Fiery waves – the ups and downs of Summer Pride

Chapter 3: Loss


I've always loved my mother. She was the one who truly held our family together. Her name was Scarlet Sunrise. She wasn't royalty, nor my mother. Not by blood at least. She was our fostress, who took good care of us, until my father fell in love with her. You see, the original unicorn Queen died while she gave birth to me.

“You look just like your mother... a cold, yet vivid alabaster beauty...” my father often told me.

Of course, the all-powerful King Mighty Monolith could never afford to show some real emotions. But he was even more distant and reserved with me, than with my brothers and sister. I think I reminded him of my mother too much. Oh, he loved me, I have no doubts about that. I only wish I had some proof... What happened after the Queen's passing is a classic story, really... My father noticed our fostress, fell in love with Scarlet Sunrise, married her and made her the new unicorn Queen. But some of this subjects could not accept his decision, that stallion for example, who I almost killed, when my Element revealed itself.

Hmm... my Element... it caused me so much pleasure and joy... with lots of pain and suffering as well. I never could decide if it was a gift, or a curse. I know it sounds silly, but I still can't.

It is very difficult to describe the years that followed. My life changed entirely. Mother often said, violence doesn't solve anything. Well, it certainly settled the argument with that stallion at school. I never had any further problems with aggressors like him. Only decades later I understood why... Fear and admiration... always an effective combination. Why are you looking at me like that? Yes, the world have changed, but some things stay the same. Just look at your rulers now! What do you feel toward them? You admire them for their beauty, their kindness, their wisdom... and you fear them because of their omnipotent magic! How do you act in their presence? You bow down and try to look as small and irrelevant as possible. You have no reason to do so, yet you cannot resist. Fear and admiration!

Of course I wasn't so wise back then. I was just a confused, perplexed young mare. And my training began on the next day after the fight at the junk-yard. As my mother said, the “journey” was long and difficult. I had to spend hours in silence, not even allowed to move. I had combat practice with my brothers and sister every day. If I did something wrong, I was severely punished. It may seem cruel of my mother to put me through such ordeals, but it was for my own good, even though I didn't comprehend that at that time. These lessons aroused every possible emotion a pony could experience and this taught me control and focus. I realized if I set my mind to do something, I can achieve it, no matter what it was. My grades improved and my knowledge about the world widened with every day. My efforts were fueled by the Fire that dwells deep within me and my determination was strengthened by the flame as well. You might think the price for all of this was the good relations with my family, but you're wrong. My mother was the piece that held us together and made us realize, we're stronger if we unite. The connection with her and my siblings was more powerful than anytime before. We often had these deep, endless conversations, while we lied on the roof and gazed at the stars. Just the five of us. My father was always away at that time, waging war against the griffons. I treasured these moments and it is a very good image to remember, when I feel blue.

But as you know, all good things have to end sooner or later. One day, a messenger arrived to the Castle and you might already have guessed what news did he bring... yes, my father have fallen in the battle against the infamous griffon warlord, who was known by the name of Odin. The unicorn King was dead. Mother was completely shattered; she loved him so much. We mourned our father, but soon, the griffons came for us and the threat was right in front of our gates. Scarlet Sunrise was not a warrior, yet she managed to protect the Castle of First Magic for two years. Eventually, an arrowhead pierced her heart and she died in my arms. No deep, insightful last words, that change your way of thinking and shows you the path of your destiny, like what you see in the movies these days. The ones who printed those images on the reels have never been in a war, they haven't seen somepony dying. Well, I've seen it. And caused many deaths myself. I'm not particularly proud of that. But even my pure anger and the combined powers of my siblings wasn't enough to repel the final assault. We were vastly outnumbered. Yes, we were the Elementals, but not the Creator, our power had limitations. Even mine too. I have no illusions about that. I'm not an alicorn...

