Chapters Chapter 1
Many many years ago. There was a small town in Equestria, and in that town lived a newborn unicorn named Blaze. But his parents were dead. Blaze's mother died giving birth to him, his father in the griffin war, leaving Blaze to grow up alone, without parents to help and guide him. Blaze grew up as a hard-headed, trouble-making colt that was always getting into trouble, whether by acting up in school or just being bad, period.
Blaze would finally earn his cutie mark after meeting a stallion that taught him magic. That stallion's name was Flaze. While under Flaze's tutelage, Blaze would learn fire, ice, and many other types of magic, though Blaze specialized in fire magic, as would become evident on that fateful day when he earned his cutie mark, a fireball.
The fact that his special talent revolved around lighting things on fire surprised Blaze greatly, and even angered him slightly at first, as he had originally hoped for another cutie mark; maybe something that represented something like a pencil for his artistic skills or a magic cutie mark because he was good with it. However, Blaze would quickly accept this and move on, learning many kinds of spells over the next few years.
One day, Blaze would take his training to a new level after Flaze told him that he would have to test his skills.
“What do you mean, 'test my skills?'” Blaze asked.
“Just wait until tomorrow,” Flaze answered.
Blaze had a very hard time falling asleep that night. Tossing and turning, he wondered exactly what his future would hold in store for him.
The next day, Blaze trained some more. The current exercise he was on was a simple targeting exercise meant to refine his accuracy with one of his many fire techniques. Today, however, the session would be cut short, as Flaze had something else in mind: a round of practice magic duel. Blaze accepted Flaze's challenge, though knowing Flaze's power, Blaze would be a bit apprehensive.
Still, Blaze got into position with his horn at the ready. Hoping that he could possibly anticipate an attack, he would be disappointed to find that Flaze was doing absolutely nothing. The stallion was just standing there, trying Blaze's patience. Eventually, Blaze could take it no longer. He rushed at Flaze and let loose a fireball mid-stride.
However, such a simple attack was no match for the mighty Flaze. With a simple flick of his horn, Flaze was able to redirect the fireball's path before snuffing it out.
Blaze would not be deterred, though. Halting his gallop, he thought of a possible course of action. “I need a plan to beat Flaze,” he said to himself. An idea came to him, blazing fast. He shot a trio of fireballs into the ground, kicking up a screen of dust, then ran around to Flaze's backside and fired a shot from behind.
Blaze thought that had been a direct hit. It wasn't. Flaze had quickly leapt into the air, easily scaling the projectile.
“Trying to blind me, eh?” Flaze taunted as he used his horn to cast a levitation spell. “Good job. I taught you well.”
The technique caught Blaze by surprise.
“But,” Flaze continued, “you're still just a colt. You'll never be able to hit me with that stupid attack!”
Enraged at those words, Blaze also leapt into the air and focused his horn, determined to cast his own levitation spell to put him on his opponent's level so that he could put this adversary in his place and–
“Oof!”
Blaze crashed to the ground. The spell had failed.
“Heh. Nice try, but you need much more experience before you'll be able to do something like that.”
Regarding Flaze's words, Blaze made his way home.
That night, Blaze would get no sleep; he committed himself to learning that levitation technique. It was an arduous effort; he did not succeed the first time, nor the second time, or the tenth. Hours upon hours of trying and trying and failing and failing, until he finally got it work properly. Pure satisfaction lined Blaze's face in response. “Now, I can sneak attack Flaze!” he said to himself contently.
Clad in all-black clothing, Blaze made his way over to Flaze's house. As Blaze approached the front door, it would occur to him that oddly, the door was open. Without thinking, Blaze quickly moved to Flaze's bedroom and cast his newly learned levitation spell to float to the ceiling. Looking at the bed, he could find absolutely nothing. Blaze shook his head in confusion. He could have sworn that he could make out a silhouette that resembled the shape of a pony in that bed...
“Nice try.”
Startled by the voice behind him, Blaze hastily turned around to identify its source. It was Flaze.
“To be honest, I'm surprised you learned such an advanced trick in such a short time.”
“But... how did you know?” Blaze asked, the initial shock having worn off.
Flaze gave a slight chuckle, then answered. “I know you. I know that when you walk off like that, you're going to try to copy me, or something like that. Remember that fireball?”
Speechless, Blaze could only glare.
Over the next few months, Blaze would further refine his fire magic skills to allow for some new techniques to be added to his repertoire: Fire Drop, in which the caster can drop a fireball onto the target's head with pinpoint accuracy; Fire Shield, a shield of fire that has such high energy costs that it can only be used once per day barely ; and finally Blaze's signature move, Fire Tornado, a technique not to be taken lightly by either its targets or its users, as odds are significant that a low-level unicorn who casts this spell, such as Blaze, will be extinguished completely.
“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.
Once he reached the edge of town, Blaze felt a heavy emotion set upon him. Blaze was anxious at the thought of the trials that could lie ahead, but he knew deep down inside that this mission would be one that he absolutely had to complete. Besides, nopony back home would miss him, anyway. So, Blaze galloped off on the first leg of his quest.
