“To live at all is miracle enough.”
― Mervyn Peake
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Hearths warming had passed and with it the rest of winter drew smoothly to a close. Zecora had left after a few days more of staying. After the night had passed Zecora had checked on the filly again completely dumbfounded and confused, upon questioning her she had stated that Glacier Song was perfectly healthy. Something had happened over the night to have fixed all the ailments that Song had. Soul was also puzzled, he had watched the filly and taken care of her throughout the night, nothing had happened, in fact the most was just the complete stop of coughing and sweating. Yet now here Song was, healthy as can be except by eyesight.
Of course it was also might of been helped as Soul took the time to go out and purchase a gift, a teddy Ursa (no not the Pokémon, the bear mind you), and had wrapped it up himself on the way back. By the time Zecora had finished he had brought both mares their hearths warming gifts back to the room, as well as a table in the warm living room for a group breakfast and hearths warming present unwrapping. The memory was one he would of smiled at if he had an mouth, the filly had been confused at first, before slowly getting a spreading grin and had seeked him out before grabbing Soul in a tight hug as she realized the present was for her. Zecora had chuckled at this. Even going so far to give the filly instructions in her rhyming speech with her new hooded cloak, the present soul got the practical mare, swirling gently from a breeze of a window in the warm room.
Later on Twilight had come with her friends to check on the mare and a small party had ended up coming out for the filly as Pinkie started a celebration that dragged in the rest of the Homestead as it went on. Even so far to include Steven Magnet as the Sea serpent stood outside with an arm on a balcony as he had conversation with Rarity. As day progressed to night Red Wood and Applejack 'mysteriously vanished' later on, presumably to spend more time with each other as the party drew on. Glacier Song had taken the party similarly as Fluttershy had initially, both ending up under a table after an explosion from a cannon had redecorated the room in party items. However both came out at relatively the same speed as they began to converse with each other, timidly at first, but slowly growing more open as time went on.
His mind going back to the future Soul pondered on the irony of Winter wrap up as it was for him. He had wanted to help with Winter Wrap up but due to the tradition of not using magic for the day he found himself instead looking for a job as the festivities went on. He counted himself in the magic category for being a fire using creature of extraordinary abilities who would die if his inner soul flame got wet after all. He had already witnessed a miniature avalanche at applejacks farm and he was in no hurry to be the victim of the next one if it came. So here he was... searching for a job that could possibly turn long term, going with him to watch however was none other than the cutie mark crusaders. While having no prior experience with the Crusaders thus far he was quickly finding out why the populace was so keen to avoid them as the trio shouted out their current adventure, "CUTIEMARK CRUSADER JOB MATCHERS!"
Soul winced wishing their was a way to muffle his own hearing, Applejack had drilled it into the trio of young mares that they should try helping soul find a job in Ponyville. They were enthusiastic in the idea and dragged him off before Applejack could offer any suggestions where to start. Now he was just following them around as they spewed out various ideas of where to look first. However the first idea that actually came to came from Sweetie Belle; Spa helper. Off they went to Lotus and Aloe's spa.
First things had gone smoothly, Lotus and Aloe had accepted the offer for extra help around the spa, and quickly had assigned him to incineration and water heating duty. What Soul didn't grasp however was the massive amounts of steam that would force him to regularly clean his frame dry with a towel consistently. Still however he didn't give up with the urging of the crusaders. Eventually however one customer request forced him to quit. That customer was a stallion named Filthy rich, who came with his daughter Diamond Tiara. Both of which were slacking off for the Winter Wrap up transition from winter to spring.
The request was deceptively simple, heat up the water to one hundred and twenty seven degrees. However somepony, probably the crusaders since they intensely disliked Diamond Tiara, had tampered with the order adding an extra zero to make it not one hundred and twenty seven but One thousand two hundred and seventy degrees. The water in the tub that was requested disintegrated at such heat into a massive cloud of angry steam of hot air that made fire hard to stay lit and breath hard to draw. As a result the Spa had to be vented out of all the excess hot air and Soul had to consume a rather large amount of fire to survive the close encounter with death by heated air-water. Easily enough however the steam ended up shortening out the wrap up process as it reheated the clouds above. It was Scootaloo who came up with the next idea.
