Hot Headed

The day started off like any normal day in Ponyville. The birds flying high in the sky, the land animals going about their business, and the ponies starting their days while under Princess Celestia’s slowly rising radiating sun. One such pony was Twilight Sparkle, waking from a deep sleep to find her dragon assistant Spike still sleeping peacefully in his bed. Rising from her bed, she made her way into the kitchen to fix them both breakfast, and chanced a look outside of her window. The surrounding buildings, the ponies milling about, and the rising smoke cloud coming from the Everfree Forest. Twilight did a double take, and peered out to see that she was not hallucinating. The smoke cloud was coming from deep within the forest, and she could see various pegasus ponies flying near the edge of the forest’s border.

“Oh, no…” she thought to herself, “What’s happened now?” She walked over to the sleeping dragon and nudged him slightly, causing him to wake with a loud snort.

“Zzzzzhuh? Oh, Twilight, is it morning already? I didn’t oversleep, did I?” Spike asked frantically as he scrambled out of his bed.

“No, Spike, you didn’t oversleep. I need you to take care of yourself this morning while I go out on business.”

“What kind of business?”

“Take a look outside.” She waved a hoof at the window she had just walked away from, and watched as Spike made his way over.

“What’s the problem? I don’t see any… oh. That’s not good. And you’re gonna go out there?” Twilight could see the worry in his eyes, and wondered if she had been a bit too blunt when she broke the news to him.

“Of course. I can’t just abandon everyone, now, can I? Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be fine. To be honest, I’m more worried about you. Are you sure you can handle being alone for the day?” She hinted with amusement that a look of defiance came over his face. Spike always got defensive when someone doubted him.

“Just watch me! I’ll not only make it through the day, I’ll clean the entire place up!” Twilight had to give it to him, Spike really went the extra mile when he tried to impress her.

“Okay, you do that, but I’ve got to get going. Make sure you don’t get into too much trouble!” She yelled back at him as she exited her home, Spike yelling goodbye back at her. She stepped out to find a familiar scene, one that she could have taken in much more if the current predicament wasn’t as serious. It was Ponyville, her home away from home, and it was an average day, more or less, for the ponies that were going about their daily business. Some ponies were grouped together, no doubt talking excitedly of the fire, but besides that, it was business as usual. Twilight made her way towards Sugarcube Corner, intending to pick up a cupcake or two before heading out to the Everfree Forest when she saw two of her friends, Applejack and Rarity, going the same way.

“Morning, girls!” She exclaimed, catching up to the two. “I’m sure you two have seen the little problem this morning. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Howdy, Twilight! ‘Ah sure haven’t got a clue, but Rainbow flew out as soon as she heard about tha fire. She shoulda been back by now, though. ‘Ah sure hope she didn’t get in any trouble.” That was a little troubling, Twilight thought. Rainbow Dash was the fastest pony she knew, and she certainly wouldn’t be late when her friends were concerned. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about her friend when there was no discernible proof that there was a problem. Twilight turned to her other friend, who had been listening intently to their conversation.

“How about you, Rarity? Any idea what’s happening?”

“No idea, darling. Like Applejack said, Rainbow was the one who went flying off towards the fire. Just as well, since that smoke would do horrible things to my hair. But I’m sure she’s fine. She probably got caught up in organizing a storm effort to put the fire out.” Twilight was comforted by her friend, but the thought of Rainbow in trouble still tickled at her head. That thought disappeared as she noticed that the three of them had arrived at Sugarcube Corner, the familiar gingerbread house rising above the other buildings. Twilight made a mental note that the smoke in the horizon had increased by a small amount. She would have to cut her visit short if the situation got any worse.

The three entered the bakery, the bell above the door making a small ring as they did so. Behind the counter, Pinkie Pie looked up from what she was doing to see her friends, and let out a loud squeal of enjoyment as she bounded over the counter and gripped them in a tight hug. “Twilight, Applejack, Rarity! It’s so great to see you! I was worried that you might have gotten trapped in that nasty ol’ fire, but I knew you would kick its flank!” Despite the attempts of the three to escape, Pinkie held them firm, releasing them only after she had the chance to put a corset to shame.

“Yes, it’s *gasp* good to see you too, Pinkie…” Twilight managed to spit out, holding her sides. Applejack was imitating Twilight, and Rarity was frantically fixing her mane while glaring at Pinkie Pie. “Anyways, we haven’t put that fire out yet, and that’s why we’re here.” Twilight continued, “We could use some cupcakes. Firefighting is a tough enough job on its own, let alone doing it on an empty stomach.”

“Well, why didn’t you just say so, silly! I have all kinds of treats for you! Just take your pick!” Pinkie once again jumped over the counter and pulled up a tray of delicious looking delectables, causing her friend to eye them hungrily.

