Indigo and her friends breathed heavily, as they charged towards the everfree forests.
Sweat flooded down Indigo's brow as she continued to encourage her friends further with wild waves of her arm.
They might already have been too late despite their rapid response.
Fluttershy's cry for help would not go unheeded, the brief text message that Fluttershy had sent to Indigo a few days ago had been on her mind ever since and she could ignore it no longer.
The message detailed strange glows of light coming from the woods as well as a certain camp counsellor acting very defensive and afraid. Indigo had seen such glows of light before, and she knew how dangerous they were as did her companions who had been there with her at the friendship games and seen what she had seen.
From Fluttershy's brief description, these were no ordinary glows of light.
Indigo had not been deaf to Sunset's explanation to Twilight about the dangers of playing around with magic, but had sadly back then, dismissed it as pure nonsense.
But now, the fears in her mind were very, very real and she knew that they had to act now.
No elements of harmony assisted her and her makeshift team of the only friends she trusted, only teamwork and skill. Skill that would now, be put to good use unlike back in the friendship games.
They stopped running when they heard a cry of horror followed by a loud, ear piercing roar and Indigo gestured for the group to ready their weapons.
Sour Sweet notched an arrow to her bow, her ultimate possession and a testament to her incredible talent in archery, one of the only things she could say she did well at. Her purpose in life. When Sour Sweet first discovered her affinity for bow and arrow, it was the first time she could waltz through the corridors safe in the knowledge she was not the useless cripple she believed she was.
She loved archery, one of the only things she liked about school. But never once did she think she would bring her talent to bear on real enemies. It brought a shiver to her spine and yet a tingle of excitement.
The rest of them drew out their bows which Sour Sweet had kindly prepared for them.
They were sadly no military grade assault rifles, but when gun license laws prevented you from owning a gun unless licensed and the cheapest firearm in the pawn shop cost several hundred dollars, there really was no better alternative.
"Stay back for a moment." instructed Indigo as she whipped out a binocular and peered through it.
Her eyes nearly jumped from their sockets when she saw the nightmarish sight unfolding in the clearing ahead.
Her hair stood on end and her blood almost froze to ice.
"What's up?" inquired Sunny flare quietly, aware of the terrified shivers her friend gave out as she continued to peer into the lens, her eyes fixed on whatever horrific sight only she could make out.
Indigo said no words but with a quavering hand passed the binoculars to Sunny.
Sunny took a brief glance but quickly took the binoculars away from her eyes.
She was just as wordless as her Indigo haired companion, as she only nodded nervously to acknowledge what she now realised.
She had been expecting this all along but now her worst fears were confirmed. This was indeed another power hungry demon brought about by the phenomenon described by that flame haired Student back at the friendship games as "Equestrian magic.".
Like her ignorant and backward friends who threw caution to the wind in their vapid attempt to triumph over the other team at any price, Sunny too had had the misfortune of beholding such a terrifying event at the last moment when finally they realised too late what their carelessness had put them into.
Her friend Twilight, was there among the other students and Fluttershy, and they were losing.
The large, plant like demon had pummelled the students to the ground, and was quickly closing in on the badly wounded victims.
Indigo cursed, this was not good.
She was right not to have wasted time trying to find other students to help, they would not have been here on time had they not set off themselves so quickly.
But they had to act now.
Already Indigo could see that the demon was readying a final blast to strike down its defenceless victims who despite their talents and best efforts could not weather a threat so great.
Indigo knew that her group was poorly armed, ill equipped and possessed none of that so called "magic" which the Canterlot high heroes or Twilight had. Yet they had to try.
This was her chance to show to Twilight that she was despite her faults, a true friend that did give a slight inkling of care for a poor, lonely girl who had done nothing to warrant all the ill treatment Principal cinch and indeed the entire school had bestowed on her over the years.
And to prove to that nice pink haired student from the other school, that the quarrel among their schools and students was indeed water under the bridge. That a treaty between their school could be reached and was worth reaching as she had promised.
But mostly it was for redemption. Redemption for the lack of honour and common decency she and her team showed to a group of good, altruistic friends during the friendship games. There was honour to be gained from this battle. And Shadowbolts, if nothing else, valued honour highly.
But there was no more time to waste.
Indigo gestured for her team to keep their bows drawn and ready, and to stay silent as they crept down the hill to get a better angle.
