Honor the Dead

by BinaryTroll

18: Flames...

Honor the Dead
by BinaryTroll
Pre-read by the opposite of somebody
Chapter 18: “Flames.”

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I groaned and opened my eyes. My head was lying on something wooden. Mahogany. My desk.

I became aware of another presence, someone breathing lightly. Not Joel, it didn't sound right. I lifted my head a little and looked around. A midnight blue pony sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the computer screen. A dark blue glow surrounded the keyboard and mouse.

“Hello Luna.” I muttered sleepily, sitting up and stretching.

“Oh, you're awake.”

“Well, I think I'm still dreaming since you're here. But yeah, I'm awake in my dream.”

“I thank you for showing me the game, but I should be off. I have work to do.”

I stood up and rolled my shoulders. “Alright, bye. Good luck with the war. I wish I could be there to help.”

“Goodbye Edward.” Luna said, fading away.

I casually saluted to the space she had occupied. “Cya.”

I sat down at the computer and stared at the screen for a second before my mind registered what I was looking at. A list, my list, of things to do in Equestria sat on the screen. I closed it and shut the computer down.

“Nothing left to do now but wait for me to wake up I guess.” I said to myself.

My bedroom dissolved into blackness.

I felt my actual body waking up, feeling returning to my limbs and my conscious mind beginning to function again. I opened my my eyes as tiny slits.

“Wha- ARGH!” Pain lanced through my temples, my own scream increasing it.

“Shut up Wards.” Joel groaned quietly, his head in his hands.

I dug around in my pockets and found the small packet of panadol I had gotten from Dan earlier. I popped two pills into my hand and shoved them down my throat.

I blinked a few times and opened my eyes wider. The cave was dimly lit, the only light coming from the entrance. Thank god. Joel was sitting hunched over on the couch, his hair streaked with bits of dirt and other things of questionable origin. Shyvanna sitting hunched over at the very back of the cave, still asleep. I was sitting with my back against the stone wall, near the kitchen.

I felt worse than they looked, my mouth dry like a desert, my head pounding to the beat of my heart. I felt as weak as a kitten, like I had lost the will to move. Or is that will to live? Doesn't matter, I just felt really fucking sick.

I braced myself on the wall and clawed my way into a standing position. The room seem to be moving, swaying back and forth like I was standing on the deck of a ship. I took a step forward and the room started to spin, despite me basically standing still. I tried to take another but ended up falling flat on my face.

“Ow.” I groaned through a mouthful of dirt.

I crawled towards the bucket of water we had left on the bench and pulled myself up. I drank directly from the bucket; ain't nobody got time for cups.

My mouth still felt dry, but I felt less thirsty at least. Hmm, what else?

“I need to piss.” I muttered, slowly making my way towards the entrance, using the cave wall for support. I staggered outside, placing a forearm over my eyes. The sun was setting. I sighed. Well, there goes another day. So far my life in Equestria has not been as fun as I thought it would. I unzipped my fly. Well, The grass is always greener I guess.

Ten minutes later

“I hate my life.” I muttered as I ran out of the cave, slinging the Famas over my back and shoving various scraps of metal, dragon scales and whatever else was in the nearby area when the mountain decided that it was bored and decide to become a volcano, into my pockets. I vaulted over Zippo's corpse, wondering why I hadn't gotten rid of it. My mind quickly switched back to the more important questions in life, such as why I ended up staying in a cave that was part of a volcano. Twice. And why I was asking these stupid questions instead of just running like hell.

So I ran from the explosions, my mind jumping all over the place. Just another day in the life of Edward. I think I'm starting to question my choice of career. I always wanted to be a game designer. Yeah, well I've always wanted to grow wings too. I skidded to a halt, peering over the edge of the 10 meter drop to the ground. I got a feeling of massive deja vu, like I'd seen this many times before. No wonder I wish I could grow wings.

I swung myself down so I was hanging by my fingertips and looked down to the ground.

“Well, it was nice knowing you intact legs.” I muttered, releasing my grip and pushing off so I faced away from the cliff.

I hit the ground and instantly pushed myself forward into a roll, dispersing the majority of the force. Unfortunately for me, majority isn't all.

“Fucksticks.” I muttered, feeling slight twinges of dulled pain run along my back. “I'm gonna feel that in the- well I won't. But...”

A large, flaming rock flying past my head reminded my why I had jumped off a cliff in the first place. I sprinted off again.

“Run run run. All I ever do is run.” I sighed. “And stab people. And play computer games. And drink coffee. You know, looking back I-” A flaming bolder the size of a car crashed to the ground in front of me, trailing bits of melted stone and smoke. “...am really starting to hate Equestria.”

I kicked off with my right leg, propelling myself left and forward without losing momentum or speed turning. I thanked my decision to get fireproof clothing once again as I was pelted by small flaming pebbles that rained down around the area. I swear, this coat has saved my life far too many times. I'm surprised at the sheer amount of fire I face in my job.

I glanced back over my shoulder to the volcano. Lava was oozing down the sides, glowing orange and generally looking extremely deadly. It appeared that the initial downpour of boulders and rocks had halted, giving way to just a huge plume of smoke. Fuck. I hope Joel's okay. Shyv should be fine, but still, big rocks can kill just as well as fire.

Meanwhile

I watched as small bubbles leaked out of the corners of my mouth, my breath slowly draining away. I flapped my wings under the water, propelling me upwards. My head broke the surface and I gasped, drawing air back into my lungs. I searched for Joel, scanning the ripples that flowed across the surface of the small lake. This wasn't supposed to happen. Mt Ignis shouldn't have erupted for another year.

