//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: The Fire Within // by Black Hailstorm //------------------------------// Not All of Us Are Willing to Forget Pinkie Pie had done a lot of traveling since becoming a bearer of the element of laughter, and in all her travels the only place that gave off the same bad vibe it had before they got there, was the Griffon Kingdom. Currently that is how the party planner saw Fillydelphia, dull, bereft of much joy, and most of all...bitter and full of hatred. Proven mainly with the looks that were tossed at Spike. Even with Police Chief Hard Case and his partner By The Book with them every pony that saw Spike gave him a sardonic look that frankly made the mare feel a bit upset with the town. Spike himself, Pinkie noticed, was beginning to feel like he had made the worst choice possible in deciding to join in this particular adventure. Possibly the worst choice he had ever made. And there were quite a few good reasons why. If that wasn’t bad enough the pink mare also took note of how the other ponies of this fairly large city, split in two, kept staring at Zuko and much to the three mare’s horror, it wasn’t just Zuko they were looking at, but also his scar! His. Scar! Pinkie mentally screamed in terror. She’d crossed the line twice with him on the subject of the boy’s scar, and judging from the past they had been informed about on their train ride to the metropolitan city Pinkie wondered if Zuko had been a soldier that got attacked during training or something even worse that popped into her head. What if he was hit because he failed in doing something! Pinkie thought, starting to show signs of extreme nervousness as she followed beside Twilight, right behind Hard Case and By The Book. Rarity had maintained some distance in order to reassure Spike everything would be alright, but from Pinkie’s perspective, it wasn’t doing much to reassure him. Especially not after they crossed a busy street and somepony actually threw a bottle of water at the poor drake as they passed by in their carriage. It had been a miracle in itself that the earth pony who threw said bottle didn’t get chased down by Zuko, when he saw that happen. The former prince had merely watched the pony in his carriage get drawn away before quite suddenly unsheathing one of his blades and throwing it like a dagger into the back of the carriage. There was a loud scream, where the taxi pony driving the car looked back and visibly buckled over in fear. Zuko’s blade had sunk deep into the carriage and had he been aiming a few more inches to the right, certainly would have killed that earth stallion. Hard Case and By The Book said nothing. Hard Case himself seemed actually amused by the human’s ferocity, and everyone simply watched as Zuko retrieved his sword with one firm tug from behind the carriage’s back and re-sheathed his weapon. The earth stallion, a navy blue earth pony with a yellow mane , and two gold coins for a cutie mark, merely whimpered, his hands shaking. When the party planner and the others had caught up with Zuko, who had decided to reveal himself as the attacker, the boy with the scar was merely giving the noble in front of him a hard look. It wasn’t until they passed him by and noticed he wasn’t following did Rarity have to call his name to get Zuko’s attention. Zuko wordlessly moved away from the carriage, back to the others and never once looked back at the terrified driver and his client as they quickly left that side of town. It was infuriating yes, Pinkie herself had nearly sent herself flying in that passenger’s direction and by jove she surely would have found this pony with the help of her Pinkie senses, but By The Book reassured everyone he knew who it was that threw the bottle and would make sure punishment would be given for hitting one of the citizens of Equestria that had played a role in saving their world many times over. But throwing your sword? Sheesh, I would have flipped his carriage and beaten driver and client with ice cubes till they apologized to Spike! the pink mare thought as she sent a scowl in the direction they had come from. Minutes passed and no one said anything. The more wood and cement based building were slowly fading into the distance as both ponies, dragon and human all made their way slowly into the separate part of town. At this point, there were no more ponies. In fact, there was nothing at all. Just a cobblestone pavement that led about half a mile down town, away from Fillydelphia’s more populated section of ponies, and towards a more distant, almost cold looking part of town. Not to far away from the part of town they were now entering, was an old statue that stood 8 feet tall, and should be in better condition than it currently was in. This statue was broken. It had been battered by the elements, disgraced by the graffiti that ran along it, burnt viciously, fractured in some place and at the same time, partially melted at the bottom where the figures stood and posed, left alone in between the two separated cities, that clearly hated each other just from telling how badly this statue had been dealt with. Long forgotten, left to fade away in the dust. Bits and pieces of its debris were carried into the air and off the dusty pavement ground. From what Twilight and the others could tell, the ponies and...dragon? That were a part of this statue, were mostly female. The males either being younger, or just foals. What was probably the most interesting thing about the statue, was the manner in which these ponies posed. Five adult mares, three in the center, two on either side, held firm and defiant looks. Their attire slightly tattered, scratches and marks had been made on them were still clearly visible, all in a representation in the struggles they had endured. The foals which were two on either side of the mares at the end, stood tall; earth ponies on the right, young unicorns on the left. They two looked defiant. Standing high on their hooves, the colts that stood beside the adult pegasus mare who’s wing slightly hovered over the young ones, had their arms crossed in an attempt to look brave. And Rarity had to admit, they did look brave, even if it was hard to clearly see them with the scorch marks that ruined the copper like color of the statue. The three mares in the center, two kneeling; earth pony mares were looking up at an adversary the current observers of the present had no way of seeing. Their eyes narrowed, a scowl on their face, their ruined clothing that gave off a bit more skin