Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 6: Simple Differences
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When John sent Rainbow back to Ponyville, he did so with a plan in mind: while she gathered the others and lead them back to the site of the battle, he’d take care of as many of the strange creatures as he could. It seemed like a relatively simple plan. He’d already cracked one of them before. It stood to reason that he’d be able to break them with a clean enough hit.
I guess not everything goes as planned, John thought to himself, assessing his situation, I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew.
The strange creatures’ movements were too random for him to keep up with. He’d take a swing at them only for them to dodge it. And he was outnumbered seven to one on top of it all. John watched as the creatures now moved around him in a circle. Their soulless eyes never once looked away from him.
Wait it out, John, he thought to himself, Let them come to you. Charging them isn’t going to work.
Soon, one did in fact charge him, the one who was directly in front of him, to be exact. He was ready for this one, pulling one fist back, ready to strike. But before he could make his move, he felt something grab hold of him. Looking to his side he saw a second creature had snuck up on him the moment his attention turned towards the first one.
He knew right away what it was trying to do; lock his arm so that he couldn’t use it in the fight.
“Nice try,” John said, “But I still have my—“
Before he could finish, two more creatures had tackled him head-on. Normally, he’d keep his balance, but that wasn’t an option this time; something attacked the back of his legs to be exact. The surprisingly coordinated attack was enough to cause John to slip off of his feet, falling. However, he never hit the ground. Instead, the creatures behind him caught him and tossed him into a nearby tree. His back hit the bark hard, causing the tree to vibrate, the bark to crack, and him to grunt.
“Dammit!” John growled to himself, annoyed, No matter what I do, I’m still at a disadvantage!
He didn’t have forever to sulk about this; looking up, he saw his opponents were on the attack again. He rolled away the moment one of the creatures attacked. Its fist hit the bark of the tree, causing it to rattle slightly.
Recovering, John dug his claws into the ground and launched towards the creature that had attacked him. But the others weren’t too far behind; three of them successfully rammed into his side and caused all four to once again roll across the ground. John tried what he could to reach out for one of them, but they were too fast for him; all quickly jumping away from him.
John skid to a halt after a few more moments, quickly standing up again. He was growing more and more agitated; the reason why he was starting to breathe so heavily. He looked back up at the creatures that stood in front of him.
One…two…three…four…six… John counted, trying to get his bearings, Wait, six!?
John realized one of the creatures was missing. He tried to look around for where the seventh might be. He couldn’t spot it no matter where he looked, but his instincts took hold of him and told him to look up. In a moment, he understood why; the next thing he saw was the seventh creature coming down on him for another attack!
Quickly, John jumped back, out of the creature’s path; less than a second later, it crashed to the ground, cratering it slightly.
“Close one…” grumbled John as he swiped the back of his hand under his chin. But he didn’t give himself too long to think about that, knowing how nimble the creatures were. He decided to try to emulate their quick response times; leaning forward, John started to run right for the creature that had attacked him.
With any luck, I can attack it before it can move!
This hope was soon dashed. The creature was already prepared for his rush; with two hands full of dirt grasped in its hands, the creature threw it into John’s eyes, effectively blinding him. John immediately slammed both his palms over his eyes as they began to sting, coming to a full stop mid-step.
“Son of a--!” John cried out in anger, trying to wipe the dirt from his eyes.
In this moment, the creatures made their move. All seven rushed in at the same time, all tackling him at once. With their combined weight, they managed to force the dragon down, and began pummeling him. They made sure to keep him off balance, preventing any chance of him getting back up. However, there was just one thing they failed to take into account.
“You guys…” John growled, eyes shooting open, pupils going from dots to slits, “Are really starting to piss me off!”
With all of his might, John forced all the creatures off of him, unleashing a bloodcurdling roar that echoed all around. The creatures all went flying from his strength, some rolling across the ground. One found that its luck had run out; it had been sent straight up.
Its friends could not reach it quick enough; the airborne creature could only fall helplessly when gravity asserted itself. And as it fell, something much worse than the cold hard ground was waiting for it. John stood there, looking up, watching the creature fall, his fist pulled back in anticipation, waiting for the right moment like a predator stalking its prey. Only when creature and dragon were face-to-face did John finally strike.
