Heat Wave

The three humans made their way to the library as quickly as they could.  The sun was nearly completely below the horizon.  Being late in the evening, the streets were quite void of activity, which would have allowed them to reach their destination faster had it not been for Tim's lack of physical fitness.  Not even a few minutes into their run, he was completely winded, and the trio was forced to the pace of a light jog.

Sam was annoyed by this, but refrained from scolding his intelligent friend, not wanting to break the silence and possibly give their position away in case they were indeed too late to escape the heat.  At least he'd be able to escape, and in dire enough circumstances, that would be all that mattered.

Suddenly, what felt like a shockwave-like pulse ripped through the three of them.  Sam's shoes quaked, knocking him off balance.  He face planted into the dirt due to the intensity of the vibrations.  Looking down, he saw his footwear glowing a deep blue before its odd behavior finally ceased.  He looked up to Keyshawn, whose face showed he felt something similar from his gauntlet, though without the falling over part.

“Are you two okay?” asked Tim concernedly, rushing over to help his downed friend up.  “What happened?” he continued upon seeing his friends uninjured.

“I don't know,” replied Keyshawn.  “My glove just started...shaking.  Then it glowed, then it stopped.  Any idea what that was about?”

“Well, considering I didn't actually feel anything, I am suspicious that whatever you felt is related to the magic that surrounds your gauntlet and shoes respectively,” replied Tim.  “I can't say I can conclude anything beyond that.”

Sam began walking away from them, saying, “Alright, that was weird.  I'm going to go on ahead to the library.  Hopefully Twilight isn't insane yet and I can ask her what that was before she does go crazy.”  He then sprinted forward, calling upon the magic in his shoes to help him get to his destination faster.

But he didn't get there faster.

In fact, his shoes refused to respond at all, confusing him.  He stopped and turned to his friends, whom he only got a few feet away from before realizing that something was wrong.

“Whatever happened, it seems to be negating the effects of your things,” Tim noted.  “Still, we can't assume that that's the only effect.”

“Then let's go,” beckoned Sam.  “The longer we stay here, the larger chance of getting caught we have.”  Agreeing, the other two followed and they continued their run to the library.

“It seems quiet,” Tim commented as the three of them stood in front of the entrance to the large tree structure.  They had diligently made towards the library after the odd occurrence before, but the sun had since receded completely behind the horizon.  It was very dark, save for the candlelight coming out from the library's windows, and everyone had gone inside to sleep, leaving the streets eerily silent.

“I...I don't know anymore,” Keyshawn said concernedly, shivering slightly.  He tossed his head around, checking for any signs of followers.  “The...the silence is deafening.”

“Let's just get in there, have Twilight help us out with that pulse thing from earlier, then get out of here,” said Sam.  “We'll be out of here in no time.”  He stepped up and prepared to knock, but the door responded first.  It swung open viciously, nearly taking Sam out along the way.  Spike then ran through the open doorway.

“Prepare your anus!  Prepare your anus!  Prepare your aaanuuus!” he screamed as loudly as he could, passing the humans and heading in the approximate direction of Sweet Apple Acres.  Twilight stepped out of the open doorway behind him, her pupils shrunken and a maniacal grin plastered on her face.

Upon seeing the three humans, her tail shot up in the air.  “Ooh, this is so exciting!” she proclaimed.  “Four for one!”

Keyshawn turned around and trailed after Spike, who had not gotten to far from the group.  “Get away from me!” he screamed.  His partners, however, stayed behind for a few seconds, remembering to get away only when the mare was mere feet from them.

At the head of the pack, Keyshawn continued to scream and whimper loudly.  “Stop screaming, you buffoon!” scolded Spike from beside him.  “You'll awaken the whole freakin' town!”

The advice came too late, though, as behind them they could hear doors opening and curious mares following.  Having caught up to Keyshawn and Spike, Sam chanced a glance behind to see just what kind of commotion they had stirred.  No longer was it just Twilight giving chase; instead, it was now a sizable herd of heating mares, most of whom were producing provocative or seductive sounds, making their intentions clear.

“We've got to get out of here!” exclaimed Sam, despite the fact that his party knew this fact already.  “Anyone have an idea where we should go?”

“Mac's got a bunker made just for events like these,” suggested Spike.  “We could hunker down there until the heat passes.”

“Sounds good,” agreed Sam, and the four of them set their course for the apple orchard.

For nearly twenty minutes they ran, and they gained a significant lead on the crazed mares, enough so that they were content with slowing their pace to catch their breath and conserve their energy for a later time.  They had made good progress towards the farm; only a few minutes away by walking.  Feeling safe, they walked.

“Since Twilight is unavailable at the moment,” began Sam as something crossed his mind, “you seem like the next best source for things regarding magic.”

“I don't know about that,” said Spike humbly, “but I can try to help you out.  What's up?”

“Well, the three of us were all heading to the library to see if Twilight could possibly help these two slowpokes run faster so we could get out of Ponyville before crap hit the fan, but on the way, this weird pulse thing went through us, and our magic stuff got all weird.”

Tim moved in closer to interject a comment of his own.  “Also, I felt nothing.  Don't know if that'll help the diagnosis, but it's something.”

