It was another busy day at the School of Friendship, with Twilight leading Silverstream, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Yona and Sandbar through the building's corridors.
"I hope you're all ready for the special treat I've prepared for the classes," Twilight commented, the students all grinning at this as she continued, "You six will be the first to enjoy this particular event." They arrived at a doorway and Twilight threw it open, the group then seeing Flash, Springer, Iron, Lightning, Grand and even Skybreaker standing inside with smirks on their faces. "Spending the day with a member of the Defenders of the Peace, and seeing how they spend their time on patrol." The six all went wide-eyed at this, "Since there are six of you and only five Defenders of the Peace, I decided to ask Skybreaker to help us out in this event."
"Happy to be of service," Skybreaker chuckled, Twilight nodding back.
"Each of you will be paired with a defender and spend the day with them. You will help them in any way they need and see how they perform their duties. It'll be a good test of everything you've learned in Professor Flash's Courage Classes. Speaking of Flash, who would like to be paired with-"
"Shotgun on Flash!" Smolder yelled as she leapt over to him.
"Aw yeah!" the pair hoof/claw-bumped. "Team Flash is on the case."
"Okay," Twilight giggled before turning to the others. "Now, who would like to be paired with our resident master Jakhowl Springer?" This resulted in a bunch of raised limbs, Springer grinning at this, making Twilight sigh, "I was afraid something like this would happen." She moved over to a desk and opened a drawer, "To settle this, you'll all draw straws." But when she turned around with the straws in hoof, she found a bunch of paper held up in front of her with drawings on them. "Oh, that's not exactly what I meant." She then squinted her eyes, "Though I've gotta admit Silverstream, your use of light and shadow is impeccable. Springer is yours."
"YAY!" The hippogriff cheered, flying over to Springer, who gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright," Twilight turned to Grand, "Who would like to spend the day working with the Great Mountain?" The students all just hummed, none fully responding to the old defender.
Grand rolled his eyes at this and pointed at one of them, "How about I team up with the yak? What's her name? Yona?" The young yak nodded and Grand nodded back, "I'm sure we can find a way to put that brute strength of yours to use for something other than just smashing."
"Yona like smashing!" She exclaimed, "But Yona like learning to use strength in new ways." She moved over to stand besides Grand as Lightning stepped up to Ocellus.
"How about I take the changeling?" he chimed in, "With Chrysalis still out there, I'd like to learn more about them in case she ever shows up again."
Ocellus nodded back, "Happy to be of use. And hopefully I can learn a thing or two from you."
"Here's hoping," Lightning laughed, stepping to the side, leaving Iron and Skybreaker staring at Gallus and Sandbar. The knights stared at them before glancing at each other, only to look back and see something on Gallus' face: Worry. He appeared to be staring at Skybreaker, but as the knight looked at him, he flinched away.
"I'll take the blue one," Iron spoke up, Gallus going wide-eyed at this, Skybreaker and Twilight raising an eyebrow at this as he continued, "Might be useful to have a creature with wings helping me out."
"Fair enough," Twilight shrugged, "Gallus is yours. Skybreaker, you okay with Sandbar?"
"Sure," Skybreaker nodded, "I'm used to having a short earth pony hanging around with me. Spent much of the last decade and a half doing it."
Iron glared at him as Sandbar moved over to his mentor. "Actually, I'm normal size for somepony my age."
"Shorter than me," Skybreaker guffawed, smacking Sandbar's back, "So, you're short! Alright, let's get going. We've got a lot to do before the day is up."
"That's right," Twilight nodded. "Each of you will be working together and helping with whatever task the Defenders would usually spend the day doing. You'll be returning at sunset and tomorrow, I'd like to have you each write an essay about what you learned today. Is that understood?"
"Yes Head-Mare Twilight," the students all replied in unison.
Twilight smiled and turned to the Defenders, "And I hope you six will keep them safe." As she said that, a dark aura appeared around her, "I'd hate to have put my trust in you only to have it be betrayed, so they'd better return to this school without even a scratch. Is that understood?"
"Yes Head-Mare Twilight," the six quivered, now feeling a certain chill down their spines.
"Great," Twilight's aura vanished, "Well, good luck. I look forward to reading about your time together." The Defenders all sighed in relief before turning to leave. As soon as they were outside, Flash and Smolder took to the air, Springer and Silverstream heading off on foot and Lightning teleported Ocellus away. Grand decided to take Yona to the canyon, wanting to see just how strong she was, leaving Skybreaker and Iron with their charges.
"Well," Skybreaker spread his wings, "Let's get going kid. I'm not expecting anything interesting to happen, but it's better to be prepared and on guard for the unpredictable." He took off and Sandbar ran after him, leaving Iron and Gallus alone.
