"Give up yet, princess?"
Twilight snarled as she rose back to her hooves, doing her best to ignore the burns on her left wing. She had let her guard down. She had let it down and now she was paying the price. She had thought that her magic would easily allow her to overpower the two humans and, if they had been how they were when she first faced them, it would have been. But now Vein Mine was completely immune to her magic and even Heatstroke's flames seemed to burn through her shields with enough time. She was in trouble...and that was before Sombra showed up to take All Might out of the equation.
But she would never give up.
"Not even close," Twilight snarled. She shot her magic into the crystal spires that adorned the top of the tower and ripped them free, shattering the crystal into thousands of shards to use as weapons. She sent the shards raining down on top of the villains, aiming for their limbs. Vein Mine crossed his arms and weathered the storm as the shards shattered against his skin. Heatstroke unleashed fires from hell that burned the crystals as they got close, but with so many he couldn't get them all.
"GRAH!" Heatstroke screamed. He fell to one knee as crystal shards tore through his leg, swearing up a number of words that Twilight wouldn't dare say. Vein Mine glanced back at his ally before turning to face Twilight.
"Not bad. But how are you going to handle me?" he asked.
Twilight's first response was to try to grab the human with her magic and hurl him off the tower. But the moment her magic touched his body, it dissipated. Magic was out of the equation and she was down a wing. All she had left was her pony strength. She wasn't the strongest pony around, she knew that. But from her time in the human world, she had calculated that she was far stronger than the average human. While Vein Mine was far from normal, she had to hope that he was at least close to a basic human's strength. It was all she had.
"The same way I handle all who attack my friends and threaten my kingdom. Swiftly," Twilight replied. She took up a fighting stance she had learned from Rainbow Dash and narrowed her eyes. Vein Mine looked at her for a moment before a smile cracked across his face.
"A fist fight? And you're supposed to be the smart one. Fine. Let's go."
Twilight charged towards Vein Mine, who advanced towards her at a slower pace. She spun around and bucked the human with all of her might, catching him by surprise and also catching him in the jaw. Vein Mine staggered back for a moment, before lowering his head and smirking at Twilight.
"Ain't bad. But ain't good, either."
Twilight threw a haymaker at Vein Mine, but now the human was ready for her. He intercepted her attack with his arm and pain shot up Twilight's limb. Punching crystal at full force was a bad idea it seemed. Vein Mine retaliated with a left jab that Twilight dodged before throwing a right hook that she ducked under. She leapt to his side and bucked once more into where his kidney's were, but this time the blow didn't even stagger the villain.
"Sorry princess, but that ain't going to work," Vein Mine told her. He began to walk forward as he threw his punches, forcing Twilight back as he did so. "I can tell from your movements. You're no fighter. You've been trained, but you've never used it. There's a key difference between knowing how to fight and actually fighting. You ain't got the killers instinct."
"So I'm no killer. Is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Twilight snarled back as she ducked another punch.
"For the average Joe, nah. But you're out here putting your life on the line but aren't ready to take a life to survive. That puts you at a disadvantage," Vein Mine stated. He caught her winding up and this time when Twilight threw her blow, he blocked it with his forehead. Twilight had just a moment to comprehend what he had done before a crystal fist slammed into her jaw, knocking her flat and sending her skidding to the edge of the tower.
Vein Mine walked over to Twilight and slammed a foot down on her burned wing, getting Twilight to cry out in agony. "And in a fight, the last thing you want is to be at a disadvantage. You're too used to magic. And without that...you had no chance. Sorry about this. It ain't personal," Vein Mine began as he lifted a boot over her head. "It's just how heroes vs villains goes."
Twilight narrowed her eyes as she used her magic to grab hold of a part of the floor, preparing to rip it out and slam it into the villain. But before she could a massive explosion went off overhead and a sonicboom the color of a rainbow appeared in the sky. Both hero and villain had just a moment to register what had happened before a rainbow blur slammed into Vein mine, ripping him from his feet and sending him tumbling across the top of the tower.
"You start the fun without me, Twi? This is the last time I come to one of your parties," Rainbow Dash said. She smirked down at Twilight, who could only bitterly smile as she looked up at her friend.
"Of course I did. You always show up late anyway," Twilight replied. Rainbow chuckled and extended a hoof to Twilight, who grabbed hold and grunted as Rainbow pulled her up.
"Well, you've got me there," Rainbow Dash shrugged. She and Twilight turned to face Vein Mine, who had gotten back up to his feet. "So what's the deal with shiny there?"
"He absorbed the crystal that the Crystal Heart is made of, as well as some Negastone. That makes him immune to my magic and basically impervious to all damage," Twilight informed Rainbow. "I'm also down a wing and think I might have a concussion from his punch. I might also have a concussion."
"Got it. Well, then there's nothing else to do...but an all out attack!"
Faster than any there could register, Rainbow rocketed towards Vein Mine. It wasn't until his head was snapped back by the force of Rainbow's punch that Vein Mine registered that she had moved. He threw out a punch on instinct, only for three punches to connect with his face. He staggered back and brought up his fists to guard his head, only for the next series of blows to go right into his abdomen.
"Urgh...no doubt about it. You're a fighter," Vein Mine said.