Ponyville had a horrible traffic problem that persisted throughout the years. ponies would block off bridges with carts when chatting, unaware of the problem they were creating and others would random time collide into each other. With the equestrian guard's permission they tried having soul act as a traffic instructor. The task was a boring job, it was basically to hover above the street in a neon orange vest with a pair of lamps meant to flag down airplanes in his world. While there was no planes in Equestria there was however other flying objects. Who would of guessed that a bird like race of ponies would be attracted to 'shiny things' in midflight as not only one but two ponies crashed into him at highspeeds at the same time.
Ditzy Doo and Rainbow Dash had been returning to Ponyville after Rainbow had to grab Ditzy from her fly east instead of south for the birds. It was out of the corner of her eye that Ditzy saw something flash from the streets below and her curiosity gathered as Rainbow continued her rant to the mare and cutting her off with a, "Ooh shiny!" and dive bombing towards the ground.
"Ditzy wait!" Rainbow had shouted before diving after the grey and yellow Pegasus.
Soul was simply directing a small herd of local cows to move on down a street while a bunch of ponies in sleds waited on the corner directly to their right when he became aware of a whistling sound. Curiously he looked around seeing nothing to make the source before he became aware of a yell of, "Ditzy Wait!" It was at that moment he looked up and was impacted into by a full grown grey and yellow streak that impacted with enough force to make a Wonderbolt wince. A rainbow streak also impacted not a few seconds later completely knocking out what was left of soul's consciousness as the two mares began to bicker and traffic, left unkempt, erupted into chaos.
By the time Soul regained consciousness the crusaders had dragged him away and to the clubhouse where they were confused on what to try next, curiously Applebloom asked the newly awake soul a crucial question, "What are you good at anyway? We have tried spa and traffic direction based on your appearance but Applejack always said not to judge somepony based on appearances."
Soul considered, limb over where his chin would be if he had one, "Well I absorb fire, spew fire, phase through walls and can dismantle ghosts. I stand a fair chance against even Timberwolves and Lions as well as a few of the stranger creatures in the Everfree. While I don't think I have a chance against Ursa majors or Dragons, having not tested that at all, I can handle other things just fine."
"That would put you either as a Guard or a Fire Fighter." Scootaloo shot out excitedly flapping her small wings rapidly enough to keep herself in the air for a few seconds before landing again.
Soul raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't being a Guard require training first?"
Applebloom backed her friend up, "But fire fighting wouldn't!"
"Fire Fighting it is then I guess." Soul shrugged before he was dragged off by the crusaders unaware of a certain purple snake that was hiding on the roof above them.
[A job huh...] Arbok slithered off the roof when they were well and gone, [What should we do boss?]
"Ruin his chance at getting a job of course," That was Meowth's voice on a headset he had made for Arbok and the rest, "Follow him, I'll send our resident ghost and gas bag to cause some trouble."
[Yes sir.] Arbok hissed back into the headset before slithering through the snow after the three small fillies and their target.
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Soul and the crusaders ended up in strict military position as the fire fighting chief, a Pegasus of bright red and yellow called Fire Joe, Eyed them over and barked an order as if an drill sergeant, "Drop and give me twenty!"
"Twenty what?" Soul inquired.
The stallion face-hoofed, "Push ups of course."
The crusaders groaned and started, while Soul simply fell down onto his bottom spike and pushed himself upright and fell back onto his face in a fast erratic fashion. The instructor was kind of silly in his opinion asking a creature who primarily flew for a mode of transport to do pushups. Though he couldn't hope but wonder, "Why are you three doing push ups with me again? Thought your goal was to get job matcher cutie-marks."
Scootaloo stood up, done the fastest of the three crusaders, "Might as well try as many things as possible. Who knows, maybe we will get a mark in Fire fighting as well."
Sweetie belle shot out in a voice of sheer wit, "Or one in Pyrotechnics if we fail exponentially."
Everyone, including the instructor burst out laughing at that, Fire Joe adding, "and that's why Fire Fighters are on the job. Not much of the problem in winter though."