His fist made contact with the creature’s head, instantly cracking it on impact. But he wasn’t satisfied with just that; he dug deeper into the punch, shifting more of his weight into it. The creature’s head could take no more, caving in and shattering under the force of John’s punch. When the head had been crushed, the creature’s body hit the ground, the red glow on its body fading away. John stared down at the limp body, making sure this time it wouldn’t get up.
“Now then,” said John as he turned towards the others, “Who’s next?”
The creatures gave no response, not that John expected one. John began to walk forward, unsure why he was going so slowly. The creatures backed away at first, unsure of what to do now that one of their ranks had been demolished. But one was brave enough to try, charging forward without its friends following it. John stopped walking at that moment, watching as it came closer.
“Guess it’s you,” John said flatly, his voice and body showing no inclination to move from where he was standing. Not even when it was right in front of him, ready to strike; John didn’t even try to defend himself. However, that was because he knew he didn’t have to.
In that moment, just before it made contact, something struck the creature from its side. It was a bright, magenta, glowing object, and it left a sizable hole in the creature.
The creature fell straight to the ground, skidding to a halt only inches away from the dragon it intended on attacking. The other creatures turned their heads towards the source of the attack. Even John turned ot see it, but he didn’t have to find out what it was; he already knew.
“The calvary has arrived,” John said with a small smirk. The calvary in question stood not too far away, all standing side-by-side.
The Mane Six, also known as the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, was the first to take a step forward, the look on her face screaming that she was ready for a fight.
“Sorry we’re late.”
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It hadn’t been too long since Twilight and Rainbow left. When it came down to it, Spike supposed that it was probably something dangerous they’d gotten into; in short, nothing too new. However, what was new about the situation was that he had company that didn’t consist of animals that sought to ruin his day.
It was a unicorn who was growing increasingly restless. And, in an attempt to relieve his restlessness, he was currently floating a glass ball--a paperweight--around, trying to do anything to get his mind off what was going on. Judging from the way the paperweight jittered in his magical grasp, it wasn’t working.
But hey, Spike thought, watching him, Better he did that with a paperweight and not an ink bottle.
Corey continued to float the paperweight, strain evident on his features. He knew from previous experience that at least Twilight and her friends could handle themselves in situations like what Rainbow described. Or at least, situations like she described.
There was nothing from the show about those things that Rainbow was telling us about, Corey thought, This isn’t anything that’s happened before. So what’s going on here?
The magical glow around the paperweight and Corey’s horn dimmed. Briefly redirecting his attention to what he was doing, Corey quickly regained control of the paperweight, which once again jittered as his thoughts and emotions began to very quickly wander away from what he was doing.
And on top of it all I don’t even know what’s going on out there. I still don’t know what was getting Twilight so worked up in the first place! Corey thought.
All at once, the glow around Corey’s horn and the paperweight dimmed, allowing the paperweight to fall. Noticing what had happened, and minding the sudden surge of pain from the base of his horn, Corey reached out awkwardly, bobbling the paperweight around in his hands before finally getting control of it. After that little bit of physical stress, Corey sighed.
“Maybe I shouldn’t work with fragile objects while under this kind of stress,” Corey mumbled to himself, reaching out to the nearby desk and setting it down.
Spike decided to quit watching Corey at this point, figuring there was nothing else to gain from simply watching him. He still had other stuff he needed to do, and Corey tended to keep mostly to himself anyway when left on his own. It wouldn’t have been that much trouble to leave him in the room alone.
Corey sighed. He wanted to sit down right now, maybe with a book, but right now the last thing he could do was be still. He wanted to be able to practice magic while the others did whatever, but he was too worried to concentrate. He was quickly figuring out something really important.
Waiting on something like this really does suck… Corey thought to himself, And it’s a lot worse than it is just watching from the outside since there’s no convienient way to pass the time. Can’t focus, can’t sit still. I’m too worried.
