> The Fire and The Flutter
>  by A. Tuesday
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fire and the Flutter
Written by the_scarlet_mare-a-thonner

Prologue
I couldn’t complain much about my life. Others say I easily could’ve; but I honestly couldn’t. I loved my life, despite it’s craziness and differing from the normal. I don’t get why I should be sad about it, but the other ponies I’ve met come up with some valid point anyway.
For starters, some ponies say that New Horseleans isn’t anywhere close to a Canterlot – which it isn’t. The city itself wasn’t shining and majestic like the Princess’s abode was. It was a run-down but cheerful city, a place filled with dilapidated buildings and their smiling inhabitants oblivious to all of this. The city itself was what you would call “broken”, I suppose.
That was false about its ponies, though. They went throughout the day as if nothing was wrong. Because there wasn’t. The policy of buildings in NH? “If it doesn’t collapse, it’s good enough.” So nobody cared, including myself.
Others say it was because of my move. I had lived in Ponyville for most of my youth, but certain…complications forced me to relocate, away from the family that raised me and straight into life solo in a town incredibly far away. Sure, I was separated from my loving parents, and my younger brother – but, nevertheless, I retained the idea that life went on. And went on it did.
Others still said it was because of my job. I worked in a little tavern known as “The Gilded Hoof.” I didn’t actually tend the bars or mix drinks or anything like that – I cooked food. I didn’t see too many ponies, and the kitchen was a little dirty, and the pay wasn’t the greatest, and the room I slept in above the kitchen wasn’t the biggest – but it was good enough for me. I loved my job. It was something I was good at, and always would be.
Which, I suppose, leads me to the reason most ponies attempt to sympathize with me. I cook food not because it was the only thing I could do, but the only thing I could do perfectly, with grace even. And it all had to do with my special talent.
See, when you’re a unicorn, you’ve got magic powers – everypony knows that. Sometimes you might have a wide range of ridiculous magic – you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want.
Sometimes you might have a certain “knack” for things – you can’t do everything magic, but you work that small area you do know like no one else can.
That’d be me. I know what you’re thinking; and no, my special talent is NOT baking. Something much less expected, and I’m outcast because of it.
My special talent is anything fire. Creating it, controlling it, extinguishing it – I’m a pyromaniac, if you will.
My name is Firestarter.
This is my story.

> I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I
“I need a cheese pizza with extra daisies.”	
I looked up from my last order, which was cooling on a rack. The waiter, whom we all just called Sir on account of his visit with royalty (he was the only one of us out of my adoptive family to actually go to Canterlot),  had just stuck the sticky note on the counter.
I grabbed the note with my teeth and put it on a different table at my height. “An entire pizza?” I questioned, “Since when does anybody order an entire pizza? With extra daisies?”
Sir seemed to be in a hurry. “There’s a large party at table 7, F. I don’t know. I’ve got to get back, another group just walked in. We should have one of those pizzas pre-made in the fridge – just do what you do best.”
I heard him trot away, although I could only see the top half of him due to how high the small window was. I shook my head in sheer amazement. We didn’t get that one too often, and I highly doubted there’d be a pizza in the fridge.
However, once I opened the fridge using my basic magic, I saw it – a green and yellow circle that was soon to please a large party at table 7.
I let the pizza hover as I directed it to a metal rack I used for cooking. I gently placed it down, then stopped using the magic. Time for serious business. 
I focused on the pizza. I leaned down towards the ground, keeping my horn directed straight at its center. Looking up, I made sure I was standing right where I needed to be.
I shut my eyes. In my mind, I envisioned the pizza. Now, I envisioned a fire around it. I saw that fire slowly engulfing all of it, cooking it at the perfect temperature, the flames just touching it – 
Within moments, I felt that tingle in the tip of my horn. I opened my eyes, still imagining the pizza. But at this point, it wasn’t imagining. 
The fire was now just under the pizza, and to the casual passersby, it came from absolutely nowhere. It had just spawned in the middle of the air. But I knew where it was coming from. I had spawned this fire suspended in air, and now controlled it with elegance.
It used to take a lot of my power, but now, it was as menial as picking up a book or quill. I watched as the pizza slowly but surely became golden brown.
I willed the fire to stop, and it did so, evaporating into thin air. The pizza was cooked.
I lifted the pizza into the air and directed it to the counter, then took the bell and lightly tapped it against the wall, causing it to ding. 
“Order up!” I yelled out to whoever could hear.
As it turned out, it was Sir. He picked up the pizza with his own magic (restaurant ponies like us tended to be unicorns), and at the same time, dropped off another note. “This one you don’t even need to cook,” he mentioned, “A customer at table 17 ordered it.”
I picked up the note and read it. “A grass sandwich? Just a plain grass sandwich?”
“Yes, just a plain grass sandwich. What’s with you and being critical today?”
I didn’t answer him. I just stared at the note in disbelief – you could make a grass sandwich in ten seconds at home. Literally, in ten seconds. Why anybody go to a restaurant – especially one in New Horseleans, where cuisine was a big factor of tourism – and order a plain grass sandwich? 
Just as Sir was walking away, I asked him quickly, “Wait, Sir, can I give this to whoever ordered it? I want to see who they are.”
“Go ahead,” he said quickly as he walked off to deliver the pizza.
I turned back to my table. Using my basic magic skills, I took two pieces of bread and laid them out. Opening the cabinets, I hastily opened a box and pulled some grass out, laying them on one piece of bread. I took the other and place it on top. For good measure, I stuck a decorative toothpick into the sandwich. 
I trotted out the easy-swing door, willing the sandwich now on a plate right behind me. My eyes finally found the booth table with the number 18 on the edge.
From my point of view, the sandwich fit the bill.
Or in this case, whoever was about to eat it.

The pony sitting at the table was resting on her hooves. She had a pastel yellow hide to her, and pink hair that flowed down her face, curling only at the very ends. She was a Pegasus, but she seemed quiet as anything. As I approached her table, I took notice of her cutie mark: three butterflies.
She sighed as she looked down at the table. I stopped in front of her table. “And…” I began hesitantly.
But, before I continued, she jumped slightly. I was obviously pulling her out of some deep thought, and she also didn’t seem to be the bravest of ponies, either.
Once I realized I had her attention, about a second later, I continued, “And, did you order the grass sandwich?”
“Oh, yes,” she said in what had to have been the softest, most gentle voice I’d ever heard, “That would be me.”
I willed the plate to be set down in front of her. “Thank you,” she offered.
“It’s no problem,” I said, “But, um – “ lowering my voice, “you know you  can make these at home in a pinch, right?”
She giggled slightly. “Oh, I’m aware. But I’m not that good at cooking, so, um, you know, I have someone make it for me. If they don’t mind, of course.”
It occurred to me that you didn’t really need to know how to cook to make a grass sandwich. There was no heating involved, whatsoever.
I decided not to say anything, though. She was shy, and obviously not from around here, so maybe wherever she was from it was normal not to make your own grass sandwiches. 
“Well, alright then, enjoy your meal,” I said flatly, and left the table to go back to the kitchen. 
“I will, thank you,” was the quiet reply.
When I resumed my duties, I wasn’t as focused as I should’ve or could’ve been. Something about that filly had set me off-kilter.

> II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

II	
The last patron walked out of the restaurant doors, and Sir changed the sign from OPEN (Come on in!) to CLOSED (Come back soon!).
He sighed, and I finished cleaning up the workstation. My snow-white mane swooshed back and forth as I trotted over to Sir. “So, how’d we do?” I asked.
“Alright, I guess,” he replied, “But we won’t start raking in more dough until the tourism season kicks in. We’re doing fine for now.”
Sir was like an older brother to me. I had had a little brother from my time in Ponyville, but Sir sufficed as a friend. We often talked about many different things, including business.
“Okay,” I continued, “So, we’ll make it through the month?”
He nodded. My adoptive family, as I referred to them, owned the Gilded Hoof, and were out of town for a while. It was up to Sir and I to run the place, and with excellent waiting skills and my cooking, we were doing alright.
“Hopefully that’s all we’ll have to make it through,” he said, “The Gilds’ should be back by the end of the month. It’s amazing that the conventions last that long.”
It was a bit of shock to me, too. I mean, Tavern Conventions do only come once every 5 years – but they lasted 3 weeks. Ridiculous.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Sir exclaimed. I followed him with my eyes as he went at full gallop up the stairs to where we lived. His hooves clicked against the steel as he came down, with an envelope floating magically by his side. “Can you do me a favor, and run to the Pony Express? I need it mailed to where the Gilds’ are staying. Can you do that?”
I put my magic on the will as he relinquished his. “Yeah, no problem, I guess. Don’t lock me out like you did last time.”
He chortled. “I’ll think about it.”
I pushed the restaurant doors open, and entered New Horseleans. The sun began to set in the distance.

I trotted merrily down the narrow, cobblestone streets New Horseleans had to offer. Street merchants beckoned me to come and buy something, but I politely declined. Other ponies waved to me, and I waved back. Others still walked along the streets, going about their business.
The city had an untamed beauty to it, and this was in everyday life, although most ponies only seemed to see it during the Carnival. When it came time for the Carnival season, you would often see decorations hung all over the place: streamers in various colors, bells clanging, ponies dressed in completely dressed in outlandish costumes – all to celebrate the halfway mark of spring. We were a weird bunch – but a weird bunch that hundreds of ponies flocked to see every year.
I had only seen one Carnival since my time here – being here for just under two years. Sure, it was a day of magic and fun I shall never forget – most people forgot the beauty that lied in this place everyday.
Of course, it was a bit gloomy today. A whale decided to swim into the bay yesterday, except it was covered in ice. Like it had contracted a rash or something, except instead of splotchy, red itchiness, it was ice floe. And it was growing.
It wasn’t the first animal to come in with these weird symptoms either. Some birds, fish, and I think even an alligator all appeared around the town with ice floe biologically soldered to their bodies. The worst part was that there wasn’t anything anybody could do about it. It was impossible to melt off the ice without severely burning the animals, so as a result, the animals often just turned into a block of ice.
Because of this, the usual, cheery side of New Horseleans was often replaced with these activists, calling for a better veterinarian system, or something along those lines. They took over the street corners, and spent their days whining about how nopony cared about the animals, and how everything was corrupt, and how we must donate, or else we, personally, are the reason every animal dies, yadda yadda yadda. It’s really annoying.
I approached the intersection where the Pony Express office was, and I saw another group of activist on the corner, shouting. But, there shouts weren’t the usual jeers they poked at the crowd today.
“We have a savior!” they yelled, “Someone is going to save the whales! The princess’s own consultant! But, that doesn’t mean you still can’t donate!”
I shook my head. They were the most annoying thing ever.
Entering the Pony Express, I saw the pony behind the counter seemed equally annoyed by them, as she had a radio going on fairly loudly in the shop. I willed the letter down to the counter.
She picked it up, bobbing her head to the pop music being played in the background. “No problem!” She was shouting over the radio to be heard. “I’ll have this sent over right away!”
“Thank you!” I replied, “And good idea with the radio!”
“What?”
Suddenly, a storm of wild clapping and cheering was heard outside. I turned and saw through the window the activists, cheering and pointed to something or somepony I couldn’t really see, due to the door frame. Their voices were muffled by the glass. Feeling it was safe to investigate, I opened the door so I could hear them better.
“Yeah! There she is!”
“Our hero!”
“The whale-saver!”
“There’s the pony of the hour!”
“More like of the century!”
“Look at that, ponies! That’s a real hero right there!”
No other pony other than the activists paid attention to the yellow pegasus that was getting a lot of praise.
My jaw dropped when I saw who it was.
It was the yellow pony who ordered the plain grass sandwich.

