The pony kingdom of Equestria was vast. Earth ponies, Pegasi and unicorns all lived in harmony, each fulfilling a much needed role. Earth ponies were strong, and naturally durable, allowing them to be great farmers who provided food for the Pegasi and the Unicorns. Unicorns were scholarly and regal, with a strong sense of order that allowed them to handle their duties with maximum efficiency. They were also the only ones who had magic, allowing them to be specialized craftsponies. The Pegasi, who had wings were in charge of military duties. From days even before Celestia reigned, the tribes had fulfilled these roles, depending on one another to live. The pony land of Equestria had been united for milleniums.

It was the duty of one Pegasus stallion, Commander Windblazer of the Wonderbolts, to take immediate action against disorder in Celestia's lands. He was of average height, but his face was naturally extremely forward, which made him look far taller than he was. The latter was strengthened by his thick and straight eyelashes, which gave a strong and intimidating presence.

Once you had seen beyond Commander Windblazer's forwardness, you realized that he was mint-green in his colour, with strong yet oddly gentle-looking wings, that seemed to have miraculously avoided blemishes (he was, after all, extremely cautious in his duties). His wings looked as though they could take a fair bit of pain, but it was never put to the test. His mane was short and of a golden blonde colour, which gave him a presence that was regal but at the same time, sharp. His Cutie Mark was that of a tornado, for like many Wonderbolts, his career had started with a grand success at tornado duty. He had a strong enough presence so that if he was in the same room as you, you'd know he was there, even if you hadn’t seen him. Commander Windblazer was awake early in the morning at five, in the Cloudsdale barracks, when he received a letter from Princess Celestia.

He read the letter to himself:

“Dear Commander Windblazer,

An emergency has arisen in north-west Equestria. Wind demons are ravaging the isle of Gallopoli, and we require a force to quell the threat. Gather no more than five of the hardiest warriors, but nothing less than the hardiest warriors we have. Immediate action is required. Signed: Princess Celestia.”

And there was nothing more (as there so often wasn't, for usually if Princess Celestia had anything to send him, it was urgent.) Regardless of this, Commander Windblazer knew exactly who he wanted for this mission. Up and coming Wonderbolts Spitfire and Lightyear, great warrior Brazen Skylighter, Brazen’s sister Flameborn Dash and an old friend of Windblazer’s, Thunderblade. Commander Windblazer believed that they and himself were the six mightiest Pegasi in Equestria.

With no further delay, Commander Windblazer sheathed his wings, and took off to immediately inform his chosen five. Within fifteen minutes, they were off to Gallopoli. It was a magnificent sight, to see six of the best fliers racing to their destination – heroes as they were. Furious turbulence was created behind them, a weapon strong enough to knock out all those who were within twenty metres behind. The image of six of the fastest fliers, six of the most daring warriors, as friends, side by side, wind in their manes as they fly together on their adventure undoubtedly brought strong and moving feelings through anypony foolish enough to be near the raging storm. It felt rather like a romance, except without lovers. There was no disputing the power of friendship. Some said that friendship was magic, and the saying may’ve seemed crazy at first, but if one sat down to think about it, it would not be long before one realized just how true the saying was. (Flameborn and Emerald had taught this to Rainbow, and while at just under two years, she was far too young to understand it, both her parents were sure that the phrase would subconsciously etch itself inside Rainbow’s mind.)
It was a long journey to the island of Gallopoli, one that for most Pegasi, was far too aggressive upon one’s wings and hooves (perhaps surprisingly, most Pegasi were not strong fliers). They either lacked strength or lacked stamina (or in many cases, both). The ideal flying directions depended on the wind, and one had to be alert to make sure that they were taking the line with the least turbulence, whilst still travelling in the right direction. One had to pay close attention to avoid thrusting themself into turbulence, as the directions of wind could change whenever it pleased them to, and sometimes without warning. Tornadoes often lay ahoof as well, and they could easily slaughter Pegasi, for if a Pegasus ended up on the inside of one, they would lose all their flight control, and consequently be thrown wherever the laws of physics pleased, wings battered and hooves limp.

The six Pegasi arrived at their destination. The island of Gallopoli was sparsely populated, with no border patrol. Yet there were ponies who lived here – and ponies of all three tribes, albeit few. There was, however, a vital reason to keep Gallopoli defended. The island was a rich source of a very precious gem – sapphire, as well as being rich in a very rare pink copper. Princess Celestia could not, if Equestria were to continue functioning properly, allow this island to fall to the wind demons. The six studied the skies to see if they could spot any influence of disorder around.
“Anypony see any unusual wind levels?” Commander Windblazer asked, his voice very serious, yet he spoke on a steeply rising intonation, which made him sound a little softer.

All six looked around, but none of them could see anything. Commander Windblazer, sensing this, gave a quick order. “Spitfire and Lightyear, we shall scale this island together clockwise. The rest of you, scale anti-clockwise together. If you find the wind demons, shout to me. We’ll do the same in our case. Everypony understand?”

“Yes, sir,” was the response of the other five, all spoken in unison. Without another word, the six scaled the island, saying nothing to one another, but their faces, mouths slightly open and teeth gritted indicated nothing other than fiercely intensive focus, trying to spot the slightest of oddities in the sky, yet at the same time, not dallying, for the threats became more and more by the minute, as the wind demons expanded their territory.

Soon enough, a call from the keen-sighted Brazen Skylighter alerted his two companions.

“I think I’ve found them!” Brazen Skylighter called out to Flameborn and Thunderblade.

“Where?” Flameborn Dash asked.

