3 Weeks Later

I've been working in the bar for a few weeks now, and let me tell ya, it is a hell of a lot more entertaining than plowing a field. I've defiantly learned a lot 'bout the ponies of this town. The pony who pulled the knife on me, Archy I believe, is the father of that filly, Petal. He and his wife argue a lot and he finds his way here. There is a mare crazy enough to marry Danny. Hell, they've been happily married for 58 years. Must of been hard on her, having to deal with her husband being a murderer. But she still loves him, even through his faults. That's more than Strawbell could ever say for me. No, Heart, get those thoughts out of your head.

Plus, as a bonus, I've also gotten to know Corona better. She and NineMil divorced after she caught him with another mare. They managed to rebuild a friendship, for Bud Light's sake. Poor kid. At lest he knows his parents. No Heart, come on happy thoughts, stop dwelling on the past.

One day in the bar, I think it was a Saturday, Corona left early to help Bud with some magic training. Me being the only other worker there, I was in charge. Archy was sitting at the end of the bar. You could tell he just had a big fight with his wife. He didn't order a lot, which I'm glad, he always has a knife on him, don't know why. He had a shot glass in front of him and he waved me over to refill it. As I was refilling, I noticed a wedding ring spinning on the bar. It spun off the side only for me to catch it. I placed it back onto the bar, Archy was staring at the hoof it was under. I slid the ring over the bar and slid the shot back to me. He picked up the ring and looked at it then he got up and walked out of the bar. I think I just saved a marriage.

After work that day, when I got home I found Jackie sitting with a match in her mouth. She ran over to me and urged me to take the match. I knew all to well what she wanted. "No Jackie! I'm done with that. Never again, NEVER!" There was sadness in her eyes. It hurt me to see her this sad, it really did but I just can't dance with fire again, not after what happen. Get those thoughts out of your head Heart, get them out.

I worked around the house till nightfall. I headed to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What," she sounded so scared, "What are you?"

"Strawbell, honey, it's me, the same ol' Fire Heart." I was trying to calm her down. I had put my shades and stetson back on.

"Don't call me honey." She took a few steps back. "You're a freak."

"Please Strawbell, it's me, I've always had these eyes. I've always been like this. I'm... I'm half dragon." She took a few more steps away from me.

"You lied to me!" She was screaming now.

"I never lied to you!" I raised my voice, "I told you I love you and I still do. Please don't let this change anything."

"You're... you're a monster, a freak, an abomination!" She turned her head and quickly reached behind a barrel. She pulled out a rifle. Damn't PichFork! Why do have to keep guns in the barn.

"Please Strawbell, put the gun down, I'm no different then the way I've always been."

She aimed at me. "Why'd ya never tell me?"

"Because I was scared that ya would react like this." I stared crying.

"So what were ya going to do. Tell me after we got hitched so I couldn't walk out on ya?"

"I don't know. I've been scared. You don't know what it's like to have to hide something like this."

"That's why ya so good at fire dancing, that's why the fire listens to ya. Cause you a damn fire breathin' monster!"

"You've known me for years, you know I'm not a monster."

"You are a monster! A damn monster!" She pulled the trigger. The bullet hit my for head. I... I don't know why, but I let a large wisp of fire escape from my mouth then I blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'M SORRY!" I screamed as I shot straight up in bed. I shot up so fast it startled Jackie. She turned and looked at me. I was panting. I needed something to calm me. I looked at Jackie, "You want to dance with fire? Then let's dance."

We walked out of town, it looked like we were far enough away to we're no pony could see us. Jackie had a match in her mouth. I waved it off. No ponies around, I can start the fire without a match.

I blew out a small blue flame and caught it in my hoofs. I moved my white hoofs around the flames and the we started to dance.

______________________

I popped my head through the sky light. Sitting on the roof looking up at the stars was Bud Light. "Whatcha doing kiddo?"

He turned to look at me. "Hi Mom. I'm just looking at the stars." I crawled up onto the roof and sat next to him.

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yes." We sat there silent for a while. "Mom. Do you ever think I'll be good at magic?"

"Of course. You're already better then me. You can even levitate your uncle, and his not to light." He smiled. He hardly ever smiles anymore.

We sat there looking at the stars.

"Mom, what's that?" Bud pointed into the distance. There was a faint blue glow.

"Stay here? I'm going to see what that is." I headed for the sky light.

"Mom, get Uncle Red. I don't want you getting hurt." I smiled at him then headed off.

I wasn't going to bother with Ol' Red. He had had a long day with somepony trying to rob Danny. Of course the entire reason he was there was to hold off Danny so he didn't kill the robber.

I got to the glow. I stayed hidden in the bushes, thank Celestia for a green coat. What I saw surprised me, enthralled me, captivated me. It was Fire Heart dancing, but he was dancing with fire, blue fire. It curved around him. It danced for him. He seemed to be whispering words to it. His jackalope was there, watching the fire move, no, watching the fire dance. Once Heart stopped dancing, he sat on the ground and stated at the small flame he held in his hoof.

"That was beautiful." I wasn't thinking. He jumped, turned an took a fighting stance. When he saw it was me he lowered his guard.

"Corona, what are you doing here?" He sounded a little scared.

"I saw some blue glow and got curious. What was that?"

He almost didn't want to answer. He quickly picked the small flame back off the ground. "Don't want that spreading." He looked at me. "That was... fire dancing." He whispered something to the flame.

"It was beautiful. How do you do it?"

"Beautiful? Ha! I don't know how or why fire listens to me. I did read in a book once 'Fire Dances For Those Willing to Dance With It'"

I stared at the flame in his hoof. "Why don't you do that more often? You seemed to be having fun."

"Why? Cause so many ponies fear fire, hate it, run from it. They're not appreciative of all the good it does." He sounded angry. "They don't see that it is a living thing."

"Living thing?"

He looked at me. "Yes living. It breaths, eats, grows, speaks, dies. It's just as alive as you and me."

"But when it grows and eats..."

He cut me off, "It doesn't care what it eats, wiether it be wood or flesh. That's why I'm here. I teach fire to behave. It's like a child." He whispered to the fire as it started twitching. "Do you not fear fire?"

The question caught me off guard, "No, no I suppose not. It's never done anything to make me hate it." The jackalope hopped over to him.

"Jackie has always loved watching the fire dance. That's how I found her."

"Really? What's the story?"

"Well this is also how I got my cutie mark. When I was seven, I found some matches. Now me being a smart and responsible colt, I took them outside. It's dangerous to light fires indoors. When I got to the field, I danced. Burnt myself a number of times, but still. My uncle found me and he was pissed off. Then he saw my cutie mark. He told me I could practice fire dancing in the fields. On that first day though, after I finished, a small creature hopped up to me a seemed to want to see more fire. She followed me around till I guess you could saw I adopted her." He petted Jackie.

"You always seem to talk about your uncle and aunt. What about your parents?"

The smile on his face faded, "My mother died three months after my birth. There were certain complications on why my father couldn't keep me. He left me with my uncle." A tear ran down his the side of his face.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I've lived a happy life on his farm." He looked at me. "Say Corona would you like to... uh... well... go have dinner with me sometime?"

He definitely caught me off guard there. I didn't know. He is handsome, very handsome, but out on a date with him. What would NineMil say. That thought struck me. What does it matter what he says. He's the one who went off and fucked some other mare. And you know what, I like Fire Heart. "Sure, sounds great. I would love that." A smile spread across his face and I swear I saw Jackie roll her eyes.

Author's Notes:

Archy's Backstory