As if fate was listening suddenly a fire bell went off alerting the station to a fire in the white tail woods. "Well Lamp and Mares time to get moving, for some on-hoof training!" Fire Joe plopped three Fire fighter helmets down on the crusaders and threw a fourth onto Soul, about covering him entirely in its depth before rushing to a Fire-wagon and hitching himself up to it, "C'mon lets go!" he rushed out with the rest as they proceeded towards a certain 'base'.
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The Fantastic Revolution base was on fire! To think things had started out so well on winter wrap up until a purple gas bag and some strange black creature with red eyes carrying a mask had come to visit. Setting the place ablaze. Their leader suspected those annoying creatures to be part of Celestia's army, perhaps they were attempting to force his hoof and retaliate back before their time. In any case it wasn't going to work because he was currently on fire and the most primary thing on his mind was pain as he rolled around in the snow like some sort of steam roller trying to put the fire out before he was completely burnt to a cinder with his fellow group members. The ones that weren't burnt were throwing rocks and snowballs at the two in attempts to get revenge and fight back but so far with no, or limited success.
Though so far it was a battle for time, already he could hear the sirens of a Fire-wagon and Ambulance closing in, and with it hope in the form of a black lantern in a Fire Fighting helmet. "To arms comrade!" he shouted out to Soul, "There be monsters most foul setting the place aflame!"
He was completely ignored as the fire wagon rushed by him without stopping for so much a word. Though Soul did however stop himself in front of the purple gas bag that was attempting yet another spew of fire that had set the base on fire. Noticing the rest of his group attempting to help put the fire out he rushed to help put out the fires.
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Soul grabbed the wheezing glaring at the trouble maker reverting to the Pokémon languages he asked with hostility, [Why are you burning innocent houses?]
A voice behind him answered for the wheezing, [Because the Boss ordered us to do so. Shadow ball] A dark ball of energy hit Soul from behind knocking him away towards the fire, at the same time showing both Yamask and Wheezing together prepared to fight him.
Soul floated up unsteadily, another ghost type could prove a serious problem. The fact that the Yamask had used a ghost type move against another was super effective not to mention the mastery of using ones own type had given the ghost. The situation worsened when Arbok appeared as well slithering out from a bush wearing a strange looking headset. This was planned, he realized as he fought down a rising sense of fear. Last time they fought he had an ally at least, and one of them was a normal type. Now the odds was more uneven with three versus one.
The sound of the fire finally drew his attention, an idea forming in his head. He started to back away towards the fire as the two poison users fanned out to stop retreat and the Yamask floated directly towards him readying another of the lethal balls of shadow energy. "Flame Charge" Soul suddenly lit on fire, but instead of launching forward as Team Rocket expected, he launched backwards into the fire vanishing into the flaming house behind him as ponies scrambled out of the way for the unexpected brawl that was unfolding.
Yamask looked confused, so he turned and asked Arbok, [Did he just commit suicide?]
Arbok shook his head, [I don't think so, be on your guard.]
Wheezing drew slightly away from the fire, [Not getting near that anyway. Lets increase the heat.Flamethrower] Wheezing drew in a breathe, his mouth flaming as he spews out a stream of fire into the house to be met with no response.
Arbok shook his head and was about to turn away when suddenly the fire all vanished, or well was sucked inward by something. As Yamask peered into the suddenly dark burnt house he became aware of the purple flame and two yellow orbs staring at him narrowed into half circles of anger. Soul resumed the conflict with a simple word, "Double Team" As sudden as the words, the air was filled with Lampents, dozens of them each flawlessly emitting their own light and everything, each one moving seemingly on its own accord. The hunted had become the hunter.
Looking at the dozens of lampents Arbok was unamused, [Don't fret, only one of these are real.]
Wheezing however was still worried, [But how do we tell which one is?]
The three backed up into each other then, but it was Yamask that was first to fall as a Shadow ball was delivered into his side from what seemed to be a decoy but as they took aim at the real one Soul vanished into the crowds of doubles again leaving just Arbok and wheezing.
Arbok shouted out, [Why don't you fight us like a real Pokémon you coward.]
