Oh Flamevein, dear, care to chat?

[Gallows]

I would be afraid of fire, if my child's mane hadn't suddenly burst into flames a mere week after he was born. To this day I don't know where he got the flames (newborn's minds are mostly pictures and his pictures made no sense) but I quickly got used to getting burned. Flame bites and nips, it serves a purpose and it can utterly destroy. But I don't fear it. Then again, do you really think I'm going to admit what I'm afraid of? I grin at his easy response. Some horses take themselves entirely too serious. I am not one of those. And little Flamey, it seems, is not either. Oh, he wants the usual power and destruction and all that, but he's not confining himself to the image of one man. "You'd do that for little ol' me? Imagine that, a man promising to lie to me. That's a switch." As much as I appreciate the offer to lie to me, you won't get far. But it will be adorable to watch you try. Enjoyable, even. "They might deserve it, but where's the fun in everything going up in flames? You'd have all the fun, darling, and the rest of would get to watch? Besides, silly stallion, if you burn everything, what will you eat?" I recognize the predator in him, just as I recognize the stallion who gave him life. Cut from similar molds, the two of them. Full of a lust for power. Makes me wonder if this one has his father's regular old lust. "Did you get plenty of action this season? I've heard that fucking can be a great way to relieve boredom and pass the time. You know, if you get tired of trying to go up in a misguided blaze of glory." I cock my hind leg, mirroring his stance. I want to find out about this one, and maybe see if we can be of use to one another. And to the Valley, who, after all, matters more than either of us. G A L L O W S We must all hang together or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately.