Devoran Chronicles: Fire of the Phoenix

Grief. Contempt at myself.  Guilt.  All of these things burst from my throat as I exerted my pain in the form of a screaming hysteria.  As I became weak, and my throat became sore and dry, I slumped into a sitting position, staring through the murky, blurred water droplets forming in my eyes at the two neat piles of stone dust that used to be the two people I cared the most about in this world.  My hopes, my dreams, and now the people that I relied on for guidance and care had all been taken from me in the span of a few days.  So I sat there, frozen, without purpose or guidance, and stared at what I had done.  Accidentally, sure, but still something I had done nonetheless.

I wiped my eyes with my left wing.

Wait, what?  Wing? I thought to myself.  I snapped out of my sorrow for a moment to notice that something was very, very different.  I stood up straight and instinctually extended two moderately sized, but very functional wings now attached behind my shoulders.

What in the world happened to me?  I thought.  Had I transformed into a Pegasus.  I looked up and saw that I still had a firmly attached horn on top of my head.  Nope.  Definitely still got a horn.  In the event that consumed my parents and my house, I had somehow been changed into a combination of both Unicorn and Pegasus together in one body.

It was then from outside the house, I could hear other ponies gathering, discussing what they had heard or saw.  No doubt the magical outburst had caused quite a sight from outside of the windows of our small home.

“I think there is a monster in there,” one pony said.

Monster, I thought to myself.  A fitting title for someone in my predicament.  No doubt that’s what I would be labelled.  I was dangerous like a monster.  The other ponies outside likely wouldn’t come inside, though, I thought to myself.  That was until I heard the voice of one of the Town’s Guards.

“What happened here?” the powerful voice said.  This made my heart jump into my throat.  What would happen to me?  Would I be thrown in jail for the rest of my life?  Put in some hospital to be studied?  Executed by Princess Celestia herself?  Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.  The front door rustled as somepony was trying to open it.  They were coming for me.  And I needed to get away.  As the door began to creak and clatter with each attempt and began to get louder and louder, I scanned the room for an escape route.  And then, I saw it.  A crack that had formed in the roof, just large enough for me to squeeze through.  I spread my wings to take flight, but paused a minute, looking back at my parents.

“I’m sorry mom.......I’m sorry dad........I..........I’m sorry”.  I grabbed my cloak from the coat rack and tested my wings out.  Surprisingly, they were very easy to use, almost as if they were instinctual.  In fact, it felt a little bit like I’d used them a thousand times before.  After my initial hover test, I decided to give it a bigger go and swept upward.  As I slipped through the break, I heard the door break down below, indicating the guard had finally been successful in gaining access to the room.  I flew down behind the house, slinking closely to the walls and roof, and began to run as fast as I could to the outskirts of town.  The train station was near the outside of town and that’s where I would need to go to be able to get out of town fast.  I didn’t want to strain my new wings, after all, since I had them for all of 15 minutes and wasn’t sure how sturdy they were.  Hopefully I would make it there before the last train left from Canterlot.

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It was near dusk when I arrived at the train station.  The air was starting to chill off, and I could feel myself beginning to shiver.  I tucked my wings under my cloak and to my side, hoping to hold in some bit of warmth.  I walked through the gating entrance and approached the ticketing booth.  I had just barely made it in time, with 15 minutes to spare on the last train leaving to Ponyville.  The stallion running the ticketing booth looked thoroughly bored in his work.  I tapped on the glass and his eyes met mine, realizing he had a customer.

“What’s your destination?” he asked.

“Uhm....” I said as I scanned the destination sign, “Ponyville, please”.

The booth operator raise his eyebrow slightly, scanning me up and down a bit, but eventually just said, “Very well.  The fare is 15 bits for a one way and 25 bits for round trip.”

It was at that moment I realized I had, in my dazed state, forgotten to grab any money for the fare.  I couldn’t go home with the guards there and get any, and even if I did manage to get in and out, I’d never make it back until tomorrow.  And I was tired.

“Oh.  I don’t have any money, I’m afraid.”

“Look, kid, without the money for the fare, I can’t let you on.  And even if you do have the fare, you are too young to ride alone.  Go and get your parents and come back”.

Excellent suggestion, I thought to myself.  I only wish that it was possible.

“Oh, ok.  Thanks anyway”.

I had to get out of Canterlot tonight.  There simply was no two ways about it.  Eventually the royal guards would catch up to me and I’d have to face the consequences of my actions.  One way or another, I needed to get on that train.

The train’s horn shrilled loudly, indicating it was preparing to get underway.  Slinking out of sight of the ticket booth, I wandered to the fenced area blocking entrance.  The simple chain link fence wasn’t very high, and nopony was around.  So, without hesitation, I took flight and sailed over the fencing.  Once on the other side, I boarded the rear car of the train and entered inside.  It looked like a cargo car, filled full of boxes and personal possessions, most likely from the passengers in the cars farther ahead.  The car was unheated, and horribly uncomfortable, like the outside, but far from the passenger cars.  Finding a hidden spot in the corner of the car, I wrapped myself in the cloak my father had made and fell asleep.

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I wandered around the living room of my house.  The fireplace was warm, the carpeting was soft, and my mother and father were sitting in the living room.  My mother was reading a book, holding it very closely covering her face, and my father was working at some stitching on a cloak he was apparently making, sitting in a chair facing away from me.  It was a nice average evening around the house.

