Rarity yawned as she got up from her bed. It was the start of any other day for her. Get dressed, eat breakfast, and spend about an hour perfectly styling her hair and outfit. "Now the day can truly begin!" Rarity let out a fond sigh as she headed into the boutique portion of her home. Having her place of business double as her dwelling certainly had its advantages. Rarity set to work organizing her fabrics. "When I look my best, I do my best."
"Believe me. I know that feeling." A voice said as the boutique's door was opened.
Rarity turned to face the possible customer, and was about to greet him when her jaw dropped. Rarity always kept up with latest celebrities, and made it a point to note their fashion sense. And the current entrant to her shop was one of the most popular rock musicians. What really set him apart were the red streaks in his black hair that gave the impression of embers trailing from his head. "N-Not to sound star struck but, you're Inferno Flare."
"I take it you're a fan of my work?" Inferno asked with a chuckle. The black-skinned Skyborn stretching his wings as he set one of his two suitcases down.
Rarity shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Rock and Roll isn't the music that I'd prefer to listen to, but you're quite good at what you do if the magazine articles are any indication." Rarity smiled. "I can relate to pouring all your passion into your craft."
"I can see that." Inferno said as he inspected some of the garments that Rarity had created. "You do some pretty good work yourself. These pieces have a lot of love poured into them." Inferno then turned his gaze to Rarity and smiled at her. "But if your own appearance is any indication, that's a given."
Rarity giggled. "Forgive me if I come off as prying, but what brings one of the foremost rockstars to our little town?"
"Well, things can get pretty tiring when you tend to spend a good deal of time performing on stage to packed crowds screaming out your name." Inferno said with a shrug. "Touring's taken it's toll on me and my band, so we decided a good period of rest was in order. To sum it up, I'm on vacation and I thought a quiet little place like Unityville would be a nice change of pace from a sprawling city. Oh! I almost forgot!" Inferno pulled a red jacket out from his suitcase. "This was my favorite jacket. It got a bit damaged when I was crowd surfing for one show. Would you mind patching it up for me?"
Rarity inspected the jacket. "It would be my pleasure." She said with a pleasant smile. Rarity then stared down at Inferno's guitar case. "Hmm. It would seem your passion travels with you wherever you go."
"True enough. I guess I really can't call it work if I love rock." Inferno said as he looked down to his guitar case. "But that's not the only reason why I came into your shop. See, Unityville's lacking in hotels. And I was wondering if there were any houses up for rent while I'm staying here. You know any places that are available?"
Rarity giggled. "I'll do you one better darling. You see, the establishment also serves as my place of dwelling. In addition to my room and my sister's, I have a spare guest room reserved for when a friend wishes to stay a night or two. I'll happily allow you to take up residence for your stay.
"Wow. That's pretty generous of you." Inferno then slapped his forehead. "Oh! Sorry! I completely forgot my manners. I didn't even get your name when you went through the trouble to recognize me."
Rarity did a small bow. "My name is Rarity. And I must say, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Flare." She then looked over Inferno. "I must say. You weren't what I was expecting in all the right ways."
"Thanks." Inferno said with a smile as he kissed Rarity's hand. "And please. Call me Inferno. All of my friends call me that. And I got the feeling we're gonna get to be pretty close. After all, we both know how to pull off style." Inferno chuckled at Rarity's blush as she led him to the guest room. Inferno let out a sigh of relief as he set down his bags. Gee. This girl really is something else. Mom would say she's got inner and outer beauty that are just about even. Me just sitting around here wouldn't be proper. There's gotta be some way to repay her. I planned on paying her for fixing up my jacket, but that should just be expected. Hmm. Inferno looked over to his guitar case, and opened it up. Inside was not his instrument of choice, but rather two weapons. A single-edge sword and a blaster. Both modelled after a black dragon. But that might need to wait. Why did these things start acting up just a few days ago? Inferno pulled out his blaster, and inspected it. This town's where Nightmare Moon made her big return. Maybe that's got something to do with it. Looks like a little trip around town is in order. That might give me a few clues as to what's going on here.
Inferno slung his guitar case over his back, and headed into town to find any information about a possible link between his weapons and the return and defeat of Nightmare Moon. Fortunately, his search was short as he came across a newspaper entailing Nightmare Moon's defeat. "So. Rarity's the Element of Generosity. Suits her considering she's letting me hole up in her guest room." Inferno flipped to the page that continued the article with additional pictures. And one picture in particular caught his interest. Namely that of Burst Stream fighting Nightmare Moon wielding one of his Duelist Arms. Looks like I'm not the only one who's got some unique tools of the trade. Inferno thought to himself. Now all I need to do is find this Burst Stream guy. A smirk crept onto Inferno's face. I guess I'll see which of us handles our instruments better. And with that, Inferno set off to find Burst Stream.
