//------------------------------// // The Hurricane Became A Firestorm. // Story: Equestrian Eeveelution. // by Symphonicdysonince //------------------------------// I had spent the next moon visiting the Cakes on and off. The first time Pumpkin picked me up was a little worrying, but she was very gentle with me. I'm not telling Mrs. Cake this, but the little filly used me to sneak a couple of cookies. One day, the Cakes had an appointment that looked to take them the afternoon, and I couldn't stay for very long. Rainbow needed me to help set up a short, three day drought that was starting this evening. I bid Pinkie and Zann a good night before running for the fields. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" "Positive. Get that rope in place. Remember, it needs to be a circle." [Villhiem] I lay in the barn's entrance. Apple Bloom was getting her summoner's bag from where she stashed it in the loft. We would be meeting the other Crusaders at Twilight's for their next lesson. They've been getting pretty good. I mused, watching the sun start to dip towards the horizon. Maybe Twilight will let them summon without her supervision soon. "No, no, no. This jar goes over there. That jar needs to be over here!" "R-right." A set of hooves tracked across the circle, the rear hoof catching on one end of the rope, pulling it in. [Lulu] I yawned and returned to staring out the Boutique's window. Rarity had closed the shop down for the day, and was relaxing in the tub with a trashy novel. Opal had left to chase mice, which left me alone to my own devices. I was going to spend my time resting, maybe dream up a new dress design. Yeah.... I mused. Something sleek, with ruffles. Slip it into her stack without her noticing. I giggled, drawing and discarding designs in my mind's eye. "Everything's set up, we just got to do the chant now." "What was this supposed to summon, again?" "Doesn't matter, just get chanting!" [Yomega] Now I know why Villhiem likes watching over the Crusaders... I moaned. Every Ponyvillean guard was taking turns either scratching me behind the ears or rubbing my belly. I had been roped into making sure Scootaloo got to her lesson on time. Said filly was turning her room inside out looking for her bag. My rear leg twitched as one of the mares found a sweet spot, melting my mind into bliss. Scoots can take as long as she needs, so long as these fine ponies don't stop..... [Third] With a crack of lightning, a large snail with what appeared to be a rocky shell tilted it's goopy head, staring down at the creatures that dared call it from its slumber. "Magcargot..." It drawled as a burst of flame was spat out from a crack in it's shell. "We... We did it!" "Yes, we did. Come on, you, we've got work to do." The snail turned and slid over the rope circle, burning it to ash. "Hey! Not that way! Stupid slug, that's a wall!" Inside Sugarcube Corner, Zann looked over at Pinkie, who was playing with the foals in the front of the closed store. <> Pinkie gasped, lifting a hoof from the floor. "Pinchy knee! Pinchy knee! Quick, Zann, make sure we didn't leave the oven on!" Nodding, the three legged Eevee turned to enter the back area. Something still smells ooooholy SHIT! WHAT IS THAT?! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! The snail had burned a hole through the outer wall and the cupboards. "What, but, that's a Magcargo! And it's burning down the store!" The Magcargo fixed its glare onto the smaller Eevee. Through the cracks in its shell, Zann watched as a bright glow grew from within. Zann's tail twitched slightly, and he plastered himself to the floor. "Magcargot!" A stream of flame splashed against, then burnt through, the wall behind the unlucky canine. Zann could feel the heat of the fires that had been started behind him. "That's not the oven!" Pinkie cried, staring in wide eyed shock through the hole. The snails shell began to glow. "Magcar-" It was interrupted by a large group of stars smashing into its face. Zann looked over to the kitchen's door as Pinkie raced up the stairs with the foals strapped into their harness. Risking a glance behind, he saw that the front doors had been welded shut. Another tail twitch, another dive for cover, Zann leaned out and fired more stars at the lava creature. Okay, I have its attention. Now what? Dodging into the hallway, a wave of fire just barely missed him. Outside, the weather team had spotted the growing flames. As they frantically scrambled to gather clouds, Leo began her dance, quickly glowing a deep blue. Thunderheads grew, and three bolts of lightning cracked from the outskirts of the town. The guards rushed to evacuate and secure the area. Lulu managed to slip through their cordon, and began spraying water over the nearest flames. But there were too many of them, and she could only cover so much area. Inside, Zann had been backed up to the stairs. Thanking his low frame for keeping out of the smoke, he kept spamming his Swift, trying to keep the Fire type at bay. He had been tagged a couple of times, and had to use his Refresh to stop the burning. Just barely, he could make out the hissing of water on flame. He stumbled as a lance of pain shot through his knee. With one final volley, Zann hauled ass up the stairs. A pillar of flame rose from where he had been standing earlier, blasting clear through the floor and splashing against the upper ceiling. Noting that it had destroyed the