Fallout: Equestria - Wildfire

Backdraft held a firm grip on the valve waiting for my signal as I watched the water pressure on the boiler rise. Somehow the pressure had dropped over our time off, and now we had to carefully get everything to level out or have the rest of the stable breathing down our necks for the next few days.

“Is it level yet E.B.?” Backdraft called out. My lifelong friend liked to shorten names, which he thought sounded cool. My name in fact was Ember Blaze, a Unicorn living in Stable 33. My friend, Backdraft, was a Pegasus and a bit of a dolt, but also a true and loyal friend that I would not trade anything in the world for. Also his ability to fly made getting to the valves high up much easier to do. “Cuz’ I’m starting to melt up here.”

“Just a little more… NOW!” At my signal Backdraft turned the valve, and the water pressure stabilized on the red line.

Backdraft floated back down, his tongue stuck out as he panted. “I hate being up there, I thought my feathers were going to catch fire from all that heat.”

“Speaking of feathers and heat, can you fan me off? I need a cool down.” He just glared at me as I smiled. We both burst out in laughter. It had been a long day, a day that was finally almost over.

Patting me on the shoulder Backdraft smirked. “So we’re meeting up at the bar later, right? You did say you found a mare that might be interested in me.”

I rolled my eyes. “For the fifth time, Carbon Cap said she would bring a friend. You still actually have to try.”

“Cool E.B., cool. I’ll get washed up and even throw on some cologne.” he smirked.

As Backdraft turned to leave, I stopped him. “Don’t throw the whole bottle on you, just dab a little, or you’ll smell like an idiot.” He nodded and trotted out. “And brush your teeth, remember what happened last time!” I could hear him make a puff sound right before turning a corner, and trotting out of sight.

Double checking our tools, I safely placed them back in the locker. My work was done, and all that was left for me to do was get washed up, and meet up with Backdraft and Carbon Cap.

The contrast in temperatures between the boiler room and the hallways of the stable took some getting used to when I’d first started, but it quickly became something I just shrugged off.

Making my way through the stable halls, I took a look at the an old flyer on the wall. It was from back when the stable was opened up. It’s been six years since we closed the door, though we still trade with the outside, nopony leaves the stable, not anymore. I still clearly remember when we got to leave and travel to Junction 33. It was where I met Backdraft, and where we became best friends.

Sadly a plague passed through the Junction, and made it’s way to the stable. Backdraft and I both lost our parents to it. It was a bad time, and the Overmare decided to close the stable door to prevent any more sick ponies from getting in. I still miss going to Junction 33, but not enough to want to leave.

As I approached the door to my apartment, I could hear the sound of two colts from inside. The door opened and I stepped through the doorway, greeting Charcoal and his friend Sparks. The two colts took a brief pause from their game to return my greeting before returning to their fun. From what I could gather, the two were pretending to be wasteland heroes slaying a dragon or something. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.

“Alright you two,” I started, trying to grab the colts’ attention. “Sparks, it’s time for you to head home now.” The young colt gave an ‘aww’ before saying his goodbyes to Charcoal and trotting out the doorway. Charcoal waved as his friend disappeared behind the door. “Get ready for bed, little bro,” I turned to my brother and shooed him off to his room.

“Will you read me a story before bed?” The young colt turned and asked. I feigned deep thought to tease him.

“Hmm… I dunno, Charcoal. It’s awfully late,” I tried to hide my smirk. My brother pouted and looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes.

“Pleeeease?” Charcoal begged. Giving a snicker, I raised my hoof and mussed up his mane.

“Sure thing. Go get ready for bed and I’ll be in,” I told him. Charcoal jumped in place happily before bounding towards his room. Trotting over to the bookshelf along the wall, I scanned for a suitable story. A red book with a gold trim caught my eye and I levitated it off the shelf. The pages were filled with short stories from long ago.

Deciding on a story, I stepped into Charcoal’s room with the book. Charcoal was nestled under the sheets, the lamp on the side-table casting a soft light on the room. He looked up at me.

“What did you pick?” he asked, softly. He was already looking sleepy.

“You’re about to find out,” I winked at him.

Opening the book to the right page, I began to read. My brother listened intently as I recited the tale of a valiant pony knight felling a mighty dragon to rescue a princess.

I couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the corny beginning. “Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. In that kingdom was a maiden so fair that every stallion in the kingdom longed to court her.”

“What does court mean again?” Charcoal interjected.

I chuckled. “That is something you don’t need to know right now. Think of it as they liked her very much. They wanted to be around her all the time.”

“Oh. Even though she has cooties?” He stared in horror at the book.

“Haha! Yes. It’s funny, sometimes when you get older you start to like cooties.” I told him.

“Ewwwww!” He made a gesture with his hooves, shunning the very concept of liking mares.

“May I continue reading now?” I asked him, trying to hurry the story along so he could sleep.

“Yeah.” I could tell he wanted to know how the rest went regardless of his opinions.

“Okay, good. ‘Every day, she would wake and look out upon the yards and gardens from her balcony, and there, standing all around, was every stallion who sought her love. But it was all for naught, for she was already betrothed to the prince of another kingdom. She did not love him. Nor did he, her. So she took comfort in the knowledge that, if she were not the princess, maybe some of these stallions would still want her hoof in marriage. ‘Oh how I wish somepony would just take me away. I love this stallion, not, nor will I ever,’ she spoke softly to the stars.”

“Is she crazy?” Charcoal interrupted me once more.

“Why would she be crazy?” I asked him, back.

“Well, she’s talking to the stars! The stars don’t have ears!” He shouted.

“Shh! Shh, keep your voice down,” I chuckled at his energy and interest in the story. “Yes, she is talking to the stars. And you are indeed correct. Stars don’t have ears.”

“So she’s crazy, right?” He insisted that she was not sane.

“That is not so. Back then, people believed in something. Something that most of us have lost.” He looked up at me in confusion.

“How did we lose it?” Charcoal sked me with a puzzled expression on his face.

“I don’t know. I think that we forget where things go after a long time.” I wasn’t sure how to word it... How to word giving up on those that guided the way everypony lived, night and day. “But don’t worry, okay? It’s not like we lost something huge though.” I chuckled, trying to keep a smile on his face. I lived for his smile.

As I neared the end of the story, I heard Charcoal yawn.

“...returned home and lived quietly ‘til the end of their days. And the kingdom was at peace. The end,” I closed the book and sat it on the side-table. Charcoal’s eyes fought to stay open, the heterochromatic blue and red of his irises slowly disappearing beneath his eyelids. The black of his coat blended against the deep blue of his bedsheets as I shut the lamp off and mussed up his blonde mane, once more. “Night, Charcoal.”

Stepping into our wash room, the first thing I did was take a wet towel off the floor and hang it up. Charcoal was good at remembering to take his showers, but still needed to remember to clean up after himself.

Turning a valve, hot steaming water shot out of the shower head, quickly warming up the washroom. Turning a second valve, the water cooled down to a good warm temperature. Removing my work jumpsuit, I stepped in, and let all the aches and pains of the day wash away.

The water touched on the burns I had under my coat, little souvenirs from close calls with loose steam pipes. They were healing nicely, not hurting nearly as much as they had before, but still a strong reminder on safety, and where not to sit.

Feeling properly clean, I turned off the shower and stepped out. Using the last dry towel (I’ll definitely need to talk to Charcoal later about this), I dried myself off. Wiping the steam off the mirror, I quickly looked myself over. My bright orange coat was clean from all the grease of work, and my charcoal black mane and tail puffed out due to the rough drying. The red and orange stripe running through my mane and tail gave them a smoky fire look, a look I took pride in, though due to my work, I had to keep them short, or risk actually going up like a torch.

Sufficiently dry, I stepped out of the wash room, placing my work barding on my dresser. Putting on my clean barding I kept hung up, I patted it down to get rid of the winkles. Pulling out a bottle of breath spray, I made sure to pump it a few times to get my breath minty fresh. “Right, time to meet up with the others.”

_ _ _ _ _ _

Within what seemed like seconds, I was through the door to the lounge. A band was on stage playing some swing music as a gray mare with a red and white mane sang an old Sweetie Belle original to the tune. I spotted Carbon Cap at the bar with another mare, presumedly her friend that I had mentioned to Backdraft.

