Problems of a Dead World

Chapter 20: Burn

Jackson's shouted words echoed in Earl's mind for a moment as he tried to figure out the meaning.

Barbecue? What the fuck...? He thought, his eyes looking up to the ceiling, then darting around the room.

His question was quickly answered as the smell of smoke began to sting his nostrils. He immediately arose from his kneeling position and reached his neck upwards to catch a glimpse of the stairs. There stood Jackson, the assault rifle against his shoulder as he held it upwards, and the gas can waiting in his other hand, a wicked grin plastered across his face. A bright, flickering light reflected off of the wall next to the insane colonel, confirming Earl's suspicion.

"Oh, hello." Jackson said in a psychotically happy tone.

Without hesitation, the colonel brought the rifle downwards and pulled the trigger, causing a spray of bullets to fly in Earl's direction.The grey unicorn briskly pulled his neck back and propped himself against the side of the stairs, more smoke beginning to fill the room.

"Mac!" He shouted, coughing slightly at the appearance of smoke.

"Yeah?!" The earthpony replied from the tunnel.

"Jackson's burning the fucking tree house!" Earl shouted.

Within seconds, Mac sprinted up the stairs and out of the tunnel, looking at Earl with an extremely confused expression.

"What?! How?!" He asked frantically.

Before Earl could open his mouth to speak, the arsonist of the hour came into Macintosh's view as he stepped down the stairs, whistling the tune to "Disco Inferno". Mac could see the same reflection of flickering light Earl had seen when he looked upstairs, and his mouth fell agape. Earl's ears perked upwards as the sound of creaking steps echoed throughout the room, along with the crackling fire from upstairs. The unicorn looked up to see his enemy just above him, still making his way down the steps. He swallowed hard and assumed a crouched position again, readying his body for an attack.

"Mac, get downstairs!" He shouted as he hurled himself up the side of the stairs and into Jackson.

The large red stallion watched as Earl collided with the colonel and shoved him harshly against the wall. On contact, Jackson dropped the gas can and groaned in pain. Continuing his attack, Earl threw his hoof with as much force as his body would let him straight into the jaw of his target. The colonel's jaw cracked under the intense force, and his body swayed sideways. As he began falling down the stairs however, he wrapped one of his arms around Earl, causing them both to plummet down the remainder of the stairs.

"Earl!" Macintosh shouted, watching the two fall against each step.

After several harsh thumps, the two finally hit the ground floor, both writhing in pain as the soreness from the fall began to swell in their bodies. Jackson was the first to rise from the fall, his body groggily lifted itself up and into the layer of smoke now filling the tree house.

By now, the fire had begun to spread to the stairs, painting the room in an intense flickering light as the wood beneath the flames faded away. Macintosh looked between Jackson and the growing light worriedly before turning and sprinting down the stairs. Upon reaching the basement, the earthpony began frantically searching for some way to stop the fire.

"C'mon! Fuck sakes, no water, no nothin'?!" He shouted in frustration.

Jackson slung the weapon in his hands over his shoulder once more as he approached Earl, a scowl on his face. The colonel brought his hands together and cracked both sets of knuckles before reaching the fallen unicorn. Upon reaching him, he placed both hands on either side of Earl's chest, and with a grunt of exhaustion, heaved the pony off of the ground and tossed him into a nearby bookshelf, causing books and crushed wood to fly in multiple directions. A low groan escaped the grey stallion's throat as he collided harshly with the bookshelf, and then with the ground. Jackson continued his assault by striding over to the groaning unicorn, and delivering a swift kick to Earl's midsection. The wind instantly escaped Earl's throat as the colonel's boot dug into his stomach, and he heaved violently after it had left.

"Fuckin' little pony bastard!" Jackson shouted, walking backwards away from the twitching unicorn.

