Icarus

The next few days sailed by worry free for Icarus and his fortunate friends (the unfortunate ones were legal age and were sent to jail). He was so happy he wasn't in trouble, that he didn't get into any arguments at school, or into any scuffles with students. Everything seemed much better. Plus, his eighteenth birthday was in only three short days.

The afternoon bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Hundreds of students poured out of the main doors; pegasi would get a running start and fly home; advanced magic unicorns would teleport home. Icarus and Sprinkle walked side by side, chatting about Dungeondweller's tour dates.

"Well, if he's playing in Whoofsconsin, then he's bound to come to Seaddle," mused Icarus happily.

"Yeah," said Sprinkle. "And if he does, my brother will be able to get us tickets."

"How?" Icarus said.

"He has his ways," laughed Sprinkle. "Though I don't entirely know about all of them. At least, I'm not supposed to."

The two of them shared a laugh, occasionally greeting friends passing by.

"No, but if he plays at the Seaddle music fest, I'm getting us in there, whether we have tickets or not." Icarus said seriously. "Who knows when he'll come here again?"

"IF he does." Sprinkle added.

"Right," nodded Icarus. "Who's to say if he WILL come?"

"I mean, I'm not saying there's not a possibility. This place is ripe with clubs and stages for him to play on, but it's really up to the club manager."

Icarus nodded and flared his wings, and laughed. "Hell, if I could, I'd carry him and him stuff over here to play."

"Not before I fangirled," giggled Sprinkle.

"Yeah, I bet you would." Icarus chuckled, playfully brushing his wings over Sprinkle's face, who laughed.

"Hey, you manage to get a hold of Kino, yet?" Sprinkle asked, scratching her ear.

Icarus looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Sprinkle, I've been grounded for two weeks. I haven't heard ANYTHING."

The pink mare blushed. "Oh... Right, sorry."

Icarus nodded. A young colt ran into Icarus with a loud 'OOF!' from both of them. Icarus looked up quickly.

"Urgh, sorry!" the colt groaned. He was obviously in grade six or seven.

Icarus stood up, rubbing his head. "Yeah... It's alright."

"Agh, so, Cloud is talking smack about you down at the north park. I think he wants to fight you," said the colt cautiously.

Icarus felt a twang of irritation in his chest. He raised an eyebrow. "Ohhh. Is that so?"

The colt nodded quickly. "He said that you're too afraid to face him."

Icarus tilted his head. "I am, huh? Well, gotta go disprove him."

Sprinkle put a pink foreleg in front of him. "No, you just got out of trouble, you don't want it to happen again."

"I'll be fine," grunted Icarus, pushing past her. He jumped up and spread his wings, and flew toward the park.

Minutes later...

"Oh, PUH-LEEZE! ICARUS? Idiot couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag!" Cloud laughed meanly. A few others laughed as well.

Icarus landed with a thump, and the small crowd gathered around the blonde haired pegasus with the pointed snout all looked back, worried expressions crossing their faces. Cloud, however, looked amused.

"Oh, hello there," he said snobbishly. "It's the stallion of the hour!"

"Think you're funny, huh?" Icarus asked coldly, advancing toward Cloud slowly. Cloud's smile didn't falter in the slightest.

"Who said that?" Cloud asked innocently. "I've only been telling the truth."

"Enlighten me," grunted Icarus bitterly and impatiently, his golden wings flared.

"Ohhh," hummed Cloud, putting a white hoof to hit chin. "Where shall I begin?"

The other students surveyed the two of them, and crowded closer.

"Well," smirked Cloud snobbishly. "Your father, for starters."

Icarus' right ear twitched in quickly-rising anger. "Please, go on," he said viciously, but softly.

"A construction worker? REALLY?" Cloud cackled. "The old git is so stupid he works for, what, two bits an hour? Pathetic!"

