Chapter 5: Twilight's Fire
Chapter 5
Twilight’s Fire
Chantalot Province back roads - later that evening
On the long road to Chantalot, a small wagon leisurely made its way through the hilly grassland that stretched out before the mountains of Mystika. In between the crates of vegetables, perched on top of a sack of flour, Spike dozed peacefully in the warm afternoon sun. His reptilian pupil dilated as one eye opened lazily at the sound of a fly buzzing above him. On the other side of the cart, Twilight flipped another page in her journal and readjusted her reading glasses. Her mind whirled with information and history on the Shadow Blades, categorizing and dissecting the incidents, visualizing the locations and attack radii in her head. She pored over her notes, searching for evidence of patterns. These demons were anything but mindless; she knew they had to have a plan.
Twilight blinked hard for a moment and looked away from her notes, taking a moment to rest her eyes as she removed her glasses and leaned back against the side of the cart. Shading her amethyst-colored eyes against the sun, she looked out at the western skyline above the hills. In the distance, she could just barely make out the floating city of Cumula glittering in the sunlight.
“Figure anything out yet, Twi?” a voice called from the front of the cart.
Twilight turned her head towards Apple Jack, who had noticed her study break and spoke up. They had been on the road for a day and a half since they left Apple Acres. Having decided to err on the side of caution, they had agreed to travel incognito, using Apple Jack’s connections with local food carts to hitchhike from the temple to the capital via backroads and trails. It wasn’t as glamorous as booking a carriage to the royal city, but they could sleep through the night in the back of the cart without having to stop and set up camp.
“Just that there’s definitely a method to this madness,” Twilight said, looking down at the page marked with notes about an heirloom being stolen in one incident. “Attacks on civilians, all resulting in murder or burglary. They’re definitely looking for something, or someone.”
“Or both,” Apple Jack agreed, climbing through the front of the carriage into the cart with her.
“With the exception of the attack on Apple Acres, all civilian targets were completely deserted.” Twilight said, half-thinking aloud.
“An older-than-dirt temple built for kickin’ the crud outta demons ain’t exactly a civilian target, Twi,” Apple Jack boasted. “Guess they shoulda checked the brochure.”
Twilight smiled and nodded in agreement. “And they never attack the same place twice, so that’s definitely good news for your family.”
“The bad news is they ain’t never been kicked back before either. Might take it personal,” Apple Jack replied as she let the hood of her travelling cloak down, her face stern with doubt.
“But your wards are stronger than ever,” Twilight reassured her friend. “Plus your modifications for the temple are top notch, and Mac is wonderful with the kids.”
“So you like a man who’s gonna be a good daddy then?” Apple Jack teased, her green eyes brightening. “Never figured you for a Suzie Homemaker, Twi, but-“
Twilight scoffed and rolled her eyes dismissively, but not without her tan skin turning a redder shade. “You’re all my friends! Plus you’re the closest in proximity to my house and with the amount of time we spend together of course we’re all going to end up close,” she rationalized. “And I get along great with you too but people don’t ask when you and I are getting married,” Twilight concluded, hoping she ended the debate.
“That was actually my next question. How’d you know?” Apple Jack grinned.
“I call best man,” Spike piped up from the corner.
“Watch it mister,” Twilight literally growled to him. “My love life, as nonexistent as it may be, can take a backseat to our presentation for the Dusk Court.” She hoped that mentioning the Court would create a legitimate reason to change the subject.
“I’ve got the beginning, middle, and end of my part of the presentation in black-and-leather,” Apple Jack said as she patted her pouch, referring to what Twilight knew to be the scrap of the Shadow Blade insignia she’d found in Eri’s scabbard. “Besides, your love life’s much more fun.”
“Jack. As far as your brother and I are concerned…” Twilight paused.
“Go on,” Apple Jack sat cross legged with her chin resting on her hands, like they were gossiping at a sleepover.
