The sun shone over Equestria, burning brighter than ever. The majestic sounds of nature were drowned out only by the sound of hoof steps and wheels. A silhouette of a stallion pulling a large wagon made it to the top of a shallow hill, gazing down at the village below.
His name was Brimstone; he was an average sized unicorn stallion who grew up within the capital city of Canterlot. His coat was as dark as ash, his eyes like jade crystals, with a multi-colored mane and tail of red, orange, and yellow, shaped like the fires of Tartarus themselves. And branded on his flank was a Cutie Mark of a burning anvil, as he was a professional blacksmith and jeweler. However, hardly anypony ever needed weapons forged these days, so he mostly focused on making jewelry.
Yet, there was one thing that truly set Brimstone aside from his unicorn brethren. Brimstone was born with a special “furnace” within his stomach, nopony knows how it happened, but whatever the case, he considered it a blessing. This furnace granted him the gift of fire breathe, which meant that he could use it to super-heat precious metals and then use his magic to shape it into beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and rings. But this wasn’t seen as a gift to the ponies of Canterlot. They considered him a filthy commoner, one, because he’d rather forge metal than enjoy upper-class society; two, because he would often release small jets of smoke whenever he spoke. He was also often accused of arson because of a situation back when he was an 8 year old colt. His parents were preparing a large dinner party and all he wanted was to light some decorative candles. It was not his fault that a mare just so happened to be walking by his line of fire, not to mention the amount of hairspray she must have used since her mane lit up like a morning star. Disgraced and humiliated, his parents forbade from ever helping with another one of their parties ever again.
As the years went by, Brimstone felt more and more distant from the ponies of Canterlot. But he remained vigilant, until finally, his resolve was hardened, he would gather all of his possessions and leave home to a place where he could start a new life with a clean slate. A place known simply as…
“Ponyville. At long last, I’ve made it.”, the confident stallion said to himself, as he continued along the dirt road towards his destination. Little did he know that he was in for something he never could have expected.
A pink pony was blissfully snoozing after her latest and greatest party yet. Her bed was covered in candy and her forehead was coated in chocolate frosting. As the sun’s light pierced her bedroom window and shined upon her, her eyes shot open and a large smile spread across her face. Leaping into the air, followed by a quick backflip, she proclaimed: “Woo hoo! Good morning, Ponyville!”, landing hard on her bed, causing the candies to scatter across the floor. She jumped off of her bed and went to her mirror, her sky blue eyes detecting the frosting on her forehead, which she proceeded to scrape off using her tongue and then swallowing in one gulp.
“Mm. Good thing I was saving that for later.”, she giggled to herself as her once messy and tangled mane magically returned to it typical puffy appearance.
As she went outside to enjoy the sunshine, the rest of Ponyville began to wake up as well. Far and near, ponies were leaving their homes to go to work, go to school, or merely to go out for breakfast. The pink pony, who went by the name of Pinkie Pie, began bouncing through the streets, endless amounts of happiness bubbling up inside of her. What would she do today? Who would she meet? What kind of parties would she throw? There was so many possibilities, she felt like she was going to burst. And then…she saw him. A new face, a new pony, a pony she had never met before. Now Pinkie Pie knew more than anypony that she was friends with everypony in Ponyville, and that she could never have too many, it was like a hungry that she could never satisfy, a hunger she never wanted to satisfy. Zeroing in on him like a homing missile, she knew right then and there what she was going to do today. She was going to befriend this new pony and add his name to her never-ending friendship list.
Brimstone had just finished placing the last of his boxes inside his new house and was about to head to the market to get himself some breakfast. As he turned his back to his door, he became face-to-face with Pinkie, just inches away from touching her snout.
“Aah!” he shouted in surprise, backing into his door, not in the least bit thinking that she would be the first thing he saw in his new home.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. Are you new here? Oh, what am I saying? Oh course you’re new here. If you weren’t, I would’ve noticed you because I know EVERYPONY in Ponyville. That reminds me, what’s your name?”
“Umm…Brimstone.”, he said in utter confusion.
“Wow, Brimstone. That’s a super neato name. Say, why is smoke coming out of your mouth? Did you eat a campfire or something? Or a dragon? I hope not because dragons probably taste yucky. I remember one time when I…”
“Hey!” Brimstone shouted at Pinkie, interrupting her little commentary. “If I show you, will please stop talking for a sec?”
“Yuh huh.”, replied Pinkie, nodding eagerly.
Brimstone turned his head to the side so as to not hit Pinkie, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a meter long stream of fire. Pinkie’s eyes lit up with amazement, she’d never seen a fire-breathing pony before, let alone befriended one. She knew that this was something she’d be able to talk about for years.
“WOW! That was incredible! You’ve gotta show this to my friends then we can all be BFFs!”, The pink pony squealed in delight, thinking about all of the shows that he could perform with her at parties and all of the fun they could just by hanging out together.
“Uh…no thanks.” Brimstone said before walking passed her to the market.
Pinkie’s dreams felt like a large vase that shattered as it hit the ground. Brimstone…didn’t want to be her BFF? She just couldn’t figure out why, she was very sweet and kind-hearted, she always went out of her way when it came to helping somepony in need, and there was absolutely no denying that she threw the greatest parties Equestria has ever seen. Just going to one of her parties could rid ones case of the blues forever. Baffled with questions, she bounced in front of him to find her answer.
“But…but why not?” she questioned the flame-headed stallion, her lip quivering like sad puppy.
“I don’t know. I’m just…not interested. Goodbye”, he answered as he left once again, believing that this was the last time he’d ever need to speak to her again.
But nothing could have been further from the truth.
Pinkie sat on the stone road, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“Wow, déjà vu, he doesn’t want my friendship. He’s just like Cranky. And what if he never accepts my friendship? Oh, what am I saying? Of course, he will.” Pinkie said to herself, snapping back to reality, (Well, her version of reality anyway). “You were able to win over Cranky, and he’s a donkey and they’re stubborn, but unicorns aren’t stubborn, which means I KNOW I can win over.” Pinkie then stood up, feel quite valiant. “Mark my words, Brimstone. By the time I’m finished, we shall become the greatest friends Equestria has ever seen!” And with that, she galloped back to Sugarcube Corner to gather some supplies.
