//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Fight Against Chaos // Story: Rise of the Element Gang, Book 3: Heroes United // by Power of Six //------------------------------// Chapter 18: Fight Against Chaos “Okay, explain to me one more time.” I asked Dusk. “What exactly is the plan?” Though I knew it was the only plan we had, I was still having doubts because I wasn’t sure if it would work. I mean would you blame me? Beside me with my cannon, Rarity’s wind blasts, Gold Star’s Anti-Magic sword, and Hearth Forest’s Water Magic, our little defense group around Dusk wasn’t really much. Though she was a little braver knowing that Dusk, the pony she thought of like her brother, Fluttershy was still scared at the very idea of fighting all those Paraserpents. Gold, Hearth, Rarity, and Zecora were fine, now on the lookout for more or finishing off remaining ones from Celestia, Luna, and Dragonis’ attack that had actually made Flutters scream. While she was afraid, I tried my best to reassure her, much like Dusk. “It’s simple,” Dusk said to me patiently. “I’ll be using my color manipulation to gather the others here. I'll need complete concentration to pull it off, so I'll need you three to protect me while I perform my spell, just long enough for me to guide the others here. Once they're here, we'll fight back the Paraserpents and get to the library, retrieve the Elements, and return Discord to his rightful status as a garden ornament.” “Okay.” I said to him. “You sure you can it? That’s a pretty big job.” “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” He told me. “Big Brother, are you sure this will work?” Flutters said to him timidly, “I’m really sorry, but I’m just so… so scared…” “I know, I understand. I am too.” I admitted. “But you can be brave, Fluttershy, you have been before. Be brave for me now, for us.” She took deep breaths to calm herself, knowing as much as I do that we needed her to be brave for us, to save us. I also knew, if she could do it once, she could do it again. “Right… be brave, be brave.” she said like a mantra. “Thank you, Dusk.” “No problem, my little sister.” That made Flutters smile as she then hugged gently. Remembering what Discord did to us, to her, I was going to make sure that guy got what was coming to him. Turning Flutters into a jerk? That really got my blood boiling. “Once we’re all together again, everything will be okay?” she asked as she broke the hug. “Yes, once we’re back together… all of us…” Dusk trailed off, his smile faltering. I had to be he was thinking about Twilight and was worried about her. Flutters saw that too and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.” “I know she will be.” Dusk said, that enduring faith shining through again. “They all will be. They have to be, otherwise…” Dusk left it at that and cleared his throat. “Right, I’d better get started.” “Okay then…” Dusk turned away from her and stood at the top of the hill. “Dusk, wait! Just um… good luck.” Dusk smiled at her for which she smiled back at. “You too, Fluttershy.” Dusk then closed my eyes, the glow of his horn shining beneath my hat. When he opened them again, they were glowing all kinds of different colors, like Dusk’s very eyes were rainbows. A shining orb, appeared above his head, bathing us in all the colors of the world. Then the colors left the orb and two puppets, both in the images of Dusk and El Dragon, emerged from the orb and galloped off into different parts of the town with rainbow trails of sparkles behind them, their hooves and claws moving them silently over the ground, like they were gliding. They would be coming now. They would see it and they would come. With her legs shaking as her heart pound against her chest, eyes darting this way and that for any sign of a threat, Fluttershy seemed as ready as she would ever be for the fight that was about to start up again. She suddenly whimpered, no doubt at the very thought of fighting. She gazed desperately at Dusk, wanting him, needing him to stop, and to come back and protect her, to stand beside her. But Dusk wouldn’t be able to hear her, he was too deep in concentration. “Don’t be scared, Flutters.” I said gently. “I know it seems bad, but we’ll make it through. You’ll see.” “You… you really think we will?” she asked. “Of course.” reassured. “We got all our friends here to help us. So there’s nothing to be afraid of. “Okay, I'll do my best… thank you.” she whispered. “No problem.” I turned my head to face the town. “We’d better get ready. Stay close to me, Flutters. Don’t be scared and good luck.” “Okay.” Though her legs were still shaking, she walked with me to our proper place on the hill we’d selected for us, one the others said would have the least amount of Paraserpents coming from it or so I hoped. Once again, I’d be fighting and fighting monsters too. Would they be worse than dragons? No, dragons were worse, but the Paraserpents were definitely a close second. Those horrible eyes, their wicked faces, and sharp teeth made my skin crawl and my hooves shake. I wanted nothing more than to run off home with Flutters, lock the front door, and have her hide under her bed and me standing guard until it was all over. But, like her, I did my best not to be scared, not to run away like a scaredy pony. No matter what, I was still a member of the Element Gang. Right now, Equestria needed me now more than ever. “This is for Dusk, for my friends.” I whispered to her. “Come on, Fluttershy. You can do this… you can do this.” Flutters and I whipped our heads up to see more of them swarming up the hill, their red eyes fixed on us, and spit dribbling from their maws. She let out a small squeak, but stood her ground. It seemed she wasn’t all that scared of them anymore, that she wouldn’t let them scare her. I smiled knowing that she’d do her best, she’d help our friends and fight, no matter what. “I can do this!” she declared as both got ready to take on some Paraserpents. Shield’s view Felt pretty good to crash my hoof against scales as I slammed into another Paraserpent, the monster screeching from being sent flying backwards into a wall that collapsed on him and cutting off his screech. I nodded at this, blowing on my hoof casually and rubbing it on my chest. Purely and simply awesome. I turned to see that there were plenty more around to get the same punishment. Unfazed