Silas charged at Fury and Caboose, his shadowy tendrils lashing out like whips.
"Yikes!" Caboose dodged one tendril.
"Don't even think about touching me with those twisted things!" Fury grimaced, evading another.
"Don't like the personal touch?" Silas sneered. "Then how about a special delivery?"
Silas fired a blast of corrupted magic, which Fury was only able to evade by ducking behind Mantra's desk (which promptly exploded into splinters).
"You like that better, you oversized pigeon?" Silas taunted.
"Still not a fan!" Fury retorted, creating a whirlwind to fling the jagged pieces of wood at Silas.
However, as with everything before, the projectiles phased right through him, Silas giving a grin much like the Cheshire Cat.
"Nice try." Silas jeered, firing another blast of magic.
"Whoa!" Fury once again just barely dodged the blast in time.
Meanwhile, the room's other two occupants had their own agenda.
"Come on." Mantra helped Ube up. "Let's use this distraction to get out of here!"
"Gladly." Ube groaned as he struggled to stay upright.
The three clashing figures didn't even notice Mantra and Ube's escape, too wrapped up in their fight to the death to focus on much else.
"Heads up!" Caboose attempted to tackle Silas.
But yet again, Caboose just went right through, running his head into a nearby portrait, his head embedding itself through it and into the wall behind it. The odd stallion struggled to pull his head out, pushing the wall with his hooves with all his might… but it was clear he was now stuck.
“Oh, bother…” Caboose groaned, drooping.
“Unbelievable.” Silas scoffed. “This is the Applewood docks all over again…”
“Dammit, Caboose!” Fury growled angrily, “Did you seriously forget already that physical attacks don't work on this guy, ya flappin’ idiot?!”
“Um… maybe?” Caboose cringed, his voice muffled by the wall his head was stuck in.
“Here. Let me help with that!” Silas’s horn glowed.
With great velocity, Caboose was instantly pulled out of the wall, so much so that the force of the pull took down the entire wall. The Unicorn crashed at Silas’ hooves, the now holey portrait bouncing off his neck.
“Ow…” Caboose winced.
Instantly, Silas grabbed Caboose by the throat and held him up high.
“Ack-ack-ack!” Caboose gagged, his front hooves flailing, as if he was a young mischievous boy being strangled by his father.
“No! Let him go!” Fury roared, conjuring up a spear, and made to throw.
“Just go ahead and try it, birdy!” Silas mocked him, “You said so yourself, nothing you can throw at me will ever hit-”
Fury threw his spear full-force. As Silas predicted, the spear did pass through him… but as it did, Silas felt a jolt of pain, as if he had just been pricked by a needle.
“Wha-?!” Silas flinched a little, Caboose’s gagging jumping a bit as he did. “What the- why did I feel that?!”
“Huh?” Fury frowned, taking in Silas’ reaction, before catching on “I get it; My spears are made from my dark magic. His miasma must not fully protect him from stuff like that. Still, it doesn’t do much, but maybe…”
Capitalizing on this new information, Fury conjured up several more spears at his side, as they floated mid-air, aiming right at the shadowy stallion.
“What are you- oh…” Silas glanced at Fury, only to blanch at the newly made spears pointing at him.
“Eat this!” Fury threw his talons forward, spears flying right at the shadowy stallion.
Instantaneously, the spears hit their mark… metaphorically, as they still did not actually hit the shadowy stallion, the spears were phasing through him, and each time they did, Silas felt like he was being stung by wasps.
"Arggh! Guhhh!" Silas gasped and grunted in pain. "Stop it, you lousy-Rrrah!"
"Not any time soon, shadow boy." Fury smirked, throwing more spears.
As Silas became distracted from the rapid onslaught of pain and metal, his grip on Caboose loosened.
“GAH!” Caboose gasped, breathing in a few mouthfuls of air. Instantly recovering, Caboose glared at Silas, his horn glowing, “WHY YOU LITTLE-!”
“What-” Silas glanced back at Caboose…
Only to be met with Caboose blasted him with a powerful magic beam, point-blank in his face. The beam enveloped his entire head, and blasted a hole in the wall right behind him.
As soon as Caboose finished (in a matter of a few seconds, in fact), Silas was still standing… however, while the rest of his body was still covered in miasma, his head wasn’t, his head’s fur being a pallid black, with a notably slightly darker streak of black atop his head, signifying where his wisping mane would normally be.
Also notable was the fact everything was sizzling, having been recently enveloped in a beam of magic.
“Ow… Owww…” Silas hissed, still in shock.
“Huh.” Caboose mused, still being held in Silas’ grasp, “Isn’t it amazing that that’s what we all look like on the inside?”
“What the…” Fury eyed Silas’ face, comparing it to the rest of the body.
Silas’ shock did not last long, as it soon gave way to rage. And his grip on Caboose’s neck re-tightened.
“Oh no.” Caboose gagged.
Fury, following his instinct, conjured up another spear and launched it at Silas, this time aiming at his head.
Silas, still trying to refocus, barely had time to avoid the spear. However, the spear managed to slice his cheek.
“GAAAAHHH!” Silas screamed, dropping Caboose, as he stumbled back, clutching his bloody cheek. The miasma re-enveloped his head again, but Silas still clutched his cheek, riling in pain.
Caboose scrambled away from the pained villain, joining Fury’s side, but succumbed to confusion as he glanced back at the shadowy stallion.
“What was that just now?” He asked Fury, “You said 'physical attacks don't work on him, you flappin' idiot!' You emphasized the idiot part very well!"
“I know, but remember what Black told us?" Fury prompted. "About how magic seemed to work on him? When you blasted him with your magic, you must have blasted all the miasma off his face! I had a gut feeling and it turns out I was right: Silas isn't made out of miasma. The miasma is like a tough outer shell that can only be affected by magic, protecting his weak, fleshy insides!"
"...Um...." Caboose frowned, confused.
"Ugh, think of him as a turtle!" Fury scowled. "With your magic, we can take away his shell, and render him vulnerable to my attacks!"
"Oh, I get it, like a Koopa Troopa!" Caboose grinned.
"...Yeah, let's go with that!" Fury shrugged, satisfied that Caboose at least understood, “Bottom line, we now know how to beat him!”
Silas pulled his hoof away from his face, a light purple gash where Fury has cut his skin visible for all to see, a twinge of fear on his face as he saw his wispy hoof was covered in blood, the red turning to light purple as it merged with his miasma. The pain brought the memory of his burnt hoof to the forefront, cementing a looming fear that he had since the day.
Gritting his teeth, he glared hatefully at the two.
“You think this changes anything?!” Silas snarled, incensed that they had discovered a weakness that he is coming to terms with. "Well, guess again! I'll crush you two like I crush everycreature who gets in my way!"
"Feeling pretty high and mighty, aren't we?" Fury mocked.
"Why shouldn't I?" Silas smirked, though forcefully, trying to ignore the stinging in his cheek, "I have become something beyond your comprehension. Even Nightcrawlers pale before my might! All who face me perish! Just ask Sterling and your masked buddy.” He lit up with glee, “Oh, wait, you can't. They're dead!"