At the same time, Burst was at the outskirts of Unityville. Practicing with his Duelist Arms. He was pretty in the zone when Twilight showed up. "Oh. Hey Twilight. What's up?"
"Not much. Just thought I'd chat with you. It's a pretty slow day and Spike's off reading his comic book stash." Twilight said with a shrug. "Anyway, I had some questions about those weapons of yours. What're they called? And how did you get them?"
Burst smiled. "Easy answer. They used to be my dad's. A year or two into my training, he passed them down to me. They're called Duelist Arms. My dad said they had properties that make them really powerful. If my fights against Nightmare Moon were any indication, I think I've got an idea about what those properties now. She was pretty winded from a few shots from my twin blasters." Burst then looked to Twilight. "I thought about testing my little theory, but I don't wanna risk injury to anyone."
"Then maybe I can help you with that." Inferno called out as he approached the two.
Burst raised a brow in suspicion. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I can accept it. Just who are you anyway?"
"Someone like you." Inferno said with a smirk as he set down his guitar case on the ground and pulled out his own Duelist Arms! "I got some pretty nifty toys too. You called them Duelist Arms right? Well I got these from my Mom. Chances are you got some training too. Mom always told me to keep practicing with these things. Said that I'd need them someday and there'd be other people with weapons like them. So what do you say? Care to see how we stack up to each other?"
Burst slowly smiled. "Only if you don't try to get any altitude advantages over me with those wings of yours. But let's make it fair. No wings, no magic." Burst then got into a fighting stance. "That cool with you?"
"No problem." Inferno said with a nod as he gave his blaster a spin before firing! Instead of a lightning-like blast, a ball of fire shot out from Inferno's blaster! "Looks like my blaster has firepower to match my name."
"Then let's see how good you are with your blade!" Burst called out as he and Inferno charged at each other! The two clashing blades. "So. I'm guessing that your mom's been around a long time?"
Inferno smiled. "How'd you guess?" Inferno broke out of their blade lock and the two began clashing their swords once more! "My mom's an Avatar. She helped to teach me some of my fighting style. Like this!" Inferno holstered his weapons, and began pulling off a series of kicks that made it look like he was break dancing!
"Because my dad's an Avatar." Burst answered. "He thought me a lot of what I know to. For example..." As soon as Inferno was back on his feet, Burst pulled off a powerful uppercut to Inferno's face! "SHORYUKEN!" Burst soon landed while Inferno was rubbing his jaw. "And I've got a few more moves that I can link references to. But that would be showing off. Wanna keep going at it? I could use the workout."
Inferno shook his head. "Nah. I've seen what I need to. You've got a damn good punch on you. Name's Inferno Flare."
"Burst Stream." Burst answered with a smile as he shook Inferno's hand. "So is there any other reason you're here except wanting to spar with me?" Inferno was about to answer when sounds of struggle started to come from town! "Hold that thought!" Both Burst and Twilight rushed back to Unityville! But upon their return, they were shocked to see odd creatures with yellow eyes attacking! They moved about like shadows, and were either black or dark grey. However, what truly surprised the two was that they were specifically targeting the rest of the Main 6!
One of the creatures caught sigh of Burst and Twilight! "There they are! The two who cost our lord his queen! DESTROY THEM! HAIL TO THE ETERNAL NIGHT! GLORY TO THE REIGN OF LORD TERROR!" At the lead nightmare creature's call, the others broke off their attacks and swarmed forth at Burst and Twilight!
"Twilight, get back!" Burst cried as pushed Twilight out of the way! He was then alone with the creatures. They were circling him like beasts some feigning a lunge at him in order to throw him off. When one finally decided to strike, Burst shot it! He was shocked to find that a big gaping hole in the creature's torso was present afterwards! Then what remained disintegrated. "I think I found out those special properties Dad was talking about." Burst then got into a fighting stance as the creatures began to hiss and snarl! "Alright then. Who else wants some?!" Burst was able to make short work of any of the nightmare forces minions that came at him! Be it blowing them away with his blasters, or by cleaving them to bits with his sword! All the same, no remains were left as each minion slain disintegrated! Alright. I'm doing good so far! Burst blocked a slash from one of the more aggressive nightmare force minions. But these things have the advantage in numbers! A fact that become more clear as Burst began to tire from engaging so many enemies! But just then it seemed that the odds were against him, a fireball hit some of the swarming minions!
"Looks like you could use a hand." Inferno said with a smile as he flew down to Burst's side! "I've seen how good you fight on your own. Care to see how well we work together?"
Burst cracked a tired smile. "Backup sounds pretty good right about now." Burst sheathed his sword, and whipped out both blasters. "LET'S ROCK!" The remaining Nightmare Forces minions leaped into the air in an attempt to bury the two heroes! But all they received for their efforts was a storm of blaster fire and sword slashes! Before long, there was only one minion left. Being the wiser of its comrades, it decided to flee. And not even a few minutes later, Mayor Mare showed up to thank Burst and Inferno. "No thanks needed."
