Twilight could hardly sleep last night, but somehow managed to doze off. She never imagined Professor Neigh would send her the Firestorm Protocol. Twilight had installed that tracking system just in case the professor managed to escape, what were the odds he would use the numeric encryption code that the two of them wrote together for the rocket, and have set to ping on a frequency that only Twilight would think to look for.
Alas, the fact that she had received the Protocol meant that something bad must’ve happened. Twilight knew that Shining Armor was going on a mission to rescue the professor, she had faith in her brother to get Professor Neigh to safety, and he was the one to save her after all. But still, she couldn’t help but worry about him and Professor Neigh. Call it a sixth sense, woman’s intuition, sisterly instinct, but Twilight couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad happened. But her heart wouldn’t let her, she had to keep believing that her brother was alive, and that by some small miracle Professor Neigh was too.
Now here she was, sitting in her bed, hugging her legs and contemplating what her next move should be. She needed a plan, and a way to keep her parents safe, and Sunset Shimmer. Twilight unconsciously smiled upon saying her name. The girl who had been regarded as the menace of Canterlot High, was actually very bright and intelligent. All last night Sunset Shimmer surprised her, understanding her notes on fusion, even improving them, taking her to where she wanted to go without even knowing why, and then saving her from almost getting plowed into the earth by a rocket. Twilight’s face tinted red from the memory, remembering how Sunset ended up on top of her, and without knowing touched her chest.
“Sunset Shimmer, why do you act so aggressively and try to push others away? You’re like me, and yet my exact opposite, I want to have friends, a normal life. Which is why when I look at you, I can’t help but want to do something for you, of anyone in the school, I think you could be one of my greatest friends…” Twilight slapped herself across the face. “Not that I don’t care about the others, I love them dearly, my first real friends, but I don’t want to see you drown in loneliness…”
*♪Awesome as I wanna be! Hey! Hey! Hey!♪*
*♪Awesome as I wanna be! Hey! Hey! Hey!♪*
Twilight’s cellphone starting going off on her nightstand, Rainbow Dash’s ringtone went off, making Twilight shake her head and smile, remembering when the rainbow haired girl recorded a few songs for the fun of it with Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. She was surprised to see that her friends had quite the musical talent. Rainbow Dash insisted that that particular song be a ringtone for whenever she called them, her way of reminding them of “how awesome” she is. Twilight picked up the phone and swiped it to answer.
“Hello Rainbow Dash.”
{Thank god, you’re not tied up and gagged!}
“Rainbow Dash, really?”
{Cut me some slack Twi, we’re worried about you! Spending the whole weekend with Sunset Shimmer in your house, for all you know she could’ve gone “Friday the 13th” on you and your family! Or tied you up and forced you to do kinky ass stuff!}
“Rainbow Dash! That last one was – why would you think that stuff?!”
{Okay the “Friday the 13th” thing was overboard, but I wouldn’t have doubted my second scenario. Don’t know why, she just seems like she’d “go there”, y’know?}
Twilight faced palmed herself, her cheeks flushing from the imagining of said scenario.
“Rainbow Dash let me first assure you that I am completely, one-hundred percent, healthy, alive, and have no injuries, external or internal, major or minor, on my body. Second, Sunset Shimmer and I have been getting along pretty well.”
Twilight distanced her ear from her phone upon hearing a crashing noise in the background.
{Okay now I know I have a bad connection, you and her are getting along?!}
“She’s not as bad as everyone makes her out to be Rainbow. I know you really can’t forgive her for tricking you all into thinking and believing the worst about each other, but I really think she’s over that stuff now.”
{*sigh* What the heck makes you think that?}
A lot of things that I can’t really discuss with you if they’re intercepting and monitoring cellular phone conversations, thought Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash, I know I may come off as naive and too trusting at times, but I do know what I’m doing. If I believed everything the girls told me about you the first time we met, I’d have avoided you and none of us would’ve been able to mend your friendships.”
