Canterlot Fire on the Streets

[Cat Napper]

Man, Canterlot had always been a sight. Magi Blaze rested herself on one of the many benches throughout the city, legs folded beneath her dark body and horn glowing a bright, hot white. A little paper bag, fluttering in the gentle midday breeze, came to a halt before the unicorn's still form as she idly practiced the dangerous element she worked with for a living.

Her hometown was one of the most sophisticated cities in all of Equestria, and for that reason combined with the fact that Magi had been raised there her entire life meant she as bored with it.

She fiddled with the paper for a moment, using her telekinesis to lift it, crinkle it, smooth it out, before finally releasing a jet of fire from the tip of her horn to ignite the object of interest in a burst of bright light.

Magi didn't know anypony here thanks to her captivation with fire and nothing else, and that was never a good thing when one's situation was what she had on hoof. Her horn glowed brighter as she lifted the fireball to eye level, changing it's shape into a long tendril resembling a serpent that slithered and danced through the air like a living creature.

Her yellow eyes followed the fiery image back and forth, looking very bored and somewhat disappointed. Apathetic if anything.

The mare had been a bit late with her rent, and as a result the land owner took Magi's apartment away. She had three days to move her stuff out. Anypony else would have been working at it to move themselves out, but Magi? She didn't care. She didn't see a reason for that, she had nowhere to go now. Why lug her furniture around with her? That would be completely useless to life on the streets. Focusing her magic a bit more, Magi Blaze made the little fire serpent shift in color from orange to red, to purple, to blue, green, yellow, and orange once more.

She didn't wonder what she would do without a home, she didn't wonder what she would do with her things, she didn't think about the future. She just did not care, or was too ignorant to see what the situation meant for her. With a deep sigh, she allowed the fire serpent to fizzle out, a pile of ash falling down as the flames died into nothing. She sat back up, gave her back a long stretch, flicking her short tail and shaking out her thick, flame colored mane with a sigh. What now? Nopony was here to help her, and Magi was so clueless she didn't know what to do. So she sat there, not even thinking, not pondering her fate, she just sat and stared at the smoldering embers that remained of the paper bag.

And she wondered to herself, what happens to fire when it extinguishes?

[Inkwell]

As it happened, several ponies happened to catch sight of the trick Magi pulled on that bench, including a rose-colored mare in a bookstore window across the street. Seconds before, Rose Madder was perusing the imperfectly organized books on an uneven, unvarnished wooden shelf labeled "Science Fiction" with marked on a sheet of loose leaf paper taped to its side. Presentation was never one of Index Square's strong suits, but he made up for it with a charming personality and the ability to surprise her with his store's selection. It seemed that every time she visited his store, he could pinpoint her to an under-appreciated, out of print gem sandwiched between the newest edition of a classic and the latest bestselling page-turner. Her list of books to read before she died never seemed to get any shorter, so Dex's help was invaluable.

She held one such book with the powers of her horn as she watched Magi play with her flaming snake and ultimately let it fizzle out. So engrossed was Rose in pony-watching that she found Dex's sudden presence next to her, doing the exact same thing, a bit of a shock.

"She looks like quite the character, doesn't she?" Dex asked, in his typical on-the-nose manner.

Rose nodded and looked at the book again. She used her magic to open it and flip through the pages, behavior that might be frowned upon in more professional bookstores. After seeing enough of the contents within, she nodded and gently closed it again. "I think I'll just take this one, thanks."

The payment was processed and the book changed hands, leaving Dex to wave Rose goodbye and recommend one story in the book, "Little White Shadows." Once Rose passed beyond the threshold of the bookshop door, the hustle and bustle of the street, a cacophony of clopping hooves, eased into her ears like an old friend who'd just caught up with her. Soon she passed between the carriages on the main street and crossed to the other side, taking a seat on the bench beside Magi.

Rose looked at the smoldering ashes on the ground, which seemed to hold Magi's complete attention. It took a few moments for Rose to think of how to snap her out of it. "Hey," she ended up saying. "I like your mane."

