(Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted material you will encounter in this or any other story.)

(AN: Sorry this took so long, but I have stories I want to keep-up with. And now, I most humbly present to you, the protagonist of this story. For all announcements on this story and my others, please refer to my profile, thank you.)

Chapter 2: Igniting the Firestorm

Light, that was the first thing he saw. He groaned as he tried to roll over, if only he remembered that he was on the edge of his bed. He fell to the floor with a soft thud, it was a rude wake-up call by reality. It may not have actually hurt that much, but he still let out an, "Ow." He slowly opened his baby blue eyes, this was actually the average start to his day. He got to his hooves and walked to his bathroom to look at himself in the mirror, boy was his mane a mess.

This stallion's name was Flame Hooves, he was an eighteen year old fire red unicorn with a bright orange mane and tail. He sighed, this looked to be a good day, especially if his plan for the day went though. He walked back over to his bed to get his brush, he may not be a neat-freak, but his mane was all over the place. He stopped to look at the three pictures on his end table, one was a family picture, the second was a picture of him with his little sister, Rose Petal, on his head, the third was a picture of him and his marefriend, Good Hope. Good Hope was near-white purple earth pony with a navy blue mane and tail, sparkling rose pink eyes, and the image of a white dove as her cutie mark.

Flame opened the end table drawer, and was greeted by a large number of "gold" metals. 'I really need to find some other place to put these things.' He thought to himself with a small frown on his face. He started pulling gold plated plastic metals out of the drawer with his magic, the aura it had was the same color as his eyes. All of these metals were for the exact same activity, racing. He is the fastest runner in the whole town, but he only accepted the praise if he had actually done something to earn it.

When he finally found his brush, he unceremoniously dropped the shaped rounds of plastic back into the drawer, he would put them somewhere else later. He went back into the bathroom and brushed his mane into the somewhat less messy scruffy do that he normally had, Hope had always told him she thought it looked cute. With that done, he went into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

)-8-(

Flame had finished breakfast and was walking to town square to find Good Hope to put his plan into action, and today was the perfect day for this plan. The only clouds in the sky were almost transparent wisps that almost looked as if they were made of gold by the light of the sun, and a light breeze kept the sun's heat from becoming overwhelming. This was the most beautiful days in Hoofberg that Flame Hooves had ever seen, and he has seen a lot of them as one might be able to guess.

His ears perked up at the sound that was getting closer to him, the sound of young foals laughing. He looked in the direction that the laughter was coming from, a rose red unicorn filly with a green mane was running at the head of a small group of other young colts and fillies. This group was Rose Petal and her friends, that being, Flame could not help but playfully tease them a little, "Whoa there, you better watch were your going short-stuff, or do you really want to run somepony over?"

Rose glared at him a little, she knew her big brother was only teasing, but, "Did you just call me short-stuff?"

"What if I did? What are you going to do about it?" He asked with a grin on his face.

The filly looked around as her friends began to get mischievous grins, they all knew what this meant, "Get him!"

With that, all of the little foals jumped at Flame Hooves and piled up on him. They were all laughing as they fell to the ground, even Flame. It was then that they heard the laughter of someone, the very pony Flame had been looking for, Good Hope. The sunlight was shining off her mane as she looked at them with a smile on her face. She turned her gaze to Rose Petal, "Rosy, how about you stop torturing your brother and go play with your other friends?"

"OK! See you two later!" Rose replied as she and her friends ran off, laughing as they went.

As Flame stood once more, he heard his marefriend giggling. Flame had always been good with young foals, that was one of the many reasons she loved him. He smiled before using one of his, by now, famous one-liners, "Piled on by pewees, I'll never hear the end of it will I?"

Hope's giggle turned into a full fledged laugh at that point, she had always loved those things. He loved to make her laugh, it was such a beautiful sound. However, he had a lot more in mind than just this, a lot more. This was the perfect time to start getting everything just the way he wanted for his plan, "Say Hope, do you want to come with me to the park? It's a beautiful day to sit under the old oak."

"I'm doing something right now, Nick got the snow globe I ordered. Wait for me by the town square fountain, I'll meet you there when I'm done, alright." She replied kindly, she had always been vary considerate about this sort of thing.

"Okay, see you there." After a quick kiss on the cheek, they parted ways for now. Good Hope had been collecting snow globes for as long as Flame has known her, it was one of those unique things that made her who she is. She buys them from Nick Knack, who sells the kind of things he was named for. Sometimes, he would buy snow globes from Nick to give them to Hope as gifts.

Flame has been dating Hope for years, but he was planing to take the next step in their relationship, the final step. He was planing on taking her to their favorite spot in the park, and proposing to her. He had originally planed to ask her to marry him on her birth day, but his courage had given out before he could even begin to ask. He was going to do it today, even if he made a complete fool of himself in the process.

