I scrambled backwards in a panic, but the fur on my forelegs was smouldering, and the flames were now licking across the ceiling. Gummy had scuttled under my bed. I racked my brains for a way to get out of the house, but the flames were quickly approaching the window, and there was no question of getting out via the door.
Or was there?
I'd been waiting for a chance to regain my magic; maybe this is it. Maybe instinct will trigger my magic to return, like instinct triggered Fluttershy's wings to grow back. As I thought through this, the curtains burst into flames. Now I really was trapped.
So I took a chance, and galloped for the door, leaping through a gap in the flames. As soon as I was through, a wall of heat hit me and I began to choke as black smoke filled my nose and mouth.
Seconds later, I felt the fire. It licked over my legs and the fur was singed clean off, leaving the heat to fry my skin. Within two seconds, my forelegs had blistered. I tried to delve into my instinct to pull back my magic and save me; but all I felt was pain and panic. The smoke clouded my senses as well as my vision, and for a few moments I stood motionless, unsure of myself. Then my survival instincts kicked in and I jumped back towards the bedroom door, for I knew there was less fire in there.
But as I jumped, the door frame creaked and then collapsed, barring my way back into the room. Frantic, I turned to run down the stairs, only for them to collapse, too. As I gazed down at the carnage which had been my home, the small platform on which I stood gave a terrible lurch before it too collapsed as the flames destroyed its supports, plunging me into the fire, which reared up greedily to swallow me.
I was utterly consumed with pain, and I writhed in the fire, uncaring, unknowing. But then I raised my head and let out an awful scream- and felt power surge through me to manifest in my forehead. I slipped into darkness with the flames jumping around me.
I was rudely awoken, not fifteen seconds later, as I plunged into icy-cold water. I struggled against the flow, but the flood rose higher until it spilt out of my house and into the street, bearing me with it. I saw that the upper floor of my home still burned, and felt an awful pang for Gummy as the roof began to cave in. But then the flood dragged me away along the street, and I was borne helplessly along on the tide.
As I was swept past the boutique, Rainbow, with a hissing Opalescence clinging to her face and the cat's long, swishing white tail covering the pegasus's eyes, trotted out into the street, trying to shove the cat off. She moved the fluffy tail off her eyes and screeched in horror at the water heading her way; she shot back inside, Opal still fastened tightly onto her head, and slammed the door in the hope of protecting her precious works.
"Twilight!" somepony called out. I looked around, but saw nothing. "Over here!" I snapped my head around to look behind me, but there was nopony there. "No, up here, darling!" I looked up to see Rarity and Fluttershy hovering overhead, and then Rarity swept down to scoop me up, lifting me over to one of the nearby buildings to sit me on the roof. I swept my soaked mane out of my face and the others gasped.
"What?" I said crossly. They both pointed with their forehooves at my forehead. I glanced up and saw a very welcome sight- my spiralled purple horn was back where it belonged. "Yes, yes, yes!" I shouted exuberantly. "Finally!"
Pinkie came flying over, a small, shaken and rather sooty alligator lying on her back. "Here's Gummy!" she exclaimed, then spotted my horn and stared.
I took Gummy and gently brushed the soot off him. Then I looked down to see that the water was still rising. "Where is all that water coming from?"
"I've no idea." said Rarity thoughtfully. "I'll go and investigate." She unfolded her large wings and flew off over town.
A few minutes later she returned. "I found a magical teleportation portal in your house, Twilight. It seems you created it in a panic. The other end was at the bottom of Ponyville Reservoir. I closed the portal, but the whole town is flooded, and I think the reservoir will be quite depleted."
"Can't you just make all the water in town go back to the reservoir?" asked Fluttershy.
Rarity looked troubled. "I don't know of any spells which can do that. The teleportation portal was quite advanced magic, I'll give you credit for that, Twilight, and it's taken quite a bit of my magic to close it up again. I'm afraid we may have to clean up town the old way- bailing the water back to the reservoir. We'd best round up Applejack, and Rainbow, if she'll come out of the boutique, and get started."
"WAIT!" shouted Pinkie. "We can't do that- it's the 'pet picnic' today! Angel's been looking forward to it all month!"
"We'll have to reschedule. This is too important, and plus, the picnic ground is a foot underwater," said Rarity.
"Yes, and I can't imagine Opal or Rainbow will be too happy about that." I added.
"That's okay, we'll go over there." Pinkie gestured with her hoof towards a hill just outside town
"Pinkie, we can't just disappear in a crisis! We're the Elements of Harmony!"
"But Angel has been so excited, and remember what happened last time he got upset..." reminded Pinkie.
"Oh, brilliant. So as well as this flood we'll have a flood of rabbits, too?" groaned Rarity. "Fine... I'll go and get Owlowiscious..."
Rarity flew away, and so did Pinkie. Fluttershy stayed nearby. "So I've got to go and get Winona, right?"
"Yes, and tell Applejack she needs to bring Tank." I said tiredly, as Gummy gummed my wrists.
"Oh, and well done on getting your magic back." said Fluttershy before she flew away.
By noon, five of us were sitting on the hill outside Ponyville with our pets playing around us. Tank and Owlowiscious were playing an airborne game of tag above our heads, and we constantly had to duck as the hovering tortoise swooped around. Angel sat next to Gummy in silence, occasionally reaching out a paw to prod Gummy's snout. Winona was chasing butterflies a short distance away.
"Where is Rainbow?" frowned Applejack. "It's not like she can't fly over the water..."
Rarity had notified the Ponyville mayor of the threat from the rabbits, and the mayor had accepted it (though what self-respecting citizen would argue with a princess?) and now we were waiting for Rainbow.
Eventually, the latter came into view, flying slowly towards us. As she grew nearer we saw that Opal was clinging to her back, eyes wide and claws digging into Rainbow's cyan fur.
Rainbow touched down and tried to coax Opal off her back, but Opal wasn't having any of it. Rainbow eventually looked pleadingly over at Pinkie, who came over and muttered to the frightened cat. Opal leaped gently off Rainbow's back, rubbing against Pinkie's leg before padding away to sit by Angel and Gummy.
For a while, we sat peacefully, chatting and watching our pets frolic. Angel went to join Winona, their enmity forgotten, leaving Opal to prod Gummy's snout alone. Gummy had sat there quite placidly for an hour or so, being prodded, but had taken it all, just staring ahead with his glassy eyes. But suddenly, he opened his jaws and latched his toothless mouth onto Opal's face.
Opal gave a strangled hiss and ran up a tree, Gummy still clinging gormlessly onto her face. We giggled, and then Pinkie flew up to separate them. Gummy was plopped down in front of me, as unmoving as ever, while Opal just glared at him from where she sat near Rainbow, eating a piece of salmon.
Finally, an hour or so later, we broke it up, heading back to town. We dropped off our pets and then went to assist with the bailing duties. As it was, several pegasi had created a small tornado, reminiscent of the one the old Rainbow Dash had had them make for Cloudsdale, and this had cleared quite a bit of the water, leaving the earth ponies and unicorns to dry up the dregs.
It took a few hours, but we eventually finished the task. We retired to Sugarcube Corner, where the others had me practise my magic. I found it was actually quite weak, more like the old Rarity's limited magic than my own. But after two hours of levitating things and short distance teleportation, I was ready to hit the hay. I accompanied Applejack and Fluttershy to the Acres, since my own home was burned to a crisp.
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.