//------------------------------// // 23 - Up And At 'Em // Story: Expanding Horizons // by mechafone //------------------------------// "Hrm?!" came the assassin's inquiry. "Well you didn't think my spit was going to cure you, did ya?" Melba patted the mare's head. "It slowed the effects of the poison. Like Seaweed said, the antidote doesn't grow on the island. A nymph, however…” Fire Lotus looked like she was going to puke from nervousness. She peered up first at Spark, then Ampelus. Her breathing quickened just a pace, then looked away, eyes closed. "What's with her?" Callie asked. "She almost killed Ampelus last year. Now her life is in her hooves," Spark replied simply. "She waf a pain...in my AFF." Fire Lotus spoke with a muffled grunt. "Yeah, well you kidnapped our friends, tortured others, and helped Shimmering Oasis put the entire kingdom of Equestria in jeopardy." "Oaaarghmygaw," she groaned. "Jus' pu' me underalreay!" Callie balked. "Just who is she, Sparky?" He sighed and glanced at Ampelus, who looked like she still hadn't made up her mind on strangling Fire Lotus or letting the poison take her. "She's a world-class assassin that's been our enemy for the last two years. When I met her she was profiteering off a war in her home country. She kidnapped and tried to kill two of my friends. Then, she came to Equestria, kidnapped more of my friends and nearly killed me and another friend. I gather that she's here to kill someone else on the island." Callie gasped and took a few steps away from Fire Lotus. The changelings themselves looked about ready to put the assassin out of her misery themselves. "Heheh...is that all you've accomplished?" All eyes turned to Melba. "I've seen court jesters with more ambition than you accomplish ten times as much, and with much less talent than you've got." Fire Lotus glared at the wollypog. Melba grinned back at her, offering a shrug. "You haven't done a whole lot with your life, have you? You've gotta be...what, early, mid twenties? You've seen blood and wars and maybe a few monsters. But have you ever tried kindness? There's a whole other side to life that you don't know about, and it's a lot bigger than what you know." The assassin just stared at the wollypog. For a moment, it seemed that she was actually considering her words. Finally, she rolled her eyes. "Shtufit." Melba turned to Spark Storm and shrugged. "Well, that's about it, I guess. It's up to her, now." The group settled their collective gaze on Ampelus. Her expression had been unreadable, until now. She looked as if she were about to make the most important decision of her life. Suddenly, her mouth opened and out spewed five honeysuckle-like tentacles. They picked Fire Lotus up gently, pulled out the mess of chewed leaves, and proceeded down the mare's throat. Fire Lotus choked, and began to writhe violently. The whole group with fixed expressions, mixes of horror and trepidation. It took a moment, but a purplish trail of dark liquid began dribbling down the assassin's thigh. Finally, the tentacles retracted and Fire Lotus sat up, coughing and hacking up saliva that probably wasn't hers. She turned to glare at Ampelus, her fur practically standing on end. "You...I know what you did!!" "She saved your life, is what she did!" Spark yelled at her, taking a step closer. "No, she sent some of those tentacles into my brain stem!" Fire Lotus seethed. "Uhhh she what?" Spark said, turning to balk at Ampelus. "Yeah. I wanted to see what you're doing out this way. You weren't likely to tell us, were you?" While Fire Lotus seethed at the nymph, Spark Storm stepped closer to Ampelus. "Uh...look, I can appreciate this now, but...maybe in the future-" Ampelus rounded on the pegasus, real anger in her eyes. "Hey. I'm just trying to get some results here, Spark Storm. Things have been moving a little too disappointingly slow and we're not getting anywhere." Callie let out a tiny gasp at those key words. Any female could've picked out the nymph's phrasing in a crowd. Spark's ears pulled back as he felt something he'd never felt before, something like guilt, but worse. "Wait...are you mad at me?" Ampelus stared at Spark as if he'd asked her the dumbest question in the world. In some perspectives, he had. "Are y...am I m...am I MAD??" Ampelus began to shake, vines sprouting and making that dry rattling the changelings hated so much. Spark himself looked like he would need to defend himself. Fire Lotus took a step back from the nymph. She didn't want to know what an angry nymph looked like, but that's when she noticed - her pain was gone. "Did you heal my butt wound?" Despite the deafening rattling, the question was heard. Ampelus' mood fizzled out, which the changelings were quite thankful for. The nymph sighed and slowly turned to Fire Lotus. "Yes. I did. We're probably going to need your fighting abilities in Breen. Oh, and you're going to need us, aren't you?" The assassin scowled and diverted her eyes. "Because somebody couldn't keep their mouuuthes shut!" she said in a sing-song tune. Spark Storm watched Ampelus with a mix of confusion and sadness. What