Pyre Heart

by Crunchypuff

Part 1

In the woods near a small suburb of Baltimare, a young unicorn could be seen walking between the trees. She had a mane of white, with a grey and white speckled coat and a large white spot on her flank. She plodded along slowly.

Her name was Blank Canvas, and she often walked through the forest around the town trying to find inspiration for her art.

It was her job, after all.

She drew and painted designs for other ponies in her small town and for visitors, delighting in their smiles whenever she gave out a piece of art to her friends or even to strangers. Often she would paint her designs onto the ponies themselves, giving them a splash of new color, or even a different cutie mark for a day.

And every day she painted something on her own cutie mark, filling in the blank white spot with a drawing that suited her mood.

Today she had a grey cloud matching the color of her coat drawn on. She was feeling a bit down, and was struggling to find ideas to draw when she decided to take a walk.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled groan coming from the trees in front of her.

"Mmrgh…"

Blank Canvas rushed forward, dashing between the trees to see a masked pegasus laying on the ground with a wing stretching out at an odd angle.

The pegasus was a dull red, with a bright tail the color of flame, and a mask that covered its head completely.

Blank Canvas recognized the mask. It was one of the ones that she had seen firefighter pegasi wear when they went above fires, bringing rain clouds to douse the flames. They were needed to breathe while the ponies were flying above in clouds of smoke.

"Are you okay?" she asked, coming to the pegasus' side.

"Mmph...mm mrph mm," the still muffled voice said.

"Uh…I'll take that as a yes. Let me get you to the doctor. We don't have much in this town, but it's better than nothing. Come on."

The unicorn's horn started to glow, and the pegasus was slowly lifted above the ground. Blank Canvas turned back the way she came and brought the floating pegasus behind her.

The two weren't far from the town, and before long they had reached a small gate that marked the entrance to the forest. Not far away was a tiny cottage, nestled in a group of trees.

"Alright, there's a pony here who can help...I hope," she said, bringing the pegasus closer to the cottage.

She knocked a hoof on the door, and a red and white unicorn opened the door with a grin.

"Ooh! Blank Canvas! I do hope you've brought something interesting this time."

The unicorn spoke with a strange accent, in an almost too-excited manner. He arrived recently to the town from a faraway land, and volunteered himself to be the town's medic. The town hadn't needed a medic, and some wondered why he hadn't gone to a bigger city, but they accepted him anyway.

Blank Canvas gestured toward the fallen pegasus.

"Just found this pony in the woods not far from here. Can you help?"

The unicorn grinned.

"Of course!"

He carried a small first-aid kit out of the cottage and walked to the pegasus' side. Leaning over, he inspected the pony carefully.

"Hmmm… yes! Broken wing! Nothing a good cast and some time won't fix," he paused. "Ooor...I could do a wing transplant! Replace it with a dragon wing! Or a griffon wing! Now where to get the materials…"

Blank Canvas put a hoof over her forehead.

"A cast is fine, please," she said.

The unicorn sighed.

"Alright, alright. One cast coming up!"

He rushed back inside the cottage. The pegasus on the ground looked up, briefly fussed with its mask, then removed it.

"...Thank you," a smiling male pegasus with short fiery hair looked up at Blank Canvas.

"Oh, no problem! Just helping a fellow pony out. I'm Blank Canvas, by the way."

"I'm Pyre Heart," he turned and tried to point to his cutie mark, a flaming heart, then winced. "Ow. Moving hurts."

"Don't worry, the doctor here can help you out. He always helps people when they get hurt exploring the forest out here. Just don't let him get carried away or he might do some experiments on you or something," she laughed. "Just kidding. ...I think."

Pyre Heart laughed.

"So, where are you from? And how did you end up lying in the middle of the forest with a broken wing?" she asked.

Pyre Heart looked at his surroundings, then gave Blank Canvas a puzzled look.

"I...I don't remember," he said. "I know my name, but…not much else. My head hurts."

Blank Canvas paused for a moment.

