Where's the Fire?

by Vin Diesels Go-Kart

Chapter 2: Fanning the Flames

It didn't take long for the dragon to decide that it didn't much like the four creatures standing so close to its temporary dwelling. Before Thomas had a chance to make a move, the creature flew at the group with lethal intent. Its jaws barely missed Thomas as he threw a few fire grenades at the passing beast.

"Why the hell is this thing so angry?" the Fireman asked the still cowering fillies.

"Well dragons aren't really known for their peaceful nature." Apple Bloom retorted. She quickly hid her head again when she saw the creature turn to make another pass.

"Oh yeah? Well this ones about to be known for its dead nature." Thomas declared, trying to create a facade of bravery. In reality, he was scared out of his mind. The biggest, most intimidating creature he had seen before now was the Song Bird, and that wasn't even half as big as this dragon.

The reptilian nightmare inhaled as it came close to Thomas and the ponies. The Fireman could tell what it was doing and quickly acted accordingly; scooping up the three fillies and turning his back to the dragon. He felt the heat of fire as the dragon exhaled its deadly payload. The ponies screamed as the deadly flames passed them, but none were directly burned by the assault.

When the dragon flew overhead, Thomas got back up and planned his next move. Luckily the beast used fire based attacks; something he didn't really have to worry about. Unfortunately, the dragon was likely to be equally fire resistant, so the two were more or less at a stale mate. Though the dragon still had claws, jaws, and size on its side.

"Goddammit! I don't know what to do!" he spat in frustration. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were still trying to get over the fact that they just survived a direct blast from a dragon and made it through unscathed.

The beast in question came around again, but Thomas was ready this time. He ran away from the fillies and waved his hands; trying to get the creature's attention. Luckily it worked and the dragon began following him. He ran toward a group of rocks that were jutting out of the ground and used them as cover when the dragon flew by. That's when he had an idea.

"Hey you overgrown lizard, come and get me!" he yelled as he stood on top of the largest rock. The dragon needed no more encouragement to fly at the Fireman; mouth agape and ready for a meal. Thomas however, was ready and as the dragon reached him, he jumped as high as he could. Somehow, Thomas managed to clear the beast and land on its back, but the dragon's velocity took him by surprise and he nearly slid right off. The Fireman quickly grabbed onto one of the spines sticking out of the creatures back and held on tight.

The dragon roared in both surprise and anger as it tried to shake the Fireman off, but Thomas had other ideas. He quickly climbed his way to the dragon's head. Some of the shorter spikes began poking him through his armor, but none could pierce the thick leather. Thomas waited until the dragon began flying toward the rocks once more. As it did, he charged his hands up, but instead of flames, he released a cloud of black smoke.

The dragon thrashed in the air as its vision was compromised and it no longer knew where it was going. The Fireman stayed on long enough to ensure the creature's trajectory was right, and then jumped off the out of control beast, landing in a nearby bush. He quickly righted himself just as the smoke cleared from the dragon's face and the reptile could see the rocks it was flying towards.

It let out a desperate roar of flames before crashing head first into the largest stone; causing the boulder to break from the impact. As the dust cleared, the beast could be seen panting heavily on the ground. It slowly struggled to its feet and then promptly flew away in a defeated daze.

"Where..... are you going?" Thomas shouted at the dragon between labored breaths. "I'm not..... done.... with you yet.... you bastard!"

The Fireman chucked another grenade at the fleeing beast, then fell to his knees and caught his breath.

"Mr. Thomas, that was incredible!" Scootaloo screamed as the three ponies ran over to the recovering Fireman.

"You jumped on that dragon like something out of a Daring Do story! It was amazing!" Sweetie Belle squealed.

"You also saved our lives. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Apple Bloom cried.

Thomas couldn't believe what he just did. Sure he'd seen combat before; putting down a Vox Populi insurrection here and there. He had even built up a fairly sizable body count, but this.....He just won a bout with a beast so big it made the Song Bird look like a domesticated house pet, at least in his eyes.

The Fireman quickly came down from his temporary high as he realized he was still in a bizarre world with strange creatures and no idea how to get back to Columbia.

"Would you still like me to remain here while you fetch Twilight?" he asked, brushing himself off.

"Oh no no no. There's no need for that. I reckon you've more than earned our trust." Apple Bloom assured and with that, the group set off for Ponyville.

* * *

When they reached the quaint little town, Thomas was amazed at how similar it was to his own world. Sure there were obvious differences, like in the architecture and such, but on the whole it was very much like the world he had left behind. The ponies in town were what he had expected them to look like. The adults were more or less larger versions of the three fillies he met already.

Thomas did his best not to come off as threatening, which was a bit of a chore since "threatening" was what Firemen were all about. As he was led through town, the Fireman received no shortage of strange looks from the inhabitants. Ponies stared him down as he passed by the shops and food carts, while any colt or mare who crossed his path quickened their pace to move out of the way.

