When Nightwolf finally woke up again, he was in a cave. He was exhausted. The use of so much magic was too tiring. Sleep is good, he thought.
"Good," came the voice of the Queen. "You're up. Just in time to see what happened."
"Well I guess you didn't think that one through," Nightwolf said, nodding to the chains bolted into the wall. "I can't move."
"Then I guess I'll just have to describe the scene. Fires are burning. Ponies screaming. Fear is visible on them. And once it seems like too much, we come in and offer them comfort. They will fall imprisoned to us and there will be no way for you to stop us. Once they have outlived their usefulness, they will die. Just like you should have years ago."
"You were trying to kill me," Nightwol said. "I had a reason to live. That's why I beatyou. I chose t fight not for myself, but for those who matter to me. That is why I still live," Nihtwolf said, standing up, "And stand against you. You don't have the strength to fight for long. You have gone without feeding for a while. It's obvious."
"You may stand," the Queen said, walking over to him. "But you are not invincible." She attacked him.
It's really hard to fight while chained t a stone wall. All you can really d is dodge while trying to get enough chain to actually throw back a punch. Nightwolf backed into the stone wall so quickly, he didn't even realize that it wasn't a stone wall.
The Queen hit him hard in the jaw. Pain exploded at the point. "I do not need to feed constantly to keep up my strength."
What was behind Nightwolf was soft. Not the stone wall he had thougt, and hoped, was there. This object was a cyan blue with hair that matched the rainbows in the sky. Looking back, he saw all of them chained together keeping him there. He was trapped and chained to six ponies whose lives were in danger because of him.
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Rainbow could feel a hoof bump into her, bringing consciousness with it. She saw her brother above her. "Nightwolf?"
"Rainbow?" he asked as he turned. But he was hit in the back of the head by a swinging hoof. "Agh!" he screamed.
"Looks like you will get to see your precious brother die," the Queen said tauntingly. "Watch closely."
She raised her hoof, preparing to make the final blow. Rainbow was staring in fear.
"My Queen!" came the yell of a changeling. "Some of the rsidets are attempting to escape! They found lightning-proof suits."
The Queen looked over her shoulder. "Lookslike you have some time to wait before I kill him," the Queen said, putting her hoof on the stone floor. "Enjoy your last few moments with him." With that, she flew off.
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"Nightwolf!" Rainbow scramed, tending to her half-conscious brother. "What happened?"
"I tried to take on the Queen," Nightwolf explained. "It was the only way to prevent her from hurting any of you. She is a lot more powerful than I thought."
"Let me take care of your wounds," Rainbow tried.
"No," Nightwolf said, backing away. The chains didn't let him get too far away. "I can't let you." This seemed strangely familiar to him. Woah, Nightwolf thougt. Déjà vu.
"Why?"
"I have a bad feeling. And the last time I had this feeling, it didn't end well."
"Well maybe that bad feeling is pain," Rainbow said.
"No. The pain isn't what's causing it. Something bad is going to happen." Suddenly, Nightwolf was hit with a splitting headache. He felt his hooves come up to try ad squeeze the pain out. He heard somepony call his name. Then he was consumed by blackness.
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"Nightwolf!" Rainbow screamed again. This time it woke up her friends.
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked, still slightly groggy. "What happened?"
"Nightwolf tried to fight the Queen and now he's passed out on the ground!" she explained.
"Well lets see what we can do to try to wake him up," Twilight suggested. "Maybe he could get us out of this predicament."
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"Hello?" Nightwolf called out into the blackness. "What's going on?"
"You are dreaming," said his ow voice from behind him. "That's whats going on."
"Ah!" Nightwolf screamed, jumping back. "What are you?"
"I am you. I'm the you that will exist if you don't find a way out of that cave. You see, if you don't escape, the Queen will kill one of you. You are safe. The others are not. Get them out and you will have sacrificed yourself to save others. If you don't, one of them will die."
