My Little Inferno

by GMBlackjack

I - Ignition

“We are so toast!” Sweetie Belle yelled as she and Applebloom ran as fast as their four legs permitted.

Applebloom swallowed hard. “Maybe Spike didn’t see us…”

“He pointed a claw at us and screamed!” Sweetie Belle whined. “I think that qualifies as him seeing us!”

Applebloom looked left and right rabidly - in their blind panic they were starting to draw unusual looks from the townsponies. “Maybe Scootaloo’ll know what to do?”

“Yeah! She’s good with running and hiding!” Sweetie Belle took a hard left, Applebloom following quickly behind. The two fillies beelined towards Scootaloo’s house and hammered on the door. “Heeeeeeelp!” Sweetie Belle yelled with Applebloom backing up with her grunting noises.

Scootaloo opened the door. “Uh.. yeah?” She asked, confused.

“We need you to-” Sweetie Belle stopped short, sniffing. “...Why do you smell like ash?”

Scootaloo shook her head, loosening a lot of soot from her mane. “It’s from this cool new thing I got today! Come check it out!”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle forgot entirely about their panic, for Scootaloo had just said something was cool - and that they could check it out! They wondered what sort of thing it would be this time. Adventure game? New Scooter? Statue of Rainbow Dash made of ash?

They didn’t have to wait long to find out.

The first thing they saw was the Core - a black face with a serene expression and soft, closed eyes. It felt… welcoming, even though Sweetie Belle was positive it was watching them intently. Sticking out the side of the Core were several gears and a couple long black wires. These wires led the eyes of the fillies around the soft brown brick enclosure. The space was square, and had a bunch of ash piled up on the bottom surface. The area had an outlet at the top connecting to a chimney and out of the house.

“...A weird ol’ fireplace?” Applebloom observed.

“It’s called a Little Inferno Entertainment fireplace.” Scootaloo said. “And it’s much, much more than weird and old…”

“Oh?” Sweetie Belle said dubiously.

“Watch.” Scootaloo said. She stuck her front hoof into the Fireplace - and it instantly lit on fire. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom’s eyes went wide, thinking Scootaloo was burning herself. But their fears were alleviated when they realized Scootaloo was waving her hoof around inside the Fireplace without any pain or hint of being singed. She removed her hoof and the fire on it went out instantly.

“See? Cool.” Scootaloo blinked. “Well… Hot actually but you get what I mean.”

Applebloom stuck her hoof in, a flame appearing on hers as well. It was soft, yellow, and warm. “So…. It’s warm but it doesn’t burn me. That don’t make sense.”

Sweetie belle touched the inside of the Fireplace with her telekinesis - and a little fire appeared exactly where she focused. ”Woah. Magic things are so cool.”

“Huh.” Scootaloo said, looking closely at Sweetie Belle’s magic. “Didn’t know it could do that. But I do know something else.” Scootaloo picked a piece of torn paper off the floor and tossed it into the Little Inferno. It didn’t cause a fire.

“Wha?” Applebloom said. “Why ain’t…”

“You have to poke it with your fire.” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Oh.” Applebloom reached for the paper, touching it with the fire that encased her hoof. The page instantly ignited, reducing to ash within seconds. Most of the resulting specks of black flew out the chimney, but some spilled out the front, getting some soot on Applebloom.

“Ech…” She grunted. “It’s stickin’ to me.”

“Soot does that.” Scootaloo said. “You just need to wipe it off. Sometimes it takes a while.”

Sweetie Belle pondered for a moment. “So basically the point of this thing is to play with fire and not get burnt?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.” Sweetie Belle said. “What else can we throw in there?”

“I think I have some mini-golf clubs.” Scootaloo answered. “...And some really old food in the cooler.”

Applebloom scurried to the cooler and cracked it open. She let out a “bleh!” for the contents smelled like they had passed the rancid state days ago. “Do you ever eat anything from this?”

“I’ve decided it’s probably a health hazard, so never more than once a month!” Scootaloo called back.

Sweetie Belle facehooved. “Lemme see here…” She said, looking over Applebloom’s shoulder. With her magic she pulled out a corn cob that wasn’t moldy. “This might work.”