“Hey there,” I called out as I approached. Carbon Cap turned to see who was approaching and, upon seeing me, grinned.

“Where’ve you been, hot stuff?” Carbon teased.

“Say,” Backdraft trotted toward us. “What’s up with that pet name?” I looked at Backdraft for a moment. “I mean, is it because you work down in the boiler room?” I heard Carbon’s friend giggle and I facehoofed.

“It’s because his name is Ember Blaze,” Carbon explained. I watched the realization wash over Backdraft’s face as he made the connection. Carbon’s friend giggled even more.

“So,” I interjected. “Who’s your friend, Carbon?”

“Valentine,” the mare in question introduced herself. Valentine was an Earth pony with a dark lavender coat and a white mane and tail, both of which were cut short with her mane straightened off on one side. “Carbon’s told me a little bit about your friend here,” Valentine gestured to Backdraft. Looking at my friend, I caught the pleading look in his eyes.

“Oh?” I turned back to address Valentine. “Backdraft here has been my best friend since the two of us were little. He’s always been a true and loyal friend to me and for as long as I can remember, there hasn’t been a time he’s let me down,” I noticed Valentine look over at Backdraft, eyeing him up. “He and I work together down in the maintenance wing,” I continued. “And you’ll never meet,” I paused to think about how often I found Backdraft asleep or face-deep in an issue of Wingboner magazine. “anypony who’s more passionate about his work.” I smiled as best as I could, hoping Valentine would be impressed with the sugarcoating.

“Mmm,” Valentine hummed, eying Backdraft up and down. She seemed to inspect every angle of him she could. “I do like a hard working stallion,” the mare said approvingly. Something about the tone of Valentine’s voice seemed off. Her eyes were half lidded and she was looking at Backdraft in a manner I couldn’t quite describe. An awkward silence fell over us.

“Well,” Carbon spoke up. “How about we move out onto the dancefloor?” The mare grabbed my hoof and led me out onto the floor. Turning to look over my shoulder, I watched Backdraft and Valentine follow in tow.

The four of us made it to the center of the dancefloor just as the band started a new song. As Carbon Cap and I danced together, I kept catching glimpses of our friends out of the corners of my vision. While Valentine seemed to be more than a capable dancer, Backdraft was fighting just to keep on his hooves.

“Your friend has four left hooves,” Carbon said as the song ended. Valentine was helping Backdraft up off of the floor for what might have been the fifteenth time. Backdraft wore a look of embarrassment on his face, but Valentine only seemed more amused.

“Well uh,” I clopped my front hooves together. “Drinks are on me.” The four of us headed to the bar and ordered a round of drinks. Carbon Cap, Backdraft and I each ordered the usual flair, but Valentine ordered a rather flashy drink complete with a fruit-kabob and a tiny umbrella.

Taking our drinks with us, we moved toward a booth on the far side of the bar and settled in. Carbon Cap and I sat on a bench opposite Backdraft and Valentine, setting our drinks on the table between us.

“So you two have been best friends your whole lives?” Valentine started off the conversation. I was in the middle of taking a drink, so Backdraft answered for me.

“Oh yeah,” Backdraft took a swig of his own drink before continuing. “We’ve been through a whole lot together, haven’t we, Ember?” Setting my own drink down, I nodded. The conversation dove deeper and deeper into the antics that Backdraft and I had over the years. As we talked, we drank.

“And,” Backdraft took a pause. “You remember the time when we were little and they had you and me put the candles on Old Stallion Red’s cake?”

“Oh yeah,” I laughed. Backdraft and I had a few drinks in us. Carbon Cap and Valentine watched and listened amusedly.

“And and we found some trick candles in that cabinet so we put them on the cake,” Backdraft was laughing along with me. After regaining his composure, he continued. “But it turned out they weren’t trick candles at all and they exploded in his face.”

“But the best part,” I interjected. “Was when he started freaking out and ranted about how the ‘zebras were attacking’ and scuttled off in a panic.”

“Oh,” Backdraft chuckled. “I’d never seen a stallion as old as him move that fast in my life.”

“Hey,” a voice called from outside our booth. A large white stallion was standing nearby. “Purple cutie,” he addressed Valentine. “You wanna go somewhere and have a bit of fun?”

