//------------------------------// // Prologue: The Life // Story: Fire and Brimstone, Book 1 // by BluePhoenyx //------------------------------// The damp walls dripped with water in the caverns deep underground. Mud covered Crimson’s scarred skin and dark red coat as he waited in hiding on the ceiling behind the stalactites that have formed over time. His clawed armored hooves kept him secured on the ceiling as he crouched inverted and waited patiently. His diamond dust armor was heavy but beautiful. However, the many years of combat made him very strong and used to carrying such a cumbersome suit. His yellow eyes adjusted to the dark and the subtle glow of heat signatures became visible to this strange breed of ponies. He kept his leathery wings tucked as tight as possible as he waited poised and ready to pounce. His older brother and superior, Scorch, waited on the other side of the cavern. Crimson and his small squad of ponies awaited his older brother’s signal. With a small group of eight ponies on their side, their ambush is sure to succeed. Eventually, another small group of armored ponies started to walk along the moist cavern floor. Their horns glowed, emitting light so they can clearly see. Crimson winced and closed his eyes for a moment so his eyes could adjust to the bright light. His eyes adjusted enough to see their dark purple amethyst enchanted armor and the emblem of House Razak, an enemy to House Thull. The group walked by unaware of Crimson or his group, and they headed toward his brother. Crimson tensed up, knowing that Scorch would signal at any moment. The earth gave a light rumble toward the small cavern ahead. “Attack!” Crimson yelled. He and the ponies spread their leathery wings and jumped from their hiding places. Taken completely by surprise, they dove toward their enemy targets. Crimson’s horn, dark red with a curved tip, lit up as he casts a spell, causing his side of the cavern to cave in, blocking any chance of their prey’s retreat. The surprised group never stood a chance. In a matter of seconds, the small group of ponies were defeated. Scorch walked toward one of the enemy ponies. His jet black coat seems flawless and he stared deep into the injured pony with his red eyes. He too had a slight bend at the tip of his magical horn. He kicked the wounded pony with his front leg, then smiled, reveling at his pain. Crimson walked up to his brother. “He is alive.” Scorch’s eyes looked to Crimson as his horn lit up, then lashes the wounded and helpless pony with a magical whip of fire created by the horn. Fire burst at the crack of the whip ripping deep into the pony. “Not anymore.” He said with a smile dispelling the magical whip. “Sire.” A member of the group lightly trotted to Crimson. “We don’t have any evidence to drop.” Scorch turned his head and glared at the soldier. “Oh really?” “Yes, sir. How are we supposed to plant the evidence against House Br-“ Crimson’s eyes popped after he witnessed Scorch impale the fellow soldier’s neck with his climbing claw. The solider reached up and tried to take out the impaled object. “There, we now have a body.” Scorch said as he watched the soldier slowly collapse to the ground. He looked over at another soldier. “You there, dress this fool up in a Broulth uniform.” “Uh, yes sir!” The soldier said and ran up to the slain pony. Scorch turned around and started to walk away. Crimson turned and caught up to Scorch. “Was that really necessary?” “Oh course, little brother." Scorch commented without looking toward the pony companion. "How else are we supposed to make it look like this was the work of House Broulth?” “I do not approve of-“ Crimson said before he was cut off. “Leave the emblems! Our work is done.” Scorch ordered as he cleared the roadblock. Crimson looked at the slain pony, then up at his brother with a frown of disapproval, then moved on. * * * The group traveled for hours through the underground caverns toward Lazbral’thull, their home and base of operations. They crossed rivers of lava, around acidic lakes, and glided over seemingly bottomless chasms until they reach the outskirts of their great city. Two ponies stood guard at the large stone gates with reinforcements on a ledge near the top of the wall that kept unwanted creatures out. “Open the gates!” A guard yelled as the group walked up to the gates. Lights beamed out of the crack of the opening gates from the lava falling from the ceiling to the lake of lava in the middle of the city. The city itself circled that great lavafall in different levels as it uses its warmth, light, and energy for survival. The group walked in and Crimson spread his leathery