> III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


III
My mind just drew a blank. A pony who either couldn’t make food for her life, or was just plain ol’ lazy, and shy as anything, was about to save a whale from a horrible fate. What?
She was just walking along, looking every which way, as if she were trying to find something. The pony jumped as the praises of the activists reached her pastel yellow ears. Turning to them, the pegasus said in the lowest voice, “No, really, that’s um, okay. You – you can stop now, if you don’t mind, please.”
“Why would we ever do that?”
“You’re a savior!”
“You should be proud!”
She looked to the ground, her cheeks turning red. “No, if you would kindly stop, please, that’s be nice. I – I really don’t want any of this, thank you.”
“Everybody must know the savior!”
“You’re a gift to animals everywhere!”
“Look everybody! A true pony, right here in the open!”
The activists were annoying enough, but I couldn’t stand to see them torture this poor filly like this. I trotted fiercely straight up to them, and in the middle of all their jeers – 
“Hey! Can’t you see she doesn’t want to be bothered? Go whine somewhere else!”
The one in front shook her head. “Look, young, red mare – you obviously don’t understand how being a hero works…”
“No, I understand perfectly enough. She doesn’t want to be bothered. Now, all of you – leave!”
“Oh yeah?” said another, “And who’s gonna make us?”
I flashed my cutie mark to them, a single burning flame among my scarlet red hide. “I’ll make you,” I retorted curtly, “You don’t really want to experience my ‘special talent’.”
Some of them got wide-eyed at the sight of the flame, others simply shook their head, but, in a huff, they all left, mumbling amongst themselves. 

I regained my calm composure as the yellow pegasus tapped my on the back. I turned to her, and she looked to the ground as she said, “Um, thank you, miss.” She looked up to me. “I don’t know what I could’ve – wait a minute, don’t I know you from somewhere?”
I nodded calmly. “I was the pony who gave you that plain grass sandwich at the restaurant.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right,” she continued, softly, “But, thanks again. I’m not exactly the bravest pony in the world, and if you hadn’t stepped in, well – I don’t know what I would’ve done. They’ve been doing nothing but bothering me my entire time here.”
“Yeah, they can get pretty annoying,” I chuckled, “I honestly hate them. Well, glad to help out.”
I began trotting home as night settled in, when she called again. “Wait, um, excuse me, miss?” she asked warily.
I turned. “Yes?”
“Um, I’m not from around here, and I kind of need to get somewhere. Can you show me where the Marine Center is? If you don’t mind, of course.”
Her passiveness amazed me, honestly. “Well, I could,” I explained, “But, it’s closed for tonight.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I need to know how to get to it for the next couple of days. I have to do some…things with a whale there, as I guess you’ve already noticed.”
I scrunched up my eyebrows. “Yes, I saw. Sure, I’ll take you there. As long as you explain the whole whale thing to me along the way. Deal?”
I stuck my hoof out. She nodded gleefully at me. “Deal,” she said, and put her hoof to mine. We shook, closing the deal. 	“Thank you an awful lot, miss.”
“Oh, and one more thing,” I mentioned, “Please, stop calling me miss. I’m not used to that. My name’s Firestarter.”
“Oh, okay.” She giggled. “My name’s Fluttershy.”
We walked together in the New Horseleans night.

“So,” I asked, “What are you doing here?”
Nighttime lingered in the air. Streetlights were on, so it wasn’t too bad. It gave New Horseleans that inner beauty I talked about earlier. Our hooves clacked against cobblestone, as we winded through the narrow streets. She took a deep breath, as it looked like a bit to explain. 
“Well, I um – you heard those activist ponies, right?”
“Yes,” I acknowledged.
“They’re right in what they say – but not about the ‘savior’ and stuff. No, I don’t know about that. But, I am here to help 	the whale.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “You see, I’m very good with animals – even the Princess knows. I tried to help her bird once, but it turns out she didn’t need any help. It was actually really embarrass – “
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I interjected, “The Princess? As in, Princess Celestia?”
“Well, yes.”
I took a double-take. The only pony I’ve ever met in my entire life who’s ever met the Princess was Sir, and he honestly didn’t say much about the Sun Princess. Whenever he talked about his venture to the Grand Galloping Gala, he tended to ramble on about the food, the fact that he simply met the Princess, nothing about her, and some crazy fillies that were doing all sorts of nonsense. (“Some brightly-colored one tried to kill me with a statue! Although, then she saved me, so, I don’t really know.”)
Now, this was somepony I could get used to talking to. All sorts of questions ran through my head, and I was about to start with a whole lot of them. The outside world always interested me, being something I really had no clue of since I moved here. New Horseleans is kinda down south. A lot.
But, if common decency taught me anything, it was that you were always supposed to stick to one subject, and talk to ponies about what they wanted to talk about, not me. So, I simply said, “That’s neat.”
She seemed a bit perplexed at my sudden change of tone, but dismissed it. “Well, anyway – this news about the whale is getting all over Equestria, and a lot of my friends told me I should come and help. My friend back at Ponyville, Twilight – she knows Celestia real well, and pulled some strings for me to come down here and, I guess, do what I do best.”
“I see. And Ponyville, did you say?”
“Oh, yes. Oh look, here we are.”
The Marine Center had snuck up on us without realizing it. The large facility, a massive shed towards the back on top of the bay, a visible amphitheater, and a whole ton of wooden docks stared us in the face, topped off with a lighted sign: NEW HORSELEANS MARINE BIOLOGICAL CENTER.
I looked at the clock tower: 8:00. Sir would probably be wondering where I was. It doesn’t take this long to mail a letter, usually, anyway.
“Oh, thank you, um, um – Firestarter. I’m so lost around here.”
“No problem. Hey, before I go, just out of curiosity, where are you staying?”
She calmly replied, “At some high class hotel called the...Alicorn, I think?”
I took a gulp. She continued, “You wouldn’t happen to know where that is, either, would you?”
First of all, their rates were insanely high.
Secondly, that hotel was all the way across the city. Literally. It’d take me forever to walk all the way over there. I was never the one for staying up incredibly late either – I liked to use my weekend mornings to my advantage. Not only that, but Sir would flip out.
After contemplating the idea, I spoke to Fluttershy. “I do, but their rates are ridiculously expensive. You wouldn’t want to stay there.”
“Oh,” she replied, looking downward to the ground. “Then, I really don’t know where to say,” she continued, slightly depressed.
“Well, how ‘bout you stay with me for the weekend?”
She looked at me in awe.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: I just met her, why would I invite her to stay in my home? For all I know, she could’ve been a psychopath of some sort. I’d wake up in a shed tomorrow morning, and she’d be staring at me with this crazed look in her eyes as she prepped a knife or a chainsaw or something like that. And I would die in Fluttershy’s shed. Great idea for a story.
But the truth was, I was interested in this pegasus. She obviously had a yarn to spin, and nowhere really to go, and it seemed as if she needed a friend. I could use a friend right now, if anything. Does that make me selfish? Probably.
I saw the immediate shock in her eyes, and added, “You know…I mean, if you have nowhere else to go. We’re nice ponyfolk ‘round here.”
She seemed to think about it for a while. Her hair pink hair drooped towards the ground as she put a hoof to her chin, lost in deep decision.
She looked me in the eyes and said, “Well, I wouldn’t want to impose…”
“Oh, it’s no problem!” I answered, “I mean, yeah, it’s no worry.”
“You really wouldn’t mind?”
I shook my head, as if that were a silly question.
She chuckled. “Okay, that sounds wonderful!”

> IV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV
That night, I had my first “slumber party” in ages. Sir didn’t seem to mind too much (“If you want food, be quiet about it, I’m listening to my stories on the radio”), and Fluttershy took the floor while I slept in my bed. I offered her mine, but she politely took the floor. It occurred to me that maybe I was the one being the psychopath.
She was quiet, and I figured she’d gone to bed. So I shut my eyes, and drifted off to dreamland.
“Hey, are you, um, still awake? It’s okay if you aren’t.”
The soft voice from over and below me. Of course I was. She was so passive.
“Yeah. Something on your mind?”
“No…” She trailed off. “Just bored, I guess. I feel so out of place around here.”
“Pfft. You’re telling me. It’s a little weird when you first move here.”
I heard rustling down there, and I pictured her propped up on her elbow now. “What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“I mean,” I began, “I’m not originally from here. I only moved here a little over a year and a half ago.”
“Really? Where from?”
“You’ll never believe this…” I said, “But Ponyville.”
She gasped. “No way! I’m surprised I don’t know you, but then again, I’m not what you would call ‘outgoing’.”
We both laughed a bit. Then a more serious question: “What made you move here?”
The question wasn’t uncalled for, that was for sure. But, there were a lot of ponies out there who viewed me a lot differently than most. Part of the reason was the same reason I moved here. I liked Fluttershy; I didn’t want her to recoil so quickly at me.
“It’s…complicated, I suppose,” was my soft reply.
“Oh, ok.” She seemed to understand. “May I ask another question?”
“Go for it.”
“I noticed the flame on your flank when you yelled at the activists…what’s your special talent?”
I smiled. There was really no harm in telling her this, so I did. “Fire, Fluttershy. My special talent, and my unicorn magic involves anything fire.”
“Oh! Does that make you a p-pyr-pyrom – no, wait, that’s not it, - um, a gyr- no, still not it – um…”
“A pyromaniac?”
She sighed. “It sounds so bad when you say it that way, but yes.”
I laughed it off, and she joined in. “Well, I guess so. Wanna see?” I didn’t mind the occasional boast.
“Oh, I would love to.”
I sat up straight in my bed, and looked at an empty paper lantern hanging in my room. I willed the fire inside the paper.
Sure enough, a light inside the paper began to glow, and the paper itself reached up higher than the string and touched the ceiling.
“How neat!” She marveled at it. It was simple, though. I could do a whole lot more. 
“Eh, that’s nothing,” I said, waving my hoof for emphasis. 
“Maybe you can show me more tomorrow.”
I hadn’t even thought about tomorrow. She had to go to the Marine Center; I didn’t really picture Fluttershy spending most of the day with me. But, it appears she wanted to spend at least some of it with me. 
It beat spending the day with Sir. “Yeah, maybe so.”
“Oh, that’d be wonderful. I hope you don’t mind, Firestarter, but I’m getting kind of tired. I think I’m going to sleep, now.”
“Sleep doesn’t sound too bad. I might do that myself.” We chuckled. I rested my head against my pillow and began to nod off. “G’night, Fluttershy.”
“Goodnight, Firestarter,” she said. I heard her head hit the pillow, and I imagined the blankets being pulled over her. The Sandpony was calling my name, and I eagerly answered.
But just before I did, I heard Fluttershy say one last thing. “Thanks again, Firestarter. You’re a real friend.”
My eyes opened wide in bed.
Friend.
She called me friend.
I leaned over my bed to find Fluttershy fast asleep. She had to be tired – she dealt with activists, walking through town, lost, meeting someone new and was actually now sleeping them.
I said, in barely a whisper, “You are too.”
I shut my eyes, and sleep welcomed me with open arms.

