Raising Fire

Eight.

Eights attempts, each in a different way to try and perswade Twilight to make his bride an alicorn.

He had tried charming, sudtle, bribing, begging, he even brought up the fact that she owed it to him because he had turned into an alicorn for her.

The princess was getting more annoyed and impatiant each time. She always told him that he had to stay stong and he couldn't let imortality or love for that matter sadden him. She told him to make the most of their time together while they were both still alive, and he told her that he couldn't love her fully as long as the thought of her death slowly wound its way into his thoughts whenever she smiled at him.

He thought she would have more sypathy, more emotion at least. He was cried in front of her, somthing he had never done in front of anypony. He had at some point givin up being subtle and openly begged her, he was sure that that would at least make her think about it,

He needed his wife to live forever with him, he needed to know that in a few years that passed like hours he would be looking at her grave stone foreved to live the next a thousend years alone.

Although he didn't notice it, he was slowly going insane. He smiled in front of the kingdom and his wife, but he wasn't handsome anymore. He had bags under his eyes from countless hours staring at the moon and thinking of either her death of ways to perswade the princess, his glowing ember eyes here blood shot and occationaly swollen from crying, and

his voice was quiet and raspy.

The kingdom had yet to notice the change in their prince, but his wife and the castle staff did. Sunset asked him why he wasn't sleeping and he made some excuse to do with the stress of being a prince. She tried to make him smile more, but whenever she surpirised him or laughed he would only look more sad. So she would sit next to him at night on their balcony and sleep there. She didn't mind, she would do what ever it took for him to smile again.

Pheonix was running out of ideas, the princess was annoyed and imaptiant with him when ever he talked about anything that wasn't to do with his royal duties and he had tried every possible thing he could think of. One night has he sat on top of the barrier to the balcony with his wife sleeping next to him, he changed.

He watched her peacfully sleep, chest rising and falling rhythmicaly, beatiful eyelashes relaxed onto the pillow she had brought with her, her mane and tail fanning out behind her from the occational breeze in still night air.

As he looked at her and thought of her death, all youthful innocents left him. His face hardened and his eyes narrowed. The princess was too cold hearted to give him the one thing he couldnt' live without? Fine. He would have to get it from her.

He slid off the barrier and levitiated his wife back into bed. As she landed on the silk sheets, murmering contentidly, he vowed that he would get it from Twilight and push as hard as he had to, so that she could stay alive with him.

He sat next to her for the rest of the night at the end of the bed, carfully planning every detail in his head of what he must do. Not a thought crossed his mind that it was unspeakably crule to do this to the one pony that had been a mother to him, he didn't care, she had her chance to tell him the spell and save him from this misery. As far as he was concerned, she had brought this upon herself.

Torture.