Corey turned to one of the nearby bookshelves, not really seeing anything that looked really interesting on them. However, he needed to do something, anything, to take his mind away from what he was dealing with. For the life of him, Corey couldn’t fathom how John possibly decided taking on seven unknown creatures by himself was a good move when he couldn’t even speak without breathing fire not too long ago.
Probably a show of gratitude if anything, but still—
There was the sound of glass breaking, and Corey instinctively froze. He knew that wasn’t the paperweight. And it was too close by to be anything anyone else could have dropped. He didn’t even know what Spike was up to, but he knew it probably wasn’t him to just break things unprovoked. Which left only one possibility.
Somepony’s broken in?! Corey thought, I…I have to do something…
Corey hesitated, slowly making his way towards the door, his feet making almost no noise against the wooden floor of the library despite the fact he was wearing shoes. He slowly made his way towards the source of the noise, not at all confident in his ability to ward off an attacker.
Corey made his way towards the stairs, looking around carefully to see if he could spot the intruder. His nerve was getting the better of him now, and he wasn’t quite sure what he would actually do. His mane caught a slight breeze, and he turned.
The window over in the kitchen had been shattered, glass all over the floor and counter nearby.
Something’s broken in, Corey thought, And since I don’t see any blunt objects around, that means it did it under its own strength, whatever that was.
Suddenly, Corey heard a small, sharp grunt in the opposite direction. He turned, just in time to—very clumsily—catch a small body being thrown into him roughly. Corey stumbled backwards, off-balance, his eyes wide not from the fact he’d just caught a thrown Spike with his torso, not from the fall onto his rear end that resulted from that, but from what he just realized had gotten the drop on him.
It was about the size of a human…or a humanoid pony. It was featureless and clothless, save for the glowing markings on its body, just as Rainbow had described. Its hollow eyes glowed as well, looking directly at him. Corey felt shivers dance down his spine just from looking at it. Probably the most damaging evidence of all, though, was the fact the creature had been damaged. A crack down its chest, just like what Rainbow had said John had done to one.
It’s…one of the creatures… Corey stared at the creature like a deer staring straight into a pair of headlights, How…how’d it get all the way over here?!
Spike shouted something, but it didn’t quite register over the sound of the blood pounding in his ears. Then again, neither did anything else. Everything seemed to slow down around Corey as the creature began to move towards them.
What do I do? Corey continued to fret, I have not been in any real fights in my life. I have only just started to learn magic. And even though leaving me behind seemed like the best idea, now it’s up to me to stop this thing, and I don’t know what to do…
“Snap out of it!” A purple clawed hand snapped right in front of his nose, accompanied by what sounded like a demon roaring. However, it registered to Corey that it was Spike talking to him.
Corey looked to Spike, and back again. Everything began to move at normal speed.
It all happened in a blur. Corey wasn’t even sure when he’d stood up. He wasn’t even aware that he’d moved. Next thing he knew, he was trying to get a good hard grasp on the creature’s fist. His entire arm shook as he tried to hold back the force that the creature exerted. Corey’s eyes were still wide with fear, sweat was trickling down his forehead; cool, moist, and there.
When did I—Corey didn’t have time to think, spotting the thing swinging its other arm at him. Corey ducked underneath the second punch, the punch whizzing past his horn and through his mane.
“Corey!” Spike called out. Corey briefly looked back and to his right. Sure enough, there he was, looking at him. He was scared, there was no hiding it. Probably just as scared as he was, maybe a little less, but either way—
The manikin swung his fist back, catching Corey on the left cheek. The force of the hit caused Corey to stumble back several steps, holding his cheek as pain began to make itself known. His glasses askew from the hit, Corey began to tear up just a little from the pain and fear he was feeling at that moment. His eyes darted around the library as he tried to figure out what he should do.
It’s just me, Spike, and a library. We don’t have that much of a chance… Corey thought, Only one choice…
Corey’s first instinct was to take Spike and get out of there, but he ignored that as a memory that he’d momentarily forgotten about returned to him.
John stayed behind because he probably thought Rainbow was a target, Corey continued, And given Twilight has wings—
“Damn it!” Corey swore, running forward towards the creature again as a realization dawned on him.
“What are you—“ Spike started, unable to finish his sentence. Corey caught a knee to the stomach for his efforts, having the wind knocked out of him.
