The Fire of Life

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 12 Alt.
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Letter 1
Opening

Chapter 1

¬¬¬Chapter 1

“Well… looks I got my work cut out for me…” said a cyan pegasus to herself, soaring high above the thick towering clouds with her wings spread wide, everything bathed in sunlight and giving it a bright and warm tint.

Her magenta eyes taking it all in, she gave a soft giggle as she whipped her rainbow mane out of her face and gave a small kick at her long rainbow tail lightly tickling the insides of her legs as it fluttered in the wind.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. It’s your day off! You’ve earned it! Besides, it’s nothing you can’t do in a minutes worth of time tomorrow.” she thought to herself, focused on relaxing rather than the amount of work literally piling up before her.

She continued on, skimming the tops of the fluffy whiteness with her hooves as she flapped her wings tirelessly. She glided through and around the clouds so merrily, so joyfully. This was her zone and no one could take that from her. She flipped and spun about with a wide smile on her face, going to her own little happy place and letting the world around her disappear. Not a worry in the world.

Through the holes in the clouds below her, she could see small glimpses of the land of Equestria; the wide and fertile home of many ponies, including herself. Just below her on the ground she saw her own home town; Ponyville; nestled down in the valley between the vast mountain ranges and expansive forests. Mostly shaded by the sun, all she could really see was the golden straw roofs of some sizable cottages that made up the town. She could also see the market just ahead of her, the pitched tents lining the street made up of colorful stripped and checkered patterns. The numerous ponies walking the road gave a bright contrast to the soft greyish soil that made up the towns streets.

Taking it all in, Rainbow Dash just couldn’t help but feel like she was on top of the world. She was definitely high on life in this moment, and it made her feel great. She started to plan out her day, carefully lining up some of the day’s events in her head. Maybe she’d go down to the pond out by the farm and rest on the sand? Or maybe she’d even just take a nap up on a cloud where most other ponies couldn’t bother her. But on second thought, she was hoping to break another of her airspeed records sometime, so perhaps she would take the time to get at that and then take a nap? She didn’t know where to begin. The day was still relatively young, and she had so many things she wanted to do.

“I got it!” she thought aloud. “I’ll go down to Twilight’s and see if she wants to do anything. That egghead could use some time out of that library anyway.” she giggled to herself some more, the thought of her friend locked up in a well-supplied library crossing her as typical of her friend.

She looked down to get a bearing and a heading for the library, squinting a little as she studied the faint silhouette of the town. She dropped altitude slowly, as she circled around and made another cross at the village. The sun disappeared above her as she glided above the clouds, still studying the town through the mostly opaque blanket of fluff.

“Hey… wait…” she said as a small thought crossed her mind.

She was still fairly high above most of the clouds, all still glowing brightly in the suns warm rays. So, if it wasn’t a cloud blocking the sun, then what was? Below her, she could see the perfect shadow of her own figure, wings, tail, hair and all. She couldn’t figure it out at first; the only thing that she could think is that something is hidden in her shadow, which means whatever was blocking the sun was in the shape of another pegasus, which meant…

She peered up, casting her gaze upon another pegasus pony gliding about twenty feet above her and blotting out the sun like an eclipse. The light was too bright for her to see a face, and she couldn’t make out much more than colors. Their coat was a brighter shade of orange, and their hair was a pure white color, as bright as the clouds beneath her. They dropped down slowly and took to Dash’s wing, gliding beside her at similar speed. It was a stallion pegasus, or at least Rainbow thought judging by his facial structure. He appeared to be a little on the skinny side though, making his already surprisingly large wings look that much more bulky. He had an amazingly shiny coat as well, the bright sun reflecting off of him as it would on a clean, smooth metallic surface.

He kept staring at Rainbow Dash, his green eyes fixed on hers. Dash stared back, perplexed by his random appearance. He didn’t seem to have much expression in his face, not that she could see much of it with is long white mane covering about half of it.

“Um, what’s up?” asked Rainbow, trying to greet him with a friendly mood, despite the awkward feeling she was getting.

The orange stallion didn’t respond so readily. He opened his mouth as if about to say something, but immediately stopped himself from sounding out. He only looked away awkwardly, and nodded in return, diverting his somewhat lifeless stare away from Rainbow and changing his trajectory back to the way that Rainbow had previously come from. She was definitely left silent from the interaction, or lack thereof, she just had. She watched the stallion glide away, keeping an eyebrow raised. She hadn’t seen him around before. Who was he, and what did he want to say? Was it important? Why didn’t he just say hi? Perhaps he was more the shy type? She thought about just shaking it off and getting back to her day, but she didn’t want him to just leave without at least getting his name. She turned and chased after him, her curiosity taking hold.

It didn’t take long for her to catch up; it didn’t take much effort for her either. She was on his wing within seconds and matching his speed immediately.

“Well, hey! Sorry if I didn’t seem too friendly back there. I was just expecting a little hello. That’s all!” she said, making sure to smile this time.

The stallion didn’t respond; didn’t even look at her this time. Dash felt a little frustrated that he wasn’t acknowledging her. She frowned a bit at him, replacing it immediately with another wide grin.

“I’m Rainbow Dash!” she greeted.

The stallion still didn’t look. This time, he just pushed forward, flapping his enormous wings rapidly and picking up speed quickly. Rainbow Dash was surprised by him, simply being put off by the stranger. He didn’t seem too happy at the moment, but Rainbow didn’t really care about his mood at this point. She was now leaning more towards just trying to get him to talk. With a few extra flaps of her wings, she caught back up again within seconds.

“Hey!” she shouted. “I just introduced myself! Would you mind at least looking at me when I talk to you?”

Gaze fixed forward, a shallow scowl crept over his face as Rainbow scolded him. He didn’t waste any time in picking up his speed yet again, lunging forward with a burst of energy that instantly broadened the gap between him and Dash. Dash’s eyes widened, surprised and impressed with his speed. Many times over had she been told that she was probably the fastest flyer in all of Ponyville; if not, in the entire land of Equestria. But she had never seen anypony else this fast before. As she spooled up her own wings, she put her game face on. She flapped her wings ferociously and rocketed forward, meeting the orange stallion once again.

“You’re pretty fast!” shouted Rainbow, catching the stallion off guard.

He looked back, surprised as he met Dash’s fierce look in astonishment. Rainbow smiled wide, her cheekiness showing brightly. But the stallion met her quickly, and put his game face on as he smiled back. He began flapping his wings tirelessly, continuing to accelerate.

“So a race is what you want…” thought Rainbow. “You’re in for it now, bub!”

She picked up speed, tailing the stallion closely as he wrapped his path around the clouds, both of the pegasi putting their arms out in a superman like fashion as they flew. It wasn’t long before the wind in their ears was the only thing they could both hear. The shapes of the clouds became distorted as well as they zipped by at hundreds of miles an hour. For every flap of their wings one made, the other matched them and paired their thrusts in nearly perfect synchronization. Their line of flight became straight, unable to perform their tight maneuvers at speed. They punched a hole in the clouds as they flew side by side, everything going white as they dashed through the thick moisture.

Out the other side, they came face to face with the eastern mountain range, about a mile tall and many more miles wide. Up in the tallest mountain they could see a large city; the city of Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, a more regal community, where the wealthier and more distinguished individuals resided. It was a place definitely deserving of the attention though, as it housed the castle; home of the royalty and rulers of Equestria. It appeared to glimmer; its golden toped towers decorated with paintings of stars and the sun, and its buildings and streets constructed with marble and stone. It was surely a sight to see an entire city built up near the icier mountain tops and a wide flowing river which a draw bridge was spanning.

None of this was relevant to either of the pegasi. They were both focused on each other.

Dash was lagging slightly behind, but gaining on the stallion and quickly. They were heading right for the city of Canterlot, which Rainbow didn’t doubt the stallion would use to lose her. Without wasting any more time, Rainbow made a move and caught up to the stallion, placing herself wingtip to wingtip with him. They both pushed, the makings of a cone beginning to form on both of their noses as they began to push against the sound barrier. The city came up quick, and they passed through the towers and the tall buildings in a blink. The city was rocked with the energy that dissipated from their powerful wings and their enormous amount of speed. The town went by fast, and soon they were both out over the mountains.

Dash herself had had it. She had never met anyone this fast before, and she couldn’t believe how hard she was pushing herself to just keep up. At this point she could hardly make it past transonic speeds, the sheer force of the air fighting against her enough to hold her back. Her furrowed brow was nearly covering her watery eyes, focused on trying to punch through the sound barrier.

“How long is this guy going to keep this up!?” thought Rainbow Dash, her wings beginning to get tired.

Rainbow Dash struggled, beginning to feel the pressure of the air change around her as the forward tips of her hooves pushed tightly against the wall of air blocking her accelerating advance. She bit her tongue, hardly able to keep her eyes open as she pushed the envelope of what a pegasus was meant to do, beginning to pull away from the orange stallion. She took advantage of the extra space, leaning into her stride and pushing full force. But before Dash had any time to push any harder, the orange stallion accelerated, coming up into Dash peripheral vision. She whipped her head around, watching as the orange stallion slowly passed her at a slightly higher top speed, wearing the cone of the broken sound barrier like a skirt.

Dash put her wings out in front of her and slowed herself quickly to a stop, hovering as her loose jaw and wide eyes tried to communicate with her blown mind. It wasn’t but a second though that the sonic boom created by the speedy stallion caught up with her and blasted her back to reality.

“You’re not getting away that easy!” she shouted, exploding forth again with a rage induced second wind.

She brought herself back up to speed and pursued the orange pegasus as he climbed back up into the clouds above the mountain tops. Barely within Dash’s sight anymore, she could hardly make out the stallion rounding the mountain and taking refuge behind a stray cloud. Rainbow closed the gap in a split second, and didn’t think twice about bucking the cloud out of her way. The cloud exploded into a puff of mist, but revealed nothing but the scenery behind it. The orange stallion, to Dash’s surprise, wasn’t there.

“What!?” squeaked Dash, her voice cracking a bit in her confusion.

She looked everywhere. She couldn’t see him. Maybe he was hiding behind the mountain? Dash circled the entire mountain, not finding even a feather of the stallion. She climbed high, getting a better vantage point. She could see for miles up higher, but couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her opponent. She twirled around several times, growing more and more frustrated with every passing minute.

“Where are you!?” she screamed, becoming infuriated with the mysterious pony.

She shouted it over and over as she continued to hunt him through the mountains, getting no response back. Finally, completely frustrated with herself, she gave up, groaning loudly as she stormed off.

“You dirty little cheater!” she exclaimed, making a beeline back to Ponyville.

Chapter 2

“I’m telling you! It’s not right!” shouted Rainbow from downstairs to the upstairs floor of the Ponyville library.

The library she was in was big. Built from a large tree, it had many windows and a couple balconies; all built into the wood of the tree and off of its major branches and mainly the trunk. On the inside, the numerous shelves carved from the inside walls of the tree each held books lined up from wall to wall. In the center of the downstairs room sat a large table with a horse head carved from wood as its centerpiece. The stairs leading up to the next floor wound around the room from the wall and up into the celling, which was opposite the front door, red in color with a candle hanging from its front. There was also another room near the back; a sun room which held a few desks and stools for quiet study. It was a brighter room that retained a pleasantly woody smell.

“There’s no way that jerk was that fast! There’s no way anypony is that fast!” said Rainbow, stomping her hoof on the floor.

“Well Rainbow…” called a voice from upstairs, a bit calmer in its tone than Rainbow’s. “… there’s no way you know everyone in Equestria. Whoever you’re talking about may not even be from Equestria.”

“That’s beside the point!” shouted Rainbow. “Even the Wonderbolts can’t break the sound barrier!”

A loud crash came from upstairs, followed by a series of several softer sounding thuds. “Spike!” shouted the voice.

“What!?” shouted another voice, a bit higher pitched with a light gravely tone, like a young boy.

“Be careful with those!”

“I’m up here on this ladder and I only have two claws!”

“What’s going on up there?” asked Rainbow.

“Just doing some reorganizing!” shouted the disembodied voice. “You’re allowed to come up, Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash sighed, beginning to walk her way up the stairs. Her hooves clopped on the bare wood as she climbed, the sound reaching out into the library and muffling itself as the noise was lost in the room and its acoustically sound nature. She walked up through the second doorway at the top of the stairs into another room that was stocked with books just as much as the downstairs was. To the left of the stairs was a kitchen, which had all of the necessities a pony needed; plenty of shelf space, a sink with running water, and a large fridge/freezer ice box. The floor was tiled in white and blue as well, which was a welcome change from the bare wood floor of the rest of the library. To the back of it all was a door leading out to the library’s back side balcony. To the other side of the stairs was a hallway, which lead down to a double screen door at the end of the hall that lead out to another one of the balconies. The entrance to a well decorated bathroom hung to the right of the hall, and to the left that was a spare room currently being used for extra book storage.

The room itself felt a little homier though, resembling a living space more than a library. There were a few extra drawers and shelves lining the walls with more books and small knickknacks displayed neatly in the room. There was a small study table over on the far side as well, stacked with even more books. Beside that was a folded up space telescope, slightly dusted over as it sat back in the corner.

“Twilight?” spoke Dash as she searched the room.

“Up here Rainbow.” called the voice, causing Rainbow to turn.

Above the stairs was a small garret, which housed a bed placed parallel to the wall in front of a large window that looked out on the village.

Standing up in the loft and holding a small scroll and quill was the unicorn Rainbow Dash had been talking to, Twilight Sparkle. Worker and owner of the library, she lived up in the upper floors of the library after moving from Canterlot. She had dark purple eyes, and an even darker purple mane and tail with a streak of pink in it to match. Her coat was of a lighter shade of purple, and her horn poking out from under her mane was matching in color. Upon her hindquarters was her cutie mark; a big pink star, surrounded by a series of other white stars that seemed to sparkle in the light. She was checking off some things on the scroll, both it and the quill she was using danced in the air like stringless puppets as result of her magic flowing forth from her horn with a soft purple aurora that glowed just above the light of the sun.

“Spike! Where are the Astronomical Archives volumes one though seventeen?” asked Twilight, writing down a note on her paper.

“Right over here!” said a little baby dragon, waddling over quickly on his short legs.

It was Spike, Twilight’s dragon assistant and friend. His scales from head to toe were all purple, and spanning from his chin and down his underside, all the way down his tail, was all a tannish yellow color. A long row of spines trailed from the top of his head to his tail spear, and matched the color of his bright green reptilian eyes.

“Where do you want them?” asked Spike, picking the stack of cumbersome books up at its base.

“Over on the shelf with the Celestial Anomalies would be a good place.” said Twilight, crossing the archive books off of her list.

Spike walked over to the shelf with the books, balancing them in his arms as they swayed with his footsteps, and started putting them up. Twilight put the scroll and quill down and hopped down from the loft.

“Sorry Rainbow.” said Twilight, looking a bit worked. “Busy day with the Summer Sun Celebration coming and all. But I think we’re done, and it wasn’t too hard with Spike’s help.”

Rainbow nodded, looking a bit annoyed.

“Now, tell me about this pony again.” said Twilight.

“It was this random pompous jerk who just decided to show me up after ignoring me for five minutes! I tried to say hi, but he just wouldn’t stop! So what does he do? He just takes off, leaving me in the dust! That’s not supposed to happen Twilight! Not to me!” said Rainbow, pointing to herself with her hoof on her chest.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, showing more concern for the situation rather than Dash’s ego.

“No offence Dash, but I’m kind of getting the idea that you may have said something to egg him on.” said Twilight. “And flying through Canterlot at near the speed of sound doesn’t exactly sound safe either. Maybe you should just calm down a little.”

“What!? Me!? Calm down? How can I calm down after someone beat me at my own game!?” She turned her body and looked at her hindquarters; a streak of red, blue and yellow, all lined up into the shape of a thunderbolt that sprouted out from a single small cloud, adorned her flank, exhibited plainly upon her cyan coat.

“And I’m not about to let some other pony take that from me! Not like this!”

“Rainbow, I know you’re upset. But getting frustrated over this won’t help anything.” said Twilight. “Maybe you just weren’t a hundred percent today.”

Rainbow Dash scowled at Twilight, piercing her with a deathly stare. “I’m never off my game.” sounded out Rainbow, calmly and concisely.

“Can we still calm down?” asked Twilight, smiling kindly.

Rainbow stomped her hoof on the floor again, giving a frustrated grumble.

“Fine. But, you can bet that when I see that jerk again, we’re going to have a talk! Pony to pony!” said Dash, pacing a bit as she held back her steamed emotions.

Spike had finished with the books by now, coming into the conversation. “Sounds like you really have a bone to pick with this guy Rainbow Da-” Spike grunted and covered his mouth, muffling a low guttural belch.

Twilight’s ears perked up at the sound, as if it was like a knock at her door. She looked intently at Spike, waiting for a response from him that was anything other than gas. Spike looked up at Twilight, returning her one claw held out with a finger pointed up as he patted his chest with the second claw. After working at it a bit, Spike let up another bout of gas, letting loose a flash of green flame and a puff of smoke, as well as what Twilight was waiting for. A greyish cloud whirled into the room and swirled around in a miniature spiral, slowly materializing a scroll tied with a red ribbon around its middle, adorned with a golden ring marked with a capital “C” in its center. It fell to the floor, bouncing once before stopping dead center of the room.

“Is that from the Princess?” asked Twilight, turning her attention to Spike who knelt over to pick the scroll up.

Unrolling the scroll, Spike cleared his throat and prepared his voice just as Twilight and Rainbow prepared their ears.

“It says:

My dearest student Twilight,

As I know you and Spike are working extra hard in preparation of the Summer Sun Festival as always, I need to ask you another favor to help me with this year.

As it was your duty to make new friends here in Ponyville so long ago, I have another student, much like yourself, who will be tasked with the same mission. His name is Wildfire, and he has been studying much like yourself in different fields of his own interest. As there are not many vacancies as far as residence goes, unfortunately, this is the favor I ask of you. I’m hoping that you and Spike would be willing to open your own home to offer a living space for Wildfire. He will need a place to stay after all, and with your experiences there in Ponyville you may be an inspiration to him.

I hope that I have not imposed too much of you, and I would understand if you decline.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

Wow, Twilight. What do you think?” finished Spike, looking over the scroll in his claws.

“Hmm…” Twilight thought, putting a hoof up to her mouth as she thought.

“Is my old bed still down in the storage room?” asked Twilight.

“Yep! And after selling so many of those “History of the Festival” books, I think we have enough shelf space to put all of those other ones out finally!” said Spike.

“Alright! We can get on that now and clear the room out a bit. Why don’t you send a letter back to Celestia to tell her that we’d happily invite Wildfire into our home.” said Twilight, smiling as she floated a sheet of paper and her quill over to Spike after dipping it in an ink jar on her study desk.

“Right away!” said Spike, writing the letter quickly as he quietly read out his writing to himself.

“Alright! Did you hear Rainbow? Another student of Celestia’s! I didn’t think that she had any more students besides me!” said Twilight, turning over to Rainbow Dash who was staring at the floor, brow furrowed as her eyes wandered about.

“Um, everything ok Dash?”

Dash stared down a little more before shaking herself out of her own trance. “Yeah! Yeah… I… I just gotta clear my head.”

“Make sure you clear the skies tomorrow!” said Twilight. “And don’t forget about the meeting with Celestia. She’s coming to Ponyville to-”

Dash cut Twilight off. “Yeah, Twilight, I go the memo. It’s the same thing every year.”

Rainbow slowly trotted towards the stairs, making her way down and out the front door. Twilight tilted her head a bit as her mouth stretched itself into a sort of shallow frown. Nothing really bothered that filly much, and it worried her. It made sense though; she was born to race as proof of the decoration on her flank, but the fact that someone could fly faster than she could was something. Twilight shrugged it off for the time being though, she had to prepare the room for the other pony that was going to be coming into her home.

“About to send the letter to Celestia!” said Spike, rolling the sheet of paper back up.

“Alright. Send it so we can get to work on the room.” said Twilight.

After tying the letter off with another red ribbon, Spike inhaled deeply, puffing his cheeks and puckering his lips, blowing the letter with a strong and steady breath. Just as the letter appeared before, it vaporized into a cloud of grey mist under the breath of the dragon and swiftly flew out of the cracked window above Twilight’s bed.

“Alright! Let’s go get to work!” said Twilight, heading back down the hall from where Spike came from before.

Before she could even make it to the hall, she heard a loud belch from Spike with another flash of green lighting the room for a split second. She turned to see the scroll falling to the floor in front of her.

“Well that wasn’t long.” said Twilight, picking the scroll up and untying it. “Ahem…

Dear Twilight and Spike,

Thank you so much for your hospitality! I assure you that you will get along perfectly well with my other student. He will arrive later tomorrow after preparing his things; he can help with perpetrations for the festival if need be. In fact, I’d encourage him to help.

Again, thank you!

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

P.S. He has been living here in the castle with me for some time. He does travel a lot as well, most of the time alone, so he may appear a bit distant. Please be patient with him, he’s a good kid at heart.”

“What’s that mean?” asked Spike.

“Don’t know…” said Twilight. “But Celestia still says he’s a good kid. I’m sure he’ll be a big help with the festival, and he should be making friends in no time!”

“Wish I could say the same for you when you first got here.” said Spike, chuckling.

“Yeah…” said Twilight, nodding along with a bit of a brittle smile. “Let’s just clear that room…” said Twilight, trotting back to the storage room down the hall.

Chapter 3

It was the next day, just about four hours past noon, and the sun was still fairly high in the sky, giving plenty of light to the town of Ponyville. A slightly cloudy day, and fairly windy, but sunny none the less. There was a fresh feeling about the way the wind blew through the town and the buildings. Most of the town was made up of residents, cottages clustered in small neighborhoods all over town. All of the cottages were made up of woven straw roofs and timber framing. Other buildings had more attention to detail, such as the towering building in Ponyville Square that was Town Hall that stood out above the rest of the town, or Sugar Cube Corner, the Ponyville bakery, which was decorated like a giant ginger bread house.

The wind had taken a good deal of the weather somewhat southeast of Ponyville, but it wasn’t enough if the townsfolk wanted to see the sun rise on the morning of the Summer Sun Celebration. It was the job of the weather patrol to take care of that; clearing the skies of all the weather when needed, and putting together storms when they were called for. Of course, this would mean that all ponies in the weather patrol team were to be pegasi. Not only was it for their wings, but also for that tiny bit of special magic they possessed that allowed for them to interact with the clouds on a much more physical level than unicorn or earth ponies could. There really was no substitute for a pegasus when it called for a job working with weather, especially in a place like Ponyville, where absolutely everything was run by its inhabitants.

Through that though, Ponyville could really operate on an “everything perfect” basis. No one seemed to complain about it, there was always work to do and always the perfect one for the job. Even the mayor of Ponyville had been in office as long as anyone can remember. It was common of ponies to operate like that though; you find your special talent and you stick with it for the rest of your life; no matter how young or how old one may be.

In the town of Ponyville, many ponies ran their own businesses that way. There are the Cakes who run Sugar Cube Corner. There was a clothing type store on the edge of town, called the Carousel Boutique, run by a pony named Rarity, the fashionista of Ponyville. There’s a small school building where the teacher, Cheerilee, worked with the foals of Ponyville. Of course, there’s Twilight who ran the library. There’s even a farm outside of town; an apple orchard called Sweet Apple Acres which is run by the Apple family. Beyond that, there were many grocers, jewelers, gardeners, and so many more talented ponies doing what they loved to do. Even the weather patrol of Ponyville was made up of talented fliers who loved to fly…

Soaring back over the town and punching her way through several clouds along the way, Rainbow Dash cleared the skies of all weather, leaving the once cloudy afternoon sky a blank blue canvas for the town to be able to enjoy the festival. After streaking through the sky a few times and pushing the clouds out of the airspace of the village, Dash made a bee line back towards the library, where there was a stop watch hanging on the balcony post, ticking away.

Not wasting even an extra second, she grabbed the clock and pounded the top of it, stopping its hands dead where they set. She studied it intently, a grin slowly crawling over her face as she hovered in place.

“Yes!” she shouted, twirling up into the air in an excited fashion.

“New record! Yes!” she said, locking her gaze back on the stop watch.

“No wonder they made me captain of the weather patrol! Man… I’d like to see the look on that jerk’s face!” said Dash, looking up to the sky in a day dream. “Flying fast in a straight line is one thing! But I’d love to see him try and clear the sky at that speed. He’d lose control so fast…” said Rainbow.

She took a moment to take in her work, sighing at what a beautiful sight she laid her eyes on. “Clean as it can get.”

Something soft nudged Rainbow in the back. She turned around to find a stray tuft of cloud, floating back over from the west side of town.

“Oh.” said Rainbow, giggling a bit.

She looked around her, checking all of the ponies running about back towards town. She definitely didn’t envy them for their jobs, and didn’t feel that she could “offer” any more help as far as anything else went. So with a shrug, Rainbow reached for the sky and stretched out straight, groaning some as she exhaled and fell back onto the cloud, landing all sprawled out. She flipped over and let her hooves dangle over the side some, relaxing as the soft breeze rocked the cloud some. Slowly, she shut her eyes to try and get a nap in before the meeting this afternoon.

Before she could drift off to sleep, she heard the flapping of wings pass by her. She looked to where she thought she heard the sound. There wasn’t anyone there. She looked over to the other way and didn’t see anyone. It might have just been somepony flying over her real quick, and was out of sight quickly. No big deal. She rest her head back down on the cloud and started to shut her eyes, until she caught sight of a pony gliding towards the front door of the library; an orange pony with white hair. Rainbow’s head popped off of the cloud, eyes locking on the familiar sight of a brighter orange coated stallion.

“No way…” said Rainbow Dash to herself.

He even had a few bags slung over his shoulders, all of them seemingly stuffed full of things.

“This can’t be good…” thought Rainbow.

Landing and furling his wings, he stepped up to the door and knocked three times. He waited, tapping his hooves nervously on the ground. After a second, he let his bags down on the ground, leaving his saddle bag on his back. After a few seconds more, he could hear the sound of clopping hooves getting closer to the door. He stood up straighter and whipped his hair out of his face before the door opened.

He could hear a couple of voices on the inside, talking to each other.

“Oh! That must be him!” said a mare, voice getting louder as she came closer to the door still.

Twilight opened the door, the visitor outside putting on a bright smile as the door swung open.

“Oh, hey!” said the pony, greeting in a bit of an informal manner.

“This is the Sparkle residence… right?” he asked, his bright expression a friendly welcome to the library.

Twilight observed him for a moment as he greeted her. The first thing she noticed was his long curly white mane, somewhat messy but combed back as neatly as could be, even though it appeared extremely coarse and seemed to have a mind of its own, sitting upon his head awkwardly and half covering his face. He was just a little taller than Twilight, and a bit more slender too. It made his overall appearance look a bit odd; his legs, being somewhat long for a stallion, were a bit more “mare-ish” than usual for a colt. His ribs poked out of his side some too; not enough to look sickly gaunt but enough to be considered extra skinny. It wasn’t too noticeable though as his unusually larger wings covered up most of his sides.

