The Flame That Flickers Last
In the kingdom of Ignis, a mare stood there screaming desperately at her husband, but to no avail. The stallion stood in the doorway, blocking the front entrance to their quaint, little home, the flames that made up his body increasing in size as he tensed his legs. Gritting his fangs, he stood with his back to his wife, a spear of sacred fire clenched in his hooves.
His wife’s screams fell on deaf ears, as his normally vibrantly orange eyes glowered in a dull gray of resignation. He stared out into the abnormally dark night, his eyes searching the darkness while the sound of the night echoed all around him. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he growled at his wife.
“Take our daughter and go.”
Suddenly, from the darkness, a shadowy figure leapt at the stallion, only to be slung to the ground and impaled with the spear. Defiantly, he roared out into the darkness.
“Come, tonight we dine in Tartarus!”
His wife begged and pleaded with him, but he shouted out as the roar of multiple figures could be heard.
“Our daughter must survive! Go now. I’ll buy you some time!”
Before another word was uttered, he slammed the door behind him and the roar of an inferno the likes the world had never seen could be heard tearing throughout the area. A tiny hoof tugged on the mare’s flickering tail as she stood there, staring in disbelief.
Looking down at a tiny foal made of coursing flame as it tried to get her attention, the mare’s mind went into overdrive. Without a second thought, she bent down and picked the foal up by the nape of its neck and bolted.
Tearing out the back of the house, she ran. As the flames in the night died down, she ran, her body setting the very night itself ablaze. Beads of anguish welled in the corner of her eyes as her husband's war cries fell silent, and still she ran. The colors around her shifted to streaks of gray and black and still, she ran.
Throughout the night she ran, through forests and grass. Across the desert, climbing steep mountains, she didn’t stop. Even when it felt like her legs would give out on her, she kept going until she reached the border separating Milieu from Ignis.
Ignoring the sounds of rolling thunder, she charged across into the Kingdom of Storms. That’s when the rain started to fall. It sizzled and popped as it fell upon her fiery flesh, the mare could feel it slowly extinguishing her flames. It hurt so much, she wanted to scream and yet that would mean dropping her daughter. Ignoring the searing agony, she continued on, using her body as a barrier to keep the rain off her now bawling infant.
Weakened by the downpour, she desperately searched for shelter, her glowering eyes falling on a nearby cave. Gathering her will she dragged herself into the cavern, into the blessed dry shelter. She gently set her daughter on the cavern floor, before groaning and falling to her knees. She had used too much energy, she knew. If she had a chance to rest, she could rebuild her fire. She was about to close her eyes when the desperate bawling of her daughter was heard again, the tiny foal tugging hopefully on her mommy’s tail.
The mare needed rest, she had no energy left, but her daughter needed her. With the last of her strength, she lifted a hoof and smiled weakly as her daughter suckled happily. As her daughter enjoyed dinner, the mare slowly laid her head down, her vibrant orange eyes turning to smoldering embers as she closed them for the very last time. The rain continued falling throughout the night as those embers turned to ashes.
The next morning, a regiment scout was patrolling the area when he heard loud cries coming from the cave. Carefully, the stallion made his way to the opening of the cave, carefully avoiding the brambles and briars. The sight that greeted him, however, caused ripples of shock to radiate throughout his watery form.
A tiny flaming foal sat bawling at the top of her lungs, wondering where her mommy was. Next to her, ashes lay still smoldering in the middle of which lay an amulet. The stallion picked up the amulet and stared at it as his hoof began to steam from the heat it emitted. Seeing the insignia on the amulet however, his eyes grew wide.
An insignia of a falling snowflake, a leaf, and a flickering flame was emblazoned on the back. Etched in an almost shimmering liquid, the stallion didn’t recognize the other two, but the snowflake was the same one on the Whisperwind Royal Crest.
He marveled at the craftsmanship, the seemingly liquid diamond as it shimmered and sparkled, turning it over in his hoof, before noticing a single word written in the same shimmering liquid. Squinting, he read it slowly out loud.
“Sa-na.”
Suddenly, he looked up. The crying had stopped. Looking down, the stallion saw the tiny foal, sitting there, staring curiously up at him, her flames flickering steadily.
“Bwa?”
The stallion watched her for a moment before cautiously asking.
“Sana?”
The little foal giggled and clapped her hooves, the flames that made her body growing slightly larger but only for a second.
“Bwah bwa!”
A rustling behind the stallion startled him, causing him to drop the amulet as he turned towards the source of the disruption. The amulet fell with a soft chink onto the ground, catching the attention of the fiery foal, who slowly began to crawl towards it.
A mare constructed completely of frozen ice greeted the stallion. Her body was sculpted as though carved in the rough and tumble seas of the region; hardened and compressed by the immense pressures of the depths and the expression on her face just as hard.
“Ryver says it’s time to go.”
Stumbling over his words as he stared at her, the stallion replied.
“Oh, right, I- Delta it’s just-”
Delta ignored him as something behind him caught her eye.
“Styx, What’s that?”
Without waiting for an answer, she pushed past him and found herself staring down at the flickering foal; now oblivious to everything as it happily sucked on the edge of the amulet. Delta’s expression softened as she watched the little babe. Leaning down she tickled the chin of the foal, watching her giggle, before scooping her up in her hooves.
“Oh, what a cutie you are.”
Styx stood there in disbelief as Delta gently rocked the fiery foal, cooing softly at her. Noticing this, Delta snapped at him.
“What? Surprised to see this side of me?”
Styx looked abashed for a moment, before recovering and stating in wonderment.
“N-no, well yes but…How…How are you doing that?”
Delta continued rocking the foal as it let out a loud yawn, slowly closing its amber eyes as the amulet slipped from her mouth. Watching it fall, Delta leaned down to pick up the small medallion off the ground while speaking to Styx.
“Hm? Oh, you mean because I’m an ice elemental. She may be made of fire, but at her age her flames couldn’t so much as melt snow. Essentially, she’s a very warm teddy bear. Hm, now what could this be?”
In silence, Delta slowly turned it over in her hooves, the softness fading from her face as she glanced from it and then at the sleeping foal in her hooves. Turning towards Styx, she growled.
“We’re leaving. Now.”
Styx was taken aback by the sudden change.
“Wait! What? Where are we going?”
Already on her way out of the cave, Delta swiftly replied.
“The Princess.”
