were kind enough to let me take some of the unclaimed loot. . . after I managed to convince them.” Blaze answered with a pained grin, his hoof latching onto the first of the items and revealing it for his adoring little brother: a roll of cloth so smooth it could have been made of the finest of clouds. Star snatched the fabric as quick as a bolt of lightning, and instantly began to rub his cheek against it, cooing and sighing with each movement. Shortly following the fabric, though with enough of a pause so that Star could enjoy the treasure, Blaze pulled out a shining silver necklace.

The brothers admired the glinting material, though it was short lived the moment that the bag of shiny, clinking coins slipped into view. Star’s eyes grew as wide as saucers when Blaze tipped the bag and two dozen gold bits clattered on the ground between them. “WHOA!”

“Now we can go and get some breakfast!” he said with a victorious grin, his hooves already scooping the bits off the ground and putting them back where they belonged. He gave the necklace to Star to wear, and the two found the shining metal to be quite the appealing contrast to his deep blue chest. The cloth was draped over Blaze’s back, and he was tempted to hide the precious bag of bits under it.

In the end; the two began to search for breakfast with Blaze simply biting down on the bag so that he could keep a very close eye on it.

The markets weren’t especially packed, yet, but there was already a crowd beginning to mill around, with ponies either opening up shops and stalls, or the very early risers looking to capture the best deals while they could. Between the bag of bits, and the two items they might have for bartering, he was kind of hoping that they might end up being among the latter. They slipped through the sparse crowds, scanning whatever shops were open, finding most everything within sight to be unsatisfactory, or not selling food. Disappointed, the two tried their luck pushing further through the jumbled mess of stalls, taking their time in the hopes that one of the produce stalls would open up, until they found themselves in the thinning regions of the marketplace. They were getting close to the far end, and had yet to find anything worthwhile, and now Star’s stomach was beginning to protest the lack of anything for breakfast. They were about to try another pass through the markets when a gold mare hauled her food cart into sight, the sides colored bright green and brown, with paintings of various apple-related delicacies plastered over every visible surface.

The brothers glanced between each other, then nodded happily and followed the cart as the found a suitable spot just within the fringes to sell her goods.

Still cautious of how the day had started, however, Blaze decided that rushing the mare for food might not be such a good idea, and he didn’t want to two of them to appear desperate. They were desperate, but he figured it would be good for them to at least not look like it: he had the feeling the desperate would be ripped off pretty fast.

So the two of them took a more scenic path to the mare, passing by a couple of open stalls to appear interested. Star was confused by it, and had looked like he was about to complain that there was food, until Blaze hushed him with a hoof. “We’ll head over there in a second.”

Star didn’t look at all satisfied, but he trusted his brother enough that he didn’t protest, though he cast very pointed stares in the direction of the cart, which was opened up and displaying several tantalizing baked goods. There wasn’t a breeze, but the colt thought he just might be able to pick up on the delicious scent of apple pie.

After a few minutes of wandering, the pair accidentally stumbled across a small tailor shop that looked to be open. The entire front of the building was in bad shape, but looked to be fairly well off when one considered the shape the rest of the city was in. The two slipped inside the shop, and Blaze managed to strike a deal with the shrewd merchant, selling off the fabric that wouldn’t have helped them a whole lot wherever they decided to go next.

Now a few bits richer, the brothers exited the shop and made short work trotting through the steadily thickening traffic of ponies looking to get their morning deals in. The succulent aroma of apple pie was starting to infuse the marketplace, getting to the point where even Blaze was starting to feel the effects of hunger, and those pies were seeming better and better by the second. “Come an’ get yer filling here, with some good ol’ fashioned, delicious, homemade Apple Family grub! Come one, come all, an’ taste the reason why the entire city loves the Apple Family bakery!”

“Ooh, I want some apple pie! Blaze, can we get some apple pie? I just was one slice!” Star tugged at his brother’s foreleg. Though he was determined, Blaze had to relent well before they were within sight of the apple pie stall, and he was forced to submit to the will of his little brother.

