Chapter 3 - Market Brawl

Chapter 3 - Market Brawl" Everypony has something they consider worth fighting for. The problem for some, is discovering what that "thing" is... "

(Song #1)

The sunlight was jarring as I bravely walked outside, but it didn’t sting my eyes nearly as badly as it had earlier. I still felt like I had to squint at everything with one eye closed, but at least it didn’t feel like invisible spikes were being driven through my eyes.

‘Guess that drink really helped out. I’m should ask Taps if I can get the recipe for that tea from Taps, it could be really handy to have something for hang-overs in the future.’

Haystead bustled by around us as I followed Peach Tea further into town towards the market. All around us, life continued as normal as ponies performed their trade or otherwise went about their daily business.

I saw Singed Coat, the local earth pony blacksmith, pounding a red-hot metal bar to his will: sweat covered his brow as he grunted with each powerful swing of the hammer in his sturdy grip. His apprentice, Ember, scurried to keep the bellows blowing and the fires hot as Singed methodically worked. We locked eyes for a second, and exchanged small nods of greeting towards each other as he continued at his work and I walked onwards.

A few of Haystead’s elderly inhabitants recognized Peach Tea and me and cried greetings towards Peach Tea from their rocking chairs as they worked on a massive quilt together. While they had smiles for Peach Tea, I could see the thinly veiled scowls as they saw me.

Family meant a lot in a small town like Haystead, and my status as a bastard didn't exactly make me a welcome sight to many. The gaggle of elderly mares quickly returned to the town gossip as I walked by. I pretended not to notice.

Before long, we were on the main street of Haystead, a wide dirt-packed road that cut through the town. Wagons, carts, and ponies of all types and coloration milled back and forth, enjoyed the weather with friends, or, like Peach Tea and I, headed towards the Saturday market.

The Haystead Saturday markets were always busy since they only occurred once a month during the spring and summer months. Most townsfolk would come out to buy and sell goods, enjoy the festivities and company of travelers.

The town square was, as the name entitled, a large square piece of open land that acted as the central nexus for the town and its ponies. Town hall sat within obvious view to anypony who looked. At that critical building the mayor worked and resided, and all the judicial and political decisions for the town at large were decided.

The large and open middle ground of the town square had been transformed by the merchants and local vendors of the market. Wagons, stalls, and tents had been erected all across the small town, making a small maze of goods for sale.

Haystead prided itself in its work, and it showed as we entered the town square and I eyed the fine assortment of goods on display.

The selection of goods on display around the market was predominantly the produce and hand-crafted goods that could be made, or grown, around the small farming town of Haystead. All the items up for sale were of sound quality and as reliable as the local craftsmen who had hoof-made them.

A small diversity of goods could be found in the merchants and peddlers that traveled through Haystead. Their colorful tents stood out starkly against the more drab stalls of the locals. The merchants always boasted a large selection of specialty wares from far away lands, strange clothes, and even a few weapons and armors could be seen on display as I followed Peach Tea further into the bustling market.

Ringing the outside of the large piece of open ground were many shops and stores, all open to the market as ponies yelled and called out their wares over the din to attract customers.

“Potions and elixirs for sale! Premium, and at a discount, potions and elixirs-“

“ –Greens, fresh greens! Liven your plate tonight with-“

“ Absolutely not! This basket is easily worth at least-“

“ Blades and knives, blades and knives for sale. Equip yourself today with quality steel-“

I had always loved the summer markets.

Visiting the stalls of the traveling merchants that came through Haystead and the collections of interesting trinkets and baubles they brought with them to sell was always interesting. Even though I couldn’t afford any of the things they were offering, it was still nice to browse and day-dream as I explored the exotic wares.

“Sweets!”

Ilooked at Peach Tea, thinking she was calling my name. Peach Tea looked as confused as me as we both quizzically looked around for the caller.

As I turned around, I suddenly felt a pair of forehooves wrap around my neck and wrench me to the side while another pair of hooves grabbed my hind legs: yanking me off my hooves.

