As the autumn dusk was falling over the usually peaceful town of Ponyville, a solitary figure galloped at full tilt for the library. The light of the few lamps illuminating the deserted streets reflected their once again normal red and yellow colours from the sheen of sweat at the pony's sides. Her breath came in laboured gasps and her legs felt like they were on fire, but she paid no attention to her complaining body.
"Ah... just... hope... ah ain't... too... late!" she muttered in a wheezy voice.
The orange apple-farmer rounded the last bend, almost crashing into the throng of ponies standing side by side ahead. Not even slowing, she gathered her considerable strength into her hindlegs and jumped high into the air, soaring in a majestic arc over the wall of pony. Unfortunately, she didn't remember to dodge the low-hanging awning of one of the buildings close-by, and ended slamming face-first into the smiling face of a unicorn with sunglasses, advertising the opening of Scratch's Music Emporium. When the considerable amount of Newtons of the famed Earth Pony collided with the notice board, she flipped upside down, crashing back onto the ground, luckily clearing the crown behind, but landing in a rather unceremonious fashion onto her back before sliding to a halt.
As the world slowly started to rotate in the correct way for her once more, Applejack noticed a cyan face staring at her from deep inside her comfort zone, almost muzzle to muzzle with her.
"Your pupils seem to be the same size and you haven't thrown up yet, so I'll give you a solid seven out of ten for the crash. Don't you know a good concussion is one of the elements of a good crash-landing?"
"RD? The hay y'all talking about?" the blonde pony asked. Rainbow Dash offered a hoof to help her friend up. Applejack was still feeling unsteady as she tried to secure all four of her legs underneath her. Her earlier rushed entrance into the town and the impact on the ground had left her panting and she fought to find her breath again. Several black spots started flashing in her vision as a wave of nausea started to push her to the side. She would have ended back on the ground again, but the cyan Pegasus catched her with her wing and held her upright.
"Take it from a professional," Rainbow Dash said in a conspiratorial whisper, "you really need to practice more. And what took you? I asked Ditzy to pick you up almost an hour ago."
"Well ah found her stuck in one of mah apple trees. She came falling down a'top of me when ah was bucking the tree."
"Figures"
"So what's all the commotion? Your choice of a messenger was a mite unclear on what was going on."
"The short version or the long version?"
"Ah don't really feel like handling the long version right now." Applejack brushed the dirt off of her fallen Stetson and slammed it back onto her head, immediately feeling more comfortable. Rainbow Dash started walking for the library, and the orange pony fell into step next to her.
"Twilight's on fire and there's some ancient thingy in her head that's friends with Princess Luna."
"Oh," the farm pony answered, taking the explanation in a stride. After a few steps, she stopped and shook her head gently. "Ah think y'all might think o' changing your score, cos ah seem to have hit mah head worse than y'all thought. Ah thought you just said—"
"Nah. You heard right," the Pegasus interrupted, not even stopping. "She's right over there with the rest of the gang."
"That ain't funny, RD. Y'all had your fun now what's really... going..." Her speech stuttered to a stop as she saw the rest of her friends, standing in a circle around what looked like a blazing campfire. Applejack looked up to the boughs of the library tree and took a deep breath. "Aww... shoot."
Nearby, the rest of the group of friends were standing in a half-circle next to the burning pony. Or they would have, had the ambient heat emanating from her burning mane felt uncomfortable even from several feet away. The ashen pony just sat on the gravely path leading to the library with a downcast face and her eyes half-closed. She was the polar opposite of the pink earth pony that was jumping up and down excitedly.
"So streamers or balloons? OR BOTH? What kind of cake do you like? Or are you more of a pie-pony? I'm a Pie pony, because I'm Pinkie Pie, but I like cake too. Cos I live with the Cakes! And I take care of the Little Cakes and I bake cupcakes and muffins. Did they have muffins where you're from too? Or daneighses? Oooh! I forgot to ask! What's your favorite color? Is it yellow and red like your mane?—"
"Pinkie, darling!" Rarity tried to interject. "I'm sure there are more important things to consider at the moment than her welcoming party—"
"NOTHING is more important than a 'Welcome to Ponyville, nice Miss. Possessing-Spirit-From-Ages-Ago that is inside my friend's head and is totally not going to eat us up' -party."
"Darling! Please choose your words more carefully! We don't want to upset our... guest. I'm sure she's been through rough times," commented the exasperated unicorn.
"If I may interrupt?" came the voice of Twilight Sparkle from next to them. Both Pinkie and Rarity immediately quieted and turned to look at the flaming unicorn. An outside observer might have noticed that their movements were just a tiny bit too fast and their smiles just a little too shallow. Even though the voice was very familiar to both of them, the words had a strange inflection upon them, as if the pony speaking was not quite used to the idea of 'talking'. "I would be honored to participate in your welcoming ceremony as is your local custom, but I must insist that you first send an messenger to contact Princess Luna. I would very much wish to speak with her about the recent events."
