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// A visit home to conclude 
// Story: FireFlare: an origin 
// by Piggynator 
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Flare woke  up with a jolt. Something had come over him but he was not sure what it was. He checked his room. Everything seemed there. He had a sigh of relief but all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. It was the mailmare. Flare stretched and shook himself awake. The stiffness of sleep was finally getting to him. Even though he was still in his prime, he still had to shake himself awake at times. He slowly plodded over to the door to check his mail. 

"Bills, spam mail more junk" he said to himself with a sigh. As he was flipping through his mail, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He had to really squint but his eyes were not playing tricks. That was most certainly somepony being punched square in the cheek. Flare leaped into action and galloped over to the situation. The ponys turned to see Flare standing there. Anger in his eyes. They laughed and started trotting towards him. Flare stood there waiting. They pulled their hooves to fight as Flare got himself prepared. The 4 ponies were getting closer and soon they tried to punch him but Flare weaved in and out. Flare stuck his hooves out and tripped them all up

"You want keep trying or are you going to back off!?" Flare shouted. The four other ponies looked at one another and made a hasty retreat. Flare helped the pony who had been punched up and headed home. Flare took a rest on his sofa. 

"This feeling. It was like the time when I earned my cutiemark. It almost feels nostalgic" he said to himself as he sat up and looked at his flank. A good few minutes went by as he started to get hungry. An apple was all he wanted right now. He got up and went over to the fruit bowl but to his surprise, all that was there was one apple. He tilted his head slightly as he was sure there was more fruit there yesterday. He shrugged his shoulders and took the apple. As he was eating, he stole a peek out of the window. His humble home was more than just a home, it was a place to come to if you ever need help. 

"A slogan is in order for this place. It needs one" Flare thought. He took a piece of paper from one of his desk drawers and started brainstorming. A  good hour and a half went by when all of a sudden, he got it

"hm... how about 'Flare and co law offices, burning up the lies and seeking the truth'. I like it!" he smiled. He scribbled it down and put it in the drawer marked 'important'.  Time was not moving as fast as it could have as Flare checked his watch

"It would be nice if time if time could move a bit faster" Flare thought. Maybe a visit back to manehattan could be good could do the trick and he could maybe visit his mom as well. Flare headed outside and locked the door. The walk to the train station was scenic to say the least but thus, he arrived at the station and boarded the train.

After a few hours, the train arrived at manehattan. The scent of home was refreshing. He got off of the train and headed to his mom's house. An hour went by as he arrived at her house.

"Guess whos home?" Flare shouted. A few seconds later, Flare's mom poked her head out of the kitchen

"Why hello Flare! Glad to see you." She said as trotted out and hugged him. They sat and chatted for a few hours before Flare got up and was about to leave when Flare's mom stopped him.

"When you left, you forgot something" she smiled. Flare tilted his head but soon smiled as she galloped off and brought him something he remembered well

"Well I never. Thats something I thought I took that" Flare gasped as she presented him with the plush pig from his childhood. It was looking good for the time he had not touched it. But as he was about to put it in his bag, he had an idea.

"Why not put it here?" He asked as he pointed to a shelf with a small space big enough for it. Flare's mom liked the idea. So Flare reached up and placed it on the shelf with a smile. They both chuckled for a bit before Flare checked his watch

"Well the time has sure gone by fast. And with that, I must be off, bye mom!" Flare shouted as they both waved goodbye to each other. Flare closed the door and was about to head to the station when something caught his eye. Smoke! Flare followed the smoke until he came across a building going up in flames. There were ponies gathered around

"Is there anypony left in there?!" Flare shouted over the ponys talking. One pony galloped over

"Yeah! One up on the second floor, the room is number 206!" He shouted back. Flare stood and was about to start thinking about whether or not to change into fiery hoof when all of a sudden, there was an explosion up on the 5th floor. This was motivation enough for Flare's body to charge over on its own. He climbed the stairs at breakneck speed and counted the floors he was climbing.

"1st passed, so here's the second." he told himself. Most of the door's numbers were burned off but a few were still there. Thankfully, 206 was still on the door. Flare could hear calls for help. Yup. This was the one. He charged over and kicked the door down. Fire engulfed the door but there was still a path of something wet. They must have left the taps on when running out of the room. There were a few seconds to spare so Flare called out

"HELLO! IS ANYPONY HERE?!" he shouted. He could hear cries for help underneath a table. He grabbed her and hoisted her over his back. He told the pony to keep calm and she nodded and guided him to the fire exit. But to his surprise it was blocked by fire. He galloped over to the stairs and saw a large gap had formed while he was in the room. He took a deep breath and jumped. He felt his entire life flash before his eyes but soon snapped back to reality. He was starting to fall. He grabbed the other pony and threw her up onto a path that led to the stairs.

"GO! RUN!" Flare shouted. The other pony contemplated but soon, she pulled him up just to the point where he cold crawl up and stand up. This was a first, to be saved by another pony. But now was not the time for thinking about that. Now the time was better spent escaping. Flare put the other pony on his back and slid down the handrail of the staircase and made a dash for the exit. Flare could feel the building shake. So he grabbed the other pony and threw her outside. She rolled out the door and looked up. She could see Flare galloping up to her. He put her back back on his back and made the home stretch. It was too close. The floor was collapsing above them! Flare used every drop of adrenaline inside of him to make a mad dash and dive outside. The floor fell in just after Flare made the dive. He helped the other pony down and walked her over to her friends. 

"Th-thank y-you" She stuttered. Flare smiled put his hoof on her cheek

"No need to be so worried. Its all over. And your welcome" He chuckled. but as he started to walk away, he started coughing. The smoke had finally caught up to him. He could no breath with all the smoke inside of his lungs. He coughed some more until medical staff gave him a small oxygen tank to breath with. Flare took deep breaths. Oxygen had never felt better to have.

A good 10 minutes went by and as the building was out, Flare was feeling much better. He thanked the staff for the oxygen and went on his way. The train station was still up and running, so he took the train home. His bags were still on him. He must have forgotten to take them off. He settled down into his seat and waited for the train to stop. The train was moving faster than usual so it didn't take long for him to arrive back on ponyville. He got off of the train and made a beeline for home. He threw his jacket onto his sofa and galloped to his bed and flopped into it and went to sleep. 

A good few months had gone by after he had saved that pony from that building but one day, He was closing his office for the day when he heard a shout for help. Flare smiled and changed into fiery hoof. 

"This is what I had dreamt about when I was a filly. It might be hard, but it's also really fun"  Flare thought as he charged towards the pony in danger.