The Burning World

93 Ave, Block A-3, Canterlot

“They gotta be freakin’ kidding,” Rainbow Dash huffed.

Twilight Sparkle looked at her coworker and friend with an abysmal stare at her refuted language. Rainbow Dash was holding the latest in protection offered into their unit for doing the precincts dirty work: a rigid Kevlar body armor that also covered the back and sides of her neck.

“As if I ever let one of those freaks take a jab out of my neck with their rotting teeth.” Rainbow grinned. “How about something for my wings? Huh? I’m going to need those if I have to ever fly my way out of one of those apartment complex’s.”

The night-desk sergeant, Mcadams, scoffed at her bemused response. Walking into their own office, “Rainbow, you will wear it.” Before he turned to face Twilight Sparkle, she slightly pulled back on her seat at his sudden movement. His voice sharpened as he sucked the air out of the room. “You to, Sparkles.”

Twilight too, raised her voice. “Did I say I wouldn’t? I’m up for all the protection we could get.”

“You know we winged ponies would like something for our wings also,” Rainbow remarked. “And are wings the only reason why were all stuck together in this place?”

“Yeah, I agree: but listen, production in Trottingham has been slow this time around, and since we have to ration little delicacies like armor. It will just have to make do.” Mcadams responded. Then he proceeded to leave the room, Twilight conveyed the two together. “Wear it, don’t wear it. But Rainbow Dash - do you have to advertise to the whole world, to our desk sergeant, of what you’re going to do.”

“Even if this hunk of weight makes you look like a buckin’ turtle, yeah I will.” Rainbow seasoned the last of her retort with the smack of her tail on her office chair. Before exiting momentarily to get a drink.

Twilight liked Rainbow as a partner, and colleague because she has seen her save Equestria many times before-hand. And she knew deep down that she was just as stubborn like Applejack,  and with enough of a rebellious streak to bet her life for the safety of others. And she was her best friend, an extremely loyal one at that.

Why can’t she ever just keep her mouth shut, Twilight hissed at the back of her head. The bleak thoughts reeled throughout her brain was spelling discontent and a loss of internal respect - though it was brief. It’s not like she’s in Detroit or Manehatten, some of the worst locations in the world.

I mean, when you think about it, we’ve been extremely lucky with our contacts. Celestia have been very graceful in sending us to one of the best precincts in all of Equestria. Twilight closed that part of her subconscious. Not wanting to dwell further on the matter. She let a little more ink out, however. She should be *freaking** grateful for what we have, now. She should be-*

“I’m an honest officer, that’s all I’m saying.” Rainbow said as she slammed the door shut. Twirling around in her seat she placed her elbows on her desk and made a slouch expression with her face against the window across from her. She sipped on her drink mannerly before placing the styrofoam cup at the edge of her hoof, licking her lips in pure confidence. She bounced her hoof high in the air: her leg arched upward and almost gained six feet in height before descending back down to the floor. The cup missed and landed behind the garbage can.

“Frick,” Rainbow muttered under her breath, getting up to fetch the cup and properly dispose of it.

“Hey, Rainbow,” Twilight started. “Let’s go for a walk, I need a minute to stretch anyways.”

“Yeah, sure Twilight.” Rainbow replied. She opened the door as Twilight was just about to pass her, she ducked her head under her friend’s arm before Rainbow closed the door behind them.

They waited until they got outside the station, once reaching it, all they saw were densely pitch-black streets that overlapped one another. It has given it a distinct fashion in Canterlot for an untrained eye, it left any pony walking out at night to watch and just visualize all that was lost in the old world. A world of no worries, no world-hunger, no violence. Twilight imagined the olden days where there was a world without constant death.

All these empty streets sent a shiver down both their spines, they quickly looked away and turned their attention towards the one light above them. It was orange, and it was dimming it’s heat source away one second at a time. Finally, like the flash of light itself, the emergency lights shined and brightened up on top of large-electrolyzed fences spreading all around Canterlots suburbs. The UVA lights shined so vividly around this part of town that any pony wanting to get some sleep would have to have extra curtains or blinds draped around their windows. This was supposed to feel like the perfect place in Equestria, but still so many fears lurked around each corner that the term - "safe" - felt too artificial.

