//------------------------------// // A Wonderbolt's Legacy // Story: Harmonics // by ezra09 //------------------------------// The world exploded. That was the only description Thistleroot could come up with as he was thrown backwards from the throne room by the wave of light and noise as the saddlebag full of Discord-enhanced, Pinkie Pie-made fireworks detonated. Streamers of sparks and smoke shot across the room, bouncing off the walls and the closest charging changelings. Balls of white fire rocketed across the floor and exploded into smaller fireworks that exploded again, each one alone filling up nearly half the throne room, stacking up on each other a dozen times over. Changelings hissed in pain and surprise as they were barraged by tiny meteors flying in every direction. At the center of the explosions, something bigger was taking shape, the sparks of the fireworks not flying erratically, but holding in mid air, gathering together into the shape of a giant, grinning pink head. A hoof caught under Thistleroot’s leg and hoisted him up. Wind Rider gave him a shove and they were moving back through the antechamber. The light shining in from the throne room intensified, as though the room contained a miniature sun. Wind Rider grabbed Thistleroot around the midsection and took flight, rocketing up one of the vertical shafts. A moment later an unfamiliar voice called out from the throne room behind them, magnified a thousand-fold, “Happy Summer Sun Celebration, Ponyville!” The walls on either side of them reverberated with the sound of a massive explosion and smaller stones shook loose, pelting them as they flew higher. A wave of dust and air, colored pink in the light of the explosion, blew past them, knocking them sideways and throwing them out of the shaft. They hit the ground and rolled to a stop. More pink, blue, and yellow rockets streamed past them, bursting on the cave walls around them. Finally, the vibrating of the changeling hives stopped. The last of the rockets sputtered out, and the dust settled. “Well,” Thistleroot coughed, standing again. “That was horrifying.” Wind Rider nodded, brushing dust from his mane. “It’s pink. How is the dirt still pink?” “Maybe some questions are better left unanswered. Come on, we need to go.” “You don’t think those changelings are still going to be after us, do you?” Thistleroot shook his head. “Those fireworks went off inside. Nopony would have seen them. We need to get to the first group as soon as possible and let them know the throne was destroyed.” “Right,” Wind Rider said. “Okay, let’s go. I think I know how to get out from here.” ***** Scootaloo hit the ground running. A moment later a lance of pink fire seared the air above her. She hit the hall outside and banked, kicking off the far wall to make the turn without slowing down. She launched back into the air and flew up the central shaft. Even without a gala dress to weigh her down, Rosalia was right behind her. Scootaloo heard the hiss of fire and banked again, leaving the shaft for one of the side passages just before the magic could scorch her. She dodged around a natural column and banked again, down another passage. A moment later the column shattered in a pink flash. This was nothing, Scootaloo told herself as she ran, jumped, and flew. She was the sister of Rainbow Dash, fastest filly flier in Equestria. She wasn’t going to lose this race. Another turn took her out of the line of fire as the corner of an intersection exploded. A straight path would let her build up speed, but at least Rosalia wouldn’t be able to hit her in these tunnels. That was fine, obstacle courses were nothing, Scootaloo told herself. She’d been training with one of the Wonderbolts for ten years. She could fly this in her sleep. A spark of energy raced past her, and suddenly Rosalia was in front of her, legs outstretched, horn glowing. Scootaloo ducked her shoulders and barely slipped by the changeling queen, never slowing. A lance of pink fire tore through the ground behind her as she went, and she could smell burnt hair as a few inches of her tail were caught in the blast. The hive walls around her shook and the sounds of an explosion echoed through the tunnels toward her. A group of changelings staggered into the tunnel, coughing, their short black manes and tails burning with pink fire. Scootaloo jumped as one turned toward her, eyes widening in surprise. She landed with her rear hooves on its side and pushed off, sending it sprawling as she rocketed down the hall it had come from. She flew up another vertical shaft. She could make out a pale, white light at the top and pushed herself to fly faster. A moment later she passed through the exit and into the open air. She pumped her wings furiously, racing away from the hive, the stone tablet clutched to her chest. A bolt of Rosalia’s magic struck Scootaloo from behind and sent her spinning. She flailed for a wild second before righting herself and climbing again, looking back, eyes wide, breathing ragged. Rosalia launched another bolt of energy at her. It flashed across the space between them faster than the bursts of fire she’d been using and Scootaloo barely managed to roll back out of the way. She spun and started flying again. She glanced back over her shoulder. Rosalia launched a flurry of bolts toward her, and she veered to her right to avoid them. Rosalia disappeared in a flash. A spark of energy flickered between them and then she was above Scootaloo, pouring fire down toward her. Scootaloo pushed herself down, letting gravity help her escape, and then leveled out. She had to fly faster. She was beginning to understand the changeling queen’s attacks. The faster bolts were harder to dodge, but didn’t carry as much energy, while the slower, more dangerous attacks were easier to dodge. Sure enough, Rosalia launched a salvo of faster bolts as Scootaloo opened distance between them. Scootaloo managed to fold her wings close and slip between two of them as they passed. Ahead of her, she could see the mass of changelings on the horizon, and Shining Armor’s shield below them. If she could get close enough for Discord to notice her, if she could get past the range of the anti-magic field, they would win. “It seems you were right.” Rosalia’s magically amplified voice reached her, distorted by the wind and the speed