"E-excuse me?" came the quivering voice of a pale yellow Pegasus from behind Rarity and Pinkie. "C-can I... I mean... is it okay if I... umm..."
"What is it?" the flaming unicorn asked in a calm voice.
"Eeep!" was the only answer she got, as Fluttershy once again hid behind her friends.
"I promise not to eat any of you for the time being. What did you need of me?"
Both the pink earth pony and the white unicorn took a step to the side, revealing the covering pegasus once more. She had fallen on her stomach and hidden her face under her forelegs. When she noticed that she was in full view, she gulped before being able to speak:
"I... just wanted to... Does it hurt? I mean... with the fire and all?"
The seated unicorn tilted her head slightly before understanding the question. "You are very kind to worry about me. But fire does not hurt me, or the body of your friend. We are both completely safe."
Fluttershy only managed a small sigh of relief as she once again backed behind her blue-maned unicorn friend.
"Miss... What did you say your name was again?" Rarity started with her best High-Canterlot accent.
"I didn't," the burning pony answered matter-of-factly. "But you may call me by the same name as the Princesses do: Inferno. Pleased to meet you all."
"Charmed, Miss Inferno. Now about the message. You don't have to worry about that right now. My darling Spikey-Wikey has already taken care of it."
"Do you mean the child dragon? I have a hazy recollection of him burning letters trusted onto him, so are you certain that you have made a sound decision?"
"There's no need for worry. He is an expert little delivery dragon. I'm sure the Princess has already received the letter and is on her way here as we speak."
"That is comforting to know. Again, I must apologize for my improper speech. It seems that the body of Twilight Sparkle is having problems adjusting to my presence as a dominant personality. It is starting to feel easier, but I do not know if that should be considered a good thing." She lifted her gaze up as two ponies joined their small group. "So... I believe you are Applejack?"
"That's me, ma'am. Would shake y'all by the hoof but seems ah'd better keep my distance if y'all don't mind."
The burning unicorn looked first at the five ponies around her and then at the crowd of several dozen ponies standing at what they thought of as a safe distance away. "I assure you it is not my wish to hurt anypony here or do any damage to your town."
"Well that's mighty nice of you, ma'am. Now would y'all mind telling us why we're talking to you and not Twilight Sparkle?"
"I am not sure about it myself."
"U-huh. Well that might be a problem," was the sage deduction of the farm pony.
"So like I said!" Pinkie Pie cut in. "If we don't know what to do, we might as well party to take our minds off of the whole silly problem and start the 'Yay it turns out we won't be gobbled up after all and oh hey welcome to town' -party. I even have a song for situations like this!"
"Aaa friend is the mffmp mff?"
The rest of the musical number was interrupted by a cyan hoof being shoved into her mouth.
"No singing," Rainbow Dash said. "And how can we party if she'd burn the decorations, the cake, and the whole HOUSE we are partying in?"
"Dash! You should be ashamed of yourself! A lady would never point out such things in front of the pony in question. You might hurt her feelings!" Rarity accentuated her opinion with a sharp shove of a hoof to the aloof Pegasus' chest.
"Your friend's foresight is commendable. For the moment it is much safer for me to remain outside and on a stone surface. I have to concentrate on keeping this area from bursting into fire and melting the stone underneath, but it is not a problem at the moment."
"That might just be the first time anypony's thought of RD here as forethinking anything save a place to nap." Applejack threw a gentle elbow to the hovering Pegasus' ribs.
"What's with everypony wanting to hoof me today. And I DO plan the weather patrols and stuff! I'm organised!"
For some reason her assurances were only met with muffled giggles from her friends, and she resorted to her go-to measure for such things, which was to turn around and pout like a foal. At that opportune moment the Number One Assistant of the possessed librarian joined the group, but instead of sharing in the laughter, he seemed to be in a completely different mood.
"How can you just laugh!?" he shouted at the group of ponies. The baby firebird on his shoulder added his own disapproving squawk. The furious dragon continued: "Twilight's gone and we don't know why and I just put out several fires inside the library and there's all this weird stuff about blue fires everywhere and you just LAUGH? Some friends you are!" The glare he gave to the group of ponies was rimmed with tears of anger and disappointment.
"Now hold on there, pardner—"
"Please, Applejack," Rarity cut in. "You are completely right to be angry at us, Spike. We weren't acting in a proper fashion and I apologise." There was a low murmur of apologies from the lowered heads of the troupe. "It is just that we are quite lost as to what else to do, and laughing at least made us feel a bit better about it because... honestly I'm not sure if there is anything else we CAN do."
