“Applejack.”
Applejack grunted and rolled over on her side.
“Applejack, you have to wake up.”
“Go 'way. Tired.”
“I know, but we need you. Firecracker's still running rampant. We need to stop her, and to do that, we need you.”
Applejack opened her eyes and turned back, seeing a ghostly form of Sunset kneeling next to her. She sat up, eyes wide.
“Sunset?” she asked, reaching out a hand. Sunset smiled as Applejack's hand slipped through her when her fingers made contact.
“Remember when you came into my head? It's your turn.”
“I'm in a coma?”
“No, just knocked out. But we can't wait for you to recover normally. Pinkie's got a broken arm, and the others are trying to keep Firecracker busy long enough for me to help you.”
Applejack looked at her friend. “And you're awake now?”
Sunset's smile grew. “Yep. Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For that. For being you. For believing in me.”
“Why wouldn't I? You're my friend.”
Sunset suddenly choked up and she let out a small sob, before recovering. “You have no idea how much I want to hug you right now.”
Applejack got to her feet. “Well, figure I've lollygagged enough here. Let's get to work so you can!”
“All right,” Sunset said. She raised a hand and a beam of magic shot out, connecting to Applejack's forehead. The light grew brighter, washing out the vision of both girls.
Applejack's eyes shot open and she bolted upright. Sunset let out a yelp of surprise as she broke the connection between them. The two stared at each other, then shot forward and embraced.
“Welcome back,” Sunset whispered.
“You too,” said Applejack.
“Awwwwww, I wanna hug tooooo!” came Pinkie's voice. The two looked over at her, then moved over to bring her into the hug, taking care to avoid making her arm worse.
The hug was broken up by the sound of a scream coming from the sky. The three girls looked on as they saw Rarity falling from the sky. Twilight zoomed down and, for a split second, it looked like she would halt Rarity's descent. They let out a gasp of horror as Twilight missed and Rarity thudded to the ground.
“Rarity!” all three cried. Sunset and Applejack got to their feet and helped Pinkie up. They ran across the field toward their fallen friend. Applejack got there first and slid the last few feet on her knees. Sunset looked up at Twilight, who was hovering over them, her hands covering her mouth.
“We'll take care of her!” Sunset yelled. “Get the pendant!”
“But – But I – “ Twilight stammered.
“It's not your fault! Go!”
Twilight nodded and rocketed off to rejoin Rainbow and Fluttershy. Applejack looked up as Sunset knelt down next to her. “I dunno if I should try to get her up or not.”
“Leave her where she is for now,” Sunset answered. “Let's see if we can wake her up.”
She leaned over and gently shook Rarity's shoulder. “Rarity? Can you hear me?”
“Rarity?” Pinkie leaned over, wincing as pain shot through her arm. Applejack looked over at her, reached down and ripped part of her tunic off, turning it into a makeshift sling for Pinkie's arm.
“There ya go, sugarcube,” she said. “It ain't much, but it should help until we can get you to a hospital.”
Pinkie nodded and turned her attention back to Rarity. “Please, Rarity, wake up! I don't know how much more of my friends nearly dying I can take!”
Rarity groaned and her eyes opened. “Can we go home yet?” she whispered.
The three girls surrounding her let out cheers of relief. Pinkie shot forward to give her a hug, but Applejack stopped her. Sunset looked down at Rarity.
“Are you all right? Can you move?”
Rarity frowned in concentration, then her eyes widened in terror. “I can't feel my legs! Sunset, why can't I feel my legs?!”
Tears began to run down Rarity's face. She reached up toward Sunset, who bent over, allowing the fashionista to embrace her. She stroked Rarity's hair, trying to sooth the girl.
“Why can't I feel my legs?” Rarity's sobbed into Sunset's shoulder, her voice muffled. Pinkie and Applejack looked at each other, uncertain of what to do.
Twilight flew up next to Rainbow and Fluttershy, her expression grim.“The others are helping Rarity. Let's end this.”
She shot forward, causing Rainbow and Fluttershy to blink. The two beat their wings faster and followed her. Rainbow caught up with her, Fluttershy shortly afterward.
Twilight spoke to both of them, keeping her sights on Firecracker. “You two hit her with everything you've got and I'll grab the pendant. Hit her fast. Hit her hard.”
“Twilight,” Fluttershy began. Twilight glared at her.
“Just do it, Fluttershy!” she snarled.
Fluttershy let out an “eep” and flew forward. Rainbow gave Twilight a glare of her own and followed. The two streaked down out of the sky. Firecracker looked up and began hurling magic at them. Rainbow frowned and began dodging again, while Fluttershy did the best she could, ducking, weaving ,and occasionally shrieking as she tried to keep up.
