//------------------------------// // Friends // Story: Amicitia // by Impurity //------------------------------// "There will come a time when someone close to you may hate you. But those feelings of hate will be washed away when you are in mortal peril." Twilight screamed in pain. A large stone fell atop her left hind leg causing a crack sound to emit. Instantly she fell onto her stomach from the weakness she felt. She tried to remove her hoof from underneath the rock but it wouldn't budge. Twilight was about to use her magic when suddenly she felt a searing pain coming from her horn. They sent an air piercing slash that felt like sharpened glass. Once more she cried out but much louder than before. A unicorn's horn is the most sensitive part of the entire body. It is directly connected to the mind and brain so even a single nudge could induce a minor headache. A decent blow would leave most unicorns on the ground completely helpless for a good while. Her focus started to degrade slowly, both eyes unable to synchronize and she started seeing blurred double images. The dim taste of metallic copper invading her tongue from their painful attacks. Her hearing was heavily impaired but she could still hear faint parts of what her attackers were saying. "Hey... found... horn... consumer..." The voice came from every direction. She knew that it was only one pony or whatever they were, but her mind couldn't process the information properly. She tried to get back on her hooves, fearing that they would put what she thought they would put on her horn, a magic consumer. It was a solid Tungsten carbide ring protecting a thin layer of arzenite. It was used as a way to punish unicorns in the olden days by sapping their magic, and in some cases, if kept on long enough, their life force after their magic reserves became completely depleted. Twilight had read that they have been banned and became illegal long long ago but some still exists to this day. The purple mare knew if they succeeded in placing it on she would be done for completely. I need to get away. Once more she tried to get back up but then she felt another sharp wind cut shallowly into her right forehoof. Again she cried out from the pain she felt and fell face first onto the cold hard rock. Tears were streaming out of her eyes, the pain was becoming unbearable. Suddenly she heard one of them speak once more. "Keep... still... place... ring." A hoof pushed on her back and then another. Two more restricting her other legs. The rock still kept her last leg in place. The purple mare couldn't move at all at the moment. I should have known better than to come here. Twilight felt the tip of her horn come into contact with something rough, as she felt it fall through, and onto the fur, surrounding the base of her horn. At first, she felt nothing but the freezing metal seething through her coat, and onto her skin, once the ring landed, but within a few seconds, she felt the pain of magic loss. "AGH!" She expected to feel a small amount of pain from having her magic sapped as if she had casted a spell but it felt as if it was ripping her brain apart. She felt as if any moment her head would explode, but the ring just continued to steal her magic. Twilight could hear her predators laughing at her through the ringing of her ears. She tried to fight the ring's power over her, but she could feel herself being brought in and out of consciousness. Somepony please help. Suddenly she heard a loud slam that echoed throughout the room. Her assailants laughs stopped instantly. Slowly her eyes opened halfway, she could not move them any higher. Twilight was greeted with the sight of a hazy clutter containing the colours grey, navy blue and a large blob of orange. Everytime she blinked, the orange blob slowly became clearer and clearer, until she noticed it's definite shape. While trying to figure out who it was she heard a very angry, but recognizable scream. Applejack? Once more she tried to open her eyes wider, trying to confirm her suspicions of who it was, only for the feeling to just disappear. Her eyelids fell back over her eyes, restricting her vision completely. She was hanging onto her consciousness by the thread. Out of nowhere she felt a small amount of pain in one of her hind legs and then relief in the next few moments. The pain from her leg instinctually forced her eyes open, but only for a few seconds. What she saw however was surprising to say the least. She saw the familiar colours of the ones she betrayed, where she saw Applejack. Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike. They came to help me... She was drowned back into the realm of darkness before she could finish her thoughts. (<~><~><~><~><~><~>) Applejack roared at the enemies that lay in front of her. She bolted from her position charging at the small group surrounding the purple mare. The friends who were behind her meant nothing to her at the moment. All she could see through her rage was a nearly unconscious Twilight, covered in fresh cuts, a large stone completely crushing one of her legs, and the ones who seemed to have hurt her. The orange mare couldn't have controlled her actions if he wanted to. The mere sight of seeing one of her friends- former or not- being subjected to pain increased her anger to levels where she became uncontrollable. Luckily she caught them by surprise and managed to get up close. Once within range, she swivelled around on the spot and struck the closest one that failed to react in time. The very second she felt contact, she retracted her hooves trying to get another. The unlucky Shadowbolt that was hit, was sent flying into the throne. The vibrations of it's impact caused it to crumble over top it's body. The other bolts reacted much better to her approach, quickly taking flight into the air where they couldn't be reached by the enraged pony. Applejack, noticing their small retreat, returned her gaze back to Twilight and the stone that was still pinning her to the ground. Without hesitation she wound her legs and sprung them onto the rock, causing it to roll off of her. She saw Twilight's sudden reaction but ignored it. She was taught by her father to never take her eyes off of an attacker, lest they try something. The remaining six attackers flew overhead, scattered properly so she couldn't focus on all of them at once. Every once in awhile swinging their wings towards the main group, stopping them from entering with their air slashes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw one fall onto the ground harshly, a high pitched scream came from the fallen bolt, almost instantly silenced by a blue figure that landed painfully on top with all four hooves. Applejack, whom was still focused on their enemies noticed their movements became more synchronized after their comrade had fallen. The five attackers surrounded Rainbow and simultaneously pulled their wings back as far as they could. They wanted to get rid of the major threats, before picking off the rest. No. They can't be... The blood from Applejack's face suddenly retreated, giving her a much paler tone. She knew exactly what they were going to do. "RAINBOW!- Was all she could say before they released a fierce, but strongly controlled, gale upon her. All five winds magically connected to one another, ensnaring her into their trap. Normally this wouldn't have been much of a problem but the wind was anything but ordinary. The blue mare tried to fly her way out of her predicament but was repelled back into the eye of the storm, with many fresh cuts. After many failed attempts to get out she stared directly upwards, hoping that it would be like any other tornado. It was no different from the wind around her. She was trapped with no way out. Just to energize her fears, she noticed it was closing in slowly, making no effort to show it was stopping. Rainbow tried to scream for help, but her voice was dulled so well she doubted they could hear her. "Now that she's done let's have some fun with our orange friend over here." A creepy voice announced behind Applejack. Without hesitation she turned around and leaped, hoping to stop another enemy. She knew that they were much faster than her and the only thing she had was the element of surprise. Sadly the creature was ready for her brash attack and flew above her. "My, my. A feisty one indeed. Maybe I shouldn't give you such an easy time." The same voice was mocking her. "GET DOWN ERE YA-" Applejack was interrupted by another scream, this one much louder and one she recognized. Ignoring her father's words, she changed her focus towards her blue friend. The gale that surrounded her had completely engulfed her body, giving her little to no room. The gale's size became no bigger than the average male stallion, but she knew immediately that the blue mare was already in pain. The wind was no longer a mix of white and grey. It was faint, but she saw a crimson tint had mixed in between the torrent. Ignoring her enemy she galloped away from Twilight and towards Rainbow. "You should know better than to take your eyes off of your enemy." The Shadowbolt released an air slash in the ground in front of her, causing the floor to crack, releasing the small rocks into the air. He used another wind to push them straight at the orange mare. She wasn't ready for this kind of attack. "MAH EYES!" Applejack let out a scream with her eyes closed. Tiny pieces of rocks barraged her entire body. Some scraped off her harmlessly, others piercing into her skin and very few into her eyes. The leader thought he had enough of her screaming and slammed down onto her head with his hind legs, causing