Red and Black 2

As the day dragged on, the hive erupted into a flurry of activity. Changelings began doing routine patrols, changing shifts every hour on the hour. Builder worms went into overdrive, producing bile that was then forged into gooey armor. Those changelings who didn't make armor prepared spells and weapons, with some even going so far as to file their horns to a sharpened point. This left Patient and his friends to focus on watching over Jonathan and Charlotte with all eyes available.

Fortunately for them, once they'd assembled into the sick bay, Charlotte had passed out onto a slime-forged half-cocoon filled with moss, blankets, and a few pillows. Jonathan laid in a similar construct belly-up, watching Ember with a wary gaze as Patient examined his ribs for any more injuries the changelings might've missed with his horn aglow. "Would somepony tell me why there's a tentacle monster standing right over there?" Jonathan hissed, squirming a bit as Patient poked him in the ribs.

"I'm a surgeon. Would you like me to examine you instead of the nurse?" Ember quipped, a wicked smirk spreading on her lips. Her tentacles flared and contorted, seemingly growing bumpy bits all around that ended in sharpened points oozing some sort of clear substance. "Because I can make it quick." Jonathan paled and shook his head. "Thought so."

"Don't agitate her, and she won't bite," Patient suggested as his gaze shifted to Jonathan's cracked hooves.

"But still… why?" Jonathan asked as Patient grasped his left foreleg in his magic to study the hoof more closely.

"She's a member of my hit squad," Patient answered, frowning as he saw signs that the hoof was growing outward and away from the bone. "Whelp, looks like you're getting slipperfoot…"

"I'm impressed he can still stand if it's slipperfoot he's got," Foxfire chimed in, a frown creasing her brow.

Patient prodded at the hoof with his magic, his frown deepening as the inner wall of said hoof squished like it was puddy. He dropped the foreleg that wasn't his own and sighed. "Both the Destroyers will need to grow entirely new hooves. Their current sets have been softened within and are growing without. I'm suspecting rickets on top of slipperfoot."

"If it comes to it, we'll have the builder worms make them some more slime to construct temporary ones in the meantime. But let's let them rest for today. We've done enough poking to make the Manehattan police envious," Foxfire sighed, to which both Patient and Jonathan agreed with mute nods.

Ember folded her tentacles back to her sides, and the bumps shifted in a way they seemed to fold inward on themselves, making the limbs sleek again. Seconds after, the clear substance that coated them dried, making them glisten slightly. "What do we do now, though? If the farriers around here don't come soon, their hooves will only get worse," she pointed out.

Patient donned a smile and slowly turned to Nagare. "You're helping me when the hoof-files and trimmers come." When that made a green brow raise questioningly, he added, "You have talons. You'd have a firmer grip on the equipment, and one of us will have to hold up Jon and Char while they get their hooves treated." The brow lowered and Nagare nodded.

"Hai," he replied tersely.

"I wonder what the changelings have that pack vitamin D if it's rickets. But either way, these two aren't fighting for a long while yet," Rekka interjected, causing Trigger to turn to him with a snort.

"When'd you start taking a doctorate?" Trigger snarked, earning a huff of flared orange nostrils for his trouble.

"What, didn't you learn lack of vitamin D causes rickets in high school?" Rekka retorted without turning to Trigger.

“Who said I had to give a shit about high school? It’s all this ‘no foal left behind' nonsense and 'least common denominator' crap that only protects the stupid, like me, from failing.”

Rekka turned to Trigger with a small smile on his muzzle. "You mean to tell me you're a dropout? No wonder you took to drinking. You must've disappointed some really expectant folks and got disowned for it," he quipped, noticing that Trigger gave a slight wince at that. He decided to ladle it on, "That's one of a few things I can think up off the top of my head to explain your being a dumbass. Or maybe… you're the mailpony's foal."

Trigger sighed in exasperation. “I didn’t drop out; I graduated with all C’s. And yes, I am the mailpony’s kid. What’s wrong with that?”

Rekka's smile dropped. "You serious?" he asked.

“Yeah.” Trigger forced a gaze of anger towards Rekka, but quelled it and then looked past him. “Ember’s the dropout you’re looking for.”

Rekka instantly turned to Ember to find her looking at him with all three of her eyes. She gave a slow nod. "I'd rather not get into why," she stated, her voice cold and her gaze piercing. Her ears twitched as another hole opened up behind her, and she spun around to face it as Thorax strode in. "Anything?"

