//------------------------------// // Back to Town. // Story: Equestrian Eeveelution. // by Symphonicdysonince //------------------------------// I blinked awake as Rainbow placed me on the floor of Ponyville's train station. <> I mumbled, shaking the rest of the sleep from my head. Rainbow nodded as the rest of the mares stepped off the train. <> "I'm thinking..." Rainbow was interrupted by her own yawn. She addressed Twilight. "I'm thinking of stopping into the office and doing a bit of work, before headin' home for a nap. Just in case somepony needs me." Twilight shrugged. "Fair enough. I'm sure everypony has things they need to do today." "Yuperoonie!" Pinkie bounced past us. "I gotta get a 'Congratulations-on-Getting-Your-Leg-Back!' party ready for Zann!" I gave the unnatural pony a slow blink. <> I decided. <> "Have fun!" Fluttershy called, Rainbow nodding behind her. I jogged through the town, making a beeline to the library. I quickly passed my message on to Yomega, and Abes through him, filling them in on what had happened at the castle. I briefly stopped off at Rarity's to do the same, then bolted for the farm. I made my way to what I've started thinking of as our testing area. I knew that the others would be there, after pausing to check my.... Loyalty radar? Yeah, lets call it that. I shook my head as I drew nearer to the clearing we scorched the hell out of. Wonder what story I'm going to be walking in on this time.... "Have you tried closing your mouth?" Vince asked as I entered the clearing. "It might come out of his ears." Cy answered. "What might come out of - oh fuck!?" I asked. I barely had time to duck as a burst of flame seared the air above me. "... You okay, Leo?" Zann cautiously asked. "Oh, I'm fine." I patted at the burnt fur on my back. "Just need a bit of seasoning.... What's all the fire for?" Cy nudged Zann's metal leg. "What did I miss?" "This idiot here," Connor waved a paw at Zann, "thought that it would be a good idea to weld himself to a new leg." I leaned to get a closer look at it. "Cool!" I glanced up at Zann. "Still doesn't tell me what the near roasting was for." He gave an awkward shrug. "Figure if I can lace some of my own fire through the metal bits, I can force it to move." "Cool." I repeated myself. "I've got something important to tell you. It has to do with RD and I leaving a couple of days ago. Y'see..." "... And that's the gist of it." I finished. "Any questions, comments, queries or concerns?" The others took a moment to think things over. Eventually, Zann spoke up. "We're never going to be able to hide from you next spring." "What's next spring?" Vince asked as I groaned. "Just for that," I smacked Zann's fake leg, "I'm targeting you next heat cycle." I looked around the clearing, taking in the multiple new scorch marks dotting the clearing. Zann's wardrobe proudly stood in the center of a particularly large patch of scorched earth. "So, working on your fire control?" "Yeah." Zann replied. He watched Cy and Vince move off to Cy's training area. "We've figured out how to get it to burn from other areas outside of my mouth. I'm thinking a fresh eye could see something we've missed." I nodded, stepping off to the side. "I'll Extreme Speed, see if I can catch something in the slo-mo." "Ready when you are." I fell back into our established system, raising my tail, dropping it a second before launching myself forward. I let out a giggle at the face Zann was making. Cheeks puffed out, brow furrowed in concentration, legs bracing against the strain, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was really trying to go "super". I watched as small licks of flame danced from the corners of his mouth and from where the metal met his flesh. The flames almost seemed to ignite the fur, embers traveling in erratic patterns along the tips of his fur. I completed another circle when a series of fiery bursts snapped from the metal shoulder. Several flames grew from these bursts before lashing the metal limb and the air around Zann. With a yelp, I dodged away from the flaming lashes as Zann was forced off balance. His concentration ruined, he expelled the rest of his held flame in a single explosive breath. I dug a few short divots as I skidded to a stop. I stared in awe at the tornado of fire our combined "attacks" made. It was, sadly, short lived, exposing the fire type at its center. Zann was staring up at the last few embers as they drifted away. I stepped up beside him. Slowly, we both turned our heads and stared at each other, matching grins spreading across our muzzles. "Awesome." I breathed. A manic gleam appeared in Zann's eyes, one I'm sure was matched in mine. "... Let's do that again!" "NO!" Vince popped up between us. "No! Not on the farm!" Conner roughly shoved Zann over, looking over the prosthetic and the Flareon's shoulder. "The skin's burnt off again." He stated. I focused on the medical Eevee. "The what burnt off?" "I think we may have wielded the fake leg too far into Zann's healthy flesh." Conner gingerly placed a glowing paw on Zann's shoulder. "Every time I heal him up, I notice that his skin keeps trying to grow over the edge of the metal. It keeps charring off whenever he tries this." Conner stepped back with a weary sigh. "Right, that's the end of training for now. I think I'm all out of heals for the day. I'm going to head off for a nap." I stepped around Vince to lean closer to Zann. I examined the shoulder joint, finding that Conner was right. "You didn't wait for this to properly heal, huh?" "Yeah..." "Okay." I sat back. "I've got a couple of ideas that might help. First off, take things easy for the next week or so. Let this heal up. And no cheating through Conner." I briefly glared at the larger canine. "Secondly, and this is just speculation here, maybe try something other than your fire? I don't think you can control something like this." "Well," Zann sighed, "what would you suggest?" I shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe try something like Metal Claw? You do now have a metal claw, after all." I smiled at the groans echoing around me.