ALL FIRED UP
They were coming. She wanted to crane her head to look behind her but her panic wouldn’t let her. It mattered little as the trembles vibrating across the ground told her exactly what she needed to know. They were following. Her vision darted left and right for openings in the trees only to come upon the shadows of her pursuers; their dark wave sliding across the outline of the passing trunks. They were hunting. The infamous scent did not relent as it continued to fill the yellow mare’s snout, getting stronger all the while. They were gaining. Suddenly, a less significant vibration echoed across the ground following the release of one big tremor, prompting a twitch of the Pegasus’s wings. They were here.
Fluttershy did the only natural thing and ascended into the air, narrowly avoiding the leap of the nearest timberwolf. Her normal reluctant mood to flying let her down however and an error in her navigation soon followed. The yellow Pegasus grimaced in pain as her left wing sliced off of the inevitable trunk and was sent plummeting to the ground. This time, Fluttershy screamed as she hit the ground harshly, struggling to get back to her feet again. The familiar howl in the distance encouraged her to look around for a hiding spot, knowing now that she wouldn’t be able to outrun them. As luck would have it, there was a small dark opening nestled in the nearby foliage. How convenient, she thought but had no desire to view that a reason to stay out in the open. Having found her hooves she made a beeline straight for the cave and disappeared into the dark abyss.
The cave was surprisingly large that Fluttershy hadn’t realised she was still running. She halted abruptly, trying to make out her surroundings. She could no longer smell, hear or feel the presence of the timberwolves and let out a small sigh of relief. But the darkness of the cave didn’t do much to make her nerves escalate once more. The air felt moist and Fluttershy definitely recognised the sound of running water. Occasionally, she would feel a droplet of water on her head. She must have been very lucky to follow the shape of the cave, she thought anxiously as the dimness in the cave revealed nothing of the sides, top or length of the cave.
The opening to the cave was no longer visible as the shaking Pegasus turned her head back to check. If she had walked straight through the cave this far, she had a small suspicion that it might exit out elsewhere. Or she could attempt to retrace her steps back towards the entrance. But she knew they would still be out there.
The idea of venturing further into the cave didn’t excite her though as she may end up getting herself lost and be forced to starve as her friends would probably never find her nor perhaps want to after all the times she had been afraid to do things and…her animals…what would they do without her? They would suffer if she wasn’t there.
“Not if I can help it!” Fluttershy blurted, quickly zipping her mouth after the accidental outburst.
With a heavy heart, the timid pony readied herself and ventured on into the cave.
The cave seemed endless. Fluttershy couldn’t remember how long it had been since she last saw any glimmer of light. She would bump into what she thought were the sides of the cave from time to time. Half the time she wondered if she was walking in circles even though she was sure that she had been walking in a straight line; especially seeing as she took each step with the upmost care. She nervously looked to her sides attempting to find any difference in the ever present gloom.
Her mind began to play tricks on her as she heard sounds emanating throughout the cave. In her state of panic, Fluttershy couldn’t really make out what the sound was nor did she really want to. It seemed however to resemble a moan of some sort. Perhaps there were ghosts in this cave! But even if there were she wouldn’t be able to see anything so nothing could scare her in that sense which did relax her. Fluttershy pressed on.
The moaning which she thought she was imagining kept getting stronger as she walked on; the sound becoming less echoed and more like a voice. Soon enough she was able to decipher the word “pony”. Her heart leapt at the thought that there might be somepony else in the cave causing an increase in her walking pace. But what if it wasn’t? And was instead some creature that could sense that a pony was in the cave? More importantly, herself.
She was about to slow down again but something in the distance made her stop right there. She could actually see something! Her eyes opened up in awe and she couldn’t help but feel elated in the midst of the scary darkness. She gazed intently at the source of light.
Fluttershy was unsure where the orange glow was coming from; only that it revealed to her a large rock in front of her and the glow radiating from behind it. Intrigued but slightly worried all the same, Fluttershy approached the rock cautiously.
The sound of breathing soon came into the pegasus’s ears and a flush of anxiety spread over her face. Rounding the corner of the rock, she shut her eyes in preparation for a sudden lash out or just to save herself from getting scared at the creature’s appearance. She came to a halt and kept her eyes closed, expecting something to happen. When nothing did, she heard the thing utter “pony” again only this time it was far clearer and Fluttershy could tell that its tone suggested it was upset. She gently unfurled her eye lids to let her gaze come upon the pony in front of her.
