Trailblazer's New Life

A week has passed since Twilight Sparkle took care of the applebuck season. Rainbow Dash still wanted to race Trailblazer, and now was going to get the chance.

"Now then, Rainbow Dash, I know that you have wings, but this is a footrace. Please race like an Earth pony and keep it fair," lectured Trailblazer.

"Yeah, yeah, fair and square," Rainbow Dash said lazily as she rolled her eyes.

"You know the track then, don't you, dears?" Rarity said. "Start here, take the path under Cloudsdale, run past my place, then to the library, and finish back here."

Both competitors nodded.

"All right then!" she said back.

"Let the race begin!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Both ponies leaned forward to get started.

"Three... Two... One... GO!"

The race began, and both ponies were showing signs of equality. Both were racing at seemingly the same speed as they raced towards Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash was known to be fast, but primarily when airborne. Signs started to show that Rainbow Dash wasn't as good on foot as she was in the sky. Trailblazer kept his pace going as the two of them passed under Cloudsdale and towards Rarity's home, while Rainbow Dash was showing signs of slowing down. She started to trail him by two and a half seconds when Trailblazer passed Rarity's place. As they ran towards the library Twilight Sparkle called home, Trailblazer saw two pegasus ponies looking at the race. One was a blue colt with an indigo mane, and the other was a mare with a bright orange coat and mane. He didn't recognize them and proceeded back to the finish. When Rainbow Dash passed the library around three seconds after Trailblazer did, she immediately knew who they were. Soarin' and Spitfire, both of them being members of the Wunderbolts. As much as she wanted to meet them, she actually grew fearful that she was setting a bad example in front of them. She tried as hard as she could to catch up, but it was of no use. Trailblazer ended up winning the race, with Rainbow Dash three seconds behind. After she crossed the imaginary finish line, she had to stop and catch her breath. Trailblazer was doing the same, but didn't seem as worn out as Rainbow Dash was.

"Better luck next time, Rainbow," Trailblazer said to her.

"Awww... If only you could fly..." Rainbow Dash replied. "I think it would've been more fun."

"I think you're just saying that because you want an easy victory."

"Rainbow Dash?" a voice spoke.

Dash immediately knew that voice and quickly turned around to see the two Wunderbolts that saw the race, and saw how it was Spitfire that was talking to her. Then, she started to feel rather gloomy, and her ears drooped.

"I... I just couldn't keep up..." she said. "I guess I wasn't fit for joining your squad after all..."

"No, you did fine. And this was a footrace, so it really has nothing to do with flying," she reassured. "Actually, we came here so that you could introduce us to your new friend."

"Huh??" Rainbow Dash was growing jealous, seeing how they wanted to talk to Trailblazer more than to her.

"My name is Trailblazer. And you are...?" he spoke up.

I'm Soarin' and this is Spitfire," said Soarin'. "You were a great racer there! If only you were a pegasus, then you'd definetly be a part of our squad!"

Trailblazer wasn't excited by that. "I'm sorry, what squad are you talking about?"

"Trailblazer!" barked Rainbow Dash. "How can you not know the Wunderbolts?! They're, like, Equestria's most talented flyers!"

"Anyways, I guess we came just to congratulate you on your victory over Rainbow Dash," said Spitfire. "And she's even our best candidate to be our next Wunderbolt."

Rainbow Dash immediately felt better after hearing that.

"Hey, what does your cutie mark resemble?" Soarin' asked. He pointed towards Trailblazer's cutie mark of the two crossed guitars.

"Oh, this? It just shows that I have a talent for music on the electric guitar."

"You know, we're looking for a musical performer along with our DJ Vinyl Scratch for next week's show. Do you think you could be our lead guitarist?"

"That'd be nice, but..."

"Trailblazer!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "You can't seriously think about turning down this offer! It's like being a part of the Wunderbolts themselves! And besides, there'd be thousands of ponies watching you play!"

"THOUSANDS??" Trailblazer immediately grew worried at the thought of it.

"Oh, come on now. Twilight told me about your cutie mark story. How would that be any different?"

"Uh, well, it's just that, Ummm..." he stuttered.