"And laughing is the best medicine for whenever you don't know what to do or when you're scared or lost or hungry it's better to just laugh cos sometimes that's all you can do. I once got lost near my parent's farm and—"
"Pinkie." The farmer laid a comforting but stern hoof on the pink pony's shoulder, "ah know you mean well but maybe this is not the time."
"O-okay." Pinkie fell uncharacteristically silent as her ears flopped down.
"Well... I guess it's okay. I'm just so worried about Twi..." Spike turned to look at the burning unicorn that was silently following the events around her.
"We all are, darling."
"Yeah. Sorry for shouting. It's just..." The dragon walked next to the burning unicorn and sat down."
"SPIKE! Be careful! You might get hurt!" Rarity instinctively moved to intercept the dragon, but the heat was too much for her and she had to quickly back away.
"Dragon, remember?" Spike said in a grumpy voice.
"Oh yes, quite right. How silly of me." With a quick flick of a hoof, she checked that her eyebrows were still intact. "What? Do you know how long it takes for them to grow..."
Spike tuned out the rest of Rarity's tirade. He hesitated for a moment, but then laid a claw on the white unicorn's shoulder. Even through his nigh-fireproof skin, the pony felt warm to the touch. "I... don't know if you're there Twilight, but I promise to help you get through this. I'll do anything, ANYTHING to get you better... So... don't go getting into more trouble or I'll never forgive you. Just... please come back Twi. Please come back." He leaned on the ashen white side of the unicorn, pretending for a moment that it was just his best friend and nothing more.
Inferno kept quiet for a moment, before gently muzzling the dragon who twitched in surprise. "I know you are worried, and I promise to try and return things to normal as soon as possible. But I have to warn you, little dragon, that for me to take control of a body means that something very... bad has happened to my host, and she would have been in great peril were I not there." Her words were quiet, clearly only meant for the purple dragon leaning onto her and nopony else.
"W-what do you mean... peril? That sounds real bad," the dragon asked in a whisper barely audible to the mare next to her.
"It is unusual for me to have to intercede on a pony's behalf more than once in their lifetime. I do it once when I join them, because at that time they are in mortal danger. But this is already the third time when I have done it with your friend Twilight Sparkle, the last time being only recently."
"You mean the whole... book thing?"
"Yes. She was willing to put everypony else ahead of herself and to make sure nopony else would have to get hurt."
"Yeah... That kinda sounds like Twi." A small, proud smile had crept to the dragon's lips.
"I am... happy... to hear your words," the burning unicorn said, uncertain of her words.
"Oh and... I guess thanks? You kinda saved her, didn't you? She didn't want to talk about it much but I can put two and two together with how the basement looked like afterwards."
The mare pulled a bit back from her muzzling and looked Spike directly into the eyes. "You are welcome, though I wish you didn't have to be. It seems I can only appear when something dangerous happens."
They sat in silence, slowly returning to the outside world when they noticed the rest of the mares nearby waving at them and trying to get their attention. As Inferno moved to get up from her reclining position, a small voice spoke to her ear.
"I do wish to see Twilight soon... but I'm happy you're here too," Spike whispered into her ear. The dragon walked over to Rarity and the others, not seeing the pained expression of the unicorn he left behind.
"Well you finally woke up, Spikey-Wikey. We've been calling out to you for a while now."
The small dragon put her foreclaw behind his head and gave a mischievous smile. "Guess I couldn't hear you over the crackle or something?"
The others ceased their talk for a moment to listen carefully, but could not make out any other sounds apart from the excited chatter from the larger group of ponies behind them. "Crackle? But there is no—" Rainbow Dash started, but was once again interrupted by the white unicorn.
"I'm sure one would have to be really close to the pony in question to hear it," she said in a conspiratorial voice.
"But there's—"
"Close. To the pony. In question." Rarity made sure to accentuate her point by moving a few inches closer to the cyan pegasus with every word, until their foreheads were touching.
"Oh... Got it. Close. Yeah. Hehe. Didn't see that." Rainbow Dash pulled away from the white unicorn and turned her face to the side, muttering something best left unsaid under her breath with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Umm... What are you guys talking about?" It was Spike's turn to be confused about the more mature innuendos around him.
"Don't worry your lil' head about those two. For the fastest pegasus in town, RD here's just mighty slow sometimes."
"U...huh," the dragon answered in a completely unconvinced tone of voice. "So what's up?"
Before anypony could answer, the large mass of ponies parted like water and knelt down. Her Binarchial Majestly, Princess Luna had arrived. Her star-filled mane had a few stray strands going against the democractic administration of the hairliament, and her spread wings clearly needed a nice long preening, preferably from some nice muscular stallions with blue eyes. Her whole personal presentation told tales of late-night court sessions and the responsibility of ruling a vast country like Equestria.
