//------------------------------// // Excerpt 10 // Story: Glow in the Dark // by Shadow Spector //------------------------------// Excerpt 10: The 6 creatures fell to the ground, their bubbles dispersing immediately after the impact. Lenia’s jaw dropped. “What was that?” Troth smiled over to the earth pony. “That was the magic of friendship. I knew we could do it! Cozy, we were right! Cozy?” Troth turned to face the back of the salmon-colored filly in front of her who was staring wide-eyed at the window the tyrant had been blasted through. Her breath was quivering.  “Cozy, are you okay?” Troth asked in a concerned manner. Cozy turned to Troth with an abnormally wide grin, her eyes tearing up from how open they were. “I knew it, Troth! I knew I could do it.” Troth smiled. “Of course we could.” “No,” Cozy continued with her smile stretching even further. “I am the one. I am the strongest being in Equestria.” Troth’s smile faded. “What?” Cozy pulled out Candid’s paddleball from her saddle-bag and tossed it to him before returning her gaze to Troth. “You said it yourself: friendship is the strongest thing there is. I’ve been able to use it, and it worked. It’s so clear to me now. I am destined to be the ruler.” “Cozy, you’re acting very crazy right now,” Candid speculated. “What do you know, griffon?” Cozy snapped. “I’m the only sane one here. I’m the only one who has acknowledged what just happened. The only one who’s actually going to put this power to use.” “Cozy, you’re scaring me,” Lenia said, backing up a few steps. Cozy decided to ignore Lenia, stepping closer to the non-ponies. “You don’t even know what we just did.” Opul step forward. “We may not know exactly what happened, but we do know that we are apparently capable of some sort of extraordinary power. But this should not be overused like you’re suggesting.” Cozy glared at the white dragon. “You’re not capable of it on your own. You just did what I did, and then you profited on it. Friendship isn’t truly in your nature like it is for me.” “Don’t be stupid,” Candid said. “You clearly saw the other orb that we were engulfed in. Whatever that was, we clearly used it just fine.” “None of that came from you. You all just copied my lead. And that’s how it should always have been. That’s how it’s going to happen. With this tyrant out of the way, this place is going to need a new leader, and it’s going to be me.” Droll stared directly into Cozy’s eyes with an angered look. “No, pony will not rule.” Cozy matched Droll’s expression with her own. “I don’t care what any of you think.” Her glare shifted into a condescending smirk as she marginalized the non-ponies, making her way to the back of the throneroom where the safe stood. She dug through the storage unit, quickly finding the rook. She hugged it closely, oblivious to the cuts she was leaving on her chest from the sharp edges. She turned her sight to the other features of the containment unit, noticing the multiple bits that were soon to be hers. When she finally filled her saddle-bag with the currency, she caught a glimpse of the empty picture frame within the containment unit, her mind coming up with something. She flew out of the safe back towards the desk. “Let’s make my rule official with a picture, Troth,” Cozy smiled to the other pegasus. Troth’s heartstrings were pulled at the sudden favor, and she quickly agreed in a smile. The white pegasus reached for her camera that was slung around her neck, and she lifted it up to aim it at Cozy. The eyes of the pink pegasus briefly landed on the vase of the white daisies, and she set her hooves on the flowers before putting on her cutest smile as Troth snapped the photo. “Wait,” Droll said to the other two creatures. “What pony doing?” “Droll, you idiot,” Candid facepalmed. “She’s naming herself ruler.” “Hey!” Opul called out to the two ponies. “No one is getting coronated today. The ruler should be someone with experience.” Cozy beamed over at Opul. “I do have experience.” “Obviously not enough,” Candid shot back. From behind the non-ponies, Lenia sunk to the floor, covering her eyes with her hooves. “Leader should be new,” Droll offered, trying to go for peace. “Maybe even non-pony.” Cozy groaned as she framed her picture and set it on the desk. “I-.” “It’s not going to be you!” Candid yelled, his eyes widened with fury. Cozy gripped the rook in her hooves. In a split-second, her mind grasped her understanding of the situation. Here she was, a young pony gifted with the strongest power known to pony-dom, and a griffon was trying to take it away from her. This was something she could not stand for.  