CH14: Inferno
Special Thanks:
Editor: Midnight Dancer
Proofreader: Meeester
*****
So, let me get this straight: You talked to a repair pony, then realized he can repair gramophones, then you deliberately headed to the workplace of your friend who you’ve known for at least… what, 3 weeks? Then the owner of the establishment lets you ‘steal’ it, just to get it repaired?
…..
What kind of idiotic town do you live in!? Your ‘friends’ follow no kind of common sense whatsoever! Heck, I can imagine somepony walking up to you and saying “Hey there, friend! Go ahead and take anything from the store! It’s completely free; it’s not like I’m going to betray you and call the guards or anything!”
Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?
…..
What do you mean ‘nowhere you go is normal’!? You know what? You’re an idiot, and you need to get your brain examined. I think the town is infecting you with it’s nonsense. Oh, speaking of the town, I see Berry’s bar caught on fire eh? I’m curious to know who would do such a thing. I think fried pony is a delicacy in certain parts of my town, actually.
….!
Oh shush, I was only kidding. There’s no need to curse up a storm. Now, let’s continue on, shall we? I’m dying to know if your friends are dea—er, I mean safe! Yes, safe…
*****
Chapter 14: Inferno
The smoke seemed to cover the entire sky of Ponyville, the burning black abyss clouding up all around you. Your vision was blurry, and it was a little hard to see as the smog stung and watered your eyes.
The fire around Berry’s bar crackled and licked the establishment as if it were the fire’s first class meal, trying to digest it into its fiery belly. You collapsed on your hind hooves, not believing the fiery hell in front of you. You slammed a hoof into the ground, and a small patch of dirt flew a few inches from it, your face contorting up with anger.
That’s when you shot your head up in surprise. You suddenly assumed that Berry and Pinkie were inside the bar! You looked at the doorway to the flaming establishment, only to see that a mix of lumber and embers were blazing at the entrance, blocking any possible route. You called out their names toward the building, hoping for a reply, anything to satisfy your fearful curiosity.
But there was no reply… no squeak, no cry for help, nothing but the sounds of collapsing wood and the crackling flames. Were you too late? Were they burnt to a crisp? Or did they even make it out safely before the fire got even worse? So many ideas flooded your mind, but none of them filled the silent gap.
“H-help,” a familiar voice shouted. “Somepony *cough*, help me!”
Your ears picked up a rather sweet and feminine voice that seemed like angels singing in a choir. You combed your eyes through the smog as you tried to identify who it was, especially with the words ‘help me’ echoing through your ears. The voice was so familiar to you, but you couldn’t quite catch it as you were in a panic.
Your eyes came to a window on the second floor of the establishment, seeing a purplish figure in the window, waving her hooves all about as she coughed out.
“Huh? M-Mr. Top Hat!? Is that you? Please, help me! Get me out of here, I’m trapped on this floor!” It was Berry Punch, covered in black soot as she screamed for help. You got back on your hooves and ran towards the window, only to realize it was one floor above you. You certainly couldn’t reach it, and with all the fire around the building, you couldn’t very well climb it either, unless you wanted to be extra well-done for somepony’s dinner.
You tried to quickly think of an escape route for Berry, but only one came to mind, and it was certainly going to test the endurance of your legs and back. You placed your hooves firmly on the ground, with your back straightened out. Then you immediately yelled to Berry to jump down onto you, to which she gasped.
“Land on you? What are you craz—eek!” A window next to her broke into thousands of pieces as it made a loud, audible shatter. He held her hooves against her muzzle watching the dancing flames pour out from the open window. She looked between you and her current predicament, and nodded towards you.
You see that she was slowly trying to climb out. You assumed her to be scared, to which you told her to hurry up. You were certainly worried about her. In fact, if she was consumed in the flames, you didn’t know what you would do; maybe cry in a corner as you cursed your life. But you certainly didn’t want to be doing that. Besides, it wasn’t stallion-like.
She placed one hind hoof down out the window, but suddenly she lost her grip and started hanging from the window with one hoof!
“Ah! H-help!”
You shouted at her to let go of the window, but she just shook her head vigorously. You couldn’t help but facehoof. You wondered why she was so scared to just let go and fall down right onto you, especially since she was on the verge of both life and death. You assumed it was due to being afraid of heights, or maybe afraid of falling, but it was anypony’s guess. But then again, it’s the fear factor that hits them, so you couldn’t really blame it or complain.
“I-I’m slipping!”
