Howl to the Future

Five wolves sped down the streets of the Crystal Empire, spreading panic wherever they roamed. Why they were so perturbed was beyond Twilight, yet her history on the Empire was still vague.

Whatever the reason, it wasn't doing them any good in trying to be stealthy.

"GUARDS! GUARDS! HELP!"

"Where did they come from?! Is it another invasion?!"

"It can't be... they were wiped out..."

"Obviously not!"

Twilight winced at their cries. Crystal ponies were running every which way. Some into houses. Some in the opposite direction. And some just stood there, stunned in fear.

"Uh.... nothing to worry about!" Twilight called. "Just your friendly neighborhood Elements of Harmony passing through!"

Their panic didn't seem to cease.

"It's no good!" Applejack huffed, loping as fast as possible towards the edge of the city. "These ponies are as paranoid as we were during the whole Changeling panic!"

"I-I just hope Rainbow's alright," Fluttershy eeped. "We shouldn't have left her behind like that..."

"She'll be fine, sugarcube! We gotta worry about ourselves for the moment!"

"You're right about that! Look!"

In the blink of an eye, a squadron of ten troopers appeared before them, a flash of blue light accompanying them, led by the same squad leader as earlier. Four unicorns shook their heads in a daze.

The quintet of wolves came to a screeching halt.

"HALT!" the leader cried, before taking a deep breath. "Please... you've earned my respect, you're smarter than I remember the wolves being... so I'm willing to you one chance! Surrender now and you'll be treated decently!"

"How can we know you're intentions are honorable?!" Rarity shouted.

"You have my word."

Twilight and the group glanced at each other.

"When Shining wakes up..." Applejack whispered. "He does seem sincere..."

"You're right," Twilight nodded, before glancing back at the squad leader. "Alright... what are you terms-"

A very familiar (and now annoying) voice interrupted them:

"Belay that! Close in on them before they escape!"

Pinkie sighed at that. "Oh great... gogo crystal rangers..."

Surely enough, speeding up behind them was the Red Ranger and a quintet of green-cloaked soldiers. In strict unison, they drew crossbows.

"Ooooo, it's like a Hearth's Warming Eve squad!" Pinkie bounced.

"Sir, with all due respect, are you sure of this?! They speak like the Elements of Harmony... and they aren't using their magic," the Squad Leader noted.

"They aren't them!" the Red Ranger snapped. "Do you remember what Sombra made us do? What they did in return?! We are not letting our return be ruined by them and their Eldrich Abomination for a god! Let the dead lie! And the living dead die! Therefore, I'm giving you a direct order: CLOSE IN! NOW!"

The squad leader paused for a second, before throwing a salute.. "Sir, yes sir!"

Both sides moved forward, the archers on both prepping to fire.

"Ooooo nelly," Applejack gulped. "This is it... I love you, girls..."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Like... Rainbow Dash type of love, or..."

Applejack gave her a blank look. "Really? We're about to die, Pinkie!"

Pinkie grinned. "Always wanted to go out smiling!":

However, before the first arrow flew, a wailing cry came from an adjacent street, one high-pitched, as if coming from a child.

"HELP! HELP! WOLF!"

The Red Ranger gasped, his hoof on the trigger. "There's another one?!"

"Apparently!"

"Must be that Rainbow Dash... she was probably already a wolf using illusionary magic!"

Another soldier raised an armored hoof. "Uh... I'm not so sure... they never used that type of magic bef-"

"RANGERS! ON ME!" Red Shard ordered, before snapping towards the squad leader. "The rest of you: guard these bitches!"

Rarity's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, now that's just - YOU CAN TRY TO KILL US, BUT THAT'S CROSSING THE LINE!"

The Red Ranger was already gone, the others in green following him.

Twilight glanced at her friends.

Her friends glanced at her.

They nodded.

"BREAK!"

With that, they literally launched themselves towards a series of houses on the right side of the street. Arrows flew by them, but did not strike. Twilight was the first in, nearly clawing down the door of it.

