The tour was an utter blast! The girls took Fire Fight to every little shop, park, landmark, even town hall where he got to meet the mayor. They also introduced him to their sisters. Applejack let him buck one of her trees, and was impressed to see him bring the apples down about as easily as she did, no small feat for a foal, even for Apple Bloom, whom had been doing this her whole life. Rainbow Dash got to see one of his little fire displays, though she seemed more ticked than impressed; Scootaloo told him that she probably considered him a rival of some sort, which was a huge compliment coming from her. Rarity teased them saying that shouldn’t fight over Fire Fight’s attention too much since he was so handsome despite his mane apparently being ‘not well-kept’, flustering the fillies, and causing the embarrassed colt’s horn to alight, which got him kicked out for fear of setting her boutique ablaze. Sweetie Belle consoled him saying she was always this prissy, which worked on the ashamed colt.
They saved the best for last, of course, which was Princess Twilight Sparkle herself! She was as friendly, and majestic as everypony said she was, and the Crusaders were personal friends of hers; Fire Fight felt like the luckiest colt alive! He eagerly showed her his mastery over fire magic, which she was thoroughly impressed with. She encouraged Sweetie Belle to take an example from Fire Fight for when she worked on her magic, to which she happily agreed. Before they left, she graciously gave them some bits to spend at Sugarcube Corner for a milkshake. There was some purple… lizard… thing jotting down notes for her, or something; probably nopony important.
“Thanks so much, you guys!” Fire Fight cheered. “You made today so much easier for me! I wasn’t sure if I’d okay here, but now I feel right at home.”
“Our pleasure, dude!”
“Anything for a new friend.” They talked and laughed on their way to the bakery. When they finally got there, one heck of a surprise awaited Fire Fight.
As the CMC led him in, Fire Fight noticed the place was somewhat… deserted. Only the apparent owners were present along with their children at the counter, and only the strong scent of birthday cake to accompany them. He would have dismissed it as them not being busy at the hour, but that strong scent made it seem like they were prepared for a big event or something. His fighting instincts were just about on close standby, telling him that there was more to be seen than what his eyes beheld, like he was being watched. Then ponies jumped out of every corner of the room.
“SURPRISE!” Nearly the entire town seemed to occupy the entire dining area as they suddenly appeared. Fire Fight’s horn erupted like a volcano out of shock as he reared his body for battle, hiding his panic. Some of the ponies jumped back themselves.
Quickly realizing the situation, he smothered his horn out. “Uh… Sorry! I… kinda panicked there.”
A familiar shrill squeal answered him. “Aww, that’s ok, Fire Fight. I was honestly expecting you to do that, so I told the Cakes to have some fire extinguishers ready just in case!” It was Pinkie Pie alright, and she was still as psycho as ever, and yet she didn’t seem nearly as ‘threatening’ as she was before. Fire Fight rolled his eyes at her last little comment.
“Honey, don’t pretend like that couldn’t happen.”
He turned around to see his mother standing beside the CMC. “Mom? What’s going here?”
His mother giggled a little. “Isn’t it obvious? This… er, exceedingly friendly mare here wanted to throw us a welcoming party, but you weren’t home when the original thing happened at our house, so I was the only one surprised.”
Apple Bloom then spoke up. “So Pinkie asked us to make friends with y’all, and eventually bring ya here for the redo!”
The elaborate setup impressed Fire Fight, but he couldn’t help but to feel a little annoyed. “So that whole thing was just a ruse to get me surprised?”
“Huh? Oh! No, no, no! That was all real, dude! We really did want to show you around town, make friends, and all that! This was just the grand finale.” Scootaloo interjected.
“Really, honey. Don’t be so distrusting!” Fire Fight blushed a little, and thanked Pinkie and the CMC for their kind gesture, and the party began.