The next day, Fluttershy and I went out for a walk to the local park. 
She told me about her times in Ponyville, and the friends she had there – an honest farm pony named Applejack; a loyal tomboy pegasus, Rainbow Dash; a generous dress-making unicorn, Rarity; an eccentric, ever-laughing earth pony, Pinkie Pie; and who she wrote to about her trip, the studious, friendly, always-good-with-magic Twilight Sparkle.
Her tales of misadventures amazed me. Especially the ones about the Grand Galloping Gala – it turns out it stunk. A whole lot. I’m kind of glad I never went, but I still kept Sir’s opinion in mind. Then again, Sir was Sir, and Fluttershy was Fluttershy.
I told her about life here in New Horseleans – the inner beauty nopony seemed to see, all the street merchants, my day at the Carnival, and so on and so forth. Her eyes got wider with every story.
And then, we talked about the whale; her job here. We discussed different ways to go about it, including taking hair dryers and melting off the ice. An idea’s an idea, no matter how stupid.
The dark clouds began to roll in. Many ponies got up and began to leave, in fear of the rainstorm. It also began to get a little chilly. I noticed this, when telling Fluttershy one of my many theories for the whale – ripping off the ice floe.
“I mean, sure, it might be painful,” I was saying, “But if we – what’s the matter?”
She was shivering, and wrapped her wings around her. “Just a l-l-little cold,” she chattered, “Sh-sh-should’ve br-brought a j-j-jacket.”
“Oh,” I happily retorted, “I can fix that.”
With my magic, I imagined a medium-sized campfire, suspended just above the ground, to appear before us. Let there be fire! I thought. And so there was.
We now had a small campfire burning before us, bringing us tons of heat even thought it was now completely overcast.
“Whoa!” Fluttershy marveled at the flame. “That flame is huge! You can do that?”
I shrugged. “I told you, I’m a pyromaniac.”
We both laughed at that. She continued looking at the fire, mesmerized by the flame. I figured now was a good time as any to continue my theory.
“As I was saying,” I began, “We could always –“
“Oh, Firestarter! I just had a brilliant idea!”
Fluttershy didn’t tend to interrupt – that’s my job. But, then again, she was always soft-spoken, and it seemed the fire gave her some sort of idea. A good one. 
“I’m listening,” I said. 
“How well can you control your fire?”
I thought about it for a second. “Fairly well, if I concentrate hard enough…why do you ask?”
Her eyes twinkled with excitement. “Well what if you used your fire – and we heated up the whale?”
I leaned up on my elbows. “You want me to set the whale on fire?”
Fluttershy seemed horrified of the idea. “Oh, Celestia no! Never! But, I mean – we could light a fire close to the whale, and heat her up slowly. You have the control over it, so you can specifically adjust the fire to the whale’s needs! We can save him!”
I sighed a long sigh. I had a feeling the fire might’ve been her idea. It sounded pleasant and all, but unfortunately, it just couldn’t be done. I knew why; she didn’t.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, I’m not sure that’s going to work.”
I laid back down under the shade of the tree. Fluttershy leaned over me and batted her eyes. “Oh, but please, just – there isn’t any way you can help the whale?”
“It’d be way too dangerous,” I said frankly.
“Dangerous? But, just look at this campfire. It’s like you’re totally in control.”
“’Cause I am. I mean, no, well, I – “
“See? I think you’d totally be able to save the whale with your fire. Unless, of course, this is as big of a fire as you can create.”
“No, I’ve done bigger,” I said without thinking, and I immediately regretted it. Of all times to get defensive, why now?
“Bigger? Just how big?”
I sighed again. “Fluttershy….” I mumbled, “I don’t really want to talk about it. Bad memories.”
“Um, okay,” she said softly, and she laid back down next to me. There was a nice period of silence, and then Fluttershy asked a different question.
“Firestarter, is there something you don’t – you don’t want me to know?”
That hit me. I now fully considered Fluttershy my friend, and if I had any beliefs in friends, it’s that you were completely honest with them. Even after a day, I felt closer to Fluttershy than I had to anybody else in months.
She was like a childhood friend, I suppose. Which was fantastic. My childhood was cut short by that event that day. The event that cause me to move. Something that had been on my mind the last 24 hours, simply because Fluttershy asked how I got to New Horseleans. 
And now, I felt, that she may deserve to know.
I sighed, and felt those horrible butterflies fly every which way in my stomach. “No, Fluttershy,” I said, “Not anymore.”
I turned to her. “Would you care to know how I ended up in New Horseleans?”
“Are you kidding? It’s all that’s been on my mind.”
“Okay…” I took one last deep breath, “Be prepared. The story is probably not what you’re expecting.”

> V
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

V
About two years ago, I lived in Ponyville. My mother, father, brother and I all lived in the upstairs part of a business that my dad owned. He sold shoes. I remember him selling horseshoes very clearly.
I had a lot of different friends about town, and in my class we were all at the period of time where cutie marks began to appear. I wasn’t the first to get mine – that belonged to this down-to-earth pony who I wasn’t exactly familiar with. I didn’t care about that so much, but when another pony who WAS a decent friend of mine got hers – a girl who wanted to be a fashion designer, her name was Extremity or Rarity or something like that – well, I drew the line.
I felt that I knew what my cutie mark was going to be – I had been pretty good at summoning fire at will, and I got the feeling mine would have to do with cooking, or something with a fireplace or hearth. I practiced my fire-skills all the time, but to no avail. I figured that maybe something BIG needed to happen in order for my cutie mark to appear.	
So, unfortunately, I just had to wait it out. I got more and more frustrated a whole lot, with not getting my cutie mark with everyone else, so a different friend of mine (not Rarity) invited me to go on a sledding trip with her and some other friends, once weather permitted.
My parents, the nice folk that they were, let me go and encouraged me to go. They said I should “take a break from worrying about my cutie mark.” And that’d it happen “when it happens”. So, I should go enjoy myself with some friends.
It was winter around that time, so when the first major snowfall happened, my friends and I walked with our sleds and skis and whatnot to the top of a fairly large mountain. The sight down from the top of their was probably the longest fall I’d ever seen.
But, when you’re just a little girl in Ponyville with all her friends, what else are you to do besides crazy stuff?
The first pony sled down the mountain. You could hear her scream like no other on the way down, even though the mountain didn’t have too many obstacles in it. I couldn’t tell how fast she was going, I just remember the blur flying down the snowcapped steepness, and finally slowing down to the bottom.
She waved two hooves to us, signaling she was totally okay, and that the next person could go.
There were five of us there, and somepony had the smart idea of all going down the mountain at the same time. That way, they’d all be together at the bottom, the wait wasn’t as long, and so on and so forth. Not to mention the ride down would be even better.
Accordingly, anyway. I wasn’t quite listening at that point – I had gone off to Cutie-Mark Lalaland, wondering when the heck I was going to get it. But, once I zoned back in, I noticed everypony on their sleds, about to go down the mountain all at once.
“3,” counted off a Pegasus friend of mine, “2….1…”
“NO, WAIT! WAIT FOR ME!” I pleaded.
“GO!” 
They couldn’t hear me in time. The three of them went down the mountain together, screaming like none others could, joyfully laughing as well.
I began to get into my sled when I felt the ground slip from under me.
I took a step back and noticed the mound of snow I was standing on began to crawl forward towards the edge of the drop.
I stepped back to avoid falling, when suddenly that crawl turned into almost breaking the sound-barrier. I fell on my back and watched almost all the snow fall down the drop.
Once I could regain my footing, I heard the screams get louder. Words were being said, but I couldn’t understand them at all, they were way to far down for me to hear them. Not to mention all the tumbling snow was making the loudest noise ever, which I soon realized was a full-fledged avalanche.
I leaned over the side of the drop just in time to watch the three ponies who had just sled down the mountain be too dumbfounded to do anything about the impeding snow. Within seconds, the avalanche completely covered them.
I screamed, and ran down the avalanche, but loading my footing almost immediately and I flew down the mountain, rolling and tossing every which way, while I heard the one girl who went earlier keep screaming for her friends. But I knew they couldn’t hear her.
I stopped flipping a billion times, and finally skidded to a stop in the snow. Shaking off as much as I could, I trudged up the snowy mountain just a little bit, until I was at where I figured the girls were, and I began to dig. I dug out the avalanche in theat one spot until I could see the ground, but still none of the girls.
The other pony had since ran to go get help, but we were pretty far away from Ponyville, and she was just an earth pony. It would be a while before she got back with any help. And these girls needed to get out now.
I began crying. What in Celestia’s name was I to do?
Then it hit me, I have decent control of fire. Maybe, just maybe, I can melt the snow.
I took a position, wanting to get this done as soon as possible, and pointed my horn towards a random position in the snow. I then focused on it, more than I ever had before. I closed my eyes, imagining a large, steady fire over all the snow, slowly melting it all.
I opened my eyes. My plan was working, and the fire was a little shaky, but it melted that patch of snow all the same. Water began flowing past me as I stared at the bare ground in frustration.
I went to another random section of snow, pointed my horn, and imagined the same thing. This time, I was panicking even more, and I couldn’t imagine the fire straight. It started waving every which way. 
Opening my eyes, I found the fire was actually very shaky, but still had done its job, showing nothing but bare ground again.
I cried out in anger and sobbed. My friends would freeze to death under the snow unless I could save them.
In complete rage at the world, I closed my eyes, and didn’t visualize anything. Just anger, pure adrenaline and anger.
I felt my self getting raised up by some unknown force, as if I was flying, but I didn’t dare open my eyes. I tried to think of where to point towards next, but I couldn’t think of anywhere. 
My horn did more than tingle. It was a horrible burning sensation, which made everything even worse. I couldn’t think of anywhere these girls would be, and now I felt my mane flailing everywhere, as if there was wind now, even though I didn’t feel any. In complete anger, I imagined every patch of snow being melted, and opened my eyes.
What lay before my was an inferno. I was floating above the mountain, my many was pure fire as I just stared in amazement at the inferno I set upon the entire mountain. Every patch of snow was now completely engulfed in flame as the conflagration I summoned began to burn down every tree and blade of grass and probably the mountain itself.
In disbelief, I turned to my left, and noticed the pony had brought back help. And most of the town, who were now staring at me in horror as I controlled the fire. As if I had done this on purpose.
Only then did I realize what I was doing. It took all of my might, and with the biggest struggle I ever put up, the blaze stopped like the snap of a finger, my mane reverted back to normal, my horn stopped tingling, and I fell a good 20 feet down to solid rock, exhausted out of my mind.
Right before I passed out, I saw the three girls I had set out to save. They were all not moving, and completely charred and blackened in the front. The town looked at me, backing away from me as paramedics started running towards the children. 
Their charred bodies…I was responsible for them, and I had no idea what I was doing….I only wanted to save them, and instead I…I…I…



