Fire and Brimstone, Book 2

by BluePhoenyx

Chapter 20 - Crimson and the Trembling Lands

The trek to the north-west was a tough road for the two captives. Though the medical officer tried his best to keep the critically injured Crimson stable to get to Vanhoover quickly, they’ve had to make constant stops to tend to his wounds and to refresh his bandages. Demi watched over her brother as he remained unconscious. She watched him even as the night time darkened the lands, and continued to watch after the sun had warmed the air the following day. She kept her guard up against her captors and kept an eye out for their hunter.

The caravan stopped unexpectedly. Demi turned to look at what stopped their trek to the place that her captors claimed could save Crimson’s life. She saw a cloaked pony at the head of the caravan blocking their way. She used her seer powers to get a glimpse at what is going on only to be baffled at something that has never happened before - nothing. The police ponies stepped aside, allowing the sage to walk up to the cart that hauled the two prisoners.

Demi looked at the sage. She looked at the long, flowing cloak hiding every hint of detail from the pony underneath. “You... Who are you?”

“You must be the blood of his blood.” The sage remarked.

Demi shook her head. “He and I don’t share the same blood. Now who are you?”

“You don’t? Interesting.”

“No. Only Crimson and Temethyst share the same parents. I was adopted by the house.”

“Very interesting.”

“Now answer my question!”

“Your brother calls me a sage.”

“So my brother knows you?”

“No.” The sage started to pace in front of the cage as Demi looked at her baffled. “He’s in bad shape. The doctor can’t help, can they?”

Demi stood up in anger. “How dare you! My brother has lived through worse than this!”

“Ah, your words speak true... to a point. But you can’t see if he’ll live, can you?”

“I-” Demi stopped and looked down for a moment. “No. I can’t… Wait.” She looked up at the sage when she came to realize something. “How did you know of my powers?”

The sage reached under her robes and grabbed a pouch. “Use this on his wounds, child.” She tossed the pouch between the bars. It clanked as it hit the cart at Demi’s hooves. “Blend the components, then apply to his wounds.”

Demi protested. “Why should I?” The sage turned and started to walk away. “Wait! Who are you?”

The sage turned. “And use some on your wounds as well.” Then she continued walking.

“Why can’t I see you?” Demi shouted at the sage, but she continued without answering Demi’s question.

After a short delay, the cage shifted again as the caravan continued its trek. Demi looked at her brother with the words of the sage echoing through her head. In a gruff, she leaned over and picked up the pouch, then looked at its contents: four smaller bags, a vial of a liquid and a small bowl. One of the pouches contained a gray dust. Another, a red dust. Some dried herbs were in the third, and a few strange looking sticks. She looked at her brother and his worsening condition, then sat and started to empty the components into the bowl. The powders dusted up when she poured the contents in the bowl, then she poured the herbs on top. She poured the vial of liquid in the bowl, causing the powder to thicken. Then she grabbed one of the sticks and dipped it into the concoction. The mixture started to fizz and bubble with the introduction of the strange stick as she started to mix everything together. Then, she took out the stick and looked at Crimson’s wounds. In the back of her mind, she thought about that robed pony. In her mind, she couldn't trust her. On the other hand, she felt like she has no choice but to do what the pony said. She started to apply the mixture on Crimson’s wounds. He lightly shuffled in discomfort as the wound started to fizz upon contact. She brought the mixture up off of his wound to see what was going on to witness the mixture starting create a white foam. Feeling almost compelled, she continued to apply the mixture to his injuries. She noticed after applying the mixture to the wound, the stick gradually diminished in size, but only on contact of Crimson’s injury. She looked up where she last saw the strange pony for a moment, then returned to applying the mixture to his wound. Once all of his wounds have been treated with this strange medicine, she noticed that there was only a little mixture left and a small usable stub remaining. Again, the words of the sage ring in her head, then used the remainder on her own wounds. She winced in pain on contact, but the pain alleviates shortly after the application of the medicine. Once she finished her application, she noticed the medicine had completely run out. Once again, she looked at where she last saw the sage wondering who she was.

* * *

Hours passed and the large group finally reached the city limits of Vanhoover. Crimson’s eyes finally opened and he looked up at his sister, who sat over him almost the entire time.

Demi looked down at Crimson trying to contain a smile.

