Greensprout’s sudden spell of aggression more than shocked the Battle Foals. The normally gentle and motherly filly blasted a bolt of the dark green energy from her Gaia Root at the horde of Fallen with the fury of a bloodthirsty demon. “RAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” It violently exploded on contact with a Fallen that it hit, sending it and surrounding comrades flying in all directions and crumbling to the ground in heaps.
Air Slash was especially stunned to see her so brutal. “GREENSPROUT!?!?”
A Fallen pegasus suddenly soared towards them. Kickback was about to shoot him, but Greensprout suddenly latched her healing beam onto the corrupted pegasus! Except, it seemed to be flowing from the pegasus to Greensprout. The pegasus fell to the ground as it suddenly experienced breathing troubles. Greensprout seemed to pull back as if she was fishing as she continued to channel the reverse healing beam. Much to the Battle Foals’ shock, the pegasus started to decay! Greensprout was draining the life out of him! “What in tarnation!?” Kickback exclaimed.
With the Fallen pegasus drained of his life energy and rotting on the ground, Greensprout used the drained vitality to power another attack, but this time, she launched it as a large wave of energy that was akin to Fire Fight’s fire discs. “BE CONDEMNED!!!!!” The wave of energy swept all over the horde of Fallen, blowing them back and knocking some of their own vitality from their bodies, which was then absorbed into the Gaia Root. It glowed brightly with its now ominous dark green, and Greensprout released it as a vital pulse that swept over the Battle Foals. They could feel themselves being considerably energized by the swell of power. She looked back at them. “WELL!? YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!! SLAUGHTER THESE PIGS!!”
Greensprout’s complete shift in personalities frightened the Battle Foals. They understood why she was so angry, but to see a filly like her suddenly turn into a vicious killer was a rattling prospect. “O-O-Ok….” Fire Fight said. He had to take a deep breath. “Get them while they’re down, guys!” he ordered.
With some hesitation looming over them, the Battle Foals joined the fight. Quantum Tech, Kickback, and Spiral Galaxy fired onto the front lines of the Fallen, allowing Fire Fight, Shadow Shroud, Turf War, Air Slash, Crazylocks, and Zebota and Shrapnel to charge in and beat them down. Greensprout held her position in between the two groups to maintain their health and simultaneously assault the Fallen. Air Slash took one last worried glance back at her. “Greensprout….”
Turf War held his hammer out towards Fire Fight, and Fire Fight jumped right onto it. Turf War launched him into the air just before a small group of Fallen charged him. He bashed one back with his shield and followed through with a quick spin attack with the axe side of his hammer splitting into the rest of the Fallen in front of him. Before the one he shield-bashed could get up, he bashed its head in with his hammer. “WHAT HAPPENED? I BLINKED!” he taunted.
Fire Fight fell down from the air into a flaming axe kick that struck a Fallen right in the noggin. He used the subsequent explosion to launch himself into the air and launch a few fire discs down at them, searing the Fallen caught in their blazing wake. He repeated this process so as not to get surrounded by them. Beating them down in their weakened state almost made Fire Fight feel sorry for them, but knew that their defeat meant his survival.
Shadow Shroud and Air Slash found themselves about to be swarmed by a swarm of limping Fallen, and were quickly able to dispatch them. Shroud threw her concussive exploding darts to daze them and then leapt like lightning into their group, appearing and disappearing randomly as she struck them one by one, and returned to Air Slash, who finished the job by slicing the throats of the dazed Fallen with slashes and sword beams alike. “Almost too easy, huh?” Shadow Shroud said.
Air Slash sighed as he looked at the enraged Greensprout, who was beginning to more quickly drain the vitality of the Fallen and weaponize it. She launched vital bombs and waves anywhere she even saw the whites of their blinded eyes. “For the wrong reasons….” Air Slash muttered. Shadow Shroud put her hoof in his shoulder and as if to silently console him.
Zebota and Shrapnel coordinated with one another to dispatch a massive horde of the Fallen approaching. Having no spiritual power at his disposal, Zebota had to rely on brute force, which wasn’t a huge problem since Shrapnel could overpower them with relative ease. “SHRAPNEL, ATTACK THEM HEADLONG!! DISTRACT THEIR ATTENTION!!” he ordered. Shrapnel let out a howling roar as if to acknowledge his master; he leapt into the crowd of Fallen and landed with a resounding thud that sent some of them tumbling away. He immediately chomped down onto the first Fallen he could grab and thrashed it around in his mouth, killing it. From there, the swarm of Fallen tried to overrun the wooden titan, but Shrapnel was very much able to hold his own against his weakened foes. Zebota hung back and slung rocks and hurled his boomerang to disrupt the Fallen attacking Shrapnel. One Fallen mare tried to charge him, but was quickly met with his tomahawk to her forehead. “Foolish creatures!”