I crashed to the ground in a clump as the pair of ponies pinned me down. After my eyes stopped rolling around my head with the sudden change in gravity, I looked around me to see two rusty-red colored earth ponies with black manes grinning roguishly at me.

The two earth ponies looked nearly exactly the same, the only discernible difference between the two was their eye color. The one wrapped around my head was Flare, I could tell by his sky-blue eyes, while the one wrapped around my legs was called Dare, his emerald green eyes twinkled mirthfully at me.

“The RedTail twins,” I said, spitting out a clod of dirt, “should have known I wouldn’t be able to walk around without you two assaulting me.”

The identical twins just continued to laugh, their rusty-red coats dusty and dirty.

The RedTails were the towns local wild-colts, widely regarded as horrible pranksters and troublemakers (titles they were exceedingly proud). Before I’d started working the peach orchards, I had spent much of my time hanging out with the RedTails along with Fair Trade. The twins had a habit of getting into mischief, fights, and impromptu wrestling matches, and were all too happy when they were able to pull me and Fair Trade into their shenanigans.

Initially, as just little colts, we’d all become fast friends after I’d defended Fair Trade from them when the RedTails had been bullying the poor Pegasus. After the fight, we were all black and blue with bruises, but our young combat had caused all of us to develop a respect for the other, which brought us together as friends shortly afterwards in only a way that a group of young stallions could ever justify. We’d spent the next few years getting into all kinds of trouble and adventures as we laughed our days away.

After a few years, though, Fair Trade and I would be pulled away to work our respective trades. The RedTail twins, on the other hoof, had continued right on with their mischievous ways. Nobody knew quite what the twins did for a living, or if they even worked at all. Looking at their dirty coats, I was more likely to believe it was most likely that they didn’t work at all.

It was like time had aged their bodies but left them with the minds of colts. Despite their reckless, and childish, antics I still found myself endeared to them. They, along with Fair Trade, were perhaps some of the few true friends I had ever made and kept in Haystead.

The twin wrapped around my neck, Flare, gave a little giggle, “Hey Sweets!”

The one wrapped around my legs, Dare, gave me a mock hit to the flank. “Serves you right Sweets. Should have been watching your back,” said Dare.

I Rolled my eyes, “Even if I did watch my back, you two would still attack me,” I huffed. The twins laughed in response.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Said Flare, rubbing his chin, “But hey, can’t blame us can you? Not our fault you’re so easy to take down.”

I narrowed my eyes, getting ready to show these two just how ‘easy’ I would be when they weren’t getting the jump on me. A pony cleared her throat nearby. We all looked over towards Peach Tea, annoyed at being ignored as she waited for us to finish our little moment.

“If you three are done making out, I’d like to take my brother back,” Said Peach Tea, primly. “We actually have work to get completed today. Unlike some ponies here.”

The RedTails grumbled, and I stifled a laugh as I watched Dare mockingly mimic Peach Tea, but the two ponies slowly unhooked themselves from around me, allowing all of us to get back up to our hooves as we dusted ourselves off (or, I guess I dusted myself off. The RedTails didn't seem to really care about their coats being dirty).

Flare leaned in, whispering in my ear, “Hey, we heard about your little fiasco last night. You should have told us you’d be in town.”

I looked towards Peach Tea, but saw that she was occupied talking to the other twin, looking thoroughly confused as the other twin no-doubt twisted her mind with some insane logic of his.

“I was kind of… out of it last night Flare. Got into a fight with Da... Green Hoof, and I just needed a night to myself,” I said, looking down towards the ground, still feeling a little guilty after my conversation with Peach Tea.

Flare must have noticed, because he gave me a pitying look. It was strange to see such a morose emotion coming from the constantly perky stallion.

“You staying in town again tonight?” He asked, keeping the question neutral, but the real question bled through as Flare discreetly asked if I needed a place to stay for the night.