“We’re just…” Twilight was given a break as she looked up to see the wagon was approaching the crossroad where they were to disembark and transfer to their next cart. She breathed a sigh of relief as she wouldn’t have to explain her feelings to Apple Jack, mainly because she’d be sorting them out for herself as well. Twilight scooped up Spike as the two girls hopped down from the back of the wagon. Rounding the cart, they paid the driver for the ride and wished him well on his way.
The grassy hills stood silent in the orange glow of the setting sun. It had been nearly two hours since the cart had left them at the crossroads, and their ride was nowhere to be seen. Twilight pushed dirt around with the toe of her boot anxiously.
“When did you say the silk wagon would be here?” Twilight asked Apple Jack.
“Cliff complained we’d make him late, but he said he’d be here long before sundown...” Apple Jack said, looking down both ends of the road.
Twilight gripped her staff Leda nervously, her fingers cold in the evening air. “Any way he changed his mind?” she inquired.
“Cliff’s a lot of things, but he ain’t a liar. And he’s got another youngin’ on the way so he needs the extra bits. Might have gotten held up...” Apple Jack offered the benefit of the doubt.
“Two hours is a quite a long delay,” Twilight noted, growing increasingly doubtful.
“Well, maybe a wheel broke, maybe some bandits are makin’ good on the bad stuff happening, or I don’t know, maybe the damn horse got its head taken off by a meteor,” Apple Jack said in all seriousness. “What can go wrong will go wrong.”
“As logic dictates, yes, but we can’t afford to divert from schedule. We’ve got an appointment tomorrow evening and there’s no way we can continue the rest of the trip on foot.” Twilight looked to her surroundings. “We should probably set up camp and take our chances tomorrow.”
“Are you crazy?! We’d be sitting ducks sleepin’ in that field.” Apple Jack pointed to the open grassland, bone dry from the fall’s chill. “We should wait here for Cliff. And if he doesn’t show, maybe some other fella will come along we can smile pretty at and hitch a ride.”
“It’s almost dark. We need to operate under the assumption that he’s not coming and set up protective barriers,” Twilight instructed.
“Twi, I hate to break it to ya, but they cut through the wards on my temple like they were paper. Last time we made camp with one of your protective circles, the best it did was keep a few diamond dogs out just long enough for us to suit up and take care of ‘em. And there were six of us.” Apple Jack reminded.
“I know it’s not the best plan, Jack, bu-“
“Um, Twilight?” Spike interrupted from his perch on her shoulder. “Didn’t she say those demon things swim through shadow?”
“Yes Spike, it’s in the history books too if you read them,” Twilight replied in common-tongue over her shoulder.
“Maybe we should get out of the shadows, then,” Spike said honestly. The sun was nearly at the peak of the mountains in the distance, casting long shadows across the grassland.
“What’d he say?” Apple Jack asked.
“The sun’s almost down and it’ll be pitch black in thirty minutes,” answered Twilight. “We should at least get up to that hill and stay in the light as much as possible.”
Apple Jack nodded. “Now that you mention it, we’re hangin’ out in Shit Creek down here in this trough if anythin’ decides to get unfriendly from either side of those hills. I don’t have a death wish, you?”
Twilight and Apple Jack hiked up through knee-high grass up the slanted slope to the top of a small hill overlooking the vast grassland. Apple Jack looked out at the dark field surrounding them wide-eyed and swallowed very loudly.
“What’s wrong, Jack?” Twilight asked, seeing the seriousness suddenly spread across Apple Jack’s face.
“That field’s gonna get real black, real fast. And if the shadies decide to pay us a visit, spottin’ them out there is gonna be like lookin’ for piss in the ocean,” Apple Jack warned.
Though Twilight thought Apple Jack’s metaphor was graphic, she knew exactly what she meant and started rifling through her satchel for spells. “The ward circle is gonna take about fifteen minutes to set up. I need to get started on it now if we’re going to have any hope of safety.” Twilight took out a page from her satchel and knelt down. She placed her hand on the page and closed her eyes, beginning to focus her energy on creating a circle of protection around the three of them at the top of the hill. She needed complete focus to perform this task, but that was completely shattered when Spike erupted into a spark-sputtering coughing fit. “Spike! Be careful! One misplaced spark and this whole grassland could go up in flames, and us too!”
