//------------------------------// // Fuelling the Fire // Story: A Spark of Insanity // by Scourge012 //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle regained her consciousness rather slowly. As she lifted her heavy eyelids, the world around her remained a blur of colors, leaving objects indistinguishable from one another. Squinting slightly, she managed to make things somewhat more clear. She was in a small room, resting against the back wall, and facing the doorway. The room itself was dark, the only light source being the spaces in between the wall planks that allowed sunlight to seep through. She groaned. On top of the fact that her vision was still slightly blurred, her head was splitting like a log. She was currently experiencing one of the worst headaches of her life. She quickly assessed her situation. Blurred vision, terrible headache... those two things were both symptoms of head trauma, something she was growing more and more convinced she had. But, when had she been hit on the head? She searched her memory, but could't recall what had happened. Fantastic. Might as well add amnesia to the list of things what were currently wrong with her brain. 'Alright, first things first.' She thought to herself. 'I need to get out of this room and find out where I am. I'll work out an action plan from there.' With that thought, she stood up. Or rather, she tried to. When her attempt failed, she realized that both of her fore-hooves had been chained to the wall behind her, which seemed much more sturdy than the other three walls of this shack. She was permanently stuck sitting up. Despite being imprisoned, she let a small grin spread across her face. Her captors must be stupider than she had thought to chain up a unicorn who could simply teleport from her bindings. Closing her eyes and concentrating, despite her headache, she prepared to do just that. As she casted the spell, she waited for her body to be transported. The was a loud fizzle, followed by a pop. The unicorn opened her eyes to see a single spark slowly fall past her face and land on the ground. This... could be a problem. She attempted to glance up and see what was wrong with her horn, but looking at it was impossible do to a combination of it's placement on her head and the way she was slumped against the wall. She yanked on the chains restraining her, becoming more and more frustrated by the second as they didn't budge an inch. Why was she even chained up here, anyway? Come to think of it, what was on her face? She stuck out her tongue and licked at the residue on her cheeks. It was salty. Were they... tears? Suddenly, as if a dam had been shattered, her memories came rushing back to her in a flooding torrent of images. She remembered everything. The attack on Ponyville, the insane being that had attacked her, the Royal Guard arriving, and her brother. Trapped, helpless, and alone, Twilight Sparkle remembered why she had been crying. ---------- I quickly but silently opened the door to the shack. There was six of them all arranged in a row in some of the deeper foliage behind the camp. Each one contained an Element of Harmony, and I was looking forward to some one-on-one time with each of them. To be honest, I was almost giddy. I had withdrawn the majority of my forces from the pony village, a few of them had wanted to stay a while longer to search for additional plunder, and I said it would be fine. The rest had returned to the camp carrying as much loot as they could. The few pirates that stayed behind informed me that the six mares had been brought back to the outpost and restrained so they wouldn't escape. The unicorn's horns had been smashed off, and the wings had been bound on the pegasi. I had to admit, these ponies kind of knew what they were doing. Although I suppose it would come natural, seeing as how they're all the same species and I'm an outsider. Once the door was open, I stepped inside. The shacks are all small to the point where putting more than three ponies inside wouldn't leave them room to manoeuvre. They all have a single window, which I open after shutting the door to let some light in. Then, I see Applejack. She's been suspended about two feet in the air, hanging from chains by her fore-hooves. As the light hits her, she looks up at me. Her left eye has blackened, leaving it swollen half-shut. That, along with the dried blood caked to her nose and the lines left on her face from constant crying, leave her looking like absolute shit. I crouch down in front of her. She glares at me with her good eye. Sighing, I speak. "How are you, Sophie?" She spits in my face. Like, full on spits. In my face. I recoil in surprise and disgust before cleaning my face and standing beside her again. "Look." I growl. "I'm