//------------------------------// // Fire // Story: Chaotic Neutral // by C-Puff //------------------------------// Chapter 18 Twilight and Discord both fell back on their haunches as the door unlocked. Applejack immediately trotted forward and put her ear to the door, listening closely. Twilight took the moment to catch her breath. She'd never had to work that hard to get such a small amount of magic to well up in her before. Even when she was a filly, she was, at worst, clumsy and a little unstable with her magic, but she'd never needed to struggle to get her magic to just exist. She didn't like it. She shook off the brief feeling of exhaustion, getting her wind back as she stood up to focus on the door. “I don' hear anypony comin',” Applejack said when she noticed her. “Don't think they were close enough to the door ta hear ya.” “Or they're banking on the fact that we can't use our magic and nopony's there,” Twilight said with a frown. “But let's not lower our guard just yet.” “So, should we just stay inside this nice, homey cell we've unlocked forever instead?” Discord said irritably, getting back to his feet as he caught his breath. Twilight turned to frown at him but she found her anger had been dulled and, even if she tried, she couldn't get it to well up again. Discord fixed her with an intent stare, waiting to see what retort she'd throw at him. He was dusting off his paw and claw. He flexed his fingers before he started rotating a wrist. Twilight found her eyes drifting to the show of discomfort, then back up to, what suddenly dawned on her, was a rather uncharacteristically serious expression. Annoyed and impatient, but still serious. Her expression must've given her away because she noticed his own frown twisting slightly in confusion. “Er... Twilight?” Applejack caught her attention again. “Sorry,” Twilight said, focusing back on the present. “You say you don't hear anypony, right?” Applejack nodded, “So, that either means there's nopony guarding the prison, or the pony that's guarding the prison isn't coming to check on us and probably doesn't know we've unlocked ourselves.” “If there ain't nopony there we got nothin' to worry about. If there is, we can probably get the jump on him. But we only get that chance once.” “Right,” Twilight nodded, “And if we're going to be fine if nopony's there anyway, better to assume there is and deal with them right away.” “So, we kick the door open?” Applejack asked, turning to get her back legs in position. “You got it,” Twilight nodded, unfolding her wings and crouching down to jump. “Whatever gets us out of here fastest,” Discord shrugged, lowering himself to all fours. “I've probably caught claustrophobia from being cooped up in here so long!” “You can't 'catch' claustrophobia,” Twilight said absently as Applejack gave the cell door one of her tree-cracking bucks, causing it to fly open and slam noisily against the outside wall. The trio sprung into the hallway, wings and hooves ready to hit anything that might be waiting on the other side. There was the clatter of wood against stone as the three's eyes swung to the lone guard, his halberd having fallen from his hooves. He was standing at the complete other end of the prison's hallway, next to the iron gate leading back up the stairs, several long paces away from them. The short moment of confusion passed and the guard sprang into action. His one foreleg dove into his uniform's pocket and pulled out a key which he stabbed into the iron gate, unlocking it. “Dangit!” Applejack swore, breaking into a full gallop to stop the pegasus before he flew off for backup. Twilight was hot on her heels, giving her wings a hard flap to get herself airborne. The take off was wobbly, and uncertain, but she gained enough lift to keep her in the air. The guard threw open the iron gate and unfurled his wings. Applejack leapt forward just as he shot into the air, landing inches short of grabbing him. Twilight pushed herself forward, but only for a second as she suddenly found herself thrown off balance as Discord shot past her in a full leap. Twilight tumbled awkwardly to the ground in a heap of feathers and legs. Discord didn't seem to register the fact that he'd bumped her aside as he arced over Applejack getting back to her hooves, his arms curled tight against his chest. The guard was about to twist around the first turn of the circular stairway when Discord shot both sets of claws out, grabbing the pegasus around the middle before the rest of him crashed into him. There was a tangle of limbs as they fell back down the bottom steps before Discord stood upright, holding the guard out at arms length, gripping him tightly by the wings with his claw. “Release me! Let go!” The guard thrashed wildly. Discord merely fixed him with an exaggerated frown, marching back over to the two ponies at the gate. “Nice catch,” Applejack said with a long breath, adjusting her hat back into place. Twilight, having pulled herself together, quickly trotted over to the key still left in the gate and removed it, hooking it around her horn as she trotted back to their cell. “C'mon! Before