Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel

by SSJRandomMaster

Chapter 47: Brutal Adversaries

Chapter 47: Brutal Adversaries
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“Alright, let’s get started!” Azure called out, not even bothering to wait to see what his opponent was capable of. His opponent stood taller than him—however, he was nothing compared to the fully grown dragon from way back when Fluttershy proved she could be assertive. Tack wasn’t too much taller than him, but definitely bigger.

Tack lowered himself down onto all fours and began rushing towards him. Tack had a reach advantage and tried to take it, slamming down one of his claws as he rushed towards him. However, Azure was a little faster than he gave him credit for, the attack just nicking his tail hairs. The very next moment, the unicorn slammed his back legs into the dragon’s underbelly, lifting him off his feet—by a few inches. Tack tried to slam down, but something wouldn’t let him, like something was holding him up. He glared over, seeing Twilight, horn ablaze, holding him up so he couldn’t just smother Azure.

Applejack moved in next, Azure sliding aside so he could get out of the danger zone. She mimicked his maneuver, smashing the dragon not once but twice with her powerful back legs. Tack finally decided enough was enough. He moved his arms, despite Twilight’s best efforts to keep him in check, and grabbed hold of the earth pony, who began to wiggle frantically to dislodge herself from the grip. Tack began to lift her above her head as the orange pony began to utter a series of unintelligible grunts that amounted to “let me go”.

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted; Azure whirled around, horn having been alight this whole time—as were his eyes. The last thing on Twilight’s mind was the fact this wasn’t the first time she’d seen him exactly like this. The two both shot a single shot—one into Tack’s left arm, the other into his right, setting the farmer mare free and allowing her to fall, four hooves directly onto Tack’s face.

Tack roared in pain as the hit took hold, gritting his teeth. Thinking quickly, Twilight yanked Applejack away via a telekinetic pull. Good timing too, for Azure was letting loose with a few more lasers. This time, they were aimed for the dragon’s chest. However, Tack put his full attention on Azure at this point, blocking each of the shots in turn.

Applejack and Twilight then watched as the glow on Azure’s horn began to change from cyan to orange—he was about to use a fire spell.

“Azure, wait!” Twilight called out, a little too late, as Azure shot a blazing ball of flames at Tack. The morphed dragon offered no resistance, allowing himself to take the full brunt of the shot. With that, Twilight groaned.

“What’s the matter, Twi?” Applejack asked, but it soon became clear. Tack merely brushed his chest, looking completely unfazed.

“Dragons have flame retardant scales…” Twilight summed up, her hoof to her face.

“And…” Tack seemed to pick up where she left off, “They can also…”

Azure braced himself as Tack inhaled, stretching out to his full height. After that deep breath, the dragon went down on all fours, blowing out a stream of flames in Azure’s direction. Azure remained in the spot, his horn lighting up as the blaze seemed to engulf him. As the flames gave way to an incredible amount of smoke and a blackened path, Tack turned to the mares.

“I’m surprised…” Tack said, “For friends, you guys sure didn’t seem to care…”

“It’s not that we don’t care…” Twilight responded.

“We just have faith in each other…” Azure’s voice came from the other side of the smoke and embers. Tack turned, mildly alarmed, to Azure, who had put up a shield, blocking the flames from hitting him.

“I just wish you’d not put yourself in obvious danger like that!” Twilight shouted at Azure, rather unnecessarily.

“What’d I just say?!”

“…Faith…” Tack grumbled, utterly baffled at this display, “Right…”

“This ain’t the time to be fightin’, you two…” Applejack scolded, “We still got to take care of this big guy first…”

Tack looked around, eyes wide, but whatever he was looking at wore off, and he hunched down, “Yeah, we’ve still got a fight to carry out…You’re on your side, and I’m on mine…”

Azure stood upright, his shield having long since vanished. He dragged his hoof twice along the ground, before jumping impossibly high—an application of his signature gravity spell—and beginning to come down at Tack. Tack responded in turn by catching the pony and throwing him back, aiming to scrape him along the ground. Azure shifted his weight, lessening the impact.

Tack began to fire fireballs.

“Applejack—“ Twilight started, ready to move in and offer her coltfriend some assistance, with one of her best friends at her side, like usual.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Applejack shook her head, “Guess I thought I heard—never mind.”

With that, Applejack took the lead, Twilight following just behind her. Applejack again pulled out her lasso, and began to twirl it with her tail. Azure continued to dodge, but he dragged a little on his foreleg—the foreleg Twilight remembered, he’d hurt so long ago—did it still bother him from time to time, even now?

