Sparkiverse: Fireflies

The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.

A black stallion walked wearily through the fields. He'd dealt with five fires today (One from Pinkie's cooking, one from a misfired spell, and three from his little brother) and each one covered him with soot. His coat was normally a light cream, and his mane a soft blue, but he was regularly seen in this state, as he worked for the Ponyville Fire Station. The fireflies tonight were glistening with a ferocity that would go unnoticed to anypony else's eyes. Not the unicorn's, though. He saw their glow as a reflection of his own pride. He was proud to be a firepony.

"For the last time, Pyro!" a very, very angry Jet Stream had said to his little brother one morning, yanking away a small box with his magic. "You can't play with matches!!"

"Stop being so overprotective!!" shouted a small, soft red unicorn colt. His mane was red as well, only it was a much deeper color. He had his brother's soft blue eyes. "It's not like I'm going to burn the house down, Jet..."

"That's what you said last week, when you got your cutie mark!" barked Jet Stream, pointing an accusing hoof at his brother's flank. A bright orange flaming cutie mark was painfully visible where most fillies Pyro's age would have a blank flank. "Come on, I'm taking you to Mom..."

"Jet...Jet...JET...JET STREAM!!!"

Jet Stream opened his blurry eyes to see his brother hunched over him, looking worried. It was weird, he had sworn he was just taking away the box of matches from Pyro. Maybe he was just sick and delusional. His forehead did feel hot... in fact... it was... burning....

"Gah!" Jet Stream sat upright immediately, shaking the flaming wood scraps off of his head. He looked back to see a fallen support post, which had crashed on him. Looking forward again, he saw his brother, Pyro, close to tears.

"There's no time to explain, we- we need to get out of here. The fireponies won't be here for a long time, and.. and..." Pyro stammered.

Jet Stream's ears perked. He looked beyond Pyro to his burning walls, he heard cracking wood... the  smell of gasoline was in the air. His eyes widened as he heard Pyro murmer something about "My stash". Blue magic filled the air as Jet Stream latched onto his brother and started to create a shield before-

Boom. The flames had reached Pyro's hidden stash of gasoline under his bed, and the entire charred room blew to pieces, forcing the two ponies out the window. Jet Stream's spell barely had the time to cover his brother and his own front half, so his rear got thoroughly blasted with soot. They landed on the ground with a soft thud, but Jet's spell bounced into the ground, breaking their fall a little. Jet Stream stood up slowly, wincing from the pain in his hind legs. Upon standing up, he glanced at the neighbor's sprinkler, attached to their garden hose. He knew what to do.

Running over to the neighbor's lawn, Jet Stream yanked the sprinkler off of the nozzle. With his magic, he tried to turn on the water... but the support post had injured his horn and was messing with his magic. He ran to the wall with the water control, and turned it to full blast with his mouth. It was slightly disgusting, seeing as the unicorns in his family did everything with magic, but he gave that no thought. Using what strength he had left in his back legs, he sprinted to the garden hose and pointed it at the flaming house.

When the fireponies eventually arrived, the house was drenched. There was nothing left for them to do. Jet Stream had taken care of it all. And now... Pyro stood over his blackened brother, hoping he might wake up soon. He'd passed out from exhaustion long ago, and he hadn't been conscious yet. The fireponies took the pair back to the station to get them cleaned up. Pyro came out unscathed, he had a knack for fire safety, but Jet Stream... he was definitely going to need a cast on both of his hind legs for a few weeks, or maybe even a few months.

Jet Stream awoke, a day later, to find himself in a comfortable bed next to a window overlooking the town. He was completely clean and devoid of fire remnants, for once... He sat up in bed, but immediately regretted it as pain shot through his hind legs. He looked down to see two well-managed casts, and...

A cutie mark. Jet Stream had earned his cutie mark. It was a garden hose nozzle, spraying water. Pure pride showed on Jet's face. His cutie mark... he was meant to help ponies and be... a firepony.

The same pride, accompanied by a fresh layer of soot, accompanied Jet Stream this night too. He'd saved many ponies in the past (but one survivor was saved many, many more times than the others...), ponies that wouldn't be saved with the previous fire station runnings. He'd been employee of the month for five years in a row, and each month's award was well-deserved. He did, after all, get practice.

The smell of burning wood filled the air. He turned around to see a trail of smoke drifting from his backyard. It was probably Pyro, and he should probably check on him... then again, Pyro had gotten a lot better at controlling the flames recently. Maybe Jet could enjoy this one moment of peace and serenity, forgetting about his life and letting himself drift away with the fireflies...

Then again. This was Pyro we were talking about. Yeah, he should probably go check on him. He sighed, stood up, turned around and trotted towards his house. He saw the pillar of smoke grow bigger, rolled his eyes, and broke into a full run.

And the fireflies followed after him.