her to crash her jaw into the stone. Her screams stopped once she was crushed between the floor and the shadow's hooves. "I guess we can have fun after she wakes. In the mean time..." He turned to see the last four heroes gone from their original positions. The screaming from Rainbow had died down while he was dealing with Applejack. Looking at his gale, he noticed it was gone, the blue mare off to the side covered in an abundance of cuts and scratches with the Element of Kindness by her side, containing the very same injuries. So she leaped through the cever in order to save her friend from death. So that leaves three. "Go check the castle corridors you fools, they couldn't have made it far. We don't want them to get the princesses." The others followed his orders and left the room to check the hallways. The leader slowly walked over to the door and closed it shut instead of following them. "Now to deal with these four." His muzzle adorned a vicious smile as he was returning to their bodies. He grabbed the bodies of Fluttershy and Rainbow and threw them both beside the still unconscious Twilight. Still being conscious however they both gave a small cry. He gave the orange mare the same treatment, tossing her just as hard. "Now where did I- "Drop it." A voice whispered. A rather sizeable rock slammed into his back and pinned him to the floor. He made no audible noise. "Nice one Rarity!" Spike complimented. "Thank you Spike but we have more important things to deal with." Rarity released her invisibility spell that she placed on the three of them right after Fluttershy saved Rainbow. She had used it as soon as their enemies weren't watching. "Rarity, Spike, give me a hoof over here. We need to move them somewhere safe before they come back." Pinkie said trotting over to her fallen friends. "Just one second. Spike write a letter to Princess Celestia. Tell her we need help immediately." Rarity instructed whilst firing her horn. "I don't have any- a flash of light appeared before him and by his feet lied a quill, scroll and ink bottle- nevermind. I'm on it." Spike quickly grabbed the materials with his claws and furiously wrote, while Rarity joined Pinkie. Dear Princess Celestia We need help immediately. All seven of us are at the old castle and have been attacked. Most of us are injured and we require immediate assistance. Sincerely Spike "That should do it." Spike lifted the letter into the air and burnt it with his green flames, sending it off to the princess. Once it had disappeared fear struck his very soul for the second time. "Why, I was wondering when you would notice me? " The leader spoke once more, staring at them with a bored expression, still pinned underneath the large rock. He was resting his chin on his right forehoof. "Nice plan, using an invisibility spell to try and trick me." "What!?" Spike yelled and tumbled onto the floor, causing the other two mares to face their enemy once more. "H-how are you- "Still conscious? Alive?" He chuckled. "Well what did you expect? You believed something that weak could disable me?" Just to prove his point, he lifted the stone that grounded him and tilted it to the side causing it to fall. "Spike get back!" Rarity said, her voice filled with fury. "Try this then!" She once more lifted the rock over him, this time adding much more force into it's downfall. "I was expecting more from the Elements of Harmony but without the elements you're all harmless." The leader took three steps back and took to the air. He flew up behind the rock and shattered it instantly. Before the pebbles could fall, he released a strong wind that sent them flying towards the group. They had no choice but to shield their eyes with their hooves and claws, temporarily blinding them. The miniature barrage was over as soon as it started but it gave the Shadowbolt enough time to disappear from their line of sight. "Where did he go!" Spike yelled looking in all directions. He turned to face his companions when he saw him. Without hesitation he bolted towards and right past Rarity and Pinkie, leaping right before he escaped from their sight. "Spike what are you doing?!" She turned around to see Spike flying past her, straight into the wall. The Shadowbolt was there, placing his hind legs back onto the ground where Spike was sent flying from. "SPIKE!" Immediately she ran towards the fallen dragon, not caring about anything else. "You're smarter than you look kid. Using yourself as a shield so she wouldn't be dead and you would both survive." He cackled evilly, now facing them. "Not like any of you even had a chance." "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! NOPONY HURTS MY FRIENDS!" Pinkie shrieked, rushing towards him. Pinkie was not used to seeing such things happen to anypony much less her friends. The entire time she was