Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Act 2 Chapter 14

Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 14: Was It Not Enough?
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In that very next instant after the rock came crashing down, ending John’s assistance right then and there, no one was sure what scared them more. The fact that the dragon who had been so effective at mashing the manikins had been killed so easily, or the being who had thrown the impossibly huge boulder that claimed him. He was a very large creature, taller than even John. His appearance did not match the manikins at all; he was not a pony either. He seemed to be a lion, standing on two legs as opposed to four. His fur was as black as coal with a mane of pure silver. His eyes were a soul-piercing blood red.

He wore a crimson red loincloth that ran down to his knees, and white bandages covered his clawed hands and feet. He had no other form of clothing, nothing to hide the massive muscles that made up his massive form. The lion’s appearance alone was enough to send a wave of fear through some of the members of the frontlines.

“Wh-who is that…?” asked Pinkie Pie, turning her head to Shining for an answer. What she saw did little to reassure her. Shining Armor—Twilight’s older brother, former captain of the Royal Guard, a well-trained guardspony in general, was shaking just a little on the spot. Though he tried not to show it, there was no mistaking the fear in his eyes.

“I don’t…” Shining started, “I don’t know who he is, but he’s definitely no joke…”

The lion said nothing, calmly surveying the surroundings. At last, his eyes fell on the boulder that had fallen from the heavens.

“Pathetic,” the lion had a deep, terrifying voice, growling at the forces before him, “To think a dragon could be killed so easily…no wonder he allied himself with the likes of ponies! He was nothing!”

“Why you…!” Rainbow shouted, the lion’s taunts all she could stand.

“Rainbow, hold it!” Applejack called out, but it was far too late. Rainbow sped at the lion, quickly closing the distance…until something blocked her path. A purple shield, separating her and the lion. It was clear who had put it up.

“Rainbow, get away from him, now!” Shining called out, urgency clear in his tone. Just then, the lion swung his fist out at the shield, and everyone’s jaws dropped to the floor at the results of the lion’s attack.

“The shield that can protect an entire city at once…” one of the guardsponies observed, “It’s been cracked so badly that…”

The severely cracked shield was soon struck again; the end result was that the shield was destroyed. Everyone stared in shock for a second time.

“It’s been destroyed…just by sheer strength!?” Another guard observed, “Just what are we dealing with here?”

In an instant, Rainbow saw just how outclassed she was one-to-one. Her will to survive took over, and she soon found herself backing off as far as her wings allowed her. At this, the lion let out what could only be described as a guttural snort.

“You have wasted enough time here,” The manikins seemed to stop what they were doing at the sound of his voice, “Go, lay waste to the town up ahead. I’ll be joining you in a bit…”

The creatures did as he instructed them, to everyone’s surprise, making their way rapidly for town. Some of the guards began to move to defend, but…

“Let them go!” Shining called out.

“But, Captain…” One of the guards protested.

“The others can handle them, I know that for a fact,” Shining said, his eyes never once leaving the lion’s direction, “But this guy…We can’t let him pass!”

One by one, the manikins filed past the guards, leaving the new opponent alone against the entire force of the frontlines. The whole team stood, waiting, none willing to take their eyes from him. Even though he’d just shown up, he was already proving to be dangerous.

“I have waited many years for this,” the lion said, placing one clawed hand on the ground, his knees bending slightly, his mouth betraying sharp, unkempt fangs as he grinned wickedly, “Now, ponies, entertain me.”

Without waiting for them to say otherwise, the lion charged at the entire group, with incredible speed.

“Here he comes!” Shining called out, prepared for this, already casting another shield spell. The barrier appeared between the lion and the team. And just as before, the shield was heavily damaged from just one strike. Not waiting for the follow-up, Shining quickly cast another spell. Again, his shield began to glow before sending out a shockwave that forced the lion to skid back.

But the lion barely moved, only skidding back a few feet before coming to a halt, shrugging off the attack as if it were nothing. Without even taking a moment to pause, the lion charged once more, breaking clean through the shield.

“Scatter,” Shining commanded, “Don’t let him get you!”