“I’m fireproof,” Spike said in between coughs. “You honestly can’t smell that?”
“Smell what?” Twilight asked.
“Ugh, it's like rotting cattle or something. It’s so strong, I can’t breathe.” Spike continued to gag, green sparks flickering out of his nose.
“What’s wrong there, snake-kebab?” Apple Jack asked the little dragon.
“He’s fine. He’s just complaining about smelling something rotting. There’s probably a farm or a graveyard nearby,” Twilight said dismissively, going back to focusing on her ward spell.
Apple Jack’s eyes blinked wide. “Rottin’. Like flesh rottin’, rottin’?”
“Yes. Dragon’s noses are very sensitive to that kind of thing. I hope he’s not gonna be sick,” Twilight said to herself.
“That is a nasty soundin’ cough...” Apple Jack said, looking over.
“He’s usually not so bad about smells unless it has to do with strong magic or somethi-“ Twilight stopped mid-sentence, her facial expression matching Jack’s exactly. “Apple Bloom said they looked like corpses...” Twilight said what they were both thinking out-loud.
“They’re already here,” Apple Jack said, drawing her broadsword from its sheath.
“They can’t be. It’s still light out,” Twilight insisted, looking around frantically.
“Then they’re really close,” countered Apple Jack, adjusting her bracers.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll get right on finishing this,” Twilight said, going back to her ward spell again.
Apple Jack rested Eri’s tip in the dirt and put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s not gonna help, Twi.”
“It’ll give us a few minutes when they come...” Twilight countered.
“It’ll put you half to sleep and we need you in top shape to light ‘em up when they do come.” Apple Jack tightened her grip, knowing Twilight’s exhaustion threshold when it came to spell-casting.
“Then we run. I’ve got an invisibility spell in here somewhere; we can keep moving through the night and find someone to help eventually an-“
“Then everyone we pass between here ‘n’ there are gonna bite it while the shadies are lookin’ for us.” Apple Jack retorted, bursting that idea.
“So offensive, then.” Twilight re-prioritized and dug through her bag again.
“Whatever fire and light spells you got there, get ‘em out,” Apple Jack replied, shivering as she felt the first cold breeze of night. Spike coughed and sputtered again as his nose was assaulted by the stench of death and decay.
“Point your nose downwind.” Twilight paused and repeated her own advice in her head. “Spike, what direction is it coming from?”
“West, and it’s getting worse,” Spike coughed.
Apple Jack saw exactly where Twilight was going with this. “Back towards Magiville?” Apple Jack guessed at what Spike was saying. Twilight nodded. “Must have tracked us all the way from the temple,” Apple Jack theorized.
“Unlikely they’d come that far for us,” Twilight said, flipping through the pages of a fire tome. The shades had about two hundred yards of open field to hide in, but the girls had the high ground. Hope flowed back into their bodies as they finally started planning.
“Death from Above?” Apple Jack suggested a familiar tactic that entailed a series of aerial hit-and-runs by staying out of reach.
Twilight shook her head. “No. Without Dash or Fluttershy, we’ve got no air support. If you get in trouble in the middle, I can’t bail you out.”
Apple Jack scoffed. “It’s my job to be in the middle, but I see your point. What about Freeze-n-Fry?” She suggested another favorite tactic where Twilight would freeze an area of the battlefield and Apple Jack would then shatter the newly formed ice sculptures with her fiery sword, Eri.
“Maybe. But do the Shadow Blades even get cold in shadow-form?” asked Twilight.
Apple Jack grumbled, not knowing the answer to the question. The middle of a battle was not a good place to find out. The two soldiers debated back and forth how to take on the approaching enemy until Apple Jack brought up an unexpected tactic. “We could do Turtle Soup.”