I shook my head. “No, I’m going home tonight. Just gonna help out Peach Tea with the market, and then I’ll head back home with her.”

Flare gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “good luck buddy, I’m sure everything will work itself out in the end. But if you decide to stay, you always know that my brother and I will help you out.”

I felt Peach Tea walk up beside me, “Come on Sweets, we got to go.”

As I turned around to say good bye to Flare and Dare, I suddenly felt two ponies kiss both sides of my face simultaneously. The RedTail twins laughed as they galloped off into the crowd, yelling something about “kissing” and “sitting in a tree” as I sputtered and wiped my mouth.

I rubbed my cheeks furiously, angry and embarrassed. “You little shits!”

* * *

As we squeezed by a pair of furiously haggling ponies, we came upon the small area that Peach Tea and claimed earlier for our stall. Pits had parked the families cart in the spot before returning to the farm so nopony else would be able to claim it. As we approached, one of the stall vendors waved towards Peach Tea,

“Hey Peaches, I see you found your brother. Watched your stall, like you asked; made sure nopony tried to snag any of those goods of yours while you were away.”

Peach Tea smiled at our market neighbor, “thank you, Rose, I owe you one.”

Rose shook her hoof back and forth dismissively, “Oh, never you mind. It was my pleasure. Not like it was especially hard or anything.”

Peach Tea and I quickly went about preparing the stall for business. We removed the blanket Peach Tea had used to cover the stall and its goods, and after a bit of re-arranging, the goods on the table were presentable. Our little stall was ready for business once more.

“Um… Peach Tea, what should I do?” I asked. I’d never really helped out with the stall before. This was usually a job that Peach Tea and Pits handled, so I was a bit in the dark for what my responsibilities were.

“Just mind the money and goods, I’ll do all the advertising and haggling,” Said Peach Tea, giving me a wink as she pulled out a red bandanna from our cart and tied it around her head and over her hair. stepping up onto an overturned box she’d placed next to the stall, Peach Tea showed me why she always ran the market as her beautiful voice cut over the crowd as surely as the blaze red bandanna.

“Peaches, freshly canned peaches! Best peaches this side of the mountains. Come get some delicious peaches, or our signature peach tea! Freshly brewed this morning, and sure to put a spring in your step. You haven’t lived till you’ve tried some of our fresh peaches, and it’s sure to put a smile on your lips and fill your aching belly. Peaches for sale!”

I just sat back and watched my sister work, smiling a bit. She was so energetic! It was apparent that she loved working here, and her own enthusiasm was infectious. Other ponies soon took notice of our stall and its attractive announcer with the bright red bandanna as they moved closer, curious to see our goods.

I felt fairly clumsy and overwhelmed as I tried to fulfill all the orders of the ponies slowly beginning to crowd our stall. Everypony was yelling and screaming over each other for something or another, and I found myself beginning to panic slightly, but looking towards Peach Tea, she just smiled at me warmly as she continued to advertise for us. I took a calming breath, and dove back into the melee of barering and tongues. Soon enough, I was able to figure out a rhythm to the madness surrounding me as I got into the flow of market-life.

‘Take that stallions money, give him two jars. One jar, and two teas, alrighty, there they go. One pound of our ripest and finest for her, 2 silvers...’

Peach Tea simply glowed as we worked, her charisma seeming to shine in the crowd as she pulled more and ever-more ponies to us, all clamoring for the delicious goods she proclaimed.

Time just seemed to slip by, completely forgotten as I lost myself to the fast work at hoof. While I wasn’t the smartest of ponies when it came to prices, Peach Tea was, and would quickly interject to haggle prices or take care of disputes between other ponies. I didn’t know if the deals were fair or not, but all the ponies that left did so with a smile on their face as they trotted off happily with their bought goods.

Before long, most of the goods had been sold, and the market was beginning to wind down a little. The crowds began to thin as the afternoon sun began to shift to evening. Peach Tea wiped the sweat from her brow, and I too noticed that I’d been beginning to put up a sweat myself in the heat of the sun as we worked.