was happening to his friend and ally? And when did she suddenly have the ability to read minds or expel poison or heal wounds? And for the love of Celestia, why was she mad at him?? And...wait. Hold up. "Uh, excuse me, but it sounds like you just invited a deadly assassin to sail with us to Breen, Ampelus." "Yes," she turned to him, a concerned expression know her eyes. "Spark, things are going to get a lot more difficult from here on out. We're going to need as much help as possible." Fire Lotus, who hadn't agreed to anything, glared at Ampelus with a side glance. If anything, she was using them. What was that nymph thinking? "How can you be sure of that, Ampelus? How can you do any of this? You - you're showing abilities I've never seen before. What's happening with you?" Instead of answering immediately, Ampelus approached him slowly. The expression on her face was gentle, but her eyes were sad, so very sad. "Oh Spark," she whispered as she tenderly rubbed his cheek with the inside of her leg. It was an intimate touch, one that made Callie blush from watching. Even Fire Lotus had to admit, it was an intriguing show. Spark Storm had frozen. She'd never touched him like this before, not even to tease. This lacked a sense of sensuality, or roughness, or aggression. Frankly, it scared the pegasus. Ampelus brought his chin closer to hers, their muzzles close enough to feel their breath on each other's lips. For all this intimacy, though, Ampelus could still feel the tension in Spark's body. This isn't what he wanted. The sting of this feeling was something she would never forget, even long after the fourth era had passed. "Spark Storm, I..." she paused, lowering her head into his shoulder. She pressed herself against him gently, taking a moment of silence. Finally she pulled away from him, leaving a cold space on him where her body had been. "It's time to grow up." Spark Storm remained frozen in place for a moment as Ampelus turned to Fire Lotus. The assassin frowned, and peered sideways at the nymph. "You've got issues. He's a-" "Shut it." Ampelus wrapped a front leg around the mare's muzzle. "Couple things. You're going to abandon the hit on the child. You're going to do whatever we need or ask of you. You're part of our mission to get the changeling royals to Breen, and whatever else we're going to have to do there." Fire Lotus glared at her, but there wasn't much to do without proper preparation. "When we're done in Breen, feel free to pursue those other contracts. They have nothing to do with us." She released the assassin without waiting for confirmation. There was no room for argument. With that, Ampelus turned to the changelings. "You'll need to get back to the beach. Go together. There's a psychopath in the woods looking for us." Fire Lotus perked up at that. The beach? That was in the opposite direction she'd come with the pirates. Looking thoughtful, then mischievous, she rushed towards the beach alone. "And you?" Melba asked Ampelus. She wore an impossibly wide grin, apparently impressed with the changes in the nymph. "I'm going to put down that little worm so can move freely and safely, so we can sail to Breen when the week is up." Without another word. Ampelus tried to keep the dark green liquid in her eyes from hitting the ground with her mane vines. The changelings had left shortly after Fire Lotus, so that left three figures, Callie, Melba, and Spark Storm. The wollypog looked up at the pegasus, a look of stalwart pride in her eyes. It earned her a look of reproach from Callie as she stepped over to her old friend. "Sparky? You ok?" She grasped his shoulder in her claw, giving it a light shake. He gasped, as if he'd been in a trance since Ampelus had broken their embrace. He looked at Callie as if she'd just popped into existence. "Uh..." He looked around for a moment, then brought up a hoof over his eyes. "Well yeah, of course I am," he said entirely unconvincingly. The wollypog shook her entire body back and forth, her eyes downcast. Callie frowned and sat up on her hind legs, both claws clasping his shoulders. "Spark, you n' Ampelus been through some stuff together, I can tell. You're really, really close, right?" Spark shuddered. He felt all kinds of deep, horrible feelings, some feelings he couldn't explain. "I...I feel like...I think I messed up..." he mumbled. As much as he wanted to open up more to Callie, there was something else in his chest, in his eyes. He couldn't look in her eyes. But Callie was an experienced griffon. She continued, speaking to him quietly. "...Do ya got a girl back home, Sparky?" And there it was. His truth exposed once again. He let out a sob and lowered his head, his tears hitting the ground, some on Callie's rough claws. "I...think so. She...she's waiting for me back home. And she's not the first that got in Ampelus' way, either. Ampelus, she...she's been waiting for me, too...and..." Callie reached down to gently cup his chin in her claw and raised his head to look into his eyes. "Do you care for Ampelus at all the way she does for you?" Spark drew in a slow, shuddering breath. Did he? Ampelus