by their snarling, hungry faces, and the fact they were preparing magic, I cricked my neck, slammed one hoof into another, and got ready to go at them. But, before I did, I saw Dash charged past me and go right at the group. Her two hooves crashed into the snakes, causing their heads to reel back and crash into their friends. Their spells also went shooting off and hit two more, making them slam to the floor in a heap. She let out a loud battle cry to make herself even more scary and tough, banked around in the air, and charged again, knocking them out for good. She looked back at her seven knocked-out foes and let out a derisive laugh. As if they thought they could stand a chance against her. They had as much a chance of beating her as much as beating me: zero. Not only had she taken out all of those guys by herself, but she did it in the only way I knew she could: with style. “Oh, yeah! I’m just too good, right?” she asked her fallen enemy before it let out a weak hiss. “Ha! Thought you'd agree with me.” “Hey, come on, Dash!” I said as I got over to her. “Leave some for me!” “Oh, don’t worry. There’s plenty to go around.” She said, pointing to more Paraserpents coming our way. “Come on!” “Right!” I said as we then went off to take down some more Paraserpents. While I was pretty easy to get along with and easy-going most of the time, I didn’t like anypony bugging me when I didn’t want it, especially in taking a good fight from me. I’ve come to know Dash was just the same as me. And, much like how she’s the Element of Loyalty, we both certainly didn’t like it when anypony thought they could get on ours and her friends’ bad side. These were things that could tick us off pretty easily and made us very difficult to get along with, to the point when we would start throwing hooves around. Right now, these Paraserpents were ticking us off in both ways, along with dopey Discord. He’d already separated Dash from our friends, hidden her Element, messed up her home, made her act like a jerk, and abandon all of us, and now had the nerve to send these guys after her, thinking they could beat her and try to stop her getting her Element back and stopping him. Saying she was mad at him would be a real understatement. When she got her Element back, he was going to pay big time. She looked up at the sky where I knew Discord was. “I hope the birds make your statue look real pretty when I’m through with you, punk!” Looking around, I checked out how the rest of them were. Applejack and Dog, with Apple Bloom cowering close by, using their crazily strong back legs to take them down like they would kick an apple tree on the farm with Dog freezing some of them. I could actually hear them creaking like timber when they fell to the ground after being smacked like that. Pretty cool, but I had great speed and Dash could fly, so we had more chances for coolness in our attacks. Still, not everypony could be as awesome as us. Little Strongheart, fiercely defending Sweetie Belle who went off with the buffalo to be protected, also reminded me and Dash of the reasons why we thought the buffalo calf was so cool. Looking at how bulky she seemed to be, even I had to raise an eyebrow in surprise at how often and easily she could leap up into the air and perform a somersault kick multiple times on the same Paraserpent, landing on all four hooves and knocking it with her head. Now that was pretty cool, even as I watched it topple and fall. I then realized that I didn’t see Scootaloo anywhere with us. Where had that little filly gone to? “I have you!” I got my answer too late as I turned around to see a Paraserpent shoot at me from nowhere. I barely raised my hooves when it hit me with a strong spell and wrapped its coils around me while I was distracted. I tried to struggle free from its bonds, but they’d already wrapped tight around me and were dragging me in further all the time. “Hey, let me go, jerk!” I shouted. “The more you ssssstruggle, the more tired you’ll become.” it taunted. “Why not jussssssst give up?” “Dude, do you even know who you’re talking to?” she snapped, glaring at it and resuming her struggles. “Very well then. Die fighting, it makesssssss no difference.” it hissed, raising me closer to its mouth. I coughed and gagged at the smell. “Yuck! Have you ever heard of breath mints?” “Your lasssssssst momentsssssss of life and you choossssssse to ssssssssspend it making poor humor?” it questioned disbelievingly. “Who said I was joking? Your breath reeks!” “Perhapssssssss your brain issssssss not functioning properly, clouded by fear.” it said. “Yeah, just too bad my nose works just fine.” she said defiantly, determined not to show it fear. Not that I was actually scared of course, probably just still hurting from the spell. “Inssssssolent pessssssst!” it snapped. “Thisssssss dissssssresssssspect, thisssss arrogance, and what doessssss it gain you?” I was about to answer when I heard the revving of a scooter’s engine that the Paraserpent didn’t seem to hear. Smirking at what I knew must be coming, I looked right back up at it and shrugged. “I don’t know. A chance to mess around with you, to annoy you, or for a distraction?” I casually said. “A disssssssstraction? From what? Your inevitable death?” it asked. I only smirked at him, hearing the engine growing louder. It finally realized that something was wrong, but like me before, found out too late. He lifted his head just as a certain orange Pegasus filly on a scooter shot through the air and smacked him in the face, landing on the ground and skidding to a halt without any screw-up. The coils loosened now, I took my chance to escape. Forcing my hooves out, I pushed the scales away from me, jumping up before crashing down, and punched the snake right in its pointy face, giving it my Triple Tiger Sashay with a left hook, right hook, and head-butt all at the same time, leaving it dazed and knocking it to the ground before it even knew what hit it. “From that!” I squirmed out of the coils and kicked him in the head. “Geez, you guys like to talk as much as your boss does.” “Shield!” turned as Scootaloo zoomed up to me. “You okay?” “Of course I’m okay. It’s me.” I proudly said. “What about you?” “Me? Pfft!” She scoffed and tried to talk like me. “Oh, yeah! I’m fine. Of course, I am.” “Good to know.” I nodded, gesturing to the Paraserpent. “Nice work with