.

I was awoken by the sounds of crickets and owls, a cool breeze brushing up against my hair. As I opened my eyes I looked around a room I was in; nothing looked familiar. I tried to stand up, but found it difficult. My legs began to tremble under my weight; I raised my head to catch a glimpse of a river that was right outside my window. I began to walk over to the window, but I came across a mirror on the table that sat in this room. A dark blue coated stallion, with gold eyes, black mane with red tips, and four curved backed dragon horns on his head, stared back at me. Suddenly, the door of the room opened and in stepped a red coated mare with a blue mane and tail.

“Blaze, are you okay?” she asked.

I backed away from this strange unicorn. “Who are you?”

“Calm down… it’s me, Silver Heart, remember?” she said, slowly approaching me. “Or do you finally remember everything?”

“Silver Heart…” I replied, “I don’t… you… you are the unicorn I live with here… OW!” I said holding my head.

“Take it easy Blaze!” she said quickly, rushing to my side, my wing resting on her back. “For now rest…” she said moving me to my bed. “Tomorrow we have a big day…”

“Tomorrow… yes, the festival of lights…” I replied as I wrapped myself in my wings.

“Yes the festival of lights… Now get some rest… Good night Blaze Drifter.” Silver said as she left the room.

I lay in bed trying to remember, but only the last three weeks were clear; nothing before then, I had been with Silver Heart since I awoke. My memory started from blank almost every time I awoke… I looked out the window and then back at the door. I did remember something, though for some reason I found it difficult to sleep at night. I tossed away the cover and made a dash for the window, my wings spreading out as I exited the window, and with a single flap I shot into the night sky…

I loved flying at night, the cold air and the stars floating above me, it felt familiar… or at least very comfortable. I looked back at myself… a long dragon tail with a bulb at the end, dragon lower hind legs, and the horns on my head. I remembered Silver Heart telling me my parents were a dragon and a pegasus, but nothing more; so I was half dragon… and half pegasus… and even worse, I had a strange feeling I was still very new to flying… I stretched out my wings letting myself glide on the currents. Looking down at my shadow I noticed how large my wing span was; like they weren’t meant for my size, but for something bigger. Still I had seen a few pegasi recently and their wings came in variety of sizes. A small cloud poofed against my face… I shook it off. “Why am I thinking so much… I came up here to fly!” I said out loud before flapping my wings and began to fly even crazier.

Sadly, my escapades of flight were cut short thanks to a pair of griffons, “Hey! You can’t be flying in this area, please return to your home… Blaze!” a familiar voice yelled. “Blaze Drifter, is that you?” a black and white griffon said as she began to fly alongside me.

“Ummm… Baylee?!” I replied.

I heard her giggle, “What’s this, did you just wake up?!” she replied.

I blushed slightly in embarrassment, as I nodded.

“Ma’am?” the other griffon asked.

“Sorry Axton! It’s okay, I got it from here… why don’t you head on back, I’ll have Blaze here home soon,” Baylee said.

“Yes, Ma’am!” said the brown and white griffon; taking a sharp turn he dove back for where they came from.

Baylee then turned to me. “Okay now, land, we are walking you back home,” she said with a smile.

I sighed, “Okay, but do we have to land?”

“Yes, you are in griffon territory… plus you have all day tomorrow to fly as you help the other weather ponies. Okay?” Baylee teased.

On the ground I gave my back a good stretch, as my forelegs extended out before me. Baylee looked me over, “What? Is there something wrong?”

“Huh? No, it just still amazes me… half dragon and half pony. So have you gotten used to flying?” Baylee asked.

“Yep!” I nodded.

“I still can’t believe it, you are lucky my squad and I found you out there,” Baylee said. “I mean, it’s one thing to be wondering around lost, but in the smoldering remains of a battlefield… and to top it off with amnesia, you better thank the gods that Silver Heart was with you.”

“I know…” I said, a sad tone in my voice. The fact that I couldn’t remember anything, not even how to fly, had started to depress me… I felt the hole inside of my heart get bigger and bigger. When we arrived to the house I was staying at, Baylee knocked on the door, the lights inside coming on and the door handle glowing red as it opened soon after.

