Mane of Fire
by Ixy
Part I: Into the Flames
Applejack galloped full speed down the street toward the library in the light of early morning. Daisy, Rose, and Lily panicked and scattered. “Oh no!” “It's another disaster!” “Bunnies, bunnies everywhere!”
“Get a grip, girls,” Applejack called over her shoulder, “But run for the hills, there's a fire!” She crashed through the library door and looked around calling, “Twilight!” “Where's Twilight?”
Spike was holding an armload of books. He said, “She's up on the terrace watching the forest fire with the telescope.” He pointed up the stairway with his tail. Applejack ran for the stairs just in time to collide head-on with Twilight.
“Oof.” “Twilight! There's a terrible fire raging in the Everfree Forest!”
“I know, I know,” she responded, “And it's spreading near Fluttershy's cottage. We have to get help.”
Twilight ran over to Spike. “Forget the books on forest fires, go with Applejack and find Rainbow Dash! We have to get the pegasi together to fight the fire.” “I'll go warn Fluttershy.” Twilight ran outside, trampling the broken door that lay on the floor and galloping down the street.
“Hop on darlin',” Applejack said to Spike, “We're off to find Dash. Yee-ha!”
• • •
Twilight galloped full speed down the path to Fluttershy's cottage. The way wasn't well warn and she kept stumbling over roots and rocks. When she arrived at the fence she called out, “Fluttershy!” Then ran to the door and barged inside. Squirrels and ferrets and bunnies dove for cover. “Fluttershy! Where are you?” she called. But there was nopony in sight. She ran back outside to a little house with a shingle shaped like a carrot in front. “Angel, where's Fluttershy?” she asked.
The white bunny appeared at the door and yawned. Then pointed his paw lazily toward the forest. “Okay, thanks,” Twilight said, distracted. She could see hoofprints headed in that direction.
The tracks were in widely spaced groups of four, meaning Fluttershy was running. But before long they disappeared. “Arrgh, pegasus,” she said to herself, “Tracking, tracking. I must know a tracking spell.” She thought for a few moments and then her horn glowed brightly. A trail of sparkles appeared in the air headed further into the forest. She struggled through the underbrush for half a mile before the trail went straight over a ravine. She sighed and started picking her way down the rocky slope.
• • •
“Dash!” Applejack called out, “Rainbow Dash! Are you in there girl?”
“We need you, there's an emergency,” Spike called out from her back.
After an uncomfortable pause Rainbow Dash's head appeared over the side of her floating home. Her mane was in disarray. “What?” she asked tiredly, “And this had better be worth interrupting my nap.”
“There's an awful big fire in the Everfree Forest! We'd better get moving and doing something about it,” said Applejack. “Twilight already headed out to warn Fluttershy.”
“There can't be a fire today, it's supposed to be raining,” she said, still not entirely awake, then looked up at the cloudless sky. “Ooh, I'm going to strangle Raindrops, Thunderbolt, and Dipsy Doo, those idiots!” “They're supposed to be making it rain today. It's on the schedule!” Dash stepped off the edge and glided down next to Applejack. “Come on Spike,” she said, “We'll gather up those lazy bums and get some clouds together!”
“This is more like it,” he said leaping from one back to the other. “Hi-ho Rainbow!”
• • •
Twilight could hear the fire up ahead and see embers swirling through the air above. “Oh, this is not good, not good at all,” she said to herself. The trail continued through the trees toward the flames. Then she broke into a small rocky clearing. Through the opening in the canopy she could see the fire ahead was 'crowning', the flames had ignited the tops of the trees.
The sparkles led straight through the burning threes. Twilight backed up a little then her horn glowed a different color. A wind swept down, pushing the flames back, but instead of weakening the fire, it blazed higher. “Oh no, that's not right,” she said. Then she tried again. A glowing bubble appeared around her. She moved toward the wall of flames but the bubble suddenly popped and the hot wind rushed around her. “Eek,” she cried.
She tried again, bringing down a swirling tornado to sweep away the flames. The moment it touched the burning brush it became a vortex of fire. It tore up burning bushes and small trees and tossed them into the air. Burning branches fell all around her. She stomped out the nearest one with her hoof. It seemed hopeless. She performed the tracking spell again. The trail still led right into the flames.
“I don't know what I'll find at the end of this trail but I can't abandon my friend,” she said. The fire was spreading around the clearing and surrounding her. She spun around and looked back for a moment. “Oh well,” she said to herself, “there's only one thing to do about it.” Twilight set her hooves and charged into the wall of flames.
• • •
High above Rainbow Dash was pushing a sparking storm cloud as fast as she could, followed by a team of pegasi with their own clouds. One cloud seemed to be upside-down.
“There she is,” Spike called out from Dash's back, “She's in that clearing down there.”
“We're coming for you,” Dash cried, “Troops onward.” She looked down and saw a tornado of fire leap up from the clearing, scattering burning debris. Then she saw Twilight looking around, seemingly in a panic. What she saw next horrified her. Twilight galloped straight into the flames, her mane and tail instantly igniting. “Noooo!” she screamed, Twilight!”
