Chapter 5
The bird was laughing.
Raindrops could hardly believe it. The bird she thought she had killed in her rage was not only alive, not only bigger than before, but it was apparently mocking her! At first it had sounded like the angry cry of a hunting falcon, but then it broke into a series of sharp sounds. It was basically cackling. Mocking her even! She had felt terrible about what she had done, and the thing she was concerned for now seemed to think the whole situation was a joke! The bird looked at her and the gleam in the solid orbs that were its eyes sent shivers down the pegasus’ spine.
The Element of Honesty backed away from the bird, still feeling heat radiating from it. She ended up bumping into Trixie and Pokey.
“What is that thing?” she asked.
“It’s a phoenix, a flame spouting bird that can rejuvenate itself by bursting into flames. It’s practically immortal!” answered Trixie.
“I think I hate this,” said Pokey.
The phoenix began to flap its wings and gain altitude.
Raindrops gasped. “Trixie! Use your magic to grab it!”
The phoenix was still in range of Trixie’s telekinesis. She reached out with her magic and suddenly a blue shimmer halted the phoenix’s ascension. It struggled in Trixie’s telekinetic grasp, making the unicorn groan. Suddenly it stopped struggling and instead sent a burst of flames outward. Trixie immediately howled in pain, feeling as if she had put her hoof on a stove!
“It’s burning my magic!” she gasped, retracting her telekinetic hold. “How is that even possible?”
Trixie’s shocked expression seemed to greatly amuse the bird, which resumed cackling. The phoenix finished laughing and suddenly shot into the sky, leaving a small trail of embers in its wake. It had gotten much faster and Raindrops doubted she could catch up to it again, especially since she was still winded from the previous chase while it seemed fresh as a daisy now. Still that didn’t mean she was going to let it go without trying. For now she would have to keep to her hooves if she wanted to rest her wings.
“Don’t let it out of your sight!” she declared, galloping out the alley.
Raindrops emerged from the alley and scanned the main street. She could see the phoenix flying down toward the center of town. She could already spot two balconies and a flowerbed that had been set on fire! She was about to give chase when a voice called out to her.
“Raindrops dude!” came the unmistakable voice of Coconut.
She turned to see the earth pony galloping along side an older bright red pegasus stallion. The pegasus had a soft light green mane that was starting to turn grey on the sides, a big bushy mustache and was wearing the unmistakable helmet and long sleeved vest of a fire chief. His cutie mark showed two hose muzzle crossed over a flame.
“Chief Splasher! You’re here!”
“So that’s Ponyville’s fire chief?” commented Trixie, as she came out of the alley right behind Pokey Pierce.
“Yup, that’s Red Splasher,” said her assistant, nodding.
The fire chief landed in front of the trio and took a survey of the street ahead. “What in tarnation is going on Raindrops? We got fires all over town!”
“It’s a phoenix sir,” explained Raindrops. “I think it’s burning stuff in town just for fun. At first it was just a tiny bird but when I… I attacked it... it burst into flame and reappeared stronger than before!” Raindrops looked down at the ground. “I couldn’t stop it.”
The chief put a hoof on her shoulder. “Well, no use crying over spilled milk girl. I’m gonna need ya for what’s to come. Now, I already sent Cloud Kicker to ring the bell and call in everypony…”
Just as he finished, a bell began to ring loud and clear. The sound was coming from the top of city hall, and Trixie could see, if she squinted enough, the form of Cloud Kicker using a hammer to bang away at a bronze belt. The sound was frantic and Trixie guessed this was the signal for all volunteers to get to work. Red Splasher turned back to Coconut, a serious expression on his wizened face.
“Son, meet up with Marching Order, I want you boys to get out the bucket wagon, get as many civilians as you can and start some bucket lines. Tell Noteworthy and Grapes that I want them with the pump wagon near city hall five minutes ago!” he ordered.
“Right on, Chief dude!” declared the surfer pony before rushing away.
The firepony shook his head. “That boy ain’t right…” he said, as he surveyed the small fires near his current position.
Already ponies were taking care of them, but he could see smoke rising from other areas in town.
“Let’s go meet the rest of the volunteers by city hall, and quickly!”
Raindrops nodded. "Right! See you two later, duty calls!"
Trixie and Pokey watched as the pair of pegasi flew off. Trixie took off her hat and, with a quick flick, reverted it back to its normal form.
"This is bad, I have no idea how to deal with a phoenix," she said.
"Let's go help out," said Pokey. "We can at least help with the bucket chain."
Trixie put her hat back on, looking deep in thought. Finally she nodded, mostly to herself, and turned to Pokey.
"You go ahead, I need to find a quill and some parchment! I'll be there afterward!"
Pokey looked confused as his boss galloped away. “Quill and parchment? What?"