Cozy’s ears rang once more from the sight of the hostile griffon. She once again heard the words of her mother, telling her to put her own safety first. “I will, mom,” Cozy muttered softly to herself. Cozy began to turn away to face the camera Troth had placed on the desk, but in one quick motion, she turned around to flick the sharp rook out of her hooves like a ninja star into the direction of the griffon. Before anyone could react, the rook found its home, lodging itself in the still widened left eye of the orange non-pony. The blood-curdling shriek was enough to tip the battle off. Droll lunged at Cozy as Opul ran to comfort Candid. Before the yak could reach his lone horn to impale the filly, she flew up into the air, just out of reach before taunting the brown creature. “No high enough, Drool. Tell me why you think someone like you could actually run a place like this.” “Yak offended by Rookie’s words. Yak smash!” Opul kept her arm over Candid, looking up to see Droll chase Cozy around the room. “It’s going to be okay, Candid. We’ll-.” Her words were cut short as a great force collided with her cheek. Opul’s head snapped back up to see Troth winding up for a second punch, forcing the dragon to release Candid and let him collapse to the floor with no support.  Opul dodged the following attack by the white pegasus, moving around Troth to the opposite section of the room to lead the attacker away from the out-of-commission griffon who could only watch with his single eye as his friends faced danger. Another attack was launched against the dragon as Opul dodged yet again before a sudden kick to the gut caught her off guard. Heaving, Opul collapsed to the floor, looking over to Droll’s location where he was still trying to catch Cozy out of the air before the pink pegasus landed on top of the throne. She watched as Cozy made yet another taunt, but right as the yak charged the throne for a hit, Cozy pushed at the very top towards Droll. The brown non-pony hit the base of the throne, causing the seat to tip over on the yak and daze him.  Immediately, Troth stepped in front of the dragon, blocking her sight from her friend before the pony readied her right hoof for another attack. Immediately as her hoof was brought down, Opul launched out her claw, grasping on tightly to Troth’s hoof before sinking her claws deep into the pony’s hide and causing an audible cry from the filly. Right as Opul stood her ground again, the majestic sound of flapping wings overcame her surroundings as the pink feathers covered her sight, allowing for Troth to regain her composure to continuing wailing on the poor dragon. From the opposite side of the room, Candid caught sight of his friend being double teamed, fueling him with anger, but just as soon as he got up, nausea brought him back to the ground. He tried his best to relieve himself from his dizziness, but he could only stay on the ground for the time being. Finally, he could not bear to witness anymore, and he turned away, his eye fixing on the light-green earth pony who was still clinging to the ground. “Lenia,” Candid spoke up, barely managing the strength to finally stand. From below the throne, Droll began to stir from his unconscious state. Lenia looked up at the griffon, shaking in fear. “Why is this happening?” “You chose the wrong friends,” Candid said. Lenia shook her head, unwilling to believe it. “Troth cares for me. She knows what she’s talking about.” Finally, Droll got up, extricating himself from underneath the throne. He shook his head to make sure nothing was loose before running to Candid.  “Lenia,” Candid repeated. “Does what she’s doing look like friendship?” The filly stared over at Opul who was just barely able to defend against the two young pegasi, barely freeing her eyes from Cozy’s wings to continue blocking as many lunges as possible, but it was apparent that this would not last for very much longer. Droll finally spoke up. “Pony help us. We need Lenia.” Lenia began to breathe heavier, backing away from the two non-ponies, stopping in the moonlight beam that barely shone in from the window. “You can’t be asking me to do what I think you’re asking me to do.” “Lenia, what’s happened here has gone too far,” Candid explained, feeling a bit more strength come to him. “You can help us stop this.” Lenia gulped in fear, staring at her original friend who had teamed up with her new friend. Throughout her time with her, she had been taught the importance of sticking with somepony through thick and thin and to never turn your back on them. She couldn’t help but think that now was the time to put what she learned into practice by staying loyal to who she knew first. But her own thoughts also pierced her mind, flooding her brain with guilt at what would happen if she chose to listen to herself.  