the scooter you did there.” “Really?” She became excited at this. “ʹCause I saw that you were in trouble and thought I could help. Then, I saw this overturned applecart like a ramp and figured—hey, I can use that—and then I just rode up that and him right in his face!” “Yeah, I saw.” I sniffed casually. “But, yeah, I would have been fine. I was just letting him think he had me, then I was gonna surprise him.” “Y-you were?” She quickly covered up her disappointment. “I mean, uh… I knew that! Of course, I did. I mean, Shield needing help? Whoever heard of that? That’s like Rainbow Dash needing help! It was just for… you know… just in case, you were…” She trailed off and blushed red, diverting her eyes to the floor. Deciding that I was finished keeping my tough image and messing with the little filly, I put a hoof gently on her shoulder. “But thanks for helping out anyway. It was pretty radical what you did there.” “Really?!” Scootaloo immediately perked up at these words. “You really… really think so?” “Course. You’re pretty good on that scooter. Kinda remind me of myself when I was your age.” I smiled at the sight of her trying to keep her cool and the desire to whoop and leap for joy. “Just, uh…leave the butt-kicking to me and Dash in future, okay?” “You got it!” she saluted. I smirked again and tensed as more Paraserpents swarmed over. “Stay close to me, Scoot. This is gonna get messy.” “Right!” she affirmed, scurrying behind Rainbow to safety. As I launched myself back into the fight, my spirits were bolstered somewhat by Scootaloo idolizing me nearby, watching in awe as I carried out a series of awesome moves in my fighting against them. Of course, it was only natural that the little Pegasus would think of me as the best, as that was true. Much like with Dash. But there was something I’d always liked about the filly that just made it seem even more special than just some kind of fan. She actually did want to grow up and be like Rainbow Dash, which was pretty cool. Now that I thought about it, the little Pegasus did remind me of myself as well as Dash: we were all sporty, daring, tough, had attitude, and matched ourselves up to somepony greater than ourselves to match against. Me and Dash had the Wonderbolts and Scootaloo had us and we all wished to be like our idols someday and, as such, pushed ourselves to the limit in order to prove that we could be the very best. Dash even told me she saw that herself and that, if there was anypony she’d even consider a sister, it’d be the young crusader looking to me. Plus, this kind of thing was always better when there was somepony watching. That’s what I thought to myself as I slam-dunked a Paraserpent into one of his friends and forcing them both into snake-shaped craters in the ground. “Wow! That was awesome, Shield!” Scootaloo said, staring down into the craters in awe. “I know, I know.” I nodded, landing gently. “But still, nice of you to say so.” “I see that your ego is still as great and endless as the stampeding grounds of our ancestors.” said Strongheart, who somersaulted over a Paraserpent and landed beside me. “Hey, there you are!” I answered, knocking out the attacking snake. “What’s the matter? Needed some help so you came to me?” “On the contrary, I came to see if you needed my help.” She slammed her hooves into another. “You seemed to look like you were struggling to manage on your own.” “Hey, I’m doing just fine!” I socked the beast across the face and finished him. “I can take care of myself without any backup!” “Really?” She raised an eyebrow and a hoof, which came down on the head of a Paraserpent about to bite into her leg. “You missed one.” I was at first a little shocked at how close that was, but she shrugged it off. “I saw him. I was just about to finish him actually.” I lied. “Nice of you to do it for me though, saves my strength for the rest of them.” “Of course you were.” she said in a sarcastic tone. “In all seriousness, however, I believe we should be doing more to combine our efforts. There are quite a few of these hoofless demons.” As if to prove her point, three more Paraserpents sent magic bolts at us. We both dived aside to dodge them, me feeling one whizz over my head and past my mane. O looked to Strongheart, whose eyes suddenly widened and she smiled brightly. “What’s got you so happy?” I asked. “I have an idea to gain an upper hoof on our enemies.” she said proudly. “Well, I guess it was bound to happen sometime.” I remarked, naturally good. “So, what is it then?” “You’ll see, hold on. Applejack!” she called out. “Can you give me a boost?” “Uh, sure I guess.” she agreed unsurely, smacking aside another snake and holding out her front hooves. “What for?” “You’ll see!" she repeated before looking skyward and getting Dash’s attention. “Rainbow, fly over me just as I’m launched into the air.” At first, I was a little confused, but soon figured out exactly what it was she wanted to do like Dash did. “You got it!” Nodding and smiling in the daring way she did, she prepared herself as Strongheart tensed herself to run. I watched as Strongheart galloped to Applejack, who stood ready to give her a boost upwards. She reached her, ran onto her hooves, and jumped at the same time as Applejack launched her into the air, flinging her hooves toward the sky. In almost the same instant, Dash flew in and reached out with her own hooves, grabbing Strongheart’s as she reached her and, with all her strength, held her there. Now they quickly set to work while the Paraserpents surrounded them. Remaining in the center, Dash began to spin in a circle, letting the buffalo calf dangle out as much as possible, her legs rapidly moving as her own hooves struck and collided with any unfortunate Paraserpents that happened to get in the way. Once she couldn’t carry her anymore, Dash flung her up again, watching as she soared as high as any Pegasus. Somersaulting, Strongheart landed on another Paraserpent, the beast writhing and flailing as she did. To stop him, I shot at him and smacked him across the face, his head reeling back. Strongheart kicked him from his back, sliding along his body as he toppled to the ground and gracefully landing on the ground. “Well, that worked.” she remarked, smiling at Dash. “Yeah, not bad.” she said. “But just remember, it couldn't have succeeded without me.” “Don’t I know it.” she agreed. “Thank