Pawns
Pawns
Twilight Sparkle didn’t have much time left. Since Vanish had burst through Rarity’s store, and Twilight and her friends had proceeded to make a quick dash for Cloudsdale, evening had come and the sun was setting. They knew they couldn’t keep up with the artificial Alicorn by running, but they had to make sure that Rainbow Dash knew of the danger she was in. Meanwhile, back at Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash had tried telling the other Pegasi about Vanish, but they thought the idea was ridiculous. Nopony had actually seen or heard about Derpy lately, so they thought she was just back in Ponyville.
Rainbow decided that convincing the Pegasi would be too time-consuming, so she decided on pushing clouds around to make bridges to the important areas of Cloudsdale, such as the residential cloud homes of most Pegasi, or the weather control center, much to the confusion of the other Pegasus ponies in the area. She tried asking for their help, and while some decided to take her seriously, most simply went about their daily lives. In the end, only a few actually chose to help her with the building of cloud paths. By the time Twilight and her friends reached Cloudsdale, they still hadn’t seen any sign of Vanish, but they noticed a strange set of clouds falling from Cloudsdale. Upon their approach, the realization sunk in that the clouds were set in place as though they were leading up to Cloudsdale, like a spiral staircase without bars or walls.
“That looks really cool, do you think Rainbow made that?” Pinkie Pie was excited at the sight of the ‘cloud stairwell’, since it looked more like a decoration than proper use of clouds, though Applejack didn’t like the look of the structure that spiraled up to Cloudsdale, voicing her opinion openly. “I don’t think so, Rainbow wouldn’t just go off n’ start makin’ structures without a reason, n’ if she wants Cloudsdale to be safe, I don't see how this would do it.” Suddenly, a familiar voice caught the attention of the mares. “Hey, guys! Aren’t you supposed to be looking after Vanish?” Rainbow Dash saw her friends and decided to fly over to see why they came all the way from Carousel Boutique.
Twilight motioned for Rainbow to come down slightly, raising her voice to speak to her as she motioned for her flying friend to come closer. “Rainbow, Vanish used Derpy’s wings and his invisibility to break Carousel Boutique’s door open by force, and escape. We ran over to see if he came here. Have you been in Cloudsdale this whole time?” Rainbow scratched her head in response to Twilight’s question. “Yeah, no one’s showed up as long as I’ve been in Cloudsda-… What’s that sound?” Rainbow had heard two sounds, both distinct: A strange buzz coming from behind her friends, in the distance, and panic being stirred up from Cloudsdale. “Girls, I need to get back to Cloudsdale; I think I hear screaming. Go see what that buzz is. It's coming from over there.”
After pointing behind her friends, Rainbow turned and flew back up to Cloudsdale. Upon reaching it, she saw many Pegasi who hadn’t helped her, having now lost their precious wings. “Vanish WAS here; he just waited 'til I left!” As she searched around for the Pegasi who were stranded on stray clouds, de-winged and isolated, the other mares turned to see Scootaloo fluttering her wings rigorously while riding on her prized scooter, coming towards them with a look of determination in her eyes. She skidded to a stop, just short of crashing into Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, before taking off her helmet.
“Where’s Rainbow Dash? Rarity told me and the others that she was in trouble, so I sped straight over here to help!” Twilight appreciated the gesture, but felt that Scootaloo would be in trouble, should Vanish find her. “Scootaloo, get away from here! There’s a Pegasus pony… unicorn… a-alicorn…?" She realized that describing the stallion would be pointless. "Look, there's a pony in Cloudsdale who’s taking the wings of other Pegasi! If he gets yours, he-…” Rainbow Dash could be heard struggling, despite Cloudsdale being a fair distance above the ponies on the ground. Scootaloo didn’t listen to Twilight Sparkle’s warning. “No! Rainbow's in trouble! We’ve gotta go help her!” The filly tried speeding off, but Twilight used her magic to cause her scooter to hover, immobilizing it.