On his way to the Ursa Major, Blaze happened to pass by a unicorn with a white coat and blue mane who was wearing a black robe, though Blaze was in too much of a hurry to stop and ask this pony exactly what he was doing in a place that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, or even make out any other notable features. Keeping to himself, Blaze carried on.
Days later, Blaze came across a small town. He took a look around the place only to find that it was abandoned.
“This is certainly a town... Or at least it used to be. There's absolutely nopony in sight... How odd.”
But, just as Blaze said that, a surprise assailant attacked! Somepony came seemingly out of nowhere, attempting to strike Blaze from behind. Blaze was quick, though, and was able to dodge just before this enemy could land a blow! He turned around to see a yellow-maned pegasus, who was wearing a black robe similar to that of the pony he had passed earlier. Taking a combat stance, Blaze confronted the pegasus.
“Who are you, and why did you attack me?!” Blaze questioned fiercely.
Without answering Blaze's question, the pony asked, “Why, Brother? Why did you listen to Father?”
“Brother?! I know not who you think you are, but you're certainly no brother of mine!” Blaze's horn flamed as he fired a shot at his adversary.
The other pony held out his wing to block the fireball, causing the projectile to hiss and fizzle out when it struck its target. “Please, Brother! Come back to us!” the pony implored.
“Silence, you craven cur! Your deluded words mean nothing to me. Take this! Fire Drop!” As Blaze said this, he concentrated hard and closed his eyes as he focused power into his horn and imagined a ball of flame floating above his target. A moment later, he knew the time was right and released his focus. Opening his eyes, he saw it right before him. A fireball had dropped onto his opponent from above, engulfing the pony in a burning light: a direct hit! When the flames subsided, the pony was unconscious. “Hmph. Unable to take my technique... You call yourself my brother, yet you are so weak. It's truly–”
BOOM!! Just then, a surge of dark energy rose forth from Blaze's so-called brother, razing the nearby land and knocking Blaze off his hooves. The energy took form inside the pony and from it sounded a demonic voice.
“Brother...” the voice said.
“What in... What are you?” Blaze asked as he regained his hoofing.
“I am your brother... I tried to stop you... It is him... He wants to take over Equestria...”
“What? Who? Who wants to take over Equestria?”
The pony stared hard at Blaze. “It is him... It is... our– GUH!”
There were no more words. The pony had been impaled on a unicorn's horn. The attacker was wearing a pitch black robe similar to that of the victim.
“Wha... Who are–”
“Sleep...”
One wave of a murderous horn would have Blaze out cold within seconds.
A few days' travel is all it would take for Blaze to get to a good spot to watch the dragon migration. There were dragons of all kinds: blue dragons, white dragons, black and red dragons; the sight of all these amazing creatures was truly astonishing. But Blaze had remember to keep his eyes peeled at all times, because he knew that at any moment, the elusive red-nosed dragon could appear.
After two hours of lying in wait, Blaze finally spotted one. Using his magic, he further entrenched himself to avoid detection. Blaze was locked on to this dragon, determined to track its every move. Off into the distance this dragon flew, and Blaze tried his best to keep on the trail. Eventually, he would find himself near the base of a volcano.
Here, there were certainly dragons to be found. However, some of them appeared to be quite small and weak, and none of the dragons in sight matched the description of Blaze's target. In frustration, Blaze swore to himself.
“Damn it... I can't believe I lost that accursed–”
Blaze's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a gust of wind from above. Blaze then looked upwards to find a large red dragon flying towards a nearby airborne cave.
“Oh, there it is. Good thing it wasn't lost after all!”
Having reacquired his target, Blaze then quickly made his way over to the cave and used his magic to levitate himself up to the entrance. Peering inside the cave, Blaze could see the dragon sleeping. He then walked up to the dragon to put his plan into action.
“I've only one chance at this... let's do this,” he said to himself. Blaze struck the dragon across the nose using his hoof, then quickly dashed behind it. The dragon stood up and looked around, hoping to find the one that did this, but saw nothing. Blaze's plan was working so far. As a precaution, Blaze then picked a scale off the dragon's hide and tucked it away. With dragons being as dangerous as they are, Blaze knew that he had only seconds to secure the kill.
He tried to lift the dragon with his magic, but the dragon was too heavy for Blaze's magic to lift. Breaking the magic hold, the dragon turned around and spotted Blaze.
Whoosh! His instincts kicking in, Blaze dodged to the side and avoided a cloud of scorching flame! Blaze then levitated himself to the edge of the cave.
“Looks like I'll have to take care of this dragon the hard way!” he said before letting loose a barrage of fireballs.
The dragon fought back relentlessly with claw swipe after claw swipe, forcing Blaze to go on the defensive. These attacks were executed in perfect form; there was no way the dragon would be losing its balance any time soon.
In desperation, Blaze decided he would carry out one of his new techniques, Fire Shield, despite its high energy costs. Knowing that he would only be able to use this technique once, he focused intently. Blaze imagined his body burning, becoming one with fire. Blaze felt the heat around him. The shield was forming perfectly.
