Pegasi: Fire and Rescue Chapter 7

Storm Pegasi

The firefighters that were left on base save Cabbie and Blade decided to go to the lodge with Dusty, along with Maru. They got groomed as best they could before flying over. Maru was glad Windlifter had decided to come along so he could hitch a ride on his back and save him a long walk.

“Cad would throw fit if my hoof guards were all muddy.” Maru scoffed as they landed in front of the lodge.

Dusty made a point to kick up some dust onto his hooves. “Well then he’ll throw one either way then… I wasn’t kidding.”

“He’s such a rebel.” Dipper fake swooned, giggling.

Dusty laughed as they headed inside. This should be good…

“Welcome to the Fusal Lodge.” a Unicorn said passing by with a cart full of luggage.

Dusty nodded, looking around. He looked down below to see something moving right below their hooves, scooping up the dirt they left behind.

“Are… those parasprites?” He asked, eyes widening.

“Yeah… Cad’s “trained” parasprites. They collect the dirt then eat it.” Dipper shook her head. “Strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Can agree.” Maru said, shaking his head. “Still don’t trust ‘em.”

“Oh yes…” She shuddered, keeping her braid closer, tucking her wings in more. “Remember what happened when that wild one got ahold of Blade’s mane when he was asleep? I thought he was gonna set it aflame!”

“Eh parasprites is one thing we don’t want around the crops back home.” Dusty agreed, giving a wary look to the creatures. “Besides… Wasn’t there an incident in Fillidelphia-”

“Yeah, the Princesses don’t like talking about that particular incident… cause they had to clean it up.”

“Oh…” Dusty shook his head. “Well what could go wro-”

“Don’t. Say. The. Words.” Maru said, giving a glare.

“Duly noted.”

“Oh!” Dipper squealed, trotting over to an ice sculpture of the lodge. “Look at this! It’s so cute!”

Dusty trotted over, looking at it as well. “Yeah, very cute.”

She smirked a bit before looking to one of the carved out windows. “And this could be OUR room if we were little tiny pieces of ice.”

Dusty snorted, trying really hard not to laugh.

Oh Celestia… HAHAHAHA!

“No way… DUSTY CROPHOPPER?!”

Dusty looked over to see a young colt and filly run up to him, excitement in their eyes. They both bounced around him, looking at his wings and uniform.

“Wow! What a cool uniform!” the filly squealed.

“Yeah, and his wings! SO. AWESOME!” the colt cheered.

Dusty chuckled. “Heh, thanks kids. What are your names?” He lowered himself a bit closer to their level.

The colt stood tall and proud. “I’m Little Heart.”

“And I’m Ribbon Shine!” the filly chirped.  

Dusty smiled. “Nice names… It’s nice to meet you both.”

Ribbon Shine gave the puppy eyes, holding up  her front hoof showing a D7 hoof band. “Could I get an autograph? Pwease?”

… Awww… Dusty smiled giving a nod getting a pen quickly off the table signing it, with his signature D-7 after his name. “There ya go sweetie.”

She squealed. “YAY! THANK YOU SO MUCH!”

Little Heart chuckled. “So. Awesome!”

Dipper couldn’t help but squeal a little. “That is so cute!”

Ribbon Shine giggled, hiding her face a little. “Hee…”

“She is cute.” Little Heart agreed blushing a little.

Dusty smiled, ruffling her hair a little. “Glad to meet both of you.”

The filly squealed a bit. “Nice to meet you too!” She beamed. “Your awesome!”

“Really REALLY awesome!” Little Heart agreed.

“Little Heart!”

The two foals looked over to see a taller black Unicorn trotting over. “Your brother and sister are waiting for you.” she said before looking to Ribbon Shine. “And your mother is looking for you Ribbon Shine.”

“Oops.” Both foals gave sheepish looks. “I better go… Bye Dusty!” Ribbon Shine waved before nuzzling Little Heart and trotting off to find her mother.

“Aww but mommy-” Little Heart started to protest.

“I guess you don’t want chocolate covered apples then-”

“I want ‘em, I want ‘em!” He quickly huddled up to his mother’s side giving the kicked puppy eyes. “Pleeeeaaase mommy?”

She chuckled, levitating the colt on to her back. “Of course, my dear.”

He cheered nuzzling his mother. “Yay! Bye Dusty!”

Dusty waved a little. “Bye.”

The Unicorn walked off with her colt, accidentally bumping into Cad. “Pardon me sir.” she said, giving a small bow before heading off.

“And here comes trouble..” Dipper muttered as she saw Cad beeline his way towards Dusty.

“Dusty! My main stallion!” Cad said, grinning broadly.

Dusty mentally cringed but smiled politely. “Hello Cad… Nice party.”

“Thank you, I got sompony I’d like you to meet if you could spare a few minutes-”

“Hey you! Dusty!”

