Trixie let out a weak moan as she began to awaken, feeling herself laying against something that felt like glass. Creaking her eyes open, a small breath left her mouth as she heard a voice, "You okay?" Blinking at the sound, she looked down to see Shining Soul staring up at her with a giant frown.
"Oh...right. That happened." Trixie groaned as she pushed the glass, opening the tube as she started to get out of the capsule. "Urgh...it still hurts." The magician stumbled as she put her hooves out of the tube, Soul trying to help her stay steady, "Thanks."
"No problem." Soul replied, Trixie patting her head.
She then rubbed her face, her mind now feeling a certain unicorn's words go through her head:
"If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were holding back. But of course, I do."
"Do yourself a favor and find a way to forfeit the next time you're picked. After all, you're not doing your team any good trying to help."
Trixie's stomach cramped at those words, her eyes trying to hold back tears as she whispered, "I...I have to get stronger."
"What?" She turned to Soul, the frown still on her face.
Trixie shook her head in response, "It's nothing. Where's everypony else?"
"Cold/Crystal...SABER!" Cold and Ruby roared as they clashed with swords of their element. They then hopped back, quickly circling around a low rocky terrain as they kept firing crystal and ice arrows at each other.
While this happened, Springer was racing through the canyon, trying to use Velocity Strike to speed himself up. But as he tried to do this, he felt his aura surge through his body, making him stumble. And as he felt himself kiss dirt, he let out a groan as he looked back up to see Heart walking up to him. "How long was that?"
The colt looked down at a stopwatch created from the illusion room and replied, "Two minutes and twenty seconds." Springer sighed as he started to get up as Heart continued, "That's ten seconds longer than your last try."
"And the kickback didn't feel as bad...but it still hurts like crazy." he grumbled, looking down his paws to see aura glitch in them, "My father really was a genius to make something like that without getting hurt. Guess my body just needs to get used to it."
Meanwhile...
Flash and Soarin were in the sky, the defender holding up a replica of Storm's Celestic Gear. "Alright, let's try it again."
Soarin nodded and charged, Flash thrusting the blade at him. Soarin then acted, saying out loud the actions Flash had been hammering into his head. "Dodge!" the blade just missed him before he wrapped both hooves around it, "Grab, twist!" Flash lost grip on the weapon as it spun around, "Pull!" Soarin yanked the blade out of Flash's grasp, these four actions being done in less than two seconds.
"Nice." Flash replied as he did a small clap, "Looks like you got it down."
"Thanks." Soarin added as he did the motions with his hooves again, "I won't let him get the better of me again."
"I know you won't." Flash continued as he patted his shoulder, "Remember, speed is your game. That's your biggest advantage against these cultists."
It was here that Trixie and Soul walked into the illusion room, watching the others train as the princess's student spoke up, "Everypony's working hard."
Soul let out a sigh at this, "The other team got the orb yesterday. Now everypony's trying to push themselves." Trixie did a small nod as they now saw Flash show Soarin several types of holds.
"No," Flash shook his head as Soarin tried to pull his hoof behind him, "You really need to put your weight behind it."
"I'm trying!" Soarin grunted before letting go, "This is tough bro, I'm not built for strength."
"Can I give it a go?" Heart asked as he and Springer walked up to them.
Soarin turned to him with a slight frown. "I don't know kid. This kind of fighting isn't something a colt could probably do." He then descended with a slight 'come on' gesture', "But if you wanna try, give me your best-GYAH!" In a blur, Soarin found himself tackled to the floor by the red colt. Heart quickly held his back hooves on the Wonderbolt's wings while his front hooves were pulling Soarin's back. "AUGH!" Soarin wheezed out as Heart pulled back even more, bending his body as he yelped, "Uncle....UNCLE!"
Flash and Springer laughed at the sight, Springer tapping Flash's side, "Kid's got guts."
"Yeah he does." Flash added as told Heart to get off of the Wonderbolt, "Why don't I show you a few moves? Who knows, you might even be able to take me down eventually."
Heart's eyes shined at the suggestion, wagging his tail as he rapidly nodded, "Yeah, let's do it!"
"Looks like your brother's having fun," Trixie commented as they saw Flash show Heart a fighting stance, only to turn to see Soul looking away, "You okay?"
"No..." Soul muttered as she shook her head, "I don't like the idea of fighting."
"Nopony likes that idea. But they do it because they have no choice." Trixie replied, only to see a now huge grimace on Soul's face. She put a hoof to her mouth, now noticing she may have had said the wrong words. Leaning down next, she slowly said, "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Say...why don't I show you a thing or too about this little thing?" She tapped her filly's horn, Soul looking back with a look of fear in her eyes.
"I-I-I don't know. W-w-what if I can't control it?!"
"Trust me, everypony has that feeling when they first start trying to tap into their magic." She moved her over to a stack of rocks, "Let's try something simple. See this rock?" Soul nodded, "Imagine it floating in the air."
"That's it?"
"Yes. Levitation is a basic magic anypony can get after some practice. Now give it a try."
Soul did a small gulp, her eyes staring at the rock as gritted her teeth. But as she did this, her horn didn't even remotely spark, "Um...its not working. I don't feel anything."
Trixie hummed, leaning down to Soul's level, "Hmm....maybe we need to work on helping you tap into your magic. Alright, close your eyes and imagine a light switch." Soul closed her eyes, the image of the switch slowly appearing in her mind. "Now...image the switch flipping from off to on." The mental image showed the switch moving upward, her horn beginning to weakly glow.
"There ya go...just do it slowly." Trixie commented as she turned to the rock, now seeing it glow gold before floating upward. "See? You've got this."
"Huh?" Soul's eyes opened, gasping at the sight of the rock floating. And as she saw this, her horn suddenly surged, making the rock go flying.