kept trying to throw herself at him. It happened so many times that he'd basically tuned out the attempts. Even the last few weeks, as he'd tried to recover from his depression, had been getting a little more desperate. But to actually express that she was tired of him, tired of the chase...did he want her to stop? Did he want to abandon Rarity and let Ampelus have him...? No. That little voice in his head spoke gently at him. No. I never wanted her. But her routines, her actions, the reliability of it all...I needed her to fill the space that Sohl left... Spark gasped and pulled away from Callie as if she were a banshee from Tartarus itself. She recoiled, afraid she'd hurt him. But for Spark Storm, it was the opposite. She had forced him to finally, finally dig deep within himself and discover what it was that truly tied him to Ampelus. "Aargh..." he sniffled and wiped at his eyes. "...no. no I dont. I...I used her. She was like a crutch, Callie. She held me up when I couldn't, and I expected it even when I didn't need it. I've taken her for granted. I...I think she's...done with me..." "Now, Spark," Callie chided gently. This confession had thoroughly impressed her. No male had ever had the balls to admit these things to her before! "D'ya think if she were done with ya, she'd still be helping ya?" She crossed her claws over her chest in thought. "If anythin', she's probably just trying to focus on somethin' other than you. You're kinda distracting!" "Ugh. Don't you start," he groaned, shaking off those deep feelings. It was time to get back in the game, with a fresh start and a freed conscience. "The last thing I need is a different crutch." "Well, if you need me," she said gently and returning to all fours. "I'm a pretty good crutch." Spark Storm gave her a grateful smile, then looked down at his hooves. Then at Callie again, his eyes getting wider. "Shit." "Spark, what is it?" He turned to Melba, his wings rubbing together lightly, then spreading, then gave them a broad flap. "Shit! Where's my chicken?!" Flash Fire sighed as she sat by a large pool in the afternoon sun. It was sooo boring waiting for Spark Storm to return. It was just him, wasn't it? No...apparently Ampelus had gone out into the forest before him, then came back and took him. That was...four hours ago. She was tempted to go visit Rolling Waves and the crew, but chances were they would not be happy to see her. She looked out across the pool and noticed a mare in her late teens. She was an absolutely gorgeous earth pony, a coat of dark orange that turned a rich cream further down her legs. She had a long, shiny blonde mane that was braided in places, and grinned at the males around her with bright teal eyes. Ugh. The unicorn rolled her eyes. Did this place just have to boast the most attractive ponies in the world? Everywhere she looked, the local life here was completely stunning, not an average-looking pony in sight. Well, besides her. Blegh. Did she really just get sent on this dumb mission so she could get all her body issues thrown at her? Her mane wasn't particularly girly, she hadn't really trimmed her hooves in a while and her coat wasn't too flattering - PLEASE stop. Flash Fire's self confidence was rooted in her abilities. In terms of power and her control over her firepower, she was in the top three of Celestia's class, right beside Spark Storm and Frostbite. In terms of mental health, she was in therapy. At least, she would be if she could tolerate "shrinks" being in her head and poking around. She cut a most imposing figure: she was loud, aggressive, and callous in matters that required more decorum than she would normally care to present. On the battle field, she was fierce, unforgiving, sometimes reckless, but she always made sure to get the job done. She was reliable under most conditions, but if she were angered, then woe to those that stood too close, friends or foes. Her confidence was bright and dangerous, threatening to topple even the bravest and the strongest of her opponents. And yet off the field, she was fragile. Being away from battle meant that the only fights she still had to deal with were the ones in her head, the ones that whispered that fighting was all she was good for. She would never have a real relationship, because she kept practicing her greatest skills while trying to socialize, and that was burning bridges. She shook her head of these intrusive thoughts and stood up. She really had to get away from the beach, it just kept making her angry. She would need to talk to Spark Storm about keeping the others waiting. She took another glance at Laser Reflex, who was off chatting it up with a stallion about Celestia knew what. Trixie had returned to dancing to the square music, though she'd lost her handsome partner from before, and Russet seemed content to just sit by himself and watch the others. Ugh. Who had time to relax? Taking another look around at the village, it seemed that the party never stopped. Ponies and sometimes a griffon came to eat, relax, get back up and dance. It almost seemed too weird until a few of them had packed up their