Silence was heard on the other end of the phone, making Twilight check to see if the call had been ended. But the timer was still going, counting the seconds into minutes, meaning that Rainbow was still on.
{I get it Twi, and I guess…it’s that part you that I both admire and like. You want to see the good in others, you have hope. Which is why it pisses me off when I see people just shrug it off or like when Sunset just looks at you like she’s imagining and planning doing bad stuff to you. I care about you Twi……….that didn’t sound too mushy did it?}
Twilight smiled. “No, not at all. And thank you Rainbow, it makes me happy hearing that.
{No problem, well, I’m headin’ back to sleep, but if something goes down don’t hesitate to call me! I’ll be there in ten seconds flat!}
“Heh-heh, will do Rainbow Dash, goodbye.”
{Later.}
Twilight pressed the “end call” button, her smile broadened by knowing her friend was looking out for her. Deciding that it was time to get up, Twilight swung her legs out over the bed and made her way to the door, she passed by her mirror and looked at herself. Her yellow pajama shirt and pants with pink hearts on them were her normal sleep attire, but for some reason Twilight was beginning to feel self-conscious.
Sunset Shimmer was in the other room, and she would see her in her silly pajamas. Twilight was starting to think twice about leaving her room, or disturbing her at all. But Sunset would probably be ticked if she didn’t at least give her a heads up that she was heading down to the lab. With a heavy sigh Twilight left her room and stood before Sunset’s door. She gave a couple of knocks against it and then gently opened the door.
“Sunset? A-Are you awake?”
She heard nothing, so Twilight opened the door a little more. Sunset was lying on her back, her breathing was light as she continued to sleep. The red and yellow haired girl was wearing a purple pajama top and pants, with a sun symbol embroidered onto the chest area, with dual colors of yellow and red in a kind of yin-yang spiral. Twilight was relieved, for some reason she thought she’d see Sunset wearing something…revealing, or nothing at all. Despite her tough girl attitude, her choice in sleep attire didn’t seem to reflect that. Twilight crept further into the room, moving closer to Sunset’s bedside.
Sunset seemed peaceful as she slept, it was quite odd. She always seemed to have this permanent scowl on her face, only letting it fall for a moment or two to show something other than the predominant anger within her. But right now, Sunset Shimmer’s face was quite cute. Twilight blushed at that random thought.
“Take a picture, it lasts longer Sparkle.”
“GAAAH!!!”
Twilight fell back on her rear from the sudden awakening of Sunset, who was now staring at the downed girl with a bit of mirth in her aquamarine eyes.
“Morning to you too,” said Sunset.
SUNDAY…
Sunset was working on their project in the basement while Twilight went over the data she got from the capsule. Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Twilight’s parents, arrived later that Friday night about the time they went to bed. The both of them were already up and enjoying breakfast and had set a spot for Sunset when she came down with Twilight. She had to admit it was nice.
She couldn’t remember the last time she sat with her parents and had breakfast together with them. Most of those memories faded and in the end it was breakfast with Princess Celestia, although she enjoyed those times, it wasn’t exactly the same. Still, this wasn’t bad.
The news had been covering the crash in the park that the both of them were at last night, and as Sunset figured, cops, and guys in black suits were all over the place. The news mentioned something about terrorist attacks and some other malarkey, but if what Twilight said was true, then these guys probably had the power to manipulate the media.
That seemed to make Twilight even more determined to find out the secrets of the Firestorm Protocol. Now here it was a day later and Twilight hadn’t pried herself away from the computer as she went over the data. Sunset just tinkered here and there with the parts, she knew what she was doing and it wouldn’t take her long to make some good headway, but she was more interested in what Twilight was doing.
The studious girl had gotten serious apparently, donning a white lab coat, square framed glasses, and tied her hair up in a bun. She looked like an actual scientist from some top secret laboratory, all except for the fact that Spike was chowing down on his kibble in the corner, occasionally scampering around and nuzzling Sunset’s and Twilight’s legs.
“Okay…”
“What’s up?” Sunset asked.
