Blade guided Dusty over a river leading to a canyon with jagged rocks and a large bridge.
"Augurin Canyon, our own little obstacle course." He explained, as he gestured to the area. "Your first task is to get through this, go through the rocks then under the bridge. Treat it as if you're actually in a fire… Low and fast."
"Low and fast." Dusty grinned. "My kind of game."
Blade scowled. "Overconfidence, the kind of talk that could get you killed!"
Dusty sighed as he swooped down, diving and turning through the rocks. He was speeding up unconsciously, feeling a charge of adrenaline starting up.
Yes…! Just like the obstacle course during the Wings Around Equestria!
He was speeding to go under the bridge when his bracelet's alarm started to go off. Dusty gasped and slowed down flapping his wings a bit harder to keep in place.
"Now why'd you pull back!?" Blade yelled flying over.
"I-I uh, I thought um… T-The bridge is re-really low?"
Blade just fixed him another glare. "If this had been a downdraft you'd be dead."
Dusty hung his head a little sighing. "Got it…"
Afterward, Blade brought him over to the lake.
"Watch her…" He instructed, gesturing to Dipper as she soared over the collecting water from the air and the lake below with her wings as small clouds formed in them. "Yours have a spell on them to enable a similar reaction. Go."
Dusty nodded before trying… and flopping as he wound up getting a faceful of water.
"GACK!"
Dipper shook her head as Blade rolled his eyes.
"Did his parents never teach him how to swim?" He commented quietly as Dusty pulled himself out of the water.
"Be nice." Dipper said quietly.
"Tell that to the trainee purposely giving me a headache."
Blade stood on the ground watching Dusty fly over head. Come on… It's like shooting fish in a barrel… You can at least do THIS!
The task was to put out several large metal drums that had fires burning in them.
Dusty sped over, dropping water… Missing.
"Too soon!"
He tried again, moving higher, believing he'd get more coverage.
All of the fires were still lit and Blade was looking even more annoyed than before.
"TOO HIGH!" He barked, stamping one of his hooves.
Dusty groaned and banked around trying once more only lower.
Only one went out.
"Too low!"
Dusty sighed, flying upwards to get another load.
"Those crops of yours… They die a lot?" Blade asked over the radio.
"UGH!"
I swear if this was a stupid field of stupid dying grass and I had a stupid sprayer I'd show him!
Dusty went on with this exercise for a good long time before Blade took him in for other knowledge he would need to know about firefighting. This was spread out over days but was still a lot to take in at once.
Blade's Fire Fighting School of Hard Knocks… Dash, I might die… You can have my trophies…
One night, when he was just about to sleep he heard a giggle as his eyes opened.
What was that?
He looked up to see Dipper looking in as she quickly ducked back down. Dusty shuddered, pulling his blanket further over himself.
Didn't see that, didn't see that, I did NOT see that! He repeated over and over in his head, creeped out.
This… is going to be harder than I thought…
And I might never sleep AGAIN.
"So, what you think?" Maru asked Windlifter one day as they saw Dusty come in from practice with Blade while he was putting some tools away on a shelf.
"Hm… A work in progress, but that's how we all were when we started." Windlifter answered.
Maru chuckled. "Even you, oh wise dragon of the peak?"
Windlifter gave a small smirk. "No pony or dragon is perfect."
"True, true… and what do THEY think?"
Windlifter trained his eyes on Dusty again.
"He already has a good heart, he just hasn't proven himself yet, but that will come in time…"
Maru nodded. "Just a matter of when… and hopefully it's before Blade tries to possibly break his wings in half. Apparently he pulled a dunce move and dumped some fire retardant on some campers' campfire."
Windlifter shook his head. "Rookie mistake…"
"Either way, Blade didn't have mercy."
The two looked over to see Dusty getting a scolding from Blade before trotting off. Dusty sighed before trotting off as well back to his hangar.
"This is gonna be a long training session for him." Maru said, shaking his head.
Windlifter nodded, watching Dusty go.
Spirits of Piston Peak… I know he still has a long way to go before he is like us… but please watch over him.
"This is Propwash Junction, over."