Through Earl's blurred vision, he could just barely make out the shape of Jackson, walking away as smoke continued pouring into the main room of the library. With a deep breath he discharged his horn towards the boasting colonel, causing a bright-colored bolt to fly from his head, and dig into the skin on Jackson's left leg. The colonel instantly screamed in pain as the flesh was torn from his limb, and fell to the ground. The assault rifle fell to the floor just beside Jackson, as the fire began crawling down the stairs. A small pool of blood began forming just beside the twitching colonel, giving Earl a small sliver of confidence. As Jackson screamed in pain, Earl slowly lifted himself onto all fours, pain pulsating in his midsection with every heartbeat. He clumsily made his way over to the screaming colonel, and prepared his foreleg to attack. Just in time to see the strike, Jackson turned his head towards Earl and was instantly met by another hoof to the jaw, causing his head to fly the other direction.

"Gah! You little shit!" Jackson shouted, the blood in his mouth accenting his voice.

Earl shook his head, and chuckled weakly as Jackson searched the room frantically for his rifle. When he finally found it, the pain-stricken human reached for it, savagely flailing his arms in the direction of the weapon. Earl noticed the human trying to retrieve the weapon, and let a low growl escape his throat. The unicorn stepped closer to Jackson, and roughly pulled his hands away from the gun. The colonel watched fearfully as Earl wrapped both hooves around his throat, and raised his head upwards. Without hesitation, Earl brought his head down with as much force as the muscles in his neck would let him, his horn glistening in the light of the spreading fire. The tip of the magical appendage atop Earl's head met with the soft flesh of Jackson's eye. The eye gave way to the sharp horn, allowing it to dig deep into Jackson's cornea. Blood instantly flew from the colonel, along with a savage, high-pitched squeal of pain from Jackson.

The intense pain caused Jackson to flail mindlessly. Eventually, a fist collided with Earl and sent him flying sideways. The horn was still deep in the colonel's eye however, and was ripped from it's socket with the savage sound of tearing flesh as Jackson's scream intensified. Earl landed on his back several feet away from the colonel, but used the force of his momentum to roll back onto his hooves in one swift motion. Pain had almost completely left Earl's body, replaced with pure adrenaline from what he had just done. The unicorn looked to his blood-stained horn, to find Jackson's eye hanging limply from it. He reached a hoof up to the small organ and nonchalantly tossed the eye to the side.

"Have fun sightseeing you pathetic bastard?!" Earl shouted with a menacing chuckle.

Jackson growled angrily, and looked around with his only functioning eye, trying to search for any way to make it out of the situation alive, or at least do as much damage to Earl as humanly possible. His eyes finally came to rest on the gas can that he had dropped by the stairs on the opposite side of him, just inside of his reach. The colonel threw his arm toward the can, wrapped his fingers around the handle, and flung it over him in the direction of Earl. The unicorn stopped dead and cringed, awaiting contact from the unknown object flying towards him. Instinctively, his horn shot a bright bolt of energy in the direction of the can. Time seemed to slow for the cringing unicorn as the bolt left his horn. He lifted his head from his foreleg and watched as the bolt from his horn flew in the direction of the object. Just before it hit however, Earl recognized the object flying in his direction, and his mouth fell agape.

On contact, the can erupted in an extremely bright, purple-colored explosion that flashed across the burning walls of the tree house. Earl was instantly thrown back against the bookshelf Jackson had hurled him into before, as contents of the exploded gas can spilled onto the floor of the tree house and instantly ignited. By now, most of the main room of the library was engulfed in flames.

"Earl?! What the hell was that?!" Macintosh shouted from the basement.

The grey unicorn opened his mouth to speak, but only screamed in fear as several branches from the burning tree house fell, knocked free by the magical explosion. He attempted to cover his face with his forelegs as the debris fell, but a large, burning branch landed just above him on the second floor. It quickly rolled in Earl's direction, and within seconds, fell onto the unicorn's midsection.

"Gah, fuck!" He shouted as the branch collided with him.

"What happened?!" Mac shouted from the basement once more, his voice muffled by the raging flames and the walls between them.