"WHOA!" Flash yelped as he pulled Heart out of the rock's path, "Look out!" Ruby and Cold stopped their spar, turning to see the rock before the Crystal Knight sliced the rubble in half.
"I'm sorry!" Soul screamed, clutching her jumper as several other rocks start to glow. They soon began firing off in random directions, the filly yelling, "AAAAH!"
Everypony started to dodge the rubble, Flash zipping over to the room's crystal as he slapped it down with his hoof. The illusion room instantly shut off, the rocks vanishing as Soul's horn kept glowing. Trixie then put her hooves around her, telling her its okay as her horn started to calm down. And as her horn stopped shining, tears began to appear in her eyes as she muttered out, "I'm so sorry..."
"Its okay," Trixie added as she ended the hug and put her hoof on her shoulder, Heart now running over to comfort her as well, "It's alright. Losing control like that is natural."
"For a pony much younger than her," Cold grumbled as he walked over, "Most unicorns have at least that much mastered by the time they turn ten! She's...how old are you again?"
Heart started doing the math. "We were ten when we first woke up...so twelve or thirteen?" Hearing this made Soul hug Trixie, the unicorn patting her head before glaring at Cold.
"Have some tact Cold, she's still a filly and those ponies all had somepony else to teach them control. She didn't have that." Cold just blankly stared back, Trixie now rubbing Soul's head as she glanced down at the filly, "Its okay Soul, you'll get it. You just need a little more practice."
"Which she can get when we return to Equestria," Ruby called out, everypony turning to her as she continued, "I mean no offense, but right now we need to be focus our efforts on increasing our own strength."
"We know that Ruby," Flash replied, "But we're not gonna suddenly get stronger overnight, and neither are the goons we're fighting."
Cold nodded in agreement, "Which is why we need to play smarter, not harder."
"How can we play smarter?" Ruby responded, "We have no idea who we're fighting until the fight starts. There's no way to plan against that kind of random odds."
"And they've totally got an advantage," Heart added, "There's seven of them and only six of you."
"Exactly," Ruby turned back to the others. "For all we know, them getting even one more orb could spell the end of this contest. We might not know what getting those orbs means, but we can all agree that whatever it is, we don't want Shadow and his gang to be the winners. That's why we have to keep training, even if it kills us. We don't have time to mess around."
Heart and Soul both looked down in almost shame, both backpedalling as Ruby trotted over to the control crystal and remake the canyon as she reforged her swords. Turning to Cold, she pointed the blades at him, "Come at me with everything this time." Cold nodded as he prepared himself, Flash and Soarin also flying up to spar. Springer ran to another part as he began to focus his aura again, only for Trixie to just stand there and watch all her friends train.
Sighing at the sight, Terror's words still playing in her head, she turned to see Soul and Heart frowning at the sight of the training. Knowing they just wanted to help, Trixie leaned down and spoke up, "Heart, Soul?" The two turned to her, "Mind getting me some breakfast? I'm starving." The twin's eyes shined as they jumped back to their feet.
"Sure," Heart replied as his tail started to wag, "What would you like?"
"Something very filling but won't weigh me down if I need to fight."
The two shared a glance, Soul then looking back at Trixie, "Scrambled eggs?" Trixie put a hoof to her chin, only to nod back, "Alright! A plate of scrambled eggs coming up!"
"Anyone else want something to eat?" Heart asked the others, Ruby and Cold replying with a strong 'no.'
"I wouldn't mind something to drink," Flash added as he grabbed Soarin's hoof and swung him around.
"Same here!" The Wonderbolt cried as he was thrown across the room.
"Me three!" Springer raced past them, his body surrounded by blue lightning. Heart and Soul quickly nodded before running out the room, Trixie giggling at the sight.
And as she turned back to the others, she took a deep breath as her horn began to glow. "I need to get stronger. I...have to beat her."
But as this happened, one pony was also disturbed by her thoughts. It was Ruby, who was now beheading an ice tiger before clashing with Cold with two crystal swords, 'Next time...next time I face you, I'll learn the truth!' She rolled under a swipe from Cold's blade while forming a crystal spike on her hoof, throwing a punch in his direction. 'I swear it!'
Two and a half hours later...
A long stare was coming out of the eyes of Shadow as he and his minions were staring at the machine Wingill was in. The hippogriff was still twitching and flinching as the magic surged through the liquid he was within. Tempera and Armalum stood at either side of Shadow, Storm and Terror standing far back while Salix was walking around the tube in impatience. "How much longer is he gonna be in there?!" He asked as he turned to Shadow, his master giving him a blank stare in response.
"I don't know. We'll just have to be patient. I'm working with magic I know very little about. For all I know, the experiment won't even work."
"Don't worry master," Tempera leaned over with a goofy grin and placed her head on his shoulder. "Of course it'll work. You were the one that created it." She looked back at the others, "Isn't that right?"
Armalum neither nodded or shook his head. "Master Shadow's scientific abilities are incredible, but expecting him to know everything is moronic. Nopony can have every answer, especially about a subject possibly nopony has ever even attempted."
Tempera growled back at the armored pony, "How dare you! You do realize it's our job to keep Master Shadow pumped up and believing in himself, right?!" Armalum didn't reply, Tempera grumbling as she then turned to Storm and Terror. "What about you two?!"
Storm and Terror said nothing, both still thinking about the scolding Shadow had given them after their defeat. Since Tempera had gotten the orb, he had been 'lenient' with them, but they knew better as Storm muttered out, "I...have every belief that our master knows what he's doing."
"Agreed," Terror added with a small nod.
Salix huffed as he put his face right up to the glass, "Come on buddy! Give us some sign to say how much longer you'll be in there." Wingill's eyes then suddenly shot open, Salix screaming in surprise as he fell back on his flank. "He's awake!"