Fluttershy let out a gasp of surprise at the discovery of the white pony who lay on the ground, looking fearfully up at her and muttering the same word over and over.
“Oh Celestia, are you OK?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.
The earth pony made no proper response, simply repeating “pony” as before, its head hung low.
“It’s OK, I won’t hurt you…” said the animal lover gently, putting a hoof on its chin and bringing it up so that their eyes met. “…It’s OK…You’re in no danger.”
Fluttershy’s natural gift at being kind to animals and ponies alike made it a lot easier for them to feel calm around her and the effect soon transferred to the less afraid earth pony. The pony’s eyes became less constricted and Fluttershy’s hoof no longer shook from the quakes that had been coursing through the pony’s body. Its breathing returned to normal as it took a deep breath, its mouth producing a still smile in contrast to its constant use just moments ago. It nodded at Fluttershy and uttered the same phrase again a lot more calmly.
“That’s right. Good.” Fluttershy felt more at ease to know somepony else was in this horrible cave. Looking her over though, Fluttershy was certain that she had never seen an earth pony quite like the one that lay before her.
Her mane and tail were a fiery orange but it seemed as though fire was actually flowing through them. That’s impossible! But then the pegasus came to an understanding; if it wasn’t fire then how would the pony be emitting that warm orange glow. Warm! It had taken her a while to realise that she was now surrounded by a comforting heat coming off of the white pony. After navigating the cave for so long, she had gotten used to the cool air within it. An earth pony with fire for her mane and tail? Fluttershy was gobsmacked.
“Are you alright?” she asked the fire pony.
The pony nodded and gave the familiar response.
“What’s your name?”
The fiery pony said it again.
“Can’t you talk?”
The pony gave Fluttershy a confused look. Fluttershy was surprised but not completely taken aback. It wasn’t unheard of for some ponies lacking the ability to talk as she had heard of such ponies living out in the Everfree Forest. But they rarely came into contact with civilized ponies so it wasn’t general knowledge that these kinds of ponies existed.
“Well OK, if you can’t talk, I guess I’ll have to call you something,” said Fluttershy, putting a hoof to her chin while searching her brain for her ideas.
The warm pony happily said the “pony” phrase again. Although as its tone had been much happier this time, Fluttershy was able to pick up something at the end of the word.
“Pony-ta? Ponyta? Your name is Ponyta?”
Ponyta got up and immediately stood up on its hind legs, bucking its forelegs in delight. Fluttershy recoiled in shock but let out a small giggle at the sight of Ponyta’s happiness. When standing, Fluttershy noticed that Ponyta stood slightly taller than her; as tall as a stallion would be compared to a mare. Could it be a stallion? No, Fluttershy had been around her Ponyville friends enough that she could tell the difference. Plus, being an animal expert Fluttershy was very practiced on how to tell gender in creatures. Her eyes fell down towards the mare’s legs where she noticed that she had fiery hair extending from her legs too.
“Oh you don’t shave those? Then again…why would you?” Fluttershy chuckled at her mistake.
Ponyta approached Fluttershy and drooped its head to nuzzle the yellow pegaus’s soft pink mane. Fluttershy couldn’t help but blush. This had been the first time in which a pony had ever been so affectionate to her; even though her friends were equally as affectionate they normally did it in hugs rather than something as intimate as this. Fluttershy beamed at the fire pony as it retracted back from the pegasus.
“How did you get in here?” inquired Fluttershy in her normal calm tone.
Ponyta’s expression turned sad as it gestured to the left and right with its head before returning back to Fluttershy and the hanging it low once more.
“Hey, it’ll be OK. I’m lost too. I’m awful glad that you came along though.”
The white pony lifted its head and whinnied happily in response.
“Shall we get out of here together?” Fluttershy queried the literally fired-up pony.
Ponyta said its name and nodded its head in agreement.
Fluttershy studied Ponyta for a moment. “Do you think you can use the flames coming from your body to light the way?”
Ponyta obeyed and the flames in its mane and tail intensified, giving the two of them some much needed perspective of the cave.
With the help of Ponyta’s guiding light, it had not taken the two of them long to reach an exit. The cave had been revealed to be a labyrinth with passages going this way and that. Fluttershy had been taking all the wrong turns which led to her meeting with the peculiar yet interesting pony. The view of the light at the end of the tunnel sent Ponyta into an excited gallop with Fluttershy following post haste. The two slowed down as the rush of warm air and the sun’s rays washed over them. It had been barely night when Fluttershy had gone looking for Angel and now it seemed like midday.