“What? No, they’re not.” Caboose frowned.
Silas’ smile disappeared.
“...Say what now?” He asked.
“Yeah. Sterling and Bla-Dreadnaught are still alive.” Caboose pointed out, only just managing to avoid saying Black's name. “I mean, you did a number on them and all, but they’re okay.” He tutted, “Honestly, you really shouldn’t say ‘all who face me perish’, when clearly that ain’t the case. It’s just bad advertising.”
Silas’ jaw dropped, and one of his eyes began twitching.
“Um, Caboose. I don’t think you should have said that.” Fury grimaced in dread, not liking the look on Silas’ face.
“What, why? I caught myself before I said you-know-who's name, didn’t I?” Caboose frowned, “Besides, it’s the truth. He and Sterling are still alive.”
“Something tells me he didn’t know that.” Fury declared, pointing to him.
“Really?” Caboose scoffed, “What? Did he not double check to make sure they’re dead? I mean, it’s a good thing he didn’t, obviously, but come on! That’s murdering 101!”
“Caboose, you should really shut up right now.” Fury urged.
“Why?” Caboose frowned, “I’m just saying, you'd think after becoming an eldritch abomination, he would become a more effective villain, but honestly, he’s still pretty middling.” He then pondered, “Then again, what would you expect from a guy whose order got disbanded twice-”
Silas did not heed Caboose’s lambasting of his character. In fact, he couldn’t hear anything.
Anything but the boiling of his own blood, as his mind became clouded with rage.
It was one thing to be disrespected and ignored his entire life. It was another to be constantly pushed around and used for other ponies’ gains. It was yet another to still be disrespected and ignored.
But now, he was not only just painfully reminded of just how vulnerable he truly was… but the one stallion, the one who he hated with all his being…
Was. Still. Buckin’. Alive.
Silas’ body began quivering, his teeth gnashing, as miasma began ravelling around his body, his breathing growing heavy and filled with hate.
“...And is generally a twisted, psychotic maniac.” Caboose finished… before frowning in confusion, “...Where I was going with this? You were telling me to shut up because I said Sterling was still alive-”
"RAAAAARRGHH!" Silas screamed with rage, the miasma building up to critical mass.
“Oh, motherflapper!” Fury gritted his teeth in frustration as he tackled Caboose, bracing for impact.
Moments earlier...
Relic and the other monks had been rounded up in the courtyard. Most of them were terrified.
"What are they going to do to us?" A Pegasus mare trembled.
"Whatever it is, it's going to be painful." An Earth Pony stallion shuddered.
"Oh, grow a spine." The tweeky monk from before scoffed disdainfully.
"Excuse me?" The Earth Pony gaped.
"You heard me." The tweeky monk sneered. "Stop shaking like a newborn foal. It's pathetic."
"That's no way to talk to a fellow acolyte." A Unicorn stallion admonished him.
"Oh, give it a rest." A thuggish Earth Pony retorted. "The little guy's got the right idea. Quivering and cowering isn't going to help any. That's what Ube would say if he were here right now..."
“Screw Ube! It’s his fault we’re in this mess!” The monk who ran the inventory spat. “To think, after years on this dead-end rock, it’s not the cops that does us in, but the damn terrorists!”
"We're not dead yet." Relic reminded him.
"Ooh, look who's thinking positive." The tweeky monk observed. "At least somepony here isn't a cringing coward."
"Our lives are being threatened!" A timid-looking Earth Pony pointed out. "How do you expect us to react?"
"Give it a rest, you whiner." The inventory monk (the one who had stopped the tweeky monk earlier) growled.
"Who made the speech police?" Fresh Starter shot back.
"Like you can talk, bird-boy." The tweeky monk scoffed.
"What did you just call me?" Fresh Starter growled.
"Whatever I wanna call ya, punk." The tweeky monk grinned.
"Why, you lousy-!" Fresh Starter scowled.
"Back off." The thuggish monk stepped in. "Or you'll have me to deal with."
"You think I'm scared of you?" Fresh Starter stared him down.
"Let's find out." The thuggish monk glared back.
"Hey, what's with all the harsh vibes?" Walking Phoenix said blissfully.
"Yeah." One of the other blissed-out monks smiled. "There's no need for conflict. We are all just leaves, drifting on the wind of life..."
“WHO ASKED YOU?!” The tweeky monk, the thuggish monk, and the inventory monk snarled at them.
“Hey! Enough with the chatter!” One of the Forefather agents snarled, “Now, here's how things are gonna go, baldies! You are gonna do exactly as we say, or else."
“Get bent, asshole!” The tweeky monk snarled.
"Yeah!" The thuggish Earth Pony and a few others cheered, notably ones that were on his and the tweeky monk’s side.
“Guys, maybe we shouldn’t anger them!” Fresh Starter pleaded.
“Nope, too late.” The agent declared, giving a snide smirk, “If you’re not going to comply, then we’re just gonna have to start offing a few of you.” He held up his crossbow, “Who’s first?”
The other agents drew their crossbows.
“Wait!” Relic stepped forth, “Please, there is no need for such extremes! Nopony has to die here!”
“Oh, I beg to differ.” The agent smirked, “But thanks for volunteering, by the way. Fire when ready, boys.”
The agent pointed their crossbows at Relic.
“Relic, no!” Fresh Starter gasped.
“Leave him alone!” The aerie monk snarled, moments from stepping forth.
"Don't do it!" Another pleaded.
“Stay back!” Relic called back to them. His voice quivered a bit, obviously scared, but his face remained firm, “I won’t let anyone else come to harm here. Even if it means it comes to me…”
“Oh, how noble of you.” The agent cooed, before hissing to the others, “Waste him.”
The agent prepared to squeeze the triggers, as Relic closed his eyes in acceptance of his impending demise, hoping it would be quick.
But before they could fire…
“HEY, BUCKER!”
The agents and the monks lit up in shock as none other than Aural came running in, his cloak billowing in the wind, with a face of unadulterated fury.
"What the-?" The lead agent gaped. "Who invited the donkey?!"
“Wait… Aural?!” Relic gaped, unable to believe his eyes.
The monks shared his shock.
“I cannot believe it. He’s alive!” Fresh Starter gasped.
“Alive? There’s no way!” The inventory monk gaped.
“Yeah, he’s supposed to be dead!” The tweeky monk snarled.
“Dead? What’s that supposed to mean?” The aerie monk glared.
“Pay him no mind.” The tweeky monk’s friend spoke up, “He hadn’t had his tea yet.”
“Okay, who the hell are you?!” The lead agent aimed his crossbow at him.
“The guy who’s gonna make you rue the day you came and desecrated MY HOME!” Aural roared, “Starting with you!”
Without another word, he charged up an aura sphere in one hoof and threw hard like a fastball at the lead agent.
“Whoa!” The lead agent ducked under it, barely avoiding it.
The agent behind him wasn’t so lucky, the sphere colliding with his face so hard, the force send the poor agent crashing into a nearby wall.
“A-a-ah…” The agent was unable to say anything, his body embedded in the wall, and in insurmountable pain.
