Act IV: Climactic Collisions
Chapter 20: Second Wind
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At first, Corey had sat on the sidelines. Everyone seemed to have the situation, for the most part, under control. However, not too long after John got here, everything went south. Though undoubtedly fatigued in some way, Norma was still a force to be reckoned with. Fluttercruel was the first to go down, left with an arm broken. Then, Pinkie had her own joy buzzer-or joy taser, whichever it was actually called, turned on her by Norma’s whims.
When this happened, Corey tensed up, and looked up to see Twilight had straightened up to her full height. Then her posture changed, reflecting the anger she was no doubt feeling. Corey felt it too, but he knew from prior experience that going in blind with rage was only going to lead to worse consequences.
“Twilight?” Corey asked, noticing her change in demeanor. He then looked down, seeing the magenta ring forming around his body. He was soon surrounded by a barrier, magenta in color.
“I’ll be back…” Twilight said, shortly before vanishing from his sight. Corey’s eyes widened, and he pushed himself up on his good arm a bit.
“D-damn it!” Corey swore, moving his good leg into position to try to stand up, his eyes closing from the effort it was taking, “Not this again!”
Corey brought his body up, but his head abruptly collided with the inside of the barrier, forcing him back down with another cry of “Shit!” This time, when he hit the ground, he heard a thunk, and felt something roll out of his pocket. He turned his head, seeing what it was.
It was an orb, no bigger than the palm of his hand, and it was still glowing faintly with power. Corey realized what it was, and looked to it.
T-that’s… that’s the orb she was using! Corey thought, I pulled it away from her, but…
His attention soon returned to the outside of the barrier. John had roared to life, Applejack down for the count now.
Damn it! There has to be something I can do! Corey thought, Just taking her orb from her hasn’t helped much! And… and at this rate… they’ll--!
“Calm down… Corey…” Esper’s voice came in through his mind, loud and clear, despite the fight going on to his side, “The answer is closest to you, after all…”
“The answer is…” Corey said, before his eyes fell on the orb. Trying to gather focus despite his panic, Corey began to use his head once more to communicate, “But it’s no use… I couldn’t break a twig in my condition, much less the orb!”
“I did not say to break it, though, did I?” Esper asked, “Look carefully now…what do you see?”
Corey’s attention returned to the fight as the barrier flickered. He could see Rainbow tackle Norma into the far wall. At no point did anyone really look over to him, assuming him out of the battle.
“Norma… she doesn’t see me… In fact, no one does…” Corey responded, turning his attention back to the orb.
“With her attention no longer on you, you’re free to do as you wish,” Esper said, “If you all are still having trouble, then use our magic, contained within that orb you have with you now, to heal yourself!”
“But… if I do that, won’t you…” Corey began, but his attention was soon returned to the fight by the sound of an explosion. He watched as Norma, having used Slayer’s magic, came out of a Rainbow Dash disguise, the real Rainbow flat on her back, smoking from the explosion.
“I don’t believe you have any time left to argue, Corey! Remember what I told you before?? If we died in this battle, it was fine by us! If we get to do that using our powers against Para Norma rather than being forced to give it to her, then by all means, use the orb! Let us fight her too!”
Corey grimly looked on as Twilight, frozen in shock, was protected by Rarity. There was no other way. Regardless of how he felt having to use Norma’s own art against her… if her victims were okay with it, then…
“Tell me what I have to do…” Corey thought, “My horn’s been damaged…”
“Neither Norma nor me have horns, and we’re both capable of runic magic!” Esper said, “Don’t focus on your horn… bring it to wherever you need it instead!”
With that, Corey went to work. It was hard to focus with time seeming to run out, but Corey pressed onward. His senses extended far enough to feel that everyone was still alive, their spirits still emanating the warmth he recognized as theirs. While their signals were weak, it was enough to let him know he still had a little time—that, and his own experience with Norma, was what he needed to know to work fast.
His horn was the first to be healed, since his instincts would probably come back on him anyway. As soon as his horn was in working order, Corey set to work on his damaged bones—the repair process of which hurt like hell, especially when his ribs began to reset. Corey’s eyes suddenly widened as he realized there was no barrier, and he willed himself to stand now, his regular five senses now returning to normal…
And he heard Twilight’s screams, Norma’s taunts…
That was it. No matter what it took, no matter what was thrown at him from here on, no matter what, period…
This was going to end. And Norma was going to pay up hard for everything she’d done.