At first Twilight thought she might be talking to a much younger colt after noticing the lack of cutie mark on his hindquarters, but she noticed the look in his face (which was growing more awkward as Twilight continued to stare blankly at him). There seemed to be too much maturity in his visage for him to be significantly younger than she was. Though, there was still a discernible glimmer of youth in his eyes that shined through his bushier lashes; his age was too hard to tell. He appeared exhausted as well, dark circles resided under his eyes, as if from a lack of sleep or quality of it, but they remained wide open and gleaming.

He had a pair of wild eyes, comparable to Twilight’s in shape, emerald in color and the whites of his eyes, although somewhat bloodshot, were as white as could be; reflective almost. But there was something else; his eyes were two tone. With that shade of green was also a hue of scarlet that flickered in the light. Under his chin, he had a small patch of longer orange fur, mixed in with a few strands of white hair that gave him a sort of scruffy looking goatee. The last thing she noticed was his shiny and unruly looking orange coat covering him from his nose to his bare flank, blazingly bright, and ever so slightly washed out. It reminded Twilight of the trees in the fall, the same shade of orange almost.

None of this is why she was studying him so intently though. It’s almost as if she could feel something about him. It was almost as if he was putting off some sort of energy which Twilight could quite palpably sense, as if a powerful sent hit her when she opened the door. It wasn’t an off putting feeling, but it wasn’t exactly one-hundred percent welcoming either. In either case, it definitely fascinated Twilight. She stared some more, studying him like a book or some science project of hers.

“Um… Twilight?” she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She whipped her head around, brought back to reality by Spike who was looking rather oddly at her. She looked back at the orange colt whose bright smile had turned into an awkward smirk.

“Um… this is the right place is it?” he asked, smiling sheepishly and taking a short step back out of discomfort.

“Oh… Yes!” said Twilight.

“Yes, yes, yes! This is the right place.” she said, giggling awkwardly as she shook off her gawkiness.

“Um… yeah…” she giggled some more, clearing her throat and readily introducing herself. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” she greeted, holding out a hoof to the confused colt.

“Um, Wildfire.” said the orange colt, returning her a shake of the hoof and replacing his bright smile again.

Twilight noticed his luggage; a couple of leather duffle bags, a saddle bag, and even a guitar case.

“Do you want help with those?” asked Twilight, pointing to his baggage.

“Oh. No thanks, I can take care of these.” said Wildfire, picking up the guitar case and slinging it over his head.

“No need!” said a pink pony as she shoved her way through, curly bright magenta hair bouncing up and down as the pony herself bounced merrily out of the library door.

“Hi! You must be the new pony I heard about! I mean, one of the new ponies I heard about! I hear about a lot of new ponies coming into town, and I always like to say hi to them! So… Hi! Oh, and I’m Pinkie Pie by the way.” said the pink pony at a hundred miles an hour.

“You came from Canterlot, right? I love it there! So much to do! So many ponies to see! And the princess lives there, but you already knew that! She’s the one who sent you hear after all; and with no escort or guards to help with your bags. Want me to take those off your hooves? Never mind! I got them already!” she said, giggling with a short snort. She talked so fast. Wildfire was barely able to retain half of it. The other half he did retain he wasn’t able to completely comprehend.

Pinkie skipped right on by, heading towards Wildfire’s bags and lifting up the strap of one bag with her nose and slinging it over her neck. Wildfire turned over to Spike and Twilight, who were both smiling as they watched him and Pinkie interact.

“Is she always…”

“Excited!?” butted in Pinkie. “Only when I meet new faces!”

“Uh, careful with that one! Please.” said Wildfire, becoming a bit nervous as he watched Pinkie hop up and down through the doorway with his bag.

The other bags floated right over him, enveloped in a purplish glow. They stopped at the door there Twilight was standing, her horn glowing with the same purple sparkle his hovering baggage did.

“Well, why don’t you come in? Make yourself at home.” said Twilight, carrying the other two bags in with her.

Wildfire followed, pulling the door shut behind him with his front hoof. He turned around and looked into the library with astonishment. He didn’t expect to see so many books inside. It seemed to be pretty well organized at a glance as well. Twilight caught notice of his expression.

“Do you like what you see?” asked Twilight, getting excited for Wildfire.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m not that into books, but I guess this is a pretty nice little library.” said Wildfire, looking around.

“Watch what you’re saying.” said Spike with a smile. “You wouldn’t want to upset her.”

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“So, Wildfire, how are you doing?” asked Twilight.

“Not bad.” said Wildfire. “Just a bit tired after getting back from a trip yesterday.”

“Princess Celestia mentioned you travel. Did you go far?”

“Not too much farther than the Crystal Mountains.”

“Oh, wow. Really? Oh, I’ve always wanted to see it out there. I bet the northern lights up there are amazing to see in real life.” said Twilight. “I’d really like to hear about it. Sure sounds like it’d be amazing.”

Wildfire smiled and nodded silently, half enthusiastic about Twilight excitement.

“Well, I bet you’d like to see where you’re staying.”

“Um, yes please.” said Wildfire, still half smiling, earning an “alright” back from Twilight.

“So, how is living in the castle?” asked Twilight, beginning to walk towards the stairs.

“It really isn’t too bad.” said Wildfire, following Twilight. “There’s plenty to keep you busy there if anything.”

“Oh, yes!” said Twilight. “I’ll agree with you there. Canterlot in general would keep you busy.”

“You’ve been there before then?” asked Wildfire.

“Well I’m actually Princess Celestia’s protégé.” said Twilight.

“Oh, duh. Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia’s… other student.”

“Mm-hmm. I used to live in the castle too.”

“And how was the experience for you?”

“Oh, a lot like this here right now. Just a little less quiet though.” said Twilight, continuing up the stairs.

“Yeah. Too many ponies to get enough privacy really.” said Wildfire as they came to the top of the stairs and walked into the upper floor.

“Is this the pony who’s come from Canterlot, Twilight?” asked another mare standing in the room.

“It sure is.” said Twilight.

Wildfire, seemingly a bit shy in his step, came forward to greet himself to the other mare. She had a slightly off white coat with a neatly curled dark purple mane. Her big blue eyes were accented well among her long lashes and turquoise eye shadow. Her cutie mark of three diamonds seemed to shine in the light as well. The last thing he noticed was her horn, which was neat and primed like the rest of her.

“I’m Wildfire.” said Wildfire, holding up his hoof to greet the mare.

“Charmed.” said the mare, gently grasping Wildfire’s hoof with her fetlock. “I am Rarity. Miss Rarity if you prefer.” She seemed a little classier than the others, which Wildfire was able to appreciate.

Wildfire nodded, smiling brightly.

“This way, Wildfire.” said Twilight, walking down the hall.

Wildfire followed, closely tailed by Rarity. Down the shadowy hall and to the left, they came into the room, where Pinkie was bouncing around in a circle, Wildfire’s bag still slung around her neck. Stepping back, Wildfire could see Pinkie’s cute mark of three balloons; one yellow and two blue.

The room was somewhat stuffy feeling. There was an old desk sitting over on the far side of the room, where it faced a window which was covered by yellow drapes. Over on the right wall were some more shelves carved out of the wall, which looked like they hadn’t been used in a while due to dust, and to the left of the desk was a bed, made up with plain blue sheets.

“Twilight.” said Rarity, her voice pitched in a critical manner. “It’s absolutely filthy in here, and the air feels dreadfully stale.”

“Yeah, sorry.” said Twilight, smiling bashfully. “I meant to clean it, but I got caught up in reorganizing the extra books…”

“I think it’s great in here!” said Pinkie, setting the bag down on the bed and walking over to the window.

“It just needs a little sun!” Pinkie opened the drapes, and was greeted with a bright ray of sunshine and a cloud of dust that came from the drapes.

“Ahh-choo!” Pinkie sneezed over and over, her hind legs coming off the floor with each twitch of her nose. “And… a little… dusting!” said Pinkie in between sneezes.

“It used to be my old study, but I just never really used it that much.” said Twilight. “I hope it’s enough for you.”

Wildfire looked around some, taking the room in from a sunnier perspective. “Yeah. I mean it is a bit of a low celling, but there’s plenty of room outside to stretch my wings out there.”

“I can help you clean up later.” said Spike.

“Um, nah. I think I’d like to organize a few things in here myself. But thanks for the offer buddy.” said Wildfire.

“It’s Spike” said the dragon.

“Sorry, Spike.”

Twilight sat Wildfire’s bags on the bed, and Wildfire took his saddle bag off and threw it on the bed beside the rest of his things. It wasn’t but a few more seconds that they heard a couple more ponies come into the library, the bell on the door jingling as it swung open wide.

“Twilight!? Spike!? Y’all here?” shouted another mare from down stairs, her accent having a more southern twang to it.

“Yeah! Be right down!” said Twilight, leading the others out of the room and back down stairs into the main lobby of the library.

Wildfire followed them down to find two more mares standing in the room, both with bright smiles on their faces and patiently awaiting their friends.

The first mare was taller than the others, but not by much. She was an earth pony by the looks. Her apple green eyes shone brightly in the room just as her blonde mane and tail did, which were both done up in ponytails. Her light orange coat accented her hair well, and it showed off the freckles on her cheeks very plainly. The cowgirl hat she wore fit her style nicely, and her cutie mark of three apples must have meant that she was one of the workers on the farm just outside of Ponyville.

“Well, howdy there!” she said, trotting up to Wildfire promptly. “My name’s Applejack! Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr…”

“Wildfire.” he said.

“Wildfire! Not too many folk around here with a name like that! Y’all must be that pony form Canterlot Twilight was talking about yesterday.” said Applejack, taking up Wildfire’s hoof and giving it a firm shake.

“That’d be me.” said Wildfire, smiling back at Applejack.

Applejack turned around, looking back at the other mare standing in the doorway. “Well, ain’t you gonna say hi, Fluttershy?”

“Oh… um… hi…” said the other mare, smiling tremulously as she held her face down to the floor and looked up through her mane.

She was definitely the shy type, which Wildfire didn’t seem to mind. In fact he seemed a bit more allured to the shy type, as a child would be to a puppy. She was a bright yellow pegasus pony, with long light pink hair. Her greyish blue eyes were very kind looking, that was if anyone could see them, not being to the floor. She was a little rounder in the face than the other mares too. Looking at her cutie mark, a series of three butterflies, she must be a more delicate character.

“I’m Fluttershy…” she spoke softly.

Wildfire smiled and nodded, getting a tender feeling out of Fluttershy’s conservativeness.

“So, y’all ready for the meeting?” asked Applejack.

“Yep! Why don’t we head out now?” suggested Twilight.

“But it’s not even for another half an hour.” said Spike, shrugging some.

“Nothing like and early start!” said Applejack. “Yeah! Let’s just head over now.”

Applejack turned around and opened the door, leading the rest of the ponies and Spike out and letting Twilight have a chance to lock up. Applejack looked up to a stray cloud, watching for Rainbow to peek over the side of it.

“Hey! Rainbow! Y’all coming?” shouted Applejack. She got no response.

“Rainbow!? Ain’t ya up there?”

“Maybe she already left.” said Twilight. “We can meet her there.”

Chapter 4

Town Center. It was the busiest part of Ponyville. The residence of the town surrounded it on one side, and the tents and wagons that made up the market surrounded it on the other side, separated from it by the small river that flowed through Ponyville.

In the center of it all, Town Hall; the largest building in Ponyville. It towered over most other buildings and could be seen from pretty much anywhere in town. It was built like a multistory carousel, both floors and the roof containing large windows around the entire circumference. It appeared to be made of mostly the same materials as the cottages in Ponyville, except for its roof which was shingled in rust-red colored material.

It was extra busy today, as all the towns folk were converging and meeting for the gathering before the Eve of the Summer Sun festival. Tomorrow was a busy day, and Princess Celestia herself wanted to make sure that everything was on schedule and ready to go for tomorrow night. The celebration was a big deal to Ponyville folk, and it was to always go off without a hitch.

Beginning to cram the building full, ponies from all over town, and even some from out of town, were gathering into the building. The sound of several hundred hooves batting the marble floor echoed in the hall. The conversations of everyone also filled the room.

Up front and up on stage were the royalty of Canterlot. Mostly from the castle, the celebrities of Equestria all stood down on the lower stage, while higher royalty, being mainly the princesses, took the balcony level of the halls stage. Of course, the ruler of Equestria was there checking up on preparations; Princess Celestia herself, with her small army of guards dressed in gold armor keeping watch over her.

Anypony would argue that Celestia was best known for her beauty, even at over a thousand years of age. She was a big tall alicorn, which is a pony of all three traits; strong body of an earth pony, powerful magic of a unicorn, and the majestic wings of a pegasus. Her pure white coat shone as bright as the sun, and her flowing mane and tail were tri-colored with light blue, light magenta, and light green; reminiscent of the aurora borealis and the way it moved and sparkled. She too wore gold, a crown and necklace both decorated with a bright purple gem, and her golden shoes shined to a bright polish. But the best of it all, her giant sun cutie mark.

With Celestia was her younger sister, Princess Luna. She’s princess of the night, rather than of the day. Her darker colors, mostly of blues and blacks, presented her as the darker side of Celestia’s family. She too was an alicorn, but not as large as Celestia was. She was absent of gold, and instead wore delicate glass slippers and a black crown with a black chest piece to match, decorated with a crescent moon that looked similar to her cutie mark. Her hair also flowed with the same radiance as Celestia’s, but with a darker hue and glittery like sparkles, reflecting the night’s sky on a starry night.

The girls arrived with everyone else, walking straight into the main hall where everyone had been gathering. They hadn’t seen head nor tail of Rainbow Dash yet though; she must have gotten to the meeting early enough to be able to move towards the front of the room.

As soon as the ponies had stopped coming in, the doors closed and the lights in the hall dimmed slightly. Up front, the Mayor of Ponyville came out from behind the violet curtains and walked up, center stage. She fixed her tie and her glasses as she cleared her throat and fixed her grey mane, then called out to the room with a loud announcement.

“Fillies and Gentle-colts!” she shouted into the room, her voice reaching all the way to the back of the hall.

“We welcome you today to the meeting of the Summer Sun Celebration! Princess Celestia is here, and would like to personally discuss the current situation as far as preparations go. So without further ado, please welcome; Princess Celestia!”

The room full of ponies all bowed before the princess of Equestria as she walked forward to front stage. Not one pony was standing upright at all.

“Thank you.” spoke Celestia, her soothing calm tone filling the room.

Everyone stood back up, turning their attention promptly to the front balcony.

“This year, I am very impressed with how things have been going so far.” said Celestia with a smile. “Things have been going especially smooth in planning for this year’s Summer Sun Celebration, and it’s all thanks to the folks of Ponyville.”

The room filled with the clopping of hooves stomping the floor in a cluster of clicks and snaps.

“Now I do see that the hall has not been decorated yet.” said Celestia, looking around the room for any streamers or banners that have been put up.

“Miss Rarity.” called out Celestia, picking her out of the crowd like rose among daisies.

“Oh, yes?” returned Rarity, her voice becoming timorous.

“Have you prepared the decorations?” asked Celestia, her smile having yet to leave her face.

“Oh, yes! I have the banner and ribbons done! I… just need another pony or two to help put them up!” she said, smiling back with a slight worry in her face.

“Very well.” Celestia said, letting Rarity calm herself with a large sigh. “As for everything else; I’ve heard the food is good, the sky is clear, and the music will be fantastic, and I do hear that Miss Vinyl Scratch will be helping put the music together with Fluttershy this year?”

“You got that right! Uh, your highness.” a voice came from near the back of the room.

“Great.” nodded Celestia. “As you all know, the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow. It officially ends at midnight, which is when the actual celebration will begin. I will arrive early that morning, and we’ll all watch the sun rise together. Well, I know you’re all busy, so I’ll keep this meeting short and let you all go get back home.” said Celestia.

“Oh! But first, may I call someone up on stage?” everybody starting to leave turned back and faced Celestia again.

“Sir Wildfire. If you could?” asked Celestia.

Wildfire was perplexed. What did Celestia want him up on stage for?

“Of course!” said Wildfire, not wanting to ask and questions.

He flew up on stage immediately and took to Celestia’s side, looking out to the crowd of hundreds of ponies watching him and Celestia.

“Wildfire is a pony from Canterlot. He’s lived in the castle under my wing for years, but now is moving here to Ponyville to accomplish a certain task.” explained Celestia.

“Would you like to introduce yourself, Wildfire?”

Hesitant at first, he didn’t want to say anything. He looked up at Celestia, who was looking at him with her patient gaze, waiting for him to step forward and talk to the town. With a soft gulp, Wildfire stepped forward and stood at the rail of the balcony. He smiled a bit awkwardly as his nervous expression took hold.

“Um, hi.” he said with a small wave. “I’m Wildfire, and I’m really happy to be getting a new home here. It looks like a pretty nice town your guys have here.”

The crowd was silent, some smiling and some staring, slack jawed. Wildfire didn’t know if he accidently said something, but he just kept smiling as he and the crowd stood stuck in a staring contest. His eyes bounced back and forth form pony to pony, looking at all of the faces of the town. One pony who caught his eye in particular was one with a rainbow mane. Rainbow Dash, who was nearer the front of the crowd. She was staring at him, the scowl upon her face piercing him with an unforgiving feeling.

“And, sorry to the Canterlot ponies.” said Wildfire. “The noise the other day was my fault; those sonic booms, and broken windows… and heart attacks… those were all my fault.”

The Canterlot royalty rustled amongst themselves. Wildfire’s announcement didn’t seem to make them very happy, and the quiet chattering amongst them provided proof of that. As for the Princess though, she was smiling and cracking up some. She looked back at Princess Luna, who was also smiling at Wildfire. Rainbow Dash was somewhat confused though. That wasn’t just his fault. Or, perhaps it could be. He’s the one who started things with Rainbow.

“You’re dang right it’s all your fault.” thought Rainbow.

“It’s a good thing you’re living in Ponyville now.” whispered Celestia.

“He’s a good pony… usually.” she proclaimed to the crowd, looking at Wildfire and giving him a wide smile.

“But I just hope that you all welcome him with open hearts.” The new stallion smiled coyly at the crowd, all of them clapping their hooves on the ground again in a stampede like fashion. He nodded back, showing his approval.

“Thanks Princess Celestia, but I didn’t need an introduction…” said Wildfire, hanging his head bashfully.

Celestia put a hoof on his back and patted him gently. “I know.” she said with a wink.

“That’s all everypony! Thank you all for coming! Please, go back home and rest for today. You ponies have earned it!”

With that, the room full of ponies began to leave, emptying out the back of the room through the doors they previously arrived.

As the crowd made way and cleared the floor, Wildfire hopped back off stage and glided to the floor. The girls pushed their way through the crowd, along with Spike on Twilight’s back, and up to the front to get to Wildfire. Rainbow met up with them at the front, keeping mostly silent. The Canterlot ponies walked on by, followed up by Princess Celestia and her guards.

“Princess Celestia!” spoke Twilight.

All of the girls bowed. Wildfire followed in their example, having not had to bow to the princess outside of the castle much.

Celestia turned her head, greeting the girls with a smile. “Twilight. Girls! Spike. Good to see you all again!”

“Heading back so soon, Princess?” asked Rarity.

“I have matters to attend to before the festival tomorrow, as I’m sure you all do as well.” said Celestia.

“Of course!”

Celestia nodded in agreement.

“As for Wildfire, I hope that you do help tomorrow.” said Celestia, looking intently at Wildfire.

“Like Twilight,” explained Celestia, “he has been given the task of meeting new ponies and making friends. So if he has locked himself in his room, studying, you girls have my permission to drag him out into the sun.”

Applejack giggled at the request of the princess. “We sure will, princess!” said Applejack, throwing an arm around Wildfire.

“And, again. Twilight and Spike. Thanks for your incredible generosity. He would not be here now if it wasn’t for you.”

“No sweat!” said Spike, waving his claw in the air nonchalantly. “I needed a new pal to go gem hunting with anyway!”

“Spike!” smiled Twilight, bucking a bit to hush him. “Absolutely Princess.”

Rainbow Dash, walked up behind them all, still wearing her angry expression.

“Well the celebration starts tomorrow! I hope to see you all there!” said Celestia, continuing out the door with the guards.

“You will! You sure will!” said Pinkie, bouncing up and down a little.

“Don’t forget to write to me Wildfire. I’d like some updates on how you’re coming along.” said Celestia, Wildfire nodding back to her.

“Well the princess must really like you!” said Applejack, bumping him with her shoulder. “It’s not often that a pony gets a big introduction like that!”

“Let alone, be it from a princess!” added Twilight.

“Well, it’s official! Welcome to Ponyville!” said Twilight.

“Um-Hmm!” agreed the girls and Spike, nodding in approval.

Rainbow was still staring daggers at Wildfire. He didn’t know exactly how to handle it, so he just nodded along.

“Thanks…” said Wildfire, his melancholy expression fixing on Rainbow’s as he exchanged a silent nod, getting nothing but a cold shoulder from Dash.

Chapter 5

The sun was just rising over the mountains, its light peeking through the crevice between the rocky cliff sides. The mist on the grass glistened in the morning light, and the cock-a-doodle-doos from the farm’s roosters could be heard off in the distance.

In the library, Spike and Twilight were wandering around, preparing themselves some breakfast. It wasn’t too long into their morning meal that Wildfire had gotten out of bed, crawling down the hallway and dragging his hooves over to the table in the middle of the library second floor, just outside of the kitchen. Twilight was sitting at the table, reading a book as she sipped on her apple juice. Spike came from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of corn chips and milk over to the table.

“Morning, Wildfire!” said Spike, taking his seat at the table.

Twilight looked up from her book, glancing at Wildfire and greeting him before turning her attention back to the pages.

“Good morning!” said Twilight.

“Morning.” moaned Wildfire.

His big and bulky mane was a mess; bunched up out of his face and standing mostly straight up. The dark circles under his eyes didn’t exactly scream well rested either. He took a seat at the table, placing his hooves up on the table top in front of him and propping his head on top of his elbows, mashing his goatee between his chin and his legs. He gave a groan, along with a sigh as his eyes struggled to stay open.

Spike and Twilight looked at him, concerned about him and what may have kept him up all night.

“Uh, you ok?” asked Twilight.

“Yeah, just adjusting to the new bed. That’s all…” said Wildfire, yawning mid-sentence.

“I think it’s a pretty comfortable bed, though.” said Spike, with a mouth full of corn chips.

“It’s not uncomfy… it just… unfamiliar, I guess.”

The room got silent for a second, the air stiff except for the crunch of Spike’s cereal and the chirping of the birds outside.

“So I had a thought last night.” said Twilight, eyes down at her book. “Rainbow Dash was talking about a pony that beat her in a race. I didn’t think that could be you, that is, until you apologized to the Canterlonians yesterday, and after seeing Rainbow’s attitude.”

Wildfire went silent, not exactly sure what Twilight may have been poking at. She looked up from her book with a sly smile.

“I meant to take that up with you last night, but you were studying!” continued Twilight, somewhat cheekily.

“Yeah…” Wildfire nodded. “That was me. Am I in trouble for it or something?”

“Not by me.” said Twilight. “Not by anypony, really. But Rainbow was pretty upset by it.”

“I should apologize then…?” said Wildfire.

“That’d be a great idea!” said Twilight. “In fact, maybe you can try making it up to her by helping with weather patrol today.”

Wildfire inhaled and exhaled deeply, squinting hard as if to adjust his eyes. “Ok, sounds like a plan…”

Wildfire thought for a moment, pondering why one would have been so angry for just losing a race.

“Is she really upset?” asked Wildfire.

“If you knew Rainbow Dash a little better, you wouldn’t question it…” said Twilight.

“How did you do it anyway?” asked Twilight.

“Do what?” asked Wildfire.

“Outrun Rainbow Dash.” answered Twilight. “I mean, she is just about the fastest pony in all of Equestria. How did you outrun her?”

Wildfire paused, his half shut eyes opening a bit wider, his tired expression turning to a vacant one as he stared at Twilight, searching for an answer.

“Um, oversized wings maybe?” said Wildfire, smiling somewhat awkwardly as he turned his body, displaying his wings plainly to Twilight.

Twilight went blank now, looking at Wildfire slack jawed some.

“Uh huh.” said Twilight, nodding subtly as she glared suspiciously at Wildfire.

The room went silent again. Twilight turned back to her book once more, and took another sip of her juice. Spike kept chowing down on the cereal as their conversation went on. The silence was broken by the growl of Wildfire’s stomach, which he tried to pacify with his hoof. Spike caught ear of it, putting his spoon down and waking back to the kitchen.

“Geez, Wildfire. You hungry? Do you want cereal?” asked Spike.

“Oh, sure.” said Wildfire, taking his hooves off of the table and sitting up straighter.

“Juice too?”

“Orange juice?”

“No, sorry. But we have apple!”

“Oh…” Wildfire thought for a second. “Um, sure. Please!”

Spike went into the kitchen and pulled a bowl and a spoon out of the cupboards. He went into the fridge and pulled out the cartons of milk and juice, and began fixing Wildfire his breakfast for him.

“So, what exactly is this Summer Sun Festival?” asked Wildfire. “I don’t think I’ve ever really celebrated one.”

Twilight marked her book with a small red ribbon and shut it, turning her attention to Wildfire’s question. “Well, it is sort of a Ponyville thing… What we do is celebrate the summer solstice!”

“The day with the longest period of sunlight!” said Spike, from the kitchen.

“Thanks Einstein!” giggled Twilight. “It officially begins tomorrow at midnight. Then, basically, it’s a party until Princess Celestia arrives. Then we get to witness her raise the sun the next morning.”

“You gotta stay up all night though!” said Spike. “Or else you might miss it!”

“Alright. Sounds like a good time.” said Wildfire.

“Usually is!” said Twilight.

Wildfire nodded in approval. “Well, alright then.”

The birds were still chirping outside the window, their morning song a soothing melody to hear at the early hour. Twilight reopened her book, taking the marker out of the pages and picking back up where she left off. Wildfire was intrigued by it. It appeared to be a book with some age to it, being somewhat tattered and worn.

“What are you reading?” asked Wildfire.

“I’ve been gathering information on the Great Griffin War after I read this article. I was fascinated by it, to say the least.” said Twilight with a giggle. “The article talked about a myth of the war. About some…”

Twilight turned to the book to the glossary and took out a small scrap of slightly yellowed paper.

“It talks about; A Guardian Angel. A mysterious ‘god in the flesh’ who ended the war single handedly.” Twilight put the paper down, and turned back to the book.

