Chapter #1 - First Sparks {3/4 EDIT}
AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE READ FIRST!
This chapter has been partially revised and edited to the point of virtually no grammar, punctuation or spelling mistakes. However, I have only edited about 3/4s of this chapter, and therefore, not completely finished editing. The finished version will come in time, however, I'm changing my main focus from revising this chapter to creating chapter two. So, you will probably not see the completely finished version for a week or two.
I'm going to start focusing on chapter two because I want to get this story moving, since it was only supposed to be a short story and I'm already pushing 5000 words per chapter, I'm really behind schedule for what I planned to write.
Editing this chapter ended up taking way too much of what little time I have to write.
Anyways, Enjoy Chapter 1 of Return of The Inferno!
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*Sigh*
Back here again, am I?
…Not like it’s a bad thing, no. But I definitely have certain… feelings about this place. One could consider them happy feelings. Happy feeling that come from joyful and adventurous memories. Heck, some of my most memorable moments come from this colorful, crazy place. And what a crazy place this is… Filled with fascinating monsters, unexplained mysteries and magic as far as the eye could see. There was never a dull moment in this world; only cheerful, hyper or scary experiences ever passed this place.
I fly in south, observing the peaceful little town called Ponyville. Flapping my wings in place, I search for a hiding spot to make sure that all my preparations are complete. I spot a dark alleyway in the corner of my eye, and start to head down. I start to slow my decent, my wings blowing up dust and dirt until I land with a soft but noticeable *clop*. I check down the alley, just to make sure no pony is there to watch me. Once I feel safe, I begin to conjure my disguise.
I will my horn to churn the magic in the air and start to form a brown leather cloak. No pony will notice what the material is made of, so it won’t really matter what I make the cloak out of. After a few seconds, I have a perfectly tailored brown cloak for me to wear. But I’m not done yet. I then start to focus on my mind’s eye: the picture of a brown cowboy’s hat. I close my eyes while letting the magic condense and contract several times. I stop the flow of magic to see that I’ve created a perfect match to what I imagined. Then, I observe my complete costume: A brown cloak with a brown hat to match. I slip the cloak over my back, covering up my wings and cutie mark. Then, I place the hat on top of my mane, which did not stop my wild, pointy hair from stocking out everywhere, but it did serve it's original purpose: to cover my horn. I grumble, trying to flatten it to keep it out of my eyes.
I check to make sure everything’s in place, then check for any nosy ponies that could have been watching my private magic show. Finally, I head out of the alleyway and onto the local street while checking my mental map of Ponyville for where I needed to go next. A few seconds later, I look and observe the nearest street sign, trying to figure out where I am. "Hmm..." I hum to myself. I recognize this street name… And yet, I don’t. Like I’ve said, it’s been a substantially long amount time since I’ve been here, so my memory’s a little bit rusty. I frown, mentally telling myself to try and visit this place when I’m not on a mission.
I have to admit, this is one of the more pleasant and peaceful worlds that I’ve been to. Every day is sunny and virtually cloudless with a light south wind. The locals here are all the different kinds of friendly, kind, fun-filled, excited, hyper, crazy, and and many more adjectives that I could add on but would take forever. Makes them some of the most interesting folk I’ve ever meet. There's lots of exotic, fascinating locations around Equestria such as Froggy Bottom bog, Everfree forest, Whitetail Wood and Bubblegoop Swamp.
The rulers of this place are pretty nice too.
Anyways, according to my somewhat sketchy memory, I think that I’m at the west edge of the market district. Although now that I think about it, it’s kinda obvious that I’m somewhere in the market area, seeing as there are fillies and foal everywhere shopping for various fruits, vegetables, and other food items. Produce stalls littered around the street curbs, various ponies pulling carts full of different kinds of sell-able items, groups of ponies are bunching together at one particular stall: yep, this is the Ponyville market.
I start my trek through the market. Not surprisingly, everypony is focused on doing their own business and NOT paying attention at all to the strange stallion with a dark hat and cloak walking past the busy streets. Normally, I would think that I look very suspicious and peculiar, but I forget that I’m in the pony world now, where almost every sentient living being here's as innocent as a 4 year old, meaning that they wouldn't look at me twice. But that's just the nature of this place, happy and cheerful with sunshine and smiles everywhere!