“Firestarter!” cried a soft voice, “Firestarter!”
I came back form my nightmarish reverie, and felt tears stinging my eyes. I hadn’t even known I was crying, but I felt that anger and sadness mixture still lingering inside me.
Not only that, but I found something even worse. I floated above the park, a crowd forming on the streets, gasping at me in horror, as Fluttershy below me screamed in her gentle voice for me to stop. But, stop what?
I looked down straight below my. And then I saw. The tree we were leaning under was no longer a tree. That entire area, a little circle where the tree was the center was engulfed in flame and the tree had basically disintegrated, and still burned, the flames just licking my hooves. The fire roared over everything, and was the loudest I had heard since the avalanche.
“Firestarter!” screamed Fluttershy in the loudest voice I’ve ever heard her speak in, “Please, you need to stop!”
Realizing just what I was doing, I willed the fire to extinguish. The conflagration below me dissipated instantly. My mane stopped flying every which way, and the crazy magic holding me up was completely gone. I fell 30 feet to the ground, and hit unadulterated dead ground, sickeningly. Pain shot up my hooves, and I heard a bad crack from within me.
My emotions. I was supposed to be the one controlling the fire, not my emotions. I felt ashamed, which was only made worse by my hoof, which I thought I must’ve fractured.
Fluttershy galloped over to me right as I began to black out. She reached out and cradled my head in her hooves, her eyes twinkling with surprise, some fear, and – and – almost understanding. She saw now, why there was no way I could help that whale. I couldn’t always control fire as well as I should. 
“It’s over, Firestarter,” she said soothingly, as the crowd behind her murmured and got closer, “It’s over now.” 
Using all of my strength to stay awake, before I shut my eyes, I told Fluttershy the final part of the story. 
“But the worst part…was that…after all was said and done….a flame on my flank had appeared. What do you think it’s…like when you earn you’re cutie mark by burning your friends?”
And then I faded away into unconsciousness.

> VI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI	

When I finally came to my senses, for a second I thought I was on the sun. 
Everything was so bright, I couldn’t see a single thing. It was like I was staring into light itself, not having any clue of my surroundings. 
Then shapes began to form. One over here, there, pretty much everywhere. They began to take definite shape, right as the headache began.
I felt as if somepony had just cut my head in two, and might’ve even been pulling the separate sections apart. I could barely think, but somehow my mind pulled together the specific shapes, and I took hold of my surroundings.
The entire room was white. There was a desk at the far end of the room, a door to the right, a nightstand on my left, and it looked like a couple different cords were actually inserted into my arm. Probably because they were. I realized then that I was in a hospital.
But other than the few details, I still couldn’t see. The sun shone through the window, and, mixed with the egg-shell white walls, made for a migraine inducing sight. I lifted my hoof to block out the sun.
“AH!” I screamed. My headache stopped, but bringing my hoof up was a different story. A pain spasm shot up my hoof as a raised it. Looking down at it, I saw it covered with a bandage and a splint. Seems as though I won’t be shaking anypony’s hoff with that one for a while. But, why?
A yellow pegasus trotted in the room. “Oh, Firestarter! I heard you shriek! Are you okay?”
“No, no,” I replied, still shaken up from that surprise burst of pain, “I’m fine. Just moved my, uh, hoof the wrong way, Fluttershy.”
I was surprised I was able to remember her name. 
And then the truth came crashing down on me, just like I did from 30 feet up.
I was telling my backstory, and had become a little too emotional for comfort. This triggered an unintended firestorm I haven’t had since that fateful day on the mountain. I scorched the earth of the bark, burned down the tree, and probably scared the shoes off everypony’s hooves, including Fluttershy’s. I groaned miserably. 
Fluttershy took notice. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, nothing,” I sighed, “I’m surprised you’re still here.”
“Well, why wouldn’t I be?”
I looked over to the left. I didn’t really want to talk about it, but since I brought it up, I had to continue. 
Before I could, however, Fluttershy spoke. “You mean…about what happened in the park?”
I nodded slowly, and closed my eyes in sorrow.
“Firestarter,” she began, “Everypony gets emotional from time to time. It’s part of nature. Some cry, some hit things – and I guess some, like you, set things aflame.”
Her phrasing didn’t exactly help my cause. “You don’t understand, do you?” I asked.
“What…” She seemed to back off a bit. “What are you talking about, Firestarter?”
“I could’ve burned you! Potentially, from where you were, you could’ve gotten a free cremation from somepony you just met!”
She contemplated this for a bit. I knew it to be true. Thank Celestia she was a pegasus, or I most certainly would’ve engulfed her in flame. She was being oblivious to me – I had a problem, but she refused to back off. She didn’t know when to back off. I admired her for this – I don’t think I could ever be as courageous as her.
But, she was also stupid. I was too dangerous; she needed to get away. I know I was. As soon as I was better, I was going to have to get out of this town. I’d be outcast from everything, basically be the monster of the whole town. I could see it now. “Don’t go near that mare, dear – you’d be throwing yourself in a fireplace!”
Another town to leave. Another Ponyville to banish myself from. I could probably do it. But, I needed to cut all ties. Family, I might be able to do that for. Fluttershy – well, I hoped I could at least show her what was right. Make it easier, I suppose. For me.
But, she wouldn’t back down. “But, I didn’t. Firestarter, I can avoid your fire. You are my friend; friends stick together. I don’t care if you can burn me to a crisp, I’m around animals that could snap my neck or eat me.”
I hadn’t thought about this before. She continued. “Now stop being silly. You have given me a lot since my time here; one little forest fire isn’t going to steer me away. I’ve seen that before.”
I was stunned. “I – I – I – “ was all I could get out.
“Now,” she wrapped up, “You stay here. I have to go check on the whale. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you about the whale again; I understand you aren’t willing to do it, and I’m fine with that. You get your rest. You fractured your hoof during that fall – it’d help you to get some sleep. I’ll be back later to check on you. I can get anything for you while I’m out. Need anything?”
Now she was treating me like she was my mother. But with such kindness! “No, no thank you.”
“Okay,” she said, and she walked towards the door. “Goodbye, Firestarter. I’ll see you soon.”
“Goodbye,” I replied as she disappeared from sight, and the clop of her hooves faded into nothingness.

It was a while before I could even think about sleep. I just sat there, laying in my hospital bed, contemplating Fluttershy. How could such a small thing have so much compassion?
A doctor came in during my contemplation. He asked how my hoof was, how I was feeling, looked at my IV, et cetera, et cetera. I wasn’t really paying attention, I only though about the pegasus that had entered my life, whom I now considered a blessing.
Once the doctor left, I figured it was a good time to get some shuteye. I’d had a long day, and the sun began to dip low into the sky. It’d probably be late when Fluttershy came back, so I didn’t worry about that too much.
I rustled around under the sheets as best as I could, and began to drift away. Right as sleep enveloped me, a loud and fast clacking of hooves came closer and closer into the door. I opened my eyes, turned over, and watched as a grey mailmare with a letter in her mouth ran into the room and into the wall.
“Oh gosh, are you okay?” I asked.
“Never mind that!” she panted, clearly out of breath. She had to have been flying or running for some time, but I couldn’t tell which. “Is there a Fluttershy around?”
I shook my head. “She was here, but you missed her. She left…an hour ago, maybe?”
“Horsefeathers!” she exclaimed, and stamped her hoof on the ground, something I only wish I could do at this point.
I saw how aggravated she was. “If it helps, I can pass on the message to her.”
“You sure?” Her face brightened up. “I mean, this letter is urgent.”
I shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”
“Oh, thank you!” she said, as I used my magic to take the letter. “I’ve got so many letters to send and deliver. Ridiculous! Seems today everypony in New Horseleans wants to send a letter to family somewhere else! It’s like the Apocalypse is coming, or something!”
I could just guess what all the letters were about. “Dear loved ones, I regret to inform you I may not be able to get out of New Horseleans before this psychopath pony sets the place on fire. If I don’t…” 
The mailmare trotted out of the room, saying to herself as she walked, “Argh. I just don’t know what went wrong…”
I turned my attention back to the letter. The word URGENT was indeed stamped upon the letter. If it was as urgent, I might as well pass it on to Fluttershy myself. I’m sure I could get someone to signal her or something. I only hoped whatever it was could wait an hour or two more.
I willed the letter out of the envelope, unfolded it, and read.

Fluttershy – 

Please, get out of New Horseleans. The animal you’re trying to save – it’s beyond help at this point. I did some research – the ice floe on the whale isn’t cause by a disease or anything like that, but by something called an Ice Flamer. It slowly freezes its prey by being around it, then continues to eat it when the animal is frozen solid.
But, there’s more! Ice Flamers are very large, and very protective of their prey. If you try to meddle with it, it may retaliate! Your animal skills won’t help you at this point, Fluttershy. These things can and WILL kill you. You need to get out of town, and warn the others! 
I can meet you at the train station if need be. Simply shoot me a letter. Please, hurry. We are worried for your safety!
Love,
Twilight

I threw the letter to the side. There was no question whether I should help Fluttershy or not – she needed help. I don’t care if at this point I tried to push her away for her safety – her safety was now at risk.
I forced the cords out of my arm with my magic, albeit with effort. Then, with my good hoof, I threw the sheets over and jumped off the bed. Pain shot up my arm, intensified from last time.
I groaned in pain. But, forget about myself. I needed to save Fluttershy. I’m sure I wouldn’t be met with any trouble down the hall – ALL the doctors knew what I did, even my own. If they saw me angry, they’d probably leave at full gallop.
I hobbled, with bad pain, out the door, to the amazement and fear of everypony in the hallway. I continued down the stairs and out the hospital. Seeing a carriage, I approached it – to the horror of the horses pulling it. They began to hastily trot away, until I said, “No! Don’t! I’ve got money at my restaurant!” Then, more angrily, “Don’t leave me!”
They sensed aggression in my voice, and immediately stopped. One turned and said, “We’ll do whatever you want miss – but please, I have a wife and foal to think about. Please don’t burn me to a crisp.”
I shot him a glance of “Are you serious?” But then, I realized, maybe I could use this to my advantage. For at least a bit.
I hopped, in excruciating pain, onto the carriage. “Marine Center!” I commanded.
“Yes ma’am!” was the terrified response.
With that, the carriage sped off into the New Horseleans dusk, at a speed only matched by the Wonderbolts.

