//------------------------------// // The Eater // Story: Ascension // by King Ice //------------------------------// “So wait… All you do now is walk around the city and pay attention that nothing goes wrong?” Azure inquired as she scratched the back of her head with one of her wings. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Just like a guard,” Snowy answered as she looked around carefully, making sure she didn’t miss anything. She took this job seriously after all. Although, everything was normal for now. Even if it wasn’t Canterlot, district A was still pretty peaceful, the crime rate being quite low. It still didn’t mean she could not rest on her laurels. “And you’re gonna do that every day? That’s super boring! You should do a job like mine! Plus it’s a lot easier,” “But… You don’t have a job,” “Exactly! That’s why it’s so easy,” Azure replied while puffing up her chest. “I’m not sure that I want to know how you pay your bills,” “I wouldn’t trade my secret anyway,” Azure chuckled proudly. “Anyway, do you have to do that every day? ‘Cause the job of a guard is more boring than I thought. Rune made it look so easy…” “Well… I don’t really need to patrol around the districts. As long as I intervene and stop any criminal quickly, I could stay at home all day, but it wouldn’t be professional. I don’t want to embarrass the Queen,” Snowy answered. “Besides we should be thankful there’s no commotion yet!” She added right before an explosion occurred near their location, surprising them both as Azure turned to look at her. “You had to jinx it, right?” Azure muttered before an earth pony came running to them in panic. “Oh, thank Twilight, you are here! We need your help, Snowy Dawn! A bakery is currently being robbed, they even have a hostage!” The earth pony stated between two breaths as Snowy raised an eyebrow. “A Bakery? Why would somepony rob a bakery? That’s dumb,” She pointed out while Azure widen her eyes. “What?! What are they standing there for?! We gotta stop those monsters!” Azure shouted before taking off and leaving the alicorn behind as she flew to the scene. Snowy barely had any time to shout her name before she was gone, so she simply decided to run after her in the direction of the explosion they heard earlier. Meanwhile, at the scene, a crowd was gathered around the commotion. They surrounded three ponies, one of which was a unicorn and held an earth pony hostage while the third pony was a pegasus with a huge bag at his feet. “Alright, pal! Let the hostage go! You have no way to escape!” One of the guards that surrounded them shouted as the crowd made out of civilians started recording the scene. “A-As if!” The unicorn screamed in reply with hesitation. Looking in front of him, he saw a wall of guards, all holding swords and spears with their telekinesis. Moreover, their blades were all glowing brightly, some red, others orange or blue. The robber scoffed; they were mana-blades, which only meant that he would be screwed if he tried to fight. Looking up in the sky, there was a sea of pegasi flying around the buildings. His friend would be able to hide there, but he wouldn’t be so lucky. Maybe committing a crime in district A of all places wasn’t a good idea… “Hey! How much money is in there?” He asked his comrade as the pegasus grinned excitedly. “At least 15 000 bits! I can’t even believe it!” He answered as the unicorn widened his eyes before throwing another look at the guards. “That much? Who would have thought those rumors were true… They’re really paying a fortune for something to eat!” He thought before holding the earth pony tighter as his horn glowed. “I’ll let the hostage go if you let us leave the district first! And don’t chase after us!” He demanded as the guard that talked to him earlier rolled his eyes. “If we don’t catch you, the Queen will. So let him go or else you’ll regret it… like everypony does,” The guard replied as the ponies in the crowd began muttering amongst themselves. “Is her Majesty going to come?” “I want to meet her so much!” “Oh, those bad guys are so screwed!” “Ya think I’m scared of you, mister baddie?” The freaking hostage said while smirking. The unicorn clenched his teeth in anger. Were they all crazy? Why the hell was nobody afraid right now? He didn’t even want to know how the ponies of Canterlot were, if the ones here are so… “Stop right there, villains! You will hurt these innocent sweets! Waaaa!” A voice screamed from above, making the unicorn robber look up. Before he could even understand what was happening, a red blur crashed into the bakery right behind them. “Ow! Alright… That hurts,” The female red pegasus groaned as she rubbed her head, before noticing she was sitting on pieces of cakes and other sweets. She suddenly