Fluttershy walked down the empty streets of Ponyville. Even the town that she knew like the back of her hoof and had learned to love was unnerving this late at night.
Fluttershy turned the corner and saw the Library at the end of the street.
She saw dim light coming from one of the windows. She was right, Twilight was awake.
Mustering her courage once more, Fluttershy walked down yet another abandoned street. The only illumination Fluttershy got came from a single streetlamp.
The walk to Twilights door was the longest Fluttershy had ever endured. Every time one of the wooden structures around her groaned or creaked, her heart jumped into her throat.
"Be brave...be brave...there's nothing to worry about."
Yea right.
Reaching the Library's front door, Fluttershy gave it a light knock.
A full minute went by and Fluttershy was about to knock again when the door suddenly flew open, startling Fluttershy and knocking her onto her rump. Smoke billowed out of the open door.
Fluttershy could see the distorted outline of an approaching pony. The figure gave a low moan.
Fluttershy fainted right there on Twilights doorstep.
Twilight stepped out of the smoke. "Wow (cough) that's the last time I try to make a self replenishing edible devi-...Fluttershy?"
After Fluttershy regained consciousness, she explained the situation to Twilight, and she agreed to come investigate.
"One thing's for sure Fluttershy, it's definitely creepy out here tonight." Twilight said.
"Yeah, I don't know what scares me more, Zecoras warning or the way it feels out here..." Fluttershy muttered.
Twilight put a reassuring hoof on the timid pegasi's shoulder. "I'm sure that Zecora just had a really lifelike nightmare."
"B-but she said to know that it wasn't just a nightmare? at least...I think that's what she said..."
Twilight gave her a small grin. "I don't think there's some big danger out there to be afraid of. Maybe she was just half asleep when she saw a Timberwolf or something and panicked!"
That made sense to Fluttershy. It was the dead of night, and Zecora DID live in the Everfree. As for her little animals being scared, Fluttershy assumed that the strangeness of the night and Zecora's odd warning was responsible. There was just one thing that didn't add up.
"Twilight, what do you think she meant when she said to fear the flame?"
At that, Twilight just shrugged.
That didn't exactly bolster Fluttershy's confidence.
They were crossing the bridge when Twilight saw something out of the corner of her eye. It was falling out of the sky and HEADING RIGHT AT THEM! "Fluttershy look out!" Twilight screamed as she dived onto the Pegasus, shielding her with her own body. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and fear.
WHAM
Twilight felt the wind get forced out of her when the object struck them, but other than a dull pain in her back she felt nothing else. Opening one eye, Twilight saw a bit of rainbow colored mane. Opening both eyes and pulling herself off of Fluttershy, Twilight saw one of her best friends splayed out on her back, eyes spinning. After a moment Rainbow Dash regained her sense's and stood. Twilight gasped in surprise.
The Pegasus's fur and mane was charred and she reeked of ash and burned hair. Rainbow's eyes locked with her's and then went to Fluttershy. Squealing in glee, Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy in a tight embrace, tears flowing from her eye's. "F-fluttershy, oh t-thank Celestia y-your alive! I t-thought y-you were DEAD!"
Fluttershy returned the embrace.
"I'm okay Rainbow, what ever made you think I was dead? Why is your fur burned like that?" Rainbow Dash let go and attempted to wipe her tears away while Twilight cast a healing spell to fix the minor burns that dotted Rainbow Dash's body. "I-i woke up when I smelled something funny, and when I looked out the window, your house was on FIRE! I flew in and pulled Zecora and the other animals out, but when I couldn't find you, I thought...i thought..."
Before Rainbow Dash could finish that sentence, Zecora came sprinting up to them with a soot covered Angel Bunny riding on her back. She stepped in front of Fluttershy and glared at her.
"Fluttershy, my warning I'm glad you did heed, but why did you leave them and me?!"
Fluttershy eeped at the angry look that Zecora gave her.
"I-i thought you would be okay, I didn't think you would be in danger..."
Zecora's look softened a little, but then went from angry to very serious.
"Warn the townsfolk, they must flee, for surly the beast will come to burn you and me!"
Rainbow Dash jumped into the air. "I'm gonna find that little firebug and give him what for! NOPONY TRIES TO KILL MY FRIENDS!" Before anyone could react Rainbow flew back towards the Everfree, seeking revenge. Twilight turned to Fluttershy.
"Go gather the rest of the girls and warn the Mayor that there's an arsonist on the loose." Fluttershy nodded and took off. Twilight then turned to Zecora. "Zecora, tell me whats going on." Zecora nodded.
"The terrible beast, with my own eyes I did see, it is larger than you and me!
It breathed fire and caused many deaths,
of the Timberwolves, I doubt there is anything left.