anypony else shows up!” “You snakes! You abominations!” The guard continued to yell at the top of his lungs. He'd given up trying to free himself from Discord's grip and was instead trying to lash out at the draconequus holding him prisoner with every single hoof. Discord had to hold him out as far as possible and curl his body away to avoid getting struck. “Yeah, yeah,” Applejack rolled her eyes as she trotted after Twilight. “We'll lock him up and hopefully buy enough time before anypony realises we've gotten out,” Twilight said, turning to Discord. He hadn't followed her, instead staring at the pegasus guard with a thoughtful expression, stroking his beard with a small noise, completely ignoring the continued throw of insults. “Come on!” Twilight said urgently. “Somepony's going to hear him!” “I just had a thought,” Discord said, his tone of voice light and cheerful once more. “Wouldn't this strapping young fellow know if any of our friends have been caught?” Applejack stopped, turning back to him. “Ya know, that's actually a good point.” “If you think I'd share one scrap of information with the likes of you-!” The guard spat, still trying desperately to kick Discord wherever he could reach. “If you do know anything about our friends, I suggest you tell us,” Twilight said with a serious frown on her face as she walked towards him. The guard stopped struggle to glare daggers at her. “You 'suggest', do you?! What in the world do you have to threaten me with?! You have no magic and no weapons and you're trapped in this town where every single pony is a member of our order! Your idle threats aren't going to work, you viper!” “Now, now. There's no need for name calling,” Discord reached out and patted the stallion condescendingly on the head, pulling away sharply when the guard tried to sink his teeth into Discord's paw. Discord shook it slightly with a small noise before focusing back on his prisoner. “I say we all just take a deep breath, put this poor introduction behind us and try again. Now; I am Discord, this is Princess Twilight, and that's Applejack. You wouldn't happen to know where we might find the rest of our little group, would you?” “I will have your horns for a trophy!” The pegasus screamed, lashing out again with renewed fury. “Points for the polite approach, but there's a time and a place,” Applejack said, giving the guard a snort from her nostrils. “Well, I thought we should give the nice stallion a chance before we follow up on Twilight's little threat,” Discord said, ignoring the failed kicks towards his face. Twilight opened her mouth to argue that she wasn't trying to threaten anyone, but stopped. She thought for a moment and then closed it again. She cleared her throat and instead said; “I'll ask again. Do you know anything about what's happened to our friends?” “Your words are empty and I have no intention of telling you anything!” The guard yelled back. “Hmm. Not going to take that chance then, it seems.” Discord said as he tapped his own chin. “And what do you plan to do with no magic and no weapons?!” Applejack was about to snap something back but Discord interrupted before she could, inspect his paw absentmindedly. “I've never had much interest in crude pony weapons. They're so dreadfully boring and straightforward. Of course you are right, magic isn't returning my calls at the moment.” He turned his gaze back to the pegasus, eyes narrowing but his expression never flickering past the show of slight boredom. “Honestly, I find all this nonsense beneath me, but I'm in a bit of a hurry to meet up with my friend, so I will ask again;” The raised paw curled slightly as white, curved claws slid themselves free. He reached forward and put a finger good-naturedly under the stallion's chin. The needle tip of a claw resting neatly right on his Adam's apple. “Have you seen our friends?” The stallion glared poison back at him, his teeth clenched tightly, but he said nothing. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. “I'd answer him if I were you,” Applejack said with true nervousness in her voice. “He's been actin' kinda grumpy today.” Twilight suppressed the urge to tell Discord to back off. She suppressed it with all of her willpower. 'He's bluffing,' she told herself. 'That's all it is.' But even as she repeated this to herself, she couldn't stop herself from shifting nervously from hoof to hoof, watching Discord's unchanging expression. The guard's gaze flickered for a moment on Applejack, then on Twilight, and then back to Discord who was giving him a small, pert smile, waiting patiently. He made a noise like he was choking on something and grimaced, breaking his gaze, although the needle point on his throat didn't give him much room to move. “We'll find the others soon enough.” His gaze snapped back to Discord and his eyes narrowed. “Even if this thing isn't here to see it, we'll find them!” “All I needed to hear,” Discord shrugged and immediately backed off, turning and strolling to the open cell. “Now if you'll excuse us.” He stopped and turned expectantly at Twilight, raising an impatient eyebrow. Relieved to see the