"I can see that," Shadow commented before pointing to the machine's controller as its lights turned green. "He's ready. Do it." Tempera pulled the leaver, causing the tube's liquid to drain, Wingill falling out of the container next. His body limped to the floor, completely drenched as Tempera walked over and removed his rebreather. She put her hoof on him next, checking his pulse and heart rate as Shadow asked, "Well?"
"He's alive."
And as those words left her mouth, a glob of water spat of the hippogriff as he groaned, "Ugh..." His eyes creaked back open, moaning as he turned over and saw everypony, "Morning..."
"How do you feel?" Storm asked as he walked over and helped Wingill stay steady.
"Numb. Like my entire body's got goosebumps."
"Likely just an aftereffect of the experiment," Shadow added. "They'll go away in time."
Salix took this moment to jump up in front of Wingill, his tail wagging as he asked, "So? What is it?!" The hippogriff raised an eyebrow, causing the kirin to roll his eyes, "What's your new power buddy?! You can't have gone through all this for nothing!"
Wingill looked down at his claws, then at the pearl fragment on his neck brace. "I'm...not sure."
Shadow sighed as he got off a illusionary throne, "There's no guarantee this experiment even worked. All we can do is wait and see what happens. You will need to start training to unlock the power you may have received." But as he said this, a familiar alarm sounded above their heads. "Perfect."
"But I don't even now what my new powers are," Wingill replied.
Terror shook her head in response, "Well, you'll just have to hope you don't get picked." Wingill growled back at her, the mare shrugging as they all left the room to find out who would be fighting today.
Meanwhile...
Flash and his friends had just entered the map room, the table activating to show the 3-D model of the city before a section of it became cornered off. This section was entirely made up of buildings, though it had a few canals running through it. "Here we go..." Flash muttered as he watched the bingo machine appear before it started rolling.
Eventually, the first orb popped out to show Flash's cutie mark. The knight gripped his sword, tightening it in his hooves. The second orb then popped out, this one with Ruby's cutie mark on it. Ruby did a small nod at this, rubbing her necklace with her hoof as she took a deep breath.
But as the machine continued to shake, everypony started to wonder if there was going to be a third sphere. And as an entire minute passed, the last appeared...only for everypony's eyes to go wide. On the tiny ball was a cutie mark of several pink lines that were in the image of a flower.
"That's-" was all Flash could mutter out as the rest turned to Soul, a look of pure terror on her face.
"Soul?!" Heart gasped as he saw his sister start to backpedal.
"Me?! But I'm not part of this!" she screamed, "No! No, no, no, no-"
Her words stopped as all three were consumed by a light, instantly teleporting away. As this happened, Heart tried to leap at her, trying to grab her before she vanished...only to hit the floor. "NO!" he yelled as he picked himself up, "Soul!"
The rest turned to the screens, now seeing three dots appear on the table. As this happened, Trixie commented, "You gotta be kidding me! She's just a filly! She can't be part of this!"
"Maybe..." Cold responded, letting out a long sigh, "But it looks like she's been picked to take part in this little game."
"What?! Why?!" Heart yelled as he saw his sister now appear on the screens, "Soul!" He flared his wings, Soarin instantly realizing what he was about to do. Reflexively the Wonderbolt grabbed him before the colt could take to the air, making him yell out, "Hey! Lemme go!"
"Forget it kid! All you'll do is hurt yourself by charging that barrier that's keeping us in this place!"
"But-"
"Calm down." Soarin said with a final yank, keeping Heart to the ground, "I'm sorry...but you gotta stay here now." He then turned to the others, Trixie and Springer showing unsure frowns while Cold kept his usual blank face. Despite this, he sighed as he began patting Heart's head, "Heart...we gotta trust in Flash and Ruby now."
"NO!" Soul cried out, clenching her jumper as tears began to appear in her eyes, "I SHOULDN'T BE HERE!"
"Soul!" Flash zipped over to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder, "Soul, you need to calm down. Relax..."
Soul's lips trembled, tears now going down her face, "I don't want to be here."
"I know you don't. I don't want you here either, but there's nothing we can do." The tears were now going off her face, making Flash try to summon the kindest smile he could muster. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. I promise." Soul sniffed at this, Flash wiping her tears away. "I just need you stay calm and-"
He felt a shiver go down his spine, his ears twitching as he heard a hoof tap some rocks a bit away. Reflexes kicking in, he grabbed Soul and leapt away, a fireball exploding a second later. Soul cried out as Flash rolled them both to the side. Another set of flames came next, this time Ruby rackling them to dodge the fire before the two knights rolled back onto their hooves.
"Great..." Flash moaned as he looked up to see Salix and Wingill standing on one of the buildings, "You two again."
Salix let out a laugh as the nirik waved his flaming tail around. "I've been waiting for this!" He leapt up as the flames shot out of his hooves to propel him forward. "PAYBACK TIME!"
Ruby slammed her hooves into the ground, creating a crystal wall that Salix bonked into. "You're not hurting anypony on my watch." she commented, turning back to her friends, only to see a wave of red energy appearing from a nearby alleyway.
It flew at her head and forced her to teleport away, just as Salix and Wingill destroyed the crystal wall. "Whoa!" Flash yelped as he dodged another fireball, Soul still screaming as Flash kept her in his hooves.
"Show yourself!" Ruby yelled as she reappeared, forming a crystal sword at the same time as she pointed it at alley. And as she did this, the sound of clanging metal hooves now pierced the air. "You..." she growled, now seeing Armalum walk out with a large scythe resting on his shoulder.
"Ruby!" She glanced over to see Flash blocking a fireball with his sword, Soul now on his back, "Help me out here! We have to stick together!" As he said this, Wingill tried to slash at him, only for Flash to sidestep and slice him back as Salix fired several fireballs their way. Flash jumped up next, dodging the flames while Wingill flew after him. "RUBY!"