“Wide open!” Tack shouted, aiming to bring a claw down on Azure’s body. Applejack threw out her lasso, just barely stopping the attack from connecting. The bookish mare was the next to make a move, firing out a few lasers which more or less amounted to warning shots. Tack dodged to the left, the shots wide right of both him and Azure. However, Twilight had forgotten a small detail.

Applejack was still holding on to the lasso, and was thus finding herself dragging her hooves as the dragon leapt right, taking her along. Applejack struggled to hold her ground as Twilight reached Azure.

“Are you okay?” she asked, “Does that leg still…”

“Leg?” Azure asked, “Oh…” He looked at it, “It used to. Guess I just messed up my landing a bit…More importantly…”

Twilight snapped around. Applejack was still being dragged by Tack, who was spreading his wings—his wings?!

“Applejack, let go!” Twilight shouted. Applejack released the lasso, grunting as she began to fall. Azure was the one to act this time, leaping into position to catch her on his back.

“Thanks, Az,” Applejack said, but there was no time for Azure to say anything back (or for Twilight to say anything about this), for a few fireballs began to rain down. The ponies began to move about, dodging the flames as they landed either in the murky swamp water, the mud, or dry land, the latter two seemingly flammable and the former sending frightened animals running away in a hurry.

“He’s out of control…” Twilight noted.

“He’s still got that rope tied around him, though…” Azure said, crouching low, his belly nearly touching the ground.

“You’re not—“ Twilight cut herself off, having long ago realized such an argument was futile. Azure didn’t even answer her, and he made what Twilight could only describe as a super jump.

“What the—“ Applejack said, “I knew he could jump, but not…”

“It’s the gravity spell…” Twilight said, “He’s made himself lighter so he could leap up there and…”

Azure grabbed the end of the rope in his teeth, dangling precariously on the edge. Tack turned his head to the side, seeing the unicorn there, and scoffed.

“Well, you caught me!” he snapped, “Now what’re you going to do!?”

Azure smashed his jaws together as tightly as he could and more, so much so it felt like his teeth were going to shatter under the pressure, as Tack began to fly crazily, aiming to shake Azure off. However, suddenly, Tack found Azure’s weight was…increasing?

He turned again, seeing not only Azure’s horn glowing, but the rope itself glowing.

Twilight squinted her eyes above, and her eyes widened.

“No…Azure…” she started.

“What’s he doin’ up there?!” Applejack asked, “Can’t see even with my hat providin’ shade!”

“He’s making himself heavier…!”

Tack struggled to hold on, but ultimately, he began to lose altitude. Azure continued to focus, using the gravity spell to increase his weight and the rope’s weight, and within a few seconds, Tack began to plummet, Azure holding on to the rope. Azure let go, quickly shifting his own weight back to normal with the gravity spell and attempting to cushion his fall—it wasn’t going to be pretty anyway. Tack, meanwhile, struggled with the heavy rope; trying to hack it away with his claws.

Azure was heading fast towards the ground, gritting his teeth.

Darn it, I think I bit off more than I could chew… Azure thought, closing his eyes—

He hit a body hard, and a feminine grunt sounded. He looked down, nervous. His eyes opened real wide when he saw who had broken his fall.

“T-Twilight?!” Azure asked, concerned as he got up off of her, “Are you alright?”

Twilight coughed a little, “Good thing you made yourself lighter…That would have been—“

“Don’t even…” Azure started, “Are you sure you’re…”

“I’m fine, just trying to catch you knocked the wind out of—“

Applejack scoffed, running forward, “While you two apologize to each other, I’m gonna make sure he can’t lift off again!”

“Just try!” Tack shouted, taking another deep breath and burping out a fireball at Applejack. The orange mare gasped and quickly dodged to her left, gritting her teeth as it singed her side just a bit. This was all the time Tack needed, for he rose to his feet and cracked his neck.

“That hurt…” Tack undid the knot on the lasso before dropping it to the side. He then hunched over again, “But it’s gonna take a lot more than that…”

“Yeah…Dragons aren’t known for being pushovers…” Twilight said, getting to her hooves, Azure looking over to her, “And they are pretty resilient…”

“Sounds about right,” Azure said, “You alright to continue?”

“It’ll take more than you falling on me to take me out of this,” Twilight assured him for the third time.

“And I’m still okay to continue…” Applejack assured before Azure could ask her.