“Thanks, Pinkie. Ya always make the best treats.” Applejack complemented as she downed two of the cupcakes, Rarity visibly disgusted with her table manners. All of them were enjoying their breakfast when the door burst open, and a distraught looking Rainbow Dash quickly entered, the small bell going off.

“Twilight! There you are! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you!?” Rainbow looked tired, and some of her feathers seemed to be scorched at the tips. “The forest’s burning, and you’re here eating cupcakes!? What’s wrong with you?!” Twilight had never seen Rainbow so distressed before, not even when she was waiting her turn at the young flyer’s competition. Rainbow Dash suddenly charged Twilight, tugging on her hoofs as Twilight jumped back in surprise. Pinkie Pie reacted as well, even though she wasn’t Rainbow’s intended target, sailing over the counter for a third time.

“Calm down, Dash! Ya ain’t never acted with Twilight like that before, an’ there’s no reason ta start now!” Applejack scolded Rainbow Dash as she pulled her off Twilight, Twilight giving a silent thank you to Applejack.

“Really, dear, there’s no need for all this rowdiness, I’m sure you can speak your mind like a proper young mare.” Rarity, as expected, had backed away from the scuffle, and saw as Twilight had that Rainbow’s feathers were burnt at the tips. “Oh my, Rainbow Dash! What happened? You’re injured! You have to get that looked at!”

Rainbow either didn’t hear Rarity or ignored her, still concentrating on Twilight. “You need to get out there, right now! I’ve been trying to put it out all morning with the other pegasi, but we can’t do anything!” This statement seemed to hit Rainbow especially hard. She was feeling helpless, an emotion she rarely felt and even more rarely could deal with. Twilight caught on, and softened her tone of voice.

“Please Rainbow Dash, calm down. We’re here to help, but you have to tell us what’s wrong, and you need to get medical treatment.” With Twilight’s words, Rainbow seemed to calm down, and spoke with a much more controlled tone.

“Alright. I gathered up the weather team and tried to get some clouds over the fire, but there’s something weird about that fire. No matter how many clouds we put over it, the fire wouldn’t go out! I tried putting them out as best I could, but nothing I tried worked. And then I was stupid enough to get close to it, and that’s how I burnt my feathers.” With that, Rainbow looked dejectedly at the floor. This was really affecting her, Twilight thought. She wrapped a foreleg around her friend, holding her tight.

“Don’t worry, you did the best you could do. We’ll go see what we can do to put it out. But as for you, you really should go see Nurse Redheart. Those burns could be serious.” Rainbow looked at Twilight, fully prepared to argue, but Twilight cut her off before she could begin. “I’m not going to take no for an answer. I know you want to help us, and I appreciate it, but you won’t do anyone any good if you go back there injured.” With that, Rainbow’s resolve broke down, and she gave in.

“Fine. I don’t like leaving you guys, but if you won’t take me along like this, I’ll go get checked out.” She pouted, and started to head for the door. She was nearly there when a pink blur rushed into the room from the outside, tackling Dash and somehow collecting the other three in one mad scramble.

“Don’t worry, Dashie, we’ll throw you a big party once we get back, and it’ll be the bestest get well party ever!” Pinkie Pie yelled out, crushing her friends in another one of her well-meaning yet physically taxing bear hugs.

“Pinkie Pie! This is the second time in ten minutes that you’ve ruined my hair! I swear, if you do it one more time, I’ll…” Rarity held her tongue, not wanting to finish the thought. Applejack gave a small chuckle at the sight of the usually composed unicorn losing herself for a moment. She always enjoyed seeing Rarity flustered like that.

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were ready to set out towards the forest, while Rainbow Dash promised to go to the clinic after they left. Before they parted, Twilight asked Rainbow a question that had been on her mind since they started to get ready to leave.

“Rainbow Dash, you wouldn’t happen to know where Fluttershy is, would you?” She hadn’t seen the timid Pegasus at all, and wanted to make sure she hadn’t got in trouble. Twilight hoped that Rainbow knew something about their friend.

“Sorry, Twilight, but I was too busy dealing with that fire to focus on the ponies around me. But you probably shouldn’t worry, Fluttershy’s the last pony that would go towards a fire. I’d bet that she’s hiding in her cottage, away from everything.” For the second time that day, Twilight found herself worrying about one of her friends, despite having no evidence to back her feelings up. But her concern wasn’t misplaced; Rainbow Dash’s feathers a testament to that. She felt a sudden urge to check for Fluttershy in her cottage, as Rainbow Dash had suggested.

“Alright, girls, before we take care of that fire, we’re going to check up on Fluttershy.” The rest of the group nodded in agreement, and they exited Sugarcube Corner, stepping into the bright late morning light.

Walking out of the bakery and looking towards the Everfree forest, they could see that the smoke cloud had now tripled in size, and the town ponies had begun to get nervous. There was no time to lose, and as Rainbow Dash headed for the clinic, the other four rushed out of town heading for Fluttershy’s home.