So it was that he was sitting by the fountain in town square anxiously waiting for Hope to arrive so he could pop the question. To bad fate had a different idea in mind for him, and it was to start in a very dark way...

The ground began to shake and crack like it was getting ready to fall apart all around him, he could barely stay on his hooves. As his legs were shaken out from underneath him, he saw town hall split in half then fall into the deep crevice that was forming were it had once stood. Explosions were going off all around the town. With a start, he realized one of them had come from were Nick Knack's shop was. "Hope!" He cried as he got back up and bolted for were she had been going.

'Please, please, don't be there now! Just let me find you anywhere but there!' Flame thought as he built up speed at a fast pace. He saw four ponies in his way, but they were the ones who were attacking. They were wearing pitch black cloaks that covered their entire bodies, two had masks that had marks on them that looked like skulls while the other two had masks that looked like fire. 'You guys are about to get a real headache!' He was going to show them what happens when you attack his home. Using his magic as he ran, he made a transparent light blue barrier that was shaped like the front of a snowplow.

The four never knew what hit them, but they were sent flying into the air as they were bowled over. A smug grin came across Flame's face as he kept running, that's what you get for attacking his home. As he turned a corner, something pined his tail to the ground. He looked back to see what had happened, that was when he saw... it. It was a pale white alicorn that looked like he was nothing more than skin and bone, his mane and tail were a strange lifeless purple. But it was this beings eyes that scared Flame the most, there was no mercy in those green eyes, just murder. This thing intended to kill him, of that much he was certain. His eyes were darting all around him to find some way out of this, all he could see was a dumpster. He couldn't normally move something than big, but he was desperate. He was hardly able to even cover the surface of the large metal object with his magic, but the thought of Hope possibly being alive and waiting for him gave him strength.

The alicorn was, of coarse, Death. He was preparing to dispatch the unfortunate red stallion he had trapped with his hoof, until he heard the groaning of metal. He snapped his head in the direction of the sound, that is when he saw the large metal dumpster hurtling his way. He jerked as a reaction to this possible threat, but that was all Flame needed. As soon as the white alicorn removed his hoof, he bolted away while dropping the dumpster... he never noticed the necrotic purple sparks climbing up his tail fur.

He could now almost feel the lives of others drifting away from them, but he didn't care about this feeling and simply ignored it. If he had only known what this feeling was a forerunner of, he would have probably let Death just kill him. As it was, he just kept running down the road.

"Flame?" A weak voice called. It wasn't Hope, but this voice caught his attention just as much. He screeched to a halt and looked in the direction of the voice, it was Rose Petal. His heart almost stopped at what he saw, his sister was sprawled on the the ground with one of her legs bent in a way it never should bend and crimson blood was trickling down her sides from various deep cuts. He stumbled over to her, he could feel her life slipping away from her. He practically fell to the ground next to her, "Rose? Short-stuff?"

"Why am I so cold? Why am I so sleepy?" She asked as her eyes began to close, much to her brother's horror.

"Rose! Please don't go to sleep, please!" He exclaimed, but it was already too late. As her eyes closed, her body went limp. He knew she was dead, he could feel it. He had just lost his little sister, he had probably already lost the rest of his immediate family. His thoughts jumped back to somepony he had been hopping to ask join his family, Hope.

Flame literally jumped to his hooves, he did not intend to simply let Hope be added to the massacre. He thundered off at full speed to Nick Knack's shop. There were attacking ponies and debris in his way, but not for long. With both his high speed and his magic made plow, he smashed his way though without much resistance.

When he got to his destination, what he saw nearly made him fall over when coming to a stop. Almost the entire second story was gone, and what was left was kindling with fire. He just about stumbled though the door, which was blown off its hinges. It was then that he saw her, and the condition she was in made his heart nearly stop in horror. Hope was covered in cuts and large splinters, some were about the size and length of his horn. Her mane was burned in places and her own blood was giving her once light purple coat a deep crimson huge. He laid down next to her before whispering, "H-Hope?"

She opened her rose pink eyes, they didn't sparkle as much as they use to, but it was still a beautiful sight to him. He wouldn't let her die, he just couldn't, "Don't worry Hope, I'll get help."

"Flame, wait." He heard her by now weak voice say as he was about to get up. He looked back into her eyes, the look on her face was serious, "Flame, I'm dieing to fast to be helped, just let me spend my last moments with you."

The red stallion's eyes were beginning to fill with tears that were being made by the pain of his heart breaking, "You can't die, you just can't. I-I was going to a-ask you to marry me, y-you can't just die."

She brought a hoof to his cheek with a small smile on her face, "I would have loved to, but I can't now. Flame, don't kill yourself just because I'm gone, your to special for that. I wish I wasn't moving on, but I am, and you should to."