[Cat Napper]

Magi caught sight of the rose-colored mare approaching her out of the corner of her eye, though she didn't care to do anything about it. Deep inside of her, she actually was concerned for her own well being, how she would get along without a home, but not by much. She knew she'd be able to find somewhere to shelter her long enough to earn from her shows the bits to rent another apartment. The only issue? Rain. Magi winced at the very thought of being trapped outside and pelted with the cold, cruel, soaking rain. She sighed again, watching the embers flicker out, and was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of the mare's voice.

The fire dancer blushed faintly under her dark fur, nopony had ever really given her a compliment like that. Usually it was just ponies telling her how amazing her shows were, nothing personal about her appearance. It wouldn't be a big deal to most ponies, who actually socialized, but to Magi it was the highlight of her day.

"Thanks." She said, turning to take a look at the pony speaking to her. She offered a shy smile, as she took in the appearance of this stranger, another response quickly sprang from her. "I like your mane too. And your coat, it's beautiful!" Magi smiled widely, there was no envy in her voice, no jealousy or desire in her eyes as she admired this mare's appearance. Honesty and sincerity though simply spilled from her, and plenty of admiration. She wasn't sugar coating her words either, the rather simple mare saw no reason to manipulate her words like that. She spoke from her heart, nothing more.

"Who are you?"She asked, again there was nothing cruel in her words. Only curiosity. Why did this stranger want to talk to her? What did she have that interested this rose-colored mare? Magi wondered about these things, as nopony else had ever felt the urge to speak to her, why did this one?

[buxy]

Babbles shrieked, tossing her hair and rubbing her nose against her whithers. A single burning fleck of paper had landed square on her shoulder and she could smell her coat singing. She pranced in a panic on the spot, her saddlebag slipping to the ground and spilling papers everywhere, notes from her meeting with her editor, and she shook herself from head to tail, absolutely convinced she was about to burst into flames.

"My coat!" Babs wailed, craning to examine the damage. Just the tiniest spot of dull grey marred her otherwise immaculate creamy peach coat, easily smoothed over with magic, but not before she milked it for all the attention possible. Not to mention found whoever was responsible for the slight against her otherwise perfect appearance. She blew out a huff of air that lifted her bangs, settling them to one side of her muzzle.

Narrowing her eyes, Babbles looked around for the culprit, her eyes settling on two unicorns at a nearby bench. She squared her shoulders and prepared to march right up to the pair of them and tear the pyromaniac (no doubt which one of them was behind the stunt, that mane could be seen from a mile away) a whole new worldview, then remembered her notes scattered across the ground. Babs snorted and whisked the papers together with a bit of magic, muttering to herself about the complete disarray they would now be in.

[Inkwell]

Not all of Rose's impulses paid off. Starting a conversation with complete strangers was just as likely to get her a weird look and an awkward brush-off as it was to start an actual dialogue, especially in situations where ponies didn't normally expect to talk. A city street was a prime example; despite the presence of benches on the sidewalks, few treated it as anything more than a line between Point A and Point B. Almost everypony on the street was eager to be somewhere else. But the cheerful black mare didn't seem to be just anypony.

Rose chuckled and blushed when Magi complimented her own hair. Something about this filly's behavior seemed positively child-like, though Rose couldn't put a hoof on it. "Thanks," she said. "I just changed my mane this morning. I wasn't sure if it was an improvement or not."

She found herself staring at the thick tome on her lap, but made herself look at Magi again. "What brings you here?" she asked her. "Just wanted to enjoy the da-"

The sound of another mare shrieking made Rose flinch. She immediately turned her head and noticed another mare panicking on the sidewalk. It was as though this third mare was struck with a sudden mania, her muscles spasms causing her to drop her bag and scatter her papers as she shook an imagined hazard off her body.

Just as soon as it began, the mood passed, and Rose got a good look at what caused it. She could barely see it at first, until the mare shouted which part of her body was afflicted. Rose squinted and peered and finally noticed a speck of gray on the other mare's body. Was that seriously it? All of those histrionics over a speck like that? It still marveled Rose that the mare was still flustered at such a little matter until she realized what had probably caused it.