You dug your hooves into the soil in front of the building, bracing yourself as you prepared to be a pony cushion. You watched her dangle from the window, and eventually her hoof slipped off the window. She went down, screaming as she collided with your back. You gasped when your legs couldn’t support the sheer force she brought with her, making you collapse. Your vision went rocky for a second as you laid there on the ground with Berry on your back. Part of you wondered how much she weighed, but another part of you was thankful that she managed to land on you.
You turned your neck to see she was laid on your back, stomach first and shivering, possibly from the fright of falling. You mumbled to her how she needed to lose some weight. Berry looked at you in disgust and slapped you across the face.
“How dare you! That’s not something to say to someone when they’re falling to their death!”
The right side of your cheek now had a hoof-sized red mark on it, and it stung a little bit, to which you were about to counter with a retort, but you immediately stopped.
Her fearful, magenta eyes were full of tears with her face scrunched up in a frown. To you, it seemed she was scared out of her mind, and she immediately wrapped her purple hooves around your neck, with a grip so tight you almost begged for air.
“Oh by Celestia, I’m so glad you came back, Top Hat. If you didn’t come, I… I don’t know what I would have done,” she said through her sobs and tears, the same ones that started to soak your neck. “Please… please don’t leave me like that again, I don’t *hic* want to be alone anymore…”
You could see she was being pretty emotional, but you understood why. You silently forgave her just this one time for slapping you on the cheek. You calmly asked her to stop squeezing your neck with her hug, to which she just hung onto it more tightly. You tapped her hooves with yours, trying to tell her to let go of you, but you literally had to pull her hooves off you just to breathe properly.
She lets go rather reluctantly and places her hooves on the ground, standing next to you. You got up onto your hooves and merely sighed, telling her that they needed to get away from the burning building. That’s when the fire around the establishment intensified as the roof suddenly collapsed into the bar below. Berry couldn’t help but cry out as she looked at her bar, crumbling right before her eyes. She attempted to run towards it, but you held her back as more tears flowed down her face.
“Let me go! I need to get back in there!” Berry shouted at the top of her lungs as she tried to get out of your grip, to which you were confused, saying that the establishment was coming down and there was nothing they could do about it. She gave you a glare as she gritted her teeth in anger towards you.
“You don’t get it! My bar is crumbling down, and you just want to hold me back!? Let me go I said!”
You still held her down as you watched the building crumble before your eyes. But then you came to a realization. If Berry was in the building, then…
You immediately went wide-eyed. With your hoofy might, you tossed Berry to the side as you galloped forth towards the building. You were worried that Pinkie may still be inside, and you couldn’t waste a second longer, standing there like an idiot.
Despite the flaming hazard that was obviously in front of you, you still wanted to go inside. You looked back at Berry, who was galloping towards you, only to tell her to stay put. She merely shook her head with anger in her voice.
“No! You’re not leaving me here!”
You told her once again to stay where she was, saying that you needed to go in and find Pinkie. But she raised a brow at you and shook her head.
“What are you talking about!? Pinkie isn’t—eeek!?”
Everything around you shook, as if an earthquake was right under your hooves. You lost your balance and fell on your rear, wondering what could produce such a powerful shake. That’s when you looked in front of you, to see that the living inferno that was once Berry’s bar, slowly collapsed. Every single flame that licked the tender wood that was its meal quickly peeled away as parts of it turned to burnt bark and ash.
With the shaking of the earth, you wouldn’t be able to run forwards, and staying where you were was a bad idea, too. You clumsily ran towards Berry, grabbing her by the hoof despite her protests. A loud noise of wood clashing against the ground made it apparent that you were no longer safe, and it was only a matter of time before Berry’s Bar was no more.
Nothing there other than leftover wood and lumber, along with any lingering flames.
*****
Several minutes passed while Berry’s Bar collapsed to the ground, in which some help had finally arrived from the Fire Department; a team of unicorns and pegasi. But by the time the team had arrived, it was too late. The only thing they could do was water away the remaining flames that lay atop the ashes: the pegasi brought rain clouds over the top, and the unicorns controlled the water to flow towards certain spots.
You were rather envious of teamwork like that. It made you wonder why your band couldn’t work together that well, especially Beaver. However, that wasn’t something you wanted to think about right now. What you were more concerned with was the possibility that Pinkie was in that wreckage. Thoughts of her flowed into your mind, the time that she threw that party for you, or the way she was always around you, or even the times she showed up to some of your performances at Berry’s Bar.
You couldn’t help but wipe a hoof across your eyes, only to realize that you’d been crying when you saw a wet spot on the upper part of your hoof. You felt a hoof pat you on the back, only to see that it was Berry, with a frown on her face.
