The Story of Reik: The Communist Revolutionary: MLP

by Reik

Chapter 13: Applejack and the Inferno

THIRTY MINUTES AGO: The cache located under the observatory was the first to detonate. The crumbling building was soon engulfed by the debris and dust caused by several minor caches around the great structure. Five seconds later, halfway across the Castle, what remained of the royal guards headquarters quickly disappeared in an artistic display of pure, fiery chaos. The falling masonry destroyed multiple, undetonated caches, disrupting the carefully planned network of annihilation. Within twenty seconds, the entire castle was shrouded in dust; it filled the air like a plague. If anypony remained within the doomed fortress, their lungs would quickly have shriveled and failed in such an environment. The empty and vacant streets away from the epicenter hummed with the distant explosions in an ironic orchestra.

Twenty Minutes ago: Although disrupted, the smaller chains of connection shared by the small caches continued. The great school of magic disintegrated as multiple explosives detonated simultaneously within the confines of its great structure. Several flying chunks of burning debris flew away from the school and into random parts of the city, like chunks of burning rock flung from a fierce volcano. Combined with the constant explosions from minor caches and the burning husks that where once magnificent buildings, a roaring symphony of destruction washed across the city, unending, eternal, and without any hint of dissipation. Thirty seconds later, the royal library was engulfed in flames. The red haze washed over the masonry and any texts the building previous occupants had been unable to save, soon the writings, desks, stairs, and bookcases disappeared and all that remained was the stone skeleton. The fires thirst for oxygen caused a massive updraft across the streets of Canterlot, air was swept towards the bonfire and small fire tornados appeared in the streets. The sudden rush of oxygen intensified the already massive fire. The city soon became engulfed in a firestorm, it rushed through the narrow roads and streets of the city, destroying all things in its path. The great gardens and forest scattered amongst the buildings disappeared in a great wave of red and orange. The great hedge maze was swallowed by a chocking black wave as the greenery slowly burned.

Ten minutes ago: The royal throne room and its surrounding extensions where the last to be destroyed, the fire alone could not breach the buildings stone defenses, and was kept at bay until the burning firestorm swept the city. The holocaust broke through the doors and windows in a grand tsunami of fire and smoke. Stained glass shattered, tapestries shriveled into ash, and the masonry of the great hall cracked magnificently. Nothing survived its indifferent rampage. Monuments, shops, shrines, homes, not one structure was sparred as the once great city blew itself apart. Smoke drifted above the pyre that was once Canterlot and the small black pillars born from fire united into one great cloud of smoke and darkness. The dark pillar climbed higher and higher into the sky, like an automaton, bent on achieving its objective. Soon, the black shroud blocked the generous light of the moon out completely and the surrounding area was cast into a further state of darkness.

APPLEJACK SNAPED OUT of her daze, she quickly scanned the surrounding area, cautious to anypony that may have seen her slacking. Applejack breathed a short sigh of relief when her search returned no cause for alarm. It must have been midnight and she had sitting on the outskirts of her farm for what she assumed, had been three hours. A few chickens had escaped their cope five days ago and where the culprits of numerous cases of stolen grain. She had eagerly volunteered to stay up and watch for the culprits for reasons she had long since lost recollection of to the cold. The weather looked to be the most frigid she had ever seen, and winter had just begun. With a quick shiver, Applejack adjusted her hat and continued along the path leading through the perimeter of her family’s farm. The apple trees seemed to mold together into an impenetrable wall whenever the tired earth pony tried to see beyond what lie directly ahead of her and Applejack soon lost faith in her search and turned around to begin the trek home. Applejack cursed her endurance. If I can’t find a few lost chickens, how can I manage to make it through the winter? She thought. With that last thought, her mind was full of problems, the chickens, Applebloom, the house, her friends; stress began to build up, as it usually did when her mind shifted into such a state of stress. But these occasions where common and just like all the other times, she calmed herself with the usual remark.

“Now you’ve been through worse, you’ve always faced it with courage and what not and there’s absolutely no reason I can’t do it again. Applejack realized she had spoken aloud and quickly turned her head to check for anypony that may have seen such an embarrassing act. Slowly realizing the silliness of searching for a witness in the middle of a frozen apple farm, the orange pony chuckled softly and continued on her way. The trail cut its way through the trees like a stake through dirt and the Apple family residence soon came into view through the brush, the structure seemed to glow with perceived warmth and Applejack felt a rush of calmness and comfort at its sight. With a gentle sigh of relief, she let her pace slacken. She stopped, her ears sharpened.

“NO, THAT IS not her, Apple-whatever it is, is yellow.” Vladimir said as he peaked over the boulder. The orange pony they had been stalking for the past ten minutes stood still a few feet from their refuge. Almost immediately he was kicked into submission by Reik.

“Quiet you fool, and get down before she see’s you.” Reik whispered sharply. Vladimir turned on him sharply and gave him a questioning look, adjusting his form as not to expose himself as he did so.

“Applejack is orange comrade; did you even read the manifest I gave you?” Reik’s tone had become increasingly urgent and easily annoyed since the destruction of Canterlot and his patience for the grey pony was being severely strained. With a mumbled curse he dug around in one of his coats pocket and produced the odd blade he had previously stole from the flyer owner and had used to mangle one of the royal guards. The black pony inched across the ground, dragging his chest across the snow covered dirt as he did so. Reik fumbled with the blade as he tried to find his preys reflection on the blades metal. Vladimir watched with a look of disgust until his patience could no longer be restrained. He rose to full height and marched ahead of his comrade, towards the orange pony.