Twilight spun around to face Sunset, taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“I’ve looked over the data…turns out it is from Professor Neigh like I thought.”
“Aaaaaaannnnd that’s a good thing right?” Sunset asked.
“Yes, but this thing is complex, I’ve never encountered an atomic structure this…divided!” Twilight admitted. “Professor Neigh was the genius behind the Protocol’s creation, if I had his notes or something I could better understand what this Protocol is, but my understanding right now is limited…”
Sunset could see that Twilight was mentally wiped from all this, the arrival of the Firestorm Protocol along with whatever else she was possibly hiding was weighing on her.
“Hey Sparky,” said Sunset.
“‘Sparky?’” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, it’s starting to get annoying to say Sparkle all the time. So I’m calling you Sparky.”
Twilight blushed from the new nickname, she had gotten used to the shortened version of her name, “Twi”, whenever she was with her friends, and then there was Shining Armor’s and her’s nicknames for each other, “Shiny” and “Twily”. But this new was different, but not in bad way.
“You know you can use my first name,” said Twilight.
“Hmmmm…nope, I like ‘Sparky’ better! Anyway, let’s get out of here.”
“What, why?”
Sunset crossed her arms and gave Twilight an incredulous look. “Because you’ve been holed up in here ever since the computer got the data, you’ve been staring at the screen for hours and you need a break. Running yourself into the ground over this isn’t going to help you in the long run.”
Twilight wanted to argue the point with Sunset, but she knew she was right. Working herself into exhaustion would only hinder her in understanding the Firestorm Protocol, and figuring out what happened to her brother and Professor Neigh.
“Alright.” suddenly a low rumbling noise emanated from Twilight’s stomach, causing Spike to bark at the beast living in her belly. The violet haired girl quickly hugged her midsection, looking up at Sunset in embarrassment. “Eh, heh-heh-heh, guess I’m a little hungry…”
“You did skip breakfast this morning, which was good by the way, your mom’s a great cook.”
“It can’t have been that long since breakfast,” said Twilight in disbelief.
Sunset pointed at the time on the monitor, which she was amazed at how Twilight could overlook it since it was on a sixty-inch screen. Twilight turned around and saw that it was thirty minutes past twelve, now she was even more embarrassed for almost skipping lunch.
“I didn’t know it was that far past lunch! Sunset why didn’t you go up upstairs and get yourself something at least?!”
“‘Cause I didn’t want to find you passed out from hunger when I came back down. And really, some time away from the monitor will help you think, it always does for me,” said Sunset.
Both the girls and Spike went upstairs and found that the house was vacant again. They made their way to the kitchen and saw that there was a note on the table that read:
Dear Twilight,
Your father was called back to the Planetarium and my author decided she wanted to do some revisions to her book, I swear, Daring just doesn’t appreciate deadlines.
I left you two some money on the table so you can get something to eat, hopefully your friend, Sunset Shimmer, was able to get you out the dungeon.
I noticed that Miss Shimmer rides a motorcycle, now I don’t want you to be riding that thing without a helmet, so I had your father leave his car in the garage. I trust Miss Shimmer is licensed for both, so you two should get out and take a break from your work.
We’ll see you when we get home.
Love, Mom & Dad
“Wow, you’re parents are pretty cool. Not a lot of ‘em would trust a girl like me behind the wheel of a car, let alone take you around in one,” said Sunset.
“They’ve met my other friends, so they’re pretty much going off those assumptions…can you drive a car, I mean, I know you drive a motorcycle but…?”
Sunset smiled smugly at Twilight. “Please, I ride bikes because I like to and it’s nostalgic, in a way. I learned how to drive a car first though, and yes, my license reflects that. And on that note, go up, change out of that mad scientist get up, and let’s go!”
CANTERLOT CITY, DOWNTOWN …
Sunset had figured Mr. Night Light’s car to be some old jalopy, but instead, it was the farthest thing from it. It was a sleek, silver BMW, the latest model too. She figured her family had money, and all the little bells and whistles in the car itself confirmed it. Not wanting to abuse the trust Twilight’s parent’s put in her, since this was this first time someone older than a teen trusted her like this, she forewent her usual driving style.
