The snow had started up again, blanketing the city in streaks of white. A round maintenance hole cover in the midst of a wide, empty street in the Fashion District shifted, then moved aside to allow a blue mane to emerge from the street.

“All clear,” Shining called down, climbing out of the sewer. The others clambered out after him, all of them shivering in the cold.

“We w-w-won’t last long out h-here l-l-like this,” Twilight said, clutching herself for warmth as her teeth chattered.

“N-n-not to worry,” Rarity said, trying to force a smile. “My b-b-boutique is n-not far. We c-c-can freshen up and f-find some c-c-coats th-there.”

She lead them through the alleyways to her shop. The little store had fortunately been mostly overlooked: the purple awning over the splintered door had been torn and was flapping freely in the wind, and much of the merchandise was torn and strewn haphazardly around the floor. Rarity winced at the sight of her beloved, hoof-crafted clothing treated so harshly, but quickly decided that they had more important things to worry about. She gathered everypony inside, muttering a silent prayer for Sassy Saddles’ safety, and shut the door behind them.

Shining Armor walked into the little break room in the back and turned on the sink, sighing in relief as water started to run from the faucet. “Everypony drink up,” he called. Everypony lined up to take a long drink to soothe their parched throats.

After taking his drink, Flash, who had been silent ever since their escape, wandered slowly into the corner of the room and sat down, looking at his hooves.

“Flash, are you okay?” Shining asked, walking over to his side.

Flash shuddered and let out a choked gasp. “Oh, God...Prowl...Bumblebee…” He choked and began sobbing quietly.

Shining paused and then put a hoof around Flash, supporting him as he cried. He allowed the younger stallion to weep for a minute, then said, “I know you’re hurting right now, but you need to pull yourself together.”

Flash sniffled and blinked up at his superior, receiving a steady, sympathetic look in reply. “I know we’ve been through a lot, but we still have a long way to go,” Shining continued. “For Twilight’s sake, you need to stay focused. We’ll have time to grieve our friends later.”

Flash swallowed and nodded, wiping his face on his foreleg. “Thanks, Captain,” he croaked, walking over to Twilight. As soon as Flash’s back was turned, Shining hid a small sob as a cough and wiped his face off.

“Let’s get that properly bandaged,” Daring declared, noticing Twilight limping on her injured leg. She extracted a first aid kit from her jacket and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic and a roll of gauze, tending to Twilight’s wound.

Phil sat down in a corner of the dark showroom, facing the wall. Despite the cold and the water that soaked his naked coat, he did not shiver. He just lay still, not moving and not looking at anything. A gust of wind from underneath the door rustled some fabric next to him and he nearly leapt out of his skin, suddenly gasping.

“Be still...just try to relax…”

NO! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT! IT BURNS!

“It’ll go in easier if you just...ahh....relax…”

A creak of bedframe, rustle of fabric. The ropes rubbed his wrists raw. IT BURNS! IT BURNS! OH GOD MAKE IT STOP PLEASE STOP…!

“Phillip?”

The touch on his shoulder triggered him into action: he whirled about, seizing his attacker’s limb and compressing it into a lock as he prepared a lethal counterstrike, only to halt as a familiar voice let out a cry of pain and fear.

“It’s me! It’s me!” Fluttershy shrieked, cowering.

Phillip hesitated for a moment, then slowly released her and backed away, panting. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What was that for?” she whimpered, the shadow of fear in her eyes as she massaged her foreleg.

“You...you startled me,” Phillip said, unable to look at her.

Fluttershy looked up at him. “Phillip…” she spoke quietly. “What did he do to you?”

Phil closed his eyes and shook his head. “No. I...no,” he replied.

Fluttershy hesitated, looking as though she wanted to try to comfort him, but unable to think of what to say. She eventually tried to reach a wing around him in a comforting hug, but Phillip recoiled from her. She flinched and retreated.

"Y-you know you can talk to me about anything," she offered awkwardly. Phillip did not respond, retreating further into the shell that he was building around himself.

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—a distraction was provided in the form of Rarity reentering the room. “Now, for the coats!” she declared, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. She trotted over to a closet and opened it up wide to reveal a wide selection of winter coats, all different sizes and colors, each of them partly decorated with some gems and intricate patterns and designs.