"What will you do?" She heard Armalum ask as she turned back to him, "Will you help them, or fight me?" He pointed his weapon at her, "I know what I'd do." Before Ruby could reply, the armoured pony jumped and swung the scythe downward, Ruby forming a crystal shield to block the attack. "That won't save you." he hissed as the blade struck and got stuck in the barrier, only to pull out a card with some runes on it as he tossed it on the ground.
And as it landed, the card exploded into a light that swept across the entire field. "No more teleporting!" He laughed as he pulled the scythe back, spinning it around his hooves as he continued, "You won't escape me this time!"
"I don't want to escape!" Ruby roared as she summoned some crystal arrows, firing the projectiles as the armoured pony cut them down with one swipe. But as he did this, Ruby quickly leapt up and swung a crystal sword down, Armalum barely blocking it with the staff of his scythe. This was followed by two more slashes, each one pushing the pony back.
"Urgh!" he growled as he felt the force from her attacks, looking up to see a look of pure anger on Ruby's face, "Hmm?" Before he could react, she thrust her sword next, making Armalum backpedal to dodge the attack. As he did this, his horn sparked as he tried to fire a ball of red energy at her, only for Ruby to slice it in half with one slash. This was followed with a second crystal sword, Ruby using it to block Armalum's scythe's bladed end while she spun to strike him with another slash.
Armalum ducked against the sword strike, sliding along the ground as Ruby leapt over his sweeping motion. And as both spun around to clash again, both blades hit each others as they now found their faces inches from each other. It was here that Armalum saw the bloodlust in Ruby's eyes, making him almost flinch, "This is new. Your emotions tell me everything...you hate me, don't you?" Ruby's face got even closer as he continued, "And its not because we're enemies...your hatred of me is personal."
"Of course it is!" Ruby roared as she pulled back, spinning like a top before slashing at him again.
And as Armalum blocked the next strike, he tilted his head with a hum, "Why? We have never met before." A roar of anger came out of Ruby after hearing this, making her break his guard, only for him to hop backward to dodge her blades. She then began to summoned some crystal arrows as he continued, "Tell me, did I harm somepony you knew? Somepony you loved? Who was it?"
"YOU KNOW WHO IT WAS!" She screamed as she fired the arrows, Armalum forming a shield while firing another energy fireball. The sphere struck the charging knight, making her yelp as she was sent flying into a nearby building. "Gyah!" she screamed, feeling a pile of rubble now land on her.
"I'm afraid I do not." Armalum replied as he watched Ruby ascend from the pile a second later, summoning two more blades as she death glared at him.
"What's wrong with her?" Trixie asked.
"I'm not sure," Cold added as he saw Ruby fired another volley of crystal arrows. "Whoever it is under that armor, she's letting him distract her from what's important."
He switched the screen back to show Flash flying through the city with Soul clinging to his back. The sight made Heart gulp, "Soul..."
Soarin patted his shoulder, making him turn to the Wonderbolt, "Don't worry, Flash will keep her safe."
"I hope so." Heart replied as he looked back at the screen, "Please help her Flash..."
"WHOA!" Flash yelped as he dodged another fireball, spinning around for a second as he fired a Flash Cutter. The duo chasing him dodged the blow, letting Flash quickly zip into a nearby alley, only to leapt into a window.
Once inside, he pulled Soul off his back and placed her in the far corner. "Alright, stay in here and out of sight. I'll try and lead them away from you."
"O-o-okay..." Soul muttered, only to let out an 'eep' as they heard a nearby building explode in flames.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Wingill yelled out next, "Come on! I was hoping this fight could help me figure out what my new powers are!"
"New powers?!" Flash responded with raised eyebrows. He then glanced out the window, now seeing the two had their back to him. "Okay....gotta be sneaky here." The defender gave Soul one last glance, showing her a big smile before crawling out the window. Slowly flapping his wings, he silently flew across a street before going into another building. He then pointed his sword to the building next to the one Soul was in.
He shot a quick laser next, a minor explosion occurring inside. "What was that?!" Wingill asked as the two zipped over to the window, only to see a broken room with nothing in it. "Huh?"
"GOTCHA!" Flash leapt out of the window, blade shining as he swiped it, "FLASH CUTTER!" The light blade flew at the two as they turned around, Salix quickly spitting a fireball to block it before Wingill charged at him through the smoke, tackling the knight, "Gyah!"
Wingill slammed him into the building he had flown out of, his talons gripping him around the hooves. "What, you think we're idiots?" He turned back to Salix, "The girl must be in the window! Fry her!"
Salix nodded as he began to summon his flames, Flash growling as he tried to escape Wingill's claws, "Hurting a little filly. You all are really low!"
"If you brought her to this city, it must mean she has some kind of power."
"I didn't bring her here. She and her brother were already here when we arrived."
"Yeah, sure." They both looked up to see Salix formed a fireball in his hooves, smacking it into the window without even looking, causing the place's to be consumed by an explosion.
"NOOO!" Flash pulled his back hooves up and kicked Wingill off of him, flying up to slash at Salix. However, he quickly propelled himself backward, Flash then yelling into the smoking window. "SOUL!"
"Aww...what's the matter? Did we hurt your little friend?" Wingill mocked as Flash turned to them in Theta Mode. Salix countered with a swung tail of fire, making Flash slash them away before punching the nirik in the chest. As he did this, he spun around to charge at Wingill, who blocked the sword with his claws.
"You'll pay for what you did to her!" He pushed Wingill back next, only to fire a Flash Force which Wingill side-stepped. This caused the blast to hit the side of the building Soul was actually in, causing it to shake. Growling next, he took to the air and started to fly away.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Wingill barked as he took to the sky as well.