“I’m… familiar with that legend.” said Wildfire trailing off some.

“It says here in this book that a peace treaty was created and taken to the Griffin front lines by a flight of pegasi under a white flag. But the treaty never made it to the Griffins. None of the flight’s ponies were never seen after this. It is assumed that the flight was ambushed and attacked by a small group of Griffin scouts. Then, it says that the Guardian Angel pony, an alicorn from Canterlot, supposedly flew all the way out to Featherton, the Griffin Army’s camp, and destroyed it all by himself, setting the entire camp a blaze in one night!” said Twilight, becoming enthralled by the story.

“It was the next day that the Griffins surrendered, seeing the destruction of the Griffin camp.”

“Aw, are you still reading that same article, Twilight?” said Spike, bringing a full bowl of cereal and glass of apple juice over to Wildfire.

Wildfire thanked Spike, immediately picking up the spoon in his hooves, in a somewhat awkward manner, and digging in.

“We grew up together during this time, Spike. It’s a part of our generation! How could I not?” said Twilight. “If this pony actually existed, do you know what that could mean!?”

Wildfire, spoon in his mouth, and Spike both stared blankly at Twilight who was gleaming with excitement.

“Um, no…” said Spike. “Why don’t you tell us.”

“Well, it says here; The Guardian Angel is a mysterious power. Because of the nature of the Elements of Harmony, the energy that molded him, he is said to be a representation of yet another element. The powers or abilities of this extra element are not known, but it is hypothesized that it was created to bring balance to the elements and bring them even closer. The purpose of this Guardian Angel is also hypothesized to be a gateway through which the magic of the seventh element is to interact with the tangible world. Perhaps it is even a way for the magic of the Elements to help protect against darker forces. For example; The Dark Gate. A portal to what is considered pure evil; death itself… turning to page 563…” she flipped the pages over and read on over to the next paragraph.

“Oh come on Twilight!” said Spike. “I’ll give them the Dark Gate thing, but nobody knows where that thing came from. The rest of it is just a whole bunch of garbage!”

“Through the magic of the Elements, anything’s possible Spike!” said Twilight.

“Twilight, you haven’t let this go in weeks.” said Spike, blunt as can be.

“Oh, it just study!” said Twilight.

“I don’t know Twilight…” said Wildfire. “I think Spike might be right.”

“Thank you!” said Spike.

“Knowing your stuff is one thing, but taking it to obsession is just unhealthy.”

Twilight marked the book and floated it back over to the podium by the far bookshelf.

“Fine.” she said, getting back to her breakfast.

“I’ll remember that when I’m dragging you out of your room by your tail.” said Twilight, her sly smile returning to her.

Wildfire and Spike both chuckled, their mouths full of cereal.

Chapter 6

Naturally, the last day for preparations would be a busy one. Everyone was hard at work getting last minute chores done with; some working a little more frantically than others. Everything was in order though. Decorations were being put up, food was being baked for the night, clothes were being touched up and fitted properly. Yes, everything is in order.

Twilight was walking through town with her checklist and a quill handy. Spike was again riding on her back, holding on to some extra supplies for Twilight that she would need, just in case. Wildfire was tagging along, but wasn’t fully involved. He was reading a book as he tailed Twilight, Spike holding the book for him as he sat backwards and propped the book up on Twilight’s tail.

“Alright, guys! Tonight is the Celebration!” said Twilight, getting excited for herself and the pending celebration.

“Mm-hmm.” Wildfire nodded along, eyes following along the pages.

“You think well get to have some of those apple fritters like we had last year?” asked Spike, his mouthwatering at the thought of the apple treats made by the Apple family.

Twilight giggled, already giddy with excitement.

“I’m sure that the Apple family is working hard on the food, Spike.”

Twilight took up her scroll and unrolled it, looking it up and down.

“Alright.” said Twilight, with a breath.

“What can we check on first?”

She studied the list, looking it over from top to bottom.

“What do you think, Spike? …Spike?”

She stopped trotting long enough to get Spike’s attention, also catching Wildfire’s attention after almost running into her head first, his nose buried in the book. Twilight turned to see Spike holding the book for Wildfire, letting him read it as they walked through town. She looked at Wildfire, giving him mildly frustrated look. Wildfire stared back vacantly, acting more innocent than Twilight would allow him.

“Maybe you should put that down for a while. You’ve been reading it most of the day yesterday anyway.” said Twilight, picking her pace back up.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to mess up your two’s groove. Maybe I should just take this back to the library and stay out of your hair?” mumbled Wildfire, attention turned back to his book.

Spike slammed the book closed in Wildfire’s face, taking it and placing it in his lap. “She’s right you know… Twilight would know over reading when she sees it.”

“Of course. Wait, hey!” said Twilight, whipping her head around in realization of what Spike was getting at.

Spike giggled some, covering his mouth with his claw.

“Just, hand over the book for the day.” asked Twilight.

Wildfire nodded, and Spike handed the book over to Twilight. She took it and looked at the cover. Basic Knight Code was its title. Twilight found it strange, but shrugged it off for the moment and took it.

“Alright, now I’ll take this and put it back on your desk. You need to focus on your task that Celestia gave you.” said Twilight.

“Ok.” nodded Wildfire. “So, where do I start?”

“Well, you could take this.” said Twilight, tearing her checklist from the middle and handing a half over to him.

Wildfire took half of the list, reading it from the beginning to the end.

“Not a whole lot on here.” said Wildfire.

“Between the two of us, it shouldn’t be.” said Twilight.

“The addresses are on the right side, just so you can find the places.”

“Alright.” said Wildfire, still looking a bit vacant as he looked the list over again.

Twilight smiled kindly. “It’s pretty easy to make friends, especially here in Ponyville.”

Wildfire nodded, replacing his absent expression with a more timid form of excitement.

“You’ll do fine.” said Twilight. “We should meet when we are both done.”

“Alright.” nodded Wildfire. He looked at his portion of the to-do list.

“The Apple family. Out at the farm.” read Wildfire.

“Oh! Can I go with you?” asked Spike, jumping off of Twilight’s back.

“No.” said Twilight, drawing out her expression.

“You stay here with me.”

“Oh, alright.”

“Ok.” said Wildfire. “Meet you guys in a few.”

Wildfire took flight and made a heading for the farm, picking up speed on the light gust.

“Good luck!” shouted Twilight.

Chapter 7

It wasn’t a very long flight over to the farm at all. Wildfire glided over within a matter of minutes to the south side of town. Before he knew it, he had landed in front of a long white fence with a large vined over arch way leading into the farm. A sign hanged from it, carved into it the shape of an apple.

To the right of the yard was a field of crops; corn, beans, wheat, and even cabbage by the looks. There was also a well, lined in stone. Out in the distance, he could see another field of crops where a tall house also stood. He assumed it was a carrot field, judging by how the house was decorated with a carrot standing upon the roofs apex.

To the right, he saw all of the tiny huts and coups for the barn yard animals. Chickens, pigs, cows, goats; nothing too out of the ordinary. He could even hear a dog running around barking off in the distance somewhere. Beyond the animal pens was the apple orchard, one of the largest orchards Wildfire had ever seen. It extended out to the foothills, disappearing behind them and possibly extending even further.

But in the center of it all was the most important part; the barn. It was rather cliché actually, big, wide, tall, and red. From its windows hung some flowers that bloomed from the flower boxes hanging in them, and the top of its weathercock up on the roof stood an apple sculpture.

For a large place though, and possible a larger family, it didn’t seem to busy. There were a few foals running about, playing with the dog Wildfire had heard before. He could see some ponies bucking trees and collecting apples off in the distance as well. Perhaps they were all inside the barn?

Wildfire stepped forward some, catching a whiff of something sweet smelling coming from the barn. He stepped inside, the smell of fresh baked goods hitting him in the face. He inhaled deeply, and began to notice his own empty stomach. The bowl of cereal that morning evidently wasn’t enough of a meal to hold him over.

“Can I help y’all?”

Wildfire jumped at the voice a little, lower in tone and more of that southern accent ringing in Wildfire’s ear. He turned, the stallion talking to him was a taller and more buff fellow, red in color and sporting a short cut carroty colored mane and tail. His cutie mark was of a large green apple, cut in half to the core. He was chewing on a piece of straw as he talked.

“Um, actually, yes!” said Wildfire. “I’m helping Twilight Sparkle with checking up on things for the Celebration. I’m here to see how the food’s coming along.”

The red stallion nodded his large head slowly, turning to the rear of the barn heading for the door at the rear of the back barn.

“Follow me.” he said.

Wildfire hopped forward and took to the large stallion’s side. He took another big whiff, his lungs filling up again with the sweet smell of fresh treats sailing on the air.

“That smells awesome.” said Wildfire, smiling at the large red pony.

“Mm-hmm.” nodded the stallion.

“Must be because of all the fresh apples around here.”

“Eeyup.” said the stallion.

Wildfire felt a bit awkward. He wasn’t getting much conversation out of the big guy. His smile faded into an absent expression.

They entered what looked to be a living room from the back door, furnished with rather retro couches and chairs lined up along its peach walls decorated with pictures of family. They walked through it into the front room, where the front door and the stairs to the second floor were. And across from there, they came into the kitchen. Pots and pans hung from green and blue walls along with other decorations and pictures that filled the room.

The kitchen was full of ponies, young and old, running about as the warm room was kept lively with the scent of pies, breads, and whatnot.

“Applejack!” shouted a younger sounding voice.

“Look! A bigger pony without a cutie mark!”

A little filly ran up to Wildfire, greeting him extra enthusiastically with a broad smile and wide bright amber eyes that took hold of him immediately. Her yellow coat lit up the room with a youthful shine, and her raspberry colored hair seemed to absorb light rather than glow. She also decorated her mane with a pink bow. Sure enough, she didn’t have a cute mark either.

“Hi! I’m Applebloom!” she greeted.

“Um, hey Applebloom.” Wildfire said.

“Ain’t this great Big Mac!? I ain’t never met a pony this old without a cutie mark!” said the foal, hopping up and down.

“Eeyup!” said the large red stallion.

“What’s your name?” asked Applebloom, smiling brightly at Wildfire.

“Oh, it’s Wildfire.”

“Oh! You’re that pony that was up on stage yesterday, right?”

Wildfire nodded in agreement.

“Wow! Wildfire. Y’all must not be that old though; I meant not havin’ a cutie mark and all. I’d find hard to believe you ain’t found your special talent yet.”

Wildfire shrugged, not able to form a response.

“’Cause that’s what a cutie mark is! You find your special talent in life and earn your cutie mark when you do. And the mark you get has something to do with your special talent!” expressed Applebloom, hoping and spinning about in excitement.

“I’m plenty sure that Wildfire knows what a cutie mark is Applebloom.” said Applejack, coming out from the kitchen. “Howdy, Wildfire.” she said, giggling a bit.

“Hey, Applejack.” said Wildfire.

“I think I already know why you’re here, but I’m gonna ask anyway. What can I do for ya, Wildfire?”

“Well, I’m just here to check up on the preparations.” explained Wildfire. “Twilight and I both took half of the work, so I guess I would have time to help here too if you want.”

“Well, that’s mighty neighborly of you, Wildfire. We’d love the help.”

Applejack walked Wildfire into the kitchen where most of the work seemed to be getting done. Big Mac and Applebloom followed behind, Applebloom skipping about happily.

“Well, I see y’all have already met Big Macintosh and Applebloom. But we’ve got our entire family here on this farm!” she said, beginning to give Wildfire the tour of the farm.

“Hey, y’all! Listen up!” announced Applejack, getting the attention of the pony filled kitchen.

“This here’s Wildfire! He’s new in Ponyville, so why don’t we all greet him warm like?”

“Hi Wildfire!” shouted the entire room, making Wildfire perk up some.

“Um, Hi!” returned Wildfire, somewhat awkwardly, but still unable to contain his smile at the bright and energetic welcome. Applejack began pointing everyone out to Wildfire.

“Over there’s Apple Fritter, making apple fritters. Over there is Apple Dumplin’, making apple dumplings’. Caramel Apple’s making caramel apples, Apple Cobbler’s making apple cobbler, Apple Bumpkin’s making apple tart, Apple Tart making apple bumpkin. Granny Smith’s making apple pie. Apple Sauce, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Braeburn...”

Applejack continued, individually pointing out all of the ponies in the room and outside through the windows even. She must have introduced another twenty ponies before even taking a breath to speak some more.

“I’m baking muffins!” said a grey colored mare with bleach blonde hair, eyes crossed in a silly manner.

“Oh, and that’s Derpy.” said Applejack.

“She’s not part of the apple family, but she does make a pretty mean apple cinnamon muffin!”

“Oh…” said Wildfire, mouthwatering at the thick scent filling the room.

“So, what do ya think?” asked Applejack, scooting up beside Wildfire and awaiting his response.

“Um, I think it smells really good in here.” said Wildfire, wiping a bit of drool from his mouth.

“Why don’t you grab a fork, sonny!” said Granny Smith, mixing a bowl of what looked to be dough.

“Grab a fork?” repeated Wildfire, tilting his head in question.

“Sure! We need a taste tester, and it might even be worth it to put some meat on them bones!” she said, pointing out Wildfire’s smaller frame.

“Really?” asked Wildfire to Applejack.

“Mm-hmm! Sound like a good idea. Why don’t we just head over into the dining room area and find y’all a seat and some silverware?” said Applejack, smiling broadly.

“Oh… ok.” said Wildfire.

Applejack got into the cupboard and the drawers and pulled out a large plate and a fork for him to use. She sat it down on the table out in the dining room adjoining to the kitchen. She brought a stool out too for Wildfire to sit on.

“Now, don’t be shy, there’s plenty of food to go around! What do you wanna try?” asked Applejack.

Wildfire didn’t need to think for too long. His mouth was watering profusely. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until a couple of minutes ago. He swallowed his drool and cleared his throat to hush his growling stomach.

“Well, I sort of had a small breakfast, so… a bit of everything.”

Applejack laughed out loud.

“Alright! Coming right up!” she said with a wink.

Chapter 8

After filling up on food from the Apple’s farm, and even lending a hoof to help replace the food he ate, Wildfire set out to his next location. Sugar Cube Corner, which was nearest downtown. The Cakes, owners of Sugar Cube Corner, were in charge of most of the sweets for this year’s celebration, even though the Apple family had already taken up a majority of the food duty.

Wildfire landed in front of the giant-gingerbread-like building, observing it briefly and admiring its attention to detail. He could also smell the confections and other treats baking inside. It was an incredibly sweet smell, which made Wildfire a little sick after eating so much back out at the farm. After dealing with the leftover food in his teeth real quick, he marched into the building, opening the door to the chime of a small bell as he entered.

The inside was just as “sweet” as the outside. Candy canes, gumdrops, and lollipops decorated the room in some sort of candy land fashion. It wasn’t an overwhelming touch, but it was enough to trick Wildfire into trying to remember any other buildings he ever seen to beat this one.

“Hello?” spoke a voice from the back.

An older blue colored mare with swirly dark and light pink hair walked through the saloon style swinging doors in the back of the room.

“Hello, dear! What can I do for you?” asked the mare, greeting Wildfire with a bright smile.

“Um, Mrs. Cake?” asked Wildfire.

“Um-Hmm.” nodded the mare.

“Well, I’m here to check up on things for the Celebration, and-“

“Oh! You must be Twilight’s new assistant!” was Mrs. Cakes understanding of his situation.

“Um, I guess you could say that…” said Wildfire, wanting to avoid correcting and explaining the situation to her.

“Why don’t you come into the back dear?” said Mrs. Cake, directing Wildfire into the back room.

“Ok…”

Wildfire pushed the swinging doors out of the way, coming into a room lined with tons of candies from wall to wall. Wildfire couldn’t believe how sweet the smell was, but then again, he’d never been into the kitchen of such an astounding bakery.

Pinkie was over by the counter, filling a large cupcake tray with cake batter, bowl in her mouth as she poured.

“Hi Wildfire!” she greeted with a muffled voice, keeping her jaw still enough to pour the cakes evenly.

“Hey.” greeted Wildfire.

“Go ahead and head on back dearie, I’m just going to put my apron back on.” she said, tying up a yellow apron with pink lace.

Wildfire continued into the kitchen, where he was met with a more slender stallion with yellow coat and orange mane mixing a bowl of batter on the kitchens center island. He was wearing red and white stripped bow tie and a white apron over his front.

“Oh! Hello!” greeted the yellow stallion, surprised by Wildfire’s arrival.

“Did Cup Cake let you in?” he asked.

“Yes, she did.” said Wildfire.

Pinkie bounced into the room behind him, tray in mouth, and over to one of the three ovens, setting the tray down and turning the knob to preheat. One of the ovens went off, making a soft ding. Mr. Cakes head popped up from the bowl of mix he was working on and trotted over to the oven, grabbing a heat pad off of the counter and opening the door.

“How are things going over here for the celebration?” asked Wildfire, stepping into the room and over to the island.

“Oh, smooth as silk dear. We have everything handled.” assured Mrs. Cake, walking over to the far counter and picking up a tube of icing.

“If you’d like to help out,” said Mr. Cake, “you can be the first to try my new recipe.

“Is it finished, Carrot Cake?” asked Mrs. Cake, putting her icing back down and walking over to the island and laying out another heat pad on the table.

“It sure is, darling!” said Mr. Cake, gently placing an upper tier of yellow cake on the table.

“Wildfire, would you like to try out our new lemon cake?” he asked, taking a small fork from a drawer on his side of the island.

“Lemon cake?” asked Wildfire, his interest piqued immediately.

“We really like to mix things up here! No pun intended!” giggled Pinkie Pie, popping the cupcakes into the preheated oven.

“At least one new recipe every year! How about it?” asked Mr. Cake, shallowly dipping the small fork into the center of the fresh cake and removing a small chunk of it.

“Well, I’m a sucker for deserts…” said Wildfire.

Wildfire grabbed the fork from Mr. Cake, immediately biting off the chunk of sweet bread from the end and chewing slowly. He moved it around in his mouth some, wanting to taste it properly. Mr. and Mrs. Cake watched intently as they awaited a response from Wildfire, a hopefully good response.

“Well?” asked Mr. Cake, half smiling as he watched Wildfire chew.

“Pretty interesting. I like it.” he said, chewing and swallowing the cake.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake smiled broadly, happy with their work thus far.

“Would you like some cupcakes dear?” asked Mrs. Cake, taking out another batch of fresh cupcakes.

“No thanks. I had a lot to eat out at the farm.” said Wildfire, the taste of the lemon cake sending shivers through his body as it told him not to eat another thing.

“Ok Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I’m heading out to help with decorations!” said Pinkie, starting out the kitchens back door.

“Alrighty! What time are you going to be back Pinkie Pie?” asked Mrs. Cake.

“I won’t be too long! Wanna come along Wildfire? I’ll need help deciding on the games and decorations and party favors and stuff.”

“Sure, I can tag along.” said Wildfire.

“Great! Let’s go!” said Pinkie, going out the back door and leading Wildfire along.

“See you in a few Mr. and Mrs. C!” said Pinkie, heading to Town Hall as she drug a wagon full of decoration materials.

“So, how’s it going Wildfire? Enjoying Ponyville?” asked Pinkie.

“Yeah, I think so.” said Wildfire.

Pinkie gasped some. “You think so? Ponyville is the most awesome place on earth! What do you mean you think so?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’m just not settled in enough yet?”

“You will soon enough!” said Pinkie, hopping up and down.

“Yeah… maybe…” said Wildfire, eyes down to the dirt beneath him.

“Pff, you think so…” sighed Pinkie, shaking her head in a sarcastically disappointed manner. “I know! We could hang out sometime, and I could show you around and we could see all the sights and stuff. Sound like fun?”

“Yeah, sure.” smiled Wildfire.

“Oh, and I almost forgot!” said Pinkie. “What’s up with you and Dash? Is she angry at you or something?”

“Well, I think she is.” said Wildfire, his mind beginning to wonder some as he thought about Dash.

“Did you do something?”

“Well…” Wildfire trailed off immediately, rolling his eyes as away from Pinkie’s as he bit his lower lip.

“Aw, come on! You can tell auntie Pinkie Pie anything!” she said, patting Wildfire on the shoulder.

Wildfire sighed, looking Pinkie stern in the eye. Her smile wasn’t leaving, which gave Wildfire a better sense of trust.

“Alright.” said Wildfire with a sigh.

“It started a couple days ago, when I was flying above Ponyville.”

Chapter 9

The decorations were usually up to Rarity. This year, they were still up to Rarity to complete. But this year, she was having some trouble. She just simply couldn’t get things done. It seemed that this year everypony was going all out, decorations included. Several last minute requests came flooding in over the past few days and as a result, Rarity had been up to her eyeballs in work and way deprived of the time she needed to accomplish all of these requests.

This year, the royal guests would wear matching dresses and tuxedos. Even the table cloths used would match the design of their clothes. She hadn’t started on either of those though; she was still stuck in the design phase. She was to build a large banner to hang across the halls expansive ceiling, from balcony to balcony. She had finished it just today in fact; a large portrait of the sun rising over the horizon of Equestria. She had left it siting on the floor by her sewing table after finishing it.

All of this considered, Rarity had to take into account Pinkie Pie’s portion of the decorations. That was going to limit her to what she could do with her own work. Being the perfectionist she was though, she wouldn’t give up until she found the right balance of color, flare, glitter, and light. But it was getting to her, and she was becoming frantic.

Right now, she was in her home. The Carousel Boutique, a small fashion shop and the home of Rarity and her younger sister. It resembled a small, much fancier Town Hall. It did have a very Canterlot feel to it as well, having the right shades of blues and purples that a Canterlot building would use.

Its inside was just as regal; purple curtains lined the walls, and the patterns and all the art in the room kept the eye busy. There was a small stage to the far side of the main room, possibly for small fashion shows or demonstrations and displays. Center of the room was a series of mirrors hanging from a carrousel which hung from the ceiling. A couple of dressing rooms lined with more curtains stood behind the mirrors.

“Oh! That’s not going to match!” Rarity said, throwing a roll of red ribbons aside.

“Come on, Rarity! This order is due tonight! Find the right style and stick with it!”

She threw several ribbons aside, matching them to a sort of gown in the making, pinned and stitched around a pony mannequin to hold it together. Her hair was a little messy, which is how it usually got when she was working extra hard.

“Oh! This is not going to work!” she exclaimed loudly, furiously flipping through all kinds of ribbons that she pulled from her supply and threw to the floor.

Meanwhile, Wildfire was passing by the Carousel Boutique, on his way over to check on the music. List in hoof, he checked the list with a quill as he went along.

The front door of the Boutique burst open, followed by Rarity trotting out into the sun, hair messy from frustration. Wildfire jumped a bit at the sound of the slamming door, his eyes widening as he clasped the checklist to his chest. Rarity trotted about nervously, huffing a bit as she anxiously circled her front yard in a rut.

“Um, Rarity?” asked Wildfire, stepping over to her.

“Oh, Wildfire. How lovely to see you!” said Rarity, her voice a bit hysterical.

“You ok?” asked Wildfire, eyebrows raised.

“Hmm? Oh, yes! Just getting some fresh air!” she said, laughing awkwardly.

“Do you need help with something?”

“Oh, heavens no! What would make you think that I need help?” she smiled a cheesy thin smile.

Wildfire raised one eyebrow and furrowed the other, becoming concerned that something might have been bothering Rarity.

“Well… maybe I could use your help for… just a bit!” said Rarity, batting her eyelashes.

“Don’t worry, the next thing I need to do isn’t too far from here. I can help with whatever you need help with.”

“Alright… would you mind if we took this inside?”

Wildfire nodded. Rarity lead Wildfire back into the Boutique. Wildfire entered the room and took it in as Rarity came in behind him and locked the door. Wildfire turned his attention back to Rarity.

“So, what is it you-”

“Oh! It’s horrible!” shouted Rarity, darting up to Wildfire and grabbing him in a desperate manner.

“I have so much to do, and so little time to do it all!”

“Um… ok?” Wildfire didn’t exactly know how to handle Rarity clutching at him.

“Well… what do you have to do?”

“First off, that monstrosity of a banner needs to be taken to the court. But the thing is just too heavy for a lady like me to lift.”

“Alright.” said Wildfire.

He looked around the room, looking for something to help him lift the large banner and take to Town Hall. He saw a small cart over in the corner, and ran to get it. He wheeled it over, placing it by the folded up banner, and hoisted it up onto the small cart with his head, grunting as he pushed. He noticed the stitching on the banner; it was the sun rising over the hills, the Canterlot city on the mountain, and Ponyville and the forest and the farm all encompassed in the image.

“Oh, my darling! Thank you! That thing weighed a ton!” said Rarity, impressed with Wildfire’s strength.

“No problem. What else?” asked Wildfire.

“Please, darling! You’ve been a big enough help already.”

“Rarity, I insist! My work isn’t going anywhere. Now, what else needs to be done?”

“Well, I was working on this ensemble for the celebrity guests…” said Rarity, walking upstairs to her room.

“Ok. And?” Wildfire followed her up, the clacking of their hooves on the stairs creating a clip clop pattern of clicks that made the boards creak under their weight.

They came into Rarity’s bedroom at the top of the stairs. There was a four poster bed, made with red silk sheets and covered over with a purple canopy. Some more mannequins littered the room, and a sewing table with a shelf filled with several rolls of string and cloth stood up looking out the window and out into the scenery south of Ponyville. Her dresser and her nightstand also were littered with needles and threads and streamers; a sort of organized chaos, thought Wildfire.

“It’s not finished, but I can’t get anywhere with it! I might just have to scrap the whole thing and start all over!” bellowed Rarity.

“Well, can I see it?”

“Oh, alright.”

Rarity picked up her easel and floated it over to her, standing it in front of Wildfire. A large sheet of paper seemed to glide over on the soft breeze coming from the open window, placing it upright on the easel and displaying its image quite effortlessly to Wildfire. It was an outlining of a mannequin, sketched over with a rough drawing of a dress.

“Well it looks nice. Pretty plain, I guess.” said Wildfire, studying the drawing.

“I wanted to keep it plain and simple; it is a party dress after all. A modest formal dress should do the trick.” said Rarity.

It was a simple gown looking dress, stretching from the shoulder and all the way down to just above the fetlock. The middle was tied off with a sort of ribbon.

“I like the bow at the waist.”

Rarity went silent, staring at her drawing with disgust.

“What’s so bad about this?” asked Wildfire, perplexed that her work so far wasn’t good enough to satisfy her own artistic hunger.

“I… can’t come up with a design! It’s just impossible to make this look unique.” huffed Rarity, lifting her head to the ceiling and shaking her hoof at the drawing.

Wildfire was watching Rarity’s messy mane dangle in her face as she whipped her head about. He couldn’t believe how much this was getting to her. He thought hard, trying to help Rarity come up with a solution that he thought would look good. He was hardly a designer himself, but he wasn’t letting that get in the way. He kept going back to the design he saw on the banner Rarity had made.