“Holy crap!” The thuggish monk gasped.
“Oh, that is definitely Aural. No doubt about it!” The aerie monk smiled.
“Um… ah…” The lead agent gaped, taken aback by the power, before regaining his courage. He roared at his fellow agents, “Don’t just stand there, kill him!”
The agents pointed their crossbows at Aural and fired. The outraged monk took a quick breath, his ears twitching. Bolstered by his Aura-enhanced senses, the donkey evaded the bolts with ease, flipping and sidestepping like lightning.
"How did he-urrk!" The nearest agent's splutter of astonishment was cut off by a roundhouse kick from Aural, sending him crashing into another wall.
"Oh, now you're gonna get it!" Another agent growled.
Aural didn't glance in the agent's direction, simply flinging an aura sphere at him offhandedly.
"Yeow!" The agent yelped, as the sphere hit with the force of a sledgehammer, sending him hurtling across the courtyard.
A pair of agents charged at him.
“Let’s see him take the both of-”
Aural jumped and slammed his back hooves into them, blowing them back into the same wall as the first one.
“Ugh…” The two agents groaned.
The lead agent watched in dismay and confusion as Aural defeated his comrades.
"Okay, I don't know who you think you are, but I am not going to let you make a mockery of the Forefathers!" He snarled, firing his crossbow.
Instead of dodging the bolt, Aural caught it between his two front hooves.
"Good luck with that." Aural said bluntly, throwing the bolt aside.
The lead agent stared, incredulous, then dropped his crossbow and charged at Aural.
"Yaarrrh!" He screamed.
"Seriously?" Aural sighed.
Aural charged up another sphere in his hoof, but he purposely waited for the lead agent to get close, below swinging his hoof (and the sphere, consequently) into the agent’s abdomen.
“AUUUUGGH!” The lead agent screeched, being sent skyward.
Fletcher and Survival soon arrived on the scene.
“Aural, thank goodness…” Fletcher panted, as he glanced around, “Where are the-”
“-UGH!” The lead agent crashed down in front of them, the fall breaking a few bones, “Oh….”
"Eesh, it looks like we've missed the party." Survival said breathlessly.
"Aural." Relic approached the old donkey, amazed, at seeing him in the flesh again, “Is that really you?”
“Relic.” Aural turned to him, his voice nonchalant, but gentle, “Are you okay?”
“I am now.” Relic nodded, “Faust, I have so many questions right now. No words can describe how glad I am to see you-”
“Sorry, kid, but I got no time for memory lane.” Aural cut him off, “The guy heading this whole home invasion, where is he?!”
“I-I don’t know. Everything happened so fast!” Relic admitted. He then suddenly lit up, “Hold on…” He glanced around, “Where’s Mantra and Ube?! I hadn’t seen them!”
“Hell if I know! All I know is Ube turned tail and ran when that freaky fog pony jumped from that airship!” The inventory monk spat.
“Fog pony?” Survival whispered, before dread took over, “Oh no.” He turned to Fletcher, “You don’t think that’s-”
“RAAAAARRGHH!”
Suddenly, a blackish-purple explosion erupted, sending debris flying, rocking the entire monastery.
“What the buck?!” The tweeky monk screamed.
“That looked it came from Mantra’s office!” One of the other monks noted.
“Bingo.” Aural said grimly, before racing off in the direction of the explosion.
"And he's off again." Survival noted.
"Is everypony here okay?" Fletcher asked.
"No serious damage, thank you." Relic smiled.
"Good." Fletcher nodded. "Try to find some cover while we help finish this." He glanced at Survival. "Let's go."
"Right behind ya." Survival nodded.
The two followed Aural.
“...Good luck, everypony.” Relic whispered.
The present...
"RAAAAARRGHH!"
The part of the monastery that housed Mantra’s office blew wide open, as Silas’ eruption of magic blasted Fury and Caboose out into the courtyard. Fury had taken the brunt of the attack, having sheltered Caboose at the last second. After they hit the ground, he lay prone, seemingly critically wounded.
“Hey!” Caboose gasped, as he quickly got up and began shaking Fury, “You okay?! Fury, speak to me-”
“Flap, that stings!” Fury suddenly jolted up, rising to his talons.
“Fury, you’re alive!” Caboose smiled. "I thought you were-"
“Nah, just a little singed.” Fury groaned, noting the burn marks on his wings and back, “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to bring me down.”
The sounds of heavy breathing rang out and clear. Fury and Caboose glanced over with concern, as Silas emerged from the smokes, eyes alight with rage.
Directly above, the Red Rio was transmitting the action, with Elite and the others watching events unfold.
"This doesn't look good." Armory frowned.
"Silas may be more powerful than we possibly imagined." Elite mused.
"Don't be so negative, guys." Ballista assured the others. "Things should be fine, as long Caboose's magic is leveling the playing field."
"I hope you're right." Black sighed. "Because right now, I'm getting some serious deja vu..."
Silas stomped out into the courtyard.
“Sterling is still alive.” He seethed. “That motherbucker is still alive! Why, why now even at my strongest, must Lauren insists on bucking me in the ass?! All I want is respect, glory, fortune, and Sterling dead! Why couldn’t she give me this ONE FAUST BUCKIN’ THING?! BUCK MY LIFE!”
“Gladly!” Fury roared, “Caboose, light him up!”
Taking advantage of Silas’ sudden lapse in concentration, Caboose suddenly fired a magic blast right at him.
“Gah!” Silas gasped, too engulfed in his spiteful stupor, as the magic hit him in the shoulder, exposing the skin underneath once more.
The griffon quickly followed up with a spear in his talon, swinging at the exposed skin, leaving a nasty gash.
“ARRRGH!” Silas snarled, clutching his shoulder, “You gonna pay for that!”
Silas unleashed more shadow tendrils, while firing magical blasts of his own.
“Dodge!” Fury roared, as he backstepped from a tendril.
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Caboose yelped, ducking under a blast.
Caboose returned fire with his magic, while Fury summons another spear, and swung it and the others like crazy at Silas as Caboose blasted away his miasma.
To his outrage, Silas quickly found himself on the backstep, struggling to block the attacks.
"This shouldn't be happening..." He growled with denial. "I'm unstoppable!"
Soon, Caboose fired another shot at Silas’ head, exposing it once more.
“Let’s finish this!” Fury leaped upwards, swinging his spears down towards the shadowy ponies’ head.
Unfortunately, the miasma recovered around Silas’ head before it could connect, the spears phasing through him.
“Nice try!” Silas roared, slamming his head into Fury’s guts.
“Ugh!” Fury groaned, crashing back onto the ground, clutching his bruised abdomen.
But he didn’t have time to breathe, as Silas attempted to slam his hooves down on him.
“DIE!” Silas roared.
Fury quickly scampered to his feet, barely dodging the hooves as their impact cracked the floor heavily.
“Fury, are you alright?!” Caboose gasped, “What happened?!”
“The asshole’s miasma is what happened! It regenerated too fast!” Fury snarled, a talon on his still tender abdomen, “If I’m gonna do any actual damage, you gotta hit him hard enough that it takes longer to recover, think you can manage that?!”