“Yes, can I help you? Oh! Baylee, I wasn’t expecting you… unless…” Silver Heart said as they turned around. Then they both looked at me concerned. “Blaze, what’s wrong?”

“Huh? Why?” I replied.

Baylee reached up to my cheek and slid her claw up against it, “You’re crying…”

“I’m what…” I said, my hooves moving to my eyes; they were right, I was crying… and when I realized that I was, I broke down into tears. Somehow something trigged my tears, I didn’t know what or why, but I was crying… crying because I felt empty on the inside… crying because I needed something… but more than that, I was crying because I was sad.

The next morning…

“Mmmmnnn…” Smack! Right on my face, I opened my eyes to find my vision obstructed by black feathers. I lifted my head up and out of the feathers to find Silver Heart and Baylee sleeping next to me on the floor.

“Wha, Wha, Wha, What?” I stammered.

Both Silver Heart and Baylee woke up to find me trapped between them; they looked at each other before letting out a giggle.

“Sorry Blaze, forgot you were there?” Baylee giggled.

“I didn’t… he looked comfy!” Silver said tackling me while giggling.

“Hey that does look comfortable…” Baylee said as she too pounced on me.

“Ahhh!” I yelled as the two pinned me to the floor and pretended to sleep. “Not fair… I am not a pillow… mgh!” I said as a hoof was shoved onto my mouth.

“Shhhh! We’re sleeping…” Silver said with a giggle.

They both lay on top of me for a while, before Baylee gave out a stretch and an eagle like yawn. “Jeez, did I need something to relax me…” she said laying her head next to mine.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Humans…” Baylee replied.

Suddenly, Silver Heart stood up, “What about humans?” she asked with a change in her voice.

“They will be showing up here in about a week… to do research,” Baylee said with a heavy sigh.

“You don’t like humans?” I asked.

“It’s not that I don’t like them… it’s just, I hear they are too pony for my taste.” Baylee replied.

That’s right, Baylee didn’t like ponies all that much, not really them, but their way of love and herds. In griffon culture it was one mate for life, or so I had been told. I remember when I first met Baylee, she was going to teach me how to fly again… since I had forgotten. One the first day I had accidently gotten too close to her and she nearly killed me… Since I was one of those ‘ponies’, she kept her distance. Then little by little she got use to me I think and to Silver Heart. It was like she, was the big sister I never had… if I even had a sister.

“Don’t worry Blaze, I keep the humans away from you,” Baylee said.

My ears perked up, “What, why?” I asked.

“They are coming to study the dragons that live in the area, but if they find a half breed like you… who knows what they’ll do,” Baylee replied with a grin. “Maybe they’ll cut you up and put you in jars…”

“Eep!” I shrieked taking cover behind the sofa.

“Ignore her Blaze, Baylee is just teasing, right?” Silver Heart said as she got up and headed to the kitchen.

“Well sort of… I would actually like Blaze to stay away from the humans when they arrive… as well as the griffon soldiers that arrive with them,” Baylee said with a serious tone in her voice.

“Okay, but why?” I asked while nodding.

“Other than the humans’ curiosity, the griffons might find you a threat… I mean, you are sort of a dragon…” she said scratching me under my chin; a small amount of fire escaped my mouth as she did. “See… so promise me you won’t go outside when they are here.”

“I promise,” I said.

“For someone who doesn’t like ponies, you sure do keep a close eye on one.” Silver Heart said with a smirk.

“He’s not a pony… he’s a dragon… completely different… well I have to go… I have my official duties to perform… And shouldn’t you be clearing the weather today?” Baylee stammered. “Tonight is the festival of lights,” Baylee said as she picked up her armor and headed to the door. “See you later Blaze… bye Silver Heart.”

The door closed behind her, followed by Silver Heart locking it with her magic, “I think she likes you,” she said leaving the kitchen and hovering two plates to the table.

“There is no way she could like… she hates stallions,” I replied sitting at the edge of the table.

“But you’re not a stallion, you’re a hu… a half breed,” Silver Heart said as she cleared her throat. “Sorry peanut butter… but back to what I was saying, be careful not to lead her on. Last thing you want is a griffon mad because of love.”

I nodded as I finished my breakfast and headed to the backdoor, sighing like I always did.