Iron glanced over at him and noticed Gallus sigh in relief, "You got a problem with Skybreaker kid?" Gallus turned to him with a grimace, "You looked almost terrified at the idea of working with him."
"I wasn't terrified," Gallus muttered out.
Iron rolled his eyes at this, "Sure you weren't. Come on." Iron began to walk off, Gallus quickly flying up to his side.
"I wasn't scared. It's just...I heard about his history. Apparently, he stopped a bunch of rogue griffons from invading Cloudsdale."
"That's right," Iron nodded. "He beat them all and saved not only that city, but Canterlot too." He looked back at Gallus and saw him flinch, "What? You think he'd care that you're a griffon? Trust me kid, you're not the first griffon he's met since that time, and you're not the last. He probably didn't even think about that time when he looked at you."
"Really?!" Gallus asked as they headed for the exit, "Guess I didn't have anything to be afraid of then. Not that I was afraid or anything." Iron smirked at this as they stepped outside "So...what exactly are we gonna be doing today?"
"Don't know," Iron shrugged. "Could be nothing. Could be an Equestria ending catastrophe. It's impossible to know for sure. We defenders just remain on high alert. Most days it's simply helping with small problems like runaway carts or falling barrels. Nothing too big. But other times we'll find ourselves up against big dangers."
"What kind of dangers?" Gallus asked, Iron humming as he tried to think.
"Well, on one of my first days here, it was so cloudy that a bunch of Speed Stingers showed up and ran amok around town. That sure was a shock when it happened. Took us a while to figure out they didn't like sunlight, so by the time we cleared the clouds, they had caused a lot of problems. Then there was the time a giant ball of pizza dough threatened to destroy the whole town."
Gallus stopped when he heard this, letting that information sink in. "I'm sorry, what?"
Iron let out a cackle, "Relax kid. We'll probably find something exciting to fill our time with." The pair then headed for the town, Iron's eyes darting around while Gallus crossed his front legs and frowned.
"This is gonna be the most boring day ever." The young griffon muttered, "I just know it."
Many many miles away...
A train was rolling down the tracks. It wasn't the Equestrian Express, but one carrying a bunch of many different types goods in trucks pulling behind it. The ponies in the engine were busy shoveling coal into the machine, the fire inside now raging as they kept going.
As they did this, one of the ponies, a young earth pony, sighed. "Tired rookie?" The driver asked, smirking as he looked ahead. "Well don't expect a break too soon. We've got a lot of ground to clear before we can stop."
"What the heck are we even hauling?" The fire-pony asked, looking back at the trucks they were pulling. There were seven, each one filled with green metal barrels.
"Dodge Junction was doing some landscaping and their dig found a vein of oil," the driver replied, "This stuff has a ton of uses, but it can be dangerous, which is why we can't travel at our top speed. If it rattles around too much, who knows what might happen."
"Got it," the fire-pony nodded before shoveling some more coal into the engine. As he did this, the train suddenly jerked around. "WHOA!" He yelped as the train moved up and down, the same happening to the trucks. The driver pulled to a stop and they looked down, seeing the train had rolled over some buckled tracks.
"Great..." the driver sighed, "Looks like the heat of the sun has warped the metal. I told the ponies in charge that they should have painted the tracks white, but they didn't think the tracks would be affected. Now they're gonna have to pay for new tracks." He began to climb down, "Better check to make sure the trucks didn't uncouple."
And as they did this, the new pony checked the link between the last two trucks. Being new, he hadn't developed the keen eyes needed to see if a truck wasn't properly secured, instead thinking it looked strong and returned to the train. But as they pulled away, the coupling of the last truck came off, the cart remaining where it was.
Both driver and fire-pony kept their focus on the track ahead, turning a corner a few moments later and no longer able to see the truck still in the middle of the track. The truck remained there for a good while, with no other trains coming along.
And as an hour passed, something flew overhead the truck that was left behind. It was a roc, a smaller one than usual. It was about twice the size of a yak and as it flew above the track, it just so happened look down and see the truck sitting there. Its bird brain believed it to be something edible, licking its beak before diving down and snatched the truck up in its claws. It then soared up into the sky, its claws digging into the wood of the truck as it flew toward a certain forest in the distance.
Back in Ponyville...
Iron and Gallus were now both helping Granny Smith and Big Mac. "Thank yah boys," Granny said as Iron pulled the cart through town. "Don't know what we'd da done with Mac twisting his ankle in the mud." She turned to her grandson, Who was keeping his weight off his front hoof.
"No problem," Iron groaned as he pulled the heavy apple cart. "We're happy to help...right kid?" He looked back at Gallus, who was currently pushing the cart from behind.