She glanced at Magi a bit nervously, noting that she didn't appear to have connected the dots, then back at the other mare, who was glaring in their direction. It made Rose blink and lower her ears, but nothing more. Social awkwardness was nothing new to her. "Is something the matter?" Rose asked the mare as she gathered her papers.

[Cat Napper]

Magi still looked a little puzzled with this pony's eagerness to start up a conversation with her. Not one to complain, as the poor girl never did get many chances to socialize, she simply nodded and listened to what the mare had to say... until she was interrupted by a piercing shriek that startled the fire dancer into jolting and letting out a few puffs of deep scarlet smoke from her nose, a stifled, almost reptilian growl emitted from her throat for a brief moment.

Who was this diva? The other mare who'd foolishly tossed all of her papers onto the ground looked as if she'd seen a ghost, something that Magi found amusing. She chuckled softly and pressed a hoof to her mouth, trying to keep herself from laughing out loud.

All those papers scattering everywhere... Magi Blaze suddenly felt herself very tempted to ignite one and play with her fire serpent again, though her rarely seen common sense told her this was a bad idea.

It wasn't until she noticed that the drama queen was glaring right at her that Magi's amused smirk started to melt away into a defensive glare of her own. Who WAS she? And why was she interrupting her pleasant conversation, screaming like a baby and shooting her dirty looks for no good reason?

Magi snorted, a sound laced with another deep, draconic sounding growl, and sat perfectly still with her unfaltering gaze piercing right through that third mare. She didn't know why she was feeling so defensive of herself, she didn't even know why this mare seemed to be so upset with her. All she knew was that she was being targeted for some reason, and Magi didn't like that.

"What's your problem?" She snorted, impulsively ducking away from this angry stranger with flattened ears. What kind of response would you expect from somepony who never interacted with others?

[buxy]

"Yes, something is very much the matter," Babbles huffed, stuffing the last of her papers into her saddlebag before turning to the two. The mare who'd caused Babbles her anguish was staring daggers at her. The pale unicorn squared her shoulders, trying not to let the scare tactics affect her.

"My PROBLEM?" The intimidation the pyromancer had tried to radiate went up in smoke for Babbles the second she heard that question. She felt a new rage bubble up in her chest. "My problem is my COAT. LOOK AT IT!" Babs thrust her shoulder toward the pair, the spot was tiny, a bit of black soot, and the barest singing marring the short, fine, otherwise perfect hair. "It's RUINED. My weekly grooming was just yesterday and now it's completely trashed. What in Equestria do you think you're doing just lighting things on fire like that? I should report you! I know several high ranking guards, you know, and even more city officials! You'd be OUT of this city before you could even BLINK!" Babbles' voice had been creeping higher and higher as she ranted, she snorted, her breath hissing through her teeth. She only paused for a moment to catch her breath before continuing.

"What if my notes had caught fire? My entire career would be down the toilet! I have what could potentially be THE most important interview of my career, not to mention my love life, right on the horizon and everything in this bag is positively VITAL. What if my MANE had caught fire?" Babbles moaned in anguish at the very idea. "I can't even imagine how HORRIBLE that would be. Now what do you have to say for yourself???" Babbles stomped her front hoof to punctuate the sentence and stared, raw fury burning behind her eyes.

[Inkwell]

Suddenly, Rose couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. The mares she watched started to act a bit more like cartoons and less like real ponies. Her friend with the fiery mane started acting like a cornered beast. No, that wasn't it, she was like a dragon jealously guarding her hoard. It surprised Rose that Magi wasn't breathing fire or even smoke!

And the shrill ranting of the orange mare with the barely-singed coat got progressively less funny and more disturbing as her voice increased in pitch and started to crack. Rose found her attention being drawn to the mare's furious eyes and her reddening face and the mouth that gaped wide open multiple times during the course of her tirade.

The visuals were bad enough, Rose thought, but then she started to process what Babbles told Magi. She knew ponies, ponies who could ruin Magi's life, or even Rose's by association. The thought of it made Rose start to shake. She didn't know what Magi did for a living, but being deported would devastate her. She loved Canterlot, and couldn't imagine moving or living anywhere else.