"EEEEEP! GET OUT! GET OUT, DEMONS! THE POWER OF LIGHT COMPELS YOU!"

Running out of a nearby kitchen came an older female Crystal Pony carrying a strange looking cross... and levitating a rolling pin...

"Uhhhh. sorry!" Twilight squeaked, before darting through the remainder of the first floor, the Crystal Pony chasing them all the way. Out the back door they went, into a small garden area.

"AND STAY OUT OF MY GARDEN!" she snarled after then.

"Sweet Celestia... is anypony NOT trying to kill us?!" Applejack gasped.

Her answer came via a single statement:

"Yo! How you guys doin'?!"

The group's eyes widened. Standing on the adjacent street was none other than Rainbow, who strangely, did not seem exhausted what so ever, and even more strangely, no longer had a crooked wing.

"Come on!" she called, signalling them to follow. "Let's get the buck out this nutty Empire!"

They eagerly complied.

"Rainbow... how the heck did you get here so quickly?!"

"Easy!" Rainbow smirked. "I flew!"

"With a strained wing?" Applejack asked skeptically. "Yuh-huh..."

"No pain, no game!" Rainbow said, her smirk turning to a grin.

Applejack's skeptical glance became fiercer.

Rainbow sighed. "Alright, alright... I might have stopped at a potion shop... but man do the Crystal Ponies know how to make healing stuff! Fixed my wing right up! Cost me a ton of bits though..."

Twilight threw her a wide smile. "Thanks, Rainbow."

"Heh, you're welcome. But yeah, that wasn't the only awesome thing I did!"

"What else did you do?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Let's just say... I'm good with kids."

Only a minute earlier, two streets away, Rainbow Dash landed in front of a young filly, her eyes widening in delight.

"Woah! Are you Rainbow Dash?!"

"The one and only! Love to chat, but yeah... I'm kind of in a hurry... but could you do me a huge favor!? I'll uh... do a sonic rainboom or something later for you!"

The filly glanced to the side. "Ehhh... I've kind of already seen one."

"How about an autograph?!"

"You don't have a pen..."

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow, before sighing. "How about five bits?"

The filly grinned. "Deal!"

Rainbow grinned back. "Alright... this is really important: I need you to cry wolf!"

The filly raised her eyebrows, before glancing to the side, a lucrative smile on her face. "Er... I dunno... I could get into big trouble for that..."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes.

"Ugh, alright, how many bits do you want?"

The filly's smile widened.

In the present, the group loped and flew nearly twice the speed of an average earth pony.

"But yeah! Kids love me! All I had to do was ask and she was like: 'Yeah, totally, Rainbow Dash! I can't wait to tell my friends about helping you later! I'll be the coolest filly in school!'"

"That's so cuuuute!" Fluttershy peeped, apparently forgetting the current circumstance.

"Eh, it was no biggie," Rainbow shrugged. "Who else is going to look out for you guys?! Seems like everypony is trying to kill you!"

"Everypony is trying to kill us!" Applejack growled.

Suddenly, Rarity gulped, pointing ahead. She shivered at the sight.

"Quite correct... A-And I think this is the part where they kill us..."

The ground shook. A heavy pounding sound could be heard.

"Y-Yes, this is the part where they kill us," Fluttershy squeaked.

Marching into the end of the street before them, and blocking the way between the city and the snowy tundra beyond, came a massive entity. It seemed to be made of crystals, and was nearly two stories tall. The only visible features that could be seen on it were a pair of glowing dots for eyes: both fixed upon the quintet.

"Golem!" Twilight shrieked, and the group halted in their treks.

Then, to make matters worse, the squadron of soldiers from the street over lined up before the beast, spears and bows at the ready. None said a word, save for a single soldier:

"Hey, demons! Guess what?!" he snarled. "This is the part where we kill you!"

And the column began to march forward... silent as a mouse save for the golem's footfalls.