[Hemera] Queen of the Castle: Part 2

--oO(Queen of the Castle: Part 2)Oo--

>You are Hemera
>And you have never before witnessed
>true beauty in this banal and colorless existence
>You watch closely, your eyes shimmering
>in the afternoon sun as the Flavorlanche vendor
>pours ruby red juicy goodness to top of
>the massive mound of shaved ice
>The snowpony had to go beg a large card
>paper tray from the funnel cake cart
>down the way to accomodate your
>unexpectedly massive order, but it was worth it
>With the fruit punch kicker on top and a few
>cherries fresh from Dodge City you haul
>the wintery masterpiece over to a sunny
>stoop and prepare to dig in
>GS meanders over, slurping at a grape cone
>GRAPE
>What a complete and total square
>With a spoon taped to each hoof you raise them high
"Don't go too fast, Mera..."
>You dig in with the gusto of a madpony
"Hemera, you shoulde really slow do-"
>"AAAAAAAAAAAGCK! WHYYYYYYYYYY?!"
"I tried to >snrk< tell you, Mera"
>You shake your head as your face turns beet red
>and smoke starts curling out of your ears
"What the hay-"
>You dash across the Square, dive behind the
>shocked snowcone pony, and bury your whole
>head in a pile of freshly shaved ice in
>a chest under the counter
>"PWAAAAAH! Oh my GODDESS what the hell?"
>GS trots up quickly behind you
"Hemera, are you alright? What happened?"
>You are still panting and gasping,
>your tongue a tortured and blackened wreck
>"Fruit punch...>gasp<...was hot sauce..."
>"really, Really, REALLY HOT sauce..."
"What? Hot sauce?"
>He rounds on the cone vendor who suddenly looks less amused
"Something you want to tell me, Citizen?"
>The vendor starts to tremble like someone
>slipped one of his treats under his tail
"It wasn't! I swear! At least, I think it wasn't..."
>GS's glare intensifies
>He's using that eyepatch for all it's worth
"U-um, lemme show you...here's the bottle I used!"
>GS catches the bottle of bright red liquid
>and sniffs carefully at the pourer spout
"Whooof! That's hot sauce alright. Smells like Tears of Tartarus..."
>The electric blue vendor turns almost white
"NO! I'd never do that! I don't know how that got in there!"
>"Heel, GS. Whew, I think we are dealing with a more
>sinister pony than this poor guy"
"You think it's the same pony who did the eggs?"
>GS has that odd look again
>"I think so. And if I'm right that means that I'm
>being targeted specifically. Oooh, this prankster
>has some serious cojones"
"Where did you hear THAT word?"
>"Why? What's it mean?"
"Erm....SO what do we do now?"
>You look him up and down, but decide to drop it
>"If this pretender wants to make this personal, then so be it"
>"I'm gonna need some of my more specialized tools though"
>"TO THE FLARE CAVE!"
"The 'Flare' cave?"
>You narrow your eyes and mumble softly
>"you know. The Flare Cave. Ugh, my BEDROOM?"
>GS immediately snaps to attention
"Yes, my Queen!"
>At least he's pretty quick on the uptake after a sec-"WHOA"
>GS heaves you onto the shield across his back
"AWAY"
>He speeds off back up the Castle steps at full gallop
>"Heeeh heeYEAH!"
>You laugh and throw your hooves around his neck as
>he charges down the corridors and up the staircases
>...
>By the top of the third stairwell you think he
>may actually be dying
>You hop down off of his back as he stands there
>with one hoof against the wall, wheezing
"Just...give me a sec...WHEW...need to start jogging again..."
>You pat his shoulder sympathetically
>"S'okay, GS. Should I go get your rocking chair?"
>Dat glare tho
"Har har Queeny. I'm fine, thanks. Let's go"
>Worth it
>"Are you sure? I can probably find a nurse-"
*PRAK! PRAK! PRAK! PRAK!*
>A rapid series of explosions from directly behind you
>send you screaming down the hallway
>Your natural instict to panic overwhelming
>your senses as you try to get away from the sting
>and noise that...SEEMS TO BE FOLLOWING YOU "AAAAAAAGGGGGCK!"
>You end up cowering under a stand of armor
>decorating a hallway fairly far from wher you started
>As your hearing returns and your freak out fades
>you look back and see the blackened remains of a
>string of firecrackers pinned to the bottom of your tail
>"NO. BUCKING. WAY!"
>This little bastard was stealing your signiature pranks!
>Fireworks are YOUR domain!
>You see GS racing up the hallway toward you in an awkward
>gait, one hoof clutching a stitch in his side
"What the ever-loving horseapples is going on, Hemera?"
>You pull the string out of your tail with magic and
>levitate them out under his nose
"No way..."
>You are Fury, the avatar of Rage. All creation shall burn to ash.
"(Hwah hwah hwah hwaaaaaaaaah!)"
>At the sound of that quiet, mocking laughter
>your head snaps around so fast you almost
>give yourself whiplash
>Way down at the far end of the corridor
>you see a little bit of gold flashing quickly
>back around the corner
>"OH YOU ARE SOOOOO DEAD!"
"WAIT HEMERA!"
>Screw that GS, that bastard has to PAY
>You run like you've never galloped before
>As you round each corner you just barely
>catch that same glimpse of shining color
>disappearing around another bend,
>or up another flight of stairs
>Just how much can this guy run?
>You cast a refreshment spell on yourself
>mid-stride, congratulating yourself
>on your sudden burst of energy and speed
>Wait, you know this section
>And you know how the hallways lie
>You can't teleport while this flustered
>And you can't target somepony you've never
>seen, but you think you can redirect him
>and maybe slow him down.
>You charge up a simple Magic Missile
>and lock your mind on the spot where
>the hallway makes a fork
>You fire your spell and focus hard
>The bolt of magic jolts out from your horn
>and jukes left down the hallway toward the junction
>You start to round the corner only a few seconds behind
"WARK?!"
>You see the gold flicker disappear
>down the righthoof fork
>"I have you now."
>You leap, turn and skid to a stop down the right fork
>Your horn lit with malice and giddy with anticipation
>The beam of your eye falls upon this unfortunate
>target for all of your pain and suffering
>"Wait....wat?"
>Twenty feet down the corridor, where the walkway
>ends in a stained glass window depicting some
>ancient royal unicorn or some such
>flaps the regal, if slightly confused form
>of a no-shit Pheonix
>The living flame turns in the air to face you
>One of it's wings rises, slowly moving to point
>towards you, its primary feathers curling inward
>leaving one in the center pointing straight up
"Hwah hwah hwah hwaaaaaah!"
>There's a flash of red and gold flame and it's gone
>You stand there like a poleaxed buffalo
>for a good five minutes, your jaw lying limply open
>You hear a gasping wheeze slowly approaching
"...keh...I've....really got....to start jogging again...."

To Be Continued