As this happened, Salix galloped down the street, a trail of flaming hoof prints following him as the nirik kept spitting fireballs at Flash. "Come back here! I'm gonna roast you into nothingness! In fact, I'll roast you into less than nothing...whatever that is. Is there something that's less than nothing?! Oh yeah, a minus! I'll roast you into a minus!"
"That's right," Flash whispered, "Keep following morons. Don't think I'm leading you away."
"I can't believe those fools fell for that!" Tempera groaned, "I mean, it's so obvious!"
"Those two never were the brightest of us," Storm added with a long sight. "But it's not like it matters. If they defeat Sentry and Armalum defeats Scarlet, the match will be ours. There's no chance a child like her could defeat the three of them."
"But what if she finds the orb?" Terror asked, now seeing Soul's dot start to move as she ran out of the building. "See? If our team is too busy fighting, they won't be able to stop her if she finds the orb."
Shadow hissed, his horn sparking as he changed the screen back to Ruby and Armalum's fight, "They'd better finish them off quickly then." He leaned back in his chair, now seeing Ruby's horn flare as she charged at Armalum. "I do not like this situation before me. Something feels...off."
"Crystal Hammer!" Ruby roared as she leapt, swinging the weapon down as Armalum created a force field. The hammer clanged off it, its head and the shield both shattering. But as this happened, Ruby quickly formed the staff of the hammer into a spear, thrusting it at her opponent.
"It's hopeless to try to defeat me," he said as he dodged three thrusts before grabbing the spear. "You cannot harm me. I am immortal."
He then smashed the spear with a clenched hoof, making Ruby growl as she pulled back and formed a pair of swords. "You might be immortal, but you can still feel pain." She raised the blades, "And I'm looking forward to inflicting as much pain as possible!"
"I don't know what I did to make you angry." He replied as he blocked the first sword slashes, the armored pony hopping back before slicing the ground with his scythe, kicking up a cloud of dust into Ruby's face. And as she backpedalled and wiped her face, he continued, "I must say though, your anger...I must have done something truly great."
"You know what you did!" She yelled as she charged him again, slashing wildly as Armalum kept backpedalling, dodging each just from a hair's breath. While this happened, he blocked two blows with his scythe as she screamed, "Stop hiding! You know who you are! You know what you did! So stop hiding behind that mask and that name!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"ENOUGH!" She screeched as she began firing crystal arrows, Armalum countering with a bubble of magic. "ENOUGH LIES!" The arrows bounced off his shield, Armalum dropping it as he slammed his scythe into the ground, causing a red fissure to appear.
Ruby quickly formed a crystal barrier, only for the fissure's blow to turn into an explosion, knocking her flying into another building. "Gyaaaaah!" she screamed, slamming through another wall.
Armalum shook his head at the sight, simply trotting over while calmly swinging his weapon around to get the dirt off the blade. "I am not lying about who I am. My name is Armalum. I am, and have been lord Shadow's most loyal servant since the day he found me eight years ago. Whoever you think I am, you are wrong."
Ruby groaned as she rolled onto her back, forcing her eyes open to see her opponent now lumbering over her, "It's time for this game to end," he raised the scythe above his head, the blade now glowing bright red while steam began to come off of it, "Goodbye." With that, he swung the blade down.
"Flash Cutter Barrage!" Flash unleashed a stream of energy blades, each one striking down Salix's fireballs. As he did this, he quickly turned a corner, only to come to a stop.
"Surprise!" yelled Wingill as he tackled Flash, the hippogriff having snuck around the building he had just turned around. The two collided midair, falling while Wingill kept Flash pinned.
"Get...OFF!" Flash yelled as he flipped Wingill in the air, sending him flying into the street. It was here that Flash saw where they had landed, seeing Wingill was now close to a canal. "Oh no you don't!" He fired a Flash Force at Wingill next, the blast hitting the hippogriff's side.
"GRAAAAH!" He screamed, his body flying over the canal.
Flash turned back to Slaix next, seeing him slam his burning hoof into the ground. Knowing something was about to happen, he took to the sky as a bulb went off in his head. "Let's cool that jerk off." He pointed his weapon at the canal as he yelled, "Flash Force!"
The laser struck the water, causing an explosion that rained down gallons everywhere. "Whoa!" Salix yelped as the water drenched him and his flames, making his hair sag as he growled, "Not cool!"
"Oh, I'm plenty cool." Flash replied as he flew down and slashed at the kirin, "Not so hot now, huh?!"
"I'll show you!" Salix barked back as he dodged the slice, only to dodge two more slashes before grabbing Flash's hoof.
"What?!" Flash yelped as he felt his hoof get twisted, the blade falling to the ground before Salix kicked it away.
As this happened, Salix threw a jab as Flash got his hoof free, the pegasi dodging the blow. He then proceeded with a hook to Salix's face, the kirin responding with two punches of his own. Both hit the defender's face, which Flash countered with an uppercut. Pain surged in both ponies, only for Flash to grab Salix's hoof. He then spun him around, the kirin now finding himself pinned to the ground with Flash on top of him while holding his hoof behind his back as he pressed his other into his neck.
Salix grunted as he tried to move, only to grumble out, "You really think you can hold me forever?"
"I can try."
"So you're just gonna leave Wingill alone? I'm good with that." Flash looked up to see Wingill now getting up from the earlier blow, now seeing he hadn't been teleported away. But as he did this, Salix tail suddenly zipped up to Flash's neck.
"Augh!" Flash choked as the tail pulled him back, allowing Salix to spin and slam a back hoof into his face. "Gah!" Flash staggered back as Salix picked himself up, the kirin shaking his body like dog.
And as Flash pulled himself to a stop, a burst of heat made him tense up as he now saw Salix morph into his nirik form. "All fired up!"