“Hello mum,” I said aloud.  She hesitated a moment, then lowered her book.

“Hello Dev.  Are you here to apologize?”  Her eyes locked to mine in a blank stare.

“Apologize?” I asked.

“Yes.  For killing us,”  she said, her voice flat and emotionless.  Suddenly, I remembered everything that had happened.  In fact, none of this made any sense at all.

“You’re a terrible son, Devoran,” my father followed up.

“Terrible son......” my mother echoed.

“...and a terrible person”.

“Terrible person......”

“But......I didn’t mean to!  It was an accident!  I couldn’t stop it!” I responded, desperate to hear my mother comfort me, instead of accuse.

“It doesn’t matter, Dev.  Whether you meant to or not, you still did it.  You murdered us.  And now, you’re going to burn for what you’ve done,” she replied, her voice growing dark.  As I stared into her eyes, they became gray like stone.  The fireplace flared up and the flames came to life, reaching out enveloping my mother and father.

“You are a failure, Devoran,” my mother said, her voice demonic and echoing.  “You’re going to always fail and hurt the ones you care about”.  She rose from her chair, and so did my father, hovering, and stood on either side of me, staring directly at me.  Without warning, the flames that seemed to be holding them up began to catch the rest of the house on fire.  Soon, the whole house was enveloped, and within less than a minute, it had almost entirely burned away.  My parents screamed and the fire holding them up turned on them and began to burn them.  I tried to reach out to save them, but as I touched their skin, whatever part of their bodies I came in contact crumbled like soot.  I sat crying over their remains, until the cracking of the ceiling fell in on me, crushing me.

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As the burning wood touched my skin in my dream, I bolted awake just moments before being crushed, screaming.  It was only then that I realized that I was still in the rear cargo car of the Friendship Express destined for Ponyville.  Regardless of the fact that the cargo car was still frigid, I had somehow managed to break into a sweat.  For a few moments, I sat squinting through the darkness, still trying to convince myself that I was actually here and that it was all a dream.  It was just as I had finally calmed down that I heard voices coming from the next car over.

“I heard a noise back there,” somepony said.

“I’m sure its nothing.  Probably just someone in the passenger cars you heard.”

“I’m telling you, Frankie, it came from back here.”

“Oh right, just like that noise you heard coming from the coal car yesterday.”

“Hey!  That turned out to be a mouse!”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t a changeling, like you thought it was.”

I could now see them in the space between the cargo cars, working to unlock the entrance door.  The door swished open and a fresh gust of icy air burst into the cabin.  The two individuals promptly closed it behind them.

“Hello?  Anypony in here?”

Of course, I didn’t respond.  I slunk back as far as I could between the various stored goods, holding my breath.  A large cloth covered container on my right, and a couple of wooden crates to my left.  The two of them continued to flick a flashlight around the room, looking between things until one of them finally spoke up.

“Come on, George.  There isn’t anything back here and I’m freezing.  Lets go to the dinner car and get some coffee.”

“Fine.  I’m telling you, though, I heard something.”

“Oh, I believe you.  I’ll believe anything you say.  As long as you don’t make me come back to these freezing cars with you for the hundredth time to find nothing more than a mouse”

“Fine.  Let’s go.”

And with that, the two began to walk toward the door.  As it swished open and shut, I left out a sigh of relief and the breath I had been holding the entire time.  It was then that I made the mistake of touching the cloth covered container I was standing next to.  It shook slightly, but it was enough to upset whatever was inside it.  Immediately, the container began to squawk and cluck.  Knocking itself to the ground, it was then that I noticed it was a cage filled with three chickens.  As the cage fell crashing to the floor, the opening flung open, releasing the three birds wildly into the cabin.  They continued to become more and more agitated and with that, the two ponies from before came bursting back into the room.

“Who’s in here?!?!” the gray one yelled.  Then, shining his light in my direction, he caught a glint of my coat.

“There!  Get him!”

Panicked, I raced through the packages, trying to out-maneuver the two guards and find my way to the exit.  The two ponies’ lights shone between the crates, allowing me to gauge where they were in the room, and I continued to dodge and jump on top of, around, and through packages in the car, until I finally reached the door.  I jerked the door open, only to have my back right leg suddenly restrained.  One of the guards had managed to get to the door and was now holding onto my hoof with all his strength.

“I’ve got you now!  You can’t get away from me!” he exclaimed.

Responding quickly to his restraint, I kicked in his direction with my other leg.  Missing twice, the third shot connected with its mark, sending the guard flying backwards into a stack of boxes.  Pausing for a second, surprised by the force I had exerted, I saw him groggily trying to get back up, without success.  I walked through the door as the other guard started at me, and slammed the door shut.  Standing at the end of the car, the wind blew furiously with the speed of the moving train, causing my skin to shiver with the added chill.  Peering out, the moonlight lit the dark forested area.  We were almost to Ponyville, passing the Everfree forest.  We were still an hour, at least, away from Ponyville, and with the two ponies chasing me, I had no choice.  Spreading my wings, I lept from the car, feeling the wind immediately catch my feathers and lift me into the air.  Uneasy and slightly out of control at first, I gained control of my flight and hovered softly to the ground.  Turning around, the train whisked quietly out of sight.