“Why not just copy what you put on the banner?” asked Wildfire.

“Oh, well why didn’t I think of that?” said Rarity, light bulbs going off in her head just as Wildfire fed her his idea.

She picked up a pencil and studied the dress, imagining what the design might look like.

“You mean like this?” Rarity began drawing the hills along the bottom of the skirt, putting the sun in the background.

“Yeah, then put the town in front right here.” Wildfire pointed.

Rarity touched up her sketch, then took a step back to examine it real quick. Rarity smiled, liking the addition to her design very much.

“It’s perfect!” Rarity squeaked.

“Oh, thank you Wildfire! You’ve been such a good help already!”

“Not a problem.” smiled Wildfire, taking a moment to fix his long hair.

Rarity sighed, briefly collecting herself and reorganizing her thoughts.

“Now… the table cloths need finished. I haven’t even started on the design for that yet… The centerpieces need put together. The matching tuxedos would have to be made for the colts!” Rarity ranted, falling to her hindquarters as she counted out the things in her mind that had yet to be done.

“The banner has yet to be put up! The streamers also need to go up! The stage needs decorations! Oh, so much to do!”

”Rarity…” Wildfire hushed Rarity, sitting just behind her and bringing his hooves to her back, firmly running them up and down along her spine.

“It’s alright, we’ll get this done. It’s still plenty early! You have the entire day to finish this up!” reassured Wildfire, continuing to run his hooves up and down Rarity’s back and neck in small circles.

“If you need me to help you work on something, I’m here!”

Rarity wasn’t listening, at least, she didn’t seem to be. Her head was just lolling back and forth some as she nodded along absently.

“Umm, Rarity?” spoke Wildfire, trying to break Rarity from her trance.

“Ughhh…that feels simply luxurious…” moaned Rarity, head lifted to the ceiling and a small content smile beginning to form on her face.

“Umm… yeah?” Wildfire cocked his head sideways, his eyebrows raising once more in curiosity.

“It does. And the dresses I can get, but if you have just a few more minutes…”

Rarity got off her hindquarters and walked over to her bed and hoped on top of the neatly made sheets, sprawling out as she lay down on her belly.

Wildfire watched as she made herself comfortable, looking back at him with a cute mischievous smile and lidded eyes batting their long plump lashes. A voice in his head echoed as his face turned red.

“Uh oh.”

“… you could work on me if you like…” Rarity said with a wink.

Wildfire smiled sheepishly, gulping as his nervous hooves reluctantly took him to the bedside.

Chapter 10

“Where we heading to next?” asked Spike, waddling alongside Twilight, who going down her list and checking things off one by one as they walked along.

“Next on the list is Rarity with the decorations.” said Twilight.

Spike nodded, shuttering as he lost himself in a daydream.

“We’re only going to be there for a few minutes. Then we have to finish looking up on the rest of the town.”

“Oh, I know…” said Spike, waving his claw around in a nonchalant manner. “…but it’ll be a few minutes’ worth spending.” he continued, the love struck dragon folding his claws and holding them to his cheek.

Twilight rolled her eyes and shook her head, continuing on through town to the Carousel Boutique. They didn’t have a long walk to get there, after coming from the cafés to check up on other refreshments.

“I’ve grown an inch since the last time we saw each other! You think she’ll notice?” asked Spike.

“Oh… I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you either way.” said Twilight, cracking up a bit at Spike’s eagerness.

They came to the front of the walkway to Rarity’s house, walking under the shade of the tree just out front by the street.

“Oh, wait!” said Spike, stopping mid step.

Twilight stopped and turned. “What?” she asked.

“My claws aren’t sharpened! She’s never seen me with dull claws before!” said Spike, holding his hands up and staring at them as if they were giant eyesores.

Twilight groaned, lightly nudging Spike forward and coming to the door.

They came to the front door, turning the handle but failing to open it. It didn’t budge.

“What are you waiting for Twilight? Aren’t we going in?” asked Spike.

“It’s locked.” said Twilight, somewhat perplexed. “She never locks her door in the middle of the day like this unless she’s out. But I don’t remember seeing her at Town Hall, or the market.”

“Well, where else would she be?” shrugged Spike.

Twilight knocked on the purple door firmly three times, patiently awaiting Rarity to answer the door. After a minute or two of waiting though, she hadn’t shown up yet.

“Do you think something’s wrong?!” exclaimed Spike.

“Calm down Spike. Maybe she’s just really that wrapped up in her work.”

Spike diverted his attention to the door, pressing up against the barn stable styled and looking through the window on the lower portion. His claw wandered over to the handle and gave it a turn, popping the lower half of the door open.

“Ah! She didn’t lock the entire door!” said Spike, crouching down and crawling inside.

“Spike!” said Twilight, softly scolding him.

Spike stood up on the other side of the door and reached up, turning over the deadbolt and unfastening the chain lock from the top half of the door, finally swinging it open. A small bell jingled upon opening the door.

“Tada!” he said, smiling up at Twilight.

Twilight cringed at the idea of coming in uninvited, stepping in with a light hoof. She looked around; Rarity didn’t seem to be home at the moment after all.

“Hm. Maybe she isn’t here.” said Spike, twirling once to get a quick glance at the room.

“Oh, darling! That’s marvelous!” said a voice from upstairs, its tone muffled as it traveled through the ceiling above them.

Twilight and Spike both looked up, hearing Rarity’s voice come from upstairs. They could also here the creak of bedsprings shifting back and forth in a rhythmic pattern, as well as Rarity’s moaning, just heard lightly just above the creaking bed.

“Just a bit firmer. Please!” moaned Rarity, her voice carrying through the house crystal clear.

Twilight and Spike looked at each other, both with their eyes wide and slack jawed. Twilight’s face turned red, and Spike’s face turned pale; both of them wondering who was upstairs with Rarity, and what exactly they were doing to her. Spike’s face slowly formed into a mix of anger and melancholy and his claws clenched in fury and his tail held out straight. He began marching for the stairs, his small stride drawn out into a menacing march. The embarrassed Twilight followed, though her mind wasn’t ready to go there.

“Rarity?” called Twilight, making her way up the stair case.

“Twilight? Is that you?” returned Rarity.

“Yeah, and Spike too!”

“Oh, do come up! Please.”

Twilight hesitated, stopping at the top of the stairs and short of Rarity’s bedroom doorway.

“Do we want to?” asked Twilight, Spike at her side cracking his knuckles.

“What?” asked a confused Rarity, the sound of her voice still melting into a sort of moan.

“Are you decent?”

“Of course, dear. Why?” asked Rarity.

Twilight and Spike threw caution to the wind and rounded the corner into Rarity’s bedroom, finding to their relief Rarity laying on her front, Wildfire sitting to the side of her and massaging her haunches.

Twilight sighed in relief, letting out a small laugh. “I was picturing something totally different.” she said.

“Yeah, me too.” said Spike, still not entirely relieved by the sight of Rarity being rubbed down in front of him.

“Oh, Twilight! This pony’s got hooves of magic!” said Rarity, her expression melting into the massage as she stretched out some.

“Well, were gonna need those magic hooves to help with something else.” said Twilight.

“Oh, but Twilight. Wildfire was just getting started…” moaned Rarity, scooting herself a bit closer to Wildfire.

Wildfire’s eyes widened, feeling awkward as Rarity became possessive of him.

“Please, Rarity?” asked Twilight.

“Oh, alright.” she turned to Wildfire. “Go on dear, you heard her. The lady needs you!”

Wildfire scooted off of the bed and made his way over to Twilight and Spike. Spike climbed up on Twilight’s back, wearing an irritated expression as he balanced himself.

“Oh and Wildfire…” called Rarity, catching his and the others attention.

“You’re welcome back here to help anytime.” said Rarity, shooting Wildfire a sly smile with her eyes partly lidded.

“Thanks… I guess…” smiled Wildfire somewhat awkwardly.

Spike crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.

“Alright, now run along dear! There is a lot of work to be done.” she said, shooing them all out the door.

Twilight, Spike, and Wildfire all made their way out the front door silently, each of them wearing an awkward, half-cocked frown as they left.

“What was that all about?” asked Twilight, even more baffled now than before.

Wildfire closed the door behind him gently, turning slowly and looking back at Twilight with a blank expression.

“I think I just became Rarity’s new boy toy…” said Wildfire, eyes vacantly staring at the ground.

They shook off the awkard feeling, leaving Rarity’s home continuing on over to the park.

“So…” said Twilight, breaking their awkward silence.

“What all have we got so far?”

“Well, let’s see; the food is good, Town Hall is clean and ready minus finishing decorations, the Cakes are ready with their portion of the snacks, dining ware is good, furniture is good. The last thing on my half of the list is to check up on music.” said Wildfire, skimming over his list quickly.

“Good! All on schedule!” said Twilight. “So, did you meet anypony new yet?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve met a lot of new ponies here.” said Wildfire, nodding yes as he answered it.

“And how’s that going for you?” asked Twilight.

“Pretty good, I think. I at least haven’t met anypony that doesn’t like me.” said Wildfire, smiling some.

“That’s hard to believe…” mumbled Spike, under his breath, still crossing his arms as he sat on Twilight’s back.

“It’s been pretty easy being more outgoing here. Everypony here is so friendly.” added Wildfire, enthused by the hospitality of Ponyville.

“More than Canterlot?” giggled Twilight.

“Yeah…” Wildfire chuckled.

“Well, we’re happy to have you here Wildfire! Isn’t that right, Spike?” asked Twilight, turning her head to Spike on her back.

Spike didn’t seem to notice the question at first, staring down at the ground as he pouted.

“What?” said Spike, coming to.

Flying overhead at that moment was Rainbow Dash, rounding up the small collection of clouds gathering over Ponyville. She landed on a cloud above them, scouting out the rest of the town. Twilight spotted Dash, and gave Wildfire a soft elbow in his large wing to make sure he did too. They stopped for a second.

“Hey! Rainbow Dash!” called Twilight.

Rainbow turned around, catching eye to the purple unicorn and the dragon on her back below her down on the park pathway. She also caught eye of Wildfire, but she seemed to ignore that fact that he was even standing there.

“Hey Twilight! Hey Spike! What’s up?”

“How’s getting the skies clear going?”

“Aw, come on Twilight! You know I already got it handled.” she said, smiling proudly.

Twilight turned to Wildfire, pointing her head over in Dash’s direction.

“Go ahead Wildfire.” Twilight said somewhat quietly.

“Hey, do you want some help getting it knocked out even quicker?” asked Wildfire.

“No, I think I can get this.” Dash’s expressive nature revealed her annoyance quickly.

“You sure? I need some work to do anyway. I’d be more than happy to take some of this work off of your hoo-”

“I said I got it!” Dash raised her voice to Wildfire, leaning over the edge of the cloud to shout at him more directly.

“I am perfectly able to take care of this on my own, thank you very much!”

Dash hopped off the cloud and bucked it into oblivion, darting off quickly to the other lumps of weather floating over the town.

“Wow… sorry about that Wildfire.” said Twilight, surprised at Dash’s outburst.

“It’s ok…” said Wildfire. “She’s a very… independent gal.” Wildfire starred where the cloud that Rainbow bucked had once been.

“I suppose. She’s usually short tempered, but not that short tempered.” said Twilight, picking her stride back up.

“Yeah… I didn’t think that what I did would upset any one like that…”

“Sound like you’re good at getting everyone’s tail in a knot.” muttered Spike again.

Wildfire’s ears twitched a bit. Spike was afraid that Wildfire may have heard him this time, but he didn’t let on to notice or seem to care.

They walked for a bit, silent was they came around the path leading into the Ponyville park.

“Can I ask something?” asked Wildifre.

“Sure! What is it?” nodded Twilight.

“So, what is it that everyone does here?” asked Wildfire, treading the question carefully. “I mean, I already saw what everyone does, I guess. Applejack works on the farm, Rarity is a fashion expert, you’re the librarian, Rainbow Dash is part of the weather patrol, and Pinkie works in the bakery. Is that all right?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, and… yes? Pinkie Does mostly parties, but she does work at the bakery some too.”

“Ok then. Good.” said Wildfire, thinking he forgot someone. “Oh, yeah! And what does Fluttershy do?”

“She’s a care taker of the animals that live out in the Everfree forest. She’s really good at it too.”

“Oh.” said Wildfire, looking back at his portion of list. “But, it says here that she’s doing music?”

“Yes.” said Twilight.

Something caught Wildfire’s ear. It sounded like a bunch of birds singing. As he and Twilight and Spike came closer, the sound became more vibrant. It seemed coordinated, well-pitched, and well organized; like a small quire of birds singing a song together. After rounding the small lake in the middle of the park, they saw Fluttershy, standing before a tree full of a variety of birds, all singing together in perfect harmony. The melody built slowly, and quite beautifully as Fluttershy drew them to a building peak and silenced them before moving them into the chorus; the peace was quickly interrupted by a loud thumping sound and a droning bass that rocked the park.

A white unicorn mare wearing a pair of purple sunglasses bobbed her head to the beat of her music as she worked behind her turntable, smiling broadly. Her blue stripped mane whipped around as she danced about, and even her tail swayed to the beat. She had a simple looking cutie mark as well; one beamed music note.

She scratched the large vinyl discs as she bounced up and down, holding a pair of headphones to her head with her other hoof. Wildfire seemed to remember Celestia talking about someone named Vinyl Scratch helping with the music. This must have been her.

Fluttershy cringed and covered her ears with her hooves. A few of the birds took flight and fled for other trees to where they took refuge. Fluttershy tried to tell Scratch to stop, but her soft voice could hardly be heard over the thump of Vinyl’s music. Fluttershy waved desperately, trying to get Vinyl’s attention. Finally, Scratch hit the stop button, killing the vibration her music was putting off.

“Sorry. Too mellow?” asked Scratch as she pulled off her head set.

“Umm. Actually, maybe not mellow enough.” said Fluttershy, tapping her hooves together as she smiled awkwardly.

“Hey guys!” Twilight caught the attention of both of them.

“Twilight! What’s up?” asked Vinyl Scratch, placing her headphones down on her turntable.

Fluttershy flew over to Twilight, seeking her friends comfort from Scratch’s brash music. She stared at Twilight pitifully, the sight of her nervously biting her lower lip sending signals to Twilight that she needed help. Twilight looked back at her with the same pathetic expression, sympathizing for Fluttershy as she tried to find a way herself to let Vinyl Scratch know to settle down some.

“Well, it sounds like the music is coming along great.” said Twilight, scolding herself mentally for not speaking her mind.

“Yeah! Sounds pretty rad!” said Wildfire, speaking genuinely.

“I know! I actually just got this disc yesterday!” said Vinyl.

Wildfire walked back to behind Vinyl’s table to find her small collection of Vinyl discs neatly lined up on the rack under the table. Vinyl, more than eager to share, started showing Wildfire to her collection disc by disc.

“It’s Vinyl Scratch, right?” asked Wildfire.

“It sure is! And you’re Wildfire, right?” asked Vinyl, earning a nod from Wildfire.

“Well, Vinyl, it sounds pretty good.”

“Yeah. But it’s missing something though. Maybe like a guitar or something…Something a little chiller sounding.”

Wildfire’s ears perked up; she needed a guitarist?

Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike watched as they interacted, both of them becoming enthralled in the music and the instruments. Twilight could feel herself smile.

“Wildfire? Why don’t you stay here with Fluttershy and Scratch? See if you can help with the music?”

“Hmm?” Wildfire perked up a little more, staring at Twilight like a deer caught in a spotlight would.

“Yeah! I saw that guitar case you had on you the other day. Why don’t you help with music too?”

“Well…” Wildfire averted his eyes to one side, “You said you needed help. You sure you have everything else?”

“Oh, There’s really not much left on the list anyway. Why don’t you go home and get your guitar. Spike and I can take care of everything else!”

Wildfire looked back at Fluttershy and Scratch; Scratch smiling brightly, eagerly awaiting his offer, and Fluttershy wearing a cheesier smile, her pleading eyes begging Wildfire to offer her a little more backup from Scratch’s heavier music from which her ears were still ringing from.

“Alright! I’ll go get my guitar.” said Wildfire, inhaling deeply and showing a bit more confidence.

Wildfire flew away back to the library, making haste to go get his guitar and bring it back to begin working more constructively with somepony on something.

“Alright Spike.” said Twilight.

“Let’s go ahead and get the rest of this done and let Wildfire spend some time with his new friend.”

Chapter 11

“Wow. Looks like everybody’s here!” said Twilight, walking through the center of town in the late evening, heading towards the pending Summer Sun Celebration in Town Hall.

Ponies littered the streets, most of them trotting about in small groups, conversing about how this year’s celebration was further from the ordinary, compared to previous years. The street lights began to flicker on as the sun dipped down beneath the buildings, casting shadow on the town as the night rolled in, dropping the temperature down to a more comfortable level.

“No kidding!” said Spike, waddling slightly ahead of Twilight as the excitement in the small dragon began to build. “Tables of snacks laid out, music, dancing… it’s going to feel more like a real party this year!”

Town Hall was all the rage tonight, several ponies could be seen gathering inside, most others standing outside shooting the breeze, cups of punch in hoof. And Town Hall itself, although still quite tame feeling, was lit up like a Christmas tree; colored lights and appropriate banners decorating the building and giving it a sparkly quality. The lights on the inside flickered around the windows as well, an upbeat mellow song lightly thumping around on the inside.

Upon walking in, they were met with a sort of jazzy mix of sounds coming from the front stage, even filling the front lobby with music as Twilight and Spike entered the building. The front lobby wasn’t very brightly colored, minus the candles and glimmering streamers that decorated the tables and buffet in the dimly lit atmosphere. Twilight could see Applejack over behind the buffet with more of the Apple family and their friends, tending to the refreshments as more and more ponies gathered around, filling their plates.

As they entered the main ball room, the light and sound they were met with was a happy welcome to what was usually a quieter gathering. The room was filled with decoration; the banners, the dance floor up front of the stage, the seating areas off to the sides; all of it decorated with greens and blues and oranges that gave the room a certain naturalistic earthy feel, as if the sun had already risen on a new morning. Even the getups of the celebrity guests had a life-like quality to them; having the celeb’s mixed in made the crowd splotchy with clothed and not clothed ponies.

Up on stage, across from the dance floor, the music group of the Celebration was performing, dancing around under the spotlights. Fluttershy performed with her bird quire, playing a more soothing melody. Vinyl Scratch mixed it up on her DJ equipment, mixing softer beats and backing tracks to bring more edge to the song. Wildfire sat on a stool, strumming an upbeat chord progression out to bring the melodies together. It had a good mix of jazz, quire, and dance, and it had a catchy tune to it that the ponies on the dance floor seemed to enjoy.

Twilight and Spike looked around, taking in the room with great amazement that their Summer Sun Celebration had evolved into an even greater party. They saw that Pinkie was out on the dance floor, hopping around to the beat with dozens of other ponies. Rarity was up and to the side of the stage, admiring the music as she spoke with some of the celebrity ponies.

The song ended with an energetic improvisation, halting itself with a crash. The ponies on the dance floor clapped their hooves happily on the floor.

“Thank you.” said Wildfire, grabbing a microphone stand nearby and talking into the chrome microphone at its end.

They began to set up for their next song, the rustling of the ponies slowly building to an audible chatter as they muffled out the humming of the PA. Mid-way through their set up though, the silence was broken by the loud rip of Vinyl putting on another disk. The ponies on the dance floor jumped in surprise, the CRASH THUMP CRASH POP CRASH THUMP CRASH POP CRASH of the music shaking the room with an enormous low end.

Wildfire, looking across the stage, could see Vinyl Scratch with a big grin on her face. The only one ready, Fluttershy raised her hooves and prepared her ensemble of birds. She started the melody, but realized that she was the only one playing anything. She quickly hushed them, turning around to see why no one else was doing anything.

“Are you kidding?” shouted Wildfire across the stage. He could be heard over the PA slightly shouting aside from the mic, shouting at Scratch over the thumping beat.

Some of the ponies on the dance floor looked around in confusion. Others smiled, wondering what sort of shenanigans were happening up on stage.

Scratch leaned over her table, holding her hoof out stretched as she pointed at Wildfire.

“Go ahead!” she shouted, her voice too layered in behind the thumping bass.

Wildfire looked back at the guitar in his lap, smiling apprehensively. He readied the guitar and propped it up against him. He readied his hooves, looking back at Vinyl and still shaking his head. She remained hunched over her turn table, smiling at him, awaiting Wildfire to begin the song for them.

Stalling for more time, Wildfire adjusted the microphone and brought it to his face a little closer

“I shared this one with these guys.” said Wildfire. “We didn’t get a lot of time to practice it. She said it’s one you guys haven’t heard in a while, so you better know this one.” He sat back up in his chair, fixing the guitar in his lap.

As some of the ponies got excited, they let out a few cheers of encouragement as the got ready. Wildfire scooted closer on his chair, nodding to Fluttershy to go ahead and start back up again with her chorus of birds. She counted the beat down, bringing the rainbow of birds back to life with a harmony of their voices mixing into the room.

Wildfire sung into the mic, the tune and the words catching the ears of many more ponies as he strummed his guitar. It didn’t take very long for the ponies on the dance floor to recognize the song in its bubblier sounding cover. Ponies on the dance floor went crazy, and those who weren’t already on the dance floor broke their conversations and left their tables, flooding the room with excitement. A few of the VIP’s also got daring as they ran to join the crowd, standing out from them as their ensembles shown gleamingly under the light.

They played it loud, the energy from the audience showering over onto the stage and bringing life to the performers. The crowd sung along with Wildfire, his gravely tone cutting through the room with a great pronounced sound. Sapphire Shores, one of the special guests and inspiring pop musician of Ponyville, daringly took to the stage unannounced and grabbed another microphone. She began a duet with Wildfire, trading off lead and harmony for every line.

The song ended with an abrupt thud that trailed off in mountainous reverb. Fluttershy, Scratch, and Wildfire all stood up and took center stage, bowing before the crowd, as they cheered for the song that brought everypony back a few years.

The announcer pony came to center stage, taking to a microphone quickly as the three left the stage.

“Alright guys! We’re taking five on the music. Get yourselves something to eat and drink over at the back of the room. We want to dance ‘till we drop, but let’s just see how long we can prolong that.” said the announcer pony.

Fluttershy went back to tend to her birds at that time.

“Whew! You know how to liven up a party, Wildfire! I’ll give you that!” said Sapphire, pulling her short curly blue mane out of her face.

“Thanks…” said Wildfire, nodding modestly.

“No, thank you!” Sapphire put her arm around Wildfire. She stood a little taller than Wildfire, especially in her platform horse shoes.

“You know what? You’re welcome on stage with me tonight if you like! I have the perfect song for us to sing together with!”

“Um… ok? Sounds great.” said Wildfire, feeling awkward that he actually didn’t know any of her songs.

Sapphire laughed at Wildfire some. “Don’t be so modest hun, you’re a great performer. The audience loved you!” she said, patting him on the back and making her way down to the VIP section again.

Wildfire’s performance was done for the night, and he was feeling nothing short of ecstatic after performing in front of so many ponies. Perhaps another time would come that he would get to do it again, but for right now, it was time for him to put up his guitar. He lifted the dark mahogany instrument into the hard shell case and locked it, leaving it up on stage where no one would bother it.

“Wildfire!” shouted Vinyl, coming back up on stage with a cup of punch, suspended in the air by her magic.

“Wow! I’ve never had a jam like that before!” said Vinyl, enthralled by the flawlessness of their performance and the energy of their audience.

“Yeah, well I’ve never had a jam… ever!” said Wildfire, chuckling some.

Scratch giggled. “You’ve never played with anyone before?”

“Well, not in front of hundreds of other ponies before.”

“Gets ya’ pumped up, doesn’t it?” asked Scratch.

Wildfire thought for a second. “Hmm, I can think of a few other things that work a little better…” he said, smiling broadly at Scratch.

Vinyl Scratch giggled again, taking a sip of her punch and setting it down on her turn table. She removed her glasses as well, placing them on the table beside her cup of punch. She swayed her hips some as she looked back at Wildfire with a smitten smile, her violet eyes glimmering in the light.

“So, Wildfire, are you seeing anypony?” she asked bashfully.

“Wildfire!” interrupted Twilight, climbing up on stage.

“Hey!” greeted Wildfire.

“I didn’t know you were so talented!” said Twilight.

“Oh, well it’s nothing really.” said Wildfire.

“Are you kidding? You got the approval of Sapphire Shores! I think I see a cutie mark in your future.” said Twilight.

Scratch quietly snuck away from the conversation, feeling awkward that Wildfire had taken back to Twilight so readily.

“Eh, maybe.” said Wildfire. “I’m going to go get something to drink.”

“Ok.”

Wildfire hopped off stage and walked across the dance floor, getting a “good job” from about every other pony he passed. As he passed through the doors from the main room and into the front lobby, the roar of the crowd was lost beyond the doors and the volume dropped to a more comfortable hearing level. He grabbed a cup of the punch from the drink table at the buffet, walking back into the room and wandering around some, still receiving praise from the towns folk on his performance. Though he liked the continuous approval he was being given, it was distracting him, which caused him to bump into the back of another pony. He heard the sound of a full cup of punch hitting the floor as he made contact with the other pony, followed up by a familiar and less than friendly voice. He turned his head, catching the sight of a rainbow tail in his path too late.

It was Rainbow Dash, already chewing him out before she had even turned around.

“Hey! Watch where you’re go- You!” gasped Rainbow.

“Me? Now wait! What did I even do in the first place?” asked Wildfire, his attitude beginning to boil as he grew impatient with Dash.

“What did you do!?” she moved in closer, not afraid to get in Wildfire’s personal space. “You out ran me, fastest pony in all of Equestria, is what you did!”

Wildfire took a moment of silence, not able to sympathize or see the point Dash was trying to make to him.

“I’m the fastest! And I don’t know how you did it, but there’s no way that it was a fair fight!”

“Wait… You’re pissed because I outran you?” Wildfire looked at Dash with disbelief, unsure of how to even respond.

“Look, I can understand if you’re mad at me for ignoring you; I deserve that. But for being a little faster than you? Are you kidding?”

“Does it look like I’m kidding?” said Rainbow Dash, her stern stare not braking from his.

“What do you want me to do then? I already took the blame for breaking a few windows in Canterlot the other day.”

“I didn’t ask you to cover for me, nor did I want you to!”

“Hey Rainbow Dash!” greeted a little light orange foal with purple hair, jumping enthusiastically above the snack table from the other side.

“Hey Scootaloo.” Dash stepped a couple steps back from Wildfire, breaking her angry stare and turning with a smile towards the little pony.