“Put me DOWN! I’ve gotta go to help Rainbow! She could be in trouble!” Scootaloo tossed her helmet onto Twilight’s horn, stunning her just long enough for Scootaloo to get some distance between herself and the girls, before she used her wings to start jumping on top of the cloud staircase, one cloud at a time. Twilight tossed the helmet to Pinkie Pie, and used her magic to grab Scootaloo’s tail, removing her from the clouds and bringing her back to the ponies on the ground as the lavender unicorn intercepted the orange filly's inevitable complaint, with her own words. “If Rainbow knew you’d get hurt trying to help her, she’d never forgive you, or herself! The best thing for you to do, is to go get Rarity and bring her here!”
Just then, they heard the sound of galloping coming up from behind them. Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle were running as fast as they could to reach the mares. Twilight dropped Scootaloo upon seeing Rarity, who was exhausted, yet seemed to be smirking as she caught her breath. “Sorry, girls. I tried getting here as fast as I could, but I told Scootaloo to run ahead and stop you. Listen, there’s something about Vanish I didn’t mention earlier: While we were at the boutique, I...” Just then, a scream was heard from nearby. Turning around, they saw that Scootaloo had gone missing. The girls thought they heard a muffled voice, but Apple Bloom confirmed their fears. “Scootaloo! Where’d y’go!? She just… vanished outta thin air!”
Rainbow Dash went back to the edge of Cloudsdale to reach the girls again. “Lots of the Pegasi up here have had their wings taken! Twilight! Get a letter to the princess, asking for the Wonderbolts to come here as soon as they can!” Twilight shook her head. “There’s no time! Scootaloo was just here, now she’s gone! Apple Bloom said she just vanished!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what she heard, but was even more startled by Pinkie Pie’s sudden scream, focused above and in front of the light blue Pegasus pony. Rainbow lifted her head and saw that Vanish had materialized. He was still using Derpy’s wings, and he no longer had his hat or saddlebag, but was holding Scootaloo up by her forelegs, with her back to him; it looked like he was about to take her wings, and given how she was being handled, it would only be a matter of the stallion leaning his head forward.
“Drop her, right now! It's me you want, right? C’mon! Let’s go! You and me! We’ll settle this right now, if that’s what you want!” Vanish glared angrily at Rainbow Dash in response, clearly struggling to hold Scootaloo up with Derpy’s somewhat unfamiliar wingpower alone. “If you desire her release, then prove your loyalty! Come and get her!” Vanish flew over Rainbow Dash, and above the large cloud platform she was standing on. Rainbow tried to dash after him, but Vanish simply turned himself and Scootaloo invisible again, causing the mare to stop and look around in confusion and slowly-increasing frustration, knowing she might crash into the two, injuring the filly if she couldn't see either one.
Rainbow shouted. “Come on! Show yourself, you coward!” Vanish appeared in front of her, as both of them hovered high above the ground, and even the surrounding clouds while the gray-maned stallion addressed the furious Pegasus pony. “I told you I’d make you suffer, and now I have my chance!” Vanish’s second horn glowed as he lifted Scootaloo up to it, causing a burning sound to be heard just behind the orange filly’s back. Rainbow Dash gasped in terror. "No! I'm almost out of time!" Scootaloo tried looking at the source of pain emanating from the base of her wings, hearing Vanish chuckling to himself in the process. "What's he doing? I-Is this…"
“No! Stop!!!” Rainbow tried going for Vanish, but his sudden glare as he lifted his head from Scootaloo’s back, as well as his sick grin, caused her to hover back in fear. Scootaloo heard the sound of the alicorn’s magic stopping, as the filly became confused in the process. "W-Was that it? A small burn?" She couldn’t see her wings as long as the stallion was blocking her view of them with his hooves. She didn’t know if they were still there, but didn’t have time to look, as Vanish shouted at Rainbow Dash. “It’s all over! Now SUFFER!!!”
Vanish dropped Scootaloo from high above the clouds and ground, where it would clearly be dangerous for any non-flying pony to be dropped from. Rainbow saw Scootaloo fall and went straight after her, averting her eyes from the stallion. She managed to get under the filly with relative ease as she matched her speed to catch her, using her wings in an attempt to hover from their position approximately seventy feet above the clouds, to clouds that had been freshly ‘bridged’ for Pegasi without wings to use. However, it was at this time that she noticed something about just what Vanish had accomplished. "W-Wait, huh? There's burns, but why's Scootaloo still got her wings? Wait...!" Just as she looked up, Vanish had pounced on top of her, sending the orange Pegasus filly airborne and pinning the light blue mare below him as they plummeted to the clouds.