The two girls made it to a little family restaurant where they got their bite to eat. Twilight practically inhaled her food, apparently not realizing how hungry she really was. Sunset had to say, watching Twilight literally make a double cheeseburger disappear in like thirty seconds was amazingly weird. Now I know what you’re thinking “Sunset’s eating meat?! Animals!” Well, after living in the human world for so many years, she found that her human body could only sustain itself for so long on the diet she had when she was just a pony. So yeah.
“Thank you, Sunset.”
“For what?” she asked.
“For getting me out of the house for a bit,” said Twilight.
Sunset shrugged.
“You really didn’t have to drive me into town for this, we could’ve had something brought to us.”
“Again, sometimes it better to step away from what’s giving you so much trouble. Although…”
“Although…?”
Sunset’s eyes traveled to the backpack that was resting against the table leg underneath them. “Did you have to bring it, along with us?”
Twilight blushed, she had brought the Firestorm Protocol with them, arguing that having it mobile was a lot safer than having it sit at her house. Luckily Twilight had swept it for any kind of tracking devices and thankfully there was none, plus the little glowing atomic fireball inside was shielded by the case, so its energy couldn’t be detected even at close range. Still, walking around with what was essentially the nuclear equivalent to a newborn star, wasn’t exactly settling.
“I know you’re still weary of it, but it’s completely stable. It survived a crash, if that’s not secure enough I don’t know what is.”
Sunset conceded to her logic, plus, if it made her feel better that it wasn’t at her home where her parents were, then she wasn’t going to argue it.
“Fine, oh and by the way, we’re going shopping after this.”
Twilight nearly spluttered her drink. “We-We are?!”
“Yeah, if we have do another late night run, you’re going to need a helmet. I know this bike shop around here that has a lot of stylized helmets, we’ll find you something there.”
The studious girl was a bit shocked to hear that Sunset was actually willing to buy her a helmet, she was really thinking about her safety. Sunset Shimmer must’ve noticed the look on Twilight’s face because the fiery haired girl’s cheeks tinted red.
“Don’t get the wrong idea Sparky! I just don’t want you whining about safety this and that, and this way I don’t have to keep lending you mine.”
Twilight just went back to sipping her drink, but a little smile did grace her lips. Sunset mentally face palmed herself, she had no idea what was wrong with herself. Here she was dining with the very girl who ended her reign within CHS and severely cut her powerful hold on the student body, and not once did she feel like snapping at her. For some reason, being around this girl, Twilight Sparkle, was strangely…calming. She was definitely different from the other kids at the school, smarter, leagues smarter than she’s cared to fully admit, and she had this mysterious air about her.
Then there were all those awkward moments, catching Twilight watching her sleep and then Sunset scaring the girl – that was funny. But then there were the other awkward things, the landing on top of her and finding her hand placed precariously on her chest. That she didn’t count as much since she was busy trying to save Twilight’s life, and they just happened to land like that after their tumble. But going further back, there was still the locker room incident. An incident that Sunset still planned on getting to the bottom of how and why Twilight said that she knew what it felt like to feel like nothing.
Where does she get the gall to say that?! She lives in a nice house, her parents are financially wealthy, but aren’t complete snobs and are actually nice to be around! She has a dog that practically followers her everywhere, and I assume her older brother is practically her best friend in the world! And she says she knows what it’s like to feel like nothing?!
Sunset was starting to feel that familiar loathing and anger towards Twilight, the same one that she was trying get over. Twilight noticed Sunset’s left hand ball up into a fist, the knuckles turning white from how tight she was clenching it. Twilight became worried and slowly placed her hand over Sunset’s fist.
“Sunset are you alright?” Twilight asked.
The yellow girl was snapped out her internal struggle and looked back at Twilight. Sunset was becoming aware of a lavender hand overlapping her clenched fist. She glanced back at Twilight who had a concerned look on her face, Sunset shook her head and relaxed her fist and gently pulled it away.