"Oh great..." was all Flash could say before Salix began throwing fireballs again, Flash leaping side to side in response.
"Uh, yeah!" Salix replied as he began to charge at Flash, his entire body exploding into a fireball at the same time. Seeing this coming, Flash quickly flapped his wings, pushing himself back before suddenly rolling on the ground.
Salix raised an eyebrow at this, only to gasp as he saw Flash's intention. He had rolled on the dirt to get his Celestia Gear, the kirin stuck in a bum-rush as he swung the blade at the nirik. "Flash Cutter!" A blade of light clashed with the charging pony, causing an explosion that sent the nirik flying while singing Flash. "Grrr," he hissed while using his wings to put out a few patches of burnt fur, only look back to see Salix lying on the ground in his kirin form. "Right. Time to knock him out of the game."
Flash took to the air next, ascending above the opponent with blade in hoof. As this happened, Wingill looked up to see the defender ready to dive-bomb Salix, making him yell out, "NOOO!" as he thrust his claw out. And as he did this, the pearl fragment on his brace glowed before the water in the canal suddenly shot out, the liquid instantly slamming Flash into a nearby building.
"Bluagh!" Flash yelped as he was thrown into a window.
"What?!" Wingill yelped before looking down at his claws, "How did-is this..." He looked back at the water, turning his claw upside down, only to see the water ripple. "Wait..." He then imitated a scooping motion, only for a bubble of water to raise up out of canal. The sight made his eyes go wide before a big grin shined on his face, "Awesome."
"Hydrokinesis..." Shadow commented as he saw Wingill raise up even more water from the canal, "So that's his new power."
"But he hates water!" Tempera added, "Why would he want powers that involve it?!"
"I'm not entirely sure." Shadow replied, scratching his chin as he continued, "My experiment was supposed to give him something he wanted...but in all honesty, I wasn't sure this experiment would work. At most, it seems the results are the opposite of what I believed."
Terror nodded in agreement. "Either way, this is a big step up for him. Not only is he a threat in the water, he's now a threat out of it too."
"Agreed. Now, let's see how well he can use these powers."
"What the heck?" Flash yelped as he held his head flying out of the building, now seeing Wingill play with the water he had just lifted out of the canal. "He couldn't do that before."
Wingill turned back to the defender, a sinister smirk on his face. "You'll find I'm full of surprises." He then held out his talon, the water now morphing into a buzzsaw shape before it started spinning. "Take this!" He thrust his claws forward, the pegasi reacting with a quick zip upward as the attack hit building, slicing through the stone like it was made of sand.
"Seriously?!" Flash yelled, now seeing the results of the high pressured water attack.
Salix clapped at the sight, "Cool! That was awesome Wingill!"
"I know," Wingill cheered, "Master Shadow, you are a GENIUS!"
"So Shadow did this too you?" Flash asked from the air, Wingill and Salix looking up with giant grins.
"Our master is a scientific genius," Wingill responded as he flew up to his level. "He's studied magical enhancement science for years, and now...he's found a way to grant me more power than ever before!"
Flash's eyes shrunk at these words, making him mutter out, "That's not good. Look's like he's more dangerous than I thought."
Salix laughed at this, "You haven't seen anything Master Shadow has to offer yet. Your buddy Cold got off lightly. Our master has accomplished feats of magical engineering you wouldn't even believe. Heck, I bet he could even clone a pony if he had enough resources."
"Is that why you follow him? Because he's so powerful?"
Wingill did a small nod, "Mostly. Though we'd be fools to try and stand against him."
Flash crossed his hooves at this response. "So the only reason you're following him is through fear?" Neither of them answered, "You know, you don't have to be afraid of him. If you stand with us against him, we could stop him before he has a chance to hurt you." Wingill and Salix both exchanged a glance, both raising eyebrows at this as Flash continued, "If you don't have anywhere else to go, you can come back to Equestria with us. The princesses will welcome you, I promise." He presented his hoof next, "So, what do you say?"
He watched as the two looked back at each other again, smile slowing appearing on their faces. They turned back, both raising their hooves...only to burst out laughing.
"I can't believe you actually thought we'd join you!" Wingill cried through his laughter.
"What an idiot!" Salix added as he flicked his tail, a fireball flying out.
"Whoa!" Flash yelled as he deflected the flames, only to find Wingill flying into his face with a stream of water going into his talons.
"We don't work for Shadow out of fear!" He swung the water like a whip with his claws, slapping Flash in the face before smacking him downward.
The knight grunted as he flared his wings, trying to stop his fall before hitting the dirt. And as he spun back onto his hooves, he looked up to see a barrage of fireballs. And as Flash dodged the flames, Salix let out a deranged chuckle, "You really don't get it, do you? Master Shadow is the only one who doesn't try to change who we are."
His mane flared up next, unleashing a wave of fire as Flash used a Flash Cutter to counter it. But as this happened, a water buzzsaw flew through the fire as Wingill added, "Master Shadow might not be the nicest pony in the world, but there are worse things in this world. I'd rather follow him and destroy as many kingdoms as possible as opposed to spending the rest of my life hiding away." He then created a pair of water whips and started swinging them around, Flash quickly side-stepping around as fireballs and whips kept striking everywhere.
"Gyah!" Flash yelped as a water whip struck him next, making him go flying back as his sword fell out of his hooves. And as he stumbled over the ground, he let out a moan before trying to get up. He started at his sword just a few feet away, only to see Wingill land next to Salix.
"Master Shadow saved us from the cruel fate life handed us," Salix said as he formed a fireball on the tip of his hoof.
Wingill summoned more water and wrapped it around the fireball, the two merging to form a cloud of steam. "And we will follow him to the ends of the earth if we have too."