“Alright…” Azure said, “Just don’t want you two to get hurt because of something I did…again…”

The battle continued again, Tack letting out a roar as the second round of the fight commenced…
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Guided mainly by the increasing ferality of the wildlife, Bronclav advanced deeper into the forest, knocking aside any poor souls that happened to get in his way. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of battle, and crackling fire, and knew Tack had cut off the harmonics. Perfect for him. He could find the item and get out of here without them noticing a thing.

He reached a sort of clearing, the trees above giving out light, but the ground still as swampy as it had been before. Bronclav stood as upright as he could, making use of his keen eyesight as he took a look around the clearing. He could feel it. Something was close by. He had nothing but his instincts to go on—it had to be here, but where…

The setting sun shone down through as the griffon looked around, growing more and more agitated by the second.

I can’t stay here forever… Bronclav said.

“I think there’s somepony up ahead!” a distant voice called. The griffon’s mood worsened. Hadn’t that foolish dragon cut them all off?

Suddenly, he caught sight of something. It was a mild glint, coming from a nearby mudhole. Bronclav’s eyes widened—was this…

He stuck a talon directly into the muck with only a small pause. He dug it out—a corroded silver bracelet, covered in mud, the jewel at the center a dark bluish color. The griffon smirked.

“Hold it right there!”

Bronclav turned, stowing the Element into his cloak, surveying his opponents—three of the Bearers, three Royal Guards—one of whom might have been the captain, considering his armor was purple in color. The lattermost of the ponies had been the one to give the order.

“You’re not going to take me in quietly,” Bronclav said, “Why don’t I make this quick?”

The griffin rushed forward, ignoring the guards. If he could get one of the Bearers back, he could—

A wave of pressure slammed into his side. Bronclav flipped over in the air, spreading his wings and stopping his trajectory with a gentle landing. He looked up, gritting his teeth. The green unicorn was the one who’d attacked, but it was the Bearer of Loyalty who spoke up.

“You won’t be walking right out of here with another one of my friends!” Rainbow shouted, “We stopped you guys once, we can do it again!”

“You all could have just kept your noses out of this…” The griffon said, raising his talons. “It’s not like this concerns you…”

“If it’s a threat to the safety of our country, it’s a concern of ours, alright,” The red unicorn retorted coolly, “Bonus points if it could potentially be a concern of the whole world…”

Bronclav scoffed, “You don’t understand anything at all…It’s a shame…”

His talons curled up ever so slightly. Then, without warning, his hands burst into flames.

“I guess I’m just going to have to burn you guys up to get you out of my way!” Bronclav shouted, pounding the ground and sending a few waves of fire towards his opponents, “Something I’m alright with!”

The attacks struck, but not their intended targets—the captain’s horn was alight. The griffon’s eyes were wide; the shield was a lot bigger than it should have been.

“Amazing job, Captain!” The green unicorn shouted.

The shield faded, the captain beginning to make his own moves.

“Alright…Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, try to stay close to one of us; we’re going to try to make sure he doesn’t pull a fast one!” Shining shouted, “This time, we’ll recover an Element!”

Bronclav ignited his fists again, Virid speaking up.

“I’ll bet even he has his own chest gem…” Virid said, “Last I checked, griffons aren’t able to use magic…”

Bronclav scoffed, “So you guys know then…oh well…”

The griffon began to rush the group, “It doesn’t change a thing!”

As the battle began, the cloaked creature beginning to grin, he thought to himself,

Little do you realize, Captain of the Guard… he thought, thinking of what he’d already secured, I’ve already pulled a fast one…But I don’t mind pulling another…
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Even if they weren’t still relatively close to the battle, the blind colt had a feeling he could still hear the battle against that dragon without the hearing bonus. He could also hear another battle taking place. He remained close to Spike and Fluttershy; the latter of whom was currently tending to the bear’s wounds, not willing to move from its side until she was healthy. However, as he continued to stand guard for the pegasus and dragon, a question began to form in the back of his head.

Do I really have to stand here…?

“Something’s not right,” Silver announced, his pale eyes narrowed in the direction of where he’d left Azure to himself—ironically, with the mares he’d entangled himself in a triangle not too long ago.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Spike asked flatly, not sure at all. Which wasn’t too hard to believe; he hadn’t really seen the cloaked ponies in action.

“He knows we’re here, he knows you’re defenseless…” Silver responded, “No offense…” He turned his head back to the others. Spike seemed offended for a few moments, but ultimately shrugged it off; Fluttershy didn’t seem to hear him over caring for the bear.

