Chapters The Raid
The night was dark and still. A light snow fell, accumulating a few inches on the cobblestone streets outside the old brownstone. Tall black Victorian style gas lamps cast a dim orange glow onto the streets in front of the building's entrance.
Through the snow staggered three menacing looking dragons. The dragons were tall, at least 7 feet, and they wore long black trench coats that hung down to just above their ankles. Armed with crowbars, the group approached the door.
Inside the old building it was warm, but very dark. On the upper most floor, two young pegasus ponies sat by a dimming fireplace looking at each other with concern - as if something had gone astray in their lives. The young female pegasus suddenly jumped to her hooves as a muffled crash emanated from the ground floor.
The dragons broke down the main door. Pushing past the splintered debris the group barged into the building. The angry beasts clamored up the dark staircase as snow and cold air drifted into the broken doorway behind them.
Upstairs, the frightened couple fluttered to an adjoining room. They looked down at their sleeping daughter.
"What should we do!?" whimpered the female pegasus to her husband.
"W-We shouldn't worry," reassured the husband, "it's not her they want."
The couple took one last look at their sleeping daughter before hurrying back to the main room.
The gangsters clamored up the spiraling stairway. They reached the top floor and spotting the correct door, knocked it down.
The frightened couple fluttered in panic to the ceiling as the gangsters barged in toward them.
"Come down here!" shouted a big red-scaled dragon as he removed his coat.
"N-No!" shouted the husband, "Leave us alone!"
"So you want to play this the hard way then," said the red dragon with a smirk, "where's the kid!?"
Terrified, the quivering couple glided down to the floor.
"No, don't!" screamed the female pegasus falling to the floor at the red dragon's feet.
"Com'ere," demanded the red dragon grabbing the female Pegasus by her wings.
"Pathetic."
The red dragon released the female to her spouse. Horrified the wife sobbed over her husband's shoulder.
"It wasn't supposed to be this way, it wasn't supposed to be this way!" she cried. The two pegasi embraced one another as the dragons ransacked the room throwing furniture and paperwork everywhere.
In the next room the couple's daughter, a purple maned orange filly had been awakened from the noise. Jumping out of bed the filly peered into the next room. As she glanced at her parents cowering over each other her eyes locked with those of the red dragon. Terrified she stood stiff by the door in dreaded anticipation for the impending assault. As the dragons began their approach the small filly dashed to the opposite wall of her room.
Barging into the darkened room the gangsters quickly approached the frightened little Pegasus. The tiny pony scampered across the floor trying to find a way past the monsters invading her room.
"Get over here!" shouted a tall blue dragon lunging forward.
The dragon reached out with his claws. Striking the tiny pony's legs he knocked her over. The pony tumbled - striking the wall head first. The girl was knocked unconscious from the blow. A small pool of blood slowly began forming under her nose. Pleased, the blue dragon lifted the pony by the tail, dragging her behind him as he and the other dragons left the room. A thin trail of blood followed the dragons from the filly's face as they entered the main room.
"Have the work done by tomorrow or you will never see her again!" shouted the red dragon to the couple.
"Oh please Mr. Ember sir, we cannot complete the task you ask of us," whimpered the female pegasus. "I couldn't betray Princess Celestial or the Wonderbolts even if my life depended on it."
"Then your daughter dies!" shouted the red dragon.
"No! Please kill me instead!" screamed the father pegasus.
"You shall all die!"
The red dragon grabbed the unconscious Pegasus filly from his partner. Holding the bleeding body by the neck he thrust it in the couple's face.
"No!" shouted the horrified mother.
Dropping the body, the red dragon snapped his fingers. The dragon gang began to tie the couples hooves and wings with rope.
"No, you can't do this, I can't believe you are doing this!" shouted the mother pony as her husband tried in vein to push the dragons away.
"Oh Scootaloo! Shouted the husband.
Finally the thugs gagged the pony's mouths with a pair of rags, leaving the bloody baby pony untouched on the ground by their side. The couple's muffled screams went unheard as the three dragons began to flee from the home. The last dragon to leave was the red-scaled Mr. Ember. He reached into the fireplace and scattered the searing coals across the ransacked room.
"You know you could have prevented all of this." he said.
Mr. Ember then removed a glass jar from his coat. He opened the jar and tossed its contents onto the couple.