“Okey-dokey!” Caboose saluted.
“Good! You fire your magic, and I’ll fire my spears!” Fury declared, “Now, break!”
The two charged at Silas, splitting off and double-teaming him, with Caboose charging up and firing stronger magic blasts while Fury fire more spears at his body.
However, Silas’ miasma proved to be difficult to overcome, as it kept regenerating, pushing out Fury’s spears before they could stick, leaving only cuts rather than gaping wounds.
“Dammit! You gotta hit him faster! My spears aren’t landing!” Fury roared at Caboose.
“O-okay.” Caboose panted, as he screwed up his face in concentration. Charging his horn once more, he began launching rapid-fire bursts of magic, shredding through more of Silas’ miasma.
“Ugh, cock!” Silas screeched, getting overwhelmed by the onslaught.
"That's more like it!" Fury smirked, throwing more spears.
Two of the spears connected, creating gashes in Silas' sides, stucking inside him for a few seconds before the miasma forced them out.
"Nnnnarh!" Silas growled, outraged at the growing wounds.
"Looks like our boys are finally doing some damage." Sterling smiled. "Give 'im one for me, guys!"
"I told ya, didn't I?" Ballista smirked. "This could be wrapped up soon…”
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Elite retorted. "Look at Caboose."
The group did so, and immediately noticed Caboose was sweating and quivering as he continued firing salvos of magical blasts.
“What the- what’s wrong with Caboose?!” Sterling gasped.
“Dammit, Caboose must not be used to using this much magic in so little time!” Black growled, “Fury’s running him ragged!”
Caboose managed to get in a shot on Silas’ front, and Fury quickly launched a spear. The spear entered and emerged through Silas’s shoulder, impaling him against a wall.
“BUCK!” Silas screamed.
Fighting the searing pain, his front hooves grasped the spear, and with some effort, he pulled it out, but not before more blood spurted out. Soon as he was free, the shadowy stallion dropped to his knees, seething in both pain and rage.
“Alright! We got him on the ropes!” Fury smirked, as he summoned more spears to his side, “Hit him again!”
“Just a moment, Fury…” Caboose held up a hoof, his body swaying, his eyes drooping a bit, “Just… just need a breather…”
“What?!” Fury glanced at Caboose, but immediately noticed the Unicorn starting to lean too far to the right, beginning to fall, “No-no-no!”
Fury caught him before Caboose could hit the ground, the Unicorn moaning a bit as he continued panting.
“Ooh, hehe, sorry about that. Guess I never fought this hard before.” Caboose chuckled weakly, “I’m getting all tuckered out…”
“Dammit, this can’t be happening, not now!” Fury growled, a panicked tone in his voice.
“Well, well, well…” Silas sneered, though his sneer was bereft of any amusement, as he got back up to his hooves, “Getting tired, are we? What a coincidence, I am getting tired too… OF YOUR BUCKIN’ CRAP!”
Silas summoned another tendril that swung down at the duo.
“WATCH OUT!” Fury, with Caboose in tow, dodge-rolled out of the way.
“You can’t avoid me forever!” Silas snarled, “I may be wounded, but as long as miasma courses through my body, I will never stop!”
“Faust damn it…” Fury hissed, as he glanced at Caboose, “Okay, Caboose, new plan. I’m gonna need you to hit him with your strongest magical blast you can muster. When you do, I will follow up with my Blackjack technique. It should be enough to bring him down for good… you think you can do it?”
“Y-yeah, I think so.” Caboose pulled away from Fury, “Just gonna need a moment to charge.”
Silas created more tendrils, and advanced on Caboose.
"You first, chowderhead." He growled.
"I don't think so!" Fury threw more spears at Silas.
"Grrr!" Silas snarled as the spears sliced through his tendrils. "I've had enough of you!"
"Whoa!" Fury barely dodged Silas' counterattack. "Yikes!"
As his partner leapt around like an over-caffeinated kangaroo, Caboose charged up his horn.
“Out of my way, you filthy bird!” Silas roared, resorting swinging his hooves at Fury.
“Not a chance in hell!” Fury roared, back-flipping away from his attack, and taking to the sky, “It’s now or never, Caboose! Do it!”
Soon after, Caboose’s horn was at its brightest. Caboose leapt backwards from another tendrils’ attack, and aiming his horn, he opened fire.
And was a fire it was, as a huge beam of magic blasted forth.
“Oh, shi-” Silas’ curse was cut short as the beam engulfed him.
And the beam did not stop there, as the beam tore across the entirety of the monastery, blasting through several walls and clear off the top of the mountain.
“My turn!” Fury growled, as he held up his talons, “Blackjack Technique, GO!”
Spears materialized and fired en masse into the roaring beam where Silas stood.
This carried for what felt like a long while (but was it matter of a few minutes), before Caboose’s beam died out.
As the area became clouded by smoke, Caboose, overcome by exhaustion, fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
“Caboose!” Fury called out, as he landed right next to him, a talon on his back, “Caboose, are you alright?”
“Y-yeah, I-I think so…” Caboose said breathlessly, “Did I do good?”
“He-he, you did great.” Fury smiled warmly, “There’s no way in hell Silas could have survived both that and my spears.”
“Oh, good. And here I thought I was gonna choke and Silas ended up surviving this and we would be utterly screwed.” Caboose chuckled airily.
"Nope, we did it." Fury chuckled, slapping Caboose on the back. "Score one for the home team!"
"Too bad the others aren't here." Caboose smiled. "Nothing says 'win' like a group victory photo..."
As the smoke started to clear, they saw something moving. Immediately, any good feelings they had vanished, as the two stared, aghast.
Silas was still standing, half of his pale black body revealed, with spears embedded in it, the stallion gasping and on the verge of screaming in pain. Blood trickled onto the floor from the various wounds in the side of his body.
"No way..." Caboose gaped.
"D-did you miss?!" Fury asked.
"How did I miss?!" Caboose frowned.
"That's what I wanna know!" Fury growled. "He was right there!"
"I thought I had him right in my sight!" Caboose rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, this always happens when I try to perform under stress!"
Silas hissed in pain as the miasma began to shroud him again, the spears falling out.
"No-no-no!" Fury panicked. He fired more spears haphazardly, trying to take Silas down before he could recover, but it was too late; the miasma shrouded Silas completely, the spears phasing through him.
Silas hissed deeply, then screamed at the top of his lungs.
"BBBBBBBUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!"
The scream was heard all around the monastery, and back at RDL headquarters via the Red Rio. It sent a chill down the spine of all who heard it... except one. Aural did not heed the scream and kept running, while Fletcher and Survival paused for a moment.
"Oh, that can't be good." Fletcher noted.
Silas was panting, struggling to hold in the tears, looking at the two with so much hate.
"Oh, boy, he doesn't look happy!" Caboose cringed.
"Of course he isn't, I skewered him with so many spears!" Fury pointed out, as he turned to face Caboose. "Caboose, you gotta hit him again!"
"With what magic?" Caboose groaned. "That blast took everything I got! Ugh, if only we had breakfast before..."