“Thankfully, the ruffians missed these,” Rarity sighed, pulling out one of the coats—a creamy white layered jacket with a faux fur collar and dark blue swirls running up and down the sleeves—and bringing it over to Fluttershy. “This one should fit you, and it goes with your eyes, dear,” Rarity commented with a wane smile, adding a white scarf to the ensemble.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Fluttershy smiled, putting the coat on. True to Rarity’s word, it fit snugly.

Rarity extracted the rest of the coats and handed them out to her friends, including a pair of extra large coats for the alicorns. Each of them fit comfortably, and provided a welcome layer of warmth.

“Rarity, you’re a lifesaver,” Rainbow Dash sighed, zipping up her new silver and dark gold coat and tugging up her hood.

“We have to get back to the precinct,” Twilight stated. “The closest gate is—”

“Everypony down!” Daring suddenly shouted, pressing her back against the wall and peeking out the bay windows. Everypony immediately dropped to the floor and remained as still as they could. Outside, distant lights could be seen sweeping across the streets. A trio of ponies sprinted across the sidewalk, weapons bouncing against their backs.

“They haven’t found us yet, but they’re gonna be looking for us,” Daring hissed. “We have no magic, no weapons, and I’m the only one who can fly. Getting past those patrols is going to be tricky.”

“We’ll be caught for sure if we stay here,” Luna declared. “We had best make haste; staying on the move is our only chance now.”

“Then let’s roll out!” Pinkie declared, striking a dramatic pose. Everypony stared at her for a moment.

“Uh...what?” Shining asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie simpered with an embarrassed grin. “Wrong franchise.”

They exited out the back, slipping into an alleyway and crunching down to the narrow, shadowed intersection. Daring checked both ways, then darted across the street. She paused once more, then beckoned the others over. The friends crossed over quickly, heads constantly darting from side to side.

“This way,” Twilight hissed, pointing down the alley. They continued through the maze of Canterlot’s back streets, weaving through the snowy shadows and dodging patrols.

They paused by the dark, empty husk of Donut Joe’s shop, crouching in an alleyway as a pair of snowmobiles purred past them. As soon as the sound of the purring engines disappeared into the distance, Flash poked his head out and squinted about. “Looks clear,” he reported, leading them out of their hiding place.

“We’re almost there,” Twilight said in an encouraging tone, raising a foreleg to shield her face from the barbs of the frosty wind. “The gate’s just past—”

She was interrupted by a low, rumbling roar, like the growl of an awakening beast. Beams of light violently pierced the darkness, blinding the ponies. Everypony froze in their tracks and looked up, squinting up at the intruders. A pickup truck rumbled towards them from the whiteness. Sitting in the cab behind the wheel was a mare dressed in a fire-retardant jacket with wild, red hair and a face with a single, piercing eye on her forehead.

“Scorchers!” Phillip shouted, his face blanching.

“Run!” Celestia ordered, and they turned and fled as the truck roared towards them.

“This way!” Twilight shouted, ducking into an alley too small for the truck to follow. Everypony followed after, slipping and skidding on the ice and snow. Fluttershy rounded the corner just as the Scorcher’s truck reached them, screeching to a halt with a hiss of brakes. Vaulting over a low wall, the ponies kept running into a round culvert of industrial warehouses and mechanical shops.

“We need a place to hide!” Applejack shouted.

Rainbow Dash cast her gaze around and spotted a nearby warehouse, a wide, low building, with its bay door tantalizingly open. “Over there!” she pointed.

The ponies raced for their hiding place, darting through the open door. Rainbow quickly shut the bay door behind them, plunging them all into darkness. They remained still for a full minute, the only sound in the cold shadows their heavy breathing.

“Do you… think we lost them?” Fluttershy whispered, clutching a stitch in her side.

At that moment, something crashed through a window and with a tremendous roar, the air itself caught fire. Orange and red flames rushed up the walls and across the tall shelves that were stacked with crates of merchandise, spreading across the rafters that supported the rickety ceiling.

Rainbow Dash grabbed the chain to open the bay doors, but they refused to budge. “It’s jammed!” she shouted, pounding on the unyielding metal of the door, which was already growing hot.

“Then we’ll have to find another way out!” Celestia declared.

Phillip had frozen up, his eyes wide as he stared at the flames that were licking at the walls around him. Shaking, he slowly tried to back away, flattening his ears against his head and taking short, shallow gasps.

