//------------------------------// // Light Up the Night // Story: Surviving Sand Island // by The 24th Pegasus //------------------------------// A valiant war cry tore itself from Rainbow’s lungs as she closed the gap between Soft Step and herself. The alicorn immediately tried to flee backwards away from the radiant light glowing off of Rainbow’s coat, but the pegasus and her little, nimble wings was much, much too quick for Soft Step to outrun. By the time Soft realized she needed to slip into the shadows to get away, Rainbow was already upon her, burning away the darkness that seemed to cling to the alicorn like a heavy coat, hooves swinging wildly for her face. Soft hissed and drew back, desperately trying to shield herself with magic to keep Rainbow and her harsh, sunlit glow away from her. Rainbow twirled around the alicorn’s dazed and frantic movements to attack her from the side. Soft was uncharacteristically slow to respond, and only started to protect herself from that side when Rainbow began to attack it. The mare’s eyes were squeezed shut in pain, and it didn’t take Rainbow very long to figure out that the intense light pouring off of her coat must have been blinding the alicorn and her night vision. With that advantage in mind, she began to whirl around the alicorn, pressing the attack from all sides. Soft Step cried out, and her horn flared to life. A tremendous shockwave of dark energy flung Rainbow away, sending her tumbling through the air. The separation allowed Soft to open her eyes a crack, and she immediately redirected her magic toward the siren charging her from across the sky. The grooves in her horn glowed with the pale white light of the moon, and she lowered her head to the siren like a lance. Melody broke off her charge to move to the side as a humming line of pure moonlight cut through the air, nearly drilling through the siren’s chest. But apart from having to abandon her charge, Melody was unscathed, and she sucked in a deep breath before shooting another beam of energy back at the alicorn in retaliation. A shimmering shield of moonlight appeared in front of Soft to ward off the beam, and her coat took on a shadowy appearance as she tried to step through the darkness to safety. But instead of dissipating into a cloud of black fog, the wisps of shadows rising from her body slowly melted back into her figure as Rainbow approached again. Soft cried out as the light struck her face, and her shield cracked and collapsed as she lost her focus from the pain. Rainbow had to back off as Melody’s beam plowed forward, unhindered, enveloping the siren in a harsh, emerald glow. When Melody finally closed her mouth, faltering from expending so much energy so quickly, the beam vanished, leaving behind a smoking and burnt alicorn tumbling from the sky. Rainbow let out a cheer, but movement from the body cut it short. As the moonlight fell on Soft, the singed hairs and ashes seemed to fall out of her coat, tattered feathers broke free, and the mare caught herself on newly rejuvenated wings before she could hit the sea. Her horn lit and she carried her momentum away from the two, climbing back to their altitude in a few seconds before letting it fade again. “Holy crap, what does it take to drop this friggin’ mare?!” Rainbow exclaimed, looking at Melody in disbelief. “That should have roasted her!” “I ran out of breath,” Melody said. “If I could have kept that beam on her longer…” “I’ll try to crack the shield faster next time,” Rainbow said. “How many more of those have you got left in you?” Melody grimaced and rubbed her heartstone, which Rainbow noted looked noticeably duller. “Not many,” she said. “I’ve burnt most of my magic in this fight. I don’t have much left in me; even flying is slowly draining me.” “So we have to end this quick,” Rainbow said, eyes narrowing on Soft Step. “But your enchantment is working! She can’t jump when I’m next to her, and the light blinds her! It’s our chance to take her down!” The siren nodded and took a deep breath. “Harass her as best as you can. Give me thirty seconds to close the distance, then jump on her for three to keep her pinned. That’ll give me time to hit her again, but you better fly away to a safe distance as soon as you count to three. Got it? I don’t want to fry you too.” Rainbow cracked her neck and nodded. “Alright. Start counting now!” And then she took off, mentally ticking off the seconds as she closed in on Soft Step. The alicorn backed off again, manifesting an entire arsenal of javelins which she began to fling at Rainbow in rapid succession. Climbing, diving, rolling and spinning, Rainbow picked her way through the barrage of missiles with incredible agility, dodging some so closely that they knocked feathers out of her wings. But there was always an opening, however tiny it might be, and Rainbow could flit about fast enough to dart into those gaps for a split second before finding the next one. And finally, at the end of her dizzying flight, she broke through the barrage and connected with four hooves to Soft’s face. The alicorn’s head snapped back and she faltered from the sky, but Rainbow had learned from her last mistake. She kept the pressure on, jumping down on Soft to keep the radiance of her coat on her and prevent her from jumping away. To her surprise, however, the mare’s coat began to burn and her flesh charred as she held on tight. Startled and shocked, Rainbow jumped away to avoid burning herself, and the mare let out a final cry of pain as she crumbled into dust. “What the frig?” Rainbow looked down on the ashes of Soft blowing away in the wind. Did the daylight shining off her coat burn the mare of the night into ashes? “What happened?” Melody asked, coming to a stop not too far away. “Did you do that?” “I… I don’t know,” Rainbow said, frowning at the sea below them. “I didn’t know that would happen!” Melody’s brow furrowed, and she quickly scanned the area. “No, that has to be some kind of trick. Stay on guard, Rainbow in case she—!” Her words turned into a scream of pain as a lance of moonlight pierced her body, cutting through her dorsal fin from the back and erupting through her chest. Rainbow swooped low to avoid the beam of moonlight, and tiny shards of emerald pelted her in the face. She craned her head back in disbelief as Melody clutched her chest and dropped out of the sky like a sack of meat. Jaw agape, she watched the siren fall until she splashed into the water, sending a thunderous plume of sea spray into the air. Soft Step cackled across from Rainbow, the moonlit glow fading from her horn. “Did you think it was going to be that easy?!” the alicorn shouted at her, taunting with sharp fangs revealed in a wicked smile. “I am His chosen! I am His avatar! His strength flows through me, and I cannot lose! You only delay the inevitable!” “Soft Step, stop this! Stop this right now!” Rainbow shouted at her, pleading with tears in her eyes. “You gotta stop yourself! Wake up, girl, before anybody else gets hurt!” But the alicorn just laughed at her. “It’s far too late for her,” she said. “She has become something greater in His service. With her body as a vessel for His power, He shall be reborn tonight! Your tricks can’t save you any longer!” Rainbow gritted her teeth. “I’m not finished yet!” she shouted back at the alicorn. “I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve!” “Hah! Do you, now?” Soft grinned and let her horn roar to life, and three more copies of herself appeared around her. All four alicorns grinned down at Rainbow, horns crackling with moonlight, and they all spoke with one voice as they began to spread around her. “Let’s see whose are better!”