"Which one?" Nightwolf asked. "Which one of them will die? I can protect them!"
"I have seen every scenario," his other self explained. "Whenever you try to save one, another will die. You cannot save them all without sacrificing yourself. And even then, there is one possible scenario that could happen. The chances of it happening are barely 1% though."
"What do I do?"
"You need to-"
"Nightwolf!" Rainbow screamed as he awoke from his dream. "You're alive!"
"Rainbow!" he exclaimed. I guess I'll have to do this on my own, Nightwolf thought. "It's good to be alive. Now let's get out of here before the Queen get's back."
"How?" Applejack asked. "These chains are the toughest ah've ever seen."
"Well, I guess we are going to have to find out." Then an idea hit him. "Twilight, target that link," he said, pointing to one of the links in the chain between Twilight and Rainbow. "When I say go, shoot it with your laser spell."
"Got it," Twilight said, shifting around to get a clear shot at it.
"Ready. Go! Slā'isa!" With the power of both unicorn magic and his own, the link shattered. "Let's take care of these pesky cuffs."
After cutting through all of their cuffs, Nightwolf wentto the edge of the cave. "You're going to need to go west as fast as you possibly can," he said. "I don't know when the Queen will get back, but I do know tht you guys can get out of here. I don't have the energy to run. Too much magicand not enough sleep. I'll hold off the Queen. You six leave."
"I'm not leaving you," Rainbow said. She had gotten enough strength to build up for her to hover. "You'r my brother. I'm staying with you."
"What a nice thought," the Queen said from above. "Now maybe you could share a little more. What were you planning on doing after you escaped? There is no way out of your little town now."
"You aren't going to stop them, Chrysalis," Nightwolf said.
"And you are going to stop me? You already tried that trick."
"I think I am going to stop you. I know what I'm up against," Nightwolf lied. He had no chance of surviving anoter fight with her. But he wouldn't let her kill any of the others. He charged the Queen, throwing away his chance at surviving this.
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Rainbow saw the entire thing fold out. Her brother charged the Queen of the changelings. She batted him aside as if he were a bug. "You cannot defeat me!"
"I can try!" Nightwolf yelled. "Vatra, struja, kamen, zrak!" he screamed, hurling elements at her. Lightning hit first and then fire. A large boulder flipped out of the ground and almost flattened her. Thewind zipped past her as if nothing had happened but it fed the fire that was burning her body. But just as soon as the flames grew, they went out.
"Did you really think simple physical elements vould hurt me?" she asked. "I am queen of the changelings! I protect myself from these simple things all the time."
"It was worth a shot," Nightwolf said.
The Queen faced him and shot a burst of magic at him. He fell and kept getting pushed back from repeated blasts. "Now you die!" the Queen said, preparing a deadly shot.
Rainbow wasn't thinking about what she was doing. She launched herself in between Chrysalis and Nightwolf and took the hit.
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Nightwolf closed his eyes, waiting for death. "And even then, there is one possible scenario that could happen. The chances of it happening are barely 1% though," he thought. 1%. Here I am about to die. Thank Celestia it wasn't that 1%. He was at peace with dying. For once, he was at peace. But that peace was short lived.
"AGH!" It was Rainbow's voice. Rainbow's scream. His eyes snapped open. The Queen was standing in shock. In front of him was his sister with a hole in her torso.
"Rainbow!" Nightwolf screamed, his voice hoarse. "No! Please, no!" He could see the damage. The hole was bleeding. Her abdomen was missing a corner and her coat was burned where the spell had hit it. "Please."
"Hey," Rainbow said weakly.
"Don't talk," he said. "Just don't talk."
"I guess you were right," she said, ignoring his advice. "I shouldn't have let that surprise me. I guess I'm a little too loyal."
"You're the best sister I could ask for," Nightwolf said.
"You say that like you'll see me again," Rainbow said.
"I will," he explained. "You'll make it. I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Rainbow said. Her eyes closed and her breathing stopped.