I continue to trot briskly towards my destination. And what destination did I have in mind? Well, actually no specific location, however, I did wanted to see if an old friend of mine was still in town, because honestly, I missed her. And even though seeing her might put the spotlight on me with all the racket she would cause, I just can’t help myself. I haven’t seen her in such a long time! Skipping this opportunity would hurt my heart.
As I approach the edge of the market, I spot a stall that looks wayyyyyy too familiar. It had an red apple picture made out of wood that was hammered onto the front of the table that had the cash register. I tilt my hat downwards as I attempt to pass the stall without getting recognized.
“That’ll be 11 bits please!”
I frown. The southern accent coming from that pony sounds exactly like somepony I know. If she’s the pony then I’m thinking of, well then, I’m taking a huge risk coming across her stall like this. I try and keep my head down while trucking around her stall. Looking behind me, I realize that she didn't even notice me. That's good for me, but I guess I was kinda secretly hoping that she would notice me. After all, risks are supposed to be exciting, aren't they? Well, whatever. At least now I can just move on, knowing that I won't see her at the location I'm headed to.
After passing a few more shops and stalls, I finally exit the market district and continue walking towards my destination. I sigh with relief, the enormous weight of so many ponies watching me lifting off my back. Checking my mental map once again, I figured that I was about 3 blocks away from my goal. But then, I also remembered a certain building right beside my location. Turning my head to the right, I spot a large oak tree that had a front door, several windows, and even a balcony installed onto it. My guess was right: I was right beside the Ponyville Library. Checking my immediate area to make sure no pony was watching, I trot over to one of the library windows.
Looking inside the windows, I see books of all shapes, sizes and forms shelved against the inner walls of the tree. There were several scrolls and pieces of parchment scarred on random spots on the floor. That's strange. Normally the library's owner is more organized and tidy than this... It might just be an off day for her. Come to think of it, I don't see any living being in there, so both members of the library's staff must be out, otherwise that grumpy little assistant of hers would probably be cleaning up the place, as usual.
I start to walk away from the Library. Slightly disappointed, I hold my head up towards my destination. After traveling for a few more minutes, I finally reached my target. I make a small smirk as I observe my rest stop:
The main colour of the building was a white that you would see from a white chocolate chip cookie. The front door and windows were a matching pink colour, while the pieces of wood that were supporting the structure were painted a dark, chocolate brown. You could call the roof the main course of the delicacy; it seemed that it was made out of fudge. Fortunately, it wasn’t, or else it would melt right off on some of Ponyville's scorching hot days. The entire theme of the building was fitting for what it served. If my memory serves me well, then it must be a bakery of some sort, selling every kind of sugary treat you could get your greedy little hooves on. I vaguely remember the name of the place, but that soon changed when I read a sign above the door that I don't remember seeing there before. It read:
“The Sugarcube Corner”
I approach and enter the building, slamming the door forcefully to the side by accident. All the ponies in the room looked towards me. I added a quiet “Heh…Oops!” before turning around and closing the door with extra care to make up for the loud *BANG* I made a few moments ago. Everypony in the room went back to what they were doing before. I look around and take note of my surroundings. Man, this place is so much different then I remember! They’ve must have changed the layout since I was here! Has it really been that long since I’ve been Ponyville? So many good memories come from this place. Lots of adventures, lots of fun and intense moments…
Anyways, this place is certainly no longer a bakery; it looks to be a café of some sort. Tables and haystacks were set up all around the room, coloured and fitted appropriately to match the theme of the rest of the building. The main room was substantially larger, looking to be able to fit several dozen ponies (if crammed in) at a time. There was a front desk with a bit register and a bell (to order service). At the back of the room, I could clearly make out a green door, probable leading to the kitchen or something.
There were a few waitresses scrambling around the room, but I had no time to wait for them, so I just picked a table and sat down. As I was getting comfortable, I got startled by an unexpected high pitched greeting.
“Hi-ya mister!”