Thorax shook his head. "No further alicorns have been sighted. Everyling’s on diligent watch; in fact, more effectively than I could recall when Chrysalis was still ruling," he replied. "All entrances going outside have been closed off, except for the ones at the top of the hive and the hole punched through the side."

Ember nodded and sighed. "Alright. As far as food goes, what all do you have?" she asked.

“Plenty,” Thorax replied assuredly. "We have a wide selection."

“You mind giving some to Mister and Mizzus Twiggy over here?” Distrance asked.

Another hole opened up, and as if reading Distrance's mind, a feminine voice said, “Already on it.” With that, Constantina buzzed from the hole and over to the group, gave everyone a warm smile as they saw she magically carried two large plates.

Set on one large plate were bowls of soy paste, chunky mashed potatoes, various brands of cheese, a few crackers of different shapes and sizes, and leeks next to each other. There were also bowls of rice, and what looked like cooked mincemeat, kept on the second. Along with the mincemeat sat a gnarled rooty-looking object, seemingly freshly dug up and peeled to expose a white sub-skin beneath. All of the foodstuffs were kept in one of their own individual protective cocoons.

"What's that?" Trigger asked, looking at the mincemeat-looking substance warily. Foxfire and Ember both helped themselves to some, though they were mindful to leave enough for anyone else that wanted a meaty morsel. They also took some cheese, crackers and potatoes, oddly avoiding the vegetables for some reason. Rekka and the rest of the Task Force, though, were more than happy to fill in on that front. They took most of the soy paste and leeks for themselves.

"Smoked salmon, imported by Equestrian airships. And cooked," Constantina replied, cantering over to Jonathan and Charlotte once everypony else helped themselves to a snack.

“Never had salmon before. Only some beef…” Patient shrugged and took some of the salmon off the plate, eating it.

“Beef? When was this?” Distrance asked, taking a bit of the salmon as well.

“Remember when we had that detachment of Griffons we served with in the war? They had some in their rations,” Patient explained.

Constantina turned to Charlotte and nudged her with a hoof, only to garner nothing except for the slow rhythmic movements of a breathing chest. "Um… anyone have a jolting-out-of-sleep spell? She needs her root…" she mumbled.

“Patient can electrocute her. He zaps his girlfriend all the time when they—” Trigger found himself with a hoof from Distrance shoved into his mouth before he could finish that sentence.

“Shaaadap,” Patient replied with masked anger as he trotted to Charlotte, using some magic to tingle the tips of her hooves. At first he got no response, but figured it was because of how badly in shape her hooves were. So he moved his magic up her legs, and made sure to get her tail while he was at it...

A second later, she jerked her good legs up sharply and woke up with a strangled cry, and she also managed to sock him in the process with a raised back leg. Another second passed before the jolts stopped running through her system and her eyes snapped open, but it took a good minute before she registered that one of her back hooves was touching something.

Charlotte hadn't been given the chance to dwell on it, though, as Constantina merrily chirped, "It's time for your medicine." Her legs then dropped, and she tilted her head back to give a groan as the worst headache she'd ever felt finally settled in and declared residence.

"Oh, Trigger… I should tell ya something," Rekka piped up, watching Constantina as she lifted the root with her magic and shoved it into Charlotte's mouth mid-groan. He turned back to the stallion in question, whose mouth released Distrance's hoof with ease.

“Yeah?” was the response.

"Charlotte and Jonathan are forbidden from drinking any sort of booze. And since you gave one of them booze…" Rekka trailed off, quickly stuffing his mouth with a leek.

"What?" Trigger asked, his brow raised.

This time, it was Tenmei who spoke, in Germarenic no less, "Dywedodd Rekka Shining am yr hyn a wnaethoch. Rydych mewn trafferth.”

”Rekka told Shining about what you did. You’re in trouble.”

“Patient, what the hell did he say?” Trigger asked, turning to Patient for a translation. What he heard next made him blanch within seconds.

Patient shrugged. “You’re fucked.”

*********

The rest of the day, and much of the following day passed without further incident. Patrolling the hole at the top of the hive as the sun began setting were two changelings, one blue and one yellow. Both were accompanied by Ember. To pass the time, they began having a bout of small talk. "Do you use your tentacles for everyday things, like opening doors or washing dishes?" the yellow changeling asked, sporting a masculine voice.