“Alright, alright: you can have apple pie, but just one slice! You are still going to have something proper for breakfast.” he muttered around the bag of bits, though his mood wasn’t going to be ruined, not when he saw the look of utter joy on Star’s face. He had wanted to set a good example for him for eating the right breakfast, but he wouldn’t really complain: those pies smelled heavenly. The two passed some more stalls and finally got to the source of their increased hunger, and Star made no attempt to hide his excitement for a slice of pie.

Blaze stopped before the raised counter on the side of the stall, dropping the bag of bits onto his hoof while Star excitedly gaped at the display before him. Reaching into the pouch, he pulled out three bits and dropped them on the counter before the mare. “Can I get a couple of apple salads, and one slice of pie for my brother?”

The mare immediately snatched the gold off of the counter, dropping them into her apron, and offered a small smile. She pulled out a basket of greens from behind the counter, sliding a knife from her apron, then instantly began to prepare their food. He was surprised at her efficiency, but he didn’t have much time to process his surprise before two bowls of greenery were sitting before him, garnished with crisp apple slices.

He blinked, then a small slice of steaming apple pie was resting atop the salad to his right.

“Have a great day.” She said with a smile, though now that she had his attention, Blaze noticed that the smile never reached her very tired eyes. From just the fleeting glance, he could see the utter exhaustion in her expression, and he sympathized with the feeling all too well. He gave her a knowing nod and offered her a genuine smile before the brothers left.

Star hadn’t even waited until they had left before he began to ravenously devour the pie, showing the world just what he thought of the item as it disappeared in a heartbeat. Then he seemed to lose his enthusiasm, and the pair managed to enjoy their salads at a more reasonable pace. As the two ate their breakfast, they meandered through the livening market and took in the sights of various other ponies starting their day. Star was looking exceptionally cheerful, and was a stark contrast to the depressing aura of most everypony else wandering around.

Blaze found himself feeling grateful that things had turned out as they had, because even though he had a hiccup in the beginning, he walked away with some very useful things, and maybe they still had a fighting chance on their own. Star being happy was only the icing on a proverbial cake, and the more he saw his little brother happy, the more it raised his own spirits. He knew this day would turn out alright.

The morning had slipped into the afternoon, and after having thoroughly explored the markets in this part of the city, the brothers were both feeling exhausted. Star had resorted to leaning against his legs heavily, acting all dramatic and begging for his brother’s attention. “Blaze Burn! We’ve been walking for ages!”

“It hasn’t been ages; only a few hours. But I’m also feeling a little tired, so. . .” he replied, looking around the area they were in and trying to find somewhere to relax for a bit. He found the perfect spot: a tree along the side of the road offered them a bit of shade, and had enough space from the flow of traffic that they shouldn’t be trampled for taking a seat. He nudged Star in the direction of the tree, and soon, Star’s whining was alleviated.

That wasn’t quite enough for him, so Blaze leaned against his little brother and nudged him in the side, then his hoof worked it’s way around Star’s shoulder, and he began tickling him. It was only mere seconds before Star’s joyful laughter rang out across the busy street as the two brothers climbed and wrestled each other.

Star was begging for reprieve, but his pleas only incited further assaults, resulting in harder and harder laughing, and then bouts of gasping for breath whenever he got a break. “Please! Please! Stop i-it!”

After he had had his fun, Blaze finally saw that Star’s eyes were coated in tears, and his face was only a slightly deeper shade of blue. Seeing that he’d achieved his goal of torturing his brother with some fun, he backed off, giving Star enough room to roll onto his side, his forehooves clutching his ribs as he fought to regain control over his ragged breathing. He settled down beside Star, giving the colt ample time to recover and giving himself time to make sure that their bits were still safely beside them.