"Trailblazer," Rainbow Dash began, getting in his face. "You have no idea how big of an opportunilty this is. You almost CAN'T turn it down!"

Trailblazer tried to think of something good to reject the offer of making himself known, but the pressure from Rainbow Dash and the two Wunderbolts made it difficult. "On second thought, I'll give it a shot," he finally said, cracking a nervous smile.

"Good choice, buddy," Spitfire said. "We'll let her know so that you can practice together."

"Hey, Spitfire, we should get ready for our upcoming show now," Soarin' spoke up.

"Oh, yes, we should. Well, we'll see you both later!" And they flew away.

"Wow... Being the head of the musical performers of the Wunderbolts! You must be stoked!" Rainbow Dash said in awe.

"We'll see how practice goes and then I'll let you know how I feel about it." Trailblazer backed away, and the rest of the ponies split up to do their own buisiness.

But in the back if his head was a nagging voice that said, "What have I done? What have I gotten myself into?!" Surely, this would be the place where his cover would be blown, and if so, then no pony in Ponyville would be safe.

The next day, as Trailblazer tried not to think too much of his performance for the Wunderbolts, he decided to visit AppleJack again. But she wasn't in the orchard at all. He walked back to Big Macintosh's plowing ground and found him plowing there.

"Hey, Big Mac," he greeted him with.

"Howdy, Trailblazer," Big Macintosh said. "What can I do ya for?"

"Oh, you know, I was just looking for AppleJack."

"You see that there woods past the orchard?" he directed. "She's in there along with Applebloom."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, partner."

Trailblazer walked to the woods and ended up finding a small treehouse. He heard some chatter from inside, and he walked up to it and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" an unfamiliar voice called.

"Ummm... Is AppleJack there?"

"No, she isn't, and I was told not to talk to-"

"Sweetie Belle!" That voice was definetly Applebloom's. "Both AppleJack and Ah know Trailblazer! He's no stranger." She paused for a moment. "And, AppleJack just went to the barn to bake some apple fritters. She should be back any second now."

"Applebloom, you know well enough that it could be some stranger anyway," a second unfamiliar voice spoke.

Then, from back outside, they heard AppleJack and knew that she was back. "Oh, hi there, Trailblazer! What are you doing here at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house?"

"Your big brother told me that I would find you here," he responded.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, Ah'm here with the fritters, youngins!" AppleJack walked in with the treats, but Trailblazer stayed outside.

"Oh, don't worry now, hon'! You can come in!"

Trailblazer walked in and saw Applebloom. By her side were two other fillies, a unicorn and a pegasus.

"I don't think you've met the other two crusaders, have you, Trailblazer?"

"Not at all."

"Why don't y'all introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Sweetie Belle," the unicorn with a white and magenta mane and white coat answered. "I'm Rarity's younger sister."

"And I'm Scootaloo!" the purple-maned orange pegasus said. "I really like Rainbow Dash!"

"I can see the resemblance," Trailblazer said.

"Hey, AppleJack, is it okay if we share these fritters with Zecora?"

"Go ahead. Ah'm sure that she'll enjoy them," said AppleJack.

"Thank you!" After that, the three fillies walked out of the treehouse and walked away.

"So, now what?" Trailblazer wondered.

"Hmmm... Ah was thinking... Maybe you and Ah could spend some time together in the park?" AppleJack thought leaning towards him.

"A walk does sound nice... Sure, I'll go."

It was a 15 minute walk from the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house to Zecora's place. AppleBloom knocked on the door.

"Hey, Zecora!" Applebloom called.

A few seconds later, the zebra opened the door to greet the fillies.

"Oh, good to see you all three! And what's this? Some treats for me?" chanted Zecora.

"Yeah, m' big sister made some apple fritters and we decided to share them with ya."

"Aww, you fillies, how sweet of you! Even from your friends, the other two," she chanted again.

At the same time, Sweetie Belle said "Thanks!", while Scootaloo said "I guess..."

"Hey, Zecora, could we visit now?"

"You know, I'd love to stay, but for this remedy, I have to be away. A Ponyville pony is feeling under the weather, so I made some medicine, to make her feel better." Zecora said as she walked away.

