The winged creature walked over to the lake.
It had not been at this place in so long.
He wasn't really sure how long it'd been. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions of years, maybe?
He'd lost track of time long ago.
He knew not his age no longer.
He didn't remember much about this place, and was surprised that by this time, it hadn't dried up long ago.
All he remembered was that as a colt, this place brought him comfort.
And comfort was what he needed the most.
Another one was lost.
But he should've been used to that by now.
That's how his whole life had been.
Nothing lived as long as he did.
Except for her.
He would always have her.
Hmm? Oh. Let me start at the beginning.
The very beginning.
The sun rolled up over the horizon. It shined through into a stable that sat up upon a hill, where an amazing effort was taking place. Four Ponyta eggs were hatching, as their mother Rapidash watched intently.
"C'mon, little ones...You can make it out of there. Use those little hooves to bust the egg." The mother cheered in a whisper to her unhatched children as they struggled to crack the egg. The egg continued to glow and light up, and with each light, the mother grew more and more exciting. She waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And finally, one of the Ponyta's egg glowed bright, and in it's place a Ponyta was there. The little Ponyta let out a slight neigh of victory. It struggled to stand up on it's hooves, attempting again and again to stand up. It's hooves slid around on the flat surface of the stable. The mother Rapidash nudged it with her head, and with one final try, the Ponyta stood wobbly on all fours. It let out another weak neigh of victory, and stood next to it's mother, waiting with her for the next eggs to hatch. The other eggs continued to glow on and off, and together, they both waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And finally, the next egg glowed brighter than bright again, and another hatchling Ponyta was standing in the place of that egg, just like the last one.
The Ponyta looked around curiously and, on it's first try, managed to stand up. It attempted to walk over to it's mother, slipped, and fell. "Wahhhh! Wahhh! I fell! Mommyyyy!" It cried.
The mother nudged her up and she more carefully walked over to her mother, and stood next to her earlier hatched brother.
Together, they all waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Then, the next egg began to glow bright as the sun, and yet another Ponyta was sitting in place of where an egg used to be. She sat there for a while, unsure of what to do.
"Well, darling? Go on, get up. Lift your legs up and walk over here." Her mother said, gently.
"Okay mommy..." It said, struggling to lift it's back legs. After a moment or two of trying, she finally managed to pull them up.
"Look! Mommy! I did it!" She exclaimed cheerfully, and no sooner did she fall back down.
She once again tried, before finally lifting her back legs up and starting to walk over to her mother. She began to slip and slide across the room, and she slipped faster and faster before slamming straight into the wall.
She began to cry, and her mother walked over with her siblings. She nudged the little Ponyta up and walked back to the last egg with her and her siblings.
Finally, the last egg was beginning to glow.
As all the other eggs, the egg disappeared when the glow faded, and there was a Ponyta in place.
But this Ponyta was unlike all of the other Ponyta. This Ponyta had beautiful white fur, that almost sparkled, like the fallen snow. Where as it's siblings had fur yellow as a dandelion. This Ponyta had beautiful white hooves that almost looked like they were made out of pearls. But it's siblings had grey hooves, that almost looked like charcoal.
And this Ponyta had blue and purple flames, in a beautiful shade almost like an ocean plant. And it's siblings had flames that burned orange and red, like the sunset.
They all stared at the different Ponyta, confused and unsure what to make of it.
Suddenly, a man walked in and looked at the Ponyta and the mother.
"Well, dag'gone, them eggs finally hatched, ay momma?" He asked the Rapidash. He looked down at the hatchlings. "They's some nice little ones ya got thar, momma."
She nodded her head and walked over to the man, and he petted her head, carefully moving his hand around the flames on her head so as to not get burned.
He looked down at the strangely colored Ponyta and petted him.
"Well, this little fellar is mighty interestin'. Quite a beaut'." He said, looking up at the mother. She gave a joyful neigh.
The other siblings became jealous.
Why was he so special? They were pretty too. They were just as great as he was and deserved all of the attention he got! The man walked out of the stable, smiling, without even paying much attention to them.
From that day, the Ponyta continued to become more and more jealous as the man made a fuss over the young sibling, again and again.
Eventually, the jealousy turned to hatred, and the siblings picked on him, and pushed him around.
The mother tried and tried to stop them, over and over. But they continued to pick on the young sibling. They challenged him to battles and ganged up on him unfairly, they took him into the nearby forest and made him rub up against the stink trees. The younger sibling was always upset and confused, wondering why his siblings were always so cruel to him.
Soon, a week had past, and the young Ponyta were now one week old, and very strong.
Now, by the Ponyta and Rapidash tradition, a week after a Pok mon hatched, they would be named.