His stray tears now turned to full on crying, "B-but life won't be the same without you."

"Just move on, for my sake at least." She pleaded.

Flame couldn't imagine a life without her, but knew deep in his heart that she was right, "Okay. I-I promise I'll live on, for your sake."

Hope let a weak smile come to her face, she loved him and didn't want him to kill himself when she passed-on. She had only one last request, "Flame, can you spend my last moments with me, let me feel you love before I die?"

Flame wordlessly moved closer to the mare he loved, then he caressed her cheek with the side of his head. He could feel her life beginning to slip away, he thought this was because of his close proximity to her... he would later discover that was not so. He gave her one last kiss, he knew this was the last time he would ever be with her till he to joins her in the afterlife.

"Know that I have always loved you Flame and always will, even in the afterlife. You could always make me smile, even when my soul was crushed. Now, go and find another to make happy, to give your heart to. Don't forget me, but don't let memories of me keep you from living. I could never fully tell you how much I love you, even if I had from now to eternity. You are more special than you think, let somepony else see that fact to. Not just to make me happy, but to make you happy as well." These were the last things she said before her life left her cooling body.

Flame just laid there for, well, he had no idea how long he was there, time had almost lost all meaning to him. Then, with a look of steel in his eyes, he stood to his hooves. He had been helpless to save her, but there were other lives he could save. He trotted to the door before he looked back and said, "I may not have been able to save you, but I'll save as many as I can. I'll miss you."

With that, he began to run down the street to town square, where he guessed any survivors would gather.

)-8-(

In town square, the last of the survivors were doing everything they could do to defend themselves. There were not that many left, out of over two hundred citizens, only thirty nine were still among the living. They were surrounded, to say things looked bleak was an understatement.

Flame could see this, he knew exactly what to do, it was time to live up to his name. He pushed himself to try to go beyond his top speed, he was soon rewarded by sparks flying off his hooves. He timed his boost just right and...

*BOOM!*

His hooves burst into flames as his speed instantly doubled, leaving twin trails of fire behind him. He summoned his battering blow with his light blue magic. If he had cared to look closer, he would have noticed the purple tint it was beginning to develop.

The survivors watched in aw as the attacking ponies around them were sent flying high into the air. One of them, a dark blue earth pony with a light blue mane named Wave Walker, immediately took charge of the situation. The young and injured were loaded onto the backs of the able. They began to orderly run to the northeast, their destination being Ponyville. Wave Walker knew who had saved them from death, all of them knew, "Flame Hooves! We're going to Ponyville, just to the northeast! Cover and clear the way for us till we get to the forest, then get to us!"

Flame snapped about face to clear the way, there were a good number of ponies in the way... but not for long. He plowed though the aggressors with ease, sending every one of them high into the air. There was soon only one pony standing in the way of the survivors, and Flame did not intend to let this one get off easy. He slowed down so that he wouldn't break his neck, and aimed his horn at the unsuspecting pony's chest. He rammed the unfortunate pony horn first, his horn finding its mark between the pony's ribs. Crimson blood began to run onto Flame's head, the black cloaked pony let out a gasp as he began to feel himself die. The enraged red unicorn ripped his horn up, turning the puncture wound into a gaping gash. He looked down at the dieing pony with an ice cold glare, till a deep blue hoof was put on his shoulder.

He looked back to see Wave Walker, "Flame, we need to get out of here, now. I understand that you want revenge, but now is not the time, we can do that later."

The red stallion knew he was right, so he wordlessly followed his elder. The survivors ran into the forest heading toward Ponyville, but soon slowed their pace to a fast walk. None of them were unscathed, they all had cuts and bruises, some were even limping. Others were so bad off that they couldn't even walk, others of the pegasi would probably never be able to fly again. All forty survivors, including Flame, were wearily making their way to their only hope of survival, Ponyville.

However, they were actually walking into a trap. Death didn't plan on letting them go this easy. He did plan on letting them go, yes, but not without hardships. He had setup an ambush halfway between Ponyville and Hoofberg. Four black cloaked ponies waited for the survivors to come by, weapons at the ready. Here they came, all of the injured ponies. Notching arrows on their bows, they prepared to attack.

One of the ponies let an arrow lose to early, hitting one of the unburdened survivors. The arrow slammed into the pony's head, right though his skull. The moment the arrow hit, a dark spark went off in Flame's brain. He clasped his cranium in his forehooves, yelling in pain. His body writhed on the ground in agony as it beginning to burn. Rolling flames began to flow over his body, the red of on his coat turned from a bright red to a dark volcanic red. All of the other ponies were just watching on in aw, nopony knew what in Equestria was happening. His mane was turning from a solid orange to a fiery yellow, orange, and red. A burning sensation began to gather in his horn from the whole of his body, his horn beginning to blaze with small tongs of fire flying off it, burning the blood off it. The intensity of the fire on his horn grew, until a concentrated stream of fire blasted into the air with a spin. The stream turned into four burning ribbons heading toward the four attacking, burning straight though their heads.