“Phil, c’mon!” Applejack called, grabbing his hoof. He turned and stared at her, his eyes unfocused. Applejack grasped his shoulders. “Hey, pull yourself together, partner!” she shouted, grasping his hoof tightly and pulling him after the others. He stumbled after them, all of them staying low to try to avoid inhaling the smoke as much as possible.

“There’s gotta be a back door somewhere!” Daring shouted, coughing on the fumes. “We—”

Something moved between one of the aisles. Something too fluid and solid to be flame.

She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a jet of napalm that roared at her. Tinderspark lumbered toward them in her full apparatus, her heavy hoofbeats sounding like a death knell. The constantly twisting shadows cast upon her face made her painted gas mask seem even more horrific than usual; the pilot light upon her flamethrower danced as if in joy. More Scorchers emerged from their hiding places, readying their own weapons.

“Split up!” Shining shouted, diving out of the way of another jet of flame. The others raced off in different directions, pursued by the Scorchers.

Celestia instinctively grabbed Luna’s hoof and pulled her little sister after her, dodging in between two tall metal shelves that were stacked high with crates. A Scorcher with a gas mask decorated to look like a snake’s face with bright yellow pupils chased after them, raising his flamethrower. Celestia kicked over a ladder as they ran past, forcing the Scorcher to clamber over it as they rounded a corner.

The sisters both hid behind a pair of large crates on the ground, huffing as the snake-faced Scorcher rounded the corner after them. He paused, slowly turning around in a circle. “Where are you~?” he sang, his weapon at the ready.

Luna squinted through the sheets of smoke and spotted a length of chain on the floor. She caught Celestia’s eye and nodded towards it. Celestia nodded, and they both prepared themselves as the Scorcher approached.

As the attacker turned his back, Celestia broke from cover, running past him towards a low stone wall. The Scorcher instinctively turned and fired at her, the flames narrowly missing their target as she dashed past.

While he was distracted, Luna sprinted towards the chain and seized it in her mouth, swinging the improvised weapon at the Scorcher’s head. Hearing the noise, he turned and raised his foreleg into the chain’s path, allowing it to wrap around his limb. Luna tugged hard, but the Scorcher grounded himself and resisted her pull as he aimed his weapon arm at her.

Celestia vaulted over the low wall and bucked the Scorcher in the back, causing him to stagger. Luna turned about and stepped on the chain with her hind leg, the added force and weight causing the Scorcher to fall flat on his face. Luna instantly pounced on him, slamming his head into the stone floor. The Scorcher grunted and blood began to leak out of his head onto the ground, the flames reflecting against the dark red pool.

“Murderer!” Luna screeched, slamming his head against the ground again, and again. There was a wet cracking sound and more blood began to pour from his broken cranium. “Piece of filth!” Luna continued, her voice rising to a hysterical pitch as she continued to beat his head against the floor, even as his body became still and his skull started to fall to pieces in her hooves. “I hope you all rot! You all deserve this, bastards and killers, you—!”

“Luna, stop!” Celestia cried, prying her sister off the corpse. Luna’s body trembled in Celestia’s grasp, soft sobs mixing with her chokes and coughs.

“I hate them…” Luna whimpered. “I hate them all…”

“It’s all right, Luna,” Celestia breathed, lifting her little sister up onto her back. “We’re going to get out of here.” She carried Luna away from the body, still searching for a way out.

Hobbling down another hallway of shelves, Twilight grimaced and clutched her wounded leg. Without missing a beat, Shining Armor ducked beneath her and lifted her up onto his back.

“Look out!” Twilight shouted, looking up. Shining glanced up, then dived out of the way as a flaming beam collapsed from the rafters above them, tumbling down on top of where they were just standing with an explosion of cinders.

“We’ve gotta find a way out of here, and fast,” Shining declared, coughing on the smoke.

He turned a corner, and froze. Tinderspark was standing mere feet in front of him, seeming to glare at him with her single painted eye. Immediately, Shining threw himself to the ground, diving behind a crate on the floor just as the Scorcher’s leader fired at him. The roaring jet of flame missed by inches. Twilight screamed in fright.

“We ain’t playing hide and seek, Your Highness,” Tinderspark taunted, advancing calmly.