“Go away,” Valentine said flatly, not even turning to address the stallion directly. The stallion only leaned in further. I noticed Backdraft tense and lean forward, only to be stopped by Carbon’s hoof. Carbon simply shook her head and Backdraft begrudgingly sat back in his seat.

“S’cuse me?” The stallion looked down at Valentine who simply stared down at the table.

“I said go away,” Valentine deadpanned. “I’ve no use for disobedient pets.” The stallion’s expression became one of annoyance. “If you refuse to leave me alone, I’ll have to punish you.”

“Why you,” the stallion lurched forward but was met with a headbutt from Valentine who proceeded to slide out of the booth and wrap her hoof around his neck, pulling the dazed stallion to the ground with a thud. In a flash, Valentine had pinned the stallion beneath her and held his hind leg twisted up in a painful looking angle. The stallion cried out in pain only to Valentine’s amusement.

“Oh, does it hurt?” The mare teased, tugging the stallion’s leg a bit more.

“Aaaagh! Please,” the stallion begged through grunts of pain. “Let me go! I’ll leave you alone, I promise! Just let me go!” A small crowd of ponies had gathered to watch the one-sided fight. I turned to look at Carbon Cap with a confounded expression on my face. Carbon simply shrugged and turned back to watch her friend.

“That’s it,” Valentine purred. “Beg. Beg for mercy.” The stallion grunted in pain as Valentine tightened her grip on his hind leg, twisting it just a bit further back.

“Okay,” the stallion whined. “I beg, I beg. Let me go, please, I beg of you.”

“Good boy,” Valentine let go of the stallion’s leg much to his relief before standing up. “You run along now before I decide to charge you with assaulting an officer.” The white stallion rose up from the floor with a grunt of pain and hobbled away quickly. Valentine flipped her hair back and ran a hoof through it before turning towards the booth. She gave Backdraft a sultry look.

“That got my heart racing,” she said. She motioned for Backdraft to get up and follow her. “Come,” she commanded. Backdraft seemed to know better than to disobey and shuffled out from the booth, following Valentine out of the lounge.

“Is he going to be okay?” I turned to Carbon slowly. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” Carbon Cap took another sip of her drink.

“He might have a few wax burns and bruises tomorrow,” she said casually. “But nothing serious.” Carbon downed the rest of her drink and grabbed my hoof, pulling me out from the booth. “If it really worries you, though,” she smirked. “I could think of a few ways to get your mind off it.”

I followed Carbon Cap out of the lounge and into the hallway. In a matter of minutes we were through the door of her apartment and into her bedroom. In a matter of seconds we were tangled up underneath her sheets.

_ _ _ _ _ _

My eyes flitted open as I awoke. Slowly turning over in the bed, my hoof bumped something. Adjusting to the darkness in the room, I could make out the faint outline of Carbon Cap’s sleeping form. I kissed her lightly on the cheek before rolling off of the bed and groggily stood up.

The red glow of my magic wrapped around my discarded Stable barding and floated it over to me. As soon as I zipped it up, I heard Carbon yawn behind me. Turning my head, I greeted her with a smile.

“Mnnn...going to work?” she said groggily.

I nodded in reply “Yeah, just need to check on Charcoal first.”

She rubbed her eyes and smiled at me “Have a good day then. I’ll see you at the Lounge later?”

“You can count on it.” I said as I turned to leave.

Upon exiting the apartment, the lights of the hallway felt like somepony had poured fire into my eyes. Raising a hoof to shield myself from the offensive lights, I made my way back to my own apartment, trying to ignore the constant pounding in my head all the while. The walk only amounted to a few minutes, but it felt like much much longer. The familiar doorway came into view and was a much welcomed sight.

“Charcoal?” I called out, opening the door to the apartment and stepping through. “You up?” Peering into Charcoal’s bedroom, I found it vacant. The bed was unmade, no surprise. One of these days Charcoal would learn to make his own bed. Begrudgingly, I pulled the sheets back into place. Stepping out into the living area, I peered around into the other rooms. The rest of the apartment was empty, meaning Charcoal was probably out playing with his friends or something.