Ember shook her head. "Not really, because I don't have a house. At most, carrying things," she answered with a shrug.

"You don't have a place to live in?" the blue changeling asked in a feminine tone, turning to Ember with a brow raised.

Ember shook her head again. "Not many ponies would be willing to give me a place to rent on the basis that I am a tentacle monster," she stated. "I can't exactly cover my assets with a cloak. It's not as easy at it may seem."

"But don't they accept Discord over there?" the yellow changeling pointed out with a frown.

"Only because news of his reformation reached all corners of Equestria. Me? I gotta keep a low profile, unless a swarm of red and black alicorns decide to show themselves in a town en masse," Ember replied with another shrug. "Patient and his clique accept me though, and so does Shining to an extent."

The two changelings exchanged glances. The blue one was the first to turn back to Ember. "Did you do something to make the ponies over there not welcome you as much?" she asked.

"Far as I know, no. They just boot me out unless an alicorn is pestering them," Ember answered, sighing. She turned to the badlands and surveyed the miles and miles of barren soil, keeping her eyes away from the setting sun in doing so. She caught sight of a moving shape in the distance and zeroed in on it as it passed a withered tree, closing the eyes on her face to focus her third solely on it.

It felt as if looking through a telescope lens; a sort of zoomed-in picture of the scene immediately filled her third eye and her brain. Tri-pupils dilated, and tri-irises widened as the extra ocular spotted a shape that had no chance of camouflage if it even tried, unless it attempted to blend in with a crowd of ponies befitting the moniker 'freak of nature' attending a hardcore rave party. Even then, the shape would stick out like a sore thumb due to how gaudy it was.

It was a distant alicorn stallion with a rainbow mane and rainbow stripes on a blackened body, furthered in garishness by a golden horn, silver wings, and eyes that sported six irises in one set of sclera with ease. The sod was zig-zagging his way to the hive, seemingly unaware he was detected, amusingly dragging a large set of copper testicles that looked more like inflated airbags attached to his ass than anything else.

"Just what sort of treasury vault did that bastard have to raid to get testicles as big as Celestia?" Ember asked, her tone carrying a slight note of awe amidst a sea of scorn.

"What is it?" the yellow changeling asked, turning to Ember with a brow raised.

"We got an alicorn… with luggage. Sunshine, the colt is litterally dragging his balls across the badlands," Ember replied, gaze still affixed on the alicorn.

The alicorn stopped, seemingly having noticed he was being watched, and ducked behind a nearby rock. Unfortunately for him, his balls jutted out behind the stone by a good foot and some impressive seven inches, giving his position away to anyling with sharp eyes that so much as looked in his direction.

"He's not even trying, for fuck's sake!" Ember exclaimed in exasperation, resisting the urge to facehoof as the sod tried to make his balls sink below the rock to no avail. She noticed they didn't squish when his hooves and horrendously rainbow-colored magic worked furiously to meld them; not one dent was formed in copper-colored flesh.

"Yep, those balls are coming off… when he gets here," Ember snarked, shaking her head. "We could melt the… copper into something useful. I think it's copper anyway."

“It’s brass! Polished to the Nth degree!” a shout was heard from behind the same rock.

"Whoa… he has some good hearing. Whose ears did he lop off?" Ember asked, a smile fast budding on her muzzle.

“I’m part bat-pony!” came another shout.

Ember's urge to facehoof only grew in tandem with her smile, and soon enough she found herself giggling at the absurdity the world threw at her today. Her legs shook as her giggling grew louder, and Sunshine and his fellow were looking at her with concerned gazes. "Should we stop her?" Sunshine asked, frowning.

"Nah. I'd probably laugh if I didn't understand what a few somelings were saying… wait…" the blue changeling trailed off, eyes slowly widening with dawning comprehension. "She said alicorn… and we all heard an alicorn..." She turned to Sunshine. "Sound the alarm immediately."

Sunshine nodded and his horn glowed vibrant purple, and he reared up on his back legs, almost flinging the spell from himself in the process. A purple orb of light shot up into the sky, high above the hive, before it exploded in color with a deafening boom on par with a vicious clap of thunder. The glow then transformed into a large, bright neon arrow which then propelled itself down at an angle, only stopping with an earth-shaking crack appearing in the dirt as it embedded itself into the rock the alicorn hid behind and caused said rock to explode into tiny pebbles.