Twilight stopped and thought for a minute. “The last time we did that, it was only against three Changelings and you burned off half your hair. Besides, there’s no water to boil.”
“The grass’ll burn ‘em alive!” Apple Jack said, almost giddy with her ingenuity.
“It’ll burn you too!” Twilight reminded.
“I’ve been practicin’ my shield spell since then, and I didn’t know that Rarity buffed your fireballs last time!” Apple Jack countered. “Don’t pull your punches. I’ll be fine.”
“Why are all our plans bad ones?” Twilight asked, flowing magic into her horn circlet, prepping the flame spells she’d brought.
“Because we’re always flyin’ by the seat of our pants,” replied Apple Jack. “Sure it’s a bad plan, but unless you got somethin’ to stop time in that bag so we can think of somethin’ better, it’s what we’re runnin’ with.”
They would have continued to debate the matter, but it was almost completely dark and getting cold as well. Apple Jack quietly spoke a few words as she bowed her head in prayer, a glowing light emanating from the ruby circles in her shoulder-guards. The light grew stronger, turning Apple Jack into a walking beacon and illuminating a small area around her. Twilight made her own prepartions, simply focusing her fire spells and channeling her energy into the amethyst spike in her circlet, the twin stars on the top of her staff Leda glowing in response.
“Guys, whatever you’re going to do, kill ‘em fast because I’m about to throw up,” Spike said, leaning woozily from Twilight’s shoulder.
“You’re going to have to breathe through your mouth Spike, because we need all the fire we can get.” Twilight scratched his scaly head and brought all of her focus to the gem in the middle of her forehead, sending it up into the horn which rested against it.
“You sure you want to do this, Jack? Once you get down there, there’s only so much I can do from up here until I fire the big one,” Twilight warned.
“Like I said,” Apple Jack replied, grinning. “It’s my job to be in the middle. Just wait ‘til they’re all on me, then let ‘er rip.”
The two warriors gripped their weapons and waited in silence. They listened for anything besides the wind, but then Twilight swallowed as she realized, shadows don’t make noise. “Are they close, Spike?” whispered Twilight.
“If they were any closer they’d be on top of us,” Spike wheezed, still trying to breathe through his mouth as green flames flickered from between his jaws.
“Whenever you’re ready,” said Twilight to Apple Jack, ignoring the nervous sweat building on her forehead despite the night’s chill.
Apple Jack bent her legs a bit, holding Eri tightly in front of her. The rune in the center of the blade glowed a ruby red and flame silently crackled to life on the ancient metal. “Light ‘em up.”
Twilight took a deep breath, and a sail-shaped wall of energy flowed before her as a weak, but passable defense ward emanated from her staff like a shield of mist. Her horn circlet channeled energy through her body, and she cried out as a fiery ball of light bloomed into existence from the top of Leda. Aiming the fireball with her staff, she hurled it forward and down the side of the hill. The fireball blazed a trail through the grass, igniting the tall brush as it whirled on for twenty feet. Three sickly thin shadows jolted up from the grass, recoiling from the flaming boulder as it shot past. The silence of the field broke into inhuman shrieks.
Apple Jack took two quick steps back and then launched herself into a running leap that propelled her down the side of the hill, directly into the shades. Before they could melt back into their nearly indestructible puddle-form, Apple Jack let out a war cry and drove her flaming sword straight through the closest Shadow Blade’s chest. She collided with it, knocking it backwards as she pushed hard on the sword, sliding the body further down its blade. The exposed tip met the second shade’s head, piercing it through the eye and straight into its skull before the thing had a chance to react.
Twilight released another fireball from her right hand and set the third shade ablaze, as well as the brush around it. She watched with fear and something resembling joy as Apple Jack slid down the hill with her boots perpendicular to the slope, the weight of the shades on the end of her massive sword propelling her down even faster.
“Spike, watch my back. Anything sneaks up on us, take care of them,” directed Twilight, her mind racing.
