//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17 
// Story: The Elements of Equestria 
// by trooper7051 
//------------------------------//


The Elements of Equestria


Part 17






        Molasses raised his head from his pillow and listened groggily, 'The bell means to go to the cellar, because there is danger.' he thought remembering what he had been told. The most important word took a few seconds to 'click' in his brain, 'Danger! The foals!' with a speed known only to those whose minds were made less than average, the chocolate colored colt flew from his bed and barrelled out of the room as quickly as his hooves would take him. He took the stairs two at a time and turned to the side when he reached the top. Well in all fairness, he did his best to turn. His hooves slipped on the floor, skidding him into the back wall of the orphanage with an earth-shaking bang. Not wasting a second on the photos that shattered on the floor from the intense impact, he burst through the entrance of the colts' dormitory, the door banging against the wall loudly.

        The colts, whose ages ranged from diaper-wearing toddler to acne-faced adolescent, were all awoken immediately. Molasses tried to speak, but his mind refused to cooperate. He began to panic. He knew the youngsters were in danger and needed to get to the cellar, he knew he needed to keep them safe, he knew he needed to communicate this with them, but he couldn't find the words. His frustration grew, coming to a boil almost instantly. It was a very rare thing that he lost his cool, but this was one such occasion. Angry tears of frustration flooded his vision as he tried over and over to say something, anything, but his tongue refused to work. He was afraid. Afraid for the younger ponies, afraid that they would be hurt. More than that he was frustrated and angry. He was frustrated because he knew he was slow and it was his slowness that kept him from speaking. He was angry with himself because he was a bad colt. He was a bad colt because he wasn't telling the younger ponies that they were in danger. He clenched his eyes shut and tried to force himself to speak. He poured all of his will into the effort, feeling like he was about to explode. The only word he managed to say was, "Bell!"


        It was enough.

        Within moments every pony in the colts' dormitory was up and moving toward the stairs. Molasses stepped out of their way and turned to the hallway. Heartfelt was already herding the fillies down the stairs. Molasses' mind was slowly beginning to calm down. He brought up the rear, still sniffling and blinking away the evidence of his frustration, 'My failure.' he thought bitterly to himself. The tears threatened to come rushing back to his eyes, but he blinked them away, his frustration rising again. He turned around and entered the cellar backwards, closing the trapdoor behind him.
 
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        Colossus always slept close to Searcher, it was a habit, he always stayed close to his friend. Searcher had never teased him about his size or any of the other things that had always made him a target for verbal abuse. Searcher and Birdie were his only friends. Back in Fillydelphia, where he had grown up, he had never had any real friends, only those that put up with him because they could use his inherent size and strength.

        Searcher had found him on the outskirts of Fillydelphia, in a favorite grove of trees. Colossus often went there to wind down after a long day of work at the train yard. Most of his work days consisted of pulling heavy loads of trade goods to and from cargo-cars on the trains on a four-wheeled wagon. Normally one wagon would have been pulled by a team of four ponies so as not to overtax them, but Colossus took on such loads routinely by himself. He didn't mind doing four times the work because his employer paid him twice what every other pony received, but the constant harassment hurt him deeply.

        The other ponies called him a freak for being so huge and strong, they said they appreciated him for doing what he did, but he had overheard them talking about him behind his back. They were jealous of how much pay he received, but they were not the worst. The Foremare of the loading crew was a serious, no-nonsense type who had sustained a serious crush on him for quite a while. One evening after his shift was over, she had approached him and essentially demanded that he go out with her. He had politely declined and she subsequently fired him on the spot.

        The evening that Searcher had entered the picture Colossus had been trying to calm down in his grove. The loss of his job was a terrible blow and had sent him to his place of peace in an attempt to calm himself by crying out his frustration. The unicorn stallion had simply appeared out of the trees like a ghost. One minute Colossus had been alone in his grove, crying his eyes out, the next minute Searcher had appeared beside him. When Searcher had asked what was wrong Colossus had thought he was just another pony to make fun of him, but eventually his pain won out and he told Searcher everything. 