they were travelling at. “You are faster than me. But what will this victory cost you?” Scootaloo gritted her teeth and kept flying, ignoring Rosalia. She wouldn’t fall for it, whatever the changeling queen was trying to pull. She glanced back, ready to evade the next attack, but Rosalia was no longer chasing her, or even looking at her. The changeling queen was facing the hives. In the distance there was a speck of color against the darkening sky. Dark blue and white. A familiar shade of blue. Rosalia turned back to Scootaloo, smiled, and then started flying away. Scootaloo slowed. The shapes in the distance could only be Thistleroot and one of the Royal Guards. Or a changeling pretending to be them, trying to draw her in again, though she couldn’t imagine even Rosalia would have known to set up such a ruse. Scootaloo had won. She had the tablet and she’d escaped. Besides, she had no hope of beating Rosalia, even if she did turn back. The smart thing to do would be to leave. Rosalia was trying to lure her back in. She’d have to be an idiot to turn back now. One of her friends was in danger. She turned and chased after Rosalia. The changeling queen already had a huge lead on her. She pushed every ounce of energy she had into moving her wings, her attention focused on the changeling queen, waiting for Rosalia to turn on her once more. The forms took shape in the distance. One was indeed Thistleroot, but the pony he was clutching for dear life wasn’t Biggs or another Royal Guard, it was Wind Rider. They were flying East, just beginning to curve to the North. Neither of them saw the changeling queen closing the distance, flying thirty feet higher than them. Scootaloo realized with dawning horror that she wasn’t going to make it in time. Rosalia’s horn was glowing, and she was already slowing. She was within a hundred feet of Thistleroot and Wind Rider, taking aim. Scootaloo pushed herself even harder, and a familiar resistance began to build up around her. The air itself was pushing back against her, compressing into a mach cone. She strained against that resistance, pouring every bit of pegasus magic should could muster into her wings. She had to fly faster! It still wasn’t going to be enough. Rosalia’s horn flared with light and a lance of pink fire cascaded toward the oblivious ponies. Scootaloo’s wings and lungs were burning with the strain. The fire arced ahead of her. The sound of it must have alerted them. Thistleroot and Wind Rider turned back in unison, eyes going wide as the fire bore down on them. Scootaloo felt the horrible sensation of the air around her pushing back, the same sensation she’d felt a hundred times after a hundred failures, and she threw herself at it even harder. She was not going to let her friend get hurt. That thought crystallized in her mind as a single, impossibly bright spark of confidence that blazed through her body. In her mind, she saw them all together again, the cutie mark crusaders: her, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. She saw Spike, and then Thistleroot and Mimic. They were her friends, and she was never going to let Rosalia take them away. The resistance fell away from her and without it she was launched forward, faster than she’d ever managed before. She could feel the heat of Rosalia’s spell on her back. She extended one leg, the other still holding the tablet, and caught Thistleroot and Wind Rider by their midsections. Rosalia’s spell passed behind them, and within moments she had opened hundreds of feet between them and the queen. She coasted to a stop, breathing ragged, and let go of them. Wind Rider managed to catch himself, Thistleroot still clinging to his back. “Are you two okay?” Scootaloo asked. Thistleroot nodded, his mane pulled straight back, eyes wide. “Yes,” Wind Rider said, turning and getting his bearings. “Uh, what was that?” He tilted his head, looking back the way they came. “What is that?” Scootaloo looked back. Concentric rings of orange and purple light were spreading out for a hundred feet in any direction from where she’d caught Thistleroot and Wind Rider. At the center of the rings was a faint rainbow-colored sunburst. Scootaloo grinned. “A family trick.” “Wa-watch out!” Thistleroot finally managed. Wind Rider rolled his eyes and flicked him with one wing. “A little slow, Thistleroot.” He turned back, still grinning, and his eyes widened. He dove out of the way as a bolt of pink energy passed where they’d been a moment earlier. Rosalia came to a stop above them, mane twisted and wild, eyes burning with a cold fury. “Unexpected, but ultimately pointless. You can’t get away while dragging them, and they aren’t able to escape on their own. Even if you could, you must be exhausted by now.” “Is anypony else thinking what I’m thinking?” Thistleroot asked. “Probably not,” Wind Rider said. “I was just thinking, it wasn’t a firework, but that big—” Rosalia’s horn flared and a cone of fire washed toward them, wide enough that Scootaloo couldn’t have hoped to dodge it after how much she’d pushed herself, let alone get the others out of the way. The world twisted around her and the fire passed several feet to her right. A long, brown-furred arm ending in talons came into view, holding a wooden stick to the fire as it passed. It pulled back, and on the end of the stick was a perfectly toasted marshmallow. She turned and Discord gave her a smile and a wave. Beside him, Wind Rider and Thistleroot hovered, unharmed. Discord handed her the stick with the marshmallow and patted her head. “Here, you’ve earned this.” “Discord!” Rosalia called, the controlled anger she’d worn earlier now replaced by undisguised hatred. “Yes, hello, nice to see you too, Rosie!” Discord waved. “Wonderful weather we’re having, isn’t it?” Rosalia’s horn flared once more. “I’ll— I’ll—” “Red light,” Discord said, holding up his hand, palms out. He turned back, bent down, and plucked the stone tablet from Scootaloo’s hooves. Once he’d straightened out again he nodded. “Okay, green light.” Fire danced along Rosalia’s horn, and the anger and hatred in her expression hadn’t diminished, but her gaze flicked down to the tablet and she pulled back. “Don’t think this is over.” A sphere of pink light flashed around her and she was gone. A moment passed in silence before Wind Rider spoke. “Did... did we just win?”