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“Fluttershy, are you in there?” Twilight asked as she knocked on the cottage’s door, trying to lower her voice so her timid friend wouldn’t be scared.

Silence. The four friends looked at each other, not expecting this. Usually, Fluttershy would either answer the door or make a loud racket jumping in surprise, both indicating that she was home. Twilight began to panic, and started knocking louder and faster. “Fluttershy! Please, if you’re in there come out! We only want to make sure you’re okay!” Again, they were met with silence. Twilight was done playing and opened the door, thankful that Fluttershy hadn’t locked it.

The four walked into the cottage, and were greeted with an empty, yet clean home. It was very normal, except for the lack of a certain yellow pegasus. Twilight began frantically searching for her, while Applejack and Rarity looked outside at the smoke cloud and Pinkie Pie began poking around the various cages Fluttershy kept for her birds. It was then that a small white bunny ventured out from a small hole in the wall and frantically tried to get the attention of the four friends.

“Hey there, Angel, what do you know about where Fluttershy went?” Applejack asked the small bunny, not fully expecting an answer. Even if she did get one, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to understand Angel’s response the way Fluttershy would be able to. The bunny ran to the door, and began pointing towards the smoke cloud, now dangerously close to the forest edge that faced Ponyville.

“Oh no, please tell me she didn’t…” Rairty didn’t have to finish her sentence, since they all knew what it meant. “Why would she go out there? She must have known how dangerous it was!”

Twilight had come back from her search when she heard the commotion, and gave a suggestion. “She must have been worried about the animals in the forest. That’s the only reason I can think of that would make her leave her house. But if she went out alone, then something bad could have happened…” She met the gazes of her friends, worry in each of their faces. It very rarely happened, but Twilight was now cursing the fact that she had been right. This was the second time today that her intuition about one of her friends being in danger was correct.

Applejack put her hoof down. “Well, there’s no sense in just standing around here, we gotta get movin’ if we wanna put that fire out and rescue Fluttershy. Don’t worry, little guy, we’ll get ‘er back!” The others nodded in agreement with her, and rushed out the door, heading for the fire. Angel watched them head off, irritated that he hadn’t been able to tell them where Fluttershy had gone before they left.

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“You know, Twilight, maybe we should have come up with a plan instead of rushing into the forest like we did. We don’t exactly know where she is.” Rarity brought up a good point, Twilight thought. If only Rainbow Dash were with them, she could fly above the forest looking for Fluttershy.

“How about we just shout out for her? Oh, how about we say we have a bunch of cupcakes for her! That’ll be sure to get her out!” Pinkie Pie happily suggested.

“No good, Pinkie.” Twilight said. “There are all sorts of dangerous creatures that have been displaced by the fire. We should try to keep as quiet as possible to avoid them.” They continued walking for a few moments until Twilight suddenly stopped. The other three looked curiously at her. “Wait a minute… if the animals are being displaced, then that means… oh no.” A look of panic came over her face. “That means some of the animals must have headed for Ponyville!” The others’ faces mirrored Twilight’s as the realization hit them.

“Do ya think the townsfolk’ll be able to ward them animals off?” Applejack said what they were all thinking.

Twilight responded with a hint of doubt in her voice. “I’m sure they can handle themselves for a little while, but if that fire gets out of hand, well, any more out of hand, I don’t want to find out. Oh, if only Fluttershy hadn’t run off, she could make sure the animals didn’t cause any harm!” Twilight’s voice was starting to have a noticeable pitch of panic in it, one that her friends knew all too well.

“Well then, dears, it would appear that the time for subtlety is over. We have to find Fluttershy as soon as possible. Any suggestions, Twilight?” They all turned to Twilight with cautious optimism.

Twilight was silent for a few moments, and just as she was about to speak, a small voice spoke out from the forest. “Hello? Hello, is there anyone out there? Please, I could use some help!” The group of friends looked at each other, stunned.

“Was that who I think it was?” Twilight asked, already knowing the answer.

Applejack answered, running towards Fluttershy’s voice. “Yep, it looks like she led us right to her! FLUTTERSHY! WE’RE COMIN’ FOR YA, SUGARCUBE!” The group charged towards her voice, not caring about any animals that might be nearby.

They arrived in a small clearing, a clearing that was gradually filling with smoke. Twilight guessed that they had about half an hour before the fire itself reached the edge of the forest. In the middle of the clearing was Fluttershy, but she was not alone. She was holding a unicorn, a pony with a sky blue coat and a gleaming white mane and tail. The blue pony looked to be unconscious, while Fluttershy was looking over her. The four ponies galloped towards their friend and the mysterious unicorn.

“Fluttershy, do you know how long we’ve been looking for you? I know you’re worried about the animals, but this is the Everfree Forest. The animals can take care of themselves. And who is that? Is she hurt?” Twilight embraced Fluttershy as she looked at Twilight, tears in her eyes.