"Aww, well, that ain't no fun..." Applebloom said.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Scootaloo said. "Could we go inside?"

"Um, we didn't ask permission to go inside," mentioned Sweetie Belle.

"Oh, come on, nothing bad's going to happen! Let's go inside!"

Scootaloo barged in and looked around the place.

"Wow, this zebra has some really neat stuff in here!"

"Scootaloo! Shame on you!" Applebloom yelled. "You shouldn't be acting like you own every home ya come by!"

"Hey, do you think there'd be something in here that'll let us get our cutie marks faster?" Scootaloo pondered.

"You know full well that Ah tried that already! Ah got that doggone cutie pox from doing it!" Applebloom scolded.

"Hey, what's this?" Sweetie Belle asked, looking at a vial.

"Is there a label on it?" Scootaloo wondered.

Sweetie Belle squinted. "'Cutie Mark Potion'. Under that, it reads, 'Use with a container of C3H8 (Propane), and your unique cutie mark will show up.'"

"Does Zecora even have propane with her?" Scootaloo asked.

"Actually, right next to it, there's a vial that's labeled 'Propane'".

"Then what are we waiting for!? Let's get that mixture going!"

"Uh, Scootaloo...?" Applebloom asked in a dull manner. "Doesn't that sound too good to be true?"

"Who cares? I want my cutie mark now!" She took the two vials and poured them into the vat Zecora had with her. Then, the mixture immediately started to flare.

"Hey! What's going on?!" Scootaloo shouted.

"I don't know but it looks dangerous!" Sweetie Belle screamed back.

"Oh, this is bad!"

"Get out of here!" yelled Applebloom.

The three fillies ran out of the hut as fast as they possibly could, but the flames from the vat got very intense very fast. And they could not run away fast enough.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie called. She figured that Rainbow Dash would be taking a nap on a cloud somewhere, although this time, she could not find her on some clouds at all. Maybe she's hiding away from the sky to fool me, she thought. She happily hopped away to go look for her.

"Is Pinkie Pie always like that?" asked Trailblazer asked AppleJack as the two of them were sitting on a bench licking some ice cream.

"Ah, she's always in a good mood, so ya gotta give her credit for that," she answered.

"I guess so." He paused. "I've been thinking... I think I've been too hard on Fluttershy when I first met her at the party..."

"Aw, she's got to be one of the nicest ponies you'll ever find," AppleJack reminded.

"Well, you've known her more than I have, so I have to take your word for it."

"Here she comes right now."

They looked down the path to their right to see Fluttershy backpedaling with a group of bunnies.

"That's good now. Just follow me and I'll take you to our garden. I made it specially for you," she ordered.

"You never told me that you have a way with animals, Fluttershy," said Trailblazer.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you about that," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Oh, that reminds me," AppleJack said. "She's your animal expert and y'all should know it! One time, she stood up to a fully grown dragon and got it to leave with words alone!"

"You're kidding!" Trailblazer said with widened eyes.

"Not at all, now, mister!"

"How come you never told me that, Fluttershy? That's awesome!"

"Oh, thank you," Fluttershy said, sensing an approval from Trailblazer.

"You're welcome. I guess I underestimated you at first, but look at how wrong I was there."

"Well, thanks again," Fluttershy said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, these bunnies are hungry. I'm going to go now and take them..."

But before she could finish her sentence, a loud boom was heard, and a small magnitude could be felt. This frightened the bunnies and they scattered.

"Oh, no! Bunnies! Come back!"

"What in the name of the princess was THAT?" AppleJack said.

"I think we should look into this right away," Trailblazer suggested.

"Good idea," agreed AppleJack.

The three ponies walked towards the source of the boom, but all the other ponies in the park were wondering the same thing. It was a big group of almost the entire town. The other four caught up with them as they walked to the source.

"Goodness, me, what was all that noise?!" Rarity asked.

"That sounded like a bomb went off," indicated Twilight Sparkle. "But, I don't see any mushroom cloud or anything..."

"I'm thinking that I may be able to see where it came from if I get a better view," Rainbow Dash offered.

"Go ahead, dear," said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash flew up to try to find the source. From her perspective, a rapidly growing fire was spreading all over the Everfree Forest.