jumped up in surprise and gasped. “Nooooo! Look at what you made me do! I’m a murderer!” She screamed as she tried to pick all the pieces up and reassemble them while the robbers looked at each other. “Is-Is she retarded or something?” The unicorn inquired in disbelief as he glanced at the hostage, who only shrugged in response. “You let your guard down!” Someone suddenly shouted, from behind. Unfortunately, the unicorn wasn’t able to turn around in time as the guard from earlier thrust his mana- blade right through one of his hind legs, making him scream in pain as the burning hot spear impaled and made him fall to the ground. His partner shouted in shock before quickly grabbing the bag full of money and trying to fly to the crowd of pegasi around the skyscrapers. However, right as he was about to escape, a blast of magic suddenly hit his wings, slowly freezing them solid. “AAAA!” He screamed as he let go of the bag and started falling to his impending doom. “Help!” Were his last words before someone grabbed him in a magical hold just as he was about to hit the ground. And even though he wasn’t hurt, he seemed he passed out because of shock. “Thank you, Snowy Dawn,” The guard said as Snowy gently placed the pegasus on the ground before taking a look at the guard while Azure was still sobbing in the background. “You’re welcome! After all, I couldn’t just-” She started while smiling before hearing the sound of someone crying in pain. She looked behind the guard and saw the unicorn robber, still laying on the floor and groaning. His leg not only had a hole in it, most of it was also burnt almost to a crisp. He had never felt so much pain in his entire life… All of it happened in under a second, but he still couldn’t shake off the feeling of the blade penetrating his body before quickly burning through his muscles and bones as incredible pain went through his entire body. He didn’t even receive the mercy of passing out… He felt pathetic, but he still couldn’t help but let out some tears of pain. Suddenly, a warm feeling washed over him as his leg got cold and wet as if it was in water. The pain was still there, but there was surprisingly much more relief. It felt… peaceful in a way. He managed to spin his head to look at his leg, and widened his eyes in surprise as he saw Snowy wrapping her magic around his injured limb. “Don’t worry, it will feel a lot better soon,” She reassured him as her horn glowed brighter. “W-Why are you helping me?” He stuttered, barely able to speak. “Is there something wrong about helping someone who is in pain?” Snowy asked with her head tilted. “You looked like it hurt you a lot, so I couldn’t help it,” She smiled as he dropped his head back on the ground, enjoying her healing magic as he slowly passed out. “You can take him now, but be careful with his leg,” Snowy told the guards that lifted the robber up to take him into custody. “Of course, My Lady,” One of the guards replied as they left. The guard she talked to earlier simply bowed down before joining them as the crowd of ponies started splitting up to what they were doing originally. “Are you alright, Azure?” Snowy asked as the pegasus slowly stood up, wiping away her tears. “It will take me some time to forget this-this murder, but I should be fine,” She stuttered as Snowy patted her head, trying to reassure her as much as she could. “Thank you for stopping these robbers, Lady Dawn!” Someone exclaimed from behind them, making Snowy turn around and see a female earth pony wearing an apron. “You must be the owner of this bakery. Don’t worry! It was my duty after all!” Snowy said with a sincere smile. “Sorry for ruining your pastries,” Azure apologized while rubbing the back of her head. “It’s alright, dear! I’m not mad, don’t be too hard on yourself,” The baker waved one of her hooves before turning her attention back at the alicorn. “Since you are here; I have a favor to ask you,” “Go on,” “Those kinds of criminal acts rarely happen, so the guards usually take care of it easily, but there has been… some kind of recurrent trouble lately,” The baker hesitantly said as she glanced around. “Is it something serious?” Snowy inquired. “A lot of ponies… including some of my friends, have been missing. The disappearances seem to occur during the night,” “Missing ponies? Why weren’t the guards informed of this?” Azure asked with a raised eyebrow. “I and several other ponies from the neighborhood tried to tell them, but they wouldn’t believe us. Mainly because of our testimonies,” “What do you mean?” Snowy raised an eyebrow. “Some have seen big shadows, creatures that didn’t look like ponies. Some monsters. Moreover, no one broke into their apartments,” The baker answered. “It could be anything,” Snowy mumbled as