//------------------------------//
// Chapter Four 
// Story: Era of Grogar 
// by Pulsar Wave 
//------------------------------//

Grogar's glowing horns summoned a wildly rampaging brilliant yellow magical orb above his head, and he sent dazzling dense bolts rushing at his foe, who lightly evaded the heavy strikes, and countered them with her own offensive arsenal.

Gusty used her unicorn powers to jump back and forth in space, her constantly alternating position serving as an advantage over her slouch foe. But Grogar's reflexes were far too refined to let him be fooled by that amateurish, commonplace attempt, and he warded off the assaultive blows. He raised his right front hoof to touch his bell. The plates on his harness lit up with golden luster, as well as his pupils. With his energy enhanced, he was able to effortlessly seize Gusty in the process of teleportation, denying her the chance to be lost sight of again.

Grogar didn't brood over what to do with her. He artlessly tossed her into a nearby tree. The second one she hit that night. But then, she realized what she had to do. Grogar could have just killed her, but his inability, or at any rate, reluctance to do so had left her to believe he'd really meant it when he said he was fascinated with her. And that thought downright scared her. She was conscious of the overt fact that Grogar would use everything he would be able to to net her with his manipulations. She didn't believe Grogar had been honest when he spoke like he cared about what would happen to their civilization. Not for a minute. He clearly wanted something from her, she just couldn't put her hooves on what it was. It was a mystery best left for later. All she could do at the moment was try the only way she would be able to give Grogar a sweat, namely, by using her elementary power on him.

Inside, she made the connection with the ambiance surrounding them all. She relished the peculiar peace, that she couldn't find anywhere, only by experiencing the truly personal relationship that bound her and all the magical forces that composed what reality was together, though few had the privilege of knowing and feeling what went beyond the material boundaries of the world so intimately. It was a sensation Gusty thought was like what flying could be. The desirable shroud that had fallen over her and engulfed her refused to let her come back to the corporeal life, calling her ever closer to the core, trying to make her want to vanish and fade out, become one with the brightness...

But she had to return from the verge. She knew it was no more than the perception of the driving powers of the universe. She knew she couldn't really disappear in the brilliant sea. It was but how she was able to apprehend it, being a mere earthly being. 

She opened her eyes after she returned from the quick journey. Her horn lit up once more, and the wind was rising.
Grogar just waited.

After a few lingering moments, the wind abruptly burst into a wrathful tempest, violently jolting the woods. The two adversaries stood their ground, their now floating manes and tails fluttered by the breeze, with Gusty making sure the frantic storm did not harm them.
Grogar began to smile as Gusty gave in to her might.

Once the unicorn acknowledged she had the squall under control and stabilized, she could start to take over the direction of the amassed, albeit inconstant, chaotic turbulence, and lead it all to strike at Grogar.

The immense body of air lay heavy on the ram, who struggled to hold up and keep standing. His four legs were all starting to bend, his head was turned down.

"Kneel, monster!" shouted Gusty. His horns gleamed and he managed to dissolve the pressure on him.

But Gusty would not be daunted; she used the wind to surround Grogar, then raise him up in the air. At this point, Gusty's horn was smoldering glaringly; her eyes were glittering too; her mane and tail were jolting intensely, and not just because of the wind.

After holding him for a few seconds, she smoothly threw him away, then elevated him again, and viciously plonked him down once more. Gusty got carried away and picked up the fallen trunk brought down during the fight with the manticores, and landed it atop her lying enemy.

Grogar stood up, his face was now filled with anger. He grabbed Gusty with his magic and pressed her down to the ground. Grogar slowly started walking up to her.

"It was a valiant effort, I have to give you that, but as you can see, ultimately futile," Grogar noted.

He got closer, and Gusty wanted to resist his grip, but she was too exhausted to fight him. She desperately tried to call on her powers, all in vain. Grogar finally reached her and stopped in front of her capitulated body.

"And in the end, you are the one who kneels."

That was it. Gusty was certain Grogar was going to kill her after that fight.

"Thank you for partaking in this valuable experiment," he said. "It was most instructive."

And with that, he let her go, turned around, and went up to the manticores. He sent them away, transforming them into shadows similar to the form he'd arrived in. Without facing Gusty, he addressed her.

"While I watched you, I have seen that you maintain close relationships with your friends, but hold every one of your kind equally valuable. When leading your soldiers, you are frightened by the thought of once coming a time where you must choose between who you want to save, and you would rather have yourself  be killed." Grogar looked at the farmers, soldiers and Astral, who'd "slept" through the fight and still hadn't recovered. He grasped his bell again, then reached out his hoof towards the lain unicorns. Gusty stood up, an uneasy feeling overcoming her at the sight. From Grogar's held out hoof, lustrous stripes - like teeny darts or shooting stars - hit all the helpless ponies. "I just poisoned your friends, but you will only be able to save one of them. Life is full of hard choices and tough decisions, and there is no evading it."

Gusty dashed to the ponies in terror. She instantly knew who she was going to save, but that left her somewhat ashamed. Without thinking for a moment, fully instinctively, she had rushed to the one who was the dearest to her: Astral. She knelt down next to him, and cast the detoxification spell. As she was healing her friend, she felt sorrow, because she wouldn't be able to keep them all, or at the very least, just one more of them alive. She knew she'd willingly abandoned them to die. Anger followed soon after, which quickly transformed into something she had never really felt before. Something that pushed her over the edge of a cliff, beyond which the realm of darkness was waiting, the very realm that had mothered Grogar and creatures of his like.

All she felt at the moment was hate. The darkest, purest of penetrating, dire, furious hate that she found a gruesome, loathsome feeling, yet she was somehow content with it, she found it acceptable and outright appetizing. She took pleasure in hating him. She was reluctant to admit it, but she did. She felt like at the moment she could take on Grogar, his manticores and the whole universe, just to keep the ones she loved safe. She was aware of where that feeling would lead, and she had to back away from that path. She had to back away from it, also because it took away the focus from healing. A unicorn cannot fulfill an act of benevolence with murderous rage. She had to save Astral, if she couldn't save the others.

"One other thing..." Grogar once again spoke. "I suggest you enjoy your peace, for it will not last. Farewell, Gusty, daughter of Sunbeam."

With that, Grogar followed his children, and he was gone. Gusty had heard the threatening counsel, which caused her to feel uneasy and worried again. But that feeling was appeased by a mighty familiar and comforting voice.

"Gusty..."

She opened her eyes, and saw her friend languidly looking at her. He was visibly confused, but he was alive. And that brought Gusty tranquility. She embraced him in a shielding hug. Astral looked around, and saw the others lain.

"What about them?" he asked, but never got an answer. Not even a look, for Gusty wouldn't let go of him. She needed that then and there, and Astral was a sympathetic unicorn; he returned the hug.
So there they lay, for long minutes thereafter, as if paralyzed, in the suddenly unnervingly quiet night, holding each other in their forelegs, saying nothing. They did not need to.