As Twilight covered Apple Jack from above, she couldn’t help but marvel as Apple Jack moved. Her swordplay was a sight to behold. As more shadows appeared and entered her soft glow, they had to bring themselves to solid mass and stand at full height to attack. She’d parry whatever daggers came at her, throwing Eri in the direction of a far-off foe, and before her faithful sword had even hit its target she’d drawn her short swords and was battling any shadows in close range. She sheathed them only to summon her greatsword back out of the bodies and into her hand. Twilight watched in awe as Apple Jack waved the incredibly heavy sword towards her next foe as effortlessly as a dagger.
The Shadow Blades out of Apple Jack’s range made darker spots in the grass that might as well have been bulls-eyes as Twilight picked them off one by one with small fireballs, still maintaining her shield just in case anything came her way.
Apparently perceiving Apple Jack as the biggest threat, the shades ignored Twilight completely and focused in on the deadly paladin. Surrounded by her glowing dome of light, Apple Jack darted around the bottom of the hill, bringing shades in the grass up from their hiding places so fast that Twilight had a hard time keeping track of them all. She mentally tallied them, stopping at twelve or so before she realized what Apple Jack was doing. She was herding them. The shades closed in on her inch by inch with every lap Apple Jack did around them until one dived towards her, the long blade in its hand looking for a killing strike. The shadow stabbed down at Apple Jack, but she flipped over the shade’s back in an aerial tumble, using the momentum of Eri’s weight to bring herself up and hurling the greatsword over her head as she landed, slicing the shade behind it cleanly in two.
The rest of the shadows must have gotten the message as they all jumped in to stab at Apple Jack simultaneously, forcing her to act like a wounded fly dodging from children trying to kill it with needles. Amidst the deadly dance, Apple Jack gripped Eri and stuck it hard into the ground. The light retreated in towards Apple Jack, making a brighter, more condensed arc which Twilight knew could only be her shell. This made the shades jump back in surprise briefly before they continued to hack and slash at Apple Jack, now protected by a barrier of solid light. Once they saw that their assault was having no effect, they began to circle her, sniffing for weaknesses.
Twilight dropped her mist veil to channel a massive amount of energy through both her horn and her staff. The energy seeped out of both relics as a red mist that seemed to create a small star that grew from the size of an apple to the height of a tree, nearly setting the ground around her feet ablaze. She held this giant mass with every tense fiber of her being, making sure it didn’t dissipate or drop, and waited for Apple Jack’s signal. Then from the bottom of the hill, she heard the faint but distinct bellow from Apple Jack.
“Soup’s on, Twi!”
Twilight held her staff above her head and with a mighty grunt hurled the flaming star at Apple Jack’s golden shell, blazing an even bigger trail down the hill and turning the tall grass to instant ash. Her fingers tensed around Leda as she waited for the loud crash into the barrier, and crash it did. The mini-sun erupted into a short-lived tower of fire, engulfing Apple Jack’s barrier and obliterating the surrounding Shadow Blades. As the energy left Twilight’s body, she staggered a bit. Her muscles felt like she’d just run a marathon. She watched as Apple Jack, flickering in the waves of heat, removed Eri from the ground and let the barrier melt away.
Apple Jack slowly came to her feet and dusted off some of the falling ash from her shoulders. She didn’t have to do that, but Twilight knew it made her feel cool. “Next time we do that, Twi, we gotta get a witness, because that. Was. Awesome!” Apple Jack boasted. She continued to yell victoriously to Twilight, but the relief disappeared from Twilight’s face when Spike coughed again.
“Twilight, there’s more.” Spike hacked up more sparks, digging his claws into her shirt.
“Apple Jack!” Twilight yelled.
