Playing with Fire

Chapters

Chapter 1: Past Memories
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Cave
Chapter 3: Apate's Return
Chapter 4: Medicated
Chapter 5: Fired and Furious
Chapter 6: Grieving Before Anger
Chapter 7: Through the Fire and the Flames
Chapter 8: The Prey Hunts the Predator
Chapter 9: The Prisoner of the Flames
Chapter 10: Between the Walls
Chapter 11: Searching for Clues

Chapter 1: Past Memories

Author's Note

Greetings, I am now going to be reposting my fanfiction which I am the beginning writer, fanfic creator and universe creator of. Flusk Flurry has helped me on these chapters as well so give her credit as well, she is my Co-ed writer. I decided to repost the story to my Fimfiction as well because it is my story and I wanted both pages that can be found on either or end. You can find Flusk Flurry's Fimfiction here! I will be reposting my chapters here and giving credit to my Co-writer as well as we wrote a lot of this together!
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/491574/1/playing-with-fire/chapter-1-past-memories

Chapter 1: Past Memories

"Inside every villain is a story. Something that fills that hole in their hearts with fire. We all scream because the bad guy has been revealed. Some villains' stories can be told through their past pain. They carry those emotions with them when they make their actions, forming sadness, anger, bitterness and sometimes even joy. Then and only then, will it finally be time for the monster to be unleashed. Revenge.."

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I mean, I don’t mind you staying here. You don’t have to leave so soon if you’re not ready.”

“Heh, you sound like my mom or something.”

“I’m just looking out for you!” Flusk shouted, seeming a bit flustered.

The blue unicorn Drizzle Dots smiled a bit at her, finding the fact that he could easily ruffle her feathers rather entertaining. As he did so, he carefully placed one last magic book into a packed bag propped up against a bed before zipping it closed.

“However, to answer your question, I’m sure. As much as I enjoy your company, this is also somewhat of a blessing in disguise for me.”

She noticed the unicorn laugh under his breath as she immediately caught onto what he meant.

“Hey, I’m not that bad to live with!”

“Are you sure about that because I’m pretty sure you’ve complained more about me when I lived here than you ever have when I didn’t.”

“That’s funny coming from you.”

The two unicorns just stared at each other in silence before Flusk snorted and couldn’t help but burst into laughter as Drizzle soon followed after. The two laughed for a good while until they stopped due to being out of air. At this point, they couldn’t even remember why they were laughing and why it was so funny but at least they both were having a good time.

“Pheww..” Drizzle sighed as he lounged over his bag in exhaustion. “Now I really don’t want to leave..Too..Tired..”

“Well you don’t have to because I was going to force you to stay anyways!” Flusk smiled.

“Fluusskk..”

“Come on, you can’t simply leave when I have turkey in the oven!”

“Turkey?..” Drizzle suddenly stood up, staring at her with a confused look. “Wait, you’re cooking turkey?”

“Mhm!”

“Now I really need to get out of here. You’re going to set the whole house on fire.”

“No I’m not! You’ve had my cooking before and you liked it. Besides, I’ve cooked turkey before.”

“Yeah, and it turned into charcoal.”

Flusk gave Drizzle a rather intense death stare as the stallion only continued to smile like an idiot at her. From the other room, a “ding” noise sounded and Flusk gasped in excitement before galloping into her kitchen to check on her turkey.

“It’s done!” She yelled happily.

“Done or well over done?” Drizzle snickered.

“Done you idiot!”

The two friends were now seated at a small dining table with a white table cloth over it. The turkey Flusk had cooked was in the middle of the table while the two ponies were on either side of it with their own plate, knives, and forks. Surprisingly the turkey tasted really good especially since Flusk wasn’t the best cook Drizzle had encountered but she was improving, that was for sure.

Despite the turkey tasting delicious, there was a very quiet and almost suffocating sadness lingering in the air that Flusk noticed right away. As she cut into her turkey, she noticed Drizzle sort of staring off into space with a blank look as he slowly chewed on his turkey. He was acting quite different from earlier and Flusk thought this was as good as a time as ever to address the situation at hoof.

“So you do have a place picked out already?” She asked.

It took a second but Drizzle snapped back to reality and nodded. “Yeah. It’s not the best but it’s all I’ve got.”

“That’s not true. You’re always welcome to stay here.”

“Yeah, I know. But, I can’t rely on you forever. I’m a grown stallion myself and I need to get my shit together.”

“Nopony cares if you can’t live on your own though. Heart, Deku, Reese, Crescent, all of them. Especially me. We know how much you’ve struggled these past few weeks and we’re more than willing to give you the support you need.”

“Well I care..” Drizzle said, folding his ears in shame.

A silence passed over the table as Flusk watched Drizzle worriedly before bringing up another subject she wanted to address.

“And..I’m not so sure you should be on your own right now. It’s not even been that long since she kicked you out and you’re considering living on your own? Are you sure you can..Mentally handle it?..”

Drizzle dropped his fork on his plate. “Flusk, I’ve dealt with worse than this. I’m not a baby and I can take care of myself.”

“You still have your upset moments though. I just..I can’t completely trust you because you try to lie to make me feel better and-”

Drizzle’s chair made a scraping noise against the floor as he stood up. Flusk looked up at him as he pressed his hooves into the table, staring down at her with a serious look.

“I promise you that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and that I can do this. I appreciate all the help and support you’ve given me but if I’m ever going to live normally again, I need to leave. This is something I need to do so that I can forget about her and recover. That’s what you want me to do, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Then please, let me leave so I can do what I need to do.”

Flusk stared down at the ground, unsure if she should trust his word. And then, she was pulled into his embrace. She sighed gently as she hugged him back.

“You were there for me when I needed someone the most and I’m so grateful for that. I’m happy to have somepony like you in my life.” His horn suddenly glowed purple as he levitated something out from behind his back. “Which is why I got you this.”

They let each other go now as Drizzle levitated a small black box on to the table beside them.

Flusk levitated the box to herself looking at it curiously. “Wait, what’s this?”

“Happy early 24th birthday Flusk! I probably should have waited for your actual birthday but I was too excited.” He grinned excitedly.

She levitated the lid off the box and gasped when she saw three brand new fancy pens inside along with two inkwells full of black ink. Flusk was a writer of a few popular books she had written herself and always found herself misplacing her pens or accidentally breaking them. Some of them weren’t even good pens to begin with so to be given these as a gift was probably the best gift she was ever given.

She put her hoof to her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. She suddenly threw herself at Drizzle for a second hug as he nearly stumbled over.

“Woah! Sheesh, I wasn’t expecting you to be so emotional.”

“I-I’m just..So happy...T-Thank you..Thank you so much.”

He smiled down at her as he squeezed her tightly in the hug. Even if his life was currently shit right now, he at least knew he had someone on his side who cared about him. That’s all that mattered to him..Right now anyways.

Chapter 2: The Mysterious Cave

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Chapter 3: Apate's Return

Drizzle was awake, late at night, levitating the spell book in front of him at his desk with his magic. He trotted around his room while reading it, pacing back and forth hastily. He looked at the ancient spells, only made for those who dare to cross the line. He mumbled to himself..

“No..Not good enough…I need something more, something better, something that will help me be MORE POWERFUL!”

Glancing back and forth, his anger arises suddenly. He slammed the book down onto his desk with his lamp turned on and his bedroom lights turned off, angry that he can not understand some of the spells and its magic. Then, he heard a soft voice whispering.

“Well….That wasn’t very nice….”

The voice laughed softly as it seemed to echo around the dimly lighted room. Drizzle’s eyes shot open in surprise as to what he was hearing.

“I…WHO’S THERE!? WHAT IS THAT!?”

“Oh...I think you know me quite well actually…”

Drizzle’s pupils shrunk, surprised that the voice he heard was responding BACK to his concerns as he did not expect for it to respond back to him.

“Am I going crazy…Why am I hearing things? I… Its probably been the lack of sleep or something. Yeah.. That’s definitely it..” Touching his hoof to the back of his neck, he scratched it nervously.

“Lack of sleep, ey? Is that what you think this is? Hahahahahaha….That’s cute…”

Drizzle’s heart inside his chest started to physically beat harder in fear. Creases formed under his eyes as his expression changed to a look of terror of the paranormal.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” He yelled.

The mysterious figure revealed themself as the shadow formed into a physical pony like form. The shadow form seemed to have moderately long hair which waved with each movement like a princess. The shadow also had piercing bright blue eyes which seemed to glow in the dark. The entire form was a very dark, almost blackish blue with what seemed like bat wings to go along with it. The form revealed themself as a more “mare” like form.

“Revealed enough for you my child?..”

Drizzle looked at the shadow like pony now slowly trotting towards him as the glistening light of the moon shone upon her.

“Didn’t I...See you..Inside one of the pages of that spellbook I found...In...The mountain of….”

Before Drizzle could finish, his eyes shook with fear. “Mooncaster…”

“Yes..Yes you did, my little pony! I have been trapped there for decades and decades! Thanks to you, you have set me free. Finally…I can once again fulfill my purpose!”

Drizzle squinted his eyes towards her in concern. “Fulfill your purpose? What are you...Talking about?..”

“Isn’t it obvious little one? I am the demon of deceit.”

She announced with a bold tone as a strike of lightning hit behind her in the background when announcing her name. “For I am the demon APATE!”

Apate pushed her shadowy hoof to his chin gently, as if teasing him.

“And you released me...Thank you so much….Drizzle…”

“I-..How do you know my name!?”

Apate soon laughed at him to mock the fact that he was panicking just because of her. She almost seemed amused at his attempts to yell at her because she knew that she could end his life in a second. She glanced around the room, looking at the furniture and finally the spellbook that he previously smacked down onto his desk. Grinning the entire time as she glanced around his room, she chuckled to herself.

“Oh my, I practically felt the weight of the book on me before I returned to society. I’ve been trapped for many decades you see. Nothing and nopony has come for decades so I couldn’t very well escape, now could I?”

Drizzle attempted to pathetically understand where Apate came from in terms of emotions so maybe she wouldn’t hurt him. He grinned nervously at her. “Well…I know what it’s like to be trapped in situations you can’t exactly escape from… There were some situations that found me lonely and broken as a pony..”

Apate looked back at Drizzle with surprised eyes and a smile. She laughed hard, holding her hooves up to her dark blue chest as if to grab a hold of something to not fall over.

“Oh sweetheart, don’t try to sympathize with me. That isn’t going to work…”

Raising her eyebrows in a cocky manner, she darted her eyes towards the spell book. Drizzle swallowed a hunk of saliva down his throat nervously as she let on that there was no way that he could get through to her. He was almost certain that his doom had been coming to him because of her lack of will to show empathy or understanding. She was a deceitful being.

Apate slowly trotted over to the spell book in which she was prisoner of many, many, many moons.

“So this is the prison cell of a book that you had picked out? Little did you know, I possessed this book and turned it into my own story. You see…I needed ponies to carry on my work. I needed loyal subjects to learn my truth. Most ponies believe that I am just an evil monster who haunts their dreams. I believe that I have more truth and knowledge to offer than that!”

Drizzle's face was blank, watching her pace back and forth from the book to his dresser. Drizzle looked down at the floor in a semi depressed state.

“Aren’t you just tired of EVERYPONY stepping on you?” She circled around him, flying around him slowly while still maintaining eye contact with him.

“Aren’t you sick of all the liars? Aren’t you tired of the cheaters? Aren’t you tired of being impoverished? Doesn’t it just make you SICK that you have to bow down to those who are younger than you just to get by in life? Aren’t you just tired at the fact that all your friends are doing much better than you? Aren’t you tired of almost every relationship you get in, failing? Aren’t you just SICK OF IT ALL!?”

Drizzle squinted his eyes at her in a tiny bit of rage. “Who are you to tell me that my life is shit!? I'm trying my best, that’s all that should matter! Aren’t YOU tired of messing with ponies heads just to get by in YOUR own life!?”

She laughed once more while staring back at him. She didn’t seem intimidated or phased by his words in the slightest. She was a very deceitful being. She knew exactly how to take ponies apart and put them back together. She could play with ponies minds and make them believe that her ideas were their own.

“Don’t even fucking try that with me. You should know damn well that I am here to HELP you more than anything! You simply need to not judge me first before you get to know me and my ways. Don’t think of me as a monster. Think of me as a creature who wants to help you and aid you into becoming a more powerful unicorn. That IS what you wanted….Wasn’t it?”

Apate stared at him before finally flying down and landing onto her hooves. Now standing on the floor, she gave him a glare as her neon blue eyes flashed before him.

“Refuse me and you’ll just live this same impoverished lifestyle as usual. I could help you become rich…You could have all the money and ALL the power! You just have to listen to everything I say…”

Drizzle touched his hoof to his chin, looking down. He was very concerned but also started to seem interested. He still had his fair amount of suspicion.

“And..What happens if I do agree..?”

“Well, you get everything that you ever wished for of course. You can achieve great power, you can take down all those who have hurt and betrayed you. Don’t try to pretend that you don’t want this deep down.”

Drizzle looked back at the spellbook, desperately wanting to say yes to Apate. His urges burned inside of him so much to the point where he felt his skin practically burning for it. He still had to seek further investigation into the matter before he just took up such a huge and odd offer from such a creepy looking creature. He felt like she would only bring him trouble. It was odd enough that this creature's tone of voice was so relaxed in such a weird situation. She seemed like a smooth talker and almost psychotic. He felt that she was the type of creature to persuade him into something troubling.

“You know that I want this badly..But I’m not sure about you yet. I may be many things but I’m not a fool, Apate..”

“Oh, you’d be surprised how foolish ponies can be sometimes. Ponies are honestly so predictable and easy. But, I can offer you things that you’ve always wanted. I see the evil of this world and I just want to help ponies. The world is filled with so much darkness..I can help you change this with your new found power. You just have to let me help you…”

Looking at the sliding door in his bedroom, he slowly trotted over to it. He looked out the window just staring at the stars and the trees slowly waving along with the wind. He opened the sliding door as he sat on the steps of it, outside. Apate slowly put her hooves onto Drizzle's shoulders with her head resting on his other shoulder. She stared at him as if she was a comforting friend to him.

“Oh Drizzle, I only care for you..I want you to succeed in getting your revenge. I want to help those in need. I want to help all the ponies who have been betrayed by the filthy little assholes of the world. They corrupt your mind and try to use you like a dog. Let me help you. I promise, you won’t regret a thing.”

He sighed slowly as if slightly relieved but still cautious with his hooves on his knees. “I’m not sure yet..Okay?”

In the morning when the sun arrived to greet Drizzle's eyes, the beam of light shone down from the window as he squinted sleepily. He was surprised at the fact that he was able to get sleep since he was so sleep deprived lately.

“Well, that was a weird dream I had last night..Something about some spell book demon named Apate..It felt so real though..” He mumbled to himself.

He heard a whisper from the shadows that slowly creeped up in a smooth tone. “Oh hun, that wasn’t a dream, see? It’s all very real for you. After all, you freed me and picked me out.”

He sighed as he lowered his eyelids in what seemed like disappointment. “Of course you weren’t a dream..Just another weird thing to add on to my life..”

“Oh my! That wasn't very kind of you to say..I am practically hurt!” She said this with a sarcastic mocking tone as she laughed gently. “Aren’t you going to get up today and go to your little friend's place?.."

“Yes and leave me alone today please. I need to focus today. She is presenting her achievement today in front of the library. She just got the reward from the library for her books. I need to be there and be a supportive friend. I can’t have you in my ear all day.”

Apate touched her hoof to her chest as if she was offended at what he was saying to her. She laughed as she continued. “MY, MY! Isn’t somepony defensive today! I could have helped you to!”

“I’m not being defensive. I just don’t want some creature listing off all my failures all day in my ear and telling me that I should get revenge on everypony. I mean, it is true that I absolutely despise and hate some ponies but it isn’t like I am going to go up to them and just burn their house down because they stepped on my hoof two years ago.”

Apate looked at him in the eyes as she had a disappointed expression. She held his chin with one shadowy hoof.

“Oh don’t give me that. You know this is way more than just some little bastard who stepped on your hoof. I’m talking about those ponies who backstabbed you and abandoned you. I mean...What the fuck else would I be talking about? You know that, little one.”

She emphasized the word “fuck” in her sentence as seeming to appear angry. She would never let anypony get the better of her. This was her game and she knew exactly how to play it. She also knew exactly where his past lied and she took his struggle to play into his mind. She acted like she cared for him.

“Please just..Not today. Look, you can do it any other time than this. Please, not today.”

“Oh finnnnneee. But I will be here waiting for you when you get back home. I never leave. After all, I AM loyal.”

Drizzle simply rolled his eyes. “You’re not my wife or something.”

Apate busted out in laughter. She held her stomach while laughing. “Of course not, your wife left you long ago. In fact, both of them did..”

Drizzle’s comical side suddenly faded away. His grin turned into him clenching his teeth in anger.

“How fucking...Dare…..You…”

“Oh don’t be so sensitive now. I was just joking, small one!”

Apate was secretly not only playing into his head but she wanted to make him angry. The more angry she got him, the more he got closer to accepting her offers. She needed his anger to get him motivated. She loved fucking with ponies minds. It was her job and her talent after all. It was her one passion in her immortal life. Drizzle took a big risk when talking back to her in anger.

“OH, FUCK OFF!”

He grabbed his jacket roughly, snatching it off the coat hook. He stormed out of his house to go to his friend's event. He was jealous and bitter every step of the way, walking roughly as if stomping his hooves to the ground would fix his issues. He kept mumbling to himself angrily while trotting over to the library.

“Fucking everypony thinking they’re better than me. Fucking Flusk winning everything in life and getting everything that she’s ever wanted. Meanwhile I am up shit creek looking for a paddle to steer through this amount of shit that I’m in.”

As he stomped on the ground angrily, the dirt on the ground puffed up lightly with each step from the force of his stomping.

“She gets some fucking medal and some fucking money for a stupid book and when ever I try to do anything in life, the gods from above fuck me. I try my absolute best to succeed in shit and never win. It’s almost like everypony loves to fuck with me. Especially that little bitch Flusk. She just gets everything hoofed to her like some grand, royal, fucking big shot. Ponies love to piss on my parade whenever something goes good for me.”

His mind was clouded with negativity. He spoke irrationally while stomping his way over as he finally arrived at his destination.

“Oh cool, let’s watch her get the fucking nobel peace prize and a fucking golden carriage to a mansion just for doing nothing but writing a fucking book or two.

He slammed the door open to the library very viciously. He saw Flusk standing at the top of the little wooden stage like structure inside the library. There were chairs aligned for the audience below as Flusk was speaking about her new book that was coming out soon. She announced to the audience, smiling brightly.

“My new book is going to be called “A Sunset without a Sun”. It’s going to be an inspirational piece about two foals who struggle through the difficult journey of their recent passing of their mother. With my new book coming out, I will help all foals, big or small, relate and find strength in losing their parents. This book is meant for those who have loved and lost. Before I do a reading of the first two chapters of my book, I will call on my best friend Drizzle Dots to come up to the stand for something important.”

Drizzle looked surprised at her hospitality and her kindness. She seemed to have such a graceful and kind nature about her. He instantly regretted the terrible things he said about her on the walk over to the library. She had a surprise set up for him. He felt so guilty and ashamed for what he had said about her. Even if she didn’t know what he said, this was just another result of Apate digging into his mind. He knew that he couldn’t take out his anger on others just because some of his friends seemed to do better than him in life. He started to think rationally again and put on a fake smile in attempts to stand tall that day and to try to be confident in himself. Flusk announced once more.

"Everypony, this was one of my friends who believed in me through my journey and helped aid me through my difficult moments in life. Because of him, I am able to be confident enough today to stand here and take charge in the things that I feel most passionate about. Please give a round of applause to him.”

The ponies cheered and clapped their hooves together in a roar. Drizzle started to tear up because he felt so horrible that he thought so badly of Flusk on the way over, only for her to surprise him with such a kind gesture. This only fed into his guilt and shame more. It almost seemed to lower his self esteem. He felt like shit even more so than usual. Even if the crowd's cheers helped him that day. he knew he would have to go back home to the demon who would only remind him of what a piece of shit he was. She knew everything because she followed him everywhere.

The day seemed to carry on as she spoke about the two chapters in her book in which she would later reveal two more chapters next week. Drizzle enjoyed getting out and watching her speak about her book. Although, he still felt sad that she was getting somewhere in life and he wasn’t. Deep down he didn’t want to say that to her. He knew that it would have seemed petty. He sighed while resting his hoof on his cheek, looking down while listening to her talk about her book. The noises around him seemed to drown out in his own depression. He suddenly felt his heart beating much faster than it should have been beating. He clenched his chest in pain and suddenly fell to the floor as it was quite clear that he was having a heart attack due to the lack of sleep he had recently been experiencing and the numerous amounts of stress.

His hearing faded all around him. All he heard before he passed out was a scream and the sound of running hooves.

“DRIZZLE!”

Author's Note

This chapter was written by me and edited a tiny bit by Flusk Flurry whom helped aid me in this! Hope you enjoy because it only gets much more juicy from here..
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/491574/3/playing-with-fire/chapter-3-apates-return

Chapter 4: Medicated

Author's Note

This chapter was written by both me and Flusk Flurry! :rainbowkiss:
Expect a lot of drama on this part! It only get's more dramatic from here!