“Spike,” Corey coughed, already slumping over. It was clear he was trying to keep on his feet, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, his knees shaking, “Get help…”
“Wait, what?!” Spike asked, “Are you sure? I mean…”
“I don’t think either of us can do this,” Corey said, “And someone else had to have seen this thing wandering around!”
“But…” Spike protested.
“We don’t have time for this!” Corey couldn’t let Spike know that he knew what was in the library that the creature might want. The creature looked over to Spike, seemingly thinking that Corey wasn’t a threat. Willing himself back to his feet, Corey rose to his feet, getting his arms underneath the creature’s armpits, putting it into a full nelson.
The creature paused for a moment as it registered it was in his grip, but Corey soon found himself clinging to it for dear life, teeth grit, a vein on his temple pulsing, his arms already crying for mercy as the creature proved very strong.
“Just go!” Corey cried out, closing his eyes. He heard the sound of shuffling, very briefly, before his attention returned to the creature in front of him struggling to give chase.
“No, dammit,” Corey groaned, trying to keep from being flipped over the thing’s shoulders, “Why don’t you focus on me, you little—agh!”
Ultimately, Corey’s efforts failed, and he wound up flipped over on his back hard enough that he felt the floor and room quake. Corey grit his teeth as pain shot up his back, and he shut one eye, the other half-closing as he tried to keep an eye on his opponent. The creature was moving, one arm swinging back now, hand curled into a fist.
Corey let out a small gasp as he rolled out of the way, the creature’s fist hitting the floor of the library hard enough to make a crack in the wood floor. Corey looked up, finally fixing his glasses as he took in the situation he was in for the first time. The creature, seeing it missed, looked up, its hollow glowing eyes now focused on him.
Well, this is a fine situation I’ve gotten myself into, Corey thought, gritting his teeth as the creature moved, And there’s no getting out of it.
Corey kept his eye on the creature as it stood up straight before charging him again. Corey tried to brace himself, more concerned with figuring out a course of action. Despite his best defenses, he wasn’t prepared for the shoulder charge that lifted him from his feet and sent him rolling along the ground into the kitchen, eventually impacting with a chair and causing it, the table, and the chair along the other side of the table to slide just a little bit as he slid into it.
Corey slowly rose, holding his side, one eye closed. He could feel his pulse pounding. Already fatigue was starting to set in, and he’d barely actually started to fight. He knew he stood no chance against it alone.
But it’s not going to stop me from trying, thought Corey, glancing slightly behind him to one of the chairs. The creature began to rush him again. Corey picked up the chair by its back and swung, catching the side of its head with the furniture. The green unicorn set the legs down for just a moment, trying to catch his breath and adjust his grip on the chair before he tried to attack again.
The creature’s body turned, but Corey couldn’t see if he’d inflicted any notable damage. Quickly, Corey went for another chair shot, landing this hit too. Once again, the creature’s body pitched around with the hit, but didn’t really budge. Corey’s eyes flicked downward, looking at the crack that was on the creature’s body.
Could that be a weak spot? Corey thought, setting the chair down and adjusting his grip. The boy threw out yet another hit with the chair, aiming right for the crack, pushing with all his strength.
The impact happened, striking the creature on the side. Corey watched as the crack began to spread—just a little—and slightly smiled as his tactic began to work. But then, the creature’s arm came down firmly on the legs, and Corey found he couldn’t move it. Next thing he knew, the chair was jabbed back at him, sending him off balance and causing him to lose his grip.
Corey took a couple of steps backwards as the monster dropped the chair in front of itself. Looking around, Corey tried to assess his situation.
Everything in here can be turned into a weapon in some way, Corey observed, But most of it won’t do me any good. I’ve gotta take this outside. At least that way others could see me and help, possibly.
Corey grit his teeth as the creature picked up the chair and threw it to the side before running towards him again.
Provided I can survive, of course!
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The fight against the strange creatures continued to rage on, each of the Mane Six (and John) giving it their all in their own ways. But no matter how many times they would hit their targets, or how hard they did, the creatures continued to rise again.