change of mood, she trotted closer. She found the same small key she'd seen the guard earlier use and put it in the door, ready to lock it at a moment's notice. As soon as he saw Twilight was ready, Discord tossed the guard rather unceremoniously into the cell. “Must be going. Hope the whole 'take over the world by being insane' thing works out for you. Ta-ta.” They slammed the door as the guard tried hurriedly to get back to his hooves, Twilight locking it tight. She trotted to the cell opposite the one now occupied by the guard, and slid the keys through the slot at the bottom of its door. “Time ta go!” Applejack said, already breaking into a brisk run towards the stairs, “That took longer than we needed!” “Don't suppose anyone noticed a backdoor on the way here?” Discord asked casually as he trotted after her. “I wasn't paying much attention at the time.” “I got it covered,” Twilight said, speeding up her trot to take the lead. “Follow me.” They ran up the spiral staircase, Twilight in front. When they reached the doorway to the first floor they stopped for a moment, making sure no-one was in the hallway beyond it before moving on. They stopped again at the door on the other end, putting their ears to it. “I hear hoofsteps,” Twilight whispered after a few seconds. Applejack nodded in agreement. “How far till we can get out of this place?” “If we can get back to the main hall, we can try and get out through the large window behind the tapestry.” Twilight whispered back. “All the way back there?!” Applejack hissed. “How the heck are we gonna get past all these crazy ponies without gettin' ourselves killed?!” Twilight bit her lip. Several ideas ran through her head but none of them sounded all that good or sane to her. “Think we can push our way through them if they try and stop us?” She asked hesitantly. “I mean we could try, but I don't think that's the smartest thing we've ever gone and done,” Applejack replied with a slight grimace. “There's just you, me and Discord and, no offence, without your magic ya ain't got quite the kick I do. At least not against pegasi stallions done up in armour.” Twilight made a meaningless noise as she thought this over, turning to Discord. He wasn't paying attention, looking over the hallway behind them with what she'd come to recognise as his 'trouble-brewing' expression. “I don't suppose you could help Applejack and me get these guys to leave us alone, could you?” It was more a request than a snarky remark. He turned back to her, his face a mask of innocence. However, hearing her question he sat back and made a show of thinking it over. Twilight shifted irritably in place, but kept quiet. When the silence drew out and neither she nor Applejack said anything, Discord turned his gaze to her curiously, standing up again. “I'd rather avoid the three of us getting crossbow bolts in our flanks if we can help it. But if we were to, say, divert their attention elsewhere, I think I can manage helping you with the stragglers without keeling over.” He walked to one of the oil lamps suspended from a wall, picking it off its hook and removing its glass chimney. “What exactly are you suggesting?” Twilight asked cautiously, walking over to him. Applejack stayed by the door, keeping her ear close to listen for any approaching ponies, but turning her gaze to listen to the conversation as well. “I'm just saying, it would be so much easier for us to take our leave if, say, the guards were concerned with a more obvious problem.” He said innocently, tossing the glass tube up and down in his claw. “You want to set the place on fire?!” Twilight tried to choke her voice down, afraid they might be heard. “Oh, you know,” Discord said with a small shrug. “I just thought we could mask our escape with a little... chaos?” He flashed her a shiny grin full of teeth. She stared at him, a hard-set frown on her face. She glanced at the small flame he was holding. After a moment she turned to look over her shoulder at Applejack. Her friend gave her a torn expression and a nervous shrug. Twilight turned back to Discord who was still smiling expectingly, waiting for her answer. She blew a breath through her nostrils. “The place is made of stone. Not much to burn.” “Don't be silly!” Discord said as his smile spread widely. He spun on a heel and bounced over to an antique writing desk, an ancient tapestry hanging against the wall above it. “I've wanted to set this hideous décor on fire since I got here!” He tossed the oil lamp onto the desk, causing it to break apart and spill its contents all over the wooden piece of furniture. The oil lit up instantly, drawing out the splash in flames. Discord watched it smilingly for a few moments, as if to make sure it was burning properly before he grabbed the tapestry and gleefully ripped it off the wall, throwing it over the desk before kicking both over onto the long, stretch carpet. “Gonna need more than that ta get their attention,” Applejack said, trotting over to another lamp against the wall and removing it. She turned back to Twilight, giving her a sheepish smile. Twilight sunk and gave her one in