Crimson spoke with a weak voice. “Ms. Twilight…”

Demi’s eyes popped as she looked angrily at her brother. “Hardly. Finally awake, are you?” She stood up. “Good. I grew tired of watching over you.”

“D… Demina?” Crimson said with a weakened voice.

“You insolent worm. How dare you have me watch over you? You’re so helpless. You’d be a rotting corpse if it weren’t for me.”

“As… would you.”

Demi remained silent staring out of the cage.

“Where is the princess?”

“Who knows?” Demi snapped angrily and shrugged. “I don’t even know where these hopeless soldiers have taken us.”

Crimson turned his head and looked outside. “This is not Ponyville.”

“No. We were taken captive by this… troupe.”

Crimson looked at Demi. “You were taken captive? Unlikely.”

“Cowards ambushed me while carrying your lazy ass.”

Crimson trieed to sit up, but Demi rushed to his side and put her hoof gently on his chest to stop him. “Don’t move. You’ve been greatly injured.”

Crimson reached and grabbed his injury. He looked at the dried blood on his hooves and the freshly mended injury on his chest. “Did you tend to my wounds?”

Demi stood and looked away. “Shut up, fool! Only because I had to.”

“I thought as much.” Crimson said laying back down. “This… What treatment is this?”

Demi looked at Crimson and his wounds. “I don’t know. Some pony in shoddy surface robes stopped us and gave me this medicine. Said you called her a ‘sage.’”

“Yes… She has been… she is… a mysterious one…”

“Nonetheless, this could be poison for all I know.”

Crimson blinking slowed. “And yet… you used some on yourself…”

“Shut up, fool! You don’t know anything.” With a brief silence, Demi looked at Crimson, who passed out again. She sighed and sat down.

* * *

The prison cage opened in front of a large medical institute. The officer pony looked up at the two captors. “You’re uh… You’re free to go.”

Demi looked at the officer. “Your ignorance insults me.” She hopped down, then lightly staggerd from the soreness of her healing shoulder. The officer pony lifted a hoof to aid her, but she smacked his hoof away. “Your assistance is not required.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I have orders from the Princess to release you two once we’ve arrived.”

“The Princess? Of course.” Demi turned. “Take care of him. That little softie always needed someone to look after him.” She looked away and started to walk.

“There won’t be much of a need.” The officer said. Demi stopped and turned around. “The medical officer said you two were okay to do whatever, so long as you took it easy.”

“Don’t make me laugh. We do as we please.”

“Whatever you say.” The officer turned and watched as medical ponies removed Crimson from the cage. The officer signed something, then started to walk off.

“Your trophy got away from you?” Demi asked.

The officer turned to Demi. “Yeah, he did.”

Demi looked down at the ground. “Yeah, me too.” She said, and the two went their separate ways.

* * *

Demi walked aimlessly with a depressed look about her. Her once elegant leather robes were bloodied and dirty. Her washed and brushed mane now greasy and knotted. Her coat unkempt and filthy. Turning down an alley, she stopped and looks up at the cloaked pony.

“Why are you so down, child?” The sage asked.

“I have nothing to say to you. Be gone!” Demi lifted a hoof and gestured for the sage to move.

“I cannot for I have much at stake in this story.”

“I don’t care.” Demi started to walk, intending to pass by the sage. Suddenly, she got a strange and overwhelming feeling.

“Don't you?”

Demi looked up at the sage. “Who are you?”

Scorch turned a corner and walked down from the far end of the alley. “Yes, do tell. Who are you?”

Demi’s eyes widened as she taked a step back. "Foul trickster!"

The sage turned around and looked at Scorch, who was slowly walking toward the two. “I’ve been expecting you, child.”

“Oh have you now?” Scorch stopped his advance. “I’ve been thinking about how in the hoof you stopped my magic, but I have come to a conclusion… I don’t need magic to kill you!” He started to charge at the sage eager to kill.

The sage’s eyes glowed from under the hood of her hood as her robes started to rustle at the intense amount of magic emanating from the robed pony. “Alas, you are beyond saving.”

Scorch continued his charge as the sage’s lifted her hoof. He drew closer and closer to the robed pony as her hoof emanated a dark glow. Scorch let off a battle shout and leapt into the air, lifting his claw ready to swipe at the sage. Then in a blink of an eye, he turned to red and gray dust in front of Demi’s eyes. She stared in shock at the display of power the sage produced as the ash and sand littered the area. The sage’s robe waved in the sudden breeze from the strange explosion.

