The rising sun shimmered a light of awakening over the Equestrian horizon. It gleamed fervently across the lands as a new day dawned. This new day would bring about new beginnings for all the ponies of Equestria however big or small, but for one brave colt under the morning light, his new beginning would take all of Equestria by storm, whether he knew it or not…
It was a typical, boring train ride from Manehatten to Ponyville. Businessmen, tourists, and whatever else have you equally occupied the locomotive. Amongst the passengers was a young unicorn colt named Fire Fight, and his mother. His coat was a typical red, his eyes a shallow blue, and his mane and tail a fiery orange, and in a fiery style; his Cutie Mark depicted a raging flame in the shape of a dragon’s head. The two were on the train away from Manehatten to where they now call home.
No move is ever easy, especially for kids, and Fire Fight was no exception, but the reason for their move only served to weigh him down more. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of gradual emptiness being refilled with guilt and anger, the train reached its destination. The two got what luggage they brought with them, and exited the train into the afternoon sun.
Fire Fight’s mother had clear directions to their new home, so he let her lead so he could look around. Seeing everypony smiling did little to ease his anguish, and only showed him his new opportunity at life, which he thought he’d probably botch anyway. His new neighbors waved hello, and he reciprocated with feigned joy, and a plastic smile.
At last, the two found their new home, and settled in. It was a cozy little space. A typical humble abode anypony could be satisfied with. Movers contacted prior already set up their rooms and furniture to their desires. Fire Fight had just finished setting up his favorite hanging bag when his mother walked in.
“Fire Fight.” She said. Her tone was stern, commanding. He knew what she was going to say, and it only shamed him. With a light sigh of guilt, he responded.
“Yeah, mom?” She softened her expression a little.
“Honey, I don’t think I need to tell you to stay completely out of trouble here. Do you understand me? If I let you go out and explore town today, will you behave yourself?” She asked.
The ashamed little colt looked away from her slightly. With an unconfident tone, he whispered a reply. “I… I always behave, mom.” He knew she, and others in Manehatten would strongly disagree with him, but it was all he could say.
“Honey! Why do you think we were forced to move here in the first place? You beat up that poor stallion horribly! Nearly knocked out his teeth, and left him with an awful burn to his face!” she shouted.
Fire Fight raised his voice to retort. “He was threatening all those other foals, mom! My classmates! I was just trying to help.” He sounded desperate.
“The only thing you helped do was get yourself expelled from school, and make us outcasts! We’re practically running away from them instead of saying goodbye.” His mother was trying hard to contain her frustration, but barely managing. At that last statement, Fire Fight conceded to feelings of dejection, and yielded. He knew it was useless. Even if his intentions were well, Fire Fight knew that no matter what he did, he would ultimately lose to the judgmental words of an adult, perhaps even if he ended up saving the world with his own four hooves by some miracle.
Tears began to well up in the young colt’s eyes. His bravery, and sense of justice had punished him with an unfamiliar place, and a wedge between him and his only family left. As he began to break down, his mother gently leaned in to hug him. She knew her son meant well, and was very proud of his courage, but his habit of rushing in to save the day has come back to bite him more times than she can count, and this time, it cost them dearly. She wanted nothing more than for her son to live a happy, healthy life as any mother would, but that seemed impossible when he continuously brought trouble upon himself. “There, there, sweetie.”
After a moment or so, Fire Fight calmed down, and his mother let go. “You know I love you more than Equestria could possibly understand. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself by helping others the way you do.” Her tone was considerably softer, comforting even.
The red colt looked up, still wiping some tears. “I know, but… It… It’s just so stupid! Why am I always the bad guy!? What about that guy who was mugging that old lady, or that burglar who was about to kill that guard!? Why do I always get in trouble when nothing is even my fault!?” he exclaimed. His frustration was readily apparent. “I always get yelled at or punished when I help…” He felt so defeated by life, and she knew it. All she could do was encourage him.
“You just need to think before you leap. If you leap blindly, you’ll fall, and it won’t be a soft landing.” She said. Fire Fight sighed, and simply nodded.
“I think I’ll go out, and explore.” He said. His mother nodded, and kissed his forehead.
“Okay, Sweetie. Just be back before dinner. You don’t want to go to sleep hungry, and be sleepy from starvation on your first day of school here!”
*****
As Fire Fight trekked through his new hometown, he almost immediately got a much better vibe than he ever did back in Manehatten. This place felt as though it was immune to the trouble he was used to seeing, so maybe… just maybe, he wouldn’t have to worry about his instincts kicking in since nothing would happen to elicit them. He felt… happy, at ease, peaceful. The air was calm, the surrounding ponies seemed incredibly friendly, and there was just an all-around good feeling. His solace was suddenly shattered by a shrill, squealing voice.
