Rain of Fire

by LessThanHuman

Chapter 5 - Killing Time

After enjoying a wonderful morning meal at the Bed and Breakfast with his hosts Firestorm went for a walk through Ponyville. He would stop and browse what ponies had to sell from their carts and window shop but he would never allow himself to venture inside the shops. He had decided before he left that he was not only get a basic idea of his new environment, but he would let ponies get used to being around him in town. Ponies had still stopped to give him a second glance but nopony had murmured anything about him, at least not that he had heard. After he had walked around for a little over an hour and memorizing points of interest for tomorrow he made his way towards the library. As he came closer to the library he noticed an ash grey mailpony with a light blonde mane and tail receiving a signature from Twilight. As Firestorm got closer the mail pony took off into the air, but not before she ran face first in to a low hanging tree branch and calling out, “Oops, my bad…”

Firestorm rolled his eyes and smirked as he shook his head. He knocked on the library door upon his arrival and listened as somepony inside moved frantically through obstacles towards the door. A moment later the door opened to reveal Twilight who was slightly out of breath. “Derpy, I’m fairly certain I have,” she began only to stop when she realized who was really at the door, “Firestorm, what are you doing here?”

Firestorm gave a small smirk, “In which sense, do you mean here as in here at the library or here as in here in Ponyville?”

“Ummm, to be honest, I mean as in here at the library and here in Ponyville.”

Firestorm smiled, “Don’t forget, I want answers just as much as you do.”

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, I mean for everything, treating you like I did, basically holding you captive, it wasn’t right of me, and I’m sorry.”

Firestorms’ smile had faded during Twilights’ apology but he nodded when she was done, “It’s alright, I understand actually, it’s your job to protect Ponyville and your friends.”

Twilight opened her mouth to say something but stopped when a loud thud echoed from inside the library, “Spike, be careful, I don’t want any books getting ruined be them new or old!”

“Sorry Twilight, that’s kind of hard to do when Derpy set the boxes all over the place. The one you heard fall was a box she had placed on top of your globe. Don’t ask me how she got it to stay up there, all I know is it’s on the floor now…” Spike groaned.

Twilight also groaned as she looked back at Firestorm who just smiled at her, “I can see you have a long day ahead of you so I’ll leave you to your work,” Firestorm said understandingly.

“Thanks, you could help us if you don’t have anything else to do,” Twilight suggested.

Firestorm gave an evil smirk, “A pyrokinetic bat pony handling books with dust allergies? I think you have enough to worry about with your baby dragon, and I get the feeling you have a certain way you like to organize work that I don’t want to interfere with…”

Twilight chuckled nervously, “Yeah, that might not be such a good idea after all…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to keep myself entertained and I wont hurt anypony in the process,” Firestorm assured Twilight as he trotted off.

Firestorm decided he had made his presence known to the citizens of Ponyville and decided to go somewhere peaceful and secluded. It didn’t take him very long to find such a place near a quiet lake. He looked around the surrounding and noticed nopony else was there. More importantly, there were no ducks. Oh how he hated ducks! Firestorm walked around the lake one time and returned to a particular spot he had determined to be perfect for an afternoon nap. He realized at that moment it was just about noon and just about time for lunch. Despite breakfast being several hours ago he didn’t feel hungry as he spread out across the grass on his back. A normal pony’s stomach would be growling by now, yet Firestorm still felt full from breakfast. “I guess that’s one of the benefits of not being normal,” he reasoned.

Before long his eyes became heave as he surrendered himself to his body’s demand for sleep. Firestorm looked around the empty void he was in which was, and always had been, his dreams. He was simply suspended in darkness. He could think of anything he wanted but nothing about his simulated environment would succumb to his thoughts. His entire life this was all his dreams were, empty space. A small echo within his empty dream made his ear twitch. That never happened. His dreams were always silent and hollow. Another echo made him start looking around frantically. He suddenly realized he was waking up as the echoes became audible words.

“He looks dead, like he fell out of the sky or something,” one voice said

“Well ain’t dead, ah can see him breathin,” said another voice.

“This is so not fair! His wings don’t even have feathers and he can fly!”

“Well, did ya ever see him fly Scootaloo?”