you for your help.” “Eh, no sweat. I was—AGH!” Rainbow was cut off from a magic blast from a Paraserpent she didn’t see, hitting her in the leg. “Rainbow Dash!” I said as Dash received the glancing blow, which was enough to make her cry out in pain from it and be thrown off balance. The next attack would have got her if I hadn’t been there to kick the snake in the face as it lunged at her with fangs bared and halting the attack. Clutching her bad leg, which was now hanging rather limp where the Paraserpent had hit it, me and her teamed up with Strongheart, the three of us charging the same snake and knocking it down with the combined strength of our hooves. At the same time, we reversed and kicked the remaining offender down. This would teach them not to mess with us. I heard Dash wince a bit from the pain that was still in her leg and the angry red patch that showed up there, but she gritted her teeth and tried her best to ignore it. She’d had worse injuries, so she would do her best to cope with it. She couldn’t afford to show weakness at any time and certainly not now. I knew that there would be much more than her cool image at stake if she did. Her injury, however, wasn’t missed by Strongheart, who became worried at the sight of her. “Are you baldy injured?” she asked. “Relax, I’m fine.” Dash tried to say casually. “I’m not gonna be kept down by this.” “I’m not so sure.” she said doubtfully, looking at the wound. “That looks very nasty to me. I think it needs treating.” “Trust me, it's nothing…” She shook her head resolutely. “I beg to differ, that could seriously hinder you in battle. I would think that perhaps…” “Hey! You heard Rainbow Dash!” I said, defending Dash. “If she says she’s fine, she's fine!” I looked back at Dash as I realized what I just did, thinking she would be mad. But, instead, she gave me a smile that showed me her way of saying thanks. Strongheart looked surprised, but calmed down. “I admire your faith in your friend, Shield, but I fear your confidence in her might be slightly misplaced in this case.” “Hey, I can speak for myself! No offense, Shield.” Dash added to me. “None taken.” I told her, having been told worse. “Regardless, I have a solution.” She called over Sweetie Belle. “Do you still have the little pot I gave you?” “Sure. Here you go!” She reached into her fur and took out a small brown pot. “I kept it safe like you asked me to.” “And I am most grateful you did and I’m sure Rainbow will be too.” She pulled off the lid of the pot, revealing a thick brown paste. She dipped her hoof into it, swirling it around until some were on the end of it. She then spat into the substance, at which Sweetie was grossed out by, muttered some words in a weird language, and spread the paste onto the wound. I was surprised to find Dash actually relaxing into it, like the pain melted away. The calf then washed off the paste, revealing the wound to be completely healed, like it was never there. “Wow, that’s pretty cool!” Dash marveled at how quickly it had healed her skin. “What was in that stuff?” “It’s made from a ground-up flower that grows only in the desert, mixed with a bit of spittle, as you saw.” she explained. “We use it for healing and treating a variety of wounds, including snake bites. I was hoping it wouldn’t be entirely dissimilar from one.” “Guess we’re lucky it wasn’t.” Dash said as she handed the pot back to Sweetie Belle. “Thanks, Strongheart.” “Think nothing of it.” she dismissed. “You are my friend and I’m sure you would have done the same for me.” I wasn’t sure, but I think I saw Dash was touched by what Strongheart said. It was nothing strong enough to make her start crying or something sappy like that, but enough to make her stop and think for a bit. It was times like this I was reminded of why Dash was the Element of Loyalty, how loyalty was my family virtue, and what a really great quality it was to have in a friendship, for she really would have done the same for her too. “You know it!” was Dash’s response, bumping hooves with the calf and nodding in respect. “Although, maybe I’d do it without the spitting.” “Perhaps.” she said with a smile. “Now, this is a time for action, not words.” “Aw, yeah!” At this, the three of us continued our battle, slamming hooves into the nearest monsters that dared to come slithering up to us. Despite her now healed leg, however, I saw Dash was starting to feel the strain somewhat. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead, her wings and muscles looking like they were starting to ache from the effort along with every punch and kick seemed that much harder to carry out as a result. Strongheart too seemed to be getting tired as well, though she was either fitter or perhaps just better at hiding it. What didn’t help was the fact that every time we knocked down one Paraserpent, either more arrived fresh or new or ones we’d taken down before got back up to fight again. As such, there were practically no breaks in the fighting for us to rest and that really wasn’t helping. “Is there no end…” Strongheart said, pausing to floor another one and panting. “…to these accursed monsters? It feels like we have been fighting for an age.” “Sure is!” came the voice of Applejack, who kicked another serpent and she and Dog joined us. “Y’all still hangin’ in there?” “Sure thing!” I said, wiping some sweat away. “This really gives you a work out though.” “Ah hear ya.” she said, breathing heavily. “What about you, Strongheart?” “I too am starting to, as you say, feel the burn.” she affirmed. “If this keeps up they'll overwhelm us.” “Aw, come on! We can take these guys!” Dash said, trying to ignore the burning in her limbs. “Hate to sound like a cynic, but she’s right.” Dog replied. “We need to either move somewhere else or stay here and wind up snake chow.” “I would go for the first option.” She squinted in confusion. “Wait, what’s that?” We all whipped around to see something glowing gallop towards them and I felt something close to relief as it neared us. It was the sparkling form of one of Dusk’s puppets, in the image of its creator, complete with the hat. Even the Paraserpents halted to stare at it when it halted, motioning with its head for them to follow. “Wait, isn’t that Dusk's magic?” Strongheart asked, her smile now as bright as the puppet. “Sure is, and that means we found our way out!” Dog