Everyone did as was told, Shining himself taking a step behind him, getting ready. The lion skidded to a halt and snarled.

“Cowards…” The lion didn’t dwell on this for too long, instead choosing to focus on the sole pony who didn’t move. He quickly rushed Shining Armor. His quarry, however, was ready for it, quickly dodging the savage attack from the lion. The lion’s hand came down on the ground so hard it left a small crater from the impact.

If I hadn’t dodged… Shining banished that thought right then and there, choosing to act upon the opening he saw. Charging his magic into his horn, Shining fired off a single laser at the lion, hoping to cause significant damage. But his hopes were soon dashed.

Before the laser could hit its mark, the lion raised up his other arm to defend him, and physically swatted the beam away with his forearm. Not even the slightest trace of a scratch was left by the laser afterward.

No way! Shining thought, His hide’s as strong as he is…How can we hurt someone like this, if at all?

Just then, Shining noticed something. Somepony was trying to attack the lion from his blind spot…one of the pegasus guards. In an instant, Captain Shining Armor felt conflicted.

If I call out to him, the lion will know he’s there… Shining thought to himself, But if he’s discovered before he could reach the lion, he’d suffer the consequences…

Shining decided to instead remain silent, casting yet another shield spell. Hope this works out for you!

The guard was quick, already readying his sword for an attack. He brought his sword down, the pegasus hoping to cut through the lion’s hide… but he got something far worse than just that.

When his blade made contact with the lion, the steel broke right through the center with an audible, terrifying snap. The pegasus guard stared in disbelief, watching the broken piece of metal fly off. This proved to be his downfall.

Turning his body slightly, the lion swung his arm back, aiming to backhand the guard with his fist. Desperately, Shining tried to cast a barrier around the guard to protect him, but the magic didn’t have enough time to solidify. The lion’s attack broke clean through, striking the pony dead on. The attack dented his armor; his eyes faded from the force of the attack. The guard flew downwards towards the ground, but he was caught by another guard before he could meet it.

The guard was still alive, but in one attack his condition was severe. His hands were clenched tightly over his chest; his bones had to have broken under the force. As he coughed, drops of blood ran out of his mouth. This was not a pretty sight; all eyes were wide with fear.

If he’s this bad off, thought the pony that caught the wounded guard, If the captain hadn’t shielded him…

“One thing’s for sure…” Shining observed with dread, “One wrong move…and it’ll be the end.”
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It wasn’t like Fluttershy had much of a choice. The forest was too far away; she couldn’t ask any of the animals to go away from their homes in good faith to help them against these creatures. But she also couldn’t just leave her friends to their devices either, especially given the rules of the “game” she was forced into.

So, with all this considered, Fluttershy hovered anxiously at the entrance to the park, keeping an eye out for approaching townsfolk. Every now and again, she’d steal a glance back to the ongoing battle in the park.

All the ponies here were Royal Guards in civilian clothes, she thought, anxiously eyeing the battle, That at least explains why nopony seemed to be here before…

Her eyes quickly turned back towards the streets, Nopony seems to be coming now, but I don’t know how long that’ll last, She quickly took another glance, I just have to trust that everypony else can do things…

Yet, even though Fluttershy felt she was content with that, something in her stirred; a feeling which she wasn’t unfamiliar with. It was the feeling of uselessness that would sprout within her whenever a crisis hit. Even though she had taken steps to combat it, she wasn’t sure what she could do in the light of a situation as dire was what was going on now…
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Corey leaned back hard, dodging an arm swipe from one of the manikins. His leg shot out, executing a small defensive front kick. Though the attack did little more than stun the creature he was fighting in place, the intent was to put a little distance between himself and his opponent in the first place.

This is insane, Corey thought, What happened out there? It seems like the manikins aren’t being stopped at all now!

He had no time to think about what could have went wrong; his ear twitched as he registered one of his opponents was behind him. Quickly, Corey turned, and barely managed to raise both his arms up to block the creature’s kick. His eye trailed back to his first opponent; it was now charging him. Taking a sharp breath, Corey focused his magic.