"Yeah," Gallus moaned, "No...problem." They continued moving the cart through the town until they arrived at the market area, the group quickly setting up the cart in an empty section.
"There," Iron sighed, "That should do it." Granny Smith nodded before tossing them both an apple, the duo catching them. "Give us a call later if you need any help moving it back. Though you might wanna talk to Grand since he's got a yak helping him out today." The pair nodded and the defender walked off, his temporary sidekick following behind him.
"So let me get this straight," Gallus grumbled, "We just broke our backs moving a super heavy cart and all we got for it was two apples."
"Pretty much," Iron took a bite out of his.
"Shouldn't we have gotten more? Moving that cart was hard." Iron rolled his eyes and turned to Gallus, taking his apple before the griffon could take a bite out of things. "Hey!"
"Look kid, we didn't help them to get something out of it. We did it because they were in need of help, and we could give it to them. Even if we didn't get anything out of it, we would have still done it. Because that's what it means to be Defenders of the Peace."
"I thought being a Defender of the Peace meant stopping bad guys or fighting off monsters and preventing disasters from destroying the town. Why waste your energy helping a pair of farmers move a wagon?"
"Because that's how we do things in Equestria," Iron replied, "When ponies are in a bind, others help them. And in return, the ponies that were helped will help ponies that they see need it." Gallus just frowned back, making Iron shake his head, "Kid, what would have happened if we hadn't helped those two?"
"I don't know."
"Don't you?" Iron asked with a raised eyebrow, "Think about it kid."
Gallus blinked and looked back at the farmers, "Um...maybe Big Mac might have tried to pull the cart himself and injure his leg further?" Iron nodded as Gallus continued, "Or they might not have tried to go to the market and lose their business."
"Exactly. And that would mean they'd have to focus on their own problems. So focused that they might not even notice if somepony else needs help with something. Now, if they see somepony that needs help, they'll be more likely to lend a hoof." he tossed Gallus the apple, "And that'll make things better in Ponyville. You might think I'm getting nothing out of helping ponies, but you'd be surprised. One tiny action can have big consequences. For all I know, helping those two might have just stopped a big disaster from taking place."
"How? They're just selling apples."
"You'd be surprised." Iron deadpanned, "Trust me, things can spiral quickly. Like...they could have dropped an apple that somepony carrying something could have slipped on, causing the thing they were carrying to go flying off and causing more problems. It's a snowball effect." He finished his apple and threw the core into the trash, then turned to walk off. Gallus watched him go and frowned, taking several bites of his before throwing it away.
If the rest of the day was gonna be like this, Gallus thinking he would have probably been better off in Griffonstone.
Meanwhile...
The roc was now flying over the Everfree Forest, on its way to its nest with its prey in its talons. It still hadn't realized the truck wasn't something it could eat, so it continued to keep its talons in deep. So deep that it had broken right through the wood of the truck, causing several cracks to occur.
And as the cracks spread, the wood snapped off of the truck. The roc squawked as it suddenly found all the weight it had been evenly carrying had now been placed on its right talon. The truck tilted sideways, allowing the barrels inside to finally slide out, and by the time the roc had swung it back up to grab hold, all the barrels were falling toward the forest below.
It quickly flew off while the barrels hit the trees and began losing their lids, the oil within now spilling everywhere. The metal barrels landed close to a large puddle of it, the rest remaining in the shade of the tree. However, the sun's constant movement would change that soon enough.
It was midday and Gallus was not a happy griffin. All he and Iron had done was walk around, occasionally help a pony with some menial errand, and then do some more walking around. By the time they arrived at Sugarcube Corner to take a break, Gallus was so bored he would have taken one of Twilight's double lectures.
The other members of the defenders and his friends were already there, all his friends sounding super excited.
"And then Flash's sword shot out a laser that blew up the rocks, saying they were looking loose and could fall when somepony was making their way through the place! It was awesome!" Smolder cheered as she finished recounting on how she and Flash checked the canyon. "What about the rest of you?"
"Springer is so much fun!" Silverstream exclaimed, "We went to check out the gem caves. Springer said somepony might have been trapped down there waiting for rescue, so he checks it out every now and then to be sure."
"Grand and Yona helped Applejack!" Yona yelled, "Yona got to smash down old fence and help put up new one. It fun to use yak strength to be con...con..."
"Constructive?" Ocellus guessed, Yona nodding back. "Well, Lightning and I didn't really get to do anything like that. But it was still fun the teleport all over the place."
"Skybreaker's awesome!" Sandbar cheered, "He used a body harness to take me up flying with him, and then we did some cloudbusting! It was great! What about you Gallus?"