Peach Tea stepped down off the over-turned box, “whew. Let's take a break Sweets, I think that’s enough business for now.”

“Aw, closing down shop already? And here I was thinking that I could make an extra-large order,” said a silky smooth voice.

Deadline stood just in beyond our small stall. The blue unicorn gave us both a slimy smile as he stood nearby, seven of his cronies backing him up today. I could see Lash and Crunch among the other nasty looking bunch that made up Deadline’s posse.

Peach Tea looked surprised and a little worried as she looked at me uncertainly and then back to Deadline and his crew of misfits. Yesterday’s encounter was still fresh in both our minds, and I watched as she quickly adopted her best salespony face and came over to stand by me behind the counter. She cleared her throat,

“Evening distinguished customers, how can my brother and I serve you on this beautiful day.”

Deadline chuckled, “Oh, ain’t that nice. “Distinguished”, I like the sound of that one darling, you certainly know how to tickle a stallion’s fancy. Or, is it his cock? I never can remember. I get the two mixed up so often.”

Deadline’s thugs gave crude leers at the remark, eyeing Peach Tea.

I felt my blood going cold. Maybe it was something about Deadline’s stance, or the fact he’d brought more ponies with him today, but something felt sinister in his demeanor.

‘This is bad, it’s not like yesterday when he was playing with us. Today he seems different; Deadline’s up to something today…’

Peach Tea, to her credit, completely ignored Deadline’s remark, continuing on like he’d said nothing out of place.

“If you would like to, sir, we have a fine assortment of food stuffs, a quality handmade tea, and some other fresh produce from our local farm. You’re free to a sample of any that catch your fancy,” Said Peach Tea diplomatically.

“Oh, a sample would be grand little Peach, but, I believe I already know exactly what I want to purchase today for me and my boys here,” said Deadline, his horn glowing. I tightened up a little, expecting the worst as he floated out a small brown bag from the satchel hanging from his torso. With a flick of his magic, the bag dropped down to land on top of our counter, spilling open to reveal an impressive collection of golden bits that clattered down before us.

I looked down, stunned at the sheer amount of money now on our counter.

.

‘That’s enough money to pay my debt to Taps at least ten-fold, where did Deadline get this sort of money to throw around!’

Peach Tea looked equally stunned, as she looked at the money and back towards Deadline.

“Oh… um, Sir, I’m afraid that even if I emptied out the rest of the goods in our wagon, it would still not cover the amount you’ve given us. If you give me a second, I could retrieve more goods from our wagon for your purchase”

“That will not be necessary, miss Peach. What I wish to purchase is already here. In fact, you could say that it’s behind your counter top right now,”Deadline said as he leered at Peach Tea.

“What the hell? What was Deadline talking about? We didn’t have anything worth that much money,” I thought, confused at Deadline’s words.

Peach Tea froze in place, fear and realization of her situation beginning to work its way into her large golden eyes.

Peach Tea began to tremble a bit, her words coming out shaky. “S-sir. What you are trying to buy isn’t up for sale. I believe you have the wrong booth, but I’m sure I can find something else here you’d enjoy to…”

Deadline began to scowl, tiring of the game. “Listen, whore, I’ve paid you more than enough for me and my ‘friends’ here, so I expect to get my money’s worth with you. Just like every other stallion in this piss-pot of a town.”

Deadline took threatening step towards Peach Tea, “Either you’re going to accept my money or I’m taking it by force. Your choice.”

I suddenly realized the implications of Deadline’s words, and I felt rage start of burn in my chest. How dare he! If he thought he was just going to do that and I wouldn’t have a few things to say on the matter, this asshole was in for one hell of a surprise!

“Back off, scum. Nopony talks to my sister that way and simply gets away with it! If you’re gonna do anything, you’re gonna have to go through me first.” I proclaimed boldy, drawing myself up to make myself bigger as I faced down Deadline.