“My bar… who would do such a thing, and for what reason?” She looked at you with sadness in her eyes, and then looked back at the remains of the bar. “It’s like they were making sure my life was miserable.”
You nodded to her. First it was you, and now it was your friends, but the destruction of her bar was more catastrophic. You weren’t sure if this was an accident, or some crazy work of a pyromaniac. You muttered how you missed Pinkie Pie, and why it had to be her to be stuck in that place.
Berry raised a brow at you, surprised. “Pinkie Pie? She never showed up to my bar.”
You went wide-eyed and stared straight at her, asking her to repeat what she had just said, to the point of shaking her shoulders back and forth, trying to get the information out of her.
“H-hey! Stop shaking me, I said Pinkie Pie never showed up!” She pushed you in the chest, knocking you off her. She brushed herself off and glared at you. “She never came back to the bar when I sent you two on your little date!”
First of all, you told her it wasn’t a date. Second, you couldn’t help but smile for at least some good news; knowing that Pinkie Pie never came to the bar meant she was still alive. Or at least, that’s what you assumed. She could have entered without Berry knowing. But still, hearing some kind of reassurance was better than nothing.
You tapped a hoof to your forehead, wondering how the bar caught fire in the first place. It was best to gather some information on the matter, and Berry was the only one who could have known how it happened.
Berry gave a frown and looked towards the ground, kicking at the dirt below her when you asked what had happened.
“I… don’t know. After I sent you two on your way, business was like usual. At one point I had to go upstairs so I could take a small break. After all, bargaining with the guests of my bar can be exhausting work, especially with the good looks I have.” She gave a nervous chuckle but continued on. “Well, I know I took a short nap...I was really tired from all the work I'd been doing." Her pink brow furrowed, eyes still wide and slick with tears. "I...don't know what happened while I slept. But I woke up surrounded by smoke, and my eyes were watering and I was coughing..." She trailed off, looking back to the collapsed bar, and the tears began anew as she buried her face in her forehooves.
She gave you a huge hug. “You’re my knight in shining armor… If you hadn’t come by, I wouldn’t even be here right now.” She glanced at the burning rubble that was once her bar, heaving a watery sigh. “That bar would have been my grave. I swear, once I find out who did this, I’m going to kick their flanks! This is not something you get off with easily!”
As she went on her tangent on how she would torture the ones responsible, you decided that you were no closer to knowing who or what burnt down Berry’s Bar. You were at a complete loss on what to do. Both your and Berry’s jobs were destroyed, which meant no more income.
What you were most worried about was Pinkie: did she just go home? Or did something else happen? As you tried to connect the dots on her disappearance, you merely concluded that she just went home. After all, she did have those boxes of sweets she bought earlier today, so what else could she have done?
That’s when Berry gave you a tug on your shoulder, giving you a look of uncertainty as her eyes darted back and forth towards the ground and then back to you.
“Hey… walk me home?”
*****
Instead of walking her home, you had to follow her home. When you told her you had no idea where she lived, she couldn’t help but give a small chuckle. But regardless, she did lead you to where she lived. When you arrived, you saw a square-like grey building connected to another one similar to it via some kind of walkway.
The front was adorned with several windows and a staircase that seemed to lead from the bottom floor all the way to the top. You felt sorry for anyone that lived on the top floor, which you were sure it would’ve been a pain to walk up to. What surprised you, though, was that she lived in an apartment complex. With her owning her own bar, you assumed she would live in a nice fancy house. But alas, you were mistaken.
After bringing her out towards the front, she begins to walk up the steps towards her own apartment door, but then she asks you to come on in. You didn’t want to intrude on her residence, since you thought she needed some time alone. But with some persuading, you followed her in.
So there you were, sitting on a two-seat purple couch which felt soft to the touch. You didn’t know what kind of cloth was used for it, but it was bouncy and comfortable, and it supported your weight. You saw Berry next to you, sipping a glass of clear liquid—presumably water.
She gave a small sigh as she leaned back on the couch, looking at you with a smile.
“Thanks for walking me home. After everything that’s happened, I appreciate you coming.”
You told her it was no trouble at all and that you were glad that you came with. She got up from the couch and walked towards the open window of her home, with her hooves laid out on the windowsill. You took a peek at the window to see that night had fallen, Luna’s moon shining brightly out in the dark, abysmal night. But you also saw several ominous clouds drawing near towards your location.
Berry sighed as she caught wind of what you were looking at. “It’s going to rain, isn’t it?”
You nodded, saying that it might. You walked up to the windowsill to get a closer look at the sky. The clouds were deep and black, and you wondered what the weather ponies were up to at this time of night.
