The ground spiraled in a kaleidoscope of color as a certain animal lover headed for her doom.
Her friends definitely weren't willing to let another be injured. But how would they stop her? Twilight tried to use her telekinesis, but she may as well have been trying to stop Rainbow from running; the speed was too much, and the purple magic broke.
Fluttershy hit the ground softer than expected. She looked up to see Sunset's face and found her head in Sunset's lap. The mind - reading girl must've swooped in to save her at the last minute, leaving both girls with nothing more than a couple of bruises.
Citrus, however, was struggling to even get on her knees. Her face was scarred, and her arms and legs were bleeding lava. Sunset helped Fluttershy up and walked over to Crystal. She set her hand on her shoulder as her mind was sucked into another's.
Through a whirl of memories, Sunset found the ones she needed. The magical girl watched as Citrus Crystal and her best friend, Hornette, walked down the halls of school at the end of the day. They were about to head out the door, having already stopped at their lockers.
As they were laughing along, Feather Clay, another girl at school, walked near them. Stealthily, she crept behind them and listened in.
"If I could have my way, the walls would be painted in glitter, and lockers would be unlocked through fingerprint and hold anything." Crystal said rapidly, as Hornette shook her head. Within that very instant, Feather popped up between them.
"Uh, hi, Feather Clay." Citrus said awkwardly, pushing her green glasses up her nose.
"Hey Clay, how you been?" Hornette said with a grin as the two chest-bumped.
"Meh, just prepping for the BB game on Saturday. You gonna shoot some hoops?" Feather responded.
"No duh. Gonna be nothing but net!! And you ready to wiggle?"
"To wiggle all day!!"
As the two friends continued their talk about their upcoming basketball game, Crystal followed along awkwardly beside them. The three were almost out of the empty hall and outside when Feather and Hornette jumped up for another chest-bump, and Clay knocked into Citrus. The impact caused her to slam against some lockers, and sink to the ground clutching her arm. Her bag was sent across the hall. Feather walked over and picked up the backpack when a slip of paper fell out. The girl bent down and picked it up, then unfolded it.
On the page was a listing of everything Citrus disliked about the school and even the city, and a drawing of what she thought it should be like. Feather looked it over and laughed.
"Really? You think that this is what the world should be like? It's ridiculous!!" she exclaimed.
"Give it back." Crystal muttered firmly.
"Okay." Clay walked over, then dropped the paper in a nearby wastebucket. Before Citrus could retrieve the page, Feather pulled out a bottle of water, uncapped it, and poured it into the trashcan. Crystal watched through tears as the bully and her best friend walked away. She grabbed her bag and bolted into the forest. She sat on the ground and wept over the destruction of her design. She didn't even remember what it looked like.
Suddenly, the sun hit something shiny, and the gleam caught Crystal's eye. She dug into the ground a bit and found a shiny, red pearl bracelet wrapped in parchment. Unrolling the paper and slipping the bracelet onto her wrist, the girl read that the bracelet contained powerful fiery magic. If she pictured something nearby as ash, the bracelet would fire. Citrus tried it. She aimed at a bush, and it exploded into flames. The girl practiced all the time, not coming home and skipping school, and little by little, the bracelet gained more control over her mind. Soon, she was ready to unleash it on the school, the city, the citizens.
As she was about to set fire to the school, she hesitated. Why am I doing this? This isn't right. she thought to herself. At that moment, the bracelet shot something stronger than anything she had ever felt before through her veins. "Power." she whispered. The piece of jewelry sent a swirl of ruby red magic swirled up her arm. The magic then transformed her into a fiery beast. Her lemon complexion darkened to burnt black. Her lime green hair turned to red-hot flames, which pulled themselves into pigtails. Her glasses fell away as her salmon-pink eyes changed shades to blood red and the white surroundings became dark as night. Her school outfit turned to a dress of lava. Large, powerful red wings sprouted from her back, allowing her to take flight high in the sky.
With an evil grin, Crystal flung a fistful of fire at the school. People screamed as they ran away from the burning building.
"Now," Citrus muttered with a sinister smile, "To ruin this world and make another."
Sunset opened her eyes and looked sadly at the injured girl. None of this would have happened if the magic hadn't found Crystal just as she was sad and angry. The psychic girl pulled the bracelet off the other's wrist and slipped it into her bag. The magic swirled off Citrus as she was reverted back to her normal form. She was a bit cut and bruised, but otherwise unharmed.
It would seem the girls had won, yet again. But...
Did they?