Into the night, I did flee,
When Fluttershy's house I did see."
"Is it a dragon?" Twilight interrupted. Zecora shook her head.
"Shorter than a dragon, but about the size of a cargo wagon!"
Twilight gulped. That was still pretty big.
Bigger than Big Mac at any rate.
Zecora continued...
"Mirrored, black lenses covered it's eyes, It has arms longer than you our I!
It tore a Timberwolf in half with it's claws, I did see,
Nothing can stop that red monstrosity. .."
Zecora quaked in fear at the memory. Twilight herself was terrified by it's description.
And Rainbow Dash flew off to fight that thing ALONE! She screamed internally.
After a moment, Fluttershy flew back with the rest of the girls and a drowsy Spike in tow.
"What on Celestia's green earth is going on?" Rarity demanded. Applejack nodded her head in agreement. "From what Fluttershy told us, theres some monster goin around trien ta fry everthing, and it already burned down Fluttershy's house." "My home was burned as well." Zecora added. "I'll explain on the run girls, Rainbow Dash just went off to fight that thing on her-"
Twilight was interrupted when a cry of fear and pain pierced the night air.
"RAINBOW DASH!" The assembled mares (and spike) cried out.
Canterlot, 5 minutes prior...
Princess Luna was sitting at her worktable, the only sound in the room was the clicking of her abacus and the scratching of quill on parchment. "We despise taxes." she mumbled aloud.
"Whoever developed the taxing system should be sent to the gallows...oh wait, we designed it."
Sighing, Luna stood and arced her neck until it gave a satisfying POP. Stepping out onto her balcony, Luna was treated to the sight of Nighttime Equestria. She was about to call for some tea when a letter popped into being in front of her. She yelped in surprise and jumped backwards. She took a deep breath and waited a moment for her heart to settle. "Tis not often we recieve a letter from our friend Twilight." She mumbled with a smile. Taking the floating letter in her magical grip, she opened it and read it. A second later she was flying full speed towards Ponyville. Her lunar guards heard her take off and barged into the room. One of them spotted the discarded letter and read it.
Dear Princess Luna,
I'm sorry to bother you, but Ponyville is in big trouble! The details Fluttershy gave me are sketchy at best, but it looks like there's someone going around lighting things on fire, the towns being evacuated as I write this. He already tried to kill Zecora and Fluttershy! Please Help!
-Spike.
"Assemble the Guard!" The one that had read the letter shouted. "Ponyville is under attack and there has been an assassination attempt on the element of kindness!"
In just minutes, a large force of Solar and Lunar guards were trailing behind the Princess of the night, ready to aid her should she need it.
Author's Note
Anypony afraid for the fate of Ponyville and the mane 6?
YOU SHOULD BE.
Pyro looked dispassionately at the broken Pegasus he had gripped by the throat.
He didn't understand why it attacked him.
He was doing this...thing...a favor by torching this Forest.
That Forest was too dangerous to be left standing. Not five minutes after he had woken up he was attacked by a pack of horribly mutated Wolves, and a minute after that it was a group of Lion-cat-scorpion-bird...things, and then it was a bunch of lizard-chickens and after that a Hydra of all things attacked him!
Of course, they all met the same fate.
A slow, agonizingly painful death. And that's if they were lucky.
And then there was this thing he had beaten the tar out of.
Pyro had was busy turning the Forest into what resembled Hell on earth when it had dropped out of the sky and knocked his flamethrower out of his hands. It had smirked triumphantly at him, as if temporarily disarming the Pyro meant victory. Pyro had tried to explain that if this place was going to get any better, it had to be destroyed first.
Naturally, it made the same decision that everyone made.
Spew insults and try to kill him. Hate him before he could explain himself.
The Pyro gave no quarter to the little Pegasus.
The "fight" had not lasted more than 3 minutes before Pyro had beaten it into submission.
Now, he raised it up so they would be eye to eye. It was then that Pyro realized that it was a girl. She might have been very cute before Pyro had ruined her complexion.
Her eyes were wide with fear.
He could see her pain.
Her rebellion.
She had not once cried out in pain. Not once did she beg for mercy. There was no pleading or bribing or anything of the sort.
Other than her resistance, she was just like the rest of them.
His explanations and attempts at friendship had fallen on deaf ears.
She had despised him on sight.
She wanted to kill him. Get rid of him like he was common vermin.
He wanted break her neck right here. Burn her body until only ash remained. But something stopped him.
Looking deep into her rose colored eyes, Pyro saw only pure innocence.
She didn't deserve to die.
Not like this.
Not here.
He hated her for that.
There is no such thing as innocence,
there is only degrees of guilt...
Giving a disgusted snort, Pyro tossed the mangled Pegasus aside.
He was done with her.
Maybe someday they would meet again.
