Element of Fire

The skies were cloudy, but otherwise the weather was almost perfect. Twilight and the rest of her friends were hanging out for an early dinner at Sugar Cube Corner, though Spike decided to stay back at the library. So the dragon was not present, but Twilight knew that Owlicious was there, too. They would be safe, so those worries were shoved behind a corner in her mind. The mood was calm, but Twilight felt some of the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She felt like she was being watched, but she dismissed the thought.

There couldn't be anypony watching her.

Although it was a little bit late, the mares ate some cupcakes after their main course- a large but mouth-watering bowl of water tribe-noodles. It was strange meal, but it didn't matter; they were all hungry.

"Ooh! You guys, let me tell you something I made up; chimi cherry changa!' Pinkie Pie exclaimed. The others looked at her with confusion.

"What the hay is that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked, taking a bite of her lemon- flavored cupcake. Of course, she preferred apples over lemons, but this was a delicious exception.

"Oh! Well, I was deciding which word was better- chimi cherry, or cherry changa? And then I was like, since I can't decide, I'll combine them into..." Pinkie's voice descended into nothing.

"Combine them into what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Hm... I just, don't know that word. It has an 'uh' sound."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. What word had the sound 'uh'?

"Clumps?"

Pinkie gasped, then bounced over to Twilight, giving her a hug.

"Yes! Clumps! I combined them into clumps!"

Everypony giggled. Rainbow Dash yawned, stretching her wings. Twilight had noticed before, but decided to ask about the blue arrows on her wings and her legs.

"Hey Dash, what are those markings for?"

"Oh, these bad boys?" Rainbow Dash said, flaunting her wings and hooves. "A pegasi thing- it's like, a tradition. When you've somewhat mastered air-bending, you get to have these tattoos! They're optional, though, which is why uh, Fluttershy doesn't have them."

"Oh Rainbow Dash, you know I'm not good at flying anyway. Not like you," Fluttershy said in her usual, hushed tone.

"Uh... right." Dash turned away from Fluttershy, now facing the others. "I earned these tattoos by doing a sonic rainboom."

"What's a sonic rainboom?" Twilight inquired. Pinkie Pie gasped.

"You don't know what a sonic rainboom is?! It's this amazing event when a certain pegasi-ahem, Dashie here- goes suuuuper fast that she breaks the sound barrier and makes a rainbow! Isn't that awe-"

The six mares looked at the door, which was the reason why Pinkie got cut off. It was strange, as it was a slow day, and there were hardly any customers the past hour.

"Oh- a customer!" Pinkie half- whispered.

Twilight's heart nearly jumped, which was believable since a lump had formed in her throat. It was one a new face; an earth-pony stallion with a brick-red coat, deep, brown eyes and mane. He would've looked like a normal pony, aside from the clear symbol that marked him as an equalist-supporter; a red disk-shaped pendant around his neck. "Am I a little... late? Are you closing?"

"Oh no no no! You can have a cupcake, custard or whatever right now!" Pinkie Pie said, heading towards the kitchen.

The stallion turned and narrowed his eyes at the other five mares, and coughed. Of course he was looking at them all angry- he was an equalist!

Twilight wondered what the stallion was going to say, but instead he kept quiet, glancing at the mares once in a while. There was something wrong with the way he looked at them- especially Twilight. More hairs stood up. She quivered.

"Well, well, it looks as though Sugar Cube Corner is also needed of bath from these filthy benders," the pony suddenly jeered. Rarity gasped, giving the stranger an appalled glare. Seeing that nopony -not even Rainbow Dash- spoke up, she decided to take matters into her own hooves and defend her friends.

"How dare you? That is quite rude of you, even though I don't know you! I'll have you know that although I'm an earth- bender, I do not spend my time in the mud unless its mud from Aloe and Lotus' spa!"

