Unquenchable Fire

The First Letters

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m writing to you today with the best of news! My brother, Shining Armor, just sent me a letter saying that he and Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire will be coming back to Canterlot to visit! It’s been so long since they’ve been in the area, and I’m sure Canterlot is ready to give them a warm and deserving welcome. If it’s at all possible, I’d like to meet with you soon to discuss plans for their arrival. I just know they’ll be pleased to see everypony again!

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

Twilight woke early, stumbling out of bed and down the stairs before even Spike was awake. Normally, she would never have considered getting up this early, but today was not a “normal” day. Just yesterday, Princess Celestia had sent a letter in reply to the one she’d sent her earlier about her brother’s visit. She was expected at the Canterlot Palace at noon, and she had a fair distance to travel.  Grabbing her saddlebag full of essentials she’d meticulously packed the night before, Twilight hastily scrawled a note to Spike, left it on the kitchen table, and scurried out the door.

As Twilight looked into the morning sky, she couldn’t help but feel at peace with herself. Birds chirped, greeting the warm sun as it began to show itself over the horizon. Twilight slowed down to take in Ponyville’s waking beauty. Her train wasn’t due for another half an hour, anyway. It wasn’t often she had a chance like this to just enjoy life. Usually, she was busy with something. She turned a corner onto Ponyville’s Main Street. The clock tower rang out, announcing to all of Ponyville that it was 6:30 in the morning. Derpy Hooves soared over, beginning her rounds as Mailmare. Twilight smiled. Everything was perfect. Her brother and Princess Cadance couldn’t have picked a better time to come visit.

Twilight made her way to the train station, where she eagerly gave up her ticket and boarded the express morning train to Canterlot. As she settled down into a velvet chair, she looked back out the window at Ponyville. With any luck, she’d be back by late afternoon. Already the town was starting to come to life, and Twilight was looking forward to being back in time to attend Mecha’s cookout. Apparently he and Applejack had some new recipes to try, and Nimbus’s Jalapeno Hayburgers were legendary, as well as extremely spicy. Twilight remembered the first time she’d tried one. Nimbus hadn’t initially told her that he’d added the spicy peppers to the Hayburger, and she’d blissfully eaten it, unaware of the spicy punch that was about to hit her. It hadn’t been long, though, before the peppers did their work. Twilight smiled as she remembered jumping and nearly hitting the ceiling out of surprise. The Jalapenos had succeeded, and from then on, Nimbus’s recipe was legendary.

Twilight closed her eyes and lay back. The train ride to Canterlot was a long one, and she decided she might as well sleep. After all, she had a busy day ahead.

...

(Excerpt from the personal diary of Dr. Bone, Archeologist)

Today, we’ve finally reached Equestria’s Northern Coast. Very few ponies have been fortunate enough to come this far north, as the weather is… decidedly unpleasant. Nonetheless, I feel that this land can provide us with some significant archeological discoveries, and provide us with a clue as to what this part of Equestria might have looked like many thousands of years ago. Our guide seems on edge. I’m not entirely sure why, as I cannot speak his language, but our interpreter said he’s been babbling about being followed. I think the entire thing is nonsense. None of Equestria’s resident predators would dare show themselves up here. The climate is simply much too cold. Perhaps when we set up camp, our anxiety will be put to rest…

Nimbus arrived in Cloudsdale shortly after he received the radio call. Not much had been said over the airwaves, except that he was being called in on alert, which, Nimbus knew, was a serious deal. The last time the EAF had been put on alert was during Eclipse’s attack on Canterlot. Since then, Equestria had been quiet. Granted, this time he was the only one on alert, but still… one could never be too careful.

As he touched down on the soft clouds of the floating city, he recalled his morning. Nothing unusual had happened, of course, besides having to wake up two hours before his normal time. Still, he’d have to get a message down to Octavia, telling her he’d miss his jazz lesson today.

Nimbus straightened up his flight suit and trotted into Cloudsdale’s EAF headquarters. At the door, he was greeted by two Pegasi, armed with longswords.

Nimbus arched an eyebrow. “Extra security measures?”

“Yes sir,” one of the Pegasi said, checking Nimbus’s rank and identification, “just a precautionary measure.”

“I understand,” Nimbus said, not questioning any further.

The Pegasi escorted him down a long hallway into a room where three other Pegasi were seated. Nimbus instantly noticed Sunshine, his old commander, on the right of the other two Pegasi. He had Lieutenant Colonel ranks on his flight suit, and when he saw Nimbus, he gave the Pegasus a warm smile.