And nopony was going to ask about the headphones still hanging around her neck.
"WE HAVE COME TO ANSWER YOUR SUMMONS!" she bellowed to the masses, bringing silence to the crowd. "YOU MAY NOW RETURN TO YOUR HOMES, GENTLE FOLK OF THE TOWNSHIP OF PONYVILLE! A ROYAL DECLARATION SHALL BE ISSUED WHEN WE ARE READY TO DIVULGE MORE INFORMATION ON THIS MATTER! REST ASSURED EVERYTHING IS NOW BEING TAKEN CARE OF!" Her words spoke directly to the herd instinct of the surrounding throng of equines without bothering their higher brain functions. They were galloping for the safety of their homes before they even knew what they were doing, and several minutes before they could finally hear again from the high-pitched whine in their ears. Most of them didn't even dare to open the shutters on their windows in fear of being caught, save for one pony, Mr. Ear Drum. He was the resident Otolaryngologist of Ponyville, and was now gleefully chalking new prices on his advert board outside his clinic, praising his former teacher on convincing him into continuing into a specialist profession instead of remaining as just another general practitioner as he had originally planned.
Princess Luna was left alone with the five Elements Of Harmony, Spike and Inferno.
"We... erm... I apologise for the RCV. It is almost expected of me around these parts, thanks to the confusion last Night Mare Night. Also, somepony get me a cup of coffee? I left my chariot home and didn't bring my guards. I haven't slept in almost a day."
"Oh, dear. Is there some trouble in Canterlot?" The worry in Rarity's voice was mirrored on the faces of the rest of the group.
"No, nothing like that. I was just farming some bugs with my guild. You might even call it... RAIDING!" the Alicorn Of The Night gave a hearty chuckle, which soon died down as she noticed she was the only one laughing. "Raiding? Bugs? As in insects? It was a joke?" The six deadpan faces kept looking at her.
"A-are you sure the little cute bugs weren't hurt, Princess?" Fluttershy asked in a worried voice. "And is it like an ant farm? I had one of those once but I couldn't stand looking at those little creatures trapped inside a glass box so I built them a nice mound near my cottage."
"I... uhh... Yes. Most definitely something like that. Ahem." The flustered Lunar Mare tried to regroup her thoughts as her gaze fell on the blazing unicorn. "So... Hi Inferno?"
"Hello, Princess Luna" The ashen white unicorn bowed courteously.
"Now... would somepony please explain what is happening here?" Luna asked. "And where's my coffee," she added to herself.
"Right here, Miss Princess! Courtesy of Sugarcube Corner!" A pop-up table appeared in front of the princess, and with a short sound of an unwinding spring it popped open with a red-and-white checkered tablecloth, a huge pile of donuts and a large steaming cup of black coffee. A smiling Pinkie Pie happily bounce back to her friends, none of whom had even noticed she had vanished somewhere.
"Aren't you the chicken that was running around causing all the panic and chaos when we last met?" Princess Luna lifted a puzzled eyebrow.
"Yyyuuup! That's me! Pinkie Pie!"
"I... see." the lunar diarch decided to hide her confusion into a large slurp of coffee. As the steaming hot liquid hit her taste buds, she opened her eyes wide.
"This is... how strong is this?"
"It's our new special late-night pentuple-espresso! Twilight helped me set up the distillation equipment! Before she... kinda... tried to..." the pink pony stuttered as her lower jaw began to tremble and her breathing started to get rapid and shallow. A yellow wing wrapped around her as Fluttershy moved to her side and started whispering assurances into her ear.
"Pinkie? Everything is fine. Just like we practiced; Deep breaths, close your eyes and imagine the biggest cupcake in the world. Now bite into it with all your strenght. Think of how good it tastes? That's it. Shhhh. It'll pass." The gentle pegasus turned to her friends. "She's going to be alright. Just a rough spot. Right, Pinkie?"
"Y-yeah. Rough spot." A small sob escaped Pinkie's pursed lips, but she was breathing more calmly now
Princess Luna looked at the scene, having gotten up from behind her table. "Is she... was it something we said?"
"She'll get over it, Princess," Rainbow Dash landed between the noticeably larger princess and the rest of the mares. "Didn't you come here for something? Like maybe figuring out what's happened to Twilight? Like... now?" The pegasus crossed her forelegs while hovering a few inches off the ground.
"Yes, of course." Princess Luna turned to look at her old friend, now inhabiting the body of her sister's favourite student. "Now... Inn... I mean Inferno. Could you tell us what you know?"
"It isn't much but I'll try."