I jumped up a few feet in surprise, almost falling over. As my mind scrambles to get my thoughts in order, I looked up to see who was addressing me. “Welcome to the Sugarcube Corner! My name is Pinkie Pie, and I’ll be your waitress for today! Nice to meet-cha!”
Pinkie held out a friendly hoof. She was the same Pinkie Pie I remembered: Pink, energetic, friendly and poof-y. Her mane was a swirl of dark pink, as always. I couldn’t see her cutie mark from the angle I was facing her from, but I knew it couldn’t have changed since I saw her last. I remember that her cutie mark was three balloons that were coloured yellow, blue, and yellow, respectively. She wore a pink and white apron that perfectly matched the pearly white smile she was giving me.
I hesitantly shook her hoof in a return greeting. I was thinking to myself “Since when did waitresses wanted to befriend you?” But then I remembered that I was talking to Pinkie Pie, and social interaction (and other kinds of) rules don’t necessarily apply to her. Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve conversed with such an odd species. I’ve been to many places and have seen many things in my lifetime, but without a doubt, Ponyville is the most interesting and intriguing out of all of them. But, then again, that might just be my nostalgia speaking for me. Needless to say, I was excited to see my old pink friend again.
“So, what can I get-cha to drink first? We’ve got cranberry juice, apple juice, blueberry juice, Strawberry juice, pineapple juice, mango juice, fruit punch, milkshakes, chocolate milk and iced tea! Oh, and water.” Pinkie Pie added at the end of her list of quenchers. She grabbed a pencil and notepad out of nowhere and held both in hoof, ready to take my order.
“I’ll start with some two percent milk and some water.” I responded.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Chirped Pinkie Pie. I observe her with a studying eye while she scribbles down my order. Normally, I can read ponies like an open book; I can tell what they’re thinking, what they’re feeling at that exact moment, what they’re current desires are, ect. However, I have always found Pinkie Pie’s a tough one to crack. This disturbs me greatly, because as a close friend of hers, I should know what kind of thinking patterns and habits she has… And yet, I don’t. Have I forgotten who Pinkie Pie is? Have I ever known in the first place? I cannot tell.
Why am I trying to read her thoughts you ask? Well, I’m extremely nervous by the fact that Pinkie Pie is in fact the single most threatening pony to disrupt my plan. She has a tendency to place her nosey little muzzle where it doesn’t belong, so that means that I have to be extra, EXTRA vigilant and careful about what I say and how I act around her. I could have just avoided her altogether and instead go to a different restaurant, to save me the trouble of having to see her. However, I couldn’t carry out my mission knowing that I had the chance to see one of my friends again and I skipped it. It was just too much of an emotional weight to bear. That’s why I went to this particular café: to see this particular pony, as my waitress.
“Hey… Wait a second… Haven’t I seen you before or something?” Pinkie abruptly asks me, looking up from her notepad.
“Uhh… No. Well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen YOU before, never the less MET you before, so that probably means that you haven’t seen me before. Maybe your mistaking me for somepony else?” I suggested, trying to drive Pinkie away from my personal information. I knew I was a good liar, and a very good actor, but I certainly recall that Pinkie Pie tends to ask a lot of questions. And I mean A LOT, of questions. And that of course means trouble for me.
“Hmm…” Pinkie pondered while tapping her left hoof on her chin, making an intense thinking face. “Well, I remember everypony that comes across Ponyville, so that means I have seen you before! But then again, I could be mistaking you for somepony else. Whatever! Since you claim to not have seen me before, then that must mean that you’re new in Ponyville! So, welcome to Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie said while scooping up my hoof to give me another hoofshake.
“Whoops! How silly of me! I never even got to learn your name! So what’s your name?” Pinkie inquired, stopping her hoofshake unexpectedly.
“Call me… Inferno.”
“Wow. That’s a cool name! Inferno… Inferno… It certainly suits your fur and mane colour!” Pinkie observed.