Both of the creatures attempted a coordinated attack, only to be pushed back rapidly by a green field that extended from Corey’s body. His would-be attackers’ pushed off, Corey turned to the one that had tried to sneak-attack him, and began running right for him, left fist raised. Several green runes appeared over his forearm as he went. The manikin took another swipe, Corey moving his head to the side to avoid the creature’s jab.

“Take this!” Corey yelled, slamming his fist into the creature’s chest. The runes converged onto the point of impact, and a moment later, the upper body of the creature exploded towards the area behind it. With this done, Corey took a moment to take a breather. Once again, his ear twitched, but before he could react, one of the plainclothes guards slammed his hammer hard into the side of the creature’s head, causing it to crack a bit.

“Don’t let your guard down,” the hammer-wielding earth pony advised, looking to the recovering creature, “I don’t think we can afford mistakes…”

“No joke,” Corey said, looking around, seeing several guards tied up by a relatively lower number of manikins, “These things are incredibly tough, and there’s so many of them now…”

Twilight leapt backwards with the aid of her wings, avoiding a chop attack from one of the manikins. She landed, her horn alight with its magenta hue. Twilight’s attention was so focused on the front of her, she hardly noticed another manikin behind her. It brought both its hands up, ready to strike.

“Keep your hands away from the princess!” shouted one of the guards, a pegasus, charging in with an elbow, knocking it off-balance long enough for Twilight to fire off her laser at her opponent, just as it charged at her.

The laser hit its mark, going right through the manikin’s torso. Even as the glow faded, the manikin continued to move. Twilight stepped to one side; as she did so, she noticed her would-be assailant throwing off the guard that had saved her.

“Thank you,” she said to the guard, barely able to get the word out before the manikin began to attack. Twilight’s horn lit up again, a bubble forming over her body, deflecting its attack and the next. The guard who had saved her stood up again, trying to attack again, only to be tackled out of nowhere by another manikin. The manikin swung again, Twilight’s shield cracking with the second attack attempt. Her horn flared as she thought of another spell.

If I’m off, I’ll get hit, thought Twilight, preparing yet another laser spell. As the manikin pulled back its fist after another hit, Twilight made her move. She lowered her shield, ready to fire through the manikin’s shoulder to stun it so she could get away. Suddenly, her ear twitched, and she sensed danger. Another manikin suddenly popped up behind her—it had somehow gotten the drop on her after she lowered her shield, and it was aiming a punch directly at her face—

A blue light suddenly went through the creature’s elbow, snapping the arm off before it could make contact. Twilight took the time to get out from between the manikins, turning her head in the direction of the shot.

Rarity stood several yards away, the blue glow around her horn fading. Behind her were two guards, an earth pony wielding a sword and a unicorn wielding a bow and arrow.

“Rarity!?” Twilight said in surprise, “So that’s why…”

“I cannot stand by and let someone toy with my friends,” Rarity said, “Not without trying to fight back!”

“We share your sentiments!” said the guard with the bow and arrow, his horn lighting up in an orange hue, along with the arrow he was aiming. The arrow flew out, striking the manikin that was short one arm dead-center in the torso. On impact, the glow of the magic travelled to the point of impact, and blew up the manikin. The other manikin began to move, trying to continue its fight with Twilight, but she was ready now; letting a laser fly straight into its chest.

She took a moment to look around, and she frowned distinctly. Corey was with another guard. They were currently dealing with two manikins. Corey seemed to be having a little trouble with the one he was fighting, but he was making good use of Shining’s training. The other guard swung his hammer at one, only to be blind-sided by another. To complicate matters, one more was going over to them.

Twilight’s eyes next went to the cluster of guards attempting to fight off the manikins. Though the guards logically had the advantage in numbers, the manikins were beginning to overwhelm them collectively. One manikin slammed both its fists over a guard’s head, downing him. Another guard let him have it with a hammer he had on standby, but that did little more than crack it slightly.

Rarity’s small group was also having troubles. The mare seemed to have trouble lining up her shots, even with the other guards giving her cover. One manikin seemed to have been struck with a lucky hit, since its arm had been broken off at the elbow. The guard wielding the sword wasn’t having much luck landing meaningful slashes, and the guard with the bow and arrow was having trouble lining up his shots as well.