As for the alicorn himself, even with his massive testes weighing him down, he was still sent flying quite a distance away; easily a few yards if one had to estimate. He skid to a landing, rending deep gashes in the ground with, again, the help of his testes. Eventually, he stopped still when he collided with the withered tree where Ember initially spotted him.

"That's a snazzy alarm system, although primitive," Ember remarked, her barrel puffing up as her gaze moved to track the sorry bastard. "Regardless, I think Mr. Peacock's gonna be out cold for a while." As she said that, a hoofful of changeling guards buzzed over to where the alicorn was at, and she could hear them distantly laughing as they got in close to see his large sack. Slowly, almost delicately, they hefted the sod up once they were close enough to do so, and wasted no time transporting him to the top of the hive.

It took them about ten minutes even at top speed to deposit him on the floor of the makeshift crow's nest, during which time Ember opened her closed eyes. The alicorn landed with a heavy thud, and she turned to him to find his eyes closed and his form more or less unmoving. "The blast killed him? Awww," she pouted, lifting a hoof and stomping it in a manner reminiscent of a petulant foal.

"But aren't dead alicorns better?" the blue changeling asked, lifting a hoof to gesture to their gaudy guest for emphasis.

"Not always, Dreamy Raindrops. We have no information on why they're migrating here and there and wrecking whatever they can get their grubby hooves on. Ergo, I was hoping to extract a motive from this unusually endowed sod," Ember explained with a shrug. She donned a small smile as she peered closer at the alicorn's chest and realized it was moving up and down.

The alicorn was still breathing. She turned to Dreamy Raindrops again and added, "That, and ask how the hell he managed to get a nutsack this big. If he's a scout, then the other alicorns did a shit job of selecting somepony who is competent—this dude's less subtle than me, and that's tragically saying something."

"So… how should we wake him up? He looks like he suffered a bad concussion," Sunshine piped up.

Dreamy Raindrops trotted over to the alicorn and viciously slapped him across the face with a hoof; immediately, he awoke with a start.

“Wh-what??” he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

“Name and why you’re here. Now., Sunshine seethed as Raindrops held the alicorn down with his front legs.

“I’m not telling you anything, you goddamn fascist capitalist!” the alicorn yelled as he struggled in vain, but was effectively held down by fast-acting tentacles. "Weak-ass bitch," he snarked, turning to the source of his sudden obstruction.

Ember's muzzle opened in a smile better befitting of a great white shark. "Then how am I holding your limbs down, if I am a 'weak-ass bitch?'" she retorted.

"Must've spent most of his energy lugging these around," Dreamy piped up, planting a hoof on the brass testicles.

"Fair point," Ember agreed with a nod. Her third eye fixed itself onto the alicorn's six-irised face. "Your eyes certainly give mine a run for their money. You have every color of the rainbow in those things. Are you a night club reject?"

"We have an—" another voice cut in but then stopped as a hole opened behind Sunshine, from which emerged Foxfire. She found herself staring at the impossible-to-miss ballsack, and before long her jaw dropped open.

"Holy shit?" Ember finished for her, garnering a hasty nod in response. "I understand." Directing her attention to the alicorn, she frowned as he began flailing his head about. "Stop struggling. You're making this hard on yourself."

"Eat shit, capitalist scum!" the alicorn hissed, angling his horn at a tentacle holding his left foreleg down. He stabbed the magic-casting instrument into the limb before Ember could react, and instantly the limb started developing angry, almost black webs that ran across its surface.

Ember screamed in pain and jerked all of her tentacles away, backpedaling a few paces for good measure. Her wounded tentacle flew to her third eye to be scrutinized, and she hissed as the web of darkening veins continued to grow. "Shit shit shit!" she cursed, her horn glowing in a vibrant red light. Her own limb was embraced in the aura, and twisted it violently before pulling it taut.

Everyone, even the alicorn, watched as the afflicted tentacle started to stretch beyond the length of the other tentacles, and before long it reached the other side of the crow's nest. The webs ran further along the limb, almost seemingly hastening its reach, in response to the stretching.

A horrific tearing sound permeated the area for some seconds before the tentacle snapped in two; the webs could not reach the midway point before then. The other half, more or less a bleeding stump now, retracted to its owner and curled up at her side. The first half of the tentacle was embraced in a red glow, before it incinerated as if spontaneously. All was silent after that, save the crackle of unnaturally crimson flames as they ate away at the lump of flesh and turned it to ash.