"Yeah, mister stranger meanie mean pants!" Pinkie added, suddenly appearing next to Twilight. She jumped, and swiftly moved the chair so that she didn't fall. Her horn's glow dimmed and brightened as she took deep breaths. If she didn't notice Pinkie sneaking up on her, then it must have been too quiet.

"You can't walk into my bakery- well, it's actually Mr. and Mrs. Cake's bakery, but still! You can't walk in anyplace like that! You need to fix your attitude! Understand? Do not talk to my friends like that!"

The stallion snickered. "Huh. An earth pony who's defending her bender friends. Adorable."

Pinkie Pie furrowed her eyebrows, but then, her pinkie sense triggered; something bad was going to happen! She turned her head in every direction, then gulped.

"Nervous, I see. You should be," said the stallion, clapping his hooves.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Suddenly, a team of 4 ponies barged in. They all sported dark-green jumpsuits, brown neck gaiters that covered half of their faces, and gas-masks.

"I will explain while we're on the way, what everything means. I'm sure you are all curious, especially you, avatar Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight's eyes widened. "How do you know who I am?"

"I hope you didn't mind my own suspicion. I was... spying. My apologies."

"Y-you were spying on me?"

"All of you, actually. You other mares have proven to be useful." The stallion turned around, facing all of the masked ponies. "Chi blockers, attack!"

The ponies then began punching their hooves against Twilight's pressure points, causing her to collapse. She winced in pain, and when she tried to summon her magic, it failed. The red stallion walked over, and began tying her legs.

"Twilight!" Her friends all shouted, but the chi blockers began attacking them as well.

The mysterious pony proceeded to cover her whole face with a bag, but she could still hear her friends struggling to fight the equalists off.

"Hey, what do you think you're- ow! Woah!" Rainbow Dash yelled, before landing on the ground with a thud.

"Get your hooves of me or else!" Applejack threatened, but her freedom was as short as Twilight's. Every one of Twilight's friends fell to the floor. Twilight felt dizzy for some reason, even though her vision was already black from the bag.

She passed out, drifting into the void.

When Twilight woke up, she was in some sort of vehicle. She no longer had a bag over her head, but instead, Twilight felt some kind of circlet- ring thing around her horn. She wasn't paralyzed by the chi- blockers, so Twilight attempted to use her magic, only to get shocked. She now knew what the ring was; an anti-magic device. Such advanced technology, beyond the telephone, auto-mobile and radio, yet she never knew until now.

Twilight turned her head, and saw her friends, tied up as well. Rarity had the same ring around her own horn. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were just tied up, but had a bag over their heads, similar to Twilight earlier. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had their wings tied together, and it seemed to be electric; if any one of them tried to fly, they would get shocked, similarly to the device on Twilight's horn.

"I see that you've awoken," a familiar voice said. It was the red stallion from Sugar Cube Corner, but instead, he wore a gray-jumpsuit, a mask that covered his entire face (except for his mouth and eyes), brass goggles and knee pads.

"Where... where are my friends and I heading?" Twilight questioned, pulling her hooves away from each other. It only hurt more than it did help her. The stallion chuckled.

"To the gathering of the equalists, where the revelation truly starts."

Twilight bit her lip. The revelation. She remembered the radio speech, how the anonymous pony had talked about ridding the world of bending...

"It was you who hacked the radio, wasn't it?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Why yes. I don't know how you found that out," the stallion replied sarcastically.

"How did you not get caught?"

"Because you benders are ignorant. It was so easy."

Twilight turned away from the red pony, whose name she didn't even learn. How in Equestria was she going to escape? Silently, she prayed to Celestia that somehow she would be rescued, no matter how impossible it seemed. After praying, she thought of something else; what would happen to Celestia? Would she be overthrown by the insane equalists? Twilight shuddered at the thought. No, it wasn't possible; Celestia was powerful, and she was an alicorn. It was impossible. The equalists will never get away with their plans.