> VII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

VII	
When I got to the Marine Center, I had feared it would be too late, but luckily, I still had time.
The carriage horses and darted away as fast as they could as soon as I got off. Whatever, I didn’t care. I had a friend to save.
Feeling every spasm of pain in my right hoof, I walked straight through the research building, much to the surprise of staff, who backed away from me. I couldn’t say I was surprised – after all, I had burned down a section of the park. But, at this point, I didn’t care.
I approached one of the stallions there, wearing a lab coat. He looked at me in pure shock, and began retreating. I glared at him, and he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where’s the whale?” I demanded.
The staff member shook violently, as if he just had freezing water dumped all over him. He recoiled into the corner, “Just keep going s-s-straight. Last door o-on the r-right.”
I continued on my way, as he breathed a sigh of relief. I kept hobbling all the way, barreling through the instantly cleared hallways. Today was not a day to mess with Firestarter, and it seemed that the staff and pretty much everybody understood that.
I finally got to the last door on the right, and headbutted the door open. The glass on the door cracked a bit, but the door swung open.
The room was this massive, massive pool, that I noticed had a gate at the far end, which I guess was letting bay water in and out. The room itself wasn’t a room, but a warehouse about the size of a sports stadium.
The whale was just lying there in the water, and I saw the ice patches all over the whale, along with seeing them slightly increase about 1/10 of a hoof a minute.
Fluttershy had been leaning over the whale, but now turned around to the sound of the door slamming open. “Firestarter?” she questioned, “Wh-what are you d-doing here?”
“Fluttershy!” I yelled, “Stop what you’re doing! Get away from the whale!” 
Fluttershy backed away almost instantly. “Okay, okay, I’m getting away…but, why?”
“You got a letter!” I exclaimed, “Your – your, um – friend! Your friend, um….Twilight!”
Now, THAT was weird. I usually had the memory of an elephant, so the ability not to recall Twilight’s name was kind of unnerving. Especially when Fluttershy had told me that very day about her.
She cocked her head to the side. “Twilight? Twilight Sparkle? What did she want?”
“She – she was – she was reading –“ I couldn’t think of the words to say at all. I racked my brain for the right phrases, but none would come out.
Fluttershy shook her head disapprovingly. “Well, what did she say?”
The letter, the letter! What did she say, what did she say! I didn’t have a clue. Thinking hard, I tried to pull together everything I remembered about the letter.
Then I remembered, “The train station! She said she can meet you at the train station!”
She brightened up. “Oh, good! I don’t know why she would do such a thing, though, but that’s very nice of her. So, I guess you want to take me to the station, now?”
What? That wasn’t it at all. What had just sprouted out of my mouth?
She then looked down to my splint. “Oh, Firestarter! Did you come all the way here in a splint?”
“Um,” I got out, “Well, possibly, I don’t know…” The splint wasn’t important. There was a specific reason Fluttershy should not be near the whale. And I couldn’t think of it.
“Firestarter, I’m disappointed in you. Didn’t the doctor tell you to stay off that hoof for at least a day or two?”
She shook her head disapprovingly. “You need to get back in bed. Come on, once I’m done here, I’ll just take you back to the hospital myself. Just wait patiently, and maybe you’ll remember what your thinking about.”
I honestly couldn’t formulate a reply on this, and stared at the ground. For some reason, I felt that wasn’t a good idea for her to be near the whale, but I couldn’t think of the reason why at all. I looked around the shed, as if the answer would be right there.
I saw Fluttershy, apparently comforting the whale, but also deep in thought about something. She walked over to a little bin, reached in, and pulled out a bag labeled bath beads. 
“Maybe this will cheer you up, Mr. Whale,” she said. 
I didn’t uinderstand how bubbles and scents were going to help this whale – it was beyond help. With this in mind, I looked towards the whale, lying groggily with ice patches constantly growing on it. Towards the back, I also saw a swirling fog on the other side of the pool.
Wait, swirling fog? I didn’t think it was that cold in the pool. Or at least, it shouldn’t’ve been.
As Fluttershy continued pouring in the bath beads, the swirling fog in the corner of the shed as growing. It began to grow upwards, and a hissing sound emanated from it. Suddenly, I knew what was going to happen. I remembered now.
“Fluttershy!” I screamed, “Get away from the pool! There’s an Ice – “
The last shake of the bag was heard and my pegasus friend tossed the empty container to the side. “Got it!” exclaimed Fluttershy, “They’re all in.” 
The aroma was magnificent. The bubbles were all over the place and the constantly-churning inground pool gave off a light green shade.
“What were you, um, saying?” asked an almost inaudible Fluttershy.
“I SAID,” I yelled, “THERE’S AN ICE FLAMER IN HERE!! GET AWAY!”
“A what?”
But by this time, the fog had begun to solidify.
“FLUTTERSHY! GET OVER HERE! WE NEED TO LEAVE!!”
“What?”
The fog took a shape, something that was leaning over due to it being taller than the shed. The water around it began to freeze, in spite of the warmness of the pool. The ice climbed up the fog, creating a new figure out of ice.
Fluttershy has walked over to where I was, and now stood staring in awe at the ice figure on the other side of the shed.
The figure was taller than the shed, and was this massive uncelestial thing, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It sort of looked like a dragon, one with spines but no wings at all, and had razor-sharp talons. Its body was slender, like a snake – and with each breath, it puffed out that same, below-freezing fog that it was made from. Its tail was spiked, massive icicles that were sharper than the needle of a syringe. 
The massive ice flamer stood up straight, demolishing the overhanging ceiling. Debris splashed into the water from great heights, actually getting Fluttershy and I wet with each one. It roared something fierce – the sound that came out was enough to make the water ripple 10 feet high, and the whale was tossed along with it.
The massive mammal flew 20 feet in the air, and then landed with an even bigger splash back in the water. It slowly returned to the surface, and bellowed out its normal call, something I associated with either annoyance, or pain. Or both.
Once it was done, the flamer glared at us, breathing angrily.
Fluttershy was paralyzed with fear.
And to be honest, so was I.

> VIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII

I leaned to Fluttershy and said in my lowest voice possible: “Let’s just tiphoof to the door, slowly. No sudden movements.”
“Uh-huh,” said the reply, a sound that could barely be heard.
We each took a step to our left.
The ice flamer saw us and bellowed out another roar. Why would I ever think that tiphoofing would work?
“RUN!” I yelled, and I booked it for the door. I pushed the door open, and held it open for my companion, who was…nowhere next to me. “Fluttershy?” I asked warily.
My friend, like I said before, was absolutely paralyzed with fear. She couldn’t move an inch, even with the flamer right above her head.
“FLUTTERSHY!” I yelled and I ran (or at least, attempted to) right to her. I tackled her, pushing her out of the way as the flamer’s ice breath froze off that entire section of ground she was standing on.
She shivered uncontrollably, but I couldn’t tell whether that was from the cold or not. She looked to me for hope. “F-f-f-f-f-fire-st-st-st-starter?”
“Come on,” I said, “No time for chitchat.” We had to do something about this.
The idea came to me. I could probably use my fire to destroy the beast, but I had no idea how much I would need. This thing was way bigger than anything I’d handled before (heck, I don’t think I’ve ever actually handled things before), and I didn’t want to risk burning the whale, the building, and most importantly, Fluttershy.
I decided it wasn’t the best option. So, Fluttershy came up with an idea, over the flamer’s roar. “S-s-stay out of sight h-here. Go g-get help. I can f-fly around for n-n-now.”
And with that, Fluttershy took to the air. The ice flamer roared again, and began swatting at Fluttershy, who was surprisingly nimble. However, his swat ended up tearing down the ceiling piece by piece.
I soon realized that the massive debris would probably crush me, so I hobbled over to the door to the bay. I looked back a final time, and I noticed Fluttershy distracting the beast. Let’s hope she’s as good with animals as she said she was.


I went down the hall, as some of the staff came out.
“What’s going on in there?”
“Sounds like a fight.”
“In the whale room?”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“PONIES!” I shouted, “THERE’S AN ICE FLAMER IN THERE!”
The staff questioned each other. They had no clue what an ice flamer was, and I expected as much, but they seemed fearful all the same.
But then again, maybe it was me. They started backing away and conversing amongst themselves.
I shook my head. “Just listen to me! I’m not here to burn down anything! There’s a poor whale and a poor pegasus still in the whale room! And they aren’t going to make it unless we get some help!”
The staff looked to one another. What did they have that they could do?
One of them came up with a bright idea, “I’ll call for help. The Wonderbolts should be able to take care of this.”
It wasn’t a bad idea. The Wonderbolts were famous for taking down large beasts. I nodded at him and he went to go try and signal them.
My mind returned to Fluttershy. The calvary wouldn’t be coming in for who-knows how long, and Fluttershy might need some back up. I waved a hoof to some of the staff to follow me.
I got a better response than I’d hoped. About five of them stepped forward, not extremely courageous, but willing to go help out a pony in need. They trotted, and I hobbled, leading the way to the door.
The glass door was now covered with a layer of ice. I tried pushing it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Feeling it was safe to use a tiny bit of my magic, I envisioned the ice melting. Sure enough, a small flame appeared, melting the ice rapidly. Once that was done, I summoned it out of existence, and we barged in the room.
The entire floor was basically ice, and I felt myself shivering from the cold, which seemed to increase exponentially. Looking up, I found the flamer still going for Fluttershy, who was way above his head in the exposed nighttime New Horseleans sky. She was safe.
I waved my good hoof. “Fluttershy!”
She found me. “Firestarter!” 
She flew up, then down incredibly fast. The momentum she just created would help her get down fast enough. The ice flamer roared and swatted one more time at Fluttershy.
His claw, made entirely of ice, landed with a horrible, gut-wrenching smack on Fluttershy’s back. I cringed at the sight of it, as the force was enough to rocket her towards to ground.
There was no stopping at all. She came down at the speed of sound onto the water, all of it now solid ice, and crashed through the ice with a force enough to completely shatter it. Her body splashed into the water, and at the rate she was going, I figured she was going in deep.
What I didn’t expect, was her not coming up.
I stared at the opening to the water only moments more, and my pink-maned friend showed no sign of breaking the surface.
Dear Celestia.