He shrugged it off and went in the direction of town hall.
Trixie in the meantime was running down the street when a familiar yellow and orange shape appeared before her. She stopped a few inches short of running into the Element of Generosity; skidding to a halt until we she was almost muzzle-to-muzzle with her. She stared into Carrot Top’s eye for a second, panting from exhaustion, before blinking and stepping back. Trixie was blushing slightly in embarrassment, but the earth pony only looked perplexed.
“Trixie, what’s going on? I heard the firepony bell,” asked the confused carrot farmer, raising an eyebrow.
“There’s a phoenix loose on the town and it’s burning stuff left and right!” explained Trixie, waving a hoof in the general direction the phoenix had flown toward.
Carrot Top gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth. “That’s terrible!”
“You should go see the other farmers and warn them! So far it’s only attacked the town but we don’t know if it won’t attack the farms next,” said Trixie, sidestepping her friend so she could continue on her quest for a quill and parchment. “I got to grab some supplies and then rush back to help with the bucket line.”
Trixie sighed, this was getting to be a really tiring day, and it was barely half done.
“I’ll do that. If the phoenix heads for the farmland, try to force it toward Sweet Apple Acres,” replied Carrot Top with a nod.
Trixie gasped and her eyes seemed to grow in size. “I can’t believe you just said that C! You’re making progress, I’m impressed!” she said with a wink.
Carrot Top furrowed her brow in confusion and seemed to ponder what Trixie had just said. Finally the meaning dawned on her and she too let out a gasp.
“No, no, no! You got it all wrong!” she said in a panic, waving a hoof in front of her face. “Sweet Apple Acres is the only farm in town who can afford fire wards! The whole place is protected from fire by magical enchantments!”
Trixie seemed to sag. “Well that’s disappointing. I’ll keep it in mind anyway, for now I got to run! See you later!”
And with that, she took off again.
When Pokey arrived near town hall, he found the fire chief hovering over the crowd massed in the circular plaza surrounding it, bright red blow horn in hoof, and barking orders left and right. The chief was no slouch when it came to organizing this chaos. Smoke could be seen at various points in town by now and targets had to be organized according to their importance, the chance of the fire spreading and in relation to the various sources of water in town.
“Pegasi! Get me some cloud cover and rain! I want this town as wet as possible!” the chief barked.
Pokey could see Cloud Kicker, Lightning Bolt and Raindrops being dispatched with some other pegasi to gather clouds.
“Lemony, Twinkleshine, catch up to the boys and take care of the hoses while they pump water! Everypony else get to the bucket lines!”
Pokey could see a pair of earth ponies pull Ponyville’s only pumping wagon away toward another part of town. The two mares ordered by the chief galloping in their direction. Already, volunteers and civilians working the bucket lines had extinguished two or three of the smaller fires around city hall. Pokey spotted the nearest one and cantered toward them. The cry of the phoenix could be heard in the distance.
“By Luna’s star spangled mane! Why is that giant fire hazard still opened?” asked Chief Red Splasher to no one in particular.
Pokey glanced to see the pegasus pointing a hoof toward the Hay Bale. The Hay Bale was a restaurant that served nothing but hay based food and drinks. Even the glasses of water had a few strands of hay instead of a lemon wedge to decorate them. The restaurant’s owners had taken the theme to its extreme: seats were piles of hay, tables were wagon wheels perched atop hay bales and the roof and walls were covered in hay to give the impression of a building made of hay (Pokey knew the shop that used to stand there, and thus he knew there was brick walls underneath it all). Red Splasher went to talk with the prim and proper wait staff of the establishment. Pokey couldn't hear but it was clear the conversation was getting heated.
“I don’t care ya pompous oaf! Evacuate that restaurant! Now!” bellowed the Chief, as one of the Hay Bale’s waiters shook an angry hoof in his direction.
Pokey was about to join the bucket line when the phoenix’ cry came from much closer. He heard somepony shout a cry of warning, and another claim the Hay Bale was doomed. The phoenix was visible in the sky above. It was making a wide turn and apparently aiming to hug the curvature of the city hall plaza. Its wings and tail were trailing flames, embers falling like a burning shooting star trail or a deadlier kind of firework.
By virtue of throwing himself horn first at random things, Pokey Pierce had developed a decent sense of trajectory and ballistic. Maybe not as much as a pegasus would, but a quick glance at Chief Splasher confirmed his suspicions: the phoenix’ flight path was going to take it around the town hall and swing it right into the Hay Bale! It was coming in into a dive at quite a speed.
“Oh no you don’t! You flying varmint!” growled the fire chief, as he placed himself right in the path of the flaming bird.