Chapter 4: Medicated

The sound of beeping from a heart monitor could be heard as Drizzle slowly opened his eyes. He squinted as they adjusted to the light of the room, seeing a white ceiling above him. He immediately felt different and almost rather restrained as he looked around him, noticing he was now in a hospital bed rather than the library.

He went to move his hoof to stretch out his arm when he felt a slight pull on his arm, noticing an IV buried in his arm. What even happened?..Why was he in a hospital hooked up to a bunch of machines. Better yet, why was he alone in a room with only a dresser and a window. He didn’t exactly like the idea of being left alone in a foreign place with no explanation.

He suddenly heard a door open and he jumped a little in the hospital bed as he immediately changed his focus to the other side of the room. The sound of soft trotting and the shut of the door was heard as his eyes widened at his visitor.

“Oh thank goodness. I thought you’d never wake up!” Flusk said happily as she grinned at him in relief.

“Flusk?..Where..What happened?”

Before his question could be answered, he heard the door fly open and the galloping of tiny hooves as all four of his children ran in with excited expressions.

“Daddy!” Young Bliss yelled as she jumped on to the bed and hugged him.

“Hey, you four weren’t supposed to come in yet.” Flusk said, looking at all four of them sternly.

“Why? We’re his children.” Honeysuckle replied, trotting in with baby Lance on her back.

“The doctors said we shouldn’t cause him too much stress. He’s already been through a lot.”

“But he’s our dad!” Sea Biscuit complained.

Flusk gave the children a rather stern stare as Sea Biscuit sunk to the floor. However, Bliss didn’t seem to notice much as she was busy nuzzling her father and hugging him and Honeysuckle remained the same, unphased.

Drizzle pulled his youngest daughter to himself and propped her against his chest a little so he could somewhat hold her without pulling out his IV.

“But..What even happened?” Drizzle asked once more.

“Well..You collapsed when I was giving my speech at the library so a few other ponies helped me carry you to the hospital and they took you from there. I went and picked up the kids from Song after that and we were waiting for a response from the doctors. Basically..You had a heart attack.”

“A heart attack?!” He yelled.

“Shh.” Flusk shushed him. “Don’t scream like that. You need to relax.”

“How am I supposed to relax when I’m in a hospital hooked up to a bunch of fucking machines and now I just learned I had a damn heart attack?!”

“What’s going on in here?” A doctor asked, poking his head into the room.

“Mr. Silver!” Flusk exclaimed. “I’m so sorry for all the noise. I was just trying to talk to Drizzle and-”

“It’s quite alright, Mrs. Flurry. I can take over from here.”

Doctor Silver trotted into the room, shutting the door behind him with his magic. Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit quickly moved out of the way, giving Doctor Silver space as Bliss looked up at him curiously.

“Young one, can I ask you to get off the bed for just a second? I need to check your father.” Doctor Silver asked Bliss in a very kind voice.

Bliss frowned at Doctor Silver and hugged her father, refusing to let him go. Bliss was a rather stubborn filly and wasn’t exactly the best listener. If she didn’t want to do something, it would take a lot of pushing to get her to do it. Flusk, Drizzle, and Song had a lot of issues with her because of this. She definitely wasn’t the most fun to foalsit, that was for sure.

“Hmm, a tough customer I see.” Doctor Silver said. “Well, I might just have a solution to that.”

Doctor Silver turned around for a moment as he dug through his coat pockets, searching for something in particular. He suddenly pulled out a large colorful lollipop and held it near Bliss with his magic.

“I’ll give you this if you let me check your father. I promise you’ll be allowed on the bed after.”

Bliss already seemed sold by this deal as her eyes widened at the lollipop and she snatched it, jumping off the bed immediately. Bliss sat on the floor licking her lollipop as Doctor Silver chuckled at her before turning his attention to Drizzle once more.

“So, Mrs. Flurry already told you what happened?”

“I mean..I guess? I still don’t really understand what’s going on.”

“You had a heart attack due to a lack of sleep and large amounts of stress. I assure you that you’re not at any type of risk by this, however, I do think prescribing medication would be helpful so it doesn’t occur again.”

“Medication?..”

“Yes, an anti-depression medication called Citalopram which stabilizes your mood and balances out your depressive states.”

Drizzle looked up at Doctor Silver with drained eyes. “So is that the only medication that I need to be taking?”

“I am also going to be prescribing you Metoprolol Succinate for balancing out your blood pressure to prevent future heart attacks. I will also be putting you on a third medication called Vistaril to help aid your sleep and get you back on track towards a healthier sleep schedule.”

Drizzle seemed rather overwhelmed by the amount of medications being prescribed to him at that moment as he looked downward at the blanket covering his lower half. He zoned out for a moment as Doctor Silver continued to explain. Flusk seemed to notice as she looked at him confused.

“Drizzle?”

“Huh?..Oh.” Drizzle snapped out of it.

“Anyway, we’ll keep you in the hospital for a week longer so that we can monitor you and make sure you don’t have another heart attack. Besides, you need the rest.”

Drizzle stayed silent as he looked down disappointed. He didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of having to stay in a hospital for a week rather than his own home. This hospital bed wasn’t exactly that comfortable and from past experiences, the hospital food was always the worst.

Flusk wrapped her hooves around Drizzle’s shoulder, slightly startling him. “Hey, it won’t be that bad, right? It’s only for a-”

Drizzle suddenly smacked her hoof away and she backed up confused. His eyes widened, realizing what he just did. It seemed the way she had wrapped her hooves around his shoulders reminded him of how Apate once did it to him a few nights ago and triggered a fearful reaction. He took a deep breath and calmed down.

“Sorry..I just..Don’t really want to be touched right now.” He said.

Flusk frowned but nodded, respecting his wish. After that, it seemed like the night just turned into a blur and it wasn’t before long that Drizzle’s family and Flusk were leaving so he could rest. His children left happily but something seemed to be bothering Flusk as the last thing he saw as she left was a look of concern.

Drizzle’s time in the hospital was incredibly boring as it mostly consisted of him lying in bed, being checked by the doctors, eating horrible food, and just really not having a good time whatsoever. He also hated the fact that he was forced to take multiple medications for certain things and no longer had much privacy.

Another thing was that it seemed Apate had followed him to the hospital as well and continually filled his head with depressing and negative thoughts that not even his antidepressant medication could stop. He normally refrained from talking to her when there were any ponies around but when he got the chance, he responded to her angrily and just tried to shoo her away. Although, of course, she never listened anyways and insisted it was her job to be there.

On the bright side, his children often visited and chatted with him or brought interesting stuff. It helped him get through the boring hours of staying in the hospital. Flusk also came by and brought flowers and chatted but she seemed to be a little weary after what happened and now stayed away from giving him hugs or other physical affection.

Everything seemed to be going well for the most part..Well, for a while anyways.

One evening, Honeysuckle was visiting Drizzle in the hospital after a morning of school and was making her way up to Drizzle’s hospital room when she suddenly heard Drizzle talking to somepony. She immediately stopped, wondering if she should wait in case the conversation wasn’t her business but at the same time, she wanted to know what it was about.

She placed her school bag on the floor and peeked through a crack in the door, trying to listen in on the conversation.

“No, I don’t need you in my ear again. I told you this once before, when are you going to leave me alone?”

Honeysuckle’s eyes popped open in surprise. She saw her father talking out loud to no pony. She put her hoof to her mouth in shock as she heard her own father speaking more words.

“Get the fuck away from me. I don’t need you hovering over my shoulder right now when I’m in such a fragile state. You’re always here and it’s bothering me.”

Honeysuckle’s expression changed to terror as she noticed that there was nopony in the room with him. She began to develop terrifying thoughts as she whispered under her breath to not be heard by her father.

“W-what if he has schizophrenia? W-what if he’s becoming mentally ill? Maybe he has dementia? I don’t think I can even handle this!”

Honeysuckle ran off crying her eyes out because of her genuine worry for her father. She loved her father more than anything. Seeing him in this condition made her emotions practically break as she ran down the hallway to get Flusk.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she yelled. “I can’t handle this! This can’t happen! I need to get Flusk!”

Flusk was currently seated in the waiting room with a book as she waited for Honeysuckle to finish her visit with Drizzle. Normally she would have come inside with her but she decided to pass today. Mostly because she felt as though Drizzle didn’t exactly want her there and thought it was best to keep her distance for now. She wasn’t going to stop bringing his kids to see him though.

“Flusk, Flusk, something’s wrong with dad!” She cried, galloping from the hall into the waiting room.

Flusk set her book down beside her and looked at Honeysuckle worriedly. “What happened?..Why are you crying?”

“He’s talking to nopony! He’s going crazy, I swear. I’m scared.”

Flusk embraced Honeysuckle and rubbed her back, comforting her.

“I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding or something. Maybe his medication he’s taking is making him a little confused or something. Either way, I’m sure he’s alright. It’ll be okay.”

Honeysuckle sighed as she calmed down a little, accepting Flusk’s explanation as a reasonable answer. Flusk was a little unsure though after hearing what Honeysuckle told her. She didn’t want to scare her so she didn’t say it but she was a little unsettled about the idea of Drizzle talking to himself. Maybe she should check on him..

“I’ll be right back, okay? You stay right here. When I come back, I’ll take you back to Song’s house.”

“Okay.”

Flusk gave Honeysuckle a reassuring smile before she got up and started to make her way towards Drizzle’s hospital room. She felt a little uneasy after hearing what happened but she was determined to find out what was going on with Drizzle.

She made her way up to the door and found it wide open this time. She hesitantly peeked inside and saw his room empty with him nowhere to be found. She trotted inside quietly, looking around the almost empty room. The blankets on his bed were messily pushed to the side this time but everything in the room seemed the same as usual..Well, except for one thing.

She noticed a small sketchbook and a pencil lying on a nearby table. Drizzle was an artist and often drew and created detailed pieces as a hobby. In fact, art and magic were his special talent. Flusk was amazed by a lot of the art he had shown her and she wondered if one of the hospital staff had allowed him to go back home and fetch his art supplies for something to do.

She looked around left to right to make sure he wasn’t there as she sneakily peeked into the sketchbook, flipping through the pages. At the front, there were detailed sketches of trees, landscapes, and even of himself it seemed. As she went on though, it seemed like the drawings got darker and darker as they depicted dark forests, darkness, and one even looked like a pony drowning in an ocean. She couldn’t quite make it out but it definitely looked like a pony shape fighting against the suffocating water around them.

And then..Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Drizzle had drawn a very graphic image of a pony being burned alive. The pony had a very fearful look on their face as they screamed in agony as the fire consumed them and ate away at their skin, exposing their rib cage and many other organs. Flusk could have sworn she had met this pony before in River Breeze which made it even more disturbing. The fact that Drizzle had drawn himself smirking and laughing in the corner was even worse.

Flusk immediately slammed the sketchbook shut and began walking backwards in shock and disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she just saw and was in utter shock that Drizzle of all ponies would draw something so horrible. Why?..What made him want to do that?..

“Flusk? What are you doing in my room.”

Flusk jumped, startled at the voice as she turned around. It was Drizzle Dots and he didn’t look too happy. He had almost a mix of anger and worry in his face but mostly anger.

“I-I um-”

“Were you..Looking at my sketchbook?”

An anger rose in his voice as he walked closer to her. With each step, she felt herself tremble a bit more in fear.

“N-No..I-I was looking for you! I-I just wanted t-to see how you were doing.” Flusk replied, stuttering a little in her sentence.

He paused and stared her in the eyes intensely. At this point, the mare was visibly shaking and it was clear that she had to have been lying. He knew that..Right? But what would he do if he did..She didn’t want to know.

“Hm..Well, I’m fine I guess.”

Drizzle simply trotted away from her to the other side of the room as she breathed a silent sigh of relief. He must have known she was lying but he didn’t yell at her for it. Why didn’t he yell at her?..Well, she wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

“Um well..I’m heading home.” Flusk said, standing at the doorway.

“Okay, bye.” Drizzle replied coldly.

She folded her ears, sort of hoping that maybe Drizzle would have more to say to her than just that but it seemed he had already said what he wanted. She looked at him sadly before she turned around and shut the door behind her.

Drizzle’s stay at the hospital had passed and he returned home after that, taking his multiple medications with him. He still had to stay on them despite not being in the hospital anymore but the unicorn didn’t seem to care enough to follow the doctors orders.

It also seemed he had changed a lot since he returned home. He was very cold and distant towards Flusk and his other friends and seemed to have a particularly short temper even towards small things. Flusk never forgot the confrontation she somehow avoided with him in the hospital though. It haunted her and made her uneasy..Especially the drawings she discovered. However, it helped knowing that Flusk wasn’t the only one noticing Drizzle’s change in behavior and was comforted by her friends.

Currently, Flusk was filling up a watering can with water as the sunlight shined brightly down on River Breeze. She found herself wanting to visit Drizzle. Drizzle of course was out of town visiting some of his relatives because his family was worried about his recent accident. She suddenly remembered she had a few things to bring back to Drizzle and Song Bliss as she rushed into her home, leaving her watering can outside.

Drizzle was done with his visit within a week and he started to head back home. He needed to drop off the children at Song Bliss’s house. They were divorced so they had separate homes of course.

After returning to River Breeze, Drizzle walked to her house, carrying some bags with his magic. On his way he saw a smoke filled sky when entering through Song Bliss’s street. He was walking with his children so they could visit their mother. Drizzle noticed the smoke filling the sky and a strong heat as he soon noticed a fire burning somepony’s house from across the street.

“What’s going on? Did a house fire happen here or something?”

Drizzle suddenly dropped the bags as his magic aura stopped glowing. His face turned into utter terror. Tears ran down his face in fear as he quickly galloped towards the house, noticing a bunch of colts who worked for the fire department surrounding Song Bliss’s home. The kids noticed the same and started running with their father. He stared at the house burning into a crisp and smoke rising from the house fire. Tears streamed down his face and his children started crying as well.

Flusk was seen standing at the house fire surprisingly. Flusk was trying to bring back some possessions she had carried for Drizzle when he was in the hospital. Flusk turned towards Drizzle and his children with tears streaming down her face. She quickly ran over to Drizzle.

“I’m...I’m so sorry Drizzle. I came here wanting to drop off a few possessions to her when I had carried some stuff for you and part of the things were Song Bliss’s..I..”

Tears streamed down Drizzle’s face as Flusk turned to his children and guided them towards her house across the street. Flusk knew that the children were too young to see this and she wanted to save them the trauma of seeing such terrible things. Her friend Crescent was over at the time so she was able to watch the children.

Flusk ran back to aid her friend in this difficult time after she dropped the children back at her home.

“Drizzle..Please..Don’t let this be a reason to shut yourself down. I’m so sorry. I wish I could have arrived a lot sooner. Maybe I could have taken her for a mare’s night only.”

As the fire was soon put out by the colt’s who worked in this area, Drizzle noticed some of the ponies taking out a metal table on wheels as they hauled it out of the smoky house that was now burnt to crisps. The metal table had a white sheet covering it with a form under the blanket that seemed to take the form of a mare. He quickly realized that it was Song Bliss’s body being carried out of the house. As Drizzle started to scream as he cried, Flusk grabbed him in a tight embrace. She let him cry on her shoulder and let his cries of agony out.

“Drizzle, you are a great father and a wonderful friend. I can’t believe this is happening to you and the children after so much happening in the two weeks before this. You don’t deserve this.. I’m really sorry..” Flusk’s voice cracked in sadness as tears formed in her eyes.

“You just..Don’t deserve this..”

As Drizzle was crying on her shoulder, he felt physically weak with depression.

“I can’t do this Flusk…”

He screamed loudly at the top of his lungs in anguish as his tears were still running down his cheeks. “I CAN’T DO THIS! I can’t live on knowing that she’s died. Even if we were just friends after the divorce, I didn’t want to lose her! I didn’t even care if we split up. I never wanted to lose her like this!”

During his emotional outrage. Apate soon appeared at the worst moment of all moments, appearing slowly from a smoky cloud of shadow.

“Hmmm...Just another thing in life that has gone wrong for you..Ey? Do you really still think that sticking around and being the mister goody two shoes will help your life in any kind of way?”

“Leave….Leave me alone..”

Flusk stared at him with sad eyes, thinking that he was speaking to her. “I...I was..Trying to help you..”

Drizzle ran off crying abruptly. Soon after, Apate followed him of course. Apate was floating along by his side as he ran off in a deep burst of emotion.

“I don’t need anyone, I never have! Life will fuck me over again and again! I’ll just be alone! I will never trust anypony or anything else ever again! I will never love again!”

“Now that’s the spirit Drizzle...You know that you can never get by in life with such a naive mindset. Friendship and rainbows don’t just happen..You need to take control of things. Good ponies don’t truly get their places in life. They just feed off the nectar called privilege. Such a good colt for actually listening to me for once and leaving those naive ponies behind..”

Chapter 5: Fired and Furious

Drizzle was walking around the town square looking for more supplies for his tiny project he had in mind for a bit. He was in the clothing store looking for some new items to pick out. When he looked over at the capes section, he paused in thought.

“This looks..Pretty interesting..Maybe I should try it on.”

Drizzle saw an orange and yellow shaded cape with red fur on it. He seemed quite interested in the concept of trying out a new look. He picked out the beautiful cape which wasn’t a feminine looking cape of any kind. The cape seemed to look short but also masculine. As he went up to the cashier mare, he had his purchase rung up and he walked out of the store.

Apate was of course interested in the concept of orange and yellow colors on him. She thought it would fit well on him. His color scheme seemed to balance out those beautiful colors. Apate looked at his cutiemark which was a paint brush surrounded by fire. As she was slowly trotting with him on her shadowy hooves, she looked at his golden mane in admiration of his color schemes.

“My, my, my...Doesn’t orange and yellow fit you pretty well?”

“Well..I always thought it would go well with me despite me not really caring for orange or yellow.”

Apate giggled with her hoof over her mouth. “At least I was here with you today to help you unlike Flusk.”

“Hey, don’t you even dare say that. She is bothering to take care of my children and she gave me some time to think ever since..That day..”

Apate sighed gently and rolled her eyes. “Oh fine, but as I told you before, you know that ponies don’t just get places in life so suddenly and so magically. As a creature of a higher intellect myself, I see that ponies are so naive. Ponies think that if they have faith or some higher power in their lives, it will fulfill some hole in their lives. However, I am a different creature and I know that isn’t how it works as sad as it may be. It’s the truth, sweetheart.”

Drizzle looked down at his hooves on the ground while walking. He was trotting slowly when he came to a stop. “You’re...You’re so right..I was a fool to believe in such ridiculous things. Ponies think rainbows and friendship will solve their issues. Well, they won’t...You only get places in life if you do the work. Even when you do the work, life still has it out for you. So what’s the point in this shit?”

Apate stared at him intently. “Now you get it..Don’t let the naive attitude of simple minded ponies be your guide in life. A mindset like that will only give you a harsh reality to face up to.”

Flusk was trotting to Drizzle’s home to check on him to see how he was doing ever since the tragedy. She walked through his door which seemed to already be open when she found Drizzle sitting on his couch with the television turned off and the lights out. He was staring down at the couch with a bleak depressive look all over his face.

“What do you want?” He asked, harshly.

“I...Came over to..Check on you to see how you were doing. Why are you sitting here in the dark with no form of entertainment on?”

Drizzle rolled his eyes. “Don’t know, I got somewhere to be. Bye.”

He walked out on her to be alone to himself. He was growing colder and colder, day by day. Flusk and her friends started to notice it as well. Flusk often questioned his methods and why he was doing the things that he was doing. Something seemed very off to her and her friends. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on why he was acting so rude though. She completely understood his depression but not in the ways in which he started to act out harshly to others who were completely innocent.

Drizzle was trying on his new cape he had bought which seemed to fit him well. It made him look handsome. Apate soon appeared behind him in the mirror. “Fits you well..Doesn’t it?”

“Maybe it does..Maybe it doesn’t..I mean, I guess so. Heh.”

Apate put her hooves around his shoulders and she softly spoke in his ear. “You know what else you need to really top off this look?”

Drizzle stared at her in curiosity and also confusion. “Um..What else?”

Apate appeared some silver like armor on Drizzle. Shining metal shoes with a touch of black and red rubies on each of the four shoes appeared. She also conjured up some shiny silver neck armor and some silver facial armor along with a tiny piece of silver horn armor which would fit nicely around his horn.

“Go ahead..Try them on. You know you want to.”

Drizzle tried on the armor which Apate had given him through her own powerful magic. He stared in the mirror at himself, noticing how dashing he looked in the outfit. He looked at himself in the mirror for a long time as thoughts came to his mind, very negative and violent thoughts.

He whispered to himself. “This looks beautiful..It makes me feel almost..Powerful. One day..These ponies will witness my ability.”

He laughed to himself. He didn’t laugh out of humor, he laughed in a maniacal tone which seemed very fueled by rage and frustration. He looked back into the mirror. “Oh what a handsome devil you are..”

“Of course you are Drizzle. Everypony is just jealous of your raw abilities. They can never match up to you. Besides, you’re not like those naive ponies..You will soon have it all when you listen to me. Have I ever failed you in bringing up reality? Have I? Hmmm?”

He stared at her as he started to get used to the idea of her being around. He started to develop more trust in Apate which was actually a horrible choice. Apate always spoke about naive ponies but she played Drizzle so much. She knew that he was naive as well. She was the demon of deceit after all.

He smiled at her with squinted eyes. “You haven’t failed me..You simply opened up my mind and my eyes to this world. Nopony will ever fail me again..”

