//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Journey to the First Flame (Continued) // by Rated Ponystar //------------------------------// Rukil was nervous. He had never been a good liar; not to the pups on his playground during his youth, and certainly not to authority figures. Still, as Fluttershy’s motionless body was presented to the council, he managed to keep his cool. “Poison? Very clever. It looks more like an assassination. This should fool Princess Celestia.” “I don’t know,” another member said. “A violent death would get a more passionate reaction. Maybe we ought to mutilate the body.” Rukil tensed, suddenly very afraid. “No. If one of her mages senses the poison while examining the body, it would open up a lot of questions. We stick to Rukil’s method.” Rukil untensed, hoping his worry went unnoticed. It seemed to, as a Council member gave a calling howl. A moment later, two servants entered the chamber. “Take her body and clean and dress it,” the lead Council member ordered. “We’ll send her back to Equestria in style.” The two servants nodded, picking up the stretcher that held the body and carrying it away. “Now then, we have received more information on the Greenrocks.” Rukil’s ears perked up. “Yes?” “It turns out that they have been harboring Fluttershy’s little dragon friend,” one of the members said. It occured to Rukil that the five members, whom he thought he had admired, were starting to become indistinguishable to him. All five were sprouting the same lies, the same propaganda. “Have they?” “The popular story around their side is that she ran off from their custody, but I think we can guess that they’ve sent her here to cause trouble.” “I see,” he said. He was guessing that he was about to get some interesting orders. “We just wanted to tell you to be on your guard,” the Council said. “Of course, we’ll pull you from active duty to give you some time to mourn.” “I appreciate that, Alpha,” he said, not even bothering to note which he was speaking to. “Very good. You’re dismissed.” Rukil gave the appropriate salute and exited. He walked down the hall, hoping he could get to Fluttershy without arousing suspicion. He had nearly made it to the coroner’s office before the alarms sounded. Gary and Smolder were hiding in a watchtower on top of the wall, Gary looking annoyed. “I thought I told you to keep quiet,” Gary said. “And I was,” Smolder said. “It’s not my fault he shouted before I could knock him out.” “Great. Now it’s the two of us versus an entire wall full of dangerous soldiers. Any bright ideas?” “You know your way around. What do you think we should do?” “Working on it,” Gary said. At that point, the door they had been trying to get through flew open, and several dogs came out. Gary’s eyes widened. “Well... I might need more time.” “We don’t have time,” Smolder said. She looked at the crowd. They hadn’t noticed them yet. “No way around... we’ll have to fight our way through.” “Are you a lunatic? We can’t fight off that many!” “You have any better ideas?” “...Oh, whatever. I’m tired of living anyway.” At that point, a loud howl let loose. One of the guards was pointing at her. They all started to converge on them. Gary readied his claws. “There are a lot of them.” “Good. It means there are plenty of targets.” Rukil made it to the coroner's office to find it abandoned. It seemed the moment the alarm went off, all non-combative personnel fled. Fluttershy still lay on the table, awaiting cleaning. Pulling a bottle out of his vest, he gently held Fluttershy’s head up and placed the bottle to her lips, allowing the liquid to pour in. Moments later, Fluttershy coughed, her body moving again. “That was... unpleasant,” she said, with a level of snark normally uncharacteristic of her. She looked at Rukil. “What’s going on?” “I’m not sure. Something at the Wall, which probably means it’s your dragon friend. We’d better hurry while everyone’s in chaos. Don’t worry, the Wall isn’t far from here.” Smolder’s strategy was proving to be a mistake. She was a good fighter, and so was Gary, judging by how many of the soldiers he was taking out. But sheer numbers were going to overwhelm them. Even if they could make it to the door, what would they do then? “Brilliant plan,” Gary said. “What was your plan, again?” Smolder asked, clawing another soldier across the face. “...Okay, you win this round,” Gary said. “I was just winging it. But how do you propose we get out of this?” What Smolder said next went against everything dragon culture had taught her. “I think we might need to retreat.” “It’ll be harder to get back here,” Gary said. “At least we’ll