I stepped into the bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet, magicking out a bottle of painkillers and downing two of the tablets inside. Turning on the shower, I waited a few moments for the water to adjust and hopped in. The warm water helped ease the soreness in my muscles that had probably been a result of the night before.

After drying off and stepping out of the shower, I’d resigned to get ready for work. Tossing the towel onto the drying rack, I stepped over to the sink to brush my teeth and comb my mane. Making sure I was relatively ready for the day, I gathered up my toolbox and stepped out of my apartment, trotting down to the boiler room.

_ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh great,” my pegasus friend exclaimed as he threw a wrench toward me. “I could use some help with this.” Catching the wrench in my magic, I rolled my eyes and approached the steaming pipes. As I began repairing the valves and connectors, Backdraft wasted no time starting up a conversation.

“Oh man,” Backdraft leaned down to speak over the whistling and hissing of the pipes. “I had the craziest night ever.” I focused more on the work at hand rather than Backdraft’s recounting of his, no doubt, adventurous night. “Val is one crazy mare. She tied me up and went off into the other room and when she came back she was wearing this really tight looking black leather. It was kind of intimidating but at the same time really hot.” Tightening valves and connectors, I repaired a few areas where steam was spewing out. “...and then she pulled this thing out of her dresser,” Backdraft continued.

“I’d love to hear all about it,” I interrupted, levitating Backdraft’s wrench back to him. “But this boiler won’t keep itself running.” My pegasus friend gingerly took the wrench from my magic hold and stuffed it into his utility pack before giving me a skeptical look.

“You alright, man?” he asked in a somewhat worried tone.

I rolled my eyes as I replied“Yeah, just dealing with a hangover.”

A loud beep echoed through the room as the comm speakers turned on. “Attention, ponies of Stable 33. This is your Overmare speaking. I would like to inform each and every pony that Stalker has returned from his travels. To celebrate this occasion, everypony is relieved of their duties for today. That is all. Thank you.” With another buzz and a click, the announcement ended.

“Well,” Backdraft started. “Never mind, then. Wanna head to the lounge?” Backdraft wasted no time gathering up his belongings and preparing to leave. I decided to just leave my tools in the locker nearby and pick them up later rather than returning to the apartment to drop them off. Backdraft and I locked the door behind us and made our way upstairs.

Upon reaching the lounge, we spotted a group of foals, Charcoal included, sitting in a semicircle around Stalker. Stalker was the only pony permitted to come and go to and from the Stable freely. He was an old pegasus pony who’d traversed the wasteland extensively and had the scars to prove it. The old stallion was telling the little ones about his adventures in the wastes.

“I wonder what the old man’s been up to this time,” Backdraft said beside me. I looked toward the foals and noticed Charcoal listening intently; his eyes as wide as saucers.

“I dunno,” I started. “But I’m sure Charcoal will tell me all about it later.” Backdraft chuckled and made his way over towards the bar to chat it up with a few mares.

Curiosity beckoned me as I wondered what exactly Stalker was telling the foals. As I approached the group, Stalker halted his story and looked up at me. His eyes gazed directly into my own, as if he were looking into my soul. A smile broke out across his face.

“Ah, children,” the old stallion started. “A kindred spirit approaches. Somepony with the same flame of adventure burning within.” The foals turned and looked up at me expectantly.

“Heh,” I chuckled nervously. “You must have me mistaken for my little brother there,” I raised my hoof and gestured toward Charcoal. My little brother beamed and nodded vigorously. The old stallion simply shook his head.

“While the little one sees the excitement and has a love of adventuring,” Stalker remarked. “He doesn’t possess the nerve. I sense it in you, though.”

“I… see.” Turning my attention towards Charcoal, I told him not to stay out too late. My brother simply nodded and returned his own attention toward Stalker. I turned away and walked over to the bar, rolling my eyes at Stalker’s words.

“Morning, Ember,” the stallion tending the bar greeted me like always. “What can I get ya?”

“Morning,” I replied. “Coffee please.” Watching the barkeep nod and trail off, I felt something nudge my behind. Turning my head, I spotted Carbon Cap bump her flank into mine.

“Good morning,” Carbon smirked at me and leaned forward. “I had a great time last night,” she whispered into my ear before nipping at it with her teeth.