I look down at my front legs to examine my coat colour, even though I already know what I look like. She was referring to the fact that my body is reddish-orangeish, while my mane is a combination of red, orange and yellow. I bet if you were looking at me from a distance, you would think I was some kind of walking fire shaped like a pony. Now, I was using my fake cover-up name to Pinkie Pie, for obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll tell you my real name. I still don’t trust you enough to spill my personal information, especially considering what’s at stake here.
“Well, nice to meet you Inferno! I really want to call you my friend right now, but I can’t do that if I don’t know anything about you! So, I want to know where you come from, what your cutie mark is, who your family is, what your house looks like, what your favorite foods are, what your favorite party games-“ Pinkie ranted on.
Like I’ve said in the past, I’ve planned for this kind of ‘interrogation’. However, I certainly didn’t plan this far back into my ‘backstory’ and there was no way in heck that I could answer all those questions without sounding like a total liar. She would be able to read through my disguise like a toaster made of glass.
…
Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the best anthology I’ve made. But, I’m getting my point across, right? If I start to screw up my acting in front of her, then I’ll probably end up in deep doo-doo! So, I just quickly need to think up a way to create a conversation detour…
“Whoa, whoa! Hang on a second! One question at a time!” I interjected Pinkie Pie before she could extend her checklist of what personal questions she needed to ask me. She stopped in mid-sentence and game me a curious look. Ok, now that I have her attention, I can take control of this wild ride…
“I’ll just start answering your questions from the beginning, so it won’t be confusing for either me or you. Is that ok?” I ask. Pinkie madly nods her head in anticipation.
“I think the first question you asked was where I lived, correct?” Pinkie nods her head again. “Well, I come from a cloud city that’s all the way up north. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it or not, but does the name ‘Skyrim’ ring any bells in your mind?”
“Hmm…” Pinkie began, putting her hoof to her chin and started turning her brain on. Before she got far into her thinking process, she blurted aloud “Wait! You said that you come from a cloud city! But you can’t, because you’re just an earth pony! And earth ponies fall through clouds!”
Then it hit me. “Oh! You don’t know! Oops! My bad, I guess I forgot to mention…”
I unravel my wing from underneath my cloak. The sudden gust of wind lifted the cloak in the air just enough for Pinkie to get a glimpse of my wings. She widened her eyes in surprise while I smirked in cocky bliss. It was so satisfying, seeing that purely shocked look on her pink, happy face. I furled up my wings again as the cloak fell down to my sides.
“YOU’RE a Pegasus?” Pinkie exclaimed.
I nodded my head. It took her a few seconds to process the information. “Well, that explains why you live in a cloud city! So what are you doing in a little Earth Pony café like this?”
“Well, I was kind of getting hungry from traveling, and I suddenly remembered that one of my friends told me about this great café that was in a small town called Ponyville. Since I was in Ponyville, or, in another sense, I am in Ponyville, I thought I would pop in to visit and see if it lives up to what my friend says.” I explained.
Her face lit up like she just won a big box o’ candy. “Wow! I can’t believe it! The Sugarcube Corner is getting a name for itself! I would have never guessed! Well, maybe I would have guessed some point in the future, but still! We’re known outside of Ponyville! And we have a fantastic reputation to boot! This is great news! Ms. Cake will be soooooo happy to hear this!” Pinkie squealed as she hopped around my table.
I smiled, glad to see the hyperactive pony so joyful. Well, I guess this visit isn’t going to be as bad as I thought. But I kinda need to move this conversation along…
“Hey. Uh, Pinkie?” I asked the delighted pink spring. She stopped and stood completely still as her hooves touched the wooden floor and stood completely still, except for the landing, in which she wobbled on spot like a bobblehead’s head.
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you supposed to take my order or something?”
“Oh, right! I’ll be right back with your drinks and a menu!” She said, disappearing into the Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen with such speed that I had to look twice to make sure I saw everything right.
I leaned back onto my chair, taking a moment to relax. I knew from my mental clock that the time to go was getting nearer, so I started to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming onslaught of enemies and monsters that I would likely have to face, defeat and purge from this dimension (not necessarily in that order). Like I’ve said previously, if my plan goes without any hitches or bumps, then no pony will get hurt, damage to Ponyville will be minimal and it would be as if nothing ever happened. Of course, based on my past experiences, none of my plans have gone perfectly straight, but that’s why I make back-up plans, just in case something goes wrong. And besides, if something does go wrong, well, I have complete confidence in myself that I’ll pull through and save this world.