Blaze could feel his power level rising. Knowing that he only had a short while to act, he moved to the dragon's back and started pushing, aiming for the edge of the cliff outside. But Blaze could feel the entire strength of the dragon resisting him and made little progress. So, Blaze put forth more energy, and the dragon was moving at last.
Suddenly, a stray thought crossed Blaze's mind, one about his father and his life at home. He fell to his hooves and felt a single tear roll down his face. And then, a sharp burst of pain caused Blaze to scream in agony. His power was leaving him. Even worse, that same power was now causing the cave to collapse! Sensing the disturbance, the dragon escaped Blaze's magic and flew off into the distance.
Using the absolute last of his strength, Blaze exited the cave and promptly fainted from the pain. And unfortunately for him, he would also fall over the cliff's edge. Blaze regained consciousness during his descent, and quickly realized: he was about to die. He failed his mission. He failed his father.
But then, seemingly out of nowhere, a pegasus flew by and caught Blaze! The pegasus was wearing a black outfit, like some of the other ponies Blaze had seen. Soon enough, the two would be safely grounded. Once on the ground, Blaze fell unconscious once again.
When Blaze came to, he was on a bed in a room with white walls. On a nearby stand, there was a framed picture of three ponies. One pony, a unicorn, had a blue mane, a white coat, and purple eyes. Blaze was immediately reminded of his father, Flaze. He was holding a mare's hoof. The mare, a pegasus, had a white coat, a pink mane, and red eyes. In her other hoof, there was a unicorn foal whose eyes and mane were red. Immediately, Blaze was taken aback.
“That's me...” he said.
“You were so cute in that picture...”
Blaze heard a voice behind him and turned around to see a pegasus that looked very similar to the mare in the picture.
“What? You're the pony in that picture?” Blaze asked.
The pegasus nodded. “That would be me, the one and only Glaze!”
Blaze looked at her with a confused expression. “...And why exactly do I care, again?” he replied.
Glaze giggled. “Because I'm your mother. Duh!”
Because of all the strange things he had heard about recently, Blaze wasn't that shocked by this new information. Instead, he was quite angry.
“What in Celestia's name is with ponies these days? You being my mother, him being my brother... What you speak of is nothing but lies, damned lies! My mother has been dead for as long as I can remember, and I never had a brother, so all of you, get out of my life! Bucking ponies!” Blaze turned towards the door to leave.
“Wait, Blaze–”
“Screw this, I'm on a mission!” Blaze interrupted. “I have to prove myself to my father!” He then stormed out of the house.
Glaze tried to stop him, but it was to no effect. “What...” she said to herself. “His father is still alive? Oh no. This can't be a good thing! Damn it, Blaze... You don't know what you've gotten yourself into!”
Glaze then quickly prepared and set off after him.
Later, Blaze woke up. He could remember nothing. What happened before he fell asleep, how he came to fall asleep, how long he was asleep for; it was all a complete blank. Blaze was further perplexed by his surroundings.
“A town in ruins... Just what happened here?” Blaze said as he checked the time. “Ahh! It's been an entire week?! The dragon migration is almost here!”
It would seem that during his long sleep, Blaze's possessions remained untouched. After regathering his supplies, as well as his bearings, Blaze would once again set out despite this setback, and would travel for a few hours before reaching the Ursa Major's cave.
“Here it is... The Ursa's cave...” Blaze said to himself, apprehension in his mind. His fears would have to be set aside for the moment though, as he had a mission to fulfill. Blaze entered the cave.
To Blaze's surprise, the cave was completely empty; there was no Ursa Major in sight, and not even a single bat to be found. This trend continued as Blaze made his way deeper into the cave, until...
“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAARRR!!!”
A thunderous roar filled the cave, echoing off of the walls. As it would turn out, the Ursa Major was right behind Blaze.
“Whoa!” Blaze levitated into the air using his magic. Then, without further warning, the Ursa Major slashed with its claws!
Blaze dodged swiftly and shook off the attack! “Now, it's my turn!” he exclaimed. Maintaining his altitude, Blaze floated forward and cast a fireball at the Ursa. The flame sailed towards its target, and connected with the Ursa's left eye! This critical hit caused the Ursa Major to fall to the ground with a mighty thud and scream in pain.
Blaze touched back down and said with a smirk, “I apologize, my friend, but now, I must end you.”
But then, Blaze looked at the Ursa as it calmed down. The Ursa seemed to have some kind of mysterious quality to it that would take many words to describe, perhaps with “innocent” being one of them.
“You know what? I can't do it. I just can't kill you,” Blaze said with guilt in his voice. Using his magic, he ripped a patch of fur from the Ursa Major's body, and placed it in his bag. He then exited the cave.
Once outside, Blaze would find his next destination on the map; a spot from which to watch the dragon migration. Feeling a sudden surge of confidence, Blaze encouraged himself.
“I may have let the Ursa Major live, but that dragon is as good as buried!”