I could feel Backdraft staring at me, a stupid grin plastered on his face. Giving a soft chuckle, I turned to look at Carbon. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Carbon kissed me before she turned and started to trot off. “You know where to find me.” Watching Carbon walk off, I felt my face flush a bit as she flipped her tail aside and giving me a nice view of her backside before disappearing around the corner of the doorway and out of the lounge.

“Nice!” I felt a hoof wrap around the back of my neck as Backdraft leaned on me. “You are one lucky stallion.” Backdraft exclaimed.

“Uh huh, don’t let Valentine hear you say that.” I rolled my eyes and shoved Backdraft off of me before hopping up onto one of the barstools and leaning onto the counter. A mug of coffee wrapped in magic floated over to where I was sitting and touched down in front of me. I nodded to the barkeep before looking to Backdraft. My pegasus friend hopped up onto the stool next to me in silence. I poked his shoulder with my hoof and we both shared a laugh before I took the first sip of my drink.

Backdraft and I sat and chatted while I finished my coffee. Our conversations mostly revolved around mares and work and occasionally Stable gossip that interested us. Taking the last drink of my coffee, I sat the mug down on the counter and hopped down from my stool. I bade farewell to Backdraft and payed for my drink before trotting towards the door.

“Off to have another go with Carbon?” Backdraft called after me. I could almost feel the grin on his face.

“I’m going to the Orchard,” I called back over my shoulder. Backdraft’s grin disappeared.

“Alright,” he nodded and waved before turning back to the bar. “I’ll catch you later, E.B..”

I stepped through the doorway and out into the Orchard. The Orchard was a large area dedicated to growing various fruits and vegetables to feed the Stable. Trotting off toward the apple orchard, I made my way out into the cemetery.

The cemetery was a portion of the orchard that had been set aside for the burial of ponies that had been victims to a harsh outbreak within the Stable years ago. Usually when ponies died in the Stable they would be ‘processed’ and ‘recycled’. A pony who was recycled was basically used as an energy source for the Stable; a way for a pony to serve a purpose in the Stable even after death. Often the recycled ponies would be used to help plant and grow food.

Ponies who had been exposed to the outbreak, however, couldn’t be processed and recycled for fear of contaminating anypony else. Instead, these ponies were buried after their deaths; the far corner of the apple orchard their final resting place.

Trotting amongst the graves, I stopped in front of a double headstone. Sitting down in the grass in front of the marble structure, I read the names etched into it: Bonfire and Tinder.

“Hi Mom,” I started. “Hi Dad. I’m sorry I haven’t been visiting you two lately. I’ve had my hooves full between work and looking after Charcoal. He’s doing great, by the way. Things are going well in school and he’s made quite a few friends,” I gave a sigh. “One thing that’s worrying me, though, is how obsessed he seems to be with the world outside. Stalker came back to the Stable today and was telling the foals about his adventures. Charcoal seemed to be so engrossed in what Stalker was saying that he might as well have been under a trance,” I rubbed the back of my neck with my hoof and chuckled a bit. “Maybe I’m just worrying too much...” I trailed off.

An artificial breeze blew through the Orchard. “You two remember Backdraft? He and I used to play together all the time,” I reminisced about the days before the outbreak when Backdraft and I ran around just like Charcoal and his friends, having adventures within our own little worlds. “We’re still both working down in the boiler room, but when he’s not pretending to get work done he’s out chasing after mares,” I chuckled.

Another breeze blew across the Orchard and through my short mane. Listening to the leaves on the trees rustle, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Once the wind died down, I got up from the ground and eyed the headstone.

“I’ll visit again soon,” I said. “And I’ll keep an eye on Charcoal too, just like I promised.” Rubbing my eyes, I turned and trotted out of the Orchard.

As I exited the orchard, I heard what sounded like three ponies approach and saw Valentine flanked by two surly looking stallions; all three of them dressed in their Stable security gear. Valentine stiffened up and addressed me in a loud tone.

“Ember Blaze,” she boomed. “Follow us, please. The Overmare would like to speak with you,” Valentine seemed to command rather than request. My ears folded back as I wondered why the Overmare wanted to see me.

--Chapter End--

“I don’t want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart.”

Quests Finished: none

Quests Started: Ignition

Levels Earned: none

Perks Earned: none