Dusty looked over to see a Unicorn trotting over. “Oh, hello.”

“Hey, can you do the voice recording for my alarm clock?”

“A-Alarm clock?”

‘DOIT!” He shoved the clock forward. Dusty gulped.

“Uh...Good morning! This is Dusty Crophopper-”



“Equestria Class racer!”

“E-Equestria Class Racer, time to get up after the um… Alarm!”

“Now beep!”

“What?” Dusty exclaimed.

“DOIT!” He glared.

“BEEEEEEEP!”

The Unicorn cheered. “Thank you so much!”

Cad snorted, pushing him aside. “Alright, enough of you.”

Dusty looked away feeling awkward. That was embarrassing… I never had to do anyone’s ALARM CLOCK before…

“Now where did he… Ugh… pardon me, I need to find the secretary before he gets brainwashed by Ol’ Jammer.” Cad said trotting off.

Dusty blinked. “Ol’ who?”

Maru walked by, levitating a cup of coffee. “Park ranger.” He called over his shoulder, making his way back over to Windlifter. “Hmph this place doesn’t even have decent coffee… Had to get something called an Eclipse Espresso.” He complained.

Windlifter looked over to him… sporting aviators.

“What do you think?” he asked.

Maru smiled. “You look good!”

Dusty looked over with Dipper… both trying not to laugh.

“... What?” Windlifter blinked.

Maru smirked before donning his own pair. “They’re just going into the… Danger Zone.”

Dusty lost it at the line. “OH MY GOSH HAHAHAHAHA! ECHO AND BRAVO WOULD BE PROUD!”

Dipper fell over laughing. “Oh gosh you two! Stop making those faces!”

“We can’t help it! We’re… Fabulous!” Maru struck a pose.

Windlifter chuckled lightly, keeping his same position, looking serious.

Dusty wiped his eyes, composing himself. “Oh… that felt great…” He looked around. “Man this place is huge…”

“Yeah it sure got a lot bigger than it used to be.” Dipper agreed getting up. “It used to be half this size and one wing was still being worked on for like eight years cause of Cad’s restoration project… Before that, well… apparently there was a fire, an incident involving termites… and termites and fire…”

“It was a big mess.” Maru interjected. “Let’s just say let’s be thankful there’s actually a roof.”

Dusty nodded. “Noted…” He looked around again, still amazed at how many ponies were around. Everypony seemed to be having a good time.

“Excuse me, son?”

“Yes?” He looked over.

There was an Earth Pony with glasses looking over to him, standing next to a carved out version of a map of Piston Peak. Next to him was another Earth Pony, a female.

“Do you work here?” he asked.

“Uh not really a firefighter-”

“It’s our anniversary.” the female pony interjected. “And Harvey, here bless his heart, is trying to figure out where we shared our first kiss.”

Dipper joined them, overhearing their conversation. “Aww that’s so sweet!” She gave Dusty a fake hurt look. “You don’t do things like that anymore.”

“Uh…”

Harvey sighed wistfully. “It was 50 years ago… Oh it was such a wonderful time Winnie.”

Winnie giggled. “I was 50 years younger and a lot lighter then.”

Harvey nuzzled her. “Hey, more to love.”

She giggled. “Oh Harvey…”

“I still remember it…” Harvey said as he looked at the map. “There was a bridge, and the magnificient waterfall…. and…” he looked to her, smiling softly. “You…”

Winnie smiled. “I love you Harvey…” she said softly.

Harvey smiled nuzzling her. “Love you too…”

“Hey, I think I know where that is.” Dusty exclaimed looking at the map. “There’s a waterfall by upper Whitewash falls.”

“By Whitewall falls!”

“Over Augurin canyon.”

“Yeah, yeah Anger Canyon!”

Dipper giggled. “Hey, in honor of your anniversary, why don’t you join us?”

“Yeah!” Dusty grinned. “I’ll buy you cider, on me.”

“Oh thank you dear.” Winnie smiled.

Dipper lead the way out to the fire pits by the lodge while Dusty got the cider with some help from Windlifter and Maru. They all sat around a pit, talking about careers in life.

“Yep! I used to sell horseshoes for a living back in my prime. Winnie here was my model.” Harvey explained, gesturing to his wife.

Winnie giggled. “It’s how we met.”

“Yep, after that, it was just whatever else I could sell… then eventually it was back to horseshoes after Winnie and I got married, traveled all over Equestria together.”

“That sounds amazing.” Dusty commented. “So many different jobs…”

“Yeah, I think this fire and rescue thing would be a good second career for you Dusty.” Harvey said with a smile. “Nothing wrong with having another outlook.”

“It’s true.” Dipper chimed. “I used to haul cargo for the longest time, and Windlifter there used to be a lumberjack.”