“This… I found this pony out here… when I was helping the animals… I think she might be hurt…” They turned their attention to the blue unicorn, who Twilight could now see was a mare. A picture of a tidal wave adorned her flank. “She hasn’t woken up since I found her…”

Twilight glanced over the mare, and saw that while she did have a few burns here and there, they weren’t serious, and she’d make a full recovery. “She’ll be fine, these burns aren’t too serious. We need to wake her up and get her to Ponyville, it’s not safe for her to be here in her condition.” Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and the two started trying to get the blue mare to wake up. It took a few moments, and a few not so gentle pokes, but the mare eventually gained consciousness, awaking with a start. Twilight was startled by how light blue her eyes were.

“Huh? What? Where am I? Who are you?” The mare looked at the group, then towards the smoke, and quickly sat up, a distressed look on her face. “Oh, please tell me it wasn’t my brother that did this!” The friends looked at the mare, extremely confused, until Twilight asked her about herself.

“First of all, who are you, and why are you here? And what do you mean your brother caused all this?” The blue pony was looking agitated, like she didn’t have time to be talking.

“My name’s Celsius, and I was here trying to stop my brother from running off and doing something stupid, and it looks like I failed.” Celsius was up and started to walk towards the fire, but was stopped by Twilight and flanked by the other four.

“Listen, Celsius, I know you’re worried about your brother, but you’re injured. You need to go back to Ponyville and get those burns looked at.” Twilight gave a determined look, but Celsius was undeterred.

“Listen, Miss… whatever your name is, I’m the only one who can bring him back to his senses. So if you want to save your town, you’ll let me go, and I’ll get him back.” Twilight was taken aback by Celsius’ abrasiveness, but she wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

“It’s Twilight Sparkle, and fine. You’re obviously not going to go back to town until you get your brother back, but at least let us come with you. This forest is dangerous, and you won’t be able to take care of yourself if you run into any animals.” Celsius was about to respond when, as if it was scripted, a loud roar came from the forest, and the ponies huddled together in fear.

“Aw, horseapples.” Applejack uttered. Besides Celsius, they had heard a roar like that before. Crashing into the now smoke filled clearing, a manticore bounded into it and caught sight of the ponies, assuming a stance that indicated it was about to pounce. Twilight instinctively reacted by putting up a shield, surrounding herself and her friends inside it. However, it proved unnecessary, for when it struck, it was hit with what could only be described as a fire bolt, sending it crashing back into the forest. Its yelps could be heard as it ran into the depths of the forest. The ponies looked for the source of the fire bolt, and found it walking into the clearing.

It was another unicorn. Its striking white coat matched Celsius’ mane, and where its hair should have been, there was only a burning fire. A fireball was its cutie mark, but what stood out the most were its eyes. They were almost a blinding white, and appeared to be on fire, the flames licking the edges of its eyes. The smoke that had been in the clearing was now swirling around it.

“I was afraid of that.” Celsius muttered, staring at the unicorn. “Twilight, keep that shield up. He’s not in his right mind.” Twilight felt that the warning was a little unnecessary. She certainly didn’t plan on dropping it until they knew what this pony’s intentions were. Twilight was a little stunned, watching the fiery display the unicorn was putting on.

“I don’t believe it. Your brother can use pyromancy?” Celsius gave a nod.

“Yes. His name is Fahrenheit, and he has a bit of a temper issue.” She said as she continued staring at him. Fahrenheit had not moved since making contact with the others, and was standing still while smoke was gathering above him.

“A bit of a temper?” Rarity scoffed. “Twilight, we have to do something. Poor Fluttershy’s scared stiff, and I must admit I’d rather be somewhere else right now.” Rarity said, pointing at Fluttershy. The pegasus was frozen in place, unable to deal with the stress of the situation. Celsius gave a scoff of her own.

“I told you, I’m the only one who can snap Fahrenheit out of his tantrum. You all need to leave, I don’t want to be responsible for any harm that could come to you!” For the first time since meeting, Twilight agreed with Celsius. She turned her attention to her friends.

“She’s right. You need to get back to Ponyville, it’s too dangerous here. I’m going to stay here and help Celsius.” Most of them agreed, but Applejack to offense to the idea.

“Ya gotta be kidding, Twi! We can’t just leave ya two here! Y’all might need our help!” Within the magical bubble, everyone but Celsius had temporarily forgotten about Fahrenheit. Twilight jumped in surprise as a flash of fire whipped against the shield, nearly losing her concentration, but regaining it before the shield dropped.

“This is not the time to be arguing, Applejack! The four of you will just be in danger here! I appreciate your concerns, but this isn’t up for discussion! We need to find a way to get you all out of here!” Twilight racked her brain, trying to find a way to get her friends out of the immediate danger while ensuring their safety. “Oh, if Rainbow Dash hadn’t been injured, she could distract Fahrenheit while you got away!” Lost in her thoughts, Twilight hadn’t noticed her friends looking up at the sky. As she did herself, she could see bolts of fire flying at a certain blue figure.