“It’s nothing Sparky, I’m fine.”
“You didn’t look fine a moment ago, you looked angry.”
“Just some issues…some I’m still learning to deal with,” said Sunset.
“Sunset –”
*RUMBLE*
Suddenly the restaurant started to shake a bit, plates rattled and silverware clanked. The lights flickered on and off for a few moments and then it stopped. Everyone in the room looked to each other as if wondering if that really happened. Just then another one happened, but this was stronger than the last, jostling people from their seats and causing waiters to fall to the floor with dishes crashing all over the place.
The rumbles got louder, but they were becoming more distinct, sounding much akin to explosions. Twilight suddenly felt a pit of dread form in her stomach, she quickly grabbed the backpack with the Protocol in it and made for the door, luckily Sunset was just as quick and was right on her heels. The two girls made it outside onto the sidewalk where many people were just standing there, listening and waiting for the next explosion to make itself known. Further up the road a public transit bus came careening towards a store, and it was on fire!
The flaming bus plowed into the front of the store and exploded, destroying the store and causing damage to the two or three floors above it. The people all screamed with terror as another flaming object came hurdling from the same street, only this time it was multiple cars that were being thrown back, all on fire or charred to a burnt crisp.
It wasn’t long before the source of the madness appeared just ahead, heralding the destruction. His arms were covered in some kind of red cloth that matched his pants, but around his wrists were silver wristbands, and on his feet silver boots. A red colored sun was on his black armored chest, along with three smaller red orbs in a V pattern around the sun, the bottom half of his face was obscured by a tattered scarf that flapped in the heat-generated winds. A red cowl covered most of his head, leaving the face untouched, his red eyes glowed with the power of an inferno, and his hair was on fire – no, it was more literal to say that his hair was made of fire!
The being looked too and fro, seeing the multitude of property that wasn’t touched by his destruction. The corner of his mouth rose slightly, he would have to correct this oversight. The fire wielder raised both his hands, atomic rings formed around them and from them a stream of plasmatic energy flames bellowed forth and struck both buildings on either side of him. The destroyer waved his arms up and down, as if scribbling on the buildings with his energy blasts. A trail of explosions followed in the wake of the blasts, sending mortar and glass-ridden debris cascading down onto the innocent people below and totaling a few cars at the same time.
Twilight and Sunset watched the destructive force continue to blow up and incinerate property, and causing harm to the people who weren’t able to get out his way in time. They couldn’t believe it, a walking inferno was just blatantly wreaking havoc, not caring who was in his way. The two girls heard the sounds of police sirens in the distance, in practically no time flat a swarm of them appeared out of different street corners, three of which were SWAT vans. The specially trained men and women flooded out of their police cars and vans, armed with police issued M4’s, shotguns, and pistols, all aimed at the being of flames.
The flaming man stopped walking, standing firm before the gathered forces of Canterlot City’s finest. The police didn’t even bother with a warning, considering the destruction he caused already, they doubted he’d show them any compliance to surrender. The small army of men and women in blue opened fire, a cacophony of gunfire rang throughout the air, everything from the powerful thudding of a shotgun round, to the rapid bursting of an automatic rifle, and the single shots coming from pistols. Shell casings clanked against the pavement, ringing like little bells as they did.
The flaming destroyer didn’t bother to dodge them, his body flared up with fire, creating a barrier of intense heat. The bullets all melted as they got close to him, turning into molten slag that gathered in a puddle at the edge of his barrier. After a minute and a half of continuous fire the police ceased their barrage. The man waited, taking a moment to see and enjoy every stunned face that was before him. The man raised his right hand, the atomic rings appearing once again. The molten slag rose into the air, still superheated and glowing an almost orangey white. With a couple of flicks of his fingers the molten puddle was dissected into hundreds of small spheres, no bigger than a marble.
Twilight saw this from their position and yelled as loud as she could. “GET DOWN!!!”