gonna forgive you for that. I'm gonna forgive you for that, because-" "Fuck. You." "Excuse me?" I raise an eyebrow. "Fuck you." I roll my eyes. "You are angry, Sophie. You..." I paused to suck in a breath. "... Are angry. I get that. I get it. I mean, without family, what the fuck are we?" I stared off into space for a moment before continuing. "Where I came from, I had a sister. And... there was a time when I would do anything for my sister, you know?" I stared directly into her eyes, she wasn't glaring at me as much now. "The first time I ever killed, was for my sister." My face began to contort into a scowl. "But it was never enough for her. No no no no no please." I growl as I stand and take a few steps away. "You see, the thing about our loved ones-" I whip around to face her, "Our FUCKING LOVED ONES... is that they come and they BLINDSIDE you every fucking time!" I'm pacing in circles now. "So they say to me, they say, 'Vaas! Vaas! Who THE FUCK IS IT GOING TO BE?" I'm screaming at the top of my lungs. "ME, OR THEM? THEM OR ME?" I take a few breaths to calm down and let out a chuckle. "You know? Like, like they fucking think I have to make a fuckin' choice." I pause to look at her now. Her eyes, which previously glared daggers at me, were now wide with fear. "By the way, your hair, like, really sucks." I reach out a hand to brush some of the dirt and shit out of her hair, but she flinches away instantly. I roll my eyes. "But the thing is, I ended up having to make the choice. It didn't really matter, in the long run, because now I'm here." I inch closer to her. "We all have to make choices in life, Sophie. Some are easy. Others, are not. But... you gotta decide sometime." I put my hand under her chin, forcing her to look at me. "Do. You. Understand?" No response. "If you would've just made a decision, one of them could've lived. One of them could have just pranced away into the sunset, but no. No, you fucking choked." I stood up to leave. "We all have to make decisions, Sophie." I open the door before calling a few words over my shoulder. "Just remember, whatever your choice was, neither of those fuckers knew your real name. Your real fucking name." With that, I close the door and leave the mare in darkness once again. ---------- "Look bro," The stallion said, "I'm just sayin. The guy's fuckin crazy." "What do you mean?" His friend asked. "What do I mean? I- ah!" He stopped, wincing as his broken ribs stung him for the thousandth time today. "What I mean is that I saw him kill a two siblings while their sister watched! That's a little fucked up, don't you think?" "I dunno..." The bigger of the two sighed. They were sitting in the building that had been designated as the treasury. The two had been tasked with sorting the loot from the Ponyville attack into shares so that everyone received equal amounts. "I don't like him." The smaller one spoke up again. "It's only a matter of time before this crazy son of a bitch slips up, and gets us all-" "And gets us all what?" An unfamiliar voice asked. The two turned to see a familiar stallion with scars running along his legs appear from the shadows. "Uh- noth- nothing!" The smaller stallion exclaimed quickly. "Really?" Razor Blades asked, "Because to me, it looked like you were badmouthing our new boss." The little pony swallowed. "But that's crazy, right?" He continued, "I mean, a little shit like you, talking smack about somebody who filled the treasury? No, that just doesn't happen." "You're right, I- yeah." The other pony stuttered. "Good." He said. "I'll keep this to myself, but If I hear that this happens again, I'll be sure to let Vaas know." He took a few steps closer to the smaller stallion and asked a single question. "Understand?" "Yes." Turning to leave, Razor cast a quick glance at the larger stallion, who had clearly decided that silence was a good option, before leaving. ---------- Bronze Cross was nervous. Like, really, really nervous. He had been told to guard one of the buildings that housed a prisoner named Rainbow Dash so that Vaas could interrogate them. The problem was, the prisoner had never shown up. He hadn't told anyone, especially not Vaas. The man had a bit of a temper, and Bronze certainly did not want to face it. But as he approached the shack, clearly expecting to see a prisoner which was not there, the stallion was beginning to regret his decision to keep the information secret. "Yo!" The human called out, raising a hand in greeting. "Is she ready?" Bronze Cross simply stared back in response, eyes wide. Vaas was right beside him now, eyebrow raised. "I asked you a question, man." The pony nodded dumbly, sweat dripping down the back of his neck. Vaas began opening the door, but quickly lurched forward towards the