Star recovered and settled into a happy silence, the pair happily sitting in the shade of the tree and idly watching the traffic pass before them. Blaze found it easy to become absorbed in his thoughts, his worries for the future, and his desire to improve their current standing. He was terrified that this lucky break of his wouldn’t give them enough to survive off of for long, and he was terrified that they might hit some rough patches in the future. He was almost certain of it, but he just couldn’t bear the thought of Star suffering anything else: they’d barely managed to survive back home. He had to find some way of learning everything that he needed to as soon as possible: he had to find a way of supporting both Star and himself.

He shook his head and looked to his brother, who was happily watching the crowds move by, and he knew that he’d just find a way, and that he couldn’t let himself worry. He wanted things to be as bright as they were now. “Hey, Star. Did you find anything of interest in that park?”

“Actually, about that. . .” Star sounded, disappointed for a second, and his gaze dropped to the ground. “I didn’t manage to find anything worth keeping: not much other than rubble and overgrown weeds.”

“Yeah, I figured that was the case. I’m sorry, but I’m sure we’ll manage to find something for you in no time, maybe we’ll get lucky later. Or maybe I’ll just find something to buy from a trader.” he nudged his brother’s shoulder, trying to keep up the positivity. He needed this day to go smoothly, for both their sanity, and he was going to make damn sure of it. “We’ll find something for you to bring back when we get around to that warehouse.”

“Don’t worry: I’m more than happy to just be out!” the colt beamed, his youthful joy returning to dominance. Blaze couldn’t resist the smile working its way onto his muzzle, even if he tried: seeing Star so happy and confident was truly worth fighting for. And he wasn’t about to argue with some extremely sound logic from the best little brother he could ask for, which only broadened his smile even further. He wrapped his wing around his brother and pulled him in for a quick hug.

Time started to slip by as they sat there in contentment, happy to simply be with each other, watching the ponies of the city going about their business. However, it wasn’t long before Star began to shift anxiously under his older brother’s wing, his foalish need to simply move wearing down on his patience. Blaze had been more than content to sit there for quite a while, with food in his stomach, some supplies that he could use to keep himself and his brother safe for a bit, and hope for a brighter future burning hot in his heart. He glanced down at the blue colt, who’s eyes were rapidly darting around the crowd, looking at ever possible flash of color, clearly desperately looking for something to latch on to.

“Hey, buddy; what’s the problem?” He asked softly. he was worried that there might have been something eating at his younger brother.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing, really. I’m just really bored, I promise.” the answer came a little too quickly for Blaze to like, so he continued to stare at his little brother for a second longer, taking the moment to study his movements. He knew what that craving felt like, the urge to do something, and after a second to see the signs, he accepted the reply.

“Well, if you’re just so ready to do something else, what do you want to do?” he asked after a moment to think of anything he’d particularly like to accomplish today. He had plans, but those would have to wait until he had taken care of Star. “What can we do that sounds like fun to you?”

“Hmm.” Star patted his hoof to his chin, his head dipping as he put all his effort into thinking of something to do. After several silent seconds of deep contemplation, his eyes sparked with joy and he beamed a toothy smile. “Oh! I know: we can play tag!”

Without even waiting for a response, Star leapt to his hooves, slamming a forehoof into Blaze’s chest before bolting down the street. “YOU’RE IT!”

Grinning at the playful punch, he bolted after the fleeing colt, following the flow of the crowd and keeping an eye on the edge of the street, where Star had seemed determined to stick to. Rather than follow exactly, however, he opted to take to the skies, using his experience in the air to garner an advantage to rapidly close the distance between them. Star was galloping along the fronts of the buildings, and with his path following a straight line, it was all too easy for Blaze to enter a shallow dive and land in front of Star.

The smaller colt slid to a stop before his older brother, panting lightly and frowning at the obvious defeat. Blaze simply booped him on the snout and jumped into the air, grinning deviously all the while.

Star grunted, then his face hardened into a determined scowl, and his wings flexed. He lowered himself, his wings rising to take off, like he had seen his brother do so many times before. He sent his wings down with a surge of strength, jumping skyward in an attempt to match Blaze’s skill on the feather. Even though he had inherited some of his foalish skill for flying, much of it had been lost, and his abilities had unfortunately diminished. He was able to fly above the crowd, but Blaze was already circling the blue colt, easily staying out of reach.