worried and bore hatred towards him, but after seeing him do it again and enjoy it, it made her realize exactly how much hatred she could actually have towards another being. Without any time to react he was instantly pinned to the floor for the second time. She did not stop after only restricting his movements though, she started assaulting him with her forehooves, one after another, pushing as hard as she could each time to his muzzle, before using the other to do the very same. His expression changed from her reaction, but only slightly. "HOW DOES IT FEEL YOU MONSTER!" Pinkie barked at him, not showing any signs of stopping. "I would say pretty refreshing. What do you think X?" A mare's voice came beside her. Before Pinkie could turn she was punched in gut. The wind flew right out of her lungs and within seconds she had fallen unconscious on top of the Shadowbolt. "I would have appreciated if you didn't take so long Thorn." X replied, while he pushed Pinkie off to the side. "She was a lot stronger than I thought." "You deserved it for making me fake unconscious beneath the blue one. I could have easily gotten up and defeated her." The female Shadowbolt retorted, placing her hoof in front of her ally. "Well that wouldn't have been any fun." He accepted her hoof and lifted himself off the floor. "But we have one more left. She's all yours if you want." "Ugh, fine. Not like she can do anything." Thorn complained. "All she can do is cry over a little dragon by the looks of it. Maybe some smarts, but I doubt she could put up much of a fight. I'll just knock her out and get it over with. Maybe taunt her into trying to attack. Giving hope just to steal it right back." She slowly walked over, each step she tried to make the loudest echo possible. "You hurt my friends." The alabaster mare said lifelessly once she noticed the steps. "Well it was mostly him," she pointed towards X still walking "but I guess that doesn't matter to you." "You hurt my friends." She growled at the Shadow in front of her. "Yeah I did, and guess what? I enjoyed it. Knocking the pink one unconscious was pretty enjoyable. Brought a smile to my face for the first time in forever." She was now only a dozen feet away. "You hurt my FRIENDS!" She yelled, surging her horn with magic, prepared to kill the evil in front of her. "What are you going to do about it." Thorn sneered, unafraid. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Rarity screeched, her horn's aura changing violently between light blue and red. This didn't faze Thorn in the slightest. "Oh you're going into a frenzy? How pleasant. You know what, I'm feeling generous. Why don't you just give up right now, i'll even throw in a three second head start?" "NEVER!" Rarity casted the strongest spell she knew. A simple knock out spell, but given how much power she was using, it could easily place any regular pony into a coma. "Love the effort darling." She took one small step sideways, evading the small bolt of energy. "SHUT UP!" Rarity shrieked again, firing her spell many times in quick succession. Each time Thorn merely took one step to the side for each shot. Not a single one even grazed her slightly torn costume. "So are you ready to give up?" Thorn sneered at her pitiful attempts. She was given a storm of spells as a reply. "Pity. Well this has gone long enough." In one quick step Thorn was behind the white mare. "Sweet dreams." She struck the tip of Rarity's horn, eliciting a scream that rivalled Twilight's. The scream lasted less than a second as Thorn silenced her by using her other hoof to, once again send her hoof into Rarity's side. "You done?" X asked from his current position. "If you are, toss her over here." "Oh shut up, I know. You had your fun. I barely got mine so no complaining." Thorn picked up the bodies of both Rarity and Spike. Flying over with both of them on her back. Once over top the general vicinity she dropped them off her back. "Hey River! You dumb lug get up!" "Shut up Thorn." A voice came from the crumbled throne followed by a short yawn. "You don't even need me, why wake me?" "All you do is sleep. How can you be so lazy?" Thorn retorted. The pieces of the throne that fell atop the shadow were shifting out of place. The rocks fell off to the side revealing the last of the trio. "You know why so stop complaining. Don't forget the other part I was given from her." "Yeah, yeah." "Both of you enough, our friend here is waking." (<~><~><~><~><~><~>) Ugh. Where am I? Twilight thought to herself. Her eyes remained closed, but she tried to move slightly, forgetting about her current predicament. "Why does it hurt to move." She whispered weakly, meaning to speak to herself. "Why else Miss Twilight." The same voice she heard before she fell unconscious spoke. Her eyes jolted open to see her assailant right on