//------------------------------// // Chapter twenty-one: Introduction of the Traitorous Nymph // Story: Season 10: Dawn of a new generation of Harmony // by xombiekilla //------------------------------// A dark pillar formed in front of Twilight, and her company as a robed mare walked out of it. "Bravo, guys. Really. That was quite the performance. You certainly showed those mean Tainted a thing or two." The hooded figure then slowly approached the heroes as Twilight came to speak to her. "Who're you? Your voice sounds familiar. Are you the one responsible for unleashing the Tainted in the academy?" "Well, has it been this long since I've been released? I wonder, where does all of that time go, golly?" The figure then drew back her hood to reveal light-blue curls, a sinister grin, salmon-pink fur, and yellow eyes. "Well, you got me, I guess. I wonder, did the black robes give it away?" When everyone recognized Cozy, they glared stoically and focused on her. "There she is, Twilight," Celestia spoke up. "We had hoped that sealing you away in stone would have taught you some manners, you little whelp. We can see that this wasn't the case." Luna glared at her. "Cozy Glow. So you're with the Tainted? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about that. You always were one to align with the strongest force." "Well, admittedly, not the kind of reaction I expected from you, Twilight. But I guess it'll do." Starlight then looked towards Twilight to speak. "Hey, Twilight. Do you see her horn? It's back. I thought that went away after the magic from Grogar's Bell was extracted from her. She also looks a bit... older." "Noted, Starlight. What happened to you, Cozy? Cause this is not a normal transition that one can have in such a short time without help." "Oh, dear. It looks like I know something that the big, brainy Twilight doesn't know. Do you know what else you guys don't know? His time is ticking." Hero saw her glaring smugly at him. "What're you talking about? I'm not going anywhere." "Maybe not for a while, anyway. I can see the seed of darkness blooming nicely within your chest. So you're Hero, hmm?" "Yeah. I am. So what? Are you looking for a fight?" "Ugh. You harmony types and your penchant for getting into skirmishes. I can see that not much has changed since the long time of my imprisonment. Once his time is up, he'll be one of us, a vessel to Lord Yami himself." "What? Lord Yami?" Hero looked at his chest, the black scar as it was tightly pulsed. "So that's who it was that did this to me." "So that's his name, huh? It sounds like it was adopted- acquired by some cause or some reason." Twilight said as she pondered herself with this new knowledge. "Of course, I'm not feeling the whole powerful vibes with this one. Not entirely sure why he'd choose you, but it's his plan, not mine." Cozy then looked back towards Twilight, "Now I know how much you guys would want to bring me down, but unfortunately for you. I have come prepared." Cozy Glow then used her horn to light up her dark magic to summon the Tainted she kept hidden. It then rose from the ground and formed itself in front of them. "Ugh... yuck. It looks like a giant, gooey blob." Starlight said as she stuck out her tongue and turned her head away disgustingly. "I know, That's what I told him. This guy is made up of all the fears of everypony within the academy from the attack. I guess that means that he's super strong, huh?" Cozy said with a giggle as she summoned a dark pillar and walked away into it, "Let's hope you can survive this one, Hero." "Hey! You come back here!" Hero shouted as she gave a raspberry and then vanished into the darkness. "Save it, Hero. We'll deal with her later. Right now, we have to take care of this monster." Twilight said as everyone present then readied themselves. The Tainted Horror then had that Tainted sigil onto its machine core, poking from the center of its sludgy body. "He's an Emblem Tainted, everyone. That explains why he's stronger than most." The monster then began to hurl parts of its sludge at the heroes as everyone did their best to avoid getting splattered. Celestia fired her magic to burn the creature on its right side as it growled from the attack and then rammed into her, knocking her back. "Gah- aaughh." Celestia was sent flying away into a pile of old debris stacked onto the bleachers' side, now buried under some trash and trying to dig her way out to stand. "That kinda did hurt. Ouch." "Celestia!? Are you okay?" Twilight looked over to check on her as she waved her hoof forward. "I'm fine; just ensure that thing doesn't hit you." "You'll pay for assaulting my dear sister, you goopy abomination!" Luna stepped forward to blast it with her magic, cutting into the sludge and making the monster growl in pain as it rushed towards her to hug her. Luna gasped in shock as she was too slow to avoid it. The Tainted Horror then devoured her to her shoulders, covering her entire body by wrapping her up in its black sludge and leaving her head on its right side, "Let me go, you foul beast!" "Luna!? We'll get you out of there; hold on." Twilight said as she and Hero rushed to Luna's aid. Luna was shaking and quivering in place as she was stuck in its body. "Hero. You freeze Luna's area; I'll remove that piece to release her from its body." "Got it! Deep freeze!" Hero then shot his magic into the Tainted to freeze around where Luna was as she was shivering more from the cold. "I think ice magic is his weakness, guys." "Good. Don't go easy on him then." Twilight then used her magic to grip the frozen ooze around Luna's body and pulled her