return. “Oh, and they'll need to see it's happening of course!” Discord bounced back over, having pulled three more lamps off their walls as he headed for the door. “Where's the fun if we don't share the surprise?” Twilight turned to follow him, her face serious once more. “Remember, we need to get to the main hall. And we need to get there in one piece.” “Yes yes yes, of course.” Discord waved a claw impatiently at her, waiting eagerly for the door to be opened. “I really hope this insane idea works,” Applejack as she smashed the lamp against the carpet before trotting over. They threw open the door, Twilight and Discord jumping out into the hallway as smoke billowed in after them, the passage behind them ablaze in bright yellow and white as the fire tore through the dusty carpet and grabbed onto every tapestry and ancient piece of furniture it passed. Three guards who had been on their way to inspect the noise, froze in place, horrified by the vision of their captives bursting into existence in an explosion of hellfire. “Catch, ponies!” Discord yelled at them, tossing a lamp straight at their hooves. The guards leapt out of the way as the thrown lamp hit the carpet right in front of them, erupting into flames. Applejack gave them no time to recover as she torpedoed her way towards them, skidding to a halt and using the momentum to turn, and then strike out with her back legs, catching one of them square in the jaw. Twilight took wing and sprang over the remaining two, heading for the door on the other side of the hallway. She landed in front of it, yanked it open and turned, waiting for the other two to follow her. Applejack jumped the flames, dodging a halberd thrust towards her general direction. The two guards still on their hooves made a move to run after the two ponies before a blanket sized tapestry was thrown over both their heads and they were pulled into the air as if they'd been caught in a burlap sack. Discord hammer-threw them in the opposite direction before jumped over the flames himself and bouncing through the open door past the two ponies, laughing wickedly to himself. They ran through several more hallways, Discord stopping to throw another oil lamp behind them as they went. The sound of ponies sounding the alarm and calling for water started to fill the air as they headed for the main hall, Twilight guiding them wordlessly through every side door and passageway. Smoke was thick in the air, and Discord's continued efforts to rip lamps off the wall and throw them at seemingly random chairs, tapestries and sometimes even suits of armour meant the fire was by now burning properly out of control. They reached the final door leading to the hall and Twilight wasted no time throwing her shoulder against it, forcing it open. She nearly ran straight into five of the guards, each carrying a bucket filled with water. She jumped into the air just inches in front of the nearest one, barely avoiding slamming into his chest. Applejack wasn't far behind Twilight, but faster on her hooves and side-jumped before spinning to face them, rearing to throw her forelegs out at them. The guards went into a formation to deal with the sudden appearance of the escapees. Buckets dropped to the floor, spilling their contents as they reached for short swords and daggers. The two pegasi of the group, got themselves airborne. Discord made his entrance by pouncing the guard nearest to the door. Throwing himself full-force into the pony, Discord threw him literally head over hooves across the room. The other two earth pony guards, turning to see what in the world had just attacked them, took their eyes off Applejack. In return, she gave one of them a hard uppercut with a foreleg before shooting out and catching his unexposed gut with a back leg. Seeing one of the airborne guards getting himself in position to dive bomb her friend, Twilight launched herself at him. Her inexperience with flying meant she wasn't able to give the guard quite the blow she meant to, but her kamikaze straight into his back did the trick as they both hit the ground, Twilight having her fall broken by the larger pony under her. She rolled herself off of him, turned, and gave him a buck to the face, making sure he wasn't going to spring up and try to sink his dagger into her. Applejack turned to face the last earth pony guard as Twilight spotted Discord over-arm pitching his last lamp at the pegasus, who was trying to find the best angle to attack Applejack from. The pegasus dodged the lamp, which landed on the large, stretch dinner table. It caught fire immediately as oil and years of poor quality varnish met open flame. Twilight watched as the fire grew higher, sparks thrown up by cracking wood hitting the central tapestry which started to smoke. “We need to get out of here!” She yelled out, turning to the others. “Right behind ya!” Applejack yelled back, hopping backwards to dodge a sword swipe before shooting forward and head butting her opponent. Using her momentum, she knocked him off his hooves before jumping over him, running to Twilight. “We're leaving already?” Discord said with almost a