Darkest of Days

by starshine_dash

Mid-Boss

A/N: So, uh, sorry for the two months no update, but as you can tell I've been writing other things. Here, have some murder and Twilight being Twilight.

... Yes, and Pinkie being Pinkie.

Twilight and her friends made their way carefully through the forest, keeping their eyes on the trees and sky to prevent an ambush from any angle. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were flying a loose CAP over the earthbound mares and scouting the distant horizon for any approaching enemies. The few remaining elements of the royal guard had remained in Ponyville and surrounding cities in order to protect the civilians so they were quite literally on their own.

The group had been tracking a small group of flareponies for several miles, their hoofsteps easily tracked due to the fact that they burned anything they stepped on. The problem quickly became the fact that these ponies were at least a day ahead of the Elements and apparently did not need rest.

"Twilight, darling, I hate to be the first to bring it up but... Are we getting any closer?" Rarity asked with a sigh.

"I don't know. They never stop to make camp, so they could be days ahead of us by this point. I.. Wait, do you feel that?" Twilight said, summoning her armor in a blink and looking around warily. The other five swiftly followed suit and stood at the ready, "Definitely high concentrations of magic, but where's it coming from?"

Rarity closed her eyes and concentrated, her magical sense never having been as attuned as most unicorns. Still, she could feel the massive beacon of power that was her friend and beyond that, something even stronger, "Oh my..."

"Formation Theta, girls. At least three enemies, unknown pattern of attack."

The group scampered into action, forming a loose star shape with Pinkie in the middle, a classic "Protect the healer" formation. Two ponies appeared from between the trees while a third crashed in from the sky. He was a massive stallion, at least triple the height of Big Mac and glowing with an ethereal light, his mane and tail shimmered in the sun as he spread his crystalline wings. He was turned in such a way that his cutie mark was cast into view as the dust cleared. Before them stood.

"Blueblood..." cursed Rarity, glaring at their new opponent.

"That is Prince Blueblood to you, peasant! My title rings even more true now that my Aunt has graced me with the powers of an alicorn! Prostate yourselves before me in awe!"

"Err, you mean prostrate. A prostate is a gland in male ponies used in reproductive activities," said Twilight, smiling as she helped to educate the unfortunate noble.

His eye twitched momentarily, "You think you are so smart, Twilight Sparkle. I am Prince Blueblood, heir to the throne of Canterlot, lord of the eastern reaches, and you will bow before me! I am the shining beacon of Celestia's eternal sun!"

Pinkie Pie began to giggle, "Oh, who gives a hay about you, your new name is Mid-Boss!"

Blueblood Mid-Boss gaped in shock, "How dare you!? That is unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable! For that, I will end you myself, pink one!" He began to charge a spell as the other two ponies with him charged. Applejack rolled out to the side and bucked the one on the left solidly in the chest, sending him flying into the air to be launched further into the distance by a spell hurled from Rarity's horn. He was out of the fight before it even began. The other minion did not fare any better, being picked up by Twilight and held in place for Rainbow to bludgeon to tiny pieces of ash. Meanwhile, Fluttershy was getting into position to harass Blueblood from the air.

His first attack missed the mark by quite a bit and Pinkie began to bounce around, the faux-alicorn's shots landing where her hooves had been a moment before, "Hold still, you pink menace!"

She giggled and kept bouncing around, "Hey, Twilight, wanna show him your new trick?"

"My... new trick?"

"Yeah, the one you got from fusing with your element! I know you probably wanted to save it for something more important than Mid-Boss, but the rest of us can't really get through his defense bonus!"

Twilight blinked, "I, uh, what? Defense bonus? Pinkie!"

"Show him the new trick!" She shouted with glee, bouncing over close to the now infuriated Mid-Boss, "Seriously, you gotta check this out. It's gonna be awesome!"