This must have been what it felt like for all the colored and Irish folk when they first arrived in Columbia, Thomas thought. It almost made the Fireman feel sympathetic in a way.

"Am I going to cause a problem with my presence?" Thomas asked the three fillies as they led him to the library.

"Oh not at all Mr. Thomas, folks around here are just a little cautious of strangers. It actually used to be a lot worse. Normally if somepony new came to town, everypony would lock themselves up in their houses." Apple Bloom explained.

"Plus your with us, so it's all good." Scootaloo added.

"Ah, very well then. And you can just call me Thomas." the Fireman corrected.

Thomas just realized that two of his new companions had strange appendages that he hadn't really noticed until now.

"Hey, why do you have a horn and you have wings?" he asked, addressing Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively.

"Oh! I forgot your not from here. I'm a unicorn and she's a pegasus. I can use my horn to do magic....umm....eventually, and Scootaloo can fly....eventually." Sweetie Belle informed, slightly embarrassed.

"Wow, that's.....interesting." Thomas muttered. He honestly wasn't surprised. After defeating wooden wolves and a dragon, there wasn't much else this world could throw at him that would cause him to scratch his head.

"Why do these ponies all have brands on their flanks?" the Fireman asked curiously.

"Brands? You mean cutie marks? Everypony gets a cutie mark eventually; it shows what their special talent is." Apple Bloom explained.

The Fireman burst into laughter. "Your joking right? That has got to be the most...." he quickly shut up when he received a nasty look from the young pony. "Uh never mind, so where are yours?" he asked.

The three fillies looked down and frowned. "We haven't earned ours yet." Scootaloo admitted.

"Is it that big a deal?" Thomas asked. Jesus, it looked like he had just crushed their spirits to pieces.

"Of course it's a big deal!" Sweetie Belle yelled. "How would you feel if everypony else had a cutie mark and you were the only one who didn't? How would you feel if Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon constantly tormented you because of it?"

"Christ! I don't know. I guess I'd be pretty upset?" he suggested, trying to defuse the situation. The last thing he wanted was his only allies in this world angry with him.

Suddenly a white unicorn with purple hair ran up to Thomas and the fillies, who had stopped walking and were now standing in the middle of the street.

"Sweetie Belle what on earth are you doing? And what is that thing?" she asked, keeping her distance from the Fireman.

"Oh hi Rarity. This is Thomas, he's a human who dresses like a furnace and he can shoot fire!" the filly answered innocently. Thomas was getting a little annoyed with the whole "furnace" bit.

"Oh and you brought him into town I see." Rarity said, smiling. Thomas could tell it was a fake smile that she put on in some attempt not to offend the Fireman, which he found mildly amusing.

"Well yeah, he saved our lives a little while ago!" Scootaloo explained.

"Oh, and how's that?" the older unicorn inquired.

"We would have been timberwolf bait if it wasn't for him. He even saved us from a dragon! It was flying at us, but then Thomas shielded us from its fire breath. Then he jumped on it and slammed it right into a boulder!" Sweetie Belle beamed as she hopped up and down.

"Is that true? Sweetie Belle, you know you shouldn't be going too far out of town by yourselves. Thank Celestia none of you are hurt!" Rarity scolded. She approached the Fireman "Well....Thomas you have my thanks for saving my sister and her friends."

"It was no trouble." he responded modestly.

"We were just taking him to the library to see Twilight. Do you know if she's in town?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I believe she is, but why do you need her?" Rarity asked quizzically.

"Thomas isn't from this world, so we were gonna ask Twilight if she knew how to send him back." Scootaloo explained.

Rarity looked at the group skeptically. After a few moments she concluded that they weren't in fact pulling her leg.

"Oh, well this is a lot to take in. I'd like to go with you and see Twilight as well. I haven't got much else to do anyway." she decided.

The five then continued on to the library, which was only another minute or two away. Rarity knocked on the door and then stepped back.

"The Golden Oaks Library" Thomas muttered, reading the sign. "Is this a real tree?" he asked, looking at the wooden structure.

"Of course it is, darling. This library has a large variety of books that have proven quite useful over the years. I'm sure whatever your looking for is in here somewhere, and if it isn't then Twilight will know where to look elsewhere." Rarity responded.

After a moment, the door opened and a small purple lizard stood at the threshold.

"Hello Spike, you look well." Rarity greeted.

"Oh hey Rarity. Yeah, I got to sleep in today, for once." Spike responded.

"Is Twilight home?" the unicorn asked.

"Yeah she's downstairs looking into something, but come on in and I'll see if she has a minute." the lizard offered, though it seemed like the invitation was made directly to Rarity and no one else. In fact, Thomas was certain the creature didn't even look his way the entire time.

"Um Spike? This is Thomas, he's....well he's not from this world." Rarity said, trying to convince herself of what she was saying.

"Oh uh, hi there. N-nice to meet you." Spike stuttered, a little taken aback by Thomas' appearance.