None of the manikins seemed to have made it further back to where Fluttershy was as of yet, but still, all of this was discouraging.

Even if we’re destroying them, it seems like there’s another one coming up to take their place! She thought, seeing a few more approaching from where she knew the frontlines were, Just what’s happening out front!?

Twilight didn’t have much time to think; one manikin was rushing right to her, closely followed by two others. One of them clearly wasn’t a newcomer; cracks ran up one side of it. Twilight quickly took a couple of quick steps back, readying a spell.

Taking out the one in front should buy me some time, at least, Twilight thought, magic surging into her horn. Suddenly, something blind-sided her. Her concentration lapsed, her horn’s glow dying, pain flaring from the part where she was hit. The next thing she knew, she could hear a familiar voice.

“Leave her alone!”

It wasn’t the first voice she’d expected, but under the circumstances she didn’t exactly care who it was. As she recovered from the assault, she saw it: one manikin falling on its side, a green light going through its ankle, causing it to take a knee. The other two from the group that charged her turned to the new arrival, seemingly stunned that he’d shown up.

Twilight turned, seeing Corey running towards the group of manikins, firing green bolts from his horn every few steps. He seemed to be having trouble aiming them correctly; most of his shots seemed to miss.

Corey? Did he just… Twilight thought.

“Twilight, watch it!” Corey shouted. Twilight remembered she had been blind-sided, and her ear twitched. A magenta flash filled her vision as she cast a quick teleport spell on herself, the manikin’s fist crashing through where she was. When she re-appeared, she found herself a few yards to the side of the manikin that had blind-sided her, and she quickly began forming another laser, aiming to continue the battle.

Corey stopped a few yards shot, firing a few more errant shots from his horn. The two manikins that he hadn’t hit began to move towards him, the other on its knee. Corey grit his teeth.

How do they do it? Corey thought, I seem to have trouble firing these things! Yet the others I’ve seen using it can focus it much better…

He had no time to think. One manikin entered his personal space, throwing an elbow, Corey barely leaning back in time to avoid it, his glasses going askew from the speed of the maneuver. The second came at him from his left, and he barely got his legs off the ground in time to avoid the sweep kick. Corey stumbled, his foot being nicked by the foot of the manikin.

Instantly, Corey felt the wind get knocked out of him when the first one kicked him straight in the stomach, and almost immediately the afflicted area felt sore. Corey tried to recover, his left hand clutching his sore stomach.

“Dammit…” Corey grunted, ‘What’d I get myself into…”

He closed his right fist tightly, green runes building around it. He rushed one of the manikins, aiming to break it…

A sudden force on his right elbow caused him to miss. His fist just brushed the arm of his target, releasing all the force on that arm and breaking it and the side of the creature off. Corey looked, dazed, to his right, seeing a third manikin there, one with cracks running up the side of his torso.

You…!? Corey thought, vaguely feeling like he left that manikin behind when he went to try to help Twilight, But…

He couldn’t quite finish his thought; the manikin he had damaged moved with astounding agility for something that had a good portion of its body taken off. A fist slammed into the side of his face, knocking off his glasses.
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Twilight had managed to take care of the one that had blind-sided her, as well as the one Corey had hit in his rapid-fire. But, as she tried to move to help him, she found herself cut-off, a fist barely missing her head as she moved out of the way. She landed on her feet, putting up a shield. Her eyes quickly surveyed the area. The two guards that were defending Rarity were getting tired now. Rarity’s horn was alight, but her eyes showed fear, two manikins advancing on her. Most of the guards were banged-up…

Her eyes went really wide when she saw four manikins, one with its side missing, ganging up on one. Corey was utterly helpless to stop them. He raised one arm to block one strike from one, only to be immediately struck from behind by another. Eventually, Corey’s arms dangled by his side, and one manikin’s fist slammed into his jaw, lifting him off his feet. His mane had fallen into his eyes, and his teeth were grit.