        Unlike the other ponies Colossus had known throughout his life, Searcher actually listened and sympathised with him. The two of them became fast friends almost instantly. Colossus returned home, gathered some of his belongings, and just up and left that very day. Once out on the road, he had met Birdie also. She had been with Searcher even before he had. It had taken over a year to get close enough to Birdie to call her a friend. Together the three of them had shared many adventures as he and Birdie helped Searcher explore one ancient ruin after another. Eventually they came to the ruins near Haysburg. Searcher had found something in those ruins that seemed to satisfy him. He had gone into the ruins alone and had come back out with that strange inverted, heart-shaped locket he now always wore.

        Colossus and Searcher slept in a tent pitched just outside of Haysburg. It was late at night when Colossus was awoken by a bright flash of light from Searcher's horn. 

        The charismatic unicorn woke up within moments,
"What?" he asked, blinking like an owl.
 
        Colossus pointed to his friend's horn,
"Your horn just lit up. Did you have a spell active somewhere? That looked like a warning beacon."
 
"Yes I did. I put an alerting spell on the shack that houses Haysburg's warning bell. If it went off, that means somepony has opened the door. We'd better go look." Searcher said rising from his blanket.
 
        Colossus followed suite while his friend unzipped the tent. Inside the tent was peaceful and calm, but when Searcher opened the flap it was like somepony had flipped a switch. The wind howled fiercely, blowing large pieces of debris about the town at random. Somepony began tolling the warning bell, it's crystal clear ringing rose well above the din of the wind. Searcher took off like a stone from a sling-shot, heading toward the center of town. Colossus was right behind him.
 
"Move quickly!" Searcher yelled, "Be sure to help anypony you see that might need it, but stay safe!"
 
        They rounded the corner of the tailor shop just in time to see a monstrous tornado touch down right in the center of Haysburg. Movement caught Colossus' eye. Surf & Turf was hauling a unicorn,Trauma by his guess, toward the Clinic. The massive stallion kicked it into high gear and sped off toward them.
 
        Searcher had seen the tornado, but his destination was already set and he stayed his course. His eyes scoured the Mayor's Office building, coming to rest on an Earth pony bucking the old retired bell that hung just to the side of the Mayor's office. The tornado shifted suddenly, veering toward the Office. Searcher knew he had no chance of out-running the cyclone, but he tried never the less.
 
        In a split second the world stopped for the unicorn stallion,
"What?" he asked.
 
        He looked around. Everything had frozen in place. Searcher could make out every particle that made up the tornado. He looked around, puzzled to no end, 'Did I do this?' he wondered. He saw Colossus frozen mid-gallop heading toward Surf & Turf and Trauma. He tried to take a step, but his hooves refused to move, he was stuck in place.
 
"Do you like it?" asked a disembodied oily slick voice.
 
"What do you want now?" Searcher asked moodily, he knew that voice very well, "I've done everything you asked of me. I've carried you, I've preached about this 'Light' thing just like you wanted, I've even made sure to try to get this outcast to become a hero for you!"
 
"Such a tone to take with me, little unicorn." the voice said, it sounded amused, "I think it's high time I reminded you how you fared the last time you tried to oppose me."
 
        Searcher's mind faded back in time to when he had found the locket.
 
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        Searcher was alone in a small stone chamber deep in the swamps near Haysburg. He had asked Colossus and Birdie to wait outside while he delved the ruin because it might have been dangerous. He had his horn lit to provide illumination while he studied the only door at the end of the only hallway in the entire structure. The purpose of the ruin was a complete mystery to the archaeologist as he studied the hieroglyphs inscribed into the ancient sand stone door. The ancient symbols predated even Ancient Equestrian and his brain was stretched to the limit trying to decipher the meaning on the door. 'This symbol means 'light' and this one indicates 'lack of light' or 'darkness'. This one is a symbol for 'unicorns', this one is for 'pegasi', and this last one is for 'Earth ponies'. This next symbol translates into 'ribbon of colors' so a rainbow. The rest of this . . . let's see . . . 'This space within the dirt is sacred. Enter not lest you be consumed by' I can't understand this last part. It literally means 'ribbon of colors, lack of light'. It goes on to name several ponies and one 'foreign champion' that apparently defeated a terrible creature and its remains lay within. This is incredible, but how do I get this open?' he wondered.
 
