Dancing Flames, Cooling Ember

by Tamara Bloodhoof

Chapter Fourteen, Crosscountry, Literally.

Chapter 14,
Cross Country.

I stared at the place Grim had been standing just seconds before, now just a giant hole. His body had been pulled under the ground, almost as if the stone had been crafted out of water.

‘Heh, just like Kakashi.’

'Gemina, NOT NOW!'

I gazed down the hole, scanning the murky depths below. After a moment of being unable to see what was inside, I decided to find out myself. With a quick jump I landed in the pit on all fours. It was then that I realized that the inside the pit was pitch black. It took me a second, but my eyes somehow filtered through the darkness, causing everything to appear as if it were daylight. As I stood up and rushed forward a pair of Diamond dogs pushed themselves out of the earth and body checked me, crushing my frame in-between their massive forms.

"Either get off of me or die." I growled at the two giant dogs, to which they just laughed, squishing me tighter. Their response, while unfortunate, was expected, and with a short snarl of, Die.” my claws cleaved the two mutts beside me. They died before they hit the floor, each one missing their heads.

‘Let’s go.’

‘Right.’

I looked forward, and realized that the two dogs hadn’t just attacked me, but had collapsed the tunnel behind their mates, rendering the path untraversable. Roaring in rage, I spun around and we dashed up to the entrance again. As we reached the hole I jumped forward, and then grabbed the wall, using my legs to push myself up and over the edge of the pit and back out into the moonlight. I studied the ground for a moment, but there was no sign of where they went.

‘Gemina, how do we find him!’

‘I don't k....’ but I had already worked it out, and, raising my finger, I shouted “Interioris oculi, rubeum chorda fati!" The previous red string snapped, the whole line vanishing in a puff. A second later another string of red light shot from my finger, this time heading straight through the city.

I looked at Manehattan's streets, remembering how crowded they had been. If I tried to charge through I would be impeded by all the civilians, but I couldn't fly over the town either, not with the wings on my back being clipped.

'You know, your scales would hide you well against the night sky.'

'I don't have time for riddles Gemina, so speak clearly!'

'Use the roofs.'

'Wait, like a free runner?'

'Caught on yet?'

I didn't know whether I wanted to kiss her or smack her, and with my inability to do either, I decided that actions would have to suffice. My legs sprang into action, charging at the nearest building, twelve feet in height. As I neared the building my legs bent, then sprang open, propelling me into the air, my feet clearing over four feet of air.

'Nice one!'

My claws grabbed the edge of the roof which was, thankfully, flat. As my feet hit the wall I once again crouched, then pushed off of the wall with all my might, my claws clutching the wall with an iron grip, causing me to literally do a front flip over the wall onto the roof. Letting go of the roof, I flicked my tail back over the edge of the roof, using it to allow my upper half to once again realign my body upwards. I then dashed across the roof, springing from it to the other building, easily twenty feet tall. Using that as a springboard, I jumped from off of its wall into the other building next to it.

'Seventeen feet up in the air in only fifteen seconds, must be a record.'

I didn't hesitate as I landed, instead rushing forward, the air around me whipping by. I was doing what I was great at, cross country. It was time to go over a town, and the thread was my lifeline. It took me a good twenty minutes, but at a fast paced run I made it over the roofs without much trouble. As I reached the other side of the town I leaped off of the roof, waiting until the last second before shouting, "AER DEFLEXIO!" causing a huge pillow of air to flip me from a starfish position back onto my feet.

'Ready?'

'Go!'

I had taken only five steps before I noticed a giant field with littered with pits, just like the one Grim had been dragged into. 'What is...?' but then it hit me.

My brain left me, receding into the murky depths of my psyche. I knew what was going on, what was going to happen. It had happened before, hadn't it? It was the one episode I actually remembered, the one where the mains six had to fight against a pack of diamond dogs. They had played whack-a-mole with them. The dogs weren't even fighting me anymore, they were playing with me, stalling for time. But I couldn't waste time, I could.........n't.........fig........t..............

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to focus, to resist, but what was I resisting again?..........What was it?..........remember........Grim.........couldn't..........lose...........

My eyelids shot open, but I couldn't see. I tried to touch my eyes, but instead flames danced in my sockets, their warmth heating my entire face. I could still sense everything around me, but I no longer saw them. I no longer needed to.