The sage lowered her hoof and looked at Scorch’s remains. “I’m sorry.”

Demi looked at the sage in a speechless horror.

“Return to Crimson and help him, child. He needs you.”

“Me? Impossible! He doesn’t need me.” She looked away. “He never has.”

“Return to Crimson.” The sage started to walk away.

“Wait!”

The sage stopped and turned her head. “Go, child.”

Demi stared speechless as the sage turned and walks around a corner. Demi then trotted and turned the same corner to find that the sage was no where to be found. Once again, Demi tried to use her visionary powers only to find that they yielded no results. “How?” She looked up into the sky lost in thought. Then, with the words of the sage echoing in the back of her mind, she turned and ran back to the hospital.

* * *

From a gallop to a slow walk, Demi’s paced lessened as she approached the property lines of the hospital. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was safe. She thought about why she needed Crimson now that Scorch was gone. She wondered how the sage was able to defeat Scorch like he was nothing. Scorch, a decorated war general with nearly unrivaled fighting prowess and fire magic capabilities. Then she stopped at the entrance of the building. She turned around at the path she took and wondered how she got to the building so fast.

“You there.” Demi heard the voice of an older mare and turned to see who it was. “You have a curved horn.”

“Yes, all of my brothers and sisters have curved horns.”

“Ah, so you’re the sister of that young stallion, Crimson.”

Her eyes popped open. “You know my brother?”

“Why yes. In fact…” The old mare chuckled. “He’s one of the reasons why I’m here. That, and helping a mare and filly.”

Demi turned her head away. “I don’t care about your weakness for lesser beings.”

The old mare chuckled. “Yep, you MUST be his sister.” She turned and started to walk away. “Nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting… me?” Demi turned toward the old mare and watched her got into a cart that was pulled by two strong, stout ponies. She turned and ran inside the hospital. She stopped at a young mare behind a desk. “You there. Where is my brother?”

The mare looked up to Demi. “Who is your brother?”

Demi rolled her eyes. “Useless. Nevermind, you. I’ll find him myself.” Her eyes fogged up as she looked zombified.

“Uh, miss…”

Demi turned her head with her eyes phasing to normal and started to run down the hall. After a few turns, she suddenly stopped her ran, sliding a few feet across the ground while leaning back looking into a mirror she passed along the way. She looked at her dirty complexion, her oily mane, her filthy and bloody robes, and her overall unkempt appearance. She lifted her hoof and brushed back her mane, then started to look around. Finally, she went into a room alone.

* * *

Crimson stood in his room looking into a mirror and stared at himself. He rubbed his chest wound, or the scars that now resided. He has no idea how wounds so deep and potentially fatal could have almost completely healed over night. He turned his head as he heard a knock on the door.

“Little Brother, may I enter?”

Crimson nodded. “Of course.” Demi walked into the room, her mane rinsed and her coat washed. Her robes have been beaten to get the dirt and dust out, but much of the blood stains still remained. “It seems that you have finally cleaned up a touch.”

“Uh, yes. Unlike you.” Demi looked at Crimson’s mane. “You’re still slacking on your personal appearance.”

“I am sorry you do not approve of my appearance.”

Demi looked at Crimson’s chest. “You seem to be doing better.”

Crimson nodded, then looked back into the mirror. “Yes. The medicine you applied must have had magical properties.” He rubbed his chest. “Aside from minor discomforts, I seem to be in good condition. I have never seen anything like this before.”

Demi looked at her shoulder, noticing she looked the same with her wound. “That robed mistress sure is something.”

“Yes. She saved my life once again.”

“Mine too.” She replied. Crimson looked at his sister as she took a few steps forward. “The sage dispatched Scorch.”

“My brother?” Crimson looked stunned and speechless.

“Yes. He would have killed me if the sage hadn't come to my rescue.”

With a deep breath, Crimson stood up straight and looked into the mirror. “Yes, you are right. I am glad you are okay.” He stared into the mirror, thinking about the memories he had with his brother.

Demi walked up next to him and stared into the mirror with him. “He was always mean to you. Even when he was adopted and introduced into the house.”

“Yes, he was.”