"Hello yourself." the Fireman grunted. He put a hand up to his welder's mask and sneezed, blasting a small wave of fire that fanned out and then dissipated harmlessly. This caused both Spike and Rarity to jump in surprise, which gave Thomas a good laugh.

Spike cautiously went downstairs as Thomas and the others looked around the room. He studied a few books that caught his eye. Anatomy of a Hydra, Courtship Behaviors of The Chimera , and Safely Observing a Cockatrice were just a few that stood out.

"Wow, this Twilight character sure likes the mythology genre, huh." Thomas inferred.

"What? Thomas, those are all zoology books." Apple Bloom said, walking over to him.

Thomas chuckled a bit. "What are you talking about? These books speak of mythical creatures, not animals." he assured.

"But those are real animals." Scootaloo pressed.

Thomas stopped laughing. "Your telling me that all of those creatures actually exist in this world?" he asked.

The four ponies nodded in unison.

"Oh, for the love of God..." the Fireman sighed. "And was that another dragon?" he asked, gesturing to where Spike had been standing.

"Yeah, but Spike isn't like normal dragons." Scootaloo assured. "He's really nice and helpful."

"Plus he's just a baby dragon." Sweetie Belle chimed in.

Thomas just shook his head in response. He'd like to see this place in the future when that thing is fully grown.

Hoofsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, as well as a conversation.

"Look Spike, I'm sure whatever it is has been around for a long time. Just because you've never seen it before, doesn't mean it's from a different world." he heard a voice say.

The dragon came back upstairs accompanied by a pony, but this pony was different in that it had both wings and a horn. Something about her also looked more....regal than the other ponies he'd seen. The crown was an obvious indicator.

The alicorn stopped mid-step when she saw the unfamiliar creature standing in the room. Spike laughed at her reaction.

"Told you so." he remarked.

"Hello Twilight. This is...." Rarity began, but was quickly cut off by Twilight's squeal. The princess ran over to the surprised Fireman and began looking him over.

"Oh my gosh! An undiscovered creature? This is amazing! Does it speak? Can it understand me? What's it wearing? Oh I have so many questions!" she said excitedly.

"Uhh...Twi?" Apple Bloom asked trying to get her attention. The alicorn realized her sudden break from character and quickly regained her composure.

"Um hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle." she said in her most formal tone. "And who might you be?"

"The names Thomas, Thomas Miller." the Fireman responded. "I was told you might be able to help me return to my own world." he explained a bit impatiently.

Twilight gave a confused look over to Spike, who simply shrugged in response. "So, you really are from another world?" she asked curiously.

"Last time I checked." Thomas answered sarcastically.

This wasn't off to a good start. If the apparent "all knowing" pony had a hard time believing he wasn't from this world, then how could she even begin to know how to send him back? The chance of a book in here having what he needed was an optimistic fantasy at best, and meanwhile, Columbia was in the middle of a civil war and the city's only hope was being led astray by the cursed false shepherd. Thinking about the situation got Thomas' blood boiling. He clenched his fists in an attempt to remain calm.

Suddenly, the library door flew open and two more ponies stormed in.

"Apple Bloom! What's this I'm hearin about you paradin through town with a walkin talkin furnace?" one of the ponies yelled.

Thomas turned to the new arrivals. "For the last time. I am not A FURNACE!!!" he screamed, his anger finally getting the better of him. The Fireman's armor heated up and flames began emanating from various points on his body. Steam escaped the pipe mounted on his back, causing a high-pitched whistling sound. He may have been one of the more level-headed Firemen in Comstock's military, but Thomas was still a flame-throwing juggernaut at heart, and he had a temper to match.

When Thomas cooled down, he noticed that the library's occupants had moved a good distance away. They all had concerned looks on their faces except for the orange pony in the cowboy hat and the rainbow maned pegasus, who now stood defensively in front of the Fireman.

"Uhh, just letting off some steam." Thomas joked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his helmet. He had the distinct feeling he was going to be here longer than he hoped.

Comments

[Cold Spike]

HA Funny... maybe he should take off the suit lol? MOAR!

[RainbowDragon]

BURN THEM WITH HOLY FIRE!!!!!

[fire]

is amazing cant wait 4 moar

[Zenigata]

Its interesting. The firemen always struck me as a firebat from starcraft but with the fear of God bred into them. Hopefully you get that pyromaniac personality nailed.

[Halogen and Alkali]

FIRE!

[NecromancerX69]

This is gonna be good.

[kazoie1]

For fucks sake you call him a furnace witch he obviously is a creature considering he is moving, and then you act surprised when he gets angry for you calling him names jeez their is no double standard

[SCP Pinkamena]

BURN IN THE NAME OF THE PROPHET!

[Zeynelse]

Am I the only one who could not help but think of Thomas the Tank Engine?

[Bandana The Reaper]

2570246 ...No, did it as well.

[Stereoshock]

The moment he saw the library, with all its flammable books and wood, the only thought going through his head must have been "Must... resist urge.. to. BURN EVERYTHING!"

[Gazpacho]

Pun pun.