The two pegasi felt a strange sensation. Their eyes burned and their skin felt like fire.
"Feel the burn of the Hell Fire Gents!" screamed Mr. Ember as he fled the room.
The two pegasus ponies writhed in pain as their bodies succumbed to the powerful substance. The burning feeling grew in intensity with every passing moment. The liquid must have been some sort of acid as it began to hiss and smoke upon the pony's skin.
As the chemical began to eat into their flesh the rope binding the two ponies began to wither away. In a matter of seconds the ropes burned through, but it was to no benefit. Despite being free from bondage the ponies could not move. Instead, their severally burned bodies lay strewn out upon the floor in a pool of fizzing blood, melted skin, and feathers.
As the two ponies lay dieing, the coals on the floor began to ignite the furniture and the loose materials scattered throughout the room. The young filly, stirred awake as the acidic liquid crept under her back and wings. The baby pony pulled herself up, and screamed in pain from the acid that burned her.
"Run…run my baby," said a faint voice.
The tiny pegasus turned around to face a horrifying sight. Her parents, their faces now just sizzling globs of torn flesh and bone. The baby pegasus's heart raced, her eyes dilated, she couldn't scream, this wasn't real, this wasn't happening. The flames from the fire intensified eventually surrounding the dying pegasus couple and their frightened baby. The baby pony stood stiff, her parents now just skeletons lying before her.
"Mommy!?" called the baby pegasus.
The baby nudged the skeletonized head by her side, being quick to avoid the acid around it. The one intact eye opened and the skull let out one final gasp.
The tiny pony, still bleeding from her nose, ran terrified to her room. The fire had engulfed the main door and was quickly spreading to the entire building. The baby coughed from the smoke which was now rapidly filling the air. She jumped onto the radiator under the window. The filly scratched at the window desperately trying to open it, but it had been locked by her parents.
The pony turned back and grabbed her mechanical alarm clock in her mouth. She jumped upon the radiator once more and struck the window with the brass clock. The glass wouldn't break, but the desperate pony wouldn't quit. She struck the glass again and again. Her mouth began to bleed from the continued stress of the metal against her gums.
As the flames crept up behind her the pony took one last swing. Finally the glass shattered. The pegasus crawled trough the jagged hole which tore into her already burned back and wings.
Dropping the clock the pony spat out several broken baby teeth along with it. The clock and teeth fell three stories to the snow covered cobblestone street below. Clinging to the windowsill the pony cried. Her freezing breath and tears clouded her vision.
With black smoke now pouring from the window behind her, the little filly knew she couldn't stay. She spread her wings and jumped. She fluttered her underdeveloped wings; but it was to no avail, she couldn't fly. She landed hard against the cobblestone street.
The little filly lay sprawled across the cold snow covered ground. She couldn't feel her back legs, were they broken? Was her back broken? She didn't know, she didn't want to know. With no home, no parents, and no hope she prepared herself for the inevitable. The filly dragged herself across the street into the doorway of a local shop. The air was freezing and the little filly shivered.
Impeded by the snow and ice fire crew finally began to arrive on the scene. The fire brigade was comprised entirely of dragons. The ones that could fly immediately began to douse the building with water from large buckets and heaps of snow. Noticing a pink blood trail in the snow a flightless purple-scaled dragon firefighter quickly found the injured filly.
"Oh my gosh!" shouted the purple-scaled dragon, "You need a doctor!"
The dragon quickly turned away to call his superiors.
"No!" shouted the injured Philly, "don't leave me!"
The purple scaled dragon quickly turned back.
"Where are you hurt!?" he asked as he removed his fire coat.
"Don't leave me!" shouted the filly.
"I won't leave you."
The purple dragon wrapped the filly in his coat being sure not to injure her more.
"Quick, I have a survivor!" called the purple dragon as he raced toward a gigantic winged black-scaled dragon. The black dragon was massive; at least ten times the size of the purple-scaled dragon.
"Oh my goodness!" roared the black dragon in a deep resonating voice, "quick climb aboard!"
The purple dragon climbed up upon the black dragon's back holding the injured Pegasus in his arms.
"We're heading out captain," called the black dragon addressing to a small blue-scaled dragon with a golden cap.
"Go, go, go!" shouted the captain.
The black dragon spread his wings and took to the air with a massive thrust of air.