The volcano rumbled and more molten death pored out of the top. Fortunately the flow was slowing, only a very small amount appeared this time. I decided to ignore it, it was cool enough that my skin could resist it and Joel could be dying.

“Joel!” I called across the water, cupping my hooves around my mouth.

I felt a light tap on my wing. “Behind you.”

I spun 180 and was faced with the smiling face of Joel.

“Sup?”

“Apparently a lot of ash.” I replied with a tinge of annoyance.

Joel looked up at the ash cloud that was blocking out the sky. “I can't believe we ended up staying in an active volcano twice this week.” He said, still grinning.

“And I can't believe you're grinning after you almost died.”

“Wouldn't be the first time.” He said, his smile dropping a little.

“And what about Edward?”

Joel's smile dropped. He sighed and said, “Lets just get out of here.”

I swam to the edge of the small lake and clambered up onto the rock. Joel did the same. I flapped my wings to get rid of the water on them and then extended them out to dry. I waited for about a minute in this position before folding my wings back against my sides and turning to Joel.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now? We run.”

Joel cracked his knuckles and took off, accelerating to an impossible speed. I rolled my wings in their sockets and started to run. After reaching a gallop I spread my wings and flew after the rapidly receding figure of Joel.

Small specks of ash flew past my face, a few leaving black streaks across my cheeks and wings. Wind blew through my hair, lifting it off my forehead and making it blow out in a crimson stream behind me. I closed my eyes for a second and just let my other senses come to the fore. The smell of ash, molten rock and sulfur filler the air, along with a fresher scent of forest. I could hear the sounds of lava bubbling, the wind whistling and Edward yelling at Joel about something.

I opened my eyes and smiled. I could see the coated figure of Edward shouting, gesturing wildly at the mountain behind him. Joel stood nearby, laughing.

I folded my wings and dove towards them.

Edward POV

“Why did you get a nice, cool lake to hide in?” I asked, pulling off my coat and rolling it up over my arm. Sweat was dripping off me like a waterfall.

“Because I ended up sopping wet. That's why.”

“Oh boo-hoo. At least you weren't burnt to a crisp.”

Joel grinned. “Neither were you Wards. I think I would have noticed if you were a pile of ash.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh Wards...” Joel said, his grin growing wider.

I looked up to the sky, wondering how I manage to keep getting myself into these sorts of things, and I noticed something small and gray diving towards us. “Uh, is that?”

Shyvanna flared her wings, slowing her descent before coming to a complete stop a couple of meters above the ground. She set herself down onto the ground silently and folded her wings.

“Hi.” She said, the reflection of the sun making her look like she was on fire.

I blinked and shook my head. “So... Now what?”

“I feel as though I'm hearing that a lot.” Joel said.

“Eh?”

“Doesn't matter.”

I blinked again. “Okay. So once again, now what?”

“I don't really know much about Equestria, so you decide.” Joel replied.

“I gathered that. I'm asking Shyv.”

Shyv shrugged. “I don't know what to do. I've only been outside these mountains twice before.”

I dragged my fingers down my face. “Oh for fuck's sake.” I pressed the button of my radio in. “Dan, some form of transport right now would be great.”

The radio crackled. “Oh, hi Wards. I'm a bit busy right now.”

“What do you mean busy?”

“I mean I'm getting shot at by- Oh come on! Homing missiles?”

“Dan?” I asked, concern creeping into my voice.

“Yeah, apparently the US military has decided to crack down on smuggling and- oh that's just not fair.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I'll call you ba- FUCK!” The radio went to static.

I turned to Shyvanna and Joel. “Apparently Dan can't help us right now either. Lets find food, shelter and water. We lost basically everything when the volcano erupted.”

“Sounds good to me. But which way?”

I closed my eyes and spun around. “That way!” I said, pointing in the direction I had ended up facing.

“Wards...”

“Yeah?”

“That's where we just were.”

“Oh.”

Author's Note:

Not my best work. But if you wanted my best work you'd be waiting for a chapter for the rest of the year.

Comments

[BinaryTroll]

2950128
Well it kind of sucks. But it's done.

[Veo Skride]

I'm starting to guess that you my like Luna????

[Ignis Mortis et Doloris]

2950247
*comes around corner twirling large KA-BAR with blood splattered over my chest, arms and face* It's done, he's dead just like he asked. When do I get my pay?

[BinaryTroll]

2965770
Eh, at some point. Nice knife by the way.

[BinaryTroll]

2955540
Um, blue-white fifteen, say again. Over.

[Veo Skride]

2967540
This is blue-white fifteen repeating: I'm guessing you like luna. Over

[BinaryTroll]

2967561
You would have guessed right. Over and out.

[Ignis Mortis et Doloris]

2967493
Thanks, I also brought Edward an Joel 50lbs of bacon. Enjoy

[BinaryTroll]

2969518
Definitely not human flesh?

[Ignis Mortis et Doloris]

2973478
Don't worry, I slaughtered the pigs myself. I love being a crazy Irishman. Now for unrelated music:

[BinaryTroll]

2974431
I'm still slightly suspicious...
Ah what the hell, wouldn't be the first time I've eaten human flesh. (Woops, spoilers)

[Ignis Mortis et Doloris]

2977438
We can all just
static1.e621.net/data/5d/25/5d2593adb12e52ff8b63f09699e6c753.png
It's not
i.imgur.com/GhoCyXI.gif
, and
gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Ace-Ventura-Slinky-Isnt-This-Incredible.gif
that we all love each other here?