Ponyta pressed closer to Fluttershy and nuzzled her mane as it did before. The yellow pegasus joined in this time, rubbing her head against the familiar pony. She was so thankful to be out of the cave and Ponyta had saved her.
“Oh…I’m just so happy to be out of there!” she exclaimed while still sharing the nuzzle.
Ponyta simply said “Ponyta” warmly. The nice moment was soon broken however as Ponyta suddenly pulled out of the nuzzle; casting its gaze on the nearby bushes. It stared intently at the bushes as if it suspected an intruder was near.
“What’s wrong? Is something out there?” asked Fluttershy nervously. Then the thought came to her. “No! It….it can’t be!”
Fluttershy backed away in terror at the familiar timber smell she had inhaled the night before. She darted her eyes at Ponyta.
“Run…..RUN!” she exclaimed, the white pony hastily obeying.
Fluttershy bolted through the trees with Ponyta right by her. She was lucky at least to have a friend by her side this time as she shot a glance behind her to see the nightmare relived. But as she returned her gaze to her front, her eyes caught sight of nearing Timberwolves from the sides. Her thoughts turned to flying again as it was now daytime it would be easier to see where she was going. Alas, she had forgotten about her new friend who sadly lacked wings and she knew from past experience that carrying her was out of the question. No, they’d just have to run and keep running.
“Ponyville! There…there it is!” gasped Fluttershy, almost out of breath. The welcome sight became visible beyond the gaps in the treelines in front of them. Ponyta was still following beside her, its head constantly surveying the trees for openings.
Fluttershy glanced at her friend. “We’re almost…”
Her assurance had been cut short as she noticed Ponyta stopping suddenly and quickly darted her head back to front position. She too stopped as soon as she could. Two timberwolves had jumped into their path and were advancing at the pair of them. One took a snap at Fluttershy just narrowly missing her mane and sending the Pegasus to the ground as she attempted to back away hastily. She heard a distressed cry from Ponyta and looking up to her, Fluttershy copied the direction of the pony’s gaze to find that they were surrounded.
Fluttershy cowered in fear and closed her eyes preparing for the worst. There was no way out. She thought of flying again but she wouldn’t leave her friend; her saviour…her…
An explosive sound erupted near the trembling pegasus and she opened her eyes to see the whole area ablaze. The once determined timberwolves were now a scattered mess; twisting this way and that to escape the heatwave that had consumed some of their pack members. Somehow the sudden inflammation of her surroundings hadn’t caused Fluttershy any worry. In fact she recognised the tender feel to the warmth encircling her and glancing behind her, she smiled as she saw her saviour again.
Ponyta finished off the stragglers who seemed brave enough to stick around longer before becoming engulfed within the flames. Fluttershy got up after the fires had died down; the timberwolves may have been vulnerable to the heat but the trees in the Everfree forest were near to indestructible as Fluttershy had discovered in the battle with Discord’s vines.
She trotted over to her protector and wrapped her fore hooves around the cosy pony’s neck. Ponyta leaned its head in and the two shared a warm cuddle. In her burst of appreciation for her gallant rescue, Fluttershy had just come to realise how eagerly she was holding her fiery friends neck. She quickly retracted and blushed awkwardly.
“Gosh…you breathe fire too!” Fluttershy exclaimed as far as she could while retaining her normal hushed tone. Of course, she wasn’t half-surprised but she still felt embarrassed after her small infatuation with Ponyta and began looking everywhere but directly into the earth pony’s eyes.
“So…umm…what will you do now?” she asked hesitantly.
Ponyta’s head sank at that question and it pawed at the ground with its front right hoof. It started to trail off in one direction muttering “Ponyta” sadly.
“Y-You could come live with me for a while, if…if you want?”
Ponyta’s head jolted back up at the offer and Fluttershy gasped in surprise as the ecstatic pony jumped onto her; pinning her down as Ponyta’s humid tongue licked her face lovingly. Fluttershy giggled in response to the tickles she felt as the tongue worked its affectionate magic all over the happy pegasus head.
No, not just a while, she thought to herself. Much longer.
Author's Note
I really liked writing this story! Ponyta is one of my favourite pokemon. Thought it good to do a pokemon crossover and I'm not sure I'm entirely done with this story either. But I thought this would be nice as a short story to begin with. Please let me know if you want to see more stuff like this! 
