Bluefyre walked through the woods, listening to the howling and barking of the timberwolves. She had an arrow drawn and ready to be released, down by her side and ready to spring up.
She had already taken several of those damn creatures- but she could hear more of them. Also, she was quite quickly running out of ammo- and options. If she doesn't make it out of the forest in time, she'll just have to release what was sealed away many years ago.
She was down to seven arrows, and about two clips of pistol ammo. Not a lot to rely on, but all she had left.
"Bucking hell-" she muttered as she heard the scurrying of claws behind her, and swung around, leveling the arrow head with her target.
The arrow scraped the wolf's chin as it leaped into the air and landed back down again with a loud thud.
"Shuck-" Bluefyre cursed, whipping out another arrow- but she knew she didn't have enough time to load it.
The wolf leaped at her, claws slashing and jaws biting. She slammed the arrow head into its eye, then slammed a hoof into the side of its face. It fell back with a whimper, and Bluefyre was about to finish it off when more came running out of the woods.
"Where the buck are they even coming from!?" she asked nopony in particular, drawing her pistol as there were too many of them.
She sent a bullet through a wolf's head, shattering it into individual timber pieces. Flakes of tree bark flew into the air, backlit by the bright moon and the engines of the barricade.
The tree bark started levitating in a green aura before they could hit the ground, and flew back onto the downed timber wolf's wound. Bluefyre looked around for a unicorn, but saw none- this must be how these timberwolves keep coming back.
"You're just forcing me aren't you." Bluefyre said.
She never tells people about her real name- Ghost Fire, because after an incident that involved her going out of her mind and trying to burn the world, she had to change names. She was named Ghost Fire because of the blue balls of flame that would always follow her wherever she went- and she could control them.
During the incident, she almost got her parents and everypony else around her killed- the immense power of being able to control the none-extinguishable flames was too much for her three year old self to control- and because of her age, she managed to be stopped before she could cause any real harm. After that they were sealed away by a spell that only she could unlock, to avoid other ponies using her against herself.
The flames were called ghost fires because of their differences from normal flames- they were a deep blue, and instead of being controlled by Bluefyre they seemed more to be following her commands, as if they had lives. That's where the 'ghost' part comes in. Nopony ever understood why she has them, she was a member of one of the oldest earth pony families- the second largest in fact, one behind the Apple Family. But both are nothing in this new reality.
She quickly tucked away her pistol, and made three quick taps on her forehead, shoulder and heart. Three circular symbols appeared on the places she tapped, and glowed an electric blue along with her eyes. Then the glow faded, and she felt that familiar tingling in her skin.
Three balls of blue flame burst out from thin air, revolving in the air around her and illuminating the area around her. The seal has been unlocked.
The timber wolf leaped at her, and she swung a hoof at it. Mid way blue flames coated her hoof, dragging along her arm as she continued the swing. Her hoof collided with the timber wolf's jaw, shattering it and setting the pieces on fire. Being the only one who could stop the flames, she let them burn down the timber wolf. Bit by bit.
"Your names really give everything away, don't they?" she smirked. "Too bad it's summer and nopony needs any firewood." she said, hurling a ball of flame at a timber wolf as it was leaping at her, mouth wide open.
The fire went into its mouth, and it was sent off balance. It hit the ground early, then skid to a halt at Bluefyre's hooves, the inside of its mouth still burning away. It clawed desperately at its snout, puffing out huge breaths in an attempt to put out the fire- but it only spread onto its outside.
It wasn't exactly a painless death for any of the timberwolves- but it wasn't like Bluefyre had a choice. They just wouldn't stop getting back up.
But the bright flames had attracted more timberwolves- and by the looks of it, the entire population of them in the Everfree had surrounded Bluefyre.
"Are you all brainless or something? Back away if you don't want to end up like this guy here." Bluefyre said, pointing at a pile of ash on the floor.
The wolves howled, growling. Lime green luminous saliva dripped down the corners of their barking mouths- and really looked like tree sap coming out of a tree. There were hundreds of glowing green eyes surrounding Bluefyre- blocking out all paths of escape.
Step by step they closed in, and Bluefyre drew an arrow. Their paws dug into the soft soil, making quiet shuffles.
Bluefyre flicked the bow up, and shot an arrow through the air. The tip caught fire, and in turn set flames to the timber wolf it hit. The flames started spreading, and with a loud howl from the pack leader the entire army charged from all sides at Bluefyre.
Bluefyre ducked under a lunge, spinning around and hurling a ball of ghost fire at the timber wolf. She flicked her hoof up, and fire erupted from the ground and caught on a timber wolf. It howled and fell back, rolling desperately on the ground.
She stomped on the ground, and a wall of flames sprang up between her and the timberwolves. She scanned those angry and bloodthirsty animal faces through the flickering blue flames, watching out for that one wolf that would jump through the flames to get at her.
Then she heard a loud crack, and looked up to see a giant paw come down. She rolled to the side, and felt the earth tremor as the paw slammed into the ground. She fell back, and looked up at the huge timber wolf that was standing tall above the tree tops, huge green glowing eyes scanning the dark grounds like spotlights.
