First there was the smoke, a black cloud rising over the Everfree Forest.
Applebloom wandered over to where Granny Smith sat on the porch. “Is that dragon smoke?”
Granny Smith shook her head. “Nope. Don't know what that is. Call Applejack and ask her to look into it.”
Rolling her eyes, Applebloom responded, “Don't ya remember, Granny? Applejack an' her friends all went ta Appleloosa for Braeburn an’ Little Strongheart's weddin' They're goin’ ta be gone all weekend.” She turned back to Granny Smith, who'd dozed off again and sighed.
“Hey!” called Sweetie Belle as she and Scootaloo trotted up the road to Applebloom. “Did you see that black smoke?”
Applebloom nodded. “Yep. Granny said it wasn't dragon smoke, but then...” She gestured to the snoring old mare.
“Maybe Zecora burnt her lunch?” Scootaloo suggested.
“We should go check on her,” Applebloom decided.
So the Cutie Mark Crusaders headed towards the Everfree Forest. They weren't even halfway there when Zecora galloped out of the trees.
“My home lies in the path of fire/ help I need or the result will soon be dire,” the zebra called out.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran over to her. “Zecora! What's happening? What's making that smoke?” Applebloom asked.
“A group of creatures made of flame/ for this disaster are to blame,” Zecora responded.
The three fillies blinked up at her.
“Come again?” Sweetie Belle finally said.
Scootaloo asked, “The creatures are actually made of fire?”
“They'll burn up tha whole forest!” Applebloom said. “We have ta warn everypony!”
Zecora and the fillies sped into town, where they saw lots of other ponies running around in terror because the smoke was moving closer. Lily, as usual, had just finished her fainting routine when they reached the crowd.
“We're all doomed!” Bon-Bon cried, her voice shrill and piercing today.
"I just finished cleaning the house," another pony lamented.
"This is why castles have moats," still another pointed out.
Applebloom whistled shrilly to get everyone's attention. “There're fire monsters in tha Everfree Forest,” she called out. “We got ta stop them before they burn up tha whole town.”
“Somepony should do something,” Derpy said as she made to run forward, only to misjudge the distance between herself and a lamp post. “Ow… I wanna help,” she declared. “What can I do? What I can do? I know, I'll go get the fire extinguisher!” and with that, she rambled off.
Other ponies looked around, but no one else came forward. A few even shuffled farther away from the little fillies in case they got recruited anyway. This was the moment when Twilight Sparkle or one of her friends would step up and offer to investigate, but as they were all far away in Appleloosa nopony moved for a few moments.
“We'll do it!” Applebloom declared, trying to make herself seem taller by lifting her head high.
Scootaloo whispered to her friend, “Are you sure?”
“Ma sister and her friends are always saving tha day, but this time it's up ta us!” Applebloom pawed at the ground. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders have ta save Ponyville from tha Fire Monsters, who's with me?”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged a look and smiled. “We're in!”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Firefighters!”
Zecora nodded her head. “Bravery you three have in spades/ to venture forth into such dangerous glades.”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders aren't afraid of anything,” Applebloom said, “not even fire monsters!”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders struck heroic poses and held them for a moment before Sweetie Belle spoke up “I'm a little afraid of fire monsters” to the facehoofs of her friends.
Pausing at the edge of the Everfree Forest, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stared into the depths of the forest, from which a bright orange glow emanated, the smell of smoke headier this close to the source of its origin.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders aren't afraid a' anythin’,” Applebloom repeated, this time with less enthusiasm.
“Our sisters and their friends wouldn't hesitate like this,” Sweetie Belle said. “The six of them would just march straight into the forest and show those fire monsters who's boss.”
“But there's only three of us,” Scootaloo pointed out.
“Five!” called a cheerful voice behind them.
The fillies turned to see Zecora and Derpy trotting up to them.
Zecora began, “We can’t let you fillies do all this dangerous work on your own/ after all, you are trying to save my home.”