“Follow me!” Brazen did not wait for their response before making the charge. Nonetheless, as the three of them moved together, the grotesque faces of wind demons (they seemingly had no bodies) became larger. They were a company of five clones, roughly ten feet tall, with stone black eyes, bumpy foreheads and mouths that resembled black holes. They were far removed from any sense of civilization. Wind demons were as cold on the inside as they were on the outside – should a pony make even the slightest brush with one, there was no avoiding imminent death from hypothermia. They bathed within mercilessly strong and cold winds, these winds far removed from any civilization or comfort. Their force field of wind – which was a circle of roughly a twenty-five metre radius, could have safely been called a death zone.

“I’m going in first!” Flameborn Dash shouted fearlessly, and dived straight into their force field. She was now flying at full speed, leaving a magnificent and warming trail of fire behind. She spent half a second studying the wind demons (and no more), and without further delay whirled around one of them, creating a ring of fire. She rose up, and flew less than a metre above it, praying that she had not misjudged her distance. The flame from her trail touched the wind demon’s head and with a demonly cry of pain, the wind demon vanished. Flameborn shook slightly from the cry, but it was impossible to notice as she continued her flaming flight within the force field, seemingly immune to the effects of the mighty winds. She zoomed in all directions, the slow moving wind demons without a hope of touching her. The line she had taken led perfectly to taking out the second wind demon. She created her ring of flame once more, sealing the demon’s chances of escape. She opted to dive beneath the demon this time, roughly a quarter of a metre away from its minimum point. Once again, the demon let out a cry of pain, but this time Flameborn had hardly heard it due to the intensity of the winds around her.

Three wind demons remained, with three Pegasi to bring their doom. Thunderblade was now directly above the battle zone, attempting to use nearby rainclouds to bring a lightning bolt upon one of the wind demons. The demon seemed oblivious to this, refusing to look anywhere outside of its sky-surrounded cave. Thunderblade jumped upon the cloud, sending a deathbolt to fall upon the wind demon. One more wind demon had vanquished, leaving only two. Meanwhile, Brazen Skylighter had joined the fray, his presence combined with Flameborn’s bringing heat into the twenty-five metre circle of doom. Or at least, it should've done. Yet, there was no heat being brought, which meant that something must've been negating such effects. Thunderblade took another cloud, and set that one to bring a storm upon a wind demon, to which it did. A silent bolt, made inaudible within the crescendo of wind drove itself through one of the remaining wind demons. Flameborn had the last one in her sights, as she proceeded to create her ring of fire around the demon, and to skylight up to its forehead, burning it. But all was not well, as the last demon had forged a tornado within these winds. It had not fully formed until after the demon had met its doom, and Flameborn Dash was stuck inside of it. She screamed, but it was reasonless: there was nothing she could do. The winds ravaged her wings and hooves, ramming her from high in the skies to a groundbound plummet. There was no escaping this fate. The tornado disintegrated much like the wind demons, but they had taken a victim with them. Thunderblade and Brazen Skylighter raced over to Flameborn Dash, who was lying on the ground, her once burning colours now weak and pale. Commander Windblazer’s team had arrived just at this moment, and the five Pegasi stood together, unable to believe their eyes. Flameborn Dash? Defeated? All was completely silent as she said her last words, with her five companions feeling just as lifeless inside as she was.

“Don’t mourn me, friends. Rather, remember me as a fine warrior who fulfilled their duty. I always dreamed of being a heroine, and I’m proud of my bravery. Have you ever seen me cry? I doubt it. Ask yourselves, what would a brave pony like Flameborn Skylighter do? (Her voice weakened) Emerald, don’t let my death tie you down! And I don’t doubt you, Rainbow. I… know you’ll… be… strong.” Without a further word, she passed away. Her words upon death, telling the others not to mourn her made the death even more sorrowful. Flameborn, brave, strong, brimming with life, boisterous, yet kind-hearted, with undying loyalty. Everypony loved her for her free spirit. Trying to imagine an Equestria without her was unbearable, and nopony was brave enough to think about it.

All of them wept, but the one who wept most of all was Brazen Skylighter. He was Flameborn's older brother by a year, and even as they'd aged, their bond had never weakened. His mind was now overloaded with buzzing thoughts and the sheer overload was making it impossible for him to focus on anything. It was impossible not to shed tears now, for by doing so, he could slowly release everything inside.

Videos of memory played inside Brazen's head. They were both proud athletes, and had engaged in many competitions - fights, hoof wrestles, races on hoof and races in the sky. They'd constantly traded insults back and forth, yet their friendship never weakened. Even though there was always going to be a loser in all their competitions, that status never lasted long, because afterwards they would go on extensive pranking sprees (and Brazen couldn't help but give a slight chuckle at some of them even in his current state of mind), where they required each other for successful and fun mischief. After that, they'd hoofbump one another and by this point neither would have anything left in them.

It was largely due to being the younger of the two that Flameborn became the pony she became. She'd felt as though she was always in Brazen's shadow and was determined to rise above. It took a long time, but through various feats, she had proved that she was the stronger of them. She'd committed possibly her most incredible feat of bravery ever against the wind demons, and had never been able to celebrate it. Brazen now looked around, to see that even the usually cold Commander Windblazer's fur was discoloured. Commander Windblazer made a command, his voice gloomy and downbeat: "Let us return the body."

It was a silent return. None of the companions even looked at one another, not even Brazen Skylighter and Thunderblade, who were carrying the cold body. Not even the wind in her mane, a feeling that Flameborn had always enjoyed, made the body any warmer. Nor did the thought of Flameborn, now resting in her own golden field far away, give the downtrodden warriors any joy.

Author's Note

It's disputable as to whether this actually fits the Alternate Universe tag. I've added it, because there are decidedly non-canon happenings in this. Please do comment, whether or not you've anything good to say about these stories.