Celestia and Luna looked down upon the hospital beds with great concern. Twilight and the gang were bandaged in many places, and they were no small wounds. Derpy walked in with 6 needles laying on a cart. She stood by and unconcious Twilight, and picked up a needle. She poked and prodded for a bit, and finally injected Twilight with the medicine. Twilight woke up with a moan, but didn't say anything until the rest of her friends were up, too.
"Celestia... you're here. Oh, hi Luna."
Luna merely snorted and Celestia gave a short nod before speaking.
"Do you remembered what happened, Twilight?"
"Sorta," Twilight mumbled. She cleared her throat before continuing,
"We were heading toward your castle, we were trying to give you a report on some strange sightings in Equestria, when she appeared. We stood there, shocked for a moment, and at first, I noticed fire coming off of her, and we ran towards her exclaiming she was on fire, telling her it could hurt her , and then she said something like "You think fire always hurts, you all think it's bad, well, it is now!", and then all of a sudden, there was a loud explosion and everything burst in to flames, and that's all I remember."
Celestia and Luna glanced at each other with even more concern, and then Luna stepped forward,
"Did thou happen to notice anymore about what she looketh like?"
Twilight pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
"No, does anyone else?"
Everyone shook their head but Rarity, who seemed to be deep in thought. She took a deep breath and looked up at the two princesses before talking.
"I do. She was all black, with bright purple snake eyes. She had large dragon wings, and two gold braces on each leg, with a black gem on them. She had sharp teeth and her mane and tail were fire. She had a rather cute black hat on, and her cutie mark was fire. And I think that's it." Rarity closed her eyes, as if to go back to sleep, but they flashed open again, "Oh wait, she had little purple horns, too."
Twilight laughed, "Hey Rarity, for once your examining of everypony's fashion statements came in handy!"
The two princesses snorted before looking at each other nervously. They sat down, and Celestia began to speak.
"Lend me your ears, my students, for we have a tale to tell..."
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"The pony you confronted, Princess Ember, is Luna and I's... adopted sister."
All the ponies gasped wide-eyed at the two royal sisters who exchanged a quick glance.
"Discord created her during the War of Madness as a weapon to use against us. We confronted her once, and we persuaded her to join us, and she helped us bring down Discord. Afterwards, she brought fire to our world, and as you know, fire can be bad and good. Our world was not meant for her, as Discord created her for destruction. Many ponies disliked her for all the things she destroyed,not intentionally, of course, and being created by Discord didn't help her much either. She grew bitter from the rejection, and created Tartarus as a safe haven for herself, for she could not harm a place full of fire."
All of a sudden, the doctor walked in and examined the bed ridden ponies. He unwrapped them, tested the movement of some of their limbs, and asked them questions about their conditions. When he finished, he turned to the two royal sisters and spoke,
" Your Highnesses, they are fully healed and ready to be discharged."
The princesses gave the biggest smile they gave in a long time, and helped each of the ponies out of their hospital beds. They walked to the lobby were Celestia signed them out. Through the windows a fresh blanket of snow covered the ground, turning everything as white as Celestia's coat. A nurse met the group at the door, and returned the ponies' warm clothes. They shed their hospital gowns and bundled themselves into their furry clothes. They exited the hospital, and the force of the cold hit the gang like a bus. While they were wrapped in their warm clothing, the cold weather was still a surprise to them. The princesses were met by a small squadron of their royal guards, and they and the gang were escorted to Canterlot Castle. The chariot was where their conversation continued.
"We have left each other alone since, and she has been kind enough to let us keep fire in our realm, but I'm afraid now that she has finally boiled over. We love her to death, but she does not see that, no matter how much light we shine on it. I hate to ask of you such a large task as soon as you leave the hospital, but being the Elements of Harmony, you might be able to help us in our predicament. If not, Ponyville and the rest of Equestria may eventually freeze to death."
The chariot pulled in to the front of the castle, where the princesses helped the ponies out. They trudged through the heavy layer of snow into the castle, where the ponies shed the outer layers of their warm clothes, but nothing more, because without the warmth of the fire, the castle was remarkably cold. Twilight and the others stretched out their legs, and then they looked ip at Celestia and Luna.
"Of course we will help princess! There is nothing that could stop us from that. There is no need for apology, but if you wouldn't mind, might we have some lunch? We've been eating through an IV for so long we could eat even the worst recipes in Equestria."
Luna and Celestia looked at each other and chuckled. Celestia headed off toward the royal kitchen and Luna looked down upon the ponies. "Of course, a grand feast to celebrate the full recovery of the Elements of Harmony."
A half an hour rolled by, and by then the dining hall was alive. An amazingly long table stretched through the hall, and was covered with food from Equestria. Twilight and the gang gazed at the table as if it were covered in jewels. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna left the royal kitchen and seated themselves at the head of the table, with six other chairs in between them. Twilight, AppleJack, Rarity, Pinky Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash seated themselves. Twilight looked up at Celestia, who seemed somewhat relieved, but Twilight noticed a hint of anxiety on her face,
"Princess Celestia, when we mentioned lunch, we didn't mean something as big as this."
Celestia gave a small smile and snorted.
"Nonsense Twilight, after being in the hospital so long, you guys deserve a feast. Please enjoy, I insist."