> IX
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIII	

You get used to the coldness after five seconds, usually. But this water was so cold, it never left me. Even today, I can still feel the ice-cold water against my hide.
My splint got all damp and I felt that with my broken hoof, but I didn’t care. I kept swimming downward, having no clue where the ground was. It was close to black down here. I couldn’t see anything.
Another second or two, and I was there. I felt the sand beneath me. But, I was running out of breath – I wouldn’t be down here much longer.
I swam in circles, looking for Fluttershy. Not being able to see anything, I at least willed my horn to glow. It happened – but the radius was terribly small.
My air supply was running low, and I could feel the strain on my lungs. I had to go up and get air before I headed back down.
Then, I saw her – drifting in the middle of the water not at the ground, but a bit above it. She was just floating there, not moving whatsoever except with any current the water had.
I completely forgot about my air supply, and swam as fast as I could to get her. When I reached her, I didn’t even look at her – I grabbed her with my hooves and kicked my way to the surface.
The water was extremely deep, and I neglected my lungs too long. I opened my mouth and attempted to breathe on impulse.
A flood of water came into my lungs, blocking out any air. I was 2 feet from the surface. If I could just make it before blacking out completely…
Blackness closed in, and then I gave one powerful kick and broke through the surface.  Almost immediately, my gag reflex kicked in, and I coughed and sputtered, and I felt myself almost vomit all the water I took in. I gasped for air, feeling slightly refreshed by the freezing oxygen that entered my lungs.
Making sure Fluttershy’s head was above the water, I kicked to one of the edges of the pool. The ice was slippery, but luckily acted as a sort of ramp to get on. The flamer was too busy with the five ponies on the other side, who were doing a mixture of fighting and running.
I struggled with my broken hoof and Fluttershy’s weight, and completely slipped, falling on my head and dropping Fluttershy about two inches. She seemed to be alright – I, on the other hand, could feel the slightest lump being raised on my forehead. 
She lied on her stomach, giving me full view of her damaged back. Her back, from what I could see, was swollen beyond belief – the ice flamer had hit her hard. Her wings were situated every which way, and I could easily tell that they were clipped. She wouldn’t be flying for a while.
If she was alive, that is. No – don’t think like that.
I turned her over. She probably took in water, so with my good hoof, I began pressing down on her chest repeatedly. I didn’t know a whole lot about resuscitation, but this was worth a shot.
I gave around my 10th push, almost losing hope, but then her eyes squeezed as she, too, coughed, sputtered, and vomited the water out of her system. Thank goodness, she was okay. Once she was done, she calmed down and laid back down. With what looked like a lot of effort, she half-opened her eyes.
“F-f-f-f-f-f-fire….”
I cradled her in my hooves. “Fluttershy, it’s alright now. You’re safe.”
She looked to me, with those twinkling eyes she possessed. Now, they were full of sadness, and pain I can’t even fathom. My heart broke at the sight of such a gentle filly receiving such a hardship.
She shook her head ever so slightly. “No, n-n-n-no more…you…it’s…” She trailed off, having a violent coughing fit. The tears in my eyes welled up again. Pull through, Fluttershy. Don’t leave me. 
“What is it, Fluttershy? Please, don’t leave me just yet.” Tears rolled down my face, and my voice cracked when I spoke, but I needed to get this out.
Then, all noises in the room seemed to stop, as she continued, no longer stuttering.
“Thank you…Firestarter.”
The tears seemed to stop, and she began to shut her eyes. “W-what?” I asked, my voice being drowned out by the prevalent silence. 
“I wanted….to thank you…for everything…you…are a real friend….I will always love you.”
I never heard those words spoken to me over the last two years, and I much less expected to hear it from somepony I just met yesterday.
But when she said it, I blinked, and when I opened my eyes my tearducts became waterfalls. No words had ever sounded so sweet, and I never wanted to hear anyone else say they loved me ever again.
Voice cracking, dying on the inside, I returned her statement. “I love you, too.” 
She nodded ever-so-slowly. The pegasus stared at me only a moment longer, and then she slowly closed her eyes. Within moments, my best friend in the world limped, lifeless in my arms.

> X
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“No,” I said to no one in particular, “No, no, no.”
I held her close to my head, and the tears came rolling down. Her mane was now in my face, but I didn’t care. I needed to be with her. Nobody else.
My best friend who I met yesterday was now gone…another thing in my life taken away.
Only, I would never overcome this. This wasn’t moving or anything like that. This wasn’t being banished from a town. This wasn’t being outcast. This was Fluttershy’s life. I rested my head on her still-warm chest, and wept.
I saw through watery eyes the tears fall onto her hide. “Fluttershy…” I crooned, hoping she would hear me. But she didn’t.
She would never come back.
I knew it, deep inside, that it was over. But, I refused to accept it.
Suddenly, the sounds came back. I heard the ice flamer fighting off the five ponies, the ponies fighting and then running. I didn’t hear the whale whatsoever – that thing had to be long gone.
I heard the ice flamer roar, and then something inside me snapped.
With Fluttershy still cradled in my hooves, my deep depression turned into absolute rage. The flamer had done this. The flamer had nearly, if not completely, killed my best friend. It was the flamer who deserved to pay for this. My eyes saw complete red as I looked at the flamer fighting off the ponies.
No one – absolutely nopony or no thing touched my friends. And especially not her. She was a blessing in my life; I saw no reason for her to suffer but she did.
I no longer envisioned a fire – I demanded it to come into existence. I wanted everything in this room to burn down. I wanted that ice flamer to be a puddle of water. 
I felt myself begin to rise above the ground, Fluttershy still cradled in my hooves. The outer edge of my sight was now lined with a deathly black as they glowed like the night. My horn did more than tingle – it felt like it was building up, like more weight was being added although there was nothing there.
My mane turned into pure flame as I now rose about 20 feet above the room’s floor. A high pitched sound came from within me, as my rage completely built up. 
The five ponies on the other side stared in utter shock as they watched a scarlet red pony, with a mane that wasn’t even hair, a mane that was fire, and pitch-black but somehow glowing eyes carrying a deceased pegasus up into the air with her. I rose up as much as I would, and the ice flamer turned to me. 
Hell hath no fury like Firestarter. With no greater desire than to see this room aflame, I closed my eyes.

I opened them again, and simultaneously the entire room lit up in flame. Every inch of the walls, the ice on the floor, the doorway itself, everything was engulfed in flame. The roar overpowered that of the ice flamer’s, and I watched with joy as the flames reached his legs.
He flailed for mercy, trying to brush off the flames but it only stuck to him more, causing his hands and arms to alight. He screamed, pleading with me to end it. I had no intention of doing so, and I willed the fire to be even stronger.
The flames leapt up dozens of feet, encasing the flamer in his deathbed. He let out a final scream, as I watched his poor miserable life melt away, the flames following him into the water. Good.
The five ponies had left at this point, and so had the gathering crowd at the door. I could’ve stopped, but for whatever reason, that just wasn’t going to cut it for me. I had never been this mad. And it felt…good. This is what I was born to do – fire.
The wall of the room bent outwards, still flaming as it took the rest of it with it, showing off the flaming room to all of New Horseleans. The entire wall then fell into the bay, disintegrating as it fell. Then, why not the whole room?
I commanded the fire to get even stronger, and the flames turned from orange to a bright yellow as they vaporized the walls of the shed in seconds. I heard the citizen’s screams from below as I decided I might as well burn down the facility.
They had no idea what I’ve been through. No idea the tragedy I went through at Ponyville. They had the nerve to call me a monster? They were scared of me, were they? Just because I set their precious park alight? Well, let’s see about that.
The facility in less than a second went up, in now-white-hot flames. The fire only made me stronger, made me crave more burning. What was next on my agenda to burn?
Why not the entire block?
Fire spread out along the block, while ponies everywhere screamed and ran for their lives. NOW they had a reason to scream. Run away, little fillies, run away. 
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, and the Wonderbolts came, soaring in from the distance, way too late to fight any ice flamer. I didn’t have a clue why they were here.
Then, they flew past me at Mach 1, cooling down my flame a bit. I saw now. I was the menace now. Is that what they wanted, a menace? I could certainly give it to them.
I willed a wall of fire to surround me, and it was so. There was no way any Wonderbolt was getting in, unless they wanted to come in as ashes!
I laughed, making a deep, dark, sound I had never heard before. I could feel the flames expanding, roaring – it was even as if I was controlling the flame anymore. It was as if I WAS the flame. It felt good. It felt great. This was what I was meant to do.
Something stirred in my arms. The flames were getting too close, possibly?
I looked down from my power, and no, it was Fluttershy.
Fluttershy…
I stared agape at the animal-lover. What…what was I doing?
The wall of fire dissipated. I watched as the facility still went up in flames, and the fire spread. I began lowering myself down, and extinguished the facility fire at a slow rate.
The building crumbled and toppled beneath the receding flames, and at this point I could see that it was little more than a heaping pile of rubble. A wall fell backwards into the ocean, creating a steaming pool of water the was extremely loud. The black went away from my eyes, and my mane turned back into hair.
My hooves touched ground again, and the pain in my bad hoof that had gone away now returned with a vengeance. I extinguished the fire completely, and now, nothing burned, but everything smoldered.
There was complete silence once the smoldering died down. Looking around, I noticed a whole mess of ponies on the ground, moaning, or twitching, or both. A couple of them were severely blackened. 
There was also a whole other mess of ponies – the crowd gathering outside where the facility used to be, wide-eyed in awe and fear, there mouths agape in what could only be described as pure terror.
Standing among them was a taller figure. Next to a purple unicorn with a red streak in her mane, a tall alicorn, tail and mane constantly flowing, and purple eyes that were gentle, yet seemed to stare in my soul, stood silently. I had never seen her before, but I knew with an even more gut-wrenching feeling who is was.
Princess Celestia.
Princess Celestia watched me burn down a building in pure fury.
I then looked down at Fluttershy, now lying on the ground before me where I had gently put her down at. Whatever part of her that was facing outward as now very red. Like a suntan, except it wasn’t. It was a second-degree burn. Her face, chest, stomach. All of it. By the wall of flames.
The flames I had summoned.
Only then did I realize, with horror, the extremity of my actions.
I had incinerated a shed, probably killed some other ponies, and failed to warn my friend in time before she was brutally killed by a horrible monster.
What had I done?