The violet haired girl quickly grabbed Sunset Shimmer and pulled them both down as low as they could go to the sidewalk. The man waved his hand and immediately after the marble sized molten metal shot off like the bullets they were made from. The police were treated to a shower of red-hot slag piercing through their cars and armored vehicles, riddling the law officers with holes that cauterized the moment they entered and exited. Even body armor was useless to defend against the molten bullets, all the police officers were either dead on the street or badly burned, some even lost a limb from the sheer speed and heat of the projectile piercing their flesh.
The shots continued onwards, going straight through cars, buildings, restaurants, and even more innocent people. Some of them heeded Twilight’s warning in time and ducked down at great haste, others either heard too late or didn’t bother to listen, and were subsequently pierced by the slag. Many fell before the two girls, it happened so fast that they didn’t even hear a scream of pain, just a short gasp before they went completely silent.
Sunset Shimmer stared with wide eyes at the death that was occurring around her, this was pure and unadulterated murder. Equestria had long since been in a time of peace, true they had little spats with the gryphons, minotaurs, and dragons from time to time, but the most that happened from those were injuries. The use of magic by some enabled the pony populace a way to defend themselves, or at the very least get them to safety. And that very same magic allowed them to heal a pony quickly from grave wounds if reached in time, but this…there was no way any of them could be saved, no way for them to defend themselves against the might and power of – whatever it that thing was! She had seen pictures, read books, and even seen movies where they depicted or spoke of death and murder, it practically littered human history. But to see it happen right before her own eyes was a completely different story.
Twilight was much in the same boat, she had to mentally recite equations and mathematical formulas just to keep her wits about her, and keep her mind thinking clearly in this stressful moment. She felt Sunset Shimmer shaking, a lot, she also saw the look of disbelief and shock that usually accompanied the reaction of seeing so much death. Twilight…wasn’t a stranger to it, but it was still horrifying to see it all the same. But it was also sobering to see that as hard as Sunset tried to be on the outside, she wasn’t so far gone that seeing this didn’t affect her. Twilight knew what this thing was, it was Professor Neigh’s miracle given form and twisted into something heinous. There was no way no one could stop that thing, at least, no one without a power equal to that. Twilight shook Sunset Shimmer, trying to gain her attention.
“Sunset!” Twilight shouted.
The red and yellow haired girl snapped her head in Twilight’s direction. “What?!”
“I need you to run as far and as fast you can! You have to get away from here and away from him! Even if you think you’re far enough, run farther! Head to Applejack’s farm, it’s in that direction if you follow the main road!”
“And just what the hell are you going –?!” Sunset stopped herself, she looked to the backpack that was secured to the bookworms back. “You’re not seriously going to –?!”
“It’s the only way to stop him! He’s using a Firestorm Protocol, if that’s the case then the only one who can stop him is another one who possesses the same power!” Twilight argued.
“Twilight you are insane! He’ll kill you! He just mass murdered a whole bunch of cops, and he’s blowing up cars and buildings for fun! And you think you can stop him?!” Sunset shouted.
Twilight looked back to the flame wielder, his fiery beams blasting about, destroying the cop cars and burning away any and all of the survivors. Twilight balled up her left fist, she couldn’t hesitate, her brother wouldn’t do any less, he’d fight to protect those who didn’t have the power to defend themselves, and Twilight had the power, she’d need only take hold of it.
“I know I have to try……I’ll see you Sunset.”
Twilight shot up and ran away, she looked back and forth until she found an alleyway and ducked into it. Sunset sat on her knees in disbelief, Twilight was actually going to use that dangerous power locked in that container and use it to fight against a pyromaniac murderer! And yet…
And yet I’m sitting here…afraid…I’m so damn scared right now…this isn’t my world, why should I care if these people die?! All I have to do is survive…survive until the portal opens up again and I can leave this place and everyone in it!
Sunset looked towards the direction Twilight ran.
But you…you don’t have to fight, you have a choice not to fight at all and just runaway! Even still, you’re willing to use that thing to give you the power to protect total strangers, they’re not even your friends…them I could see you risking your life for! Not my life, or any of theirs! Is that why the other you was chosen to be a Princess?! Because of this exact trait?!