“Shoot, these guys are tough,” commented Applejack as she wiped some sweat from her forehead. One of the creatures charged her, but its efforts were only met with a strong kick to the head, causing it to stumble backwards and fall over. Much to Applejack’s frustration, this wasn’t permanent, “Rainbow wasn’t exaggeratin’ about them…”
All her years of applebucking—that is, giving trees really strong kicks—gave her legs enough strength to break the bark of a tree if she needed to. But the bodies of these creatures were so sturdy she could barely even leave a mark.
The others were not having better luck. Pinkie was making do with random party supplies that she fired from her trusty party cannon. That did little more than stall the creatures. Unlike Twilight, Rarity did not have a library of spells to choose from, and was thus using levitation to use whatever she could find around her as a weapon. Rainbow’s speed far outstripped the creatures’ by far, allowing her to strike as many times as she wanted without risking being hit back. However, she wasn’t a heavy hitter, and all she did was more or less manage to make them stagger. Finally, there was Harry, a bear that happened to be the largest animal Fluttershy cared for. The bear had come to help her with this, but even he couldn’t do much more than leave scratches on the bodies of the creatures; the bear, whose paws could easily break a pony with no demonstrable effort.
There were only two members who could actually break the creatures with their attacks, but they were having the hardest time of all with the fight. John’s draconic strength was enough to break them with a single good punch, something which the creatures knew and were effectively avoiding so far. Twilight was having a similar problem; though she had the range, she couldn’t aim at the creatures easily enough with a laser spell.
On top of all that, the creatures seemed to have no limit to their stamina; not once had they shown any signs of slowing down since the beginning of the fight.
And that could be a problem, Twilight thought to herserlf, While some of us are able to fight, that’s not the case for everyone here…Even Pinkie has her limits; Rarity isn’t that battle savvy; if Fluttershy’s bear runs out of stamina, all she’ll have is the Stare, and I don’t think that’s going to work…Think! There has to be a way to shift the balance, but how?
“Twilight, look alive!” Applejack called out. Twilight turned, seeing one of the creatures rushing her. She was too late to respond; however, she didn’t have to. Before the creature could get any closer, Twilight watched as a lasso came down around its torso. Half a second later, the creature was yanked away by Applejack, who held the other end of the rope.
As she watched Applejack spin the creature around with her rope, something caught the corner of her eye; John chasing after another creature. As she saw this, and Applejack’s demonstration, something went off in Twilight’s mind: a light bulb.
“That’s it!” Twilight called out, “John!”
John stopped mid-step, looking back to her. All he could see was her point at Applejack, who was more or less tending to the same creature she’d just saved Twilight from.
“To Applejack!” Twilight elaborated, a little to John’s confusion. She then turned her attention to Applejack and shouted another command.
“Applejack, to John!” she said to Applejack, pointing at John. Both looked to one another for a brief moment, each trying to figure out what Twilight was trying to say. But soon the dots connected, and both John and Applejack smirked.
The next moment, John rushed at Applejack while she continued to spin the ensnared creature with her lasso. When John was close enough, Applejack gave it one last powerful swing before she let go of the rope, letting the creature soar away from her, and towards the readied fist of the dragon. John threw out his punch as soon as the creature entered his range, landing a solid hit on the creature’s back.
Just like last time, the creature’s body instantly fissured under the force of his attack. And to ensure that the job was finished, John changed the path of his punch, aiming straight down. John’s fist, with the creature still on it, slammed into the ground with all of John’s weight thrown into it. Satisfied with the results, John straightened himself up, flashing a thumbs up to the two mares.
“Change in tactics girls,” Twilight shouted as loud as she could so the others could hear her, “Subdue them however you can; give John or me a big enough opening to finish them!”
The others had no objections.
Rainbow was the first to act to the change of plans, grabbing on to one of the creatures and lifting it up in the air.
“Comin’ at ya, Twilight!” Rainbow said, tossing the creature downwards. Twilight was ready for it this time, her horn glowing brightly as the creature fell helplessly. When Twilight fired off her laser, all the creature could do was flail as the laser made its mark, shattering the creature’s head.