“Enough!!”
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Twilight couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and for a moment she had wondered if this was just the last synapses of a hopeful brain firing off, so that she wouldn’t have to die suffering. But the pain she was feeling, the breeze that Corey’s aura seemed to give off, the very real sensations she felt… it was all real.
“Corey… how…” Twilight said, slowly standing up, “Weren’t you…”
“I’ll explain later,” Corey said, “Right now, I don’t think there’s a lot of time for that!”
Norma shakily got to her feet, her shock giving way to her anger. “I should have killed you when I’d had the chance!”
“And even if you had, I don’t think the end result would have been different,” Corey said, “But it’s too late for regrets, and if you still have them, you’re going to be re-living them down in Tartarus where you belong!”
With that, Corey clenched his fists, and the aura he gave off seemed to be getting even stronger. Twilight squinted as loose pebbles began to fly up from Corey’s body, and a moment later, Corey’s body moved. He clenched his fist, and punched at the empty air.
A pillar of air pressure shot forth from his extended fist, and nailed Norma square in the chest. Norma, who didn’t heal from John’s earlier attack, hacked up blood as she was sent flying back—it was a miracle she’d gotten any defense up in time.
Norma slammed straight through the wall behind her, and from the subsequent crashing noises probably a couple more. As this happened, Corey moved to follow her. He stopped short, however, turning around to regard Twilight.
“I’m going after her for now,” Corey said, reaching out a hand to her, “There’s just one more thing I’d better do while I’m still here…”
Twilight looked to his hand, which remained shrouded in the aura. She looked back up to him. For a moment, both smiled at each other, before Twilight took hold of his hand. Corey’s eyes closed, and Twilight immediately felt warmth encircle her—Corey’s magical aura had extended, and was now covering her for a moment. Runes shone all over her where she’d been injured, and after a few moments Twilight no longer felt shaky on her feet.
Corey released his hold on her hand at this point, and for a few moments, Twilight’s body kept glowing.
“What did you just—“ Twilight asked.
“I’ll explain it all later, but I think with that you should be able to wake the others up at least,” Corey said, “Alright, I’m going—“
“Wait,” Twilight said, reaching out for his shoulder. Corey turned again, only to find Twilight giving him a stern look…with a smile, “Don’t lose, alright?”
“I already lost once,” Corey said, “I’m not losing to her again!”
With that, Corey sped out of her sight, and a moment later, Twilight heard another crash. She stood, transfixed, even as the crashing continued to sound off, getting further and further away each time.
Just where… did all that power come from? she thought, before mentally slapping herself, Question for later. For now…
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After the lull between the first attack and his second, Norma had at least managed to prepare herself for more, and sure enough, when Corey zipped right after her, she found herself getting pushed back by more air pressure walls. Try as she might, Corey’s repeated attacks pushed her through more and more walls, until finally there were no more walls behind her.
Thus, Norma found herself ejected out of one of the northern towers, surrounded by debris. She quickly righted herself by emitting a pulse of magic from her whole body, and landed on a rooftop below. Corey followed her, and took hold of the debris with his magic, before launching it straight at her. This caused Norma to have to back up again, and thus, she leapt clear across to another building top. Corey landed where she had been a moment ago, still cloaked in the green aura from before.
Norma glared at Corey all the while, still unable to comprehend just how he was up again, much less using magic again.
“Just what do I have to do…” Norma shook her head, “To be rid of you!?”
With Norma still stunned from Corey’s reemergence, Corey crouched down a bit and clenched his fists.
“From here on, it’s in your hands now, Corey. We’re giving you anything we can spare. End it. Don’t hold back!” Esper’s voice came in loud and clear. Corey could feel it. Though it definitely wasn’t all they could do, he felt like he had a substantial amount of power at the ready to use. And he was going to make ample use of it.
“Right!” Corey shouted, and with a small shout, Norma saw his form alter once again. His green aura grew larger, and a small aura began to appear underneath it, attached to his body—the yellowish-white of his light magic aura. As she stared at the dual-aura, Norma finally realized what was going on.