Scootaloo; Wildfire liked that name. It seemed to fit the little foal, both energetic and charming enough for a child. She didn’t appear to have a cutie mark either.

“What are you doing back there?” asked Dash.

“Me, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom are helping serve treats! We’re gonna get our serving cutie marks by the end of the night!” she said, hoping for joy.

Dash smiled at her. “And how’s that working out?”

Scootaloo stopped jumping up and down long enough to give her own flank a study. “Well, nothing yet, but the night’s not over! What about you, Wildfire?” she asked.

“Where’s your music cutie mark? Because that performance was amazing!” Wildfire smiled, embarrassed with the compliments he’s been getting from everypony. “Wasn’t it amazing Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah…” her cynical glare returned as she turned her attention back to Wildfire. “He’s amazing alright…”

“Sooo… have you just not earned your cutie mark yet, Wildfire?” Scootaloo interjected.

“Yeah.” Dash’s face turned with an unpleasantly proud smile. “Where’s your cutie mark?”

“I bet it will be a music note! Or a guitar! Or a microphone!”

“Something to do with making noise I’m sure.” said Dash, smiling sardonically.

Wildfire felt the cap on his temper pop. The word ‘noise’ didn’t bode well with him.

“Oh yeah?” Wildfire closed the space in between him and Dash quite fast. Both her and Scootaloo were quite surprised at his outburst. “And what’s this, cotton candy on a colorful stick?” said Wildfire, pointing to Dash’s cutie mark.

“Hey, my cutie mark is the coolest around. You don’t have anything on me!” said Dash, still holding that proud smile on her face.

“You’re right; a rainbow lightning bolt…” said Wildfire. “Mind if I call you thunder flanks?” said Wildfire, shooting Rainbow back the same mocking glare that she was giving him before.

Dash’s face turned red as her jaw dropped open, a tiny gasp escaping her as her eyes widened. Her humiliated expression was quickly overcome by a fierce, piercing stare; the one she usually wore when she was focused on racing.

“You have no room to talk, especially with your chicken legs.” Dash started with the cheap word play now as they began to butt heads. Their wings were raised off of their bodies, a natural Pegasi mechanism to look more threatening to their foes.

The tension building between them was becoming thicker by the moment. Scootaloo gave the ponies their space.

“Umm… I’m going to get back to work.” she said, retreating behind the table.

Applebloom, who had also come over to talk, turned back around with Scootaloo and returned to the buffet with her.

“What was that about?” asked Applebloom.

“I have no idea…” said Scootaloo.

“I’m sure, doesn’t matter though. As far as cutie marks go, you probably couldn’t fit anything on those sticks anyway. But at least you don’t have to worry about that, do you?” said Rainbow Dash, her tone becoming more snippy with Wildfire, taking cheap shots at his scrawnier build.

Applebloom went over and got Applejack’s attention, afraid that a fight might break out. It was to Applejack’s surprise that she saw Rainbow Dash picking a fight with Wildfire; not because he was a stallion, but because she’d never known her to get this way with newer ponies. She stayed back, watching the spectacle as more of the ponies around them began to take notice.

“A ‘blank flank’ is like a blank canvas, it can be made into anything.” spoke Wildfire in a firm tone as he leaned in. “It just means I have more potential.”

“More potential to be a total loser!” shouted Rainbow Dash, catching the attention of everyone around them.

They stared each other down, eyes locked in an angry staring contest while both ponies stood their ground. Neither one of them neither flinched nor blinked. They both just stood there as statuesque as can be, both personalities butting furiously up against each other.

“Fillies and Gentle-Colts!” The announcer’s voice roared the PA into life again, snapping Dash and Wildfire out of their scruff.

“The festivities are about to begin! Please get whatever you may need and come to the stage as quick as you can. Princess Celestia is almost here!”

Dash shot Wildfire a dirty look, leaping into the air and gliding over him and over the crowd towards the main ball room.

“Prick.” she whispered to herself.

“Bitch.” Wildfire whispered to himself, shaking his head in frustration towards the rainbow pegasus.

Chapter 12

Everyone was piling into the main ball room, crowding through the front doors of Town Hall and through the lobby. They all rushed in, gathering promptly for the arrival of the Princess. It wasn’t a thing to be late for, after all it was royalty, and the Princess’s subjects were always asked to show the utmost loyalty and appreciation to their leader. It wasn’t that Princess Celestia was an iron hoofed ruler, anypony would say that she is just like the rest of them; kind and sweet as can be. It all simply fell to tradition.

The room was packed full of ponies; all gathered to see the rising of the sun at Celestia’s own doing. It was her task as ruler of Equestria to raise the sun, day in and day out, and after the corruption of her sister, Luna, it fell upon her to take after the night as well. But Luna had learned her mistake, and is now once again ready to take back the job of watching over the night, letting out the stars and the moon as night falls.

The room was silenced; anybody could have dropped a blade of grass on the floor and have it heard from the back of the room by all. It wasn’t long after that the sound of a small fleet of pegasi flying over and the call of “attention” bellowing out from Equestrian soldiers could be heard outside.

The doors at the back of the room squeaked as they swung open, and the in step march of the soldiers echoed through the room. The royal guard came marching in, three of them walking through the door in a sort of triangular formation, parting the crowd through the center of the room as they made their way to front stage. They turned and stood at attention as they met front stage.

Princess Celestia followed in after, accompanied by Princess Luna and followed up by three more guards. The crowd of ponies bowed as they crossed the floor, all of them dropping to a knee in a wave like fashion that moved through the room. The Princesses took to the stage, standing before their subjects in the bright spotlight. The ponies stood again, eagerly awaiting Celestia’s words.

“Things have been done quite differently this year, so I’ve been told.” she said, her fruity voice casting excitement over the room.

“We still have some party left, right?” asked Celestia. The room full of ponies could barely contain itself; the silence was replaced with a quiet chatter.

“Do we have some more dancing to do?” Celestia was getting answers back from the crowd as they began to come back to life, the chatter escalating to cheering now.

“Who’s ready to party?” shouted and announcer, pumping up the crowd further.

“We are!” interrupted a voice from the back of the room, bringing the crowd back down to a standstill.

A large group of ponies wearing hooded black capes moved through the crowd, cutting the path back through the middle of the room again. There were too many to count; their presence crowding the room full of people even further. They all wore an insignia on their capes; a teal colored crescent moon that gave off a spooky glow. Some of these ponies were unicorns, some of them pegasi, and a few of them earth ponies. They all appeared to have messy, pale coats as well, as if they hadn’t been grooming themselves. None of these ponies appeared to be townsfolk or anybody that was recognized by anyone else in the room. They must have been wanderers; stragglers roaming Equestria, a form of cult moving together as a herd. If so, then what sort of involvement could they want with this gathering?

The front pony, his face hidden by his cape, held his hoof outstretched to the townsfolk, catching their attention.

“Citizens of Ponyville! We are here to spread the word of Nightmare Moon, on this night of the eve of the summer solstice! Let us thrive in the everlasting night, the stars and the moon lighting up the sky with magical wonder!” he preached.

Ponyville became restless, its citizens becoming fearful for what was happening before them. To some, the event seemed all too familiar to them.

“Art thou thy followers of Nightmare Moon?” called Luna, stepping forward on stage to confront her “admirers.”

“Princess Luna…” called the lead unicorn, conducting himself properly in front of Luna and bowing before her, the rest of the cult following in his example. “… Miss Nightmare Moon. we are at your service, my liege.”

Luna laughed awkwardly, holding a hoof over her face to hide her graceless smile. The hooded ponies looked at each other, exchanging awkward looks as they began to stand back up.

“I am no longer any mare of eternal night.” said Luna.

“Your highness! We are your disciples! We are here to serve you!” said the unicorn with a pause.

“I’m sorry, sir. Nightmare Moon is no longer a part of who I am.”

The unicorn removed his hood, revealing a dim grey coat and colorless eyes that stared soullessly at the alicorn Princess. He capped his anger; his ear twitched as his eyes narrowed.

“Thou are Nightmare Moon!” he proclaimed. “The one who would bring the veil of the shadows of the night to the land! The one who would not let the blinding sun shine over us anymore! The one who, after a thousand years of exile to the moon, returned to seek vengeance on all who opposed your will!”

“And it was on this very night that I returned, so many years ago. Yes, I remember good sir.” said Luna, standing tall over the stage and her subjects. “But as you said, I was banished to the moon for a thousand years because of it all. I have learned the error of my ways.”

The group of ponies all stepped forward, gathering behind their leader who was staring Luna down with a cold expression. The room went quiet as Ponyville watched their highness and an entire cult stare each other down. Celestia too stood fast to what they were up too, as did her guards.

The unicorn replaced his stance, widening his hooves to get a lower center of gravity. Lunging forward, he let loose a blinding beam of electricity from his horn, the bolt jumping through the air and across the stage, connecting with Luna. The building was rocked with the explosion of thunder. Luna shrieked as she was blown away by the blast of energy from the unicorn, throwing her backwards and to the floor with a loud thud, leaving her lying center stage unconscious. Princess Celestia ran to her side, falling to the floor beside her and rolling her over. Two guards climbed up on stage and guarded them.

Ponyville gasped as they watched in horror their Princess falling victim to the unicorn. The townsfolk backed away from the cult, practically climbing over each other to give the group some space. The guards closed in, forming a perimeter around the group.

“If even our Queen of the Darkness does not want an endless night, then it looks like we are going to have to take it by force!” shouted the unicorn, eyeballing the ponies with a menacing gaze. “And we are ready to fight an entire town.”

The silence was deafening, the only sound in the room was the clopping of the unicorn’s hooves on the floor as he paced around.

Applejack stood back behind the crowd, watching it all from a bird’s eye view. The sight of Luna being struck with lightening was enough to make her jump. Her eyes continued to follow the unicorn trotting back and forth. She could hardly unlock her eyes from him, anticipating his next bold move. But as he walked in front of the stage, Applejack’s eyes caught sight of Celestia frantically trying to bring Luna back to. That alone was enough to drive her out from behind the crowd, replacing her cowgirl hat and striding forward as she pushed through the crowd.

“That can be arranged, partner!” said Applejack, throwing her apron off.

The unicorn whipped his head around, surprised by the equal amount of audaciousness Applejack was expressing. From the other side of the crowd, Rarity emerged, followed up by Pinkie Pie. Twilight too made her way forward to face the group as well. Rainbow Dash, paired with a frightened Fluttershy, also joined in on the scrap. More ponies continued to follow their example, coming forward and forming a large mob of towns’ ponies in front of the roughens. They began to back off as Ponyville and Celestia’s guards began to close in around them. Behind them, they heard the sound of doors slamming shut. It was Big Mac and Wildfire, both of them with one hind leg planted firmly on the closed exit.

Nightmare Moon’s disciples had nowhere to go. They stood fast, lighting their horns and letting their wings stand; all darkly gazes locked in a fierce stand off as the crowd of towns ponies gathered around the menacing ponies.

“Would you like to apologize?” asked Wildfire, the red flickering in his green pupils giving the illusion that his eyes were on fire.

The leader unicorn responded with another blast of lightening, making the building shutter again with the clap of thunder that came with it. The bolt hit a couple of the towns’ folk, sending them flying back into the angry mob. They were caught out of the air by the pegasi of Ponyville and placed back on their hooves, both of them ready to fight.

Ponyville closed in, charging forward at the Nightmare Moon ponies with great speed and ferocity. The cult met them and charged at the charging mob. The two packs mixed, clustering them all out as all hell broke loose in Town Hall.

Applejack charged one of the earth ponies and, literally, butted heads, pushing against each other in a battle for dominance. Another cult member came up behind Applejack, pulling at her tail to get her to the floor. Her hooves began to slide back on the marble floor, screeching along as she lost grip and leverage. Applejack fought, fending off both ponies in a struggle to stay up. She got her balance, bucking the pony behind her in the face. The force from her kick was enough to knock over both ponies. The shock was even enough to make Applejack dizzy.

Fluttershy flew over, desperately searching for an escape from the brawl. But for every way she turned, she was met with a pegasus pony chasing her down. She dove behind the seating area, taking refuge under one of the tables. She peered out from under the table cloth, watching the battle rage on. Her friends all fought, trying to escape the disciples all fighting against them.

From beneath the table, she could see across the room, all the way over to where her birds were attacking one of the larger cult ponies. The giant swatted at them like a swarm of bees, knocking them out of the air. The pony went on to buck another one of her friends in the side, knocking them over onto a table. The sight of all of this flushed the fear out of Fluttershy’s body, and replaced it with pure rage. She flew up to the gargantuan, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned, and was met with Fluttershy’s stare; wolfish and soul breaking. The giant was stricken with fear, fleeing from the pursuing Fluttershy.

Fluttershy chased him right on by Applebloom and Pinkie Pie who were both throwing pies and cakes and different food items that they had collected from the buffet for ammunition. They tossed them into the air at the pegasus ponies flying about, dead actuate with their throwing arms. The pegasi they were able to hit were left blind and crashed into the floor or the walls.

A couple of pegasi spotted them throwing things around, and both plotted to take them out. One dove down behind Pinkie Pie, and the other behind Applebloom, both of them planning to sneak up on them from behind. Applebloom turned to pick up more cupcakes to throw at the pegasi flying about, Pinkie also turned to reload. They both looked back up to the ceiling behind one another, seeing the pegasus dive at them just in time to warn each other.

“Behind you!” they shouted at the same time.

They both threw their cakes simultaneously, hitting the speeding pegasi in the face and rendering them blind, leaving them to collide head on in the air as they ducked for cover. They both stood back up, taking a look at the pegasi piled on top of each other. They both cringed at the ugly sight of their bodies merging in a painful fashion.

Other Ponyville pegasi took care of what other ponies that Pinkie and Applebloom couldn’t reach up near the domed ceiling. Among them were a couple more special guests for the night, Soaring and Spitfire; members of the Equestrian flying team, the Wonderbolts. They tackled the other ponies and threw them aside, sending them crashing down into the tables and walls or through the upper level windows.

Most of the ponies crashing to the floor fell through the hanging decorations in the room, the room being rained down upon by torn streamers and banners. The biggest banner of all of it fell from its ties, floating to the floor below like a piece of paper and landing at Rarity’s hooves.

“I didn’t do all of that work just to have it tore to shreds by you roughens!” shouted Rarity.

She looked at her banner as it lay on the floor, getting trampled by dozens of other ponies, friend and foe. She huffed, her eyes going back to the battle around her; several pegasi flying about above her, and several more unicorns and earth ponies galloping around, casting spells and kicking at each other. Then her eye was caught by Rose, another mare from Ponyville, who was looking back at her with a curious stare. Rose looked down at the banner beneath Rarity’s feet.

Their eyes meeting again, Rarity smiled as an idea quickly formed in her head. She picked up one end of the banner, smiling cheekily at Rose as she signaled her to pick up the other end. Rose smiled back, getting the message and taking the banner in her mouth as well. They ran forward, holding the banner low as they drug it along the floor. They aimed it at the caped ponies, toppling them over as Rarity and Rose pulled the hooves of the ponies out from under them.

Joining in on the fight was a couple of other younger colts, mindlessly charging into battle as they cried out loud.

“Hey, wait. Snips!?” said one colt.

“Yeah, Snails?” said the other colt.

“What was out plan?”

“You mean we don’t have a plan!?”

They both skidded to a stop, running head first into a unicorn mare, her horn lighting up the room around her. Both the colts bolted back in the opposite direction, quickly fleeing from the enraged unicorn. The mare chasing the colts was quickly stopped by a blast of energy shoving her to her back.

Twilight charged in, quickly disabling all of the unicorn ponies she could find, casting anti-magic spells and blasting away any other pony that would get in her way. Spike took to her side, chucking cupcakes at the ponies behind her to keep her flank covered.

Up above, Rainbow Dash joined in on the scramble to get the Nightmare Moon disciples out of the building, shoving aside all unfriendly ponies in her path. Other ponies tailed her, unable to keep up in the tight, hard to maneuver space. She used it to her advantage, causing the ponies pursuing her to crash on their own.

Wildfire also flew about, taking armfuls of apples and chucking them at the pegasi from the air. At the speed he was moving at, the force was enough to seriously bruise someone. He took to Dash’s side quickly, trying to round up the rest of them.

“Hey! Let me have some of those!” demanded Rainbow, pointing to the bundle of apples Wildfire was scrounging up.

He didn’t argue; he quickly handed over half of his apples to Rainbow Dash. She too didn’t waste any time at all. She chucked them all at her pursuers, the apples mashing against their faces and sending them careening out of control. With no apples left for either of them, they resorted to throwing the ponies aside, taking them by their tails and whipping them hard to the floor.

Celestia was still trying to bring Luna back. The guards kept them safe as Celestia worked on her sister, shaking her around to try and get her to awaken. It seemed like forever that she was out, the battle behind them both continuing on. Finally, Luna opened her eyes, holding a hoof to her aching head. Celestia was relieved to see her sister awake, but now she could turn her focus back to the brawl that filled every corner of Town Hall. She was furious that her sister had been harmed by the cult, her own willing disciples; clearly they were not a force that Ponyville would accept. Nor would Celestia allow them to terrorize the town of Ponyville any longer.

Celestia leapt into the air, wings spread wide and head held high. Her long horn began to glow a blindingly bright shade of gold, and it beamed into the darkened hall. The fighting stopped as the light grew brighter and all attention turned to Celestia. Behind her, through the large broken pane of glass on the second level, the stars and moon disappeared and the sky began to turn orange. The sun peered out over the horizon and shined its light on the city of Ponyville, rising at an unnatural speed.

The cult all writhed as they were bathed in sunlight, shielding themselves beneath their dark capes as they cried out.

“My brothers! My sisters! Retreat!” screamed the lead unicorn, making way for the exit and breaking it down with one last blast of lightening.

The Nightmare Moon ponies quickly ran, others limped away slowly. It wasn’t long though that the building was vacated by the entire group.

Town Hall was left a mess after the scuffle. Tables were either flipped or split into two or more pieces. Most of the banners and streamers were torn from the posts they were tied to. Food littered the floor, creating a sticky mess that painted the walls and ceiling with everything that was once laid out on the buffet table. Broken glass and shards of wooden framing from broken windows even littered the floor. Some of the equipment on stage had also fallen over, shattered lights and exposed wiring piled all over the stage and the dance floor.

Ponyville collected itself, helping hurt ponies up and to their hooves, helping them to walk off their injuries. Others began picking up tables and chairs, cleaning up the mess of food and decoration.

Twilight and Spike went back to the middle of the room, calling their friends over and checking up on everyone to see if they were alright. Everyone walked back over slowly, catching their breath for a moment. Dash and Wildfire glided back down from the top, also both winded.

“Is… everyone… ok?” asked a winded Twilight, talking between breaths.

Everyone nodded yes, also all breathed.

“Well…” said Dash to Wildfire, slightly winded. “… looks like we can agree on something.”

Wildfire looked around at the destroyed hall, and with a sigh nodded, “I guess.”

Chapter 12 Alt.

Chapter 12

“Things have been done quite differently this year, so I’ve been told.” she said, her fruity voice casting excitement over the room.

“We still have some party left, right?” asked Celestia. The room full of ponies could barely contain itself; the silence was replaced with a quiet chatter.

“Do we have some more dancing to do?” Celestia was getting answers back from the crowd as they began to come back to life, the chatter escalating to cheering now.

“Who’s ready to party?” shouted and announcer, pumping up the crowd further.

“We are!” interrupted a voice from the back of the room, bringing the crowd back down to a standstill.

A large group of ponies wearing hooded black capes moved through the crowd, cutting the path back through the middle of the room again. There were too many to count; their presence seemed to double the amount of ponies in the room. They all wore an insignia on their capes; a teal colored crescent moon that gave off a spooky glow. Some of these ponies were unicorns, some of them pegasi, and a few of them earth ponies. They all appeared to have messy, pale coats as well, as if they hadn’t been grooming themselves. None of these ponies appeared to be townsfolk or anybody that was recognized by anyone else in the room. They must have been wanderers; stragglers roaming Equestria, a form of cult moving together as a herd. If so, then what sort of involvement could they want with this gathering?

The front pony, his face hidden by his cape, held his hoof outstretched to the townsfolk, catching their attention.

Ponyville became restless, its citizens becoming fearful for what was happening before them. To some, the event seemed all too familiar to them.

“Art thou thy followers of Nightmare Moon?” called Luna, stepping forward on stage to confront her “admirers.”

Luna laughed awkwardly, holding a hoof over her face to hide her graceless smile. The hooded ponies looked at each other, exchanging awkward looks as they began to stand back up.

“I am no longer any mare of eternal night.” said Luna.

“Your highness! We are your disciples! We are here to serve you!” said the unicorn with a pause.

“I’m sorry, sir. Nightmare Moon is no longer a part of who I am.”

The unicorn removed his hood, revealing a dim grey coat and colorless eyes that stared soullessly at the alicorn Princess. He capped his anger; his ear twitched as his eyes narrowed.

The silence was deafening, the only sound in the room was the clopping of the unicorn’s hooves on the floor as he paced around.

“That can be arranged, partner!” said Applejack, throwing her apron off.

The unicorn whipped his head around, surprised by the equal amount of audaciousness Applejack was expressing. From the other side of the crowd, Rarity emerged, followed up by Pinkie Pie. Twilight too made her way forward to face the group as well. Rainbow Dash, paired with a frightened Fluttershy, also joined in on the scrap. More ponies continued to follow their example, coming forward and forming a large mod of towns’ ponies in front of the roughens. They began to back off as Ponyville and Celestia’s guards began to close in around them. Behind them, they heard the sound of doors slamming shut. It was Big Mac and Wildfire, both of them with one hind leg planted firmly on the closed exit.

“Would you like to apologize?” asked Wildfire, the red flickering in his green pupils giving the illusion that his eyes were on fire.

The leader unicorn responded with another blast of lightening, making the building shutter again with the clap of thunder that came with it. A flash of white jutted up from the stage and quickly threw itself in between the lightning and the townsfolk. The lightning struck it, the light of the energy revealing the shape of an alicorn, taking the blast of energy to the horn like a lightning rod. The room stood still in shock as they watched as the blinding flashes and deafening claps of the thunder quickly die down in the ball room as the energy stopped just as quickly as it started.

With nothing but a slight burn mark to her horn, Celestia stomped to the floor with an enormous thud, landing right in the cult leaders face. She bowed her head in fury, lighting her horn with a heavenly glow that blinded all ponies in the room. The cult leader backed off, defensively meeting Celestia’s slow advance with his horn, still arcing with electricity.

“I will not let my subjects fight this battle in my place.” said Celestia, furrowed brow revealing a pair of furious eyes that did not relent.

The eyes of the two ponies remained locked, unmoving. The rest of the cult did not remain so still though. A couple of the unicorns grabbed some of the tables from the room, tossing them at Celestia at break neck speeds. Celestia swiftly leapt back, taking flight into the ball room high above the group of Luna’s disciples. The unicorns again picked up a couple tables each, launching them into the air at Celestia.

Twilight leapt forward, snatching the flying furniture out of the air and throwing it right back at the cult. Most of the ponies were able to side step it, but a few of the disciples weren’t able to dodge them, taking the full blunt of the violent toss back at their small army. A few of the cults pegasi fought back once more, taking flight for Celestia, as well as Twilight.

Rainbow and Wildfire quickly darted to them, tackling the pegasi out of the air and slamming them aggressively to the floor and pinning them down hard. Applejack came forward quickly to Twilight’s side, turning swiftly to buck the incoming pegasus back towards the cult. He took both of Applejack’s hooves to the face, immediately falling to the floor and sliding all the way back to the cult unconscious.

The cult leader grumbled, standing his ground firmly. The rest of the mares came forward; Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all standing before Celestia, defending her at their own cost. The cult began to back off, the entire town still standing before them. Even Luna had finally come to and, although a bit woozy, stood against them.

“Leave now!” shouted Celestia, her voice echoing into the hall with a gargantuan tone.

She began to light her horn even brighter, the light growing painfully blinding, as if the sun had come down to earth. The cult all writhed as they were bathed in the light, shielding themselves beneath their dark capes as they cried out.

“My brothers! My sisters! Retreat!” shouted the lead unicorn, making way for the exit and breaking it down with one last blast of lightening.

The Nightmare Moon ponies quickly ran, others limped away slowly, and some were even carried away. It wasn’t long though that the building was vacated by the entire group.

Town Hall was left a mess after the scuffle. Tables were either flipped or split into two or more pieces. Most of the banners and streamers were torn from the posts they were tied to as a result form the furniture that was tossed about the room. Food littered the floor, creating a sticky mess that painted the walls and ceiling with everything that was once laid out on the tables. Broken glass and shards of wooden framing from broken windows even littered the floor.

Ponyville collected itself, picking up tables and chairs, cleaning up the mess of food and decoration. Celestia took back to the stage, quickly going to Luna and throwing her arms around her sister, Luna falling over a bit and leaning on Celestia for support.

Twilight and Spike went back to the middle of the room, calling their friends over and checking up on everyone to see if they were alright. Everyone walked back over slowly, taking their time as they collected themselves. Dash and Wildfire glided back down from the top, both winded.

“Is… everyone ok?” asked a shaken Twilight, talking between breaths.

Everyone nodded yes, their eyes wandering the room as they took in the destruction.

“Well…” said Dash to Wildfire, slightly winded. “… looks like we can agree on something.”

Wildfire looked around at the destroyed hall, and with a sigh nodded, “I guess.”

Chapter 13

It was another beautiful sunny day out a Sweet Apple Acres, where the wind blew through the trees and rustled the leaves, wafting the scent of the apple orchard over the farm and over the hills of Equestria. The trees danced on the wind, swaying gently to the rhythm of the farms other plentiful crops, like a lively green fire.

It was lively indeed, for Wildfire, galloping at speed over the farm land, had gone exploring the farm through the uniformly spaced apple trees, all bearing their ripe ruby red fruit. He huffed as he ran, eyes fixed forward in a unbreakable focus as he blazed the tan dirt trail. The breeze shot through the trees and blew Wildfire’s long bouncy mane out of his face, the feel of the air giving him chills as it cooled off in the shade the trees offered, making things feel a bit more blustery than they were on the calmer, hot summer’s mid-day. He reached out with his wings every so often, letting the sun’s rays and the cool breeze hit his feathers all at once, allowing his sweaty undersides to cool off.

Soaring just overhead was the bright and colorful Rainbow Dash, gliding along on the soft winds of the invigoratingly refreshing day. With her view of the land below her, she felt like she had more energy than any other pony could hope to ever have. The trees, the farm, the town off in the distance; it was another moment of hers where she could just let the world go for a minute. But beneath the sound of the rustling trees below her, she could hear the faint sound of a pony’s hooves stomping the ground. Looking down now, she saw Wildfire below her, galloping along through the trees all by his lonesome.