‘Clouds are so easy, yet so difficult to handle,’ I thought to myself clearing the sky of rain clouds… As I moved another rain cloud, their color reminded me of Baylee; it had only been a few weeks, but I had grown to like her, maybe a little too much.

“Blaze!”

I looked around… then down. it was Silver Heart and I dove down to her. My wings were so large that the dust they kicked off the ground swirled around and startled some of the ponies.

“Blaze, slow down on your landing or you will scare everypony,” Silver said with a smil. “Also, here is your lunch.” She pulled out a small pouch and gave it to me.

“Thanks Silver,” I replied grabbing the pouch with my mouth.

I heard whistling from both griffons and ponies as she gave me the bag, “What’s their problem?”

A new pair of wings landed beside us, “You guys are the hottest couple in this town,” Baylee giggled. “But you better watch out though, he is a temping prize for anyone.”

“Anyone?” I replied.

“Don’t you mean anypony, Baylee?” Silver asked.

“I meant anybody,” Baylee replied pointing to some armored female griffons that were looking at us. “Your dragon’s blood makes you a great prize… strong, and fierce; a great treasure for any griffon or an unknown threat to us all,” she said running her claw over my cutie mark and down my leg. Suddenly, her claw began to glow red and was lifted away from my backside.

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Silver replied. “But proving that he belongs to you in public might lead others to believe you’re interested in ponies.”

“Well I might be interested in this one…” Baylee replied.

I looked around and noticed a crowd gathering. They made me feel uncomfortable, so much that I took off into the air without saying a word; letting Baylee and Silver Heart bicker on in front of them. I hadn’t been here long and there were times where I found myself with nowhere to go, and I usually ended in the mountains… in a cave. How dragon-like I’d become... Still I felt more at home in this mountain than in the house that Silver Heart, Baylee and I lived in. I didn’t know if it was because it was so dark, and so quiet, but I did like being here in these old caves. Eventually I got to my favorite spot to lay down. Nuzzling up against the rocks, I closed my eyes…

“Blaze… Blaze… James…”

I suddenly awoke, quickly taking in my surroundings… “There!” I shouted staring into a corner, as I began to pursue a shadow that ran against the wall…

“Come on James…”

I turned around to see the shadow against the wall again; I began to chase this shadow as it quickly moved through the cave’s tunnels.

“Come on, my little Drifter… you can do better than that!” the female voices taunted.

I spread my wings and took flight in these narrow caves, continuing to chase this shadow. I then heard more flapping; the shadowy figure on the walls had taken flight as well. I felt myself getting closer and then I was slightly blinded by the moon’s light as I found myself outside. My eyes were darting around as I looked for the shadow that I followed outside. She was nowhere to be found…

“Oh dear… it’s this late…” I muttered, “Silver is going to be mad.” I quickly took off into the direction of the small town.

“Do you have any idea how embarrassed we felt?!” Silver yelled as I sat on a small rug in the living room. “Seriously!”

“You left us squabbling like a pair of… of…” Baylee began as I finished her sentence.

“Chickens?” I said, and in a flash I felt her claw against my chest and her back paw pushing down on my lower back.

“The only ‘chicken’ I see is about to get skinned!” Baylee said with a low growl in her voice.

“Sorry!” I exclaimed as Silver Heart looked on.

“I’m not going to help you… you deserve whatever punishment Baylee decides to give you,” Silver said as she trotted upstairs. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Baylee, I didn’t mean… ow, ow… ow!” I began as Baylee pulled my mane back a little and her beak clamped lightly around my neck. I felt the tip of her beak pierce my skin and blood began to drip out, her tongue quickly lapping it up. All at once she released me, licking her beak.

“Well that was a weird, yet delightful taste. Orange mint… why do you taste like orange mint?” Baylee asked with a devious smile on her face.

“Ow… that hurt, you know,” I replied leaning my neck into the injury.

“Aww does the little pony need some first aid… or his mommy?” Baylee teased.

I turned away from Baylee only to be pounced by her, “Here, let me make you feel all better… wait… where is it?” Baylee said as she looked at my neck.

“Where’s what?” I asked.