“Hey, Nimbus,” he said, “long time no see, eh?”

“Yeah,” Nimbus said, “last time I saw you, you’d just gotten over being a frog.”

“Ooh, don’t remind me,” Sunshine shuddered as Nimbus took a seat next to him. Suddenly, a tan Pegasus bearing an arrow cutie mark entered the room. He was dressed in the Equestrian Air Force Service Dress, and Nimbus saw two stars on each of his shoulders. He immediately snapped to attention.

“Room, tench- hut!” Nimbus called. The other Pegasi followed him and snapped to attention as well.

“At ease,” the tan Pegasus said. “I’m General Skyray, as many of you know, and I’ve called you all here to discuss a potential matter of national security.” The Pegasus made his way to the front of the room. “This morning, we received a radio transmission from a group of Archaeologists working up north. I’ll play the transmission now.”

General Skyray set a small, black radio down on the conference table and switched it on. Instantly, a distorted voice came through, accompanied by crashing sounds and yelling.

“Come in, please! This is Dr. Bone, from the Northern Equestrian Archaeological Expedition. We’ve come under attack! I don’t know what our aggressors are- it’s too dark to see- but they seem to be able to-“

The voice stopped abruptly, but the background sounds continued for a while.“The transmission ends there,” the general said, switching off the radio. “We’ve had no word from them since, so the logical conclusion is that they were either killed or separated. I want you to find out what happened here. Until we know what happened, we must assume that this is a threat against Equestria. I’ve already briefed Princesses Celestia and Luna, so they’re aware we’re taking action.”

The Pegasi nodded as the general said his last words. “Now, I’ve called the four of you here to organize a task force. I want two of you to leave for Northern Equestria immediately. The others will stay behind and report to me.”

“I’ll go,” Nimbus volunteered. At the same time, another Pegasus raised his hoof. He was a dark blue in color, with a cutie mark in the shape of a storm cloud.

“I’ll go as well,” the Pegasus said.

“Then it’s settled,” said Sunshine, “Nimbus and Stormchaser will leave for Northern Equestria immediately.” He turned to the two Pegasi, who were already standing up. “I want you both in constant contact with us. We need to know what happened.”

“Understood, sir,” Stormchaser said. He turned to Nimbus. “Let’s suit up and head out, then.”

Nimbus nodded, and the two departed from the room to grab helmets and sheathes. Nimbus didn’t break a sweat worrying. Many of these missions turned out be simple wild animal attacks. It was more than possible that this one would turn out the same.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

…

Twilight Sparkle stepped off the train and was immediately ushered into a carriage bound for Canterlot. She was surprised at the haste. She didn’t recall entering Canterlot this way last time, but she didn’t mind, she simply assumed Celestia wanted her urgently.

As she arrived at the palace, Twilight left the carriage and tipped the driver. She then trotted to the palace gate and knocked once, firmly. Slowly, the massive gates opened and Twilight started through the courtyard, under the watchful eyes of dozens of guards. She made her way up into the palace, crossing through the massive ballroom. At the top of the ballroom’s staircase, she noticed Princess Luna speaking with a uniformed Pegasus.

“Princess Luna, hello!” Twilight called.

Luna turned her head to see Twilight, then nodded to the Pegasus, who whispered something and walked away.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said, “thou hast arrived punctually.”

“Well, I couldn’t wait,” Twilight said, “is Princess Celestia around?”

“She is,” Luna said. “If you’ll follow me, please…”

Twilight Sparkle followed Princess Luna up the stairs and into the throne room. “She is in here,” Luna said, opening the door, “it was good to see thou again.”

“And you, too, Princess Luna,” Twilight said. She walked towards the throne, where Celestia was sitting, composing a letter. As her student approached, Celestia looked up, acknowledging her presence.

“Good morning, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said, using her magic to send the letter away.

“Good morning, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, “I understand you received my letter?”

“I did,” Celestia said, stepping down from her throne and walking up to Twilight, “and that’s why I called you here. Before I sent my letter to you, I spent countless hours trying to find a good advisor to plan events for Shining Armor’s and Princess Cadance’s arrival. Then I realized that the solution was right under my nose. After all, who would be better to advise me on something like this than Shining Armor’s sister?”

“I see your point,” Twilight said, “should we get started, then?”