It had been a little over a week since the Summer Sun Celebration; the last time they bothered to even talk to each other. But something felt different today. Rainbow was more curious than she was infuriated by the pony at this moment. What in the world was he doing just running through the apple orchard like that? Rainbow Dash dove in, lining her flight path up with the trail that Wildfire was stomping out, and ready to take off again if Wildfire decided to blast off himself.

Carefully navigating through the tree canopy, Dash furled her wings to slowly drop altitude, like a bird would as it glided along, flaring out again once she reached the ground. The sound of her flapping wings didn’t seem to catch Wildfire’s attention; he didn’t even turn his head around to see who was tailing him. Rainbow thought that he might be just ignoring her again, so she pulled up into his line of vision. She watched him gallop along for a minute or two before actually exchanging any words, watching his head bob up and down to the sound of his hooves, listening to the sound of his heavy panting as his mouth hung open.

“What are you doing?” asked the curious Rainbow Dash, eyes bouncing back and forth between Wildfire’s engrossed expression and his hooves battering the soil.

“Exercising.” Wildfire said in between breaths, panting heavier now to keep conversation.

“Exercising your legs?” said Dash. “Aren’t your wings more important?”

“Pegasi have… poor stamina, or… so they say.” said Wildfire, his eyes bouncing now and then between the path and Rainbow’s confused stare. “So… I’m trying to… build stamina by… exercising… regularly.”

“By running?” Dash exclaimed, now finding his method more intriguing.

“Yeah…” Wildfire began panting heavier, “… and much more!”

They came to a clearing where the trees spaced out and gave way to the sky above them, overlooking the farm from the top of the hill. The path forked off into two other major trails from there; one cutting a straight path back to the farm, and one trailing off to the left and moving through the orchard off in the other direction. With a grunt, Wildfire broke his stride, slowing to a trot, hanging his head as he caught his breath back, his legs seeming to move involuntarily now as he trotted around in circles in the grass off the path.

“Hah… this used to be a lot easier when… I wasn’t studying so much.”

“So… that’s it?” asked Dash, beginning to like the way Wildfire was pushing himself.

“Well…” Wildfire stood, panting heavily as the dry feeling in his mouth made his teeth feel slimy. “I usually finish with this trail and head back to the farm. That’s about seven miles. I planned on going at least one more today…” Wildfire shook his head, taking a moment to remoisten his mouth. “…but I got my usual routine in today. I can save it for next week.”

Dash looked at him, watching him huff as his head hung low, stretching out his legs and rolling his head as cold chills shot through him.

“Is it really going to kill him to do that last mile?” thought Rainbow.

She hovered back up above the trees, looking out down the path, watching it wind around and end back up out at the main road out of Ponyville, out along the white fence that separated the orchard from the road. It didn’t seem too far to the blue pegasus, but the orange pegasus obviously wasn’t ready to put up with it.

Looking back down at Wildfire, and back at the path, and back and forth a few times more, Rainbow began forming a plan in her head, a small mischievous smile drawing itself out on Dash’s face.

“Sounds like you need some motivation.” said Dash, earning a half black expression from Wildfire.

“So get back on that path and run that last mile!” she shouted, poking at Wildfire’s haunches.

“You’re kidding…” said Wildfire, picking his head back up and looking Dash in the eye.

She smiled impishly, raising her hoof and giving Wildfire’s hind end a firm smack.

“Ow! Hey!” he said, jumping at the snap of her hoof on his haunches.

“Go! Quick! Before they get you!” shouted Dash, her voice echoing lightly in the trees.

Wildfire stared down the path, his tunneled vision making him feel that the last mile would feel more like three. But Dash kept shouting at him, kept saying that “they were going to get him,” as if he were the lead in a race, and the second place pony was rounding the corner and overtaking him. With a grunt and a painful cringe, Wildfire lunged forward and picked his pace back up, being tailed by Rainbow Dash as she continued to shout encouragement at him.

Chapter 14

Things back at the farm were also very tranquil; the oinking and splashing of pigs in their mud, gentle clucking of the chickens in their pens, even the mooing of the cows chewing on the cud, it all gave a lively peaceful atmosphere to the barn yard, where the Apple family was hard at work taking care of some of their daily chores.

At the moment, Applejack and Applebloom both worked in the back barn portion of the center building, changing out the straw bedding on the floors and up in the loft, as well as moving and reorganizing some boxes stored around the barn.

“Aw, but Applejack!” whined Applebloom, looking up to her sister standing in front of her, gripping her with her big amber eyes.

“I promise Applebloom, we’ll get done in time for you to go play with your friends.” said Applejack, walking over and picking up a ladder leaned up against the wall, placing it up right and up into the loft.

“But we have to go now!” said Applebloom, continuing to dog her sister. “Me, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo going down to the field on the other side of town to try and get our firework cutie marks! If we don’t meet Firecracker there by sun down we ain’t going to get them today!”

“Well… that’d be a shame too, uh, miss that appointment…” Applejack spoke in a flat taut voice, feeling more nervous for Applebloom than excited.

“It would! Please Big Sis!’ It wouldn’t be right for the other girls to go alone! We ain’t the Cutie Mark Crusaders unless we’re all there! Can I go!?”

“Tell you what, we get the loft knocked out early, then you can go. Sound good?” said Applejack with a smile.

Applebloom nodded eagerly in agreement, her eyes lighting up as she took a broom in mouth and began up the ladder quickly, sweeping down the old dried out straw from the loft, mixing into the air a large cloud of dust and dirt.

Big Macintosh came up the way from the northern fields closer to town, hauling a wagon full of tubs of apples.

“Is that the order for the Manehattan ponies?” asked Applejack.

Big Mac nodded, slipping out of the straps of the wagon. He looked over at the garden along the lining of the orchard, seeing behind it a large boulder resting in between the garden and the apple trees, its rough, oblong, shape casting a shadow over their crops. He remembered it was on the chore list to take care of; it had to be taken down to the stone query.

“Ya’ want me to take care of that?” asked Big Mac, nodding over in the direction of the stone.

“Hmm? Oh, nah. Wildfire said he’d take care of it when he got back.”

Applejack’s ears flinched, picking up something off in the distance, something that sounded like a voice, shouting out in a scratchy tone.

“What in the hay?” murmured Applejack.

“Go! Go!!!” shouted the voice, coming up the trail quickly.

Just over the hump in the trail, a pair of light blue wings could be seen, flapping rapidly as they peered over the hill, coming more into view as the shouting came further into earshot. A Rainbow mane quickly followed, the face of the mare it belonged to twisted into an intense strained face as the pegasus shouted into the ear of the other orange colored pegasus stopping out the trail.

“Well, speak of the devil!” said Applejack, a sight to her to see the two ponies coming up the trail paired up in this way.

Wildfire stomped the road, kicking up dirt and dust off the dry soil, the dust beginning to cake along his sweaty underside and in the pits of his hooves. Rainbow Dash continued to drill the orange stallion, forcing him forward and feeding him energy he wouldn’t have had otherwise. For every command she fed him, he responded with a grunt and a nod of his bobbing head, continually remoistening his mouth as the wind from Dash’s wings blew the dirt clouds back in his face, making the slimy feeling in his mouth become a little more gritty feeling.

“Come on! Don’t let up! Right there! I want you to sprint to the entrance!” shouted Dash, pointing to the white arch way out in front of the farm.

Wildfire gave his all, mane flapping in the wind, back straight, head bobbing up and down as he rolled his neck. He definitely wasn’t letting up, and he wouldn’t at this point. He lunged forward some, wanting to thrust forth with his wings but resisting the urge to even let them stretch out. He took the corner under the arch way tight, sliding out on his hooves in the loose soil, and charging right into the barn yard.

“There! That hay bale is the finish line! Hurry! They’re gaining! Faster! Faster!!!” shouted Dash as she skipped the fence, her voice cracking up as she shouted Wildfire on.

Wildfire leaned into his stride, stretching out like a greyhound and rocketing his slender body forward. Dash was invigorated by his determination, and her shouting continued to charge him up; both feeding off each other’s energy.

Wildfire crossed the stack of hay bales, immediately slowing his hard driving charge to a light trot, taking a rest to catch his breath. Rainbow Dash circled him, congratulating him with a quick splash of water from a bucket she filled from the barn spigot. His mane stuck to his head, except for the part over his forehead which seemed to stand on its own. The Apples watched on, seeing the once aggressive ponies acting civil, somewhat, toward each other for a change.

“I think they’re starting to get along.” said Applejack, getting a half nod from Big Mac.

Wildfire sighed out a drawn out breath, preparing himself for another set of exercises. Although he wasn’t looking entirely eager about it, as he pranced about in anticipation, he was definitely looking pumped enough to complete it. He stretched out his back legs, laying out flat as he held himself up on his front legs. He lowered himself down slowly, then thrust himself back up, repeating this process several times over as the sweat from his mane ran down his face. It didn’t seem too hard for him for Rainbow. She sprouted another idea as she watched Wildfire work. She landed beside him and placed a fore hoof on his back, pressing him to the ground firmly with a thud.

“Hey! What are you doing?” exclaimed Wildfire.

“Well you wanted to push yourself, right?” Wildfire gave her another half-crazy stare. He couldn’t help but think that she was just torturing him, but he would let that get to him. Dash leaned down some, the sun glaring in Wildfire’s eyes shadowing Dash’s face. “Come on! Ten more, strong pony!”

With a huff, Wildfire lifted himself, strained by the added weight that Rainbow was presenting to him. The first few went quietly, but Dash demanded that Wildfire counted them out. Wildfire did call out his count too, all the way up to ten, becoming louder and more pronounced with each push. His legs shaky now, he picked himself up and walked around some, catching his breath once more.

“Hey! Applejack.” said a winded Wildfire. “Still need me to take care of this rock?”

“Sure. Go ahead sugar cube!” said Applejack, sharing a wide smile with Applebloom who was watching from the loft window.

Wildfire stepped over to the large rock, looking it over and preparing himself a plan to start moving it along. Unannounced to Wildfire, Dash had also stepped over to the rock, bracing herself against the other side. Her mischievous smile returned, daring to challenge Wildfire even more. Big Mac saw her, and leaned over to Applejack at his side.

“You sure they getting along sis?” said Big Mac, the corn grass wiggling in his mouth.

“Yeah, I’d say they are getting along just fine.”

Wildfire shoved at the rock with his shoulder, not getting even the slightest budge out of it. He pushed again, and again, beginning to get giggles out of Dash still holding the boulder down on the other side. Quick to frustrate, Wildfire turned abruptly and gave the stone a firm buck, sending it rolling over and away from him, capturing the hidden Rainbow Dash and pinning her beneath the rock. Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom all watched terrorized by the sight of the stone overtaking Dash. She disappeared under the rock, the boulder rolling over her and another five feet from her. She turned out lucky though, as she popped her head up from a ditch that she had fallen into, safeguarded from the weight of the stone.

Applebloom ran down from the loft, panic springing her too, quickly joining her sister and her brother.

Rainbow Dash turned to Wildfire, who was just as shocked as the Apples were, standing on three legs with the front one lifted up, tensed and frightened. Dash didn’t feel the same surprise as the rest of them did though, or at least not for long, for her panic quickly turned to rage, directed at Wildfire with bearing teeth and a focused brow sort of scowl.

“And just what was that for?” shouted Rainbow, her rough voice breaking up into a squeal, hopping out of the hole and quickly closing the gap between her and Wildfire. “You could have crushed me!”

“You should have said something then! I don’t have x-ray vision!” Wildfire said, his breath returning with his frustration, his dripping coat glistening in the sun.

“Well excuse me for trying to push you a little.”

“I don’t remember asking you to help me.”

“Help you?”

“I guess they aren’t getting along then…” said Applejack, the long faces of the other ponies nodding in agreement.

“I was trying to break you!”

“For what reason!?” Wildfire stepped in closer, narrowing his eyes on the blue pegasus’, the red hue in his iris mixed in with the green shining like the apples did on the trees in the sun, sweat and water dripping from his nose to the ground at Dash’s hooves. “To see me suffer?”

“I want to see just how great you are when you’re exhausted.”

“Is this still about me out running you the other day? Because it wasn’t even meant to be a race, so I sure as hell was not cheating!” Applejack pulled Applebloom closer and covered her ears.

“Then prove it! I want a legit race!” demanded Rainbow Dash.

“Ok then… time, place, terms.”

“Two days from now at noon, Ghastly Gorge, all the time you want to prepare!”

“Ghastly Gorge?” The other ponies were struck speechless, terrified. Wildfire probably hadn’t been around long enough to hear the horrors of Ghastly Gorge; the giant Quarray Eels, the intense gusts, thick patches of razor sharp Bramble Bushes; just a few of those horrors to name. They had known the path that Rainbow was referring to as Ghastly Gorge specifically; a path that hit all the dangers and obstacles possible. Ghastly Gorge itself was about a few miles out of town as well, where no civilization resided aside from where the train tracks lay; a serious problem if something were to go wrong.

“And you’d better not chicken out!” said Dash, poking a hoof into Wildfire’s chest.

“Just make sure you don’t get hung up on your own tail.” said Wildfire, shoving Dash off of him.

“Right back at ya’ big wig!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, this big wig is going to get enough practice to give you a run for your money, so don’t expect me to go soft on you.” said Wildfire, staring Rainbow down.

Dash groaned, gritting her teeth.

“Fine!” shouted Rainbow.

“Fine!” returned Wildfire.

Dash tore off through the trees and over the hill, blistering speeds tearing leaves and some apples off the trees. Applejack, Big Mac, and Applebloom all stood frozen, their jaws and eyes both open wide as their eyes fixed back on Wildfire, whose breath had gotten shaky. His weak knees trembled, as did his body, and his teeth chattered some, frustration over taking him completely, a mix of exhaustion and fury filling him. The water in his hair was practically steaming, Wildfire was so extremely heated by his fight with Rainbow, and wasn’t seeming to let it go.

His attention turned over to the boulder, still resting solid on the farm land, a shallow rut formed by its weight from where it had rolled across the ground. His breath labored, slowly building up to a louder huff, which slowly built to a frustrated grumble, with quickly turned into a loud furious scream, filling the tranquil atmosphere of Sweet Apple Acres with fury. He charged it, his wide sprinting stride returning to the light frame of the orange pegasus, quickly rushing the rock, spinning, and kicking his legs out straight, the added momentum from his stride giving him much more power than he needed to move the rock.

It rolled over, rumbling the ground as it tumbled over itself, chips of the stone breaking off in small pebbles and littering the ground where the boulder once stood. The rock caught an edge, rolling back up and balancing on a corner for a split second before falling back in the direction it came from. Wildfire rushed it again, planting his fore hooves on its underside and spreading his wings out wide, thrusting up against the rock and lifting it back up. The rock left the ground under Wildfire’s power, arcing lazily with a small amount of altitude that pointed towards the sky and down the road away from the farm. In one final motion, Wildfire twisted his wings in opposite directions, acrobatically turning his rear to the stone and giving it one more firm kick, the speed and the ferocity of his hooves sending into a violent line drive, hopping the farm’s fence, and landing with a ground shaking thump and rolling down the road.

Wildfire, still breathing shakily, fell back to the ground, planting his hooves firmly where he stood. He closed his eyes and looked towards the ground then, breathing deeper, his hyperventilating calming back down to a steady even breath. His shakiness calmed, and his composure returned, slowly opening his green and red eyes and fixing a concentrated, dark scowl forward, neck ridged and not moving.

The Apples all stood terrified, pale in the face as Wildfire’s outrage scared them stiff. They didn’t dare talk to him, and they definitely didn’t want to try and calm him down. They just let Wildfire leave, watching him slowly walk out the front of the farm and back to Ponyville, trembling with rage.

Chapter 15

“I just don’t get it Rainbow.” said Fluttershy, standing center room of Rainbow’s bedroom.

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Dash were gathered back in Rainbow’s house, a cloud house that floated high above the ground just outside south of Sweet Apple Acres, not even an hour after her fight with Wildfire. It was made of some of the fluffiest clouds that the Equestrian Weather Factory over in Cloudsdale would craft, made specifically for houses and other buildings. From its stacked, cumulonimbus like build sprouted several rainbows, arcing from one side of the house to the other, and even a rainbow water fall that rained down from the sky and evaporated before making it to the ground below.

The inside was much like a small coliseum, a sort of small mansion. Stone pillars and gold covered walls filled its entrance, held up by the strong bond of the fluffy clouds, putting them to the test under the tons of material it suspended within its grasp. The rest of the house was colored with the white fluffy interior of the clouds that made up the house, and the blue colored sky marble and decorative tile that ornamented the floor. It was a very noble home indeed, especially for the brash natured Rainbow Dash, who held down the fort by herself.

Rainbow was exploring her own bedroom at this point, a large hall with a large three step pedestal at its end, which her bed sat upon. She kept searching high and low, scanning over her dresser, her wooden chest, through her closet, on her clothing rack, looking for something she had misplaced.

“You don’t like him because he was mean to you? He seemed like a pretty nice pony to me.” said Fluttershy, unable to imagine Wildfire having any sort of mean streak.

“No silly!” Pinkie interjected, wearing a pair of boots that resembled snow shoes, otherwise restricted by her earth pony body from stepping a hoof on the clouds. “It’s because when he first saw Rainbow Dash, he was like, ZOOOOOM! Then Dash was like, “Nobody is faster than I am!” But then Wildfire was like, KER-POW! Like a rocket!” explained Pinkie, making all the necessary gestures.

“Will you guys shut up!” said Dash, continuing to rummage through her things.

“What are you looking for Dash?” said Pinkie, head cocked sideways in a curious fashion.

“I’m looking for my racing goggles.”

“Oh! These?” Pinkie reached up on a hook that hung over Dash’s dresser. She pulled down a blue pair of round goggles, the frames had small bills protruding from like ball caps, and both lenses were slightly tinted, to protect from the sun.

Rainbow, with a sort of annoyed glare, snatched the goggles from Pinkie’s hoof.

“You’re just… to good at that.” said Rainbow.

“You’ve never needed goggles before Dash.” said Fluttershy as Dash fit the goggles around her head and over her rainbow mane, adjusting the straps tightly.

“I know, but I’m going to make sure that pony runs a fair race. So I’m going to need to see 100% of what he’s doing!”

Both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looked at each other, the distressful expressions on both their face as evident as their ears were folded sideways. Fluttershy stepped up to Dash, looking kindly into her eyes and speaking out in more sincerely toned voice.

“Dash, have you thought about, um, maybe, just… talking this out with Wildfire?”

“Pfft! Talk it out? With that jerk!?” sneered Rainbow, taking up a rag and giving her goggles a quick wipe down.

“Oh, he’s not a jerk Rainbow, he’s… just defensive I guess…”

“Defensive!? He’s the one who o-fended me!”

Dash’s aggressive side was beginning to rub off on the yellow mare, shifting her shyness to a more aggravated approach.

“Ok. What happens when you startle a snake?” Fluttershy’s face turned angry. “It bites! And it’s not usually very pleasant!” said Fluttershy, stomping a hoof on the floor.

Rainbow Dash didn’t share Fluttershy’s easy-to-startle attitude. She just shook her head at Fluttershy as she again fit the goggles over her ears.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was… just saying…” backed off Fluttershy, retracting her angry attitude.

“Well some snakes need to learn that stuff can bite back!”

Fluttershy went back to Pinkie’s side, Pinkie putting a hoof on Fluttershy’s back as she turned around and drooped her head dejectedly to the floor.

“Sooo… You’re really gonna race this guy?” asked Pinkie as she comforted Fluttershy. “I mean he already out ran you once, and who knows how fast he can go through a place like Ghastly Gorge? Ya know?”

“Pinkie! I don’t need that!” shouted Dash. Pinkie and Fluttershy jumped back, frightened by Dash’s outburst.

Dash’s eyes bounced back and forth between her friend’s scared faces, unable to sympathize with them, their doubt in her shaking her trust in them.

“He’s just another punk who thinks he can come in and take over! And punks like that deserve to be put in their place! He asked for it anyway, so I’m going to give it to him; no mercy! At all! Now come on, I’m going to run the course a few times to see if anything has changed.”

Dash turned for her bedroom balcony door, stretching her wings out wide and letting the soft breeze rustling the doors drapes hit them, getting a feel for the weather.

“Dash, everypony in Ponyville knows you’re the fastest thing alive!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah. Why do you need to race him?” added Fluttershy.

Dash stopped and turned, pausing to look them bluntly in the eye.

“Because, he beat me on unfair grounds. I’m going to defend my title, and prove myself, as the best flying pony in a fair, unbiased match… that, and he’s just a straight up jerk!”

Fluttershy’s ears drooped, and Pinkie Pie sighed sadly, both watching their friend fly out the door and off to Ghastly Gorge, fueled by her hatred towards the orange stallion.

“Well, so much for talking her down.” said Pinkie Pie.

“This just isn’t like her…” said Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie shaking her head in agreement.

“I wonder how the others are doing?” said Fluttershy.

“…Should we follow her?”

Fluttershy nodded after a quick thinking spell. “Yes. I’ll go.” she said, picking up and spreading her wings out, taking off after the rainbow pegasus.

Pinkie ran out the door and onto the balcony, getting on a small pedal powered flying contraption that she had parked outside the bedroom door. She quickly gave it power, pressing down on the pedals and spinning up the machine’s helicopter roaders and lifting it off the cloud houses balcony under her own power.

“Hey! Wait for meee!” shouted Pinkie, slowly putting along through the air.

Chapter 16

Things were just a tense back at the library, where Wildfire was rummaging through books, having Twilight and Spike aid him in his query for a certain book he was requesting to look at. Rarity and Applejack joined them as well, standing aside and joining in on their conversation, watching the occasional book fly overhead as they watched them work out where Wildfire’s book was.

“I don’t get it.” Twilight said, scanning down her shelves book by book. “You and Dash are having a grudge match?”

“…Basically…” said Wildfire, scanning through the book in a similar, yet, more rampant manner than Twilight.

“And why is this again?” asked Twilight, beginning to pull books down from higher shelves with her horn.

“Because she’s a sore ass loser, that’s why!” Wildfire slammed the book back into the shelf.

“Hey! Easy! ” exclaimed Twilight, her grave expression in worry towards her books.

Twilight turned back to the shelf before her, reaching up into the highest shelf with her magic and pulling the books down one by one, making them dance on the air in a purple aurora that also encompassed her horn.

“Ah! Here it is!” she said, returning all the books back to their shelf at once and turning towards her study table with a thick book; its cover a dark blue and its binding adorned with gold trim and black boxes with gold text, its front cover reading, “Equestrian Almanac: Landscape and Maps.”

It was gently handled by her, the aged book floating thorugh the libaray level in the air. Wildfire and Spike joined her at the table, eagerly waiting for it to open up on its own and flip through its own pages at Twilight’s command. They all stared impatiently, watching the book hover down like a leaf, slower even.

Without warning, the book began to tremor, shaking unsteadily, and the purple aurora turned to a lifeless muddy grey color. The book forced itself to the table at speed, slapping the table with a sharp smack that rung out in the library, startling everyone, all except Wildfire, who was too angry to be phased by it.

“Whoa! You alright Twilight?” asked Spike.

“Yeah… I… I didn’t mean to do that... it didn’t even feel like I did.”

Wildfire opened the book, quickly flipping through the pages, dismissing Twilight’s sudden energy flux, and getting the others to dismiss it quickly too. Twilight and Spike each watched over his shoulders as he flipped through the book, passing over maps of Ponyville, and the mountain ranges out east, and the large network of roadways throughout Equestria. He even flipped passed the main map, looking through the alphabetically organized book to the “G” section, right to the map of Ghastly Gorge.

He studied it closely, following its crooked shape from the bottom of the page all the way to the top.

“You and Dash are really going to race through there?” asked Spike.

“Yeah…” Wildfire nodded, closely observing the map. “And I’m guessing the bragging blue wonder already has?”

“Yeah…” said Spike and Twilight.

Twilight stepped to the side of the table, trying to avert Wildfire’s attention from the almanac. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” she asked. “I know Dash is hard headed, bu-”

“Yeah, another filly who’s holding the freaking world in her hooves. I know.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, offended by the way Wildfire snapped back at her.

“Now sugar cube.” Applejack stepped forward. “Maybe y’all should simmer down n’ talk thing out?”

“I agree.” added Rarity. “We need to sit down and try to come to an agreement, like civilized ponies should.”

“If you girls want civilized, then you’re asking the wrong ponies!” said Wildfire, eyes still fixed on the book.

“We know that Dash isn’t the best behaved one, but please try?” asked Rarity, stepping to the other side of the table.

“Look, I’m sorry! But that filly has her head up her butt so far that she can’t even see the light of day anymore!” said Wildfire, breaking his stare with the map and locking it on Rarity’s eyes, raising his voice to her.

Rarity was surprised of Wildfire; she had thought him to be a better behaved stallion than this, a gentleman with a rougher exterior, but she was beginning to think that he really was just as gruff as he looked.

“Well, I never!” said Rarity, turning up her nose.

Applejack shook her head, also beginning to become frustrated with Wildfire’s attitude. “Seems that Dash ain’t the only one who’s so barefaced either.” glowering at Wildfire.

Wildfire turned to Applejack now, fixing his stare on Applejack’s angry expression. “Hey, I tried reasoning with her at first, but now we’re way passed that point!”

The room got awkwardly quiet, Rarity, Twilight, and Spike all watching Applejack and Wildfire stare each other down with intent to get into a scrap themselves. They barely moved at all, Wildfire’s wings erect and his green fiery eyes bouncing back and forth between each of Applejack’s eyes, pools of anger and sorrow as Wildfire saw his reflection in them, big and green as his were. Applejack stood her ground too, staring Wildfire directly in the face, almost looking through him, her brow lowered in focus and ferocity.

Wildfire couldn’t keep his eyes locked with Applejack’s for long though, as he lightened his attitude towards her, sighing with a melancholy expression, looking back at Rarity and Twilight with the same sorry look.

“Sorry, you’re not the ones I should be mad at…” Wildfire said, turning back to the book and flattening out its pages. “She said we had all the time to prepare. I’m going to go run it a few times. If she wants a fair race, then there is no way that I’m going to let her have the home field advantage.”

Twilight sighed, her face fixed in a brooding expression. She looked over at Spike, who was watching Wildfire with the same expression. He looked back at Twilight, shrugging for lack of any idea to try and calm Wildfire down.

“Why?” asked Twilight, turning back to Wildfire.

“Because I don’t know the course?” said Wildfire, closing the book.

“No. Why do you have to prove yourself better than she is?”

Wildfire didn’t know what to say at first, searching his words as he tried to come up with an answer for her. “Because, she wanted a race, a fair race. She’ll get one.”

They all looked at Wildfire, worried for his own wellbeing. They watched him head for the front door, preparing to fly over to Ghastly Gorge to start his practice.