Icarus tensed up significantly. Oak was actually the highest paid in his line of work, and him, Diamond, and Icarus were upper-middle-class ponies. Still, leave it to Cloud to taunt anyone with less money.

"Don't fool yourself, Cloud," grunted Icarus. "Least my dad EARNS our money. What does yours do? Scams, threatens, and begs. 'Ohh, please, sir, give me all your bits! If you don't, I'll have you lose your job! Boo-hoo-hoo!'" Icarus said, putting on a high, whiney voice. "THAT seems pretty pathetic to me."

Cloud's smile vanished and he scowled. "Don't you dare call him pathetic," he growled fiercely. "Your mother--"

"--Is a hard working mare, who happens to make more money than YOUR mother." Icarus interrupted, his lips twisting into a sneer. "But ohhhh, boy, I have a LOT I could go off of with her. Don't even get me started!"

Cloud straightened up. "Not another word."

He was irritated that Icarus was not reacting the way he had planned, instead fighting back. He thought of the day of the hearing; Icarus' brother. Surely Cloud's friends would back him up this time?

"What's the matter? Getting to you?" Icarus asked coldly.

Cloud scoffed and smirked nastily. "How is your brother? Enjoying his dirt nap, I assume?"

This time, Icarus' smile vanished, just as Cloud had hoped.

"Ah, well, either way, another idiot gone. I can't believe he died from a CARRIAGE accident, can you? So stupid."

Icarus felt anger like never before bubble up in his chest. He fought to keep himself in check, not wanting to get into more trouble.

"Like, as if he was THAT unlucky! How pathetic do you have to be? And your parents, ugh, don't get me started..."

He was shaking with anger, now. He wasn't sure if he could take another word.

Cloud put his hooves under his eyes to mock crying. "'Uuhhhhhuhhhh! We made our son travel via carriage and now he's dead! Uuuuuuhuuuuuu! So typical of us!'"

Icarus grinded his hooves against the ground slowly but violently, panting audibly. He was staring at the white stallion in front of him, focusing all the hate he could muster.

Cloud finished his impression, getting uncertain chuckles from the small crowd. They noticed Icarus' state.

"Your brother is better off dead, just like your damn parents should be."

Before, he realized what he was doing, Icarus flew forward at an ungodly speed, straight for Cloud, catching him completely off guard.

He slammed into Cloud, hard, inciting a cry of pain. They flew back, but Cloud's position threw them off and they rolled for a few meters in a haze of dust, grass, leaves, and frantic cries from the crowd.

Once they had stopped, Icarus delivered a hard punch straight-forward to cloud's snout. He heard a crack, and blood poured out of his nostrils along with a shrill cry of pain from his mouth. He delivered another punch to the left side of his face, before Cloud retaliated. He lurched his neck forward and head-butted Icarus straight in his snout. Icarus recoiled in pain, and he felt warm blood dribble down past his lips, but put his left hoof on the back of Cloud's head, and punched his right hoof against his green eye. Cloud grunted loudly in pain, and swiped his forelegs back and forth quickly, hitting Icarus twice on either side of his face, who faltered to the left, giving Cloud an advantage. With a lot of force, Cloud punched Icarus on the right side of his face with his left hoof, now stained red-ish with blood. Icarus grunted and rolled off of Cloud, who tried to get to his hooves. Icarus rushed him from his midsection.

In a desperate attempt to escape, Cloud flared his wings and took off into the air, pulling Icarus up with him. Icarus punched Cloud in the stomach and released mid-air, flaring his own wings and flying into the blonde pegasus. They slammed into the wall of a neighboring building, cracking it, and breaking two of Cloud's ribs. This surprised him; Icarus was unnaturally strong. Icarus lifted his right hoof to punch, but was intercepted by another headbutt to the snout, causing him major pain and the compulsory reaction to put his hoof to his face, leaving him open. Cloud delivered multiple swift, hard blows all over Icarus' upper section.