She looked at Candid and Droll, then back at Troth. She had no idea what to think, for she had never been brought up to ever think for herself. She thought she knew what to do, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that every decision she would make would be met with an equal scolding to her. Lenia began to tear up, and she finally brought her eyes away from reality, staring down at the carpet beneath her hooves as the moonlight shined in from the window behind her, partially cracked from the magical blast of earlier. She watched as the tears fell from her cheeks before splatting on the floor, never bothering anyone ever again. Tears never had to face life. Their only purpose was to appear in horrible times before leaving the scene for others to solve on their own. Tears never had to decide. Lenia finally stared back up at her friends, the softest of smiles coming to her damp face. “I’m sorry.” Finally, Lenia clenched her eyes closed before pushing herself backwards off the floor with as much force as she could handle, shattering the rest of the window behind her as she sailed through the air like a tear falling to the ground. Droll dropped to the floor in shock as Candid rushed to the broken window. He stared out through the opening, but saw nothing through the darkness of the night. He continued to search in desperation for a moment before an angered voice interrupted from behind. “What did you do??” Candid turned just in time to see Troth flying towards him at full speed, baring her bloody right hoof to smash into his face. The punch knocked the griffon to the ground, lighting off adrenaline in his body to muster the strength to fight. He stood up, facing Troth with her blood now on his cheek. Troth winded her hoof for an uppercut, but before she could let it loose, Droll bit onto her tail and pulled her back, catching her off guard. Candid stood over Troth. “We don’t want to fight you.” Troth glared up at the bloody griffon. “It’s too late for that. You’ve made this personal.” Immediately, Troth back-kicked Droll’s face, causing the yak to stumble back. The pegasus then set her front hooves on the carpet before doing a flip to achieve the most amount of momentum to come down on Candid’s head with the base of her back hooves.  The impact rattled the rook that was still dislodged in his eye, causing searing pain to spread throughout his head, but he fought through it. He looked back at Troth who was already preparing for another hit. Candid got to his knees and breathed hard, staring behind Troth to see the charging yak approaching her. His neck was outstretched to bare his lone horn in front of him as he traveled with so much speed that the floor shook. Before Troth could hit Candid again, she stopped herself, freezing for a moment before smirking. Just as Droll was about to bulldoze Troth, she launched herself off the ground, removing herself from the path that Droll was in. He was still going full speed and now the only one in his way was a helpless griffon staring in fear. With wishful thinking, Candid brought his claws up to grip tightly onto his friend’s lone horn, forcing himself to be dragged across the carpet as to not be trampled as Droll slowed down. He was stopped right before his head hit a glass shard still sticking out from the broken window.  Droll stared in panic at Candid, but the griffon instead just nodded in understanding before the two turned to face Troth once more. Each deciding that cooperation was key, they began to charge Troth together.  “You two have no idea what you’re getting yourselves into,” Troth said before charging the two creatures as well. Candid flew through the air in an attempt to tackle the dangerous pegasus but instead, Troth slid underneath and came up behind him. Before Candid could turn around, Troth jumped up to touch her hind hooves onto Candid’s back before launching herself off of him into the direction of Droll. She flew over his head, grabbing a hold of his lone horn for control before landing herself on the yak’s back, riding him like the animal he was to her.  With great force, Droll launched Troth off his back, sending her flying towards Candid who was still trying to regain his stance from Troth’s push. Immediately, Droll began charging again and this time, Troth wasn’t ready to get out of the way. Instead, she glanced up at Candid. The griffon directed his attention back to the threat, but before he could react, Troth reached up to his face, grabbing a hold of the rook still lodged in his eye to yank it out with great force. Candid shrieked again, collapsing to the floor and Troth took the moment to throw the rook in the direction of the charging yak, to which he deflected it with his horn, allowing for the castle chess piece to roll to the side of the room where Opul and Cozy were. Cozy’s eyes caught on the rook on the ground, and she dove for it, hefting it up to stand guard against Opul.  The white dragon gasped loudly at the sight of the weapon she had become far too familiar with. “You’re - you’re just like him . . .” “Yeah,” Cozy said without emotion. “Well maybe now I see why.” Opul backed up, worried about what Cozy could now do with the rook. Since Troth left her side, Cozy had been defending, trying her best to get out of the way from Opul’s attacks. Now with the serrated piece, she was now a threat, and it was Opul’s turn to play defense. Candid covered his eye that was now bleeding more frequently, causing him to feel woozy again. He lay on his stomach, trying to army-crawl off of the battlefield. He looked back up to see Droll fighting Troth and losing. With short breaths, the only thing he desired was to be over with everything and get his friends back, but he didn’t see that as an option.  