“You know, Star: these kinds of games are a lot more fun when you’ve got more friends to play with.” his comment momentarily paused the younger colt. A moment later, he, too, had halted his exercise to recoil from what he had said. There were so few foals around for either of them to play with nowadays. “Star. . .”

“Can we just not talk about this?” the pair of pegasi slowly drifted to the ground, the mood sullen at the next example of a lackluster life. . . one of many.

“We can, but I’m just worried for you, Star: foals need friends to play with-”

“But you don’t have any friends to play with!” Star stared at him accusingly.

“I used to, back before mom brought you home. And even though we didn’t play often, we still played sometimes, which is something that I want you to experience: it’s important for you to know some of the other foals around. Friends are good to have.” he rubbed his forehoof between his eyes. “I know it’s scary, but I think I saw some foals back at the warehouse; maybe you can try to find somepony there to be friends with? I just want you to have somepony to spend time with when I’m gone.”

“G-gone?” Star’s eyes widened impossibly wide, and his body started to shake, making the fear he felt overwhelmingly obvious. Blaze flinched at the reaction his brother had, and he wrapped his wing around the shaking colt, doing what he could to comfort him.

“You know, whenever I finally find some way to get us some bits, to pay for us.” he reminded the colt, placing a calm hoof on Star’s shoulder. He then pulled the colt in for a hug. “I can’t just stay here and play with you all the time; even you would start to get bored of that. Besides: I’ve got to make enough money to keep buying you all those apple pies that you so love!”

“Fine.” Star mumbled as he was released from the tight hug, he stared at the ground, defeated. “I do love apple pie.”

“Oh, stop that!” Blaze nudged his brother’s shoulder. “Besides, we’re going to spend a lot of time together, regardless of anything that happens: you’re my brother and I am going to protect you.”

“Promise?” Star looked back up, his eyes pleading.

“Promise.” the elder nodded. “Now, let’s head back to that warehouse; I think we should really try to make that place feel like a home.”

Star may have mumbled something under his breath, but he was still the first of the two to get onto his hooves. He was also several steps ahead before Blaze was able to catch up. They slipped down a side street heading in the general direction of their new home, walking in silence as most of the city traffic was massed in the markets. They were making great time, and the sun was still shining over the city, and Star had even slipped out of his dreary mood.

The pair had almost returned from their trip when yet another group of shadowy ponies emerged from the darkness of a nearby alley. Blaze growled softly, immediately putting himself between Star and the newcomers, lowering himself to be ready for anything.

“Ya must be that annoying little colt that managed to put old Shuffleboard in irons.” the lead pony said, sliding into the sunlight like the pompous bastard he likely was. The first thing Blaze noted about the guy slinking towards them was the practically gleaming teal unicorn’s horn waving in the light. He didn’t know exactly what unicorns were capable of, other than they could use their magic to grab others from anywhere. The massive teal stallion smirked as he turned to the ponies behind him, his dusty gray mane flipping around as he did so, and gave them a little chuckle. As he tried to turn around, the aged brown leather hat on his head flung itself to the ground, landing with an audible thump.

The unicorn flinched, then flung himself forward to grab the hat before anypony else could even react. He stuffed his hat back on his head, then glared at the two colts before him. After a second on shame, his mocking, smug grin reappeared, and he relaxed his stance. “Well, I got some good news for ya; the boss wants to see ya.”

“Well. . .” Blaze tried to gather his thoughts, though they were racing through his head. He really needed to find some way of getting out of this, for Star’s sake at least, and he was also trying to figure out just who the buck was this Shuffleboard guy? Was it that pissed off pegasus from earlier? Even if it was, how did this group find out so quickly? He could use from more friends, but he just knew that these ponies weren’t exactly in the group that he should want to be friends with. “You can tell your boss that I thank him for his interest, but I’m going to have to decline. I’ve got to get my brother home.”