out. The moment her body was freed, the frozen ooze shattered, and Luna fell to the ground, curled into the fetal position with her hooves and lightly rocking in place. "Luna. are you okay?" "N-No... s-so cold... so empty.. and so dark." Luna was traumatized by the darkness and unable to stand up, let alone fight. "Starlight, Ocellus. Get Luna to safety so Meadowbrook can tend to her, okay?" "I'll go with Ocellus to help aid Luna," Silverstream said as Fluttershy joined her. That left Starlight, Fluttershy, Ocellus, and Silverstream out of the fight while Celestia recovered. "Fine then. We'll wrap this up. Ready girls- and Hero?" Twilight declared as she and her friends stood firm against the oozing monstrosity as it roared at them. "Ready!" Everyone said together as they all got into their battle positions. Celestia got back into the fight and decided to keep her distance. "I specialize in fire magic. Unfortunately, I won't be much help fighting, but I can at least heal when necessary," Celestia said as she looked at her ill-stricken sister with saddened eyes. Her gaze drifted back to the Tainted as her eyes were focused. Hero fired more ice magic at the giant blob to lock him in place as he shrieked in pain. He glared at Hero, who dared to use his weakness against him. "Yeah. He's weak to ice magic, guys." The blob then stretched its left arm to strike at Celestia to glue her body to the academy wall as the ooze gradually covered up her now quivering body. "Gah?! I-It's so cold and awful in here. Some help would be nice." The black ooze covered her horn and mouth, so she could neither talk nor use magic. Celestia was pinned to the wall; the monster released his arm from her body to keep her glued to the academy wall. She had no choice but to watch as horror and fright shook her core. "Celestia?! No! You want to reduce the healers; I see your plan." Twilight then used her ice magic to flash freeze a small blanket of ice all over the monster as it shrieked in pain from the cold. He desperately tried to free himself from the ice as the mares plus Hero surrounded him. "Anypony capable of magic, use it. Rainbow, make a tornado to make things cold for him." "You got it, Twilight. Hey ugly! I'm right here." Rainbow taunted the beast as it got steamed and focused on her. The Tainted was trying to grab her, but she was too fast cycling around the monster, creating a cyclone of cold air to slow him down. Hero then jumped up to fire an ice blast. "Take this, Deep Freeze!" Hero turned that windy cyclone into an icy one. This hit was much more challenging than any normal attack. The monster was panicking now; feeling fright at this point was ironic for a beast that was made of it. Using its sludge at the last moment, he fired a large glob onto Rainbow to glue her wings together so she'd be grounded. "Gah? What the? Hey. That's not cool." With a gross splat, her body hit the ground like a blanket of tar-like goo was on her, making her feel irrational bouts of fear and hysteria. "Eugh. That's so cold and wrong... It's all through my wings. Get this stuff off of me, guys!" "Rainbow! Don't worry; we'll take off this for you. This will not take long." Twilight then blasted out a beam. "Alright then, Tainted. Time to let my friends go. And for you to say goodbye." The mechanical core with its sigil was then exposed like a beating steel heart. Metallic drumbeats sounded each time it pulsed its black ooze through its body. Its beady yellow eyes spoke that of fear- the fear of death, of the end of its foul existence. "I'll finish it off, Twilight." "Be my guest, Hero." Hero then jumped towards the monster's core and stabbed its body with his blade. Hero felt something he had never felt before war cry, then rage-fueled roaring, rage, fury, unending ferocity. Stab after stab had caused its black blood to gush out all over the field, and Hero couldn't stop stabbing. It was as if a force or aura took control of him for short brevity, compelling him to keep stabbing the vile creature. "Hero? Hero, that looks to be too harsh, even for a Tainted. Hero! Why can't he hear me?" The monster was letting out one last pathetic whimper of defeat before it fell over and released its glistening pink heart, then melted away into a black mist. Hero was still stabbing the empty core left behind as Twilight grabbed him, "Hero, listen to me! It's gone; you defeated him." Hero was breathing as if he had run a marathon, catching his breath, and then, in his senses, he saw what he had done and backed away. "W- What just happened? What? I did that?" Hero was terrified of his actions. Defeating Tainted was a part of his job, but this was different. That goo that trapped Celestia and Rainbow had melted away, freeing them both as they curled into a fetal position, identical to Luna. The other party then arrived soon as they saw three ponies down, Hero covering his face with his hooves and Twilight consoling Hero. "What is the name of Equestria? Has it happened out here?" Starswirl said as he surveyed the battlefield, and Twilight noticed and approached him. "Starswirl. Thank goodness you're here. How did your sweep of the academy go?" "Fortuitous. Now, please explain to me what happened, Twilight. Meadowbrook, three ponies need your attention, possibly four." "At once, Starswirl," Meadowbrook said as Starlight and her friends gathered all three ponies together as they sat at the bleachers. "Everything will be okay. Help is here." Meadowbrook then prepped an emergency batch of healing tea and whipped a few water bottles with a portable cooking kettle. She then went to work preparing her medicine.