Babbles stomped on the ground and finished shouting. Rose suddenly felt very cold, and turned to look at Magi. It made her realize that as bad as leaving Canterlot would be, she could always start over. She was published now, and maybe there were some great cultural cities that could nurture her talents just as well as Canterlot, maybe even better! Manehattan sprung to mind, as did Fillydelphia. Anyplace but Trottingham, really. Magi, on the other hoof, had no such safety netss far as Rose could tell. If she was out, it would be the end of her. So in a split second, Rose swallowed her pride and made her move.

"I am so, so sorry," she told Babbles, getting to her four and lowering herself into a submissive posture. "It was my fault. I kept asking to see her new trick and she kept telling me it wasn't safe, but I just wouldn't listen! I should have known better, really." She looked up into Babbles's eyes, hoping to find some understanding. "I'd be happy to pay for another treatment if you want."

Part of her revolted against the idea of kowtowing to this egotistical troll even this much, let alone reimbursing her, while another knew that her story would collapse if Babbles thought to press her on it by, say, asking Rose what Magi's name was. But mostly she just hoped Babbles would just go away and leave them alone.

[Cat Napper]

That? Magi rolled her eyes and snorted again, a pathetic cry for attention from the other if anything. She knew she'd done absolutely nothing wrong where she was, she'd always practiced her magic without any complaints from the locals, until right now of course. Being a pony set to one thing, Magi didn't like the idea of having to keep her fire away from the streets, and reacted to Babbles's outburst in a less than friendly way. "That little spec? Huh. The gray looks nice." She smiled sweetly, an almost charming look with subtle intimidation spread over her face as her black horn started to give off a deep red glow. "I could make the rest of your fur match, if you'd like."

It seemed that the rose-colored mare decided to speak up too late, claiming that she wanted to see Magi's serpent trick and the fault of Babbles's wrecked coat was entirely hers. Magi let the heat in he horn die down and cast a suspicious look at Rose. Why was she trying to help her, a stranger she'd never met before? The kindness caught her off guard, it was something completely new and different to her. She turned her head away and rested it over her bent forelegs again with a faint smile. She liked it, and she liked this rose-colored mare already. As soon as the peachy princess was done throwing her hissy fit, Magi would be sure to try and return the kindness to Rose, perhaps by engaging her in a conversation. Though the fire dancer doubted she'd have anything interesting to talk about, and still didn't have the slightest clue why she was receiving such attention from these strangers.

She cleared her throat and looked up at Babbles again, expression completely blank as she spoke in her flawlessly emotion-drained voice. "I see nothing that says my fire isn't allowed here. She wanted to see my trick, so I showed her. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry your coat had to suffer because of my magic."

If there was anything Magi was good at, other than flashy show tricks, it was keeping a straight poker face.

[buxy]

"Now you're THREATENING ME?" Babbles glared at the mage, taking in her steadfast expression before letting out a high pitched groan of indignation, stomping her front hooves. The prissy unicorn tossed her mane whirled to the second mare.

"I highly doubt you've met this disgrace," Babbles gestured to the mage with a dismissive flick of her hoof. "Before this very moment. And you're entirely too nice for this nonsense." Hardly finished with her tirade, Babbles' horn glowed briefly, and the spot vanished from her shoulder. With a subtle ripple running the length of her body, her coat was instantly cleaner, glossier, and more pristine than it had been moments before. She turned back toward the inattentive unicorn who'd started this entire charade, her voice dripping with disdain. "As for you, there are VERY strict regulations in this city in regards to magic that may endanger those around you and I'm fairly certain that FIRE would rank rather high on that list. Perhaps you ought to brush up on your public ordinances before you embark on any future... performances." That last word tumbled from her mouth coated in sarcasm.

"I accept your apology," Babbles announced, as if it were something she were entitled to from birth. "I seriously suggest you find a slightly less hazardous arena to practice this fire... thing."

[Inkwell]

WHAT?!

Rose balked as Magi postured and lit her horn. What was this idiot doing? Did she not hear Babbles's threat to have them removed from the city? Was she insane? Did she want the law to come down on her?