“C…” Twilight couldn’t hold herself back, “Corey!?”
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The leader of the prisoners watched indifferently through several screens, alone in her “war chamber”, as it were. Some of the screens were filled with static, indicating the associated creatures she’d created were destroyed. But the others were alive and well, even if some had a blurry picture. She could see it very clearly. Her attention turned to the biggest screen of all; a giant lion was facing down its prey, and that prey happened to be three of the Bearers and the former captain of the guard. The dragon she’d seen was nowhere to be found now.

“Lyon is more than able to handle himself against all of them…” she observed placidly, turning her attention to the many screens. All of them were showing the same general location, and each of them had a sight to behold. The Element of Generosity was taking steps back, trying to keep her distance. The Element of Magic had her hands full elsewhere. And, from four different angles, she could see a green unicorn on his back on the ground, unmoving.

“Have Celestia’s pawns failed already?” she scoffed, “Pity, I’d expected more out of them…”
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The battle at the frontlines raged on, but with each passing second, the hope of victory began to slip further and further away. The lion they were facing was stronger than any of them could have imagined. Even Shining Armor could do little but stall the new adversary for a short amount of time with the use of his shields. And as carefully as they had tried to fight, they still managed to lose two more guards to the beast. Yet, all of the ones still standing remained steadfast; they had no other option but to be, after all.

We’ll find a way to beat him, Shining thought, standing ready with the others as the lion charged again, We have to!

Quickly, Shining cast a shield around the ground which quickly began to expand. The shield managed to strike the lion, pushing him back slightly, but it only served to stall him for a very short time. The lion let out another roar as he punched at the shield, damaging it severely once more.

“Have you not learned,” the lion snarled, pulling his fist back for another punch, “This cannot stop me!” The lion punched out; however, his fist did not make contact with the shield again; it vanished before he could punch. As a result, his fist met no resistance and the tremendous force of his own attack made him go off-balance.

Before he could recover, something dropped down from above him: Rainbow Dash wielding a hammer from one of the fallen guards. Using it and the speed she accumulated during the drop, she slammed the hammer over the lion’s head. The force of the impact caused the lion to flinch just a little. The moment was short-lived; the lion already began to move his head to look up at Rainbow.

Not leaving it to chance, Rainbow quickly let go on the hammer as the lion grabbed hold of it. With little effort, the lion crushed the hammer in his own massive hand, his eyes glued upon the pegasus pony that had landed the hit. With his other arm already prepared for an attack, the lion’s claws extended out the tips of his fingers. Rainbow was within his reach, and the lion had no intention of letting her slip away again.

At a great speed, the lion swiped his claws at Rainbow. But before he could hit his mark, something blinded him. While his attention was turned to Rainbow, Pinkie fired another shot from her confetti canon, the confetti wrapping around the lion’s head. With his aim impaired, Rainbow was able to escape harm once more by the fur on her nose, quickly making some room between the two.

“Enough!” The lion roared, the sound of its voice bloodcurdling. Tearing the confetti from his head in one powerful motion, the lion turned his attention to the one wielding the cannon, Pinkie Pie. When the soulless pair of eyes met her own, Pinkie felt a lump form in her chest; she realized the lion was now targeting her. Without one more word, the lion kicked off of the ground, charging for the group.

On instinct, every pony in the area began to scramble, making every attempt they could to get away from the rampaging beast. But in their effort to get to safety, they found that one member of their ranks had not vacated her previous position.

“Pinkie!” Applejack called out, her words reaching deaf ears. Pinkie failed to respond, her legs trembling where she stood.

The others tried to reach her, but she was too far away. They couldn’t reach her before the lion did. Pinkie stared up at the towering figure; not once did she think to run. The amount of fear she was feeling had obliterated even her survival instincts, leaving nothing but a crippling, seizing terror. She could only watch, frozen, as the lion lifted one massive claw, his soulless eyes never leaving her. Then, the lion brought down his claw over her. The next thing Pinkie knew, her vision got a little blurry…

“Gotcha!” yelled Rainbow, picking up Pinkie at the last moment. Pinkie immediately looked down, now seeing the lion with one claw deep in the ground where she was standing. She wasn’t imagining it. She and Rainbow were out of danger—

“Rainbow, look out!” Pinkie squealed, spotting something coming from the lion’s direction. Rainbow looked back to see what Pinkie was referring to, and what she saw was something flying right at them. It was Pinkie’s cannon, left behind in the rush and now crushed by the lion. When both the ponies had gotten complacent, the lion had thrown its remains as hard as he could towards them. Rainbow didn’t have enough time to react by the time she saw it coming; she couldn’t stop it with hands full of Pinkie. A large chunk of the cannon struck her hard in the head, followed by a flash of light on impact. Everything then went dark.