“Hi there, little colt!”. A pink mare suddenly appeared in front of him, startling Fire Fight, and causing his horn to ignite; his magic was mostly fire-based. He quickly smothered it out with some magic, and looked back at her.
“Uhh… hey there.” He stuttered, bracing for a potential fight. She didn’t seem threatening, but something felt a little off about her, as if she was a… living paradox, if you will.
“I’m Pinkie Pie, and I’ve never seen you in my life before, and I know everypony in Ponyville, so if I don’t know you, that must mean you’re new here! And that means I have to throw you a par-“ she was suddenly cut off when Fire Fight reignited his horn, this time violently. He looked more ready to defend himself than he did a second ago, snarling viciously and rearing back like a lion about to pounce. Pinkie was a little startled by this gesture, but quickly realized her mistake. “Aww… Sorry, little colt. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She pleaded.
Fire Fight eased up somewhat, then completely when he realized there was a little crowd watching the scene. “Uhh… me too. You just kinda freaked me out, so I… I don’t really run from fights, okay.” He replied.
“Fights!?” the concept of fighting was something virtually foreign to ponies, namely happy ones like Pinkie.
“Oh! I-I-I don’t pick fights! I just… fight back when I need too, that’s all.” He hastily replied.
Pinkie regained her composure upon hearing his explanation. “Oh! Like when my friends and I beat back mean meanie villains who want to take over Equestria! Cooooool!” she cooed.
Fire Fight could tell she wasn’t by any means his enemy, but she still made him feel uncomfortable, and wanted to just get out of the situation. “Pinkie Pie, right? I’m Fire Fight. It was nice meeting you, but I-I’ve gotta go. I, uh… wanted to check out the schoolhouse before I started going tomorrow!”
Pinkie frowned a bit. “Aww, okay… Wait, you do know where it is, right?”
Thankfully, Fire Fight did manage to catch a glimpse of it on his way to their new house, so he had a good idea where to go. “Yeah, I do. Thanks.”
“Sure, Fire Fight! Have fun! I can’t wait for your party, even I’ll though I’ll be planning it, which means I won’t be surprised, but I’ll happy because I LOOOOoooovve parties, and –“ Fire Fight was long gone before she could begin her rant.
*****
Fire Fight was panting when he finally ran his way to school. He was no stranger to long sprints if it meant catching up to trouble; he was in great shape for a colt his age, but that party-crazed mare freaked him out, and he just wanted out of there.
After catching his breath, he got a good, close look at his new school. It was much more traditional than what he was used to in Manehatten, but that didn’t bother him. Its bright red outer walls were a warm welcome to the red colt. He could only hope that its teacher and students were just as such. He was so engrossed at studying the building as he approached, he failed to notice the foals using the playground after school. As soon as he did, he observed them as well. The picture they painted in this one spot was as colorful as all the residents of the entire town. Most of them were roughly a year or so younger than him, so they probably weren’t his classmates, and thus he decided not to bother. As soon as he started walking away, he could hear a young voice trying to get his attention. He turned around to see three fillies about the same age trotting towards him. One was a yellow Earth Pony with a very subtle tint of green, a cherry mane, and a bow tied in it. The second was an orange pegasus with a purple mane styled very tomboyishly, and the third was a white unicorn with a lavender mane. Fire Fight decided that it was probably best to start sooner than later to let everypony know that he wasn’t a bully despite what his past actions might imply.
“Are y’all new here? Ah don’t think Ah’ve seen you before.” The yellow one said. Her southern accent was prominent.
Fire Fight nodded his head. “Yep! Just moved here from Manehatten as a matter of fact.” He replied.
“Wow! Really!? That’s awesome! I wish we could go there sometime.” The pegasus said.
“Yeah, Rarity loves it there. Especially so since she now owns a boutique there.” The unicorn added.
Fire Fight tilted his head. “’Rarity’?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s my older sister; she’s a fashion designer. I’m Sweetie Belle, by the way. This is Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom.”
“Howdy!”
“Hey, dude!”
They seemed pretty friendly. “Hi. I’m Fire Fight.” He replied. “I just came by to make sure I know where I’m going tomorrow. Figured I oughta check out the rest of the town while I’m at it.”
The girls perked up at that statement. “How ‘bout we show you around? You’ll have a much easier time with ponies who live here.” Scootaloo suggested. Fire Fight graciously accepted the offer. He just hoped he wouldn’t run into that pink psycho again.
As they walked down the path away from the school, Fire Fight finally noticed their Cutie Marks, and it slightly confused him. The all were a purple and red shield with varying symbols for each of them. Apple Bloom’s had an apple, Scootaloo’s had a lightning bolt, and Sweetie Belle’s had a music note. “Umm… Sorry, I couldn’t but to notice you’re marks… Why are they so similar?” he inquired.
