//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Firefight // Story: Marked // by Eisen //------------------------------// Twilight was frozen. She watched as the pegasus slowly removed his hoof. There was no blood, and scientifically she knew that he had collapsed his trachea, and likely severed the spine as well in one clean movement. But this knowledge did little to stop the crippling wave of shivers across her body. Time itself slowed down, as the gray pegasus backed up, her shivers shifted from those of fear to those of despair, and finally, to those of rage. She was tired. Twilight was tired of running, tired of hiding. Of all the villains she had faced, none had ever killed before her, yet here was a true monster, a murderer, expressionless, and free as a bird. She was a princess, one of four absolutist monarchs, and although she never thought she'd need to, she had the right and now the duty to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Time resumed as she let out a blood curdling scream of rage, pent up fear now turned to pure hate. Her horn glowed with a black aura as she unleashed the first blast upon the pegasus, who just barely managed to dodge it, singeing his back. Her eyes widened in surprise and realization as the wall she hit erupted in flames. The strange smell! The pegasus was intending on burning down the whole place, but not with any old lighter, with a mixture capable of eating through crystal when lit. This shock allowed the grey pegasus to land a hefty blow on her side, knocking her back. She was too flooded with adrenaline to care about the pain, and after rolling back into a standing position, another black blast rang out, which he did dodge. She was powerful, but uncontrolled. The pegasus knew this, and used it to his advantage, rebounding off the ceiling for a head-dive, which she dodged, managing to land a hoof on the side of his jaw. It felt like hitting a brick. The room was getting smokey now, and the fire had started to spread throughout the nearby rooms. He looked up to the ceiling, and Twilight growled in anger. She was already lunging up as he zoomed out of the roof and into the night. Not this time! Twilight resolved, zooming out into the night and, with a horn-assisted burst of speed, slammed her head into the assailant. He was knocked below, but stabilized, executing insane turns and maneuvers. Twilight would have none of it, and cleared just enough hate to use a normal attack. She cried out as she let loose a flurry of blasts, twenty two purple streaks flying at the monster in the night, and two making contact: one in his hoof, the other on his wing, sending him spiraling down. She took advantage of his few seconds of confusion to pounce on him, diving straight into the burning building and breaking through the roof of Ruby's room. Upon landing, Twilight heard a satisfying snap of his wing, eliciting a small grunt from the formerly-silent assailant. "WHO ARE YOU?" she yelled, the last week's worth of paranoia and conspiracy evident in her voice. The fire was lapping at the walls from the hallway, but neither party cared. The grey one yanked himself out from under her, executing a precision roll and bucking her into the dresser, knocking the top drawer's contents onto the floor. She lunged, punching with hooves but to no avail: he blocked each and every strike, and countered with a painfully accurate strike at the base of her shoulder, sending spikes of pain through her arm. The fire had begun to enter the room, the doorframe was crumbling like bread, and the tickets from Ruby's drawer were burned to ashes. Normally, Twilight would be analyzing the situation, carefully planning each move, watching keenly for subtle giveaways, but she had snapped. Killing an innocent pony with a future so bright... she couldn't think straight, and this played in her favor just as much as it played against her. The gray pony attempted a wall-jump to gain momentum with his one good wing, but Twilight teleported and charged a blast from her new spot behind him. He flapped both wings to instinctively correct, but only one worked, sending him into the flames. He ducked and rolled out, putting out a small fire on his coat and jumping high to avoid a powerful black blast. He charged and slammed her through the brittle wall behind her, sending them into the burning living room. Twilight's eyes were full of fury as she corrected her position and grabbed him, using his own momentum against him as she jumped, slamming him back-first onto the ground, atop his broken wing. He kicked her off, and the two had a moment where they were a yard apart in a building consumed by fire. "Who are you?" Twilight demanded again over the crackling and roaring of the fires, which elicited nothing. They stared for a moment longer, and in her mind he had become everything she had faced so far: her fear, her paranoia, the adversity from the shadows, the subtle signs, and the violence. All of it personified in this silent gray pony. She teleported, causing him to look back, and she appeared right in front of him, where he'd least expect her to. Her horn was charged, and by the time he reached up to deflect the shot, it was too late, she had blasted him out of the front of the building. She flew over to where he was, and watched him feebly stand up, his right front hoof visibly broken. One of his shades had shattered, but he kept that eye shut. She eyed him and calmed down enough to reach a demanding tone. "You will confess everything, or you will be sentenced for your crimes," she said plainly. The sounds of the royal guard drew near, and within less than a minute, they would see the whole thing. It was over. She had won. Then he did something scarier than any other move he had ever performed: he smiled. Not a subtle smile either, but a wide, toothy smile. He still said nothing, but he broke into a sprint towards the building. Twilight attempted to run after him but was too late, for as she got near he had already jumped directly into the hottest flames in the doorway. She sat back in awe of what had happened, with one final observation in mind. As he ran, he exposed his flank, which was emblazoned with... nothing. He was a blank flank. The guards showed up as she sat watching the building. "Princess! What happened? Are you alright?" one guard asked while the five others surrounded the burning house. She nodded, but said nothing, as she sat, eyes wide, jaw open, and stayed there until the roof collapsed in on itself, and though she saw him jump into the hottest flames, she could nearly swear that, as the building gave way, there was a deep, hearty, final laugh from within.