//------------------------------// // Ignition // Story: A Spark of Insanity // by Scourge012 //------------------------------// The first thing I did after shutting the door to my new home was groan in pain. With the adrenaline from my fight already beginning to wear off, the pain I felt in my shoulder was worse than ever. In front of that crowd, I held it down. But now, I let it out. Quickly tearing off my red tank top before it got anymore blood stained, I examined the wound. The gash couldn't have been more than four or five inches long, but the blood was still steadily seeping from it. I needed some bandages. Pushing my door open, I briskly walk outside and quickly catch sight of the same pegasus who had spoken for the gang's former leader. "Yo!" I exclaim, pointing at him with my right hand, "Mask pony! Yeah, you. C'mere!" He trots over to me quickly, scratching the back of his neck with his hoof. "Okay, the boys and I aren't exactly sure what a cheeseburger is, but I'm sure I can find a pack of smokes around here. Also we've got a few mares around here who would probably more than happy to-" He stops suddenly, recognizing the pained look on my face then his eyes slowly moving to the blood beginning to seep through my fingertips. "At this point... some bandages would be nice." "Yeah, looks like you fucked up your arm pretty good there." He states. "Well, you're in luck. We've got a unicorn who more or less functions as our medic around here. I'll take you to her." I follow him to one of the smaller buildings in the camp, where a dull green colored unicorn mare tends to my wounds. "So..." I start, feeling like I should at least try to make conversation, "you got a name, mask pony?" He looks a little surprised that I'm showing interest in him. He hesitates before pulling down the bandanna. His coat is a light brown, and his mane is slightly lighter than that of his coat. His eyes are a dull blue, but those don't catch my attention nearly as much as the knife scars running all the way up his fore hooves. It looks damn cool. Well, cool for a miniature talking horse, I suppose. "Razor Blades." He replies, before raising one of his eyebrows. "You're that statue from canterlot gardens, aren't you?" I can't help but crack a grin at his realization. "What'd they call you?" He asks, pondering for a few seconds. "My parents took me there as a colt... something about being crazy... Insanity! That's it!" I shoot him a deadpan look. "But that can't be your real name, right?" "Name's Vaas." I tell him. "Vaas Monte- Ah!" My words are cut off as the mare who was tending to my arm casts a wave of green magic over it, stinging me where my shoulder is cut and causing me to wince in pain. I grab her by the mane with my good hand and bring her face inches from mine. "What... the fuck... did you just do?" I growl as her eyes fly wide open in fear. "I- it- it was just a healing spell!" She stutters. "It sp- speeds up recovery and numbs pain. I'm sorry if it stung! I- I should have warned you." Razor Blades clears his throat. "So, uh... Vaas. After you're finished getting patched up, I'll give you a tour of the facilities. How's that sound?" I stop glaring at the mare and nod to him. She works easily twice as fast now, and I'm out of the building in a few minutes. In a few more, I'm in the clearing and Razor is pointing out the buildings and what purpose they serve. "That's the armory." He says, gesturing to one of the smaller buildings. "It's not unusual to find some weapons in caravans we rob, so we store 'em in there. There's more than enough to arm all the ponies around here." "And... how many are here and ready to fight?" I ask. "I'm not sure, exactly." He ponders this for a few moments. "... Probably between eighty and one hundred ponies." I grinned. I could have managed with far less, but that would require stealth. And honestly, I'm getting a little sick of sneaking around. I feel like blowing something up. He pointed to a group of three larger buildings. "That's where most of us sleep. A group of us watch the camp during the night while the others rest." I nod, motioning for him to continue. "Alright, you've already seen the where the medic stays..." He trails off as we continue walking. "And this is the mess hall." "The what?" "The mess hall." He repeats as I raise an eyebrow. "Where we eat. Besides that, most other buildings are used for business, whatever that may be. We tend to cover a lot of professions around here." "Speaking of eating, I'm... kinda starving." "Oh, right. I'll tell somebody to bring something to your place." I show my thanks with a grin before retiring to my house. It isn't long before I'm fed. Mostly fruit, but something's better than nothing. I unlace my boots before throwing myself on Bull's old bed. It isn't too soft, but for me, it's more than enough. One thing I never though I'd miss while I was stoned was... sleeping. ---------- After waking up sometime around noon, I walk outside with a bounce in my step. When I reach the clearing in the middle of the camp, I gesture widely with my arms, catching the attention of several ponies. "Everyone... pony, whatever." I pause in thought for