"Shut up about breakfast!" Fury screeched, bordering on madness. "Silas is gonna kill-"
Suddenly, Fury was grasped by a shadowy tendril.
“Gah!” Fury gasped.
“Fury!” Caboose cried.
"You. Will. Pay!!" The shadowy stallion roared, mad with pain and rage.
The tendril began slamming Fury around, the griffon unable to break free.
“Ugh, buck, dammit!” Fury gasped, his body obtaining bruises with each slam.
“Hey, stop that! Please!” Caboose called out. “I’m the one who can actually hurt you!”
“Oh, I will get to you in a minute!” Silas snarled, “After I pluck this bird!” He punctuated with another brutal slam.
"Gahhh!" Fury yelled, feeling one of his wings breaking.
“No! Leave him alone, you bully!” Caboose cried, as he charged at Silas…
Only to phase through him once more.
“D’oh!” Caboose cursed.
“Idiot…” Silas hissed as he continued slamming Fury around..
At that moment, Aural arrived on the scene, as his ears began twitching again.
“There you are, motherbucker! I’m gonna-” Aural began, as his aural sense surveyed the area around him… however, he stopped mid-sentence.
Fully sensing Silas for the first time, Aural was taken aback. He could see the image of Slias’ body, but his entire body was emanating inky blackness barely discernible from the black sky. The darkness his body extrudes was overwhelming for the blind donkey.
“What the hell?!” Aural gasped, having never seen anything like this in his life, “What kind of abomination is this?!”
Silas, no longer content with smashing Fury into the ground, had the tendrils toss Fury’s bruised and beaten body over to him, which he caught with a hoof.
"Now, you die..." He snarled, preparing a magic blast that would take the Griffon's head off.
"I'll see you in Tartarus..." Fury wheezed, defiant to the end.
Just before Silas could fire the blast, an arrow flew through his head, surprising him enough to drop Fury.
“Ow…” Fury groaned.
He turned to see Fletcher and Survival approaching, joining the still stunned Aural’s side.
"That's enough!" Fletcher yelled.
“Fletcher!” Caboose got up.
“Oh, look.” Silas growled, “More insects for me to squash.”
“Just as I thought… it is Silas.” Survival whispered.
“Silas? You know this guy?” Aural gasped.
"You could say that." Survival growled. "He put two of our friends in traction days before. He’s been terrorizing the RDL for months under the Forefathers’ command! In fact, he’s part of the reason we came here… it was our hope we could find someone who could use aura… somepony like you, actually.”
“...You don’t say.” Aural gaped, taken aback from the revelation. His ears twitched as he sensed the area again. Through his aura senses, he saw Silas’ black form again… but at his hooves was Fury’s silhouette, whose essence flickered, indicating that he was in pretty rough shape, “...Oh buck… is chicken-face…”
“Survival! Tend to Fury! I’ll keep Silas busy!” Fletcher ordered.
“Um, yes, sir.” Survival nodded.
"Die!" Silas, in his rage, decided to charge at Fletcher.
"That's right, come and get me!" Fletcher led him away from the others.
While Fletcher evaded Silas' frenzied attacks, Survival rushed over to Fury.
"Hold still." He urged, bringing out his medical kit so he could tend to Fury's broken wing. "Caboose, I could use an extra set of hooves."
"You got it, doc." Caboose smiled. "Whattaya need?"
"I need to set Fury's wing." Survival declared. "Hold him in place for me, would you?"
"You got it." Caboose placed his hooves on Fury's shoulders.
"Here." Survival gave Fury a wooden mallet. "Bite down on this, okay?"
"Just make it quick." Fury declared, before biting down on the handle.
Survival placed his hooves on Fury's broken wing, then in one swift move, twisted the bones into place.
"Guhhh!" Fury let out a muffled scream, almost biting the wood in two.
"There." Survival smiled. "The worst of it is over. Now to bandage it up..."
Aural remained in place, using his aural sense to watch Silas’ battle with Fletcher. The guilt from bringing the Forefathers to the monastery returned in full force, now worsened at the sight of Silas’ brutality and Fury’s injured form.
’...Faust, I did this… I brought that thing here.’ Aural thought. ’This incredibly powerful monster. Everything he did to the monastery… to them… it’s all my fault..’ Aural’s hooves clenched, ’...But no more… I’m gonna set things right, right now!'
Fletcher tried his best to evade Silas' tendrils and magic blasts, but quickly found himself back up against the wall, a glancing hit from a tendril knocking him down.
"Ugh!" He groaned, hitting the ground hard.
"Now... goodbye!" Silas snarled, about to fire another beam…
Suddenly, an aura sphere pelted him in the back of the head, burning through the miasma.
“Ugh! Why I oughta-” Silas about-faced, glaring back at Caboose… but Caboose appeared as shocked as he was, still standing by Survival as he wrapped Fury’s wing…
“Hey, assbutt!”
Silas turned and saw Aural standing there, slowly approaching him.
"Okay, who the buck are you?" He snarled.
"The name's Aural." Aural introduced himself. "And this is my home. So as you can imagine, I don't care for some psychopathic, dark magic-using bully trashing the place!"
"Is that so?" Silas smirked. “And what are you going to do about it?” He took of Aural’s glasses, “Read Braille to me?”
“Oh-ho, Braille. Haven’t heard that one before.” Aural chuckled humorlessly, “But no. In fact, I think it is high time that you fought someone on your own level.”
“Really now? And who would that be, old timer?" Silas scoffed. "You?"
"Oh, yeah." Aura nodded. "Before this day is over, I'm gonna be puttin' you in a body bag!"
Silas made to retort, but Aural's words seemed familiar…
“Wait… you!” Silass realized suddenly, “You’re the one who sent that letter, not Mantra!”
Survival perked up in confusion, as Aural grinned.
"And what if I am?!" Aural sneered. "Whatcha gonna do about it?!"
At the same time, Elite and the others were naturally confused by the appearance of this new player.
"Who the heck is that donkey supposed to be?" Black frowned.
"And why was he with our guys?" Sterling asked.
"Whoever he is, he must have a death wish or something." Armory frowned. "Taking on Silas alone..."
"Aural, don't do this!" Survival called out. "Silas is far too powerful, even for you!"
“Hmph, you insult me, kid.” Aural smiled, not offended, “I may have not seen something like him before, but a prick’s still a prick, no matter who they are!”
“Wait, before you go to what could be certain death, you should know!” Caboose called out, “Punchy-punch doesn’t work. You gotta make with the zappy-zappy, then you can do the punchy-punch. Think like he’s a turtle!”
“What?!” Survival gaped.
“Got it. Thanks for the tip.” Aural nodded.
"Seriously?" Survival gaped. "You understood that?"
“Yeah. I have to hit him with my aura to clear away his miasma ‘shell’ before I can hit him with my bare hooves. I grew up in a culture that does metaphors for a living for Faust’s sake.” Aural declared, “Now, if you excuse me…”
Aural gripped his robes. With a tug, he ripped it clear off him. Despite how old he seemed, his body clearly didn’t show it, as he was quite muscular and toned, being gray-furred with a light gray underbelly.