Drizzle was wearing his new armor into town when he noticed Flusk standing around the corner. She was levitating her paper stacks for her newest book. She needed to get more supplies for her next book and she just had happened to run into Drizzle.

“Hi Drizzle..By the way, how do you feel about getting the kids back today? You sure you’re ready to take up your four children again?”

He sighed calmly. “Yes, I really miss them so much and I know it will be nice for us to talk together face to face instead of over the phone. We all miss her so much and they need their father back. Thank you for taking care of them for me and being a decent friend to me.”

As she hugged him, tiny tears rolled down his eyes and he closed them with a balled up expression. He had felt lonely without the kids but he knew that at his mental state, he wasn’t able to take care of four needy children. Flusk’s friend, Crescent watched over the children as well as Flusk did.

She let go of him slowly. He hid his face from her a bit so she wouldn’t see him sobbing. “I better go back home since Crescent will be dropping them off to my place soon.”

Apate soon appeared next to him. “Oh my, looks like you’re going to have your hooves full again. You know you can’t handle this stress! Flusk and Crescent really figured out that they didn’t have the time or energy to take care of your children. Seems to me that they’re starting to be burdened by you..”

“Maybe...But at least I got some time off..”

Apate wrapped her shadowy hoof around his neck. “Mmmmm...Let’s give it some time, child. Heaven knows that those ponies will try to make you do things you don’t want to do anyways. You should be able to be more free in your choices. How about we start...Right over there..”

Apate pointed to the street around the local grocery store. “Go ahead Drizzle, show them your power.”

Drizzle was nervous but also felt a little mischievous at that moment. Most of his actions were only fueled by pain and jealousy. “Right..Let’s do this..”

Drizzle snuck into the alleyway and a sudden bright orange aura surrounded his horn. This was unusual for him considering his magic was usually purple. He saw a stallion standing in the alleyway who was reading a book. The stallion was waiting on somepony he knew to pick him up so he thought he would kill some time.

Drizzle shot his magical orange aura at the stallion and turned his wings into dust. He formed an evil grin on his face, laughing maniacally. “That’s what you get for being vulnerable!”

Apate laughed with Drizzle. “Doesn’t it just feel good to get back at those stupid little ponies? Oh, they’re so naive! You have to make them pay the price for it! Afterall, most ponies usually trot all over you. Why don’t we change that?”

Drizzle suddenly felt himself losing his sanity and his control. “Let’s make them pay!”

Drizzle suddenly ran through the streets of River Breeze, turning ponies into paper, water, turning their manes into different shapes and colors and even going so far as to blast a stallion with a species transformation spell, turning the stallion into a lizard.

Drizzle laughed at the top of his lungs with a maniacal expression on his face. “Look at them! They’re just so stupid and weak! They couldn’t defend themselves if their life depended on it!”

Flusk started to trot back to his place when she saw Drizzle losing his control and being harsh to the ponies of River Breeze. “Are you kidding me?!”

Flusk ran up to him in anger. “What are you doing? Why are you being an asshole to these ponies?!”

Drizzle grinned at her with an evil expression. She noticed his horn glowing a bright orange. “Oh come on, have a little fun once in a while!”

Flusk soon ran off back home to confront Crescent about the matter. As she walked around her living room, pacing back and forth hastily. “He just..He just decided to be an asshole for no reason! I tried confronting him and all he said to me was that I should have some fun once in a while, who even does that?!”

Crescent stared at Flusk with concern. “Well..Maybe later you should check up on him and confront him. Comfort him to the best of your ability. I would give him a break personally because he just went through a lot and his mind is kind of whacked out right now.Try and calmly talk to him and it should help. Ponies don’t respond to anger, as annoying as it may be to try to calmly talk to somepony who is being a literal asshole.”

“Fine, you’re right Crescent. I’ll just talk to him. I should invite him to the gala! I think that will definitely lift his spirits up! A nice party filled with food, dancing, happy smiles, cheerful music and I know how much he loves a good time. I could even try to get him to meet up with the princesses! Oh, they’re so regal and amazing!”

Crescent stared at Flusk with a smirk. “Oh, and what about that one princess you are fond of more so than Regalia? Hmmm. Princess Aphrodite was it?”

Crescent giggled to herself, putting her hoof over her mouth. Flusk stared at her with squinted eyes and a smirk on her face. “How did you even know that?”

“It isn’t very hard to tell considering you have posters of her in your bedroom with hearts all over them. Also, I may have read your diary..”

Flusk lightly smacked Crescent’s arm and laughed. “You little sneak! Besides, I don’t think that I would have a chance with an alicorn. She’s so regal and royal, I don’t think a simple pony like me would have a chance with somepony of such royalty and high status.”

“Never say never, Flusk.”

It was now the night of the gala as Flusk finished off putting her gala outfit together, putting a last touch of a small white feather behind her ear. She was wearing a long dark blue dress with stars speckled about all over it and tall white boots. She smiled at herself in the mirror before her smile turned into a frown and she eyed the door to her bedroom, knowing what she was about to face.

She took a deep breath as she reached the cold air of the night. She already told her friends, Deku, Heart, Crescent, and Reese to meet her at River Breeze square so they could go together to the train. All she needed to do now was try and get Drizzle to come with her.

She showed up at Drizzle’s door and hesitantly looked at his windows, seeing if there was a light on. When she saw one in his bedroom, she gently knocked on the door and waited for a few moments. Eventually, the door threw itself open and Drizzle looked at her annoyed.

“What do you want?” He asked in a cranky tone.

“Well um..The gala is tonight and I have an extra ticket. I want to know if..Maybe you wanted to come?” She smiled sheepishly at him.

He stared at her for a moment before saying his answer. “No.”

“Aw come on, we haven’t done anything together for awhile. Besides, I saw you bought a cape or something earlier when you..Uh…” She paused, rethinking what she was about to say. “Never mind, the point is, I want you to come and so do the others. You need a break to just have some fun. I’m sure it's..What Song would want too.”

His eyes widened at the mention of Song Bliss and he looked away, folding his ears. Flusk mentally hit herself in the head for mentioning Song. It wasn’t exactly helping convince him any further.

“Look, if you come tonight I promise that..I won’t bother you so much anymore. I know I’m..Kind of annoying to you but..I just wanted to spend one night with you and have some fun. Please, just this once. You won’t have to do it again if you don’t want to.” Flusk said, folding her ears and staring sadly at him.

He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh before staring at her again. “Fine, I’ll go.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up in excitement.

“Yeah, but don’t make so much of a deal out of it. I’ll be right back.”

He shut the door on her as he leaned against the door, almost hitting his head into it. He may as well have hit his head into it..He really wished he didn’t agree to go now.

“So? Don’t go..Nopony is making you go. After all, you should be allowed to make your own decisions, right?” He heard Apate’s soft voice all around him.

“Yes but-”

“Then don’t go. Why should you listen to that pesky little unicorn? All she does is annoy you and constantly interrupt you.”

Drizzle sighed. “If I don’t go now then I won’t go ever. She already thinks I hate her so if I don’t, it’ll just make things worse.”

“Well?..Don’t you hate her?”

He stopped and looked at Apate who now stood behind him, idly smirking.

“No..I don’t.” He answered finally as he turned on her and trotted to his bedroom to get ready.

Eventually, the door opened and Drizzle stepped out wearing a black and white tuxedo with orange trims and an orange bow. He noticed Flusk staring at him in awe as her purple eyes sparkled a bit upon seeing him. He looked at her confused before she suddenly snapped out of it.

“Ahem, sorry.” She smiled sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes and walked alongside her as they made their way to River Breeze square. “Uh..So..Where are we going again?”

“The Gala in Stone Hedge! Well, we’re going to the train station first to meet up with Deku, Reese, Crescent, and Heart first but then we’ll go on the train and head to the castle-”

“Waaaiit!”

Flusk and Drizzle looked behind them to see Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit galloping to catch up with them. Honeysuckle was wearing a little party dress and Sea Biscuit had a fancy tuxedo on, also wearing a bow like his father. They panted as Flusk and Drizzle stopped.

“Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit? What are you doing here?” Flusk asked.

“We’re coming to the gala!” Honeysuckle announced excitedly.

“Uh..I..Don’t have any extra tickets..” Flusk replied nervously as she looked towards Drizzle worriedly.

“Ugh, do I have to do everything myself.” Drizzle grumbled.

Drizzle used his magic to pull the gala tickets from Flusk’s blue mane, holding the two in front of him. His horn glowed a bright orange as he duplicated them to make two more. Flusk gasped as he levitated the other two to the children.

“You can’t just do that! You could get in trouble for duplicating tickets.”

“Do I look like I give a shit? No, I don’t.”

Flusk folded her ears as Drizzle and his family proceeded to make their way to the train station. She silently walked beside them the rest of the way as they met up with the rest of their friends who were also dressed up all formally for the gala. They waved at them as Crescent nodded at Flusk subtly, noticing that she was able to get Drizzle to come.

“So, are we ready to go?” Flusk asked.

Her friends nodded as the train arrived in the station. Deku seemed to be the most interested in the train of the group as he talked about it in detail as they boarded the train.

For the most part, the train ride was of course just Deku explaining his love for trains and talking about specific ones but the conversation changed and the group laughed a few times over funny topics being discussed. Although Flusk wasn’t exactly laughing as much as the others, noticing Drizzle not really taking part in their conversation and just staring at the passing landscape through the window.

He mumbled quietly to himself, talking to Apate. “I still don’t know why you came here.”

“Drizzle...I only want to help you in this large crowd of ponies. You need me.. I am the only creature that understands you. Aren’t I?”

“Well, maybe so. I do feel comforted when you are around me. You give me the truth and you give me knowledge..More than any other pony has. I trust you.” He sighed slowly with a smirk on his face. “Well, as much as I can.”

“You know that I am the only creature that will help you tonight. Besides, most other ponies are absolutely clueless to the ways of life. All of them gathering around for some stupid party. I can’t believe ponies actually believe that a party will make their lives better..How silly.”

Apate stared at him with an evil grin on her face as her eyes and mouth shone a bright neon blue when she noticed that he wasn’t staring at her. After she was done speaking she touched her hoof to his head, gently petting his head. “Now you have more knowledge and I was the only one to tell you the honest truth. Ponies love to lie to you so much. It’s rather...Deceiving.”

Drizzle stared at her in concern and confusion. He thought to himself. “Didn’t she mention at one point…That she was a demon of..Deceit?”

Drizzle of course never fully heard her when she announced who she was. The only thing he remembered after his heart attack was that her name was Apate and she wished to help him. She was the only one to fill him with the truth, or so he thought.

“Well yeah, ponies can be deceiving but I will try my best to be a part of this night. Afterall, they invited me to have some fun, right?”

Apate slowly said in a sarcastic soft tone, a pouty look on her face. “Oh sure they did…”

Drizzle and his friends finally arrived at the gala which took place in Stone Hedge where the royals have lived for many moons. After the ponies on board all walked out onto the red carpet, the crowd looked ahead at the beautiful lights which shone upon each room of the castle. The castle seemed to glow. Drizzle, Flusk, and the rest of their friends stared in awe of the beauty of the castle.

As they entered into the gala, the room seemed so bright compared to the night sky of the outside. It was a very starry night which seemed to make the gala even more captivating due to the beautiful scenery in and outside of the castle.

They suddenly heard beautiful music coming from the center interior of the castle. A smell of sweet cinnamon rolls passed by their noses as they trotted inside. The beautiful lights glowed with an almost very light pink hue with white. Ponies were dancing in the ballroom to classical music.

Drizzle looked surprised and for once, he smiled. Flusk noticed him smile and she felt happy inside because it had been such a difficult challenge to make him even crack a grin.

“Drizzle..I’m happy that you’re enjoying the gala tonight..”

“Well for once, yes. I do find this party entertaining..I guess..”

“You guess?”

He said sheepishly with a forced smile on his face. “It’s nothing..This is great!”

Drizzle made his way over to the punch bowl on a nearby table. He could see ponies dancing and enjoying themselves. He saw his children dancing as well. Lance and Blissful Dots had to stay with their aunt during the gala because they were too young to go. They loved their aunt Gem Paws. Drizzle Dot’s sister was always so caring for foals and pets which is why she was named Gem Paws.

Drizzle was looking around the room, noticing that the music turned into slow dancing music. He soon noticed couples gathering together for a romantic dance.

He turned his head in anger as tears streamed down his face. “Maybe if she hadn’t died then she would be here. Even if it were to be that her and I were only friends. I could have asked her for a nice dance. I could have chatted with her..”

Apate appeared behind him. “And those ponies really think that love will set them free? Love is just another one of those cliche titles that ponies love to employ because they’re lonely in their own lives. Don’t you worry about them. You’re better than them. You don’t fall for that rainbow filled kissy lovey dovey bullshit that ponies love to make up..”

“R-Right..”

He walked off back into the gala to talk to Flusk.

Meanwhile, Flusk was standing with Crescent, Heart, and Deku as they watched the other couples dance across the marble floor. Flusk didn’t exactly feel upset that she didn’t have somepony to dance with herself but she did consider it a few times.

She suddenly heard somepony clear their throat and she turned around, her jaw dropping at who was behind her.

“I’m surprised to not see a pretty mare like you not on the dance floor right now.” Princess Aphrodite said, smiling softly at Flusk.

Flusk couldn’t believe her eyes as she was practically frozen in place. Crescent was chuckling behind her hoof as Deku and Heart both bowed in respect of the princess.

“I-I..Y-Your highness um..I’m sorry, where are my manners?” Flusk stuttered on her words, bowing to Princess Aphrodite.

“No, no, stand up my dear. You don’t need to bow.”

Flusk stood up again, looking particularly pink in the face from both embarrassment and the fact that she was in the presence of royalty. Not just any royalty though..Princess Aphrodite. A princess she looked up to a lot and admired. She was a very graceful and quiet princess that she practically already stole Flusk’s heart without even doing anything.

“I was wondering if perhaps..I could ask you for a dance?” Princess Aphrodite asked, lending her hoof out to Flusk. “After all, it’s unfair to leave such a beautiful mare waiting without a partner.” She smiled at her mischievously, a look that Flusk had never seen on the princess before.

“O-Of course! I-I would love to!” Flusk answered, almost a little too excited.

Crescent grinned at them both as Princess Aphrodite whisked Flusk away to the dance floor..Perhaps quite literally as the unicorn went flying through the air from the princess’s strength just as Drizzle walked up to the others.

“Wait..Is that..” Drizzle asked before his eyes widened.

“Princess Aphrodite and Flusk? Yup.” Heart replied, grinning.

Drizzle looked across the dance floor and saw Princess Aphrodite’s sister, Princess Regalia almost half laughing at her sister dancing with one of their subjects. She didn’t seem angry by it surprisingly but rather happy for her sister.

Princess Aphrodite and Flusk were currently doing a bit of a spin dance across the floor as both their dresses twirled in the wind. Flusk barely knew how to do this specific dance so she was just following along and trying to comprehend the fact that a princess just asked her to a dance.

“I really did mean it back there that I was surprised you weren’t already dancing with somepony. Your beauty is quite captivating. I suppose that just means I was lucky. As a princess, you can imagine I don’t really get to have much fun out here.”

“W-What?..But you’re a princess. There’s so many ponies I’m sure who would love to be with you.”

“Yes but, that doesn’t mean I get to act on it. That would be unprofessional.”

“Then..Why are you dancing with me?..”

“You’re special.” Princess Aphrodite smirked.

Flusk felt her face warm up at the compliment as she nervously pushed her blue mane out of her face, smiling like an idiot. “But..You don’t even know me.”

“I know more than you would think. However, I think it would be best if you knew me as well. So, may I?..”

Flusk looked at her confused, unsure what she was going to do but nodded. This wasn’t something that happened everyday so she decided to go with it.

Princess Aphrodite wrapped her hooves around Flusk’s waist as she leaned over, pressing her lips to Flusk’s. Flusk immediately blushed as she couldn’t believe what was happening right now. Yet, despite barely being able to comprehend the situation, she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss letting Princess Aphrodite do so.

Flusk’s friends cheered and screamed for her from the other side of the room as Drizzle just stood there in complete shock. He couldn’t believe that not only did Flusk receive an award for her books but she literally just kissed and danced with royalty she barely even knew up until now.

He announced under his breath in anger with his teeth clenched. “Are you fucking kidding me? She gets to hook up with royalty and get’s a fucking medal for writing a book or two? I tried hard my whole life and I got kicked out, a heart attack, a death, and at one point, my kids living with my other bitch ex girlfriend who ran off with some stallion and cheated on me? Fuck this..”

“Mmmm..Oh Drizzle. Looks like everypony is doing much better than you and you worked so much harder in life. Still believe in rainbows by this point? You need to get revenge on life when it turns it’s back on you.” Apate said, softly.

Drizzle stomped off angrily through the crowd of ponies dancing. He pushed some ponies out of his way to get through the crowd. He was so angry during this moment and one stallion had gotten in his way. Drizzle roughly pushed the stallion out of his way as the stallion fell to the floor.

“Hey! What’s your deal?!”

Drizzle knew that he could kill that stallion in a second if he wanted to. He studied all the ways that Apate had taught him. Over the course of time, Apate’s presence around Drizzle only sunk into him and slowly made him more powerful over time.

Drizzle shouted at the top of his lungs in a deeper tone as his eyes flashed orange. His orange eyes seemed to glow in the dark room with the lights shining around them.

“None of your fucking business bitch! Get the fuck out of my way and don’t you dare try to get in my way because I will destroy you motherfucker!”

“I didn’t even do anything to you! I was standing here, dancing with my partner!”

Drizzles grinned an evil grin. He was more anger fueled than he had ever been in all his life.

Apate was raising her voice as well. “That’s right! Make him pay for being a shitty little idiot! He stood in the way of you! He blocked you! Make these stupid little fucking niave ponies pay for their crimes!”

As the crowd was already alarmed by his shouting and the sudden conflict, Drizzle’s horn lit up a bright orange and so did his eyes. He shot the stallion with a blast of magic, harming him. The stallion slid across the floor from the magical blast, gripping his rib cage in pain.

As Princess Aphrodite and Flusk were dancing, the princess started to notice the chaos beginning in the crowd as she saw the stallion slide across the floor from the sudden blast of magic. Her eyes filled with concern as she turned back to Flusk.

“Flusk, I’m sorry but I must break this dance for now. There are some ponies who are in need of my assistance.”

“Of course, I understand. I might have a feeling who’s causing this too..I’ll be right back, I promise!” Flusk said as she let go of Princess Aphrodite.

“Please be careful, dear!”

Drizzle ran off out of the gala and Flusk soon ran after him after her romantic moment with Aphrodite was interrupted by the conflict.

“Come back here Drizzle! Don’t run away from me!”

Drizzle stopped short of his chase and abruptly turned back around with his eyes glowing orange. He raised his voice towards her. “What the fuck do you want you shitty little bitch?!”

Flusk gasped, clearly hurt by his sudden surprising words he was using when addressing her. “Oh my fucking god! I came here to help you! You’re being a fucking asshole tonight! I invited you out to-”

Flusk was suddenly stopped short of her words as Drizzle put his hoof over her mouth. “Please, shut the fuck up little girl. You always get shit handed to you so easily when I had to work a million times harder than you to get anywhere in life and I get nothing for it!”

Flusk slapped his hoof off her mouth and screamed at him. “Don’t you fucking touch my mouth or tell me to shut up! I’m not your fucking slave asshole! You were an asshole in the town square and you’re being an asshole now! He didn’t even fucking do shit to you and you decide that you want to almost kill some pony because he got in your way a little bit?! Are you kidding me you fucking asshole?!”

Apate was feeding into Drizzle’s mind as the argument went on. “Fucking slit her throat and kill all the ponies here that think they can step up to you! Fuck her for being so fucking privileged and the rest of the shitty little ponies. Show them your raw fucking ability! Prove yourself to that bitch that you are a force to be wreckin with!”

“Fucking shut the fuck up bitch! I will show you and all of these ponies my raw ability! You will bow the fuck down to me!”

“I’m not bowing to sh--”

Flusk was stopped short of her sentence as her face turned into terror and the ponies watching this unravel were terrified as well. Apate soon appeared so that everypony was able to see her. She stood behind Drizzle as she turned into a cloud of smoke as she entered into him. Drizzle slowly levitated a book above his head, using a transformation spell as a beam of orange light shone down upon him suddenly.

Flusk’s hair was blowing in the wind as it seemed to blow from the sheer force of his magic. Ponies were heard screaming in the background, terrified.

The light shone upon him as a ring of fire surrounded him which suddenly engulfed him in a bright shining ball of fire. The fire surrounding him made a loud noise which seemed like hard wind swirling in which the trees blew along with the strong winds.

The fire surrounding him soon set the grass on fire which in turn created a stream of fire that led into the gala. Fire was seen everywhere as it burned the walls and tapestries of the castle. The ball of fire that was once surrounding him seemed to die down.

The light started to die down which was once covering his new form from the overpowering brightness. Flusk and the ponies were in shock. Screams were heard from the raging fire that was taking place and Flusk looked at him in shock.

What was once a normal stallion with golden hair and green eyes was now a fiery maned stallion. His hair took the form of fire which seemed to magically flow by itself. He grew much taller in size, around the size of an alicorn princess. His horn had suddenly grown sharp as he opened his eyes, his bright orange iris’s glowed in the dark. He had light green sclera to go along with them. His magical armor was suddenly conjured up onto his body.