she placed a hoof on her chin. Hiding in the shadows during the night wasn’t difficult since there were a lot less ponies outside. Only the ones with a pass could go outside after midnight, so it wouldn’t be surprising that ponies got kidnapped with no one here to help. “Thank you for the information. We’ll look into it,” Snowy assured her as the Baker nodded. “Please, find them, my Lady. One of them was my husband… He never… came home last night…” “I’ll do my absolute best, I promise,” Snowy swore as the baker was suddenly called away by a nearby guard. “And “looking into it” means we’ll have to look after that monster tonight, right?” Azure asked as Snowy nodded cheerfully. Azure could only sigh “You don’t want to do it?” Snowy asked with a smile, even though she already knew the answer. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do it if I was scared, but I’m absolutely not! So I’ll do it… It’s just that I’m a little rusty since it’s been some time since we beat a monster’s ass. A bit of practice, and I’ll be back on track!” Azure exclaimed as she flexed her muscles. “Great! I’ll call the others, and we’ll meet here tonight! You should rest until then; I still have to patrol, though,” Snowy said as Azure chuckled. “I won’t need rest; wait until tonight, ‘cause next time you see me, I’ll be able to kick through a stone!” Azure exclaimed arrogantly before flying off, not leaving any time for Snowy to answer. However, it didn’t even take five seconds before Snowy heard a loud crash several feet away, coupled with a few ponies screaming at something. It didn’t look like she was going to get her license anytime soon… Luckily for Snowy, the rest of the day passed without anything major happening, leaving her some space to think about this mysterious kidnapper and to prepare some kind of plan. First, she and her friends had to meet in district A around midnight. Naturally, they all responded positively and were happy to help. Besides, some of them missed taking on challenges to protect ponies or even Equestria as a whole. “I hope you didn’t forget your night pass this time, Azure,” Rune teased as the pegasus grumbled. “Of course, I didn’t! It happened only once, okay?” “Looks like only Blueberry is missing,” Mirage pointed out. And just as Snowy was about to reply, the earth pony came into view from far away, calling out to them. Since she didn’t walk very fast, it took a couple of minutes for her to arrive, looking as tired as usual. “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long… I just… finished only an hour ago… and the train was late,” She said, finishing with a yawn as Mirage raised an eyebrow quizzically. “An hour ago? But it’s 2 a.m,” She pointed out as Blueberry smiled wide. “I know, right? They let me… finish earlier than usual today,” She replied in a joyous tone as Mirage looked at her worriedly. “So, since we’re all here, I guess I should give you these,” Snowy spoke up as she handed them necklaces with a green gem on them. “What’s that?” Azure asked as she put the necklace on. “It’s a necklace with a gem that should serve as a locator if the right spell is used. That way, Snowy and I can track any of us if there is any issue,” Rune explained as Mirage and Blueberry looked at their respective necklaces both in understanding and in awe while Azure chuckled nervously. “You’re making it sound like we’re splitting up…” “That’s because we are!” Rune replied enthusiastically. “Wow! It’s amazing what you can do with magic today,” Mirage commented. Even if she was a unicorn, she wasn’t really focused on learning magic after all. “What? I’m sure we don’t need to split up…” Azure muttered while looking around. “Well, from what Snowy told me, it’s the best course of action. It’s around this hour that whoever the kidnapper is will look for targets, since there aren’t many ponies around. And if we’re alone, they would be most likely to strike,” Rune answered as the pegasus rubbed the back of her head. “Wait… So we’re bait…” “Don’t worry about anything, Azure! You’ve been training, right? I’m sure you could kick their ass easily! I believe in you,” Snowy beamed as Azure tried to look away. “D-Damn it… I can’t say no to that face… Alright! I guess splitting up isn’t such a bad idea...” Azure admitted. “Great! Also, most disappearances happened in this neighborhood, so look only in this zone,” Snowy instructed as they all nodded in confirmation before splitting up. Being the only one not moving yet, Azure sighed. “Guess it’s just you and me now,” She muttered, talking to her necklace. The first few minutes, she spent them walking on the main streets, where there were still a few ponies and some guards walking around. But even then, a deadly silence hung around her. It was