Windlifter nodded. “It’s true.”

“That’s how are team generally is.” Maru commented. “Second chances as it were. So you’re no odd stallion out here Dusty.”

Dusty smiled, feeling some comfort. “Yeah… I like that idea… second chances…”

Winnie looked at Dipper’s wings. “Um… pardon me miss but can I ask about your wings?”

Dipper looked at her wings and gave a nod. “Y-Yeah of course!”

“I don’t think I’ve seen any wings like that before, the feathers are so long… and those cloud patterns are so beautiful. Were you born with them?”

Maru grinned. “Oh, they’re special wings, everypony on the team has them… well save Dusty here.”

Dipper nodded. “Yeah… I wasn’t born with them, they used to be a lot smaller but still powerful… But these… They saved my skin…” She stretched one of them out, showing the cloud patterns on them. “I owe these wings my life.”

Dusty looked at them curious. I remember Mayday saying that every last trainee under Blade has those wings… How does it happen…?

“Amazing…”

Maru looked to Windlifter. “You know… there’s a legend that goes with those wings. Windlifter here could tell you all about if you’d like to know about it.”

“Can you?” Dusty asked hopefully.

“Yeah, Wind, you tell it better than any of us could.” Dipper added, tucking her wing back in.

Windlifter nodded as everyone looked at him, listening intently. Dusty especially. Windlifter took note of him, clearing his throat as he began.

“Long ago, when this peak was unsettled there were spirits that took care of this sacred place. Their appearance was a mix between a pony and dragon. The head being a mix of both species, a mix of hoof and claws for feet, long manes to make up for spines on the back. Their most defining trait was their long wings that had the ability to gather water from the air to form clouds. They protected Piston Peak from fires everyday, did all they could to keep the balance in check. It was never though. But then… came the day when ponies and dragons started settling here. The spirits didn’t think much of them until one day when another fire had broken out, they found the ponies fighting alongside them. Mainly Unicorns and Earth Ponies. They were grateful for their help and welcomed their aid kindly.”

“Only Earth Ponies and Unicorns?” Winnie asked. “Wouldn’t there have been Pegasi too?”

Windlifter shook his head. “The ponies who first settled this place were all Unicorns and Earth Ponies, and the dragons were wingless dragons like the Smoke Jumpers. Now… it went on like this for quite some time. Ponies fought fires with the spirits and kept the place safe for both the wild life and the ponies and dragons that were now living there… Then… came a huge fire. It was beyond anything they had ever dealt with before. The spirits were even overwhelmed by it. They could not die… but their pony companions could.”

Dusty’s eyes widened a little. Winnie huddled close to her husband. “What happened then…?”

“The spirits were unsure what to do. They wanted to keep fighting… but the fear of losing their companions was overwhelming… even though these companions had gone charging in… knowing they would die… They didn’t want to lose them… That’s when the spirits decided to do something that could save them… but also change them.”

“What was it?” Dusty asked.

“The spirits saw the courage in their hearts… found that if something was done, they could have powers just like them… in exchange they gave up the powers they currently had. They asked these ponies if they were willing to trade their Earth Pony and Unicorn magic for a new form of magic to be able to live and fight fires. The first to step forward was a young Earth Pony mare, who accepted the offer. Then… right before the eyes of her team, she lept from the fire, new wings very much like the spirits forming on her back. Within moments, she gathered water in them, starting to put out the fire. The others took the deal and the whole team became Pegasi but not just any Pegasi… The spirits called them Storm Pegasi, for their wings have the power to control water just like they did. They say there are other powers as well like protection from extreme heat and advanced healing… To this day, Storm Pegasi are still born.” Windlifter moved one of his wings over,lifting one of Dipper’s wings up. “They are marked by the long feathers and special markings on their wings… But they are only born from those who are the truly courageous and selfless at heart… the ones who are willing to give everything up for the sake of others… including the magic and form they hold.” Windlifter moved his wing away closing his eyes. “They are always watching… looking for those who are worthy and willing to accept their gift… and that… is the legend of the Storm Pegasi.”

Maru removed his hat, raising his mug of cider. “Well told, Windlifter.”

“Thank you.” He nodded.

“CHEERS!” The mechanic exclaimed as everyone drank their cider.

“So amazing what they all did.” Winnie whispered smiling. “So brave…”

Harvey nodded. “Very…”

“Yep, part of being a firefighter too.” Dipper said between sips of her cider. “Gotta be brave and selfless, then in time… well… you prove yourself to the spirits and poof! you’re just like them!”

Dusty felt hope swell up. He had dreamt for years of having real wings like the other Pegasi back home. Maybe… I could really be like that… Get real wings… Not have to get surgery to fix fake ones… He thought, smiling.

Whatever happens… I just want to fly… To be able to help… That’s all I ask.