//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: Fire of Passion // by Zachurra //------------------------------// Fluttershy burst from the mound of snow that she had been so rudely buried under and held her body tightly as she shivered. What in the world had happened? Just a moment ago, she and the other girls - plus Dawn - had met with the one that the colt had named Relinquish. He had poured water over them all and then there was a loud noise, followed by a sudden sensation of drowning, and now she was... ...Wait, where was she? Fluttershy gasped as her eyes finally took in her surroundings. She was facing rolling hills of snow in every direction, and if she didn't know any better then she would presume that a terrible blizzard was just about to settle in for the long haul. "T-T-Twilight?" She tried to shout past her quivering. Her fears were slowly becoming realized as no response returned save for the growing gusts of wind. "R-Rainbow Dash? New D-D-Dawn? Anyp-pony!?" Her eyes began to water as she frantically looked back and forth along the frozen wasteland she was currently stuck in all by herself. All she could see as snow, snow, and more freezing snow. She turned her head again in vain hopes of seeing some form of life and was met by something that wasn't there previously. A sharp, frozen piece of ice jutted from the landscape. Its tip came just mere inches from her face, causing the mare to recoil back in fright. Just then, she heard the sound of the snow behind her shifting around and spun around to be met by yet another frozen spike. She caught sight of it just as it, too, came just out of reach of her skin. Suddenly more and more began to appear and grow out of the ground, each barely falling short of their presumed target. With each step backwards she took, another spike appeared to close the distance she was so desperately trying to get between herself and the ice. The poor Pegasus mare fell to her haunches, ready to burst into tears as some unseen force seemed to toy with her. However, much to her surprise, her back came in contact with something. She quickly spun around, fearing it to be another hazardous piece of ice, and was shocked to find herself under the piercing glare of a Unicorn mare. Her horn was glowing brightly and her raincoat flapped about in the wind. Oddly, she appeared to be soaking wet, as if she had just been pushed into a pool of water. "Look at you," She said rather loudly to be heard above the winds. "So stupid and dumbfounded that you don't even realize the danger you're in." Fluttershy quickly scrambled over herself to put some distance between herself and the mare while simultaneously trying to stay away from the spikes from before. "Y-You... You're..." Morning Dew, or Revenant as she was now known, clicked her tongue. "Oh look, the little wretch knows how to speak. If only she was smart enough to remember she had wings, or realize that her race's one and only use is weather manipulation and a mere blizzard should be child's play." Revenant's horn glowed brightly once again, and with a resounding boom, a massive hole in the clouds exploded outward, leaving the two ponies to bask in the newfound sunlight. Fluttershy was practically hyperventalating at this point due to both the harsh weather and the rude mare's words, but she allowed herself a moment to relax now that the sun had revealed itself once again. "You Pegasi are worthless," Fluttershy's anxiety returned just as quickly as it had faded when the Unicorn spoke again. The snow around her began to stir and encircle the Unicorn. It lifted off the ground and melted, turning into pure water. The water came together in seperate coursing streams that rapidly began revolving around her like astral bodies to a star. "You lay there, dumbstruck like a foal. You have wings yet you do not fly, your race claims to be prideful yet you shiver beneath the cold and desperately seek your allies." Suddenly the streams of water lashed out, wrapping themselves around Fluttershy's neck and pulling her off the ground before instantly solidifying back into ice. She tried to pull the icy grip away from her neck, but her efforts proved fruitless. She was already beginning to feel lightheaded as air now failed to reach her lungs. As the darkness began to encroach upon her vision, she was able to catch sight of Revenant being lifted up by the water to be eye to eye with the suffocating mare. Revenant pulled her hood back to reveal the rest of her dark mane and leaned in towards the mare's ear. She opened her mouth as if about to speak, but then seemed to reconsider at the last moment. The water pulled her back so the two could look each other in the eye once more. If Fluttershy hadn't known any better, she may have thought that the Unicorn was conflicted about what she was about to do. The Pegasus mare didn't get much of an