Twilight ran down the alley as far as she could, she didn’t know what activating the Firestorm Protocol would do, obviously it would turn her into a walking inferno, but she wasn’t sure if there would be an explosion or release of power that could hurt people around her. And the last thing she wanted was to hurt Sunset Shimmer. Once Twilight was far enough into the alley she stopped, placing both hands against the brick wall as she panted from her run, she wasn’t very athletic, but neither was she out of shape, it was just that her body was used to running as fast and in such a panicked frenzy.
Once she had caught her breath, Twilight opened the backpack, tossing it to the ground and taking the container into both of her hands. This little fireball, no bigger than a basketball was the source of so much power, so much destruction, and yet it was the only thing that could stop the rogue Protocol. Twilight hesitated for a moment, the ramifications of activating it now coming to bare before her mind. What if she couldn’t control its power? What if she turned into a rampaging killer like the other? What if she couldn’t change back?
Get it together Twilight! You can’t be stuck on the what ifs, you have to stop him! But…then again, the matrix of the Protocol seemed odd…what if I’m not compatible with it, like an organ donor?! I could end up killing myself for nothing! No, don’t think like that, you have to do this! Just say the word!
“F…Fire–!”
“STOP!”
Twilight nearly dropped the container when she heard the familiar voice. Standing to her left, panting from her frantic running, was Sunset Shimmer. Her eyes were hidden beneath the shadow of her bangs, making it hard for Twilight to determine what Sunset was thinking.
“Sunset what are you doing here?! I told you to run to Applejack’s!”
The bad girl stood up straight and looked to Twilight with a serious glare. “Give me the Protocol.”
“What…?”
“You heard me!”
Sunset quickly ripped the container away from Twilight, making the other girl do a double take at her now empty hands.
“Sunset give that back!”
“Just listen to me!” Sunset shouted.
Twilight folded her arms in front of her chest, giving Sunset a stern look. “Go on.”
“Let me fight him instead.”
Twilight felt like she just got knocked upside the head by that statement. “Sunset you can’t, you don’t know what it’ll do to you!”
“And you do?!” Sunset shot back.
“Well…no, but still!”
“Exactly, better it happen to me than you!”
“And why is that?!”
Sunset gripped the container hard as the words filled her mouth. “Because nobody’s going to miss me if I do! I don’t like feeling powerless…especially against something like that! I’ve alienated, and made an enemy of practically every kid back at school, trust me when I say I won’t be missed in the slightest! But you…you have friends…and a family that loves you, a lot more people will miss you, so I’m the better choice. If something bad happens let it happen to me, at any rate, if I beat him then maybe you can figure out something to get me back to normal…worst case, I die and take him down with me.”
Sunset was suddenly slapped across her face, knocking her against the brick wall at her back. The stinging sensation was only matched by the pained yelps that were coming from Twilight as she shook her hand and caressed it from dealing the blow. Twilight then stared at Sunset Shimmer with anger in her eyes.
“Stop saying that nobody will miss you Sunset, that’s just selfish!”
“It’s the truth!”
“No it’s not! What do I count as?! You don’t think I’ll miss you?!”
“You don’t know me enough to miss me! And besides, I’ve only ever sneered, scowled, or threatened you! I’ve shown you nothing but hostility since the day you arrived at Canterlot High! So why would miss someone like me?!”
Twilight walked up to Sunset and clasped both of her hands on either side of Sunset’s shoulders.
“Because I’ve spent time with you, these past couple of days you’ve shown me a different side of yourself! A side that I’ve only just started to see, and I don’t want go the rest of my life without knowing a side of friend that I just started getting to know! So please…” Twilight started to cry a little. “Don’t say that about yourself!”
Twilight then hugged Sunset, the Firestorm Protocol pressed between them. The red and yellow haired girl was surprised by the action, and once again, Twilight had struck her silent with her words.