After breaking through the volley, Rainbow zoomed forward, fist out stretched, aiming for Firecracker's face. She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She quickly glanced over and smiled as Fluttershy appeared next to her, her fist similarly outstretched.
“Let's go!” Rainbow cried. The two of them shot forward. Firecracker saw them coming and raised her hands. The two flying girls poured on the speed, connecting solidly with Firecracker's face. The three of them crashed to the ground. Rainbow rolled off and got to her knees.
“Twilight, now!”
Twilight put out a hand and activated her magic. The telekinetic field formed around Firecracker's pendant. Twilight drew her hand back and it rose from the hollow of her enemy's throat. Firecracker looked down at the floating pendant, then back up at Twilight.
She shot out a hand, and entangled her fingers in Fluttershy's hair. She got to her feet, yanking Fluttershy upward, causing the pink-haired girl to scream. She brought her other hand, sparking, to Fluttershy's face.
“Drop the pendant, or she dies right here!” Firecracker called up to Twilight. Twilight frowned.
“Not a chance!”
Firecracker's grin returned. “It's her funeral.”
Magic shot from her fingers into Fluttershy's face. Fluttershy screamed. A horrible, bleating wail that caused all of her friends to cringe. Rainbow zipped forward, only for Firecracker to swing her arm toward her, blasting her with magic. Rainbow staggered and fell to the ground. Twilight yanked with her magic as hard as she could, only for Firecracker to grab the pendant and channel her own magic back into it.
Twilight stared as the telekinetic field around the pendant changed form purple to pink, then her eyes widened as the field around her hand began to change color as well. She brought her other hand out and channeled more magic into her field, but the enlarged field quickly began changing color as well. No sooner had it turned completely pink, the field exploded, blowing Twilight out of the sky and into the ground.
She staggered to her feet, breathing heavily. She looked down at her hands and winced at the charring across her palms. She swallowed and glared at Firecracker, before raising her hands and channeling her magic. Instead of targeting the pendant, however, she targeted Fluttershy. The field generated around her friend and as soon as she was certain she had a firm grip, she yanked as hard as she could.
Fluttershy screamed again as she was ripped out of Firecracker's grip, leaving several hairs behind. Fluttershy rocketed toward Twilight, who cut her field at the last second, and held out her arms, catching her friend and turning it into a hug.
“I'm sorry!” she sobbed. “I know that hurt. I'm sorry!”
“It's okay,” Fluttershy whispered back. The two girls separated and faced Firecracker. Rainbow appeared next to them, her face streaked with dirt and blood. She looked over at her friends and grinned.
“Okay,” she gasped. “I say we stop playing with her now.”
“She's not stopping!” Pinkie cried. “Why isn't she stopping?”
“We need all of us,” Sunset said. “She's not going to give up the magic voluntarily, so we need to all go after her. It's how we've won before.”
Rarity looked up at Applejack. “Pick me up.”
The girls looked down at her, surprised.
“Rarity,” Sunset began, “We can't do that. You might have actual spinal damage. If we move you, we could cause more problems.”
“And you just said we need all of us to beat her,” Rarity replied. She pushed herself into a sitting position, wincing as she did so. “We need to stop her now. Not for us, but for her.”
Rarity pointed her head in the direction of the bleachers, where Moondancer had retreated and was peering out from under them. Rarity looked back up at Sunset.
“If we don't stop her now, she's just going to get more powerful and anything that's left of Firecracker Burst is going to be overwhelmed by that magical menace over there. You know that, Sunset.”
Sunset let out a sigh and looked back at Rarity. “I know. But I don't want you getting hurt anymore because of me.”
“Sunset, darling, I accepted this kind of thing could happen a long time ago.” Rarity winced as a fresh wave of pain zipped down what she could still feel of her spine. “But, it has to be done. There's time to hurt later. So, pick me up and let's finish this.”
Sunset looked from Rarity to where Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy stood as Firecracker stalked toward them, magic firing off at random around her body. She looked back down at Rarity, who gave her a look of determination. She then looked at Applejack. “Pick her up.”
Applejack gave her a concerned look, but complied, hoisting Rarity up. Rarity put an arm around the farm girl's neck, steadying herself. Pinkie stepped next to them, retying the sling so her injured arm wouldn't bounce around. Sunset nodded and turned towards Firecracker.
“Let's go.”