        Looking around, there didn't seem to be any sort of indicator as to how the door was opened, if indeed it was meant to be opened at all. As Searcher continued studying the ancient portal, he came to a conclusion, 'This door was never meant to be opened. This whole thing is a memorial; it was meant to be a tomb. And this is no door, it's a seal.' His curiosity had been piqued before, now it was a rage of zeal to learn more. The unicorn stallion began examining the edges of the door only to find it sealed, as in the very rock had been almost welded in place by intense heat which meant plenty of raw magical power, but the job was poorly done by a unicorn with little finesse. Searcher arched an eyebrow, 'Crude and inferior welding, a complete 180 out from the kind of skill that built the more recent ruins. This must be older than old, from the very dawn of pony society. The hieroglyphs indicate the same. Best guess, this has to be at least twenty-thousand years old, maybe even older.' Searcher knew he had to get the door open, his thirst for knowledge drove him like a mad pony. He poked and prodded every crack and crevice he could find, but the door was solid.
 
        In a bout of frustration he simply turned and bucked the stone door. The impact of his hooves shook the closed entrance and a tiny chip of stone fell out of the door and onto the floor at his hooves. Feeling empowered, Searcher used an old spell to multiply kinetic energy. The spell was developed by mason ponies and had to be cast slowly and carefully unless you wanted a catastrophic mess. Once the spell was in place, he turned and bucked with all his strength, ignoring the possibility that he might collapse the entire structure.
 
        The impact shattered the ancient seal and ages-old, stagnant air wafted out, making the archaeologist dizzy. He ignored the dizziness and stumbled forward, his obsession driving him. He lit up his horn, still coughing and trying to catch his breath. The chamber beyond the broken seal held a coffin surrounded by statues. The chamber was, he guessed, thirty paces by thirty paces by 30 paces, a perfect square. The coffin was the center-piece of the chamber but the statues were what drew the stallion's eyes. Two pegasi had been carved out of the stone, hovering directly above the coffin with a pair of unicorns on the ground to the left and a pair of Earth ponies on the right as if they were guarding the world from the dead creature. Standing behind the coffin was a depiction of what must have been the 'foreign champion' referred to by the inscription on the seal. 
 
        The so called 'champion' was a strange creature indeed. The depiction had it standing erect and upright, with long dexterous-looking paws, one on the end of each of its two long fore-limbs. Its upright posture looked natural, as if this creature always went about on two legs. Its legs and torso were covered with what looked like either a strange covering, 'Clothes perhaps or more-likely a type of flexible armor. It is named a champion after all. So armor is a natural choice.' Its arms were extended straight out over the coffin, palms up. Around the neck of this 'champion' was a gold locket in the shape of a heart. The locket was open and empty, as if the pictures it held had been removed long ago.
 
        Searcher's eyes wandered down to the coffin. It was a simple slab of stone which stood nearly two paces tall with a hefty stone lid. There were no carvings or engravings etched into the lid or the sides; nothing to indicate what type of creature lay within. The archaeologist examined the coffin for anything resembling a crack to indicate the lid could be removed and was not simply ornamental. To his surprise, there existed such a crack. Focusing his magic through his horn, he used a telekinesis spell to lift the lid off the old burial box.
 
        The lid came off easily enough, Searcher set it off to the side and looked down, into the coffin. Within lay something inexplicable. Lying in the bottom of the casket was a single shadow, but with no source. The shadow was no more than the length of Searcher's hoof and as thin as a pony's tongue. The light from the unicorn stallion's horn seemed to be swallowed by the tiny shadow with no source. Unable to stop himself, he slowly extended his hoof and touched the tiny shadow. Nothing happened.
 