“I brought muffins!” Derpy declared happily.
The five ponies set off deeper into the forest together. The glow in the distance growing bigger as they slowly drew closer.
Applebloom tossed her mane. “We got ta do something,” yelling as she started towards the flames at a run, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo galloping behind her, with Derpy and Zecora bringing up the rear.
They stopped at Zecora's hut. This close, the light was so bright, it took a moment or two for their eyes to adjust. When they did, they saw what looked like-
“Lizards?” Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.
“Fire lizards,” Scootaloo added.
Applebloom stepped forward. “Hello?”
The creatures, which had been skittering along the ground came to an abrupt halt, staring motionless up at the fillies. There were dozens of them, maybe fifty all told. They were small, only slightly bigger than Gummy, with flames emitting from them and setting fire to the eaves and underbrush of the woods.
“Yer burning up our forest,” Applebloom continued nodding towards the smoldering trail behind the lizards, “an' if ya don't stop ya'll'll set fire ta our whole town.”
Still the fire monsters stared without blinking.
“Get out of our forest!” Scootaloo yelled.
“Yeah, go!” Sweetie Belle added.
The lizards didn't move.
Applebloom stared back. “Can ya understand us?”
Still nothing.
“Do they know what we're saying?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo ran into Zecora's hut and knocked down a heavy jar full of river rocks that made such a loud crash Sweetie Belle and Applebloom jumped.
Zecora shook her head and went into her house to clean up the mess the little filly had made.
The lizards scurried back several steps.
Scootaloo poked her head out the window. “Well, they can hear. Maybe they don't speak the same language.”
“DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING?” Sweetie Belle spoke slowly and loudly.
Scuttling back another step, the creatures could hear her loud words, but didn't seem to comprehend them.
One of them shuffled forward, setting a few leaves on fire as they tumbled down above it. The lizard opened its mouth, hissing and flicking its tongue, obviously trying to communicate in its own language. When what it said had no effect on the fillies, it tried again, only to come to the same conclusion and deflate in frustration.
“We can't understand you either,” Sweetie Belle commiserated. “I guess we won’t get our cutie marks for facilitating communication.”
Scootaloo ignored the opportunity to bring up Sweetie Belle’s dictionary status yet again and said, “We need to find someone who can talk to them. But who?”
“Let me try,” Derpy said. She opened her mouth and waggled her tongue around. “Woo wha ha, hee doo be da. Scoobity do ba bop.”
This got blank looks all around from the fillies and the lizards.
“What was that?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Derpy smiled. “I was talking to them in the language of jazz.”
“Ooookay,” Applebloom drawled.
“I bet Fluttershy could've talked to them,” Scootaloo said. “She can make any animal understand her.”
“Well, Fluttershy's in Appleloosa, so we have ta think of somepony else,” Applebloom said.
Zecora emerged from her hut and stepped forward. She fixed her gaze on the lizards and let forth a stream of words that the ponies didn't understand a word of. When the fire creatures didn't seem any more enlightened then they were a moment ago, she dropped her head. “My native tongue I thought to test/ but their language I cannot yet guess.”
“Can't anypony think of anything?” Applebloom asked.
Silence reigned as the gathered ponies all thought it over.
“Well, they're made of fire and dragons breathe fire,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Maybe Spike can talk ta 'em?” Applebloom suggested.
Scootaloo nodded. “Let's go get Spike then!”
Applebloom shook her head. “He's busy. Applejack said tha only reason they were leaving him behind was so he could finish reorganizing Twilight's library after Pinkie Pie's last party.”
Scootaloo grabbed Applebloom's head. “All of Ponyville is in danger of being fried to a crisp! Spike won't have a library to organize if we don't find some way to tell those things that they need to go away!”
Hoping some gestures were universal, Applebloom took a step back, pointing at the creatures with her hoof. “Y'all” She stamped the ground once. “Stay here.” She nodded at her friends. “We.” Turning her back, she nodded towards Sweet Apple Acres and Ponyville. “Go.” Then she turned back and stepped forward again. “An' come back.”