Somehow.
Suddenly, the front door of the café slammed open. Everypony in the room (including me) turn their heads to see what the noisy entrance was about. I saw four ponies burst through the door, creating dust clouds behind them from their speed. I know these four ponies way too well, so I tilt my hat downward and try to make myself invisible (figuratively speaking, not using spells), cursing my luck that they would come to this exact place at this exact time. Of course, I was also hoping they wouldn’t recognize me.
“Pinkie! Pinkie, where are you?” Called out one of the four ponies, who was a purple unicorn with a pink star cutie mark. “We need you right now!”
“Pinkie! Aw, gosh darn it! Where is that girl?” demanded another pony from the group, who was orange and was wearing a cowgirl hat. She was the same pony that I saw at the apple stand, with the same southern accent.
“I’m here girls!” Pinkie approached from behind the group of ponies, making them all jump and squeal in shock.
“What’s going on?” She asked.
“It’s terrible! Horribly awful! Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo all went into the Everfree forest! I can’t imagine what kind of dangers they could get themselves into!” answered yet another pony from the group. She was white with a purple mane, but unlike the others in the group, her mane shined with an extra brilliance. She had three blue diamonds as a cutie mark.
“Ah remember Applebloom talking about some kind of map back at the farm. Ah thought it was just some kind of innocent scavenger hunt, but ah would of stopped her right then and there if ah knew she would lead herself and her friends into the Everfree forest!” panicked the orange pony.
“Can you come help us find them?” inquired the purple pony.
“Sure thing! Let me just finish serving a few customers, tell Ms. Cake that I’m coming with you girls then we can be off!” Pinkie Pie replied, one again zooming into the kitchen.
I slowly tilt my head back up so I could clearly see all the ponies’ faces. Great. It looks like the C.M.C. has gotten themselves into yet another mess. But I know that Twilight can handle this. She’s been in worse situations before, and she’s got her friends to support her. It’s just another episode of Twilight’s life in Ponyville. I have no reason to interfere. Besides, I kinda hate to admit it, but there’s a more pressing matter than the C.M.C. getting lost in the Everfree forest.
Yes, I know all the ponies in that group. I counted four ponies, but I know that there are six in their circle of friends. Well, at one point there was actually seven, but I’d prefer to avoid that topic. I identified all the ponies in the group: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were present and before my eyes. Adding Pinkie Pie into the equation, there were five of the six elements of harmony inside one building. “Now where’s the last one?” I muttered quietly voice to no pony in particular.
All of the sudden, I could hear a high-pitched scream coming from a distance. I swivel my head and look out the window to barely catch a glimpse of a light blue blur smashing through the window. I wince and shut my eyes as I heard a crashing sound, followed by a crumbling sound, and the feeling of the entire room shaking from the impact. When I opened my eyes, a large fraction of the room was in a mess. Dust was flung into the air, making everypony in the café cough. Where there used to be a clean, pink window was now a gigantic gaping hole in the wall. What used to be the brown chairs and tables of that part of the room are now piles of useless, broken furniture. The floor was cracked and damaged from the way the U.F.O. slid across it once it landed against the mahogany. All the ponies that were in the path of the disaster were either cowering in a corner or lying somewhere random in the room, dazed from getting smacked aside from the light blue object.
I looked over to where the light blue thing ended up. There was a pony with the top half of it’s body stuck in the wall. There were some muffled groans and yells as the pony in the wall frantically tried to pull itself out. I could already tell who just this nutbag was, with it’s coat being a light blue and it’s tail holding various colors of the rainbow. She placed her back legs against the wall and started to try and push herself out. After a few tries, she finally got out with a *pop* and rolled across the floor from the force she used to get herself out. She stopped rolling to a somewhat lying down position, looking very befuddled and out of it.