Apple Jack couldn’t hear what Twilight was saying over the crackle of the flames, but she must have figured that Twilight could hear her and continued boasting. To Twilight’s horror, the light from the circle of fire that had formed around Apple Jack revealed an army of inhuman shadows that surrounded her in the distance, looming up in the light of the flames. With no time to warn Apple Jack, Twilight summoned the rest of her energy and hurled fireballs from both her left hand and from the crystal staff in her right. She hoped that Apple Jack would follow her lead, but then the thought dawned on her that it was impossible for Apple Jack to use such a powerful barrier spell a second time.
As Twilight set another section of the field ablaze, even more shades rose from the grass, shrieking and recoiling from the fire. As long as they weren’t standing directly in it, the ones closest to Apple Jack seemed to ignore their fear in favor of closing in on their target, leaping forward on all fours with inhumanly long haunches. As they closed in on her Twilight burst into a run, tearing down the side of the hill towards her outnumbered ally. She began to summon the misty ward from Leda again as she ran down the hill, but her spell was cut short as she was suddenly jerked down, face-first into the grass. She clutched her staff close to her chest and looked down to see black claws wrapped around her ankle and another gnarled hand reaching for her face. Having been thrown from her shoulder in the fall, Spike launched himself at the monster, coating its rotting face in a wave of green fire.
The Shadow Blade let out a vibrating scream and let go of Twilight’s ankle to claw at its burning skull, unable to completely melt back into the ground. Twilight rolled onto her back, kicking away from the thrashing shadow and turned her staff down on it, channeling a fireball at point blank. The shriek crescendoed into a piercing howl, forcing Twilight to cover her ears until silence fell along with a smouldering pile of ash. Her ankle throbbed with pain. She curled up in the soot, clutching at her leg as it quickly swelled from the fall.
Looking over her shoulder she saw that Apple Jack was staying in the middle of the fire and dodging the shades the best she could, but at this rate, she wouldn’t be able to keep up much longer. Twilight held the crystal head of Leda to her ankle, summoning a light healing spell just to get her walking again. She shivered impatiently as Spike stood guard in front of her, sparks flickering from his flaring nostrils, like a watchdog waiting for wolves.
For a moment while she laid there in the dirt, Twilight looked up into the dark sky, blinking away bits of falling ash. Her eyes burned, blurring the tranquil image of distant stars, but she swore she could still barely make out the silhouette of Cumula glowing in the moonlight. Hopelessly outnumbered, she thought about what she wouldn’t give to have her flying allies. She sat up quickly, her mind racing towards one last desperate plan.
“Spike. Burn the field.”
“But you said-”
“I know what I said. Trust me. It’s the only thing we’ve got.” Twilight grimaced and climbed to her feet, limping towards Apple Jack as her mist barrier quelled the dying flames in front of her. She watched as Eri spiralled through the air, impaling two shades who stood too close together. The massive sword pinned them down and Apple Jack continued to dance with the other three in close range inside the now dissipating circle of flame.
“C’mon Twilight,” she said to herself, “just a few more feet. AJ can handle herself until you-”
Her train of thought cut off as she felt something small and light clink off of her defense ward, followed by a scream. A human scream. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she realized what had happened. The dagger from a nearby shadow had ricocheted off of her ward and hit her friend. Before Twilight had time to run towards her, she turned to see Spike latching onto the offending shade’s face and trying to claw it off.
Her staff shot over her head with both hands and hurled down with a furious yell. The mist shield flew away from her body with great force, crashing into the Shadow Blade and knocking it shrieking into the fire, Spike still clinging to its face. Spike detached himself from the dying shade and hopped effortlessly out of the flames, shaking his body from head to tail like a wet dog.
Twilight whipped around at the sound of Apple Jack crying out, in time to see her clutch her forearm with what looked like an obsidian dagger running it straight through. Apple Jack flung her wounded arm forward, grunting as she commanded Eri to fly at the enemies before her. With that, she dropped to her knees in pain, panting heavily as the sweat rolled down her face. The shadows that Eri grazed began to slowly sink back into the ground with the fires dying, and the glowing light that radiated from Apple Jack had begun to retreat back into her injured body. Twilight acted on impulse and bolted straight for her friend despite all danger and exhaustion, dragging her staff as she blazed a trail of fire behind her.