“When he pushed you in the training pits, or when he almost killed you in a simple spar.”

Crimson stood speechless. Demi, in return, stayed quiet, while she stared at her brother through the mirror’s reflection.

“He taught me so much.” Crimson said. “He helped me survive. I would not be here if it were not for his training.”

“Yeah, but think of the missions he gave you. He’s been trying to kill you for seasons now.”

Crimson turned and looked at Demi. “And yet, I always survived. Did he know I would survive? Did he do it to make me stronger?”

“Brother, he was just like any other pony from home - a heartless, tyrannical, power hungry beast.”

“Just like my blood brother?”

Demi nodded. “Your brother is worse. Temethyst must be stopped.”

Crimson stared at Demi. “You are acting… strange.”

“I…” Demi took a step back and turned around. “Stop being a fool, brother. Don’t think I won’t leave when it suits me.”

“But it has. I do not think you wish to leave.”

Demi’s head slowly tilted down for her to look at the ground. “No, I don’t.”

“My sister, I feel you will learn that your life will be so much different. Up here, you can do as you wish. You can leave if you wish. You can return if you wish. You do not have to fight anymore. You do not have to hide anymore. You do not have to be afraid anymore.”

“Hah, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Crimson smiled and puts his hoof on her shoulder. “No, I believe you are a brave and noble pony worthy of respect and title.”

Demi started to feel weak, and her eyes moistened. Then, she jerked her shoulder away. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but stop it!”

Crimson took a step back. “I do not know what you are talking about.”

She stared at him for a brief moment. “Yeah, right.”

Suddenly, the ground started to shift and shake. Though the tremor was a brief tremor, the power of the tremor knocked almost everything unprotected off of their shelves and walls.

Crimson and Demi, being used to earth combat with similar effects, stood with a widened stance for balance. He looked up to his sister. “That was no natural tremor.”

“You’re right.” Demi looked out the window. “It must be your brother.”

“Are we running low on time?”

“Time for what?” Demi looked at Crimson. “What do those jewels do?”

“The jewels?” Crimson looked at Demi. “You have seen them?”

“Who do you think guided them through that pathetic structure these fools call a fortress?”

Crimson put his hoof on Demi’s shoulder. “Come, my dear sister. You must show me where my brother is located.”

“You must be joking.” Demi wipped Crimson’s hoof off of her shoulder. “You and I got our asses kicked by Scorch. What makes you think we have a hoof of a chance in beating Temethyst?”

“We do not stand a chance.” He put his hoof back on her shoulder. “However, we have to try. Otherwise, the young filly’s vision will come true.” Demi turned around in a huff. “I know you have seen those visions as well.”

“I have.”

“So you know how grave the situation is.”

Demi sighed. “This is a fool’s errand!”

“You are right.” Crimson turned and started to walk out the door.

“Wait.” Demi got in front of Crimson to halt his advance. “We can’t do this on our own. We’ll need an army to stop him.”

Crimson looked away in thought for a moment. “I believe you are correct. We must return to Ponyville to find Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Demi got angry and turned around. “Again with that weakling. What’s with you?”

“Princess Twilight is not a weakling.”

“Hah! She and her darling friends couldn’t beat me. What makes you think she can help us?”

The two stopped mid-argument to widen their stance for balance as the ground trembled again. “Come, my sister. We can not stay here any longer.” Crimson turned and started to carefully leave the room.

Demi sighed, feeling that weak feeling mixed with anger. “That Princess….” She looked up angrily and left the building behind Crimson.

Author's Note:

Edit: 10/18/2017, quick read through, tense corrections

Comments

[BluePhoenyx]

Author's Note: Chapter 20 - Crimson and the Trembling Lands
In this chapter, the seer meets with a power beyond her comprehension. With the recovery of the duo, Demi starts to learn about life the hard way - what it means to live and what life is on the surface.

Another chapter as promised. Today is Wednesday. Next is Friday, April 11th (or so). Due to the amount of content I have to post and the number of episodes left in the season, I may be posting a chapter on a Tuesday or Wednesday from time to time to keep things even with the show. A friendly reminder, the story was done before the season started. Everything I'm doing is just some proof reading/editing and writing.

I'm also rather curious on what people think of the book. If you have a moment, leave a comment. I'm interested in hearing your feedback. Thanks for reading.