things and started walking back towards the west, where the village stretched out for a while before disappearing into the woods. Just how big was this place? Flash Fire decided that if Spark Storm was going to take the whole day doing his thing, she might as well, too. She slunk off into the woods in the direction he'd gone. She hadn't gone too far when there was a commotion on her right. It sounded like multiple ponies running. There was a lot of splashing, too. She missed who had gone by, but it was a much bigger crowd than just Spark Storm and the nymph. She stopped and looked at the tracks in the mud. One, two, three, four, fi...how many? The tracks were very tight together and - Flash Fire's horn lit up as something shiny flew at her. She leapt back with a small but powerful gust of steaming fire blazing from the tip of her horn. The object fell to the forest floor, smoking and neatly melted into a shapeless blob of metal. "What the..." "Another one?" The voice crept out from the darkness of the surrounding trees. Had Flash Fire stepped into just the right amount of dense foliage to prevent the sun in here? The unicorn cast a small ball of firelight to hover just over her head. "Who are you, and what do you want?" "My name isn't really important. What is important is that Lusus doesn't have any surprise guests at his party tonight. I mean, it's at the bottom of the ocean, but we've got business up top here, too." Flash Fire didn't understand any of that. "Uh huh. I don't care. I do care that you seem to be hunting my friends." The unicorn took a few steps to the side, ears craning to try to catch where the voice was coming from. She felt wetness on her hooves, and realized she'd taken a step into the mud. Great. One wrong step and she'd get stuck and get one of those metal things in her face. "Well, it's just a little inconvenient, is all. We just want to have a little fun, a little party. You know, dancing, food, a little...regicide." Regicide? That fat unicorn this morning hadn't mentioned there being royalty on the island...did she say something about the bottom of the ocean?? "That regicide is your business, I'm not here to stand in the way of that. So how about you mosey along and quit bothering ponies?" "Ooh, I do like your attitude, but you've got it all wrong. You being on this island means you are in our way. You weren't supposed to beeeeee heeeeere..." the voice sang. Flash Fire's ears twitched as she heard another whistle. She leapt to the side, her tail losing a hair nearly at the base. "You are quick! A lot quicker than the red one, but I think she probably had a gimpy leg." The unicorn struggled to pinpoint the voice. It seemed to be moving back and forth, and very quickly. And there was an odd slithering sound that was unsettling her. There was mud wherever it was coming from, she could hear it sloshing around. Wait...the mud! She turned her eyes around the woods, pretending to still be confused. "I don't recall having a red companion..." she glanced down at the mud, noticing that it trailed into the woods up ahead to the left. She shot a beam of concentrated fire into the darkness, and watched as a large serpent figure dart around the fire for just a second. What in blazes?? The eel-like Seaweed Cyanide could waste no more time. This one was a clever fighter. She would need to distract her in order to get close. The unicorn had used the mud against her, well, two could play at that game...Flash Fire stepped carefully around the mud, trying to be as careful as possible. She could hear snapping sounds in the darkness, like twigs breaking off from branches. The first thorn came at her, dark and barely perceptible. It scratched her cheek just next to her eye, nearly leaving her blind. This monster was throwing thorns at her, hard enough to pierce her skin! What kind of monster was this?! And where was she finding the four inch thorns?? The thorns came too quickly. Flash Fire didn't know how she kept throwing the thorns this hard, but it would be impossible to avoid if she didn't do something fast! The trajectory of the thorns could not be pinned down, she was too busy dodging. She could always try that Flash Burn spell, but...no! This was an island with living things on it! She could not just set the forest on fire! She had to do something, she was getting tired of jumping sideways. Wait...sideways? She gasped and tried to stop her last jump, but it was too late. She landed in the mud and skidded down on her stomach. She knew she'd been outsmarted here, and waited for the thorns. Instead, she felt an enormous weight jump in the mud beside her and a thick coil wrap around her middle. She let out a growl and tried to get free, her horn starting to flare up with steam. "Let me go, you-" Before she could finish, a pair of hooves grabbed her head and dunked her face in the mud, pushing it under the wet earth. She pushed back up, and immediately released her angered fire spell. What she felt was immense, unrelenting heat, and she couldn't breathe! Seaweed Cyanide laid beside Flash Fire's body. The mare yelled, muffled by the thoroughly