“NO! SHRAPNEL DOESN’T GIVE ANY AUTOGRAPHS!!” Crazylocks shouted. She flung herself into the fray of Fallen that Shrapnel was fighting off and began whacking away at them with her reinforced pigtails. She would sometimes use her horn to flail them around magically and fly into the air to push them into Zebota’s ammunition.
With some effort, the horde was eventually dispatched. Shrapnel grunted and nodded at Crazylocks. “YOU’RE WELCOME, UNCLE!” she said, which made the large canine tilt his head in confusion.
Zebota cocked his eyebrow. “Crazylocks, you are what my people might call: pumbavu.”
Meanwhile in the back lines, Kickback fired on every Fallen that tried to sneak up on him and the rest of the foals. Spiral Galaxy used her gravity magic to disrupt the Fallens’ formations and blasted them with nova bolts and meteors. Quantum Tech’s targeting systems were getting a lot of exercise as they guided the shots of her magic turrets and railguns; she cast up a force field in case of any more of the energy bolts. The weakened state of the Fallen made her not have to try very hard, and decided to relax. “<sigh> Engaging auto pilot….” She said as she kicked her hind legs up and began filing her fore hooves. Her targeting systems pretty much did the rest.
In the aftermath of the riot, only one Fallen remained, a filly that was slightly younger than they were. Fire Fight was slightly reminded of the CMC upon seeing her. Nevertheless, the infuriated Greensprout ran up to her. “YOU’RE MINE!!!” she bellowed. She ruthlessly channeled her draining beam onto the poor Fallen filly and sapped her of her life without mercy. The Battle Foals watched in horror as the corrupted filly screech in her kind of agony as Greensprout did this. Once the deed was done, the now rotted filly crumbled to the ground, and Greensprout fired the excess into a random direction just to vent it off. The emerald on her Gaia Root returned to its normal, beautiful green, but Greensprout held her head low in blatant shame and started crying.
Quantum got out of her mech so that she could join the other Battle Foals to comfort her. The carnage she left in the wake of her rampage surrounded her like personal demons taunting her in a nightmare. Spiral and Quantum wasted no time hugging her. “Are you alright now, Greensprout?” Spiral asked.
Air Slash could only look on as the apple of his eye was breaking down in tears. “<sob!>…..I can’t…<sob!>……”
“Can’t what, darling?” Quantum asked as they broke off of her.
Greensprout threw her Gaia Root away about ten feet away from her. “I can’t use it anymore!! <sob!!>”
Air Slash went and picked up the holy artifact and looked at Greensprout. “What do you mean? This practically belongs to you.” He said as he went over to her.
Greensprout firmly shook her head. “N-No! <sob> I’ve desecrated it with my rage….<sob>….I can’t look the abbot in the eye anymore!!”
“The hell you talkin’ ‘bout, homegirl? Dat yo’ s*** right d’here. Y’all can’t just-”
“Turf War!.....Please…..let us handle this.” Air Slash said.
Turf War sighed. “A’ight. Sorry I cursed.”
Air Slash looked back at Greensprout, who glanced up at him. “Air Slash…..is……this what it feels like?” she sobbed.
“What do you mean?” Air Slash asked.
“Is this…..what warriors feel like when they fight?” She wiped her tears and took a slightly aggressive deep breath. “Because if so, then I hate it!” she shouted. “Do you enjoy making your enemies suffer under the force of your rage!? Is it a pleasing feeling to watch them die in agony!? DO YOU BECOME A MONSTER WHEN YOU DRAW YOUR ARMS!?!?” Air Slash wanted to back away from surprise, but her emotions were out of control, and he needed to help her. “I can’t believe I ever saw anything good in how you all view life! You made me defile Abbot Meadow’s teachings and turn the most sacred item in Gardenia into a weapon!! <sob!> YOU TRULY ARE ALL JUST BARBARIANS!!!!”