have a chance,” Smolder said. “If we fall back, maybe we...” She trailed off, and was stunned for a moment, to the point where one of her opponents nearly hit her. She slashed him in the nose and shouted, “Nevermind. Keep going.” “What?” Gary smashed another Dog in the face. “But...” “Trust me,” she said. “Help is on the way.” She only looked down on the opposing side of the wall, where she saw a yellow figure coming through the streets. Rukil and Fluttershy could see what was going on. Fluttershy felt her herself become elated with joy at seeing her student was alive and well. “Smolder!” Fluttershy said, flying up. “Wait!” Rukil said, reaching out to stop her. But he wasn’t quick enough. Fluttershy was fast when excited, and at that moment she couldn’t be stopped. Rukil felt himself panic. He rushed into the wall, hoping security would be too busy trying to crush the melee upstairs. Smolder and Gary were going to lose. That was obvious. Gary wondered what Smolder had been thinking in insisting that the fight go on. It was the dragon code of honor, he supposed. “We need to surrender,” Gary insisted. “We’re going to...” “When I say ‘now’,” Smolder interrupted, “we need to jump off the wall.” Gary blinked. “What?” “Jump off the wall.” “...You remember I can’t fly, right?” “You won’t have to.” “You can’t...” “Now!” Smolder pushed Gary, and soon they had bounded over the side. The Dogs that guarded the wall were highly trained and disciplined. After all, they had to be in order to guard the most dangerous part of the underground. However, even their discipline had its limits, and in those few seconds, they were stunned into absolute stillness by what they had just witnessed. All any of them could do was stare at the seemingly suicidal move the dragon and her accomplice had just made. Hadn't they come from the other side of the wall? Finally, one of them made a move to the edge of the wall. No one was there. Fluttershy felt her muscles strain. She could pull off some impressive feats under pressure, but even with Smolder’s help, lifting a Diamond Dog was hard. The trio crashed into an alley not far from the wall, with Rukil catching up soon afterward. “Ow,” Gary said. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said. “I thought...” “Fluttershy!” Smolder said, wrapping her professor in a hug. “You’re alive! You’re alive! You’re alive! You’re alive!” “Smolder... can’t breathe!” Fluttershy said. “Oh, sorry,” Smolder said sheepishly, stepping back to give Fluttershy space. “Wait,” Gary said, “I’m on the Azureclaw side of the wall.” His eyes widened. “I’m as good as dead here!” “Not if we get to cover soon,” Rukil said. “We need to lay low for a while. Fortunately, I think I know a place.” This place turned out to be Rukil’s own address. As they gathered around the dining room table, Smolder voiced the obvious concern. “Are you sure that no one’s going to look for us here?” “Positive. They think I obeyed orders, or if they suspect I’d disobey, they couldn’t link me to the Wall just yet. Still, we shouldn’t dawdle. We need to come up with a plan.” Gary spoke up. “I think I have one.” All eyes looked at him. Gary looked at them each in turn, feeling a little tension when he looked at Rukil. Even if they knew everything their respective leaders had been saying was bunk, years’ worth of taught hatred wouldn’t go away in an instant. “What’s that?” Rukil asked. “After the dust up we caused at the wall, there’s bound to be an emergency meeting about it between the two clans. At the very least, that would be a good time to strike.” “Yeah, but it would still just be the four of us,” Smolder said. “Unless there are more Dogs that haven’t... spoken...” She slowed. She remembered what Gary had said about noticing a pattern in the Dogs that had been reassigned for questioning orders. If he noticed a pattern... “There’s a resistance movement,” Smolder said. “Well, calling it a ‘movement’ is being generous,” Gary said. “There is a loose collection of Dogs who would do something if given the chance. I know they’d make a move if we told them it was time.” “And how would we be telling them that?” “Well,” Gary said, “the Greenrocks have been saying Fluttershy is dead. I’m willing to bet the Azureclaws have told a similar lie about Smolder...” “You think we can expose that lie?” Rukil asked. “If we did, it would bring a lot of doubt to the surface. With everything that's happened lately, I doubt they could make up any excuse that would convince everyone. But the question is, how can we reveal this to enough people at once?” There was silence as the four minds briefly pondered this. It was