With that, they thrust their hoof/claw forward, unleashing a powerful stream of boiling air. Flash quickly grabbed his sword and raised it up just as the steam hit him, "AAAAAHHHH!" he cried out while feeling himself be roasted alive, the pegasus unable to keep himself from flying upward. And as he did this, he quickly zipped across the city, Wingill laughing as they saw him flee.
Salix kept chuckling as he raised a hoof to tap Wingill's, "I'd give that an eight point five."
Wingill tapped his hoof back, "Totally. Now come on," he took to the air. "Let's go find him." Salix nodded back, galloping down the street in agreement.
Meanwhile...
Soul was now tip-hoofing her way through the city.
Flash had told her to stay put, but she knew she had the best chance of finding the orb. Knowing this, she had slowly gone into several buildings, each showing nothing inside.
"Where is it?" she whispered as she went down an alleyway. And as she did this, a loud explosion suddenly shook the ground, making her leapt into a nearby building, "Ahhh!" she cried, putting her hooves over her head as she whimpered out, "Please stop...please, make it stop!"
Another shake happened, rubble falling off the building she was in. Seeing the sun come from the now open roof, her eyes shrinking before running out of the building, "I gotta get out of here! I gotta end this before it gets worse!"
But as the sound of more rumbles rang out, tears began to break out of her eyes as she ran. The liquid blocked her eyes, making her blindly run through the streets.
Ruby grunted as she shifted her head as far to the left as possible, trying to keep the scythe from piercing her flesh. When Armalum had swung the scythe down, Ruby formed a crystal rod that she jammed into the crux of the weapon. Pushing it up barbell style, she had kept the burning hot blade from touching her, but the heat was now biting into her flesh, causing her to pant and sweat.
Armalum just stared down as he slowly added more pressure to the weapon, "Just let go." The scythe inched closer to her face. "It'll all be over soon."
The tip of the blade made contact with her cheek, causing her to cry out. "AAAAAHHHHH!" The pain began to go through her face, the rest of the world vanishing in her eyes as she felt nothing but pain.
"RUBY!" The mare's eyes shot open at the sound of a voice, her eyes glaring to the side for a second as she saw Soul appear as she had accidently ran into the fight
"No..." she gasped before adding more pressure to her hooves. She glared back at Armalum, knowing he would go after her before yelling, "I...WON'T LET YOU WIN!" With one massive shove, the blade left her cheek, the force making Armalum stagger back. She then slammed his hooves into the ground, summoning several crystal spikes that the armored pony dodged by backpedalling.
"Ruby!" Soul said as she saw the wound on Ruby's cheek, reflexively running over to the knight.
"You have to get out of here." Ruby replied as she grabbed her, only to see ground split with a red light shot out of the dirt. "Move!" Ruby magically put Soul on her back, the two turning as she tired to run down a street, only for the red cracks to appear as it went down the city.
Laughter caused them to turn back to see Armalum pull his scythe out of the ground, twirling it as he began to trot up to them, "What will you do now? Protect the girl or protect yourself?"
"Both," Ruby replied as she created a pair of swords, her magic then taking Soul off of her, "I'll take you down, and that'll keep her safe."
"You can try." The two began to charge at each other, only for something to shoot down into the ground between them.
"YAAAAA-BLAUGH!" screamed a certain orange pegasus, the defender sliding down the street as he moaned out, "Ow..."
"Flash!" Soul yelped as she ran over to him, the knight getting up and gasping as he saw her.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Hey!" They all turned to see Salix and Wingill flew down to the battlefield, "I thought I deep fried her!"
Wingill growled next, "Trying to pull one over on us, huh?!" He then saw Flash throw Soul on her back before leaping into the air, "Oh no you don't!" He swung his front legs around, causing a wave of water to fly up and around to slam into the two. Both cried out as they were sent back into the ground, Soul being knocked off Flash's back before rolling away.
Ruby and Armalum both went wide-eyed at this, the armored pony speaking up, "Is this...your new powers?" Wingill nodded before raising his claws, several small bubbles now appearing around him.
"Master Shadow did a great job. Maybe he can upgrade the rest of you like he did me!" With that, he thrust his claws, the water about to hit both, only for a wall of crystals to appear.
The water slammed into the wall, the liquid's pressure enough to make some chunks of it explode. Ruby sighed in relief as she saw they were safe for now, only for Armalum to swing his scythe at her. She quickly countered with her blade, blocking the attack as Salix leapt down to Flash's level.
"Flash Driver!" The defender yelled as he morphed into a light drill, the attack hitting the nirik before he could react, knocking him flying back. As he did this, he spun up to slash Wingill's water whips, making the attacks burst like a balloon. But as this happened, a fireball came for him, making him slash it away as well. Now seeing several more flaming spheres incoming, Flash beat his wings to kick up a cloud of dust, extinguishing the flames, only to be hit by Wingill as he smacked him with a water fist.
"FLASH!" Soul cried out before turning to see Ruby get hit it in the face by the staff of Armalum's scythe. "NO!"
"This is bad," Springer commented with a long gulp, "Flash is good, but nopony can take on two opponents of that level."
"And Ruby's not doing too great either," Trixie added.
"Whatever's making her angry at Armalum, it's affecting her fighting skills." Cold huffed, his blank face now showing a tinge of anger, "She's attacking with no plan or strategy."
"So what do we do?" Heart asked, the colt's eyes not leaving the image of his sister on the screen.
"There's nothing we can do," Soarin sighed. "We're stuck in here and have no way out."
"GYAH!" Flash screamed as he was thrown back, only for Wingill to raise a wall of water behind him.