"Over there!" Rainbow Dash pointed. "There's a wildfire spreading in the Everfree Forest!"

All the ponies made their way to the fire and stood outside the forest.

Then, panic gripped AppleJack.

"Oh no..." she said.

"What is it?" asked Rarity.

"It's Applebloom... No, it's Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo too! They're all in that forest!!" she panicked.

"What?! You can't be serious! My little sister is in there too??"

"All three of them are in there!"

"Sweetie Belle!!" Rarity called out, and started to weep, fearing that they'd be gone in the fire.

"Ohnoohnoohno! This is bad, we have to do something, this is an emergency!" Rainbow Dash quickly said. Both her and AppleJack started to panic, trying to think of what they could do.

Trailblazer looked at the burning forest, then at Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and AppleJack. Three fillies would lose their lives in this. But he knew that he had to do the right thing, and he decided to be the one to keep them from getting incinerated. With a look of determination, he ran to the forest.

"Trailblazer, what are you doing!?" Twilight Sparkle yelled at him. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Trailblazer ignored her. He continued to run into the forest to save the Cutie Mark Crusaders. No trees were on fire in the area that he was in, but there was flowing smoke from the source of the fire. As he ran deeper inside, more trees had more fire on them, and some branches were getting burnt off. One tree fell off to the side as he was running. There was an intense heat from all directions as he ran deeper inside.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders! Where are you!" he shouted.

A faint cry of help came from a distance. He tried running in that direction, but more and more trees fell down, cutting him off and forcing him to take alternate routes.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders!" he called again.

"Over here!"

The call was more clear now, and could also hear some crying and coughing. He still tried to run there, but they still seemed out of sight.

"Where are you, you crusaders!" he called once more.

"We're in this area!" the voice called out. This time, he made out their location. They were in an open area, but it was enclosed by fire. "Get us out of here!" Sweetie Belle cried.

Trailblazer jumped over a tall log pile and reached the three fillies. He bent down towards them. "Get on my back, we have to get out of here!" he commanded.

Unanimously, all three got on and Trailblazer ran off again. He tried taking the same path he took as he came in from, but the trees were getting weaker as they were getting burned even more. Some toppled in front of them, cutting them off. He immediately stopped and looked for a detour, which was easily off to the right. He got around the fallen tree and continued to run back to Ponyville. A few more trees ended up getting in their way, most if which have fallen as he was running towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He simply jumped over them and made his way back. But the fire has spread since he was gone in the heart of the burning forest, making him have to use different routes until he could continue the straight way back out.

Just as he was about to get out of the inferno, a lone rock was in the ground, and he tripped over it. This sent him tumbling and the fillies flew off his back, scattering into different directions. Just as he got back on his feet, he looked around to try to find them. Scootaloo and Applebloom ran back to him, but Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be seen.

"Sweetie Belle!" he called out. "Where are you?!" The flames in the area were catching up with them, and he had to find her quickly. But no response came.

"Sweetie Belle!" he shouted again.

"Help me! I'm stuck!" she finally responded. Trailblazer heard where she was coming from. She was trapped in a pile of fallen branches, which would not budge. Behind her was a tree that was getting set on fire; it would topple on her if she couldn't get out. He ran to Sweetie Belle's trap and tried to remove the branches. They were part of a new tree that was going to grow, and they stayed put.

"Get me out if here!" she cried out.

The trunk behind her started to lean towards her. Trailblazer just couldn't spread the branches apart. There were too many and too thick to be pushed away, and trying to uproot them didn't work at all. They stayed in place.

Then, the trunk started to fall.

Trailblazer felt an adrenaline rush flow to him, and the branches were pushed apart. Some even snapped. Sweetie Belle immediately jumped out and ran away, while Trailblazer jumped back, just in time before the trunk fell.

"C'mon, let's get out of here!" he yelled.

He bent down and let the fillies get back on his back, and he ran away, leaving the wooden furnace behind.

The forest fire heat could be felt at a distance from the group of ponies outside of it. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and AppleJack were closest to it, seeing as the last few acres were getting burnt.

"Scootaloo was in there with them..." Rainbow Dash said in tears. "She was like a little sister to me..."