"JOVIS TEMPESTAS FULGURIENS!" I shrieked to the heavens, bringing my right fist to the ground, shoving it into the hard earth. The ground around me froze, the grass becoming tiny, frosty blades, the holes suddenly sprouting giant spiked pillars of ice, all of them splattered with blood. The ice had either frozen them solid so fast they couldn't make a noise, or else the pillars had fulfilled their purpose, crushing the mutts before they could utter a single gasp.

A deep voice echoed through my skull, it's tone pleased. 'Good........tential......aft......ll...'

'Em.....o!' cried another voice in my head, this one sounding panicked.

'Kill..........all.' the deep voice continued, now chuckling. '..hey....serve....t'

'N.....n't...d....it'

'You.....serve......tifactio.....'

I couldn't feel my body anymore. Instead it felt as if my conscious was floating freely throughout space. '............What's going on?.........Am I dead?..............If so.......is what I've done................all I ever could?..............but.......if so.............why?......................'

The two other voices in my head spoke together, their voices melding, only one word distinguishable.
'It's......ha........wil......e......consi..............ur.......tiny.....wyrm..............'
'......n't......at....w.....sho......o....t's....no..r.....des.......is.......................'

'destiny?.......................what is destiny?.............................What's mine?.................'

'....mb..r...'

'....Gemina?....'

'EMBER!'

My eyelids shot open as Gemina shouted at me, my right arm shooting up to feel them, but this time my eyes were in their rightful place.

*Clang*

I blinked once, twice, and then looked at my arm. Across it lay a sword, crudely made and pathetic when compared to my scales, but that wasn't what surprised me. There was a dog, probably the last, holding onto its hilt, his eyes wild and his breathing ragged. I stared at him. I could feel pure loathing churning in my gut. He was why Grim was just kidnapped. He deserved whatever I pain I inflicted upon him.

'Kill........'

'Ember..'

I ground my fangs in frustration, my right claw slowly raising into the sky. I could see the dogs pupils dilate in terror, his very breath stopping in fear.

'Murder..'

'Don't.....'

My claw started to shake, my rage keeping me from holding it still. The dogs eyes met my own, silently begging, no, praying for mercy.

'Fin....'

'Ple....'

My left claw sliced through the air, straight towards the dog.

*SNAP*

"Go.....tell them to stop following us..." I muttered, turning away from the dog, my claw releasing the broken halves of his sword. I could feel his eyes boring into me for a moment, then the pressure vanished as the sound of digging started. I didn't wait any longer. Instead, I looked down at the red string attached to my finger, then followed its path with my eyes.

'I'm sorry for that little delay Gemina. Ready?'

'You're going to go even if I said no, but yeah, I am.'

I crouched slightly, then sprang forward, running after the trail of string. 'I swear, on the blood of my father, that they will not take you Grim. I swear.'

***********************************************************************************

I had been running for a couple of hours by now, the moon under the horizon, and I was reaching the end of my rope. I still had the strength to keep running, but it had been a long day, the hunt had lasted forever, and I had already cast spells stronger than anything ever before

'Ember, I can't help you anymore, you're shutting me out.'

'That's because I know the second I let you help control the body, you'll force me to stop.'

'Stop making me be the logical one Ember! You've run yourself ragged, you need to stop!'

'I've run for this long before.'

'But at a run? Stop Ember...............please......'

I had started panting over an hour ago, and my tongue was as dry as a desert breeze, my limbs heavy as lead. I'd done these races before, and knew it was only going to get worse. Gemina was right, I probably should just stop..................

'NO, I WON'T LOSE ANOTHER FRIEND BECAUSE I REFUSE TO ACT!'

I broke into a sprint. The air, previously just a gentle breeze, now smashed into me, causing some of my scales to literally crack under the pressure of the wind around me.

'Stop Ember! EMBER!'

It took less than a minute of running before a town suddenly loomed on the horizon, and it was only another minute until I had rocketed into it.

It was Ponyville.

Grim's line had been drug halfway through it.

Buck.

"GRIM!" I bellowed, my voice shaking the very ground, the stones beneath my feet starting to shatter under every step I took.

Lights flicked on throughout the town, the windows turning into small beacon, the sound of shouts and panicked screams filling the night.

'Ember, we can't stay here, we've got to leave!'

'No, I'm not leaving Grim!'

'Dear lord, you're going to have to deal with a town of angry ponies in a second, so just listen and LEAVE!'

I kept running, a plan on how to keep the ponies from swarming out of their homes yet still save Grim from the dogs formed in my mind. All I needed was a high point, and a spell prepared. I started to chant, my voice hoarse from being so parched. "Aer et aqua..."

'Ember, don't cast, get out of there!'