no surprise, since ponies weren’t usually friendly at this time of the night. And the few changelings she saw pass by were even less so. It wasn’t like she was scared or something; she just had a bad feeling. Moreover, she hated going out at night. With that red coat of hers, strangers always thought she was evil or something… When the night was dark and cold while the stars were hidden behind the clouds was the time for evil forces to leave the shadows they were hiding in. Azure could easily be seen as one of them, after all. “This is so boring… But I guess I should be grateful nothing’s attacked me yet…” Azure mumbled under her breath before looking around and setting her sights on a female unicorn nearby. “Hey!” She suddenly called out to her. The unicorn turned around and immediately stiffened as Azure approached her. “Sorry to bother you, lady. I was wondering if you saw any-” Azure started, only to be interrupted by the unicorn’s shaky voice. “S-Sorry, but I’m not interested in whatever… you are suggesting,” She replied, stepping back a little. “What?” Azure raised an eyebrow. “I was just asking if-” “I-I’ve got to go!” The unicorn suddenly walked away, leaving Azure behind. “Jeez, what’s her deal? Can’t even ask ponies if they saw a big monster walking around anymore?” Azure asked herself. “Then again; I guess it’s not something hard to miss unless it’s…” The pegasus widened her eyes in realization. “Wait a second! I bet it was the changelings I saw earlier! These guys can change into whatever they want! And they must have been looking for their next victim! Ha! I’m so smart!” She exclaimed, proud of herself, as she ran back to where she came from. Finding those changelings would be easier said than done, but she figured the best place to search was a dangerously dark and isolated alley, since it was the ideal place for them to hide in. However, it came to no surprise that there was no one except herself there. No changelings in sight. However, she didn’t give up on this yet. They must have gone to another creepy alley! Just as she was about to turn around and run out of here, a rocky voice made her legs shake from behind her. “What do we have here?” “It looks like a delicious prey,” Azure slowly spun around and saw two hulking figures looking down on her. They were minotaurs! She quickly jumped back as one of them tried to grab her. His hand travelled fast and even made cracks on the floor as it was slammed against it. Fortunately, the pegasus still had good reflexes. “So you’re the ones kidnapping ponies?” Azure glared at them. “Was it that easy to figure out?” Minotaur 1 asked as the second one smacked him on the head. “Don’t confess to the crime, idiot! Hurry up and catch her!” Minotaur 2 shouted at him as the first one rubbed his head in annoyance, then charged at her. “No way you’re catching me, morons!” Azure chuckled as she jumped above him and started flying. “You idiot! Once they fly, there’s no catching them!” Minotaur 1 reprimanded his partner. “Hey, it wasn’t my fault! She was faster than I thought!” His partner grumbled. “I’m not running away! I’m gonna kick your asses!” Azure warned cockily while flying higher. These guys couldn’t leave the ground after all, so all she had to do was hit them without giving them any time to rest, then fly high enough to dodge their hits. Now was the time to use her wings as she always should have! Unfortunately, she ended up hitting her head against a metal pipe so hard it made her brain tremble as she fell down, her vision spinning. The second minotaur simply stretched out his hand and caught her in his palm, before wrapping his hand around it. “Well, that was easy. I guess she’s dumb or something,” He pointed out. “Good for us. Let’s take her to the bar. I think Boss is going to be satisfied with this one.” She didn’t know how long she was unconscious for, but by the time Azure woke up, she was behind bars. Trapped in a cell, fortunately big enough for her to stretch her legs, but also filled with the stench of death. She quickly moved her wings to her snot as she looked around. The cell she was in had blood-covered walls and what looked like pony bones lying around. However, she quickly noticed she wasn’t alone. She along with four other ponies were chained by their neck to the wall. All of them were earth ponies, and they looked like they were bruised all over, surely because they resisted. “Where are we?” She asked only to be met with silence. The others kept their heads low, some crying in despair. However, one of them looked at her after some time. “We’re not sure… I think I saw them taking me into a bar, so that may be the basement. We-We were all captured tonight,” The pony explained with a shaky voice. “We look like we’re