Rainbow Dash cut in, "Well, if you insist, what are we doing with empty mouths when they could be full?"
Twilight bopped Rainbow on the back of the head and said, "That's rude, but you make a good point."
The gang and the princesses filled their bellies until they could no more, and then dismissed themselves from the dining hall. Twilight went out to get herself some fresh air. She had forgotten her outer clothes, but when she went out, she didn't need them. It was uncannily warm for the winter. She continued to blow little white flecks that fell from the sky from her shoulders. She did this for a few moments before she stopped for a moment.
"Since when is snow, warm?"
Then, an odd smell entered her nose, and her heart began to race. That wasn't snow falling on her, it was ash.
Twilight turned around, and looked up in horror. The top of Canterlot Castle was engulfed in flames. The sky was pitch black, but not because the sun had set, but because thick smoke billowed from the castle. Twilight burst into the castle and began calling for the princesses and her gang.
"Luna, Celestia, evacuate the castle, it's on fire!"
The princesses burst from their rooms with looks of horror and shock on their faces. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Luna began yelling in her Royal Canterlot voice so that everyone in the castle could hear. Celestia was hesitant, but began using her Royal Canterlot voice, also. Twilight was surprised, but then realised, desperate times call for desperate measures. After watching chaos and panic for what seemed like and eternity, Twilight's thoughts were broken by somepony picking her up and flying them to the castle's exit. She looked up to find it was Rainbow Dash with a determined look on her face. Twilight tried to talk but Rainbow cut her off.
"Fluttershy has AppleJack and Rarity, and she's using her magic to move Pinky Pie."
The castle's inhabitants were in a mass exodus, moving in a large herd towards the castle's mammoth sized doors. Young fillies and their mothers were in the front, as well as elder ponies. All those able bodied were closer to the back, and at the end were Celestia and Luna, gently pushing others to keep moving. Twilight searched the air above the group for Fluttershy and the others, and when they could not be found, her heart sunk. But then, out of the corner of herr eye, she saw a multicolored smudge zipping through the air. She focused on it, and was relieved when she had found it to be her friends.
When Rainbow and Twilight passed through the castle doors, all of Ponyville had gathered to watch in horror as their precious castle burned to the ground. The gang met up and watched the catsle doors with great concern, hoping the two princesses would make it out. After what seemed like centuries of watching, they stepped out, covered in soot and and coughing heavily, but not a moment too soon. The royal ladies made their way towards the gang, but stopped in their tracks as they heard a stomach churning crash behind them, and the looks of pure horror and shock on the faces of the other ponies told them something almost unholy had happened. They turned around slowly, already knowing what to expect. When they finally laid eyes upon the castle, their hearts felt as if they were set aflame. There was no castle to look at. It had been reduced to a pile of burning rubble.
Tears filled Celestia's eyes, and she sunk her face into her sister's shoulder, and began to bawl. Luna's eyes were wide, not shifting in any other direction but towards the rubble. She slowly put a conforting hoof around her sister's shoulder, in an attempt to give what little comfort she could. A matter of seconds later, tears streamed down Luna's face, but she still kept that silent, grim stare. Mourning wails filled the air, from the ledge where the castle used to stand, down to Ponyville below. By then, news teams had showed up, and even the achors, who were usually very good at keeping their composure, were sniffling and stuttering to all of Equestria.
Twilight lowered her head in grief, but it jolted back up when the sound of laughter drowned out the wails of sorrow. A tower of swirling flames erupted from the castle. The flames twisted and turned, moving not as fire normally would. It suddenly took a familiar shape. Coming from the remnants of Canterlot Castle was a massive fiery form of the pony Twilight and her friends had encountered a matter of weeks ago.
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Princess Ember had a crazed look in her eyes as she watched the chaos below. She gave a large grin, showing her knife-like teeth. She flung back her head and began to laugh like a madpony. Luna removed her hoof from her sister's shoulder as she began to raise her head. She gazed at the fiery, demon - like pony, and her dazed look of depression quickly turned into a burning glare of hatred. The reflection of flames burned in her eyes, and for a moment, Twilight had actually thought Ember had possesed her, and she was waiting for her to club Luna on the back of her head with her hoof. Twilight gave a sigh of relief when Celestia opened her wings and took flight, soaring towards Ember's head. Luna quickly took off after her, and soon the two were circling her head. Ember sighed and lowered her head to see the two princesses flying around her. She snorted and grinned again, her eyes following the angered princesses.
"You two are merely two little flies buzzing around my head. You know there is nothing you can do to stop me."
Princess Celestia released a cry of anguish, and a beam of light matching the colors of her mane shot from her horn. It flew right into Ember where it vanished. Luna joined, and soon they were shooting beams out of their horns as fast as machine guns. Ember laughed as if the continueous attacks were feathers tickling her.
"Continue, dear sisters, for your anger drives me!"
Then, Ember reared and spread out her wings. The roar of flames increased for a moment, until she began to flap her wings. She lifted herself from the rubble, and divebombed right past Twilight and the others, heaqding straight towards Ponyville. Her wings spread right before she crashed into some buildings, and she returned into the basic form of fire, now wreaking chaos and fire onto PonyVille.