Twilight could see them fall, and had an idea where they landed, but they were out of range of her magic. Even Applejack’s lasso couldn’t hope to reach them. Twilight thought she could do something, but they were obscured by a large cloud platform, and she couldn’t see exactly where they had landed. Scootaloo had been launched away from them, but due to quick thinking as well as some fancy hovering with her wings, landed on a cloud that was about thirty feet away from Rainbow Dash and the merciless stallion that was now pinning down all four of her legs with his own hooves, leaving her wings fluttering helplessly.
“My dear, I swore that I would make you suffer…” Vanish spoke with a tone of menacing hatred as Rainbow Dash struggled to break free of his stance on her. Her wings were brandished, and she tried to move her head to see the stallion, but she could feel the cloud beneath her, and hear the magic of his horn being activated just behind her. Rainbow was at his mercy, and he had none to give to her. “Now… FACE MY WRATH, YOU IGNORANT MARE!”
Vanish pushed his horn into her back, feeling like he was trying to pierce straight through her and into the cloud with his second unicorn’s horn, as they remained perilously close to the edge of the soft cloud they had landed on. The burning pain in her back was inexplicable, as Rainbow tried to struggle in every direction in her attempt to break out of his stance, to no avail, letting out a soul-shattering scream of terror and anguish: “YYYYEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!”
Twilight and her friends heard the scream pierce the late evening winds, as they were directly below where the two flyers had landed, being a mere sixty feet below the clouds and stuck on the ground. Fluttershy couldn’t take hearing the pain her friend was going through, and tried rushing to help her by flying straight up, aiming for the location of the scream. However, she stopped when she saw that Scootaloo was staring in horror, fixing her gaze towards the edge of the cloud, where Rainbow was now being held up by two hooves on her neck, without her wings to help her.
Vanish had stolen her wings, and chose not to be hesitant in his usage of them. His coat had changed to the same color as Rainbow Dash’s as he hovered in the air, a hoof above the clouds, with surprising balance considering how he had only just acquired the wings of the fastest flyer in Cloudsdale. “You… You couldn’t even protect yourself, much less your friends! You’ve proven to be utterly unreliable as an ‘Element of Loyalty’. So allow me the honor…” Vanish raised her up. “… of ending your suffering!!!”
Vanish threw Rainbow straight down off the cloud, as she plummeted to the ground below with incredible velocity. Scootaloo couldn’t believe what she witnessed, and let out a terrified scream as she saw her helpless idol fall from Cloudsdale. “RAAAINBOOOW!!!” Twilight saw the horrifying sight take place, but wouldn’t be able to use her magic at such distant range, nor could she focus given how her mind was racing upon seeing her friend falling in peril. “FLUTTERSHY! FORGET VANISH! SAVE RAINBOW DASH!”
Fluttershy saw the terrifying event unfold, and despite Rainbow being a good ten feet below Fluttershy and accelerating quickly, Fluttershy simply reacted on instinct. Despite being a weak flyer under normal circumstances, she went into a divebomb for her fallen friend, who seemed to still be suffering; her face belaying a great deal of pain. Fluttershy caught up to Rainbow, but saw that they were falling much too fast to simply grab her and hover safely to the ground. In a last ditch effort, she grabbed Rainbow Dash and tried flapping her wings several times, bracing herself by lowering her head as they both tumbled onto the ground with great force, Fluttershy risking life and limb to ensure the safety of her friend.
Vanish looked down from his perch above them and laughed maniacally. “You truly are no different than she is! AH HA Ha ha ha ha ha!” Vanish used his horn to conceal himself, allowing his laughter to linger in the wind as the ponies on the ground were helpless to do anything other than rush to the aid of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo watched in fear, but appeared to be relieved that the one whom she devoted her life to living like, had begun to be moving slightly. However, this relief quickly dissipated as Vanish uncloaked himself right in front of her; she thought she was safe, but she was wrong.
But Scootaloo suddenly began to feel uneasy, as Vanish simply stared at her with a distant, unreadable expression in his eyes. “As for you… my precious filly…” He seemed to grab the cloud as if he intended to launch himself at Scootaloo. The filly had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, but much to her shock, the stallion gave a look of sorrow with soft, sad eyes, seemingly filled with regret. “… You have suffered far too much, my dear.” Vanish delicately carried the cloud that she was on, hovering it over to the area where Rainbow Dash had just been thrown from.