Nevertheless, excitement twinged and coursed throughout Rainbow’s blood as her heart pumped in adrenaline at the sight of lights blazing through the open streets. It would give any pony in her occupation the satisfaction of knowing that they were going to be safe tonight - and that no one was going to die. She hoped, at least.

Finally, were safe now. Twilight thought as a warm smile curled around her face.

She soon sat down on the cement sidewalk with Rainbow getting the impression before trailing along with her friend, too. Twilight clapped her wings tightly at her frame as Rainbow sat inches away from her. Rainbow looked out into the dying star hanging proudly in the sky, only to get overtaken by Luna’s mysterious moon.

They sat in silence for a little while, taking in the air before them. At least the air was real, if almost nothing else.

Every little while you could hear shouts and screams from all around Equestria, or the shuffles of the protection fences until you hear one of them gurgling in pain before they die out by excessive energy blistering and smoldering through their bodies. The thud of a Hackitt falling to the ground usually signaled to the peacekeepers that they’ve got another one.

Every noise that occurred, however, wasn’t from the ponies that the peace keepers wanted dead. But it could have been something far more severe like a civilian stray being mauled on a street.

Insurgents, gangs, thugs, all of them were considered a minority problem since they’re smaller in numbers, but the fact that insurgents walked among the Safe Zones usually made regular civilians weary of the safety of ground zero.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were on Block A-3 in Equestria, and the city was separated by four distinctive sections called blocks. And each additional block was supplanted with letters A-D before following by numbers going from 1 to 5. Each number consisted of how good the economy and protection of each block, and based on those simple statistics Canterlot could provide resources depending on what blocks potential to handle any violence caused by civilians or hordes of Hackitt’s climbing over electric fences. Finally each letter symbolized what section and ranking of how safe the locations were.

It was all bureaucratic bull-crap in Rainbow’s mind, however. She didn’t like the way of how the system ran, and this pained her even more when she couldn’t be with the Wonderbolts. But what really dragged her down was the fact that she couldn’t beside her friends. It also caused grief to Twilight, who no longer had the ability to see the ponies she had grown to love in Ponyville. And it was a burden she was hoping it could be rewritten once they’ve freed themselves from this mess.

Luckily for both Twilight and Rainbow: they were both stationed on Block A, which meant the highest protection of any Block by Canterlots government. It’s a wonder that some cities don’t apply this sort of system because it would be greatly beneficial and could also help sport more revenue and the sense of security for civilians who wanted to live peacefully without harm. Then again, no city had numbers like Canterlot did. It’s military power was among the highest. And they were the second-most efficient city in Equestria for recruiting and distributing new troops throughout the nation. Except for the bulker regions of New York, that is.

Security footage had all blocks surveillanced and secured separately so only Canterlot itself would be able to monitor every single block without potential hijacks by Hackitts or rebels. Say, if one Block was cut down and swarmed, than either axis’s could have the possibility of knowing every strong and weak-point in the entire city: thus, meaning Canterlot was not just screwed, but royally f****d.

The local term for these blocks were Safe Zones - at least what’s within the twelve-foot-high fences and electrified razor ribbon dividing sanity and insanity, that is. The unfortunate thing was, they were getting smaller and smaller by the month. Though, the Equestrian police and military have won their fair share of battles including raiding new territories while restoring old ones for use.The creatures were winning the war, sadly enough. Everyday certain blocks would get the call that there is an attack and that would only mean two things: (A, a horde had dug it’s way underground or managed to rip the fences open, or (B, they had lost a small part of it’s own security because the officers that were called on scene were either killed or fled.