“Absolutely,” Celestia said. “I was thinking of opening the day’s events with a procession, but I’m not sure where to go from there.”

“Well, a procession’s a good idea,” Twilight said, racking her brain. “I think we should follow that up with a sort of festival.”

“Why, that’s a wonderful idea,” Celestia said, “a festival here in Canterlot would be magnificent.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Twilight said.

“Now, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are set to arrive in three days, and-“

“Three days?” Twilight asked, “he never told me that!”

“I just found out about it myself, actually,” Celestia confided. “Three days won’t give us long to prepare. I’d like you to see if you can bring your friends up from Ponyville to help with preparations. They did such a wonderful job with the wedding…”

“Of course,” Twilight said, “I’ll ask them when I get back. Would you like me to return with them to Canterlot tomorrow?”

“Well, the sooner the better, so if it’s not much trouble,” Celestia said, “then yes.”

“That’s fine with me, Princess,” Twilight Sparkle said.

“Then head back to Ponyville and gather up your friends. We’ll be in for a busy day tomorrow.”

Twilight looked into Celestia’s eyes briefly. Something about her seemed… different. She couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed like Princess Celestia was hiding something from her.

“Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about, Your Highness?” Twilight asked before turning to leave. Celestia opened her mouth, as if to go on, then shut it.

“Nothing important, my faithful student. It’s nothing to worry about. Now go, and have a wonderful day!”

“You too,” Twilight said, leaving the throne room. On her way out, Princess Luna passed her and headed for the throne. She didn’t speak, but Twilight could see a glimmer of concern in her eyes. There was definitely something else going on around here. She didn’t know what it was yet, but then and there, Twilight Sparkle made it a point to find out.

…

It was almost noon when Nimbus and Stormchaser flew over Manehatten- their last point of civilization before reaching Equestria’s Frozen North. Both Pegasi were in matching olive-green flightsuits, and each had a helmet with a comm system and heads-up display. As they left the city behind, Nimbus spoke.

“So Stormchaser, who do you think’s behind this?”

Stormchaser shook his head. “You want my professional opinion? I honestly think it’s just another wild Manticore chase. Ponies going to explore the North go missing all the time.”

“Yeah,” Nimbus said, “that’s what I figured, too. Still, those background noises in the radio transmission- have you ever heard an animal like that before?”

“Can’t say I have,” said Stormchaser. “I guess it’s possible they got attacked by some creature we haven’t seen yet. But you wanna know my take on this?”

“Sure,” said Nimbus.

“I think this creature isn’t going to be half as menacing when I shish-kebab it.” To prove his point, Stormchaser extended the blade of one of his sheathes.

Nimbus laughed. “Too right. Let’s just finish this thing up and go home. I’ve got Hayburgers to grill.”

“You lucky son of a Manticore,” Stormchaser grinned, “Hayburgers?”

“Darn right” Nimbus said, “I’ve got my own recipe for ‘em.”

“I’ll have to stop by sometime,” Stormchaser said. “Where do you live?”

“Ponyville,” Nimbus replied.

“Oh, that’s right- you’re the nut who decided to choose Ponyville over pretty much any station in Equestria, am I right?”

“Correct,” said Nimbus, “it’s really not as bad as everypony says it is- really.”

“Hm,” said Stormchaser, “then maybe I will come by.”

“Okay,” said Nimbus, “we’re diverting now.” He banked hard to the left, descending slightly. Stormchaser was right behind him.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” Nimbus reminded his partner, “it’s getting colder, and I’m seeing snow on the ground. We’re getting close.”

“Roger,” Stormcloud replied. Both of their helmets were displaying the approximate location of the radio call, but the tracker had a tendency to be inaccurate. Once they got close enough, they’d have to rely on eyes alone.

“Tally ho,” Nimbus said, “the coordinates are almost right below us. Visors up.”

Both ponies lifted their visors and immediately were greeted by a shockingly cold blast of howling wind. The North was truly an inhospitable environment, and Nimbus wondered to himself why anypony would consider going there in the first place. He scanned the scattered groves of trees, taking into consideration that any self-respecting expedition would use them as a natural windbreak.

“I see something!” Stormchaser called to Nimbus over the screeching wind.