Deadline gave a lazy smile towards me, enjoying the entire situation far too much.

“Oh, big Peach gonna stand up for his little sister? That’s cute,” said Deadline in a fake baby voice. “Go ahead, Peach, make my day. It’ll be a mistake I’ll be happy to personally rectify for you…”

As I grappled with my rising anger, I suddenly remembered Deadline’s thugs as they inched forward towards me, just itching to rip into me on their bosses signal.

‘He didn’t bring his thugs with him just for show-and-tell. He was planning on this from the start; expecting a fight or some struggle. His thugs will probably jump me the second I so much as twitch at him funny,’

Deadline sneered at me, spitting on the ground towards me as he saw that I didn’t move to do anything against him, turning his attention back towards Peach Tea as he dismissed me.

“So… about our little… arrangement,” said Deadline dangerously, moving in closer towards Peach Tea as his goons edged in behind him. “I believe we have a bit of an understanding dear?”

Peach Tea glanced at me fearfully, panic causing her eyes to shrink as she tried to figure out a way to escape. I just watched on, hopeless.

‘Think Sweets, think! There’s got to be a way you can help, something you can do to save Peach Tea. There’s always something, think goddesses dammit think! Good lord, with an entire stall of goods and items, you’d think we’d have something better than just peaches to defend ourselves!’

Suddenly, I felt something click. A plan surfacing from the depths of my brain. It took all my self-control to not openly smile as my daring plan formed, I just hoped that Peach Tea would be ready when I put it into motion.

I took a steadying breath, and tried to wear the most dejected face I possibly could. I was going to have to swallow some pride to pull this off, but if it worked it would be worth it.

“Um… Deadline, Sir. Before you do anything else, would you and your men like some free samples?”

Deadline looked at me with an eyebrow raised, confused at my sudden change of attitude. Deadline’s thugs looked similarly confused as they all shared looks, trying to figure out my angle for why I’d be offering something like that in such a circumstance.

Peach Tea, likewise, looked at me with rising concern. This was completely unlike me, and she was flabbergasted at why I suddenly seemed so cowed by Deadline. She bit her lip, as tears began to rim her eyes, believing herself abandoned as she awaited Deadline’s verdict.

Deadline looked back towards his goons, who shrugged in response, deferring to his leadership. Deadline looked back towards and I tried to shrink down and appear deflated as he scrutinized me. A slow smile wormed its way onto his lips as he glanced towards my teary sister, enjoying his apparent power over the two of us.

“See lads, just tell these filthy peasants what’ll happen if they resist, and they’ll back right down. Even the infamous bastard here isn’t giving us any guff, are you boy?” Deadline loomed towards me, and I shrank back as he raised his voice for all to hear.

“Why not. I always did enjoy a little something sweet before some hard work, isn’t that right lads?” Deadline’s thugs chortled behind him at the comment.

Still acting weak and cowardly, I pulled one of our jars of peaches from the table, and with a deft twist of my hooves pulled the lip off: offering the jar towards Deadline. I leaned the jar towards Deadline so he could get a better look at the jars golden contents.

Deadline licked his lips as he looked at the canned peaches, his magic floated out a sticky globule of peach towards his salivating mouth. With a sudden grin, I took the jar and whipped it towards Deadline as he leaned in for the tasty morsel.

*Splat*

. . .Drip     . . .Drip    . . .Drip

Deadline just looked at me, unamused. Chunks of syrup and preserved peaches dribbling down his chest and mane. He blew a chunk of sticky hair from his face with an irritated puff.

“Really?” he said, his face flat as he just looked at me. “Was that the best you could do?”

I grinned, “ Actually, that was just for laughs.”

With a sudden heave of my forehooves, I took the jar and threw it with all my might. The glass jar sailed through the air, and with a sharp impact, broke against the unicorn’s head as he just watched wide eyes, caught unaware by the sudden attack.

Peach Tea looked on, stunned. Deadline’s thugs looked similarly dumbfounded at what had just happened to their boss as Deadline clutched at the shards of glass in his face.

