Author's Note
This bit may not make sense since you probably haven't read my other fic, but Susan is my self insert and Pyro is...Pyro. Almost. He's an OC from TF2 sharing the name of the canon character. We'll get to the Equestria part of the actual story in part 1.
Now that that's out of the way, enjoy my awful writing.
Prologue
It was a sunny Saturday morning and Pyro was visiting Susan once again.
She had recently introduced him to a series called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. When he heard of the idea, he refused to watch it at first, reasoning that it was a cartoon, and cartoons are for children.
After much pleading from Susan, he finally relented and gave the pilot a watch with her.
He was hooked.
After this, they regularly met at Susan's apartment to watch more episodes of the show, with Pyro sitting on the edge of his seat grinning through every moment of it.
Today started the same way, with Pyro walking through the door and hugging Susan, then sitting down on the couch and grabbing a plush version of his favorite rainbow-maned pegasus.
"Alright, before we watch this one I wanted to show you something," Susan said, taking her phone out of her pocket.
Pyro turned toward her and tilted his head.
"What is it?" he asked.
Susan scrolled through her phone, then paused and held it up.
On the phone was a picture of a grey and white unicorn with long white hair and glasses. The unicorn had a small white blotch on its flank.
"Ta-da!" she said proudly. "I drew myself a pony!"
Pyro smiled.
"It's pretty!"
"Her name's Blank Canvas. I wanted a pony that represented me… but I couldn't really decide on much of a theme since my interests change so much, so I made sort of a placeholder. See the cutie mark?" She gestured toward the unicorn's flank. "You can draw anything in there!"
Pyro thought for a moment.
"...Can you make me a pony?"
Susan grinned.
"Sure! I think I know what we're doing today!" she turned toward her laptop and picked up a drawing pad. "Okay, first things first, what should his cutie mark be?"
Pyro scratched his head.
"Uh…" he trailed off.
"How about that symbol on your suit? Nah, too obvious. Hmm…" Susan scratched her chin.
"A heart!" Pyro said. "For love!"
Susan blushed.
"Aww...wait! What about a flaming heart? That would be cool! People get tattoos of that, I think."
Pyro perked up.
"Yes!"
Susan scribbled away at her drawing pad, quickly making a rough design of a heart with fire around it.
"Like this?" she said.
Pyro nodded vigorously.
"We're on a roll! Now what next? A name?" Susan said.
"Pyro!"
"That's...a nice name, but it isn't really a pony name. Maybe something longer. Something to do with the cutie mark, like love...heart…fire...uh. This isn't that easy."
"Pyro Heart?" Pyro said.
"Sounds good!" She typed on her phone, making notes. "Er, it autocorrected to Pyre Heart. Sounds kinda like pure heart, sorta. Let me just-"
"No, I like that!" Pyro interrupted. "It sounds nice. Like a pony name."
Susan smiled.
"Pyre Heart it is! Now we need just a bit more. What kind of pony do you want to be?"
Pyro looked down at the stuffed pegasus in his arms and lifted it up.
"Of course!"
She turned back toward her laptop and started scribbling on her drawing pad once more. Pyro walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder, looking at the picture as it took form.
Before long, there was a rough sketch of a pegasus with a fiery heart on its flank staring back at the two of them.
"It looks so good!" Pyro said.
Susan laughed.
"It's not done yet! It's only a sketch, finishing will take me hours if I want it to really look good."
Pyro shook his head.
"No, it looks good now too. Everything you draw looks nice." He leaned over and gave Susan a peck on the cheek.
"Eheh…th-thanks." she turned toward him. "Now, wanna watch some TV?"
Pyro nodded excitedly.
"Alright! Now, I might be able to get a little story written about this guy later if you want me to read it to you." Susan said. "I'll warn you, my writing isn't as good as my art."
Pyro shook his head once more and gave Susan a kiss.
The sun had set.
Blank Canvas was asleep on the paint-stained couch in the middle of the room, having insisted on giving Pyre Heart the bed to sleep on with his broken wing.
The red pegasus was still awake, the events of the day running through his mind. He clearly recalled waking up on the ground in the middle of a forested area and being taken to a doctor and then this town, but everything before was a blur.
He could almost remember some sensations, like a dream he just woke up from. Senses of fear, and flying away from something, pain, and then...nothing.
The only clue he had was the mask lying on the bed next to him. It was on his head when he woke up, and the unicorn who helped him said it was a firefighter's mask.
Perhaps she was right, as it did feel comfortable on Pyre Heart's head, almost as if it belonged there.
He ran his hoof over the mask's glass eye holes, rubbing spots of dirt and grime from them. The mask had writing between the eye holes, though Pyre Heart couldn't tell what it said.
He briefly considered asking the unicorn to help him read it, but the idea of telling her he couldn't read brought a wave of shame over him.
He paused.
He couldn't read. That was another clue to his past, at least.
With that thought in his mind, he lowered his head to the pillow and closed his eyes.
A cheery voice roused Pyre Heart from his slumber.
"Wake up, sleepy! Breakfast is here!"
Pyre Heart opened his eyes and saw a smiling grey unicorn standing above him with a pastry levitating beside her. He lifted his head and rubbed his eyes.
"Wha...what time is it?" he said.
"Time for food! Also, late. You slept for a while, long enough for me to go out and get food from the bakery. But that's a good thing, you need your rest."