stairs, the Magcargo turned to look for more to burn, wanting to make things feel more like home. It sent out small flames, burning the counter and the confectioneries stored there to blackened crisps. Meanwhile, Rainbow had arrived with the weather team. Working as hard as they could, they desperately tried to wring as much water as possible from the clouds Leo had supplied. "Rainbow Da~sh!" The prismic mare looked down, and choked, seeing one of her best friends leaning out a window. A window the flames were rapidly approaching. "He~lp!" "Thunderlane! Blossomforth! Come with me!" She ordered, leading the pegasi to save her friend. "Cloud Chaser, Flitter! Get a cloud on that window!" Just then, a large, blue tortoise with a brown shell rumbled around a street corner. As odd as the twin cannons jutting from it's shell was the yellow filly with a red mane done up with a pink bow riding on its head. Spotting the pink mare waving at the pegasi, Apple Bloom tapped the her mount on the head. "Aim for th' fire below tha' window!" "Kamex!" It complied, twin streaks of water dousing the area. Rainbow came to a hover above the spray. "Pinkie! Pinkie, come on, we got to get you out of there!" "No!" Pinkie yelled, holding Pumpkin out the window. "Save the twins first!" With a nod, Rainbow carefully took the crying filly, rocketing away to the cordon where Mr. and Mrs Cake struggled to breach the line in their worry. Thunderlane quickly following suit with Pound Cake. Back inside, Zann ran down the hall, panicking upon seeing that the flames had reached the twin's room. The last attack had blasted the door off it's hinges. As Zann rushed past it, it broke free, crashing to the floor below. He looked up in time to see Pinkie lifted from the room by a pair of nearly identical pegasi, Gummy clamped to her tail. As soon as they were gone, another white pegasus with a green and pink mane took their place. Zann hobbled as fast as he could to make the jump. A flaming rafter collapsed in front of him, smashing through the floor and launching up a cloud of sparks. Unable to stop himself, Zann slid into the hole the beam had made, turning in a desperate attempt to stop himself. <> Blossomforth was forced back. Darting beneath the water spray, she looked for a safe opening. Finding none, she was forced to abandon her search. More water needed to be dumped on the flames if they wanted to rescue the dog. Lulu had begun arcing her spray from side to side, hoping to keep the flames on this side from spreading too far. "Put me down here, please." A gentle voice spoke up behind the Vaporeon. Breaking her spray just long enough to confirm her suspicions, Lulu glanced over her shoulder before continuing her deluge. Sweetie Belle stood behind her, pointing a hoof towards the flames. "We need to clear a way in." She asked the large black penguin thing behind her. It nodded it's crowned head, before streaming water into it's claws, building a large ball in front of itself. "Emperte!" It lobbed the large ball of seawater over Lulu's head, splashing it down where the canine was already aiming. A cloud of steam billowed from the doused flames. Nodding at each other, the bird and the dog sprayed their Water Guns over the area to make the area safe to travel. "Magcargot!" Another pillar of flame reignited the cleared area. Zann came to in the kitchen. He tried to stand, but collapsed with a cry of pain. Looking back, he saw that his rear legs and tail had folded back at a unhealthy angle. Only then did he realize that he couldn't feel them. "Please just be shock." he whimpered. Looking around, he saw that every way out was blocked by intense flame. Ever so slowly, he dragged himself with his one good paw to the only safe place he saw. By now, the rest of the town had gathered around the Cake family. Leo kept up her dance, but the other Eevees stayed back so that they were out of the way. Twilight and Moon Dancer led every capable unicorn in spraying their smaller streams of water onto the flames, following the guard's directions. "Gangway! Comin' through!" The crowd parted to let a large blue crocodile like creature with red spine like frills rush past the cordon. Scootaloo, scooter helmet on, had a hoof wrapped around the foremost frill. "Get water on that!" "Ordile." It didn't need any other prompting. Soon, the farm filly and the daredevil shared a nod. Tapping their respective summons, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo guided their Water types around the building. Meeting up with Sweetie Belle, they focused their sprays with the penguin and Vaporeon. Soon enough, the fire was completely put out on that side. Cautiously entering the building, they saw the arsonist snail slither out of the storage room. Without giving it time to act, the three fillies ordered their summons to attack. An ocean's worth of water blasted it into the final load-bearing wall. None of the fillies missed the telltale flash of white light as the Magcargo was banished, but were forced to run from the building. On the other side, the ponies finally doused the last of the flames. As the ponies began to cheer, a certain pink mare suffered from a full body shudder. Throwing herself against the cordon of guardsponies, Pinkie screeched. "NO! Let me through! Zann's still in there!" As Sugarcube Corner gave up its last, Pinkie collapsed with it, hair straight as a razor, wailing for her missing friend.