I broke the silence as I grabbed Peach Tea, “RUN!”

(Song #2)

Deadline’s thugs yelled all at once, springing into action as they tried to jump over the counter and catch us. I never gave them a chance.

With a mighty buck of my legs, I kicked the table over towards them. This caused the thugs in front to curse and quickly come to a halt, stopping the others behind them. The large stall came crashing down towards them, causing the jars and our other goods toppling down towards the brutes. It bought us a few precious seconds to make our escape.

“Get them! Get the bastard. I want him brought to me alive! Break his legs, shatter his bones, but I want that mother-bucker alive!” Deadline screamed in rage as Peach Tea and I galloped for our lives from the scene, sprinting away as fast as we could before Deadline and his thugs could give proper chase.

“Sweet Peach, what do we do? We’re in a lot of trouble, how are we supposed to make it out of this!” Peach Tea yelled at me as we thundered past surprised ponies, eliciting a few reprimanding shouts from those nearby as we smashed past them.

“Get to Dad. Find him and tell him what happened, he’ll keep you safe,” I said, already knowing what I’d have to do.

‘I started this. Only fair I finish it.’

“What about you?” said Peach Tea, asking the obvious question.

My plan hadn’t exactly included me being a part of her escape. Behind us, I could already hear Deadline’s thugs shouting for ponies to make way as they cursed and shouted obscenities at my sister and I: promising far worse than I’d offered to Deadline when they finally caught up to us.

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll distract them while you get away. I’ll meet you back at the house in a bit, now go!”

As I said that, I pushed Peach Tea into the crowd, turning to break off in a different direction.

“That way, the bastard went that way!”

I quickly glanced behind me, seeing three of the seven thugs that had been with Deadline pursuing me. One of them began to push towards the already disappeared Peach Tea, while the remaining two continued after me as the small group divided itself in an attempt to catch us both.

‘Oh, please make it home Peach, “ I thought as I tore down between the market stalls with the two ponies crashing behind me.

* * *

I pushed my way through the ponies milling in front of me, yells of surprise and frustration following me as I made my way hastily past them.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I looked back again. Deadline’s thugs were beginning to catch up.

As I was looking back, I felt myself smash into somepony in my path. With a startled grunt I felt my legs trip over themselves as I clumsily tried to regain my balance with the surprise impact.

I reeled to regain my footing, throwing a hoof out to the side to catch myself. With a grunt I felt my hoof grab onto a nearby wooden stall before smashing into it with my body.

I groaned with the smarting pain as I rubbed the already darkening bruises forming across my chest.

‘Shit… well, that’s what I get for not looking at where I was going. But, I suppose it could have been worse.’

I scrambled up, pulling myself up, but still sprawled out on the counter of the stall. The owner of the stall, a surprised looking grey unicorn with a grubby coat and stained white mane, was staring at me. His uncertainty and confusion were evident as he said something to me, but I didn't really catch it as I tried to make the world stop rolling.

I heard an ugly mocking voice give a little chuckle from behind me. I turned around to see the Deadline’s two thugs had caught up and were now slowly advancing upon me: enjoying my helplessness.

‘Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I just had to think that, “couldn’t have been worse?” Stupid, stupid!’

“Aw, did the little birdy clip his wings? We was having such a nice little chase there too.” Said the thug on the left, a wide scar running down his lip and below his jaw. His companion, a thin stallion with a malicious grin and eyes that twinkled with a promise of horrible things to come smiled his agreement darkly.

“Yeah, I think the bastard hit his wittle head,” Said the pony with the evil twinkle in his eye.

The one with the scarred face shared in that smile, his lips turning up into a nasty little smile of his own, the scar seeming to twist grotesquely as a result.

“Oh, I’m thinking that it’ll be the least of his worries by the time were through with him,” said Scar pony.

Twinkle gave a pleased little snarl at the idea, “Yeah, the boss did say we could have a little fun before we turned him over. Just so long as he’s alive when were done.”