the only ones here, though… And there’s only five of us… Are the other kidnapped ponies…” Azure didn’t dare finish this sentence as she clenched her teeth in anger. How could those beasts… She suddenly pulled on her chain, not caring if she hanged herself while trying to escape, which attracted the attention of the other ponies. Even though they mostly gave her a look of pity as they have given hope quickly. Suddenly, Azure realized something. Something was pressed around her neck, and she wasn’t thinking of the chain the minotaurs put on her. No, that was her necklace! If she held on a bit longer, her friends would come for sure. Easy! “It looks like you are all awake,” The minotaur that caught her said as he walked towards their cell, then looked at her. “You are lucky. The Boss loves pegasus wings, so you will get to go first,” He explained as he opened the cage, making everyone run to a corner, away from him as he approached Azure. Naturally, she stood her ground and didn’t let feat show on her face. “I know my wings and I are pretty hot, but I’m not interested,” Azure warned him as he raised an eyebrow. “What are you- We are going to eat you, well the Boss is. You’re gonna be his personal meal tonight,” He explained as Azure’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re what? I-Is that a metaphor for something sexual?” Azure asked as the minotaur deadpanned while staring at her, then freed her from the chain before grabbing her by the neck and leading her out of the cell. “W-Wait! Don’t!” Azure screamed while kicking around. “Why do you ponies always struggle so much? You are going to die in a few decades anyway, so just let us take you as food,” Minotaur grumbled as he turned right and walked towards a door at the end of the tunnel they were in. “I’m sure you have a reason for doing this!” “I’m hungry,” He answered. “M-Maybe you had a dark and tragic past that made you like this! C-Come on! Why don’t you tell me your story! It’ll make you feel better!” Azure tried to convince him as he entered the room they were walking to. She suddenly gagged at the sudden smell. Several tools were hanging on the wall, but in the middle of the room was a big table covered in blood. The minotaur, ignoring her, grabbed a butcher knife before throwing her on the table. Before she could even move away, he grabbed her neck and held her in place as he forcefully unfolded her wings. Finally, he raised his butcher knife. “A tragic event! There must be something like that!” Azure screamed while kicking around even more than earlier, but still unable to escape. “Tragic event?” The minotaur asked, lowering his knife a bit down. “Well... there was something…” “Right! Of course! Something really horrible that would make you eat something as adorable as me!” Azure nodded ferociously. “My mother told me a few years ago that I was adopted. Kinda changed my whole point of view on family. I mean, we’re not blood related, so did she care about me?” “W-Well, you know. That’s not something u-unusual… Especially considering giving birth to more than two kids in a lifetime is forbidden. M-Maybe if she chose you, t-then you mattered, you know. B-Besides, she still raised you, didn’t she? A f-family isn’t limited to blood…” Azure nervously replied as the minotaur looked like he was thinking about it. “You know… You may be right. I think I’ll call her back after all these years… I wouldn’t have missed her if I didn’t love her after all,” The minotaur smiled as Azure smiled in return. “Great! I’m glad I helped, so could you let me go, please? Your grip is kinda hurting me,” Azure explained as she was met with silence. The minotaur was staring right into her eyes. “That conversation totally changed your mind about eating me, right?” “Not really. I’m still gonna kill you, but I’ve got to admit it was nice talking to you,” The minotaur replied as he raised his butcher knife again, ready to bring it down. “Oh, come on!” Azure screamed as she contemplated her last moments. She was disappointed that this was how she was going to end, but the only thing she regretted was not telling her friends how much she loved them enough. “If those are my last words, then I-” Crack “Huh?” The minotaur looked up in surprise, while Azure did the same after seeing she wasn’t dead yet. Small cracks appeared on the ceiling before slowly expanding. “What the fuck is happ-” He started, only to be interrupted by the ceiling crumbling. Azure widened her eyes as an orange-colored mana-blade suddenly came down and impaled the minotaur through the skull, before getting even deeper in and going through the table beneath his head. Luckily, it didn’t hurt the pegasus, who was a bit further up. The blade that pierced the minotaur belonged to a huge