“Well, no, but I’m sure he can!”

“How can you be sure if you’ve never seen him fly before?”

Firestorm threw himself forward with enough force so he was sitting upright on his haunches, “Quit arguing, I can fly!” he said making the three fillies jump at his quick action, “I just can’t sit up that fast…” he concluded as he fell onto his back once again.

After the world and the sky started spinning in the same direction Firestorm slowly sat up again and looked at the fillies, “What are you three doing out here? Not starting more fires I hope.”

“Its Saturday, we always come to the lake on Saturday,” Sweetie Belle said as if it were public knowledge.

“So what kind of trouble do you plan on getting yourselves into today?”

“No trouble, we decided to take the day off after the fire,” Applebloom said with a bright smile.

“You got grounded didn’t you?” Firestorm asked flatly.

“Yes,” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle answered in unison.

“I didn’t!” Scootaloo announced, “I’m just upset none of us got our cutie marks…”

“Never mind the fact that you and your friends almost died in that fire?” Firestorm asked with a raised eyebrow.

Scootaloo chuckled nervously while her orange cheeks turned red.

“How did you put that fire out anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Magic,” Firestorm said plainly.

“Magic?” Scootaloo asked, “But you’re not a unicorn you’re a… you’re a… what kind of pony are you anyway?”

“Twilight Sparkle determined I am a bat pony unicorn hybrid,” he said proudly

“What does that mean?” Applebloom asked.

“I have no idea,” he said slouching. Despite knowing exactly what it meant, Firestorm had no intentions of talking about himself anymore than he needed too.

Scootaloo was about to ask another question but stopped when Firestorm raised his hoof to the fillies. With his ears perked and twitching ever so slightly he determined somepony was coming over the hill towards the lake. His ears twitched again. There were two ponies, small. Firestorm looked at the fillies in front of him, “Pretend I’m not here,” he instructed. Firestorm spread his wings and with a surge of magic he activated an invisibility spell on himself.

The three fillies exchanged confused before they could speak a voice spoke behind them and they knew immediately who it came from.

“Well, well, well Diamond, look at what we have here, three little fireponies,” said a light grey earth pony with glasses, a light grey tail and mane which had been tied into a braid, and a spoon cutie mark on her flank.

“No Silverspoon, that’s not right, they’re just three little blank flanks!” said the other earth pony. She was light pink, her mane and tail being the same color, wearing a tiara on her head, and cutie mark of a tiara on her flank.

“What do you want Diamond Tiara?” Scootaloo asked, “We’re busy.”

“Oh, Silverspoon and I just wanted to congratulate you on your success at setting the Everfree forest on fire, nearly killing yourselves, but most importantly finally getting your cutie marks. Oh wait…”

“You didn’t!” the two fillies said together before laughing maniacally

Scootaloo took a step forward, ready to let her hooves have a nice little conversation with the bullies’ faces but a yellow hoof stopped her advance. She looked over to Applebloom who motioned to where Firestorm had been standing.

Unknown to all five fillies, Firestorm had silently moved from his hiding place to directly behind Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon. Their laughter settled down in preparation for more insults but stopped when a shadow spontaneously appeared over them. The bullies quickly whipped around to face Firestorm.

“Is there a problem here ladies?” he asked calmly.

Completely caught off guard with no idea about how much he had heard Diamond took her chances with lying, “No sir, we were just telling our classmates how relieved we are that they didn’t get hurt in that terrible fire!”

Silverspoon simply nodded.

“That’s not what it sounded like from where I was standing.”

Knowing she was caught, Diamond dropped the cute act, “Well, where were you standing? Somewhere in the shadows watching unsupervised fillies like a pervert?”

“No, just right over there,” he said calmly pointing with his hoof, “In fact I was protecting them. Furthermore…” Firestorm paused, closed his eyes, and flared his wings. A visibly powerful surge of magic flowed through his wings as ring of fire formed around the five fillies, “I’m the pony who saved them from that fire.” Firestorm brought his wing in at his sides, the flames dying as he did so.

The five fillies stared at Firestorm slack jawed. Diamond quickly regained her unpleasant attitude, “I’m going to tell my daddy you tried to set us on fire!”