They strode across the field, quickly readying themselves. Rarity generated a small cluster of crystals that hovered over her free hand. Pinkie grabbed a handful of marshmallows and began charging them. They reached their friends, taking their places beside them. Sunset took a deep breath and stepped forward, opening her mouth to give Firecracker another chance to surrender.
She didn't get the chance. Firecracker screamed again and fired another concentrated beam of magic directly towards her. It rocketed across the field. Sunset heard Moondancer cry out as she realized they were about to be struck down. The pink light began to wash out her vision, and she suddenly felt several comforting weights surround her.
There was another explosion of light and sound. When it dissipated, Sunset opened her eyes to find her friends surrounding her, their arms holding her in a massive group hug. Surrounding them was a multicolored magical shield. Magic radiated from the girls' geodes, generating the shield. They all looked up at Firecracker, who stared unbelieving at what she was seeing.
Disbelief quickly turned to anger, and Firecracker held out her hands and fired and even larger beam of magic, which slammed into the shield. The girls cried out as it struck, but the shield held. Firecracker poured more magic into her attack, the light pink turning a darker shade of neon pink as she did so.
“It's working!” Pinkie cheered. “Pour it on!”
The girls grabbed their geodes and concentrated. More multicolored magic poured into the shield. It expanded and a rainbow bolt fired back from it, smashing into Firecracker's beam. Firecracker grit her teeth and forced more magic out of her hands. The rainbow beam intensified and pushed back.
“Give it up, Firecracker!” Rainbow called. “It's over!”
“Shut up!” Firecracker snarled. Her beam expanded, threatening to engulf the girls' own. Sunset and her friends frowned and poured more of themselves into their magic. The two beams remained immobile for a few seconds. Sparks began shooting off from the point where the two converged. Sunset's eyes widened as she recognized something she hadn't seen since her days at Princess Celestia's student.
“Resonance cascade,” she whispered. She looked up at Firecracker. “Firecracker! Stop! We all have to stop! There's too much magic in the air!”
“FUCK YOU!” Firecracker pulled her hands back and pushed them forward, redoubling her efforts. A large pulse moved down the beam as high speed. Sunset sucked a breath through her teeth as she saw it coming.
“Brace yourselves!” she cried, throwing her arms up over her face. The others followed suit, Rarity throwing her free arm across Applejack's eyes while burying her face in the farm girl's shoulder.
The pulse reached the point where the two beams met and exploded. Multicolored sparks flew everywhere. The girls' shield shattered, and the shock wave blew them backwards, scattering them across the ground. They all sat up, Applejack helping Rarity and they stared in horror at what was across the field from them.
Firecracker was suspended in an out of control column of magical fire. Her eyes shot out random beams of magic. Her dress had become alight with the same fire. Her screams of pain echoed across the field.
Sunset scrabbled to her feet and dashed across the field. Firecracker's head turned toward her, her face a mask of terror. She held out a hand.
“Help me! It hurts!” Her voice was high and piercing. Sunset reached out her own hand and thrust it into the column. She flew back almost immediately as the magic zapped her hard enough to knock her off her feet.
She got back up and stepped forward again, but found herself being held back, as Twilight and Rainbow grabbed her arms and began dragging her away. Sunset struggled against her friend.
“Let go! We have to save her!”
“We can't!” Twilight cried. “Look at it! It's all gone crazy!”
“She's toast, Sunset!” Rainbow said. Sunset looked at her and to her surprise, she saw regret in Rainbow's eyes. Rainbow sniffed and shook her head.
“It sucks, but she's too far gone. Come on!”
Sunset looked back at Firecracker, who was still screaming in agony. The magic column had become a cyclone of pure white light. Firecracker's form was a shadow inside of it. She felt her throat clench and she closed her eyes and nodded.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
The three girls ran for the bleachers, where Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie had taken cover with Moondancer under them. Across the field, the cyclone spun faster and faster, obliterating Firecracker's form. After another few seconds, the cyclone exploded in a firework display of streaming white sparks of magic. The sparks flew through the air, scattering across the field.
The group of girls stepped out from under the bleachers, watching as the sparks gently fell back to earth, burning out before they hit the ground. Sunset stared up at the vanishing sparks, swallowing as she watched.
A white hand landed on her shoulder. Sunset turned her head to see Rarity and Applejack beside her. Rarity said nothing but pointed across the field. Sunset turned her head to look at where Firecracker had stood, and quickly looked away, closing her eyes in an effort to stop the tears that were beginning to flow.
They seeped out anyway as her brain couldn't ignore the giant scorched circle on the grass which was the only indicator that Firecracker Burst had been there at all.