Ch 12 - How much will burn?
The cold numbness in my chest failed to dissipate as I traveled and the colors around me had begun to dull.
Crickets chirped, birds sang, and leaves rustled but all of it was drowned out by a violent ringing that drilled into my skull.
What the hell am I supposed to do, tell the guard? Oh, that’s gonna just go swell. ‘Oh hey guys, I found the filly, turns out she’s a rebel spy!’ Bah, at least they didn’t seem interested in this little town.
I dropped to the ground when I reached the forest’s edge and lowered my veil of invisibility while I walked back to the gates.
I barely acknowledged the guards on the walls as I passed through the gates.
Though, the belligerent one from earlier seemed nervous, with shifty eyes, intense stares, and all that.
However, I decided to not worry about it.
With a sigh, I plodded towards the orphanage.
The trip barely registered in my mind as I deliberated.
My thoughts were wordless, my head a swirling pot of emotion and attempts at logic.
I managed to come to a conclusion as I arrived.
I might as well leave it be, not like it changes anything. This is just another strange thing, just another one of those little inconsistencies, just another anomaly… I’m getting so tired of this.
I punctuated the thought with a sigh.
The once dilapidated building had cleaned up nicely.
No boards stuck out along the wall, the roof didn’t sag anymore, no vines, no loose nails, and a paint job to top it all off.
All in all, I believed we had the best building on the street!
Then again, that’s not a high bar to clear.
When I trotted inside I found Ms. Heart scolding a very ashamed-looking little batpony.
Of course, those watery eyes, trembling legs, and god-awful names were all fake. All of it, everything she’s ever done culminated to form one big lie.
I had to suppress a glare as I felt the cold numbness turn to white-hot anger but I still managed to speak in a calm voice.
“I’m back and I suppose I picked the perfect time to check in, eh?”
False Gale er, Twisted Twisters eh, oh forget it, she’s just ‘little liar’ now.
Little Liar glanced at me while she tried to hide her anxiety.
She didn’t bury it like an amateur, instead, she made sure to look at Ms. Heart more than me, to cringe in ways that bespoke shame rather than fear, she tried to convince me that she feared punishment rather than the possibility of me knowing something.
She failed.
I grinned as Ms. Heart looked at me.
“Yes, you did. I don’t need you for anything else but lunch is in a couple of hours.”
My smile remained.
“Alright, then I suppose that I should get back to work, eh? The Cakes are probably getting agitated with how long it’s taking me.”
Ms. Heart nodded.
“Probably.”
“Then I shall go to rectify the situation!”
With that, I left the orphanage to go to work but my mask of faux cheeriness fell the moment I turned the corner out of the alley.
The rest of the day was spent going about my business of ripping up plundervines.
Apparently, it’s difficult and time-consuming for even experienced exterminators to get rid of the damn weeds without tons of collateral damage.
My niche may be obscure, but apparently, there’s been a recent surge of the weed in the area.
It also didn’t hurt that I didn’t limit myself to plundervines so I managed to carve out a decent place for myself in this little town.
The familiarity of the process should’ve calmed me; removing plundervines is supposed to be my stress relief.
However, the pit in my stomach had solidified and the fiery anger had burned its course, leaving only the frigid ashes of dread.
I tried to zone further into my work, to rip the worries from my mind like I ripped these weeds from the homes of my clients.
Just focus on the air, focus on the air, focus on the air.
My mantra kept my magic steady as I compressed the air around my target to a ridiculous degree.
The vine had crept from the back of the home and stretched all the way over the roof, only getting noticed when the thing draped itself over a window.
The damned plant had dug its roots deep into the ground and begun to invade the home as well.
It had taken me almost an hour to separate the plundervine from the house.
It took another hour to uproot the thing and with how close together the buildings were around here, it will probably take half an hour to burn this thing without starting a town-wide fire.
I gritted my teeth as I continued reducing the vile plant to ashes but was interrupted by my client.
“How’s the weeding going, sir?”
I grunted.
“Almost finished, just have to burn this thing and I’ll be done.”
The unicorn cocked an eyebrow.
“Might I ask why? The putrid thing is already uprooted and a fire could easily start if you burn it.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Because the thing isn’t really dead, just uprooted. If I set the vine down it will probably just reroot and begin creeping up your house all over again.”
My client nodded.
“Very well, sir, but I do suggest you hurry up.”
He scrambled to explain himself before I could fully glare at him.
“I don’t mean to rush you or be impolite, It’s just that there’s a storm front coming in and I don’t want you to get caught out in the gale.”
I looked at where he pointed and saw a mountain of clouds looming over the horizon.
I could see the monstrosity growing as I watched.
Distant puffs of mist rolled off of the beast-like dense fog.
Oh god, oh dear god, is that…?
I turned my head back to my work and intensified the flames.
“Thank you for the warning sir, I should be fine.”
His duty done, the unicorn trotted back into his dwelling.
However, he seemed to miss the newfound warbling panic that had crept into the edges of my voice.
After finishing with my weed burning I hurried over to the edge of town nearest to the storm.
A quick twist of reality left me on the wall staring at the horizon.
The floating behemoth had drawn closer and would arrive in a few hours by my estimation.
I’m out of time.
It can’t be, this place is too small, too insignificant. That stallion said it himself, they didn’t need this place! Why, why?
Lies and misdirection are the basis of all warfare. Of course, they wouldn’t tell a simple spy everything! Gah, I'm an idiot!
…
Oh, how Sugar Plum would laugh if she heard me say that.