        The archaeologist shook his head and sighed sadly, 'None of this makes any sense. I guess this trip was a waste...' his thoughts were cut off as the entire cavern began to rumble and shake violently. Searcher figured he had mere seconds before the cavern collapsed and he couldn't leave empty-hooved. Using his magic he levitated the golden locket off the 'champion's' neck and onto his own before bolting from the chamber. Once he was back in the hallway, the rumbling stopped completely and quickly as it started.
 
        The unicorn stallion was perplexed, but he had his prize, not the one he had been hoping for, 'But there must be some kind of information to research on this old locket. Odd, I could have sworn the heart-shape was upright a moment ago...'
 
"Hello there little unicorn. What's your name?" asked a voice.
 
        Searcher could neither locate the source of the voice nor identify its gender,
"Who are you?" he asked.
 
        A sudden surge of agony shot through his entire body,
"I'm the one asking the questions." the voice said calmly, "What is your name?"
 
        The agony stopped after a moment, but the question still burned within Searcher's mind,
"I'm Searcher, an archaeologist." he answered warily.
 
"Very good," the voice said with a demeaning tone, "You learn quickly. Let me be blunt, as if you have a choice. You let me free and for that I'll let you retain your own mind and body, for now. Obey me and I will give you the knowledge you seek, disobey me and . . . well let me give you a demonstration."
 
        White hot agony, the likes of which he had never imagined, coursed through every fiber of his being. He tried to scream, but his lungs had no air. He tried to move his hooves to grasp at his neck, but they wouldn't respond. He could feel himself completely cut off from his magic as well.
 
"Frightening, isn't it little unicorn." the voice said while Searcher continued to suffer, "You see, I need power; the kind of power that will allow me to take on a physical form once more. You are going to get it for me. I could simply force you to but where's the fun in that? I take control of your body and do what I need to . . . possible yes, but far from ideal. I also need information, how to conduct myself in this day and age. I will watch from behind your eyes and give you the freedom to do my will, but in your own way. We won't raise as much suspicion that way. When the time is right, I'll take my new form and leave you. That is, unless you wish to continue serving me. Does that sound preferable to days and days of continuous torture to you?" the voice asked, "Oh by the way, blink once for yes and twice for no."
 
        Searcher blinked once but the torture continued for nearly a full minute afterward.
 
        Finally the unicorn stallion was let go, the voice sounded like it was giggling,
"Oops, silly me. I just wanted to make certain you weren't considering blinking again. By the way, I can keep you alive for years in that kind of agony, so let me give you a piece of advice: obey me. Sound good? Alright then, here's what I want you to do . . ."
 
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        The flashback finished, leaving Searcher alone with his tormentor yet again,
"What . . . what do you want of me?" he asked trying, and failing to keep his voice from showing his fear.
 
"Rescue the pony who is banging on that bell. Play the humble hero, word will spread, subsequently so too will our influence. I'll teach you a teleportation spell and give you enough magic to cast it. Do not fail me little unicorn. Soon I will have no more need of you and you won't have to put up with me any longer. Doesn't that sound nice? I'm very generous, am I not?"
 
        The world suddenly sprang back to life. Searcher had a matter of seconds to cast the spell, fortunately for him and Miller, he was a quick study.
 
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        Colossus made a split-second decision and knocked Surf & Turf out of the way of the flying piece of bell. Colossus' shoulder connected with Surf's head, knocking the smaller Earth pony out cold and throwing him several paces away, Trauma still in tow. Less than a tenth of a second later the chunk of bell slammed into Colossus. The gargantuan Earth pony was hurled backward, against the wall of the clinic, with the bell piece sticking out of the front of his chest. He lost consciousness almost instantly.
 
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        Many miles away, another tornado ravaged the Earth, this one was in the memory of a royal-blue pegasus stallion who was sleeping on the same cloud as a cyan mare.
 