baked mud mask now adorning her face. She would suffocate like this. The eel mare propped her head on an elbow, watching her unicorn adversary thrash and writhe in her coil. "So angry. Maybe you should try to have some fun? Cootchie-coo!" she giggled, the tip of her tail spreading her legs and tickling her stomach. The mare shrieked in that muffled way of hers, too enraged at the thought of again being helpless and being toyed with. She could not breathe, could not see, and was beginning to black out. "Still, it certainly was entertaining to fight someone as clever as you. And fire??" She sighed. "What I wouldn't give to have your powers! With that much heat and steam at your disposal, I could whip up so many different poisons. Ah well, I am sad to see you go." Quite suddenly there was the sound of a cracking whip. The mud mask cracked open, leaving Flash Fire barely breathing, but breathing. Vine-like whips wrapped around Seaweed's body, easily removing her hold. Flash Fire was carried over to the waiting Ampelus, while the sea creature was tossed into a tree. "Amp...Am..." the unicorn coughed, her vision still clouded from asphyxiation. Ampelus looked down at the unicorn, giving her a look that Flash Fire might have mistaken for...concern? Her vines suddenly whipped around, catching several long, sharp thorns in them. She bled, a little. "So...you are...what?" Seaweed Cyanide asked from the safety of the trees. The nymph brought the thorns closer to her for inspection. She rolled her eyes, then closed them. The trees seemed to close all around, and then...separated. Sunlight spilled down from every leaf parting at her command. The eel balked. How was there a creature of this strength on the island? Mimosa never meddled in affairs that weren't his! Yet this was not Mimosa. She knew, suddenly, that she was in trouble. She abandoned the battle, long body racing through the trees, and her last thoughts on that fire maiden. Perhaps they could be friends after all? Flash Fire coughed, her heart hammering in her head. "Go...go after her," she mumbled. Ampelus looked down at her incredulously. "Yeah right, Spark would have my head if I left you like this." The nymph gathered the unicorn onto her back and stabilized her with a gentle but tight vine grip. "I'm taking you to the beach with the others. Did you see them come this way?" "Think so...maybe five? Didn't have time..." "Mhm." Ampelus concentrated as she walked quickly through the trees, trying to see the serpent creature through the forest. She could faintly pick up a large figure slithering along the forest, but...it was too much, too quickly. She wasn't as ready to pick up this new mantle as she wished she could be. She could already feel new, untapped powers awakening inside of her, but she wouldn't have full mastery over the woods for a long time. Her father's words to her before she brought Spark Storm to him returned to her. "Now Ampelus, you need to learn to start growing things. One day you will take over over my role as guide for this world. As such, you have an awful lot of catching up to do. Once you begin, you will start a chain reaction of-" "I already told you I am not interested! "Why am I such a brat?" "Uh...not sure I'm qualified to answer that...?" "Oh, right, you're here." Ampelus broke through the trees at last, finding herself not far from the village, and the beach in view. She was confident that the long slithery creature wouldn't have tried to sneak up on her, so she strode slowly towards the big area where she could smell the changelings had gone. It only took a moment for ponies to start taking notice of a tall plant creature with an injured unicorn in its grasp. "Just put me down, I can walk from here, and...thanks, Ampelus." Flash Fire got to her hooves slowly and turned to get a look at Ampelus' face. She smiled gratefully at the nymph, but before the two could have one of those 'moments', a black figure flew up into the air and landed roughly between them. "'Ay! You leave the chicka alone, monster!" Scriven's presence had been a surprise, but given that there was now a generally alarmed populace at Ampelus' appearance, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a white knight would throw himself at Flash Fire's defense. The unicorn scowled and waved a hoof at him dismissively. "Knock it off, she's my friend!" Ampelus looked at Flash Fire, surprised. The black griffon paid no attention to this, though, and whirled on Ampelus. "What you do, put some kinda spell on her, huh??" He reared up on his hind legs, branding his claws and snapping with his curved raven beak. "G'wan, get outta here!" "Listen here, you little shit..." Ampelus stood up to her full height, only a couple inches shorter than Scriven on his hind legs. Suddenly, her back seemed to open up, like a bug's wing sheath. The wings that she normally kept hidden rose up, hardened to a neat shine, suddenly beat. Her whole body shot forward, taking Scriven with her. "SHHHIIII-" Flash Fire watched with wide eyes, having dashed to the side to avoid being taken with the two. Since when could Ampelus fly??