Catching him off guard, Icarus accidentally let his wings give out, letting him fall. Just before he hit the ground, he managed to correct his position, but it wouldn't be enough. A fall from that height would surely break some bones. As his hooves impacted stony ground, his wings flashed a brilliant gold, temporarily blinding the group of students, and a large shockwave flew upwards, uprooting two trees and a whole lot of stone into the air. The students shrieked in shock and ducked out of the way to avoid this. Icarus looked around frantically, and at the badly damaged ground (couple with a small puddle of blood from his snout).

"W-What the fu--AUGH!"

A brick had hit Icarus right on the left of his neck, causing him to fall to the ground. Cloud had pulled a loose brick from the cracked wall above and thrown it, and was reaching for another. Icarus picked it back up and punted it back with an unusually strong force. It narrowly missed Cloud's head, and shattered next to his left ear.

Cloud reached for yet another, before a booming, echoing voice stopped them.

"All residents of Seaddle, please return to your homes immediately!"

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Ceyx roared angrily and raspily, coughing violently as he finished. Ares and Callias trembled. "I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU TO HAVE THE ARTIFACTS! I WARNED YOU THAT YOUR MARE'S LIFE WAS AT STAKE IF YOU DIDN'T!"

Fenix was standing on the left side of the decayed stone throne, smirking amusedly.

Callias was pressed against Ares, almost in tears once more. Ares was feeling the same way as his lover, but was much better at hiding it, much like he did every time Ceyx got angry with him. But, that didn't stop him from trembling, as well, and casting nasty glares at Fenix, whom had ratted them out.

"And yet..." Ceyx said, lowering his voice coldly. "You didn't, did you? Does her life mean nothing to you?"

Ares' jaw dropped. "M-Master, Callias means EVERYTHING to me!"

"You've disproven that pretty quickly," hummed Fenix, smirking nastily. Ares glared again.

"Silence, Fenix," rasped Ceyx calmly, before turning back on Ares and Callias. "You've failed me, Ares. You know that I need these artifacts to rise back up, but you thought only of yourself."

"That is NOT true!" Ares snapped loudly, making Ceyx jump and Fenix go wide-eyed. "I LOVE Callias, and I was trying to protect her!"

"By running away from me? I could have you killed any time I want," rasped Ceyx menacingly.

"Not a good way to protect her," said Fenix.

"I said silence, Fenix." Ceyx said a little sterner.

"Look," grunted Ares seriously. "I ask you for one final chance. I WILL find the final artifacts, you just have to give me time."

"Unfortunately, time is not a luxury we have, Ares," rasped Ceyx with an amused air to his tone of voice.

"What else can be done? I doubt Fenix can find them both, AND find Icarus in time." Ares said, nodding to his sister standing beside Ceyx. Fenix glared at him and opened her mouth to speak, but stopped upon seeing the look on her father's horrifying, sagging face.

"And why should I? You will only fail me again." Ceyx said, clopping his hooves together.

Ares shook his head. "As I said before, what else could be done? Fenix won't accomplish it in time, and I know after he turns eighteen, you won't live much longer after that," he said. "The artifacts will only bring you so far before their power fades."

Ceyx shook his head. "While all of this is true, you still need punishment," he said, turning his icy gaze over to Callias, who whimpered. "Fenix, you may have your fun with her before you kill her."

Fenix smiled and stepped forward, brushing a lock of black mane from her eyes. Callias gave a terrified and shrill groan of fear and backed away. res felt his heart sink, but anger rise.

"If you kill her, you kill ME, too!" he shouted at his master for the first time.

Ceyx growled. "Watch your mouth, boy. No, I don't think I will kill you. Once Callias is out of the way, you'll be more focused."

Before he realized what he was doing, Ares stomped the ground, cracking it badly. "If you kill the mare I love, you're going to have to kill me, too, because if she's gone, I'm not going to BOTHER helping you or my whore of a sister-" he pointed at Fenix. "-ANY MORE! And without me, you're frankly FUCKED, because there isn't a chance in HELL that you'll get the artifacts AND catch Icarus before you shrivel up and whither away! THEN what, Ceyx?"

