Pink Scorch is almost ready to publish

After going through the document with one of my proofreaders, I've decided that the story is almost ready to be published. All that's left to do is write two remaining scenes -- which I hope to take care of today -- do some intense editing, let my editors have at it, and wait on the cover art. If everything pulls together nicely, I should have the story on the site by the end of the week.

HOWEVER, if you're looking forward to it and DM me, I will be more then happy to send you the draft. :)

In the meantime, have a sneak peek from the unedited version.

“Um, hey!” Winter called. “Are you responsible for all of this?”

The green mare squinted at Winter through her goggles. “Yeah. Why?”

“Can you, like, stop?”

“No. Why?”

She pointed up at the pillar of smoke. “Because you just destroyed a building?”

“Yeah, I know.” 

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Felt like it.”

Winter tilted her head. “You felt like it?”

“Yeah.”

“O-okay.”

One of the hoses floating over the mare’s head pointed at Winter. “Hey, no offense, but I’m gonna have to blast you.”

Winter frowned. “Okay… why?”

“Evil reasons.”

“Alright… please… don’t?”

“Why, do you juice?”

Winter took a moment to wrap her mind around the mare’s question. “Do I—what?”

“Let’s say you go to a party and beverages are involved. There’s a nice healthy bowl of homemade fruit juice at the catering table. Right next to it is a two-liter of soda—diet optional. Which do you immediately go for?”

Winter tapped her chin in thought, wondering if this was some kind of trick question. “I-is there Professor Blepper?”

“There’s whatever you like.”

“Okay. The soda then. I’m a slut for Cherry Professor Blepper.”

Suddenly, an overwhelming look came over the mare. It displayed a concoction of feelings, ranging from terror, to malice, to downright rage. 

“Wrong answer!” she screamed. 

A torrent of spiraling green liquid shot from the hose’s nozzle, coming toward her at a ludicrous speed. Caught in the grip of confusion, Winter barely had time to register the immediate danger before Claire wrapped a tendril around her neck and wanked her out of the way.

She stumbled on her own hooves as the blast grazed her mane and slammed into a parked car on the other side of the street. It jostled in place, windows shattering, alarms blaring. 

“Don’t just stand there, idiot!” Claire blurted in her ear. “Either run or merge, which is it?” 

The green mare pointed both hoses in her direction. 

“Both!” Winter shouted, jumping aside just in time to dodge another blast. It trailed in a continuous torrent as she ran. She considered all of her options in that moment. She could either use Pink Scorch now, giving away her secret to this stranger, or she could find somewhere to hide and transform. 

Her head turned, swiveled, spun; she dodged, she danced, she leaped. The parkling lot was fairly sized, although cars were few in number. She could take cover behind one, although transforming would allude to her true identity. 

There was only one option, and that option was violence.

Another blast shot at her hooves, and in an impressive display of agility, Winter dove forward; doing a cartwheel on one hoof before landing on all fours and immediately charging toward the mare.

The mare did a doubletake, shocked by the display. Shaking her head, she fired yet another torrent.

Winter side rolled, slid, and took cover behind a car. Another blast hit the driver's door. Just like the previous, its windows shattered, sending glass flying over her. Her ears rang as the alarm sang the most annoying of octaves, but she tried her best to ignore it.

Claire floated behind, yelling into her ear, “Are you seriously trying to take her on with your pathetic mortal body?”

“What else can I do?” Winter yelled over the alarm while brushing glass out of her mane. “If we use Pink Scorch now, there’s a chance our secret could get out.”

Claire swiveled around her head, pressing her face into Winter’s. “So you’re willing to get yourself killed!? Did our pact mean nothing?”

“It’ll be fine, Claire! We can still use her as a last resort.”

Claire pulled back, and before dissipating into a cloud said, “You better know what you’re doing.”

A single word echoed through her head. It was a word that held the one true answer, and if she was willing to say it at that moment the turn of events will likely be different. 

That word was, Nope.

She slid across the car’s hood. The mare fired another torrent of liquid, and Winter merely sidestepped it. 

The mare’s furious expression turned to shock, and she took a step back at the realization that her enemy was closing in on her. 

“Shi—” was all she had time to say before Winter came galloping up and punched her square in the jaw, practically throwing her hoof into her face.

The villainous mare backpedaled a few steps before regaining her composure. “Owe!” She yelped. Then, rubbing her jaw and utterly perplexed, said, “You—you hit me. You actually hit me.”

“That’s right bitch!” Winter said stoically, although she was also very surprised. “Those hoses aren’t that useful now, huh? Square up!”

Frowning, the mare didn’t “square up.” Winter yelped as one of the hoses wrapped around her neck and lifted her into the air. It wasn’t tight enough to asphyxiate her, but she still tried to pry it off her neck with her forehooves. 

“Ahh, what the heck!”

“Rules of fighting one-oh-one, unicorns don’t ‘square up.’” She pointed the second hose at Winter’s face point blank. “Tell me, do you like kale?”

Winter stopped her struggling to interpret the question. “What?”

“Mere moments ago I was on a date,” she started. “It’s not usually my thing, but I wanted a change of pace. I met a nice stallion on a dating app who had similar interests to mine, or so I thought. When I asked him his thoughts on kale, he made a horrible retching noise, as if it was the poison to top all poisons. And to be honest with you…”

She clenched her eyes such and gritted her teeth, looking as if she were about to cry. “I am tired of the reception that kale gets!” she choked out. “I was scrolling through videos on Clip-Clop the other day and read a comment that described it as ‘the toilet paper of vegetables.’ Do you know how insulting that is? I mean, it’s one of the healthiest greens out there!”

Winter hung limply, still trying to configure the information. “What?”

“Just answer the question. Do you like kale?”

“It’s… alright, I guess.”

The nozzle got so close to her face that it was practically all she could see. “Alright? That’s it? You don’t love it, you don’t hate it?”

“I-I don’t know how you want me to answer.”

Winter clenched her eyes shut, waiting for the moment of impact.

But the mare had more questions. She pulled the nozzle away and gesticulated it through the air conversely. “Well, perhaps you haven’t had it enough. When’s the last time you tried it?”

Winter stared down at her, perpetually confused. “I had it last night for dinner?”

She frowned. “Just kale.”

“It was in a salad.”

“Aaand what was in said salad?”

“Uh…” Winter racked her brain, trying to remember. “Kale, lettuce, spinach, radishes, uh… croutons—”

“CROUTONS ARE HIGH IN CARBOHYDRATES!”

Her heart flipped as the hose aimed in her direction, that was before Claire grabbed it by its neck and yanked it away. At that same moment, the vicious torrent released, shooting diagonally across the parking lot. 

“What?” The mare said. Looking in Claire’s direction. She saw nothing, which gave the demon ample opportunity to pull the goggles from her face and release them so that they smacked her square in the eyes. “Ahh!”

She dropped Winter, who landed on all fours. She considered using the opportunity to tackle the villainous mare, but thought better of it when she remembered the previous predicament. There was only one other option.

She ran into the burning building.

“Hey!” The mare shouted. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” She moved to stop the mare, but stopped herself. “Meh, that’s on her. I’m going to destroy more stuff.”

She walked off, blasting more stuff.

And if you haven't already, please consider donating to my GoFundMe so that I can stay afloat while I'm between jobs. Rent is due by the 3rd, and if I can at the very least pay a huge chunk of it on time, I'll be in the clear for the rest of the month. If you can't donate anything but would still like to contribute, giving the donation pool a bump would be really helpful. Thanks a bunch!

And here's the villian!