She couldn’t believe it! There was Rainbow Dash, flying circles around the fire that was being flung at her, making it seem easy. It was like one of the stories of Daring Doo, a last minute reprieve saving her from certain doom. She snapped back to her senses, and realized Rainbow was distracting Fahrenheit for them. This was their chance!

“Girls! This is your chance! Get out of here and head to Ponyville, there’s still the issue of the animals that were displaced. Now go!” Twilight ordered the four to run, and they did as she said, Pinkie Pie and Applejack carrying Fluttershy as Rarity led the way. Twilight turned and watched Fahrenheit, ready to intercept any fire bolts that he might throw at them, but his attention was focused on Rainbow Dash. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as she saw her friends disappear from view, and turned her attention towards Celsius.

“Okay, so what’s the plan? You seem to think only you can calm him down.” Celsius looked at her, nodding.

“Right. I’ve never seen him this angry before, but whenever he’s like this, I can usually talk him down. What I need you to do is to pin him down with your magic while I talk to him.”

Twilight had her doubts. “But how will you get close to him without getting burned?” Celsius pointed to the wave on her flank.

“I have magic of my own, you know.” With those words, Celsius concentrated, and a stream of water flowed from her horn, slowly enveloping her. When she was fully covered, the water hardened into ice, essentially becoming a suit of armor. Twilight marveled at the display of elemental magic she had seen today, a pair of siblings, one a pyromancer and the other a hydromancer. “His flames won’t be able to melt my ice, and I can get close enough to him to talk him out of his rage. But first, we’ll have to deal with that smoke cloud.” Twilight looked at Fahrenheit, and saw the smoke, still above him, quite literally giving fuel to the fire that he was using to throw at Rainbow Dash. Each time he casted a fire bolt at her, a puff of smoke would become the fire bolt, and once it dissipated in the sky, it would return as smoke to the cloud above his head.

Twilight was struck with an idea, and started to concentrate harder on her shield while calling out to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, get down here! I need you to do something!” Rainbow Dash pulled a hard turn, narrowly missing another fire bolt as she flew towards Twilight’s shield, landing with grace inside of it. Fahrenheit continued to fire at her, but was now hitting Twilight’s shield instead of firing into the sky.

“Thought ya might need my help, so I came out here as soon as Nurse Redheart gave me the checkup! Hey, cool costume!” Rainbow said as she looked over Celsius. Twilight noticed that a few of her feathers had bandages around them.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you! Celsius, this is Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, Celsius.” Rainbow and Celsius exchanged a hoofshake, and Twilight instructed Rainbow on her plan, all while protecting them from Fahrenheit’s fire. The fire was starting to take its toll, Twilight beginning to sweat from the effort of keeping the shield up. “We have to make this quick. Rainbow, I need you to make a tornado above him and get that smoke away. It doesn’t matter where you dump it off, just make sure it’s away from him!” Rainbow looked towards Fahrenheit, then gave a quick salute. Twilight quickly added, “And be careful!”

“No problem! This’ll be just like a training session!” Rainbow readied herself, and shot straight up, leaving a quick rainbow in her wake. Fahrenheit’s fire started to follow her, but she was too fast for him. She broke into a dive, and started to circle over Fahrenheit’s head. She gained speed, some of the smoke starting to flow up towards her. This went on for a few moments, with periodic fire blasts from Fahrenheit, but Rainbow was too fast for him. She was now a rainbow colored blur, with most of the smoke following her path. With a few more twists, a tornado had formed, and Rainbow pulled back, taking the smoke with her. It looked like Twilight’s plan would work, but she hadn’t anticipated that Fahrenheit would set all of the smoke on fire at once. She watched in horror as it spread upwards towards Rainbow Dash.

“RAINBOW! GET OUT OF THERE!” Twilight yelled at her friend, but she could only watch and hope Rainbow had the wits to drop out of the tornado before it was too late. The tornado had become a pyre of fire, and it was impossible to see inside of it. The fire was just about to consume everything when Rainbow Dash burst out of the tornado, crashing to the ground of the clearing. Twilight rushed over to her and covered her with her shield, Celsius rushing with her, trying to not get caught outside of it. The fire tornado disappeared, the smoke disappearing with it.

“Rainbow Dash! Please, say something!” Twilight looked over Rainbow, expecting the worst, but luck was on their side. Rainbow’s feathers had been burnt, and her lower back had suffered the same fate. Besides that, Rainbow had escaped from further damage. “This isn’t good, Celsius. She needs to get to the hospital, but we can’t distract Fahrenheit with only the three of us.” With the smoke gone, they had gained a small reprieve from Fahrenheit’s fire, but it was short lived, as fire erupted from his horn and cracked against Twilight’s shield like a whip. “I can’t keep this up forever! We have to stop him now, or I won’t be able to keep the shield up!”