“The beak mark… I can’t find it… anywhere…” Baylee said as she pulled me around in every direction, looking for the injury. “Where is it?”

“Maybe it was so small it closed up or something?” I said, lying pinned against the floor as Baylee began sniffing my neck.

“It’s gotta be here somewhere…” Baylee said as she continued burying her beak into my fur.

“Look, it’s getting late and the festival should be starting soon, maybe…” I began as Baylee interrupted.

“Shit! The festival!” she squawked and took off for the door, “Gotta go, bye!”

I lay there covered in Baylee’s drool and sweat, still kind of in shock about the whole thing, when Silver Heart came down.

“Is she gone?” Silver asked.

“Yup!” I replied with a nod.

“What happened that caused her to be so distracted? Other than your punishment…” she asked

“Well…” I said as I began to describe the event that took place after Silver Heart went upstairs.

“You got injured…” Silver said with a worried tone, “But Baylee couldn’t find the wound.”

“Yeah, it’s no big deal; it will probably show up later or something,” I replied. “But I must say, I love what you did with your mane. Is it for the festival?”

Silver nodded and then began to nudge me out the door, “Hurry or we’ll be late.”

Stepping outside we headed towards the center of the town; several griffons and ponies stood there all looking to the night sky. After a few minutes, the sky became alive with lights and color; fireworks… magical fireworks. We watched on as the colors exploded in the sky, some even dancing or changing shapes as they were falling through the sky. Then after the fireworks the party began, everyone drinking, dancing and having a great time. Silver Heart was pulled away by a brown and black griffon by the name of Gibson; the smile on her face was adorable as she blushed in his company.

I found myself staring into the sky holding a mug of cider when I heard a voice call out to me.

“Blaze!”

I turned to see Baylee flying towards me. She glided down and sat next to me. “Hey,” I replied.

“Hey… so how’s the party?” Baylee asked.

“Okay… it’s the first time I remember watching fireworks, so it’s all good,” I replied.

“So where is Silver?”

I pointed out to the dancing crowd. “Somewhere in there with Gibson.”

“Gibson?! Really?” she exclaimed and I nodded. “And that doesn’t bother you?”

I looked at Baylee with a confused expression on my face, “Why would it?”

“Well you too are always together… so I thought…” Baylee trailed off.

“Nah, I feel she is more like an older sister if anything… plus right now, I don’t think I can have a relationship with anyone,” I said sipping my cider.

We both sat nervously next to each other before Baylee broke the silence. “I got you something. Well… no, I am returning this to you, but it is like a present,” she said reaching back and pulling out a large and long, white wrapped item.

I put down my mug of cider and held the heavy item. Slowly I undid the wrap to find a black scaled scabbard. I continuing unwrapping to find the sword I was found with. Looking up at Baylee in shock I asked, “How did you…?”

“I requested that it should be returned to you. It took a few favors, but I got it back for you… I mean, a warrior should never be without his weapon.”

“But I’m not…” I began but Baylee interrupted.

“You don’t know that, and even if you aren’t… this is your sword. We found you with it, remember?”

“Yeah… I remember…”

One month ago… At the edge of town that faced the dragon’s territory.

“You there, put the sword down!” a voiced yelled, but I could not hear it. “I said put the sword down!” the voice yelled again.

I felt the presences of metal in my mouth, and a sticky substance on my face. I quickly rubbed it off, the feeling of fur ran over my face. I opened my eyes; light flooded them forcing me to retract back and blink several times before I could keep them open. I found myself surrounded by griffons in armor pointing swords, spears, and crossbows at me. As I backed up, my back leg rubbed up against something warm. Turning back I found a red unicorn lying on the floor behind me… that’s when I noticed the large sword I was holding in my mouth. The handle was black with tan and orange patterns, and the end of the handle was a small dragon-like claw. The blade of the sword was long and fat, filled with holes and colored like fire. I gripped it as hard as I could while looking at these armored griffons. Then it hit me; why was I holding this sword, why was I protecting this pony, and who was I?

A female griffon broke through the crowd. She looked at me and then back at the others. She pulled out her blade, holding it tightly in her claw; I bit down hard on my sword, extended my wings out and readied my tail. The griffon then dropped her sword as her fellow soldiers stepped back, “Put your weapons down… everyone!” she yelled.