Pinkie really outdid herself. The refreshments, namely the cupcakes were amazing, the games she’d set up were really fun, and she was… unfortunately a master in the art of pulling a good, fun practical joke. Don’t ask what happened; Fire Fight’s too embarrassed about it. He got to meet some more foals, including the CMC’s reformed former bullies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon; He wasn’t sure if his magic was acting up or something, but Silver Spoon’s cheeks had reddened as she approached him. He also got to meet Apple Bloom’s friend, Tender Taps, whom left Fire Fight stunned at his two left feet, and Sweetie Belle’s coltfriend, Button Mash, who let him play Mareio Bros on his Joyboy for a little. All of them were a little younger than him, so he wondered if he would be in the same class as them.
About halfway into the soiree, Fire Fight’s mother approached him along with a dark lavender mare, with a curly, pink mane, and sunflowers for a Cutie Mark. She seemed about as friendly as everypony else here, so he wasn’t unnerved.
“Fire Fight, this is Ms. Cheerilee, your new teacher here in Ponyville.” his mother said.
Cheerilee smiled brightly. “Hello there, Fire Fight!” Fire Fight wasn’t ready for this. His old teacher in Manehatten had lost her patience with him several times with his ‘heroics’, and would often ban him from school events, and even encourage her other students not to associate with a ‘bad example’ like him. If his mother said anything to Cheerilee about his past, surely she would bear the same ill feelings. She put her hoof on his shoulder. “Your mother told me about the problems you had in Manehatten…” Well, that was it. His one day of sunshine and rainbows had come to a screeching halt, crashing and burning. He braced himself, waiting for the familiar scolding, about how he was just a little troublemaker, and needed to be punished for everything he did, and that he was no hero, just some attention-whoring brat. “…And I think you were just horribly misunderstood. It’s so nice that you want to be helpful at your age! But you need to restrain yourself; trying to solve problems… er, too quickly can lead to just more trouble, you see.”
Fire Fight was pleasantly surprised to hear that. He could tell she had concerns about him in her tone, but seemed very much willing to be patient with him. He opted not to complain so as not to ruin this chance at her trust from the start. Plus, arguing with an adult always proved fruitless anyway. “Okay.” He replied.
“Okay, then! See you tomorrow! Enjoy the rest of the party!” She was about to walk off when Fire Fight suddenly thought of something he needed to know.
“Wait a second.” Cheerilee turned back around. “All the other foals here seem about a year younger than me. Am I gonna go to school with them, or… what?” he asked.
Cheerilee smiled. “Oh yes, dear. They’re your classmates. I keep my classes within a slightly broader age range to encourage respect amongst younger and older foals, so you’ll practically be their big brother! So help me take care of them as you learn too, okay?” she explained.
Fire Fight liked the idea of protecting, and helping others, especially other foals, but it hasn’t rewarded him well before, though maybe it would here if he didn’t have to fight anypony. “Will do!” he answered. And with that, the two mares left the red colt to his own devices, and he enjoyed the rest of the evening.
*****
After the party ended, Fire Fight found his mother, said their goodbyes to their new friends, and headed home. The night was eventful, but Fire Fight wasn’t that tired. They had a good meal at the party, and he was still just a kid anyway, full of energy. When he got to his room, he decided to tire himself completely with his favorite exercise: using his hanging bag.
Fire Fight began with a series of punches followed by side, and roundhouse kicks, then moved on to more advanced techniques such as spinning kicks, jump kicks, spinning jump kicks, chops, hoof strikes, uppercuts followed by kicks, and overall went with the flow. Despite his age, Fire Fight had a great understanding of his technique, and had virtually flawless form. It helped that he was in terrific shape, and could endure a great deal of stress.
He continued until his mother told him to get ready for bed so he’d be up early for school tomorrow. He had tired himself a good amount at that point, so he did. As Fire Fight lay there in bed, he thought about his eventful day. It was fun, happy, a little embarrassing, but overall pleasant. The new friends he had made, the friendly ponies of the town in general, all eased some of his anxieties. And yet… Something felt… empty, as though he had something important taken from him. It was the only thing keeping him slightly awake before he was too tired to think more about it, and drifted off to sleep.