Just as Rose thought, Babbles called her on her lie, casually dismissing it like it was a speck of dust on her mirror. Rose couldn't keep her eye from twitching in fear as she got a backhanded compliment from her tormentor. But when Babbles magically cleaned her coat, making it perfect and flawless again, Rose felt her expression transform from panic to rage. This entitled, stuck-up, spoiled nag was not going to push either of them around anymore!

Her muscles tensed, and she could see the scene in her eyes. Her body turning around faster than the eye could see it. Her legs kicking out and delivering a powerful buck to Her Highness's jaw. The humbled mare hiding her face and weeping, then running away and leaving them alone.... The police knocking down Rose's door and arresting her for assault. The jury finding her guilty. The judge being bribed by her tormentor to give her five years in prison. Every publishing house in Equestria treating her like the plague.

Rose took a deep, slow breath, with her eyes shut and her ears folded back. She had to calm down. She wasn't going to risk her life's ambition and every leap she'd taken toward it in her life for the sake of putting it to one entitled socialite. "...nine...ten," she whispered under her breath.

"Thank you so much for your patience, ma'am," she replied, carefully controlling her voice. "The two of us will be taking leave now, if you don't mind. We have so much more practice to do!" She turned and whispered to Magi. "Follow. Me." Hopefully the fiery mare would take her advice and not burn down an orphanage while her back was turned. Rose could only hope.

[Cat Napper]

Magi oddly managed to look completely calm throughout another rage fit from this stranger, who she really was starting to strongly dislike. She wished she would just go away, so she would be able to talk more with the other mare, somepony Magi actually wanted to socialize with. She really had no idea why her acquaintance was putting up with the prissy little flower in such a way, and couldn't help but smirk slightly feeling Rose tense up as Babbles fix her coat with the least amount of effort.

The firedancer snickered softly to herself and waited silently for the two mares to get at it, she hadn't witnessed a good street fight in quite some time. She looked slightly disappointed when Rose managed to calm herself and politely dismiss the two of them from the scene, but slowly became a bit impressed with the mare's ability to control herself in such a way. If it were up to her, Magi Blaze would live up to her name and scorch Babbles's precious coat in a heartbeat. Still, she had enough sense to take this and agree to leave with Rose, giving the stuck up unicorn mare a mock bow of respect before trotting away from her behind Rose.

As if the entire ordeal had never even happened, Magi went back to the original conversation the two were having, offering a small, friendly smile to Rose as she did so. "I never got your name." She grinned, and finally decided to add on with a little giggle; "You didn't have to save me back there.. how come you did?"

[buxy]

Babbles sniffed softly, watching the pair move away. She hoped her words hit home, and with any luck they'd see the subtle reference to the event she'd be sure to include in her next article. Just a little something to drive her point home, should either of them ever feel as though she were the sort of pony to forget about being slighted. She sat down on the bench for a moment, moving her bag to the seat beside her and flicking the top open with a flick of her horn. If any papers had blown off, she'd need to hunt them down before continuing back to her apartment. She took a quick inventory of the contents, ensuring everything was accounted for, though with things so out of order, it would take a bit of inspection to be positive.

[Pennwick]

Ashton Stone lay down on the edge of a small flowerbed in the side street. He was trying to get as much warmth from the sun as possible while reading his newspaper. He needed to find a more permanent place to stay either in Canterlot or elsewhere but he wasn't finding anything in this newspaper. Plenty of homes for sale but no calls for a roommate. And he just couldn't afford to buy a house. Still, at least the rest of this newspaper was interesting. He had no idea what ponies were all doing with magic while on the other side Griffins were developing technology. He could see why Lola was so interested. He kind of wanted to stay if only to find a tutor.

He looked up as a pair of unicorns headed in his general direction. The Red one looked familar, wasn't she the one running with Cat Napper for that short while at the running of the leaves? He looked back down at his newspaper as they grew closer and started talking. He pretended to keep reading while eavesdropping on their conversation.

[Inkwell]

Rose let out a relieved sigh, walking away from the busy street to a smaller side street seconds away. She felt exposed and vulnerable after the confrontation, and wanted to leave before the authorities showed up to question her about her friend's illegal firestarting. The thought made her chuckle; the orange unicorn couldn't get them to mobilize that fast, could she?