Ember growled and turned to her shortened tentacle, sighing as it stopped bleeding, leaving a glistening stubble of exposed flesh. She turned back to the alicorn. "I ain't going anywhere near him until something is done about that horn," she seethed.

"I've… never seen anyone react to gold like that before," Dreamy piped up.

Foxfire got over her shock of seeing massive balls and sighed. "Seems like she's got a gold allergy," she groaned, her horn glowing. "But I know just the thing to remedy that." Her aura seized the golden horn and violently wrenched the alicorn's head, not enough to break his neck, but enough to cause the accoutrement to bend. The alicorn's six pupils widened in panic.

"No, what, what are you doing?!" he cried as Foxfire jerked his head sharply to the left, twisting his horn the other way in the process.

"Just doing you a favor," Foxfire replied, violently jostling him again and causing his horn to peel off of his forehead. Her eyes widened when it did not take a patch of skin or hair of mane with it; it simply popped off like a piece of wet clay. She made it vanish in a flash of light before he could cry out. "What'd you do, glue it to your forehead?" she asked in a surprisingly sincere tone of voice, her gaze trailing upwards to his silver wings.

"I… uh…" the once-alicorn stammered as the blue aura grappled his wings. Before he knew it, all of his feathers came off in one tug and vanished, revealing bat-pony wings with garishly rainbow membranes stylized to look like a galaxy beneath.

"Yep. Convinced he robbed a treasury vault now," Ember piped up as, similarly, the aura yanked away the brass balls and made them vanish without peeling skin or fur.

Foxfire grinned and turned to Sunshine. "So… quick question," she began, "if you guys reformed, would you still be okay with bashing this false alicorn's face in?"

Sunshine shook his head. "We reserve that for the builder worms," he replied.

"Hrm… then do you mind us," Foxfire began, lifting a hoof to gesture to herself and Ember with it as she spoke, "bashing this false alicorn's face in?"

Sunshine and Dreamy exchanged glances, then turned back to Foxfire. "Well… not until he spills the beans on why he's here, if it's less than… savory," Sunshine answered uneasily.

“They’ll make it quick on you if you tell them,” Dreamy reminded the false alicorn as she stepped in with her horn glowing, grasping the sod's legs in her magic before he had the chance to start flailing again.

"No! Me and my comrades will smash your thinly-veiled fascism and that of the so-called Equestrian princesses!" the flailed alicorn shrieked, spreading his wings in an effort to take off. Sadly for him, the magic grasping his legs increased its area of effect and snagged his wings as soon as they gave their first feeble flap.

"Lift his rear legs. I wanna assess how big his junk is, now that the brass nuts are out of the way," Ember piped up, trotting up to the alicorn. Dreamy assumed a frown bit didn't question the request, and lifted the sod in a way his front hooves were still planted on the nest, but the rest of him went up like a plank. Both could see that he simply didn't have a real set of testicles, and his sheath was so small it looked more like belly fat at first.

Behind the sheath looked like a smear of dried, semi-translucent milk. Ember peered a little bit closer and lifted one of her good tentacles to the smear before grabbing it and tugging it off, pulling a small clump of fur with it, though not enough to leave a bald spot. "How the hell did superglue make those nuts stay on so well?" she asked.

"Must've used the extra-strong brand," Foxfire piped up as she came around to inspect the false alicorn's underside. She lifted a hoof and prodded at the sheath with it, immediately causing a small penis to bulge out with the slightest push. "That is so small I doubt a filly could feel that."

The false alicorn blushed, more in embarrassment and ridicule than confidence. "It's… the biggest one of my flock," he muttered.

Foxfire's eyes widened. "The biggest?" she parroted, before her hoof dropped and a toothy grin spread on her muzzle. Her chest heaved, struggling to contain budding laughter. "The biggest?" she repeated, her voice cracking. "Y-you sure of that?" Her voice went a full octave higher and her chest heaved faster with that utterance.

"No, son, you got it backwards," Ember began, taking a second to pat Foxfire on the withers with a hoof as she doubled over and started laughing. She trotted around to the sod's face and used a tentacle to stroke her sheath.

She turned to Sunshine and Dreamy and mouthed, "Ya might wanna leave soon" as the head of her member poked out. The two changelings nodded and filed down a hole that opened in the floor, but not before Dreamy turned the sod's belly away from Foxfire and let go, dropping him in an instant. He landed flat on his back in short order.