“Your point being?” the drake asked, still unsure.

“Why hasn’t he tried to take advantage?” Silver asked, turning back to the battle.

“Hey, hey!” Spike shouted, stunned, “You want to jinx it or something?!”

“No, far from it…” Silver explained, “But it didn’t stop them before. The other members had always been ready to try whatever they felt was necessary to get whatever they were after—even if it was underhooved. But…with this dragon…It’s like he never even considered it.

Spike stepped next to Silver—it was easy to figure it was him given he walked on two legs on the muddy ground.

“Then what makes him so different?” Spike asked. Silver could almost see the fight like it was happening in front of him, his auditory talent providing for that.

I can see the strain of the effort he’s putting out to subdue them. I can feel he’s trying as hard as he can…but…at the same time…It’s like he’s…not into it…

“His heart…” Silver mumbled after some silence.

“What about it?” Spike questioned again.

“From every other pony I’ve been around; every encounter I’ve been at, I’ve noticed it…” Silver continued, “Regardless of the situation…regardless of how reprehensible it was to the rest of ponykind…they enjoyed what they did. Every last second…But…not him…”

“Then why’s he fighting so hard?” Spike was on a roll with asking so many questions.

“He…probably never had a choice in the matter…”
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A stream of fire rushed through the swamps; the unicorns and earth pony getting clear. Tack landed hard on the ground, all fours, before rushing Azure, teeth bared. The cyan colt didn’t back down, jumping over the dragon’s head. This was then followed by him dropping hard between the dragon’s wings, causing him to hiss in pain. Azure took a breather, shifting about there, his opponent seemingly stunned.

“Az, watch it!” Applejack warned. The dragon’s tail swished down at him. Azure managed to form a shield, but it didn’t hold, the shock of it breaking sending Azure back. As Azure tried to recover, Twilight sent a few laser shots Tack’s way. Tack maneuvered one of his wings to block the attacks, and looked towards her. He blindly fired a couple of fireballs in her direction. Twilight attempted to move, but she was in a bad spot; the mud causing her to slip. She gasped, a magenta flash quickly surging from her horn. The next, the fireballs went through thin air, impacting the nearest structure behind where she just was.

“Twilight!?” Azure called.

“Um…” Azure looked up, seeing Twilight clinging to a branch, sheepishly grinning, “Guess sometimes I can’t do it right…”

“Most of the time you do it, though…” Azure said, “I’m still not sure how it works completely…”

“Are you done with this already?” Tack asked flatly, “I don’t like this that much more than you…”

Tack spread his wings, slowly beginning to hover. Applejack grit her teeth in frustration at this.

“Every time he starts takin’ off we can’t do much about it…” she griped, just as Tack began to go into the air, ready to start another aerial bombing raid. “Wish Rainbow had stayed back with us…”

“No, the others needed her, too…” Twilight asserted, “We don’t know what the other one’s capable of—they always seem to work in pairs, too…”

“So what’re we gonna do about that?!” Applejack shouted, as another barrage of fireballs came down, Tack having thrown them down. They scrambled to dodge, and found a rock that seemed like cover enough for the time being.

“I’m sure…we have a way to get airborne that…isn’t so risky…” Azure thought aloud, looking to Twilight, “Twilight…Do you still remember that wing spell?”

“Well, I mean, I do, but…” Twilight began.

“I’ll cover the air,” Azure said, “You two can stay on the ground in case he tries to come down again.”

“But…you’ve never…Back during that time in Cloudsdale…” Twilight responded, unsure.

“There’s no time…” Azure replied, looking up again. Tack was circling, no doubt looking for them again—it was a wonder he hadn’t tried to light the whole swamp on fire by now, “You’re just gonna have to trust me on this…”

Twilight bit her lip, unsure. It was true Azure had proven himself time and again, but…now, Azure was about to try flying with wings, in the midst of a conflict, no less! Had he taken time to practice something like this—

“Twi, it’s Az we’re dealin’ with,” Applejack commented, “I don’t think he’s gonna mess up if he knows what’s at stake…”

That was enough to get Twilight to relent. Sometimes she wondered if she worried too much about Azure—but, a small part of her told her it was her right to do so as his marefriend.

“Okay…just…be careful, Azure…” Twilight nodded, her horn igniting, “But don’t make me regret it!”