than was necessary gave them a fierce look that Rarity had to admit gave her a few ideas for her next line. The unicorn mare in the center who had as many scratches and as many marks as her allies, her mane a mess. A line going right over her left eye, gave a truculent look that stared right at the entire group who had now completely moved to stare at it. Yet despite a few parts of this statue being a complete wreck, some parts even appearing cracked all five mares (and yes even the foals) gave looks of hardened will, and stubbornness that promised misfortune and trouble for their enemies. Twilight who had detached herself from the group earlier upon seeing the statue as they passed, couldn’t help but smile. These mares were strong. They had braved many dangers in their journey’s and come a long way. They truly did deserve the title “Heroes.” “Guys look!” Pinkie Pie pointed out, her blue eyes mesmerized by the figure that towered over the mares. And everyone did look. Even Zuko, who had gained some interest by simply studying the well crafted expressions of each mare, in this forever motionless relic that symbolized their struggles in life. Towering upon the group of equines, was a dragon. A female dragon. This dragon guarded her fellow allies, with a tail wrapped protectively around the entire group. Sadly, Rarity had noticed that tail had been cracked and broken cleanly off the slightly melted part of the area where the foals were just barely managing to balance on. Regardless, the dragon that stood tall above her team, her friends. Had her wings spread, menacing, angry, just daring those foolish enough to challenge her and her comrades. This dragon did not look friendly. In fact much to Spike’s strange interest, she looked quite frankly. Like a dragon. Her arms were behind her friends, her wings were spread wide, her head pointed just above the lead mare of the group who stood weakly at the center. Casting a slight shadow over the entire team. And what was probably the most striking feature out of this female dragon. Were her eyes. They were no longer the size of friendly warm pupils, that invited conversation; like Twilight’s and the others. These were the eyes of an angry dragon. Reptilian in nature as they became nothing more but slits of fury and a passionate sense of hatred and betrayal radiating out of them. Something Spike could see quite clearly carved into this perpetual symbolism of endurance and freedom. For a while no one said anything. Everyone simply just stared at the statue that had been here for years. It was Twilight who spoke first after she moved forward to touch the relic. “How long has it been here?” Twilight asked. “Probably since this town was founded. The beginning it seems?” Rarity said with a slight smile at the young pegasus filly trying to give her toughest look. Hard Case and By The Book said nothing. The two officers only moved towards dragon territory when it was necessary. The statue labelled “Heroes” though barely readable, had been here for quite sometime. Not much attention had been given to it obviously since it was so old and practically in the middle of two towns that hated each other. The only times anything had been done about it, was when the police force got a report that there had been acts of vandalism around this area. Aside from that, this was the first time both officers were genuinely taking a look at the statue. The schism between dragon and pony, was far more rooted than they had imagined. And it was about time they got to the bottom of what was going on around here. “Let’s go” Zuko said after a few more seconds of silence and staring. “I want to know a bit more about this city.” Rarity, fashionista, and a mare who had done a lot of changing since becoming the element of generosity, was having trouble suppressing her fashion instinct. The group had passed through the gates that stated “Dragon City”, and made their way through a rather surprisingly abandoned part of this rural area. The color scheme of some of these buildings, was having a negative effect on the element of generosity. Oh, don’t even get me started on those! Rarity thought with a faint look of disgust in her eyes, as she compared the the cream colors of some houses and the mismatched black colors of a few ceilings, some other buildings looking a little on the crispy side. Some of these homes were even deteriorating as they passed. It was just vile! The fashionista didn’t stop her scrutiny till Hard Case stopped everyone dead in their tracks with a raised hand. “We’re here” Hard Case said. “Here where?” Rarity asked slightly confused as she looked back at the old and now that she actually looked at it, abandoned one or two homes just up behind them. “Dragon City” By The Book replied as he motioned towards the pillars just a few feet ahead of them. “But we just passed the entrance to Dragon City. It says so back there” Pinkie said, a look of confusion coming over her and the others. “Yer, right. We did pass the entrance. The entrance to Old Dragon City” Hard Case stated. “Old?” Rarity asked, her lips curling into a look of disgust as she compared those same cream colors to the drab, dull outlook this part of town was giving her. “Old.” By The Book stated. “Just up ahead, past those pillars is New Dragon City.” “What happened to Old Dragon City?” Spike asked. “It got burnt down” Hard Case replied bluntly, his accent making his statement even more cold as he spoke. “This is where we stop. Yer going to have to go on ahead without us.” Zuko and the others looked down the pathway that lead to the real dragon city. There was an awkward silence as both officers merely began making their way back towards their headquarters. Back to pony territory. Finally when the silence had been drawn out long enough Zuko asked, “Why?” Hard Case stopped, and so did By The Book. The amber unicorn, chief of the Filydelphia Police Force glanced at his partner, then turned around and gave Zuko a simply answer before walking away. “Because some of us aren’t as forgiving as the rest. Especially the dragons.” Casting a “it’s not you, it’s us” look at Spike, the chief and his partner walked away, neither looking back. Zuko and the others were left standing by the pillars in silence watching both officers slowly grow in distance till eventually the fire prince turned his head towards the pillars that held the real town. “Let’s go. It’s time we found out what’s been going on here.” And with that said, bender, dragon, and equines made their way into the city’s entrance.