Smolder that spoke up first. “Well... how many dogs do you think we can alert right away?” It was nearly twelve hours before the plot was put into place. Eight of those hours were spent sleeping, as all four realized they needed it after what they had been through. Fluttershy and Smolder ended up sharing Rukil’s bed, while Rukil and Gary slept downstairs. They woke after eight hours. It was early morning according to the Diamond Dog clock, and the streets were as empty as they were going to get. The first hard thing to do was sneaking Smolder and Gary back over the wall. However, after the attack on the wall earlier, most of the security had been called to the center, allowing Gary to carry Fluttershy over to the opposite side. For the next few hours, both dogs took their guest around to other Dogs that they knew were growing suspicious of all the propaganda. With every visit, they had a new recruit.  The time of the meeting came, and on the Greenrocks’ side, Fluttershy felt nervous. “Are you sure about this?” she asked. “A little late to be asking that,” Gary said. “All you have to do is fly up when we start making noise. If both of you are seen alive at the same time, that’ll be the endgame.” “I hope you’re right,” Fluttershy said. Carriages were coming up to the Greenrock entrance to the wall, each pulled by Dogs. The doors opened, and various Dogs in nice business suits came out, heading inside. Fluttershy didn’t need to ask to know that these were the Alphas. “Are you sure we can take all this security?” Fluttershy asked. “We won’t have to,” Gary said. “We just have to make some noise. Let’s just hope that we get Rukil’s signal soon.” After a few minutes, they did get the signal. It wasn’t subtle, but that was largely the point. A large flare shot up from the other side of the wall, letting off a loud bang and sending light and smoke everywhere. By the time Gary aimed his own flare gun, the alarms in the wall were already going off, and his own dogs were already leaping into action. His flare went up, which would attract more citizens who would want to know what all the noise was about. The guards at the door all moved away so they could look up. When they looked back down, they only had seconds to jump out of the way as a carriage raced past them. The dogs pulling it stopped it directly in front of the door. Not long after, a second carriage parked next to it, reinforcing the barricade. It wouldn’t keep the guards inside forever, but it would hold them long enough for the plan to work. The two guards still outside were quickly taken down by a sneak attack from two other Dogs. The two dragged their targets off, preparing to stash them in the alley and wait for the police to arrive. “What are you waiting for?” Gary demanded. “Fly up there!” Fluttershy remembered her part in the plan. She reached for the piece of equipment Gary had smuggled for her, a gas mask. The fit was off since it was made for a Dog face, but it would do. She took off, leaving the ground behind. She flew overhead, heading to the cloud of smoke that was settling on the roof of the cavern. As she flew off, Dogs started dropping down. It seemed that Gary wasn’t the only Dog who knew how to climb. The guards on top of the wall were starting to rush out, and they were greeted with attacks from above. It was a chaos of fur and claws, and Fluttershy felt her stomach roll. She abhorred violence. But it needed to be done. ‘ She flew higher, looking through the chaos. For a few brief moments, her anxiety flared up and she worried that something had happened to her student. Luckily, a flash of orange caught her eye, and soon it came closer, forming into Smolder. Soon she was right next to her. “Ready to go?” she asked. “I think so,” Fluttershy said. Smolder nodded, turned away from her, and took a deep breath. She let out a large blast of fire breath. What happened next was easily the most nerve-wracking part of a plan that was already testing Fluttershy’s nerves to their limit. Smolder’s breath of fire signaled the dogs down below to begin firing up their flare guns. There were several bursts of fire going off around them, guaranteeing that the civilians would look up.  