"Never knew they could do that-" she flicked her hoof at one of its eyes. Flames erupted there, and the giant timber wolf howled. The howl travelled through the trees and shook the earth, and it fell back; covering its burning eye. "-Think making yourself bigger will intimidate me? You're nothing but a bigger target!" she yelled, swinging her hoof in a wide arch.
A line of blue sparks traveled from her hoof to the timber wolf's chest, and it exploded with a huge flower of blue flames. The wolf howled, falling back and crushing the trees under it. Individual normal sized timberwolves started splitting from their earlier form, running towards Bluefyre.
Bluefyre narrowed her eyes, resting a hoof in the air. Then she drew it back and flicked it forward, making a loud crack and sending a line of sparks towards the crowd. A huge blue fireball exploded in the middle of the crowd, blowing the timberwolves to pieces and setting the closer ones on fire.
She looked up at the fireball- maybe she over did it. This is gonna attract a lot of attention.
*
"We got a griffon!" Rainbow yelled, sliding the cleaver handle forward and leveling it against the figures.
The figure with the discs seemed to pause for a moment, tilting its head to one side. The griffon was about to attack, but she held a hoof up.
"Rainbow Dash?" a familiar voice asked, uncertain however easily recognizable.
Rainbow tilted her head to one side, trying to match the silhouette with anypony in her memory- but she couldn't seem to remember a lot of ponies she knew. Maybe her brain was getting confused over who became who in this new reality.
"Er... Vinyl...?" she tried.
"You know this pony?" the griffon said, clearly a male.
"Yup." Vinyl Scratch said, flicking her wrists and turning off the discs. They faded away, the glowing particles disappearing into the air.
"Why are you even here?" Rainbow asked.
Suddenly there was a loud boom as a blue mushroom cloud lit up the night skies, rising high up into the air about thirty meters to their right. It seems the forest in that area had been set on some sort of blue fire, burning away at the vegetation.
"I'll explain later." Vinyl said, pointing at the mushroom cloud.
Rainbow nodded, keeping the cleaver ready as they started walking towards the general area of the explosion.
*
Magnum was drinking warm water from a cup when she yelped and dropped it because of a loud boom. She saw her own shadow stretch before her, illuminated and tinted in blue. Not even the campfire she sat in front of was that bright. She looked behind her, and saw a huge mushroom cloud, blue flames burning away at its base.
"What the hay..." she breathed, then limped into the tent. "Babs! Babs! We've got a problem!"
"Yeah, I heard." Babs said, sitting cross-legged on the floor in the tent and slowly loading buckshot shells into a shotgun. She put it down by her side, and picked up Magnum's pistol. She checked if it was loaded, then threw it to its owner.
Magnum caught it, and pocketed.
"Use it to defend yourself. I'm going to take a look." Babs said, standing up and walking towards the exit.
"Wait- I'm going with you." Magnum said.
Babs chuckled like it were some sort of joke. "In your condition?" she gestured at Magnum's missing arm, half-broken legs and blind eye.
Magnum clenched her jaw, nodding.
Babs stared into that one functional eye of hers, scanning her face and trying to see behind it and find out what she was thinking. She nodded.
"Alright." she said, pulling her gaze away and walking out the tent, followed by Magnum. The campfire was flickering, the ground tinted blue by the bright fires burning up ahead. Shadows quivered with the flames, creeping across the forest floor. Babs sighed, tilting her head slightly to face Magnum. "Just take care of yourself. I ain't gonna sacrifice myself for somepony I barely know. I won't be saving your flank again."
"I'm going." Magnum said, holding her pistol tightly in a hoof.
Babs looked at her, to see if she was bluffing. Her expression was legit.
"Alright." she said again, turning away and walking towards the burning forest.
*
Bluefyre chuckled, looking down at her own arms. The flames had formed into glowing tattoos on her arms, pulsing with her heartbeat. The seal was fighting back, and she was watching with amusement. There was no stopping those flames.
She didn't know what she was thinking, but the immense power of the ghost fires was swarming into her head and taking over. That's why they were sealed away- they could get out of hoof. She would still be in control of them, but she wouldn't be in control of herself. All she could think of now was burning the world clean.
Clean of what? She asked herself- clean of everything, she replied; and laughed.
Then out the corner of her eye she spotted a familiar figure. She looked in that direction, eyes glowing an electric blue.
"Magnum..?" her voice was distorted and unclear.
Magnum seemed to be surprised, and Babs looked at her.
"You know this pony?"
Magnum shook her head slowly. "I don't know."
Babs sighed- not unexpected. She raised the shotgun at Bluefyre, who didn't even flinch. She was on the other side of a wall of flames, burning away at the forest ground.
They were about five meters apart, both waiting for the other to make a move.
"Who are you?" Babs demanded.
"Bluefyre, technician of the undercover M.F. OASIS." Bluefyre grinned, clearly uncaring of giving away such information.
Babs looked back at Magnum, who nodded towards Bluefyre, telling her to keep her aim.
"What happened here?" Babs asked.
Bluefyre grinned. "I turned a couple of ignorant timberwolves to mere ash."