"Are you kidding?" Gallus groaned as he glanced over at Iron, who was at the counter with the other defenders. "He's so boring. How the heck did he ever get to be a Royal Knight? All he does is walk around and do odd jobs, no matter how small or pointless they are. That's not a knight, that's a handy-pony."
"I'm sure he's not that bad," Ocellus waved her hoof, "Maybe he just hasn't had the chance to show off how cool he is. It could just be a pretty boring day."
"Why the heck is he even here?" Gallus asked, "This town isn't that big so why are there six ponies that need to keep the place safe."
"Well, technically five since Skybreaker's a special guest," Sandbar pointed out, "But honestly, Ponyville's always kinda been a little crazy. Ever since the return of Nightmare Moon, there's usually something insane happening here at least once a week at the least. Parasprites, Speed Stingers, Mirror Pool Army Invasion, the dream monster. You'd be surprised how insane this place can be."
"How come nothing like that's been happening while we've been here?" Silverstream asked, Sandbar shrugging in response.
"Whatever," Gallus groaned, "He's still lame. All he can do is turn his spear into a bunch of metal tools. How useful is that? Flash and Skybreaker can fly and control wind and shoot lasers, Springer can create energy weapons, Lightning lives up to his name and shoots bolts of electricity everywhere, and Grand can make earthquakes. Compared to them, what makes him so special?"
Over with the others, Iron was recounting his day and the others frowned, "Guess Gallus isn't too thrilled about not getting to go on a cool adventure," Flash sighed. "He probably thinks you're not very cool either."
"Well, that's his problem and not mine," Iron replied, "I'm not gonna bend over backwards to try and look cool in front of him. If he can't figure out how awesome I am on his own, that's his loss and not mine."
"I guess," Grand nodded, "But still, we are supposed to be showing them what the day to day activities of the defenders are like. You've already shown him what most of our days are like, so showing him how we handle a rare situation could be good for him."
Iron just blinked at the defender, "Grand...I'm not gonna hope that something bad happens so I can show off my skills."
"You could take him someplace a bit more exciting," Springer chimed in, "Not super dangerous, but enough to make him feel like he had something worth remembering about this trip. Like maybe the forest. He's been in there before, and will know how dangerous it is, so he shouldn't do anything stupid while you're there."
"I guess," Iron sighed, "But if he does do something stupid and gets hurt, it'll be my head on the chopping block when Twilight finds out." They all shuddered at that, Iron sighing again.
Back in the forest...
The sun had moved now, the shade over the barrel slowly growing smaller. And as this happened, the sunlight then touched one of the metal containers. The reflective properties of the metal caused the light to bounce off and hit a part of the oil puddle. And as the seconds passed, smoke began coming out of the puddle...and caught fire.
The flames quickly spread to the rest of the puddle, then to the grass surrounding the puddle. The fire travelled across the ground, embers beginning to be lifted off the flames by the wind. Those embers landed on nearby trees, ones that had and hadn't been doused in oil, the covered ones quickly coming ablaze while the dry ones had small flames appear on their branches and leaves that slowly spread.
Within a minute, that entire section of the forest had been set aflame, the rest of the forest about to follow.
Having finished their lunch, Iron began to lead Gallus through the town.
"Where are we going now?" Gallus groaned, "Looking for some old granny to help cross the road?" Iron rolled his eyes as they then reached the edge of town, Gallus going wide-eyed at the sight before him, "Wait...are we going in there?"
"Yup," Iron nodded, "Not too far in. We're just gonna patrol the outer sections of the town and see if we can find any clues that'll let us know if dangerous creatures are getting too close to the town.
"Why?" Gallus asked, "As long as they stay in the woods what's the big deal?"
"Creatures like pukwudgies, manticores and timberwolves are dangerous," Iron replied, "But they prefer to stay away from large groups of ponies like the town. Them being too close to the town could mean they've been pushed there by something else, meaning there's a change in the forest. And if that happens, all it would take is one tiny factor to make them head into town and attack us."
Gallus flinched at this, only for Iron to continue, "Remember what I told you about the Speed Stingers. If somepony had checked the forest before then and found tracks of 'em, we would have known about 'em and could have been prepared. Now we defenders know to keep an eye on the outer edges of the forest to keep the town safe."
"I...guess that makes sense," Gallus responded, "Is that why there's so many defenders in Ponyville? Some of you do the boring chores and others go to check out the forest?"
Iron shook his head, "No. The reason there's so many defenders here is because we wanna be here. You can't deny Ponyville's a nice place to live."
Gallus shrugged at this, "I guess...though it feels like this town's too small to have so many of you. Why'd you even decide to come here in the first place?"