wings. “Where you going?” Scorch asked. “To the smith, My Lord.” Crimson replied as he lifted a hoof. “I need to repair my climbing claws.” “You’re a fool.” Scorch said with a gruff. “Just have the slaves fix it for you. That’s what they’re there for.” Crimson looked at his broken claw then back at his brother. “Is that all, My Lord?” Scorch raised his hoof to Crimson’s mane to the trinkets in the hair. “And get your jewelry cleaned.” Scorch said as he put his hoof down. “We’re the heads of this house. We need to look pristine and proper.” Scorch jumped off the ledge of the ring and glided towards the main hall. Crimson sighed as he himself jumped off and started to glide off the ledge. His body shifted as he made his way towards the lower ring where the trade district was located to repair and clean his armor and trinkets. * * * The following day, Crimson woke up and climbed out of his leathery bed. He walked towards the window, looking down at the city from the upper most ring of the city - the Ring of Nobles. He looked down at the city and sighed. Moments later, his sister walked by the door and noticed him just standing at the window. Her dark purple coat changed color as the red light from the falling lava hit her skin and curved tip horn. “Why are you up?” She asked. “Oh, Demi.” Crimson said in a startle. “I did not see you.” “May I enter?” Demi asked. Crimson nodded, inviting his sister in. She walked next to Crimson and looked out the window with him. “What’s on your mind, little brother?” Crimson stared deeply into the lava falls. “Everything.” He replied. “The monarch. The hierarchy. The life. Everything.” “What do you mean?” She asked. “I do not know why we fight all the time.” Crimson replied in a solemn tone. “We make pacts with neighboring houses only to destroy them when they serve no purpose.” Demi stared at Crimson in silence as he continued. “We treat our brethren like slaves. We kill our own family for power when it serves us best. I do not understand why.” “Don’t speak like that!” Demi exclaimed. “You’ll be severely punished for such talk.” “For thinking?” Crimson asked. Demi rose her hoof and backhanded Crimson’s face. He fell to the ground in pitiful submission. “Silence!” She ordered as Demi stepped on him with her front hooves. “We have rules and an order that you MUST follow. We are the strong, and only the strong survive!” They both stayed quiet for a long moment, all while she glared at her submissive younger brother. Finally, she stepped off of him and turned around. “If you were any other pony, I would have burned you for treason.” She walked out of the room as Crimson laid on the ground. Crimson finally stood up, rubbing his sore jaw from the brutal hit. He stared at his diamond dusted armor and the jewelry he made for war in deep thought. Shortly after, he went back to bed. * * * The next morning, Crimson was woken up by a loud thud. “How dare you speak like that?” Scorch stood in Crimson’s doorway with Demi behind him. “Stand!” Crimson stood up like an obedient pony. “Hand me your Punisher.” Scorch ordered. Crimson’s eyes widen as he momentarily held in his breath. “Yes, My Lord.” Crimson quickly trotted to his armor and grabbed an elegant knife inside a decorated gemmed scabbard, then presented it to his brother. Scorch's horn glowed as he used his magic to telekinetically manipulate the knife and took it out of the scabbard. “You’re a fool, little brother.” Scorch said as he put the tip against Crimson’s neck. Scorch walked up to Crimson and looks dead into his eyes. “If I hear you say or think of any traitorous thoughts like that again, I’ll bury you myself.” He glared into Crimson’s eyes as he stood silently. Scorch released the knife from his magical grasp and it fell to the ground. “Your blade must be paid for.” After a brief pause, Crimson picked up the knife and slashed his own left shoulder. He barely winced in pain as the blood hits the blade. “Wipe it off and report for duty.” Scorch said as he turned and left the room. Angry and hurt, Crimson walked over to his armor and grabbed a piece of worn leather. He cleaned the blade on the leather and put it back in its scabbard, wrapped up the wound in leather binds, then got ready to report for duty. * * * For the next year, although he thought about his life constantly, Crimson never spoke out about anything other than his military duty again. His constant curiosity and free-thinking was suppressed in fear of his family’s retaliation. Ever since that day, he was a changed pony. He and four other ponies had orders from his older brother to go patrolling deep into a hostile neighboring house’s territory. It was a very dangerous mission and Crimson knew it. Ever since he spoke out, he had been given tougher and tougher missions, as if they were trying to indirectly take him out of the picture. Their reasoning was that they believed in Crimson’s ability to succeed, but that didn't ring true in his ears. The five ponies walked down a cavern, their horns illuminating the way. Then, in the distance, Crimson heard yelling. After a quick gesture, the five pony's horns dispelled their magical light, and the group moved in to investigate. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the dark as they cautiously moved towards the loud disturbance. The noise got louder and louder until they come across a large group of ponies from the local house defending a small settlement against a large, transparent, green ooze. The ponies watched as the battle raged on. For every hit, the ooze would just morphed and regained its shape. Slowly, the mass of the creature diminished. Finally, the ooze dispersed and melted away. The settlement was once again safe, despite the visibly heavy losses. “We should attack.” A pony whispered to Crimson. “I have no intention of such.” Crimson replied. “They’re weakened.” Another said. “They’re tired and weakened. We should attack.” “I said no!” Crimson sternly yet quietly remarked. “Our orders are to destroy all ponies.” The pony said. “We kill the weak.” Crimson glared at the pony. After a brief pause, the ponies watched the settlement. “Let us keep moving.” Crimson said as he turned around and walked off. One pony watched Crimson as he walked away. Then, he turned to look at the settlement. “The hell with this.” The pony jumped and ambushed the greatly weakened guards. When they saw what was happening, the other three quickly jumped in and started to destroy the near defenseless settlement. “Hey!” Crimson yelled. He turned and looked as the four ponies started on a rampage, killing any pony that moved. In a matter of moments, the entire settlement was wiped out. Crimson looked around to see young ponies slain along with the mares, and solders. The four ponies celebrated their victory with cheers and self-praise as they walked towards their commander. Crimson looked angrily at the four as their cheers turned quiet, and their faces lost their excited expressions. “I gave you an order not to attack!” Crimson scowled. “Too late now, sir.” A pony said with a snide remark. The other three tried not to smile. Crimson’s anger brewed inside him. The four ponies looked upon their commander as he grew more and more angrier. Finally, something inside snapped as Crimson’s eyes give a death defining glare. “Oh sh-“ a pony started to say before he got slashed by one of Crimson’s claws. The pony fell to the ground as the three ponies, totally taken by surprise, stood shocked at what happened. Before they could react, Crimson bucked, kicking another pony into a wall. The earth gave and the ceiling crumbled, crushing the pony. Crimson stood on top of the first pony looking at the other two. He dug his climbing claws into his skin as he moaned in pain. The two ponies paused for a moment then they start to run away. Crimson’s horn glowed as he ripped his hoof out of the grounded pony, then smashed the ground with his bloodied hoof. The floor beneath the fleeing ponies started to split and crack, then fire shot up from the crack, busting the ponies into flames. They panicked and yelled in pain, then eventually fall to the floor lifeless. Crimson looked down at the pony at his hooves who was hyperventilating in a panic attack. His yellow eyes glared deep into the pony’s eyes as he cowered in fear. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I’ll never do it again!” He begged. “I am most certain you speak the truth.” Crimson replied as he stepped down, extinguishing the frightened pony’s life. Crimson walked around the settlement looking for survivors only to find lifeless ponies everywhere. With every slain youth, he grew more and more frustrated. He looked upon a slain youth holding a toy trying to escape the slaughter. His heart filled with sorrow as he took deep breaths to control his emotions. “Never again shall I take a pony’s life.” Being tired of the life of murder and chaos, he started to walk away from the settlement where he came to a crossroad. He looked at the road towards his house, then the road into the unknown. After many heartbeats, Crimson’s horn glowed and he started to burn his flank. The burn added a mark to a pattern of previous burns and scars. After his horn stopped glowing, started to walk through the second corridor, not looking back at the place he used to call home.