“Mhmmm…” The red pony moaned from behind me, “Blaze…”

“I said put your weapons down! All of you!” she yelled again. Every griffon dropped their weapon as she slowly approached me, “It’s okay… you’ve been fighting a long time, haven’t you… but they’re gone… okay.”

“Ma’am!?” One of the griffons questioned.

“They’re not a threat… look at them… they’re our allies,” she said extending her claw towards me. “Let’s get you home.”

“Home…” I murmured; a flood of emotions overwhelmed me upon hearing that word, so much so that I blacked out.

“I still have no idea why I had this thing…” I said slinging the blanketed sword over my back.

“Well I’m sure you’ll find out one day…” Baylee said as a few of the children in the area ran over to us.

“Blaze! Help me!” one of them yelled.

“What is it?” I asked the little griffon cub. I looked over the six of them, a male griffon cub, two female griffon cubs, two colts and one filly.

“You’re no good rotten kids!” yelled a voice in the distance.

My hoof found its way to my face with a smack, “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” they all exclaimed.

“That’s bad…” one of them muttered.

“Where are they?!” a griffon demanded.

“Woah there, Gustave, what did they do?” I asked

“Zis children, they snuck into my wagon and ate my Baba au Rhum!” Gustave yelled.

“What is that?” I asked.

“My cake, you buffoon!” Gustave exclaimed.

“Really, name calling… okay then,” I said turning away from him and looking back at the kids who were hiding behind Baylee. “Did you guys eat his cake?”

“Sort of…” the filly replied. “Well you see…”

“A cat knocked it over!”

“But before that it was sitting outside…”

“Gustave put it on a barrel to cool…

“Because it was hot…”

“And before that Gustave yelled at us telling us not to touch his cake…”

“He also said that the only way we would ever eat his cake was off the floor…”

“So when it hit the floor… well, we sort of ate it…” the male cub finished.

“You didn’t knock it over, but you ate cake off the floor?” I replied.

“Not the parts touching the floor!” exclaimed one of the female griffon cubs as her head poked out from behind Baylee.

“Okay… who’s cat?” I asked.

They all pointed to Gustave, “Cherry Pie!”

“My cat!” Gustave exclaimed… “But why would Cherry Pie do that?”

“The barrel had balloons on it, and Cherry loves balloons!” exclaimed one of the children.

After a little while longer, Gustave and the children apologized to one another for the misunderstanding. The kids headed back out to play as I stopped Gustave, “Cherry Pie?”

“I named her after a magnifique pony I met on a trip once, Pinkie Pie, except my cat was red when I found her… so I named her Cherry Pie,” Gustave said as he headed back to his home.

“I will never understand that guy…” Baylee said. “He really needs to move shop again… his cake is awful!”

“You’ve had it before?” I asked.

“Before you showed up in town, some griffon asked me out on a date. Worst date ever,” Baylee replied.

“Who?” I asked and she quickly pointed to the dance floor and straight to Silver Heart’s dance partner.

“Nooo.” I wailed.

“Yes sir.” She replied. “He has no idea how to woo a griffon, but that’s what you get when you were raised in Canterlot.”

“Canterlot? The pony capital…” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep, he was born and raised in Canterlot… poor fellow… it’s a good thing he likes mares…” she said taking a sip from my mug of cider.

As I was about to take my cider back I heard a girl call my name, I turned and noticed the shadow of a pegasus like pony out of the corner of my eye. I quickly jumped up and into the air and began chasing this shadow.

‘Whoever she is, she’s fast… wait, she?’ I thought to myself as I chased her into the woods. As I flew through the forest I began to wonder, how did I know it was a she, and if she called out to me wouldn’t I know. Was I really hearing a voice or just thinking I was…

The shadow turned up and into the sky and I continued to follow.

“You’re doing really well, James… you’re catching up rather quickly,” the shadow called as it moved into the clouds. Flapping my wings as hard as I could I flew up through the clouds, “That’s good… don’t let up!” she continued.

When I finally broke through the clouds I quickly looked around and there, above the clouds, with the moon shining through her curly indigo mane and tail, reflecting off her white coat and leather bat like wings was a pony who looked very familiar.