“Let’s do this!” Aural roared.
“Whoa, he’s jacked!” Caboose gaped.
“Very well, if you want to die, it’s no skin off my back.” Silas scoffed, “But let’s make this a quick one. I have a line of creatures I want to kill today, including your friends!”
“Well, I have a list of asses I gotta kick as well. Guess who’s first.” Aural took a battle stance, his ears twitching once more.
“Oh, I think I know the answer.” Silas snarled, “However, unlike me, you won’t see it coming!”
Silas conjured up a tendril to lunge at Aural from behind. However, Aural, without moving from his spot, quickly twisted his body to dodge.
“What?!” Silas gasped.
“'See it coming’, wow, you’re just picking low-hanging fruits, aren’t you?” Aural scoffed, “Come on, where’s the A-material?”
“I’ll show you!” Silas roared, conjuring up more shadow tendrils, swinging them at Aural.
The donkey proceeds to dodge them, twisting his body and hopping and ducking. Silas growled, shocked by his agility.
“Okay, now that was just lazy.” Aural sneered, “Let me show you how it’s done!”
Aural conjured up spheres from his front hooves and threw them at him in a volley.
Silas didn’t have time to dodge, as they slammed into him, one by one, ripping through his miasma.
"Guhhh!" Silas grunted, stumbling back. His face and chest was now exposed.
"Now eat this, turtle boy!" Aural dashed forth and leapt up, slamming his back hooves into his exposed chest. The shadow stallion was blasted back, slamming into the wall.
“Ugh!” Silas coughed, the kick taking the air out of him, The miasma shrouded him again, but the pain was still there, as he clutched his chest, “Motherbucker! I think you broke something!”
“Really? I can’t tell. What with being blind.” Aural chuckled darkly.
“You foul insect! I’ll crush you!” Silas screamed.
Silas lashed out with another tendril. This one was faster than Aural anticipated, hitting him with enough force to send Aural flying back a bit.
"Oh no!" Survival gasped with horror.
Aura hit the ground hard… but the donkey got back to his hooves. There was a cut on his cheek where the tendril hit him, but Aural merely brushed it off with his hoof, giving a cocky grin.
“Come on, is that the best you got?” Aural taunted, “That barely tickled!”
Silas stared in shock for a moment, then snarling.
"Not even close!" He fired a blast of magic at his foe.
Aural, using his strong hind legs, jumped over it, landing atop the nearby wall of the courtyard.
“Lauren, man, even your magic attacks sucks! You could have just mailed me that one!” Aural spat from his location.
“ARGH!” Silas fired a beam of magic.
Aural quickly ran across the wall, with Silas following suit with his attack. Soon, as he was running out of ground, Aural leapt again, flying over Silas. He quickly then fired another volley of aura spheres.
“Dammit!” Silas cursed, sheltering himself with his hooves, but to no avail as the spheres exposed his body once more.
“Geronimo!” Aural roared as he stomped down on his exposed back, slamming him into the ground so hard that Silas bounced.
“Gak!” Silas hit the ground as Aural landed not far from him.
“Give up? Or are you hungry for more?” Aural grinned.
“Grr!” Silas growled, as he quickly teleported from his position, reappearing right aside Aural, grabbing the donkey by the ears, surprising him, “Enough of your game! I won’t be made a fool of!”
“Oh, you already do that on your own!” Aural scoffed, “Also…”
Aural manifested two spheres in his hooves and slammed one into Silas’ face.
“Don’t! Touch! My! Ears!” Aural snarled, punctuating each word with a sphere to Silas’ face, the first two clearing away the miasma, and the remaining slamming into his actual face.
“Ack!” Silas flinched, dropping Aural. But Aural did not let up, slamming a bare hoof into his snout, causing it to bleed, the shadowy pony grasping it. “UGH!”
“What’s the matter? Never had to actually fight before?!” Aural challenged.
“STOP IT!” Silas lunged at him.
Aural, thinking quickly, ducked under and leapt through Silas’ wispy body. And naturally, he followed up with another aura sphere to his hindquarters.
“Dammit!” Silas cursed. "You're DEAD!"
Silas started using every attack in his repertoire; magic, tendrils, and teleporting. But Aural was able to adapt quickly.
The first teleport caught Aural by surprise, giving him a bruised jaw, but when Silas tried to repeat it, Aural somehow managed to guess where he was going to end up.
"Going for another cheap shot, huh?" Aural sneered, catching the punch. "That's what happens when you don't have skill!"
Aural followed up by blasting Silas back with an aura blast.
To the amazement of those observing the battle, the two seemed to be evenly matched.
"Whoa." Fletcher gaped, amazed.
"Not bad for a blind old donkey, huh?" Caboose smiled.
“Hmph, he’s alright, I guess.” Fury muttered, his broken wing still stinging.
“The power of aura… it’s incredible.” Elite said with awe.
"He's actually matching Silas blow for blow." Ballista noted, “I guess you were right, Elite.”
"Does he have to make it look so easy?" Black pouted. "Doesn't really reflect well on me and Sterling, you know..."
“At this point, I could care less about how we look.” Sterling shook his head, “As long as he can beat Silas, that’s good enough for me.”
Currently, Aural and Silas were at a standoff. Aural had a few bruises on his person, and a few cuts from the tendrils. But Silas wasn’t looking so hot either. In addition to the various stab wounds from Fury’s spears, Silas’ snout was bloody, and one of his eyes was sporting a shiner, all indicated by the pink on his shadowy body.
“Hmph, you know, for someone who was giving the RDL such a headache, you’re having a lot of trouble beating one blind donkey.” Aural frowned.
“Shut up!” Silas snarled, “Do you have any idea who you are speaking to?! I am Silas Necross, leader of the Order of Darkness, future Ouroboros, and eventually, the god of this forsaken world!”
“And I had enough of your bullcrap!” Aural arrogantly smarmed, holding up a hoof to summon another sphere.
…Only for his hoof to sputter.
Aural’s smirk faded.
“Uh-oh.” Aural murmured.
"...What is going on?" Fletcher gaped.
"Nothing good, I'd wager." Fury frowned.
"Maybe he's out of batteries?" caboose suggested.
"Aural..." Survival whispered.
“Is this… is this a joke?” Silas gasped, stupefied.
“Um, one moment.” Aural urged, as he held up his hoof again, trying to summon another sphere, only for it to sputter again, “Oh, come on, not now!”
"Heh... heh-heh-heh.... heh-heh-heh-hah!" Silas broke down into a delirious laugh. "Is that the best you've got? A defective lightshow?"
“Buck you!” Aural growled, far from willing to give up the ghost, “I’m still gonna kick your ass, with or without aura!”
“Oh, really?” Silas challenged… before vanishing.
“Oh, crap on a stick!” Aural glanced around. With his aura failing, he could not rely on his aural senses. For the first time in a while, Aural was truly blind.
And he paid for it dearly, as Silas suddenly emerged from thin air, drop-kicking the donkey.
"Ugh!" Aural grunted, as he was sent flying over to Survival, Fury, Caboose, and Fletcher.