I felt my blood run cold. I was in a lot of trouble. After what I’d just done to Deadline, there was no way I’d be leaving here fully intact, or at least without being permanently crippled for the rest of my life.

‘Forget Deadline, these guys mean business!’

As I mulled that over, I heard the unicorn say something, turning around I look again at the dirty stallion. I didn’t recognize him, and the pungent odor of chemicals and odd outlandish ingredients clung to his hide. Must be a traveling alchemist who happened to be in town during market.

“Go away,” hissed the alchemist, “don’t bring them over to my stand. I’ve got too many fragile reactants, ingredients, and potions for you to be having a fight on top of them! Go, shoo. Shoo!”

The alchemist gave me a few pokes with his hooves as he tried to get me off his stall. As if poking me would somehow make me miraculously disappear and solve the problem I’d suddenly dropped on him.

I scowled at him and his stall of “fragile ingredients”. Ugh, it wasn't my fault that I’d happened to land nearby to his dangerous stock of…

I suddenly looked at the table closer; looking at the bubbling brews, and darkly tinted bottles filled with swirls of murky and bright colored liquids.

I looked down at them, and then back up to the unicorn. Another plan began to form in my head, and I couldn’t help but let a little mischievous grin at the thought of what I was going to do.

The alchemist raised an eyebrow, confused at my sudden smile; looking down at the counter himself to the arrangement of his goods, and then back to the advancing thugs. His pupils seemed to shrink as he put one and two together and realized my ingenious plan, doing a double-take at me and the thugs.

“No… no! oh no you don’t, don’t even think about…”

I didn't even let him finish his sentence. I grabbed the closest bottle, a smallish flask with a bright crimson tincture inside it. With a sudden yell, I turned around and threw it towards Scar. I had no idea what the bottle was, but hopefully it would do something.

Scar looked confused as the bottle sailed through the air, but his eyes widened as it made a bee line for him, my deft throw hitting him expertly in the chest. The bottle shattered (fragile product indeed!) and suddenly, to the amazement of everypony nearby, Scar combusted.

With a scream, Scar began to roll on the ground in panic, trying to put the sudden fire out that had spread across his hide in the beat of an eye. Twinkle just looked over at Scar, stunned.

I quickly grabbed another bottle, and threw it towards Twinkle. I’d been hoping to catch him unaware as he gawked at his companion, but he proved the quicker as he saw me throw the second concoction of red-liquid his way.

Twinkle quickly ducked to the side, the bottle hitting the ground and leaving a burning puddle on the ground that simply continued to burn.

I began to grab everything in hoofs reach on top of the counter, tossing it towards Twinkle. Twinkle, in the meantime, dodged to save his life. Neither Twinkle or I knew what the bottles contained as I threw bottles of liquid every color and shade of the rainbow (and in one case, literally bands of color that formed a rainbow). The bottles hit the ground harmlessly, fizzling and hissing as their contents were released to the outside and mixed with the dirt.

Before long, Twinkle began to slowly advance on me. Figuring out the timing of my throws, and slowly gained ground towards me. His eyes promised murder when he got to me, and I found myself getting continuously desperate as I lobbed more and more of the impromptu grenades at him.

As I reached behind me, I felt a rather large tub filled with something behind me, and turned around to grab it with both hooves. Suddenly, the alchemist, enraged by my blatant destruction of his property, grabbed the bucket himself. I locked eyes with him as we stubbornly began tugging at the container, neither willing to relinquish our grips on it.

“Let go!” I shouted

“You let go! I’m not letting you destroy any more of my goods, you crazy pony,” growled the Alchemist unicorn with a grunt as he strained against my powerful grip on the bucket. “Especially not my purest batch of Aqua Regalia!”

“Just. Shut. Up, and give it to me!” I said through gritted teeth as I gave the bucket a hard yank towards myself. As I did, I felt some pony’s hoof smash into my shoulder. I gave a cry of pain as I was knocked down to the ground with the blow.