“Burn the cooler as well.” Applebloom said, still gagging. “And everything in it. Kill it with fire.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders pushed the cooler towards the Little Inferno. They found that it could just barely fit inside the enclosure. Upon nestling it inside, Sweetie Belle used her magic to light it on fire from behind, and it was soon up in flames.

“I am not sad to see that go.” Scootaloo announced.

“You getting a new one?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Nah. I just eat with you guys all the time.”

The cooler was reduced to ash in under a minute. Sweetie Belle tossed the corn in the moment the fire died down. Applebloom prodded it with her hoof and lit the sad vegetable on fire. It burned for a few moments, the fire warming them. Applebloom frowned. “Well this isn’t very intere-”

The corn kernels popped and popcorn began to fill the Fireplace - only to burn as the entire enclosure filled with fire, creating little popping fireballs. The Cutie Mark Crusaders watched in fascination as it kept burning more popcorn. The popping show did eventually stop, however, and the fillies all glanced at each other.

“...That was cool.” Sweetie Belle said. “What else can we-”

“A-hem.”

The three fillies turned around quickly, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle adopting looks of panic upon realizing that Twilight Sparkle was behind them. Her wings were spread, making her even more intimidating than she otherwise would have been.

“Hi Twilight.” Scootaloo said, face betraying her concern for her friends. She had no idea what was going on here.

“Well, girls, guess what Spike just informed me?”

“The goose wasn’t our fault!” Sweetie Belle yelled.

“And the street was all Spike’s! We had nothing to do with it!” Applebloom continued.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What about the pistons that fired fried eggs… somehow?”

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom drooped. “That one was us…”

Scootaloo shook her head rapidly. “What the hay are you guys talking about?”

“They really scared Spike and are just about to go back and apologize.” Twilight said.

“Oh. Okay.” Scootaloo blinked. “What do fried eggs have to do with anything?”

Sweetie Belle pulled a piece of egg white out of her mane. “We-”

“Would rather not talk about it now.” Applebloom interrupted, blushing. “Maybe later Scoots.”

“Ooookay…” Scootaloo said skeptically, watching as her two friends scurried out of her house. Twilight remained, standing by the Fireplace, staring at it.

An odd silence developed.

“Uh… Twilight?” Scootaloo spoke up. “Why are you still here?”

“Oh!” Twilight said, tearing her gaze from the warm glow of the Fireplace, the remnants of the popcorn still burning. “Er… No reason really. I just found this Fireplace fascinating. I’m wondering what kind of spells had to be put on it to keep it from burning you…”

“I dunno. You’re the magic expert.” Scootaloo grabbed a mini-golf club and threw it in. Twilight’s eyes widened further as it melted before her eyes.

“By Celestia how hot is it?”

“Advertisement said it was a hundred million degrees.” Scootaloo said. “But you know advertisements.”

Twilight summoned a metallic orb with her magic and threw it in - watching as it rose in temperature to a white hot and melted into a metallic puddle. The Fireplace itself seemed unharmed.

“...The amount of experimentation that could be performed with this tool is… Well the possibilities are staggering.” She put her hoof in, fascinated by the fire around it.

“Come again?” Scootaloo asked.

“Where can I get myself one of these?” She asked.

“Well I found it in a catalog… That I burned.” Scootaloo had the grace to look sheepish. “I do know it’s called the Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace though.”

“Thank you Scootaloo.” Twilight said, taking her hoof out of the enclosure. “See you around!”

“No problem Twilight!” Scootaloo said. “Please don’t kill Applebloom and Sweetie for… whatever they did.”

Twilight chuckled. “Honestly it was more amusing than anything else. Don’t worry about them.” She left the house, trotting back to her castle. Behind her, the smokestack sent a thin trail of black smoke far into the sky...

Comments

[TheDriderPony]

This could work. I like the premise.

[NotSoWickedWitch]

So, it's like Pyromania the Playset?

I'm tracking.

[GMBlackjack]

7778464
Pretty much exactly what it is. Burn things, have fun.

Totally safe and not likely to have any psychological effects whatsoever.

At all.

-GM, master of mites.

[Apollyon]

This shows promise. Instantaneous Follow.

[Skulljack17]

I like this because FIRE.