Sliding through the burnt grass at the end of her dash, Twilight further blackened the underside of her white pants as she threw herself into a tumble, landing on the far side of Apple Jack now hunched over in a defensive position. Twilight spun her staff above her head, forcing as much energy into a hasty shield as she could manage. Near to exhaustion, Twilight felt her eyes flutter as she saw Apple Jack reaching out for Eri in vain. The ancient greatsword was now surrounded by three Shadow Blades resonating to a haunting dark chorus as they laid their decaying hands on it. In response to the deep buzzing from their hollow throats, the rune in Eri’s blade began to change colors, turning red, to purple, to a shining black and back to purple again. With each haunting note Apple Jack let out another wince and grunt beneath Twilight.
“They’re doing something to Eri, Twi. I’m calling ‘im, but he can’t hear me...” Apple Jack said, breathless. More Shadow Blades slammed against the defense ward, battering it with throwing daggers and physical blows as the other three continued to moan over Apple Jack’s sword. Twilight knelt over her, thrusting her staff towards the onslaught of daggers as they came, redirecting most of her veil from side to side. Using the last of her energy, she brought the edges of the protective spell down into a blanket around her and Apple Jack. Outside of their little bubble, Spike still defended with blasts of fire and smoke, attempting to at least keep the Shadow Blades distracted and in the light to buy Twilight some time.
The best Twilight could do was to take her ethereal shield and bash the shades one by one as they attacked. When they pushed forward, she pushed back, but each blow made her sink further and further into the dirt. Apple Jack was no longer moving. She couldn’t see Spike anymore through the smoke. Twilight held her staff tightly in her hands and leaned against it, no longer able to stand. She let her heavy eyelids close as she felt the strikes against her shield, each one cracking thunder into her ears and pushing her down against Apple Jack with every blow.
The cracks echoed through her head, beating relentlessly on her over and over like a thunderstorm. There was one crack that didn’t push her back towards the ground. Then a gust of strong wind rolled over them and another bout of thunder, but it wasn’t against her shield. Twilight let her eyes squint open. The remaining shades had focused their attention on the sky.
Lit by the flames of the burning field, Twilight faintly saw a figure streak across the night sky. From its wake, a bright line of light cut through the night and pinned the nearest Shadow Blade by the head into the ground, followed by the roar of thunder. With blurry eyes, Twilight looked up to see the figure in the sky fly into view. It was a lean, muscular Skyborn in grey leather attire, holding a seemingly unstrung bow. The Skyborn wings on her heels disappeared as she landed with her back to Twilight. She notched another bolt of lightning into the invisible string of her oak bow, its adorning ivory spikes carved into delicate feathers.
As she stood there waiting for her next target, she yelled over her shoulder. “Six months without a single letter and you decide to say ‘hey there!’ by setting my damn route on fire?”
Smiling, Twilight looked up at the rainbow colored hair in front of her and whispered a reply. “Good to see you too, Dash. What took you so long?” Twilight promptly passed out on top of her wounded friend.
Stats
Page generated in 0.024 seconds
Total duration
1,043 users online
1,555,025 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Woooo update!!!
heehee, so so good, but now we needs another chapter.
so Spike speaks a different language?
Also yay Rainbow Dash!
I'm in awe...you do combat scenes good.
Loved the update. Your word choices and imagery is amazing! This scene was really well written. I'm glad Rainbow Dash has finally joined the party. Can't wait to read more
752077 you are right need new chapter
752291 The absolute worst thing about my sleep schedule (which is next to none
) is I get caught up on stories so fast and end up so eager for more, especially epic ones such as TfM is turning out to be. 
Lightning elemental Rainbow Dash - ME GUSTA. That pegasus really does embody the element of lightning, doesn't she?
Excellent chapter with a great action-packed segment - can't wait to see what happens next!