hell bard, one big enough for a regular minotaur to wield at least, but she already knew who it belonged to. Even if the impalement hadn’t killed her soon-to-be murderer, the heat of the blade would have done the job, since it was so hot that smoke was coming out of her jailer’s skull. The minotaur’s eyes were an empty white void as his body collapsed on its knees. “We’ve arrived right on time!” Rune Blaser exclaimed in happiness as she jumped down from the hole in the ceiling, closely followed by her other friends. “Are you alright, sweetie?” Mirage asked worryingly while Snowy looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Azure. We should have been faster to realize you were kidnapped,” She said while looking down in shame. “... You should rest if you need to,” Blueberry added before Azure jumped on them. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” She repeated while kissing Rune all over her face, then hugged all of them, using her wings to facilitate the task. “You saved me, and that’s all that matters! I love all of you so much!” She cried tears of joy. The girls looked at each other, mostly happy that they managed to prevent the worst from happening. After calming a bit down, Azure quickly explained the situation and what was happening here. Rune looked mostly serious and angry while Snowy and Mirage were shocked and horrified, the alicorn was deeply saddened by the fact that she wasn’t even able to stop this from happening in the first place. Blueberry was strangely impassive… “W-We have to stop them even if…” Snowy wasn’t able to finish her sentence. “Even if we have to hurt them a lot, right?” Rune added as Snowy looked at the corpse of the minotaur, then slowly nodded. Rune already knew how Snowy was. Using violence wasn’t something she liked. Rune placed a leg over Snowy’s shoulder, then looked at the others. “You said they had a boss, right, Azure? If we don’t hurry up, they’ll start wondering what this guy is doing,” She said while pointing at the corpse. “Rune and I could take care of him,” Snowy started before Azure could answer. “You three should free the other ponies trapped here and take them to a safe place,” Naturally, the three of them nodded with confident smiles. “Are you sure, Snowy? You don’t have to,” Rune reassured her as Snowy shook her head. “I have to do this. We’ll try to get this over quickly, girls. I’ve already taken a lot of your time with this late mission,” “Don’t worry about that, Sweetie! We’re friends after all,” Mirage assured her. “Death wasn’t even that scary anyway,” Azure flapped one of her wings dismissively. “I probably would have been at work, anyway,” “T-Thank you… W-We should go,” “We’ll kick the guy’s ass before you girls can even free the others,” Rune stated arrogantly as she and the alicorn started walking out of the room. She, of course, didn’t forget to take her hell bard out of the minotaur’s skull. They quickly split up, Snowy and Rune going to the opposite side of where their friends went. It wasn’t long before they arrived in front of a door, which was reduced to splinters by one of Rune’s magic blasts, then entered the room. Inside were around ten minotaurs, and one who was completely white and sitting on a chair, munching on a bone while holding a pony’s skull in the other hand. Naturally, they breaking down the door attracted all the attention to themselves. “What are you doing here?” One of them shouted as the white minotaur, most likely the boss, remained silent. “To arrest you, but I guess asking you to surrender would be pretty useless, right?” Rune answered as the minotaur glared at her. “Rock was supposed to be over there… What did you do?” He asked, as Rune simply smirked as a response. The minotaur clenched his teeth, then started charging at her with a scream. He couldn’t even make contact with her before Snowy jumped in front of her friend and blasted him with a magic blast that made him collide with the wall all the way at the back of the room. The minotaurs took a step back in surprise as their comrade slid from the wall to the ground, his chest having burn marks. He still looked alive, but unconscious. “As I thought. This is the Queen’s guard dog,” The Boss said as he looked at Snowy, then pointed at the unicorn. “And this is the captain of the royal guard. Don’t be afraid. In the end, they are still from a weak race,” The Boss reassured his men as they looked confident again. “We never get to have an easy job, do we?” Rune asked herself in annoyance as the minotaurs surrounded them. “It’s okay! Together, we are unstoppable,” Snowy said, making her friend smirk. They said nothing more as the minotaurs all charged at them. The two ponies easily teleported away as the minotaurs hit each