The noise ended up reaching their ears slowly, partly because of the bangs of the flares still ringing in their ears, but mostly because, being so high up, things came in a dull roar. It was the shocked cries, the howls of the dogs below. They knew at this point, the weaker dogs that were in on the plan were traveling through the crowd, shouting that Fluttershy and Smolder were alive, that the populace had been lied to. This was an important part of the plan. They needed to make sure that the truth entered the public’s brain immediately, lest another, less controversial version of the truth be invented in their heads. For once, mob mentality would be a force for good. Before the event could be witnessed any further, another flare shot past them. This one was dangerously close. At first, they believed it to be a near miss of friendly fire. But Smolder took a look down and immediately shoved Fluttershy to the side, just in time to avoid a shot that would have hit them. The guards had noticed them, and it looked like they were determined to make sure that they wouldn’t live long enough to tell the truth. Granted, the guards weren’t getting many opportunities to fire at them with the rebels clawing at them, but it still benefited them to get to safety. They ended up flying to one of the highest buildings in the city. They had lost track of what side of the wall they were on. As they landed, the sounds of battle continued to roar. “Now what?” Smolder asked.  “I think we better wait a few minutes,” Fluttershy said. “Hopefully the dogs on the wall will surrender. They know that they’ve been exposed; they aren’t going to bother keeping this up... right?” Smolder only looked at her. “You don’t trade any notes with Princess Twilight, do you?” “What?” “We’ve been listening to her lectures on history in her class. Don’t you ever listen to each other?” “I have no time, in between running the sanctuary, teaching classes, my teatimes with Discord...” Smolder didn’t say anything, only letting her Professor trail off. They sat in silence until Fluttershy noticed that not only were the sounds of violence not calming down, they were actually getting louder. Feeling dread, Fluttershy dared peek over the side of the building. What she saw shook her. It was absolute chaos in the streets. A whole cluster of dogs were gathered around the base of the wall. The soldiers, having to come out one at a time, were falling to the civilians out of sheer numbers. Between the rebels on top and the wall and the civilians at the base of it, it wouldn’t be long before the ones in charge were caught and the truth was exposed. But further away from the wall, there was chaos. Some less than desirable citizens had decided to take advantage of the confusion and help themselves to whatever they could grab. A vitally important event was happening, and all these dogs could think of were material things. “What... we should do something!” Fluttershy shouted in a panic. “What can we do?” Smolder said. “Everyone that could help us stop this is busy.” “But... the thefts... all this rioting... how could they do this?” “There are creatures like that,” Smolder said. “No matter what the species or culture, the worst among them seem to come out whenever they have the chance. But don’t worry,” she said. She pointed to one of the alleyways.  Fluttershy looked down at the streets. She saw what Smolder was pointing at. There was a dog looking out from the alleyway, paying attention to those robbing the stores. “The dogs that aren’t busy at the wall are documenting everything they see. The thieves will get theirs.” Fluttershy tried to feel better about that, but she couldn’t bring herself to. The whole thing was too depressing. “I guess all we do now is wait,” Smolder said. It was a longer wait than expected. Fluttershy felt depressed by the end of it. The city (and it was one city now, even with the wall still standing) was not in the best shape. There were broken windows, debris, and even bloodstains near the wall. Further away, the damage was less severe, but the looting had left a mark. It took longer than Fluttershy expected, but the higher-ups eventually realized the battle was pointless and surrendered. With all the lies exposed, it was eventually agreed that the clans would merge. The details on how were a little fuzzy, but it would happen. Dogs eventually came for Fluttershy and Smolder. They escorted them into the wall and gave them sleeping quarters. They asked them to stay put until things calmed down. Neither had a problem with that. They slept through another night before they were visited again, this time by Rukil and Gary. They had ended up being acting Alphas until everyone could decide what to do. Elections would be held... hopefully. “So where does that leave us?” Smolder said once the two Diamond Dogs had finished explaining the situation “Well, the Behir have calmed down quite a bit, so it should be safe for you to leave now. I’m sure you want to get back on your journey, and perhaps it would be for the best if you departed. There’s bound to be some loyalists seeking revenge,” said Rukil. The Journey... it had seemed like ages ago that they had fallen into this conflict. They should be getting back on the road.  “Are you going to be alright here?” Fluttershy asked. “We’ll be fine,” Gary said. “Trust me. It’s still going to be awkward between the two clans for a while, but I have confidence that we’ll survive.” Fluttershy smiled. Rukil could see a sadness behind it. “Great. So I take it we leave tomorrow morning?” “That’s right. Finish resting. We’ll prepare you supplies. You’ll be able to leave early in the morning,” Gary replied. There were a few more minutes of chatting before the pair had to go. Fluttershy and Smolder kept themselves busy with books and a few games. But the entire time, Fluttershy’s mind was troubled. Fluttershy couldn’t sleep that night. Despite being told not to, she left the room she had been staying in. She found her way to the top of the wall. She flew to a tall building next door. She didn’t want to deal with anyone. But twenty minutes later, Rukil was there. The guards didn’t let her leave go unnoticed. “Fluttershy? What’s going on?” Fluttershy looked at Rukil for a moment. Then she looked back out over the city. A lot of the mess had already cleaned, but there were still boards in place of windows in several places. “My student had to teach me something here.” “What do you mean?” “I mean that things can’t always be solved peacefully,” she said. “I don’t understand. Why did the Alphas keep fighting? Didn’t they know they were going to lose?” “I wish I could tell you,” Rukil said.  “Smolder knew what to expect better than I did. I’m supposed to be teaching her. She looks up to me. She wanted me to come on this trip because she thinks that I’m the greatest teacher ever. But I didn’t know what to do here. And she’s seen that.” There was a moment of silence before Rukil spoke up. “Fluttershy... do you remember when you realized your parents weren’t perfect?” Fluttershy gave a small laugh. “I remember.” Her tone quickly became one that Rukil hadn’t heard out of her before. “It was after my brother Zephyr Breeze managed to crash through my bedroom window for the third time and they still refused to ground him. I realized how spineless they were and...” She seemed to realize what she was saying. “That was inappropriate. But I knew they didn’t know what was best anymore.” “And were you better off for knowing that?” Fluttershy knew what Rukil was trying to say. Honestly, she felt a little better. “I suppose so. But...” Rukil waited for her to go on. “You know, all I ever wanted was a nice quiet life. A small cottage, animals to care for, Rarity and Rainbow Dash to be with. Then I met Twilight. Now here I am, on an adventure with a dragon. I’m going somewhere I’m scared to be. But I can’t think of a single decision I’ve made that makes me regret things.” “Life rarely goes as planned,” Rukil said with a smile. “I thought that when I advanced to a high position, it would be under the Alphas through a promotion. Now I just overthrew the government and I’m in charge... for a while, anyway.” “I miss not knowing how bad things can get,” Fluttershy said. “All that looting when something more important was going on. And that was just here. Back in Equestria, I thought we had moved past prejudice with Equestria’s founding, but when Twilight tried to open her school, there was a pony who objected to non-ponies coming in. And...” Fluttershy paused, wondering how to put her next point. Rukil ended up providing her with the words with his next question. “What? I thought Celestia was a wise ruler. Why would she appoint someone like that?” “Oh, she is. She’s every bit as kind and loving as everypony says. But she can’t run everything by herself. She needed to delegate, and a lot of those positions were elected. And... I used to think we had higher standards on who we elected.” Rukil gave a tired smile. “That’s a sad truth, isn’t? Maybe nobody  knows what they’re really doing. The ones in charge just know how to hide it better.” Fluttershy sighed. After a moment, she said. “Don’t tell anypony, but I’ve seen Twilight at her worst. And yet... I still believe in her, and in every cause she tries. Maybe that’s why I don’t regret what brought me here.” She looked at Rukil. “I’m sorry, I’m rambling. But thank you for listening. You’re a good friend.” There was a long stretch of silence. “Fluttershy?” She looked at Rukil. “Yeah?” “I...” he started. There was a pause. “...I’m glad you came. I’m glad I met you. You’re a good friend too.” Fluttershy hugged Rukil. After a moment’s delay, he hugged back.