"To Draconia Central!" shouted the purple dragon.
By the time she reached the hospital the purple maned orange filly had gone into shock and no one at the dragon hospital knew how to treat the baby pony.
"What do you mean you don't know what to do!?" shouted the purple-scaled dragon to the hospital's top doctor, "Just treat her as you would a dragon! She has all the same parts - legs, wings, tail! Just do something!"
"I've never seen a winged baby pony before," replied the pink-scaled dragon doctor, "their bones are different, their blood is different, and they are completely different from anything I've ever seen here before."
"I grew up in a place that had many ponies, if we can get this pegasus to a doctor over there do you think she can be saved?" asked the purple-scaled dragon to the doctor.
"If you could get her there in the next few minutes, then yes, probably, but I don't know for sure, like I said I don't know anything about this type of creature."
With that the purple dragon took the Pegasus still in his arms away from the dragon doctors. Dashing outside the purple dragon approached the giant winged black scaled dragon that had carried him before.
"Lampblack, do you know how to get to Equestria!?" shouted the purple-scaled dragon.
"Equestria?" replied Lampblack, "never heard of it."
"Can you see if any other transport dragons ever heard of it?"
"Sure!"
Lampblack turned and thrust to the roof of the hospital. Within a few seconds a enormous red-scaled dragon descended. The red-scaled dragon was twice the size of Lampblack.
"I've been to Ponyville before," roared the gigantic red dragon, "it's a small town in Equestria."
Lampblack descended back to the ground.
"This is Infernal Flame, the biggest and fastest transport dragon around."
"I can bring you to Ponyville," said Infernal Flame his voice rattling the ground as he spoke, "although they probably won't like to see me there, they sent me away last time I was there."
"Ponyville is perfect, lets go!" shouted the purple-scaled firefighter dragon.
"Ok then, Climb into my mouth," requested Infernal Flame opening his mouth.
The purple-scaled dragon looked at the red-scaled dragon with a blank stare.
"It's not a joke!" shouted Lampblack, "Infernal Flame won't let you down."
"Don't leave me," cried the injured pegasus weakly from the purple-scaled dragon's arms.
"No need to worry, my lady," reassured the purple dragon as he reluctantly turned to enter Infernal Flame's mouth. Climbing the side of the red dragon's mouth, the purple dragon grabbed a hold of one of Infernal Flame's 12 inch teeth and hoisted himself into the giant's mouth. Infernal Flame closed his mouth and prepared to takeoff.
"Hold on little dude!" Shouted Lampblack to the purple-scaled dragon as Infernal Flame thrust his giant wings. Holding on to Infernal Flame's teeth for support the purple-scaled dragon braced for liftoff. Within seconds they were in the air and off to Ponyville.
Inside Infernal Flame's mouth the purple-scaled dragon realized that it wasn't so bad after all. He and the baby pony were safe from the harsh winter wind and cold. But still, Infernal Flame flew very fast, so fast that sometimes the purple-scaled dragon would almost loose his grip on the teeth. Despite the occasional discomfort of varying G-force and altitude change, it was a good ride.
"Take us down to the center of the town!" called the purple-scaled dragon.
Infernal Flame replied with a grunt of acknowledgement.
The giant dragon flew swiftly through the air. The wind had picked up as Infernal Flame entered Equestria. The snow was falling heavily now. Spotting the town of Ponyville in the distance, Infernal Flame headed for its center. The enormous red-scaled dragon began his decent into the heart of the little town. Suddenly a long black cloud of thunder and lightning struck the giant dragon. The purple-scaled dragon was rattled and shocked by the sudden unexpected impact. Another thundering cloud came around and struck Infernal Flame once again. Distraught, Infernal Flame swung at the elongated thundering clouds. Then out of nowhere, a rainbow struck Infernal Flame across the face.
"What's going on out there!?" shouted the purple-scaled dragon.
Infernal Flame quickly recovered his composure, closed his wings, and landed with an earth shattering thud upon his feet in the center of the town. Lowering his neck, Infernal Flame quickly released the shaken purple-scaled dragon and his injured Pegasus pony. Just before Infernal Flame could take off, another thundering black cloud struck him across his back.
"Ahhhrrrr!" roared Infernal Flame swiping at the air with his gigantic claws.
