//------------------------------// // Erratic overload. // Story: Golden Shadows // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*the same day, Ponyville, Equestria.*______ Roxanne walked through the town in silence, recently Lyaroa had gotten more active, mostly in the form of nervous twitching, Estalli explained that this was one of many side effects to the overload that she was experiencing. Lyaroa still refused to give up this power however, and when asked why this was, she gave a smart ass reply about needing the energy for some bed time activities, which Roxanne was not completely opposed to, but she was far more concerned about her girlfriend's wellbeing. Roxanne had pressed the issue, but this only served to make the sentinel even more determined to avoid the subject, so she stopped trying all together and instead decided to talk to Estalli about the issues, when everything had been explained, Estalli had said that it was all common in energy overload cases, where the idividual in question would become more erratic, paranoid and even go out of their way to avoid confronting the issue in front of them. According to Estalli, the only thing they could do was to hope for the best at this point, because it was clear that Lyaroa was not willing to listen to reason. "Who does she usually listen to when it comes to listening to reason?" Estalli had asked. "Either me, Fang or Goldie." Roxanne had replied simply. Estalli had been confused about who 'Goldie' was until it was explained, at which point she asked if it was possible to contact him. "It might be, we parted on good terms last I checked, so he probably won't attack us if we try." Roxanne had stated. After that, Estalli seemed to be quiet and now Roxanne was walking through town trying to think of a way to convince Lyaroa to let go of the unstable energy. 'She won't willingly use it up, and her stubbornness is just making things worse, so how can I get her to use up that energy?' Just as she finished that thought, Roxanne spotted Fang walking through the market, though he was in his unicorn form right now, she immediately got an idea and headed over. Fang seemed to notice her and walked to her, meeting her halfway, where they started to walk together. "Hey Rox, what's up?" He asked. "I......need your help, Lyaroa is being stubborn, she won't let go of the unstable energy she's holding in, and I can't figure out why." Roxanne started. With a nod, Fang looked up at the sky as they walked. "And you want me to talk to her?" He said, more like a statement than a question. Roxanne looked at Fang who seemed to be debating something In his mind. "Yea, that's right.......she won't listen to me or Estalli, but she might listen to you, can you do something to make her see reason?" She asked hopefully. Fang went into thought for a few minutes as they walked, and they soon stopped outside of Lyaroa's house, where he finally spoke. "I'll do it, just make sure Estalli is there with us, I'll handle the rest, tell Lyaroa I want to spar with her tommorow." He replied. Roxanne watched as Fang started walking off. "Thanks." She whispered as she headed inside. _______*the next day, 7:49 AM*_______ Fang walked into Lyaroa's house and looked around, the layout has changed once again, but he wasn't concerned about that, he looked around and saw Roxanne sitting in a chair with a bored expression. "Hey Rox." He greeted. "In she here?" He asked. Roxanne nodded and stood up, she followed Fang to the training yard and after a few minutes they walked inside. Lyaroa was inside pacing quickly, Estalli was here as well, maintaining her weapon, when she looked up and saw them enter, she spoke. "They're here sis." The younger Sentinel said. Lyaroa looked over and saw Fang walking in, she gave him a brief smile. "Hey bud, what's up?" She asked quickly. Fang crossed his arms. "Sparring, or did you forget because of your energy high?" He asked bluntly. Lyaroa chuckled and walked over to him. "So what kind of sparring did you have in mind?" She asked. Fang raised an eyebrow at her, the Sentinel laughed quietly before turning around and walking, at that exact instant, Fang reacted and with all his strength, threw a powerful punch at Lyaroa. "Gah!" Lyaroa exclaimed as she flew forward and landed on the ground. "What are you doing!?" Estalli asked as she readied her blade. Fang looked at Estalli. "Stay out of this Estalli." He warned, his voice was eerily calm as he looked at Lyaroa who had just started to stand back up. Lyaroa looked up at Fang as he summoned a staff. "I'm not going to fight you like this Fang, I'm not going to risk killing a friend." She said shakily, the surprise attack clearly taking a toll. "Good, you are long overdue an ass kicking anyway." He said as he took one step forward, and was suddenly in front of Lyaroa, he then unleashed a flurry of blows, striking quickly and impacting on her arms and chest. Lyaroa then felt the air drain from her lungs as Fang punched her in the gut, she collapsed and took many deep breaths. "What.....the hell got into you all of a sudden?" She asked through the pain. Fang paced back and forth in front of Lyaroa. "Nothing, just some repressed anger from when you used my body as a puppet." He replied simply before apparently teleporting and swinging the staff hitting Lyaroa in the head. The Sentinel cried out in pain, Roxanne moved to stop the fight but Estalli stopped her. "Wait, I see what he's doing." She whispered. Roxanne glared at Estalli as the Sentinel explained. "He's forcing her to use that power, she has no choice but to use it, either to fight back or to heal herself." She said. "He could have at least given me a heads up." Roxanne complained as she crossed her arms. Fang looked down at Lyaroa. "Fight back, fight like your life