The leader of the fire lizards tilted its head, then nodded.
“It understood me!” Applebloom rejoiced.
“Let's hope so,” Scootaloo said.
“We'll stay and make sure,” Derpy said, snapping off a salute. She sat down and took out a plate of muffins, sliding them towards the lizards, who hesitantly shuffled closer.
One attempted to take a bite, but upon contact with it, the muffins burst into flames.
Derpy stared at the fiery mass. “This reminds me of the first time I tried to bake muffins. Who knew batter could just burst into flames like that?” prompting another round of blank stares.
The three fillies turned to head back into town. They took several steps before turning back. The lizards hadn't moved, some even curling up as if to go to sleep.
“We'll be back soon!” Satisfied the forest wouldn't be immolated in their absence, the Cutie Mark Crusaders raced off to Twilight's house, bursting through the door.
“Spike, we need yer help!” Applebloom called out.
But there was no answer from anyone, save for a loud snore that came from overhead.
Scootaloo sent Applebloom a look. “Busy, huh?”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed upstairs to find Spike napping in his bed.
“Spike, wake up!” Applebloom shouted.
A nasally snore was her only response.
“Seems we'll have ta try something else,” Applebloom said. “Sweetie Belle, go see if ya can find anythin’ in Twilight's books ‘bout fire lizards an’ how ta talk ta 'em. Scootaloo an' ah'll wake up Spike.”
Sweetie Belle nodded and rushed to search around in the myriad bookshelves. “Fire lizards, fire lizards,” she chanted while, from upstairs, came the sounds of pots and pans being banged on by wooden spoons. “There has to be something,” she muttered as cymbals crashed and a gong rang.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Scootaloo was just finishing an electric guitar solo.
Applebloom shook her head. “Nothing.” She sighed. “We're never going to wake him up at this rate.”
Spike twitched in his sleep and rolled over.
“Ugh,” Applebloom groaned. “We have to think of something else.”
After a few more minutes of searching Sweetie Belle found a book she thought might be useful and came back upstairs to find Applebloom and Scootaloo panting on the floor surrounded by a number of noisemakers and a drum set.
Spike still snored.
“Let me try.” Sweetie Belle trotted up close enough to whisper in his ear, “Oh Rarity, of course I’ll tell Spike that you want him to be your special somepony.” …Nothing. “Oh come on!”
Chancing a look out the window into the back yard, Scootaloo smiled, “I've got an idea.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders trekked back to Zecora's hut, dragging a still sleeping Spike behind them with Scootaloo’s scooter in her little wagon. They parked it in front of the creatures and watched as Spike sniffed the air and registered the smell of fire and smoke. The closest lizard scuttled up the side of the wagon and stared at the wakening baby dragon.
Spike, still yawning and wiping his drooping eyes, sat up in the wagon and came face-to-face with the creature's fiery head. “AHHH!” He screamed, jumping several feet into the air to crash to the ground next to the wagon. “What is that?” Spike shouted as he hid behind the wagon.
“Don’t be such a Scootaloo, Spike.” Applebloom ducked the expected hoofslap.
“Stop fighting you two. “ Sweetie Belle sighed. “According to 'The Guide to Fire Creatures' that I found in Twilight's library, I think that it's a salamander.” She turned the book around and showed it to the lizard.
The creature's head perked up as it regarded the picture of an identical creature. Slowly it nodded in recognition.
“So, they're salamanders,” Scootaloo growled. “Does it say how to talk to them?”
Sweetie Belle shrugged. “I think so, but I didn't understand it,” she nudged the book towards Spike. “But since salamanders are a distant relation of dragons, I was hoping maybe you could, Spike?”
Spike picked up the book and read through it, raising an eyebrow. “I'm not sure, but I can try.” He studied the page and then looked up at the salamander, who sat on the slowly smoldering wagon. Using his forked tongue, Spike let out a series of hisses, then stopped. The salamander responded with some hissing of its own.