Shining adjusted his grip on Twilight and broke cover, sprinting away from Tinderspark. She sent another burst of napalm at him, the heat licking at his tail as he turned a corner. Shining glanced back to make sure that she wasn’t behind him, then looked up, only to see that he had run into a dead end. A stone wall blocked his path in front of him, while two tall shelves enclosed him on either side.

Turning around, he watched as Tinderspark calmly walked around the corner. She pointed her flamethrower at the floor in front of her, then swept her weapon from side to side, generating a wall of flames that boxed the two ponies in. Without rushing, she pointed her weapon at Shining Armor.

Shining slowly shifted, lowering Twilight to the ground and stepping forward, spreading his forelegs out defensively and glaring at the pyromaniac. Twilight tried to get up, but Shining firmly pushed her back to the ground with his hind leg, squinting at Tinderspark even as his eyes burned.

Tinderspark snickered, the delighted smile almost visible through her mask. “So you want to go first? Far be it from me to refuse royalty.” She paused for one moment longer to take aim and fired.

As soon as the flames started racing towards him, Shining sprinted to the side, snatching up a bundled tarp that was laying against one of the shelves, holding it up in front of him like a shield. He charged at Tinderspark, who momentarily faltered as though in disbelief, then fired again. The flames enveloped the tarp, but could not penetrate the fireproof fabric; but the heat still transferred through, and Shining grunted in pain as he felt the skin on his forelegs burning. A moment later, he tossed the tarp over her, covering her head and foreleg. She yelled in fury and tried to disentangle herself from the tarp, but Shining tackled her to the ground, punching every inch of her that he could reach.

Tinderspark kicked Shining off of her. With one movement, she tossed the tarp off herself and unbuckled her fuel tank, allowing her to get up quickly. Snarling, she reached back and unhooked a short-handled fire axe that was strapped to her back, swinging it at Shining’s head. He ducked beneath it.

“Hold still!” she snarled, swinging at him again. Shining Armor rolled beneath the attack and kicked her in the back, causing her to stumble into a wall and knocking her gas mask askew. Grunting furiously, she tore the mask off, revealing her grimy, sweaty face, and threw it at Shining. He instinctively ducked and she advanced, swinging at his stomach. He blocked the attack with both forelegs, but she countered by swinging the blunt end into his jaw and viciously kicking him to the ground. Shining skidded backwards a few feet from the force of the kick and cried out in pain as his hoof fell into a pile of burning rubbish.

With a yell, the leader of the Scorchers rushed forward and brought the axe down on Shining’s prone form. Shining reacted instantly, grabbing the shaft of her axe and pulling her in close, yanking her off balance as he placed his hind hooves on her torso. She fell forward onto him, and he kicked her up over his head. She flew up over him and landed heavily on her back, stunned. Shining pulled himself up to his hooves, still holding her axe, and swung it into Tinderspark’s face. The bright red blade pierced her skull with a sickening thwack and she fell heavily to the ground.

Panting and coughing from the smoke, Shining stumbled back to Twilight, who had remained where she was throughout the fight. Heaving her up onto his back again, he hurried away in search of an exit.

A shelf toppled over, casting flaming debris over Applejack and Phillip and blocking their path. Applejack grunted as she raised her foreleg to shield her face, then turned and started running in a different direction. Phillip followed close behind, panting and coughing as he clung to her tail.

“I think I see a window over there,” Applejack called, squinting at a distant glimmer of light through the smoke. Phillip nodded and followed after her.

Suddenly, a burst of fire cut off their route. Applejack gasped and stepped back as no less than three Scorchers stepped forward: one with a face like a tiger, another resembling a timberwolf, and a third one with their mask decorated like a hyena, giggling in a high-pitched voice. All of them advanced on the two ponies, who were pinned by walls of flames. Phillip crouched, shaking as he stared at their soon-to-be killers.

Applejack cast her smoke-streaked eyes about, looking for something, anything they could use to escape. She spotted a wooden support column, creaking and groaning as it struggled to support the trembling roof. Instinctively, she turned around and bucked at the column, smashing through it effortlessly. The three Scorchers looked up just in time to see a great mass of debris toppling down on their heads. Their screams were cut off short as the ceiling crushed them into the ground.

Applejack stared at her handiwork for a moment, then grunted and shook her head. “C’mon, Phil!” she shouted.

But Phillip refused to move. He remained stock still, staring straight ahead, not focusing on anything. The flames continued to surround them, crackling and roaring as if in joy, taunting their captured prey.