To her side, Rarity was hunched over and crying.

"How... And WHY??" Rarity sobbed. "Why did my little sister Sweetie Belle have to be in there??" she continued crying, thinking all hope was lost.

"My Applebloom is in there too..." AppleJack said to her, trying to hold back her own tears. She provided a shoulder for Rarity to cry on, showing support, and sharing the same feeling of having a younger sister in danger and unable to do anything about it.

"That's four ponies that are gone now," Twilight Sparkle told them. "Trailblazer went into the forest and hasn't returned."

The crowd continued to talk about the fire in their own ways and to their own peers. Most of them still showed concern for the fillies in it.

The forest had one acre standing, which wasn't going to last much longer. Pinkie Pie watched the fire intently, showing signs of worry.

Then...

Pinkie Pie started jumping around in place at the sight of a silhouette showing a pony racing away from the fire. It revealed itself as it got closer; Trailblazer was running towards them with Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom.

"He's here, he's here! He made it back!"

The crowd gazed in awe as Trailblazer stopped away from the forest, out of breath. He bent down and let the fillies climb off of his back. All four of them were singed, but Trailblazer was burnt the most. He stood still and breathed heavily.

"You did it! You saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she continued hopping.

The crowd started to cheer for him, applauding him for saving the three fillies. He turned to see this, then stood prominently to the side with one hoof hanging in midair, trying to strike a heroic pose. The other six saw him and ran towards him, cheering for him as well.

"You did it, Trailblazer!" Twilight Sparkle shouted. "I was wrong to doubt you!"

"SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity screamed.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle yelled back. She ran to Rarity and jumped to her. Rarity caught her and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're safe! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Rarity was still crying, but these were now tears of joy. She turned to look at Trailblazer. "Oh, Trailblazer, I cannot thank you enough! You're my little sister's savior!"

Rainbow Dash took Scootaloo and hugged her, then got into the air.

"Rainbow Dash! I'm so glad I could see you again!" she shouted in happiness.

"Awww, it's good to see you're safe now," Rainbow Dash said as Scootaloo started to nuzzle her.

"Trailblazer, you are a sight! One of the best!" AppleJack started. "Ah'm glad you had the guts to save mah little Applebloom." Tears of joy started to stream down her face as well.

"Trailblazer, Ah'm EXTREMELY grateful that you saved me," Applebloom said to him. "You're mah hero!"

"All in a day's work," Trailblazer finally said.

AppleJack glomped Trailblazer and hung on to him tightly. The sting from the burns hurt him, but he didn't mind this and hugged her back intently in their little moment.

They did not notice Zecora walking up to them.

"That fire burnt down my home, but I suppose I can get a bigger one of my own," she rhymed.

"Oh, yeah, there's our million-dollar question: What started that fire?" Rainbow Dash asked.

All the other ponies stopped and got back up on their feet. All eyes were on the Cutie Mark Crusaders. A sense of guilt swept over them.

"Well, we walked into your home seeing if there was anything interesting in there," Scootaloo explained. "Then we saw a bottle of Cutie Mark potion and tried it out."

"Cutie Mark potion?! There's no such thing! Are you sure no one's playing tricks with your brain?" asked Zecora.

"No such thing??" Sweetie Belle talked back. "But I looked at it and it was labeled 'Cutie Mark potion'!"

Trailblazer stepped back and turned to glare at the burning forest. AppleJack saw this and walked to him.

"Is there something wrong, sugarcube?" she asked.

"I have a feeling that this wasn't an accident..."

"What do ya mean by that?"

"Somepony must've tricked them with some sort of flammable liquid and caused this entire forest to burn."

"Well, whoever did that is probably too much of a coward to pony up and admit it."

"Yes... VERY much so of cowards..." he agreed, squinting even more.

"Well, in the end, you're all safe and sound. But your story just doesn't seem fate-bound..." they heard Zecora finish.

This was not fate... Trailblazer thought. It's a sign. They're here, waiting to get me. This was a test of my courage, and even though it looks like their little experiment failed, it succeeded. No, it would've succeeded either way, if I burned alive in there or not. ...They're out to kill me because they fear me.