Spike rubbed his chin in thought.  “Hmm.  I don't know what that was, but I felt a little something too.  When I asked Twilight about it, she started acting a little strange and claimed that somepony had requested that a certain spell be cast and that I had just missed them.  I could tell she was lying, though.  But it's safe to say that whatever she did caused your things to act up.”

“That doesn't help too much,” muttered Sam.  “But thanks for trying.”

Suddenly, from behind them, they could hear a stallion screaming.  They all looked behind them to see one being chased by a mare, and his screams could be heard clearly by them, despite the distance.  The stallion tripped over his hooves and crashed into the ground.  Within moments, the mare was mounted on top of him.  “Have mercy!” they heard him beg, to which the mare gave no signs of intending to cooperate.  “No...no, not the horn!”

With vigor fed by fear, the four of them sprinted as fast as they could, reaching the supposed safety of Sweet Apple Acres in a time that would make even Rainbow Dash jealous.

“What th' buck is this!?” cursed Macintosh as he kicked the locked door of his bunker.  “Ah had this here unlocked!”  With him and the foal Snips and Snails were three other stallions: the owner of Quills and Sofas, Davenport, an upper class noblepony who picked an unfortunate time to visit, Fancypants, and the only male Wonderbolt to escape the clutches of his female cohorts, Sorin'.

Snips looked about tentatively.  “This...this is premeditated.  Your sister; she...she did this,” he accused.

“Mah sis'd do nothin' of the kind.”

“Well, they'll get us for sure if we do nothing!” Snails shouted back.  From a distance away, the small group could hear the faint sounds of Ponyville's mare population becoming active.

Fancypants squinted into the distance.  “If I didn't know any better, I would say that we best devise a course of action quickly.  The mares most certainly are coming our way.  It appears that we've also got visitors.”

Four distinctly shaped silhouettes broke forth from the horizon, unmistakably being the three humans and one chubby dragon.  They were approaching at full speed, but as they got closer, their pace slowed to a jog, until finally they joined up with Mac's small group.

“Hey Sam,” Soarin' greeted immediately, trotting up to offer hoof, which Sam promptly bumped with his hand.  “How've you been?”

“Not good,” panted Sam in response.  “A lot of running and panic; must be the worst day I've had since comin' here.”

“Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad,” the Wonderbolt jokingly argued back.  “Nothing's perfect.”

While the two of them chatted, Spike went to the bunker door, which Big Mac was staring at thoughtfully.  He pulled on the knob, and the door refused to budge.

“Why's it locked?” the dragon asked curiously.

Rubbing his chin, Macintosh replied, “Tryin' ta solve that mahself.  Was unlocked this mornin'.”

In desperation, Spike attempted to claw his way through the door.  “It won't give,” he snorted when that failed.

By this time, Tim had taken an interest in their proceedings and had walked over to  investigate.  After Spike's failed attempt at getting in, Tim approached the door and inspected it.  “Titanium steel,” he mumbled after appraising the metal.  “You must have prepared many precautions for the season, Mac.”

“Than Ah do,” he responded plainly.

Keyshawn had also come to the door and had overheard their conversation.  Desperate and scared, the man drew his fist back, prepping a devastating punch.

“Wait!” cautioned Tim, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

Crack!

Keyshawn fell to the ground, clenching his armored fist in pain.  His gauntlet had prevented any disfiguring injuries, but needless to say, based on Keyshawn's reaction, it was painful.

“Your gauntlet's magic is being interrupted, remember?” Tim reminded him, to which low whimpers were the only reply.

Trotting away from them all, Davenport stared in the direction Sam and the others had arrived from.  The hoots and hollers of the town's mares was still audible, and even slightly louder than they had been before.

“They're getting closer,” he said, getting the entire group's attention.  “We should get out of here.  Any ideas?”

“Well, escaping to another town is out of the question,” mused Soarin'.  “We'll likely run into this problem again.  We could try a cave nearby...but without supplies, we wouldn't last long anyways.”

“Heading back, then, is our best option,” Tim concluded, gazing where Davenport had been looking out to not too long ago.

“Are you nuts!?” shouted Snails.  “You want us to go back!?”

As Tim tried defending himself, Sam stayed silent, instead trying to think of a less crazy course of action.  Nothing came to mind.

“I found a stallion!” yelled a feminine voice from not far off.  Sam's thoughts, along with the rest of the group's, were halted, and as one they perked up and began looking for the source.

The earth pony mare made no effort to hide as she slowly stepped out of the orchard nearby.  Her tongue hung out of her mouth and her tail was stuck high in the air.  A foul musky scent permeated the air around her, overpowering the group's nostrils, making them gag.

Then, she unexpectedly charged them.  Seeing her advance, the boys all turned to run.  An impact and a high pitched yelp sounded from the back of the group.  Turning back briefly, Fancypants saw that Davenport had been tackled and swiftly mounted by the mare.  He rushed to help him, but was stopped when Soarin' bit his tail and pulled him back.  “It's too late for him!” Soarin' shouted.  “He's gone!”

More mares came forth from the apple orchard, which was enough to prompt the noblepony to leave at Soarin's insistence.  Five of the newcomers pounced on the businesspony, whose dying horrific screams burned into the minds of the groups remaining members as they ran.