Fleeing meant instant discharge and they wouldn’t get their pension, and if it was in extreme situations, they would be trialed and possibly executed. Either way, they would be a disgrace to the Equestrian police force and that meant they would forever be blacklisted on their resume if they were to apply for another job. The only way ponies stationed in these blocks would know of territorial loss was that the ponies in Canterlot would radio in to whatever block that needed assistance on a separate channel to their official radio-scanner  by informing them of the loss, and they would have to evacuate any ponies that were hold up in the area because the Equestrian police force was always strain on resources that sending new reinforcements would be a conventional loss, and a horrible suicide location. The only way to contain and quarantined the area’s were to simply board it up with more fences because it was quite easy to build, and Hackitt’s were hardly smart enough to realize. Though, there has been a few occasions when the Equestrian police managed to send out for reinforcements, but that has been rare since it’s only ever a fifty-fifty success rate, and chance wasn’t always on their side.

“Did you hear, Twilight? Block C lost another chunk of it’s turf. It's getting bad.” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, I heard. Thank Celestia we weren’t transferred there.” Twilight replied, crossing her legs together she rubbed them firmly with her forehooves to let the warmth course through her body.

“I can’t believe it was last night, the boys and girls are talking about it. Word spreads fast.” Rainbow added, she locked her arms to her chest, forming a shell and winding her wings tightly together to conserve her body heat.

Twilight yawned, then added coldly . “Those ponies should keep their mouths shut, it’s bad enough having to live this way. But using it as an excuse to make small talk and gossip around town twenty-four seven is not the way of doing your job.” Throwing her two-cents worth, Rainbow quickly asserted her of what world they were living in, now.

“Twilight, it’s just talking. What’s the big deal? We live in a crummy place where ponies thrive off other ponies now, and not to nature’s intent by mating. I mean the dog eat dog way. The way where somebody could easily take another one’s life with a simple bite to the neck.”

"Not to mention what kind of diseases they have, I mean it could be anything from a simple infection to rabies!" She finished.

Rainbow Dash was hardly the mare to make a good point, she was more prone to just using the f bomb to weasel her way out of confrontation.

“Yeah, but it still stings.” Twilight throttled the stick and added more gas to an already debatable discussion.

“Why should it sting?” Rainbow’s voice squeaked. “I mean, we live in a society where survival is always on our minds, and it is no longer 'play it safe for fun or start something just to get attention'. Because now we have to live in a world where it’s play it safe all the time, because whatever choice you make could affect the lives of others.” The seriousness in her tone demanded Twilight to look up and look into Rainbow Dash’s assertive eyes that were sparking higher and higher with crystal orb'd flames of sheer diligence.

Rainbow had something that even Twilight wished she possessed: Courage and true-loyalty for the lives of others. You could outwit Rainbow Dash in other areas but when it came to loyalty: she was the grand-master.

“At least gossip won't kill you, literally.” Rainbow finished before standing up and walking out into the darkness.

The assiduity in her friends voice had shook Twilight’s core temporarily that she stayed in complete silence as the door across from her closed shut. She lifted her head back up to watch the moon and the stars own the entire sky for the next four hours as it was the middle of July. And the shorter days hadn’t fully begun yet.

She trembled a little from the outburst of her friend, but she completely understood the need for it. It was a way to relieve stress of their job: a job she still pondered from time to time of how she ever got into this side of business in the first place. Since it was a job that literally meant life and death. And any day now they could be dispatched to some poor victim only to lose their lives by a local idiot, a rabid animal, or a Hackitt.

Whatever happened to the world I once knew? Hmm, Twilight thought. Whatever happened to weekend visits from Canterlot, or whatever happened to simply curling up in bed, and reading a good book with Spike or going on some wild goose-chase with the others...

Twilight nostrils fumed and she exhaled into the air, hoping that somepony was listening to her state of mind and possibly giving her an impossible answer because she was tired of trying to make one up.

This was her world, now. A world of pain, a world of suffering, a world of fear and a world that has burned up all it’s resources and is now becoming a wasteland.

Twilight got up and began to trot indoors because the mosquitoes were getting grim with her coat and she needed to properly warm up inside.

Walking to the door she opened it and took one last glance before descending back indoors to shuffle more paperwork. finite world of resources, finite world of possibilities. A finite world with no end in sight. Twilight talked to her head again, letting that last bit of ink out. The Burning World, this place is truly a burning world.