752077 I'm working hard on it. I've gotta get dash and her squad (yes. Squad.) kickin ass, then get to the capital to get the news. That's gonna take a couple chapters, so we've just gotta cut 'em and pace 'em. Creative process, but the time spent is what makes the quality!
About Spike, in the first chapter there's a paragraph about how he speaks Draconic and understands common. So the only people who understand him are Twi and Shy later on.
752254 thanks so much! I love choreographing battles. Without a solid fight, there's no point in writing. I also love the tension before the battle more. The nervousness makes the actual pay off REALLY fun. Thanks again!
752277 I'm glad Dash is there too! She really speaks for the audience and it's nice to have her voice to speak through. She was supposed to be introduced MUCH later, but when my editor saw that I had like 5 chapters planned before another action scene, she made me write this. So a "throw away," turned out to be a great opportunity to get Dash involved.
752291 thanks! But see above comment. We're working as fast as we can! Promise!
General note. Love y'all so much and it's talks like this that make me keep going. This is a seriously slow build story but thanks for stickin with, and the good reveals are comin! Feel free to speculate too. That's usually where the best ideas come from. There will actually be another fic, not Mages related up soon, so stay tuned! Talk soon.
Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash,
Now I can't wait for the net chapter to see Rainbow's characterization.
752415 ah, sorry I had forgotten about that.
And no, I wasn't intending to rush, just that I'm enjoying the story so naturally I'm eager for more.
752420 yes, yes and yes. Picture a tough ad nails, heavy swearing commander. I think my favorite line so far is "jus for that, Thunderhead, anything that happens to my friends will translate directly to your balls. Shut up and make the damn moat."
That was a great fight scene, I liked the way they started out in control but then things got steadily worse and more desperate as the fight wore on and more any enemies piled in.
RD appearing at the end was a nice touch I think, that's four of the mane six down, now it's just Pinkie and Fluttershy to go.
frikkin' awesome! there was killing, and smiting and gruesome undead shadow swords getting killed and oh-my-friggin'-celestia, dash is here!
she can't beat out pinkie pie, but she comes in as a close second for me.
and did i mention the action? i did? well, i think it bears repeating. action good!
i'm still waiting to see twi and aj spank the council/senate? political intrigue's good but it doesn't get your heart racing like a good action sequence does. i was seriously going, oh my gawd, they're losing? what are they going to do, they can't die!! somebody, save them!
and like a bolt from the blue, here comes rd, with her wings and bow and awesomeness. woohoo!
and yeah, great job. can't wait til the next chapter...
I really hope Jack doesn't lose Eri!
Great chapter by the way. Totally worth the wait!
754396 Thanks so much. Pacing a battle logically is fun. Also exhausting. I hope I can do it another 9 times or so O_o. Pinkie's next but not for another couple chapters or so and Shy's a long way off. Working as we speak.
754483 Thanks dude! Honestly, the action and the politics are equally exciting for me. I'm just doing my best to do the same for y'all. Next chapter is all about how Dash is a bad-ass squad leader, and how Skyborn like killin' demons.
761598 I'm hope she doesn't lose him either O_O. New stuff coming soon!
Oh HELL yes it's DASH!
778710 next chapter is a Dash chapter.
806123 just think of the orphans...
806585
Hoo boy, it's going to be interesting to see Applejack's reaction to big-city politics (which are basically based on lies and half-truths)
811170 yes indeed it is
Up till the point where Twilight said her name, I actually thought Dash was Derpy
nice fic so far!!
So I kinda love this fic. Your fight scene was amazing - I can't wait till all six of them are duking it out against the shadows at the same time (if it ever happens, of course).
AJ's channeling a little Dash, there
And yay, actual Rainbow Dash swooping in to save the day! I was wondering when she'd turn up. 
Well, I'm off to the next chapter. Keep up the wonderful work
Looks like the Shadow Blades's hopes of winning just got *puts on sunglasses* Dashed. YEEEEAAAH! Sorry, couldn't resist!
But that was awesome!