You did recall that there were some weather conditions that were beyond their control. After all, they weren’t complete masters of the weather; sometimes Mother Nature was a cruel mistress.
“I wonder what I’m going to do,” she said with a frown on her face. You couldn’t help but wonder how many times you’ve seen her frown. Given what made her frown, it was a stupid question to ask yourself. She lightly tapped her forehead on a part of the lifted window. “My bar is gone, and I’ve no way of getting any income. Heh, I’m in a tight spot, aren’t I? Especially since I nearly got killed in a fire.” She looked back at you with a forced smile. “I guess we’re both having problems this month, aren’t we?”
Through that forced smile, you could tell she was hurt. Having her lose her ownership in the worst way possible couldn’t have been easy on her. You sounded like a broken record by saying this, but the point was she was certainly in a bad position. You asked her if she made an insurance claim on the bar, to which she shook her head.
“No, I didn’t bother to. I mean, who would insure a building for fire damage? There’s no fire hazards in my bar, and the weather ponies had everything under control. I thought I would be fine. But, heh, I guess it was a stupid idea to not do so.”
Attempted murder on yourself, and attempted murder on Berry. This certainly wasn’t becoming your month, at all. That’s when Berry walked away from the window sill and went into a dimly lit room. She poked her head out and lightly smiled.
“I’m going to take a bath now. You’re welcome to whatever is in the fridge if you’re hungry.”
She pokes her head back in, and you went back to staring out the window with a sigh. You could understand why Berry needed a bath; she was covered in soot and probably ashes, and after a traumatic experience like that, you wished you could have a bath as well. But it was probably rude to ask a mare to use her bath. You concluded it was best for you to go home and take a bath when it was time.
You kept staring out at the window, wondering what awaited you in the future. You decided to do a recap of everything that had happened to you today:
An arrow shooting your hat, which you assumed was meant for your head.
An unknown unicorn that fled from the scene through an alleyway, and disappeared.
The fire at Berry’s Bar.
You wanted to know who would cause such chaos, and who wanted you and Berry dead. You wondered if it was the same pony or ‘thing’ that caused the accident back at the Grand Opening of that restaurant, too.
But they were merely guesses as you wracked your brain, wanting some answers to impossible questions.
You jumped as you heard a loud knock at the door from behind you—a total of three knocks with at least a second delay in between each knock. You took a deep breath, shaking your head to snap out of it. You were in a safe location with no dangers around you, and even a simple knock was enough to frighten you.
Regaining your composure, you walked over to the door, asking who it was behind it. However, there was no reply. You talked through the door once more, asking who it was, but again, no reply. Curiosity getting the better of you, you opened it, only to see no one in front of it. It could have been a colt or filly playing knock knock pranks on the local neighbors.
But again, that was just a guess on your part. You gave a small sigh as you walked outside, to get a better view of your surroundings. Your hoof then stepped on what felt like a sheet of paper. You looked down to see it was indeed paper; a parchment in fact.
Out of curiosity, you picked it up. You looked at the yellow, tattered sheet carefully to see what it was. You assumed it was a piece of a newspaper, or a blank sheet. But no, you went wide-eyed when you looked at the inked writing on the sheet.
---
Dear Music Pony,
That fire was fun, wasn’t it?
---
You nearly dropped the sheet when you saw the first sentence. Was this letter meant for you? And why did it mention a fire? You read on, holding the letter in shaky hooves.
---
It’s a shame you weren’t in my little barbecue pit which I would like to call hell, but it seems you like avoiding death at every turn. Well, guess what? You won’t be so lucky this time. You may have avoided the arrow, and you may have avoided the inferno at the bar, but there’s one thing you can’t avoid…
---
The letter ended there. You placed the letter at your side, puzzled, confused, and angry. The hoofwriting you didn’t recognize and you certainly didn’t know who wrote it. Whoever did, though, was definitely intent on killing you. You wanted to know who was responsible for this, and you wanted to strangle whatever creature would do such a horrid thing.
“The thing you can’t avoid…”
You went wide-eyed when you heard a rather deep and hoarse voice come from behind you.
“…is the danger you and your pink friend are in.”
You immediately turned around, but the back of your head was immediately hit with something large and blunt. You didn’t make out what it was, but your vision became blurry, shaky, and you nearly lost control of your bodily functions. You couldn’t keep your eyes open as so many emotions erupted from you: confusion, anger, pain… and the fact that your vision was getting darker as every second passed. You were vaguely aware of hitting the ground with a thud, only to slowly lose consciousness as you felt your body being dragged away...
*****
….!