other. Every time one of them charged at Snowy, she simply jumped out of the way and blasted them away with her horn hard enough to render them unconscious. It wasn’t long before most of them had burn marks all over their bodies. And on Rune’s side, she was much less merciful as she used her hell bard. She didn’t hesitate to skewer their legs, arm or even their shoulder with her burning blade, making them feel hell itself with every hit. Naturally, she purposefully avoided any vital points so that she could arrest them properly. The pain coursing through their bodies was enough to make them unable to move. Either by falling unconscious, or being too busy rolling on the ground because of the intense pain. “You. Damn. Ponies!” One of the last minotaurs screamed in anger as he attempted to punch the alicorn, only for her to dodge all his hits. She lit her horn, indicating to him, she was going to attack. He quickly brought his arms up to shield himself; however, this time she didn’t use a magic blast, but instead a freezing spell, which was quick to freeze both of his arms together in front of him. “C-Cold!” He stuttered as he tried to move his frozen limbs. “Time to sleep, big guy!” Rune shouted as she kicked him on the back of his head, making him collapse instantly. “Phew… That easier than I thought it would be,” She breathed out before turning her attention back to the Boss. “Alright, surrender. You’re under arrest… What was your name again?” “Strong. Arms,” He replied as he looked at his fallen comrades. It made him clench his teeth to see them struggle so much against mere ponies. And the ones still crying in pain like little girls were even worse. “D-Did your parents name you that, or is it like a pseudonym or something?” Rune asked with a raised eyebrow. “Rune, that’s rude,” Snowy scolded her lightly. Before Rune could say anything else, Strong Arms roared as he stomped the ground. “I’ll take care of you myself!” He shouted as he charged at them. Even though the attack came as a surprise, the two friends still managed to dodge in time as the minotaur crashed into the wall, creating a dust cloud. When he was visible again, two big holes, created by his horns, on the wall could be seen. Snowy didn’t wish to give him any time to charge again, and simply shot a beam made of magic. However, much to her dismay, the beam hit him head on without doing any damage. “W-what happened?” She stuttered in worry. “You think your puny pony magic can do something against my fur?” Strong Arms taunted as he jumped at them. Snowy jumped back and avoided the blow before casting a freezing spell, which had little to no effect like the last one. The shock that overcame her because her spells were useless against him was enough to make her lose her focus and get kicked in the head so hard she was sent flying a few feet away. “Snowy!” Rune shouted before attempting to slash the minotaur. He dodged her first blow, then tried to counter with a punch, which she dodged. Rune was a very agile unicorn and was talented enough to avoid getting hit. With his size, it was like trying to kill a fly. Even though he hid it well, it annoyed Strong Arms a lot. Fortunately for him, he was still experienced enough not to get hit by those damn mana-blades. No matter how talented she was, he still had an advantage in size and brutal strength. Her slashes and thrusts were fast, but all he needed was an opening. Rune jumped on his fist and used to propel herself in the air before using her magic hold to throw her hell bard right into Strong Arm’s forehead. That was the plan until he managed to grab the hell bard by its handle. “Uh oh,” Rune muttered before getting punched in the snout. Her back hit the ground multiple times before coming to a stop. “Fuck… This guy’s punch feels like getting hit by a train. My brain’s all shaken up…” She thought as she tried to stand up again. “You ponies are so weak!” Strong muttered as he walked towards her. “Stop right there!” The minotaur was suddenly surrounded by various Snowy clones, all having a determined look on their faces. However, he didn’t look worried, even when they all jumped on him. He simply swung Rune’s hell bard around and easily killed most of them, turning them into white smoke as they disappeared. He threw the hell bard away as he saw only the original remained, and quickly grabbed her by the tail before she could do anything. Snowy didn’t even have the time to put a barrier around her as she was swung on the ground over and over again. Even though her back almost broke, she still found the energy to cast another spell and shot a sticky slime in Strong Arms’ eyes, making him cry in anger as he threw her away. The minotaur pulled on the slime hard enough to get it off his face. “You