"...Maybe...I think I might know where you're from. See that mask?" she gestured toward the black mask next to Pyre Heart. "That's a firefighter's mask, like the one the pegasi in Cloudsdale have. You're a firefighter! We don't get too many fires here, but I've heard a lot about you guys, you're heroes!"

Pyre Heart beamed.

"R-really? Wow!"

"And that means Cloudsdale is going to need you back. Once the clouds float near here, we can get you home. But… that'll take weeks. It's far away right now, probably over Canterlot."

"Oh…" Pyre Heart looked down.

The medic burst out of the cottage once more, with a load of medical supplies floating behind him.

"I'm ready for surgery!" he crowed.

"It's just a cast, there's no need for a syringe gun! Why do you even have that anyway?" Blank Canvas said, exasperated.

The unicorn frowned and the odd looking implement floated back into the cottage.

Pyre Heart closed his eyes and put his mask back over his head. With a gleam in his eye, the unicorn medic went to work.

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"There we are, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" the unicorn said, looking down at the pegasus.

"Mmph…" a muffled noise escaped Pyre Heart's mask.

He had been given some herbs to ease the pain, and seemed to be doing better, although he still lay on the ground. A cast now covered one of his wings.

"Do you think you can walk? It's a long way to my house. I figure you can stay there until you get back to normal, it's better than, um," Blank Canvas nervously looked at the medic, who grinned at both of them. "...The alternative."

Pyre Heart nodded and slowly got up on all four hooves, wobbling for a moment.

Blank Canvas smiled and led him down the path to the rest of the town, shouting her thanks to the medic. Pyre Heart followed behind her, looking around at the trees lining the path.

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They walked together a short distance before a tan pegasus swooped down from the sky, landing in front of them.

"Eyy, Blank Canvas! Have you finished that design yet? I want to look my best for the next race!"

Blank Canvas sighed.

"No, and you still haven't given me anything to work with. 'Something cool' is not something I can go on."

"Mmph?" Pyre Heart mumbled.

"Oh! Who's mumbles over here?" the pegasus asked.

"This is Pyre Heart, and he's going to be staying with me for a while while he gets back on his hooves. He's been through a lot today," Blank Canvas said.

The tan pegasus stared.

"Whoa, hey, hang on! How come he gets to stay with you? Not that I, uh, have a problem with that or nothin'," he said.

Blank Canvas raised an eyebrow.

"Jealous?"

"No, no! Course not. I, uh, should get going. Gotta practice. Racing, y'know."

Before Blank Canvas could say a word, he flew into the sky and out of sight.

"Don't mind him. This town's got all sorts of oddballs. It's what makes us special!" she said.

They continued down the path, with houses popping up over the horizon, and the town slowly coming into view.

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"My house is just over this way, we're almost to it," Blank Canvas said.

They arrived at a small house, and the grey unicorn opened the door.

The inside was a rainbow of colors, with paint covering the walls and part of the ceiling and floor. Jars of paint of every color and various sizes of brush lined one wall, with artwork and blank papers on the opposite wall. Between was a small couch and a bed, with sacks of food lying haphazardly around the room.

"Home sweet home!" she said.

Pyre Heart pranced excitedly across the small house, flopping down on the couch and wincing on impact. He removed his mask.

"That hurt," he said.

"Just try and stay still, alright? You need your rest if you want to get better," Blank Canvas said.

"But I'm bored!" Pyre Heart said.

Blank Canvas thought for a moment.

"Hey, I've got an idea," she floated a jar of red paint and a small brush over to him. "Why don't you help me draw? That's what I do when I'm bored."

"Okay!"

The pegasus looked around.

"What do I draw on?" he asked.

Blank Canvas gestured at the painted grey cloud on her flank, wiping it away with a wet cloth.

"Me! Draw whatever you feel, have fun!"

Pyre Heart picked up the paint brush and dipped it in the red paint, thinking for a moment.

He drew a heart.

Author's Note:

Now we get to the pony stuff! Meet my self insert and her boyfriend's OCs!
Also Medic-unicorn.