Scootaloo was stunned at the change in demeanor that the dual-horned Alicorn had suddenly begun displaying. She could hear the panicked voices of ponies below her as they shouted in fear that their friends might not respond. Just as she noticed them, Vanish flew into the air and hovered above the large cloud platform, before diving at incredible speed right through the center of it, punching a hole through the cloud, right to the ‘cloud-formed spiral staircase’ that Scootaloo tried climbing earlier.
Vanish looped around and back through the hole he just made, stopping to hover in front of Scootaloo. “Your friends could use some reassurance… Go to them.” Vanish concealed himself behind a stray cloud, using his magic to camouflage himself before completely vanishing from the sight of Scootaloo. She didn’t say anything; she was much too worried about the state of the others to attempt to converse with this stallion. She jumped down one cloud at a time, and as she neared the bottom, she jumped off a few feet away from the clouds that had been placed closest to the ground, tripping and landing on her chin once she reached the ground, grunting from the impact.
Sweetie Belle heard the sound Scootaloo had made upon reaching the ground, and turned around, squeakily shouting her friend's name with significant relief in her voice. “Scootaloo! You’re okay! Did that pony do anything to you while you wer-…” Scootaloo ignored her friend and ran over to check on Rainbow Dash, prompting Rarity and Applejack to stand in front of her, shielding her from the sight of her intended target of examination.
Scootaloo was determined to get her way. “M-Move it! I want to see! Is she okay? LET ME GO!” Suddenly, a voice came from behind Rarity and Applejack. “L… Let me see her.” Rainbow Dash was pained, but not unconscious. She had a massive burn wound on her back, but wanted to make sure Scootaloo was okay despite her own pain and position. Applejack moved over as Scootaloo raced past Rarity and ran up to the burned, light blue mare. “Rainbow! I’m here, what is it?”
Rainbow Dash simply smiled a weak, frail smile, upon seeing that Scootaloo was okay. “… Heh… y-you’re a tough one… pipsqueak…” Rainbow passed out from the pain, as Fluttershy, using Twilight and Pinkie Pie as her crutches for balance, hobbled over to the rest of her friends with a look of curious concern in her eyes. “I-Is she… alright?” Twilight motioned for Rarity to come help Fluttershy. Upon Rarity replacing her fellow unicorn as a crutch, Twilight walked over to Rainbow Dash, placing her head on her fallen friend’s cheek. “She sounds like she’s just sleeping… we can’t do anything if we stay here, and I don’t want to risk Scootaloo or Fluttershy being attacked. Come on. We’ll head back to my place.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.056 seconds
Total duration
860 users online
1,485,219 hits today, 2,924,228 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.®
What's up with the three dots in the dialogues?
1834939 It's an ellipsis, made to represent a lengthly pause taken by a character. Vanish uses them often in Chapter 10 because he's struggling to speak, but the pauses are mostly used as a moment for the characters to think over what they want to say, or give the pony they're speaking to, a chance to respond, before realizing that they may need to clarify a statement.
Admittedly, I overuse the ellipsis, though it's mostly with Vanish. I tried curbing further usage of it, especially in the narrative dialogue (where it made little sense to use it), but there's a lot of it. Thankfully, it had been reduced in later chapters, but by Chapter 12, they are still nervous with regards to the events transpiring. Sorry if it's a problem, though...
1834966
Haha. A bit too much, since all the characters use it. But it's your story.
Now there's one question I think you should answer in later chapters: Who is Vanish's 'client'?!
1835087
Oh, that gets its' answer in the next arc (which will be around five chapters, though my chapters are relatively short, aside from Chapter 12)! But I thank you for your comment on my usage of ellipsis: With Twilight being analytical, she often takes the time to think things over, and the same goes for Vanish. Even in the show, Twilight sometimes breaks into long pauses (normally when reading books and having someone talk to her. Heh...), though the ponies only do so because of intimidation due to Vanish. This lessens over time, though I suppose I should consider reducing it in other chapters... Regardless, thanks for the comment!