But then Twilight thought of the radio speech once more. The red stallion had said something about the meeting, the one they were heading to. Something about cleansing the world of benders. How? How could they even-

A chill went down her spine, and she felt her heart pound against her chest. The one part of her mind said that it could never be true. But the other half told her that it was true. That side was winning over her other thoughts.

The equalists were going to take away their bending. For good.

The equalists tied Twilight and the others to their own, individual wooden poles. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, however, were awkwardly sitting next each other, on the floor. Twilight stared at the crowd, and then at the poles that she was tied to. To her left, her friends were tied up, but to her right, three more bender ponies were present.

First there were two pegasi, one male and the other female. The other pony was male, and a fire-bender. The red pony stepped up to the front of the stage, and began adjusting the microphone. The crowd cheered.

"Greetings, my brothers and sisters. Today is the day our revolution begins."

Right after he said that, the sound of voices filled Twilight's ears even more. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to drown out the noise without her hooves to cover them, and began to think. How can I escape? When should I escape? What if I can't save my friends or the other benders?

She concentrated, and soon the noise slowly faded away. It was impossible to for her to teleport because of the stupid device around her horn, or do anything for that matter. She needed something to help her escape, and the only things that she would use was magic.

Suddenly, Twilight thought of a risky, but somewhat-great idea. She could try to disable the technology. Since the device was powered by electricity and not magic, she could try to damage the device, causing it to not work. Even if it shocks her, she needed to save not only herself, but everypony tied to the poles. It was her duty, after all; she was the avatar.

Quickly, she began concentrating on her magic, channeling as much power as possible to disable the anti-magic bending device. Shocks went through her body. Twilight gritted her teeth, but tried her best not to flinch. Perhaps everypony could think that her pole was electrocuting her, but the excuse quickly went to the trash. Focus, Twilight thought, forcing her magic to its peak.

After a few minutes, she was used to the shocks, though it was still relatively painful. The magic from her horn then joined the electricity, and now fought with each other. Twilight felt like she was going to pass out. I can do this! Just a little longer... The electricity almost died down. Magic had mostly dominated it. After what seemed like forever, she had finally deactivated the mechanism on her horn. She was exhausted, and the crowd flooded her ears once more.

"Trying to escape, avatar Twilight Sparkle?" the red stallion said. "Too bad you're exhausted now, we wanted you to go first."

Several ponies in the audience booed at the avatar, while others stared. They couldn't believe that the lavender unicorn was the one who can bend all five elements, and was the bridge between the spirit and mortal world.

"Let me introduce you to our leader, the brilliant mind behind the equalists, our savior- Sombra!"

The crowd erupted into pure sound, the noise nearly deafening. From the corner of her eye, Twilight could see another figure coming from the right-hoof side.

The stallion had a dark brown hood on, with a lighter brown suit that covered his entire body. On top, the pony had black pads lined with brown on his knees and shoulders. His face was covered by a simple, tan mask with a red circle on the forehead area. Behind the mask, his eyes were shadowed but still a little bit visible. They seemed to be a reddish- brown color, but it was hard to tell.

"What were you doing?" Rainbow Dash whispered, also watching the figure appear.

"I deactivated the device around my horn," Twilight whispered back. Rainbow Dash mouth was now wide open. From the look of her eyes, they seemed to beg Twilight to remove the anti-wing device. She sighed. Of course, it was Dash's nature to fly, and her wings were probably eager as well.

The red pony stepped aside for Sombra.

As he approached the microphone, the crowd silenced itself, waiting for the voice of the equalist leader.

"Greetings, fellow earth ponies. Today, we gather around to usher in a new era of equality," Sombra said, his deep voice amplified by the microphone. "For too long, we non-benders have lived in the shadows of benders. It is time that we rebel against them.

"As you heard on the radio, my loyal Lieutenant said that we will rid the world of benders by taking away their cursed abilities. But how? How can I take away their bending?"

He walked over to the fire-bender tied to the pole.