“Oh. . . I see. . . too bad this wasn’t no request. Ya see, the boss’ words were closer to; ‘Get that little bucker over here,’ an’ I ain’t about to go pissin’ him off.”

Blaze crouched down, his body ready to attack anypony that got anywhere near him or Star: no guards were going to save him this time around, and there was no way in Tartarus that he was going to let these thugs lay a hoof on Star. He counted the opponents before him; the unicorn, two pegasi, and a single earth pony; pretty bad odds against him. He tried to come up with some real plan, some way of taking out both the unicorn and the pegasi: they were the only ones he had any problem with possibly being able to escape from. He just wished he was older already: he could have used being both bigger and stronger.

“So, before anything gets out of hoof, how about we try to come to an agreement?” the unicorn added quickly, his smug grin refusing to lower. “I’d rather avoid any unnecessary trouble.”

Blaze hesitated for a moment, his mind filling with relief that he just might have gotten a way out of this, until a scream erupted from behind him. He whipped around, fear clutching at his heart from the distinct sound of a terrified foal’s scream, and witnessed a massive wall of a pony stuffing Star into a burlap sack. He leapt into the air, intending to do anything he could to kick that guy’s teeth out, but was immediately wrapped in the unicorn’s magic. He wanted to kick and scream and fight, but before he could do anything, the unicorn threw him to the ground, where the two pegasi held him down.

The unicorn slowly walked into his field of vision, staring down at him as if he were a prize. He inhaled deeply, then turned his gaze to what Blaze thought was the pony holding Star in a bag. “This is how this kind of thing works: you cooperate, and we release both you and your brother as unharmed as you like. The more you resist, the less unharmed we’re going to end up releasing you.”

Very upset with the situation, but with no way out, Blaze forced himself to calm down, in which he began by stopping the kicking and fighting under the grip of the two stallions above him. He wasn’t going to just give in, and there was no way he was stopping the burning rage inside of him, but he managed to curb it enough that he could think straight.

“Good.” the unicorn grinned as he returned his attention to the trapped pegasus. “One thing you might want to know: we’re hesitant to just show the location of our hideout so easily to uncooperative ponies, so. . .”

The unicorn nodded, and an instant later, there was another burlap sack thrown over his head, and as he flinched in surprise, his head instinctively trying to throw the blinding object off, he was rewarded with a punch to his back. He was hauled off the ground, and he felt his wings being tied to his sides, while somepony tied his hooves together. Now totally helpless, he was tossed from one pony to another, before being dropped onto somepony’s back. Then there was silence from the others as they began to move, resulting in a very long, almost agonizingly slow trip to wherever these brutes were taking him and his brother.

Wherever these ponies took him, he wound up being planted on the ground, before his hooves were freed and the sack ripped off his head. He had had his eyes fully open to a flash of blinding white, which was quickly corrected. The sudden change in brightness sending a piercing pain right through his skull. He let himself recover as the noise of several ponies around him began to grow and grow, until he was finally able to tentatively crack open his eyes.

His vision was bleary at first, but as his eyes cleared up, he saw a large brown unicorn. The new unicorn standing before him wasn’t quite as large as some of the other brutes he’d encountered thus far, but there was still some kind of strength to him. Blaze rubbed his eyes and got a better look at the stallion before him: a hard, lean frame emphasized by a fitted leather vest and set of bracers and boots. His face was set in what seemed to be a permanent scowl. Hanging in a neat braid off his shoulder was a dusty gray mane, spotted with flecks of white, and while the coloration seemed to signify wisdom, what seemed to draw the most attention were the stallion’s keen gray eyes, which seemed to cut right through his very soul. The more Blaze studied the unicorn, the more he felt like there was an aura of power and knowledge encircling him. Whoever this pony was, Blaze was certain he’d just met somepony capable of reaching a level of power unmatched by these mindless thugs.