Probably not, but Rose didn't doubt that she'd made a blood enemy for life, whoever she was. All she could do was weather the storm and hope for the best. The incident wasn't really worth ruining a career over, and besides, the orange mare didn't know who she was, either. She didn't get her name, and Rose used a pen name anyway. Not many ponies knew about that.

Her new friend asked her a question as she walked down the street, bringing Rose back to the real world. She turned to look at the black mare and smiled back at her. This one didn't seem worried at all. She didn't have a care in the world, actually. It didn't seem to sink in that there were ponies who would ruin her life for the slightest of reasons or anything else that could threaten her in the long term. Poor girl.

"I'm Rose Madder," she said. "You just seemed like an interesting pony to talk to and, well, I couldn't stand to see that awful mare having her way with you." She scowled and spit on the street. "I don't know if she was bluffing about those strings she could pull, but you really ought to be more careful with ponies like her. You had her all fired up and she was about to roast you bad. I know you had a burning desire to punish her - Celestia knows I did, too - but you'd just be fanning the flames in her case. Show a little self-preservation next time, kay?"

She tapped Magi on the shoulder and gave her another grin. Something about this filly made Rose want to smile all the time. Maybe it was her infectious good cheer. "What about you? What's your name?"

[Cat Napper]

Magi nodded and followed along, listening politely to Rose Madder's response to her question and, for once, seeming genuinely interested in hearing what somepony else had to say. It wasn't until Rose's puns, of which Magi couldn't tell were intentional or not, that the fiery mare seemed the least bit interested in putting something into the conversation. She stopped, simply stared at Rose for a brief few seconds before trying her hardest to stifle a giggle, and finally breaking into loud laughter altogether. She just laughed, face spread wide in a grin and tongue drooping out as she beat her hoof against the ground in almost seemingly maddened enjoyment.

After a few minutes of this, the mare's knees trembled, and she found herself sprawled out on the ground in hysterical laughter, eventually managing to catch her breath and stop herself, a few stray giggles slipping from her maw every few breaths.

"AHAHAHahahh... ohhohhh man, heheheh~ I think I like you Rose Madder heheh. You're funny." She stood up again, not even looking the faintest bit embarrassed after her public giggle attack, and met Rose's gaze with a silly grin and a happy nod. "Call me Magi Blaze."

[Pennwick]

Ashton continued watching the pair out of the corner of his eye. Rose was a familiar name. He was almost certain that she was Inkwell's sister. He wasn't sure if he should go over and try to talk with them. He wouldn't try the same with a Griffin. He kept staring at his newspaper. Apparently young fillies and colts were getting home schooled more often lately. Magic Kindergarten enrollment was down. Or was Magic Kindergarten a private schooling system? He wasn't really sure.

The loud laughter of the Black unicorn caused his head to involuntarily jerk up. Had something funny been said? It must have been quite the joke because she wasn't stopping. At times like these he understood why many griffins thought ponies were crazy. He couldn't help but stare as she kept laughing and fell to the ground. Was she alright? He made a move as if to get up but decided against it. It looked like she was getting up. He settle back down with his paper. He'd wait for an open moment to interject or maybe just follow them until they split up. If worse came to worse he could always just forget about it and move onto Trottingham or Ponyville. He doubted Inkwell's sister would be able to help him anyway.

[Inkwell]

Magi's reaction to Rose's speech confused Rose at first, until she remembered that she somehow managed to include four puns in a row. They weren't even that great, and yet all of them completely bowled Magi over, making her literally roll on the ground. Rose noticed another unicorn staring at them awkwardly, and she just gave him an awkward shrug and smile.

The smile remained when Magi got up and introduced herself like nothing happened. "Nice to meet you, Magi," Rose replied. "I do my best to entertain, glad you liked my jokes." For a moment she thought maybe she could work on her comedy a bit and really impress ponies with it. "Well, I guess since we're not strangers anymore, I don't suppose you'd mind it if I walked you home?" Rose wasn't mean enough to say it out loud, but she was kind of worried that Magi would fall down a well or get her head stuck in a pipe if she were left to her own devices.