I spent a minute or two staring at the oncoming storm before I heard an angry voice shout.
“Who are you and why are you on the wall?”
I kept my eyes on the storm.
“Staring trouble in the face, sir.”
“The buck does that mean?”
“Means trouble’s coming.”
What can I do? What can I do? Nothing, nothing!
Another voice broke up my growing bout of panic.
“Who the buck are you and why’re ya on my wall?”
I heaved a trembling sigh.
“Staring trouble in the face, sir.”
“Then you should be looking at me if that’s what you’re after, citizen. You should not be on this wall!”
I can warn them, I can warn them. Please listen.
I cut off further shouting by pointing at the storm front ahead of us.
“Do you know what that is, sir?”
A moment of silence was followed by the confused voice of the second guard.
“It's a storm ya idiot, ya needed my input on that? Bah, you’re coming with me, civilians are not allow-”
That’s not all, there’s so much more to it.
“Not just any storm, sir. That’s a war storm, an old pegasi tactic.”
Silence hung over the trio of us as the two guards probably stared at each other before together they asked.
“The buck is a war storm?”
Please listen, please understand.
My eyelids drooped and I shook my head as I managed to answer in a flat tone.
“As I said, an old pegasi tactic. They would gather a bunch of clouds to make an artificial lightning storm. Then they would push it over their intended target and bombard the location with lightning. It was used to counter earthpony artillery emplacements, heavy anti-air fortifications, and even to sometimes ground an enemy pegasi army in some situations.
I paused for a moment.
But not this one, we have none of those things. Only reason to pull together a storm like this would be for camouflage.
“This one’s probably just meant to hide some sort of assault.”
The two guards paused again before one asked.
“Assuming you’re correct, which you probably aren’t…”
They’re doomed.
“...how can ya tell it’s a war storm?”
Because it’s a war storm you idiot, do none of you get trained to watch for this kind of stuff? Useless sentries.
“Normally, a natural storm front looks like a giant puff of cotton that unrolls over the sky like a massive blanket.”
“I don’t see how-”
Shut up, moron!
“Hush, let me finish. Anyways, that’s what a normal storm looks like. If you look at this one, it has some sort of spike jutting out the bottom. That’s usually a good indicator of a war storm because those spikes make it easier to drive the clouds forwards and downwards.”
Like a knife through butter.
“Even if it didn’t have that little flat protrusion, then the patchwork appearance should give it away. I can almost see lines delineating the borders between one cloud or another and right now I’m seeing hundreds of those faint divisions.”
A chimeric abomination, a probable waste of resources, and no doubt a last resort.
“That could easily cause problems for both sides as obvious borders like that mean much more random lightning and such a sloppy job suggests desperation.”
I sighed before finishing.
“Whelp, it looks like you’re going to be dealing with an army soon and a rabid one at that.”
I had laid out the facts.
I told them and warned them of what was coming.
There’s not much more to be done for this doomed wall.
These idiots aren’t going to be trained in an hour, I can’t use too much of my magic without getting found out by the sisters, and I have no interest in becoming a butcher.
They have been warned, they can handle themselves. But the children need me.
Before the two guards could bombard me with any more questions I disappeared, no flash, no pop, just there one moment and gone the next.
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Ponytar the last airbender just got a lot more metal
11209094
???????????
oh boy
I forgot to put in the author note so I'll leave the message here.
Please leave comments about your thoughts! I love to see your guy's reactions to the story. Comments are my favorite statistic to see go up.
11209101
I love your response here!
Nicely done with this chapter!
I don't think about how to use storm clouds as seige weapons very often (mostly because I can't control them), but...
Wow. That's really clever.
I just thought of something that might happen with this character. He might get something of a reputation as a harbinger of war if he hangs around towns and warns of war before suddenly disappearing like that
That explanation on pegasi warfare, interlaced with thought, commentary and backtalk, it was fantastic.
Bravo my friend! You have a solid career if you can reliably recreate the magic of that scene.
Again, great job.
11209265
SCP class Apollyon XD
Oh that is gonna end well...
I'm a bit curious how our hero knows about pegasus military tactics. Did he learn them during his stay in the mage's tower?
Can't wait for the coming conflict. :)
11209410
almost definitely. It's one of two places that he was able to sit down and ask questions, and the only one loaded with information that might have included that.
11209872
yea, I plan on revisiting that damned chapter and turning it into a whole arc. Just need to finish this one off first
11209886
Good call on that, it's never good to have a character just suddenly have knowledge for no apparent reason.
I'm looking forward to the next update, this is shaping up to be a good one.
11210051
I know I had a scene about him reading in the wizard tower library... Nvm only locations and history were mentioned, gah I hate filling in plot holes.
I have to say that I love this story. Its a very different take on the HIE as Discord in Equestria. And I hate to say it, but while most people get this wrong, this story is done right. I love the way this unfolds and the way the main character acts, and reacts to the world around him. The guy is intelligent and reacts much like I would in similar situations.
I very much look forward to seeing where this goes.
All I ask is that you don't make him touch or sex phobic. There is no reason why every single character on this site should suffer from these phobias.
Monk
“A spider’s got to spider.” -Scarheart
11210432
high praise coming from you good sir, I thank you for it!
...
Though, may I ask, what that quote means?
Before I read on a scale of 1-10 how depressing is this story?
11212404
2 I guess? This isn't misery porn
Let's hope he uses his powers to at least protect the orphanage
They mess with Typhon little friends? They are in for a real terror!
Oh that's neat
No wonder the rebels had towns rebel from them, if they take things over so violently.