“Good afternoon, mister Burn.” the unicorn said, his voice somewhat stiff, almost as if it were corroded by time. the unicorn pulled a glass of what smelled like alcohol up and took a fleeting draught of it

“My name’s Blaze.” he couldn’t help himself; he was nervous. The raw power and aura of authority this unicorn was giving off made him uneasy.

“Of course, my apologies.” the unicorn sounded slightly amused, though his face remained as unimpressed as ever. He brought the glass up again and quickly finished whatever he was drinking, then the glass vanished in a magical pop. “Oh! And where are my manners? Since I know your name, allow me to introduce myself: my name is Al Capony, and I run these streets these days.”

“Okay. . . nice to meet you, Al Capony. Now that we’re friends, do you mind letting my brother-” Blaze cursed himself for letting himself slip, and his head whipped around as he searched for Star. The small blue colt was huddled in a corner, whimpering and staring at an intimidating purple mare unicorn. She had a black saddle on, which bore a crossbow that seemed far too heavy for her to use. She was watching the proceedings with a sadistic grin.

The boss nodded to the mare, who rolled her eyes and stepped aside, letting Star dash over to Blaze.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he pull Star in tightly and looked him over for any injuries. The colt was crying so hard he couldn’t speak, so he simply nodded, burying his face into Blaze’s chest.

“Can we go home now?” Star asked once the crying had died down and he got himself under control. Tears were still streaming down both their cheeks.

“Just about.” Blaze promised. He stared up at Al Capony, who was watching with disinterest, and he pulled his brother even tighter against him, doing whatever he could to shelter the most important thing in his life. “Can we please leave?”

“I’ll let the two of you go, but we’ve got some details that have to get settled first.” the unicorn approached the pair of colts. There was the distinct pop of a unicorn casting a spell, though it was not Al Capony that cast it, and then a chandelier burst to life above them, cascading the dimly lit room in better light. Whatever room they were in was large enough that the distant walls were cloaked in shadows, and there were few furnishings filling the empty space, with only a layer of rugs covering the floor, and a few chairs stacked in one corner.

“You see,” Al Capony’s voice brought Blaze’s attention right back to the matter at hoof. “you somehow managed to get Shuffleboard put behind bars, which is a slight problem. Honestly, he was starting to be more trouble than he was worth, so it wasn’t a complete tarnish on our capacity, but it’s still the principle that matters. You removed one of our members, which puts the creed behind.”

“No.” Blaze retorted immediately, already aware of what was going to happen. “I don’t want to be a common thug the likes of you or these ponies.”

Al Capony chuckled at that, and there wasn’t a shred of light in his tone, only a cold, dead, and cruel mockery of jovial amusement. “You say that like you have a choice.”

His face seemed to darken, as if his soulless eyes were absorbing all the light in the room. “Well, surprise, surprise: you work for me now, until this error can be corrected. I don’t care what you want, all that matters is that there is a debt to be collected, and you are the source of it all. Do what I say, and we may all be able to walk away from this significantly richer, and maybe you’ll see that there is something here that you might want. All debts must be paid off, you understand?”

“I owe you nothing; it wasn’t my fault your idiot goons got arrested.”

“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. You actually seemed promising.” Al sighed, the room seeming to darken with him, only further increasing Blaze’s anxiety. When the stallion returned his attention to the pair of colts before him, he seemed to be darker than usual, like the lights were actually effected by his emotions. “I’m not going to be cruel in front of the little one, so you’ve just used up your last free pass. Let’s try this again-”

“I can’t just join up with any gang of thugs!” Blaze cried out suddenly, his worry for what might happen to him or Star finally overpower his hesitations. He found himself accepting that they were only going to get out of here if he was careful. “I have to make sure that everypony that I care about is also safe.”

“But you will; you have to. You see, your obligations to others will have to come second until you can pay off this debt you owe us. Of course, for your brother, I’m sure we can come to some sort of. . . arrangement.” Al stared at the shaking blue colt, his expression unreadable. “It is, as I understand it, that he is the one of two ponies in your life you care about, yes?”