“I’ll tell your dad the truth and that you like to pick on other ponies and make fun of the when they haven’t yet earned their cutie marks.”

“My daddy trusts me and loved me; he’s never going to believe somepony like you!”

Firestorm cracked his neck, “Somepony like me, what does that mean?”

Silverspoon touched Diamond Tiaras’ shoulder, “Come on Diamond, we should go,” Silverspoon pleaded.

“That means you’re a bat pony freak!” Diamond said ignoring her friends’ plea.

Firestorm gave the spoiled filly a sinister smile, “You say your daddy loves you but I doubt he barley pays any attention to you. You tried to deceive me when I confronted you for picking on these three little fillies," he said gesturing with his hoof to Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, “something I have no reason to doubt works on your father which can only mean he is completely blind to the fact that you are a bully or he doesn’t care about you enough to set you straight. When you first arrived, the cutie mark crusaders knew your presence meant trouble, so I can assume you favor picking on them more than anypony else your age. Now, when I factor in the fact your father doesn’t truly care about you, the most reasonable conclusion I come up with is that you are simply jealous of them. They have ponies who love them and you don’t so you bring them down to your level of misery by taunting them for not having their cutie marks yet…” Firestorm leaned in close to Diamond Tiara who, by this point was fighting back tears, “How’s the freak doing so far?”

Diamond said nothing, the turned and ran as fast as she could, crying openly as she tried to escape the truth. Firestorm looked at Silverspoon, “Go comfort your friend,” he said calmly. Silverspoon nodded and ran after Diamond Tiara.

Firestorm looked back at the cutie mark crusaders and gave them a playfully arrogant smile, “I’m looking forward to speaking to their parents.”

A moment of silence dragged out before curiosity got the better of Scootaloo, “How did you do that with the fire?”

“I suppose you could say it’s my special talent…”

“Is that why you have a phoenix cutie mark?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t really know. So are you going to keep questioning me or are you going to go have some fun like you had planned?”

There was a small blinding explosion of dust as the fillies darted towards the lake. Firestorm turned to go back to his napping place but stopped when he saw Rainbow Dash sitting on her haunches in his place smiling at him, “Nice job handling those spoiled little bullies, I had no idea they were like that!”

Firestorm inched his way closer, “How long have you been here?”

“I saw the ring of fire while I was flying by, I swooped in to investigate but held back when I heard how Diamond Tiara was talking to you.”

“Just promise me you won’t tell Twilight. She’s got enough to worry about with me already and I doubt me handling a couple of young bullies like I did would make things easier for her.”

“Fair enough, just be glad it was me who found you and not Applejack or Pinkie Pie, Applejack couldn’t tell a lie to save her life, and Pinkie would’ve told half of Ponyville by now.”

Firestorm nodded and then looked to the fillies playing in the water, “Maybe you could help me, I can’t quite remember which one is which…”

“Oh, the white unicorn is Sweetie Belle,” Rainbow said pointing her hoof, “The one with the ribbon in her mane is Applebloom, and my personal favorite, SCOOTALOO!” she yelled to draw the fillies attention.

Scootaloo looked over her shoulder in the direction she heard her name called from, her eyes going wide when she saw who had called her, “Rainbow Dash!” She quickly swam to the shore, shook herself dry, and galloped over to her idol embracing her in a loving hug, “Do you want to go swimming with us?”

“Maybe in a minute squirt, I’m having an adult conversation with Firestorm here.”

Scootaloo looked to Firestorm, “Would you like to swim with us too? The water is perfect!”

Firestorm looked uncomfortably at Rainbow Dash who shrugged her shoulders, oblivious to his discomfort, “Maybe later Scootaloo,” he said trying not to hurt her feelings before thinking of something to cheer her up, “Oh, maybe fly a few feet into the air over the water then dropping into a cannon ball,” he suggested.

Scootaloo shifted her weight uncomfortably on her hooves, “Well… I, ummm…”

“I’m still teaching her to fly, her wings aren’t as strong as they should be yet but she’ll be flying in no time!” Dash intervened.

“Crap! Way to save her feelings bat freak!” Firestorm thought to himself.

Scootaloo turned and started back towards the lake.