The demon laughed as it readied the final blast of dark magic that would end the puny lives of the puny weaklings it had just knocked unconscious with its last attack.
It sneered as it raised its arm.
"NOW!" yelled Indigo, her voice a clash of thunder.
There was no delay in the others leaping to obey the command of their beloved leader. A hail of arrows was loosed at the surprised beast who had been caught by surprise.
Several struck the demon in the chest, causing it to flinch in pain, though the best forged arrowhead would not pierce its thick hide.
Still it did not like it. The demon spun round, and roared a challenge.
"Keep firing. Come on. We've got this" barked Indigo, motioning her friends into position as if she was a general.
The others quickly spread out to make it harder for them all to be hit at once, firing arrow after arrow at their foe even as they darted about, with ruthless efficiency. The arrows flew true and continued to take chink after chink at the demon's iron like flesh.
The demon spun round and responded by hurling a ominous projectile of its own. But they moved so quickly that the magical projection only succeeded in creating a crater in the ground.
"Come on" taunted Sugercoat as she stuck her tongue out, unleashing a barrage of deadly arrows as the demon turned to face her. Her plan worked and one arrow struck the monster in the temple, narrowly missing its eye. It howled in pain and an ooze of green slime slithered from the mark the arrow left.
Sugercoat smiled, they had drawn first blood. But now the demon was angry.
It roared and raised its arm, as a mass of roots and dark vines emerged from the ground.
They moved to dodge but Sour Sweet was not quick enough and a tangle of vines engulfed her and constricted themselves around her, chaining her to the spot.
"Help me!" she begged, for once her voice neither melodiously sweet nor morbidly sarcastic.
Indigo heard the cry for help and lost no time in rushing towards her childhood friend. Using the tip of an arrow as a blade, Indigo began desperately hacking and slashing, trying anything she could to try and free Sour from the vines that were quickly tightening their grip on her.
Desperately she slashed and slashed like a madman, the arrow was not very sharp.
She succeeded and as the sliced vines went limp and slithered back into the ground ,Sour nodded her thanks and grabbed her bow and rushed back into the fray. She would thank Indigo properly later.
Indigo glanced back and saw much to her dismay that while she was busy trying to help her friend, her absence had sadly given the enemy a winning edge.
Despite their best efforts, the Shadowbolts were tiring out. They were trying their best to continue loosing shot after shot at their assailant while dodging its own attacks, but they were rapidly losing the upper hand. She could see the fear and lack of morale her friends wore in their expressions, as fatigue and despair at a lost cause took hold and threatened to engulf their spirit.
It was just like the friendship games, but this time the stakes were much, much higher. It wasn't just the lives of the students from the other school at stake. If that demon left the woods, as it most likely would and trespassed into say the nearby city, it was anyone's guess as to how many innocent lives would be lost and taken. Tons and tons of corpses and rubble lining the ruined streets, simply think about the potential consequences made Indigo retch in disgust.
What was worse was that Indigo could see that her team's quiver's were rapidly emptying. Lemon Zest was even rapidly blinking as her grip on her weapon quivered, unsure of whether to fire or not.
But Indigo knew that they had to win at any cost. This time it really was a question of were they going to win. Their reputation was at stake more than ever now and if they were going to die here and now, they would die fighting. No more leaving the problem for others to handle while they turned a blind eye to the blindingly obvious. Fluttershy's faith that they were good people was on the line.
But before Indigo could dash back into the fray to bravely inspire her team, another gigantic beam struck the earth. This time sadly, her friends were not quick enough and they were knocked to the ground, not dead but very badly stunned.
Indigo raised her weapon to deliver her final arrow in a desperate bid, but before she could pull back the arrow, a gigantic claw came at her from behind and ensnared her, causing her to drop her bow and arrow.
Indigo made no attempt to struggle as she was pulled up so that the demon forced Indigo to stare at its cold, dark eyes. The stare seared through Indigo's very soul, for it was a stare that wanted to see no one and nothing. She knew that it was useless to resist and was grateful rather that she might get a chance now to talk her adversary down. To resolve the matter peacefully which Indigo always preferred.
"Now you die" cackled the beast angrily "Just like your evil little friends who don't want this camp to stay".
"Why are doing this!" shouted Indigo, staring her assailant back. "Why are you putting so many innocent lives at risk.". Indigo recognized that voice although by now she had forgotten from where.