Flash slammed into it before the water wrapped around him, the Pegasus now finding himself being trapped into a giant bubble. Both Soul and Ruby gasped at the sight of Flash beginning to drown, the others all laughing until the hippogriff finally made the bubble burst. Flash gasped as hit the ground with a thud, coughing and panting to get the air back. He moaned as he crawled along the ground, trying to get to his Celestic Gear, only for a fireball to hit his side. A scream of pain followed this as Wingill zipped over and pinned him down.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
Ruby saw this and tried to run over, only for Armalum to teleport in front of her, "Move!" She yelled as she slashed at him, but he swung his scythe around, shattering the blade with one slice.
"I want you to see this," Wingill said as he pointed at the crystal wall, a large stream of water now shattering the crystals to reveal Soul for all to see.
Flash tried to move from Wingill's grip, only to feel the hippogriff push him down. Salix then landed right by them, lifting his tail as he began to ignite the largest fireball he could muster. Wingill chuckled at the sight, "Do it."
Salix nodded and with one mighty swing of his tail, the fireball propelled itself through the air. Flash and Ruby gasped at the sight, Flash screaming, "NOOOOO!"
Soul froze up, her eyes fully wide as she saw the attack coming. She knew she would be healed, but the pain would still be there. Time began to slow down as this happened, Ruby trying to counter Armalum, only to have to shield herself as his scythe came directly for her own head. Summoning a shield, she felt the scythe push her back, away from the terrified filly.
At the same time, Wingill just laughed as he saw the flames fly through the air. But as this happened, Flash let out a roar, slamming the back of his hoof into the hippogriff's gut. Spit flew out of his mouth as Flash escaped his pin, rolling over to grab his Celestic Gear as he yelled, "Flash Cutter!" The energy blade flew at Wingill, making him block it with a wall of water.
But as he turned back to Soul, he knew he wouldn't destroy the fireball in time. The very moment slowed down for him, Theta Mode activating in that split second before his body zipped over to Soul. Her eyes were now closing, flinching as she felt the heat about to hit her.
BOOM!
The filly's body now felt an explosion, the force of the heat now bracing her fur. Her heart came to a stop, now ready to feel an unending surge of pain.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed a voice, making her eyes shot open. She gasped at the new sight in front of her, now seeing Flash with his sword as he unleashed a laser of light into the fireball. But as he did this, the flames still exploded, engulfing him in the explosion.
"FLASH!" She cried, the explosion now ending a second later. And as the flames began to fade, the defender's hold on Lightbringer vanished as he staggered back, his wings slumping over as he fell to the ground. "NO!" she screamed, running to his side as tears poured down her face, "Flash!"
Flash let out a moan as his eyes opened, looking up to see a crying Soul, "You okay?"
Soul's tears now hit his face as she sobbed, "Why? Why would you do that?"
"Why do you think? I promised you I'd keep you safe." And as he said this, dust began to come off of Flash's face.
"NO!" She hugged him tightly, "Please don't go!"
"Soul, I'll be fine. Just focus on keeping yourself safe." He turned his head to look at Ruby, the Crystal Knight now seeing the determined stare in his eyes. It was one she knew without him saying a word: 'Keep her safe.'
"FLASH!" Was all Soul could scream as the pegasus vanished, leaving her to cry as she began to curl up.
"AHAHAHAHA!" Wingill laughed as he slowly flew down, "One idiot down." He summoned some more water from a canal, which took shape of a spinning blade as he drew closer. "And soon it'll be two."
As this happened, Ruby quickly hooked Armalum's scythe with a crystal blade, letting her spin and kick him back. He felt his hooves grind on the ground as the knight ran over to Soul, slashing her sword at Wingill and Salix. Both leapt back from her attack, now seeing her summon a second blade. "I won't let you near her."
She then turned back to the filly, a now clear confident look on her face, "Don't worry Soul, I'll protect..."
Her mouth stopped moving as her and rest stared at Soul. The filly was now standing, no tears coming down her face as her horn began to glow. A golden aura shined from the horn, spreading around the rest of her body as Ruby muttered out, "Soul?"
Back at the castle...
The others were now staring at the filly on screen, her body glowing as Heart whispered out, "Oh no...its happening again."
They all turned to him, only for a voice to speak out, "What's happening again?" That voice made them turn again, this time seeing Flash, the pegasus leaning on the doorway panting. He was still covered in burns and was clutching his side.
"Flash?! What are you doing out the healing tube?!" Trixie yelped as she ran over to him, "You need to heal!"
"I couldn't just let myself sleep while Soul's in danger." Flash moaned as he turned to the screens, "Now...what's happening to her?" They looked back at the colt, "Heart?"
However, the colt said nothing as he just watched the screen.
And as this happened, Salix leaned over to Wingill and said, "What's with the kid? She looks like she's about to blow."
Wingill formed a water javelin in his claws, "Then I'll stop her before it happens!" He tossed the spear as Armalum fired several red blasts in unison, only for Soul's eyes to open. And just like the light from the rest of her body, they were glowing a radiant golden color. The light then exploded off of her, forming a dome that vaporized the water on contact while destroying Armalum's attack.
"What?!" he yelped as he saw energy now flow out of Soul's horn.
The magic streamed into the dome, which began to float while morphing into a bubble. "Soul!" Ruby called out, but the filly didn't respond as the orb began to grow around her.
Tears began to go down her face again, the filly now clutching her head as the magic kept pouring out of her horn, "AUGH!" she cried as the pressure pushed down on her, the light now consuming her into a blaze of heat.
"SOUL!" Ruby screamed as she prepared to make a crystal platform to get up to her, only to freeze as she saw light encase Soul. Salix, Wingill and Armalum froze as well, all now seeing the light consume Soul's jumper, burning it away as it revealed a new sight.
"Impossible..." Shadow whispered as he went wide-eyed, the rest of his team doing the same.
"No way," Flash gasped, closing one of his eyes as he knew it had to be his injuries. "This...can't be real." His words mumbled in his mouth as he saw the jumper burn away...to reveal a pair of silver wings. "Soul's...an alicorn?"