pirate, making him jump. After starling the stallion, he laughed. "I get you guys ever fuckin' time." With that, he went inside. Bronze could hear him. "Dashieeeeeeeeeee!" He called, seemingly unaware as to where the blue pegasus was. "I'm sorry I shot your-" Silence. Then footsteps. Then the door being kicked open. The man was on Cross in an instant, pushing him against the wall of the shack and pressing a blade to his throat. "Where is she?" He growled, eyes wide. "Where, THE FUCK... is she? Did you help her get away? Huh?" The stallion shook his head. "She- she never showed up!" This stopped Vaas in his tracks. "She WHAT?" He screamed, throwing Bronze Cross to the ground roughly. "Are you fucking serious? Are you fucking kidding me?" He paused to think for a moment before continuing. "Where's the asshole who brought her in?" "He never showed up either." The pirate replied cautiously. "FUCK!" ---------- Rainbow Dash stumbled, nearly falling over and impaling herself on the sword she had stolen. The forest was thick, and navigating through it was nothing if not difficult. How had she gotten here? It was hard to remember. Her vision was blurring slightly around the edges and it took an immense amount of effort to concentrate on the world around her and not the pain radiating from her wing. She had... She had been dropped by whoever was carrying her. Yes, that's when she woke up. Then they had a fight of some sort. She was pretty sure she had killed the other pony, judging by the blood on the blade she was carrying. Where was she going, though? The mare squinted as she tried to recall her destination. Yes, she had seen some mean-looking stallions carrying Fluttershy away, so she had been following them. Unfortunately, she had lost sight of the group a little while ago and was now simply wandering in the direction she had last seen them. She had to find Fluttershy. She had to save her friends. Sword clutched tightly between her teeth, the blue pegasus winced in pain once again before continuing onwards. ---------- The door was flung open violently. So much so, that it hit the wall and bounced back, causing Twilight Sparkle to jump in surprise as the man entered the room. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, which let small wisps of smoke rise from it. With him, he carried what apeared to be a mirror. A rather dirty one at that. As the bipedal figure crouched down in front of the unicorn, she saw that he looked angry. His brow was furrowed and his lips were pressed into a thin line. Wordlessly, he took the palm of his hand and used it to clean the face of the mirror, then he raised it so that she could see her reflection. She was a mess. Her hair was tangled, her eyes were red and bloodshot from crying, and her horn appeared to have been smashed. Wait a second. That's why she had been unable to teleport from her bindings. Without her horn, she wouldn't be able to cast any spells at all. It looked as if it had been hit with a hammer slightly below the middle. If she made it out of here, it would probably grow back in a few weeks. That was, if she got out of here. Still silently, the being removed his smoke and examined it for a second, before jamming the butt of it directly onto Twilight Sparkle's eye. Immediately, she screamed as the pain exploded from her face. When she calmed down, she noticed the man's expression had barely changed at all. He looked slightly more amused, but he was still not saying a word. "Why are you doing this?" The unicorn gasped, her now injured eye now shut tightly. "Let me tell you... a story." He began, "A thousand years ago, Celestia trapped me in fucking stone." Twilight continued staring, unsure if there was more to the story. He stared right back at her. "So it's all about revenge, then?" She asked, dumbfounded. "You did all this, took all these lives, just to get even?" The being chuckled. "No. I don't play to get even. I play to win." The unicorn glared at him with a single eye. "You'll never win, Insanity. You'll never, ever, get away with any-" "I'm sorry, what?" He interrupted, his head tilted to the side, jaw hanging open slightly. "What did you say?" She was silent. "What, THE FUCK, did you just say?" "I said, 'You'll never get away with this.' Princess Celestia is going to hunt you down and-" "No, not that. Before that." She looked puzzled. "You'll... never win?" "Nope, right- right after that." "... Insanity?" The being immediately stood up, pacing angrily around the room. "Fucking insanity! I give one fucking monologue and I never fucking live it down! Fuck!" He looked at her again. "My name is Vaas Montenegro." He moved inches from her face. "VAAS MONTENEGRO! VAAS MONTE-NEGRO, YOU STUPID CUNT!" He took a few steps back, panting heavily. "I mean- like- what kind of name is 'Insanity', anyways? It's- It's fuckin' stupid." With that, The creat- 'Vaas' fell on his haunches, staring at her. For the next couple of minutes the pair did just that. Stare at each other. Then, suddenly, his face brightened. "Although, that reminds me of something." He cleared his throat and scooted a little closer to the restrained mare. "Did I ever tell you, the definiton... of insa-" "I don't care." Vaas froze. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in surprise. "Did you just-" "Still don't care." His face relaxed. His body lost its tenseness. "Alright then, you go." Twilight looked surprised for a split second before she began speaking. "Vaas... you are going to lose. That's the way this world works. The good ponies win and the bad ponies lose. Celestia is going to arrive, my friends and I are going to be freed, and you are going to be put back into your statue." Her eyes were determined. She believed what she was saying. "The six of us have a bond stronger than you could possibly imagine. There's no way you can overcome that." Vaas stared directly at her, his face expressionless, or at least it seemed to be until she noticed his face beginning to turn slightly red. Upon closer examination, she noticed his cheeks were slowly inflating. Then it hit her. He was trying not to laugh. As soon as this realization donned on her, the human burst into a huge fit of insane laughter. This went on for some time before he finally calmed down. He wiped his eyes and crouched down in front of her. "Okay- okay, that was funny." He chuckled before becoming more serious. "First things first. When I'm talking, shut your mouth." Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "Seriously. Shut your fucking mouth, or I'll kick your fucking teeth down your throat and shut it for you." "Now that that's out of the way, come with me." I continued, as I reached for her bindings, "Let me show you how powerful your 'friendship' really is." ---------- I got four of them lined up in a row. I had my guys bring chairs to tie them to, so that they could watch what was about to happen. The fifth, a bitchy white unicorn, was tied to a rock by her waist so that she couldn't move, and so the others could see her. "Look." I started, gesturing to the four mares that were tied up. "Your friend here-" I pointed to the purple one, "-Seems to think that your friendship is super powerful, or whatever the fuck." Three of them glared daggers at me, the yellow one just looked afraid. "Well, I'm gonna show you it's not." I turned and gestured to one of the pirates I had brought with me. "Do it." He nodded and used his magic to pick up a small tank of lantern fuel I had found lying around the camp and began pouring it all over the mare on the rock. She quickly began coughing and sputtering as some of the foul liquid got in her mouth. As this was happening, I removed a small book of matches from my pocket. "The choices you have made in life-" I removed a single match from the package, "'-Have brought you here today." My goon quits pouring the fuel, allowing her to see what I was carrying in my hand. "Oh, please no!" She exclaimed, struggling with the ropes that tied her down as I advanced towards her. "No, don't do this!" Two of her friends joined in as well. "Stop it!" "Don't hurt my friend!" The orange one was silent, and the yellow one just began crying. "Don't cry." I growled, "Do not beg!" This only made them louder. "SHUT UP!" They were quite for a few seconds. "I need to focus, these matches really fucking suck." I said, as I attempted to light the match once again. Suddenly, I squinted, looking to the sky. The sun... was brighter than I remembered. Weird. A couple more attempts and I finally got it to light. Cradling the life in my hands, I said a few words. "You know, I think it's really beautiful... that the four of you are willing to die for one of your friends, because-" Suddenly, I'm cut off as a literal shockwave of air hits me, the pirates with me, and our prisoners. Anyone standing stumbles, and the pink one's chair gets knocked over. I lift the match to my face to see that it had been extinguished, a thin line of smoke trailing from it. The sun had managed to get even brighter than before. I swallowed. There's only one pony who could make an entrance like that, and she should not be here this early. "You two, come with me!" I exclaimed taking two of my four with me. "What about the prisoners?" One that was staying behind asked. "Stay here- and- uh- fucking guard them! Make sure they don't go anywhere!" I paused. "Do not fuck this up." With that, I turned to leave, with only a single thought in my mind. If all the signs are right, then she's already here. And that's very, very bad.