"Well first off, I was one of the first to become a defender...okay third, but still. And the reason I came here was because Skybreaker told me too." Gallus raised an eyebrow at this as the pair entered the forest. "He was sent on a very special mission that had the fate of Equestria riding on it. I was just an apprentice back then, so he couldn't risk bringing me along and threatening the outcome, but there was another reason he sent me here."
"Which is?"
"He wanted me to make friends." Gallus stopped when he heard this as Iron brushed some dirt away from the ground. "I had met Flash and his friends a few weeks before at the Grand Galloping Gala. Flash and I had to fight side by side during an event known as the Battle of Canterlot. Skybreaker heard about this and decided to send me here, hoping that event would help me connect with the ponies here."
"Why was that so important?"
Iron sighed as he stood up and glanced back at him, "My parents died when I was young." Gallus went wide-eyed at this, "They were murdered by a criminal because they refused to help him. You can probably guess that this messed me up pretty bad. Skybreaker took me in and began training me to be a Royal Knight, but what happened made it impossible to let others into my heart. It wasn't until I came here and met Fluttershy and the others that I learned to put down my guard and let ponies into my life. If I hadn't, I never would be become worthy of being a Royal Knight."
Gallus looked down at this, "So...you never knew your parents?"
"I knew them," Iron replied, "I was young when it happened, but not so young that I can't remember them. I remember them perfectly, their faces, their voices, even the way they styled their manes."
"Well then, you're the lucky one," Gallus responded, Iron raising an eyebrow as Gallus used his tail to brush away some dirt, trying to reveal tracks like Iron had. "I never knew my parents. They died years ago when I was newly born."
"I see," Iron nodded. "That must have been hard for you?" Gallus looked away at this, "Were you...raised by your grandfather? That griffon I saw on Friends and Family Day. Grampa Gruff?"
Gallus rolled his eyes, "That's just his name. He's nogriff's actual grandpa. After my parents died, he just took me in. Gave me a place to sleep and some food to eat in exchange for doing things for him that he couldn't normally do on his own."
'So this kid is like me,' Iron thought, 'Lost his parents at a young age and was taken in by somepony else. No wonder he's got such an attitude.'
"So, you don't have any memory of your parents?" Gallus shook his head, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Doesn't matter," Gallus replied, "I don't need parents. I got on fine without them. I can look after myself."
"Maybe," Iron replied, "But that doesn't mean you need to always do everything by yourself. That's something I learned while I was here. It's always better to accept help offered to you when you can." Gallus's eyes narrowed at him at this, "This world is a tough place kid. If you're determined to fight it alone, you'll eventually come up against a foe you can't beat. That's what friends are for, like the ones you made at school."
Gallus glanced away, "I...guess you're right."
"I know I am," Iron replied as they continued to move deeper into the woods. "If I didn't have my friends, I never would have survived this long. And if my friends didn't have me, they'd be in the same boat. So maybe you can let down your guard a bit."
"Easy for you to say that," Gallus growled, "When you lost your parents, you got to become a Royal Knight's apprentice. You got to become somepony that ponies wanna be around so you can let your guard down. You've got the chance to become a hero." He looked down at the ground, "I'm an orphan who grew up in a kingdom that's a total mess. Growing up like that, it doesn't leave you a lot of options."
"You'd be surprised," Iron responded, "There's always an option that can lead you to a great life. You just have to keep your eyes open and be willing to let yourself be vulnerable. You do have options, even if you can't see them. And being at Twilight's school's bound to give you more. Just remember that."
Gallus opened his mouth to reply, only to bonk into Iron as the defender came to a stop, "What the-" Iron then put a hoof in front of the griffin.
"Look." Iron pointed upward, Gallus following his hoof.
"A fire?" He asked as he saw a column of smoke.
"Looks like it," Iron commented, "This could be bad."
"Maybe somepony's just camping...in a super dangerous forest full of hungry animals."
"If it was somepony camping, they wouldn't need a fire at this point in the day." He put his spear on his back and began to gallop, "I need to go check it out! Go back to town and wait for me there!" He continued running, following the smoke and seeing how the wind was blowing. It was blowing in the opposite direction to the town, which was both good and bad. Good because it meant the fire wouldn't spread to Ponyville just yet, bad because the smoke wouldn't be seen from that distance unless somepony was really high up.
And as he got closer to the smoke's source, he could feel heat in the air. This was no campfire.
He then heard something ahead of him and slid to a stop, taking his spear out, only for a bunch of timber wolves to shoot out of the bushes. The knight prepared to strike, but the wooden beasts didn't even look twice at him. Instead, they ran past him and disappeared into the woods.
"Huh." he smirked before hearing someone.