depended on it, fight with the intent to kill, or just lie down and let me attack over and over again, because i can go on for a long time." He then dismissed the staff. "Or I could fight to kill you, and force a reaction." He said before holding his hand out. "Hydra!" He called out. And soon enough a weapon materialized in his hands, a short black spear with a metallic hydra head at the end, it had a pattern which was similar to hydra scales, inside the hydra head was a small blue crystal, the spearhead itself was made of gray steel and had a razor sharp edge. "That's going too far Fang!" Roxanne called out. Fang said nothing in reply as he walked towards Lyaroa, once in range, he resumed his attack, relentlessly assaulting the Sentinel, his blows impacting and slashing her body over and over, but she wouldn't fight back. Soon though, Fang stopped his assault and backed off, he sighed and dismissed the spear. "Look what you've become Lyaroa." He said. Lyaroa's wounds were soon fully healed, but she wouldn't get up. "You've become so addicted to that power, that you won't even use it to defend youself." Fang continued. "If you won't even use your power in self defense.......what makes you think you'll use it when someone you care for is hurt? or in danger of death?" He asked. Roxanne noticed that Lyaroa's eyes had widened and that she was breathing rapidly. "And yet, when I was killed not long ago, one of the first things you did was bring me back, and when you did I had a vision." Fang said. "In this vision, I saw your mother, only it felt like she was talking to me.......she told me that you didn't have a warriors heart, and that you were weak when it truly mattered." He stated. Lyaroa closed her eyes as tears fell down her face, her hands now clenched into fists. "It would seem that she was right after all, you don't have it in you to actually fight, it's why you avoid conflict, and why you never used your true power in Dalcorus, and it's why you won't fight me." Fang continued. Lyaroa grit her teeth, tears now flowed freely. "I'm going to give you one chance to prove me wrong." He said ominously. "Attack me at full power now! or I will kill myself!" Fang stated loudly. At this, Lyaroa opened her eyes and forced herself to stand, she turned and looked at Fang who had a dagger in his hands, she channeled her energy to her hands and she glared at Fang. "Fine, you want full power? here it is." She stated. Fang was forced to drop the dagger as Lyaroa suddenly fired a beam of unimaginable power at him, he braced himself as it impacted him at full force, he grunted as he felt his skin being torn off from sheer power, he could hear Roxanne begging Lyaroa to stop. "Don't you dare stop Lyaroa! keep firing until you can't feel your damn arm!" He shouted. The beam went strong for a good five minutes, Fang suffering in agony every second, until it finally ended, and Lyaroa was forced to stop. When the beam finally stopped, both Fang and Lyaroa collapsed, Estalli immediately moved to heal Fang's wounds. _____*a few hours later.*_____ Lyaroa had changed the layout of the living room one last time, and said that was the end of it, the walls were now a dark red and the floor had dark gray carpet, there was also very familiar railing on the ceiling. "Did she seriously change the living room AGAIN!?" Asked the resident Changeling. "It was the last time Skitter." Roxanne said as said Changeling walked through to the kitchen and grabbed some things. Skitter noticed Fang and smirked. "Hey handsome." She said before walking upstairs. Fang blinked and looked at Lyaroa and Roxanne. "Um.....what was that about?" He asked. Roxanne sighed and leaned back on the couch. "Lyaroa healed Skitter's eyes, she can properly see things now, and she's been acting strange ever since." She replied. Lyaroa laid back on the sofa, completely wiped out. "Apparently I'm 'feral and cute'" She stated. "And Roxanne is 'hot'" She added. Fang shrugged. "Well, I have to get home, Trixie was not happy about me leaving so early." He joked as he stood up. "Someone's in love." Lyaroa teased. Roxanne laughed quietly. "Said the Sentinel with a girlfriend and a Changeling with a crush." She stated with a smirk. Lyaroa groaned. "That's something I don't want to think about." She muttered. Fang smiled and walked to the door. "See you around." He said, disguising himself as Star before leaving. Once outside, Fang was greeted by Estalli. "Can I help you with something?" He asked when she didn't go inside when he stepped aside. Estalli nodded. "We need to talk, somewhere more private than this." She said. Fang shrugged. "Fine by me." He said. And just as quickly, they were in Fang's basement and he had gone back to his wolf form. "Speak freely, I put a silencing spell on this place." He said. Estalli closed her eyes and she shifted to her Sentinel form, she had light blue skin and pale green eyes, she herself was only around five foot tall, even when floating. "My mother told me that she spoke to you." She said. Fang's expression darkened as Estalli talked. "I'm not sure what is going on in her mind right now, but the fact that you aren't surprised means that my mother told you a lot, i don't truly understand how you all think, and I won't pretend like I do, but if you are able to get Lyaroa to at least talk to her, I will try to learn." She stated. Fang was silent for a while before speaking. "I don't trust either of you......instead of scheming and attacking us, you could have tried to talk to us, but I won't stand in your way next time, but keep the others out of your stupid battles, if they get hurt, I will kill you myself." He warned before disappearing. Estalli was silent as she teleported herself to her room . "At least she isn't in any more danger." She whispered.