“Phil, we need to move!” Applejack shouted, grasping his hooves and looking into his eyes. “We’re going to have to go through the fire to get out!”

“I can’t…” Phillip said in a soft, strained voice that was almost a whimper, shaking his head.

“Yes, you can,” Applejack replied, squeezing his hoof gently. “Phillip, you need to trust me; I can get you out of here, but this is the only way.”

Phillip focused on her eyes and slowly nodded. “Close your eyes,” Applejack said, gripping his hoof. He took a slow breath out and closed his eyes. Applejack turned and faced the flames, and with a brave leap, raced forward, clutching Phillip’s hoof. For a moment, the heat wrapped around them like invisible hands, trying to smother the air from around them and boil their skin; then they burst free from the flames and were standing in front of a large window, set a few feet off the ground.

Applejack picked up a discarded metal box and threw it through the window. “Guys! Over here!” she shouted. She crouched down and allowed Phillip to climb up on her back. He knocked out more of the glass and climbed out, collapsing into the snowdrift outside with a spasm of coughing.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash emerged from the smoke, followed by Celestia, Luna, and Flash. Applejack helped carry each of them out of the window into safety as the fire, as if sensing that its prey was escaping, closed in on them.

Rarity and Fluttershy appeared, then Daring, Shining, and Twilight. “Them first!” Shining insisted through his coughs. Applejack helped Rarity and Fluttershy over as Daring dropped her empty revolver, lifted Twilight off of Shining’s shoulders, and started to fly towards the window.

Daring grunted, sweat running off her face as she strained to carry Twilight’s weight. “I’ll help her out and come back for—”

Her sentence was cut off by the sudden bark of a gunshot. A crimson plume erupted from Daring’s chest and she fell out of the sky with a scream, landing on the ground.

A final Scorcher emerged from the flames like a nightmarish beast, staggering towards them even as blood ran from the bullet wound in their chest. They raised their pistol in one last act of defiance, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

Everypony rushed to Daring’s side. She was laying on the ground, gasping in pain as she clutched her chest, trying to contain the frothy, dark red blood that was trickling from her body. Shining lifted her up and climbed up onto Applejack’s back, who grunted beneath the strain, then handed her out the window to Fluttershy and Rarity, who set her gently down on the snow.

“Daring?” Phil called, rushing to her side as Shining and Twilight climbed out of the window. Daring was struggling to breathe, her body shaking from a mixture of shock and cold. Her eyes darted around constantly, not focusing on anything.

“Keep back!” Fluttershy snapped through chattering teeth, tugging her scarf off her neck and wrapping it tightly around Daring’s wound. The white fabric was quickly stained red with the blood. Daring cried out feebly and began mumbling incoherently.

“Guys?” Pinkie called, pointing. Through the sheets of snow that were descending upon their heads, they could see a group of ponies rushing towards them, the distinctive shapes of weapons on their shoulders and at their hips.

“Great,” Shining muttered, wearily rising to his hooves. Their backs against the flaming structure, the friends prepared for their last stand. Phillip crouched next to Daring.

“Your Highnesses!”

The familiar voice made everypony pause, then relief broke through their shock and flooded their veins. Sergeant Barker and a squad of City Guards raced up, quickly forming a perimeter around the ponies and draping parkas over the princesses. A unicorn medic dropped down next to Daring, quickly scanning her with a diagnosis spell, then covering her in her parka as she worked to seal her bleeding wound.

“I’m...I’m…” Daring murmured, a faint gurgle in her voice. “Phil...I’m sorry…”

“Shhh,” Phillip whispered, squeezing her hoof. For a moment, her rosy eyes focused on him and her mouth spasmed as she tried to speak, then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back, still.

“Daring?” Phil cried out again.

“She’s breathing,” the medic reassured him. “But blood is leaking into her lung. We need to get her back to the precinct.” With Phillip’s help, she gently lifted the unconscious Daring up onto her back, being careful to keep her wound elevated

“Let’s move, before more of them come!” Sergeant Barker shouted, using his magic to cast a crude but effective heat spell over them. They raced back towards the hope of shelter, fighting both time and the elements in the last leg of their journey.

Author's Notes:

That was close. But what of Daring Do, and the army that still controls the streets?

Three more chapters to go...