“Way to go James… I mean Blaze. With those wings I bet you can chase anypony!” she said. I turned to look at my large black wings and as I did I noticed myself. I was a tall, biped creature… I was white skinned… with hands and fingers… I was human and I was naked. I dove into the clouds and looked back to the moon… the white bat pony was gone, looking down at myself I was a pony self again. Completely confused I flew back into town…

As I reached the town, Baylee caught up to me. “Blaze… by the gods you are fast, what happen?” she asked.

“Nothing really… I need to see Silver Heart… is she still with Gibson?” I asked.

“Umm, no they are heading back to his place…” Baylee said. “So that means we will be alone tonight.”

I quickly turned and dashed through town to Gibson’s home. Half way there I found Silver and Gibson walking together. “SILVER!” I yelled.

Both Silver and Gibson turned to me, “Oh, Blaze what’s wrong?” Silver asked.

I walked up to Silver and grabbed her by the hoof, “Could you excuse me Gibson, this will only take a moment… maybe.” Pulling Silver to the side I began to whisper as Baylee caught up. “I think I remembered something…” I said.

“That’s wonderful Blaze! What did you remember?” she asked.

“Well… I know it sounds silly… maybe even bizarre… but I remember being… human…” I hesitantly replied.

“Oh… okay… Anything else?” she asked.

“Umm… yeah, a white bat pony…” I replied.

“Morning…”

“Who?” I asked, ear twitching towards her.

“Look, it’s late…for now, why don’t you just head home and get some rest; and we’ll sort out the rest in the morning. Okay?” Silver said rubbing my mane.

“Okay Silver… I’ll see you in the morning… Morning…” I replied turning around and began to head home thinking about the name Morning.

“Blaze there you are… are you okay?” Baylee asked as she caught up with me.

I nodded. “I’ll be fine… I just need some sleep…”

Baylee extended out a wing over me and helped me walk home. That night while I slept, I had horrible nightmares… about being killed and tortured… even betrayed, but nothing about the white bat pony, whom I chased.

Morning came quickly, the warm light flooding my room as I listened to the house creek and bend… but nothing else. Silver Heart was not home yet, and it seemed that Baylee had already left. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen; Baylee had left me some burnt eggs and bread. That poor griffon had no luck when it came to cooking. As I sat down to begin my breakfast, I heard the sound of gunfire outside… I heard screaming… yelling… and finally a loud roar.

As I began to get up Baylee busted in through the door, “Get DOWN!” she yelled as she tackled me, rolling around I found myself on top of her. Suddenly I heard a whistling noise as the roof was torn off… As the debris cleared I found myself looking at a large four legged black coated creature, with white bone like armor covering its body, and a large red gem-like orb on its chest. For a moment the beast and I stared at one another, but the gunfire interrupted us and the creature began to hiss and roar as it returned into the forest.

“What was that?” I asked looking down at Baylee.

“I don’t know, but it attacked the humans who were coming to our village…” Baylee said and then turned away. “Would you mind getting off… this is embarrassing.”

“Sorry!” I exclaimed as I got off Baylee.

Baylee got up and then headed back to the marines, but stopped for a moment to look at me. “Stay here,” she commanded.

She flew over to the humans and griffons who had just scared off the beast. An hour passed as I waited in the debris of the house; I became impatient and then began to look for my belongings. As I moved broken furniture and wooden planks, I came across my mashed breakfast… I left out a small sigh as I continued to look for anything salvageable. Every time I found something I took it out of the debris and rubble and placed it outside. Slowly the afternoon crept up on me as I worked through the debris; nobody came to help… they were all too busy looking at the humans.

“Hey there, you look like you could use some help?” a voice called out. I popped my head out of the debris to find a human female walking towards me. I looked around and then pointed to myself. “Yes, you, do you need some help?” she asked again.

“Umm, sure…” I replied.

She then slung a large black pole like gun device across her back and began to look through the debris. “So what are we looking for?”

“Anything that isn’t broken…” I replied.

“Ahh, okay,” she said as she began to lift and toss wooden planks. A few minutes passed before she began to talk. “So what’s your name?”

“Blaze Drifter… what’s yours?”