“That… and she’s just plain annoying…” added Wildfire, earning an immediate frown from Spike who was fed up with the hate.

Wildfire opened the front door wide, taking into the air quickly with his large wings spread wide and making his way out of Ponyville. The others all followed, making haste to tail him from Ponyville, all the way to Ghastly Gorge.

Chapter 17

About half an hour outside of Ponyville, just along the edge of a heavily wooded area, Twilight, Spike, Applejack, and Rarity had finally made it to Ghastly Gorge, a mile wide fissure lined with patches of thick forest of pine and open pasture, rocky cliff side, and small streams of water down on the floor of the canyon. Wildfire had already started his practice run, weaving in and out of the gorge, making himself a path through all the dark dank tunnels, thick patches of the thick bramble bushes, and even daring to take a couple passes through the nesting area of the giant, red, slimy Quarray Eels. The giant eels usually lunged from their nests, which were dug into the side of the canyon wall, when anything they could use as food wandered by. But, they seemed strangely inactive at the moment, especially with Wildfire making them their target repeatedly so.

The girls and Spike all caught their breath as they watched Wildfire round the canyon again, making another loop around to what must have been his umpteenth time of trailing the course. His eyes followed the course as he passed all obstacles by, his frown unchanging and brow not raising out of focus. His rolled and juked about wildly, maneuvering the inside of the stone fissure and kicking up dust and moisture from its floor.

“Well, it looks like he’s hard at work, doesn’t it?” said Rarity.

“Yeah, doesn’t look like he’s enjoying his self too much either.” said AJ.

“Well hopefully it doesn’t get too out of hand.” said Twilight. “If it does continue… well, I just hope this will be the end of it.” Spike nodded in agreement.

“Hey!” shouted a far of voice, scratchy in tone.

Rainbow Dash approached them, followed promptly by Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie who was worn out from pedaling her machine forward so tirelessly.

Rainbow was just able to catch the sight of Wildfire rounding the corner and flying out of view. She charged it without haste, hugging the ground low and making her way to the opening to the gorge.

“Rainbow! Stop!” shouted Applejack, stepping into Dash’s path.

Rainbow’s hooves hit the ground and dug into the grass, leaving two long parallel lines of unearthed soil as she skidded to a stop, wings spread out wide to catch the air to slow herself faster.

“Don’t tell me that the orange wonder is already out there.” she scoffed, trying to side step Applejack.

“Dash, please try and calm down.” Applejack stepped forward.

“Calm down? That jerk is out there on my turf! Why should I calm down?”

“Rainbow! Please? Just for a sec?” asked Applejack, calming her tone as she took off her hat, her blonde locks shining in the sun.

Rainbow Dash scowled, glaring at Applejack who was looking at her pleadingly to hear her out. Rainbow huffed, plopping her haunches on the ground before her friends and sitting up like a dog.

“What?” pouted Dash.

Applejack sat down like Rainbow did. “Now, we know that you have a grudge with this guy, but you gotta calm down sugar cube. We’re all worried about ya’.” Dash looked to one side, shamed of herself that she was worrying her friends so.

Rounding the opposite corner of the exposed grey stone came Wildfire, shooting out of the dark cavern at the bottom of the ravine. He climbed and gained some altitude again, centering his path along the middle of the ravine, allowing his eyes to readjust to the blinding sun. The blurriness of all the colors eventually came back to him; the grey of the canyon walls, the greens and yellows of the plants, the blue of the water, and the rainbow hue of a far off pony in the distance, which his eyes were immediately drawn to.

Dash stuck out quite plainly to Wildfire, her rainbow hair gleaming in the sun. His concentration now turned towards her, he immediately pulled up out of the canyon and straight into the air, ascending rapidly into the sky.

Dash’s pitiful expression turned sour again as her eye caught Wildfire rocketing out of the ravine, pulling back and diving out of the sky towards her and everyone else. Applejack didn’t seem to notice, she was too busy trying to talk down Rainbow.

“Now if you two were to just talk things over, I’m sure you two could come to some sort of settlement. Y’all are acting like two pigs fighting-”

A strong gust of air took Rainbow in a blink, vanishing quickly out of Applejack’s sight as her hat was blown off of the top of her head and into her face.

“…Over the last bucket of oats…” finished Applejack, her voice muffled by her leather cowgirl cap.

She lifted her hat out of her face, finding the two malicious pegasi going at it again, hovering just above the ground as they circled around each other. She and all the others stood by and watched, not daring to interrupt either of them.

“And just what are you doing here!?” Wildfire demanded to know as he commanded Dash to answer him.

“What are you doing here?” asked Dash, deflecting his question.

“I’m here to get familiar with this course. If this is going to be a fair race, then it’s going to be all around fair; same practice and same familiarity with the course, and considering you’ve already flown this thing, you don’t need much practice.” said Wildfire, pointing at Dash.

Dash shoved Wildfire’s hoof away from her. “The course can change!” said Rainbow, pulling her goggles off and flinging them to the ground. “Especially Ghastly Gorge! No telling how much this place has changed since the last time anypony has been here.”

“It’s a solid landscape, not a newly paved road.”

“It’s an unstable, flooded, overgrown, infested landscape! Who knows how much all the crud down there has taken over? Who knows!? The course could be somewhat different!”

Both the ponies stomped to the ground, each of them stood commanding over each other in order to intimidate one another. Either personality wouldn’t have allowed backing down though, getting close and in each other’s faces, threatening to break out into a brawl. All the others were becoming anxious of the situation as it continued to spiral out of control. They watched back and forth as the fight went on.

“Yeah. Somewhat, just like you’re acting somewhat crazy.” Wildfire stepped in some more.

“And just like you’re somewhat less pony than other stallions out there.” Dash stepped in closer.

“Hey! This isn’t a cutie mark thing alright? This is a racing thing!”

“Yeah, a race that I’m going to win! Now that it’s on fair grounds, I’m going to prove myself to be faster, more agile… better!”

“This fiasco is getting out of control.” said Rarity, whispering to Twilight.

“I know!” said Twilight, reluctantly stepping forward. “I’ll see if I can butt in.”

“Yeah right! You still couldn’t keep up!” said Wildfire, spitting some as he said it, catching another shot of Dash’s cutie mark. “Not with your thunder fl-”

Wildfire’s speech was broken by a loud crack; the sound of Dash’s lightning fast hoof striking Wildfire’s face and following all the way through in one swift motion. His head jostled to the left, Wildfire’s eyes widened, the pain of his cheek cut open by Dash’s sharp edged hooves and his jowl smashed with sheer brute force quickly set in. His hoof slowly came to his face, finding the warm, wet sensation of his blood dripping down his face out of a cut that spanned the length of his cheek. He turned, the face of Rainbow sneering back at him, deathly almost, blushing slightly out of embarrassment of Wildfire’s vulgar nickname for her.

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks just feet from the feuding ponies when Dash made contact with Wildfire, her eyes, too, were widened in surprise of the sudden escalation of the abuse that Dash and Wildfire were dishing out on each other. All the others stood, petrified, jaws hanging open, covering their mouths and their eyes, frightened by what may happen next.

“Holy guacamole!” said Spike, quietly to himself.

Wildfire seemed to show remorse, if only for a second, before putting his hoof back on the ground, still stained with blood, and recomposing himself entirely. He blinked slowly, the red hue in his eyes flickering wildly, glaring blankly at the blue pegasus. It was almost scary, how calm he appeared. He straightened his posture giving him a much higher vantage over Dash in his proper stance. His glance bounced back and forth between Dash and the other girls, seeing the mix of expressions all fixed on Dash and him.

“So, I’ve gotten in enough practice today. See you in a couple of days.” said Wildfire, turning and flying off slowly back to Ponyville.

Twilight ran after him up to the point where he gained too much altitude to be able to reach him. She stopped, helplessly watching Wildfire glide off as everyone else did.

Applejack turned to Rainbow, glaring at her angrily. “I think y’all should apologize for that. What in the heck was that for anyway?”

“What is all of this brutish nonsense going to accomplish?” added Rarity, becoming huffy as Applejack was.

Dash was surprised; her friends were beginning to gang up on her?

“He looked hurt!” said Fluttershy.

“Yeah! In more than one way!” said Pinkie Pie.

Twilight turned around, turning the entirety of her frustration towards Rainbow Dash, who was frightened that her friends had turned against her so quickly.

“When are you two going to drop this hostility?” asked Twilight.

Rainbow was struck speechless, unable to even get a word out. Her confused gaze bounced around, seeing the disapproving faces of her loyal friends. Even Spike looked disappointed in her. Rainbow was almost saddened by it; not one of them was in support of her. Still off in the distance, she could see Wildfire disappearing under the tree line. She watched him fade out of sight, hanging low as he glided along.

Rainbow’s ears drooped, thinking about what she had just done. She knew she wasn’t right to do it, but he had just pushed her so hard. She’d been pushing him hard too, returning him with the same malevolence he had given her. At this point, she could hardly remember who was the one to actually start the entire fight. She just couldn’t help but think;

“Am I the bad guy in this?”

Rainbow’s sorrow quickly turned to frustration, her melancholy expression being replaced by a teeth bearing scowl. She turned back to her friends, shooting them back an fiercer look than she was receiving.

“How am I the bad guy in this?” she shouted, arms thrown up in the air in disbelief.

She received no answer back, only dark scowls from her friends.

Rainbow hardly had the will to be mad at them though. Her hotheadedness quickly cooled again, leaving a lingering hint of frustration.

Shamefully, she turned to her friends, averting her eyes, not able to keep contact with any one of her friends for too long. She knew she wanted to say she was sorry, she knew what she did was wrong, but she also knew that she had already committed herself to the race. Half-heartedly, she left them, taking to the air and beginning her practice for the race.

Chapter 18

The day had arrived, two days since the deal between Dash and Wildfire had been made. The ponies had already started making their long trip to Ghastly Gorge, but the trip was not at all a lonely one. A small portion of the town had shown up at the site for the race as well. Word had begun to spread fast after the boulder Wildfire launched out of fury landed in the vicinity of the Ponyville school yard, bearing a set of deep, jagged hoof prints in its surface. Cheerilee, the Ponyville school teacher, only knew Big Mac and Applejack to possess enough strength to even be able to move a boulder. Yet, the scrawnier Wildfire threw it through the air like a cannonball launched from a high caliber gun.

Cheerilee had talked to Applejack about the problem, and was quick to surprise upon hearing the entire story; Dash, Wildfire, and their challenge. It wasn’t very long after that the word of said challenge began spreading through Ponyville.

It wasn’t a horrid day at all; completely clear and sunny skies. A perfect day for flying, for what it was worth. It was all the more reason for there to be such a crowd, all lining up along the edge of the Gorge, taped off neatly by wooden dowels and long yellow streamer. A small crowd also gathered around the start/finish line, also tapped off on either side with a large checkered banner spanning over it. A few signs even stuck out above the crowd, all cheering on Rainbow.

The shadows cast by the ponies, signs, and streamers began to disappear underneath them, just as the clock struck noon.

Just over the hill from the direction of Ponyville, a small group of ponies could be seen arriving on time. Wildfire glided over the ground gracefully, unhesitant to make a bee line for the starting gate. Twilight followed up behind, wearing her saddle bag, joined by Rarity and Spike. From the opposite way, another group of ponies were arriving simultaneously. Rainbow Dash floated out of the woods from the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, her goggles on her head smashing her rainbow mane down beneath the lenses. She was followed up promptly by Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy.

They both made their way to the starting gate in a gentle haste, both ready to get the race done and over with. The girls arrived behind them, Spike breaking off and quickly waddling along to the middle of the starting gate after taking a few supplies from Twilight’s tote. Wildfire and Dash exchanged nods, walking side by side up to the starting line.

“Rainbow Dash! Wildfire!” shouted a voice from the side of the gate.

It was Princess Celestia, quickly stepping into the path of Dash and Wildfire and stopping their advance to the starting line. Wildfire wondered how Celestia had heard of the race. Had word really spread as far as Canterlot of his and Dash’s fight? Or more likely, Twilight must have sent a letter to Celestia. In either case, Wildfire didn’t object to the notion of Celestia being there, but he didn’t want to be talked down. He held true to his word. Both Dash and Wildfire bowed lightly as Celestia stepped forward.

“Are you two sure you want to do this?” asked Celestia.

Dash and Wildfire looked at each other, expressionless. Wildfire turned back to Celestia, “We already agreed on it, we have to do this.” said Wildfire.

“No one has to do anything, if you two would…” Celestia paused, her eyes wandering form Wildfire’s eyes down to the mark on his face.

“Wildfire, what’s that cut on your cheek?”

“Um…” Wildfire hunched a bit, his eyes turning angrily over at Rainbow who was looking at the ground with a bit of shame.

“Those cacti in the Gorge are hard to maneuver around.” said Wildfire.

Rainbow turned, eyeing Wildfire in a fit of confusion. He was defending her, again? Why would he lie to Celestia about being hit? Perhaps he was embarrassed about getting hit by a mare? Perhaps, but Rainbow thought of him as a bigger stallion than that.

“See, and that’s just it, you two are putting yourselves in danger just to prove who’s best?” Celestia looked out at the canyon, beginning to get a bitter feeling in her stomach. “It’s not just a regular flight over Ponyville, this is life threatening, and I shouldn’t allow this kind of behavior. A promise, or even a bet, that’s one thing, but a dare such as this...”

Dash began mouthing her words and waving her hoof around childishly, openly mocking Celestia behind her back, Celestia’s words beginning to annoy the blue pegasus. Wildfire caught her quickly, elbowing her in the ribs firmly to get her to stop. She jumped a bit and brought her hind leg up to her side, shooting a dirty look over at Wildfire. Wildfire shot back the same scowl, gesturing her to plant her hooves back on the ground. Rainbow Dash, with a sigh, complied, turning her attention back to Princess Celestia, nervous enough for both pegasi.

“Princess.” said Wildfire, reassuringly, “You know I’ve been through worse, and I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash over here has been through worse too. We can handle ourselves.”

Celestia moaned and nodded, looking both ponies stern in the eye. She was clearly bothered, but had trust in Wildfire and Dash that they could both handle what they were dishing out on each other.

“I know, you’re both very talented fliers… just be careful out there.” said Celestia, turning and leaving, receiving farewell bows from both Rainbow and Wildfire.

Spike walked forward, joined up by Twilight. Spike cleared his throat, holding up a small sheet of paper.

“Ahem. Ok. Here are the rules. One lap around the course; straight out, around the course, and back to this finish line. The flyers are to remain inside the Gorge at all times, except for the above ground parts marked off by the red tape.” Both Dash and Wildfire listened intently as they stared each other down, focusing all their energy on the race.

“You are to stay inside the marked off areas at all times.” Spike continued. “A time penalty will be issued if you fly outside area. There will also be no hitting, shoving, poking, bumping, biting, eye jabbing, ear pulling-” Twilight tapped Spike on the shoulder, telling him to hurry up, “… or any other physical interference between the racers at any time during the race. A time penalty will also be issued for this kind of conduct. Finally, there will be no trash talk. Keep the race good, clean, and fair. Remember, there will be judges watching you to make sure that you do so.”

Both Wildfire and Dash nodded in agreement to Spike’s rules, still locking eyes with each other. Dash’s eyes strayed a little, catching glimpses of the mark upon Wildfire’s face.

“Alright, the race will begin as soon as the poppers go off. At that time, the racers will proceed to gallop out of the gate and to the edge of the gorge, wings are only allowed when you have crossed the yellow line at the end and you have cleared the cliff. You will dive down to build speed, skimming the cliff face, and staying inside the flagged area. As soon as this is clear, you are free to fly about the space of the gorge. Again, racers are not to fly above the gorge and are to stay within the course until the race permits it.” Spike searched the paper one last time looking for anything he may have missed. “Are these rules clear?”

They both responded without breaking eye contact.

“Yeah.” said Dash.

“Crystal.” Wildfire nodded.

“Have a good race! Get to the line and stand by.” said Spike.

All who stood nearby wished Dash and Wildfire good luck, even Twilight who was saddened that she was powerless to stop the feud between the ponies gave them praise. Though, as they all watched Wildfire and Dash walk off side by side, they all could smile a bit. It was a refreshing change to see them cooperate, but still not comforting to watch them go through with such a dangerous stunt. They both walked forward with their gazes fixed ahead, eyes on the finish line ahead of them.

Wildfire wasn’t showing any sign of remorse, but Dash was beginning to feel a little apprehensive. Her eyes kept wandering over to Wildfire, trying to get a better look at the mark upon his cheek.

“So.” Dash broke the intense silence between them, “How’s that, um… mark?”

“It’s fine.” said Wildfire, not breaking his eyes with the finish line.

“Maybe you should put some ice on it or something?” suggested Dash.

“Already did.” said Wildfire, getting a silent nod from Dash.

“Do your teeth hurt?”

Wildfire sighed a short annoyed breath. “It hurts to chew, but it’s alright if I don’t bother it.”

Dash nodded, and sighed quietly. She moped, hanging her head shamefully again. She was beginning to become aware that she had not been herself lately. She also began to wonder what her friends must have thought of her at this point, pushing this total stranger to the limit. She wanted to apologize, she had too, and her sorry eyes pointed up at Wildfire would have said that for her. Wildfire would have seen that, but he was too focused on the race to even notice.

Dash opened her mouth, the words not coming out at first, but eventually she found the courage to speak.

“I’m sorr-“

“Good luck to you.” said Wildfire, cutting off Dash, not wanting to hear another word from her.

Wildfire held out his hoof in front of Dash. She didn’t expect it, and she was almost reluctant at first. But she put on her game face anyway, locked her hoof around his, and gave a firm shake. Wildfire stepped up to the line and began stretching out some, limbering up. With the way he was treating her, it was getting harder to feel bad for him. Though, in the bad of her mind, she couldn’t help but think that she was forcing him to be like that. Her friends clearly didn’t approve, even as they stood by the gate, all watching on with genuinely concerned stares.

“They’re right… What am I doing?” sighed Dash.

It was too late for her to back out. She had to shake herself out of it and put herself back into the race. She followed in Wildfire’s example, stepping up to the line and giving herself some time to stretch out some.

She observed the starting gate and double sided starting banner that she could see read “finish” on its reverse side as the light of the bright summers day shone through it and made the cloth of the banner transparent. The line itself was about double Dash’s wing span, enough for the ponies to stand next to each other, but a tight fit for them to stretch their wings out as they stood side by side. The starting line gave way to the short sprint to the cliff, where the funneling gate began to widen as it extended further out. On either side, behind the tape, the crowd of ponies stood, waving their signs and getting riled up for the start of the race.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” said Spike, stepping out in the middle of the field, a bright yellow popper gun in one claw, and a matching yellow flag in the other.

“Ladies and Gentle colts! Mares and Stallions! Today, we are about to witness a race against wits, smarts, and most of all, SPEED!” announced Spike as the crowd began to silence itself. Spike threw his claws about and gestured as the words came from his small dragon snout, loud and enthusiastic.

“Today, we are going to witness a one-on-one race between the fastest pony in Ponyville, and possibly in all of Equestria, Rainbow Dash!” cheers rang out through the crowd. Dash waved back to the crowd, but not as enthusiastic as her personality would allow, addressing her fans somewhat despondently. Wildfire watched as she waved to the people cheering her on, wearing a somewhat bitter smile on her face as she did so.

“And, the pony who dared to take her on, the newest and mysterious out of town pony, Wildfire!” the crowd cheered once more, Wildfire nodding and smiling, waving back modestly to the cheering crowd.

“Now, racers! Get ready to start the race, and may the best pony win!” shouted Spike.

Both Dash and Wildfire stretched out one last time, making sure they were loose and warmed up enough. Dash slid her goggles down her face, securing them tightly over her eyes. The crowd hushed itself once more as the race was preparing to get underway.

With absolute silence, both of Spike’s arms raised steadily. The small yellow flag flapped in the wind, both Dash and Wildfire watching it intently as they kneeled slightly. Spike slowly lowered the flag next, and both Dash and Wildfire leaned back and raised their hind ends. Everything froze, the silence becoming deafening as the soft wind blew in the ears of all the ponies staring down the racers, anticipating the start. Spike stood still, flag lowered to the ground and popper gun held up in the air straight. Both Dash and Wildfire stood just as still, their manes and feathers blowing in the wind, eyes locked on Spike, awaiting his command.

KRACK

The popper went off with a deafening pop, and not one millisecond passed that both Dash and Wildfire rocketed out of the gate with super athletic reflexes. They both galloped right on by on either side of Spike, the smoke from the gun caught in the stream of gust that blew right by Spike and trialed on them both.

Wildfire began nosing ahead, his longer legs giving him an advantage over Dash. Dash saw it coming, knowing that she wouldn’t win on foot. Though she continued to push harder and over take him, Wildfire pushed back, keeping his lead a definite one, disregarding saving any energy and hoping to gain a demanding lead over Dash. His longer legs could only offer him so much though, and it wasn’t but a few seconds that they were closing in on the cliff.

Just feet from the cliff, Wildfire had already gained about two horse lengths on Dash. He reached the yellow line on the ground, spreading his wings and threw himself over the cliff, bounding out far and away from the cliffs edge. Dash tailed closely behind, slowing herself some and leaping inside Wildfire’s wide arc. The fenced in area, marked by more poles and streamers, stood out to them immediately, and they both dove under the flags lined up along the canyon wall. They picked up speed quickly, gravity taking the aerodynamic pegasi down without restraint.

Dash, wanting an early leg up, dared to accelerate, her speed picking up radically as she skimmed the rough, rocky surface of the canyon wall. She passed Wildfire, blowing on by and flipping acrobatically over him, taking the lead and reaching the canyon floor with a huge velocity. They each soared through the last of the flags, pulling up sharply and leveling out, a slight amount of vapor coming off of their wings as they fought against gravity to pull away from the ground. A judge at the bottom of the canyon passed them as ok in their rapid decent.

They both continued on, Dash hanging slightly ahead of Wildfire in their race through Ghastly Gorge.

Chapter 19

The grey stone of the Ghastly Gorge walls flew by in streaks, the blandness of it all quickly becoming disorienting. The dank smell of the thick air being cut open by the powerful wings of both the pegasi speeding through the canyon, kicking up dirt and dead plant material that littered the floors of Ghastly Gorge; all of it creating a frenzied sort of atmosphere for all the people who watched on, tension already riding high.

Wildfire worked Rainbow Dash quite relentlessly, swerving and bobbing back and forth, not leaving her any room to work with as he pushed on her tail. Dash remained persistent in keeping her lead though, for every move that Wildfire threw at her she could throw back. She took the corners as tight and fast as she could, making sure to keep an eye on her flank. This battle seemed to continue for the entirety of the race, Wildfire running Dash wild all over the course, Dash defending her position at any cost. Both ponies continued at it, flashing through the canyon with wings spread out wide, their fore legs folded under them and their hind legs out stretched, tails and manes flapping widely in the wind.

It wasn’t long before they reached their first major obstacle; the long dark gusty tunnel, burrowed deep down into the stone of the earth. There was something about the shape of the Gorge that gave the tunnel a very windy quality, turning it into a long straight shot of high gusts. Dash entered, followed up promptly by Wildfire who was still crowding Dash.

Dash swept her wings back upon entry to try and streamline herself better, so she could glide forward quicker without too much effort. It wasn’t very far into the tunnel though that she had to stop and pick her stride back up, the turbulent gusts of the tunnel not letting her glide so steadily through the tight space of the enclosure. Wildfire, however, was taking advantage of being in second place, using Dash as a shield to work through the wind battering them both. He was also taking advantage of his larger, more powerful wings, providing him with more lift and more thrust to gain an edge over Dash. He was gaining, and beginning to take on Dash against the head wind. It wouldn’t anything less of a tight fit for Wildfire to fit around Dash. Nosing forward, Wildfire began to make his move.

He flapped his wings harder and picked up more speed, using his draft on Dash to work up enough speed to slingshot around her. He turned, banking hard and making a path just over Dash’s shoulder. Her tirelessly flapping wings barred Wildfire any advance though, retreating quickly and nearly colliding with the blue pegasus. He leveled out quickly, not wasting any more time in making a second move. Wildfire rocketed forward, furling his wings and diving right on by Dash, leveling out once more and taking the lead form her mid tunnel.

With Wildfire in front of her, Dash couldn’t find any room herself to be able to take the lead back, his much wider wingspan filling up the space around him and capping the air in front of her off. She eventually fell back herself, reciprocating with Wildfire and using his larger wingspan as a shield from the harsh gusts. They made it out the other end with Wildfire now in the lead, the transition from high gusts to a solid stand still taking them both by surprise as they rounded the next corner.

Just around the corner at the end of the gorge, they were met with the canyon wall, a large blue arrow painted on it, pointing up, outlined with flags. Neither of them wasted any time in gaining altitude quickly above the Gorge and coming back up to the grassy land above, the course tapped off in a cross-country-like fashion. Both of them hopped the edge, hugging the ground quite close, both of them lightly dragging the tips off their hooves across the grass as they dashed across the land. Dash continued to tail Wildfire, crowding him enough that she could reach out and grab him by the tail.

The course led off into the woods, leading right through the dense tree line, and with neither one slowing down, the thick woods would prove an exciting obstacle. Neither Dash nor Wildfire slowed as they approached the trees, flipping sideways and entering the woods at speed, swerving through the trees and looping back around with the course. The woods also proved a tight fit, the wings of the pegasi clipping numerous branches and taking with them several oak leaves and twigs, the snapping sounds of the trees being clipped darting quickly through the woods. The course eventually swerved back around and lead the racers to an open patch of canopy at the edge of the forest. Wildfire, still closely tailed by Dash, flew through the open tree canopy, the visual of them speeding out of the woods being quickly tailed by a loud applause of the audience watching them rocket out of the trees, spraying leaves and foliage into the air. They fell back to the ground, hugging it tightly as they made another long sprint back to the gorge.

Upon reentering the gorge, they were met with the overgrowth of bramble bushes, cacti and other out of control plants. Wildfire was not ready to be thrown into the obstacle as such speed, but Dash was, readily breaking from his wing and taking a higher route through the potentially deadly, plants. Wildfire stalled some, taking the time to pick a lower route nearer the base of the gorge.

Dash had been closely studying the bushes since her practice and noticed the narrower but straighter path near the top of the plants, one that was narrow enough for her to fit through and hopefully not be pursued Wildfire. It was much tighter a fit than the usual route of hers, but it wasn’t nothing that the agile Rainbow Dash couldn’t handle. Because it wasn’t so low to the ground, Rainbow had much more sun light to work with, her path ahead of her clearly visible. She took a hard left through the vines, accidentally clipping a dead cactus branch and knocking it down below her through the foliage.