I looked up into the enraged glare of Twinkle. He’d finally made it to me, and his stood over me imposingly as he took advantage of my prone position on the ground to hold me down as I struggled to get up.

The alchemist was suddenly left frantically groping at the bucket of Aqua-whatcha-ma-call-it, trying to recover it as my sudden absence left the unicorn’s grip tenuous. I wondered why he didn't just use magic, but I guess he was panicking too much to think about it.

“I’m going to bucking kill you, you bastard! For what you did to my friend, and for what you did to the boss!” screamed Twinkle, his anger making his eyes crazy as he lifted up a hoof and hit me on the shoulder again with a heavy thud. I grunted in pain.

Twinkle laughed, unaware of the alchemists floundering grip behind him. “Oh, but I’m not just going to hurt you, I’m going to destroy you! First, I’ll start with breaking your hooves, then I’ll remove your teeth. We’ll see how smart you think you are when I-“

I never did get a chance to hear the rest of Twinkle’s rant as the bucket of Aqua-whats-it poured down onto Twinkle. Twinkle’s looming body actually kept me from getting hit directly by the buckets contents as it splashed down his back and across his neck. A few of the sizzling drops fell into my mane, melting it, and my neck. I yelped in pain as it burned my skin.

It felt like somebody had taken a fiery poker fresh from a forge and jabbed me in the neck as my skin burned and sizzled. It was horrendously painful, like barbed needles being pushed into my flesh and then savagely yanked out. So, when I tell you how painful it was just to have a drop or two fall on my skin, you can imagine how Twinkle reacted when a gallon of the stuff was suddenly poured all across his back.

“aaaaAAAHHHHHHHHHH” Twinkle screamed.

Twinkle’s face contorted in pain as he stumbled back from me, the chemical chewing into his flesh. He collapsed on the ground, still screaming. The sound was grating, the sound of one who was in agonizing pain, and my eyes widened as I watched on, unable to look away from the horrifying sight unfolding before me.

Twinkle fell to his legs, his skin bubbling and melting as it slewed to the ground in a red puddle around his feet. With a strangled gasp, still trying to yell despite the lack of air in his lungs, Twinkle collapsed to the ground, looking at me wide eyed as his mouth hanged open: still screaming silently. He convulsed on the ground, and then he never moved again.

I just looked, stunned. Above me, I heard some pony whimpering, and looked up to see the alchemist starring wide eyed at the carnage before him, the now-empty bucket held loosely in front of him. He just starred at the mess before him, unable to come to grips with what had just happened.

It seemed like an eternity was spread into that single moment as we both just starred at the body in front of me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realized Twinkle was probably dead, and I’d assisted, if not been the direct cause for his death. Scar lay on the ground nearby, no longer on fire, but his blackened coat was smoking. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or not.

‘Oh merciful Celestia and sweet Luna, what have I done!’

I couldn’t seem to look away from it-from him! Twinkle’s empty eyes stared at me accusingly in death.

I could hear voices now. All around us, ponies began to yell, screams could be heard as I suddenly noticed that the crowd of ponies around us were talking and shouting, pointing at the bodies and towards me and the alchemist. As I sat there in my daze, one of Deadline’s thugs suddenly pushed through the crowd, looking aghast at the two bodies nearby.

“Wait, wha- YOU!” He suddenly turned on me, and as I looked over towards the stall of the alchemist, I saw that he was gone. Escaped in the confusion, most likely. I was mad for a second before I realized that I’d inadvertently dragged him into this fight. It hadn't been his choice, and I couldn't blame him for running.

I decided to take a leaf from his book as I jumped to my hooves and dived into the crowd, once again pushing through as

Deadline’s goons began the chase once more.

Tears ran down my face as I floundered forward, finally pushing my way through the knot of ponies craning to see the damage I’d helped cause. To see the ponies I’d killed.

'By Celestia's scorching sun… I killed them…. I killed them!’

To Be continued...