"You're the one putting this camp at risk. Filthy Rich probably sent you to try and take the camp away. Well it's not going to happen" was the ear piercing reply.
It was then that Indigo's mental block slowly began to fall and things began to come together.
"We came to help" protested Indigo sadly "We really only came to help. I know your camp means a lot to you but this isn't the way. Please stop."
"Stop? Filthy Rich certainly didn't stop when I begged him to spare this place."
Seeing it was no use arguing. Indigo changed the subject.
"I can help you." she pleaded desperately "Just let me go and tell me what you need and I can help you. Please."
"Help me. Ha. Why should I trust you when I couldn't even trust my brother or anyone else for that matter. This land belonged to my family for generations and still not one person came to help. So why should I believe you?"
"I promise I'll help you. Really. Just let me go."
"Begging won't help." sneered the demon and it held Indigo tighter than ever.
"Your family would not be pleased if they saw you doing this." cried Indigo, hoping the human inside could still hear her. "They would not want you to go this far. Think about them and how they would feel. If you can hear me now, whoever you are. Please for their sake stop this. I'm sure your brother didn't want to betray you. After all he's your family too."
"I've heard enough." it screamed as it began to tighten its grip slowly but surely. "First I'll kill you and your selfish little group of friends and then I'll deal with that filthy rich. He's not taking this camp from me no matter what."
"I could have helped you" sighed Indigo as she felt her life being squeezed away "We could have helped you if you just asked for it. I, I'm sorry."
"And once I've dealt with you and him, there'll be no one in my way. No one!"
"You're wrong" coughed Indigo, barely able to breathe "Dead wrong. We won't let you get away with this. Someone else will take up the fight where we left off. You gain nothing by killing us."
"100 of your puny little friends couldn't defeat me" scoffed the demon.
But while Indigo had been busy talking the demon down, Lemon Zest had recovered enough strength to grasp her bow and with her remaining power in her one good arm, aimed a deadly blow at the demon's gaping mouth as it laughed hysterically in response to Indigo's pleading, and fired before drifting back into unconsciousness.
The arrow flew like a bird and through the roof of the mouth, burying itself into the brain of the horrifying beast.
It thrashed and writhed as spasms of pain surged through it, dropping Indigo hard on the ground.
It cried a deep, savage roar of defeat and grief, as it dropped from the sky like a stone.
Then it lay, gently twitching as the curse began to drain and it reverted back to the gentle, kindly woman whose only concern was the well being of her campers and a strong sense of responsibility for the land her much missed ancestors had bequeathed and entrusted to her on their deathbed.
A deep, and apologetic sigh erupted from her bloody lips as she coughed up blood. Being killed in her demon form had caused greivious damage to her human body as well, though not enough to kill her.
A tear trickled from her tired eyes as they closed, and she gave one brief glance at Indigo who by now was not in much better form herself, as she lay panting on the ground struggling to regain breath.
It took a strong hand from Lemon Zest, to help Indigo back to her feet.
She took a few steps, before realizing that she was too weak to stand well and quickly caught her friend's shoulder for support. She nodded to show her appreciation to her companion. Lemon could be funny but when the time came for the laughing to stop, serious was indeed her middle name.
"Get her to a hospital." yelled Indigo, to her friends who were only just beginning to recover from their brief unconsciousness, though fortunately not seriously hurt. "She doesn't have much time left. And get them to a hospital too." Indigo pointed at the still unconscious students and Teachers huddled in a heap by the row of defaced tents.
Her friends wasted no time replying, but rushed towards the row of bodies to obey without question. They too understood the urgency of the terrible injuries that festered the poor victims. And something told them that this wouldn't be the last of the horrible incidents of this sort. Poor Twilight really had opened a can of worms when she got involved with such mysterious forces she did not fully grasp.
And Indigo and her friends were too stubborn and uncaring to realize their poor friend needed help and attention until it was much too late.
But that was a subject for another time.
Indigo whipped out a cellphone and began to dial 911 while her friends began to perform emergency CPR on the Canterlot high students, who by now had still not regained consciousness.
Confident that help would soon arrive and that her work here for now was done, as Indigo finished explaining the situation and slowly rang off, she allowed her eyes to close as she drifted off for some much needed rest.
She had a feeling this wasn't the last of those things that they were dealing with.