Blaze's Background story

    “Today is the day...” Flaze said to Blaze one day. “The day when you must prove yourself to me!”

    Blaze failed to understand what Flaze meant by this. “What do you mean by, 'prove myself,' Master?”

    Flaze paused for quite a while “Why,” Blaze thought to himself. Why what is all this, it’s too much to take in all at once, why…. After what seemed like ages to Blaze, Flaze finally answered. “You must prove to me that you are my son, and you must do so by defeating me,” he said.

    Blaze stood in shock. “Your son... but you're not my father!” he exclaimed.

    Flaze chuckled and shook his head knowingly. “But I am. Now, I want you to–”

    “B-But you died when you were at war!” Blaze interrupted after catching on to what Flaze was saying.

    “That's only what you thought. I actually–”

    “But the ponies at the hospital said that you–”

    “Quiet, you! Let me explain,” interjected Flaze before he took a deep breath. “I... I never actually fought the gryphons. When I left, rather than enlisting in the army, I just left... I abandoned you... I was too scared to go to war.” A heavy silence lingered over the two of them for a few moments. It would eventually be broken when Flaze said, “To prove that you're better than me, you'll need to do three things.”

    Blaze was still in shock from what he had just learned, but still managed to respond. “What is it, Father?” he said.

    “Don't call me Father,” Flaze angrily reprimanded. “You haven't yet earned the right to call me that– not until you prove to me that you're my son.”

    “Yes... Yes, Master.”

    “Good... Now,” Flaze continued, his tone returning to normal. “To prove yourself to me, you'll have to accomplish this task. There are three monsters that you'll need to hunt down and kill.”

    “K-kill? Kill what?” Blaze asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

    “First, you'll need to kill an Ursa Major. They should live in caves located throughout the Everfree Forest, which is on the outskirts of Ponyville. They're rare, and you should be careful when you do find one, because they are exceedingly large and will attack to kill. The second monster on the list is a red-nosed dragon. These dragons are most easily found during the generational dragon migration, these dragons hide in the mountains by the volcano’s be sure to keep an eye on these things, and another thing if my prediction is accurate, the dragon migration should begin in about two weeks. So, you'll have two weeks to find and kill an Ursa Major, then you'll have a day to down a red-nosed dragon.”

    Blaze was taken aback. An Ursa Major and a red-nosed dragon... These monsters were known for their immense strength; rarely did they fall due to the efforts of a single pony. And to top it all off, there was still a third monster that Flaze had yet to name. “What's the last one?” Blaze asked in a fearful tone.

    Flaze grinned. “The third and final monster,” he said, “is Cerberus.”

    “Cerberus?” Blaze asked with even more fear in his voice. “You mean the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Tartarus?”

    “Yes, that Cerberus,” said Flaze, who was still grinning.

    “...But Tartarus is full of dangerous monsters!” Blaze protested. “If I kill Cerberus, then it'll leave those monsters unchecked, and they'll be free to destroy Equestria!”

    “And exactly how is that my problem?”

    “Umm...”

    “Exactly. It's not. And it's none of your concern, either.” Flaze gave off a laugh. “Now just go out there, and take down those monsters. Do it for your father. That's an order!”

    “Yes, Father– I mean, Sir!” Blaze said before walking away, his mind in a haze. Why would Flaze want me to kill all these things, he thought. Oh well... I just have to follow his orders.

    Blaze spent the next couple of days doing some training and resting up for his big mission. He practiced his fire balls and practiced his new spells, he slept and meditated for hours to get ready for battle. Once he was ready, he decided that he would stop by Flaze's house before setting off. He made his way to the house and let himself inside only to find that Flaze was not there.

    “Maybe he had errands to do,” Blaze said to himself. He then spotted an interesting object on a table that was beside him. It was a map of Equestria with three particular locations marked with X's. “These must mark the monsters' locations!” Blaze said. Then Blaze noticed another item on the table. To the right of the map was a note, which Blaze picked up. The note read:

Dear Blaze,

    I am not here right now, but when you kill the monsters that I pointed out to you, be sure to secure proof of the kill; a hair sample or something similar should do. Good luck, son.

From: Flaze

    “What?!” Blaze shouted in anger. “It's not enough just to kill the monsters? I have to bring back samples now?” Blaze gave a sigh as he rubbed his forehead. “...Well, I guess I have to. Anything to prove to my father that I am his son.”

    The last item on the table was a bag of money. Blaze took some time to count these funds and found that the bag contained one thousand bits in cash. He then took some food for himself and set off on his journey with the map, the note, and a thousand bits in his possession.