How the Tables Turn

This time, Blood didn’t have to wait for Phoenix to make the first move. He swung around, turning his back legs to her. She put up a foreleg and a wing to block the thrust, but Phoenix kicked out with all his strength, breaking both appendages, and leaving burns where his hooves connected. The force of the impact blew her wing back and sent it into her face, sending her flying backwards. She tried unsuccessfully to recover with her wings, her broken one sending waves of pain cascading through her body. She landed on her back, and Phoenix was upon her instantly.

His front hooves came down hard on her chest, knocking the air from her lungs and singing her coat, and then lifted to be swung down on her throat, collapsing her windpipe. She gasped painfully for breath, barely receiving any despite her best efforts.

Phoenix took a few steps back, content to watch her struggle through her pain, before crouching down and jumping as high as he could. He aimed his path downwards towards Blood Lust, his front hooves leading the way, and they landed on her chest a second time, breaking a few of her ribs. She screamed as long as she could in her oxygen-deprived state before needing to stop to breathe. Every breath send a shock of pain through her chest, and blood trickled from her mouth. Phoenix lifted a hoof, preparing to finish her off, before he felt a hoof on his shoulder.

“Phoenix…”

He turned around to see Ashes, wincing in pain from the heat of the flames, and let his anger abate.

“That’s enough. This isn’t you. She’s a pony, no matter how cruel. Just let her be now.”

Phoenix felt himself visibly calm, his hair returning to its original state, and the flames and heat died away. He nodded, and the five of them left Blood Lust there to stir in pain and slowly, painfully catch her breath. Cloudchaser flew off to return to her own part of the fight as Kicker and Sunbeam lifted Rainbow Dash onto their backs, Ashes being adamant about giving Rainbow all the attention she could afford.

They made it to Mistress’s office without further inconvenience and began searching for something to even the odds. They laid Rainbow on the floor , and Ashes stayed by her side, talking to her to keep her awake, while the rest of them searched.

Phoenix went straight to Mistress’s cabinets, opening them one by one, until he opened one and saw something that gave him pause.

It was a metal box that had a few switches on it. It was not connected to anything, and it had a slot for a key on the side. Each switch was labeled for a different part of the Underground.

It was a detonator.

“Cafeteria… Hallways… Houses… Holy Celestia, she has the whole place rigged. We didn’t even know…”

Phoenix turned to the rest of the group.

“I got something. Now we just need to find a key.”

The three unoccupied ponies followed his command instantly, searching high and low for anything that could hide a key. Phoenix turned to the wall he was nearest and saw it.

A crack.

It was tiny, but it was there. It was straight, and cleanly cut.

“Nature doesn’t come in straight lines.” He raised a hoof and struck at the wall, smashing a hole in it, and revealing a metal door behind it. He opened it to reveal the fuse box for all of the Underground, as well as a small metal key.

“Jackpot.” He grabbed the key and shut the door, figuring being without power would only give the guards the upper hoof. He turned to the rest of the group. “I got it. Let’s get everypony out of here.”

Ashes beamed with the prospect of finally seeing the surface, and Phoenix gave her a small smile, glad to see her so eager. He helped lift Rainbow back to her spot on Kicker and Sunbeam’s backs, and the group left for the cafeteria, leaving the detonator behind. They didn’t need it yet anyway, and taking it with would only be risking losing it. However, Phoenix did keep the key with him, clenched between his teeth as he ran down the hallways with the rest of them.

They made it back to the cafeteria without a hitch, and arrived at a depressing sight.

Only a few of the guards had fallen, while many bodies of innocent ponies lay on the floor, either not moving or crying out in pain. A guard was quickly upon the group, preparing to strike, but his entry was sloppy as he tripped over a fellow guard. Phoenix took advantage of the slip-up and bucked him in the face, combining the kick with his falling momentum to knock him out immediately.

“Well, that was pathetic…”

He looked around to see that slip-ups like that were not uncommon. All around the guards were stumbling and screwing up, their fatigue and desperation causing them major inconvenience in their fighting abilities.

Cloudchaser’s search team had coalesced into a group and were now flying above the crowd, singling out guards, and swooping upon them, landing as many blows as they could as quickly as possible, leaving them unconscious in a matter of a few seconds, before flying back up and resuming their search.

“Not exactly lethal, but I guess lethal isn’t exactly necessary.” He switched from his observant tone to a commanding shout. “Alright, listen up. Follow us, we know the way out. We’re leaving.”

A collective cheer rose from the innocent ponies as they turned together and galloped towards the group, trampling the guards that dared block their path. They made their way to the hallway. Phoenix hesitated for a minute, casting his gaze upon the carnage that remained in his wake.

Unconscious and dead ponies lay scattered through the cafeteria, blood pooling from their wounds and staining the floor red. He looked upon the stage at all the ponies who hadn’t made it through the first onslaught. He looked upwards, and saw that the chandelier had been dropped onto the crowd during the fight.

He shed a single tear as he turned and trotted away from what would soon be the final resting place for many innocent ponies. “They deserve so much better.”