The mother called the small Ponyta to the stable.
"Little ones, it's time for you to be named." The mother said gently to them.
"I bet IT gets the best name!" One of the Ponyta whispered to the other.
The mother overheard.
"And what exactly is 'it'?" The mother asked the young Ponyta.
"Him!" The little Ponyta looked over at Pegasus.
"Your sibling is not an 'it'. He is a Ponyta, just like you. He lives, breathes and has feelings just like you. How would you like it if someone called you an it?"
"Whatever." The Ponyta said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me! Your brother isn't an it. And all of you will get names just as good as the others!"
"My first hatched Ponyta. You will be called Blaze. Your speed and cunning have earned you this name." The mother Rapidash said proudly to her child.
"My second hatched Ponyta. You will be called Ashly. Your habits of accidentally burning things has earned you this name." The mother said gently to her child.
"My third hatched Ponyta. You will be called Ember. Your beauty has earned you this name." The mother said softly to her child.
"My fourth hatched Ponyta. Your great, great, great, great, great grandfather predicted your birth. He had one wish for what you would be named. Pegasus." The mother said to the small child, quietly.
"You may go now. Remember these names, my little ones. They will follow you all through your life." She said.
The Ponyta wandered off into the forest.
A week later...
Pegasus had been able to deal with the constant torture from his siblings for the last 2 weeks of his life, but now it was getting unbearable. It just kept getting worse, and worse. The beating he had took from them in their most recent battle (that he was an unwilling participant in) had injured him badly. His leg was hurting a great amount, and he was limping. They had told him if he told mother about it, they would do something horrible to him.
He wandered over to his most favorite spot, near a lake. Truly ironic, a fire horse loving a watery area...
But it calmed him. The sound of Magikarp splashing about. The occasional Lapras coming up and allowing him to ride on their backs. It was a fun place to be, and he'd always felt like no matter what, he'd be safe and happy here. Pegasus looked down into the lake and took a drink. He looked at his reflection. He took a step closer to the water and looked down again.
He noticed something very strange on him.
Something stranger than his blue and purple flames, his pearl white hooves, or his beautiful white fur.
Wings.
Small ones, but wings.
He tried to move them, and he managed to spread them out.
He flapped them and tried to fly.
He lifted off the ground and flew above the lake for a while. But soon, he started to get heavy. He started to be unable to hold himself up.
And he fell into the water below.
The Ponyta neighed and screamed out for help, but no one came.
"Momma! Ember! Blaze! Someone help me!" It cried.
Just as Pegasus was about to go under, he heard a loud, bird-like screeching sound. From above, a strange creature swooped down and grabbed the
Ponyta in it's claws and carried him back to land.
"Hello, Pegasus." It spoke.
"How do you know my name?" Pegasus asked, startled by this strange-looking creature.
"I know many things about you, Pegasus." It replied.
"W-who are you?" Pegasus asked it, scared.
"I am a Hippogriff. I am part griffin, and part Rapidash." It said.
"What's a griffin? And that doesn't explain how you know anything about me!" Pegasus said, getting more frightened by the moment.
"Pegasus. You are a part of a large family full of many mythical creatures that almost no one has heard of before, except for the mythical creatures themselves. You will grow to be an amazing creature, Pegasus." Hippogriff said.
"You didn't answer my other question! What's a griffin?" Pegasus asked, pouting.
"It is a mix between a Luxray and Braviary." Hippogriff replied.
"Oh...Well, I need to get back home! It's almost dinner time and if I'm not back home soon momma will be mad." Pegasus said.
"Don't worry, friend. I shall get you back home in no more than a minute! Hop on my back." Hippogriff instructed Pegasus.
"Okay..." Pegasus said, jumping onto Hippogriff.
The Hippogriff spread out it's wings and flew towards Pegasus' home.
"Woooowww...I'm flyiinnggg! And higher than before!" Pegasus said.
"Ah, so your wings are already coming in?" Hippogriff asked Pegasus.
"I'm supposed to have wings?" Pegasus asked.
"Yes, Pegasus. You will grow to be a legendary creature...A winged Rapidash that is ruler of all Ponyta and Rapidash!" Hippogriff told Pegasus.
"Yay!" Pegasus cheered. "Wait, is that good?" Pegasus asked.
"It depends on the way you look upon it, dear boy. You will have to save the world on many occasions, and do many, many difficult tasks. But this is why you will grow to be so powerful. You will have the strength to do these tasks in the end, no matter how hard they get. " Hippogriff explained to Pegasus.
"Wooowww..." Pegasus said.
They landed in front of Pegasus' home.