“You know, in spite of everything else going wrong up to this point, that felt so damn good.” Silas smirked,
“Aural! Are you okay?!” Survival gasped, worried.
“Erk, I’ll live.” Aural got up, spitting a bit of blood from his mouth.
"What happened just now?" Fletcher asked. "You were doing so well, and, well..."
"You turned into an empty squeezy mustard bottle." Caboose added. "Pffft."
"I've run out of aura." Aural declared, a bit annoyed.
“Run out? You’ve… run out?!” Fury blanched.
“Yes, cat-butt! I’ve run out!” Aural growled, “What? Did you think we monks just have an unlimited supply of aura to pull from whenever we want?! No! If we use way too much aura within a short period of time, we run out, and we can't use any more aura! In case you have forgotten, we kinda had a busy morning!”
“Well, who’s the jackass who led us to that drug den?!” Fury shot back.
“Fair point.” Aural conceded, but he glared at Silas, “Still, I don’t get how you and Timmy were having trouble beating this guy. The asshole’s leaving some pretty glaring weak spots open."
The four looked at Silas, stomping towards them. To their surprise, there were parts of his body still in the process of being shrouded by his miasma, doing so at a notably slower pace.
"No way..." Fury groaned, his entire body in agony as he tried to stand up. "His miasma wasn't regenerating that slow earlier!"
“Yeah! I was working double-time to make those holes happen!” Caboose protested, “It took about everything I have just to take half of that off!”
“Yes, and Caboose is no slouch in the magic department.” Fletcher defended him, “Something must have changed!”
“Hmm… what if Silas’ miasma works the same way as unicorn magic and aura?” Survival prompted, “Like Caboose and Aural, Silas’ miasma can only serve him for a finite amount of time before it begins to fail him as well, and when that happens, he will not be able to protect himself.”
“I see what you are saying.” Fletcher nodded, “If that is the case, then perhaps if we can hit him with another powerful magical attack, it might just overtax the miasma, leaving him completely vulnerable."
“Well, there’s just one problem.” Fury pointed out, frowning at both Caboose and Aural, “Both our magic users are bone dry, and something tells me Silas isn’t going to give us a breather.”
“Hey, I say I ran out of aura, not that I was down and out.” Aural countered, “If Survival’s right on the money, then I believe I have just the thing to beat him. But if I’m gonna pull it off, I need to recharge.”
"Recharge? How?" Fury frowned.
"Why do you think meditation's a major part of being a Wise Lotus monk?" Aural pointed out, as he got into a meditating pose, crossing his back hooves. "Unlike normal magic, we monks can restore our aura through clearing our minds and attaining inner peace.”
“Inner peace? In the middle of a fight?” Survival gaped, in disbelief.
“Yeah, I know.” Aural grimaced, “We monks usually avoid trying to do it when we’re fighting for our lives. But for now, we’ll have to make do.”
"Huh. And here I thought you guys only do that to take a nap." Caboose declared.
“Well, you’re… well, half wrong.” Aural said flatly, “But if this is going to work, I’m gonna need at least five minutes of uninterrupted meditation, plus one or two more tops to do the attack. And considering how pissed he is right now…” Aural shook his head, “Naw, I’m sure you guys will be fine.”
"Looks like we don't have much of a choice." Fletcher noted. "Fury, Caboose, you two think you can fight just a little longer?"
"Like you have to ask." Fury smirked as he summoned a spear into his talon. He flinched a bit due to the pain in his wing, but pressed on, "This asshole's gonna get it for what he did to Black and Sterling."
"I might not be able to blow holes in him, but I think I still got a few more ‘pew-pews’ left in me.. "Caboose grinned, his horn flickering with magic."
"Count me in too." Survival stepped forward. "Silas' reign of terror ends now."
"Then let's go for it!" Fletcher declared. "All of us. Charge!"
The four rushed to face Silas, while Aural closed his eyes and began slowing his breath. His ears began to lightly twitch…
“What’s this now?” Silas sneered, “All done letting an old donkey fight your battles?"
"What we're done with, Silas." Fletcher growled. "Is you!"
Fletcher pulled out his bow and fired an arrow at Silas. The shadowy figure prepared to let the bolt pass through him, but it suddenly exploded into a blinding white light.
"Ahhh!" Silas growled, hooves reaching for his eyes.
"Nice move!" Fury grinned.
"Thanks." Fletcher smiled. "Now hit him while he's still blinded."
"Don't gotta tell me twice!" Caboose fired off some magic bolts, chipping away at Silas' miasma.
"Grrr!" Silas spat, as his vision started to clear. "You're gonna pay for this!"
"Wanna bet?" Fury flung his spears at Silas.
“Grr…” Silas gritted his teeth as the spears phased through him, but not without inflicint minior pain, “Just for that, I'm going to make this as slow and painful as possible!"
"Of course you are." Survival sneered. "Because like any true narcissist, you take even the slightest wound as a grave insult. Pathetic, really!"
"Raaahhh!" Silas lashed out with his tendrils, but a combination of his still blurry vision and his anger allowed Survival to dodge.
"Missed!" Survival mocked. "Looks like somepony isn't as good as his ego leads him to believe!"
"Gahhh!" Silas roared, angrier than ever.
Fletcher took advantage of Silas' anger by hitting him with another bolt.
"I thought you'd tougher." He chided.
"I'll show you tough!" Silas spat, almost beyond reason as he charged again.
As the battle continued, Aural felt his aura reserves returning to normal. But he wasn't done yet. Focusing further, he willed his aura to build up even further.
Meanwhile, Fletcher and Survival continued to run distraction, Survival throwing taunts and Fletcher firing more flash-bang arrows, all the while Cabooses fires magic blasts. While much weaker due to exhaustion, thanks to Silas’ own waning endurance, his magic still managed to expose more of his body. In which Fury capitalized on by throwing spears right at them.
“Damn you!” Silas stumbled as a spear slammed into his side. The stallion quickly tore out with his magic and slammed it to pieces, “Mosquitos! That is all you fools are! And I’m going to squash you all!”
He lashed out at Survival with his tendrils. The inexperienced agent wasn't able to dodge in time, and was sent flying.
"Guhhh!" He groaned, crashing into a birdbath.
"Survival!" Caboose yelled.
Silas took advantage of Caboose's distraction by blasting him with his magic, sending him crashing against a wall.
"You flappin'...!" Fury charged at Silas, swinging his spears.
Silas dodged Fury's attack, then struck back with an uppercut that lifted Fury off the ground.
At that moment, Aural rose to his hooves. He lifted his front hooves to the air, causing an aura sphere to manifest... and start to grow bigger. In mere moments, it was large enough that a creature in the distance could have mistaken it for the moon.
At the same time, Mantra and Ube emerged out into the open, and took note of the giant sphere.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Ube gasped.
"Yes." Mantra frowned. "And I know only one creature who could be responsible for such a feat..."
The other monks stared at awe at the glowing light, as did those who were watching events from the Red Rio.
"Unbelievable..." Ballista gaped.
"That's a lot of aura..." Elite noted.
Silas struck Fletcher down, knocking him flat on his back.