Blaze felt himself choking on his answer, and hating that this random stallion seemed to know so much. He hated that this bucker had pulled out the one card that would get him to go soft, and he hated that he now had no other choice. It was a low tactic, and he knew that he would forever resent this stallion for resorting to it.

“So, are you going to continue to fight me, or is there an arrangement to be had?” Al cocked his head to the side, his features returning to their default scowl of negativity, with the exception of his eyes: those sparkled in some sadistic, cruel glee.

“I want us out of here, and for you all to never come near Star ever again. If anypony so much as thinks about touching him, you’ll regret it.” he growled out, clutching his brother even tighter in some vain attempt to keep him calm.

“It’s nice to see you know how to drive for what you want, but I believe you need to be finding something that can please the both of us.”

“You know what else you’ll get.” Blaze managed to get out through clenched teeth.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Why don’t you clear any possible confusions, though?”

“Fine. . . if you and all your goons stay the buck away from my little brother, then I’ll do what I have to to fill this make-believe debt you claim I have.”

“Good. I think those are reasonable enough. Now, there's a little job we got going in the north market tomorrow morning, and I want you there to start paying us back. Be there before dawn.” Al turned his attention from the brothers to face the group of ponies that had gathered at the door to watch in grim amusement. “And as you can all see, I am quite the kind and wise leader. Now get your lazy flanks back to work: there’s money to be stolen!”

Blaze did what he could to calm Star down, but the shouting voices of Al’s goons was making that difficult. While he busied himself with that, Al had silently trotted back up to the pair, and he stared down at them with his frowning appearance. Once the foals realized they were being watched, they fell into silence nearly instantly. Blaze coughed and cleared his throat, glaring at the towering figure. “So, can we go home now?”

Al appeared to think it over for a second, his eyes actually losing focus for a second, before they snapped back and he stared at the brothers again. He nodded, and his horn flared to life. Blaze wasted no time in scooping Star up and getting ready to charge out of this strange place.

Before he even got a step away from the stallion, Al’s horn flared a deep gray and a bolt flew out, slamming into Blaze. The two colts were sucked into an expanding ball of darkness, and found themselves suddenly thumping on the ground outside an abandoned warehouse.

Noxious from having just been teleported, the two struggled to their hooves and tried to regain their balance. Once they had cleared their heads and gotten themselves under control, they stared at their surroundings trying to find anything familiar, but coming up with nothing significant. Star turned to say something to his brother, but his words were cut off before they began.

Blaze looked at his brother, confused as to what had him so awestruck, until he found the object of Star’s fascination: his flank. Or rather, the new image sitting on his flank. His jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw the brand new cutie mark that he had earned, and he found himself mimicking his brother’s reaction.

His flank plopped on the floor as his legs gave way, and he continued to stare at his destiny depicted on his haunches, all while Star had managed to gather himself and trot over to poke and prod at the image. “That’s so cool!”

“It’s. . .” Blaze tried to get something out, but his mind was reeling with thoughts and nothing intelligent seemed to be forthcoming. His flank was now adorned with a cutie mark! Although he was curious as to what this particular one meant: a white shield only discernible from his dirty coat by a thick blue outline, and emblazoned on the shield was a massive red heart backed by a pair of blue wings.

He immediately knew that the shield had something to do with protection, like he had promised to protect his little brother. Then the rest of the pieces clicked together: his interaction with Al Capony had revealed just what he was willing to do for his brother, that the heart represented his love of his blue-winged brother, and that he’d do anything to protect him. Of all the destinies he could have gotten, he felt his pride and his heart soar that this was what fate had decided for him: he’d be his brother’s protector forever.

A big grin split the brothers’ faces and they pulled each other in for a big hug: even though things had been rough going, this was a sign that things were finally going to get better.

“Alright, buddy: let’s head home now. Nopony else is going to bother us.” he said, climbing to his hooves and gesturing for Star to follow. The smaller colt was all too happy to bounce along, the horrors of moments before already steadily being forgotten in the wake of such great news.