"Pegasus!" The mother shouted, walking out of the stable. "Get in here! Your dinner's getting cold." She said.
"Okay, momma. What are we having for dinner?" Pegasus asked.
"Hay noodle soup." She said.
"Wooo! My favorite!" Pegasus shouted. "Oh, hey, can my new friend stay for dinner?" He asked.
The mother turned around and looked at Hippogriff.
"Oh my. Uncle Hippogriff! Would you like to come in...?" She asked him.
"Of course, my dear. My wings are tired from flying all day." Hippogriff said, walking into the stable.
The mother Rapidash and Pegasus followed.
"So, your son has informed me he has already began to grow his wings in." Hippogriff said, laying down in a pile of hay.
"Really now?" She asked, looking over at her son. "Pegasus, come over here and show me your wings!" She asked.
Pegasus limped over to his mother and spread out his wings. "Hey, what happened to your leg?" The mother asked, staring at her son's leg seemingly broken leg.
"Oh...I...uh..." He fumbled for words, looking over at his siblings, who were giving him a warning look.
"Maybe his leg got tangled in some seaweed? I found him almost drowning in a lake..." Hippogriff said.
"WHAT? Why didn't you tell me that already?" The mother asked, clearly upset.
"I'm sorry...It must've slipped my mind..." Hippogriff replied.
"How does my son almost drowning in a leg 'slip your mind'?" She asked, annoyed.
"I don't know." Hippogriff said. "I think it best if I were to leave now..." Hippogriff said, getting up.
"Yes, I do as well!" The mother said, still very upset.
Hippogriff walked out of the stable and flew off into the skies.
Pegasus limped back over to his soup bowl, which was now mysteriously empty.
Blaze let out a loud burp and laughed.
"Blaze, did you eat my soup?" Pegasus asked.
"No!" Blaze said, letting out another huge burp.
"Blaze! You do not steal your brother's food!" The mother Rapidash scolded. "Now, to make up for it, you give him your soup!" She said, still stirred up.
"Fiinnee..." Blaze said as he reluctantly passed his soup over to Pegasus.
After dinner was finished, they all curled up in piles of hay and went to sleep.
But Pegasus was awoken by a large bang. He screamed and ran about frantically, shakily, waking up the rest of his family.
"Pegasus! What's wrong?" The mother asked.
"Yeah, what's so important that you had to wake us up?" Ember asked.
"Ember..." Mother Rapidash growled at Ember.
"There was a loud bang and it was scary and I don't know what it was!" Pegasus said frantically. "Alright, we'll take a look outside." The mother Rapidash said, stepping outside carefully as a rain drop fell onto her snout.
Another large bang roared out and a streak of light went across the sky.
Pegasus screamed again and hid under his mother.
"Pegasus. It's just thunder." She said calmly.
"Thunder?" Pegasus asked, his voice still shaky from the earlier scare.
"Yes. It's something caused by storms...Now go back to bed. It'll be over soon." She said, walking back to her pile of hay.
"Thanks for waking us up for nothing, Pegasus." Blaze said, knocking into him, annoyed.
"I didn't mean to do anything..." He said quietly, limping back to his pile of hay.
Later that night...
Lightning struck one of the trees next to the stable, and it began to fall over.
Slowly but surely, it came down faster and faster.
CRASH.
It hit the stable, causing debree to fly everywhere and the ceiling to fall in. A chunk of the ceiling hit Pegasus, knocking him out.
When Pegasus awoke, he looked around.
The flames that usually burned so brightly on his siblings and mother were now nothing but puffs of smoke.
His flames were getting weak as well. He limped over to his mother and nudged her with tears in his eyes.
"Pegasus...I'm not going to make it. You're going to have to go out on your own. Move on without us, Pegasus. You're destined to do so much..." His mother said.
"No! I'm not going anywhere without you!" Pegasus shouted, as tears flowed down his cheeks and mixed with the falling rain.
"You have to, Pegasus...Just remember, I'll always be with you in your heart. From now on, it's up to the other mythical creatures of this world to help you. The other amazing creatures, with such infinite powers...They will be the ones who will assist you all throughout the rest of your life. It's a long journey, Pegasus. You may live for millions, maybe billions of years. The fate of the world will be in your hands." The mother Rapidash said, struggling to speak.
"Momma..." Pegasus whimpered, nudging his mother.
"Good bye, Pegasus..." She coughed, closing her eyes and taking one last breath.
Pegasus watched as her spirit flowed up above her now limp body.
"I'll always be with you~" She called out as she descended to the sky.
"Mommaaaa!" He cried out, before turning and running off, still limping far off into the horizon.
"Good bye, Pegasus...Good luck..."