Flashback:
Ignis' long fiery braid whipped around him, wild and unbound strands framing his strong features and fierce crimson gaze as it pierced the night sky. The large star hanging over his head seemed to emanate an aura of promise, of hope. He opened his massive wings to their full span and stretched, feeling a surge of exultation at the smooth movement. For the last year, since his terrible fall and injury he had been unable to fly, unable to embrace his true nature, it had been torment. In his most dire need, when his reopened wounds had festered to nearly fatal proportions after fighting with Barracus, he had been spared death by a mare of such ethereal beauty and grace it nearly took his breath away. She had saved his life and he in turn had fled the moment he was capable of travel, embarrassed by his weakness with nary a thank you or goodbye. But he had been a broken stallion, crippled and unworthy, he was whole now. His heart had belonged to her from the moment their eyes first met but his pride had not allowed him to confess his true feelings. But now he was healed, whole, and terrified to return to her; sure that she would never take him back after the way he had behaved, but they belonged together. The stallion closed his eyes, "Sephia" he murmured, pouring all of his heart into his words, his longing for a home and a life and a family with the remarkable mare he had spurned in foolish arrogance and injured pride. "I was a stubborn fool, I'm sorry." What would come of his wish, he had no idea, he only hoped the star could somehow bring them together again.
Present Day:
Ignis tossed and turned in a fitful slumber, his long braid of orange hair even wilder than usual as his restless motion tore it from its bonds. The Angeni had suffered hard times of late, fueled with fury after a bitter argument with his son, Adrian, Ignis had left his mountain eyrie to blow off some steam. His flight had been long and had taken him well into unfamiliar territory, his thoughts had been dark. His son and daughter had been abandoned in his care by the mare, Jessamine, when he was just barely an adult and newly free of his own father's clutches. The gruff old stallion had been a less than ideal role model for fatherhood, his mother had died when he was young leaving him with little more than fuzzy impressions that she had existed once, and had loved him. Ignis had not been prepared to take responsibility over two new lives but the job was thrust upon him, and though he was sorely unprepared, he had done the best he knew to raise Sophia Rose and Adrian well. It had been trying, the two were their mother's children and she had been not quite... normal. The thought of his odd meeting with the beautiful Jessamine still made him shiver from time to time. Upon reaching adulthood, Sophia Rose had left home, he had no idea what had become of her. That had been hard enough to deal with, but Adrian had also begun to act out, using mares like playthings and tossing them aside with little to no thought of the consequences of his actions. Ignis had confronted him about his behavior and the resulting argument had been cataclysmic, thus he had plenty of anger to spare to fuel his flight.
Foolishly, for he had been still young, still foolish and untried in the ways of the world, he had attempted the impossible and had fallen to the earth and broken his wing so badly it has seemed beyond repair. Strangely enough, another daughter of Jessamine had found him, had helped him. Belle reminded him so much of his Sophia, it had been impossible not to take a liking to her straight away. He had wanted to tell her of her older siblings, about her mother, about her family, but he hadn't known enough. Having met Jessamine only once, and for a few hours at that. Belle led him out of the unfamiliar forest and helped him find a healer. He had wished endlessly that he had at least told her of their connection before they had parted ways, but their separation has been unexpected, words were left unspoken, and another opportunity had never arisen for him to correct his mistake. He hadn't seen Jezabelle since. After healing, his wing had been stiff, barely usable, the healer had introduced him to Ellette, a fiercely talented warrior who had worked him to the bone to build up as much strength in the damaged wing as possible. He had held a few old fashioned opinions of women before, he now realized that he may have contributed to a few of Adrian's attitudes about females, Ellette quickly disabused him of his idiocy. She trounced him up one end of her training grounds and back down the other. By the time she was done with him, he knew how to defend himself, and she had pronounced that perhaps he would not be an embarrassment to her teaching. One day while out for a stroll, cries for help had reached their ears. A young mare named Aelita had been cornered by a viscous purewalker by the name of Barracus. They had fought, but even working with Ellette, the 'walker had been too much to handle, Ellette had finally rescued the mare to get her to safety while Ignis kept Barracus' attention. In the fiht, he had been scored across the same wing, yet again, and although he escaped with his life he had been left sorely wounded.