"Wow." He looked up and saw Gallus flying above him, "Those things were totally terrified of you."
Iron glared at the griffin, "Kid, I told you to go back to town!" Gallus just crossed his arms, clearly asking what Iron was gonna do about. "Kids..." He grumbled before turning back to the smoke, "And it wasn't me they were fleeing from. For creatures made of wood, fire is the ultimate fear." He began racing ahead, pushing through the trees before coming face to face with a giant blaze that was beginning to consume the forest.
"Fire!" Gallus cried, flying down. "It's actually on fire!"
"What, you thought it'd be something else?" Iron asked, "This ain't the first time these woods were set ablaze." He pushed Gallus back a bit as a branch was burned off a tree and fell where they had been standing. "This is bad. If the wind changes, the town could be in serious danger."
"I'll fly back and warn them," Gallus replied, "Maybe the pegasi can get some rain clouds to put this stuff out."
"That wouldn't work," Iron pointed his spear, "Look!" Gallus followed the weapon and saw a bunch of metal barrels laying on the ground, surrounded by the fire. "This isn't a normal forest fire. It's being fueled by oil."
"And oil fires can't be put out with water," Gallus commenting, remembering that from Flash's Courage lessons. "So what do we do?"
"There are other ways to put out a fire," Iron replied before holding up his spear. Gallus watched as the end transformed into a giant L-shaped fork, which he wrapped the end of his tail around before charging. Gallus gasped as he saw Iron slam the weapon into the ground, pulling it along behind him like a plough. Doing so caused the ground to be ripped up and send a bunch of soil flying into the air. Gallus watched the dirt cover the oil-soaked ground, causing the flames to quickly be suffocated. Iron then did a U-turn and ranback through another area and taking the flames out in that section.
He then started circling the area that was set ablaze, sending the dirt flying onto the flames, preventing them from spreading. "No way," Gallus whispered in amazement as Iron kept going. "He's beating the fire all by himself."
Once the flames had been put on the far sections, Iron stopped and pulled his weapon out of the ground. He then turned it into a shovel. "Hey kid," he started digging, "Could use those wings." He threw a bunch of dirt into the air and Gallus blinking before realizing what he wanted, soon flying and beating his wings.
This began pushing the soil toward the center of the circle, putting the fire there out as well. "Awesome!" He cheered, only to nearly be hit by a burning branch that fell past him. "Whoa!" He looked up and saw the trees were still aflame. "There's no way we can put this all out by ourselves."
"We won't have too," Iron replied before pointing up, Gallus soon staring at the sky, only to see two certain figures.
"Flash and Smolder?!"
"They must have noticed the smoke as well," Iron commented before launching a bunch of metal spikes into the air.
"What the-what are you doing?!"
"Telling Sentry that I'm here," Iron replied, Flash and Smolder quickly turning around and leaving, "Good. They've gone to grab as many pegasi and rain clouds as they can find."
"But you said we can't use water to stop the fire."
"This may have started as a grease fire, but we're dealing with that." He stuck his shovel into the ground and threw a bunch of dirt into the air, "Towards the tree!" Gallus beat his wing and blew the dirt to a burning tree, covering it and putting out the fire. "If we can put out all the grease fires, the others can deal with the trees when they arrive."
Gallus nodded and the pair continued to work, Iron shoveling large amounts of dirt into the air that Gallus blew towards the trees, the two soon sweating and panting.
"You okay kid?" Iron asked when he saw Gallus wiping his brow.
"I'm fine," he replied, "Let's keep going." Iron smirked at this, the duo soon smothering the rest of the oil fires. "We did it!" Gallus cheered, only for Iron to point behind him.
Gallus spun around and groaned as Iron said, "We're not done yet. The embers from this fire are being picked up by the wind and starting a secondary fire." He looked up at the sky, only to see that the pegasi hadn't arrived yet. "If we don't stop it, the fire will grow too big to control. We can't let it spread too far."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Gallus asked, the two soon running toward the fire, only to see an area with a small lake. Some of the trees surrounding it had been set alight, the flames slowly spreading to the rest of the trees, "Can't we use this to put it out?" Gallus pointed to the lake and Iron nodded, morphing his spear into a giant spoon.
He dipped it into the water and with all his strength, heaved it into the air and sent the water flying into the burning trees. The water splashed down, putting out the flames. At the same time, Gallus spotted a puddle of mud and grabbed it in his claws, fashioning them into balls before throwing them at the burning trees.
The mud balls splattered against the burning wood, dousing the flames, "Yes," Gallus cheered as he threw more mud balls.