whine. He'd twisted around one of the rafters, still facing off against the remaining pegasus guard. He didn't wait for an answer as he leapt down to the ground again. The guard dove after him, aiming for his back but Discord, landing himself at an angle, swung out with his tail, smashing it into the guard's side before physically slamming him to the ground. Discord then bounced himself to his feet and ran to join the others. “I saw an open window when we were here this afternoon!” Twilight said over the sound of fire. “If it's still open we can-” “Oh, why bother?” Discord interrupted impatiently, picking up one of the large, ornate, and currently on fire chairs, before hurling it at the tapestry. The chair tore the ancient fabric from its fixtures as it smashed through the windows behind it in an explosion of glass, fabric and smoke. Cold, night wind poured into the room and the flames roared with new life. Behind the trio, Twilight could hear the sounds of metal scrape stone as the guards were getting back to their hooves. There was a loud, barked order as the sound of more hooves thundered into the room. Twilight turned to Applejack but before she could tell her to do anything, an arm grabbed her around her middle and she felt herself hurtling forward, through the broken window and out into the cold. A choked, surprised yelp from Applejack told Twilight her friend had also been scooped up as Discord took wing and streaked off into the night. The town was drowned in orange light as the mansion behind them continued to burn wildly. Discord banked and took a sharp turn, heading for the fields on the town's outskirts. As soon as he was close, he dove into a forest of what appeared to be wheat, letting go of both ponies as they disappeared from sight among the stalks. Applejack immediately stumbled a few steps backwards before falling to a sit, looking a little ill. She adjusted her hat more than once, taking it off and wiping it before putting it back on. Twilight gave her head a shake, regaining her senses before she flapped her wings and hovered a few feet above the ground, just enough to see over the crops. She said nothing, listening closely as she scanned the area. All she could hear were the hard breathing of herself and the others, occasionally muffled as a breeze blew over the top of the field. There was no sound of anyone else, and she couldn't see any rustling or dark shadows moving through the tall stalks. After a minute or so, she let out a deep breath and floating back down to the ground. “I don't think they know where we are,” She whispered to the others. Discord, still trying to catch his breath, gave a chuckle before breaking out into a full laugh. “Did you see them run?! Did you see how panicked they were?! Oh, I haven't had this much fun in ages!” Applejack gave a light laugh as well, adjusting her hat for the umpteenth time. “I don't think that's.. ..that's somethin' ya should...” She snorted. “Ya shouldn't be so happy about... You...” She gave up, collapsing into exhausted laughter herself. Twilight, afraid they would be heard, tried her best to keep her composure, but the burst of adrenaline, the run through the town hall, and the unforeseen fight had taken its toll and she broke down into a fit of giggles as well. The break of tension didn't last long, as Applejack pulled herself together, sitting up again. “Alright... alright s.. so. So now what?” “Huh?” Twilight looked up, still giggling. “I said,” Applejack repeated, her smile slowly fading into something more serious, “Now what do we do?” Twilight's laughter died away as she took a breath, trying to bring her attention back to the present. They weren't out of danger yet. Far from it. They still needed to regroup and get as far away from the town as they could. And, fire or no fire, she was sure Stoneflower was not the type of pony to ignore their escape. She reminded Twilight a tiny bit of the villains she read about in storybooks when she was a filly. The kind who would not let something like her home burning down distract her from recapturing the good guys. Twilight took a breath again, a frown forming on her face as she turned to Applejack. “We need to find the others. Hopefully our escape will draw Stoneflower's attention away from them and to recapturing us instead. But even if that's true, we need to find them as soon as we can. We don't know if they have any idea what kind of town this is.” “So, we're looking for Fluttershy?” Discord said, wiping away tears as he continued chuckling to himself. “And the others too,” Twilight said, turning to look at him, “But yes.” “Finally!” He said, calming down properly and giving her a smile. “And then hopefully we can take our leave of this, honestly, rather dreary place?” “Right,” Twilight nodded. “If they're anywhere, they're probably still at the inn. Unless something's happened, I don't see why they'd leave.” “I hope the fire doesn't make 'em leave ta see what's goin' on,” Applejack said grimly. Twilight pulled a slight face. “I hope they don't go looking for us.” “So let's not dawdle,” Discord said, getting up sharply. “I