//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Time to Burn the Trash! // Story: Mega Mare: Powered Up! // by Brandon Sky //------------------------------// Twilight probably wished she went after the ice recruit next, because many fire pillars had to be carefully dodged around to avoid being completely singed. The armor was resilient, yes, but nowhere near invulnerable. Thankfully, she was starting to get some more mileage out of her Rolling Cutter, noticing that these shots had a peculiar bonus of passing straight through solid walls for some reason. One incredibly annoying obstacle was sentient fireballs that jumped up out of the lava in a desperate attempt to catch Twilight mid-jump, burn her and send her into the deadly lava below. The first one that popped up prompted her to do a mid-air U-turn (she concluded by this point that Nightmare Moon’s “stages” were partially defying the laws of physics by this point, something which mentally drove the unicorn nuts) and carefully take out the fireball before proceeding. From then on, she took each jump over the lava with extreme caution. One last annoyance was one of the eye robot’s reappearance, which Twilight zapped multiple times with the Thunder Beam before moving on to the boss gate. “Things are certainly heating up…” She muttered, facehoofing. “Ugh, that was such a terrible line!” -WARNING!- A red-and-grey stallion came down from the ceiling in a shroud of fire, dispelling the flames with a cry of “Really cookin’!” “Fiiiiiiire! Burn! Burn! My justice burns hotly! Evil beware!” The stallion yelled. “Fire Storm…why are you…? But, I haven’t done anything to you!” Twilight said, hoping her words could at least work on ONE of the eight guys for once. “By the fire of justice, I am certain you are evil! FIIIIIIIIRE!” Fire Storm shouted. “What a hothead…” Twilight sighed, preparing for a fight when Fire Storm immediately shot a couple of fire walls at her. One easily placed jump solved that problem, though it brought out his other attack, which was to create a bunch of fire pillars to home in on the mare. Alone, these attacks were nigh-on useless, but used in conjunction with each other made dodging a tricky feat. Twilight felt her mane and tail getting singed multiple times during the fight. “Can’t you guys just listen BEFORE you fight a losing battle!?” “This fiery justice will show you that this battle will not be so easily won! I will be the eternal torch to provide the warmth through the eternal night! I AM-“ Twilight cut his speech off, dashing up to him and delivering a quick buck. “Listen, you! I-uh, oh.” She said, seeing flame erupting around the stallion. “You dirty scoundrel!” Fire Storm shouted, concentrating the fire into his right front hoof. “These fires will consume your very soul! Here I go!” “Then I guess it’s time to fight fire with fire!” Twilight said back, thinking back to one of her previous rage-filled outbursts. “This hoof of mine is burning red!” Fire Storm yelled, his hoof’s flame cloak growing in strength. “Its loud roar tells me to grasp victory! ERUPTING BURNING HOOF!” He yelled to the heavens, charging at Twilight for one final assault. Twilight had her eyes closed, concentrated her burning (literally) rage from the fight and channeling it into her magic. “Careful, cause this is gonna be a DOOZY!” She said to Fire Storm, finally opening her eyes and releasing the magical buildup throughout her body, dousing her mane and tail in flames and changing her coat to a pure white. The two rushed each other, Twilight’s horn lowered to prepare one last rage-fueled blast. The two finally collided, with Twilight’s horn blasting Fire Storm’s hoof at point-blank range, causing a massive explosion that sent both of them flying at the walls of the arena. By the time the smoke cleared, Twilight struggled to her hooves, her body having reverted back to normal. She coughed a few times as she went over to Fire Storm’s immobile body. “Oh no…please don’t tell me that form went overboard…” She muttered, leaning down to check for a pulse. She felt a faint beat, but it was at least sustainable. “Whew.” She breathed a sigh of relief, lighting her horn up over his unconscious body. Her armor quickly turned a bright red and yellow. She was too tired to test-fire the new weapon, so she simply smiled and softly told her fallen foe, “Now I’ve got your power.” You got a New Weapon! “Fire Storm!” Twilight shouted as a bright fireball engulfed her placeholder enemies in flames, also creating a small shield that temporary orbited the mare for a split second. --------------- “I believe it might be appropriate to call that a Rage State.” Celestia told Twilight as Fire Storm’s wounds were being attended to. “It might have won me the battle, but I don’t want to rely on such a thing…” Twilight sadly replied. “I mean, I might have been able to bring it out myself, but what if I lose control over it?” “Honestly, the last thing Equestria needs is you going-“ Shining stopped himself when Twilight had glared at him. “-Hey, I was only gonna tease.” “Well, it wouldn’t have cheered me up any.” Twilight said back, sighing to calm herself down. “Have you received a reply from Cadence, Shining Armor?” Celestia asked, as she suggested to contact his wife after Twilight left for her third battle. “I was just about to tell you when Twily came back. She has too much work to do in the Crystal Empire that her workload got a little out of control. I’m afraid she won’t be here to help Twilight.” Shining sadly replied. “Oh well, I was expecting as much anyway.” Twilight said back. She had also made sure to heal up before deciding on her next challenge. “Tell her that her sister-in-law misses her, alright Shiny?” She asked, to which Shining smiled and nodded. “Alright, I’m off. Wish me luck!” She said, teleporting away. Celestia smiled as Twilight left, though frowning when she looked out the window. “Don’t worry, Princess. With Twily’s experiences, she needs no such thing as luck.” Shining said to cheer her up a little. “It’s not her that I’m worried about. Twilight has proven her strength countless times already.” Celestia said back, still staring into the sky. “It’s Luna, isn’t it?” Shining asked. “I was not present to notice her sudden transformation. Could it be that the Elements truly weren’t enough to banish that corruption for good?” Celestia said to him. “It’s not like the Elements are there to kill, even if it’s used against seemingly pure evil…” Shining said. “They are the Elements of HARMONY after all.” “While I ponder this…Shining, do you know why I asked for both of you to come here?” Celestia shifted the topic, turning back to the white stallion. Shining Armor nodded with a neutral expression. “For Twilight, it’s obvious. As for me…” He trailed off, looking away for a moment before turning back to Celestia, staring her straight in the eye. “I’m a last resort.”