        Rainbow Dash had been woken up by her companion's nocturnal thrashing, 'What the hay is he dreaming about?' she wondered as she watched him sleep. Rainbow Dash had no idea exactly how much she did not want to know what Trooper was going through right then. Out of sheer pity, a rather unusual emotion for her to feel toward the irritating and headstrong stallion, she rose to her hooves and trotted over to him, then lay down on his right, leaning against him. She immediately realized he was covered in a cold sweat, 'Eew gross! Sweaty stallion smell all over me!' she leaned her nose down to her coat and sniffed. Moving away from him and wrinkling her muzzle in disgust, she began debating whether or not to rouse him from his dream, 'This is getting seriously annoying Trooper!' she thought, 'As if you're not annoying enough with all the whining and the whole over-protective thing. Now I have to put up with this? Why can't this all be so simple? I'd love to hate you, love it! But, unfortunately I can't! Why? Because every time I think I can't take any more, you go and do something sweet. Misguided, but sweet. Then, for some unexplainable reason, everything seems fine until next time. What is it with you!?' 
 
        Trooper's eyes swept left and right as his memory continued to unfold before his eyes. He saw his extended family converge on the open plane. For the first time in his memory he saw his relatives as they were, alive. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and everypony in between were there, all talking. Trooper did his level best to remember every face and name he was shown, so he could remember them the way anypony would want to be remembered. He was held and passed around by so many different older ponies, he lost track of them all. An ache formed in his heart as he began to understand just how much the coming incident had stolen from him. He would never get to really know these kind ponies, his family. They would be taken from him to die a horrible, terrifying death in that very field. 
 
        He heard his mother say something then saw her point with her hoof at something in the sky. Trooper, as his infant self, followed her gesturing appendage and saw a pair of pegasi descending on the field. The stallion was identical to his father and the mare almost identical to his own mother.
 
        As Trooper's young eyes watched, he was able to discern that the mare was carrying a flying pouch for a foal. He could feel himself becoming excited, this was what he had been waiting for. The two pegasi descended and landed on the grass just a few paces away from where he lay on a blanket his mother had set out for him. The two sets of parents met and introductions were made all around. Trooper tried to crane his neck to see the other foal but his infant self apparently felt this wasn't as important as a passing bumble-bee, which he tried to bite out of the air as it flew by.
 
        After a moment of failure to catch said stinging bug, baby Trooper turned back to his parents and began crying. The sound grabbed the attention of the four parents immediately. 
 
        Trooper watched as his uncle came trotting up to see his nephew for the first time,
"Well now," he said smiling, "Who's this fine strapping fellow?"
 
"That's Trooper." his father said walking up next to the other stallion and placing a hoof on his shoulder, "Trooper, this is your uncle, Storm Chaser and his wife, your aunt, Morning Dew, and your cousin . . . "
 
"Tornado!" the call went up from one of the older ponies.

        All heads turned in one unified direction as their eyes met the raging cyclone. Trooper could see it clearly. It was a thing straight out of nightmare. The base had to be the size of a small mountain and it widened significantly as it extended into the sky. As he watched, it uprooted entire trees, each wider than ten paces, tossing them around like tiny leaves in the breeze. The behemoth of a tornado swept toward the family reunion with a will. It crossed the entire field in a matter of seconds, before anypony had time to react. Pegasi scattered in a confused conglomerate of wings and hooves; ponies screaming in terror.
 
        Trooper was snatched up by his mother and carried off in her hooves. He couldn't peel his eyes away from the horrible sight his mother was carrying him away from. He saw no less than seven members of his family pulled into the swirling vortex, lost forever in one terrible moment before they had even gained the air. The tornado seemed to be watching the pegasi family and it turned toward the fleeing ponies like a hungry predator. Trooper saw more and more members of his family snatched away by the powerful winds. Only the strongest and fastest were getting away or making any headway in the fierce winds.
 
        The number of the family members was dwindling swiftly as the monstrously hungry wind gobbled them up. Trooper saw cousins pushed from behind by their parents. The parents tried their hardest to save their children, but the end result was still the same. The parents would be pulled into the cyclone, then seconds later, the youngsters, still not fast enough, would be pulled in as well. All the sacrifice and effort that was costing precious, irreplaceable lives was for nothing. Each death to protect the life of another was in vain, every sacrifice as worthless as leaves on the trees and nearly as numerous. 
 
        Trooper's mind was swirling as madly as the tornado as he witnessed each death in horrifying detail.
 