won't lie, I'd be rather annoyed if they went off trying to save us from a fire only to get caught themselves.” “Wait!” Twilight urged, flying up and pressing his head back down below the wheat stalks. “We need to make sure none of those cult ponies are around.” “Well hurry up then!” Discord snapped, slumping back down and giving her a sour expression. “In case you haven't noticed, I've had quite enough of wondering what's happened to Fluttershy during all this time!” Twilight frowned down at him lightly, watching his face as he pouted, crossing his arms and lying back down. He raised an eyebrow at her expression, pulling a face at her. “You really are worried about her... aren't you?” Twilight said thoughtfully. Discord blinked at her wide-eyed for a second before making a small, irritable noise in the back of his throat and breaking eye contact. “Friendship, et cetera et cetera.” He mumbled grumpily. Twilight stared at him for another second before flying back up over the wheat. She turned, making sure there were no immediate threats before she rose, getting a better view of the entire field. Apart from the wind, nothing else moved. She could hear the sounds of the fire and loud calls coming from the town. In the glow coming off the mansion, she could make out the silhouettes of ponies running back and forth, but none of them looked panicked. The whole scene looked planned out and organised. Each pony seemed to have purpose to the direction they ran, or in what they were carrying, or who they were talking to. It didn't look like the confused terror of a town on fire, it looked more like a well planned, well practised fire drill. But she saw no sign of ponies heading to the fields. Not the wheat field they were hiding in, nor any of the other fields surrounding them. Satisfied that they were still safe, she flew back down to the other two, landing rather clumsily between them. “I don't see anypony around. I don't think they saw which way we went.” “Excellent,” Discord said, getting to all fours anxiously. “So we can go?” Twilight gave a nod. “I say we stick to the ground. We'll be harder to spot with all the ponies trying to deal with the fire.” “Fine by me,” Applejack nodded. “I think I've had enough flyin' for one day.” “The inn is that way,” Twilight pointed in the appropriate direction with a hoof. “If we walk straight we should reach the outskirts of the town nearest to it. Once we get there we'll sneak inside, try and find the others, and we'll leave before anypony sees us. We'll head for the trees and try to move as quietly as we can away from here. The further we can get before daybreak, the better.” “And, if we should happen to run into the innkeeper?” Discord asked with mock innocence. Twilight hesitated. She'd forgotten about Hop Shot. “Well... That guard we spoke to said that the whole town was made up of ponies who belong to the Defectors.” She looked up at him. “We'll have to assume he's not going to let us go easily if he sees us.” “Dang liar probably knew exactly what he was sendin' ya to when he gave ya that message,” Applejack growled as they started to make their way through the field. “I kinda hope we do run into him, just so's I can give him a piece of my mind.” “For once, I think I agree with you,” Discord said, although his voice didn't hold as much anger in it. Twilight wondered, however, if he was just hiding it. She kept her eyes to the front as they walked in silence for a while, keeping her ears open for any sounds out of place. However, Twilight found her attention drawn away by the question that'd resurface in her head. When it became clear she couldn't ignore it away, she turned to Discord slinking through the crops on all fours next to her. “Hey... You weren't really going to hurt that guard, were you?” She said carefully, keeping her voice low. Discord turned and gave her a smirk, “Should I have threatened to eat him instead?” Twilight didn't answer, chewing on her lip for a moment. “I just... I couldn't figure out if you were bluffing or not.” Discord gave a chuckle at this. “You mean you didn't automatically assume I was going to use him for a scratching post?” He turned to grin at her, but she didn't respond. She kept her eyes on him, her expression remaining unchanged. Serious and thoughtful, but not angry. Discord's smile faded and he made an impressed noise. “My, my.” He said with bemusement. “I want to be clear about what you were doing,” Twilight said. Discord shrugged his shoulders as he kept up his light bounce of a step. “I was making things up as I went, to be honest. Not sure what the next step would've been if he hadn't answered,” He gave her a sideways glance. “But anxious or not, I'm not that fond of making a mess.” He frowned comically to himself for a second before adding, “Well... not like that anyway.” He sped up, becoming partially hidden in the crops. From somewhere in the dark she heard him say; “You will remember to tell Celestia in your next letter what a good boy I'm being, won't you?” “Hmm.” Twilight hummed, not quite sure what she was going to say to Celestia in her next letter about Discord.