Celsius’ face was hidden behind her ice, but the tone of her voice suggested she was frightened. “I’ve never seen him act like this… I don’t know if I can calm him down…”

Twilight’s face suddenly contorted with anger. “What? You don’t think you can do it? We got this far, Rainbow Dash was badly hurt, and you don’t think you can do it?” Magical energy burst from Twilight’s horn, as her anger tapped into magical reserves she hadn’t used yet. The radius of her shield doubled, and she turned to Celsius with an evil look in her eyes. “You go out there and calm him down, or I’ll do it myself!”

Celsius looked at Twilight, and responded with a hint of sorrow. “You’re right. I’m sorry about your friend. This has gone on long enough. I need you to hold him down while I get close to him, or he’ll break my armor.”

Twilight looked doubtful at Celsius. “I thought you said he couldn’t break through it?”

Celsius shook her head. “Usually no, but I’ve never seen him this powerful, and I honestly don’t think my armor could stand up to his fire.” Twilight gave an annoyed groan, and Celsius reprimanded her. “Stay focused! We have to attack him together, or we won’t be able to stop him!” Twilight nodded, and looked over at Fahrenheit, and gave another groan, this one in disbelief.

Fahrenheit had enveloped himself in fire, much like how Celsius had done with her water, and was still using the fire from his horn like a whip, striking against the shield in periodic swings. Twilight turned back to Celsius. “Do you still think you can get close to him?”

Celsius hesitated, then nodded. “As long as you hold him down, I should be able to stand close enough to him.” She looked at Rainbow Dash, still collapsed on the ground. “You’ll want to maintain that shield around yourself and your friend, though. I can’t guarantee that Fahrenheit will focus solely on me.”

Twilight became increasingly nervous as the situation wore on. Not only did she have to contain the ball of fire that was Fahrenheit, but she also had to shield Rainbow Dash and herself from any stray fire that might come their way. She rarely had the chance to practice two spells at once, but failure was not an option. Twilight was thankful that she at least still had some energy left from her angry little breakdown with Celsius. “Alright, I’m ready whenever you are.” She moved to stand over Rainbow, intending to make the shield smaller to conserve energy as she held Fahrenheit down.

“Now, Twilight!” Celsius burst from the shield, running straight at her brother. Twilight focused with all her might, and a purple aura encased Fahrenheit, freezing him in place. Her shield was now just barely large enough for the two ponies inside it. Even with Twilight’s magic holding him, Fahrenheit could still whip his fire, though with much less force. Twilight flinched as the flame whip slashed across Celsius, but her ice seemed to be holding against his fire.

Celsius was slowly making her way towards Fahrenheit when the fire that was surrounding him suddenly shot forward and swirled around Celsius. Still, Celsius’ armor was holding, but as Twilight watched, she could see small drops of water on the ice. Twilight knew what that meant, and concentrated even harder on Fahrenheit, sparks shooting out of her horn as her shield came dangerously close to her hoofs. Celsius was still walking, and had reached her brother, her ice still melting. Twilight could only hold Fahrenheit down and hope Celsius knew what she was doing, otherwise they would be in deeper trouble than they already were.

Seconds passed. The fire still spun around Celsius, Fahrenheit’s whip still lashed out at both the ice pony and Twilight’s shield. But as time went on, the strain that Fahrenheit was putting against Twilight’s spell weakened, and Twilight could see that Celsius’ armor was no longer melting. This continued for a few tense moments until Celsius brought her horn to Fahrenheit’s horn, and as the two connected, the fire that was surrounding them burst outwards. Twilight expanded her shield just before the fire reached her, protecting herself and Rainbow Dash from it, the fire dissipating as it reached the forest. Twilight looked over at the siblings, and saw Celsius standing over Fahrenheit, her armor now gone. She also noticed that Fahrenheit’s hair was no longer on fire, his mane a brilliant color of orange with stripes of yellow. Twilight let her shield down, and collapsed from the herculean effort she had put into stopping Fahrenheit. The last sight she saw before she blacked out was Celsius kneeling over her brother, nuzzling his mane.

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As Twilight awakened, she was blinded by a bright light. Her eyes adjusted to the sudden flash of light, and she found herself lying on a bed. She pushed herself up, and discovered that she was in the Ponyville hospital. She was in her own room, and she was wearing a hospital gown. She felt exhausted, but she hadn’t sustained any injuries, and was much more worried about Rainbow Dash. She got off the bed and trotted out into the hallway. Waiting there for her was Celsius, wearing a robe of her own.