"Branch... Help!" Earl managed to say as pain began to swell in his midsection once more.

Within seconds, Mac came sprinting up from the tunnel leading into the basement. His eyes went wide in fear as the sight of the purple flames entered them. The large earthpony began searching frantically for Earl, who raised a hoof and cried out weakly as the branch began to dig farther into his stomach.

"Here..." Earl said, his voice choked.

Macintosh nodded and trotted hurriedly to the unicorn. The stallion stopped momentarily to asses the situation, and try and find a way to help. He began trying to lift the large branch off of Earl, but to no avail. The branch was mostly stuck.

"Dont'chu worry. I'ma getchu out of there, brother. We'll be home before supper, you hear?" Mac said, trying to comfort him.

Earl nodded in response, trying to calm himself. His heart quickly began racing however, as Jackson just barely came into view. The unicorn's heart nearly stopped as the colonel limped groggily towards them. Fire surrounding both sides of his path, and a wicked scowl on his face. He watched as Jackson slowly lifted a shining metallic pistol upwards, his finger on the trigger.

"MAC!" Earl shouted as loud as his smoke filled lungs would let him.

Big Macintosh flinched and turned in the direction Earl had screamed, only to be met by the ear-shattering sound of Jackson firing the pistol in his hand. Mac's body shook violently as a bullet entered his midsection, and sent him backwards onto the floor.

"NO!" Earl screamed frantically.

Jackson smiled wickedly as he continued approaching the two, Earl still trapped, and Macintosh groaning quietly in pain on the ground. The colonel lowered the pistol to his side as he limped over to the two ponies.

"You stay the FUCK away!" Earl shouted, frantically trying to escape the branch's grasp.

The colonel simply continued limping over to them with a smile on his face. As he neared them, he looked to the twitching stallion on the ground, then to Earl, his grin growing wider.

"Would you like to watch?" Jackson asked, his smile still holding strong.

Earl's mouth fell open as he looked between Jackson and Macintosh. He began shaking his head desperately.

"No.... Please, anything but... NO! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!" Earl screamed.

Jackson tilted his head to the side and prodded at Macintosh's twitching body.

"Hey buddy, y'alright?" Jackson said in a wicked-happy tone, blood freely dripping from his exposed eye-socket.

Mac gave no response, only coughed weakly as he lay on the floor.

"Maybe we should help him out. What do you say Earl?" The colonel said, looking to Earl.

"He doesn't have anything to do with this you sick fuck! This is between you and me!" Earl shouted in response.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jackson replied, wrapping his hands around Mac's two back legs.

Slowly, he began limping backwards, dragging the fallen stallion in front of him.

"Jackson STOP!" Earl screamed.

The colonel continued dragging Mac, not paying mind to the trapped unicorn. After several agonizing seconds of slow travel across the room, Jackson finally stopped at one of the many spots in the room where the fire was most intense. It was then that Earl realized Jackson's intentions.

"No! YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! TAKE ME! TAKE ME INSTEAD!" He shouted desperately.

Jackson's smile only grew wider as he leaned down and wrapped both arms around the stallion's midsection. With all of his strength, he heaved Macintosh off of the ground, causing the stallion to groan in intense pain.

"KILL ME INSTEAD YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" Earl shouted, trying to escape his wooden prison.

With a satisfied sigh, Jackson tossed Macintosh forward, into the raging flames. Instantly, the flames engulfed the coat of the earthpony. A scream erupted from the flames Jackson had thrown Macintosh into, slowly growing into a high-pitched, savage scream of indescribable pain from the burning stallion. Jackson began laughing maniacally.

"No! M-MAC!" Earl shouted, tears falling from his smoke-scratched eyes.

"Haaaa! BURN YOU BIG RED SON OF A BITCH, BURN!" Jackson screamed, watching as Macintosh literally burned alive.

The screams continued echoing throughout the room for several more moments before dying down. The room now layed silent, save for the crackling of fire, and mindless groaning from Earl.