Spike flipped through the pages. “Let's see... 'My name is... Ignatius and my family and I... are looking for... a place to live... a dessert. Dessert?”
“I have more muffins,” Derpy said, turning to open her saddlebags.
“Well,” Sweetie Belle said, “since they like things that are hot, maybe they're not looking for a dessert, but a desert.”
“I bet you're right,” Spike said. The baby dragon hissed back and forth with the salamander, stopping every once in a while to look up the right phrase or translate what Ignatius had said. Finally, Spike nodded. “Ignatius says that he didn't realize he and his family was hurting the forest. Salamanders live in fire, so they have to be on fire or they'd die.”
“Like a fish on dry land?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Exactly.” Spike turned to the fillies. “They were trying to find the way to the Hestian Desert, but they got lost and ended up here. Luckily, all that studying with Twilight means I know where it is. They just got really turned around. Don't worry, I gave them directions and they're going to leave the forest. And since salamanders can put out fires just as easily as they can start them, they've agreed to make sure to stop all the fires they made on the way back.”
As Ignatius turned back to his family, Zecora called from her doorway, “If in fire you must lie/ why in a desert would you not die?”
“Hmm, good point.” Spike looked to Ignatius, translating the question and waiting for the response. “Apparently they don’t require literal fire, just an immense amount of heat to keep them powered.”
“Well, a desert would certainly be perfect for that sort of thing,” Sweetie Belle nodded.
Ignatius hissed at his family in their own language and they all came close together, turning back the way they came. He turned back to the fillies and lowered his head as if to bow, hissing a message to them before scurrying off with his family.
“What'd he say?” Applebloom asked.
Spike flipped through the pages as he translated. “Um, let's see... 'We're sorry; we'll fix what we did to your forest. Thank you, little ponies. Come to the desert if you ever want to visit. We'd love to smell you again.' Oh wait, love to 'see' you again.”
“We'll miss y'all,” Applebloom called after the salamanders.
“We just met them,” Scootaloo pointed out.
As the fire lizards passed back the way they came, the fires they'd left in their wake were suddenly put out as if a bucket of water had been thrown over them. The smoke dissapated slowly but surely and the woods were once more as they had been.
“Thanks to you my home is safe and sound/ and the salamanders, their way have found,” Zecora said as she nodded goodbye and went back into her hut.
Derpy smiled, “I'm going to go see if Zecora has any fun ingredients I can use in my muffins. Pinkie Pie and I are having a bake-off when she gets back.” She trotted after the zebra and from within the hut a series of crashes were heard, along with a very loud, “SORRY!”
On the way back to Ponyville, Spike had a thought, “You know, I bet Princess Celestia would love to hear about how you all saved Ponyville and helped a family of salamanders find their way.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders smiled.
“Spike, take a letter ta tha princess,” Applebloom said. “Dear Princess Celestia, Tha Cutie Mark Crusaders saved tha day! Today, we found a family of salamanders in tha Everfree Forest. We didn't speak tha same language, so it was hard ta tell ’em that they were going ta burn down our forest if they didn't stop.”
Sweetie Belle added, “But then we found out they were just as afraid as we were because they were lost and couldn't find anyone who spoke their language. They didn't mean to set fire to our forest, that's just how they are, and they put out the flames as they left. Sometimes, when you're confronted with something you've never seen before, you get scared.”
Scootaloo took over from there. “But we've learned it's best to learn about the things that make you afraid you because knowing about things makes them less scary.”
“Signed, The Cutie Mark Crusaders,” they all chorused.
Spike smiled and blew the flame that would send the letter to Princess Celestia.
Almost immediately, the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked back at their flanks, which remained blank.
“Seriously?” Scootaloo lamented.
“We just saved all of Ponyville and still nothing,” Sweetie Belle pouted.
Applebloom frowned. “We'll just have to keep trying until we get our cutie marks.”