smacked a distracted Paraserpent and kicked another to reach it. “Come on, everypony! Let’s go!” Keeping our respective fillies as close as possible, we fought our way through the horde and galloped after it, hoping that it would lead us to somewhere safe. Unless it was a trap or trick from Discord, but I didn’t really mind either way. If it really was Dusk, then great; but if it was a trap, well… Bring it on. Pinkie Pie’s view Bouncing in the air as I let out another blast from my trusty party cannon, I whooped at the sight of a Paraserpent’s mouth snapped shut by a stream of confetti. I gave the beast a bright smile and promptly bounced my head off him multiple times and knocked him back into his buddies, waving goodbye to him as he shot off. “Great shot, Pinkie!" Spike praised, shooting a fireball at another and setting it ablaze. “You too, Spike! You’re on fire!” I giggled as I reloaded her cannon. “Heh! On fire. I just got that.” “Yeah, I’m smoking these guys!” Spike added, chuckling in his throat. “They just got burned!” “They’re really feeling the heat!” I giggled. “So many fire puns, so little time.” I glanced around again at the large horde. “Oh, wait! I guess we got plenty of time.” “Yeah, just so long as we’re not burning up too much time.” The two of us laughed again, one of my favorite sounds. Other than the honking of a party kazoo or the sound the oven made when my cupcakes were ready. “This is no time for joking you two, we gotta stay focused!” Twilight urged, sticking her head out and hitting two more serpents, knocking them out. I gasped at that. “How can you say that, Twilight? Any time is a good time for joking, especially this time cause you need laughing to keep your spirit up! And if you don’t keep your spirits up, then you get sad, and if you get sad, then you won’t want to fight anymore, and if you don’t want to fight, then…” “Alright, you’ve made your point!” Twilight interrupted, ducking under two shots whizzing over her head. “You can make jokes if you like, just make sure you keep beating these things off.” Seeing an opportunity, I raised my eyebrows. “So, what you’re saying is I can keep shooting my mouth off?” “Ugh! Pinkie…” “Are you, huh? Are you?” Twilight just stared at me like she did sometimes and sighed. “Fine. Yes, I am saying that.” “Sorry, what are you saying?” I pressed on, determined to worm this one out of her. “Pinkie, is this really the time to…” “Just say it, Twilight.” Spike prompted. “Come on, lighten up.” “Ooh! Good one!” I remarked. “Now, what is it you’re saying, Twilight?” “I’m saying you can keep shooting your mouth off!” she yelled, flinching from a shot that hit near her. "Now, get on with it!” “Sure thing!” I affirmed with a giggle. “Good one, Twilight!” I heard her sigh again as I shot wrapping paper at another snake, wrapping him up like a birthday present. After Celestia left and Spike had joined us, Twilight decided that we move somewhere less exposed and more secure that was close by while more of the Paraserpents were slithering closer, probably mad now because of the grenade incident. We needed somewhere near to our position that was reasonably secure, where we could dig ourselves in and could be defended easily with ranged attacks. Basically, somewhere safe for us to shoot from as I understood it. I had then said, after Twilight had denied both my other ideas of Sugarcube Corner and my own house which were places I felt safe, I remembered seeing a dried-up fountain that was close to where we were. We’d be able to fit into the middle bit, use the walls to hide behind, and could easily watch every direction because it was in a circle. I figured that was what she would be looking for. So that was where we were now: holed up in the fountain and holding back the Paraserpents that were trying to get at us like parasprites would at crops and candy. For the first time, I wondered if—because of their names—the two animals were related in any way. The sprites were more like bugs though and these things were just big old snakes that were a lot meaner and a lot more dangerous than sprites. I was disappointed I wouldn’t be able to use a load of instruments to lure them away, but at least I knew how to get rid of them. It reminded me of similar pests I had back on the rock farm with my family, vicious little guys called Rock Worms, whose teeth were sharp enough to dig and eat right through the stones we collected. Much like the Paraserpents, they were okay to deal with on their own, but as a group, they could be dangerous and were willing to use their teeth on anypony who tried to stop them from eating. And they were never on their own. So, like the Rock Worms, I aimed most of my shots for the head as that was the nastiest part of their body, what with the fangs and all, so the rest of them wouldn’t be as dangerous. Then, do what you needed to finish them off for good and they wouldn’t bother you anymore. They might be scary with their teeth and mean tempers, but you just had to hold your ground and not be scared, for that was beating them halfway. These things needed their food scared and helpless so they could eat them. so as long as they weren’t scared, they’d remain unbeaten and happy. “Just like Granny Pie taught me!” I noted, singing the face of one that was silly enough to get a little too close. “She does seem to be full of wisdom.” Twilight agreed, conjuring up a giant suitcase that stuffed five Paraserpents into it, slamming shut and vanishing. “Wow, nice spell work!” I complimented. “Yes, well, I thought it would be good to, uh… send them packing.” She nudged me with a laugh. "You get it because I, you know, packed them in a suitcase and that the, uh…term used to make your enemies in battle to, um… run away…?” She trailed off from the pitying expression I gave her. “Eh, keep working on it.” “Right, got it. Ahem…” She cleared her throat, blushed a little, and resumed firing magic. I shrugged and fire off a scattershot of cupcakes at three of the nasty beasties creeping up behind her. Not every joke is perfect I guess. “Look out! More coming from the rear!” Spike pointed out, seeing a stream of the snakes emerging from behind. “Spike, block them off!” Twilight ordered. “On it!” His thicker scales absorbing most of the blasts shot at him, Spike jumped out of the fountain and charged towards the breach. He plunged his