"One of the best," Rainbow bragged. She proved her point by kicking Vein Mine right in the gut, staggering him once more.
"Your moves...I can tell. But I bet punching Negastone doesn't feel too good on your fists...hooves."
"Yeah, it hurts. So what? I've been crashing through hard things since I was a foal. Want a demonstration?!"
To prove her point, Rainbow Dash let out a yell and slammed her head right into the forehead of Vein Mine. Pony skull met Negastone and both snapped back in pain...but only Twilight noticed that some of the stone chipped off of Vein Mine's forehead. And that gave her an idea.
"You call that an attack, Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "I've seen Fluttershy throw better punches. I want you to hit this guy so hard you knock the stone...heh, right off of him!"
"Is that a challenge, Twi? Because you know I can't say no to a challenge!"
Rainbow Dash then began to unleash a storm of punches upon Vein Mine, who could only keep his hands close to his head as he tried to block all of her punches. But as her attacks got faster, more and more bits of his skin began to get chipped off of his body. Vein Mine knew his quirk well enough to know what was going on. She was breaking through him at a rapid pace. A little longer...and she just might break him apart.
Fear slithered into his heart and a moment later his body turned into the brightest of crystals, crystals as hard as the heart that fueled the Crystal Empire. Rainbow Dash threw another punch into his jaw, only to let out a yelp as her hoof cracked against his skin. She staggered back and shook out her hoof, glancing over at Vein Mine to see that his body was now entirely crystal. Which is exactly what Twilight had wanted.
Before Vein Mine had the chance to react, Twilight grabbed him with her magic and threw him. Not backwards or even off of the tower, but up. Straight up, until he passed the clouds and was out of sight. Once she was certain he was far enough, she created a barrier of magic to suspend him in the air.
"Whoa. What did you do?" Rainbow asked.
"Vein Mine had to shift to a hard substance in order to survive your onslaught. All Might showed me that beings made of Negastone can be destroyed by enough physical force. While you're not on his level, I still believed you could do enough damage to get him to switch. And the moment he did...he was mine."
"Pretty quick thinking there. So, is he going to come crashing down or...?"
"Nope. He's trapped up there in a magic bubble. Of course he could get out by switching back to Negastone...but even with his crystal body he knows what would happen if he fell from that height. He's going to stay up there nice and safe."
"Devious. I like it," Rainbow said with a laugh. "Now come on, let's go save All Might from the clutches of Sombra. I can't wait to rub it in his face when-"
That was all Rainbow had time to say before she was consumed in a tidal wave of fire.
On sheer reflex alone Twilight managed to get a magical shield up before the fire hit her.
"Did you forget about me?!" Heatstroke roared. "You heroes sure love to talk when you think you've won! But now I'll-"
Twilight snapped her head towards Heatstroke and fired out a blast of magic right into his chest. The blast ripped Heatstroke from his feet and sent him flying off of the tower, far outside of the kingdom...without most of his chest. Twilight never noticed. She was at her friends side in a moment, using all of her magic to try to keep Rainbow Dash alive. The burns were worse than anything Twilight had ever seen and she could see the magic leaving Rainbow's body. She used every healing spell she had, praying to somepony that Rainbow would live.
"Oh...this can't be good," Rainbow whispered.
"Stay with me," Twilight whispered. "You're going to be okay. I promise."
"Of course...I am..." Rainbow muttered as she slowly closed her eyes. "Gotta...get back...to...Wonderbolts..."
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "Rainbow?"
"RAINBOW!"
==== | V | ====
"RAINBOW!"
It was the sound All Might never wanted to hear. The sound of a being crying out in anguish at the lost of another. The sound of sorrow and lose. The sound that he had failed. But hear it he did. Both All Might and Sombra snapped their heads towards the tower, a look of terror crossing All Might's face while a large smile crossed Sombra's.
"Well, would you look at that. I send those two to kill Twilight and they get the rainbow jerk instead. Eh, good enough," Sombra shrugged. All Might snapped his head towards Sombra with enough force to create a shockwave, but Sombra's smile persisted. "But it also looks like Vein Mine is defeated and Heatstroke is...dead? Huh, wasn't expecting that. Oh well. Guess we ended up trading today, eh All Might?"
"I will end you," All Might promised.
"Ooo, so scary. We'll meet again, but I think I'm done here for today. The Crystal Empire burns, sounds like one of the annoyances of harmony is dead and I'm fairly certain we've scared Flurry Heart for like. Sounds like a win in my book," Sombra said. He then smiled at All Might. "But since you've been such a good sport, I'll leave the foal alone. Congrats, you saved it's life. Except..."
Sombra vanished into the darkness as he said this. The moment he was gone, All Might was at the foals side. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you did he?"
All the foal did in response was smile at All Might...before its form slowly turned into smoke and dissipated. All Might realized what Sombra had done. The foal had been a fake all along. There had been no life in danger. But it had been enough to keep him there while Twilight's friend lost her life. All Might wanted to scream. He wanted to slam the ground with all of his might. To let all of his anger out.
But there were those who still needed his help. The villains might have been beaten, but there were still those in danger. So All Might rose to his feet, put his smile back on his face...and raced towards the tower, cursing himself the entire way.