Dusty smiled as he head Skipper's voice coming from the radio in his hangar. He quickly trotted over, stepping on the pedal to answer.
"This is Dusty, over."
"Good to hear your voice." Skipper said. "How are things up there?"
"It's coming along, harder than I thought it was going to be." Dusty answered, sighing a little. "But I'm doing my best."
"That's all anyone asks of you." Rainbow Dash commented.
Dusty smiled. "Thanks Dash… How is Mayday doing?"
"He's currently in surgery at the moment with Dottie and Sparky, but he's coming along in learning new spells. He'll be good as new when you come home."
"Good to hear."
"The Fill N Fly is coming along too, just taking it bit by bit to fix up the damage."
"Got ya… Miss you guys…"
"We miss you too… Keep us posted on your training, okay?"
"Will do."
Dusty's ears perked up at the sound of Patch's voice announcing something.
"Oh, better go, looks like something is up."
Dusty hung up, trotting out of his hangar to where everyone else was. Wasn't till he was outside could he make out what Patch was saying.
"Park superintendent approaching the base."
Dusty looked over to Windlifter and Dipper who were getting checked out by Maru.
"Who?" Dusty asked.
Maru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "The park superintendent, one of the most annoying ponies in all of Equestria."
"Oh no get that dirt away from me!" Dipper said in a mocking tone, causing Maru and Windlifter to chuckle a bit.
Windlifter look to Dusty, giving a bit of a serious look. "He bleaches his coat… DAILY."
Maru broke down into a full blown laugh. "Wants to be the ideal white stallion."
Dusty snorted a bit, trying to contain himself. FOR REAL?!
All of them looked to the road that lead to the base to see a well dressed Unicorn walking up. It was the same one Dusty had remembered seeing earlier.
Oh so it's the mud police guy. He thought, narrowing his eyes a little.
"Oh that's a long walk." the Unicorn groaned as he stretched a bit, making his way on to the base.
Blade came on over to greet him, his same stern look in his eyes.
Maru picked up his tools, trotting off. "I've got latrines to clean." he muttered as he walked past the Unicorn, bumping him a little on purpose to throw him off.
The Unicorn snorted at him. "And who writes your paychecks?" he asked, gesturing a hoof to himself. "Oh that's right, me."
Blade rolled his eyes. "What do you want Cad?"
Cad looked to Blade, giving an unimpressed look. "Well I got a complaint from one of my guests that one of your little Pegasi firefighters dumped that red pink stuff on their fire. I understand you have your jobs but dropping mud on people makes for sad campers, big party at my lodge makes for happy campers, ya understand?"
Blade snorted at him. "Well you've packed one too many happy campers into the park, and for the record it was a training exercise, I got a pony I need to certify." His eyes narrowed. "And with the conditions of the weather you're pushing the park to it's limits with how many guests you have."
As the two bickered, Dipper trotted over to Dusty, whispering to him. "He and Blade aren't on good terms, he got the higher ups to shift a huge amount of our budget into his lodge restoration project."
Dusty gave a bewildered look. "Are they nuts?!"
"Cad Spinner was named well… he's got a silver tongue."
The two looked back over to Blade and Cad who were now actually talking about the budget.
"We'd be able to be more efficient if we had money for more supplies, this base is being held together by bailing wire and DUCT TAPE!" Blade barked, gesturing to the whole base. He pointed over to a tower. "Maru had to rebuild that old tower by himself!"
Maru was by the tower as he waved a wrench in the air. "It's better than new!" he shouted.
His favorite catch phrase… Dusty thought as he turned his attention back to Cad and Blade.
"Well sorry Blade, but the lodge comes first."
Blade growled a little. "Well just tell your campers to stay at the lodge then till I'm done certifying my trainee then and you'll have no further complaints."
"Oh really and where is this trainee of yours?"
Blade glanced to where Dusty was. Cad followed his gaze, his eyes going wide.
"You're kidding me." Cad trotted over to Dusty, grinning widely. "You're hiding a legend up here Blade!"
Blade shook his head. "Cad… He's just another pony."