As the fire died down, Flame fainted. Wave Walker trotted over to his young friend and hoisted him onto his back, "Come on, we need to get him to an expert to see what happened here."

With nods of agreement, the survivors continued on their way to Ponyville.

)-8-(

Six friends were walking though town to have a picnic, it was a beautiful day after all. It was the mane six who were doing so. Spike was sitting on Twilight's back looking though the picnic baskets just to see what was there, and sneak a few bites of food. It was almost midday, there was barely a cloud in the sky. The six ponies and baby dragon were talking happily, but that was about to change.

It was when they were at the edge of town that they saw it, a large group of ponies walking out of the forest to Ponyville. At first, they were excited that there were going to be new ponies in town. That was when they saw it, the many injures. Picnic forgotten, they ran over to help the unfortunate ponies. Rainbow Dash bolted to hospital to get the doctors. It was at that moment Twilight saw him, a dark volcanic red unicorn stallion with a fire like mane on the back of a dark blue earth pony with a light blue mane.

As she got closer, she saw blood on the smaller stallion's head. A gasp escaped her mouth and she quickly closed the distance, "What happened to him? Why does he have blood on his head?"

The blue stallion shook his head, "None of us know what happened to him, his body was completely changed somehow. The blood on his head, if you really want to know, isn't his."

Twilight looked at the unicorn stallion almost in horror, he had killed somepony. She was also very intrigued, he had gone though a complete bodily change, she had never heard about this sort of thing before. This was when the doctors came to help the poor souls, even doing some on-site emergency stabilization. The lavender mare helped the blue earth pony and the unfortunate red unicorn, even using her magic to get the red one onto a bed.

The librarian decided to get some information about what the strange red stallion use to look like, "Can you tell me exactly what changed about his physical appearance?"

"Well" Wave Walker began, "His coat became a darker red, His mane turned from just an orange to these fire-like colors, and his cutie mark changed to... well, I'm not sure what it is now."

Twilight had a confused look on her face, a full on cutie mark change, that was completely unheard of. She stared at the mysterious stallion, what secrets did his body hide? Never in the recorded history of Equestria had anypony ever have their cutie mark change in the least, but here was somepony who had it change all together. She moved her gaze at his new mark, it was a pool of magma with a phoenix flying out of it. Was it just her, or was the magma bubbling? This cutie mark was a new one on her, she has never heard or read about one like this before. Her gaze shoot back to his closed eyes when a groan came from his mouth.

)-8-(

His whole body felt like the Ursa major had been dropped square on top of him when it was in a bad mood, then left there to smash him with its paws. Bright light began invading the darkness of his mind, so he groaned in slight pain. The light grew brighter as he rejoined the world of the living, why was the light so bright? He slowly opened his eyes, a lavender purple blob was all he could see. As his vision began to settle, the blob began to refine itself into the face of a pony he had never seen before. It was a mare, that much apparent from the shape of her face, only mares have that small of a snout. Her face was a rather pretty one, he had to admit that. She had a plum purple mane with two strips in it, one a deep royal purple and the other hot pink. The horn poking though her bangs confirmed that she was a unicorn. It was her eyes, however, that got his attention, it looked like she had two well carved amethysts for irises.

They both looked into each others eyes for what seemed like the longest time, before the third pony in the room spoke, "It's good to see your awake, my young friend."

He turned his gaze to see a very familiar blue earth pony, "It's good to see you made it here as well, Wave."

A hoof gently prodded his shoulder to get his attention, it was the purple unicorn mare, "I know you two are friends, but you just went though a major physical change and we need to make sure that the magic that did this didn't do permanent damage to you."

"Can I know your name so that I may address you properly?" He asked.

"Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's librarian and personal student of Princess Celestia." The now identified Twilight told him with a smile.

"Alright, Miss. Sparkle." He began, "where do you want to start with the process of assessing the full effect that magic had on me?"

The purple mare blushed slightly, "Please, just call me Twilight."

He nodded his head to show acknowledgment of her request. That settled, she looked thoughtful for a moment before she spoke again, "Okay. First off, can you remember your name?"

Normally, he would answer a question like this without a thought, but something was wrong. He knew his own name... but that wasn't the name that was trying to come out of his mouth, "I know my name, but I have a strange urge to call myself something else."

Twilight and Wave Walker shared a worried look, this was not a good sign, "And what is that name."

The worried and uncertain look in his still baby blue eyes was obvious, "That name is, Inferno."