Ceyx roared with anger, making the entire chamber shake.

Fenix lunged at Ares, spinning around and slamming her back hooves into him. He flew back, crashing through the stone wall and onto the bridge. He bounced and nearly rolled off. Fenix jumped up into the air and slammed down, a field of dark purple energy gathering around her body. Ares kicked upward, his hooves glowing blue, and hit her directly in the stomach, inciting a roar of pain from her. She flew up and hit the ceiling, causing a large portion of it to collapse onto the bridge. Ares narrowly avoided it as that part of the stone ceiling, and the bridge, both fell down into the darkness below. Fenix landed beside him and got up.

She had her hooves on him to strike again, before a magical aura pulled them apart and back into the chamber, past a sobbing Callias. Fenix was set down, hard, but Ares was pulled close to the fuming Ceyx, who had a look of anger plastered on his face.

"You listen, and you listen well," he said softly, but with every word dripping with venom and bitterness. Ares was only an inch from his father's ugly, sagging face. "If I do not have the remaining artifacts within one week, I will have Fenix torture Callias to death, and you WILL watch every second of it. Do you understand me?"

Ares nodded. Words could not describe the terror he was feeling, but it was overtaken by anger and intent to prove himself. He nodded savagely. Ceyx released him roughly. "Now, get out of my sight. All three of you."

Ares got to his hooves, as did Fenix.

"And I will make you regret it if you fight again," added Ceyx raspily. "Out."

Fenix humphed and trotted out faster than anyone else. Ares stopped and helped Callias up slowly.

"Come on," he whispered. "Let's go home, love, come on. It's okay," he cooed softly, lifting her up and leading her out.

Once they had exited the underground lair, Callias wrapped her forelegs around Ares and sobbed into his shoulder. He whispered comforting words to her, rubbing her back, and kissing her neck.

"I-I can't do this anymore, A-Ares..." Callias whispered shakily, sniffling loudly.

"I-I know, love... I never should have gotten you involved... It was so stupid of me, and now you're paying the price for it..." Ares said, feeling dismay rising in his chest.

"B-But I wanted to help you..."

"You wouldn't have wanted to if I hadn't filled you in. I love you so much, Callias, I don't want anything to happen..."

"Then why can't we just leave? We can g-go away from here! W-We can tell queen Alcyone about all of this!" Callias said hysterically.

"One word to the queen and your girlfriend is dead in an instant," drawled a cold voice from behind.

Ares spun around, putting Callias behind him, to be met with the icy glare of his sister, Fenix. Her black mane was slightly messy from the scuffle.

"Go away," grunted Ares coldly.

"Don't worry, I am going," hummed Fenix. "But know this: I will always be watching you. One hoof out of line, and your girlfriend will die. I'll kill her, and you'll watch the light leave her eyes. I am not intent on letting father's plan go to waste, and I will NOT let anyone ruin it."

Ares chuckled savagely. "Do you think he cares? Do you think you're daddy's little girl? What do you think he's going to do once he's back?"

"He's going to--"

"Betray you. Betray us. He's using us. Using you. You're too blind to notice because you're so intent on serving his every command."

Fenix stepped forward. "This coming from a stallion who serves only out of fear, and not any kind of loyalty. You're a coward, Ares, and you only serve him for your own personal gain," she said coldly. "Besides, if you really think this way, why did you become one of his followers?"

Ares' heart skipped a beat. The reason was not something he was proud of. He looked back at Callias and frowned, and back to the tall, white mare. "Because of something I did. I'm in our father's debt."

He turned around and began walking, pulling Callias with him. "That's all you need to know," he added as a final word.

Fenix scoffed and jumped up into the air, flying to her own home.

Written by Kerry Leventis, AKA Minimoog Voyager