The girls giggled. “See, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Apple Bloom replied. Now Fire Fight was even more confused. His head once again tilted, and the girls giggled even more.
“We help other ponies understand their Cutie Marks when they’re not sure what they should make of it, and even help other foals earn theirs.” Scootaloo explained.
“We originally formed the group so we could help each other find ours before we earned them, but then we did when we realized that that was our special talent.” Sweetie Belle added.
Fire Fight was impressed. “You don’t say! That’s really cool!” But then a familiar worry cross his mind. “Did… you guys ever get in trouble for any that?” he asked nervously.
The fillies’ expression turned sheepish, and a tid shameful at that question. “Yeah, we’d be so caught up in trying to earn our Cutie Marks, that we’d end up humiliatin’ ourselves, wrecking something, and… well, shucks, it’s just too embarrassin’ to even think about. Why’d ya ask?” Apple Bloom answered.
Fire Fight hid his turmoil over his own ‘failures’ well, and made it look like nothing was a bother. “Oh… just curious. Foals can get into trouble for the stupidest things, huh?” he said.
“You bet, man! … You know, speaking of which…” Scootaloo suddenly stopped to inspect Fire Fight's flank. Her face beamed at what she saw.
“Duuude! This is the sickest Cutie Mark I’ve ever seen! Check it out, Crusaders!” The other two took a look, and saw what Scootaloo meant. It had a little more than a cool flare to it!
But its vagueness begged the question: “You’ve gotta tell us what you’re special talent is, Fire Fight!” Sweetie Belle said.
Fire Fight’s stomach suddenly did a somersault. If he told them he was good at beating ponies up and that it got him expelled, their impression of him might drop like a rock. His mind raced as he frantically searched for an explanation. “Oh! Uh, umm… Fi…. FIRE MAGIC! Yeah, I’m skilled with fire based magic!” he exclaimed. The girls were a little startled at his outburst, but decided not to inquire. They asked for a demonstration, and he complied.
He ignited his horn, and began to expertly twirl flames around himself, sometimes forming them into vague shapes like clouds sometimes would. He made hoops of fire that he athletically jumped through, then lit random things suddenly ablaze, causing the Crusaders to panic, but were quickly alleviated when Fire Fight magically smothered the flames with ease. All the while, he was completely unbothered by the all the heat he formed around himself.
The girls were left speechless by his display. His command over fire was second only to Rainbow Dash’s flying prowess. Their silence was broken when Fire Fight asked what they thought. “Dude…… THAT WAS AMAZING!!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“That was darn hootenanny, Fire Fight!”
“Yeah, I bet all your friends in Manehatten thought you just the coolest… er, hottest..? foal on the block!”
Fire Fight was suddenly reminded of his former classmates. While they did indeed respect and admire him as the hero he hoped he was, their disapproving parents, teachers, and other surrounding adults pressured them otherwise. Rarely, if ever, did he receive any form of gratitude for his valiance. All he did receive were scoldings from even strangers telling him he was just a foal, and needed to behave accordingly, and in the worst case scenarios, community service for things he accidently burned in the ensuing scrap. “Y-Yeah!... they did. They were… pretty sad too… see me leave…” On the contrary, much of the surrounding community were relieved to get rid of a colt considered to be a trouble child; Fire Fight heard their whispers not long before they left. The thoughts gnawed at his heart like a beaver to wood.
“Well, why’d y’all leave then?”
Again, Fire Fight had to quickly come up with a clever lie. Thankfully, he managed one quickly. “There was a lot of crime in my area. We would’ve just moved to a safer district, but my mom wanted to get away from it completely; it was getting pretty bad, so here we are.” He answered.
The girls seemed sad to hear this. They gave him a sympathetic look. “Oh… I’m so sorry to hear that, Fire Fight.” Sweetie Belle tried to console him a little, but Scootaloo, likely trying to encourage him, unwittingly said something that just shattered him like glass.
“I wouldn’t have been too worried if I were you, dude! With those crazy fire moves of yours, I bet you could’ve been a hero there! You’d burn all those bad ponies to a crisp if they tried to hurt you or somepony you cared about!”
Fire Fight had spent a few years practicing his game face so as to not show fear to his opponents, so even in a situation like this, his turmoil was completely masked by a plastic smile. “I… I-I’m not really a fighting-type.” He replied, trying desperately to keep his cool. “So, uhh… you were gonna show me around?”
The fillies perked up upon hearing that. “Oh, yeah! Come on, Fire Fight! We’ve got a new hometown for you to tour!” They pranced happily while Fire Fight followed with a subtle mope in his step. He may have moved miles away from his past, but it was mere inches behind him… breathing its hot breath down the back of his neck.