opportunity to mull over the thought before a battering ram of ice slammed into her body, knocking whatever breath she still had out of her as well as shattering the ice that held her neck in their freezing grip. She was thrown backwards and slid along the snow before coming to a halt. She held to her stomach and chest as she gasped for the air that had been taken from her lungs. Fear soon returned to the poor mare. Not fear of what had happened to her body, but fear of what was about to happen, as she soon heard the sound of water flowing through the air once more. Her eyes snapped in the Unicorn's direction to see her being lifted into the air by what looked like a geyser. "You'd best start running," She said just loud enough for the mare to hear, "Or do you intend to disappoint one final time?" Fluttershy quickly realized the opportunity she had been given and pulled herself off of the ground. Despite the pain across her entire underside, she ran forward before spreading her wings and taking to the air. Behind her she could hear the water transforming into a furious torrent. She dared not look back in fear that what was behind her would reach her. Even moreso, she dared not think about what might happen if the waters did reach her. Would she simply become encased within the pool without any hopes of escape and left to drown, or would the pressure of the sea crush her body underneath it? The twisted mare that was chasing her down had shown her surprising mercy thus far, but it was quickly becoming apparent that that was all she was going to get in this encounter. Just behind the Element of Kindness was a raging storm of water. Atop it stood the mare who controlled it, bobbing and weaving in almost instant turns to stay right on the tail of her prey. To give the mare credit, she was flying quite a bit faster than Revenant had anticipated she could. Most of her focus had to remain on the stability of the torrent lest she fall behind. Both mare's focus soon turned to their own problems rather than each other when they reentered the raging blizzard. The wind threatened to send both toppling back down into the snow, but the Unicorn held her ground against it. Fluttershy, instead of fighting against the winds, used them to her advantage. Whenever the wind would blow, she would let it take her and change direction. It was the only thing keeping her ahead of the threat that loomed behind her, and she knew it. If the wind pushed her the wrong way, she was done for. "Enough of this!" Revenant shouted. She was growing frustrated with the Pegasus' maneuverablity in such a hostile enviornment. From her snaking geyser came a dozen tendrils. Their ends froze to ice and lashed out at the Pegasus in an attempt to pierce her body like harpoons and ground her once and for all. The first shot sailed right past the mare's head, causing her to gasp and react by darting in the opposite direction. Revenant's assault was relentless and more than once did the icy spears come close enough to leave their target with scratches. Thankfully, scratches were all they were. Fluttershy was able to remain in the sky, and thus remain alive. However, unbeknownst to the Pegasus was that not every shot was intended to hit. Revenant saw the way that Fluttershy would change direction with every lash that failed to meet their target. With that, she could potentially control the mare's trajectory and lead her straight to her doom. As if the gods themselves gave their approval of her plan, the mare's eyes caught sight of just where to lead her. A scar in the earth, a ravine large enough for her storm of water to chase after her prey. Just as she had expected, Revenant was able to lead the Pegasus downward and below the layers of snow and ice. Now Fluttershy had no wind to aid her and her maneuverability had been severely limited. The Unicorn allowed herself a small smile in knowing that her plan was coming to be a success and all of this would be over soon. And then she felt something touch her lips. It was wet, which came as no surprise at first considering the storm just above them. That, as well as the fact that her body was perpetually drenched in water, would have gave her every reason to ignore the slight touch. However, it was the taste that truly threw her off. It tasted salty, like a... Was this mare crying? This mare was actually crying as she flew for her life. She was crying. She felt. Revenant didn't realize it, but her tendrils had completely disolved and fell to the ground with a splash. She was far too concerned with the fact that this mare, who she had been relentlessly chasing down for what had probably been several miles now with the full intent to kill her and leave the corpse to the mercy of this icy and ruthless wasteland, was feeling not only fear... but sadness. She felt hopeless because she knew she was running out of options