a few seconds before screaming at the top of my lungs. "Can I have your attention?" The crowd swells in size. Eventually, all the ponies in the camp have gathered around me, waiting to see what I have to say. "For as long as any of you can remember... you have lived under the rule of the princess." A couple nod, but most just give me blank stares, unsure where I'm going with this. "But ask yourselves... What have the princesses ever done for you?" A murmur starts, ponies quietly asking each other the same question as me. "Nothing. That's what." A shocked silence follows. "For as long as any of you can remember... your rulers have given you nothing." I hang my head, as If I feel sorry for them, before raising it, a small grin on my face. "But today, I'm going to offer all of you a way to change that." They stare expectantly at me. I've got them right where I want them. "All of you..." I gesture to the entire crowd. "Can show the princesses how little power they actually hold." I raise my voice. "We can pillage Ponyville! The little town will fall at your hooves! From there, we take Canterlot! Then we take all of Equestria!" They gaze at me, stunned. I sigh. "Aren't you tired of being bandits? You could be kings! Queens! Each of you could have your own castle!" This gets them excited. "For as long as you can remember, Celestia has enslaved the minds and bodies of ponies just like you. Our swords will not stop until until the princesses fall to their knees!" The crowd roars as I scream. "I AM VAAS MONTENEGRO, AND I WILL LEAD YOU TO GLORY!" I spread my arms wide. "TODAY, PONYVILLE! TOMORROW, EQUESTRIA!" ---------- We hid in the foliage around the edge of the forest. The town in easily visible the distance. I turn to Razor Blades, he's beside me, a pair of knives in his hooves. "They're all clear on the plan, yeah?" "They should be." He answers. "You explained it three times. You walk in front, everypony else follows behind you. We don't attack until you give the signal. During the attack, everypony's free to kill, steal, rape... pretty much whatever they want as long as they don't harm these six ponies without your permission." He holds up an old flyer for the grand galloping gala, pointing to the six mares in one of the pictures. "Oh, and no fires." He adds. I nod. "Good." I begin walking out of the bushes, gun unholstered, knife unsheathed. The other ponies slowly fall in behind me. The weapons they carry vary. Everything from curved swords to heavy war hammers. Most are stallions, but there's a few mares thrown into the mix as well. Their colors vary as well, but they all have on thing in common. They all wear red. Some have red vests, others have red bandanas over their mouths or over their foreheads. A few simply have red wristbands. It must have been quite the sight, an alien creature with a huge allied force of natives dressed like him, simply marching to wherever he told them to go. We walked like this for a little while, until I saw what appeared to be a small cottage on the outskirts of the town. I motioned for the group to stop. "Stay here for a second. If you hear anything loud, come get me." If I was lucky enough to have guessed to who lived here, I'd easily get one of the ponies I was searching for. ---------- Rainbow dash sighed, holding her bruised hoof close. "I'm so sorry Mr. Deer kicked you, Dashie!" The yellow coated pegasus exclaimed. "He's normally very nice." The two friends were currently sitting in front of Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow Dash had decided to stay the night and continue to help her friend take care of her animals, but the job seemed to get more and more dangerous as they day went on. "It's no big deal." Rainbow Dash replied. "I'm just happy that it wasn't the bear who managed to hit me." Fluttershy's face suddenly brightened. "I know! I left some lemonade in the backyard. I'll go get some for you." The cyan pony attempted to get up, but her friend quickly held a hoof on her shoulder. "You just stay right here and relax. I'll be back before you notice." She sat back on her haunches with a huff as Fluttershy happily glided away. So far, there had been no sign of this insanity guy, but it was always fun to hang out with her friend. The two didn't really have that much on common but that didn't mean she- Wait. What was that noise? She could've sworn she had heard, some sort of muffled sound. Like... yelps. After debating for a few seconds, she decided to go around back and check it out. She stopped immediately when she rounded the corner and saw the scene before her. A tall, bipedal figure with a mowhawk and freaky dark circles around his eyes was currently holding her friend off of the ground, his paw covering her mouth as he held her face inches from his and spoke very intensely. "You!" Rainbow dash growled, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. He turned to face her, seeming a bit surprised. When his eyes focused on her, he broke into a grin. A grin with sharp teeth. "Me." He answered. His voice didn't sound like any pony's she had heard. It was weird and scratchy. "You're going back to Canterlot Gardens, freak." He let out a