        Their terror-filled faces and eyes. 
 
        Their dying screams when the wind slacked for a brief millisecond.
 
        Their tears of frustration and sorrow.
 
        The last visions of their outstretched hooves as they were swallowed up and torn apart.
 
        The mind-breaking horror continued as the tornado began to change color from dusty gray to muddy red as the ponies within were torn into pieces. Occasionally Trooper could see a momentary glimpse of a member of his family swirling past in the roaring winds. Once he saw the torso, left fore hoof, and face of one of his cousins swirl past. The young filly had her hoof outstretched, tear-stained face crying out for help that could never come. In the next moment she was gone. The images burned themselves into his memory, like a branding iron set against soft flesh.
 
        Trooper saw his own father pushing against his mother, burdened as she was. Next to them, but falling behind, he saw Storm Chaser pushing Morning Dew who was still holding his cousin. Trooper still couldn't see his cousin, but he heard Storm Chaser yell over the wind.
 
"It's getting closer! We can't make it, we're not going fast enough!" Storm called to his wife.
 
        Morning Dew looked over her shoulder briefly. She and Storm Chaser locked eyes for a short second. In that tiny amount of time, they seemed to come to a decision. Their faces set into determined grimaces as they accepted what they had to do.
 
"Morning, hold him tight against your body! I'll come around and hold the two of you from the front! Maybe between us we can save him!" the stallion yelled.
 
        Trooper's father's face went pale,
"No! We can make it Storm! We just have to keep trying!"
 
        Storm Chaser shook his head, as Morning Dew clutched their foal against her body,
"This storm isn't natural, brother! Nothing comes up this fast! I know storms, it's what my cutie-mark is for! We can't out fly this thing! Our best hope is to try to protect what we can!"
 
"No! Storm, listen to me, we can make it! We just have to keep trying!"
 
        A look of calm acceptance came over Storm Chaser's face as he stopped pushing his wife. He grabbed her flanks and hauled himself around in front of her as they hovered there chest to chest, being pulled into the storm.
 
"STORM NOOOOOOOOO!"
 
        Trooper watched, unable to pull his eyes away, still not knowing the name of his cousin, what they looked like, or even their gender. As he watched, a tiny head nuzzled its way out of the foal carrier and locked eyes with Trooper. In that instant, Trooper's world froze.
 
        His cousin was a colt with a brown mane and royal blue coat. Trooper recognized Valiant instantly. The moment ended and the family was sucked into the swirling vortex of death. His eyes swung skyward for the briefest of moments and he beheld a thing out of nightmare. It was small and visible only for a split-second but he saw it just the same. A small, thin streak of the purest absence of light flew overhead. It seemed to absorb all light around itself, swallowing all color and beauty from the world. The very sight of it stole away his breath, giving way to a falling sensation.
 
        Trooper opened his eyes just in time to see Rainbow Dash swoop down and catch him under his forelegs. She was grumbling quietly to herself as she hauled his weight. Realizing she was having such difficulty, Trooper spread his own wings and took over his assent back to the cloud they had been sleeping on, carrying Rainbow Dash along with him. Once they touched down, Trooper realized he was covered in a sheen of sweat. He then noticed that his rescuer was sniffing her coat and making a foul face.
 
        He sat himself down on the cloud in total silence, completely ignoring the boisterous complaints of his female compatriot,
"Ugh! Trooooooper!" she whined, "You got me all covered in sweat again! I try to be nice, I get covered in sweat! I save your flank from falling, I get covered in sweat! Thanks a lot! Now I have to take another cold bath from this cloud, as if one wasn't enough! Hey, you're not planning on doing anymore sweating or falling are you? 'Cause if you are, let's just get all that out of the way right now alright!?"
 
        The stallion maintained his silence, staring down at the cloud with tears dripping down his muzzle.
 
        Rainbow Dash noticed the silence and slowly trotted over in front of him, noticing his tears falling through the cloud,
"Aw, come on Troops." she said quietly nudging his shoulder and trying to sound more light-hearted, "It's not all that bad. I mean, you can never be too clean right?"
 