They had worked their way out of the small street into one that had a bit more breathing room, and the pair stretched their wings to take to the skies. But before either could take off, Star stopped and let out a massive yawn, stumbling as a wave of exhaustion slammed into him from a day of extreme excitement and emotional exercise. Blaze chuckled when he saw the state his brother was in, and decided that the sooner they got home, the better.

With a little help, Blaze managed to get Star flying, and the two rose above the crumbling buildings around them. Neither had much of an idea where they were, but they could see the main street which would give them the opportunity to get back easily enough, and so they set to slowly fly that way.

It quickly ended up being Blaze carrying a napping Star on his back as he worked his way back to the warehouse. It took his longer than he had wanted to, and by the time he had gotten to the dilapidated building, the sun was close to setting,

His cheeks were starting to hurt, but he just couldn’t get over the sheer excitement coursing through his blood, and not even his brother’s exhaustion was going to damper his energy. He had gotten the little lump of softly snoring blue fur and feathers all cozy under a couple of blankets, then had merrily trotted over to the larger group of ponies huddled in the center.

They eyed him up and down as he approached, there rigid bodies unwavering in their attempt to resist his jovial attitude. He sat down at the edge of their inner circle, and it was as if his very presence forced them to recoil.

“So. . . how long have you all been living here?” he asked, his eyes darting between them almost as readily as theirs darted amongst themselves. The air was tense, and his smile was starting to take hits at the stoic resignation of stiff throats and cold shoulders. He waited in terse silence, his jaw tightening as the others shrunk in on themselves, until a cough finally broke the silence. The sound was amplified by the silence, and the booming noise echoed across the herd of ponies, leaving a flinching wave in it’s wake.

Silence.

He had to respect their resolve, but he really hated that this was what they were trying to do: he’d seen how ponies could act. Hay, the ponies in the market, while not the best example, were still often at least talking when they were bartering. The image of his mother floated to the surface of his mind, and he shoved down the rogue thought before it crashed down on him. There was no way everypony was like that. There was no way everypony just ignored each other.

“I’ve been bouncing between shelters for a few years.” a stallion said from the crowd. It was too dark to see who it was, but Blaze smiled gratefully anyway. That one nudge seemed enough for the encircling ponies to at least shrug off their frosty shoulders. They were painfully tense, but now they weren’t all pretending he was a ghost or something.

“Month-and-a-half.” another muttered.

“Seems like my whole life.” a third joined in, mumbling through clenched teeth.

“No idea how long it’s been.” the pony directly to the left of Blaze sighed.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Blaze looked between the ponies, his eyes glinting as several lanterns were lit, expelling the innermost darkness. He saw the exhaustion in their eyes, the sorrow, the despair. He hoped that they could see the hope he was holding onto: the need to provide for his brother, and the strive to keep pushing forward. He pulled his stance just a little higher, set his shoulders straight, and squared his jaw, his mind clearing as he thought of what he would need to do. “I know that I’m the newest one here, but I can’t sit idly by and let my brother wallow in this. . . this thing you guys are wallowing in. I’m willing to help make your lives a little better, but I don’t know what I can do for you all to help.”

“Try not to get in our way.” a mare across from him muttered, her ragged purple coat shifted into the shadow of the group as she retreated from the discussion. He frowned at her attitude, but decided to put her out of mind.

It seemed that the frail contentment that the herd had gathered from that first willing stallion dissipated, and the others likewise retreated to their various sections of misery.

He groaned at himself, dissatisfied by the outcome of that short talk, and decided that he might as well follow their example a bit. He turned, and his gaze fell to his sleeping brother, and he thought about how things were about to get so much worse. Or better.

He may have calmed a bit, his heart relaxed, but the utter joy at finally having found his purpose in life was still soaring through him. His heart was calm, but his blood felt hot, and there was a slight twitch in his leg, a growing restlessness in his wings that begged for some exercise.

Perhaps a short flight, sticking close to the street, would do him far more better at settling into this new place, and into his new life.