front of her. "You have lost." "Y-you're never going to get away with this my friends are going to find me!" Twilight replied angrily. "You're friends were weak, look around you." Thorn sneered from behind her. "Y-your lying they didn't even know where I went." Thorn grabbed her chin. "Look." Forcefully she pushed Twilight's field of view to her fallen friends. Fear attacked her mercilessly. She wanted to lose her eyesight at the moment. It had become more of a detriment to her now. No. No, no, no. This can't be happening. I'm going to wake up from this nightmare and everything will be just like normal. "I can assure you this is all real." X said, as if reading her thoughts. "Hey X since we only need the purple one can I break the horn off of the white one? You know as a souvenir of when we defeated 'Equestria's greatest heroes'." Thorn suggested, walking slowly towards Rarity. "Sure go ahead. We're going to have to dump the bodies somewhere. They're already finished, do whatever." X replied nonchalant. "NO!" Twilight yelled, trying to flare up her horn, only for the pain to come shooting back into her head. "No need for you to inflict unnecessary pain to yourself. We aren't here to kill you. Just capture." "Just sit back, and enjoy watching me break your friend's horn. It will be a wonderful sight I promise." She smiled. "I w-won't let you!" Twilight tried again to cast a spell, only for it to be taken away by the ring. This is useless. I can't do anything. I deserved this but not them. Princess Celestia please help them... That's it! Twilight remembered something important from her teacher. I'm sorry princess but I have no choice, ~ "Twilight." Celestia spoke. "Yes princess Celestia?" Twilight replied. "You wanted to see me? "Yes. Twilight do you remember my failure to defeat Queen Chrysalis?" "I do princess. Why? Is something wrong? "After the fiasco was over, you know that I tried to increase my magic power? Correct." Celestia ignored her question. "Yes, but princess, I don't get where you're going with this." Twilight was confused by this point. "I found a spell that I want you to learn. It will be useful in situations where you find yourself out of options." "Okay, when can I learn it?" She had least been eager to learn anything new, especially from her mentor. "Twilight this spell is not to be taken lightly. It is a spell that uses your life force and transforms it into magic you can use." "I won't. I'll only use it if absolutely necessary." "This magic is special. Do not try this, merely watch. I can do this since my life force is near limitless. You must first envision two containers, it can be anything from a small cup to a lake. One must be empty and the other full. Imagine the container that is full slowly emptying into the other and say these words." ~ "When all else fails," Twilight stood up from her position, staggering. "you can save to never tell the tale!" Twilight's eyes changed from her normal violets, into twin light discs, containing no impurities. Her horn lit up like a match. The ring was consuming the energy she was releasing like crazy. "Whoa. River, what's she doing?" Thorn asked confused of the current situation. "I. Will. Protect. My. Friends!" She yelled, putting as much magic as she possibly could into her barrier spell. Slowly she felt the barrier form, but she continued even stronger. She was trying to mimic her brother, but rather have it for changelings, she changed the properties so only the seven of them could be inside. "Thorn, X, we're leaving." River took flight, making his way outside. The magic consumer was furiously trying to catch up with her, but even objects had their limits. The ring was showing signs of breaking, small cracks appearing all over, while Twilight showed no signs of letting up. "THIS ENDS HERE!" She put the absolute most power she could muster, the small barrier that was forming instantly grew proportional to the magic she was using. The ring that still rested around her horn had even more cracks than before, it was nearly done. Just a little more! She heard a large cracking noise as the ring finally broke in half, falling onto the stone floor. Her problems did not end there however. The magic she was using had been counteracted by the ring, but now that it was gone the barrier increased it's size dramatically, instantly covering the entire castle. Just when she thought it was over, she heard another crack resound in the air. My- No. It's a fair trade. Twilight smiled. "Goodbye everypony." She knew she couldn't control her magic anymore. Her horned had cracked from the tension she placed upon it. "I'm sorry." She let a lone tear fall from her pure white eyes. The barrier transformed from its normal shade of purple to white, just like her eyes. "Solar flare." Her vision melted into an empty void.