"Mac..." He said quietly to himself. "FUCKING MAC..."

With another content sigh, Jackson turned around and began limping back to Earl, who was still trapped under the burning branch. Slowly, the insane colonel raised his pistol to the trapped unicorn, still giggling with glee.

"Well, that's two of your little alien buddies." The colonel said, aiming the metallic pistol at Earl.

Earl snorted angrily, rage boiling within his veins.

"I'd say I gut that little girlfriend of yours like I said, and we're about even."

The unicorn began twitching as his anger reached it's peak.

"Any last words you son of a-" Jackson tried to say.

He was quickly cut off however, as the weapon and his hand were surrounded by an orange glow. The weapon turned towards him and jabbed savagely into his stomach. Jackson looked to the weapon against his midsection as it discharged, sending a bullet clean through his stomach and blood across the burning floor. The colonel instantly fell to his knees and screamed in pain as the orange glow dissipated.

"What the... F-Fuck was that?! Some of... Your... alien shit?!" He asked, breathlessly.

The colonel shook his head and swiftly brought the point of the gun to Earl again. Just as before, it was surrounded in an orange glow, and this time, was brought to Jackson's shoulder. The colonel opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off as the gun fired again, sending a bullet through his shoulder, and sending him crashing to the floor on his back.

As Jackson writhed in pain, Earl pushed against the branch in front of him with the combined strength of anger, grief, and willpower. Slowly, the branch began to give way, cracking viciously under the pressure of Earl's hooves. With one last grunt of anger and push of his hooves, the branch finally broke free, and the enraged unicorn tossed it across the room.

Earl began slowly limping in the direction of Jackson, who was now trying to crawl away desperately. The grey unicorn's horn began to glow orange, along with the colonel's hand and the weapon that rested in it. Jackson turned to look, but was met with by the gun colliding with his face.

"Can't run away from your own arm, dumbass." Earl said in a grim tone.

Earl continued approaching the colonel, flames still dancing around the room, flickering off of his bright coat. Jackson whimpered slightly and put both hands up, signalling retreat.

"Y-You win kid!" He said in a pathetic tone.

The colonel stopped dead as the gun in his hand was lifted up and pointed against his head, his hand still firmly around the handle.

"Every thing you've done to me." Earl said.

The gun pressed harder against Jackson's skull.

"To my friends."

The gun pressed even harder, causing a small pool of blood to form around the tip of the barrel.

"To this WORLD."

If the weapon was pressing any harder, Jackson's skull would've buckled.

"Has lead to your death..." Earl said, flames dancing wildly around the room. "It's only fair that you get to pull the trigger."

Jackson's heart nearly stopped at the thought of taking his own life. He looked to the gun and his hand, both surrounded in an orange glow.

"Kid... Please... Don't send me out like that.... Just... Fucking kill me... Don't do that..." Jackson pleaded quietly.

"It's a coward's death..." Earl replied.

"Please..."

"WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE!"

"NO!"

Earl closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he used his magic to make Jackson pull the trigger. The weapon shook in the colonel's hand as the bullet flew from it, directly into his own skull. A spray of blood and brain matter painted the floor under him as his head flew backwards and collided with the floor. His eye stared lifelessly to the ceiling as bits of flesh landed on the floor next to him, coating the floor in a red paste. Both hands fell to the ground, causing the pistol to slide across the floor as it fell, just a few feet away from Jackson's corpse.

The grey unicorn backed away from the body slowly, his eyes still shut tight. He fell to his haunches seconds later and swallowed deeply.

"Equestrian Royal Guard! We're coming in!" A stallion's voice said, muffled by the sound of burning wood and the walls.

Earl simply sat still, tears rolling out from under his tightly shut eyelids. A harsh banging could be heard at the front door as several guards began pounding against it in an attempt to get in.

He's dead...

The pounding became more intense, followed by another shout.

They're dead...