Mid-Boss' eyes were now alternately twitching as his face contorted in sheer, unkempt, and very ignoble rage. Twilight simply shrugged and reared up on her hind legs, touching the gem on her chest with both hooves and concentrating. Then, she thrust her legs out wide as the gem glowed, sending a wave of power over her, the purple flames that remained coalescing into a suit of gleaming amethyst armor, two more waves of fire flew off from her sides, dispersing to reveal two feathered wings the same color as her coat and definitely real, not the fake attachments Mid-Boss was sporting.

She landed on her forehooves as the spell finished, the rush of power having forced her to grow to nearly Celestia's height, and looked up at her opponent, "So, I've done the math, Mid-Boss. The odds of a false alicorn defeating a true alicorn, let alone the Element of Magic are approximately three hundred fifty-eight thousand, nine hundred twenty-five to one. Run back home to 'Auntie' and I won't have to kick your flank."

His eye twitched on last time before he turned his glare down, horn charging up a spell, "You dare!? You may have the power of the Element of Magic, but I have the power of the Sun itself!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and threw a barrier over herself as a searing blast of light came from her opponent's horn. He held the stream for a few seconds before switching tactics, instead beginning to rapid-fire blasts at all of the girls instead, forcing them to dodge. They retreated behind Twilight's shield, only for Mid-Boss to continue firing, sending up a thick blanket of dust into the air.

Panting with exertion, the false alicorn stood triumphantly. "Ha! Puny foals!" he said with a grin.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, only to turn around and see the assembled elements of Harmony, fully charged. They had planned to defeat him the old fashioned way, with an epic drag-out battle, but he had given them an exceedingly great opportunity. Pinkie smiled down at him, "Point of advice: Never fire blindly into a dust cloud!"

He screamed, the wave of rainbow energy washing over him, cleansing away the taint of the Nightmare and the falsely imbued power of the sun, restoring balance to his soul. Back to his normal unicorn self, Blueblood collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

Rainbow Dash poked him with a hoof, "That was... disturbingly easy."

"Well, he did blind himself and give us the opportunity to charge up," Twilight said, approaching the stallion, "However, the odds were, statistically in our favor from the beginning."

"Twi, sugarcube, are you stuck like that?" AJ asked, looking up the alicorn in awe.

"Of course not, this form drains my energy at a highly increased rate. It is completely temporary, but with proper training I could extend the duration." she said, dispelling the armor and wings and returning to her old self, "See?"

Rarity sighed in relief, "I was worried I would have to completely redesign your entire wardrobe!"

Everypony except Pinkie and Fluttershy facehoofed as they all laughed.

"So what do we do about Tall, White, and Stupid here?" asked Dash.

"Ah say we just leave 'im be. Either he'll run back to Solar Flare or he'll do the smart thing and run fer tha hills."

"He'll be fine on his own, once he wakes up. The forest is empty right now," said the usually timid Fluttershy, looking around with a determined expression.

The group nodded and began to continue their trek towards wherever the other group they had been tracking was moving.

Many miles away, secure in her new fortress of gleaming metal and burning lava, Solar Flare glared into the pool of seeing she had been camped next to for several days. Watching the progress of her opponents was consuming much of her time, but she had to know what she was up against.

As she watched Twilight's transformation, a smooth grin graced her lips, "Excellent. The elements are activating. This will make things much more interesting. Quicksilver!"

Beside in a literal flash stood a proud pegasus, burning with the power of the sun, "Yes, majesty?"

"I have a task for you..."

Comments

[starshine_dash]

Twilight's transformation definitely based on:

[zRedwind]

Aww, so good yet so short.

I must say I was a bit surprised when Blueblood was the enemy. It is just a bit concerning how easily he was taken down. Either that means he was really weak, or that the elements are all-powerful.

[starshine_dash]

1704997

He was firing blindly into a dust cloud, giving the elements time to build their charge, they then restored him to harmony, cause that's what they do.

Maybe he'll be less of a douchenozzle too.