Interesting, so that’s how it all happened. You saved a mare from certain death, you got invited into her house, and you even had a chance to smack some pony flank, eh? How could you not join her in the bath, you idiot!? That was your number one opportunity to get lucky, and you blew it! Honestly, stallions these days don’t have the balls to take a chance…
…..
I find it funny that you got snuck up on while reading a letter on the ground. It was clever, and ingenious, although I would have preferred just hitting you in the back of the head with no warning. But you got to admit, it’s like those cheesy comic books they write, always having the villain announce their presence before whacking you on the head.
…..
Yes yes, I’ll continue the—hm? Well, this is strange…
….?
Well, see for yourself. See the book that I’m dangling around? That was all the pages in the book. There’s no more to read! It seems your life is pretty much over. My guess is that you died from the blow to the head. Well, that was pretty anti-climactic. This fiend somehow puts your pink pony friend in danger, and you die from a blunt object to the head. Well, that’s certainly going to be another report I gotta file.
….?
Ah right, I never told you who I really am, did I? Very well, seeing as how there’s no more to read, and the fact there’s nothing else to do, I will grant this wish. Here, I’m taking off my hood now and… Presto!
!!!!!
Oh don’t be so shocked. What did you expect? I’m a damn pile of bones wearing a robe! What, did you expect the Daisy Flower Express or something? Then again, I don’t have the ability to push up daisies for the dead… But this was rather amusing while it lasted. Now, do you know what I’m going to do with you?
!?!?
Would you stop acting so damn scared? You’re acting as if I’m here to reap your soul.
…..
Well, whatever you’re assuming, I’m not here for that… or at least, it wasn’t my plan to. But like it or not, your story isn’t over yet.
….?
Yeah, isn’t that odd? You’re not dead. In fact, you’re far from it. You’re just in an unconscious state right now, but sadly that’s all I know. With the book out of pages, I assume that whatever future you have ahead of you, I can’t predict. Do you know what that means?
….!
That’s right, buddy, you’ll be regaining consciousness soon. But I will have to warn you… this whole situation with you being knocked out? It seems the finale to your story is coming, and not in a good way. It definitely doesn’t spell ‘happy ending’, or maybe it does?
Bah, you know what? I’ll let you find out for yourself. I need to get back to my job.
…..
What job you say? Well, I told you I’m a reaper, didn’t I? But don’t worry. If anything much more horrid happens to you, I’ll be sure to come back for ya, but under less friendly circumstances. You know, death and all.
…..
I must admit that you were rather entertaining to read and watch. Although, you don’t take your surroundings into much consideration. Always taking action rather than thinking things through…
But anyway, it seems your end is nearing, and I look forward to seeing how it progresses… will it be death, or happiness?
So long, you crazy musical pony. Let’s see how you fare in this unmarked ‘final chapter’, eh? I’ll be waiting for the results.
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that was a twist...
i have to read
The suspense!
The suspense is killing me!
>> aaronboy22 so very much agreed
''hmmm... how many can say they had a long conversation with death and at some point try strangling him''
Dammit dragon with your stupid cliffhangers!!
Noooo mr top hat
it's ok, pinkie'll save you 
O M G THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!
I like this, and you should keep making it, and I shall keep liking it
drawception.com/pub/panels/2012/4-28/ARsk595an5-2.png
He might not have ACTUALLY died, but what a twist.
Son of a bitch! You got me!
Well played, sir. Well played indeed
Man, this updated when I had no internet.
And wow..... I gotta read the next chapter.
How could anypony even manage to capture Pinkie in the first place?
She doesn't obey the laws of physics. And she has her Pinkie Sense.
Something doens't add up...
1578786
Following how Pinkie Pie does it all is like asking a Tyrannosaurus to bake a pie.
It doesn't add up. :/
1566157 Wait... am I the only one who knew he was talking to death the entire time? Seriously?
I mean... god... I thought it was overtly obvious by chapter 2.
Now that was very good.
I was curious as to who exactly was reading from the book, but had a feeling it would end somewhat like that.
I also have a feeling (although I could be completely wrong) that pony Beaver has something to do with this. He seems to bode bad will, and you seemed to stress his character. Or even Loud Hoof (plot-twist!). Maybe they're working together...? I dunno. Just my guesses. That would be pretty sweet though.
I can't wait to see the next update. I'm really, really looking forward to it. (I hope it's soon!) Oh, and awesome user-picture.
*its not it's
I'm gonna guess you're gonna have Mr Top Hat say at least one line just before the story ends
Seriously, what the fuck did I do that was just so earth-shatteringly bad that I have to put up with bullshit like this?
My guess is that the viewpoint is going to change.