The only thing Rainbow could feel after that was pain, feeling herself floating in a sea of darkness. She could hear something, something faint at first, but it was getting clearer as time went by.

“R…b…Rain…nbow….Rainbow! Rainbow Dash, wake up!” The sound of her name being called repeatedly was enough to call her back into the real world. Rainbow opened her eyes; her vision was blurry, and sharp pains littered her head. However, despite the condition she was in, she was able to make out a very distorted figure: a pink blur that was calling her name. At first, Rainbow couldn’t figure out why, but she had a good idea of what that pink blur actually was.

“P…Pinkie?” Rainbow questioned, “W-what happened?” she asked, putting her hand to her pounding head, specifically, where she felt the agonizing sting. Not only did she feel the pain, but she also felt a warm, moist feeling where the pain was at its strongest. It seemed to be running out of her head. When she looked to her hand, all she could see was a large, red stain against her blue coat.

“I’m…bleeding…?” Rainbow asked herself, dazed, “Why am I bleeding?”

“Rainbow!” Pinkie continued to call out to her, “Rainbow, you have to get up!”

Rainbow was just about to ask what was going on. But then, something stomped down next to her. When she saw the large lion-like foot next to her, and the massive shadow that covered it, she began to remember all too quickly what happened. Now, though, she was caught. Forcing herself to look up, Rainbow saw the lion staring down at her, his claws raised high above his head.

“Nowhere to run now, pony,” The lion snarled, licking his fangs in anticipation of the kill that was to come. Rainbow’s pupils shrunk. Her body refused to move, despite her best attempts to urge herself to move. The others could only look on, helplessly, as Lyon began to move in for the kill…

“Leave her alone!” The voice was a snarl, echoing all around them. Even the lion paused, looking up to try to find the source of the voice. What he got, however, was a large rock heading right for him; the same one he’d thrown earlier. The rock hit him with enough force to make him skid back several feet, and had caught him off-guard enough to make him start to stumble. With each foot he gave to the wayward rock, it looked like the lion would finally fall over.

Instead, the lion let out a loud roar as the rock was crushed against his chest into particles.

“That rock…” Shining thought aloud, having saw the whole thing like everyone else, “But wasn’t that…” All eyes turned towards where that rock was last seen. It was now gone, something else standing in the crater. Something that at least towered over most ponies of his age, and was black, blue, and scaly.

“John!?” Applejack yelled, glad to see that he was still alive. The dragon, however, didn’t say anything to acknowledge her. His attention was entirely on the scene before him. He could see all the downed guards around him. He could see the damage that had been caused while he was out. Finally, John’s eyes centered on Rainbow.

In an instant, his appearance changed. John’s pupils, which had been dots for the first few moments, suddenly narrowed to slits. Slowly, John moved towards her, removing his sweater. When he reached her, he carefully, gently covered her with it, almost like it were a blanket. Then, he proceeded to lift her off the ground.

“J-John?” Rainbow asked, looking up to him with disbelief.

“Are you okay?” John asked. Rainbow simply nodded in response. By now, the others had joined them. John turned his attention to Shining. Carefully, he handed Rainbow over to him.

“Watch over her,” John said, though the snarl in his voice did not make his request sound like one. Without saying anything further, he turned away from the group, making his way towards the lion.

“Don’t tell me he’s…” Applejack said, starting to move forward.

“He is…” Shining confirmed, “That’s a look I know all too well…”

“So you survived, dragon,” the lion said, walking towards John. Soon, the two were a step away from each other, both staring at one another. Even though John had to look up at the lion to look into his eyes, John didn’t appear to be small to anyone.