“Don’t worry,” Azure said, feeling the spell starting to take effect, “I won’t!”
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Tack flew around, sticking close to the battleground, baselessly wondering what he was to do if the ponies he was fighting didn’t show themselves. He didn’t dare check on Bronclav; he’d just get lectured about how the griffon most certainly did not need his help. Even though his time with all those creatures had told him it would have been fair play to torch the forest if it meant drawing the enemy out of hiding, he didn’t want to do that. He figured they’d show themselves sooner or later if he let up on the firepower for a bit.

His superiors had also told him attacking non-combatants was A-OK if it meant he could claim a victory or use them as a bargaining chip; given how close the other non-guard unicorn, the Element of Kindness, and that other dragon were, it wouldn’t have been that hard. However, he didn’t want to indulge that, either. Why was he hesitating? He’d been raised in an environment where nothing but success mattered; to Tartarus with the rest…

His introspection was cut short by an array of cyan bolts flying awkwardly at him. Tack pulled up a little, easily dodging the wayward attacks. Tack looked up, growling just a little…and was summarily shocked by what he saw.

It was the cyan unicorn colt; horn and eyes still alight with magic, now sporting a pair of what looked like translucent pegasus wings…

“Still not quite perfect,” Azure said, looking as though he were having a little trouble, “But something had to be done about your ability to fly…”

“Indeed,” Tack responded, his shock abating, “Tell me, when could you grow wings…?”

“Just an upside to having a very talented marefriend…” Azure brushed it off.

“I see…” Tack felt himself once again be confused. Sure, they did occasionally yell at one another—but they also yelled to one another. The dragon shook his head, remembering what he had to do here, “Well, I must admit your sudden flight is impressive, but it won’t do you much good!”

Azure flapped his wings hard, seemingly straining, “Not quite used to the wings, but I think I’ll prove you wrong!”

With battle yells uttered from both sides, the two began to fly at each other…
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It was significantly harder than Bronclav thought, though he shouldn’t have been too surprised—his opponents composed of a pegasus that was clearly showing she could hold her own, a unicorn and earth pony that if nothing else served as distractions, and three very well-trained Royal Guards.

Bronclav tried to take flight again, only to find Rainbow Dash waiting for him there. Griffons were naturally a lot bigger than ponies, making her an annoying target. Bronclav tossed a few fireballs at her; she was a bit too fast for each of them, though.

This battle’s taking forever… Bronclav thought. He then noticed the all-too-familiar sight of a rainbow charging him, and gritted his teeth—however that worked with beaks, anyway. He moved ever so slightly, as though he were trying to frontflip over the pegasus. His talons grabbed onto Rainbow Dash…however, her momentum didn’t make the attack so easy. Bronclav’s arms began to pull, putting him in the awkward position instead. He tried to right himself with his wings, but while he was distracted with that, something slammed hard into his back, causing him to release Rainbow.

While he was distracted, Blitz had managed to ram into the griffon’s back, at his own top speed. The red unicorn began to fall, shouting but two words.

“Now, Virid!”

Virid’s horn, alight with a very bright light, blasted out a pressure wave. Bronclav couldn’t dodge—the pulse of pressure was coming at him far too fast to keep up with. The attack slammed into his back, causing him to fall to the ground, his wings pretty much de-aired. Bronclav landed on the ground, catching himself on all fours.

“Give it up,” commanded their captain, taking a few steps away from Rarity, “I don’t think you stand a chance against us right now…”

Bronclav rose to his feet, “That’s what you think…”

“With the way things are going, you can’t possibly pull a fast one on us!” Rainbow declared, floating down just a bit.

To this, Bronclav chuckled, alarming those present and not on his side. He began to reach into his cloak, pulling out a tarnished silver bracelet with a blue jewel on it.

“That’s…!” Rarity gasped, recognizing the look of it all too well.
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The griffon grinned wickedly as he slipped it on. The instant it reached the right spot on his “wrist”, the Element of Chaos released a sudden shockwave. The others braced themselves as the shockwave burst outward-once only.

Shining knew, without anypony needing to point it out, that things just got a lot more serious. It seemed like the Elements of Chaos doubled as charms…

And judging from the grin on the griffon’s face—and his general look—oh, Celestia, he almost looked bloodthirsty now—things just got a fair bit more complicated.

“Watch out, everypony!” Shining announced, taking full control of the situation—not that he wasn’t already, “I don’t think he’s going to be so easy anymore!”

Author's Note:

Still a little rusty here, but I think I'll manage to get through this without too much hassle. Whatever the case...Please, if you've made it this far, could you leave a comment behind, or a criticism? I need to know what I'm doing wrong.