Pokey wondered briefly where the older stallion had gotten the axe he was presently wielding, but decided not to bother too long. The unicorn stallion turned back toward the line of pony he was going to join and, using his silvery telekinesis, grabbed hold of the bucket of water a slacked jawed earth pony mare had left on the ground at her hoof.
With a grunt of effort he threw the bucket of water with everything he could, right into the path of the incoming phoenix. The metal bucket flew, bottom first, and in a comical noise hit the phoenix right in its head! The creature was flung off course, losing control of its momentum. It bounced off the ground a few times, completely missing the Hay Bale and sliding down the nearby street. For a second Pokey hoped the creature had been knocked out. It had been lying down on the ground for at least ten seconds before the first onlookers began to tentatively approach it. The fire chief barked some more, ordering everypony to get back to work and he too headed for the fallen avian.
And then it opened its eyes. Its eyes were glowing with fury and flames alike and it rose into the sky in a mighty screech. This time, thought Pokey, this time it wasn’t in the mood to laugh. Its burning glare turned to the nearest house and it let loose a jet of flame that put any of its previous sparks to shame.
“Horseapples!” muttered Pokey.
When Trixie, horribly sweaty and out of breath, finally reached the plaza after her errand, she was met with a frightening sight.
Just on the other side of the plaza a building was engulfed in flames. Not just the balcony or the flowerpots burning, but the entire building was being devoured by the blaze. She heard a familiar screech and saw the phoenix circling the column of dark smoke rising from the building. Lines of ponies were stretched between the stream that cut through Ponyville all the way to the building, and were passing down buckets. A blaze that size couldn’t be stopped with simple buckets, but the ponies were doing their best to prevent it from spreading any further than that specific building. Pegasi, Raindrops included, were pushing clouds in the direction of the inferno. Trixie spotted the bright red coat of Red Splasher and a familiar blue stallion near him.
As the Element of Magic got closer to the building, she realized that situation was more complicated than it looked. First was the wall of flames that seem to ring the burning house, preventing anypony from getting closer to the building. But more importantly was that as soon as a pegasus had brought a cloud close enough, the phoenix would just chase them off with a few blasts of flames. The cloud Raindrops was pushing was actually annihilated by such an attack. Trixie reached Pokey just as her pegasus friend landed next to him. The unicorn was throwing water at the lawn between the two houses to prevent it from catching on fire before passing his empty bucket back down the line.
“It’s useless, even if we try all at once that thing can destroy clouds so we’d barely get a few drops down,” she said, barely reined in anger in her voice. “I want to buck that thing’s beak into next week but...”
“You’re afraid it’ll just come back stronger?” suggested Trixie.
“Trixie! There you are!” said Pokey. “Where were you?”
Trixie was about to answer when Chief Splasher interrupted her.
“Raindrops!” he called, making the mare stand at attention.
“Standard methods ain’t working, I need ya to go get Cloud Kicker and Lightning Bolt and pull off that maneuver y’all have been working on.”
Raindrops gasped “But you said it was too risky!”
Red Splasher shook his head. “Ain’t no time for caution girl, just go!” he said, pointing a hoof skyward.
“Right!”
And with that she flew off.
“Chief, did you recall the pumping wagon?” asked Pokey, while he poured some more water on the ground.
“No,” said the firepony. “This house is already a lost cause. All we can do is make sure it doesn’t hurt anypony.”
Trixie felt bad for the firepony. A posting in this small town was probably meant as a sort of retirement for the older stallion, and yet here he was, making tough calls. She wanted to say something or to offer some help when there was a commotion not far from them. She looked over and recognized Coconut and Marching Order, two ponies who she had at one point interviewed for the post of assistant before she hired Pokey Pierce. The two of them were holding back a hysterical green earth pony mare with a pink mane. The poor thing was sobbing and crying, trying to get past the two volunteer firepony.
A chill went down Trixie’s spine when she realized what the mare was saying. Red Splasher’s day had been made even worse.
“My son! He’s still inside!”
The fire chief galloped toward the situation. “Stay back Lady! You can’t go in there; nopony could make it through those flames!”
“By Luna’s stars! There has to be something we can do!” said Trixie, turning to her assistant.
She found the stallion staring at the sobbing mother with a steely resolve in his green eyes. Trixie had always known Pokey Pierce had a propensity toward grandiose gesture, but she had never grasped the full extent of his special brand of madness until he uttered the next phrase.
“I can get through anything.”
Much to her confusion he then used his telekinesis and dumped a bucket full of water over his own head.
“Wait…what are you…” began Trixie, reaching a hoof toward her assistant.
But it was too late to stop him. With a burst of speed he leaped over the wall of flame and galloped toward the front door of the burning house, the sound of the roaring inferno doing little to cover the collective gasp that went through the crowd of onlooker.