“Two down in the span of a minute,” John thought to himself, “Alright, now who’s next?” John wondered, looking around for signs of an opening. Something tapped on his shoulder and John whirled around to find Pinkie standing next to him.
“Brought you a present!” Pinkie said with a smile. At first, John didn’t get it, until Pinkie stepped to her side to reveal one of the other creatures on the ground, inexplicably tied up in ribbons and wrapping paper. John smirked at the sight as he cracked his knuckles.
“Just what I’ve always wanted,” John said, walking up to it. A couple seconds later, John brought the hammer down on its head, shattering it. Turning back to Pinkie, John rubbed the back of his head.
“Oops, I broke it…” John said innocently, earning a giggle from the pink pony.
Rarity and Fluttershy had worked together; with Harry’s strength, he lifted the last one up by its throat against a small tree. Rarity, using a few vines and leaves, managed to form a strong enough binding to tie the creature in place, ensuring it would not move.
“Such a shame to see such fine material go to waste,” Rarity commented, “But what can you do?” Turning to Twilight, who was already on standby, Rarity gave her remark, “They’re all yours, darling!”
Once Rarity, Fluttershy, and Harry got clear, Twilight unleashed one last laser at the tied-up creature, striking it through the head once again, ending the battle right then and there.
“Oh yeah,” Rainbow gloated, landing next to Twilight, “Who kicked butt? Us, that’s who!”
While Rainbow continued to gloat, Twilight walked over to the creature she’d just destroyed.
I’ve spent my whole life reading magical reference guides, but I’ve never seen anything like these things before, Twilight assessed, squatting down in front of it, The markings on their bodies disappeared the moment they were destroyed…
She reached out to touch one of them. As soon as her fingers came into contact with the surface of the creature, the body crumbled to dust completely.
“Twilight!” John’s voice called out to her; she turned to face him, “We have a problem…”
“We only took down five of them,” John pointed out.
“Well yeah,” Rainbow said, “But you took down the other two, right?”
John didn’t answer, prompting Rainbow to ask again.
“Right…?” Now there was an air of uneasiness around them. John looked back to her with a serious expression, feeling the tension grow.
“I only took down one,” With John’s admission, everyone went silent after that. During the commotion of the battle, not one member of the group performed a headcount.
“One got away,” Twilight summarized, “It took advantage of the confusion and slipped away, but to where?” As the group continued to ponder the possibilities, Twilight’s mind began to go into overdrive, as it usually did when she became stressed.
Wait, where did Rainbow say they were heading before she and John stepped in? Twilight thought, finding herself going back to that time in the library when Rainbow came in holding John’s sweater. As soon as it clicked, Twilight’s eyes went wide.
“Corey!” Without saying more than that, Twilight took off, kicking up enough wind to catch everyone’s attention.
“Whoa!” commented Rainbow, “When’d she learn to go that fast?”
“Where do you think she’s going?” Fluttershy asked, standing only slightly behind Harry, who was sniffing the air in confusion.
“Ponyville,” John said, catching the others’ attention, “The creatures were heading towards Ponyville!”
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Corey wasn’t even sure how he was still alive by this point. He’d been lifted off his feet at least three times since the fight started. At least Corey had managed to lead the manikin outside…by taking a knee to the stomach hard enough to send him off his feet. He landed hard on his back, his glasses bouncing on his face slightly from the impact. Corey groaned, feeling completely sore.
Dammit, Spike, Corey thought, What’s taking you so long?
He looked up, adjusting his glasses as he struggled to sit up. He could see the creature with glowing eyes and body now looking right at him, standing in the open doorway. It looked at him, seemingly waiting for signs of life. Well, who was Corey to disappoint?
I can’t believe this, Corey thought, his eyes wide. One hand went to his side as he tried to get on his feet. This place should have been the safest—
Corey realized the skin on the side of his face was crawling. Using his free hand, he swiped at the feeling. Almost immediately, shock began to set in. On the back of his hand and on the cuff of his jacket was a red liquid.