“Roger,” Nimbus replied, following Stormchaser down into a small clearing in the midst of some trees. The Pegasi swiveled their wings, preparing to land, when a massive gust of wind caught them both and flung them into the trees. Nimbus tumbled end over end, and the sound of snapping branches told him that Stormchaser hadn’t fared any better. When he finally came to a halt, he picked himself up and brushed the dirt and snow off of his flight suit. As he was finishing, Stormchaser approached.

“That was some crazy wind back there,” he said, rather unnecessarily.

“Yes it was,” Nimbus said, peering through the trees and into the clearing. Standing in the middle of the clearing was a single tent, eerily alone.

“I think we’ve found it,” Nimbus said, “come on.”

The ponies crunched through the snow until they stood in the clearing. Once their eyes were adjusted to the snow glare, they suddenly became aware of the horror surrounding them. There were craters everywhere, and when they brushed away the snow, the ground beneath their hooves was charred. Nimbus examined the tent. Strangely, everything inside looked as if nothing had ever happened.

“By Celestia…” Nimbus heard Stormchaser exclaim softly behind him. Afraid of what he would find, Nimbus trotted over. Initially, he saw nothing wrong. Then he realized that Stormchaser was staring into the trees. When he saw what his partner saw, Nimbus froze. An Earth Pony, clad in cold weather gear, was nailed to the tree, stretched out from front hooves to back hooves. The blood had long dried and frozen, but it still stood out vibrantly against the snow, as well as the pony’s blue winter jacket. Nimbus slowly approached, and reached into one of the jacket’s pockets, pulling out a business card and a diary.

“Dr. Bone,” he said aloud, reading the name on the card. “This is the guy who sent the call.” He pocketed the card and looked up at the pony.

“Well, he’s dead now,” Stormchaser said.

“It wasn’t some wild animal that did this,” Nimbus said. “Look at the craters, the scorch marks… Dr. Bone… something intelligent was behind this attack.”

“I agree,” said Stormchaser. “The blasts look like they were caused by magic, so we can rule out Pegasi and Earth Ponies.”

“Do you suppose it could have been a rogue group of Unicorns?” Nimbus asked.

“Definitely possible,” said Stormchaser. Suddenly, the wind picked up again, dropping something large and unmoving from a tree almost on top of the Pegasus. Stormchaser cried out and backed up as soon as he saw what had almost hit him. It was another Earth Pony, but this one was black, and had what appeared to be a Cutie Mark in the shape of a map on his flank. His body seemed sagged, almost prematurely aged, and he was clearly dead.

“That must have been the guide,” Nimbus whispered, thumbing through the diary he’d found. “In Dr. Bone’s diary, he said there were two others with him- a guide and an interpreter.”

“Well if the guide’s here,” said Stormchaser, “then where’s the interpreter?”

Over the howling wind, the two suddenly heard a sound that chilled them both to the bone. It was a low moan, the sound of a hurt pony.

“It’s him!” Nimbus said, “the interpreter! He must be alive!”

They rushed towards the sound of the moaning. It was coming from the trees behind the tent. They charged through the underbrush, now following what appeared to be a long, bloody drag trail through the forest. When they came to the trail’s end, they finally met the pony they’d been looking for. He was a white Earth Pony, and his entire flank was covered in blood from a gash. He looked weakly up at the approaching Pegasi.

Stormchaser was the first to speak. “Were you the interpreter for Dr. Bone’s expedition?”

The pony nodded, not speaking. Nimbus looked to his partner.

“He doesn’t look too good,” he said, “we need to get him medical attention in Canterlot.”

“Thank you,” the pony whispered hoarsely.

“Try not to talk,” Stormchaser said, nudging his muzzle under the pony’s stomach. “I need your help. We’re going to strap you to my friend and get you some medical attention.”

The pony nodded and shakily stood with Stormchaser’s support, leaning over Nimbus’s back.

“Secure him,” Nimbus said. Stormchaser tied the pony securely to Nimbus’s back as Nimbus pocketed the diary and business card. When his partner was ready, Nimbus spoke.

“Let’s get back to Canterlot,” he said, “I want you to make contact with the ponies on the other end of the comm back in Cloudsdale. They need to know what’s going on.”

“Roger,” Stormchaser said, taking off with Nimbus. As they rose into the sky, Nimbus looked back at the unmoving pony on his back. He could only hope they’d make it back in time.

What Nimbus did not notice, however, was the pony’s face. As the Pegasi lifted into the air, the pony looked back at the camp, eyes wide with excitement. Slowly, a grin split across his face, and his eyes…

His eyes flashed green.