As he set fire to the castle by blasting it with his magic which took the form of a fireball, Flusk stared in absolute horror and shock of what she was witnessing. She couldn’t believe that her once normal friend had suddenly lost complete control. He was seen going insane by blasting ponies with his magic and killing or injuring the ponies one by one. Several of the innocent mares and stallions had died due to the magical blasts.

Drizzle Dot’s children were only staring in horror as they ran off to go to the only place they knew. They ran up to Heartstring’s and Flusk, hiding behind them.

“What is happening to our father?! What is happening?!”

Tears streamed down their face as they noticed their very own father going completely insane like he was a stranger to them. Flusk started to sob as well with his children as she saw him losing control and doing the worst possible things to the ponies in the gala. The princesses were only seen trying to protect any of the ponies that they could as they were being pushed back by his powerful magic.

“Protect them sister! Don’t let him go!” Princess Regalia yelled over the screams of other ponies.

“We need to go, now!” Heart shouted.

“But..He’s..” Flusk started but didn’t finish her sentence as she watched Drizzle.

Drizzle threw a wave of fire at ponies who were quite close to them as Flusk, Drizzle’s children, and her friends all ducked behind a pillar, avoiding the fire. He laughed maniacally, staring down at all the helpless ponies below with glee.

“Drizzle, stop! Why are you doing this?” Flusk called out from behind the pillar.

“Drizzle, ey?..Drizzle is gone. I am Solar Dots and I will set fire to your world! You will pay..All of you will pay!”

Solar Dots shouted as fire exploded out of his mouth and into the crowd of ponies below. Princess Aphrodite and Princess Regalia were trying their hardest to deflect his attacks away from the ponies but it was no use as ponies began burning alive, screams of pain echoing across the castle.

“Heart’s right, we have to go now. If not for us, for Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit. We can’t let them get injured by his fire.” Crescent said.

“You’re right..We have to get them out of here.” Flusk replied sadly.

Crescent heaved Sea Biscuit onto her back and Flusk took Honeysuckle. The group began galloping away through shattered glass and other obstacles such as overturned tables and sometimes even dead pony bodies. When they came across one, Crescent and Flusk made sure to tell the children to look away or cover their eyes so they wouldn’t witness them.

Eventually they made it into the castle gardens outside with a few other ponies who were attempting to make an escape. They trudged through mud and blood of both dead and injured ponies. Flusk’s white boots at this point were covered in dirt and stained with blood, along with the end of her dress being shredded from being caught on things and burned slightly.

They were at the end of the castle grounds at this point when they heard Solar’s voice all around them.

“Oooohh..Fluussk. I wasn’t finished dealing with you yet. Come over here before I dismember another pony. In fact, I wouldn’t mind killing one of your friends..That would be a real treat!”

Flusk stopped, looking back at the castle that was engulfed in flames and panicked a little. She didn’t want anymore ponies to die but she also didn’t want to face the pony who was once her best friend..Now a murderer who was responsible for many ponies deaths tonight.

“Flusk, don’t listen to him. We need to go. We can’t save everypony, even if we wanted to. Besides, the princesses are in there. I’m sure they’ll stop him.” Deku said.

“That’s..Not what bothers me the most.”

“Flusk, look out!” Heart shouted.

Flusk looked to her right as a blast of Solar’s fire magic was heading straight for her. She threw Honeysuckle off her as the blast hit her right in her side. She screamed out in pain as the magic burned right through her dress and onto her coat as she slid across the grass. Tears formed in her eyes from the pain as she hesitantly looked at her side. She had a nasty burn across her cutie mark and her side and it burned..It burned really badly.

“Flusk!” Deku shouted, galloping towards her.

“Do all you ponies want to fucking die or what?” Solar asked in anger. “All you have to do is let me kill her and I’ll let you run free. I can’t say if you’ll survive my fire though.”

“You’re not killing her, not on my watch.” Deku replied, gritting his teeth and standing in front of Flusk.

“I’ll ask this again..Do you want to die?” Solar asked, creepily smiling at him.

“D-Deku..P-Please..You have t-to go..Get the others out of h-here..” Flusk stuttered, uncomfortably moving her side a little due to the unbearable pain.

“No, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve always viewed you as family..As a little sister. Family doesn’t leave family. I’ll battle him until I can’t anymore. As long as it means you’re safe.”

“D-Deku..T-This is crazy..P-Please go..”

“No.” Deku said firmly.

“Oh well, your funeral I guess.” Solar’s mane suddenly crackled and waved faster behind him. “I enjoy killing all you pathetic fools anyhow.”

Solar began shooting blasts and waves of fire at Deku as he galloped away, directing them elsewhere and away from his friends and Flusk. Flusk winced as she attempted to get up but wasn’t able to due to her injury. Crescent rushed over and pulled Flusk away from Deku and Solar’s fight.

“D-Deku!” Flusk cried out.

The rest of their friends watched sadly, unable to do anything without being injured or killed themselves. Heart had both her hooves covering Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit’s eyes to protect them from seeing this.

Deku for the most part was dodging Solar’s attacks and sending small blasts at him when he had an opening or a chance. However, it seemed to be no use as they barely affected him at all. It was like throwing small pebbles at him. Solar’s attacks however were very dangerous and any wrong move that Deku made could easily kill him.

“What are you all doing standing there?! You have to go while I have him distracted!” Deku yelled.

“We’re not leaving without you.” Crescent said.

“Well you have to before it’s too la- Woah!”

Deku was suddenly grabbed by Solar’s magic and levitated into the air. The magic was quite hot to the touch and it burned Deku’s tail and mane a little as he was floated right in front of Solar. His eyes widened as he struggled at his magic, trying to escape.

“I’ve grown tired of your stupid games. If you can’t even hit me, what’s the point in even keeping you alive..”

A deafening crunch noise sounded throughout the gardens as Flusk gasped in horror, along with the rest of their friends. Blood poured out of Deku’s chest as a gigantic hole from Solar’s hoof punching through it was quite visible. Deku immediately began coughing up blood as he collapsed to the ground and Solar laughed heartlessly, having no remorse for what he just did.

“See? I have true power..You have nothing.”

Blood continued to spurt out of Deku’s wound as he coughed up more blood. It wouldn’t be long before he died and he knew it too. He shakily moved his head towards Flusk, giving her one last sad smile.

“Take care of yourself..Sis…”

Deku’s head suddenly fell to the ground and his eyes clouded as he went limp..No longer moving.

Flusk burst into loud sobs as she reached out for him. Her side hurt so badly but she didn’t care. Her friend, her brother, he just died in front of her and there was nothing she could do. Crescent restrained her from trying to get to Deku’s body as she too cried. Not as hard but there were definite streams of tears falling down her face.

“Flusk, we have to go. I’m sorry but we have to. We cannot lose another pony..” Crescent said.

However, Flusk didn’t move. She was staring at Deku’s limp body that was lying in a puddle of blood and then the castle that was still engulfed in flames. She could see many corpses littered everywhere outside. And..Princess Aphrodite and Princess Regalia..Were they okay? She didn’t know. All she knew was she had a heavy pain in her heart that would never go away and a burning sensation from Solar’s blast earlier.

“Flusk, please, we have to go!” Heart yelled.

Flusk finally shut her eyes tightly as she forced herself on to Heart’s back. Heart adjusted Flusk on her back a little more with her wings as Crescent picked up both Solar’s children.

Heart took off into the sky as Flusk clung to her back, sobbing hard. She had never felt so much pain before in all her life and it wasn’t just physical pain. She had lost two friends tonight..One who had left this world forever and the other still lived and caused even greater pain to the ponies around him.

Flusk’s white feather in her mane slowly drifted away in the wind behind her. It landed in a blood puddle and softly floated on top of the surface. Then, a blue hoof stepped hard on it, splashing the blood puddle a little.

Flusk’s and Drizzle’s friendship was gone..Quite like the feather that had been crushed, so was Flusk’s heart.

Chapter 6: Grieving Before Anger

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Chapter 7: Through the Fire and the Flames

Author's Note

Hi folks! I wrote this chapter by myself but my lovely assistant Flusk Flurry helped aid in grammar correction! This chapter was doozy to write! As always, this fanfic contains gore and profanity so if you are not a fan of that stuff. Please leave the fanfic.

The only part in this chapter that Flusk has written was the scene directly when Annual's flashback starts and ends. :derpyderp2:

Also, you're cool if you get the reference in the this chapter title :fluttershyouch:

Hope you like this one because this contains some sad stuff along with more scenes with Solar Dots being a provoker. :pinkiegasp:

Chapter 7: Through the Fire and the Flames

Flusk was running quickly with Crescent and Heartstrings as they were now in Stone Hedge. Quickly galloping as fast as their hooves could go, they stopped at the castle where the two princesses resided only to find that the castle’s appearance had now changed. Flusk’s eyes widened.

“What is this? Why does the castle look different?”

Crescent looked over at Flusk. “You can’t guess? It’s obviously his doing.”

As Flusk and the group panted heavily from all the running and fear, Flusk spoke. “I guess.. Do you think we should try to look for any of the royal guards? Are any of them still around?”

Crescent put her hooves in the air, seeming to be frustrated. “The castle is a fiery living hell now! Do you seriously think that we’re going to find any of the princesses royal guards in this castle now that it belongs to him?!”

The castle now had light orange walls with translucent dark orange flame like patterns pasted on the walls of the castle. There seemed to be fire surrounding the frames of the windows with orange flags on the top of the castle roofs. Each flag had a blacked out picture of Solar Dot’s on them. The drawbridge to the castle was now hanging over a lake of lava instead of water. The drawbridge had flaming torches that led up to the door which entered into the castle.

“Yep, he definitely took over it.” Flusk said.

Crescent looked at Flusk with squinted eyes and a dull tone. “Jee, ya think?”

Flusk and the group looked up at the burning sky of fire, exhaustion on their faces. The flames slowly moved along with the clouds. Most of the water that once filled the lakes around River Breeze and the waters that filled up Stone Hedge were nothing but molten lava now. It was clear that the entirety of their state of Ifera ByFlame was in a roaring heat now. The ponies could feel the heat and sweat on their backs. There seemed to be no hope left for them, so they thought.

Flusk started to zone out due to her overcoming anxiety. Just by looking up at the flaming sky, she felt anxious and dizzy. Crescent slowly took a hold of her shoulders trying to snap Flusk out of her anxiety filled trance.

“Flusk, Snap out of it! We have to stay focused! There is no time to doddle around!”

“I know that but.. I can’t help but worry about the others. Does Drizzle Dot’s sister even know about this?!”

“I’m pretty sure that she knows something horrible is going on but, we need to find her as well. If we don’t find any guards here, we will go straight to her.”

Flusk started to panic and hyperventilate. “What do we do with his children? What about Lance, Bliss, Honeysuckle or Sea Biscuit?!”

“Snap out of it Flusk..We got work to do and we’re losing time.”

“Fine..”

Flusk took a deep inhale of breath, attempting to calm herself in this drastic situation. “Let’s go..”

Flusk and the rest of the group ran off to the castle which now belonged to Solar Dots. They searched around the castle which they knew was empty due to Solar Dots being in River Breeze at the moment. They ran around the castle quickly, looking for any signs of guards. In a long search across the castle, they found no guards. Except...They did.

Flusk inhaled sharply as a spear came swinging to her neck but avoided touching her skin. A pure fire like form which seemed to take the form of a pony had a mouth and eyes which were like black holes. The entire body was nothing but fire. It finally spoke.

“HAULT! What are you three doing inside the throne of Solar Dots? You’re not supposed to be here..”

It was clear to the group that these beings of fire were some magical creation of his. The tapestries were hanging down in the throne room that was once the throne of the princesses. Flusk looked over to the throne which was now a bright orange to symbolize Solar Dots. She looked back at the guard of fire.

“This isn’t his throne room! This is the throne room of-”

She was cut off short of her sentence as the guard of fire levitated their spear closer to her neck.

“Don’t you DARE speak about the princesses in the presence of this castle. This belongs to lord Solar Dots now.”

Flusk gritted her teeth in fear as she did the unthinkable. Flusk screamed and shot a blast of her magic at the fire like guard which only blasted right through the flames and seemed to have no effect.

The group started to run out of the castle while being chased by the guards of Solar Dots creation. It was almost like fireballs shooting around them as they were running out of the castle while screaming in terror.

They were stopped by a lake of molten lava which seemed to have no drawbridge. The group screamed due to them having no powers of any kind to deal with fire, unlike Solar Dots. They knew that as soon as they touched a drop of it, their hooves would melt.

As the guards were seeming to catch up to them, Heart screamed out. “I’m a pegasus! Grab onto me!”

Heartstrings spread out her wings as Flusk and Crescent grabbed onto her hooves. They were flown across the lake of lava which luckily spared them their hooves and their chances of being captured.

Flusk soon conjured up a huge bucket of water and levitated it over to the guards, dumping it on them. She cocked her head and squinted in a cocky manner while having a huge grin.

“As easy said as done. Why didn’t we think about that earlier?”

Crescent waved her hoof around to acknowledge Flusk’s words. “We could have also just teleported across…”

“Hmmm.. Guess you’re right.. Well, no time to focus on that now! We have to get to Gem Paws, pronto!”

Little did any of the group know, the princesses were trapped deep underneath the castle.

Aphrodite exclaimed underneath the castle walls. “Well..Great..Sister..Were doomed.”

Regalia sooner after nudged Aphrodite. “No we’re not.. Do you believe in miracles?”

“Oh shove it.”

The group finally made their way up to the house of Gem Paws in her town of Robins Wings. They saw explosions going off into the distance. Most of Ifera ByFlame seemed to be in an apocalyptic state.

Flusk banged on Gem Paws door roughly, screaming out. “Gem! It’s Flusk! Open up!”

The door swung open quickly and inside, she could see four of the children. Lance, Bliss, Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit were all inside, hiding behind a couch. They were shaking in fear due to the explosions and fires outside.

“Gem, you do know who is doing this right?!”

“No, I don’t sadly. Who in the world is doing this?! Do you know?!”

Flusk paused on her words. She put her hoof to her chest as she shook in fear. “It’s...Your brother..”

“My brother?! What are you talking about?! How could he possibly do something like this?!”

“I think I have an idea..”

Gem Paws cocked her head in curiosity as Flusk and the group told Gem Paws what they saw on the night of the gala. Flusk even told her about Apate.

“I just saw some weird shadowy.. Creature.. Thing. I didn’t even know what in the world it was.”

“Shadow creature thing? What in the wide world of-”

“At the night of the gala, he lost control on me and everypony else. All I know is that he had this book that he levitated above his head and he used it for a spell, I believe. He got that book on the mountain named Mooncaster when we went hiking up it.”

Gem Paws eyes shot open as she grabbed Flusk by her shoulders. “Are you kidding me?! You both went up Mooncaster?! You’re not supposed to do that and you know that! Didn’t you read the signs and the books about it?! Didn’t you heed the princesses warnings?! Why would both of you do something so irresponsible?!”

Flusk started to feel guilty because she knew that she was the one who dragged him along to the mountain and she was the one who invited him to the gala. Tears started falling down her face.

“I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! I never meant for any of this though!”

Gem Paws sighed slowly. “It’s nopony’s fault..”

Gem Paws pulled out a book with her wing. She was a pegasus unlike her brother. She had gotten the pegasus gene from her father and Drizzle had gotten the unicorn gene from his mother.

“This book is also about Mooncaster and it explains some of the relics that could possibly be found. You need to read it, Flusk..”

Flusk opened up the book quickly as she levitated it over to Gem Paws couch. She sat down, flipping through the pages with her magic. She spoke out the words from the book in her voice as she murmured them.

“Some of the books in Mooncaster can be of danger if touched. These ancient relics are buried deep down, they should not be picked up by any creature. Some of the legends say that if one of these books are touched, the carrier can become irrational and/or see things that others can not.”

“There is an ancient demon that goes by the name of Apate who possesses the carrier and uses their body for physical damage or her own play. Some of the other books inside the mountain can either be a sin or a blessing. The reason these books were buried in Mooncaster were because of the carriers idea to bury them inside the only mountain that would possess any kind of magical ability for them to be hidden at night.

“The unicorns inside Mooncaster, just like how the mountain only glows at night, the unicorns would become invisible inside the mountain which helped aid their study or power inside the mountain. After the carrier was defeated, the books would respawn in their birthplace. The books were created inside of Mount Mooncaster by the ancient demons of the past therefore, this was their birthplace.”

Flusk’s head suddenly spun a million miles an hour as she touched her hoof to her forehead, trying to keep from falling off the couch as she became dizzy.

“I’m so stupid.. I should have read this before any of this ever happened. Why did I choose to get myself in trouble and ignore the words of the princesses.. Because of me.. Ifera ByFlame is now up in flames...Because of my stupid mistake..”

Gem Paws wrapped her wing around Flusk. “Don’t fret on that now, you have to find some way to defeat Apate..”

As the stay at Gem Paws went on, Flusk got busy with taking care of the kids. Gem Paws and Flusk, along with the rest of the gang tried their best to be there for the children.

Explosions were going off throughout the towns across all of Ifera ByFlame. Everypony was scared of what was going on and were not sure how to help.

In the town where Deku’s daughter resided, Annual knew that she couldn’t sit still and do nothing.

Annual stared up at the fiery sky. “It’s been weeks now.. Daddy’s gone and I can’t sit here and do nothing.. I need to find Flusk.”
Annual ran outside and teleported to Flusk as Annual’s grandmother screamed out. “Annual stop! Where do you think you’re going!”

Annual was already gone sadly. She had a tough girl attitude and she wanted to do something to help. She couldn’t just sit back and let the creature who killed her father win. She was a rebellious and angry teen because she knew her father was one of the only ponies that really and truly got her. Annual started to tear up as she reached Flusk's house.

Flusk's house was burning up in flames and of course Annual must have assumed that Flusk was in it.

Annual then teleported back to her fathers grave sight as she stared at his picture with tears streaming down her face.

The wind blew furiously at Deku and Annual’s manes as a long train passed by, chugging across the track at a fast speed. Annual’s eyes lit up, watching it pass by in awe. Deku laughed at her admiration for the train as he gently rubbed her long mane with his hoof.

“You remind me so much of myself, it’s crazy.”

“I do?..”

“Yeah.”

“No, not at all. I mean, it’s up to you really.” He smiled at her softly.

She smiled back at him and then looked back at the passing train. The only thing the two could hear for a while was the train moving across the tracks and the wind furiously passing by them from the speed of the train.

“I don’t mind being like you.” Annual finally said as she giggled a little.

“Good, if the first Deku goes then there will be another to take over.”

“Huh?..”

Deku frowned a little, looking towards the starry sky above them. “What I’m saying is.. I want you to continue doing what you like to do. Even if I’m not there physically to share that with you.”

“But daddy, you’re not going anywhere. We can still watch trains and play!”

Deku smiled at his daughter and wrapped his arm around her. “Yeah.. I guess so..”

The rain poured down heavily around the fire lit sky. Annual stared down at her father’s grave, recalling the conversation they once had when he was alive. She picked a small flower near his grave and sniffled, placing it down on his grave. It was a green flower somewhat resembling his green color scheme.

“I’ll keep train watching.. I promise.”

Solar Dots laughed in a ruckus roar as his voice echoed loudly throughout the town. He slowly walked through his hometown of River Breeze as his mane flowed in the wind and rain drops were lightly dripping down.

“You little ponies are so.. Weak.. It’s fun to play with you..”

Solar Dots picked up a tiny bit of blood with his hoof, bringing it to his tongue. His fangs were baring themselves openly. He dragged his tongue across the blood on his hoof, licking it. He gently panted while smiling. His fangs were razor sharp as he displayed them for anypony to see. One of the stallions was staring at him in fear as he saw him do things that were horrid and only something that a true beast of nature would do.

Solar Dots stared back at the stallion as he chuckled softly. The stallion seemed to have creases under his eyes solely from the sheer terror he was experiencing. As Solar Dots approached the frightened stallion, the stallion didn’t even bother to run. Solar reached in and lifted his chin with his blood stained hoof.

He panted heavily while chuckling. “My little pony…You are so.. Smart. You didn’t even bother running from me. You knew that wouldn’t help anything.”

The stallion only stared at him in terror, visibly shaking as he noticed all the dead bodies around him.

“Please.. You don’t have to do this.. You can be a better pony.. Please think about what you’re doing..”

His eyes flashed a bright orange as he laughed roughly. His voice seemed deep and demonic.

“You think that saying that will help your fate? That’s priceless! It’s always the same sayings with you ponies.. Why are you doing this? You don’t have to do this. Please don’t hurt me. You can be a better pony! How priceless and predictable, little one.”

Solar Dots lit up his horn suddenly with an evil grin as his horn sparked.

The stallion put up his hooves in front of his face suddenly. “NO! Don’t do this!”
Solar Dots didn’t seem to show mercy. He blasted the stallion down with his magic. Within a couple of seconds, the stallion had died. He took his last breath, using his last words to speak to Solar.

“I hope you find peace.. One day..”

As Solar stared down at the dying stallion, he cocked an evil grin. “I don’t need peace, I got revenge and none of you will take it away from me.”

Solar Dots not only had his own powerful magic that was gifted from his lessons and Apate. He had also taken the magic of the two princesses so it was impossible to take him down.

He slowly walked off smiling. The screams of ponies burning alive and taking in injuries could be heard throughout the village. It was visibly seen in the background of him, ponies were running around on fire. Explosions were going off in the distance. Solar Dots was able to withstand any of the fiery temperatures due to his magical being of carrying on a form of fire.