“Now then… let’s end this!” Silas roared, “Starting with you!”
Fletcher glared defiantly at Silas… which soon gave way to shock.
“Huh?” Silas frowned, “What are you looking-” He noticed the area getting brighter around them, “Hold on, where’s that light coming…”
Silas turned around, and saw the gigantic aura sphere, with Aural at the base of it, holding it up.
"Uh..." Silas gaped, his face showing true fear for the first time in a while.
"Lauren flap, that crazy ass didn't mention how big this attack was going to be!" Fury gasped, as he got back up, “He’s gonna destroy the whole monastery!”
"Everyone, take cover!" Fletcher urged.
“Hey, Silas!” Aural roared.
Silas glanced at the blind donkey in horror.
“Taste the power of aura!” Aural declared, as he threw his hooves downwards.
"Time to get under cover!" Fletcher yelled, as he and Fury grabbed Caboose and Survival.
Together, they rushed for cover behind a large pile of rubble, and braced for impact.
The Red Rio also took cover beneath the mountain's peak.
"No way I'm letting this get wrecked..." Armory muttered.
Silas was initially too dumbfounded by the size of the aura sphere about to crash down on him. But as it drew closer, he snapped out of it.
"No." He shook his head. "No! Nooooo!"
He fired his miasma at the sphere with his hooves, but dark smoke glanced right off it. Desperate, he summoned tendrils to try and halt it, but the moment they touched it, they dissipated.
With no alternatives, Silas caught the sphere with his outstretched hooves, but even then, he felt the sphere enveloped him.
'If I had any single regret for the countless horrific events that have transpired in my wake, it's that I'm dying.' Silas thought, before speaking aloud. "BUCCCCCCCCCC-!"
The whole top of the mountain exploded in a blast of light. Everycreature in the vicinity ducked down from the ensuing force of wind.
"Duck!" Mantra urged his fellow monks.
"This is gonna get messy!" Ube cringed, as he and the others monks leapt for cover.
Fletcher and the others stood stalk still, as the force of the blast pushed against their hiding place.
Even the airship the Forefathers came in was pushed back, the ponies on board clamoring to maintain control.
But as soon as it came, the blast soon died out…
Fletcher and co. nervously looked out from behind the cover... and were shocked to find that despite the blast, everything was intact… obvious structural damages from their battle aside.
Aural stood where he was, letting out a few huffs. But when they looked at where Silas was, they were met with another shock.
Silas still stood where he was… except his miasma was completely gone, leaving him in just his pale black skin, partially soaked in blood from all his wounds. The formerly shadowy stallion’s hooves were shaking, the stallion letting out small gasps of pain. His eyes were alight with panic, obviously shaken from apparently somehow surviving the attack.
“Are you flapping me right now?!” Fury gaped, “After all that, he’s still alive?!”
“Huh? Of course he’s still alive!” Aural frowned.
“But I don’t understand!” Survival shook his head, “I thought your attack was supposed to-”
“Hold on… did you guys not know?” Aural asked, surprised, “Aura is the essence of every living creature. Emphasis on ‘living’. It is incapable of physically harming or killing anything. And as you can tell by the monastery not being a crater right now, it cannot physically affect anything that’s not living matter.”
“What?!” Fury gasped, “But when you hit me with that aura sphere, it hurt like hell!”
“That’s the point, dumbass.” Aural scoffed, “While it can’t physically harm you in any way, it can still inflict pain. You think the rest of the world would be alright if there were ponies dropping giant balls of auras all over the place?”
“Huh… so in terms of health, Silas is still in one piece.” Survival surmised, “But physically speaking…”
“Yeah, it’s like I dropped a mountain on him.” Aural finished, “That was the Lotus’ modus operandi. Using aura is to incapacitate ponies of ill intent, never murder." He glared at Silas, “Even assholes like him. Speaking of which…”
Despite being physically sound, Silas was in immense pain. He felt as if every inch of him was slowly being peeled off his bones. He was in such agony that he was barely able to move.
“No… this… this can’t… be…” Silas sputtered, struggling to get words out. He held up one of his hooves, nearly falling over when he did so, looking on in horror as it was without miasma.
It was like he was back in that medical carriage all over again, the pain and fear he felt back as a normal unicorn returning en masse.
“This… this was… supposed… supposed to be…” Silas began hyper-ventialiting, fear overcoming, “It’s not… it’s not…”
Suddenly, he heard hoofsteps, and looked up… only to get met with a hoof straight to his stomach, courtesy of Aural.
“Aural!” Fletcher gasped.
Silas wretched, coughing up blood, as he shakily eyed the blind donkey, getting a good look at the angry pale eyes behind those glasses.
“Well, now that we clearly owned your ass…” Aural whispered fiercely, “Get the buck off my mountain!”
Swiftly, Aural turned around and slammed his back hooves in Silas so hard, that he was sent rocketing into the sky.
“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Silas screamed in horror.
To make matters worse, the trajectory of his sudden ‘flight’ sent him right at the displaced airship.
“OH, BUCK!” One of the pilots screeched.
As soon as Silas’ body hit the airship, there was a small explosion aboard the ship, sending it careening out of control as it spiraled down towards the bottom of the mountain.
Down in the monastery, the Forefather agents, including the ones who had suffered Aural’s wrath (having just came to recently) looked on in utter dumbfoundment.
“Was… was that Necross just now?” One muttered
“If it was, that would mean he lost…” Another gasped.
“Oh, no, this cannot be happening!” Yet another panicked.
“Ahem.”
The agents glanced over, and saw Aural standing there.
“Okay, Borefathers, listen up!” Aural taunted, “As you just saw, your big bad just got sent on a one-way trip to nowhere!” He glanced around, his ears twitching, “Unless anypony else want a flight on ‘My Hooves’ Airlines’, I suggest you beat it!”
“Oh, yeah?!” The lead agent limped over, still defiant in spite of his injuries, “You and what arm-”
Suddenly,, Fletcher and company came out of hiding. Their angered expression, especially from Fury, made it clear that the agents had far more problems than the aura-powered donkey.
“...Nope!” The lead agent yelped, “Everypony, run!”
“Don’t have to tell us twice!” Another agent screeched.
The agents fled, charging out of the monastery and down the mountain as fast as their battle-weary bodies could carry them.
The monks came out from hiding. Witnessing their tormentors fleeing, they couldn't help but cheer.
"Yeah!"
"That's right, run!"
"Don't come back!"
“Thank Faust, Aural and the RDL saved us!”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Relic sighed with relief, smiling at the group, “It’s finally over.”
The Red Rio also emerged from its hiding place.
"They did it." Elite smiled. "They really did it. They beat Silas!"
"I never doubted them for a moment." Ballista chuckled.
"I hope that slimey punk really felt the pain on that one." Black grinned.
"Please tell me this thing has a recording function, Armory." Sterling smiled.
"Sorry, pal." Armory shrugged. "Maybe the next model."
At the same time, watching from afar, Mantra and Ube were observing the monastery's reversal of fortune. Despite the threat being driven away, they shared a grim look. They were both well aware that it wasn't over just yet...