“Twilight. You’re finally awake, I see.” Celsius looked tired, much like Twilight, and had bandages on her where she had been burnt, but was fine besides that. “Listen. Before you go check up on your friend, I just wanted to say thank you. My brother isn’t a bad pony, he’s just a little, for lack of a better term, hot headed.” Celsius seemed to recoil in pain at her own joke, but regained her composure. “If it wasn’t for you and your friends, he might have burnt down the entire forest, maybe even your town.”

Twilight had a few questions for the blue pony. “How did we get back here? And what about the fire? And why, in the name of Celestia, was Fahrenheit so angry?” Celsius chuckled at the look Twilight gave her, and answered her questions in turn.

“Your friends were the ones who found us. They came back to where we were when they saw the fire was out. As for the fire, since Fahrenheit was the one who created it, when I brought him out of his rage, the fires stopped. It’s a very handy little feature of elemental magic. At least, it is when he gets like that.” Celsius gave a quick sigh and looked down at the floor. “This entire thing started back at Canterlot, where we live. Fahrenheit’s actually quite shy, but his temper usually gets the best of him. A couple of jerks were teasing him, and said that he was too chicken to go into the forest. Fahrenheit, being like he is, charged off, and I tried to stop him. You can see how well that worked out. Funny how such a stupid thing could cause such a big mess. We were in the forest when we were attacked by that manticore, the same one who tried to attack all of us. The manticore jumped at me, but Fahrenheit had lost it by that point, beating it back. He accidentally hit me in the process.” She gave another sigh, and continued. “I was knocked out, and then your friend found me. In the time I was knocked out and we met, Fahrenheit must have set those fires. I’d bet he was trying to get that manticore.”

Twilight processed what she had heard, then gave another question. “If he was just trying to attack the manticore, why did he start attacking us?”

“He wasn’t thinking in that state. He couldn’t tell the difference between that manticore and us. This is the first time that’s happened, though. He’s never attacked me before. I guess that seeing me in danger set him off like never before. Honestly, it’s a little frightening, seeing what’s he’s capable of.” A few moments passed in an awkward silence. “Well, I suppose we should go see how they’re doing, shouldn’t we?” Twilight agreed, and Celsius led them to another room.

Inside the room were all of Twilight’s friends, four of them surrounding Rainbow Dash’s bed. On the other side of the curtain that separated the beds laid Fahrenheit, unconscious by the looks of it. Celsius headed straight for her brother, while Twilight was tackled by all of her friends, save Rainbow Dash.

“Twilight! We were so worried about you! We thought that big bad fire had turned you into toast, but you showed it who’s boss!” Came Pinkie Pie’s ecstatic voice over the pile of ponies. Twilight was smashed against her friends, unable to talk, saving her breath. They finally relinquished their grip, and Twilight walked towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s feathers were in casts, and she was lying on her stomach, her back wrapped in bandages.

“How is she?” Twilight asked no one in particular.

Applejack answered. “She’s got a few burns, but none a’ them are really serious. A few weeks, an’ she’ll be back ta flyin’.” Twilight let out a sigh of relief.

Rarity chimed in, as well. “At least she’ll be able to finish that Daring Doo series of her’s, though I do wish she would keep the heroics on the pages of the books.”

Twilight stroked Rainbow’s mane, thanking Celestia that she would be fine. She then turned her attention towards the other bed in the room, holding the fiery stallion that had caused all this trouble. It looked like he had awoken from the commotion that Twilight and her friends had caused, or he might have been feigning sleep, scared of the other ponies. She walked over to him, standing next to Celsius.

“Fahrenheit. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended a hoof to him, but he turned away from her.

“How can you say that?” Fahrenheit questioned her, in a much lighter voice than Twilight had expected. “I know what happened, Celsius told me. How can you say it’s nice to meet me after everything I did?” He looked at her, and for the first time, Twilight caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were a brilliant ruby red, and Twilight was momentarily stunned by them. “I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me. I know I would.”

Twilight looked at Celsius, but Celsius was silent. She turned back to Fahrenheit. “Listen, Fahrenheit. You may think that you’re the one who did that, but you’re wrong. The pony who set those fires and attacked us wasn’t you.”

Fahrenheit snorted. “Are you blind? Of course it was me who set the fire! Who else could it have been?”

Celsius took Twilight aside, warning her. “Careful, Twilight. Remember that temper of his…”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” With that, she looked at Fahrenheit. “Do you know the story of Nightmare Moon?”

“Of course, what pony doesn’t? What does that have to with this, though?”

“You must also know about Princess Luna, then. Do you see a similarity between her and you?”

Fahrenheit thought for a moment, then responded. “Not really.”

“Nightmare Moon was a corrupted version of Princess Luna. Luna had her problems, just like everyone else, and they got the best of her. But, with help, she was able to overcome them, and it’s the same with you. You need help to get past your problems, and I think I know how you can do it.” Fahrenheit had turned towards her now, listening curiously. “You have a very special connection with the magic of the elements of Equestria, one I’ve only read about before. That’s why I’m sending a letter to Princess Celestia suggesting that she take you and your sister as students in her academy. You both show great potential with that elemental magic. She can help you with your temper, and help you learn to harness your magic.” Twilight was amused with the looks of shock that had come over the sibling’s faces.