As he walked off into the distance and the wheels from carriages were flying off, the carriages in the distance which were also on fire, he stared up at the flame like sky and smiled happily.

“So, this is what it’s like to feel powerful. I would never want to miss this.”

He laughed in a ruckus tone to himself after just destroying a village or two.

He silently spoke to himself as tiny bits of rain dropped around him. “I’ve never felt so alive..”

As Solar Dots teleported back to his castle after leaving several villages to suffer, he slowly walked up to the drawbridge and stared down at the molten lava, smiling at it like he had just accomplished something huge. He made his way inside his castle only to see his guards of fire, put out.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

He shot a magical blast at the sunken melted fire. It reformed back into it’s pony like form.

Solar screamed at his guards as his hair flared up suddenly as he raised his voice. “What happened here! What is the meaning of this shit?!”

The guard stuttered in his presence. “Um..A pony by the name of..Flusk..”

Before the guard could finish his sentence, Solar stomped his hooves roughly on the ground as the marbled ground cracked a little under the pressure of his stomp.

“Flusk?! You let her go?! You incomprehensible fool! Do you want to be erased from this world right now because of how fucking useful you are?!”

“I’m sorry Lord Solar..We will find her!”

He walked off slowly. “You better find her or else you die.”

Solar Dots made his way down to the lowest depths of the castle as he approached the cage that was holding the princesses hostage. He shot his magic suddenly at the torches under the castle which suddenly lit up the room.

“Did you miss me princesses? You couldn’t stand to be away from me?” He laughed loudly, his fangs were visibly shown.

Regalia spoke out loudly in an angered tone as Solar Dots face approached hers. “You wish! In your fucking dreams you sick little bastard!”

Solar Dots laughed loudly and grabbed Regalia’s chin with his hoof as Regalia ripped her chin away from his hoof. “Oh come on little princess, don’t be so feisty with me. We all know that you’re the feistiest of the bunch but come on!”

Aphrodite screamed out suddenly as she rattled the bars in rage. “Don’t touch my sister you pig!”

“Oh, well if it isn’t the princess who has the hots for Flusk! My, my, my, princess. I didn’t realize just how unprofessional you were.”

Solar Dots was clearly trying to egg on the princesses and have some fun with them in their prison which was impossible to escape. He was laughing in a loud cocky tone. He loved to torment and tease ponies.

He wanted to piss off Aphrodite and bring out her angry side because Aphrodite was usually the soft, timid and shy type. He took Regalia's chin in his hoof and looked at Aphrodite with an evil grin.

“You know, Regalia. If you want, you could be my queen. I have always thought of you as the pretty sexy type. Leave this cage and rule with me.”

Regalia screamed as she rattled the bars in a very angered tone. “I would never touch you! In your fucking dreams you fucking swine! I hate you! Don’t touch me, don’t you ever touch me!”

As Solar cocked an eye at Aphrodite, he went over towards her and ripped her out of the cage, proceeding to lock it again. He held Aphrodite by her waist, pulling her into a tight hug as he ran his hooves down her mane. Aphrodite began to scream.

“Oh, now what about you? Do you want to accept my offer? You want to leave Flusk and get with me, little princess?..”

Regalia shook the bar and screamed loudly at Solar Dots in nothing but pure rage as Aphrodite was terrified. Aphrodite was timid and shy, she knew there was nothing she could do that would help this situation.

“Let my sister go you fucking pumpous little piece of shit! Let her go! I swear to the heavens that I will rip your fucking hooves off if you don’t let go of her now!”

Solar Dots quickly grabbed the bars of the cage with his hooves and got close to Regalia's face.

“Oh? And just what are you going to do princess? You have no magic or strength to do so.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do but I know if you don’t let her go that I am going to do something bad to you and you won’t like it.

With a sarcastic pouty face, he laughs. “What? Are you going to take my favorite toy away from me? Are you going to take my lollipop away from me? You small insignificant little child.”

Solar Dots knew that he could rattle the princesses up and he would succeed in a big way. He threw Aphrodite back into the cage and laughed as he put the lock onto it, once more. He slowly walked off out of the room that he kept them prisoner in. He turned his head back at them and slowly smiled.

“By the way, It’s always much more fun when you get mad. It’s entertaining really.”

He smirked and walked off out of the room. Making his way to his throne room, he sat down in his orange throne chair. He grinned widely as he lazily slung his hooves across the arm chair and leaned back into his throne chair with his legs spread out lazily and his cape draped over to the side of the arm chair. He pointed with one hoof to signal his guards.

“Find her and if you fail me, you will die as well.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Chapter 8: The Prey Hunts the Predator

A hard knock was heard at Gem Paws door when all the rest of the group were trying to get as much sleep as they could. It wasn’t quite so easy to sleep during an apocalyptical hell where everything outside felt like it was around two hundred degrees.

Gem Paws woke up to the sound of hard banging on the door, assuming that it could only mean something troublesome. She knew that even if it was Solar Dots banging at her door at that moment, she still wouldn’t be in as much trouble as Flusk or even the rest of Ifera ByFlame. Gem Paws felt that since it was her brother, which was now a creature of pure flame, she wouldn’t get in as much trouble as the rest. She knew she had to do something though.

Gem Paws swung open the door with a baseball bat in her hooves as she shut her eyes tightly with gritted teeth, screaming out. “I swear, I’ll do it!”

“Uh..Do what now?”

One of Flusk’s other friends who lived way out of state came to drop by to check on them. Her name was Reese. She knew about the events of Solar Dots because her and Flusk had been writing to each other during the entire pandemic. They never left out any details when writing to each other. Reese knew where they were located as well because of her writing time with Flusk.

Gem Paws froze suddenly and developed a curious look on her face. “Um, wait. Who are you?”

“Flusk didn’t tell you? Allow me to introduce myself! I am Reese and I am the mare that has been writing to Flusk during this whole pandemic with your brother. My town is also kind of being fucked as we speak.”

“Umm..Let me wake up Flusk for a second. I need to be certain of who you are before I let you in..No offense.”

“None taken mate.”

Gem Paws quickly trotted upstairs to the room that Flusk was sleeping in. She put her hoof on Flusk’s shoulder and started shaking it gently in attempts to wake Flusk up.

“Flusk, there’s somepony that goes by the name of Reese who is here to see you?”

Flusk turned over slowly with drowsy eyes. She was still in her pajamas and she spoke in a tired voice. “Oh..Yes, of course. I will be right down. I know her so it’s alright.”

“Well, alright. That’s good at least.”

Flusk slowly trotted down the stairs while yawning and dragging herself in a lazy like manner. She had just woken up so early in the morning and Flusk was not a morning pony. She quickly trotted to the door suddenly when she saw Reese standing there.

“Reese, It’s you!”

Flusk ran up to her and pulled her into a big hug.

Reese chuckled softly. “Hey Flusk! Are you all having as much fun as I am during this disaster?”

Reese of course was only joking when she said the word fun. She clearly emphasized her words in an exaggeratory tone.

“Fun? Oh yeah, you bet..It isn’t every day that your best friend goes insane and kills everypony…”

Flusk only exaggerated her tone as well before coming to a long and soft exhale. She was clearly in pain as she tried to make some kind of humor in such dark times to brighten her day in any kind of way she knew possible.

“Yeah..So amazing..”

Flusk suddenly snapped out of her depressive state she was in when she was dwelling on those dark moments.

“So, um. Do you want to come in?”

“Well jee, I’d love to. I’ve only been standing out here for about five minutes now. You think that I’d like to come in!” Reese laughed to herself with her hoof over her mouth at her statement.

“Yes, of course! Come inside and grab a seat!”

Reese trotted in as Flusk shut the door with her magic. Reese looked around at the pleasantly decorated home before turning her attention to Gem who was sitting on an arm chair, petting her grey and white cat, Crunchy. The cat softly stretched before curling up onto Gem’s lap. Reese smiled a little bit at them before she chose a spot on the couch and Flusk sat beside her.

“So uh..What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you to show up. Actually..I was wondering how you were doing as well since you kind of..Disappeared during the gala.”

“Oh, right, I suppose I should have warned you guys ahead of time but uh..I knew about Solar before he decided to go all insane and all.”

“What?!” Flusk gasped. “But how?!”

“You see, I have this freaky ability where I can predict things before they happen. It’s fucking weird and almost scary to deal with. When I was on the train, I got a vision of him and the castle burnt to a crisp so I just decided, fuck it, I wasn’t going to get wrapped up in that shit. So, I turned right around and took the train back home. Kind of selfish of me now that I realize. But, you all seem like you’re in one piece anyhow, right?”

Flusk’s eyes widened as Reese could suddenly tell she hit a nerve there by saying that. Flusk lowered her head so her blue mane cast a shadow over her eyes as she stared sadly at the floor.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me..Who died.”

“D-Deku..”

“God damn it!”

Reese slammed her hoof on a nearby table which startled Flusk from her sadness. Reese’s face wasn’t one of sadness but rather anger which surprised Flusk. She knew Reese wasn’t exactly known for being calm and collected but even when she found out one of her dear friends had died, she was angry? It didn’t make sense.

“Please don’t break my table. That was a lot of bits.” Gem piped up.

“You don’t know how many dead bodies I saw on the way here..A-And now..Deku’s gone?..This is absolute horseshit.” Reese said, ignoring Drizzle’s sister.

“I know..I wish..I wish I knew sooner about Drizzle. I could have prevented Deku’s death and maybe..You know..Talked some sense into him.”

“I don’t think you could have. That dude seemed about ready to kick the bucket a few times. We all knew there was something wrong with him but there was nothing we could have done.”

A silence passed through the room as Gem continued to pet her cat with her hoof and give a death stare to Reese, rather annoyed at the fact Reese ignored her and technically insulted her brother. Even if her brother had gone down the wrong path, she still cared for him and loved him. He was her family after all. Even if he had caused thousands of ponies lives to be taken.

“You know what..I’ve been wondering this for a while actually.”

Flusk looked up and met Reese’s stern eyes. They were still full of the pain of grief but they were full of curiosity at the same time too. Maybe even a bit of confusion.

“Why do you talk about him with so much care? You do realize he’s responsible for so many ponies dying. Not only that, but he betrayed your trust and he acted like he didn’t even care about you at all. To me, he isn’t worth worrying about at all.”

“Excuse me but if you’re going to talk about my brother like that, you can get out.” Gem stood up suddenly, half shouting at Reese.

“Flusk invited me in here you bitch. You can’t just fucking kick me out.”

“This is my house asshole! If you wish to start shit with me then get the fuck out of my home bitch!”

Flusk folded her ears, sinking into the couch more. She really didn’t want to be a part of this arguing, neither did she want Reese and Gem to fight. She didn’t necessarily agree with what Reese said about Drizzle but she also didn’t agree with what Gem was saying either. It was rather harsh and unnecessary. In fact, all of it was at this point.

“That monster you call a brother is probably just going to burn this damn house down anyways! Why bother fighting over a house that most likely will just be used as firewood?!”

“Call him a monster one more time and you will see exactly what the fuck will happen to-”

“STOP!”

All three mares looked over to the side, seeing Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit standing there. Honeysuckle had her ears folded as she stood her ground and Sea Biscuit cowered behind his older sister.

“Please..Stop fighting. It’s not helping.” Honeysuckle hesitantly said.

“You brought his children over here?” Reese asked.

“Well yeah, Flusk’s house burned down and it’s not exactly safe in River Breeze..Flusk told me Drizzle hit there pretty hard.” Gem answered, a little snappy at Reese.

“All those unfinished manuscripts..Burned to a crisp.”

Flusk teared up at the thought as Reese only rolled her eyes and trotted away from the living room. Reese turned her attention to a window where she could see large clouds of smoke in the distance, most likely from River Breeze.

“Well, the kid’s got a point. We’re not going to defeat that Solar guy by arguing here. Besides, he’s got guards and from my prediction, you’ve already encountered them before, correct?”

“Yeah..You’re right.” Flusk replied.

“So, if he’s powerful, they’re obviously going to be powerful as well. And since you were once his best friend, I’m pretty sure he’s looking for you so he can get revenge on you. I don’t know why but villains don’t usually make any sense, so bare with me.”

Reese flew through the air for a moment before landing in front of Flusk, her hooves making a clop noise when they hit the floor.

“He most likely has his guards searching for you right now and if that’s true, they’ll find you soon. Your little friend’s house is going to give it all away and this home really will become his personal campfire. We need to leave before that happens.”

“But where? There’s nowhere to go. He’s destroyed everything.”

“Heh, you obviously haven’t traveled much. Neither has he. You’ve got a real advantage here.” Reese replied, smiling slyly at Flusk. “All we need to do is plan a way out of here without getting caught.”

“Right, five grown mares and four children. You’ll never be able to pull it off.” Gem Paws suddenly said.

“Who said you were coming?” Reese answered rather coldly.

“Of course I’m coming bitch. Don’t even dare test me. If I don’t come, then my house will be up in flames as well. Besides, these are my nieces and nephews so of course I’m coming you dense bitch. I am related to these children, you are not.”

Gem Paws looked like she was about to literally kill Reese on the spot when Flusk got in the way of both of them quickly.

“Remember what Honeysuckle said. Arguing isn’t the answer!” Flusk said, her voice a little panicked.

Gem Paws spoke up. “How am I supposed to not argue when she won’t shut the fuck up?! The bitch is in my house for one and for two, I didn’t have to take her in.”

“Do I need to learn a silence spell to get you both to stop or what.” Flusk replied, folding her ears in annoyance.

“Fine, I’ll stop. But I’ve got a plan so listen up. I think it’ll work smoothly if we follow it. That is, if Gem is willing to follow it.”

Annual stared up at the sky which was engulfed in flames. At her fathers grave site, she finally had the solidarity to scream at the top of her lungs. She screamed loudly, letting out a ruckus cry. She hugged his tombstone which now had flowers upon it and a picture of him.

Her voice loudly cracked in between her crying screams. “Dad! No! Don’t leave me! Come back! I can’t make it without you! Don’t leave me, please! No!”

Her screams started to crack as she was having a mental breakdown. She looked up into the flame filled sky and screamed out in frustration, finally letting off some of the steam that she had kept in so much around her grandmother. Her face was visibly red with anger. She almost cursed out to the sky as if she was speaking to Solar Dots directly himself.

“I fucking hate you bastard! When I find you, I will fucking kill you! I will kill you just like you killed my father! Fuck you and everything you fucking stand for! I hate you! I hope you get buried the fuck alive! You will pay for what you did to my father!”

She panted roughly after her enraged moment, catching her breath from screaming. She had finally let off some steam and vented to herself. She had been keeping in such raw emotion for so long during this terrible crisis because she didn’t want to upset her grandmother. She cried out so loudly and hard because she knew that she had time to herself to be able to do so. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to take on Solar Dots but at that moment, she would say anything because of how angry she was.

She stared up at the flame like sky which had smoke slowly cascading everywhere across the sky as she let out more tears. The tears slowly streamed down her face because she had calmed down a little since her fit of rage.

“Daddy..Help me. Please give me a signal or a sign..Anything really. Help me daddy...Don’t leave me all alone now..Daddy, I miss you so much...”

She cried silently to herself as she threw herself onto his grave. She felt like there was no hope anymore.

She soon heard a soft breeze whistling in the wind. She heard the soft quiet whispers from the wind blowing around her and into her ears. It seemed to have an angelic tone.

“Save yourself love. Don’t cry over me..”

Annual quickly raised her head after hearing those words from nowhere. “I..Dad? Who’s there? Daddy! Is that you?”

A tiny toy train appeared beside her hooves from Deku’s magical creation of his own. Her eyes shot open from shock. She smiled big as her tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

She screamed out in happy tears. “Daddy, it is you! Daddy!”

She picked up the tiny toy train in her hooves and seemed to hug it tightly as much as she wanted to hug her father. Deku suddenly appeared in front of her as his spirit.

Annual was so deeply touched and happy in this moment. She ran into her fathers arms for the last time as she spoke out loudly to him.

“Daddy..I’ve missed you so much. I love you so much daddy!”

“You do know that I will have to go soon though, don’t you? I wish I could stay forever as well.”

“I know daddy..But let’s just have this one moment to ourselves. While it lasts..”

“Of course my princess..”

They hugged for so long and wouldn’t let go of each other until it was his time to fade away back into the heavens. He knew he could use this one chance he had to see her again, even if it was just for a while. He summoned up all his power to come back to her for a few moments. The moment seemed so magical between the two. She finally got to see her father again for a few more moments and hold him in her embrace. He finally got to see his daughter again and let her know that she was going to be okay.

“I may not be here physically but I will always be with you in my spirit, no matter where you are or what you do. For now, you have to keep safe with your grandmother. Go home to her my love. She’s worried sick about you..”

“I promise that I will daddy..”

Deku started to fade away from her as he said his finale words to her before he left. “Remember everything that I’ve told you and never forget all the good moments we have had. Never forget that my love..”

He finally faded away before Annual spoke out in joyous tears. “I’ll never ever forget that daddy..Never..”

Solar Dot’s guards banged loudly on Gem’s door with their fire like hooves. It seemed that they had found their hiding place just like Reese had said they would and there were at least five of them here. Solar must have been set on capturing Flusk and her friends.

“By order of Lord Solar, we order Flusk Flurry to surrender at once or else we will take action immediately.” One of the guards demanded.

The door swung open suddenly as Flusk herself walked out with her head hung downwards and her ears folded. The others hung back behind her but they also stood close, all having a defeated look on their faces. Gem even had the children close to her with Lance and Bliss on her back and Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit beside her.

A guard suddenly placed a spear at Flusk’s neck firmly in defense. She flinched a bit at the act, not expecting it.

“Do you surrender or not?”

“We surrender!” She said, her voice a bit shaky in fear.

The spear was removed from her neck and she relaxed once more. Flusk looked back at Reese who gave her a small wink and a smile in approval before she turned her attention back to the guards in front of them.

“Lord Solar has demanded for us to escort you to the castle. We will leave at once.”

The guards suddenly formed a small circle around the group. Some now being behind the others, some at the sides, and two at the front where Flusk and Crescent stood.

The guards pushed Gem and the children to go as Gem fought back her rising anger. She knew that if she lost it at these guards, they would only kill her and the others. Releasing her anger on them would not benefit them in any way, even if she really wanted to.

The group trotted down deserted towns and crumbling pathways as they made their way to Solar Dot’s castle, the same place they had been before with their first encounter of the fire guard. This was Gem and Drizzle’s children’s first time and they all looked horrified and amazed at the sight of the castle. Reese however seemed to have seen this castle before in her visions and didn’t seem too impressed.

As they walked across the bridge that was above lava, Sea Biscuit and Honeysuckle clung to Gem Paws legs a little, terrified of what was below them. Gem couldn’t really reassure them like she wanted to considering the guards were pushing them toward the castle but she looked back at them both and gave them a comforting smile.

They finally stepped on the bright red carpet of the castle as they admired the fire-like decoration everywhere. Flusk wasn’t too impressed by all the red and orange colors surrounding her but that was the least of her worries right now.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Flusk Flurry. I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. Then again, your power is nothing compared to my creations so I expected this.”

Flusk and the others remained silent, simply just staring at him. He narrowed his eyes as he approached Flusk, putting his hoof under her chin and roughly moving her face from side to side so he could inspect her.

“Not a scratch..Interesting..You didn’t even put up a fight. You’re not much of a ‘flurry’ as I previously thought. Flurries are considered strong and windy but you’re nothing but weak and pathetic. You wear that name horribly.”

He noticed a bit of tension in her eyes but otherwise, she didn’t respond to that.

Solar turned his attention to the rest of the group and his eyes widened upon seeing Gem Paws and his children. Something almost flickered within his orange eyes before they returned normal again.

As his eyes flickered from Drizzle’s eye color to Solar Dot’s, inside the conscience of the form that was Solar Dots was nothing but Drizzle trying to escape Apate’s hold on him.

Drizzle Dots screamed out inside his own conscience. “Apate, let me go! Don’t do this! I know I wanted control over the ponies but this is too much!”

“NO! NEVER! I will never let go of you!” She laughed evilly inside the conscience of Solar.

“Don’t hurt my children! Don’t hurt my sister!”

“Oh, sweetheart..I need to keep them alive. Afterall, they’re precious to you right? They could be of major use to me..”

As everything snapped back to reality, Solar Dots eyes faded back to his orange color.

“Oh, my sister and my wonderful children..Come hither! I have so much to show you in what I’ve done with my glorious creations!”

“Drizzle?..What happened to you?” Gem asked, a concerned look on her face.

“I am no longer Drizzle Dots. I’m a stronger pony now with great power.” Solar gestured towards himself and began walking another way. “Come now, I’d like to show you a few of my greatest creations. It’s only fair of me to give you a better explanation after all.”

Gem looked over to the others and then Solar again. “But wait, what about them?”

Reese suddenly started to shake her head at Gem, trying to communicate to her that this wasn’t part of the plan. Gem seemed to notice and looked uneasily at Solar again.

“Them? Oh pfft, don’t worry about them. This is a family matter.” Solar responded, looking rather coldly at the rest of the group. More specifically Flusk.

Gem sighed and started to walk with Solar, his children following closely behind her. Solar looked behind him one last time as his eyes seemed to suddenly pulse orange and then return back to the way they were.