“You would not last a day in the royal guard friend.” The grey pony whispered to Reik’s prone form as he trotted away from him, his hooves crunching the thin layer of snow beneath them. Silently, Reik replaced the blade to its pocket and closely followed Vladimir towards Applejack, mumbling to himself as he went.

APPLEJACK WATCHED SUSPICIOUSLY as a grey pony rose from behind a boulder, no, she discovered a second; a shorter, black pony following the larger one. Applejack was unnerved to see other ponies, ponies she had never seen, out in such weather and viewed them with warranted doubt. As they approached, Applejack could make out more and more details about the strangers. The grey one wore a worn and incomplete set of armor that had clearly gone through some trauma. A large cut ran down the, what Applejack assumed to be guards, lower lip and dried blood was collected around his ears. The Black one wore a large, similarly worn, great coat and a cap covered his head obscuring his eyes. Both of them where shivering and as they advanced, each expressed some kind of limp or similar restricted movement. While their appearance was crude and worn, they still brought about a great feeling of unease in Applejack. The orange pony realized they were advancing without sign of relent and with a short, instinctive adjustment of her stance, Applejack called out.

“That’s close enough partners.” She immediately regretted the fearful tone her statement but regardless, she held her ground. The pair immediately stopped at the command, they stood silently several yards from Applejack. After a short pause the two became lost in whispers to one another. The grey one spoke quickly but with purpose while they black one talked much quicker and with obvious concern. Applejack watched with a slowly growing sense of curiosity, she took a slow step forward and called out again, the frigid wind made her jaw shiver, slowing her speech. “Anything important you fell’ers wanted to talk about?” The two strangers snapped out of their personal argument and eyed the orange pony as if for the first time. The grey opened and closed his mouth as if to say something, yet no voice was heard. With an audible grunt, the shorter black pony pushed his partner aside and advanced ahead of him. The black pony called out in a grim tone full of urgency and devoid of positivity.

“Would you happen to know a pony by the name of Applejack comrade?” The last word caught Applejack of guard, she had never heard the phrase and although the black ponies accent was similar to other ponies of the region, the way he spoke hinted at a foreign lifestyle, as if he’d traveled to many places, seen many things. Remembering he had just asked a question, Applejack answered hastily.

“I’m Applejack, can I help you with anything.” The grey pony’s eyes widened and snapped to his partner. The black pony lifted his head, exposing a thin grin, the kind of grin you’d see on a mischievous colt after a successful plot, and a pair of cold, calculating blue eyes. A sudden feeling of dread overcame Applejack, subconsciously, her mind outlined escape routes behind her, her heart rate quickened, and she extended a shivering hoof backwards. The black pony took a step forward, a still and sly step forward, his form stopped shivering, as if the cold lost all control over him. The black pony called out in an unforgiving tone as his ally cantered up next to him.

“None of that comrade, we’re on the clock if you didn’t know and running would only ruin it more so.” His voice was strong and assured, like that of a dictator. He dug deeply around his coat pocket until he produced a small stone. With his grin growing into a broad smile, he extended the stone towards Applejack. Silence, there was only silence as the freezing wind whipped across the farm and over the three ponies. The black pony stood for several seconds until his smile slowly formed into a grimace. He violently shook the stone and brought it close to his eye for some kind of inspection. Applejack, seeing a break in the stranger’s concentration, took manual control of her legs and ran. The last thing she saw before breaking into an all out charge, a pointless charge not meant for reaching a destination but for simply fleeing the villain before her, was the black ponies partner marching up and snatching the stone from the others hoof. Applejack ran franticly for several short seconds before collapsing to the ground in an unconscious heap.

“I-I’VE K-KILLED HER, I just killed h-her.” Vladimir said between incoherent mumblings. The smoking talisman that had just shot a blue beam of electricity at the fleeing earth pony sat in on his extended hoof Reik raced up to the collapsed pony and checked for signs of life. “What is this thing Reik, I just killed somepony!” Reik, after prodding Applejack in several locations snatched the talisman from the shaking hooves of Vladimir and examined it with much more interest than he had done with the prone being before him. “She isn’t dead comrade; the extraction must have either exhausted her or caused enough damage to force unconsciousness, most likely the former.” Reik said with a nearly positive tone. Vladimir exhaled strongly and sat next to his friend, who cradled the talisman in his hooves, the talisman that Vladimir now realized that was emitting small claws of orange lightning. “What just happened comrade?” Vladimir said quietly, eyeing the rock with wonder and awe. Reik rose quickly, his fatigue and injuries forgotten, he looked upon Vladimir with a broad grin. “We just captured the element of honesty my friend.” Before Vladimir could look upon the stone further, Reik pocketed the instrument; a faint glow could be seen through the fading fabric of the black pony’s coat. Reik immediately spoke with a tone Vladimir had not heard for quite some time, one of glee and determination. “the time for celebration will come my friend, but we still have work to do, one down five to go, do away with your fatigue for this revolution has only just begun, but first, help me with the body.”

Comments

[SteampunkBrony]

yet another fanfic to watch as i write my own, wonderfully written.

[Reik]

Remeber when I said that chapters would be added every 3-4 days? Me too. Seeing as school work has leveled out and things are less hectic, new chapters will be made in closer proximity to each other. This two week wait time has got to stop.

[SteamPunk]

This, my good man... is amazing. It's just great. I really do hope when I finish this, that everything will turn out good for Reik.