"JUST ANOTHER PONY?!" Cad exclaimed. "That's an understatement, this is the racing legend of Equestria." He looked to Dusty, striking a bit of a pose that looked familiar to Dusty. "Ripslinga!"
Dusty cringed at the name. Wrong pony…
"Um… It's… Dusty Crophopper…" Dusty corrected.
Cad was silent before he struck the pose again. "Crophoppa!"
Dusty winced a bit. Still stings.
"Say, how would you like to shake hooves with the secretary of all of Equestria!? Oh oh and you know what I see… A high speed fly over the opening of my lodge with you as the star. What do you say to that?" he asked.
Dusty felt panic coming in. Not in the condition I'm in… I'll push it too far-... Wait, I know just what to say.
"I'm thinking… it'll be dark." he answered, remembering part of his education in being a firefighter. They weren't allowed to fly after sunset since there would be risk of crashing. He was never so grateful for the education. He glanced over to Blade… who was giving a bit of a smirk.
Cad gave him a look before grinning again. "Well, you're still invited to the party at the lodge, now if you'll excuse me…"
Blade cleared his throat. "Don't we have other matters-"
"Nope, got everything settled, I got other things to worry about." Cad started making his way out. "Can't believe it, you have Dusty Cropslinger on your base. Heh, he's almost as famous as you." Cad gave a smirk. "Blazin' Blade."
Blade growled a bit before storming off, flapping his wings at Cad a little to get some dust on him.
Cad yelped trotting off shaking himself. "Yeck! Get itoff!Getitoff!"
Blade smirked a little as he trotted off to hangar.
"Blazin' Blade?" Dusty asked raising an eyebrow.
"Sh sh sh!" Dipper shushed, flapping her wings frantically.
"What?" Dusty asked confused. "All I said was Blazin' Blade-"
"SHHH!"
Dusty jumped a little. "What?"
Windlifter came over, his eyes having a serious look in them.
"Tonight… come to the main hangar."
It's time he was welcomed into our team properly.
Later that night, Dusty trotted over to the main hangar looking around before knocking on the door. "Uh… Hello?"
A slot in the door opened up, showing only one of Maru's eyes. Dusty jumped a little, just seeing the one eye. Maru moved his head up so only his mouth was seen, grinning widely, showing his missing tooth.
"Password?" he asked.
"Um… you didn't tell me there was a password." Dusty answered, giving an unsure look.
Maru chuckled. "Right right hehe… It's inferno."
"Oh, okay." Dusty said, giving a smile.
Maru frowned, giving an unimpressed look. Then it clicked in Dusty's head.
"Oh! Inferno."
Maru closed the slot, opening the door. "Glad you could make it, come right on it."
Dusty nodded before trotting inside, seeing all the firefighters gathered around a TV with cups of cider.
"Hey Dusty!" Dipper squealed. "Glad you're here!"
Dusty gave a nervous smile. "Ehehe…"
She patted the area next to her that had a cup of cider. "And I saved you a spot right next to me!"
Dusty blinked before sitting beside her. "W-Well thanks-"
Dipper put one of her wings around him. They were soft… but that didn't help the awkwardness in anyway.
"They're real." She giggled.
Dusty went bright red. Sweet Celestia HELP ME!
"Alright quiet down everyone!" Maru shouted.
"QUIET!" Avalanche said, blowing some smoke rings.
Dusty looked to where Maru was to see him pull out a video tape. "My Micro Dogs? But that's a-"
"Ah ah." Drip interrupted. "Judge not a tape by its cover."
Maru pulled out the tape from it's cover putting it into the VHS player. A commercial came on for some lawyer thing before a show actually came on. Up beat music started to play, the Smoke Jumpers bobbed their heads to it. Dusty watched the screen intently as he saw two Pegasi fly into view over Canterlot, dressed in the armor of Celestia's soldiers. Only difference in their armor was the coloring and a small badge they had on the front that was focused on. A letter was taken from each word on the badge till it spelled out "CHoPs" on the screen.
"CHoPs…?" What's "CHoPs?"
The camera zoomed out, focusing on the two Pegasi as their names were shown on the screen. First was Blazin' Blade Ranger and then the Pegasus flying was introduced as Nick Loopin' Lopez.