I just sat there and shook my head. Good old Rainbow Dash. Always getting into an accident with one of her new-fangled tricks (I intended to sound like an old timer there). But cheese-in*! This one was a real catastrophe, even for Rainbow! I wonder what the heck she tried to do in order to get this messed up… I shifted my eyes towards Twilight’s group. They were all standing there, jaws gaping open and speechless to what events just occurred in front of their eyes.
I saw some movement to my right. Rainbow was shaking her head wildly, trying to get used to the shock of the impact. She got up with a “Bububububu!” and an unknown cow bell rang loudly in the distance. She observed what she’d just done, and all she had to say for it was “Heh heh… Oops.” She sheepishly looked at the ponies that she knocked down. All of them gave her a dirty look. “Rainbow!” Called out Fluttershy, who was the first to rush to the rainbow coloured Pegasus.
“Are you ok? Are you hurt? Any broken or fractured limbs?” questioned Fluttershy, who was getting flustered searching for any injuries that Rainbow caused herself.
“I’m fine! It’s gonna take more than a little crash to bring me down!” Rainbow Dash reassured Fluttershy with a brash smile.
“A little crash you say? You call that a little crash?” Rarity threw at Rainbow as the group of friends approached her.
“Gosh darn it, you’ve nearly brought the whole roof down just by your stupid, overly complicated tricks!” Exclaimed Applejack.
Rainbow started to defend herself when Twilight jumped into the scolding and said “Are you CRAZY? You could of seriously hurt somepony, or even yourself! I’ve already told you several times not to practice your tricks and routines over Ponyville! What the heck were you thinking when you attempted a trick that could bring so much damage?”
“I’m sorry, ok! I had an accident while doing one of my tricks and ended up bailing into the Sugarcube corner. I promise that I’ll pay for any repair costs, just get off my back, ok?” snapped Rainbow Dash, obviously crumbling from the peer pressure that her friends were giving her.
The entire room fell silent. Rainbow started scanning everypony in the room for some kind of support or understanding. Every eye she met with she only saw hatred and scorn. When she looked towards her friends, she saw disappointment and embarrassment (as in, embarrassed to be her friend). Even Fluttershy looked slightly annoyed at her. Suddenly, she looked towards me. I flicked my head towards an interesting piece of fluff on my table. When I looked back, I could see tears forming in her eyes, even though I knew she was a tough girl.
Well, at least she’s taking some responsibility for it. That’s some improvement from that Rainbow Dash that I used to know…
“Ok girls! Ms. Cake says that I can go help look for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, I just have to be back by the rush hour and-“
While Pinkie Pie was re-emerging from the back of the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the devastation that was the inside of her workplace.
“Whoa, what the heck happened here?” she asked her group of friends.
“Don’t ask, let’s just go already and start looking for Applebloom and her friends…” Twilight mumbled as she started to walk towards the front door.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Yep, all of them are here, at this exact place, at this exact moment. Coincident? I think not! I really hate the situation that I’m in right now, but it seems to me that they are too distracted from Rainbow’s rude entrance to recognize anypony right now. Unfortunately, that’s a good thing for me. However, I’m still troubled by the fact that something big is going to happen in a few moments and the mane 6 are here, right in front of the pony who’s gonna save them all!
I prayed to Celestia, asking her what the heck I did to deserve this.
Suddenly, the entire building started to shake. It wasn’t like before when Rainbow’s crash landing shook the whole room, oh no. Instead, this kind of rumble shook the entire foundation of the building, and seemed to shake the outside world too. It was like a miniature earthquake, with the table condiments vibrating and the plates rattling off the tables. Everypony that was standing either fell over or almost lost their balance from the trembling floor underneath them. There was a loud cracking sound, followed by an even louder smashing sound. When the shaking stopped, Everypony in the room got to their hooves, looking around and looking quite confused.
“What the hay just happened?” asked Applejack to no pony in particular.
“Shit just hit the fan.” I muttered to myself, already out of my seat and leaping over the hole in the wall that Rainbow just conveniently placed.
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Notes for stars:
*It’s a substitute swear word, where the words “cheese and crackers” replace “Jesus Christ”. Also, the line is cut short, just leaving a “cheese-in” remaining in the sentence.