“You’ve…” Norma patted herself, checking where she kept her orbs. When she counted only one, she realized exactly which one she’d been left with, “You’ve taken…”
Her mind took her back to when he was last in the fight, when he’d been freshly blown back, unable to use his horn, and thus his magic, effectively. He had been moving about as though he’d gotten something. Norma snarled.
“Clever…” Norma, to her own shock, began to laugh it off, “The power from that orb, even now, is filling you with the same power it has filled me with. Of course, unlike me, you already had a strong base magic…”
Norma’s fist tightened and she looked at Corey. “So how can you claim to be any better than me, now!? You’re using power stolen from others, just as I have! And I plan to take it back—“
“Wrong,” Corey cut her off, vanishing from her line of sight. Norma stepped back, only to hear Corey’s voice coming back from behind her, “This power is halfway back where it belongs, on the outside world. This orb isn’t a battery, it’s ponies. Ponies you’ve used for far too long against their will.”
Norma whirled around, creating another blade of air pressure to try to slice at Corey, but he moved out of sight yet again, before continuing on.
“The ponies you’ve imprisoned are working together with me now,” Corey continued. Norma turned. He was back where he was when he’d started talking, “They understand the situation, and they know the stakes. I can’t hold back here. Buildings, roads, all the things in the city and castle we broke… those can be replaced. There is always time to rebuild. Lives, however… the lives you tried to step on, the time you’ve taken from the ponies in the orb, and the lives you intend to snuff out over the course of your reign of terror… those can’t.”
“Spare me the lectures!” Norma shouted, “Just how do you know about the ‘will’ of those ponies, anyway!?”
“I’d tell you, but you wouldn’t understand even if I did,” Corey said, “And for my part, I’ve got nothing else to say to you!”
Corey cocked his right fist back. “Just fall, already!”
Then, he threw his fist forward again. Norma braced herself, initially thinking she’d dodged, but she soon realized this wasn’t going to work. She raised a barrier around herself, a dense sphere of red magical energy, just as a wall of air pressure slammed into it with tremendous speed. The barrier cracked, and Norma’s eyes widened as she, barrier and all, was thrown back off the rooftop she was on, kicking up debris as she went.
Corey took a single step forward before letting his speed spell take over, the sheer amount of magic in him easily giving him the extra power he needed to pursue. His muscles tensed and bulged up as he shifted to strength. By the time Norma stopped moving, Corey was on her again, slamming the barrier with a hard right cross, letting the barrier slide back as more cracks appeared on its surface. Norma snarled and began thinking of refocusing her magic, only to gasp as Corey vanished from her sight once again, before reappearing in another direction, slamming her with another wall of air pressure that sent her flying in a different direction, completely through a building, as the barrier cracked some more.
Too…fast…! thought Norma, I can’t find any time to replenish the barrier!
Corey zipped behind her before she could stop moving again, and slammed his rune-coated fist directly into the barrier. The impact spell went off, and Norma couldn’t withhold a scream of shock as the dense barrier shattered, the feedback of which sent her flying back through the building she’d just smashed through. She finally came to rest against the building directly across from it.
Norma slowly picked herself up. She then slammed both of her palms into the road in front of her, creating a plethora of spikes. Corey stood unmoving at first, but shortly afterwards, she saw a large glowing orb break its way through, and Norma could only get out of the way as it impacted the building behind her. The shockwave from the explosion, however, she couldn’t avoid, and she felt her feet lift out from under her as she cried out again.
Corey was on her in a second, lifting his leg, which glowed with runes. Norma just had enough time to note the green intermixed with the yellow-white in the runes before she erected another shield directly in front of her. The shield broke and Norma found herself flying backwards through the air, but that was fine; it gave her the time to put up another barrier.
“It doesn’t look good for you, my dear,” There Discord was again, commenting on her situation from within his prison, “For your sake, I do hope he defeats you this time. I shudder to think what I might do to you if I get out and you aren’t taken care of…”
“Shut your—“ Norma tried to command, only to feel something slam into her barrier, sending cracks all throughout the surface. The very color of the barrier changed as well—its color began to change before her very eyes. Corey soon fell, but threw another beam at the ground to gain some more height. Norma’s eyes trailed behind her as she understood that Corey was aiming to end up behind her.
