//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Fire, Friend and Foe 
// by LadySarahofDragons 
//------------------------------//

Twilight turned around, and looked up in horror. The top of Canterlot Castle was engulfed in flames. The sky was pitch black, but not because the sun had set, but because thick smoke billowed from the castle. Twilight burst into the castle and began calling for the princesses and her gang. 

"Luna, Celestia, evacuate the castle, it's on fire!"

The princesses burst from their rooms with looks of horror and shock on their faces. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Luna began yelling in her Royal Canterlot voice so that everyone in the castle could hear. Celestia was hesitant, but began using her Royal Canterlot voice, also. Twilight was surprised, but then realised, desperate times call for desperate measures. After watching chaos and panic for what seemed like and eternity, Twilight's thoughts were broken by somepony picking her up and flying them to the castle's exit. She looked up to find it was Rainbow Dash with a determined look on her face. Twilight tried to talk but Rainbow cut her off.

"Fluttershy has AppleJack and Rarity, and she's using her magic to move Pinky Pie."

The castle's inhabitants were in a mass exodus, moving in a large herd towards the castle's mammoth sized doors. Young fillies and their mothers were in the front, as well as elder ponies. All those able bodied were closer to the back, and at the end were Celestia and Luna, gently pushing others to keep moving. Twilight searched the air above the group for Fluttershy and the others, and when they could not be found, her heart sunk. But then, out of the corner of herr eye, she saw a multicolored smudge zipping through the air. She focused on it, and was relieved when she had found it to be her friends. 

When Rainbow and Twilight passed through the castle doors, all of Ponyville had gathered to watch in horror as their precious castle burned to the ground. The gang met up and watched the catsle doors with great concern, hoping the two princesses would make it out. After what seemed like centuries of watching, they stepped out, covered in soot and and coughing heavily, but not a moment too soon. The royal ladies made their way towards the gang, but stopped in their tracks as they heard a stomach churning crash behind them, and the looks of pure horror and shock on the faces of the other ponies told them something almost unholy had happened. They turned around slowly, already knowing what to expect. When they finally laid eyes upon the castle, their hearts felt as if they were set aflame. There was no castle to look at. It had been reduced to a pile of burning rubble.

Tears filled Celestia's eyes, and she sunk her face into her sister's shoulder, and began to bawl. Luna's eyes were wide, not shifting in any other direction but towards the rubble. She slowly put a conforting hoof around her sister's shoulder, in an attempt to give what little comfort she could. A matter of seconds later, tears streamed down Luna's face, but she still kept that silent, grim stare. Mourning wails filled the air, from the ledge where the castle used to stand, down to Ponyville below. By then, news teams had showed up, and even the achors, who were usually very good at keeping their composure, were sniffling and stuttering to all of Equestria.

Twilight lowered her head in grief, but it jolted back up when the sound of laughter drowned out the wails of sorrow.  A tower of swirling flames erupted from the castle. The flames twisted and turned, moving not as fire normally would. It suddenly took a familiar shape. Coming from the remnants of Canterlot Castle was a massive fiery form of the pony Twilight and her friends had encountered a matter of weeks ago.

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Princess Ember had a crazed look in her eyes as she watched the chaos below. She gave a large grin, showing her knife-like teeth. She flung back her head and began to laugh like a madpony. Luna removed her hoof from her sister's shoulder as she began to raise her head. She gazed at the fiery, demon - like pony, and her dazed look of depression quickly turned into a burning glare of hatred. The reflection of flames burned in her eyes, and for a moment, Twilight had actually thought Ember had possesed her, and she was waiting for her to club Luna on the back of her head with her hoof. Twilight gave a sigh of relief when Celestia opened her wings and took flight, soaring towards Ember's head. Luna quickly took off after her, and soon the two were circling her head. Ember sighed and lowered her head to see the two princesses flying around her. She snorted and grinned again, her eyes following the angered princesses.

"You two are merely two little flies buzzing around my head. You know there is nothing you can do to stop me."

Princess Celestia released a cry of anguish, and a beam of light matching the colors of her mane shot from her horn. It flew right into Ember where it vanished. Luna joined, and soon they were shooting beams out of their horns as fast as machine guns. Ember laughed as if the continueous attacks were feathers tickling her.

"Continue, dear sisters, for your anger drives me!"

Then, Ember reared and spread out her wings. The roar of flames increased for a moment, until she began to flap her wings. She lifted herself from the rubble, and divebombed right past Twilight and the others, heaqding straight towards Ponyville. Her wings spread right before she crashed into some buildings, and she returned into the basic form of fire, now wreaking chaos and fire onto PonyVille.