"Not bad." Iron commented as he saw that Gallus didn't miss a single shot. "I guess it'd make sense that a creature who's part bird would have eagle eyes." He quickly continued his own work, spooning large amounts of water in every direction, dousing as many trees as he could. Both burning and non-burning trees were quickly covered in water, shielding them from being set ablaze.
"Alright!" Gallus cheered when the last tree was put out. "We did it!"
"This isn't over yet," Iron added before licking his hoof and raising it into the air.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking the wind direction," Iron replied before grimacing, "The wind's shifted. It's blowing toward Ponyville." Gallus went wide-eyed at this.
"Our friends," he gasped, "Their friends. And a bunch of families too! They're all gonna be in danger!"
Iron nodded, hiding a small smile at Gallus' concern for others. "Well then, we've gotta make sure it doesn't get to them." He put his spear on his back and began to run, Gallus following after him. They shot through the forest and passed the area that was burning, eventually coming to a section between the blaze and the town. Iron also knew the Zecora's hut wasn't too far, meaning they could not allow the fire to get any closer.
"What do we do?" Gallus asked as Iron took out his weapon and changed it to an axe.
"It's lumberjack time!" Gallus raised an eyebrow at this. "We need to clear this area of trees. If the fire has nothing to burn, it has no way to spread." He swung his weapon next, Piecemaker cutting through the trunk of a tree, causing it to fall. As it fell, Iron morphed his axe into a hammer and swung it, sending the tree flying, crashing down a good distance away.
"What about me?"
"Weeds," Iron replied, "Grass. Anything on the ground that the flames could use to travel along. Hurry!" Gallus nodded and did just that, flying low and pulling up any stick or root that was poking out of it while Iron chopped down as many trees as he could. As they worked, Gallus could feel the flames getting closer and closer. But as it did this, the flames were starting to have trouble getting bigger.
"Keep going!" Iron yelled, "We're almost done." Gallus nodded as he pulled up another weed, only to hear something new.
"Huh?" He turned to the flames, seeing many of the trees near him now aflame...only to hear a sound of terror filling the air. "What was that?" He heard it again, a loud chirping sound that drew his attention to one of the burning trees. Within the branches of that tree was a nest, which was the source of the sound.
"NO!" He cried, leaping without even thinking. Before he knew it, he was inside the flame area and Iron gasped when he saw this. The griffin tried to spread his wings, but the flames around him were too hot and the tips got singed. He flinched and pulled them to his side, instead leaping onto the trunk of the tree and beginning to climb it with his claws and talons.
He managed to reach the nest and when he did, he looked inside and found three terrified looking hatchlings that hadn't learned how to fly. "Don't worry little guys," he whispered as he picked up the nest and started climbing down. "I'll get you to safety." But as he reached the bottom of the tree, the flames had finished burning through another one's trunk.
The wooden tower began to fall toward Gallus, who saw it coming and gasped. He closed his eyes at this, curling his body around to protect the nest. He waited for impact, hoping that it would at least keep the chicks safe...only to feel nothing. Instead, he heard a loud grunting sound, making him open his eyes and saw Iron standing in front of him. His spear was morphed into a fork that was stuck in the trunk, keeping it from falling. The pony then let out a loud roar and thrust the spear, unleashing enough force to send the tree flying off and crashing down in the opposite direction.
Iron glanced back and smirked at the griffon before pulling his spear back as a few more trees were threatening to collapse. He quickly countered this by spinning his spear around and around above his head, using all of his pony strength.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He roared as he swung the staff one more time, the wind from this hitting the trees with enough force to snap through the damaged branches and push them away, Gallus's jaw dropping at the sight.
"Wow," he whispered as Iron turn to run and pulled him along.
"That was a stupid thing to do kid!" Iron yelled as they ran from the flames. "You should have told me and let me save the nest!" Gallus flinched at this as they continued to run, only to see Iron glance back with a grin, "But it was also pretty gutsy." Gallus went wide-eyed again as Iron continued, "You've got a lot of heart kid. Risking your life to save a couple of birds. You should be proud."
Gallus smiled at this and looked down at the chicks, who all happily chirped up at him. "I...I just couldn't leave them, you know."
"I do," Iron nodded as they slowed down, soon coming to a stop in a safe place, "All life is important. If you can save one, even if it's something as simple as a baby bird, you should try and do it without any hesitation. That's what it means to be strong, and using the strength you have to protect those weaker and not to only help yourself. That's what it means to be a hero."
Gallus continued to smile, only for the sun to be blotted out by something. They looked up to see Flash, Skybreaker and a couple other pegasi pushing rain clouds above the forest.
"Come on," Iron told him, "Our work here is done." He turned to leave and Gallus followed behind him as the rain clouds were opened and unleashed their downpour upon the fire. And as the flames were extinguished, Gallus stared at the nest he was holding, wondering what the heck he was supposed to do with them.