The guards suddenly jolted awake in their places as they surrounded the group more closely. They started to escort them to the dungeons of the castle, just like they had planned.

The air was a lot heavier and rather suffocating in the dungeon considering it was right next to Solar’s lava pits. The dungeon had rusty bars and grimy floors. It definitely would be considered a health hazard staying in this place. Not that Solar ever cared about his prisoners.

Flusk coughed a bit, inhaling the dirty air along with a few ashes. She wondered if he ever burned ponies alive down here as punishment. It sure smelled like he did. Other than the smell though, she really wasn't looking forward to being pushed anywhere near these cages.

“Look, there’s the princesses!” Heart whispered.

Flusk eyes widened as she looked to her left, seeing both Princess Aphrodite and Princess Regalia both in a cage. She never seen them look so weak and defeated before than she did now. They both seemed to be sleeping out of exhaustion or simply just didn’t have the strength to raise their head and look towards the group. Flusk felt anger bubbling up inside her upon seeing Princess Aphrodite locked up in a place like this..It wasn’t fair at all. Who knew what Solar had done to them here..Flusk didn’t want to know as much as she did at the same time.

Flusk and the others glanced over to Reese silently as Reese nodded, a mischievous smirk appearing on her face. Reese suddenly bucked out behind her and knocked over a guard with her back hooves, alerting the other guards around them.

“Flusk, duck!” Reese called out.

Flusk did as she was told and ducked, a guard punching the air right where her head was. Heart used this to her advantage and flipped the guard over, slamming him to the ground.

“They’re going to try and use their fire on us. Crescent, do you have the water?” Reese asked.

“Yea but if there’s too much movement going on, I might spill this.” Crescent said, holding a small bucket of water with her magic.

“Flusk, Heart, distract them. It’ll work, I promise.”

“What do you mean distract them?!” Flusk asked.
Heart suddenly picked up Flusk by her arms and flew into the air. The guards seemed distracted by this action as they shot fire at Heart and Flusk. Flusk screamed, covering her eyes with her hooves as Heart darted here and there, dodging the fire.

“Give me the bucket of water!” Reese shouted.

Crescent levitated the bucket of water to Reese as she grasped it into her hooves, flying up above the guards. She dumped it above them, showering the guards with water. All the ponies heard was a slight sizzling noise and a bit of steam but the water seemed to have no effect on them.

“What?! How did that not work!” Reese shouted angrily.

“I don’t know, you’re the one who can predict things!” Flusk replied.

“I can’t predict everything, idiot!”

The guards shot more fire at Flusk and Heart as Heart flew the other way. The fire just caught the end of Heart’s tail as it sizzled and burned the end.

“You could have predicted that!” Flusk shouted.

“Do you even know how prediction works?!”

Heart set her and Flusk on the ground as they all regrouped. Unfortunately, the guards were pushing them all into a wall, trapping them. At least when they were separate, they could have directed their attention elsewhere.

“Well if you’re so sure of my prediction, why don’t you use your little unicorn magic, huh? You unicorns look all pretty with those stupid horns and don’t even know how to use them!”

“It’s not my fault that my magic doesn’t work!” Flusk replied angrily.

Crescent’s horn glowed as she shot a blast at the guards in an attempt to take them down. They seemed momentarily stunned but they recovered again within a few seconds.

“Wait, the magic did something to them..Water put them out before but they’re stronger now..The magic stopped them for a moment but they recovered..Why don’t we combine magic and water?” Flusk thought out loud.

“It’s worth a shot.” Crescent said.

Crescent’s horn glowed again except the aura started to change. It turned into a sparkly clear liquid that spun around her horn. It started to build up around her horn before she suddenly let it lose, shooting it at the guards in front of them. The water splashed on them as loud sizzling and steam came out of the guards. Crescent continued to shoot them with water until they were nothing but a pile of ashes on the grimy floor.

“Nice idea, Flusk! It worked!” Crescent smiled at Flusk.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting it to. That was just a guess.” Flusk smiled sheepishly.

The group now galloped up to the cage holding the princesses. Flusk folded her ears, her heart hurting at the sight of them. She reached her hoof towards the bars holding them when she suddenly recoiled, flinching at the sudden burning sensation she felt through her hoof.

“You okay, Flusk?” Reese asked.

“Y-Yeah..I think so.” She replied, rubbing her hoof gingerly.

Crescent went up closer to the bars and squinted, inspecting them further.

“It’s a spell, just as I thought. Solar used magic on the bars.” Crescent said.

“Great, well, we’re doomed.” Reese said in a monotone voice.

“Not quite. We haven’t at least tried our own magic yet.”

Crescent’s horn lit up as she shot a blast at the bars. They could see small sparkly aura fading around the bars before it suddenly just disappeared. Flusk was rather quick to open the cage door as she galloped in, the others slowly following behind.

“Princess Aphrodite!” Flusk called out.

Flusk galloped up to the princess lying on the ground. She sat beside her and gently lifted her head toward herself. Aphrodite seemed like she was still rather worn out but she slowly opened her blue eyes at Flusk.

“Flusk?..”

“Yes, it’s me! I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. There’s just been so much going on and-”

Aphrodite weakly pressed her hoof to Flusk’s mouth, shushing her from continuing her sentence. She smiled at her as Flusk noticed small tears forming in her eyes. Flusk could have sworn she was about to cry herself as Aphrodite slowly pushed herself up onto her hooves, bringing herself into a sitting position. She wrapped her hooves around Flusk and hugged her.
“I missed you..” She said softly in Flusk’s ear.

Flusk actually had tears falling down her face now as she hugged her back and smiled.

“I missed you too..I wish things didn’t go the way they have.”

They let go of each after a long embrace and Aphrodite spoke again.

“What’s happened has already happened. I’m just happy to see he didn’t hurt you.”

“Well..He did hurt me. More mentally rather than physically.”

“I wish I could have been there to protect you.” Aphrodite replied, kissing Flusk on the cheek as the dark unicorn blushed furiously.

“You know, as much as this mushy gross stuff is cool and all, we should get out of here before Solar notices.” Reese said.

Flusk responded quickly. “Yes, we need to get out of here pronto.”

Flusk soon teleported all of the group out of the dungeon as the group ran up the stairs to escape his castle. The castle was very huge like most castles so the echoing of their trotting hooves could be easily heard, even from a distance.

As the group was quickly running up the stairs, Solar Dots could suddenly hear the several sounds of galloping hooves, making its way up the stairs from the dungeon. Solar Dots was quickly angered by the fact that he knew the group was escaping.

Just as the group was finally making their way to one of the back entrance doors in the castle, Solar Dots suddenly teleported in front of them in a ball of fire. He made a loud stomping on the ground as he teleported in front of the doorway which blocked them from getting out.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

The group gasped loudly and screamed by the shock of his sudden appearance.

Heart screamed out suddenly due to being the most timid among the group. “Don’t eat our souls!”

Flusk quickly folded her ears down along with Crescent. Reese was silent as well for once, she knew that she wanted to say a lot but if she did, she would end up dead too. Solar Dots of course loved being the bringer of pain and the tormentor of ponies. He also loved preying on the weak as well. It enlighted his demented fantasies.

Solar suddenly put up a barrier which prevented them from escaping. Gem Paws quickly covered the children's eyes and ears to be able to not see any of this horrific activity. Gem Paws suddenly spoke out.

“Brother, don’t do this! You're better than this!”

“Oh my dear sister. I am sorry but, I must.” He laughed demonically in his statement.

“Brother! Please..No..”

Solar Dots simply disregarded his sister and turned his attention back to the group. Solar suddenly started to grab Heartstrings by her mane as the group heard her screams in anger.

Flusk screamed loudly at Solar. Reese was holding Flusk back from getting herself killed as well.

“Let her the fuck go you fucking swine! Get your fucking hooves off of her!”

Solar only laughed and threw Heart down to the floor roughly as the group ran after Solar in anger without thinking rationally of what he could do to them. All they knew is that their friend was being hurt and Flusk was not about to let Solar Dots kill another one of her friends. This only fueled their rage.

As they charged at Solar Dots while screaming in anger, Solar Dots suddenly blasted a barrier at them which caused the group to go bouncing back roughly against the wall. Aphrodite held onto Flusk suddenly as they slid against the wall roughly in attempts to protect Flusk’s small frame.

Solar spoke out laughing at the group, mocking their attempts to help Heartstrings.

“Fucking pathetic and hilarious that you thought that charging at me would do shit. Especially since all of you are so fucking weak.”

Heart couldn’t do anything but scream in fear as she tried to drag herself away from him. Solar suddenly dragged Heartstrings back by her tail with his magic. As he hovered over Heartstrings, there was visible fear in her eyes as he towered over her with his tall frame. He suddenly started to pin Heart down with his hooves as he pressed hard on her front hooves.

Heart screamed out loudly in agony. “No! Please!”

Solar suddenly pressed down a lot harder on her hooves which put her through massive pain. The group couldn’t do anything but watch in fear.

Flusk screamed out loudly. “Please, don’t do this to her! Stop!”

Solar Dots pressed his hooves down really hard down on Heartstrings front hooves as she screamed out in pain. The group heard a loud crunching sound, looking terrified. Heartstrings hooves were being crushed by Solar Dot’s massive frame pressing down on her. Her hooves were being broken slowly by him. All that could be heard were terrified screams from the group and massive screams from Heartstrings and also the crying of the group.

Aphrodite suddenly spared Flusk some visuals by putting her hoof over Flusk’s eyes because in all of Aphrodite’s six thousand years of life, she was used to seeing more and she knew she could handle it better than Flusk could.

“Flusk..Don’t look..Please..”

Flusk was now blinded from the visuals from Aphrodite’s hoof in her view and could only hear the panicking and screams from Heart and the rest of the group. Aphrodite and Regalia knew they had to stay strong for the rest of the group though, as much as it disturbed them as well.

Regalia soon summoned up the massive courage in the fighting spirit that she was to run at Solar Dots and push him over. As Regalia ran up to Solar and hit him in the head hard with her hoof, Solar finally got off Heartstrings and grabbed his head in pain from Regalia’s massive hit to his head. Crescent and Flusk suddenly combined their magic and shot a huge blast at Solar Dots barrier while Solar was distracted from his pain.

Crescent screamed out loud while blasting their magic. “Now!”

As the two broke down the barrier in those couple of seconds that they could break the barrier down in a sudden emotional burst, it empowered their magic more. Magic was often related to powerful emotion. Flusk finally teleported all of the group out of the castle, including Heartstrings, Gem Paws and the children.

Solar Dots could only scream in anger as he teleported out of his castle in pure rage to try and find the group.

“You won’t get away with this!”

Chapter 9: The Prisoner of the Flames

In the little town of Robins Wings, a hospital was nearby Gem Paws house where Heartstrings was now being rushed into the hospital. The hospital was lined with flowers and crosses in a nearby gravesite next to the hospital to mourn the souls that had been lost which were now skyrocketing in this time of the crisis.

Screaming could be heard throughout the hospital walls of ponies with broken hooves, burn injuries and such other horrifying situations. As everything flashed back into the walls of the hospital, doctors were rushing Heartstrings hospital bed into the next available room they could find.

All that could be heard was the cries throughout the hospital, the beeping of the heart monitor and Heartstrings screaming while biting onto a rolled up piece of cloth they gave to her to be able to relieve some of the pain and still let out some screams.

Heartstrings hooves were just recently crushed and the bones inside her hooves were now broken and some bones in her hooves could be seen sticking outside of her hooves. She bit down hard onto the rolled up piece of cloth and let out blood curdling screams as the doctors rushed to find her a room. Tears rolled down her face from the pain she was experiencing.

One of the doctors who finally found her room spoke out quickly. “Go! Go! Go! Get her medical attention now!”

As Heartstrings was wheeled into the room screaming loudly, one of the doctors who wheeled her up to her room looked back at the rest of the group, along with the princesses who were now released.

“Your highnesses and the rest of the group, I’m afraid that I am going to have to ask you to wait outside in the waiting room. We’re going to be doing surgery on her immediately.”

Flusk had tears rolling down her face in fear. “Okay...I hope that she will be okay..Take care of her please..”

The rest of the group waited silently as they seemed almost too traumatized to speak to one another while waiting. A giant silence overcame the entire group while they were waiting inside the waiting room. Flusk’s head was hanging down for most of the time. She put her hooves over her eyes as her mane hung over her face. She started to cry in front of the group during the silence. Aphrodite noticed her crying and immediately felt sorrow for her as well.

Aphrodite didn’t seem to care about her professional position when it came to making relationships with ponies because she knew she deserved love to. Aphrodite sat closer to Flusk and grabbed her head, pushing it onto her chest. Flusk hugged her tightly as she cried on her. Aphrodite slowly stroked Flusk’s mane and kissed her lips in front of everypony. She cared so much for Flusk and loved her more than anything. She knew that she wanted to hold onto Flusk and keep her.

Aphrodite hadn’t admitted for a long time that she needed love but that was actually how she found out her cutie mark by spreading love all over, wherever she went. She was such a compassionate and strong leader. She also couldn’t admit for the longest time that she was bisexual due to being afraid of some judgmental ponies. But sooner or later, she came out with confidence. She knew that all that mattered was love.

Flusk softly kissed her back as they held each other inside the waiting room. Everypony was staring at the princess kissing a civilian. This was new for many of the ponies because they had never seen royalty act in such a manner.

Regalia soon stood up due to her being emotionally crazed due to the events that recently happened, speaking out in an annoyed tone.

“What? Huh? What are you all staring at? My sister is in love with somepony. Big whoop! Stop staring! She deserves love to! Just because we are royalty, it doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve love like everypony else in this room!”

Aphrodite slowly looked back at her sister and spoke out. “Sister..It’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”

Regalia sat down roughly in her seat with a pouty face.

“Sorry, I’m just annoyed that just because we’re royalty, everypony finds it as some huge surprise that alicorns are capable of relationships too. It’s such an annoying stereotype.”

“I know but sister-”

A loud scream inside the hospital walls suddenly broke the tension that was arising.

Aphrodite sighed gently. “It’s nothing sister. It’s okay. Don't worry about it.”

A doctor came in to speak to the group. “Greetings friends of Heart, I have simply come to inform you that Heartstrings is undergoing surgery at the moment and she is out cold right now. Due to our delicate and careful process, we can determine that she should be fine.”

Flusk and the rest of the group had lightened up a little bit since they were told some good news about their friend Heart.

Flusk turned to the doctor and gently spoke with tears in her eyes. “That’s so great! I’m so happy to hear that!”

Flusk and the group waited more calmly as Heart was undergoing her surgery. Inside Heartstrings room, there were doctors walking around and were grabbing tools for her operation to turn some of her hoof bones into a bone implant since some of the bones and shards were sticking out. They had to carefully remove some of the shards of her hoof bones and screw in some tiny implants which would stabilize her hoof bones and help her heal over time. Several of the doctors who were rushing around were rushing to help in any way they could. There were about 7 doctors in the same room who were gathering around Heart.

The hospital had been utter chaos for a while since Solar Dots was now running wild across Ifera and taking life after life or injuring pony after pony. Some of the ponies who also had injuries but weren’t based off Solar Dots were also staying inside the hospital walls as well. The hospital was getting rather crowded at the time and doctors were working hard through days and nights, staying up and risking their own nights to help others in need.

After many long hours, Heartstrings surgery was now finished. The doctors had also given Heartstrings some painkillers and ointments to help aid her in her aftercare. A doctor suddenly came inside the waiting room and announced to the group.

“Greetings, I am here to inform you that Miss Strings had made it out of her surgery very successfully. We just got done with her. If you want to come in and visit her you can. Although, I will have to warn you that she is very tired. We have given her some painkillers as well.”

Flusk and the rest of the group came up quietly to Heartstrings bedroom. Flusk and Crescent were holding some get better balloons and some flowers for support. Heartstrings top hooves were suspended up lightly by two wrappings which hung off the top rails of the hospital bed and supported her hooves. Heartstring’s face seemed stressed and tired from all the mental and physical exhaustion.

Flusk slowly approached her bed and levitated the balloons and tied them to the end of her bedpost while Heart had her eyes shut. Crescent levitated the flowers on the sides of her bed as well.

Heartstrings slowly opened her eyes to see the entire group standing over the end of her bedpost. “Oh..Hi penguins..”

Flusk cocked her eye in a curious manner. “Penguins? What?”

“Yes, penguins..Live in the arctic just like you..”

The doctor in the room had chuckled lightly and warned Flusk. “Sorry, she has been under some anesthesia and some laughing gas due to the hard hit she experienced on her mouth when she landed on the floor. I probably should have warned you all before you came in.”

“Ohhh, that makes some sense.”

Flusk tilted her head back to Heartstrings and spoke clearly for her. “Heartstrings, we are here for your hospital visit! You just recovered from your injuries and we left you some nice little surprises!”

“Wait..You didn’t..Get me chocolates..?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Heart. Did you want something to eat?”

“Well, it is Valentine's Day right? So chocolates are wonderful..”

Flusk clarified more. “No, Heartstrings. It isn’t Valentine's Day hun. We got you these as a get well soon present!”

Heart spoke out, very loopy once again. “You got me presents! Is it Christmas?”

Flusk and the rest of the group laughed lightly to themselves. “It isn’t Christmas either! It’s just a nice present we wanted to get you.”

“Aww, but I love Christmas. Such a wonderful time for cheer and happiness!”

Heartstrings was obviously very loopy from the anesthesia and laughing gas that she had recently received. It lifted the bad spirits a little though and made everypony in the room chuckle.

Gem Paws was also wishing everypony happiness as well but she was also struggling with her own emotions about her brother at the time. She wasn’t very happy that the stallion she spent her entire life with ever since he was a colt was now headed down the worst path to go down. She knew him ever since he was a baby and she loved him unconditionally.

“I remember the first time that I looked into his eyes…I was three years old and he was so soft and adorable. I was excited about my mother bringing home my new little baby brother. Now he’s gone..” She whispered under her breath so nopony could hear her.

The whole group sat around and were there to support Heart who was now learning how to walk on her new carriage system which supported her front hooves to help her walk on her back hooves without hurting her front hooves. The doctors often referred to the device as a carriage crutch.

Heartstring’s stayed at the hospital for around a week or so before she was finally allowed to be released. During that week, it mostly consisted of the group helping Heart get back up on her hooves and helping her get used to her new carriage crutch which wheeled along with her back hooves when she walked.

Unfortunately, they weren’t going to have a whole lot of time before they were eventually found at some point by Solar. He was hot on their trail.

Since Annual last saw her father, she had been getting better emotionally and getting better at helping her grandmother as well. She had been at peace with her thoughts ever since she found out that her father was going to be okay. She had told her grandmother about the experience of course because it was something that needed to be spoken about. Annuals grandmother found some peace as well knowing that her son was something that was far greater than earth’s chains.

Annual had been comforting her grandmother over the course of time and of course the grandmother had been comforting her as well. They were both there for each other when they needed each other.

Annual was inside her grandma’s house in which she was staying now since her father had passed. She hugged her grandmother tightly.

“Oh grandma, don’t cry. He’s an angel now. He gets to meet God and play among the other angels! He will be happy with God!”

Deku’s mother, who was named Sugar Maple, only smiled at Annual and hugged her tightly.

“What did I ever do to deserve such an amazing granddaughter like you.”

“Oh grandma, of course you deserve good things! I mean, you’re my grandma! You’re amazing!”

“You’re both my little angels..”

The group stayed at Gem Paws house yet again after Heartstrings had recovered and had been released from the hospital. The whole group was sitting around the living room while reading books or drinking beverages. They needed something to do to take their minds off this whole mess. Now that the royal sisters were inside the house of Gem Paws, Flusk received much comfort from Aphrodite.

While Heartstrings was reading a book, Blissful Dots gently touched Heart’s hoof.

“How bad does it hurt?”

“It hurts bad, but it’s mostly on and off. Don’t worry young Bliss!”

“How did this happen?”

Heart looked distressed because she knew she couldn’t tell Drizzle’s child the truth about her father. “It’s..Not important..”

A television show soon came on which was a soap opera, which usually had drama in it. The television showed a nurse healing a patient with her magic. Bliss watched it with intent and passion.

“Look! She’s healing that stallion! That looks cool!”

Heart patted her head gently with her hoof still in a bit of pain. “It sure does. I wish somepony could just heal me now and take my ailments away!”

Heart laughed lightly to make some humor within a dark situation.

“I can do it!”

“Oh hunny, you’re only three years old. Are you sure? Magic could go very wrong hun! I don’t want you to pull anything!”

“I can do it! I can do it!”

Heart and the rest of the group laughed because they knew she was a very young pony and they weren’t taking the situation very seriously because it wasn’t usually expected that a three year old pony would be able to pull off such a thing. Flusk looked over to her and smiled warmly.

“Oh come on, just let her try!”

Heart smiled warmly. “Couldn’t hurt.”

Bliss powered up her magic and touched her hoof, even though she wasn’t expecting it to work. She stared at her hooves and thought of positive thoughts while staring at her hooves. Heart was simply giggling lightly at how cute she was. Heartstrings hooves began to feel warm and soft. Her horn suddenly lit up brightly around the room which lit up almost the entire room. The entire group was shocked by this and thought something might have gone wrong. Bliss soon shot her magical aura at her hooves as she started to levitate slightly off the ground as the group gasped. Heartstrings suddenly became surprised by the fact that her hooves were now starting to feel better.

“My hooves..They..Feel better..”