Air Slash thrust his hooves onto her shoulders. “Greensprout, calm down!” Greensprout just broke down and let herself fall to her hooves with Air Slash still holding her. He lay down with her and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry the rest of her stress out. Once she calmed down for a moment, he let up a little bit. “Greensprout……no…..this isn’t what it’s like. You’re wrong.” Greensprout slowly looked up at him and into his strong emerald eyes. “I will concede that open conflict is something that ponies like Fire Fight and I find joyful, but that does not mean that we are not discreet about it. Every time we raise our weapons at a foe, every time they fall to our might…..there is a hint of sorrow in our cheers of victory, and…..sometimes even outright regret altogether.” He looked around and saw the other Battle Foals solemnly nod or lower their heads; they certainly remembered the rougher parts of their journey. “Yes, it’s a shame that this world can’t be as forgiving as we’d like to think, and I commend your efforts to spread joy to those around you, but……my comrades and I can attest to there being a very real darkness that we can never expel, only accept.” Greensprout seemed to listen more intently and wiped away the last of her tears. “However, that’s not to say that we simply allow that darkness to simply overcome us, but rather we raise our weapons to face it. A warrior without honor or dignity is truly what becomes a monster, because they allow that darkness to seep into their vulnerable souls, but experiencing it for the first time is what allows us to learn how to find that balance.”
“Take me for example.” Spiral said. “I used to be so afraid of my powers that I’d let them go out of control and wreck everything, but now that I’m starting to control them better, I feel stronger than I’ve ever felt. I want to use that to help all of the lost foals we rescue.”
“Also consider Zebota and Shrapnel.” Quantum Tech said. “The two could not be more different creatures, and yet there they are- at one with one another.”
Zebota and Shrapnel walked up to her. “It is true that nothing is ever inherently good or evil. As living creatures, it is our role to uphold this balance if we are to uphold the lives we are blessed with. All things that live within nature follow by this one and only law that she has set.” He said. Shrapnel grunted in agreement.
Fire Fight followed suit. “Greensprout…..Every single foal standing here right now has felt or seen some kind of agony, myself included, but it’s because of that agony that I was driven to travel Equestria and bring all of them together. Why? Because we want to see a change that we likely won’t see back home. We’re not just letting our grievances dictate our lives; we’re acting on our feelings and doing something about.” Greensprout began to raise her head back up as she listened to them all. “So don’t be ashamed to feel angry because of how much pain you must be in. It’s only natural, and I’m sure Abbot Meadow knows that too. So be like us. Don’t let your pain control you.”
“But rather….let it teach you.” Air Slash said with a soft smile as he handed her back her precious Gaia Root.
Greensprout briefly hesitated, but let their words sink in. She creased a little smile and took back her treasured artifact. “Thank you…..all of you….”
“Of course, Greensprout. I-…..I wouldn’t…..want you to lose that kind and sweet nature of yours.” He could barely keep a straight face upon saying that.
Greensprout lightly giggled. “Thank you, Air Slash. Likewise, I would not want you to lose your will as a warrior lest your blades begin to dull.” She said. She then gently pulled him in for a hug, and the normally emotionally stiff samurai blushed brighter than he thought possible.
“U-U-Uh….U-Umm….” Air Slash tried to find words, but just smiled and ultimately decided to just return the gesture. Spiral and Quantum shared a giggle as they watched the two while the others just nodded at each other, silently congratulating themselves on another successful mission.
The two broke off, and then Turf War suddenly threw each of his hooves around them. “HOO, LORD! Man! D’here ain’t no way I’m a fo’get dis one. Homegirl out here be like ‘Y’all smoked my parents!? Heh! Y’all know y’all messed up!’ and just let loose wit hers! Them Fallen was all like ‘Oh, snap! We messed wit da wrong one, y’all!’ and we just laid into ‘em like we was a train runnin’ ‘em down! Hey, I’m sayin’ d’ho. We didn’t stop ‘til d’hey was…..fallen. HEH! WHAT!?” He jumped off of the two.
Greensprout laughed heartily as Air Slash just smiled and shook his head. “Tch. Nice, Turf War.” Fire Fight said. “Hey Quantum, do you think you can figure anything out about this weird resin?”
“Oh! Yes, of course! Thank you for reminding me. I suppose I should gather a sample or two…” Once Quantum gathered sufficient samples of the glowing resin, the foals wasted no more time exiting the hidden world they’d uncovered. Despite having sustained her own scars, Greensprout’s new friends were there to return the favor and heal her.