"It's okay," Fluttershy whispered at the chicks as she finished looking them over. Though not a true vet, her work with animals had helped her learn a lot about checking their condition. This was especially true after her sanctuary was opened, which was where he, Iron and Gallus were right now. The chicks were sitting on a rock as Fluttershy looked them over, happy to find the fire hadn't done them any harm.
"They're fine," Fluttershy told the two. Gallus sighed in relief as Fluttershy picked up a can and opened it up, revealing it was full of some weird sloppy paste. She used a spoon to scoop some out and offered it to one of the chicks, who happily let it slide into its mouth. She did the same with the other two as she asked about them, the chicks chirping away. "I see." Fluttershy turned to Gallus, "Their parents left to find them some food before the fire started. They don't know what happened to them after that."
"You mean they might not come back?" Gallus replied, sighing at this, "Well, at least they'll know who their parents were and what happened to them." But as he said this, only to hear a loud chirping.
They looked up and saw a bunch of birds flying down, two flying faster when they saw the chicks in the nest. "Oh?" Fluttershy stepped aside as the birds landed on the rock and started jumping around the chicks. "It's okay," she told them. "They're safe and unharmed, if a little frazzled by their little adventure." The birds chirped at her, Fluttershy nodding back.
She turned to Gallus as he then asked, "What are they saying?"
"They left the nest to find some food and rushed back when they saw the flames, but found their nest and tree were gone. They were terrified until some of my bird friends passed them and apparently, they had seen you flying over here with the nest."
"So those are the chick's parents?" Gallus added, Fluttershy nodding as the bird parents flew over and circled him. "Huh?"
"They're saying thank you," Fluttershy giggled.
"Oh," Gallus replied with a little smile, "I'm not the only one who saved them." He pointed to Iron, "We would have all been squished if he hadn't helped us."
Iron smirked, "Just doing my job. After all, I'm a Defender of the Peace."
"Yeah," Gallus nodded as he turned to see the bird family reunite. Seeing that made something in Gallus' heart spark, as a feeling he had never felt before flowed through him. "Helping others really is great. Even if I don't get a reward, I'm just happy I was able to help them."
Fluttershy smiled and nodded again, "You have a good heart Gallus. I know growing up in Griffonstone made it hard to have one, but I hope you can become a shining example of what a griffon can be when they see there's more to this world than what it can give you." Gallus nodded back and Iron told him they would need to head back to the school soon, Gallus spending the remaining time making sure the bird family were okay. Fluttershy was happy to grant them sanctuary until the chicks were ready to leave the nest so he wouldn't have to worry about them.
Iron and Gallus were the last pair to return, finding the rest of the defenders and students waiting for them in the courtyard with Twilight. The princess didn't look happy and flicked his ear in her magic, "Taking him into a forest fire?! What were you thinking?" Iron gulped as Twilight checked Gallus over, the griffon showing he was unharmed.
"The kid came after me of his own volition," Iron replied, "Not my fault you didn't teach him how to listen."
Twilight glared at the earth pony as Gallus rushed over to the others. "Everyone, you won't believe what happened today!"
Twilight let out a sigh as the other defenders joined them. "So other than that little problem, how did things go with Gallus today?"
"Great," he responded, "Really great. In fact, if he's looking for something to do after he graduates, maybe you can send him my way."
The princess blinked at this, only for Skybreaker to speak up, "Really? Are you serious Iron?"
Iron just shrugged at this, "Last I checked, there wasn't a rule saying only ponies could become Royal Knights. Heck, you once tried to make Springer one."
"I did do that." Skybreaker hummed, "You think he got what it takes?"
"Eh, I've been teaching the kid," Flash chimed in, "He's a little rough around the edges, but no more than Heart was when I first met him. I think he's right. Gallus totally has what it takes, if he wants to be a knight."
They then turned to the students, seeing Gallus exclaiming over everything that had happened, "And then he swung his spear around so fast, the wind it made blew the flames away and knocked the trees down! It was awesome!"
The other students were wide-eyed at this as Gallus glanced back at Iron and the two smiled at each other.
"So, what do you say?" Iron asked Twilight, "Think you'll let me steal away one of your students once he's done here?"
Twilight smiled and nodded, "Once he graduates, I'll have no say in what he can do. It'll be up to him to decide if that's what he wants to be. But I hope he agrees, since having a griffon as a Royal Knight would be great for building relations between our two nations."
The others agreed wholeheartedly. Gallus might have been a griffon with few options in his life, but those options were starting to multiply. Only time would tell what path he would choose to travel down, and how it would affect the future of those around him.