Celsius spoke for the both of them. “P-Princess Celestia’s academy!? Only the very best unicorns can get into it! How can you think you can get us into it?”

Twilight smiled. “I think the Princess would take a recommendation from her best student quite seriously.” Celsius was dumbfounded.

“You’re her best student? Why didn’t you tell me? Well, I guess that explains how you were able to hold your own out in the forest.” She looked at her brother, twinkles in her eyes. “Can you believe it, Fahrenheit? We’re going to magic academy!” She clopped her hoofs in excitement, but Fahrenheit wasn’t looking happy.

“Yeah, that’s great, but it still doesn’t change what happened.” He glanced at Twilight, then hung his head. “You and your friends must hate me for what I did.” Twilight was about to respond when a voice shouted out from behind the curtain.

“How could we hate someone who could do something as awesome as create a fire tornado?” Twilight pulled the curtain back, and there was Rainbow Dash, leveraging herself on her hoofs, smiling at Fahrenheit. “That was an awesome trick you did, even though you kinda caught me in it!” Fahrenheit was stunned, looking at the pony that was hurt the most in his rage, smiling and complimenting him.

The rest of Twilight’s friends came over and introduced themselves. Twilight had been worried that they wouldn’t accept him, but they were as friendly with him as they had been with Twilight the first time she had come to Ponyville. Celsius saw the look of confusion on her face, and laughed.

“You should know, while you were out, I explained everything to your friends. They were very understanding of him; probably more than any group of ponies I’ve met before. Though, I don’t think anyone told Rainbow Dash. She must have accepted him on her own.” Twilight gave a little laugh.

“That’s Rainbow for you! She’s impressed with anything awesome, even if it’s hazardous to her health.” They shared another laugh.

Celsius looked on as her brother was flanked by new friends, and her eyes began to water.

Twilight had noticed. “What’s wrong, Celsius?” She quickly wiped her eyes, and answered Twilight.

“It’s just that I’ve been worried about him. I love him, but it’s hard sometimes to contend with his behavior. He hasn’t exactly had an easy life, and I didn’t know what to do about it. But now, with everything that you and your friends have done for the both of us, he has a real chance to change.” She suddenly grabbed Twilight in a tight hug, tears running freely down her face. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for everything.”

***********************************************************

A week had passed since the events of the fire. Seven ponies were standing outside the hospital’s entrance, Rainbow Dash sitting in a wheelchair. Twilight had sent out her message to the Princess, and had received a reply stating that Celestia would be more than happy to accommodate Fahrenheit and Celsius within the academy. They were all saying their goodbyes, Pinkie Pie tearfully breaking down at the thought of having her two new friends leaving so soon. Fahrenheit was hiding behind his sister, living up to what Celsius had said about him being shy. The two were just about to leave when Pinkie stopped crying long enough to grab all her friends save Rainbow in a huge hug, the other six protesting all the while.

“PINKIE PIE!!!” Rarity yelled, her mane a mess as she chased and tackled the pink pony, falling in a very ungraceful pile. The others laughed and looked on as Pinkie and Rarity scuffled on the ground, until they eventually settled down and trotted back over to the group, Rarity looking especially embarrassed at her outburst. Celsius spoke for herself and Fahrenheit.

“We really can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us, even after all that unpleasantness. You’re the best friends we’ve ever had, and I wish we could spend more time together.” Fahrenheit nodded in agreement, and Rainbow Dash responded.

“Yeah, no kidding. I really wanted to see some more of that magic you guys can do! You have to promise me to do the best you can so you can come back to Ponyville and really show off your skills!” The others agreed, and the siblings promised to work their hardest.

The siblings turned and started the long walk back to Canterlot when Fahrenheit ran back and gave them each a hug, being tender with Rainbow Dash. “You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you, really. You’re the first true friends I’ve ever had, and it means more to me than you’ll ever know.” He blushed, surprised by his boldness, and smiled sheepishly at the six, each one returning the smile.

“And we’re proud to have you both as our friends, but if we keep this up, you’re going to be late, and trust me, that’s not something you want to worry about.” Twilight said, pointing towards Celsius. Celsius was waving her hoof, motioning for her brother to follow her. Fahrenheit got in a few more goodbyes and ran back to his sister, the two making an impressive figure as they walked into the horizon.

Applejack watched as the two disappeared into the distance, and turned to Twilight. “Ya think they’ll be okay?”

Twilight continued to watch the horizon, and broke into a smile as she answered Applejack. “I think they’re going to be just fine. Now come on, we’ve got a forest to clean up.”

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