It wasn’t long into his weak crawl that the top of his head hit against something metal. He looked up to see the metal safe where Cozy reclaimed her weapon from, with the door to it slowing moving closed from the recent impact. He mustered the little strength he had left to get up and fly to the top.  He landed on the safe and the containment unit wobbled beneath him. The current room consisted of one friend to his left who was now being threatened with a sharp rook and one friend to his right who was trying his best to fend off somepony that not even Candid could have fought when Droll was by his side. The safe shook beneath him again in an unstable manner, and the griffon was instantly reminded of the throne earlier. His breathing grew more rapidly in fear as he was struck with a solution that he did not want to carry out.  From below, Droll stared up at Candid, worried if his friend would be okay. The only thing the yak cared about at the moment was making sure the rest of his life would be devoted to giving his friends a chance to survive. His breath was fast by the time Troth flew into the side of him, tipping him over and knocking the wind out of him. The yak’s wheezes were heard throughout the room, and he watched as Troth stood over him, lifting up her hoof to bring down on the creature’s face. Troth stomped once, then stomped twice, causing blood to spout from the yak’s mouth. It was the third hit that Droll reached out his cloven hooves to stop the impact, but he was too weak to hold it for much longer. He spit out blood before attempting to take his last look at his friend who was now putting both his back against the wall and his legs against the back of the safe. Droll’s arms were about to give up under the weight of the hoof, causing his eyes to meet Troth’s once more who was staring down in a look of determination as she pressed her hoof down. Finally, the yak’s gaze returned to the griffon’s who was still in the same position, but his mood had taken on a depressed tone rather than panicked. Droll was confused as he struggled under Troth’s weight until he saw Candid’s lone eye roll down to the safe before returning to Droll. He understood. With one last push of energy, Droll pushed Troth’s hoof away, freeing himself from the pony’s grip. Immediately, he stood up before using every last bit of energy to rush at the safe, tilting his head down and aiming it towards one single leg of the containment unit. Troth was quick to get back on her hooves to chase Droll down, still unaware of what he was doing. Finally, Droll collided with the metal leg as Candid used the last of his effort to push at the top. Immediately after the impact, Droll ricocheted off the leg, bouncing to the side of the safe and dazing himself in the process. Troth narrowed her eyes on the yak, ready to finish the job until the sight of the safe got closer to her at an unbelievable speed and she watched as it came down on her, leaving only the top part of her head to see the light of day and leveling the rest of her body. The sound of a huge CRUNCH stirred Cozy from her fight with Opul, and she turned to see just the top half of her friend sticking out from underneath the safe. The pink filly froze, staring wide-eyed down at the horrific sight. In a hopeful tone, she called out: “Troth?” After no answer, the pink filly rushed down to the side of her friend, attempting to comfort her by resting Troth’s head in her hooves, but upon first contact, the skull severed and disconnected, landing in Cozy’s arms. Candid stared in shock at what he just did. He looked down at Cozy from above the fallen safe. Cozy sniffled before staring up at Candid. “How could you do this?” The griffon regarded the young filly sorrowfully before looking around at the room. His head turned next to him where Droll was lying, dazed, on the floor. He turned to Opul who was covered in red gashes from the rook, barely able to stand up. Then his eyes returned to the pink filly who was sobbing, holding the partial cranium against her chest as she knelt in a pool of blood. “Cozy,” Candid managed weakly. “Back away,” Cozy said with subdued anger. Candid blinked back a tear before repeating himself. “Cozy.” “Back off!” Cozy yelled, contorting her face at the griffon. “Please, Cozy,” Candid said, looking at her on the same eye-level. “You should go.” Cozy stared back into the griffon’s lone eye. The two shared their eye contact for a moment until the sound of distant hoofsteps sounded from the hallways, breaking the two from their trance. Cozy returned her eyes to the fractured skull in her hooves before lifting it off and placing it in her bag. She flew to the desk where she had the picture placed, the last thing given to her by her friend, before putting the picture in her saddle-bag and taking a hold of her rook again. She stared out the broken window behind the desk where the unicorn had been blasted through. “It’s okay, Troth,” Cozy said to her bag. “We’re going to be okay.” Cozy’s eyes returned to the window before she flew into the night.