Dusty's eyes went wide at the first name. "Wait… Blade was once a TV star?"
"Yep." Dipper sighed wistfully. "139 episodes of law breakin' love."
"QUIET!" Avalanche yelled.
Dipper quieted down and everyone focused on the show, watching Blade and his partner Nick do their thing. They patrolled Canterlot, chasing after ponies who were causing a ruckus. It baffled Dusty a lot to see Blade acting the way he was on the screen.
Nick and Blade finally caught one of the bad guys, cuffing his front hooves.
"Good move, partner." Blade said, nodding to Nick. Nick nodded back, giving a grin.
"Man, why you Choppies always ruining my fun?" The stallion complained.
Nick growled, his wings spread out. "You think knocking over frail ponies is fun you punk?!" He started making his way over to the stallion, eyes narrowed. "Why if I had a bit for every time-"
Blade raised one of his wings, holding him back. "Hey, hey Nick, it ain't worth it."
Nick snorted at the stallion.
Another armored guard ran up to them. "Hey guys! There's a fire at the Canterlot studio! We need your air assistance!"
"We're on it!"
Nick and Blade took off, flying towards the blazing studio. On the top of a studio was a mare calling for help, trapped by the fire. Blade nodded to Nick before swooping down, getting into a position to pick up the mare.
"SWOOSH!" The firefighters yelled as they all took a drink of their cider, save Dusty who decided to join in after.
Blade scooped the mare off the building, saving her from a falling billboard.
"You alright, miss?" Blade asked with a gentle smile.
Nick flew in, grinning at the mare. "Hey baby."
The mare giggled. "Oh, I am now."
Dusty couldn't help but snort a little. Blade… and his friend… acting like flirts… I think the all of Equestria just turned upside down.
The two stallions flew back to base, being greeted by their boss who wasn't too happy with them.
"Darn it you too, you're always going against my rules… but…" the Earth Pony sighed. "You Choppies did a good job."
Nick gave his partner a hoof bump. "Haha! Victory!"
Blade nodded, giving a small smile.
Nick nudged him a little. "And speaking of, looks like that mare has a sister."
The camera focused on the mare from earlier who had another mare beside her who was waving to Blade. It focused on the duo again, who gave each other a smirk.
"Good move, partner." Blade said.
Then the credits rolled.
"Ah that was great! Oh! Oh! Let's watch Super Pegasus!" Drip cheered.
"Super Pegasus!?" Cabbie exclaimed. "This show stinks!"
"You kidding?!" Dynamite scoffed. "This show is the best thing ever!"
"I'm with Cabbie." Windlifter mumbled.
The Smoke Jumpers continued arguing their case as Dusty got in front of the TV.
"Excuse me?" He asked trying to get their attention.
"I said this show stinks! Did you see how cheesy those lines were!?"
"You're just old and blind!"
"Excuse me?"
"If you don't wanna watch Super Pegasus then we can watch Trick or Trick-"
"Never!"
"Excuse me!?"
"QUIET!" Avalanche shouted.
All eyes were focused on Dusty.
Dusty looked to Avalanche. "Thank you." He looked to the others. "Guys… I'm curious. If Blade was so successful as a TV star then why did he give it up for firefighting? He seemed pretty content where he was."
"No one knows." Black Out started.
"It's a mysterious mystery." Drip said, waving his claws in the air in a wavy like fashion.
"I heard he went coo coo on the set!" Black Out said making a motion to indicate just how "coo coo" it might've been.
"In my experience, these things are highly classified." Cabbie added.
"CIA!" Avalanche shouted.
"Top secret." Dynamite said.
"Black Ops!"
"He'd probably tell us but then he'd have to kill us." Cabbie added again.
"I don't wanna die!"
Dynamite shook her head. "Look, just bottom line, it's his business and we keep out of it. He hates talking about it so don't ever bring it up around him, got it?"
Dusty nodded, moving away from the TV so Maru could get the next tape set up. Dusty made his way over to one of the windows, looking outside to see Blade perched on one of the cliff sides, watching the storm that was brewing. The question still couldn't leave his mind though.
If you were so happy with where you were… why did you leave…?