large claws into the ground beneath his feet, heaved up a large chunk of the ground, hefted it above his head, and, with a loud roar, flung it at the street the Paraserpents were swarming out of. The stone landed with a loud crash, crushing some of the monsters and blocking off the street with the debris. They’d still be able to slither over it, but now it would be a lot harder for them to get through. He started to finish off the remainder with his fists, tail and fire attacks. While I did prefer the chubby little baby Spike they all knew so well, I had to admit that the potion that Zecora gave him as a big help to us in the fight. Even from here, I could feel the heat of his flames and feel the shaking in the earth from his strikes. I could tell that he was enjoying it too, as it gave him a chance to be a hero and help to save them all. Of course, I'd be happy when the potion wore off and he'd return back to normal. I preferred him like that and it was a little weird looking at him now and remembering how he should be. Then again, I could be a little strange myself. Spike however, even with his added strength, looked to be in a little bit of trouble. He was starting to recoil from the stream of blasts they were firing at him, enough for one of them to grab onto his leg. This one yanked him to one knee and two others started to coil around him and tighten their hold. They kept pressure on his arms and legs and away from his mouth, so he was having trouble getting them off. I was about to run out and help him when… “Hold on, Spike! I’m coming!” Twilight leaped out of the fountain. “Pinkie, cover me!” “Okey-dokey-lokie!” I affirmed, knowing that basically meant to keep the Paraserpents off her back, which certainly wasn’t a good place to have them. That would just give her a bad back. Twilight nodded and galloped towards Spike, her horn flashing from the magic that she fired at the Paraserpents that got in her way, determined to get to her assistant. I did my best to fire my cannon at any Paraserpents that tried to cut off Twilight, any she ran past or had her back to that she couldn’t handle by herself. There were some close calls, but I was able to keep them off of her. Nopony, no snake, was going to hurt my friends. Acting fast, Twilight blasted off the Paraserpents that were wrapped around Spike, enough for him to regain use of his arms again. His right one shooting up, he grabbed the tale of one of the snakes and swung it around like a club, flinging it away and blasting part of the group with a burst of bright green fire. I liked that green fire for it reminded her of growing plants in spring. Twilight took down any ones he missed with magic, the two of them retreating back to the fountain and attacking at the same time. Good to see that those two worked just as well together in a fight as well as the library. Wondering what it would be like if Dusk were here fighting with them as well, I ushered them back into the fountain, clubbing one with my cannon as I did. “You okay, Spikey?” I asked, smiling brightly at him. “Well, every bit of me is stinging, but I’m fine.” He looked at Twilight. “Thanks for the help, Twilight.” “Well, I couldn’t just let my number one dragon assistant get hurt, could I?” she noted. “Yeah, what would you do without me, huh?” He chuckled along with her. “You know, makes me wish Dusk was here. I wonder what Zecora's potion would do to him if he drank it.” “Dusk… yes, me too…” Twilight looked rather sad at the mention of Dusk. I noticed that, even though Spike didn’t. “It could be a like a brains and brawn team-up with me and him or we could both be strong and these guys wouldn’t stand a chance! I mean granted, I'd probably be the cooler one, but he’d be pretty good too, I’m sure.” he said. “The brothers in library-assistantship, fighting side by side for the fate of Equestria.” “Yes, um… I suppose…” Twilight diverted her gaze and I could see tears starting to form. “Oh, man! I wish he was here. What do you think he’d think of my new strength? I mean, I know he doesn’t like fighting and stuff, but even he’d have to admit that this is pretty cool, I mean who wouldn’t? Plus, there’s you, Twilight. All of us working in the library together. We’d be like a team or something together, the three librarians vs. the forces of Discord! With muscle, magic, and mind, nothing standing in our…” “Spike, look! More snakes to beat up!” I yelled, cutting him off and stopping his fantasies. “What? Oh, yeah, the battle!” With a burst of fire, he charged off to engage them. With him gone, I went over to Twilight. “You okay?” “Yes, yes, of course… I’m fine.” she assured me unconvincingly and wiping tears away. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Seeing that look made Pinkie feel waves of sympathy for her and a few tears start to come into her own eyes. She understood that Twilight was worried about me, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, all of them, just as she was too. But Pinkie knew also she was especially worried about me because to her, to all of them, it was pretty clear that the two of us wanted to be way more than friends. None of them said anything, but it was there and they knew, even if we didn't or if we just denied it. Personally, Pinkie thought that the two of us would make a sweet couple and she figured it was really obvious that she was worried that something had happened to me while all this was happening. That was what was getting her down and Pinkie understood that. She'd be devastated if she lost any of her friends, especially a special somepony. Luckily, cheering up ponies who were down was Pinkie's specialty. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s all right.” I said gently. “But he… he’s all alone, somewhere out there.” she sniffed. “If anything’s happened to him, I… I think I…” “Twilight, trust me. He’ll be fine.” I assured her. “Dusky might not like fighting, but he knows how to handle himself when push comes to shove. He’s a Fire Dragon after all. You know it, I know it, and he knows it. You’ll see, he’ll be just fine and dandy like sugar candy.” “You… you really think so?” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” I solemnly Pinkie promised. “Once we’re back together, you’ll see.” “Yeah, I suppose… thanks…” She frowned for a moment, her face suddenly lit up. “Together, yes! Pinkie, you’re a genius!” “Yeah, of course, I am!” she asked, confused at this sudden proclamation. “Uh… how am I?” “Quick, prop your cannon here!” Doing as she commanded, I placed the cannon on the wall. “Right, let’s try this!” Twilight’s horn glowed and consumed the cannon in a flash of purple light, which I watched closely, in awe by its beauty. When the light faded, my cannon had transformed, though the glow from Twilight’s horn stayed. The big barrel had now become six smaller ones arranged in a circle. A handle was attached to the side, as was a line of what looked like rock cakes, all leading down into a box next to it. A big cushy chair had appeared at the back and on the barrel, in pink letters with a smiley face on the end, it said “PARTY TIME!” “Ooh! What did you do?” I asked, fascinated. “I improved it a little, but I can’t hold the spell for too long.” she informed, her horn still glowing and beads of sweat rolling down her face. “Just point it and turn the handle.” “Okey-dokey!” Trusting Twilight as I would any of my friends, I hopped behind the seat of my new cannon, aimed down the sight, and cranked the handle. RATATATATATATATATATATA! The gun fired a lot faster now, so much that I was shaking a bit from the vibrating of the cannon. I watched with glee as rock cakes whizzed through the air, smacking and smashing against Paraserpents. Even with their scales protecting them, they were having trouble standing against all of the cakes that were slamming into them at super-duper speeds, just as fast as Rainbow Dash zooming through the sky and Shield rushing on the ground. A few seconds of constant shooting and they soon went down, their bodies pockmarked with bruises. As a pony who liked to laugh and have fun whenever it was possible, I kept my spirits up by imagining that this was like a game at a fair ground: shoot the targets to win a prize, which would be the Elements of Harmony, so I made sure to aim extra good to win such special and important prizes. Even so, fighting was a pretty hard thing to make a joke about, even for me, so I would be glad when this was all over and done with. As fun as chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds were, it wasn’t worth it if there were these things around to hurt my friends. That meanie pants Discord was gonna be sorry for what he’d done. Of the dozens that were swarming towards them before, only a few stragglers were left on this side of the fountain after only twenty seconds of firing. After that, Twilight couldn’t keep her transformation spell any longer and the cannon returned to normal. I blasted aside the remaining Paraserpents and turned to Twilight. “Bet that left you plum tuckered, huh?” I asked brightly. “You can say… that again…” Twilight agreed, rubbing her head and accepting a hoof to help her up. “Well, okay. Bet that left you plum tuckered, huh? Why did you want me to say it again when I already said it once? Did you go deaf from all the banging and booming?” “I suppose so.” she said with a giggle, brightening my smile. “Good shooting, Pinkie.” “Good spelling, Twilight!” I returned. “Wait, what’s a word for casting magic like that? Magicking? Zapping? Poofing?” “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” “Thanks, Twi!” I picked up one of the rock cakes that hadn’t been fired. “You know, I once tried making rock cakes from actual rocks. Didn’t work out though, although they did taste kind of alright when you added a little more sugar, so it was more for me I guess.” “Pinkie, what are you talking ab—AGH!” I heard myself scream as Twilight was hit in the head with a magical blast from a Paraserpent from the rear, knocking her to the floor, groaning in pain, and leaving an angry red glow on her face, which she now held in her hooves. “Twilight! Oh, my gosh! Are you okay?” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Speak to me! SPEAK TO ME! DON’T GO INTO THE LIGHT!” “Ow… it hurts…” she murmured. “My head… it hurts so much…” “Don't worry, it’s okay, it’s okay. Pinkie’s here.” I soothed. “I won’t let those meanies hit you again, I promise.” “Pinkie, what happened?” Spike came rushing over. “Oh, no, Twilight! Is she okay? Is she dead? Oh, that’s it. She’s dead, isn’t she?” “No, no, she’s okay.” Pinkie said quickly. “One of them hit her right in the face… one of the Paraserpents…” As Spike started to fret and worry over Twilight, I started to feel something rise in my tummy, something that made me seethe through gritted teeth and see red in my eyes. I slowly turned around to look at the oncoming horde that was slithering towards us, bolts of red magic shooting past my head and hissing sounding in my ears. Before, I could have tolerated these guys. They were just a big bunch of bullies we needed to get through, but now… now they’d gone too far. “Spike, get Twilight out of here.” I said quietly, not taking my eyes off them. “I saw a big floating island thingy above us before. Get her up there and out of the way.” “Okay, right.” I heard him pick up Twilight and pause in his running. “What are you going to do, Pinkie?” I glanced back at him and I saw his eyes widen at the look on my face. “One of my friends has been hurt by these nasties. And I don’t like seeing my friends hurt by a bunch of big, brawly, beefy bullies. This calls for extreme measures… Pinkie Pie style!” “Right, um…good luck with that!” Spike gave her thumbs up and scurried out of the way. Satisfied that my friends were now out of the way and safe, I turned back to the serpents, placed a hoof on my party cannon, reached out and took out a few remaining part grenades, and rolled the barrel towards them, slowly, deliberately. Never once did my eyes leave them, never once did I feel scared by the fact there were way more of them than there was of me, and never once did I forget the scream Twilight made when they’d hit her, see the look on Spike’s face when they’d surrounded him and tried to eat him. That was what drove me now, stopping before them. One slithered up and hissed derisively. “Thissssss? Thissssss issssss all that sssssstands in our way? One sssssingle pony, all on her own?” “I might be on my own, Missssssster.” I hissed back, mocking them. “It might just be me, my cannon, my hooves, and my party favors and there might be way more of you guys than me, that even I, who’s had loads and loads of ponies at all my