I decided to ignore her as I saw exactly what I needed, Twilight's tree house. "....facti nebula...."

'Ember, NO!'

I jumped off of the ground onto a nearby houses wall, using it as a springboard to jump onto twilight's house. I started to pounce from branch to branch, using all four of my limbs to grab onto the oversized tree limbs, my tail to keep me steady. Within seconds I had reached the top of her house, easily fifty feet tall. As I prepared to leap off of the tree Gemina shouted at me. "...illis somnum brevem..."

'EMBER, STOP!'

I disregarded her order and sprang from the tree, finishing my chant with a shout, "NEBULA HYPNOTICA!"

The whole town was suddenly blanketed in a thick fog, the lights in the town smothered in seconds, the sounds of the ponies scream shifting to the sound of snores. Doors shut of their own accord throughout the town. Equines were lifted into their beds, their minds suddenly wiped of the events of the last few minutes.

'See Gemina, I kn' Was all I said before I puked, my stomach caving in, my back arcing upwards as if someone had crushed it with a mallet. My body slowly arced, then pointed my face up to the heavens, my head down to the stone below.

'G......na....'

As my body started to fall I looked up at the stars above me, the tiny, sparkling diamonds almost gone in the coming day. Where they to be my last sight?

'Night.'

'EMBEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!'

*Thump*

Shoutout to Nathan Traveler and his interview story for the chess pieces, "Puppy Love's Chess Game". Here's Ember's Interview, but I must say spoiler alert. No specifics mentioned, but a lot of overview.

Comments

[KingofSquirrelz]

I have not read this, but i recognized your name from the comments, so i will give your Penguin fic a read through.

[musicman722]

cool

[NightmareKnight]

I want to see what happens next so badly.

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1403279
What's a penguin fic?

1403327
Cool indeed (or more so nuts)

1403688
I'm releasing a lot more often than I used to, so hopefully you'll know soon enough

[Qussar]

Suicidel ember
Reasonable gemina
Wtf happened here

[KingofSquirrelz]

1403759 OMG i didnt even read the description until now, im at work, i havnt got to start it yet, i totall thought Ember was a penguin, its that cover art. It lied to me.

[NightmareKnight]

1403759Yay!

[lolz anonymous]

i wounder if they will wake up before her?

[wolfbain]

Hmmm... Is Ember going to go "Happy go lucky" Insane? Cos that would be fun to read... Or write... IDEA!... Nah, It's a pretty bad one anyway KEEP IT UP MY FAIR MAIDEN, FOR THY PLOT (giggity) HAS THICKENED!

[TheEnemyCube]

Please, continue your story soon. I can't wait to read the next chapter.

[JMACOB]

Juat wonderful... Does Ember wake up in a town full of angry ponies? Was that the first time we saw the monster that took Griffin's eyes? All of it finally coming together!

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1418938
Yeppers

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1439225
Nice to see someone finding it both annoying and cool. Also, is your name a misnomer?

1415236
Who in Fronds name said that this explains it? This actually makes it more confusing, as will be said in next chapter.

[A true pony critic]

1439644
myname a what? if its about my critic part of my name its only if the author asks me to or I'm told to by my boss I get paid to critique as well as being a fireman its a good story so don't worry on that front I just haven't asked you to critique it yet

[JMACOB]

1439644
It is still all slowly coming together!

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1440705
Then mind critiqing every chapter you come across?

[A true pony critic]

1443527
alright I will just give me some tie to finish the Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog

[A true pony critic]

1443527
do you want me to do lengthy and extremely thorough reviews or just quick summaries?

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1473029
Lengthy and as horribly brutal as possible, minus chapters 1,2,3, I'm changing them extensively behind the scenes.

[A true pony critic]

1475615
okay so skip 1-3 until further notice?

[Tamara Bloodhoof]

1475691
Pretty much

[Morphile]

Writing this comment as I read the chapter. Expect more.
Start:

‘Heh, just like Kakashi.’

Oh god, Gemina has seen Naruto How far in are they for it, so I can catch up with them

Second:

my feet clearing over four feet of air.

She can jump on a roof with four feet of clearance

Third:

'Seventeen feet up in the air in only fifteen seconds, must be a record.'

So everything between this and the last quote happened in 15 seconds

Fourth:

"AER DEFLEXIO!"

Could have just said "protego"

End:So this is where we start the path to the volcano

[Nightmare Daniell61]

1475714 WE NEED MORE DAMN IT I WANT MORE FFFFFUUUU THIS STORY IS SO GOOD!!! *twitch~*