The unicorn shook, and began to plead for mercy. A few equalists from the back untied him, and he fell to the floor. His back legs were still tied up, but the Lieutenant began removing the anti-bending device around his horn.

"I was born on a small farm in the rural areas of Fillydelphia. We lived in poverty, and nopony in our family were benders. One day, a fire-bender robbed us. In the process, I lost my parents. My face, was burned. I had to wear a mask to cover the scars."

Twilight frowned. She almost felt bad for the masked pony.

"As you can see, the avatar is here with us."

Boos flew across. Twilight wanted to hide under the stage.

"I bet she wants to say that bending brings balance. It doesn't. The previous avatar, Sunset Shimmer, had failed to bring harmony to the world. And so, the spirits decided to bless me."

Sombra then headed for Applejack, and nodded towards her. Lieutenant dragged her by the tail, struggling as the mare began to toss and turn. Twilight tilted her her head. Applejack didn't actually look nervous, but instead, furious.

"Y'all better let me and ma friends go!" she shouted.

The masked stallion only laughed. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Yeah, tell that to your cheese blockers."

"It's chi," he corrected. "Now, tell me something, anything, that a bender has done to you, that you will never forget and forgive them for it."

Applejack stopped wriggling, and was still as stone. She looked down.

"N-nothing," she said. "Benders- they never did anything to me."

Twilight raised her eyebrows. She was lying. Applejack was too honest, and thus a terrible liar. Apparently, even Sombra could tell she was lying. Under his mask he probably rolled his eyes at AJ's terrible lie.

"Are you sure?"

Applejack straightened herself up. "Okay, fine! My parents- they died 'cause of a fire-bender. A member of the Agni Kai Equines," she said, a tremor in her voice. No wonder AJ didn't have any parents! The only true grownup pony around was her grandmother, Granny Smith.

"If you're going to ask me, no! I don't hate benders!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. Rarity and Rainbow Dash then began to shouting , right after Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy whimpered.

"I want to be released, these ropes hurt! How can you do this, its so tiring!" Rarity whined. the masked pony ignored her.

Sombra headed towards the fire-bender, who was on the floor, shaking. His eyes widened as the masked pony approached him. Applejack turned her head, curious as to what he was going to do.

"Watch as you witness my incredible abilities the spirits have blessed me with. Watch and you will see, my ability to take anypony's bending-permanently."

Everypony gasped, except for the chi blockers and the Lieutenant. The fire-bender, at this point, was crying like a colt who lost his mother, blubbering pleas of surrender and mercy. Sombra ignored it. He removed the remaining ropes on the pony's legs. The pony stopped crying, and was now confused, but still terrified.

"Show the world your fire-bending! I know you can!" he ordered, almost encouragingly. The other stallion shook his head.

"Do it! Now!"

Slowly, the stallion got up, and backed away. Then, a small flame appeared from his horn, but he quickly shook his head, letting the flame wither away. Twilight could tell that the pony was innocent, and definitely not a fighter. She knew she could do something, but her body was frozen, as if she was chi-blocked. All Twilight did was watch.

"Stop! You can't do this! I thought I just said that just 'cause some fire-bender killed ma parents, doesn't-"

Applejack was cut off as Sombra began charging the fire-bender. Out of self-defense, the pony's eyes widened, and a swirling blaze of orange blasted from his horn, surrounding him into a shield of fire. The flames grew hotter and wider, until the last few flames died out, vanishing into thin air.

The stallion was now panting, and began to back up slowly. Behind him, Sombra leaped out and chi blocked him until the fire-bender was on his knees. A small flame appeared on his horn, but Sombra swiftly placed his left hoof onto the fire-bender's horn, and the other hoof on his shoulder. Twilight watched in horror as the pony's eyes widened, then closed. He landed to the floor. Did he just lose his bending?

"Your bending is gone." Sombra said. "You can prove it if you want to."

The pony, once again lying on the ground, tried to summon a fire. Twilight waited for a small flame to appear. Nothing happened, except the loud chanting of the crowd.