Just then another explosion rang out as multiple cars were detonated and blown up one after the other in a chain reaction, gaining the attention of both girls. Twilight quickly gripped the Protocol and immediately the glowing fireball reacted. The sphere of energy glowed brighter and brighter, as if reacting to both girls. Twilight looked to Sunset, and Sunset to Twilight, a similar thought passing between those aquamarine and amethyst eyes. At that moment the flame wielder approached the entrance of the alleyway. His head turned in their direction, a sinister smirk evident by the upturned corners of his mouth. He pointed his right hand down the alley, atomic rings warbling around it as he built up his power.
“Say it with me Sunset!”
“Alright!”
The killer fired a beam of plasma fire right down the alley.
“FIRESTORM!!!”
“FIRESTORM!!!”
The container unlocked and the fireball was unleashed! The flaming orb grew in a matter of nanoseconds into a giant sphere that encompassed both Twilight and Sunset at the same time. The flaming beam was completely dispelled by the concussive force that erupted from the activation, throwing the other Protocol user into a shop a few feet away. Within the orb a transformation was taking place, both girls were stripped of their flesh and blood bodies, replaced by the power of the Protocol. The energy became one with their cells and their atoms, making them transcend into a higher life form, one not bound by the limitations of a human body.
Sunset’s body was made of yellow flames, but an armored chest plate appeared over it, complete with a red sun surrounded with a white corona. Two white lines ran parallel to form an X and a third ran across in a horizontal bar, and within each white line was a red orb, six in total. A mesh like cloth covered her upper arms, neck, and most of her thighs down to her ankles. What appeared next where metal gauntlets, not large, just slim enough to fit over her forearms and cover her hands. A hole appeared at the top of each one, and from it bellowed forth the golden-yellow flame.
Two long pauldrons appeared on both shoulders, on her feet materialized slim metal boots that covered most of her legs below the knee. At the sides, where the outer part of the ankle was, two more circular holes appeared, allowing more of the flames to appear. The cowl around her head wrapped snugly against her, from the top, where her hair once was, were bellowing golden flames that reached down to her feet and whipped around like a tail. Her face was untouched, although it may’ve appeared a bit older by two years or so. Finally, yellow lines etched themselves into the armor gauntlets, boots, and pauldrons. Around the cowl, the lines formed a kind of corona crown, her symbol, cutie mark, flashed above her forehead for brief instant before disappearing.
Twilight’s was a bit different. Her body was made of pink flames. A dark gray cloth like material appeared around her feet, traveling up till it had covered everything put her arms, stopping around her neck. A metal belt appeared around her waist, and from it sprang out a long flowing skirt that left the front open. The chest armor appeared, violet in color, but it only covered the upper part, and upon it was the symbol of a red sun with a white corona, and six bars rose to it, three from one side, and three on the other, each bearing a red orb like Sunset’s.
Violet metal rings appeared around Twilight’s forearms, covering them completely, with a pair of violet gloves slipping over her hands. Violet boots appeared next, but these were longer, and rode up to just below her knee, not armored like Sunset’s. Violet plates appeared on either side of Twilight’s thighs, and one sculpted into abs on her midsection. Her cowl was formed next, the dark violet contrasted nicely against her lighter shade of lavender skin, her face aged two years like Sunset’s. Her hair was now the pink flames, but they gave off shimmering sparkles within the flames themselves. The final piece was that of the etched yellow lines that appeared over her boots, a thin line around her belt, and the plates. Around her cowl the lines formed the corona crown, similar to Sunset’s, above her forehead the symbol of a pink, six-pointed star flashed and then disappeared.
When both girls opened their eyes they were white as snow, filled with the power of their newly acquired forms. The sphere broke out, burning away parts of the buildings on either side of them and leaving the alleyway completely exposed to the streets before them. When the other wielder finally recovered, having blown up the shop upon his exiting of the establishment, he gawked at the two girls now standing before him with power similar to his own. He didn’t know whether to be impressed, attracted, or pissed that he lost the monopoly on being a walking inferno.
“Now it’s our turn!”