Bliss levitated more off the ground as a bright light surrounded her in spirals and slowly waved around her flank. The group was now halfway covering their eyes from the brightness of the glow in the room that was coming from her horn.

Bliss spoke out scared. “What’s happening! Why am I floating?”

Bliss soon levitated slowly back onto the ground as the bright light from her horn soon faded. The group all made a major inhale in shock at what they were witnessing. Bliss rubbed her head gently.

“What..happened?”

Flusk spoke out with a smile on her face. “Bliss, You got your cutie mark! Look!”

Bliss quickly turned her head back at her flank and screamed in excitement. She had just received her cutie mark from healing Heartstrings. Her cutie mark was a light red plus sign with light blue spirals swirling around it. Her destiny was to be a healer and she had powerful magic just like her father.

“I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark! Oh my Regalia!”

Regalia looked at Bliss and laughed. “Is that a term that ponies actually use?”

Heartstrings scratched the back of her head with her front hoof. “Actually, yes. You would be surprised how often ponies use this phrase with your name! I mean, you are the princess!”

Aphrodite simply squinted her eyes at her in a bit of frustration. “I’m a princess to ya know?”

“Oh! No offense your majesty! I just meant that she was the oldest princess! Of course ponies use your name as a phrase too! It’s really on and off! We kind of tend to switch between phrases!”

Aphrodite laughed gently. “I’m only joking, dear child.”

“Oh, um. Okay.” Heart grinned nervously.

The whole group simply could not stop marveling at the fact that young Bliss had gotten her cutie mark. They surrounded her and congratulated her. Bliss was simply more excited than ever for earning her mark through such a noble passion. She knew that she had a bright future ahead of her. The ponies were also shocked that she got her cutie mark so young. Most colts and fillies got their cutie marks around the age of six or seven. So for her, this was quite a gigantic accomplishment.

The whole group cheered in excitement while lifting her up. They couldn’t be happier that she had just gotten her mark. Flusk of course was one of the biggest role models in Bliss’s life besides her father. Although, she was made very unaware of his recent actions so it wouldn’t hurt her in her early years of life. Gem Paws, Flusk and the rest of the group wanted to keep this from her for a while.

Bliss hugged her aunt Gem Paws and then hugged Flusk tightly because of how happy she was. Recently, Flusk and the rest of Drizzle’s children had been getting closer to each other and would always remain in connection. Flusk knew that Gem Paw’s couldn’t keep his kids all the time with so much of her own time consumed. She thought of many ways to help out but was always confused about what to do.

After nightfall hit, Flusk was in her bedroom writing in her journal. Levitating the pen with her magical aura.

“Dear journal, today was a good day for once. Bliss finally earned her cutie mark in healing. I’ve often wondered what to do with the children though. This thought has been bugging me for decades and I need to know whether they will stay with Gem Paws or another one of his relatives who could take care of them. I wonder.. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. We could all really use it..”

Flusk pointed one of the giant fans on her in her room out of the millions of fans they had laying around the house due to the heat which was of Solar Dots creation. The stores were practically sold out of fans at this point.

Flusk slowly crawled into bed feeling a bit better with some of the fans pointed on her, which was actually cooling her off pretty well. She finally felt like she didn’t have to sweat for a second. Of course, every night would be a night for her where she would cry before she fell asleep. She often thought about the events before Drizzle Dots turned into Solar Dots. She thought of what she could do to prevent it and then she started to blame herself at some points.

She pulled the nice cool sheets over her body and let out a few tears in stress before falling asleep.

“Oh Drizzle, I wish I had never invited you to the gala..I wish that I had never shouted at you. Why did I ever take you up to that cave. Had I not done any of those things..You wouldn’t have become so incredibly evil..”

Flusk quickly pulled the covers up over her eyes to hide her face as she cried. “It’s all my fault..Everything is my fault..”

Little did they know, Solar Dots would soon find them.

A deafening bang and shattering of glass woke Flusk from her slumber as she felt her entire bed shake, along with the entire house. Familiar screams of ponies echoed outside as Flusk could already tell what was going on. Bits of ceiling above her fell to the floor as she hid under the covers, attempting to shield herself. Luckily nothing too large fell on her and she dusted her mane off of dust and pieces of the ceiling.

She threw her blanket off herself and threw open the bedroom door, galloping out into the hallway. It seemed the rest of the group had the same idea as they were all gathered around in the living room close together.

Gem Paws had her wings shielding the children’s heads as she kept them close to herself, Crescent was holding on to Heartstrings panicked while Reese was shielding herself and the two princesses, Regalia and Aphrodite were doing their best to protect the others in the ways they could considering they still didn’t have their magic.

When they saw Flusk galloping to join them, Aphrodite immediately put her arms around Flusk and held her tightly.

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright! I was so worried.” Aphrodite let Flusk go momentarily. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“No, no, I’m okay. Just a little shaken up but I’m alright.”

Aphrodite smiled and hugged her, relieved that she was okay.

While Aphrodite and Flusk shared a moment, Regalia stared out a window across from her, seeing homes ablaze and multicolored ponies attempting to escape. It was the work of only one pony she knew would eventually come for them.

“We have to go before he gets to us first.” Regalia said.

The group nodded in agreement, already knowing exactly who ‘he’ was without her stating Solar’s name.

Gem Paws hesitantly looked down at Drizzle’s children at her hooves. “But wait, what about his kids? We can’t afford for them to get hurt if they can’t keep up with us or he blasts them accidentally..I know he doesn’t mean to hurt them but still..”

“Haven’t you learned already?! Solar doesn’t give a shit about us anymore. He almost killed Flusk, he killed Deku, he broke Heart’s hooves, and he locked us up in a dirty ass dungeon. He doesn’t care about who he kills or who he hurts. He just wants everything to himself.” Reese replied angrily.

“Is bullshit the only thing that comes out of your mouth?!” Gem snapped at Reese.

“Enough! This childish bickering won’t get us anywhere!” Aphrodite suddenly said, raising her voice.

Everypony looked at her in surprise, not expecting Aphrodite, one of the shyest princesses to be standing up like this. Usually it was her older sister Regalia taking charge like this. Both Reese and Gem got the message pretty quickly as they went quiet.

Aphrodite inhaled as she composed herself. “Gem Paws, the children can stay here. If we direct Solar elsewhere, they’ll be completely safe here. And even so, he may just have an inch of empathy left to not hurt them.”

Gem Paws nodded, a little relieved to see Aphrodite had a bit more respect for her brother, even if he had murdered many ponies and harmed many.

“The rest of us will distract him away from Gem Paw’s home. What we will do after is a mystery.” Aphrodite continued.

“That’s reassuring.” Reese said sarcastically as Crescent nudged her hard. “Ow!”

“We’ve been running for our lives for days..Weeks..Months..This isn’t anything new. We’ll just have to do our best.” Flusk said, smiling in some confidence she had left.

Aphrodite smiled back as the group prepared themselves. Gem reassured the children they would be safe and told them to hide under something sturdy if they felt unsafe. The kids listened to her despite their immense fear. They had come this far..What could possibly stop them now?

Aphrodite and Regalia stood in the front of the group as everypony else stood behind them. Flusk was specifically behind Aphrodite so the princess could better protect her. She knew Solar was especially looking for her and she wasn’t going to allow him to harm her. Even if it meant letting herself get hurt in the process.

“Everypony ready?” Regalia asked.

The others nodded hesitantly behind her as they galloped outside as a group. Flusk made sure nopony behind her was falling behind, often nudging them and supporting them to gallop faster if they needed.

In front of them, they could already see the mass destruction of Robins Wings coming into view as Gem Paws couldn’t help but gasp and stare at how much Solar had done to her home. However, to the others, they already knew what his power could do. River Breeze had been in a much worse state than this and it was no surprise.

It wasn’t before long they saw the creator of this destruction a distance away as the villain himself turned around and saw the group galloping off. He simply grinned as he started to gallop towards them, even faster than all of them combined.

“Oh fuck, the bitch is coming this way!” Reese shouted.
“Holy shit, it’s a lot scarier when he’s chasing you!” Gem yelled. “I didn’t realize how tall he was until now!”

Flusk looked back at Heart quickly to make sure she was keeping up. “You doing okay over there, Heart?”

“Yeah, my hooves feel a lot better after Bliss healed them. I should be okay.”

Flusk nodded when the group suddenly came to a stop. The girls screamed as they nearly went galloping into a large wall of fire.

“What in the fuck, that wasn’t there before!” Reese said.

“He has the ability to create fire, remember?” Flusk replied.

“Then we’re just going to have to find ways around it.” Regalia said.

Regalia turned to her right, leading the group the other way. It wasn’t before long that they were met with more fire. Regalia once again led them the other way but they were blocked in by more fire.

“Stop using your fucking fire you asshole!” Reese swore at Solar.

“I doubt he’s going to listen.” Flusk replied.

“No shit. Sometimes you just need to swear at someone to feel better.”

“Eh..You’ve got a point.”

“It’s closing in!” Heart shouted.

The ponies looked around them, seeing a ring of fire forming around them. Their last exit was now engulfed in fire as they slowly backed up into each other. The circle of fire was quickly getting smaller as the ponies found their space getting even more limited.

“Well, we’re fucked.” Crescent said.

“You were fucked long before this. It was only a matter of time before you met your doom.” Solar said, now standing outside of the ring of fire. “At least you all get to burn alive together!”

“I didn’t come here to die with these dumbasses!” Reese shouted.

“What the hell Reese!” Crescent said, clearly offended.

“However, I can give you a little more space..Not for long though.” Solar laughed as Gem Paws was suddenly levitated out of the ring of fire.

“What the fuck!” Reese yelled as Gem was put on the ground beside Solar.

Flusk just stared at Solar Dots and Gem Paws as the fire quickly closed in, already getting rid of the space where Gem Paws once stood along with the group. Flusk’s purple eyes shined for a moment as she shut her eyes tightly, a few tears escaping them.

“Isn’t it wonderful to watch such pathetic little creatures accept their defeat? It’ll be more enjoyable once they’re burning alive and screaming in agony.” Solar grinned.

“You’re..Insane..” Gem said slowly, unable to move from the pure shock she was experiencing at the moment.

“Insane? Maybe I like it this way. Insanity makes us stronger. It wills us to do things that pushes us past our boundaries and it helps us become even more than what we were before in the end! Which is also why I would like to offer you a chance.”

“A..Chance?..What chance is this?! This is horrible!”

“I’ve given you the chance to live unlike those disgusting things over there. They deserve to burn alive because they were all weak and thought they were something special. You however are special. I see great potential in you to be as powerful as me. Besides, ruling beside my sister? That would be a dream come true.”

“Ruling?! Drizzle, this isn’t right! You know better than this..I know you do. If mom saw you like this, she’d be so upset. This isn’t the kind of pony she raised you to be..This isn’t the brother I grew up with.”

Anger filled Solar’s face as he looked down at her. “I’m not Drizzle anymore! That pony has been long since buried and I’m much more stronger and powerful now!”

“Slaughtering ponies and destroying towns does not make you better than the pony you once were! Please Drizzle, you can still fix this. I assure it’s not too late. I just want my brother back.” Gem pleaded, tears forming in her eyes.

Solar’s eyes suddenly flashed green once again before they reverted back to orange as a slight sadness seemed to cross his face momentarily.

A poof of magic sounded as Solar swung his head around seeing the ring of fire that once had the ponies trapped inside now empty. Anger filled his face once again as he looked around frantically for where they went before he spotted Flusk and the others not too far away. It seemed Flusk had used her teleportation to get them out of there.
“Drizzle, please!”

“Stay out of this!” He shouted.

Solar galloped towards the group once again as they scrambled to get away. Flusk however stayed behind as she bowed her head and narrowed her eyes at him. She galloped straight for him as her horn ignited a purple color. The magic swirled furiously around her horn before a blast hit him in the chest and pushed him backwards. It didn’t affect him much since he was so powerful and strong yet he seemed impressed by her attempt.

“Hm..That’s new..Well, if that’s how you want to play it..I always love a good challenge.” He grinned, all the sharp teeth in his mouth now suddenly visible.

Flusk seemed scared for a moment before she quickly collected her confidence again and presumed a fighting stance.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to finally kill you..Flusk Flurry.”

“Flusk, don’t!” Aphrodite shouted.

Solar’s horn glowed a furious orange color as fire wrapped around it, building up. He shot a particularly large blast of fire at her as Flusk flinched, curled up into herself. However, at the last second a pony shoved her out of the way and she was thrown across the ground.

“W-What?..” She asked weakly.

“We’ve got it from here. Flusk Flurry I presume?” A muscular stallion said, holding his hoof out to Flusk.

She took it and he helped her up onto her hooves.

“You’re not hurt are you? Sorry for the sudden scare. I had to get you out of there before he hit you.” The stallion said.

“But..Wait..”

Flusk looked over and saw a bunch of ponies wearing special uniforms galloping around Solar and dodging his attacks. A few of them attempted to get on top of him but he kicked them pretty far. They seemed to recover fairly quickly though.

“Swat team from Stone Hedge. We’ve been trying to track this guy for a while and thanks to you, we’ve been able to find him. Thanks for the help!”

“You’re..Um..Welcome?” Flusk replied confused.

After explaining, the stallion nodded at Flusk and galloped over to help the rest of his team against Solar. As a majorly large swat team gathered around Solar, the stallion pulled out a ring which was supposed to stop a unicorn from using their magic.

The ring caught Solar’s eye as he continued to fight back against the swat team with his fire like magic. He didn’t quite know what the ring was but he did know that it was definitely some kind of disabling device. He knew that he wasn’t going to let the ponies get the better of him so he suddenly charged at them and set off a huge explosion which blew some of the ponies back from his shier power.

The stallion carrying the ring device fought to stand his ground and struggled as he made his way towards Solar with it. As he ran at Solar Dots, he was finally able to make it close enough to levitate the ring near his horn as Solar Dots suddenly struck him down with a full powerful blast of magic, making the stallion's body go into a paralysis state.

Solar Dots screamed in anger as his voice echoed through the ground. “Get off me you swine!”

Another stallion of the swat team used his magic to finish the rest of the job as the ring locked on to Solar’s horn, completely disabling all his magic. Solar Dots soon collapsed to the ground as his hooves and body were rendered useless due to him being immobilized by the ring. The fire maned stallion lied limply on the ground as the swat team carefully picked him up, as well as cuffing his hooves together.

Solar Dots was surprised at the fact that he couldn’t move and was now screaming loudly in anger.

“You will fucking regret this! I will make your lives a living fucking hell! I won’t rest until I find a way to get my revenge on all you stuck up little snobs! Die!”

As the swat team carried him away, Gem Paws cried out. “No, he’s my brother! Please don’t do this!”

The stallion that Solar Dots had stricken down was now dead due to Solar Dots hard hit. As the majority of the other ponies carried away Solar, a few that were left behind mourned their fallen teammate and carefully carried his body to a safer place as well.

Flusk and the group and the rest of the ponies were now simply cheering in a joyous roar as their biggest threat was no longer able to hurt them and ponies could finally return their world back to peace.

“It’s over..It’s finally over..He’s gone. We’re free.”

As Flusk said that, she felt a strong sense of sadness that started from her chest and to the rest of her body as she fell to the ground, streams of tears falling down her face.
Gem Paws was busy wishing she could have helped but in that moment she gave it all up and ran off from the rest of the group in tears.That was the stallion she grew up with, it was her baby brother.

“Everyone, just leave me alone!”

Flusk looked over, seeing Gem Paws gallop off as tears continued to fall down her face. Flusk softly tapped her hoof onto the ground to take notice of the fact that as much as she was hurting, his sister was hurting way more.

Flusk screamed out to Gem Paws. “Gem, wait!”

While everypony in the village was cheering out of happiness, it was an entirely different situation for Gem Paws. Everypony only knew that he was some evil monster that destroyed their lives and their villages. To Gem Paws, that was her baby brother and she grew up with him. She remembered the first time she looked into his eyes as a baby unlike the ponies of the village.

Gem Paws was now sitting at the water fountain in her town, her tears were dripping into the water in the fountain. She pulled out one of Drizzle’s baby pictures where she was standing over him and hugging him for the first time. She remembered the day that their mother returned home with him from the hospital after birthing him.

She pulled out another picture of Drizzle and her riding a bike together as foals. Her tears started to blur her vision as she grabbed her chest in emotional pain. She gasped in between her cries as she screamed out in public, her tears hitting the pictures she had pulled out of her childhood with him.

As she heard the village's cheers and happy speech, the sounds around her slowly drowned out around her as she held the pictures close to her heart and hung her head down.

“I remember the first time that I looked into those wide green wonder filled eyes when you were born..Baby brother..”

She threw herself down onto the fountain with her hooves over her face. “No, don’t leave me..”

The group finally found Gem Paws and ran up to her, noticing the pictures she had held in her hooves. Flusk touched her shoulder gently in compassion.

“Gem..Please don’t shut us out.”

Gem Paws once sweet and nice attitude suddenly turned cold and brash.

“Don’t touch me! This is exactly what you all wanted anyways! You’re all happy and cheerful that he’s gone! I’m not! I was the one that grew up with him. You didn’t..Now he’s gone forever and I will never get my brother back!”

She ran off crying once again and the group decided that the best course of action would be to head back to the home and give her some time to herself. Flusk stared back with tears in her eyes and whispered under her breath as she was now heading back with the group.

“I didn’t want this..I truly didn’t want it to come to this..”

Chapter 10: Between the Walls

The clanking of hooves on the metallic floor could be heard all around the room. The room was rather enormous. In this large room, thousands of guards could be seen around the inside of the prison. This large room though was particularly made for criminals who were on maximum security and high watch.

Solar Dots was now cuffed on all four of his hooves and unable to escape. The ring that disabled his power and rendered his body useless, no longer paralyzed him. He was chained up and held prisoner by four magical cuffs which showed visible electrical flow and held his hooves in permanent placement. It was almost nearly impossible to escape from it as well. The ring now only stopped his magic so he was unable to use the power he was gifted with from Apate’s doings. There were always guards who watched over Solar Dots very carefully.

A guard who seemed to have bat-like wings was walking back and forth with a weapon in his holster. This stallion had a dark grey mane and light grey coat to go with it. He removed his helmet to reveal his piercing purple eyes and a tiny scar around his eye.

The guard spoke silently to Solar. “You don’t know me but I definitely know you. You were the one that burned down my family home. Now you’re here where you belong. You call yourself by the name Solar Dots, right? Allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Hookwing and you will be staying here for quite a while buddy.”

Solar Dots grinned widely while showing his sharp fangs to him. He laughed gently. “So, if your family home is burned down, did your bitchass family die too?”

Solar Dots clearly wanted to egg the guard on for challenging him.

The guard quickly grabbed his weapon and pointed it at Solar Dots chin with his hoof on the trigger, making an angry expression. “Don’t test me! I could blow your head off right now if I wanted to and there wouldn’t be a single thing you could do about it.”

Solar Dots smirked and laughed loudly as his laugh echoed throughout the metallic walls. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me! You have got to be joking with me! I am a being of magical creation of flames. I am half demon! You think a gun is going to work on me!?”

Hookwing could tell that he was lying a bit and pointed the gun further into his chin. “Want to test me and find out?”

Solar Dots could be hurt by weapons but not as much as normal ponies would be. Since Apate was the one demon that had unlimited power, her powers transcended through Drizzle which made the villain Solar Dots. Solar knew that if he hadn't had that ring on his horn, he would have killed that guard in a second and almost every other guard in that prison as well.

The guard Hookwing stared at him with angered eyes. “You’re so clueless. You’re the reason I got this scar over my eye, you’re the reason you took my mother away from me, you’re also the one who took my friend in arms away from me as well. We worked together here for a long time and he was always my friend. You decided that day would be a good day to take him away from me. He risked his life just to save others from you. You know nothing!”

Solar grinned widely. “I knew all of that. I just did it because I don’t know. Maybe I was bored?”

He grinned widely showing his lack of empathy or remorse.

Hookwing’s eyes widened as his pupils shrunk. “Because you were bored!? Ponies don’t go out on a whim and take others' lives and burn entire villages because of boredom! You weren’t bored, you were just a true psychopath looking for your next thing to get off to.”

“Exactly. I get bored when I’m not doing crazy things. Makes me rather..Insane?” He laughed silently, obviously egging the guard on. “Mister guard, you can’t exactly shoot me anyways. That isn’t your duty is it? Your job is to maintain the bad stallion..” He smiled widely.

Hookwing simply rolled his eyes to maintain his professional composure, despite all the things that Solar caused for him.

“Either way, you will be spending a long time here. Monsters like you don’t deserve good things in life. We’re all glad that you’re here now and not torturing the public with your insanity. You caused many ponies to die, you have caused many parents to mourn their children and you have caused more damage to our world and to our ponies than is ever forgivable. You will never be forgiven for the evil and the chaos that you’ve caused to many.”

Solar Dots grinned slowly. “So be it..”

Flusk was sitting on her bed in Gem Paws home now crying to herself. She covered her eyes with her hooves and pulled her sheets over her body.

“Everything is my fault!”

Flusk cried loudly which could be heard throughout the house. “Now Gem Paws hates me and so does he. Everypony hates me! I wish I had never brought him anywhere. It’s my fault this happened! I should have never ever brought him to the caves!”

Aphrodite could hear the crying from her room and slowly walked up to her room and sat down on her bed next to her. Aphrodite wrapped her hooves around her and pushed Flusk’s head into her chest.