> XI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A swoosh was heard. I didn’t pick up my head to look. I now lie down over Fluttershy’s body, and I rested my head on her still-warm body. I didn’t want to talk to anypony ever again, I just wanted to be with her.
A flash of yellow and cerulean flashed in the corner of my watery eyes, a sight I could only associate with Wonderbolts. I heard their voices – they were talking amongst themselves.
“What do we do with her?”
“What do you mean? We ‘cuff her! What are you, stupid?”
“Well, no – but I’m not gonna touch her. I put on hoof on her, I’m finished. I don’t need you picking up my ashes just yet.”
“You are the biggest foal I’ve ever met.”
“Fine, then you do it!”
“That’s not what I meant – it’s, um – it’s YOUR job, actually.”
“Gentlecolts, please.”
This last voice came from regality, not like the backwoods accent the Wonderbolts had. The step of approaching gilded hooves reminded me of the tavern I would never, ever work at again.
I looked up, feeling a dried stream of tears down my face. The Sun Princess stood about five feet away from Fluttershy and I, with that same purple mare at her side. I felt the Wonderbolts beside me kneel. “Yes, your majesty,” they said unanimously.
The purple mare had water in her eyes, which were as wide as dinner plates. “Fluttershy!” she exclaimed, and knees buckling, fell to the ground. This must’ve been one of her friends from Ponyville.
With great pain, both physical and heartfelt, I backed about two steps away from Fluttershy, enough for the unicorn in front of me to comfortably sit over Fluttershy and mourn her. I heard her muffled sobs as she buried her head in Fluttershy’s fur.
“Oh, Fluttershy…” was heard. She looked up, grief-stricken and red-eyed. “What – what happened to her?”
The Princess had been looking down at the mare beside her. “I think I may know, my student.” She turned to me, and as I looked at her, I saw that she seemed to be a mostly gentle princess – but, today, I heard no such thing. Her glare made my heart somehow heavier than it already was.
The poor mare looked to me. “Wh-what…why…oh, Fluttershy….why….why is she like this?” She could barely contain herself as she broke into tears.
I sighed massively. I didn’t think I could shed any more tears than I already had. “I…I can tell you,” I said, “But…we need to get her someplace first. A hospital. She needs a doctor’s care.”
Celestia slowly nodded. “A wise decision.”
The purple unicorn continued sobbing.

As the three of us entered the hospital, the doctors already seemed to know what happened. Once they were done bowing down to the Princess, they magically carried Fluttershy away, with another doctor behind the one carrying my friend leading us the same way.
The white walls reminded me of earlier that day, with Fluttershy telling me that there was no reason to leave me, whatsoever. Well, I owed her, a whole lot. And I had absolutely no reason to leave her.
Night turned into a darker night, as 3 doctors, a deceased pegasus, the Princess herself, and two other mares entered a small room. They worked seamlessly, gently laying Fluttershy down, then scanning her over. Burns here, blisters here, bruises here – I almost turned away. I couldn’t bear to see my friend examined like this.
They took notes on clipboards, covered all but her upper half in a sheet, as if she was sleeping. If only she truly was…
The purple mare, which from Fluttershy’s description I figured was Twilight, had just been staring, unbelievably tired, at Fluttershy, and now I heard her sniffling. Crying again. I couldn’t blame her. The Princess herself stood and watched in sorrow, as the doctors went about their ways.
I felt the need to ask a question to the doctors, but I didn’t want to do it in earshot of the two ponies in my company, for my own various reasons. Not to upset Twilight even more, and not to let the Princess know if I had any part in her death. Also, to hide any cracking in my voice.
I approached one of the doctors scribbling things on their clipboard. I put a hoof on his shoulder. “Doctor?” I mumbled.
He looked at me, went wide-eyed for a second, then returned to his original state. I guess he figured there was too much going on for me to be the vicious pony I was. “Yes?” he replied softly.
I couldn’t figure out how to ask the question, at all. Finally, words came out. “How….how did she die, doctor?”
The doctor sighed, and flipped through his clipboard. Still reading, he said to me, “I’m not 100% sure, but if I had to guess, it’d be somewhere along the lines of the spine. It’s either shattered or broken or somewhere along those lines – we’d need to get her to an X-ray to be sure. A coroner would be able to tell you.” Turning to one of his assistants: “Nurse, could you get the coroner over here?”
“Right away, doctor.” She began to leave the room.
“No, wait! Hold on a second!”
The voice came from a whole different pony. All heads in the room, mine included, turned to a nurse leaning over Fluttershy, her ear pressed to my pink-maned companion. 
The lead doctor asked, “What is it? Is she alive?”
My heart skipped a beat. The nurse picked her head up and clasped one of Fluttershy’s hooves in her two. She made a tough contemplating face. “It’s…it’s hard to tell. I’m not sure if that’s actually MY pulse I’m feeling, it’s so faint. And I can’t see her breathing, or if she is, she’s not raising her stomach like anypony would.”
The doctor put a hoof to his chin, in thought. “Let’s hook her up to a heart monitor,” he suggested, “Just to clear things up.”
All eyes were trained on the doctors as they hooked up a heart monitor to Fluttershy like it was choreographed. One of them wheeled in the machine, which was basically a computer nailed into a hat rack, while another took the cords attached to it, and handed them to another pony. That pony, with surgical precision, inserted them into Fluttershy’s arms. 
The last one plugged in the device, and almost instantly, the screen turned to a black, signaling that it was on. 
We all watched in apprehension, as the machine whirred to life, but the screen remained the same.
Silence in the room, as some statistics came up. 
Then, a flat line.
It continued moving to the right, so slowly.
But, the left end of it was raised.
As it kept going, everypony in the room soon saw that it was going in the shape of a hill, with a beep signaling every time it reached its maximum.
It was measuring her heartbeat.
Her heart was beating.
Somehow, by some miracle, Fluttershy was alive.
I couldn’t speak or move. I stared in joyous, silence as my still-alive friend slept in peaceful comatose.

> XII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The door swung shut as the last doctor left the room, about 30 minutes later. After a bit more examination, we were all told the following:
1.)	Fluttershy would pull through, without a doubt. 
2.)	Her spine was damaged – she would need to be bedridden for a month at the absolute least – but the doctor expected more like at least 3 before she could even think about walking.
3.)	She had second-degree burns, but they’ve gone down, and will clear up soon.
4.)	Her wings were basically clipped. No flying for who-know-how-long, it was too soon to tell. At least 6 months grounded
5.)	There was no telling how long she’d be in a coma for. The docs expected at least two days.
We all breathed a massive sigh of relief. The yellow pegasus before us would perfectly fine, she just needed a little more rest.
Twilight (still guessing, wasn’t totally sure), said, her eyes still red from the tears she shed earlier, “Well, thank goodness she’s okay. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her.”
Celestia closed her eyes and nodded silently. “Yes, Twilight.” So I was right after all.
I had refused to say anything since we arrived here. The doctors were busy at work, and there was no reason to speak anyway. Anything that came out of my mouth would’ve been trouble.
Twilight looked back to Fluttershy. “But, what happened? I saw the warehouse on fire and all, but…” Her face was contorted in thought.
Celestia opened her eyes. “I think somepony here knows exactly what happened.” She glared at me. I felt my ears flop downwards in a new depression.
Twilight slowly walked up to me. “Do…do you know what happened? Actually, first, I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle.” She held out her lavender hoof to me.
I put my scarlet one to hers. “Firestarter. Most ponies tend to call me F for short, though.”
“Charmed.” She took her hoof down. Solemnly, but full of curiosity, she asked, “So, what took place? Down there, at the warehouse?”
Celestia looked at me the entire time. I felt the weight her eyes carried as they stared into the fiber of my being. I took a long sigh and began. “This really started when I met Fluttershy…”
I went through everything – from when I formally met Fluttershy being harassed by the activists, to when I retrieved her from death beneath the waves. Twilight would occasionally look to her friend, although she never really asked a question, which, judging from  Fluttershy’s description of the lilac unicorn I was talking to, was unlike her. Either I was good at getting every detail, or she was too engrossed in the story to continue. 
She cringed at the part where the flamer gave Fluttershy a hearty smack on the back, and then, after I told them how I had cradled Fluttershy in my arms, I actually saw her sniff. I imagined her about to cry.
And then of course, I had to tell them about the fire. I had flashed my cutie mark at the two of them earlier, but refrained from telling them why I got it. There was no need for that. But, I did have to tell them about the incident at the park, something Twilight seemed surprised at, but Celestia seemed to know already.
Then, I told them how I lost it at the warehouse. I tried to be as basic as possible, without telling them how anger completely overcame me. Just that I lost control for a brief second, which I guess was due in part to me reaction of Fluttershy’s death. Or almost-death.
That’s when Twilight’s eye began to get wide. She didn’t back away, but seemed to be in utter shock. She didn’t understand how somepony would deliberately want to cause that sort of harm to other, but didn’t completely run away either.
I wrapped up, with Twilight running over to Fluttershy, after the fiasco. When it was over, the magic-savvy mare took a long gulp. “That’s um…quite the tale…Firestarter,” she said slowly.
Celestia, who looked at the ground, lost in thought, concurred. “Indeed.” Turning to her student: “Twilight, my faithful student, can you please go retrieve the bag we brought with us? It’s in the carriage close to the Marine Center.” Looking at me, “Where the Marine Center used to be, anyway.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Twilight turned and trotted out the door.
When she was sure her protégé had left, and had left the general area, Celestia turned to me. I refused to meet her in the eye. She made me incredibly uncomfortable, just her being there. We stood there awkwardly in silence; me, not having anything to say; Celestia about to say something but waiting; Fluttershy, comatose; and the only sound in the room being the beeps of the heart monitor.
Finally, a deep breath was heard as Celestia exhaled. Her eyes closed, she began to speak to me. “Firestarter,” she said, almost mumbling, “I have done my best to overlook your actions.”
The words sunk in horribly. Something bad was coming, I wasn’t exactly sure what, but something bad. I looked up at her as she opened her eyes. She continued to speak to me.
“My pupil knows nothing about what happened in Ponyville – or, more specifically, that you had any hoof in its happening. But, I, as you probably do, know. I know all big events that go on within my kingdom.”
More silence. I didn’t want to say a word – I was standing in the shadow of the most cherished mare in Equestria, and it wasn’t anything like I expected.
“It was good that you moved on. You were a filly; however traumatic the events were, and however much of a tragedy it turned out to be…you were still young. You knew what you did was wrong, and you left. It was better this way; you weren’t outcast, and you didn’t have to feel the guilt every time somepony looked at you. You let bygones be bygones, so they say. A wise, wise decision.”
She didn’t know. I felt the guilt almost every day – the three lives I ended that day were an unforgivable act, and it haunted me to the day. I even had nightmares about such things – but that’s a fact I didn’t want to point out to Celestia at this moment. Today was not the day to be correcting.
“I expected,” she went on, “That it would be the first and last time you would do that. For a time, there was no incident. I saw that you used your talent to the best of your ability – that was good.
“Twilight, however, soon told me of the problem our bedridden companion faced – so I suggested we arrive here, in hopes we could stop it. We were told of somepony setting a park on fire – I had wondered if it was you. But, I figured, it could’ve been somepony else.
“Then, we arrived at the Center, only to see it incinerated before our eyes. And who should be in the center of it – but the mare standing in front of me?”
I had absolutely nothing to say. Celestia knew this, too.
“Firestarter, I thank you for saving Fluttershy. I really believe that if you hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t’ve survived. But, I am disappointed in you. You are better than this. You are. And I would suggest moving on to a different city or town – far, far away from here.”
I nodded solemnly. 
“But, I’m afraid, that won’t cut it this time.”
This time, my eyes met hers. I had no idea what to expect at this point. Dungeon? Slave?...Maybe even execution?
“You’ve put too many ponies in danger with your actions. I don’t want them to live in fear, I don’t want anymore hurt – and I don’t want you to be an outcast your entire life. But, to avoid all this – I have to outcast you.”
I cocked my head to the side. She wasn’t making any sense.
Twilight returned, a bag filled with various items on her back. “I have them, Princess.”
She turned to her student. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said, and magically took the bag off of Twilight and put it on my back. I felt its weight; there was a whole lot to it. Seemed like a lot of different items, too.
Celestia turned her attention back to me. “Yes, it seems confusing – outcast to be not outcast – but, it’s sort of like the phrase ‘fight fire with fire’ – which I’m sure you’re all too familiar with, aren’t you?”
I might’ve laughed at a different time – but this wasn’t a different time, now was it?
“Therefore,” she said loudly, “As Ruler of All Equestria, I, Princess Celestia, hereby banish you, Firestarter, from all of Equestria. You will now be sent away to a point outside the borders, never to enter again.”
My jaw could’ve easily dropped – all of Equestria? This was a massive land. It was hard not to enter ANY of it. 
But I simply nodded and spoke my first words to Celestia that night: “I…I understand, Your Majesty.”
“No! You can’t!”
The soft, gentle voice came from to my left, and all of our heads looked to that direction.
Fluttershy was out of her coma. 
And, she had tears in her eyes.

> XIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	 “Fluttershy!” exclaimed Twilight in happiness, “You’re awake!”
Fluttershy completely disregarded her friend for the time being, and faced Celestia. “But, Princess…you, you just can’t banish Firestarter.”
“Alas, my pupil,” she said, “But I must. For the better of Equestria, and for your safety.”
Fluttershy looked around crazily. “But, but…why?”
Celestia sighed. “Firestarter has risked the safety of one too many ponies in this fair land, and, for the safety of all others, banishment is the best decision. It is better this way.”
Fluttershy began hyperventilating. “No…no!” She leaned forward, attempting to fly, but then bent backwards into her pillow. “Ooh, ow, ow, ow!” she exclaimed. I had no idea how much her back hurt, but I figured she shouldn’t get up at all.
I walked over to her bedside. “Fluttershy…”
“But, but why?” A tear dripped down her face, and her voice cracked, something I honestly didn’t think it could do, since it was so high already. “Why do you have to go?”
“Fluttershy…Celestia is right. You don’t know all of what happened at the Center – it wasn’t good. I hurt a lot of ponies back there…I told you what happened in Ponyville…and if I were to move away, who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
I saw her face contort in despair – she squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, there was a shimmer of tears covering them. “Firestarter,” she mumbled, “You are one of my best friends. You…you just can’t go!”
I rested my head on her neck, feeling the warmth of her fur. Her hooves wrapped around my neck, and I lifted my good hoof as we embraced on the bedside. I figured I couldn’t cry again that night, but the lump in my throat began to form again.
The pegasus sniffed. “Isn’t there anyway you can…you can…” She trailed off, unable to complete her sentence. I heard a sob she tried to contain as some of her tears spilled onto my fur.
“I…I just can’t Fluttershy,” I replied, “Believe me, and I know you don’t want to…” My voice completely cracked. “It’s for the best.”
I knew, inside, that it honestly was. This was to be a national topic – I would be the monster of all of Equestria, the mare people hid from in there homes, an outsider, an outcast. I initially thought I might be mocked, but it would be different. Stories would be spread – anypony who made fun of me was ashes the next morning, things like that. I would be a hermit – not wanting to accidentally hurt anypony, not talking to them so my emotions would be in check. I would live in a ramshackle home on the side of a cliff, so, should I choose to set fire to anything – it would be my own home, where I would hopefully die in.
This was no life for me, though – I knew it, Celestia knew it, and deep down inside, I think Fluttershy knew it, too. Banishment – the chance to truly start over again. I should be looking forward to it.
But, I didn’t. I had family here, now – the Gilds, my older “brother”, Sir. I wouldn’t ever see them again. I wrote to my parents, my real family, a couple times – I couldn’t do that again, either. 
Mostly however, as the hooves of my best friend in the world dug into my upper back and her tears fell like rain onto my fur, it would be Fluttershy. I had known her for not even two days – even so, I developed more of a connection to this pastel-colored pegasus than anypony else over the course of nearly two years. I would never see her again…this time, for real. She wasn’t in a coma, or almost dead – she’d be gone from me forever. We both knew it, too.
Thinking of this, I let my tears fall now. I didn’t care who saw. I just needed to be with her.
I heard a sniff behind me. It could only be Twilight – swept up in the moment, I suppose. It brought me back to reality. Reluctantly, I began to part from our embrace. Fluttershy did the same.
Before we totally separated, Fluttershy clasped me on my shoulders, and we locked watery eyes with each other. She said, in a soft, saddened voice – “Please, do me one thing, will you?”
I nodded. “Anything.”
“Promise me you will write me.”
I looked straight into her eyes, not blinking. “I promise.”
We separated from our hug, her hoof and my good one lingering on each other as long as possible, and then leaving each other for good.
I faced Celestia and Twilight. The purple mare had been crying, and I could still see some water in her eyes. Celestia turned to Twilight, and whispered something. I could just make out the words “best if”, “Fluttershy”, “memory spell”, “be easier.”
She would forget me. Once I left, she would forget me.
For the best.
I felt a last teardrop roll out of me eye.
For the best.

Celestia turned to me. “Are you ready, young Firestarter?” she asked.
I nodded. “I am.”
“I am truly sorry, Firestarter – I only want what is best for Equestria. I hope a pony such as yourself will understand this.”
I nodded slowly, feeling that tear drop from my head, and fall to the floor. “I do.”
Celestia sighed. “I promise you, you will remembered for your achievements, more than your infamy.”
I knew it not to be true – there’s no way that’d happen. Nice of her to say it, though. “Thank you, Princess,” I cordially said anyway. 
“Then,” she said, “Let us commence with the banishment. Goodbye, Firestarter.”
She closed her eyes, and her long horn glowed as she slowly lowered her horn.
I closed my eyes and accepted my banishment. Her horn touched mine.

> XIV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Teleportation is a feeling I will never forget.
Right before Celestia’s horn touched mine, I felt the aura of it’s magic approaching, along with that, I heard some strange noises, without being able to see anything, due to closing my eyes.
I heard somepony yell a final “No!” – and I realized, with a cringe, that it was Fluttershy, her voice distorted and deeper due to the magic. At around the same time, I also felt the only instance of pain throughout the entire teleportation process – a sharp pressure on my left shoulder, like somepony had dropped a weight on me. Odd that it was only my left, but I didn’t question.
There was no delay or lag in the teleportation – in an instant, the warm, still air of the hospital turned into a mild, wind – sand whipped at my closed eyelids as the chill of the unexpected wind brushed my fur. I opened my eyes.
The scene before me was completely different. I stood in the middle of a desert – the sky completely clear, sand and rocks everywhere, a light sandstorm in the process, I imagine, was going on, and the winds lashed out at me. Other than this, I couldn’t see anything as far as I could see.
I did hear something, though. The pain in my shoulder faded away as I heard the small, miniscule cry of an animal towards my left over the shallow din of the wind. Looking down at my left, I looked in pure shock and actually stepped back a foot or two.
I realized with a suddenness that the voice yelling “No!” wasn’t a distorted Fluttershy’s voice – it was Twilight’s. The pressure in my shoulder wasn’t from teleportation – it was from what I now stared at, writhing in pain on the ground. It had grabbed my should at the very last second.
Or should I say who.
For, lying in the sand in front of me, curled up in the fetal position, or as best as what could be managed in the current situation – 
- was Fluttershy.

So, here I am.
Celestia has packed me, along with other various items, a tent in the bag, which I hastily set up using my magic once I saw Fluttershy. It isn’t the best of commodities, but keeps the sand out and shields us from the elements.
I moved Fluttershy to inside the tent, where she is now fast asleep on what would be my cot, lying on her back, hopefully not feeling too much pain. 
Celestia has also packed me about 2 weeks worth of rations, some bits to exchange for whatever the currency is here – and of course, a world map, to figure out where I am in relation to everywhere else. It doesn’t help – there’s more than one desert in the world, and this place doesn’t have any special features that separate it from the rest, so I have no idea where we are now.
Which I’m going to have to figure out soon – the rations are only for one pony, and I’m not going to starve Fluttershy.
She also packed me scrolls and quills – which I am using now to write what you’ve just read, if there is a you, that is. Mostly, I’m writing this so I can reflect on it later, something I have a lot of time to do now.
I sit in this tent now, lying down on the floor of the tent, using my magic to finish up my memoirs for the moment. The wind outside has died down, and I believe night is settling in. 
I owe Fluttershy an explanation of what went on at the Center.
I also must get her home.
I have decided that, no matter if she wants to stay with me, she belongs home, in Ponyville. If I’m imprisoned on the way, well, so be it. She is more important than I am, and I would rather see her at her own little cottage or whatever she lives in with friends and family, than out here, against the elements, with one friend whose mood swings end disastrously. So, I’ve taken it up as my mission, to return Fluttershy to her rightful home.
But first, I have to figure out where we are, exactly.
I turn to Fluttershy, lightly snoring, fast asleep. It can wait until tomorrow. I need sleep myself. Whatever time it was here, was not the same as New Horseleans. And I’d probably be going to bed now, anyway. I’ve had what you might call a “long day”.
So, for now, this is Firestarter, signing off.
I will return to Equestria.
And my friend will return home.
This, I promise.
Without a doubt.

> Author's Note
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note

I'll keep this brief.
Firstly, I just want to thank those of you who supported the story as it went on. I know it was a hard concept to grasp, and if I'm right, I may have spooked some Fluttershy fans a bit. But to those who stayed strong throughout, I hope it was worth it at the end. I would love to say I apologize, but to be honest, I found it kind of funny. I apologize anyway.
I also want to thank cenarls7 - my personal proofreader/editor and go-to advice person on this. Thanks again.
The cover art is my own - I'm sorry for its poor quality. I'm usually better with words than drawings, anyway.
I hope all who read it enjoyed the ride our two ponies are experiencing, and I hope more will come to enjoy as well.

Cheers,
the_scarlet_mare-a-thonner