"Equality! Equality! Equality!"

Twilight's boiling anger then rose to the surface. That monster Sombra took away an innocent pony's fire-bending. Her friends, they were captured, and so was she. Everything that just happened and she wasn't able to prevent, it made her angry. She could not- will not let her friends get their bending taken away, or anypony tied to the wooden poles! Suddenly, she felt warm. A burning sensation.

Twilight's coat turned from lavender to to a pale yellow, and her cutie mark vanished. Her purple eyes turned into bright red orbs, so red that her black pupils disappeared.  But, the most wildest of her transformation was that her mane bursted into orange flames. The chanting of the audience turned into gasps. Chi blockers began running towards the flaming unicorn, but it was just too hot. Twilight turned her head, lighting the poles with her mane on fire. It somehow, surprisingly, burned the poles and the ropes, but not the ponies. Twilight shook her head, the anti-bending ring landing to the floor with a clank. She then removed the other devices from both her friends and the strangers. Twilight levitated the ponies with her magic. Even the aura, instead of its usual magenta glow, was orange. Using all of her remaining energy, she teleported to the outside of the equalist lair. The flaming unicorn eventually turned to normal, but she was exhausted. The cool air met her, which soothed her a bit.

"Twilight! Let's go!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight turned, and saw that Sombra was standing near the entrance. The chi blockers began to move forward, but Sombra spoke up.

"Let them go. We will face her soon."

The mob of escaped benders soon separated. The other ponies gave hurried thanks, including the stallion who lost his fire-bending. Twilight and her friends rushed back to the Golden Oaks Library, where Spike was waiting for them.

Spike bit hip bottom lip, his short, baby-dragon legs walked back and forth in circles. Twilight had not returned from Sugar Cube Corner, and when Spike checked, she wasn't there. Not even Pinkie Pie, or anypony for that matter. Only emptiness.

He should've went out to find the missing ponies, but instead, he waited. Seconds, minutes, and probably hours passed by.

Knock, knock, knock, knock.

Quickly, he got up and began to slowly opened the door. He didn't know what to expect, but was surprised to see Twilight- whose mane and tail was sizzled- and her friends. They all entered the library, panting. He frowned. "What in Equestria happened?"

Everypony tried to explain, but in the end it was just a loud mess. So, instead, Fluttershy informed Spike of what happened, since she was somehow the least exhausted.

"A-and so that was what happened during the last couple of hours," Fluttershy finished. "Sorry we had you worried."

"Aw, don't feel bad! It wasn't your fault that Sombra and the equalists attacked you," Spike said, who brewed Jasmine tea for the mares to relax after the whole equalist incident. Twilight shook her head.

"It wasn't Fluttershy's fault, or any of your faults. If somepony had to be blamed, it was me."

"Now stop right there! It is not your fault, it was that stallion Sombra's fault!" Rarity disagreed. "Not to mention, he should be blamed for those terrible uniforms! So not fashionable, definitely creepy- couture, if that existed."

Twilight knew Rarity was trying to lighten the mood, but she sighed, and sipped her tea.

"It was my fault. I let that pony lose his fire-bending, when I should've teleported all of us who were tied to those poles to safety. I deactivated the anti-bending gadget around my horn, but I was just there like a statue!"

"Look, sugar cube, it ain't your fault. I should be blamed 'cause I told Sombra about my-my dead parents," Applejack spoke calmly, clearly trying not to cry. "It probably caused him to take away that fire-bender's bending first and whatnot."

"Listen everypony, it's not Twilight's fault, or Applejack's fault. Let's all agree that Sombra is to blame, okay?" Rainbow Dash announced.  Spike nodded in agreement.

Deep down inside, however, Twilight knew it was her to be blamed, but she couldn't let that thought ruin her. She was the avatar; she had to bring balance, and it won't be easy. But, she had to report this to Princess Celestia, immediately, in case another incident happens.

"Spike, get the quill and paper."