"They are dead." he whispered, closing his eyes, "I saw them die." his whole body shook with uncontrolled sobs as his memory finally cleared of the fog of forgetfulness.
 
"But, I thought you were just trying to remember if Valiant was your cousin..." Dash began, "I never thought you'd see..."
 
'Oh dang it! I'm terrible at this kind of stuff. I can't just leave him there though, it doesn't feel right. O.K. what would Fluttershy do?' Dash thought to herself. The answer came to her surprisingly swiftly.
 
        She plopped herself down on the cloud a few paces away from Trooper and stretched out her wing in a comforting gesture while not looking at him, 'Drat. My wing can't reach that far. Guess I'll have to scoot in a little, not too much, he's still annoying.' Dash scooted her backside along the cloud sideways keeping her wing out and her head turned away. She scooted a little more, then a little more after that. Finally with one last scoot, the tip of her wing touched Trooper's neck.
 
        The multi-hued pegasus mare felt quite pleased with herself, 'Alright! Way to go Dash! Score one for emotional suppor...' she never got to finish the thought. The mourning stallion she had touched with her wingtip had felt the contact and in his distraught emotional state had leaned over and latched onto her like a vice, sobbing brokenly into her mane. Dash, for her part, let out a rough and slightly irritated, morose sigh then brought up her right fore-hoof and patted him on the back, a long-suffering look on her face, 'So here I am covered in even more stallion sweat. Twilight always said to be careful of what you wish for, and I did say that if he planned anything else he should just get it over with. Way to go Dash, brilliant. Well, I suppose if he needs the emotional support, I DID make the offer. *sigh* Well, now that I'm here, might as well see this through to the end. Do feel sorry for the guy though. Nopony deserves to see... whatever it was that he saw. Must have been pretty bad. You know what, screw it, if I'm in, I'm here for the long haul.' She calmed her mind and began to slow down her thoughts, allowing herself to venture into a place she had rarely seen. 'Come on Trooper, let it all out. If you need somepony, well, I'm the only one around. I won't leave you, not like this.' She couldn't have noticed that her original rather stiff patting had turned into a somewhat soft stroking of his mane.

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        Natival raced through the swamp in the pitch dark, after Birdie. His vision was constantly assaulted by deep shadows and dark tree top canopies, making his tracking of the terrified pegasus mare all but completely impossible. Low hanging branches slashed at his face and unearthed tree roots constantly caused him to stumble. His only indicator that he was following the correct path were the broken branches and tatters of yellow fabric hanging from said branches. Time seemed to fade into a blur of passing motion as his legs pumped, propelling him through the dismal swamp at break-neck speed. He could have been chasing her for hours for all he could tell, though he guessed that it had been roughly just over an hour.

         The sound of a snapping branch in front of him was the only indicator that something was heading toward him. He banked to the right as quickly as the sound registered, but he was too slow. Something slammed into his left side as he was turning, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him back onto the ground. He came up in a roll and instinctively hurled himself forward, lashing out with his right shoulder. The attack connected and his assailant went tumbling into a nearby tree with a startled cry. In an instant, he was on his attacker, at least that was his intention.

         All he could make out was the occasional flash of a muddied limb striking out as he grappled with his assailant. The struggle was fierce and frantic. The two combatants were a tangle of limbs, torsos, and heads going in all directions. The situation was pure chaos as the two continued to struggle. Natival bit down on a limb that had just thrashed his face but tasted only mud as the, said liquefied earth made his opponent slippery as a banana peel. The tell-tale sound of wet, flapping wings gave the concealed stallion the hint he needed. He quickly disengaged from his opponent and staggered back, watching closely in the dim light. He could make out four legs, a head, a torso, and a tail. Focusing on the figure's head, he determined they couldn't see due to more mud covering it's eyes.

         Heeding his best guess he called out to the figure,
"Birdie, it's alright! Calm down!"

