A New Brand of Freedom

by Spettro138

Dum Dums and Decisions

After lunch and a quick bath for the colt at Steve's request of the restaurant's owner, little Firebrand was fast asleep in Steve's harness. Steve himself walked endlessly around the tiny village thinking about many things that were floating around in his mind. Things that gave him anxious, excited, and uneasy feelings all at once. Particularly about what Firebrand had called him not two hours earlier. As he walked into the main square of the village where a large ornate fountain was, the thoughts buzzed around his head more and more.

It was just something he simply couldn't get out of his head no matter how hard he tried to. The little colt wasn't human nor did he really know Steve for that long, but he already considered Steve to be his father. Steve himself was a young orphan, despite his larger size; Having lost his parents in the war he was trying so hard to end. Only Bucky Barnes, his lifelong friend, and surrogate brother had stuck around to be something of a brother that he never had growing up. Even now, only eighteen years old, he couldn't imagine the idea of becoming a father this early in his life, but it was still an idea that kept drifting in. The only comfort he received from his constant doubts was from deep prayer.

He didn't know where he came from or why he was there, but Steve somehow knew without a doubt that Firebrand was just as alone as he was. No family to go back to, save for the few friends he had made with the 107th. Whether Firebrand's own birth parents were around somewhere looking for him was something that he ultimately would have to look into. Remembering what Dr. Erskine told him about Johann Schmitt's demented research into Teutonic and Nordic myth, he could only think that with the appearance of a unicorn like the one hanging off his back, perhaps there was a slim chance that there were other worlds out there with fantastical creatures like him. He shook the idea out of his head though until he had more information to back up that theory. For now, though, he knew that he would have to do the best he could to care for the infant unicorn as any parent would. Watching the little infant sleep in his harness he put on a small smile.

"Why don't we see what we can do around here huh? We might as well take advantage of our leave," he whispered to the sleeping colt.

While walking around town, he found that the majority of the 107th was mostly spending their time drinking at local pubs or flirting with the local villagers. Steve watched humorously as two of his new friends Dugan and Gabe attempted to woo a group of girls by poorly speaking the language. To which they simply laughed at and walked off.

"Having trouble Dugan?" Steve quipped.

"They just don't know what they're missing Cap!" Dugan replied with an infectious grin.

"We're just...getting a lay of the land Captain," Gabe added. "By the way, how's the little dude?"

Steve turned his body slightly to reveal the sleeping form of Firebrand.

"Just came out of a local restaurant where he devoured an entire plate of pasta in a few short seconds," he replied.

"Sounds like me during Grammy's crawfish boil night," Gabe replied with a half-smile.

"Or me after smoking some of that green stuff I got from Morita," Dugan chuckled. "What are ya gonna do with the little guy?"

"I don't know for sure yet, but there are a few things I want to ask the Colonel once we get back," Steve explained. "For the moment, I think it might be a good idea for me to look after him."

"Well, Firebrand seems to be a pretty mellow little guy, so if you wanna keep him around you definitely won't hear any complaints from us. Not sure how the Colonel will react though."

"I'll do my best to explain the situation to him. Maybe Senator Grant can help me out if there's any chance."

"Just don't put too much faith in that guy," a familiar voice warned. "I still have some reservations about him."

Steve turned around to see Bucky with his uniform loosened up for the warm weather standing by the edge of the fountain.

"Oh hey."

The two just stood there across from each other for a few seconds in awkward silence. Until Firebrand saw Bucky and with a happy little squeak, he hopped out of Steve's harness and ran over to him nuzzling his legs. With a small smile, Bucky kneeled to the little colt and began stroking his red withers gently.

"How are you holding up?" Steve asked concerned for his friend. "I never really got the chance to ask how you were doing after...you know. Where I found you the other night."

Bucky ran his hand through his hair and gave a deep sigh. He seemed somewhat distant as he stared into the stream of water coming out of the fountain.

"I...think I'll be alright," he said quietly as he sat down. "I guess I just need a little bit of time that's all. The Doctors said that I need to get people close to me to help me through it as therapy will only do half the job."

While they were speaking to each other, the men didn't notice that a group of local children passing by saw the cute little pony sitting beside the American soldiers. It was quite an unusual sight to behold in their humble little village; They instantly were drawn to him as they barreled their way through everything to get to Steve and Firebrand including Dugan and Gabe who were accidentally pushed into a nearby fountain, soaking them from head to toe.

Other soldiers sitting at a table nearby at the local pub began laughing their asses off as they rolled around holding their stomachs. Steve fruitlessly tried to escape the ravenous Italian children fawning over Firebrand who didn't seem to mind the attention despite being woken up. Steve didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but it was clear that they had fallen in love with the infant colt as they constantly poked and cooed at him. The colt in question though didn't enjoy it as their handling of him one of the children had gotten too grabby and tugged hard on Firebrand's tail causing him to yelp and then wail loudly.