“Pokey you idiot! Get back here!” cried out the unicorn mare."We'll think of something else!"
“Don’t be a fool!” added the fire chief.
Pokey’s horn began to glow, the aura around his horn flowing outward over his body into a loose spiral. He threw himself head first at the wooden door of the building and broke right through it like it was made of cardboard. Just as he disappeared into the blaze there was a loud crack and debris blocked the doorway.
“Pokey!” howled Trixie.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,047 users online
1,437,088 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oooh. This is a dicey little situation. (Hmmm.....I wonder if somepony should tell Night Light that there are ponies in town who think that Corona sent Twilight their way.)
Wow, Pokey's a hero, or a fool, or both
Great cliff hanger I could (and have) seen many real life shows end like this, although the building would normally explode as well.
(Joke) Alt. Title: Rize Of The Fenix: Smoke On The Fanfic
Didn't catch that as reference the first time around, then again, such a restaurant is sufficiently generic in concept that it's kind of easy to forget where it first showed up. Still cool of you to include a reference to a pretty awesome fic.
Forgot an s
There should be some kind of punctuation after "gasped"
This better not be a consistent thing that I just never noticed before
Oh, gods, it's a thing. You may want to check previous chapters and other stories for this, but I'll point out all the ones I see in this chapter
And the rest of the errors:
That should be a comma
Should be "extent"; with an a it means something else
Don't know what xenophilia is, but this is still ten kinds of awesome. Go, Pokey! But what was Trixie doing, calling in Luna I hope?
hmm not so much for only Pokey playing hero and scene stealing, Trixie being reduced to "neutral female" is rather worrisome. Trixie seemed rather emotionless throughout many parts of the fic.
I think you did a good job catching the horror of the spreading fire and Philomena.
1813877 Emotionless?
It wasn't my intention... got any recomendation?
1813903
Sorry, oh I forgot to mention this, but I love the inclusion of fire warding spells, heh sorry I sort of rushed my review cos of work stuff. oh and the suggestion scene with CT and Trixie was fairly amusing as well.
yes I know they were the same scene heh sorry.
um, I'm not sure what you mean by suggestion, I could tell you which scene I felt where that way, but I can't do much else, sorry suffering form exhaustion and exam freak outs here.
This part was really good it conveyed the scene well without going into to much detail.
The Red Splasher thing was a bit confusing, I understand what you were communicating but it didn't really work that well when told form someone else's perspective, or maybe it's just the way it was said, besides that Trixie's response just seemed to be sort of lacking.
Sorry
1813935 Yeah Trixie's line there... I just... I just wanted her to SAY something but I had no idea what.
Maybe I shouldn't have forced it so much. 
The fire wards are actually mentioned in Carrot Top Season when Flim and Flam try to set fire to SAA's orchard and fail. I figure I might as well get them mentionned in this ep since it happens before that one. Plus another appearance by Carrot Top is always fun
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the review! Maybe I'll try to come up with a better line fore Trixie there.
1813962
sorry again.
I completely understand the desire for a character to say or do something in a situation, that was just an example.
OH yeah I forgot about the wards, ah well good use of mentioning them here as well it works well for the scene, plus yeah it was highly amusing,
I hate to be that guy but, Trixie also really likes kids, it sort of seems a little OOC for her to just stand by while one burns to death, especially if her assistant is running in.
1813985 Changed that line a little, make Trixie sound more proactive.
1819344
That certainly has allot more feeling to it, TY and um sorry but:
“By Luna’s stars! There has to be something we can do!” said Trixie, turning to her assistant.
Sorry there was a slight error.
Will Trixie be going in after him?
I know this is his day in the lime light and your fic and all, but still
Or feel free to ignore that. Also did you catch the TV tropes reference I threw out earlier? I really should start embedding the link in those.
and you know sorry again.
So what does the beuracrat think of all this?
slight issue with one of red splasher's lines:
why does raindrops need to go gather herself?
1820874 BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT THAT'S WHY!
It's supposed to be Cloud Kicker, I'll go fix it up...
1820882
ah, that makes much more sense
What is the Xenophilia-verse?
1840348 Search for 'Xenophilia'. Best way to put would be 'sociological clop', as it explores the social structure of a race where there is like... 1 male for every four or five female, viewed from the perspective of a human getting into a relationship with Rainbow Dash...and then Twilight Sparkle, and eventually Lyra too.
For now she would have to keep to her hooves if she wanted to rest her wings
Pokey could see a pair of earth pony
had a few strand of hay instead of a lemon wedge
1. Was this unfinished or did you forget your full stop at the end?
2. Ponies.
3. Strands.
Chief
________________
Pokey Pierce is awesome.
"fireponies"
"gestures"