“Sergeant Lindsey Thompson… I mean Lindsey… Sorry, force of habit.”

“It’s fine…”

“So umm… what do you do?” she asked.

“Cloud mover, and yourself?”

“Marine… I mean a warrior of Earth… So… not to be rude, but what are you? I have seen ponies and griffons… but nothing like you,” she said just staring at me.

“I am assuming curiosity brought you over to help me…” I pointed out while looking back at this brown haired and dark skinned human.

She nodded.

“Half dragon… half pony… that’s all,” I said.

“Dragon… Dragon! Wow! So who was the dragon, your mom or your dad?” she exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“Oh come on, don’t be that way… you can tell me,” she asked excitedly.

“I don’t know…” I repeated, emphasizing every word.

“Please!” she begged.

“I said I don’t KNOW!” I yelled, “I don’t know anything… I don’t know who my parents are, I don’t know where I come from, I don’t even know if I have a family…” Slowly I began to collapse under the weight of my own uneasiness, anxiety and fear. “I don’t even know my own birthday…”

“I’m sorry.” The marine seemed caught off guard by my outburst. “I didn’t kno… mean too… I’m sorry.”

I tried to reply only to find myself too tired to, my eyes felt heavy and I closed them, fainting. When I woke up, I found myself lying on a blanket. I turned to find Silver Heart and Gibson working in the kitchen. I laid my head back down and relaxed my ears to listen to them as they spoke.

“Are you sure we should keep him here?” Silver Heart asked.

“Yes I am, those humans are to curious… plus take a look at these,” Gibson said and I heard him shuffling through his pack.

“Pictures and a metal dart?” Silver replied.

“The metal dart was a tranquilizer I found on Blaze and the pictures, look at them closely… something looks familiar,” he explained.

“What is that?” Silver asked.

“A Devil… according to the humans… they say this creature fought off a horde of the dead that was marching towards us…” Gibson said. “And doesn’t that creature look a little too much like Blaze…plus look at the flaming weapon it carries.”

“I have no idea what you’re…” Silver said only to be interrupted by Gibson.

“The sword is the same… the blue fire is the same… the wings are the same. If they aren’t the same creature, then they are related somehow. Silver… Please,” Gibson said, “please let me help you… I can’t bear the thought of losing you...”

As Silver was going to reply, Baylee came in through the door. “The humans are looking everywhere for Blaze. And so are the other griffons. What do we do?”

“This is my problem, and Blaze is my responsibility… I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, I owe him too much. I will take him from here and away from you two,” Silver said.

“No, You are important to me,” Gibson said as he got close to Silver.

“You don’t understand, Gibson…” she replied backing away. “Me and Blaze are different…”

“Then help me understand,” Gibson demanded, as Baylee walked around the house closing the windows.

“The images in the pictures…” Silver began to say only to be interrupted by Baylee.

“You showed these to her?! You broke protocol…” Baylee seethed only to be cut off by Gibson.

“So did you when you helped me bring Blaze here, when we were supposed to take him to Tatum.”

Baylee looked away. “I couldn’t let them take him…”

“So we are agreed, we are in this together…” Gibson said as he turned to Silver Heart. “Please continue.”

Silver Heart nodded and then turned to the pictures on the table, “That is Blaze… he is able to change forms.”

“A changeling?!” Baylee exclaimed.

“No… he is a special human… who is capable of many things. He saved me…” Silver said walking over to me and running her hoof over my mane.

“Saved you? From what?” Gibson asked.

“Myself…” Silver said as she let a red flame engulf her body; and from the flames a thin framed changeling with no holes in her body, with long fairy like wings, normal looking eyes and a short nub on her head.

“A Changeling…” Gibson said in awe.

“But I thought Changelings…what are you?” Baylee said making a circle gesture with her claw.

“I don’t know… still a Changeling, but different thanks to Blaze… before this… I was a…” Silver stopped for a breath before replying. “I was a full Changeling.”

Baylee quickly jumped back into a defensive position while Gibson approached Silver. “So what… I fell in love with you. No matter what you were or are… and if you need my help, you have it.”

Silver gave Gibson the sweetest smile I had ever seen her give. Baylee relaxed and sat on the floor, and after a few minutes and a long hug they proceeded to talk about what to do next.