She lowered the pastry onto the bed, dropping crumbs as it moved. The pastry was a round scone with apple filling and some cream spread on the top.
Pyre Heart's mouth watered.
"Dig in! I'll get started on my cutie mark for the day. I'm thinking a sun, or stars maybe. Something cheerful, but elegant."
She floated a small mirror and paint brush over to her and started drawing.
As Pyre Heart ate his pastry, Blank Canvas slowly painted a design onto one flank, squinting at the mirror and pursing her lips as she did so.
After several minutes, he swallowed the last bite of his breakfast and the unicorn slowly turned in a circle, showing her painted flanks.
One showed a starry sky and the other a bright sun with rays shining from it.
"Pretty!" Pyre Heart said.
"Thanks!" Blank Canvas grinned. "It's nice to have someone right here to show my art off to."
"So what are we doing today?" the pegasus asked.
"'We'? Are you sure you're okay to walk around with your wing like that?"
Pyre Heart nodded.
"Yeah! I can't stay inside all day. I've gotta find out more about who I am- er, were. There has to be something out there, right?"
"Well...I could ask around. And show you the town, if you want."
The pegasus jumped up excitedly, trying not to show the pain he felt on landing.
"Wow, you must be feeling better! Alright, follow me. If we want clues on your past, I know who to ask. And bring that mask too."
The grey unicorn led the way through piles of paper and painting supplies out of the house and Pyre Heart followed eagerly behind, with his mask in his mouth. Outside the sun was shining brightly, and he quickly put the mask over his head to block the light.
The town center wasn't far from Blank Canvas' house, and several stores and houses could be seen in the surrounding area. The pair walked over to a large brick house across a small plaza. The unicorn knocked a hoof on the door and opened it.
"Hey, anyone home?" Blank Canvas poked her head in.
The inside of the house was almost as much of a mess as the unicorn's own, with large blueprints and papers strewn about. Tools of all sorts lined the walls.
A brown earth pony head poked out from a hallway.
"Blank Canvas, that you? I'm sort of in the middle of something, if you don't- oh! This must be that new fella! Welcome!"
Pyre Heart raised a hoof nervously.
"Yes, you there! Word spreads around a small town like this one fast. Especially when it's Scatter Hooves we're talking about."
"Mmr...mrrph?" Pyre Heart mumbled.
"That's the pegasus we met earlier, remember? I should've known he'd tell everyone here about you, he hardly ever stops talking." Blank Canvas said.
"Speaking of names, I'm Frontier Justice, pleased to meet you!"
"He's the town engineer, builder, and general smart pony that we go to with problems. If anyone here knows about who you are, it's him," the unicorn said.
"Hmm? Do we have a case of amnesia on our hooves?" Frontier Justice asked.
"Yup! I'm not sure how much Scatter Hooves told you, but I found this pegasus in the woods yesterday with no memory of his past, just a name and a mask," Blank Canvas said. "Can you help?"
Frontier Justice eyed the pegasus carefully. Pyre Heart looked away nervously.
"Well, from the looks of the mask, he's probably a firefighter, like the ones from Cloudsdale. I'm not sure how much else I can tell you, though, we don't have much contact with the clouds. You could always ask one of the pegasi in town to fly over there, but that's a mighty long trip," Frontier Justice paused. "Scatter's probably not got the stamina for it, but…"
"Are you seriously suggesting asking him? There's no way!" Blank Canvas said.
Pyre Heart tilted his head.
"Well, unless you want to wait until Cloudsdale floats back here, it's your best bet. He's probably out-" Frontier started.
"What in Equestria is going on here?"
A white pegasus with a blue and red mane and tail swooped into the house, brushing past Blank Canvas' mane.
"Oh boy," she said.
"We have a new pony in this town and I was not informed?" the white pegasus shouted.
"He just got here yesterday!" Blank Canvas said.
"It does not matter! A new pony in this town…" he stared down at Pyre Heart. "Must be welcomed properly! Welcome to Equestria, new recruit! I am Rocket Jump!"
"He was already in Equestria before he got here!"
"Oh? Then why does his odd-looking head say…'Optical Mask' on it, hmm? That doesn't sound like Equestria to me!"
"Enough, both of you!" Frontier Justice said. "Focus on our goal here. We're trying to find out more about this little pegasus."
"Oh, right! Rocket, can you fly over to Cloudsdale and ask about Pyre Heart? We think he might be one of the firefighters from there!" the grey unicorn said.
Rocket Jump scratched his chin.
"Well, that would take at least a few days. Of straight flying, with no stops."
"Oh. Well-" Blank Canvas started.
"Of course I'll do it! Get me some food to pack and I'll be off!" he said with a grin.
"Really? Oh, thank you!" the unicorn's eyes gleamed.
Pyre Heart stomped his hooves excitedly.
Blank Canvas and Frontier Justice helped Rocket Jump prepare for his flight, gathering food and water and packing it so that it could be carried while he flew.
Pyre Heart looked around at the town. He had already seen so many ponies that were kind to him, who didn't hesitate before giving their time and energy to help others.
He wondered how kind the ponies in Cloudsdale were.
Author's Note
I apologize if I get the dialogue tag capitalization and punctuation wrong, I have a bit of a hard time with that.
But have more TF2 ponies! And names I came up with in like 5 seconds lol