“Shh, it isn’t your fault. You never knew that any of this would happen, Flusk. You didn’t know about the caves or what would happen with him at the gala. You can’t just predict stuff like that.”

Aphrodite grabbed Flusk’s chin and kissed her gently. Flusk soon showed her love and appreciation towards Aphrodite by kissing her back. Flusk wanted to seem to forget these terrible moments and relax. Flusk grabbed ahold of Aphrodite and gently landed down onto the bed with her, kissing her and ridding her pain of these events. Aphrodite and Flusk soon found themselves lightly making out in affection for one another. They soon ended up sleeping in the same bed and comforting each other throughout the night. Flusk felt so much better when Aphrodite was there besides her. She felt safe and needed.

Aphrodite stroked Flusk’s strands of mane and kissed her ear. She held her in her bed as she whispered to Flusk. “Goodnight, Fluskie.”

Flusk blushed and smiled lightly as they were both headed to bed. “Goodnight, Aphrodite.”

Flusk was sitting on Gem Paws porch looking out at the sky which was now slowly returning back to normal ever since Solar was captured.

“Only a moment you stayed, but what an imprint your hoofprints have left on our hearts.”

Flusk knew that several of her friends were out of town at the moment so she decided she would do something bad. Flusk sat on the porch chair and lit up a cigarette and started smoking.

“If everypony is choosing to leave me, why should I try anymore?”

Flusk took a slow drag of her cigarette and slowly exhaled out the smoke as she closed her eyes and sighed. Aphrodite trotted up to the front porch upon her trip to the store as she dropped her grocery bags suddenly.

“Flusk?! Are you joking with me? Why are you smoking?!”

Flusk quickly dropped her cigarette and her eyes popped open in surprise. “Aphrodite?!”

“Why are you smoking?! Don’t you know that’s bad for you?!”

Flusk suddenly stood up in anger and smacked her hooves onto the arms of the chair roughly. “I don’t need to give you or anypony else an explanation! I am an adult and I can take care of myself!”

Aphrodite’s face suddenly dropped down in disappointment. “Why are you yelling at me?”

Flusk threw her hooves in the air. “I’m not yelling at you! I’m just frustrated right now. I can make my own choices, ya know?”

“Yes you are. You’re yelling at me right now. Stop yelling at me. I was only trying to show concern for you! You shouldn’t be smoking anyways! Don’t you know that could cause cancer?”

“Oh my gosh, so what? The whole world is going to hell anyways.”

“It’s not going to hell! We just defeated Solar Dots!”

Flusk threw down her hooves angrily and screamed at the top of her voice. “I didn’t mean for the rest of the world! I meant that the world was going to hell for me! I lost everypony, my house, two of my friends and that includes Solar Dots! The world sees a monster but I saw somepony innocent and kind until..”

Flusk was stopped short of her screaming as she came to a sudden realization. “Gem Paws...I know how she’s feeling. I felt the same thing too. The whole world sees a monster yet we both grew up with him..”

Flusk dropped to the floor suddenly sitting down with her head held low and her mane in her face. “But he’s gone now. There is no way to get him back either..Is there?”

Aphrodite slowly teared up and dropped her bags out of anger. “You’re so selfish..All you ever think of is yourself. I had to put an entire kingdom ahead of my emotions and stay strong for my citizens! You think it’s okay to just yell at me when I was the one who kept comforting you and just get away with it so easily?! You actually think that I wouldn’t feel some kind of emotion just because I’m royalty?! You treat me the same...Just like all the rest of the ponies..”

Flusk suddenly realized her actions as she shouted out with tears in her eyes. “Aphrodite, wait!”

Before Flusk could even form enough of a sentence, Aphrodite flew off in rage and depression, leaving a big whiff of wind whafting back from the push of her big alicorn wings from coming off the ground and into the air.

Flusk walked over to the bags to see what Aphrodite had been carrying in the bags, only to discover that what Aphrodite had bought had been a big pillow, some chocolates and a comfort blanket. Flusk had now realized that Aphrodite was going to surprise her with these comfort items as a romantic gesture. She quickly felt guilty and dropped to her knees and back hooves and started loudly crying even more than before.

“Aphrodite, I’m so sorry. Don’t go..”

Flusk suddenly snapped in anger and frustration and started to scream loudly. She ran up to the home and started bucking the wooden beam to the porch angrily. She cursed to herself as she was pretending to curse out to Solar.

“You want to make me look like a fool?! You took away everything that was dear to me and you’re not even sorry for it! They’re right about you, you’re just a stupid monster!”

She seemed to lose her control in this situation. With everything that was happening to her all at once, she felt lost and upset and it only kept building up on her.

She stood firm and punched the wall to the home very firmly and repeatedly with her front hoof.

“You took almost everything that was dear to me! You didn’t care how I felt or anypony else! You only thought about yourself and your own selfishness. You only cared about..”

Before she could finish her sentence, she slowed her speech and lowered her hooves and dropped her head.

“But if it wasn’t for me..This would have never happened. Why did I stupidly take you up that mountain? Why didn’t I listen to your sadness more?”

She suddenly dropped down onto her flank with her hooves covering her face. “It’s my fault..Maybe I am more of a monster than I thought.”

Flusk held her face and wiped her tears slowly. “If it weren’t for me convincing him and pushing him to go stupid places that he didn’t even want to go to, we wouldn’t be in this mess..”

She looked down and sat on the porch for a while, holding her stomach and dropping her head down for a while.

After Flusk and Aphrodite’s confrontation, Gem Paws returned silently, not wanting to turn the others' attention on her. However, it didn’t seem like she did upon entering since the group were all chatting in her living room. Well, except for two ponies who noticed her right away.

“Mommy!”

A small colt ran up to her and hugged her tightly, slightly startling her. A stallion slowly trotted out from behind Heartstrings and Crescent and softly smiled at Gem Paws.

“Star, Sapphire, you’re back!” Gem’s mood seemed to lighten now that her son and her husband were home.

Gem hugged Star Chaser back before embracing her husband and giving him a quick kiss. When they pulled away, Sapphire placed his hooves on her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes with a bit of a serious look.

“You’ve been crying..Haven’t you?”

Gem’s eyes widened and she wiped at her eye with her hoof quickly. “W-What?..N-No..”

Sapphire exchanged a knowing look at Gem and she sighed.

“I don’t really want to talk about it right now..”

“Well, if you’re sure. However, I do want to talk about the amount of fire I saw when I came back into town. I thought something might have happened to you and I rushed back here with Star but then I found all these guys hanging around in here.” Sapphire gestured to Flusk’s friends. “Also you didn’t tell me that Princess Regalia herself was going to be here!”

“It’s a long story..”

Suddenly, the door slammed open and everypony jumped, looking towards the entrance to the home. They were all prepared for Solar to come busting through but instead Flusk came stomping through.

“Come on, you can’t just do that! We’re all in survival mode right now you idiot!” Reese shouted at Flusk.

“Don’t talk to me.” Flusk replied coldly.

“Flusk?..” Princess Regalia softly asked.

Flusk ignored her and instead went to the room she was staying in and slammed the door. Not long after, the group could have sworn they heard small sobs echoing in the room. However, they chose to not press for details and moved on.

“So, I think we should probably find activities for the kids to do. It’s not exactly good for them to be here and watching all of this.” Crescent suddenly said.

“Well it doesn’t bother me!” Honeysuckle replied.

“You’re only saying that because you want to watch. Besides, you tried to break up a fight earlier.”

“Did not!”

“Enough.” Gem Paws said sternly, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. “Honeysuckle and kids, go play somewhere else. All this bickering is giving me a headache.”

Honeysuckle only pouted as her younger brother Sea Biscuit pulled her by her tail across the floor, leading her with the other kids into another room. Star Chaser followed along as well as the room was now just full of adults.

“So uh..Is anyone going to fill me in or are we going to leave a guy hanging..” Sapphire asked.

“Are we really talking about this..” Flusk said, suddenly in the room with a cup of coffee in her hoof. She looked like an utter disaster.

“Where did you even come from?!” Heart asked, bewildered.

“Teleportation. It’s the only thing I can ever do these days..Other than being a fucking mess.”

“Flusk, if you ever plan to be a serial killer, count me in.” Reese said.

Heart simply backed into a corner, slightly horrified by the conversation taking place at the moment.

Gem sighed and sat down and began recalling everything she knew. Flusk also chimed in a bit, adding in a lot of pieces from her point of view, along with her friends. Sapphire mostly just listened but added a bit of input himself.

“Wait, wait, so..Drizzle’s a fire monster now?” Sapphire asked, confused.

“Yeah and he kills ponies so he’s gone fucking insane. Trust me, I don’t believe it either.” Reese said.

“You saw him kill ponies right in front of you. What the fuck are you even saying.” Flusk replied.

“He’s not a monster. It’s the book he found. Drizzle would never do this if he was right in his mind.” Gem said.

“Then why the fuck is he murdering ponies?!” Reese snapped.

“I don’t know but I know that isn’t him! He has to be..Possessed or something!”

While they were talking, Honeysuckle slowly sneaked out from the room where the other kids were playing and hid behind a wall, listening in on their conversation.

“All I remember from the gala is seeing this weird mare figure above Drizzle before he turned into whatever he is now. So I think he was influenced by somepony. I’m not sure who but all I know is that like Gem said, that isn’t Drizzle anymore..It’s somepony else..” Flusk explained.

“His magic is unimaginably powerful. He won against me and my sister combined.” Regalia added.

“And took many lives..” Heart replied sadly.

“I still don’t know what to tell his kids..I don’t even want to think about it anymore..I’m so tired of thinking.” Flusk said, frustration in her voice.

Honeysuckle’s ears folded as she stared at the floor in disbelief. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could this all be real? It didn’t make sense whatsoever.

“Flusk, are you okay? You look really pale.” Princess Regalia asked, looking at her in concern. “And..Where’s Aphrodite?”

“I’m fine and..I don’t know where she is. She’s gone..Somewhere.” Flusk mumbled.

There was a crash sounding in the room where the kids were playing as Gem Paws rolled her eyes in annoyance and stood up.

“God damn kids..”

Gem began trotting over to check on the kids as Honeysuckle panicked, squishing herself to the wall hoping she wouldn’t be noticed. Her efforts to blend in with the wall didn’t seem to go very well as Gem noticed her quite quickly. Most likely because she was a tiny light blue filly squished into a wall like a fly. It was rather hard to miss.

“Honeysuckle, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be playing with the other kids?” Gem asked.

“I-I um..I was just going out to get a glass of water!”

Gem stared down at the nervous filly suspiciously. She didn’t seem to be buying her excuse but Honeysuckle continued to try and sell it, hoping it would save her from some kind of punishment for listening in.

“Right..Well, I’m going to go see what your siblings have trashed in the other room.”

Gem walked past Honeysuckle as the filly exhaled out of relief. She turned to walk to the kitchen when she bumped into Flusk.

“Oof! Oh, hi Auntie Flurry!”

“I saw you..You’re lying.”

“W-What?! What do you mean lying, I would never!”

Honeysuckle felt her hooves leave the ground suddenly as she was levitated by a purple aura and directed towards the living room.

“Hey, put me down!”

“I was hoping I didn’t have to talk about this so early but I guess it’s unavoidable.”

Flusk placed Honeysuckle on an armchair as she sat down in one across from her. Flusk smoothed a bit of her messy mane out of her face to at least somewhat make herself presentable and so she could actually see as she settled down.

“So you were at the gala with your brother Sea Biscuit..I remember that because we were trying to keep you and him safe. However, I don’t think you saw much of the damage because we told you to cover your eyes. However, you did see what happened with Drizzle, right?” Flusk asked.

“I did yeah..I just thought maybe he was having you know..Those things baby unicorns get. Magic bursts?..”

“What happened to him and what happens to baby unicorns are totally different things. That definitely wasn’t one of those. That was magic influenced by his anger and his depression. You see, he wasn’t doing so well before all that and I think that really set him off. I still don’t know what happened fully but I do know something went really wrong.”

“He’s going to be okay, right? Once he’s done doing whatever this is..He’ll come home and we’ll do things together again..Right?”

Flusk’s eyes widened when she noticed Honeysuckle starting to tear up. The filly seemed to be holding on to a hope that Drizzle would just turn away from killing ponies and destroying lives and come home and be their father again. If only it was that simple. It seemed like a wish so far out of their reach..It hurt her seeing Honeysuckle like this.

“I..I don’t know..I really don’t know.”

“Then what are we doing here?..What are we going to do?..Is anything we’re doing right now even helping?!”

“I don’t know! I don’t have all the answers like everypony expects me to!” Flusk snapped suddenly.
Honeysuckle moved back into her seat a little, startled by Flusk. Flusk sighed and smoothed back her mane before addressing Honeysuckle again.

“I don’t know if Drizzle will ever come back..But what I do know is we’re going to try our hardest to bring him back. And I won’t give up..Not until he’s home...That’s a promise.”

Honeysuckle started to cry as Flusk hugged her tightly. She let Honeysuckle sob into her shoulder as she held back her own tears. The only thing she could really do was reassure the others they’d bring Drizzle back even though she had a feeling he probably wouldn’t be coming home again.

Night fell over the small home as everypony settled in and Gem and Flusk were getting the kids ready for bed. It was a bit of a hassle to get them all to brush their teeth and stop playing, especially since Bliss was a rather stubborn filly and didn’t want to go to bed. She insisted that she needed to keep practicing her magic so she could learn more healing spells. Gem found out however that she was using the other kids as test subjects and immediately stopped that right away and urged her to go get ready with the others.

Flusk kept watch on the kids, making sure they didn’t wander off to go play and made sure they were all done brushing their teeth. She also helped them into small little beds on the floor that Gem set up for them for the time being. Star Chaser had his own bed considering he lived here but he refused to sleep on it and slept on the floor with the others.

Flusk tucked them into bed and even read them a small bedtime story before they drifted off to sleep. She seemed a bit biased since she was reading her own story that she wrote herself but the kids seemed to enjoy it. When she finished it, she could hear the small snores of all the children in the room and she quietly crept to the door. She felt her tail pulled before she could leave the room and she looked behind her.

“Auntie Flurry..Can I um..Talk to you?” Honeysuckle whispered.

“Sure but not here. I don’t want to wake up the kids.” Flusk replied in a soft whisper.

The two quietly trotted out of the room as Flusk slowly shut the door, making sure not to make too much noise. She turned to look down at Honeysuckle now that they were outside of the room.

“What is it?”

“I can’t sleep..I miss dad too much..” Honeysuckle frowned.

“Well, I’m sure he misses you too. Even if he isn’t in his right mind right now, he still loves you.”

“I don’t think so..He wouldn’t have left if he loved us.”

Flusk placed her hooves on Honeysuckle’s shoulders. “He does love you. Yes, he did some really bad stuff and he really is..Bad..Right now..But he still loves you and he always will. Even if he’s doing very poorly at showing it. You have every right to be angry and upset at him and I won’t take that away from you. I’m sure he understands that too.”

“Are you angry at him?..”

“I am..Sort of..I’m mostly just disappointed at the moment. We all are. But there’s nothing we can do about it right now. But we’ll find a way in time.”

There was a small silence as Honeysuckle thought about Flusk’s answer to her question about Drizzle before Flusk wrapped her hooves around Honeysuckle.

“So, would you like a midnight snack? Something along the lines of..Cookies perhaps?”

“Cookies?!”

“My cookies aren’t as good as Drizzle’s but I like to think they’re a good remedy for not being able to sleep.”

“Yes please!” Honeysuckle said excitedly.

Flusk and Honeysuckle quietly trotted to the kitchen as Flusk began whipping up a batch of cookies. She let Honeysuckle help a bit here and there such as adding chocolate chips to the cookies and setting the timer as the two had fun and chatted about all sorts of things. Once the cookies were done, Flusk and Honeysuckle each enjoyed eating them together and found that they actually tasted quite good. Flusk wasn’t expecting her baking to be very good but with the help of Honeysuckle, it seemed to improve a lot.

After they were done, Flusk sealed the cookies in a little container for the other kids to enjoy tomorrow and brought Honeysuckle back to bed. This time she slept more soundly as she left the room and Flusk internally congratulated herself for successfully getting them all to go to bed.

She trotted down the hall when Aphrodite suddenly put her hoof in the way and stopped her.

“Aphrodite?..I didn’t think you were going to come back..”

“Of course I was going to come back. My sister is here..And so are you.”

Flusk looked down at the ground and folded her ears. “Aphrodite..I’m sorry. I was being rather selfish like you said. I wasn’t thinking and I shouldn’t have yelled at you like-”

Flusk stopped mid sentence when Aphrodite threw her arms around Flusk and hugged her.

“It’s okay, I forgive you. I know that you’re going through a tough time right now and your emotions are hard to control. I completely understand why you’d be on edge. I just needed some time for myself..But..Thank you for apologizing. I’m glad you came to your senses.”

“I’m glad you were able to forgive me. I really thought you were going to leave and..Not come back..”

“Why would I ever do that? I love you, Flusk. Besides, me and Regalia don’t have anywhere to go right now since the castle is sort of..Destroyed to say the least.”

“Please don’t leave..Don’t leave me alone..”

“Flusk?!”

Flusk collapsed on Aphrodite, nearly knocking the princess over since she wasn’t expecting it. She quickly supported Flusk before she hit the ground and held her close.

“Flusk, are you okay?..What’s wrong?” Aphrodite asked worriedly.

She heard a soft murmur noise from Flusk but that was about it. It seemed she had fallen asleep right in Aphrodite’s arms due to such an exhausting day. A small smile fell on Aphrodite’s face as she carefully picked up the sleeping unicorn and carried her to their bedroom. She placed Flusk on their bed and dug through the bag she had brought earlier for her. She placed Flusk’s head onto the pillow and laid the comfort blanket over her before climbing into the bed herself and falling asleep with her loved one in her hooves.

In the morning, the sound of banging hammers and chainsaws woke up the entire home. Aphrodite slung herself up out of her bed while Flusk was heavily snoring, sound asleep. Aphrodite looked out the window to see town’s ponies and construction workers rebuilding homes that were burnt to crisps or broken down from Solar’s reign of chaos.

“Oh good..At least they’re finally rebuilding the town..Slowly.” She smiled softly.

Aphrodite turned her attention towards Flusk who was sleeping. She gently kissed Flusk on the cheek and slowly trotted downstairs with a messy flowing mane from getting out of bed. Aphrodite did not like the morning or waking up to the bright sun in her eyes. She wasn’t exactly a morning kind of mare.

She trotted downstairs lazily as she headed towards the kitchen, groaning and mumbling. “Oh, I am so not a morning pony. I need to get some tea or something and snap out of my sleepy mode.”

After pausing for a bit when she made her way down the stairs, she saw Honeysuckle in the kitchen crying with her head held down in between her hooves that were crossed on the table. Aphrodite heard tiny mumbles of muffled speech.

“He’s never going to come home, I am going to be given up to the adoption agency. Where will my sister and brother’s go?”

Aphrodite quickly rushed over to Honeysuckle and wrapped her into a tight hug. “Hey! Don’t you ever say that! You’re not going to be given up and you are certainly staying here with all of us, little one. Do you really think that either of your aunts here would just give you up?”

Before she could respond back to Aphrodite, Aphrodite called out to the messy maned sleepy Flusk from downstairs. “Flusk! You really need to come down here I think!”

Flusk soon rose up quickly and ripped the blankets off of her in a hurry, thinking something horrible was happening from that sudden shout. She rushed downstairs as quickly as possible. “What is it?! Is it a fire?! Did Solar Dots return?! What’s going on..”

Flusk soon stopped short of her sentence to see that Honeysuckle had tears welling down her eyes.

Aphrodite responded. “She was thinking that we would give her up or something? She kept mumbling to herself that we would give her and her siblings up for adoption. I told her otherwise though and gave her a hug.”

Flusk soon trotted over to Honeysuckle and wrapped her hooves around Honeysuckle. She hugged her tightly and rested her chin on Honeysuckle's head.

“Don’t you ever dare say that we would give you up, we would never give you up.”

Flusk soon sat next to Honeysuckle on another chair and looked her in the eyes.

”You’re in a home filled with so much love and good ponies. Everypony loves you and only wants the best for you. I’m sorry your father is gone right now but you know what one of the best things you can do? Forgive him Honeysuckle. He is struggling and he just isn’t seeing everything very clearly right now. Just know that you are loved though.”

Honeysuckle looked up at Flusk with a teary eyed smile on her face.
“I know you’re not my biological aunt like Gem Paws is but..I still always viewed you as a second aunt and I thank you for helping me in some trying times. I know the rest of my siblings are a little too young to hear this kind of stuff. Do you have any advice for my siblings?”

Flusk rested her hoof onto Honeysuckle’s shoulder. “We need to tell Sea Biscuit the truth. Since he is ten years old, I believe he could handle it better. As for Lance and Blissful, they are obviously way too young. Bliss is only five years old and Lance is only two. We need to improvise until they become old enough to where the truth won’t hurt as much.”

Honeysuckle paused and looked down. “But Bliss and Lance loved father, just as much as Sea Biscuit and I.”

“I know Honeysuckle. I know that.” Flusk embraced her into a hug and so did Aphrodite.

Around the corner during all this talk, a smiling red face was peaking in. Gem Paws silently whispered to herself. “So I see she is becoming closer with aunt Flusk.”

Gem Paws smiled brightly. “Wonder what today will bring now..”

Chapter 11: Searching for Clues

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