“Hey, Scootaloo!” Firestorm called out.

Scootaloo looked over her shoulder, her ears perked.

“Rainbow Dash and I will be there in a minute,” Firestorm concluded with a sincere smile.

Scootaloo smiled brightly, “Don’t take too long,” she called as she galloped back into the water, splashing her friends in the process.

Firestorm approached Rainbow Dash, “Considering her age and size if she can’t fly yet, you do realize she may never…”

“I’m teaching her to fly, I know she has it in her,” Rainbow promptly interrupted.

“Just don’t give her false hope; I’ve seen what it can do to a kid her age. And don’t lie to yourself either,” Firestorm said before making his way towards the water.

Over an hour had passed since the so called “adults” had joined the fillies in the refreshing lake and in that time several games of Marco Pollo, water speed tag, water freeze tag, and one game of who could hold their breath the longest. However, in the midst of all the fun, Firestorm couldn’t forget about how he had hurt Scootaloos’ feelings, no matter how brief. Suddenly an idea struck him. He swam over to Scootaloo and wrapped one of his leathery wings around her, “Listen, I wanted to apologize about the flying thing.”

“Its okay, you didn’t know.”

“All the same, I want to make it up to you, and seeing as how you can hold your breath the longest, I’ve come up with something I think you’ll love.”

Scootaloo fluttered her wings at the opportunity to do something fun, “Yeah, okay, what is it?”

“It’s a surprise, just let me clear it with Rainbow Dash first.”

Scootaloo nodded her head and watched Firestorm make his way over to Rainbow Dash, whisper something into her ear, and get an approving nod before he began swimming back to her. “Alright, here’s the deal, I’m going to swim to the farthest side of the lake where it’s at its widest with you on my back,” Firestorm quickly explained.

“A piggyback ride, you had to ask Rainbow Dash permission to give me a piggyback ride?” Scootaloo asked in disbelief

Firestorm smiled, “Just get on my back kid,” he said as he lowered his body so only his head was above the water.

Scootaloo complied, moving herself onto the stallions back and wrapping her hooves around his neck. Once his passenger was secure Firestorm began swimming away from the group. Firestorm paused and looked around; he was at the far end of the widest point of the lake. As he began swimming Scootaloo noticed a difference in how smooth he was swimming. Curious, she looked down at his sides and noticed his legs weren't moving, his wings were. Scootaloo could tell it was a long way to the lake-bed and she instinctively tensed her grip. Firestorm looked over his shoulder, “Take a deep breath.”

Scootaloo obeyed and as soon as Firestorm took his own breath he dove underwater with Scootaloo still firmly secured around his neck. Scootaloo looked up and marveled at how far submerged they were. Firestorm didn't take her out this far for a diving lesson; he began beating his wings as if he were sustaining flight. Scootaloo immediately noticed they were in fact flying underwater. What she didn't notice was how close they had come to the surface. With a few strong beats of his wings, Firestorm and Scootaloo were suddenly airborne. Firestorm flew at a steady incline so as to gain altitude. He glanced over his shoulder to calculate his approximate distance from the lake and then at his passenger, smiling upon seeing how much fun she was having. With a turn of his wingtip he performed a half barrel roll transitioning into a short dive before leveling out on a steady descent back towards the lake.

Scootaloo watched anxiously as the lake grew closer and closer. Firestorm gracefully skimmed across the surface of the water, using his hind legs to provide drag as they cut through the water. Soon enough, they came to a complete stop. Firestorm swam back to the shore where Rainbow Dash was standing with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. He made his way onto dry land and lowered his body so his passenger could safely get off. Scootaloo was standing beside Rainbow Dash by the time Firestorm was standing fully upright.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” they exclaimed together.

Author's Note:

I'm trying to get into the routine of adding a new chapter every week but that may or may not come together as I'm going to be very busy this next week. More time between Firestorm and the Mane 6 in the next chapters as well as a tragedy. Don't worry, I'll bring Celestia and Luna into the picture soon enough and we'll all start getting some answers. Well, you will, I already have all the answers :-P

Comments

[1st Lieutenant Dave]

yep this is coming along nicely

[Dark starlight]

Oh how he hated ducks!

We all do, we all do