"Private, get down!" barked out Blue quickly. "She needs a controlled output source, and other ponies qualify for that!"
"Yes, ma'am!" squeaked out Pumpkin nervously, as she dove over to the corner of the room.
Amethyst was curled up on the ground, her hooves on the side of her head as more bolts launched uncontrollably into the air. Her horn felt like it was on fire, and the tears rolling down her cheeks evaporated before they reached her chin.
It's not my fault!
You're lying to yourself again!
I'm not!
You know that it's your fault!
Blue eyed the moonstone on Amethyst's armor, and nodded to herself. She sprung into the air, immediately spiraling to the side to avoid a bolt. She sharply turned to fly up, and immediately dove back down to avoid another one. As if going though a maze at top speed, Blue weaved through the air until finally reaching Amethyst.
Shut up!
It's true and you know it!
No, it's-
"-NOT!" yelled Amethyst, her aura snapping back to blue just before Blue grabbed the moonstone. The lightning bolts fizzled away, and she sat up with tears in her eyes.
"Sweet Luna, are you alright?!" asked Blue, pressing her wing up against Amethyst's horn and instantly drawing it back. "You're lucky that you didn't get knocked out from that! Your horn is completely overheated!"
"Astraphobia," she muttered. "I have major astraphobia. Fear of lightning."
"That was all caused from a panic attack?" Her eyes widened in disbelief. "No wonder you were able to defend against the Nightmare!"
"That bolt was deliberate..." Amethyst frowned. "They didn't want me to get the Elements..."
"Private, try and locate who put the lightning striker there!" ordered Blue firmly. "We can't let the last Elemental be incapacitated!"
"It. Was. Deliberate," she snapped, looking over at the window where the cloud had been with her eyes narrowed. "You think that you can just fly away after doing that?" She abruptly stood up, and started walking towards the window.
"Elemental, be careful!" said Blue, running over to her. "If they have another striker-"
Amethyst shoved her to the side, and unlatched the window using her magic. A winged figure quickly flew back when she opened it, and her eyes narrowed.
"You can't run away like that!" yelled Amethyst, before blindly jumping out of the window, much to Blue and Pumpkin's horror. "It's your fault I almost cracked my skull open!"
Twilight came to a halt in the doorway of the ballroom, and tuned towards the Night Guards that had come with her and Spike.
"Secure the perimeter," she ordered, receiving nods in unison. "Spike, see if you can find any orichalcum or anything made of it in here."
"There's tons of it dusting the room," said Spike as he looked around. "And I think there's some shards on the table over there."
Twilight hurried over to where he had pointed, her horn gently glowing. There was a spot covered in a heavy layer of orichalcum dust, and she quickly and careful brushed it way to reveal Twirly lying half-unconscious on the table.
"Twirly!" cried Twilight. "Are you okay!?"
"Sparkle?" muttered Twirly in a daze. "Jat you?" Her wings twitched, and she winced in pain. "OW!"
"What is it?"
"My wings are burning!" she whimpered. "They really huuuuuuuurt!"
Twilight cautiously put her hoof to one of Twirly's wings, and felt that they were at room temperature. She blew off as much of the dust as she could, and carefully lifted Twirly to her hooves. Her wings stayed flopped down at her sides, with the ends lying on the table. Her antennae sagged down over her ears, and her eyes were bloodshot from the dust.
"What's the pink stuff?" she asked, blowing some more off her left antenna.
"A magic inhibiting mineral," replied Twilight. "Do your wings feel better now?"
"Yeah..." She shifted around uncomfortably. "Where's Amy?"
"She went to get the Elements of Harmony with two Night Guard members."
"Twilight!" Spike called out suddenly. "Get over here, quick!"
Twirly grabbed onto the corner of Twilight's mane as she sprinted over to Spike, who was staring out a window in shock. "What is- Oh my Celestia!"
"What? What is it?" Twirly carefully floated up to stand on Twilight's head, and then gasped loudly. "AMY!"
High up in the air, Amethyst was holding on tightly to a winged figure flying erratically through the air. He horn was glowing brightly, showing that the figure was wearing all black (even over their wings), likely to hide their identity. Amethyst was barely keeping her hooves latched around the flier's neck, and she kept getting whipped around in the air.
Twilight whipped the window open with her magic, and quickly wrapped her hooves around Spike's neck. "Come on, we need to move! Twirly, you stay here!"
"Just help Amy!" cried Twirly, jumping off of Twilight's head, and secretly grabbing onto her armor.
Spike jumped into the sky, flying as fast as he could towards Amethyst. But the flier ahead was far faster (plus Spike wasn't used to having to fly whilst carrying something as heavy as Twilight's armor and a pony at the same time), and then stopped their rough flying pattern and instead started going straight up into the air.
"Move it, Private!" snapped Blue from somewhere in the air. "This is no time for going slow!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Pumpkin squeaked out in the exact same manner as she had prior.
The flier, still struggling to release Amethyst's hold on them, dug their chin down into their hooves. From the pain that Amethhst could now feel scraping at her hooves, the flier was wearing some sort of metal mask. But her grip didn't waver, her strength fueled by a building anger.
"Tell me where my friends are!" yelled Amethyst, her horn sparking erratically. "Tell me what you did with them!" There was no response, as they passed higher than the top of the castle. "I said for you to tell me!"
The flier suddenly spiraled around in the air, just as Amethyst's hooves had begun to tighten in to nearly a choke-hold. Amethyst remained in the same position, and her anger faded away as fear took ahold. The knife was in their hoof, the string still tied around it. Glowing yellow eyes met her purple ones, and she heard a near-silent whisper. Though the voice was garbled through the mask, the words were clear.
"Don't think that you've won, Starshine Swirl."
The knife connected with the tip of her horn just before she released her grip.
Amethyst fell.