“What is your name?” John demanded. The lion stared down at John and let out an amused chuckle.

“I am known as Lyon…Nemean Lyon,” The lion answered, “And you?”

“My name’s John,” John said, “And I’m the dragon who’s going to kick your sorry ass back to Tartarus…”
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His body had went numb. All sensation of time had left him as well. Corey found himself opening his eyes to what felt like a mass of black. No, not a mass of black. His vision was cracked open, a heavy blur at best, running through the center of it. He was at least vaguely aware he was moving; the angles of the blurs began to change. In an instant, Corey understood what was going on.

That’s right… he thought, I was fighting the waves…Then…

It’s not looking too good. It was that inner voice of his. This time, however, instead of just being an echo within the confines of his mind, it sounded like it was right next to him, speaking directly into his ear. Maybe it was a mistake to get involved in this…

What? Corey asked in surprise, But weren’t you the one giving me encourage—

You’re always the first of everyone to surrender, said the inner voice back, Even when it didn’t make sense. I was the one telling you to keep going. But now, it’s in your best interest to get out of there!

Corey still couldn’t see. The blurs seemed to be getting closer. The order to surrender appealed to him more than he cared to admit. It really did seem like the best option…until something came back to him. It was something very recent, so recent he’d have been a fool to forget it.

“Whenever I have doubts, I like to close my eyes and remind myself of what I’m trying to protect…” It was Twilight attempting to reassure him from earlier. At the time, Corey hadn’t really tried to think about it. He knew he had somewhere he needed to be. Corey’s vision began to focus. He could see those creatures moving in on him much more clearly now. Well, for a moment. His eyes closed.

What is it I’m trying to protect… Corey thought, What do I have to fight for here?

What are you doing, you idiot!? His inner voice raged at him, Get your shit together and get out of here! You’re going to—

No. Corey thought, as an image slowly began to form in his mind’s eye. It was highly unfocused at first, but as he continued to consider Twilight’s question, the image began to focus.

What do you mean, no? The inner voice came back.

I’m not running, Corey thought. Not this time…

Corey realized the image he was looking for. Or rather, images. They seemed to pass by in front of his eyes, like a slideshow.

There’s John…the only friend from Earth I got to keep… Corey thought, looking at the new form John had taken since coming here. Yet, his face was the same look Corey had always imagined John having; a smug smirk of sorts. John slid out of view, and, one by one, was replaced by the visages of each of the ponies he’d known even before touching down. I don’t think they need me protecting them—

Exactly! His inner voice tried to cut him off.

They haven’t faced something like this before! Corey snapped back, as the last image began to focus. It was of Twilight. It was the same smile she’d given him on that day his life changed forever. Right after he’d snapped at her, no less.

Why are you so determined to help them? His inner voice sounded like it was losing some strength, You, who never really fought for anything!

Yeah, I never fought for anything, Corey thought, But that’s because I didn’t have things worth fighting for before!

Fine! His inner voice snapped. Do what you want. But what are you going to do about those creatures??

I’ll take care of them…

How?

Something green and glowing appeared in Corey’s mind’s eye.

Through wanting the strength to be able to do it!
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Twilight could only watch as one of the creatures threw one of its fists out to continue pounding Corey. He had barely recovered, and for most of the time, he had stood there. For a few moments, she had thought he had resigned himself to whatever awaited him.

Then, Corey’s hand shot up, catching the creature’s fist. Corey finally looked up, as though looking the creature in the eyes. Suddenly, Corey’s body began to glow: green runes were appearing all over his body, though Twilight couldn’t tell their effect straight away.

At least, until she saw Corey’s hand swallow the manikin’s fist, kicking up a small cloud of dust…

Author's Note:

Here's how we end this chapter. That's all for now. See you all next week.

Comments

[JohnBlue]

Maybe not yet, but I forsee a darkness in Corey that will come from the need to protect and gain power. Much like this.

I tried to make the video start at a certain point, but if it doesn't then start at 59m 57s for my point

[Luna is back]

The queens true might is revealed.