Blood? Corey could hardly stop himself, his hands shaking as he stared at the blood, his eyes wide, pupils shrinking to the size of pins. He looked back to the creature, wide-eyed and slumped over, drenched in sweat both from the exertion and the stress. His breathing pattern had begun to speed up once again; he was in fact hyperventilating as he took in the situation in full, I can’t believe it…I…I might actually die here. Here! Of all places to die by something this violent, here!?
Once again, the sound of blood pounding in his ears took over, and the only other sound he could actually hear was his own heartbeat; fast and loud in his chest. His perception of time slowed down again, the creature charging at him yet again.
No…
Corey stood up straight, his arms dangling to his sides after he managed to stand.
No.
The creature was now well out of the door, half the distance between the library and him. Corey’s hands clenched, and his jaw set, his teeth grinding together. All at once, Corey moved, the creature now inches from him, ready for another strike—
“No, dammit, no!”
Knowing it was his last punch either way, or at least believing it to be his last punch, Corey thrust his arm forward. Even though his eyes were closed, a white light suddenly thrust itself between his eyelids.
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Admittedly, Twilight’s confidence in her flight wasn’t all that great. When it came down to it she only barely knew more than John did. Yet, here she was now, flapping her wings furiously as she made her way back towards the library. She didn’t care too much for form right now; too worried about what she felt was happening.
Please don’t be in danger, please don’t be in danger, Twilight thought to herself, I left him behind thinking he’d be safe. But one of those things got away, and now…
She tried to get herself to calm down about the whole situation, but it was utterly useless. Twilight was worried out of her mind now. The fact one could have gotten to town was bad enough, but she feared the worst. She could hear the wind behind her; it was probably Rainbow flying after her. She was at least sure they had followed her as soon as they realized they were short one—
No! Twilight thought, coming to a sharp halt as she reached the library’s airspace. It was exactly the situation she was most afraid of. The door to her library was wide open, and one of the manikins they’d fought, eyes glowing red, was rushing a Corey who, Twilight realized, was barely even standing up straight.
It all happened so fast, but the event was so jarring that it remained burned in Twilight’s memory. Twilight tried to move down so she could bust up that last one, but Corey suddenly stood up straight. His horn suddenly burst into a green light, far faster than it had during any of his practice sessions; perhaps the fear of the whole situation had motivated him. Corey jerked into a combative pose, and with all of his might cried out three words, at the top of his voice.
“No, dammit, no!”
But that in itself wasn’t the strangest part. What happened next was something else Twilight hadn’t seen before, though she’d at least read something about it. She couldn’t quite make it out from the distance, but she swore that over Corey’s forearm, bright green runes appeared, just as Corey swing his fist forward, meeting the manikin dead on.
The runes vanished just as quickly as they had appeared when Corey’s fist made contact. The next thing Twilight knew, a shockwave of tremendous force burst out from the creature. The creature’s entire upper body exploded, the chunks spraying backwards towards the library in a conic shape. At the same time, Corey was violently thrown backwards like a ragdoll; the shockwave having affected him, too. Something fell from his head at this point as he went.
Twilight quickly cast a teleport spell on herself in response, warping herself directly into her path. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered why she didn’t give herself a little more time before he careened into her to try to slow him down. Twilight fell backwards, holding on to Corey, his momentum carrying into her, flat on her back, where she was reminded she did in fact have wings now. And wings tend to sting a little when you suddenly fall onto them.
Once she was done wincing from having her wings suddenly clamped on by her and Corey’s combined weight, she looked down. Whatever Corey did had taken a lot out of him. He was completely limp; however, a quick double-take revealed he was still breathing and was in fact still alive. However, as she looked to his face, the first thing she saw was red; a cut on his cheek. It wasn’t so bad it’d need any special kind of treatment, but it was still concerning to say the least.
He’s hurt… Twilight thought to herself, noting that the whole fight had probably taken a long while. She looked ahead to the shattered manikin that was the cause of the cut on his face and probably more than a handful of bruises. But still, to think he was able to even do that much…What did he do…
“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, catching Twilight’s attention, “What was that explosion just now?! Did you—“
“No, I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Twilight said.
“Then who?” Rainbow asked, looking around.
“I…” Twilight started, looking back down to the unconscious Corey, “I don’t know how, but he did…”