Firebrand managed to wriggle his way out of the grasp of the children who pulled him out of Steve's harness and ran away. Steve got back up onto his feet and ran in Firebrand's direction. He comedically picked up Firebrand with one arm as he escaped from the pursuing children. Jumping up onto a fruit cart where a local farmer was selling his wares, Steve launched himself over a wall and away from the group. He landed in an alleyway between two buildings which was very clean for the most part except for two metal trashcans on either side that were presumably owned by the owners of each residence.

He heard a "wheee!" coming from behind him and saw Firebrand clapping his hooves together and babbling something almost incoherent to him.

'Who'd knew that would calm him down?' he thought to himself.

"Do gen! Do gen!"

"Heh, maybe later little buddy. When I'm not being chased by little kids. You really stick out like a sore thumb."

The little colt simply blew a raspberry at him in response. He then looked back in the direction of the main square and put a sad, forlorn look on his muzzle. Looking up at Steve, he began to sniffle.

"Whah Unca Bucky sad?" he asked with a quivering lip.

Steve put on a small smile, adoring the fact that he already considered Bucky to be his Uncle. He kneeled to him and ruffled his golden mane.

"Uncle Bucky isn't sad exactly little buddy," he reassured. "He just needs a little time and space to himself to work things out. But I think he is going to be okay. What happened really did a number on him, but as long as we got his back, he'll be fine."

Seeing that the colt wasn't convinced, he had another idea to cheer him up.

"You know what? When we finish here and get back to America, Bucky and I will show you around, New York. Just the three of us! Coney Island where they have a bunch of cool roller coasters, Stark Expo where they have a bunch of cool toys, and my personal favorite Yankee Stadium where they shoot off fireworks like the ones you shot off back at base camp."

"Yahkee have boom booms?"

"Yes, Yankee Stadium has boom booms," Steve chuckled.

Firebrand squealed with excitement as he jumped into Steve's arms and nuzzled his chest. Steve just stood with him there for a few minutes in the shadows of the alleyway.

He visited a local doctor in the village for general advice about caring for a child. He kept the colt hidden just in case of the event of the physician spreading word of the colt. They talked about several topics until the doctor recommended various medical herbs he could get from the local apothecary.

Afterward, the two spent the rest of the day enjoying themselves and explored the tiny mountainside border town. They observed Tarvisio's beautiful medieval chapels, ate Italian pastries at the town's local bakeries, and even went fishing by the town's nearby lake where a number of the 107th had gone swimming.

Steve had a lot to think about as he sat at the edge of the docks fishing with Firebrand. Many thoughts went through his head concerning the little unicorn beside him as he loosely grasped his pole in his hands. Like now that he had another living thing to care for, how was he going to properly take care of him? Back in America, he never even got the chance to take care of a pet. His parents were too poor to afford one. How was he going to take care of Firebrand's needs? How was he going to be able to properly care for a creature he wasn't entirely sure was native to Earth, let alone Europe. The biggest concern he had was where did Firebrand come from and how did Schmitt find him? The fact of the matter was that he was going to need some advice now that he was Firebrand's caretaker for the time being.

"Maybe Mr. Stark has people that can help me," he said out loud to himself.

When a fish suddenly jumped up out of the water, it startled the little colt as he blasted the fish with his magic. The fish went sailing to the other side and crashed into a tree. He looked back at the human and smiled innocently. Steve just shook his head and laughed.

"Before the aquatic life here goes extinct,"

Next Time: Last Days of Vacation

Author's Note:

Here we are. Another cute little interlude chapter before things start getting back into gear. As always, I appreciate tips and advice to improve the quality of the story if it is needed.

Comments

[lightningcrash 300]

*sighs*......were all gonna die of a cute induced heart attack over Colt firebrand arnt we....?

[Coranth]

9588838
YES!

[MrAquino]

Oh boy, already imagining Firebrand accidentally burning up Howard Star's research papers

[Nightflight406]

9588838
Yep.

[LionelCorp315]

So... much... cuteness....

[lightningcrash 300]

I just saw this, but did anyone else notice the grenade in firebrands mouth on the cover art?

[The Fiery Joker]

Me like boom booms

[Well Geboren]

The two just stood there across from each other for a few seconds in awkward silence. Until Firebrand saw Bucky and with a happy little squeak, he hopped out of Steve's harness and ran over to him nuzzling his legs. With a small smile, Bucky kneeled down to the little colt and began stroking his red withers gently.

While they were speaking to each other, the men didn't notice that a group of local children passing by saw the cute little pony strapped to the back of one of the American soldiers. They instantly were drawn to him as they barreled their way through everything to get to Steve and Firebrand including Dugan and Gabe who were accidentally pushed into a nearby fountain, soaking them from head to toe.

I see an issue in the continuity of the story, one moment Firebrand is at Bucky's feet free of the harness, while in the next he's in the harness as the children come rushing in.

[Spettro138]

10058835
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I did a lot of these earlier chapters on my phone and I can't really see everything Ive been writing using that method. I'll be sure to fix it right away

[Spettro138]

10058835
Ive tried finding pre readers and editors, but nobody is messaging me. Just let me know if you find anything bad like that and I'll do my best to fix it