The dead branch fell down through the thick vines, knocking off several of the spines the other plants adorned as it fell into the thicker, darker portion of the overgrowth. It eventually hit the floor, landing in Wildfire’s path, its spines pointed right for him as he headed down the narrow, dark trail. Wildfire’s reflexes quickly kicked in and he swerved to avoid the painful looking branch, blind to see that his changed trajectory pointed him for the bare root of another vine, smashing him face first into the firm root.

The root of the vine tensioned, pulling it tight through the rest of the overgrowth and snapping it taut right in front of Dash’s path, its menacing thorns pointed right for her. Dash screamed as her eyes widened. Her lightning fast reflexes kicked in and pulled her out of the way just in time, just narrowly escaping the vine. Dash’s wing grazed one of the razor sharp thorns, the cut sting, and it burned as the air hit it, feathers torn from her wing adding to the sting.

Still, both Dash and Wildfire were able to navigate without much difficulty, making their way carefully through the rest of the thick overgrowth with grace. Through the obstacle, Dash was able to regain the lead, coming out two seconds ahead of Wildfire. Despite her commanding lead though, Wildfire was gaining on Rainbow quickly, seeming to be fueled by a certain fire that burned for him to come out on top. Dash still wasn’t having any of it though, their dogfighting continuing as they trailed on, Dash watching her back closely as to not let the orange pegasus by her for even a second.

They navigated the gorge, weaving in and out of the gnarly rock formations strewn through the canyon, and watching out for each other as they both fought for first place. All the ponies watching from the cliff of the canyon continued to cheer them on, exhilarated by the adrenaline fueled action. The judges dispersed through the course continued to pass both ponies as they raced fair, both racers sticking to the rules and not daring to cheat to overtake one another.

At this point, they had reached the Quarray Eels’ nests, one large isle of nothing but gigantic holes burrowed into the walls of the Gorge. They had been pretty inactive the day before at practice for the both of them, but either one of them was about to chance it on a hunch that they would be inactive today, especially with all of the other activity surrounding Ghastly Gorge. A fishy smell surrounded the nests, making the racers and other onlookers uneasy.

Dash and Wildfire both dove in, quickly accelerating as to try and beat the eels on speed. But the eels were wide awake today; lunging out of their nests with great ferocity, mouths wide open as they roared out of the canyon wall, their red, slimy scales glistening in the sun as they came forward. Dash dove quickly, then pulled up quickly, looping and twirling around wildly, working extra hard just to stay ahead and not become one of the eels meals. Wildfire too was in trouble, pulling hard to not get caught by the eels, just avoiding them as they lunged for him, letting them smash their noses into the wall on the opposite side of the gorge with enormous strength.

The eels were becoming quicker as they moved along, compensating for time as the pegasi quickly picked up speed. The space that Dash and Wildfire were able to work with was closing fast, and the end of the eels’ nests seemed to be getting further away. They were slowing down too much, and both the poor pegasi were just narrowly escaping.

The room they had to work with was vanishing quickly, and the witty maneuvers Dash and Wildfire were dishing out were only working so well. For every eel that lunged from its nest the immediate direction of the racers changed entirely, and the speedy racers were soon in a fight for their lives. Both of them were quickly forgetting about the race, acting purely on instinct to get them through the mountainous pile of eels gathering over them, blocking them off from the sun and the sky. They couldn’t do anything but move forward, their only choice of escaping being to continue with the race and stay on the path.

Slowly but surely, they were making headway on escaping the eels’ nesting area, but the nests seemed to be getting bigger, as did the eels, also becoming faster and more ferocious. They worked off adrenaline, shouting and screaming as they worked constantly, getting even closer to freedom. Their shouts could hardly be heard over the thunderous crash of the eels tackling the walls of the canyon, rocking the earth and shaking loose stone and dirt.

The racers were so close now, but still under attack. The nests soon began thinning out though, and it wasn’t but a second that the eels seemed to stop all together. Dash retook the lead, and Wildfire quickly followed up. Dash breathed deeply, taking a moment to recompose herself. She looked at the course in front of her; nothing but the grey stone of the canyon. She looked up; blue sky above her. She looked back; Wildfire seemingly miles behind her, but he was gaining. She picked up her speed, replacing her game face and turning her attention back to the course, game face immediately turning to shock and her heart stopping in her chest, her body paralyzed by fear.

The biggest of the eels, possibly the alpha male of the swarm, emerged from the largest nest on the end of the canyon wall, scales brightly reflecting sunlight, its breath smelling up the air with a foul low-tide like scent, and its angry eyes pointed right at Dash. She couldn’t unlock her eyes with the eel bearing down on her; she just froze up, gliding right into the path of the eel and not changing direction. The eel lunged for her, taking advantage of its easy prey. Its maw hung wide open, and its feral roar and ungodly scent blasted Rainbow in the face.

Wildfire watched as Dash made a meal of herself, gliding right into the mouth of the eel. He waited for her to move, hoping that she was just trying to psych the eel out. But she refused to budge, coming into the shadow of the large beast. Wildfire panicked, his breath caught in his chest and the sensation of cold chills shooting through him like lightning. He couldn’t let it happen, and he wasn’t about to.

Wildfire darted for her, front hooves outstretched and wings flapping a dozen times a second, frantically rushing the blue pegasus.

“Rainbow!” he shouted, homing in on Rainbow Dash like a missile.

Wildfire shoved Rainbow aside, sending her into an instantaneous out of control spin and sending her tumbling out of harm’s way. The beast chomped down, the gnashing of its teeth slamming shut echoing through the gorge. Rainbow was seen tumbling out of the way, eventually catching herself and leveling out, promptly turning her attention back behind her, far out of reach of the massive eel.

The crowd had quickly silenced itself, mortified gasps and shrieks ringing out of the crowd of bystanders. Dash herself was struck silent by the crowd’s own reaction, growing increasingly panicked by the lack of an orange pegasi on her tail. Dash could find neither head nor hair of Wildfire, nothing but the Eel’s angry glare at her as it slowly retracted back into its nest. He wasn’t high or low, and he hadn’t retreated to the ground above, surely. Dash’s eyes just kept going back to the eel, knowing that where Wildfire had most likely ended up was not a very good situation to be in. She still couldn’t help but just stay frozen, watching the beast intently with a worried stare.

“Please tell me he’s not eel food…” Dash whispered to herself, holding her hooves over her mouth.

The last of the eels began retracting back into its nest, Wildfire still held tightly in its maw. It made it back into its nest up to its neck before pausing. The beast began hacking and grunting, swaying erratically back and forth, banging its head against the sides of its nest. It fought to keep Wildfire down, but it was losing the battle. Everyone watched as the eel continued to fight against itself, trying not to regurgitate its prize. But with a few final coughs and grunts, the whaling beast coughed a slime covered Wildfire back out, quickly retreating back into its nest, whimpering as it did.

Wildfire struggled to regain flight, the fluids from the beast who swallowed him coating his coat, feathers, and hair in a wet, slimy mess bringing him down as he tumbled end over end. He crashed into the small river at the bottom of the ravine, the distant splash of the water sounding out dead as it rained back down and sprayed the stone. Dash paused again, still holding her hooves over her mouth, worried that the orange pegasus would not come back up.

Dash’s thoughts were quickly met back with relief, Wildfire very readily surfacing again and dog paddling back to the nearest land. He stood back up, shaking off the thick bodily fluids the eel had coated him in. He whipped his wings out flapped them lightly, quickly air drying them. He pulled at his slimy mane, soaked and matted to his face and his neck, all balled up on top of his head in a huge knot. It didn’t take long for him to get back into the air and regroup with Rainbow, taking a moment to let the sunlight hit his soaking coat.

The crowd picked its cheering back up once they saw Wildfire recover from being eaten alive. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile at Wildfire, shaking her head at him as she hovered just above the course. Wildfire smiled back, shaking the remaining snot from the eel off of his hooves.

“So…” Wildfire said with half a smile, “should we continue?”

Dash stared at Wildfire somewhat cockeyed for a moment, taking in Wildfire’s slimy mane and his thick matted coat, his wet wings lightly fluttering as he flapped them in rhythm with hers. Wildfire awaited her response, looking at her eagerly. Dash couldn’t help but giggle at him; even after being eaten alive, he still refused to give the race up. Dash put her game face on once more, her eyes lit up behind her blue tinted goggles, and a wide grin crawling over her face. Wildfire smiled back, taking off again back down the course, Dash flying right beside him on his wing.

“Ugh! That’s gross!” said Dash, looking at his snot matted mane.

“Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.” said Wildfire with a smile.

“That’s happened before?”

“Yeah, but I learned a little trick for getting lose after that, so…”

Dash nodded along, cringing at the pungent smell that Wildfire was giving off.

They came to another wall marked with an arrow pointing upward, neither of them noticing it coming up with both of them engaged in each other. They both turned their attention back to the course, both of their smiles dropping in surprise as they met the wall, pulling up rapidly to avoid crashing, nearly colliding with each other. Dash, acting quickly, pitched her body up and flipped over Wildfire as they both came out of the gorge yet again. Wildfire was mesmerized by how slick her moves were. The grassy surface quickly curved around back to the right and connected the course to the final stretch. They both dropped back into the gorge, nothing else in front of them but a straight shot to the finish. They both gave it their all; it was coming down to pure speed.

All the other ponies gathered around the finish line, everyone rushing over from other parts of the course and crowding in to see Dash and Wildfire speeding toward the finish. They all jumped up and down, shuffling about in excitement as the gap between racers and finish line was quickly closing. The ponies near the front were leaning extremely close to the cliff’s edge, the sheer weight of all the ponies beginning to loosen some of the soil and rock from the cliff side.

More and more soil began to fall, and the cliff edges began to crumble beneath the hooves of the audience, the tape and the paint on the ground marking the boundaries beginning to disappear with the land. More and more land began to give way, and ponies began retreating, running away from the crumbling cliff side. A large rock slide began to give way, large pieces of stone beginning to crash to the canyon floor, putting itself between the finish line and Dash and Wildfire, kicking up dust and dirt into the air with the thunderous roar of the falling boulders crashing against each other.

Dust covered the path, leaving both Dash and Wildfire blind to where the finish was at. It began to pick up more as they flew closer, the carnage of the rock slide shaking the earth as the earth itself crumbled before everyone. No pony seemed to be caught up in it, which relieved the two of them, and left them to worry about themselves. Neither of them wavered at approaching the giant dust cloud, growing even more monolithic above the land by the second. With neither of them about to break the rules of the race, they both dove in.

Dash accelerated, over taking Wildfire with a smile as she passed him, daring him to keep up through the dangerous rock slide. She quickly flew out of sight, disappearing into the dust. Wildfire was flying blind, barely able to see his own hooves in front of his face. The thunderous crashing of the rocks surrounded him, hampering him heavily with the pressure of the bass and the shaking of the earth around him. He began to panic; Dash had lost him, and he was losing the race, all while lost in the dark haze in the middle of the treacherous gorge in the midst of an avalanche.

Wildfire accelerated up, hoping that his heading would point him and lead him to Rainbow’s tail. A backdraft of wind pushed on his nose; Wildfire felt it, reading it as the thrust of Dash’s wings. The draft became stronger, and the dust suddenly parted, leaving only a thin cloud, bringing Wildfire head first into the path of a falling boulder. Wildfire froze up, staring the rock in the face as his paths brought him into a collision trajectory, jaw dropping and pupils dilating in sudden fear.

A flash of rainbow colors came between him and the boulder, causing Wildfire to blink. He felt something take his hoof, grasping it tight enough to hurt him. In a split second, Wildfire watched the boulder zoom off to the side as he was tugged quickly back into the dark cloud of dust, gasping for breath as his paralyzed body gradually unfroze. He looked to his hoof at his side, seeing another hoof wrapped tightly around it, cyan in color. His eyes followed it up to the face of the pegasus it belonged to, staring him stern in the eye.

“Come on! Keep up!” shouted Rainbow, voice cracking up in fright.

Wildfire nodded in agreement, gripping Dash’s hoof back and flapping his wings tirelessly, matching her speed.

They navigated the treacherous area with extreme care, holding on to one another tightly as they wove through the falling stone. They pulled on each other, keeping one another from getting too close to the falling debris and getting crushed beneath the gorge. It wasn’t very easy to tell who was in first at this point, but neither Dash nor Wildfire seemed to worry about who was where at the moment. Their full focus was on getting through the race in one piece, regardless of standing.

The dust began to lighten up, and the sun began to shine through. They had found the finish at the end of the massive cloud of dust, springing forward from the dirt with amazing speed as they continued to hold each other’s hooves.

Dash acted on instinct, lunging forward with one last bust on energy, opening her wings up wide and rocketing herself forward with an amazing thrust of air that punched a hole in the cloud of dust behind her. She almost immediately forgot her hoof was locked around Wildfire’s, Dash’s burst jerking her and Wildfire sideways and into a flat spin. They fell to the ground, sliding across the grass and dirt on their bellies, coming to the finish line as they skid across the ground. The cloud of dust quickly followed them up and overtook the pegasi and the finish line as they both slid to a screeching halt.

The loud rumble quickly subsided, and a soft breeze picked up, gently blowing the dust clouds away and settling the dirt back to the ground. The audience gathered itself and made its way over to the finish carefully, looking hard for the racers at the end. The crowd began to cheer as they all saw both ponies laying together at the line, sprawled out on the ground, their hooves still locked together.

Ponies began shouting praise at the tops of their lungs. “They made it!” They shouted, relaying the message back and forth to each other.

Dash and Wildfire lay there, side by side, staring at the finish line where their locked hooves lay, both catching their breath. Dash took off her goggles, the lenses covered in dust. Wildfire wiped his eyes, trying to get the dust out of them, the dirt caked to his snot covered mane. Both of them were covered in a thin layer of dust, fading the color of their coats and turning them slightly grey.

It took a minute to register with Dash where she had ended up, as well as where Wildfire had ended up. Wildfire lay opposite of her, reaching his hooves out for hers, the clouds of settling dust and Ghastly Gorge all behind him. And just in front of her was the thing that she was originally after, the thing that divided where she and Wildfire lie. The finish line. Dash smiled, coughing a bit at the dust in her dried out throat.

“Sorry.” said the winded Rainbow Dash, laughing lightly.

“Don’t be.” said Wildfire, shaking his head. “Good race.”

Dash didn’t know whether to take Wildfire seriously at first. He’d been such a jerk to her, and thought that surely he was sore from losing. But Dash was quickly corrected. His hoof remained locked tight around hers, holding it protectively, practically still tugging her aside from danger. She looked back up at him, smiling kindly at her, showing humility to the brash blue pegasus.

“You too.” said Dash with a nod.

Spike ran forward, one golden medal in hand. Spike didn’t waste any time in getting to the ponies, readying his announcers’ voice for the cheering crowd gathered around. Both Dash and Wildfire stood back up, finally unlocking their hooves. Dash cleared her throat, shaking off a somewhat awkward feeling.

“Well, it looks like we have a winner!” shouted Spike as he waved his arms around, announcing loudly out of excitement for the intense race. The ponies all cheered enthusiastically, stomping their hooves on the ground in applause.

“Both racers worked very hard in getting to the finish, and both of them fought against the same odds put up against them. Both are just as fast and just as agile, but only one of them is allowed to win. So, without further ado; Ponyville, I give to you, your champion, Rainbow Dash!”

The crowd cheered for Dash, stomping their hooves on the ground again, the dust from the rock slide stirring as the towns’ people trampled the short grass. Spike turned to Dash, taking the medal over to her and presenting it to her.

Dash bowed some so Spike could reach the ribbon of the medal over her head and put it on her. She lifted her head back up and looked down at the shiny golden medal, adorned with the carving of a pegasus with its wings spread open. The audience ponies rushed over and crowded around her, praising Dash for her award, patting her on the back, and even sharing a few friendly hugs.

“Rainbow!” shouted Twilight, pushing her way through the crowd, followed up by all the other girls.

“Hey guys!” said Rainbow.

Twilight ran up and hugged Rainbow tightly, groaning at her a bit. “Oh, thank Celestia you’re ok.”

“Don’t y’all ever do that again, Rainbow.” said Applejack. “You scared the living day lights out of us.”

Rainbow looked at Applejack, unable to speak, mouth hung open slightly as her confused eyes looked up at her. All she could do was nod along, strongly agreeing with her that it was something that didn’t need done twice.

“You guys are right.” said Rainbow, swallowing her pride. “It was a dumb thing to do. I’ve been pretty stupid these past few days, and I’m sorry.”

The girls all smiled, everyone throwing their arms around Rainbow and crowding into a big group hug.

“It’s alright.” said Twilight.

“As long as you’ve learned your lesson.” said Rarity.

“Hey, where’s Wildfire?” asked Pinkie Pie, looking through the crowd of ponies, trying to spot out the orange pegasus.

Wildfire had disappeared from sight. No one could find him through the massive crowd of ponies standing about. Dash had lost sight of him too, not knowing where he went to after she had received the medal from Spike.

“I don’t know.” said Rainbow. “Maybe he went back to Ponyville already.”

“Why don’t we try and catch up?” said Applejack.

“Good idea.” said Rainbow Dash, beginning to lead her friends through the cluster of ponies gathered around Ghastly Gorge.

Chapter 20

Things were especially quiet back at the library. Compared to the bustling town just outside with all the ponies beginning to return from the gorge, it was a safe haven, and a silent one. All was quiet, save for the faint sound of running water up on the second floor, down the hall in the bathroom. The sound of hooves clopping on the hard floor of the bathroom could also be heard every now and then, their tone amplified by the hard surfaced bathroom, echoing around harshly within.

The silence was broken by the sound of the front door opening, the bell hung from the door jingling as it swung open. Twilight promptly entered, followed up by Rainbow Dash, and eventually Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. They all entered with their eyes wandering the inside of the library, still looking for Wildfire after their departure from Ghastly Gorge.

“Wildfire!?” shouted Dash, wandering the room, taking a quick look around before making her way back to the sun room in the back of the library.

Twilight continued up stairs, making her way up to the second floor and taking a moment to check the room. She stood still for a second, trying to listen for Wildfire. All she could hear was her friends wandering around down stairs. She also noticed the sound of the running water, dripping and spilling about in the bathroom. She perked her ears up, catching the clopping of the hooves on the tiled floor.

“Wildfire?” called out Twilight.

“I’m in the shower! Hang on!” returned Wildfire, the sound of the running water silencing itself with the squeak of a pair of chrome nobs turning over.

All the others began making their way upstairs, coming into the room one by one. Twilight seemed perplexed, hearing the sound of the shower curtain being taken aside and the continual clopping of hooves on the hard tiled floor of the bathroom, as well as the sound of fabric whipping about. She made her way down to the bathroom door, knocking a few times and waiting for a return.

“Yeah?” said Wildfire.

“What are you doing in there Wildfire?”

“I was taking a shower.” said Wildfire, finally opening the door, walking out with a towel wrapped around his long white mane, wings half stretched out to let the air hit his wet feathers.

“I wanted to get the eel snot out of my mane.” said Wildfire, chuckling some. “It smelled like low tide.”

“Ah.” said Twilight. “Well, in that case, thank you.”

“I thought I heard Rainbow.”

Twilight nodded. “Um-hmm. She’s in the library with the rest of the girls.”

Wildfire made his way back down the hall, towel still wrapped around his head and still whipping his wings around to get the water out of his feathers. All the girls were standing up, looking at Wildfire as he entered the room. He noticed how relieved they all looked, probably from seeing how he was still standing after being eaten alive. Even Rainbow Dash, who was still coated in dust and wearing her medal, was giving Wildfire a somewhat proud look as she smiled bashfully at him.

“There’s going to be a finishing ceremony at Town Hall. Celestia said to meet her there after we find you.” said Twilight, following Wildfire back into the room.

“Ok, yeah. Sound good.” said Wildfire.

Wildfire looked back at Dash, the room becoming silent. Dash stood proudly as the medal hung around her neck, gleaming in the sunlight coming in from the window. She stepped a bit forward from the other girls, coming closer to Wildfire. Her face remained bright, and her magenta eyes were looking at Wildfire a lot softer that they would have been prior to their fighting. Wildfire returned her the same look, making gentler eye contact, the red hue in his green eyes not quite as evident in the dimmer light of the library.

“Hey.” greeted Wildfire with a bit of gusto.

Dash giggled a bit. “Did you let me win? ‘Cause you got really slow there at the end.”

“Yeah, I let you win.” said Wildfire, smiling cheekily. “It had nothing to do with the fact I had trouble with the rock slide at all.”

“Yeah, I could tell you were struggling.” said Dash.

“Thank you.” said Wildfire.

“Eh, why don’t we just call it even?” said Dash.

Wildfire nodded in agreement, his eyes falling to Dash’s shiny new trophy.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” asked Dash, lightly teasing Wildfire with the medal.

Wildfire looked at it, and shook his head.

“Nah.” said Wildfire. “I don’t usually get a lot of trophies anyway.” smiled Wildfire, earning another smile back.

“Well, I’m gonna want a re-match. Some place where we don’t have to worry about any cave-ins, or any Eels.” said Dash, her kind smile mixing with a hint of her game face.

“Sounds fair. That way I won’t have an excuse to be giving up any medals.” said Wildfire, getting a laugh out of Rainbow.

She looked down at her medal, still shining under the light.

The room silenced itself again, Wildfire and Dash still smiling at each other, Wildfire glancing at the medal around Dash’s neck, and the dust collected in her mane.

“So are you two done fighting now?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Dash and Wildfire looked at each other, Dash smiling kindly at Wildfire. Wildfire almost didn’t return her gesture. He seemed reluctant at first, but started looking at the floor in wonder, taking a quick moment to think about what he was going to say. Dash tilted her head, frowning a bit, not liking Wildfire’s hesitation.

“Rainbow Dash held true to her word.” said Wildfire. “She raced me, and she beat me like she said she would. I don’t think there’s much for me to be angry at. In fact, maybe I should apologize.”

“No.” said Dash, shaking her head. “I should be the one apologizing.”

Wildfire cocked his head sideways in confusion.

“I almost didn’t race you. I felt really bad about hitting you the other day. You didn’t deserve that. And after seeing how much I hurt you, that didn’t make me feel good.”

Wildfire nodded along as Dash spoke to him, listening intently to every word she was saying.

“I’m sorry.” said Dash.

“Me too.” said Wildfire. “Maybe if I wouldn’t have been such a jerk that day, then we wouldn’t have been fighting this entire time.”

“Yeah…” said Dash, nodding in agreement.

“Look. Maybe it’s just that we got off on the wrong hoof here.” said Dash, stepping up to Wildfire some more, her eyes bouncing between his eyes and his hooves as she talked. “Maybe we should just try starting over?”

Wildfire nodded. “I think I’d like that.”

Dash nodded back to him, holding up a hoof to him, still slightly caked with some dirt.

“I’m Rainbow Dash.” she said, whipping her mane out of her face.

Wildfire returned her a hoof, tightly locking his fetlock around hers and giving it a firm shake.

“Wildfire.” returned Wildfire, smiling and looking Dash straight in the eye.

Twilight sighed, slouching some as her head hung lazily to the floor.

“About time…” said Twilight.

Letter 1

Dear Princess Celestia,

Things are going great here in Ponyville. I think the girls are starting to grow on me. Especially Twilight. I had no idea that she was so talented with magic. She’s pretty smart too. She could recite pretty much anything she’s read at least once. She’s even been talking about the Great Griffin War so long ago. That’s something, isn’t it?

Rainbow Dash and I are starting to get along together now too, so there’s not a whole lot of trouble coming from us anymore. Things have pretty much started to settle down. The girls keep insisting that we do things together, and between study and them, there’s plenty here to keep me busy.

It’s all thanks to you Princess Celestia. I have some new friends for the first time in years.

Sincerely,

Wildfire

Opening

One day… the world will swallow itself. Evil will tear a rift in time and life will be sucked into the void of lifeless cold empty loss. Life as it is known will cease, and no pony, no animal, no being will be left to thrive on the soil of this planet. It will build over time, ultimately releasing itself into the rich air, leeching creeping death as all thing tangible become black and dissolve into dust. No one knows what form this evil will take, and no one knows when this sinister incantation will reach its inevitable peak, teeming forth and unleashing its wrath upon the innocent, ignorant, simplistic world.

This evil comes from one place, one place that no pony has the sheer will to even come near. The Dark Gate; the spawn of Hell, and the door way to death. Not one soul knows of its creation place; it’s been here since the dawn of time. It sits, menacing above the world, locked away high above the valley within the mountains where it resides. Its energy is evident, almost tangible in the air, and its unearthly glow gleams in the twilight, locked shut only by the flames upon its top basin. Impervious to all, except the strongest of bonds. It sits, waiting for its chance to awaken. First; it lets loose its minion, set free by the wish of a lustful, greedy soul. The minion will have its way with its victim and be let loose to roam the tangible world. Next; its minion would search high and low, looking for the thing to awaken the sleeping darkness; the seventh element.

Another spawn of the Gods that made the world; a heavenly gift given by the Gods themselves, among other gifts. Shining with the colors of its constituents, it stands for harmony, balancing out the elements that bring order to the land. The seventh ingredient to what brings that order; Life. This is the only form of sustenance death will accept.

It is when the minion finds this that the evil will awaken, and the world would be lost forever.

…but there is hope, for it is prophesy that an angel will appear one day in the flesh…

He would be born into a noble and knowledgeable family, molded by the magic of the Elements of Harmony. He is a true profit, a body of all elements, and the soul of an immortal, one who sits as the Scepter at the right hand of great and powerful royalty, one… that not even cold gripping death…can touch. Representative of the Seventh Element, he will keep the earth whole, and his heart will continue to burn with the generations to come.

The history of his fore figures, walking in the flesh before him, guiding him. Then in a blink becoming for him his own deity. The path laid out before him a grueling one, transforming him from a small child to a young warrior, one who would pledge to rid the world of sinful wickedness, defending all innocent and pure, not tolerating those who’s intentions aren’t, showing mercy to those who deserved it. The world would know his name as he would go through life without identity. Raging battle and despair would try him, his own wickedness would persuade him, and the world will tear at itself as the darkness taunts him and dares him to bring justice and order back. Through this, he would set an example to all; one that would not go forgotten.

He would arrive on the winds of a bright and hopeful day, not knowing the lurking evil even himself. His body ravaged by the world that held him to his vow.

His subjects would back him from the start, taking to him as siblings would. Discovering in them something that he had long since forgotten, a union stronger than any other force that dared to break it. And he would live, laugh, and love, renewed when he and his companions are united.

And when that faithful day shall come, he will sacrifice his self, breathing his own life back into the lifeless world, healing all broken and scarred, following in the hoof prints of his fore figures and knowing the sacrifice they paid. He would reunite with his fore figures, his spirit and theirs finally becoming one. And when he gains from them the epiphany of his life, he will return, resurrected back into the living world as a Phoenix would from its own ashes. This return would heal all, including himself; mind, body, and spirit.

…Lost and then found. This is the way of the guardian angel…