and could not fly forever. She was fearful of what will happen when her body eventually forces her to stop. She was filled with anxiety over the coming end. But the emotion that flows most within her heart was sadness. She is sad because she will die. She is sad because her friends are gone. She is sad because she knows there is nothing she can do. Revenant gasped as she felt a warm trickle run down her cheeks from her now wide eyes. She quickly rubbed her cheeks and looked at her hooves. Of course, she couldn't see it in her fur, but she knew it was there. "No!" She shouted, not so much at the mare ahead of her but rather at herself. "I will not allow you to trick me like this!" Fluttershy's pupils shrank as she saw that her only means of escape was now a cavern within the ravine. A cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites, and if she made one wrong move then it might not be the crazy and empowered mare behind her that punched her ticket. Revenant's water slammed around the edges of the cavern, leaving Fluttershy with only a wall of water behind her with no way to go but forward. She risked a quick look behind her and immediately wished she hadn't. Her eyes were met by a mare who wore true rage. "I WILL PUT YOU DOWN LIKE THE ANIMAL YOU ARE!" From the wall of water came large spikes of ice that were the size of the mare that controlled them. One by one they shot forward almost haphazardly, with some not even coming close to their intended target. "I WILL STAIN THE SNOW THIS DAY!" Fluttershy whinced as one of the tainted mare's shots soared right over her, cutting the bicep of her wing and bashing the side of her face with it's edge. It then continued soaring upwards through the air, where it collided with a rather large stalactite and left the piece of stone loosely hanging in position. "YOUR DEATH WILL BE MY BEGINNING!" Fluttershy zoomed past the hanging stone, her wings about to give up from exhaustion and the burning pain from her wound. "I'LL CRUSH YOU AND THEN SHE WILL FINALLY BE PR-" The sound of something crashing down behind her prompted the mare, despite her brain telling her not to, to look behind her. She saw the wall of water come crashing down, lightly flooding the entirety of the of the cavern's floor. Amongst all of the stalagmites and water was something different from the rest: one of the hanging stalactites had fallen down... right onto the mare that had been chasing her. Her brain was telling her to flee, but her heart wouldn't allow it. Fluttershy quickly glided down to the impaled mare and took her hoof. Only then did she see just how much that the both of them were shaking. Revenant's eyes were wide as she tried to register what had just happened. Her pupils were the size of pins and nothing but nearly silent whimpers came from her mouth. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness... I, oh..." Fluttershy looked around the cavern, for what she did not know. There was nothing she could do to save this mare. There was nothing she could do to at least ease her suffering. Her frantic gaze turned back to Revenant, who was still quivering. As a fresh stream began to fall from her cheeks, her body stopped quivering and her whimpering ceased. --- Fluttershy pulled herself up out of the land's scar. With her wounded wing, any hopes of flying again anytime soon were pointless and that was the very last thing she needed while stranded out in the middle of Celestia-knows-where. That thought was soon retracted as the heavy beating of wings could be heard. They began at a distance but very quickly - much too quickly for her liking - closed the distance. For the second time, Fluttershy heard a loud boom as something large landed on the ground near her. However, this time it was not something as simple as a fallen stalactite. This time it was a crimson scaled dragon that was the size of a house. ------------- Applejack gasped her air as she breached the water's surface. She pushed her soaking wet hat and mane from her face only to be met by the general darkness that came standard with being at the bottom of... a well? With some effort, the farm pony pulled herself up to the stone rim at the top of the well. Again she had to push her mane from her eyes and realized that, despite being in the middle of the Everfree forest just moments ago, she was now smack dab in the middle of Ponyville. "What in tarnation...?" She said quietly to herself as she attempted to readjust her hat before it, too, fell to obscure her field of view. Just then, an extended red hoof came into view. With a smile, Applejack took the hoof and inwardly thanked Celestia that Ponyville ponies were kind souls even in rather awkward times. And nothing was more awkward than being forcefully pulled halfway out of a well to come muzzle to muzzle with a small red mare with a very, very furious look in her eyes.