parties I’ve handled easily, might just be beaten by all of you. Heck, this might be the stupidest, silliest, and craziest thing that I’ve ever done, even that time I tried to turn the lake into purple Jell-O and eat it all. But there’s just one thing that’s different: the one pony here, in your way, is called Pinkimina Dianne Pie and nopony, I repeat nopony, never, ever, ever hurts me, my home, or especially my friends! Can you guess which one of those I’m most mad about? Trick question, ʹcause I’m mad about all of them and I’m mad about every single one of you! And doing that, Mr. Snake, was a very, very silly mistake!” I hopped onto my cannon, whipped out my grenades, and snarled at them like an angry dog. “So come on, guys! Let’s PARTY!” They charged at me, screeching to try and scare her, but I wasn’t so easily scared. With one blast from my party cannon, I blew away four of them in one go. They didn’t even have time to recover as I yanked out the pins of the party grenades with her teeth and flung them at them, flipping backwards behind the barrel of my cannon again as I did and reloading just as they exploded around me. I fired off the jelly shells that I loaded into the cannon and fired, sticking them fast. Then I loaded myself into the cannon, my hooves facing forward. With lightning surging around me, I felt the singe on my rump as I shot out of the barrel like a cork on a bottle of pop and smacked one of them across the face, bouncing off his chin and smacking into another one of them, slamming into the ground and screaming with rage. Taking advantage of the rules of a world of chaos and her own rules, which as to say were non-existent, I ran up and down the sides of walls, bounced high up into the air, tracked and galloped across the sky, and use every trick and trade she had up her sleeves to knock them down and knock them down hard. My attacks had no pattern or through and were completely random. A gut-punch was followed with a right jab, roundhouse kick, head-butt, rump bump, and double hoof kick all on enemies, followed by bouncing off him and performing the same set of random strikes on the next. Keep ‘em guessing. A surprise party was the best kind of party. Why should fighting be any different? Soon, only a few of them were left, most of them still struggling to get out of my homemade jelly. Only three weren’t stuck and they didn’t look so tough anymore. I cartwheeled through the air, sticking one four times with my hooves, bounced off the ground, and head-butted another one rapidly on his head with an electric dash, rounding on the last one and grabbing her cannon, blasting him right in the face, the scales turning even blacker with the added soot. He waved and whirled on the spot until I gently blew against him and he toppled to the floor in a heap. I glanced back at those that were remaining stuck in the jelly, staring at me with disbelief and, most of all, and fear. Bullies were only tough when you were just as scared as they wanted you to be. When you started to stand up to them and prove you weren’t a pushover, suddenly they weren’t so scary anymore. “Impossssssssible… ssssso fassssssst… What are you?” one of them whispered. I smirked at him, pulled out a big colorful box, wound up the crank on the side to start the music, Pop Goes the Weasel, and left it to turn itself, prancing off the jelly surface and showing my back to them as it reached the end of the countdown. Just before the last second, I answered his question. “I’m Pinkie Pie.” BOING! The box opened and three boxing gloves on springs shot out, hitting each serpent across the face and knocking them out. Nodding with satisfaction at my victory, Pinkie flew away and calmed myself down, leaving piles of dazed, beaten, and sleepy Paraserpents behind me. Just like any one of my parties. I reached the floating island and jumped up to join Spike and Twilight, the dragon staring at me. “Pinkie… that was amazing!” “Yeah, I guess.” I shrugged. “I normally don’t go so cocoa loco like that unless somepony really deserves it and they really deserved it, big time!” I fumed a little, but brightened up again in seconds. “Anyway, all done now. How is she?” “She’ll be fine, but this wound needs somepony to have a look at it.” Spike said. “I don’t know much about that kind of stuff though.” “I don't either.” I reported sadly. “We need to get her to one of the others, get her some help.” “But how are we gonna…” Spike trailed off, looking at something behind Pinkie. “Look at that!” I turned and her eyes widened when I saw a glowing El Dragon above us. “Ooh! It’s one of Dusk’s puppets!” It stared at us for a moment and galloped away. “Come on, Spikey! If we follow it, we may be able to get help.” “Right.” He heaved and slung Twilight over his shoulder. “Where do we go from here?” “Come on, we’ll take the islands over! It shouldn’t be too hard.” I decided, seeing a path of them. “What? How are we gonna reach those?” “You got two legs, don’t ya? Jump!” With a single bound, I soared over to the next island. As mean and strange as it was, a world of chaos could be kind of fun. Dusk’s view Standing at the center of the hill, I was deep in my magical trance, almost like I truly was the puppets that I had sent out to find my friends. My emotions, my memories, and warmth for them all were what flowed through me like a raging river, filling my whole being and leaving little else. My body was a tool of my mind, which stretched out across the town like the clouds in the sky. I was only vaguely aware of the sounds of my friends battling around me, fighting to keep me from harm. That they would even do such a thing created a storm of love and gratitude for us, which was added to the emotions that already coursed through my whole being. How could I have ever thought that, at one point, they seemed to have considered abandoning me forever…? So I didn’t take notice of the battle or anything else around me. Not the hissing of the Paraserpents or the cries and shouts of battle. I carried on guiding them, as I had done before… No one’s view The sounds of battle were not the only thing Dusk had ignored as the light of the blue stone around his neck kept growing brighter. He also ignored the fact that his cutie mark of a scroll seemed to be flickering as well, almost fading from existence completely, as he continued with his spell.