“So if Blaze is a special human… why not give him back to the humans?” Baylee asked.

“That won’t work. Apparently, he is something called a ‘mutant’ and the humans hate them… so much so that they will try to capture him or kill him,” Silver replied.

“So our options are limited…” Baylee said as she walked over to me.

“Not if we get him out of here as fast as we can and head straight for Canterlot,” Silver exclaimed.

“Canterlot, and why would we head there?” Gibson asked.

“He’ll be safe there… his family is there,” Silver said looking away slightly in shame.

“Family!?” exclaimed Baylee. “He has a family in Canterlot?”

“It’s not my place to say this, but… his herd is there. At least that is what he told me before he lost him memory.”

“His herd…” Baylee looked away saddened by the news. “But humans don’t have herds…”

“So if you knew this why didn’t you take him there earlier? Gibson asked.

“Money… it would take money to get us there… plus I couldn’t ask anyone for help… Also there is another reason why we can’t leave…” Silver replied.

“What?” Gibson asked.

“I don’t know… that answer is locked away in Blaze’s lost memory,” Silver said as she trotted over to Gibson, hiding her face in his feather covered chest.

I slowly stood up. “Hello,” I said looking over them.

“Blaze?!” Silver responded. “How long have you been awake…?”

“For a while now… so I have a family… loved ones?” I hesitantly replied.

Silver nodded.

Before I was able to ask another question, we heard voices outside. “They’re in here!” someone yelled.

Quickly we all turned to one another and Gibson gestured us to follow him through the kitchen and into a secret cellar he had in his home. We watched through the floorboards as the griffons came into his home, barking out orders in the griffon language. Gibson then proceeded to a small tunnel that led away from the house and into the darkness.

The tunnel was dark, cold and wet… and as we slowly moved through it, Gibson started to talk. “This tunnel has been a secret in my family for generations, it was originally used to smuggle illegal products into Equestrian territories. It also has several other tunnels that lead to the surface so that no one gets stuck down here.”

“Then we can use these tunnels to get closer to Canterlot?” Silver asked.

“Sadly no… The tunnels up ahead collapsed a long time ago… these tunnels will get us as far as the forest that sits outside of town,” Gibson said.

After walking for an hour or so, we exited the tunnels and found ourselves deep in the forest.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Set up camp… no fire, we’ll huddle together for warmth,” Gibson said as Baylee nodded in agreement. “Blaze, you’re in the middle.”

“Huh? Why does he get the middle?” Baylee asked.

“His body is warmer than all of ours, plus he has those super large wings… he can cover us all keeping us warm through the night. All we have to do is place some camouflage on his wings and we can stay hidden until morning,” Gibson said as he started to collect mud and leaves, “Plus covering him up will keep him warm as well.”

Silver and Baylee joined the collecting efforts; placing the mud and leaves them on my back and the top of my wings. I shuddered each time they smeared mud on me, letting out small little squeaks of disgust.

“So, Silver Heart… you’re some sort of Changeling?” Baylee asked.

“Umm, yes,” she replied.

“How did you ‘un-Changeling’?” Baylee said.

“It was thanks to Blaze here… his has a gift… or something. But I think… all Changelings used to look like this… and that the queen used to be our Princess.” Silver said.

“So how did you and Blaze meet?” Gibson asked.

“He was a prisoner in the dungeons deep below the ancient Crystal Kingdom,” Silver began. “I was his guard…”

“You were his what?” Baylee replied.

“I know but what happened down there changed everything and… well it all began when this little dragon and I were tossed out of the dungeon by Blaze,” Silver said as tears began to well up in her eyes. “Yes, it was all that little dragon’s fault.”

Author's Note

Yay! It's up... I am so sleepy right now. So, Thank you everyone who has kept up with the story for far, I am glad you like it. I am currently working two other ponies stories... or at least the outline of them. This story only has a few chapters to go before it ends, but when it does I already have a few Bonus/Side Chapters I am working on to fill the void after it is done ( with these side stories I am hoping to either fill with story or well you know). If you have any suggestion or something let me know of bonus chapters; example: Blaze secretly with Applejack... or an escaped with a human.