quiet chuckle in response. "Put my friend down. Now." He responded to this by dropping Fluttershy on the ground, roughly. Then, as she attempted to get up, a boot collided with the base of her skull, hard. Rainbow's eyes flew wide open as her friend slumped to the ground. Vision turning red, she let loose a scream of rage and flew at the creature, hooves outstretched. BANG! She wasn't quite sure what happened next. One second she was flying, then there was a loud noise, then all she could concentrate on was the pain that tore through her right wing. This caused her to lose altitude, hit the ground, and skid a good ten feet before coming to a rest, vision swimming. She was vaguely aware that someone was speaking, although she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. "... Take blue bitch... hideout..." She strained her ears. "The yellow... too." She felt two pairs of strong hooves haul her up roughly before her vision faded to black. ---------- Twilight Sparkle was quickly pulled out of her library by Rarity. The white unicorn was eager to show her friend a new line she was working on, and maybe get some constructive criticism. "Rarity, hold on a second." Twilight said, stopping and pointing with her hoof. "I think something is going on in town square." It was true. A large group of ponies had gathered in the centre of town. Pushing through the crowd, the two friends quickly saw what was causing all the fuss. A group of about twenty royal guards had arrived in Ponyville. What caught Twilight's eye, however, was not the guards, but who led them. Standing in front of his soldiers, was a white unicorn with a blue mane. Unlike the other guards, he wore no helmet and his armor was much fancier than that of those he commanded. "Shining Armor? Is that you?" Twilight asked, having made her way to the front of the crowd. The commander made a double take upon seeing the lavender unicorn. When he recognized her, though, his face immediately brightened. "Twily!" He exclaimed, motioning for her to follow him. As she started walking, he nodded to a pair of stallions, who immediately began reassuring the crowd that everything was going to be fine. "What are you doing here?" She asked when they managed to make it out of the circle and stood on the edge, where there was a comfortable absence of ponies. "The guard isn't supposed to show up for at least two more days!" She exclaimed. "And I never expected you to be here, of all ponies. Aren't you really important?" "It's not like I'm the captain." He tittered. "Yet." "But still, what's with the early arrival?" She asked, eyebrow raised. "Well, I convinced the princess to send us early while she finished combing the city. She's not leaving a single stone unturned." His tone turned serious. "With how unpredictable this guy is supposed to be, she thinks he's trying to bait her into leaving the city undefended." Twilight nodded. "That makes sense." A small smile grew on his face. "Besides, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't protect my little sister?" He reached out a hoof and ruffled her hair. The purple mare swatted it away, laughing. "I don't need protecting! Do I really need to remind you of Discord? Or Night-" BANG! ---------- God damn, I'm a good shot. First, I hit that rainbow bitch right in the wing as she was flying at break-neck speed towards me, now I hit this guard straight in the neck. The purple one reacts pretty much exactly how I expected her to. She jumps at first, when she notices her brother choking on his own blood, she collapses on him with her hooves over the bullet hole in his neck. She's trying to stop the bleeding. That's cute. Walking up to her, I kick her swiftly below the ribs and laugh as she gasps for breath. Then, I place my boot on the side of her head, forcing her to stare into his eyes. "Do you see this, hermana?" I growl at her. "You probably think I did this, thinking I'm the bad guy, thinking- thinking I'm just some evil fuck who just kills stuff for no reason." This guy. I swear, I've never seen anyone choke for this long. He's a fighter. "But the thing is... the thing is, Celestia aimed this gun." I wave my pistol in front of her eyes briefly as tears steam down her face. "I just pulled the trigger." Finally, the guard dies. As the life leaves him, I see her horn flare to life and fill with energy to do some sort of teleporting spell or something. That's quickly stopped as I bring the butt of my pistol down on her head. Looking up, I see that my ponies moved in as soon as I fired. By the look of it, they took the guards completely by surprise. We've lost very few, and not a single royal guard is standing. Meanwhile, all the little civilian ponies run around the streets in terror. A few of mine are still looting the bodies of the guards. I point at them, then to the feeing crowds. "Don't just stand there! Go on! Enjoy yourselves!" With that, they disperse, all committing varying acts of sin. Grabbing the purple unicorn by her mane, I drag her behind me as I set out in search of the three other ponies I was looking for as a small smile grows on my face. An entire town to wreak havoc in. This is going to be fun.