Oh, no wonder why you haven't heard about this. You won't find such information in history books. You see, the griffons were a much younger race than our own; they were merely savage beasts at that time and today they still do not have the inner strength to face their deeds with dignity, so the tale of the Castle's fall was erased from the chronicles...

Yes. The war was lost and we had to escape stealthily through secret tunnels, like common thieves. With nopony to protect them, the unicorns were tossed into slavery, or became second class citizens at best. Our race suffered in the yoke of the warlord Odin for 14 years. Only four of us left from the pure unicorn bloodline. We've found refuge in the Terran Republic, which was nothing more than a larger stronghold; the first settlement of the earth ponies on the territory which is now Western Equestria. That is where I came to like earth ponies; they offered their hospitality and treated us with unconditional friendship and respect. But I'll talk about them later...

Odin has abused our land and ruled with an iron fist. We helplessly watched as he plundered our resources and broke the spirit of our kind. We waited. And we trained. A decade later, the warlord have strengthened his positions on the East and set off to conquer the West. The menace united us and we formed the resistance. Ponies from all over the continent joined us under our flag. The griffons were no match for an entirely unified race of ponies and within three years, we regained every lost territory. Almost everything...

The assault of the Castle of First Magic was a fierce battle which lasted for over fourteen months. That was the lair of the tyrant, he had nowhere else to go, so he, along with three hundred warriors have barricaded himself inside our home. But his fate was sealed. Once they have used up all the food, they wanted to break out, but we surrounded the Castle and their desperate attacks were crushed by our spears and shields. One by one, they have fallen. On the last day, only a handful of them was still alive. After we reclaimed the Castle we later realized with shock and horror, that they have resorted to cannibalism. They have reverted to a state of a feral beast, their souls were lost forever. But not the warlord. He had his secret supplies.

I was the one who found Odin in the throne room. He sat on my father's throne with his sword beside him. Our eyes met as he stared me down. I'll never forget those soulless yellow eyes... glassy and stagnant, like a cold, bottomless pond. You know, nothing tells more about you, than your eyes... I wonder what do you see when you look into mine...

I saw death that day, when I looked into Odin's eyes. Then he attacked with the fury and desperation of the defeated. He swung his sword and struck with all his might. The sudden move surprised me and I reacted late. My magic barely stopped the blade, before it reached my face. My horn flashed with a fiery crimson light and the blast made him fall back. But his armor and sword somehow managed to resist the powerful magic I unleashed, because of some unidentified runes engraved in the metal. Keep that part in mind, later it will be important... Oh, where was I? Hmm... Oh yes, I remember now...

Suddenly, I felt like I was back at the junk-yard. The griffon was strong and agile, and it had the power of flight. He was just toying with me, like that stallion years before. Only then I realized I was all alone, my brothers were held up by a small group of warriors who still resisted us. They merely delayed the inevitable, but it was enough to separate me from them. Odin's enchanted armor repelled every magic attack, rendering my powers useless. All those years of combat practice finally paid off. Odin was strong, but so was I. The warlord lacked that certain style which distinguishes noble martial arts from a bar fight. However, his rough, untamed power surmounted my own. The fight narrowed down to only one aspect: tough or not, I was just a mare, opposing an animalistic, bloodthirsty beast in a hoof to hoof combat.

Oh, I see the doubt and disbelief in your eyes! You want proof? Look at the inner side of my left hind leg... right there above the ankle... I still have the scar the griffon's enchanted sword made that day. Now you think I avenged my father's death by standing up to Odin, not caring about the pain. That would be the logical conclusion, right?

Well, I wish it was true. But I was too weak. I was defeated! I lay on the cold marble floor of the throne room, my bones and my spirit were crushed. The griffon just laughed... he was just like many others in my life: my misery amused him. He approached me and grabbed my neck. He held me up in the air with one hand, as he reached into a compartment in his armor with the other. Odin pulled out a small silver knife and brought it up against my throat.