Ember's horn glowed and her magic filled in for Dreamy's own, keeping the alicorn to the floor as the changelings went out of sight. "I-I got what backwards?" he asked, turning to Ember as her length hardened to full mast. He paled at seeing how large it was, and color drained from his face as it contorted to show erratic, sharp bumps that oozed a clear liquid.

"You aren't the biggest," Ember began slowly, her good tentacles likewise contorting to show the sharp bumps that oozed with clear liquid.

"Th-then who is?" the false alicorn asked, his voice cracking and his eyes sparkling in fright.

"Yes. I'm the biggest," Ember replied darkly, using her magic to wrench his entire hindquarters clean off the floor, spreading his rear legs so his asshole was exposed to the world. She cantered to the exposed hole and aligned herself when Foxfire stopped laughing and gave a cough.

"Quick question: what's that stuff on your tentacles and dick?" Foxfire asked, lifting a hoof to wipe away a tear that formed at the corner of her eye. "Because it looks… off."

"If you're thinking it's lubricant…" Ember trailed off and wasted no time; she rammed her dick inside the asshole and hilted it in one go, causing the false alicorn to scream in pain as the member managed to wrench open his prostate and go in a full inch after. "You'd only be half-right."

"Get it out! Get it oooooout!" the false alicorn howled, squirming and as much as the crimson magical grip would allow. It wasn't much, but it did have the effect of brushing his insides against the sharp bumps lining the intruding cock, making him bleed and only further causing searing pain to assault his nerves.

"Not happening until you tell me and Foxy what we wanna know," Ember replied, oddly content to stand there and let him writhe beneath her. "Who're you, why're you here, and whose treasury vault did you rob?"

“I-I have no name, and I-I didn’t raid a vault; they were g-g-gifts!” The false alicorn cried bitter tears.

“From who?” Foxfire growled.

“Our leader…” the false alicorn finally spilled the beans.

“And where is this leader?” Foxfire asked.

“The Citadel.” the false alicorn sniffed.

“Where?” Ember asked as she busied herself with holding him down magically, and she grinned as his struggling slowly weakened as the seconds ticked by.

“The F-Frozen East,” came the strangled answer. "P-please let me go…I’ll t-tell my comrades to m-make your deaths q-quick."

Ember pulled out, sliding out easily thanks to the odd liquid and blood coating her dick. She stepped back and relinquished her magical hold on the sod, letting him land on the floor with another thud. "You won't get the chance," she answered, a wicked grin on her face.

"Y-yes I…" the false alicorn began, rolling over and shifting his hooves so he could stand. Foxfire's horn glowed, but the aura diminished when Ember waved a tentacle in her direction.

"Watch closely," Ember instructed as the sod made to stand on very shaky legs. Blood poured profusely from his asshole, staining the floor beneath him as he took a wobbling step towards the edge of the nest. The instant his hoof touched the floor was the same instant he slipped on his own bodily fluids and yelped as his legs went out from under him. His stomach landed on the floor, and his legs spread as wide as they could go.

Then, he started to spasm. His legs kicked at thin air, his wings began flapping yet could not lift him away, and his head thrashed this way and that. Seconds ticked by, yet his struggles grew feeble and less frantic. Strangled cries issued from his throat, further supplemented by beating wings, and as Foxfire watched she noticed that his eyes were starting to glaze. Within four minutes he was still. Not even his chest moved.

Foxfire turned to Ember slowly, eyes widening and comprehension dawning. "You… you're poisonous?" she asked.

Ember nodded, still smiling. "You're spot-on," she answered in sick glee. "Once the barbs are out and I jab somepony with them, it's game over for them in a matter of minutes. Struggling only prolongs the agony." She gestured to the false alicorn and added, "And these guys? I doubt they eat healthy. They probably don't have very good immune systems; otherwise, he'd have taken off by now and dropped somewhere in the badlands."

Foxfire nodded and turned to the carcass. "Can I do the honors?" she asked, her horn glowing again.

"Go for it," Ember replied, and she watched as blue will-o'-wisps formed in the air and rushed to the body. It went ablaze upon contact with the first orb, and soon the air was filled with the stench of burning flesh. A plume of smoke rose into the sky from the body, climbing high up enough to be seen for miles around.

This started a reaction, although one that would not come until the very next day.