Babs narrowed her eyes, centering the shotgun on Bluefyre's head.
*
Daylight hit Haven once again. Like its name, it was a small piece of Eden located in the Antarctic South Pole. Surrounded by huge rocky mountains rising over thousands of miles above sea level, the tops sprinkled with showers of clean white snow. This was one of the only places that still had a blue sky- the wars barely ever reached these desolate regions, making the location almost ideal for the construction of Haven, but despite this- it was still hidden right under the Science Faction's nose.
Once you enter the mirage field reflected off of the Crystal Empire's Crystal Tower, you instantly escape from the cold of the Antarctic and into the warmth of magically enhanced spring. Here plants grow, trees rise tall. Still they could not compare to the towering megastructures- over the years Haven had developed into a much more than just a refuge, now a technologically and magically advanced city of all creatures.
In the center was the CMC command center, a space needle pointing straight to the sky and on the brim of the mirage field.
Scootaloo yawned, bright sunlight pouring through the window to her room. Being the only pegasus in the original three founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she had reason to take the top floor as her own.
"Morning." the AI 'AL' said as she climbed out of bed, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning." she replied with a loud yawn, stretching out her arms and legs.
Several cracks echoed through her empty bedroom as she cracked her hooves, then with a quick ruffle got her mane in shape. She flapped her wings several times- she weren't used to them yet. In the old reality, she had devoted her life to getting them to work- and they did in the end. But now, she had been setting up Haven with the CMC all the time- she never really got any air time. All she had was her scooter. Now she couldn't fly, but she supposed it was meant to happen anyway.
She sighed, walking up to a locker. AL opened it for her, and a shiny silver scooter slid out of a socket. As usual, Applebloom designed it with multiple hidden functions and abilities- some of which she had yet to experiment with herself.
"Be safe." AL said as Scootaloo took the scooter out.
"Applebloom programmed you to say that?" Scootaloo asked. AL had never said that before.
"No. It was based on your dental and medical records of the past year, and genuine concern." AL said.
That put a smile on Scootaloo's face. "Thanks, AL." she said, closing the locker and walking into the living room.
The CMC Command Center consisted of hundreds of floors. Scootaloo owned the entire top floor, however also had the smallest surface area as it was 'the tip of the needle'. But she had a balcony to make up for some of that.
The entire building was made of long-lasting and super strong magically enhanced alloys, and barely even wavered in the air. This may be a problem should there be an earthquake, true; but the needle went all the way into the ground to make up for it. In fact, the top was just three-quarters of the entire building- another quarter was firmly anchored in the ground.
The cold metal floor tingled Scootaloo's hooves as she walked towards the kitchen, dragging her scooter on the floor behind her. She could've told AL to activate the in-floor heating systems, but she skipped that.
She went straight to the fridge, where AL had already gotten a cup of orange juice ready for her inside. The fridge wasn't exactly those old ones in the other reality- it was a large box stuck to the wall with no door or lid, inside a bunch of special green gel that is perfectly eco-friendly and safe. It keeps whatever is stored inside at a safe temperature, but that could be adjusted. There was some blue gel at the bottom, which was for freezing items.
Scootaloo reached into the fridge, her hoof sliding through the gel. She got to the cup of juice, and pulled it out. The gel instantly heated to a normal temperature the moment it touched her skin, so it wouldn't freeze her arm. There was a hole left in the gel, but it healed almost immediately. She checked her glass- no gel inside, nor on her arm. Nowhere except inside the fridge. She couldn't help but double check- she would take a while to get used to this. Applebloom said it was perfectly safe, but things that weren't were too many.
That's how she started off each day- an ice cold cup of orange juice. Once AL discovered her schedule, she added that to her daily 'to-do' list.
Scootaloo drank it down in a single gulp, and tossed the empty glass into the sink.
"Thanks." she said to AL before she walked onto the balcony, the high winds of the Earth's atmosphere running through her mane. There was also a different shield around Haven- pressure stabilization. It pretty much means if the shield turns off right now she could be completely crushed by air pressure- but Applebloom made sure the place was completely sealed off.
"There is no off switch. You can only turn it off by destroying it." she had said, and pointed at a location seven thousand kilometers underground. "I put it there."
The handrails on the side of the balcony retreated into the ground, and Scootaloo perched the scooter on the edge of the balcony. She looked down- she was thousands of meters up, and could barely see anything that was down there clearly. But the city below her was brimming with activity and life- the thought that she was amongst the three that created all this still astonished her, even if she didn't just arrive from a completely different reality. It really was, magnificent.
The space needle was just like that, it had a sharp tip and a large base. Scootaloo had used its sloping sides for waking up every morning- just to clear the dullness from her mind. Those attempts at waking up don't always end well though- but she's still alive, so that's that.
She got a different cutie mark in that other reality. It was a symbol of athleticism, but now it's a scooter. Suppose she didn't dislike either, it's just weird to have a different special talent all of a sudden. Suppose life can push you in different directions by taking one different step.
She rubbed her head. Sleep was still lingering inside, so she yawned one last time; placed both back hooves on the scooter and leaned forward for the thousand-mile drop.