"Maybe so. But that brings up a proposition I had in mind. I wanted to tell you at the Summer Sun Celebration, but figured you'd appreciate some time to recover after your last big battle." Mayor Mare said with a smile before composing herself. "Burst Stream. I would like to offer you a job as the official peacekeeper around Unityville. With all the action we've been seeing lately, I think everyone would appreciate having some people around who can handle things. Royal Guards are fine and all. But you've been able to hold your own against an Avatar! Granted you weren't the victor of that fight, but still!"
Inferno noticed the doubt on Burst's face and decided to step in. "Would you excuse the two of us for a minute? We'd like to talk about this matter." Inferno led Burst aside, and began speaking with him. "Hey, Burst? I could see it on your face that you weren't sure about accepting that offer. It's probably not something you were expecting, right?"
"Yeah." Burst said with a nod. "I only set out to keep a promise I made as a little kid. And that's something I've fulfilled. But after this attack? I'm not so sure anymore."
Inferno took a deep breath as he put a hand on Burst's shoulder. "Look dude. I can't tell you what you should do. Because this is your life. Not mine. I didn't set out to be some sort of big time hero. And I'm pretty sure you didn't either. I don't even know if I can ever be someone like you. But look at all that's happened today." Inferno gestured to the crowd's hopeful looks. "They see what's in you. And I see it too. In both of us. The potential to do good. However we much we can with whatever we've got. I don't know about you, but I'm more than willing to act on that potential. You never know where it'll lead. Who knows? Maybe you can even find a new promise to fight for."
"A new promise..." Burst thought aloud. He looked to the crowd, then at Inferno before closing his eyes in thought. A new image popped into his head. One of Twilight and her friends. His friends now too. And then, an image of Celestia's true smile at being reunited with Luna. Burst slowly opened his eyes, and smiled. "I think I just found one. To protect the smiles of others." He then looked at Inferno. "You know, you shouldn't have said you might not be like me. What point would there be in being who you are? No, you've got the potential to be better than me. And something tells me accepting this offer just might be a step in the right direction."
Inferno cracked a smile. "That's a potential I'll strive to live up to." And with that, a red flash went off on Inferno's left arm! Inferno shielded his eyes, and as soon as the light faded he found a mark of a black dragon with red eyes on his arm. "Okay. This is new." He looked at Burst. "I don't suppose you have something like this on your arm too?" Burst showed Inferno his mark in response. "Huh. Whaddaya know? All we're missing is three more guys, brightly colored spandex and a giant robot."
"You a Power Rangers fan too?" Burst asked.
Inferno chuckled. "Dude. The original Mighty Morphin' theme is what made me a music lover in the first place. I even performed a cover of it!"
"We can talk more about that later." Burst said with a smile. "We'd better not keep the mayor waiting with our answer. Inferno. I think this is going to be the beginning of an awesome friendship." The two approached Mayor Mare and extended their hands. "We'll take you up on your offer madam mayor. But one condition. There might be future members. So will you allow us an extendable list of personnel?"
Mayor Mare nodded eagerly. "It's a done deal! Oh! And I'll see to it you start receiving payments for your services within a few days."
Inferno smiled to himself at hearing this. Well how about that? My first job, and I found an ideal way to repay Rarity's generosity. Keeping her and this town safe. So much for a quiet vacation. "Hey Burst. You have any idea what this mark on my arm means?"
"Well when I got my mark, a voice said that I'd awakened as an Element of Heroism. It said I was the Element of Power." Burst answered. "So I'd say you've become an Element of Heroism too. The Element of Potential I'd say. Fits you pretty well!" Burst and Inferno shared a laugh before heading to Sugar Cube Corner. In which Inferno was greeted with one of Pinkie's famous welcome parties. Both Burst and Inferno then proceeded to sing every Power Rangers theme song on a dare from Rainbow Dash. She lost five bits that day.
Lair of the Nightmare Forces
The minion that had fled from the failed attack on Unityville fearfully crawled into Night Terror's throne room. "F-Forgive me my lord. But we fought to the last! The weapons in Burst Stream's hands smote any who were in his path in either a single slash or shot! And now another has joined him!"
"You're lying." Night Terror said with a growl as he fired a blast of dark magic that fried the minion instantly! "Now you have fought to the last. It seems I shall require warriors of more substantial combat ability. Time to summon my deadliest warriors. But they shall not be enough." Night Terror conjured up a viewing globe. Inside, images of the Main 6 were displayed. "The Elements of Harmony are what were responsible for the defeat of my intended queen. But every team has a wink link. All I need do is find theirs." An evil smile crept onto Night Terror's face. "How fitting that dreams are the gateway to the mind."