The purple-scaled dragon meanwhile rushed the injured pony to the nearest house. The small dragon frantically knocked on the door of a house built into the side of a giant tree. A purple unicorn opened the door.
"Twilight, I need your help!" shouted the purple-scaled dragon.
"Spike!?" gasped Twilight in disbelief.
"No time to explain," we need to get this injured Pegasus to a doctor right away explained Spike holding the semi-conscious Pegasus in the light for Twilight to see.
"Come inside quick!" shouted Twilight.
Spike immediately entered the house closing the door quickly behind him.
The home was warm and well lit. The walls were lined with books and documents as far as the eye could see.
"I remember this," commented Spike to himself.
With a flash, Twilight teleported herself to the loft above the main entrance.
"Spike, quick lay her down over here!"
Spike rushed the injured Pegasus up the stairs to Twilight's bedroom. Spike gently placed the purple named orange filly onto the bed as twilight paced in anticipation.
"Lets have a look then," suggested Twilight leaning over the bedside.
"Moderate olfactory contusions, superficial flesh wounds to the face, mouth, and back, a few missing baby teeth, slight burns across the wings and lower back. Spike get me a bottle of Punch Beery hard Punch, four rolls of gauze, and my All-Spellz book"
"I'm on it!" shouted Spike dashing for the supply room.
"Hmmm, what else is wrong with you," said Twilight aloud to herself
"I can't feel my legs…" groaned the baby Pegasus.
Just then Twilight realized something, something she should have noticed the second she laid eyes upon the injured Pegasus.
"It can't be!" gasped Twilight, "Scootaloo?"
Before Twilight could grasp the full extent of her realization a giant crash emanated from outside. It was Infernal Flame still being harassed by the mysterious flying forces. Spike returning from the supply room immediately dropped everything and dashed toward the door.
"Stay with her!" shouted Spike, "I'll deal with this!"
Rushing outside Spike was greeted by an Earth shaking roar. Infernal Flame was being bombarded by the roaring clouds and the notorious rainbow.
"Infernal Flame!" called Spike, "don't attack! They are the Wonder Bolts, the defenders of Equestria! They are scared and confused because of your size!"
"I will attack them when they attack me!" shouted Infernal Flame in a thunderous roar. Suddenly the notorious speeding rainbow struck Infernal Flame once again, but this time the red-scaled dragon giant struck back with an underhanded swat. A blue blur shot out from the rainbow streak to the ground not far from Spike.
"Oh no!" shouted Spike, "Rainbow Dash!"
Spike ran to the downed pegasus before she could resume her attack.
"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Spike, "It's me Spike!"
"Spike?" questioned Rainbow Dash
"Infernal Flame, the big giant dragon brought me here for an emergency, he is not a threat. Order the other Wonderbolts to stop the attack."
"Spike?" questioned Rainbow Dash, "It's been such a long time, I hardly - "
"Get going!" shouted Spike.
"Oh yea, hang on." replied Rainbow Dash zooming up into the sky.
In a matter of seconds Rainbow Dash ceased the assault on Infernal Flame and the Wonderbolts flew back to their normal patrols.
"Infernal Flame, I'm going to stay here for awhile, you can return to Draconia!" shouted Spike.
"May the Great Dragon in the sky watch over you and your friends." roared Infernal Flame as he took to the dark night sky in a giant gust of wind.
As the giant dragon vanished into the stormy night an overly excited Rainbow Dash pounced upon Spike's chest knocking him onto his back.
"Spike, it is you, you look great in that fire uniform."
"Ha, and you look great in that Wonderbolts suit." replied Spike, "what am I talking about, Rainbow Dash I have some bad news, quick follow me."
Spike picked himself off the snowy ground. Grabbing Rainbow Dash under his arm he rushed her to Twilight's house.
"Hey come on, put me down, just because you're bigger then me doesn't mean you can pick me up like I'm your pet or something." pouted Rainbow Dash.
Barging into the house, Spike rushed upstairs with Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight, how's she doing?" asked Spike
"How's who doing?" questioned Rainbow Dash peering over the bed.
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped to the floor.
"Scootaloo!" shouted Rainbow Dash, "N-no, it can't be! That can't be the Scootaloo I knew twenty years ago!"
"It's not," replied Twilight, "guys, this is Scootaloo and Rumble's daughter Sky Streamer."