Corey then shot another beam behind him into the sunlit sky, launching himself straight for her barrier. Norma’s eyes widened as she saw his fist glow once more, and felt the sheer force of his impact spell once again. It was all Norma could do to put another protective coating around herself as her barrier shattered and she was sent back to the ground yet again.
Despite the magic that shielded her body, Norma still slid and bounced along a roadway as she landed, kicking up dust and debris with each time her body lurched. Her magic finally faded as she hit a building back first, coughing up some more blood as she finally came to rest. Norma sat motionless against the side of the building, trying her hardest to collect herself. She lifted one of her hands and checked herself. To her horror, her magic had lost the red it had been for a while. It was nearly the white it was when she was still weak.
At this rate… I… I… I’ll…! Norma’s mind started to go frantic. She couldn’t bear the thought of going back to that prison, unable to move, feel or, this time, get free. There had to be something, anything she could—
“Still kicking, huh?” Discord’s voice came to her again from within his prison, breaking her trance, “It’s almost a pity this is over. Here I was enjoying the show after its latest series of twists. But it seems we’ve reached the climax, wouldn’t you say? Very soon, your little war here will be at its end.”
Norma stopped, and she removed the orb that housed Discord from within her hiding spot. She looked to it. When she’d first made it, she’d had no intention of using it like she had the other orb, but that was before this. She stared to Discord, and Discord stared back, as though understanding what she was about to do.
“Hm, so you think you can handle this?” asked Discord, “You think you can handle the magic of the spirit of chaos himself, huh? I may not be able to stop you in the state I’m in now, but I may not need to worry about that…”
Norma closed her eyes and focused, hearing the distant whoosh of air, knowing Corey was on his way to finish the job. Almost as soon as she connected herself to the great source of magic within the orb and began draining, she felt a lead weight glide directly into her center, and spread through her body—the process being utterly agonizing, and it took all of Norma’s will to contain herself from screaming in pain as the magic began to fill her.
“I can’t imagine this feels good for you, anyway…”
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After knocking Norma towards the road, Corey allowed himself to drop. His senses extended to compass pretty much the whole of Canterlot, even when he wasn’t focusing on them. He could still feel everyone within Canterlot Castle, and on the outer parts of the city, he could feel the guards positioned there. Were they just about done chasing out the manikins, or had they been ordered to move there once they were dealt with? Either way, Corey was relieved that they weren’t close to where he was. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Corey was off again, rushing towards where he sensed Norma’s diminished signal.
“This is it…” Corey said to himself, “This is nearly over! She can’t have that much magic left at this point, right!?”
As he drew close to Norma’s signature, he suddenly stopped short. Norma’s signature was growing again. A few moments later, he saw a tremendous shockwave of power decimate the buildings just down the street, the shockwave devastating the road in front of him as well, sending debris in all directions. Corey rose a barrier to shield himself from the worst of it. As soon as it was done, he looked back. Floating above the new crater that had formed in the road, moving slowly for his position, was Para Norma, her eyes closed. As she drew close to him, he could hear her start to snicker.
“I should warn you now, I’ve never used this kind of magic before,” Norma said, “And I haven’t the slightest idea what I can do in this state.”
Her eyes opened and met his, and Corey could see how wide they were, but more importantly, he could see they had changed. Her sclera in both of her eyes had turned into a deep yellow, and her irises had changed to a deep crimson. Her pupils had shrunk, and blue veins occurred within the altered eyes. To Corey, it looked as though she was in agony, agony she couldn’t entirely shut out.
“But the point is, I have now taken in the spirit of chaos himself, as my battery…” Norma’s eyes visibly twitched, “Do you know what that means?”
Corey crouched down low, shifting back into a battle stance as he braced himself for what was to come.
“I’ll tell you…” Norma spread her arms apart, and her runes began to appear again. Though they were still predominantly red in color, Corey could see a mess of other colors appear within the designs that appeared in front of her as well.
“I am now, without question, the most powerful being in this world. You have no chance of defeating me now…” Norma said.
“Depends…” Corey said, “Do you think you can control it long enough to prove it?”
Corey and Norma squared off, Norma floating feet from Corey. Corey’s feet were planted firmly on the ground as he braced himself, unsure of what she was going to do next.
“As always, you talk as though you have the slightest idea of what magic truly is…” Norma said, “Or power… This time, you won’t be getting back up!”