The scratch festered and he took ill with a life draining fever that had sent him in search of the mountains. He had never recovered his ability to fly but he wanted to touch the clouds again before he died. He collapsed before he reached the top and was found by Sephia as he struggled to hold on. He had entreated her to leave him alone so that his horrible weakness and death would be kept private, she had instead taken him to shelter and healed him. Her abilities were incredible, not only had she seared the fever and infection from his body, she had tended the damaged muscles from before. Ignis had never explored the healing side of his heritage, it seemed Angeni had powers to rival even those of a strong unicorn. When he had finally recovered they had kindled a romance, he was head over heels in love with the lovely, intelligent, pure angeni, but it irked his pride that she had witnessed him in such a weakened state. As couples often do, they fought one night, and he had flown off again in a rage and abandoned her. Seeking endlessly to find a way to feel whole again, strong again, good enough for the mare who held his heart.
It was that which kept him awake at night. Finally home for the first time in ages, Ignis was lonely. He had lost his children, for Adrian was not here when he had returned and no sign that he had visited the mountain cave any time recently, and Sophia was still gone without a trace, and now he had lost Sephia. It had taken him ages, but he had finally realized that he owed her an apology, but upon returning to the cave where he had healed, he had found that she had left long ago as well. He had gathered a few shed wing feathers to remember her by when a thorough search revealed she had left the mountain range, but even those were gone now. Offered away to a star on a whim in a moment of intense weakness and despair. And what had he to show for it? Nothing. The star had not produced his lost love, and now he had nothing left of her, it was as if she had never existed in the first place.
Sitting up with a heartfelt groan, Ignis gave up on his rest and stood. Shaking his head wearily he ventured out of the cave, squinting against the light piercing his eyes. It was a beautiful morning, but frigid, the snow heaped around the boulders sparkled like diamonds, the cold air bit his lungs with each deep breath. He flexed his wings and stretched, just for the pleasure of being able to execute the movement after so long. He scanned the area out of habit and was taken aback by three snow covered humps set a few hundred yards away from the mouth of his cage. Equally spaced, they looked deliberate. Ignis cocked one brow quizzically and glanced at the snow, there were no hoofprints around the strange structures, no evidence to suggest how they had gotten there...
Slowly, carefully, Ignis walked towards them. Leaning in, he stared at them for a long moment. What in the world? He huffed in irritation, blowing part of the snowy cover away from the.... Baskets?
What?
He flexed his wings again, sending the rest of the snow flying and gazed in disbelief and dismay at the three perfectly arranged baskets. Blue and orange and... White? Well that last one was a bit odd he had to admit but... How?
He groaned as he remembered the rest of the fools who had joined him at the wishing star, many went in search of long lost family members, thus he had hoped the star could lead him to Sephia or she to him, but there had been others... Others who had gone hoping for a child.
"Are you KIDDING me?" he screamed suddenly, clamping his mouth shut again as the freezing air scraped against his vocal cords, but he couldn't hold it back.
"NO, no, no, this is NOT what I asked for. I asked you to bring me Sephia, I didn't ask for THIS!" He began to storm around the baskets in an irate fit, kicking up the snow, huffing and yelling, and throwing oaths at the star with feeling.
A good quarter of an hour went by before he was able to calm himself enough to stare at the baskets again. It was too cold for them out here without their insulation of snow, he had to move them into the cave.
He had been tricked into fatherhood again but this time, he was not going to get stuck doing this alone. He was going to track down Sephia and.... What? Admit he had missed her enough that he had wished upon a star and had gotten them stuck with a trio of baskets before they even had a chance to sort out their feelings for each other?
No, He knew how deep his feelings ran for Sephia. He wanted her back with a fierceness that ached and he would find her if he had to tear the world apart to do it. Although how he would manage it with these three to drag around with him, he had no idea, but he would find her before those baskets popped, and he would admit that he was a stubborn, prideful fool and convince her to take him back. She wouldn't think he was serious, but he would ask her to be his lifemate and then she would know he meant every word. Sephia was... Everything. He fixed the baskets with his stare again, these were his children... And Sephia's. Theirs. His heart suddenly felt full and warm, he would protect them, and love them. He would make a family again. Gripping the first basket with his teeth he began to drag it carefully back to the cave's wamth. His search would begin first thing tomorrow.
FIN