are annoying,” He grumbled as vines suddenly came out of the ground and wrapped around his arms and legs, holding him in place. He spun his head and saw Rune with her horn lit. “Snowy’s not the only one who knows to cast spells,” She stated with heavy breaths, still haven’t recovered from the earlier blow. “That won’t be enough!” He roared, ready to tear off the vines, only for Rune to let out a war cry as she threw her hell bard right into his chest, making him scream in pain as he fell to his knees. Rune immediately let her guard down as she sat on the ground to recover some energy. The fight was probably over after all. Strong Arm’s body felt like a furnace as the mana-blade burned his organs with a heat he had never felt before. The pain was tearing his body apart! However, it wasn’t only a bit of pain that would stop him! He growled as he ripped the vines off him, then approached Rune. “Ah… Ah... How is he still standing?” Rune muttered in annoyance while breathing heavily as she lit her horn to cast a spell; however, it only flickered like a broken lamp. His punch must have injured her horn! “Not so good without your puny magic, right?” He chuckled as he continued to move, even with the hell bard still inside him. Right as Rune was about to run back, Strong Arms quickly stomped on her tail, keeping her from moving away. “Look here, guard dog! I’ll snap her little neck!” He shouted, blood running down his mouth. Snowy widened her eyes as she slowly stood up. Her friend was going to die, and she couldn’t even protect her because she was too weak! The realization hit her like a train as she remembered how they met, then how Rune’s mother would feel. The disappointment she would see in her mentor’s eyes. And most of all, the void that Rune’s death would leave in her heart. And when she looked at this minotaur and what he planned on doing; anger rose as her blood boiled. Her eyes immediately started glowing in a bright light as her white magic flared against her body, releasing sparks. “Don’t touch her!” She screamed, her mane flowing up in the air. “You don’t understand, do you? Your useless magic can’t do anything,” Strong Arms growled, getting annoyed with the light show. “S-Snowy… Calm down! It’s gonna be okay!” Rune tried to reason right before the alicorn fired a beam of light. The unicorn quickly ducked and protected her head. Even if the beam wouldn’t have touched her, being so close to it could still be dangerous. “Huh?” The minotaur managed to muster before the beam, which was larger than the ones before, went right through his chest and hit the wall behind him, digging a hole in it. Strong Arms screamed in pain while his organs got roasted before getting completely vaporized. When the beam was gone, only a huge hole remained. The minotaur vomited blood as he fell to his knees again, remaining unmoving, while Rune’s hell bard fell on the ground, seemingly intact from the attack. Rune looked at Snowy, then at the minotaur, his eyes were completely blank. And having a hole like that in the chest, it wasn’t likely that he survived. Meanwhile, the alicorn’s mane went back to normal as the light disappeared. Snowy collapsed on the floor in a loud thud. “T-That was close…” Rune muttered, about to go check on her friend until a hand wrapped itself around her neck. “H-How!” She breathed as she kicked around. Strong Arms panted, growling like a savage beast as he looked at the unicorn he was holding. “Soon… Soon… You will see… what I saw… Hehehe… You ponies… will understand, too… and will eat each other,” He managed to say before letting go of her and feeling down. This time, life had definitely left his eyes. “That was weird…” Rune mumbled, grabbing her hell bard into a magical hold. The weapon suddenly shrank back to its regular size as she strapped on her back and ran to Snowy. “Thank you,” She whispered as she made sure she was okay, then held her up with one of her legs. “What happened here?” Mirage asked as their two other friends entered the room with her. “Hey, we helped the others find the exit! Wow… Guess they resisted, huh?” Azure pointed out as she looked around the room. “You might need to go to the hospital, though,” A smile crept up Rune’s face as she joined her friends, Blueberry coming over to her to carry Snowy on her back. Meanwhile, in Canterlot. Dyson grabbed a beer out of his fridge as he yawned. “That royal guard job is more tiring than I thought. Can’t even feel my legs,” He muttered under his breath as he opened his beer. “Not that you are very good at it,” A voice chided out of nowhere. “What the-? Who the hell is talking?” Dyson snapped his eyes open as he looked around his room. “Only the most powerful unicorn in history. But you can call me Celestia,”