“I know I'm dead.” he wheezed.” But at least I'm taking Monolith's daughter with me!”

“Let go of my sister!” a firm voice called out all of a sudden.

It was my brother, Forever Wind. If you expected a vicious fight between them, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. It went down pretty quickly. Odin stabbed me in the heart without hesitation, my brother jumped in front of him with a mighty wing flap and slit his throat with the sharp blades attached to his feathers. Oh, that reminds me... did I mention Forever Wind was the first pegasus?

I see you look utterly confused, my friend. Don't worry, I'll explain everything one by one. You assumed, since I'm a unicorn, all my siblings were. Well, only my sister was. The eldest of us, Landslide was an earth pony. The first hornless, with had magical abilities, also the Element of Earth as you probably guessed. My younger brother, Forever Wind was a pegasus, the first winged pony. Yes, that is correct, pegasi had never existed until the Element of Air was born. My sister, Whirling Abyss was a unicorn, the Element of Water and the creator of the Amphibian Spell. You're right, she was the mother all mereponies. And I, the youngest child of King Monolith am the Element of Fire. That makes the circle complete. But this is not the part that puzzles you, is it? I see the question hanging on your lips. You wanted to ask me, since I began the story. Previously I said the warlord Odin stabbed me in the heart. Now you want to know how could I possibly survive that? Or, furthermore, how could I possibly have lived so long? Well, hang in there a little, you'll get the answer you seek.

My brother ran over to me and held me in his arms. I gazed at him as I was gasping for air. He was the bravest of us and the most skilled warrior I've ever known. Yet, he was helpless, I saw the confusion on his face as he looked at his dying sister. I wanted to pull out the knife from my heart, but he snatched my hooves.

“No, no, no! You'll bleed out! We'll figure this out, it's going to be okay!”

He tried to flash a convincing smile, but he couldn't fool me.

“You're a bad liar, Wind...” I panted. “It's over...”

“No, don't say that, you're going to be cured! HELP! SOMEPONY! OVER HERE!” Wind shouted, but by the time the troops cleared the Castle from the remaining griffons and sent a medic to the throne room, it was too late.

My eyes closed and my mind drifted into nothingness, but I could still hear my brother's words. It was like he was speaking to me from a distance and his voice sounded more and more distant with every second.

“Hold on, Summer! You can't give up!” my brother cried in frustration and anger. “MEDIC! She doesn't breathe!”

“I'm afraid there's nothing I can do.” the medic replied. “She's gone.”

“Nooo!!!!” Wind roared.

Then something happened. He pulled out the knife and I saw a bright light through my eyelids. Later, Wind told me, that light was originating from the blade that went through my heart. The silver blade was shining brighter and brighter, until it melted completely. My brother dropped the smoking hilt, I heard it clashing against the marble floor. My eyes opened and I sat up with a rapid motion, while my lungs vehemently demanded their rightful claim. I gasped for air and couldn't speak for several minutes, but I managed to scare my brother to death of course. He was gazing at me with the same incredulous expression what you have right now.

“Summer!” he whispered. “How?!”

“I don't know...” I replied on a weak, raspy voice.

No, my dear. I'm not immortal. That was a one time thing. And I've never let anypony so close, to stab me in the heart again. Of course, blades not the only things that can slice a heart... but I'll speak about that later. On that day, I began the comprehend the true nature of my power; my Element gave me a sign. If you look closely, you can still see the scar on my chest. It's nothing more than a vague line among the fur. That enchanted sword left a bigger mark on my hind leg, than this ordinary blade.

The war was finally over. The tyrant Odin was defeated and we hound the remaining griffons out of our kingdom. We confirmed our alliance with the earth ponies by a treaty of blood and re-established the Unicorn Kingdom. We, the successors of King Mighty Monolith returned where we belong: the Castle of First Magic. After this came a new era, which ancient chronicles refer to as Regnum Elementum: The Reign of the Elements.