On that day, Pyro would give her a fair chance at fighting him, one on one.
Pyro took a good look around. The Forest was burning quickly. Massive pillars of black smoke towered into the sky and the ash fell like snow, blanketing the ground. Soon there would be nothing left of that evil forest. Satisfied with his good deed, Pyro hoisted his flamethrower once more and headed towards the bridge he had seen earlier, humming a happy tune.
He had reached the bridge a few minutes later. Noticing a town in the distance, Pyro found himself getting excited. Soon he would be sleeping comfortably in a motel, and when people asked him the next day "Who got rid of that dreadfully evil forest and all the monsters inside?" Pyro would reveal that it was HIM who had saved them! They would be so happy, they would line up to ask for his friendship! They might even build a statue of him or something cool like that!
Pyro was about to cross the bridge and enter the town when he saw a sizable group of those horse things quickly approaching him. Thinking quickly, Pyro jumped off the bridge and into the water below.
Swimming under the bridge, Pyro kept only his head above water. He heard the group run onto the bridge and off again. Pyro guessed that they wanted to get a closer look at his fire.
He couldn't blame them. It was art really, one of his finest works.
He briefly wondered why only the horse things were going to watch his fire, and where all the people were. He quickly dismissed it though. The people were probably asleep, it was past midnight after all.
Pulling himself out of the water and drying himself off with a few airblasts from his flamethrower, Pyro started to make his way into town.
Author's Note
All your suggestions are belong to me....
Fluttershy was awakened by a frantic pounding on her front door. Looking at her clock, she saw that it was well past midnight. A rare scowl flashed across her face. "I hope this is important." she thought. After a moment she left left her beds warm embrace and answered the door. Zecora stood before her, gasping, struggling to breath.
"O-oh my! Zecora wha-"
Fluttershy wasn't able to finish her sentence before Zecora pushed past her and pulled Fluttershy in with her. Slamming the door with a buck, Zecora looked directly into the eyes now slightly scared Fluttershy.
Fluttershy had never seen so much fear in the eyes of another living being. Her heart skipped a beat.
.
Zecora slumped to her knees, gasping for air and losing her battle to stay conscious. "Zecora, whats wrong? What happened?" Mustering the last of her strength, Zecora grabbed Fluttershy and hissed in her ear...
"Fear the flame.
Do not become what the others became,
Flee as fast as you can into the night,
Know that the beast is more than a mere midnight fright,
It is somthing nopony can fight..."
At that, Zecora finally gave in to her exhaustion and blacked out. Fluttershy was thoroughly confused. Fear the flame? Who are the others? Who or what is this "Beast"? Fluttershy felt something tugging at her mane. She looked down to see Angel Bunny and the rest of the animals that were held up in her house. The animals looked terrified.
"Angel, whats wrong?"
The little bunny chattered in a tongue that only other animals and Fluttershy understood.
"Listen? What do you mean Angel?"
Then it hit Fluttershy.
It was dead silent.
It shouldn't be silent...
The only sound was that of Zecora's shallow breathing and the occasional nervous squeak from some of the gathered wildlife. Normally she could hear crickets and other night-time noises. After putting the semi-conscious Zecora on her couch and making sure that she would be comfortable, Fluttershy gathered her willpower and opened her door and stepped outside. Luna's moon hung low in the sky, it's light making the world outside look all the more unsettling. An odd mist was sticking close to the ground, making the night feel all the more eerie.
Zecora's warning replayed in her mind. Fear the flame, she had said. Flee as fast as you can into the night. Fluttershy looked around, flicking her ears this way and that, listening, searching for danger. She saw and heard none. Perhaps Zecora had imagined whatever scared her. But what was spooking her little animal friends? Didn't Zecora say know that the beast is more than a mere midnight fright?
Fluttershy had enough of this uncertainty.
She was going to talk to Twilight and get this settled. Fluttershy knew she would probably be awake, the librarian was a night owl. After making sure that Zecora would be comfortable on the couch one more time, Fluttershy started to make her way to Twilight's when Angel latched onto her leg, silently pleading for her not to leave.
"Don't worry Angel, mommy will be right back." Angel shook his head and tightened his grip.
Fluttershy gave the scared bunny a patient smile. "How about this Angel, you can be in charge until I come home. I'm sure you can handle it. That is, if your stallion enough..." That did it. Angel gave her a stern glare and saluted. Turning smartly on his heel, Angel marched back to the house while Fluttershy went in the opposite direction. Fluttershy giggled.
She knew the strings to pull to get the rabbit to do what she wanted.
She just hoped that the rabbit didn't form a regime while she was gone. Feeling a strange pang of fear, Fluttershy quickened her pace. She was certain of one thing. Something was wrong.
Very, very wrong.