Soul's voice came from the left, [Why don't you fight me one at a time?]
Wheezing worked up the pollution in his gullet and stated, [Toxic] Before spitting a glob at where the voice came from, simply dispersing yet another of the duplicates instead of hitting its targets.
[What's wrong?] Soul taunted, [Can't find the real me? Too cowardly to figure it out the old fashioned way you big gas bag.] Soul had seen this strategy work in battles before, though he didn't expect the Wheezing to actually fall for it.
[That's it.] Wheezing was getting annoyed by all these Duplicates, [Gyro ball.]
Arbok looked in disbelief at his best friend as he spun away tackling duplicates all of the ones in his way either moving away or dispersing when hit as Arbok shouted, [No you fool! that's what he wants!]
His jaw dropped however as the multitude of duplicates spun once chanting, [Fire Spin] sending a various amounts of flame tornadoes to capture his buddy and subject the unfortunate wheezing into a fire tornado. Wheezing quickly fell, knocked out as the flames vanished onto the ground next to Yamask.
Now Arbok was all alone, slashing his tail at whatever duplicate made mock to attack, unsure of which was the real one. Soul let the Arbok tire himself out over time, dozens of duplicates fading only to be replaced by more as another Double Team was used. Eventually the Arbok stopped and growled menacingly, [I know your in there brat, come out and face me.]
Another Lampent arose next to the Arbok and he looked at it unamused, [Another fake?]
Soul's eyes turned to a happier expression, [Nope, Fire Blast] The following spew of fire knocked Arbok out as the snake only had time to recoil back in surprise before being knocked unconscious from flame and pain collapsing onto the small pile of its comrades.
Wheezing opened its eyes seeing soul close but not its comrades around it before stating,[Explosion] as the wheezing knocked itself unconscious with an explosion sending the trio of Pokémon flying with the faint scream of, [Team Rocket is blasting off again!] Heard despite the knock outs before they vanished into the skyward distance.
Unluckily however the explosion destroyed the rest of the Fantastic Revolutions base leaving nothing but a crater. Luckily nopony was caught by the explosives, having long chose to hide behind a series of trees to watch the fight go on. As soul dusted himself off he was joined by the trio of crusaders, all of which were yelling along the lines of, "That was awesome!" Though he winced as he considered the amount of destruction that had resulted in a simple Fire Fighting job. Fire Joe was giving him the look that was terrified. He tried approaching only to get a wordless shriek from the Fire Fighter as he ran away abandoning his wagon as the stallion ran for the hills as if an angry dragon was after him. Soul sighed, now somepony was going to be afraid of him. Inevitable given his strange appearance and control over fire but now...
Soul was pulled out of his thoughts as a trio of hoofs pulled him down to ground level and ended up looking in the eyes of all the crusaders. Apple bloom, who was in the middle, spoke first, "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" Soul was a bit confused, "You're not afraid?"
"Afraid? Why would we be?" Scootaloo asked excitedly, "That was awesome, not as awesome as Rainbow Dash, but still awesome!"
"Well... I used a lot of force for that... didn't I? Most ponies around here tend to... well... no offense, scare easily."
"No offense taken, right girls?" Sweetie belle shot out the comment earning nods from the other two crusaders.
"Totally, most ponies around here don't appreciate a good can of whoop flank!" Scootaloo said mocking a ninja pose and earning a raise of eyebrow in disbelief for a brief second at the pose before Scootaloo continued, "I mean did you see that you were totally like, 'I am over here, no I am over here woooOOOoooOOOooo" Scootaloo made to mock out the battle that had just taken place while Sweetie Belle asked her own question over their friends mock recreation of the fight, "I honestly want to know if we can learn to do such things as well! Can we try?"
"I don't know..." Soul began, but seeing the resulting widening pouting eyes and stuck up lips he relented, "Only if your sisters approve, and I won't teach you girls anything dangerous. Not that I even know if such a thing is possible for non-Pokémon...hmm..."
That was all the crusaders needed, they made various yips and yays before spreading out in different directions, each presumably homing in on their own families locations. Thus began his real official job for months to come, foal sitter and teacher of the Cutie-Mark Crusaders.