        The figure angled itself on the sound of his voice and launched itself toward him again. Natival side-stepped with time to spare, 'She's exhausted probably. Her back is to me, perfect target.' he was so distracted he didn't even realize the voice in his head wasn't his own. He leapt into the air and came right down on top of the aggressive and mobile mud pie with a squelching sound. With the element of surprise on his side, he easily managed to gain a solid hold of the muddy figure. His fore hooves wrapped around the back of the figure's forelegs and he pushed upward and forward, unlocking its knee joints and angling the figure, face first, toward the ground while his hind legs wrapped around the figure's torso and his mid-section kept any wings from being used as an advantage.
 Natival shifted his weight and rolled to his left. He was rewarded with a thump against his left side then the feeling of soft dirt underneath his back as he rolled over and held the figure immobile and helpless. 

        The struggling continued for another few minutes, but Natival held on gamely, his grip was sure and solid as a vice. A shrill scream told him that his guess had been correct; he was holding Birdie. She continued to thrash around and struggle, but to no avail, Natival's legs were much stronger than that of an average pegasus. The trapped mare screamed out her fear and frustration, remembering her former mistreatment yet again as tears began streaming from her mud-covered eyes.

        Natival initially felt a rush of exhilaration at his successful tackle of the fearsome mare, but his mind began changing as she continued to struggle and cry. The sounds she made were both pitiful and fierce a distinctive disturbing dichotomy of frightened frail femme and ferocious fearsome fighter. She eventually settled into sobbing pitifully while she tried time and time again to squirm away from her captor.

        After what seemed like an eternity of flailing hooves, she finally began to wear out. Her thrashing became more sluggish, less intense and Natival began whispering soothing words into her ears. His muscles ached terribly, having locked his joints to keep Birdie from escaping. The mare finally gave in and stopped fighting. She was breathing heavily and the mud had smeared all over her coat. Her breathing began to slow over the next several minutes. Natival slowly loosened his grip and gradually let the pegasus mare slip from his grasp.

        She fell onto the ground with a light thumping sound and a squelch as the mud cushioned some of the impact where her body met the dirt. Natival slowly stood up and stretched his legs out while keeping an eye on Birdie's prone form. The custard yellow mare didn't move. Puzzled, Natival walked up to her. He was leaning his head down to talk to her when he heard her whispering. He leaned in closer to try to make out what she was saying.

"Do whatever you want, I won't struggle." she whispered, "Just don't hurt me."

        Natival raised his head back upright, now more puzzled than ever, 'What does she mean by that?' he pondered. The answer hit him like a ton of bricks, 'Who would do that! Who would even think about doing that! Well this stops here!' Natival took a few steps forward and nudged Birdie with his nose.

"Come on, enough of this." he said bluntly, "I'm not going to do that to you. I don't care how much you offer. Get up Birdie. We need to try to get back to Haysburg."

        She didn't move to comply so Natival began brushing some of the mud off her neck. He bit down on her mane and lifted her to a standing position, his mouth filled with pinkish-orange mane. Once she was in a standing position she slid her front hooves down raising her backside into the air.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Natival yelled, "Look Birdie, I'm not mounting you, and shame on the one that taught you that being held down means they want THAT!" he bit down on her mane and raised her to a standing position once more, "Enough of this! Have some self respect! You're a zealous fighter and a mare to be respected or maybe even feared. I don't ever want to see you debase yourself like that ever again!"

        Her head was down and her breathing was soft. Natival brought his hoof up and raised her chin. She flinched violently at the contact, but her held her chin firmly and began using his muzzle to wipe the mud out of her eyes. His nose-tip glided over her mangled facial features and around her horribly misshapen muzzle. As he cleared her eyes of the offending mud, her tears leaked out helping to wash away the muck. It was a cleansing process both literally and metaphorically.

"Why?" she asked, voice chocked.

"Why what?" he asked bluntly.

"Why do you care?" she restated.

        Natival looked down and directly into her eyes, she shied away from his gaze, their faces scant inches from touching,
"Nopony deserves to go through what you did." he said almost harshly, "You deserve better than what you've been giving yourself. I meant what I said, you have the potential to be either respected or feared. I don't know the details, but from what I do know you've been through a lot, but it's over now. You have a choice in front of you: you can chose to stay the way you are, the victim, or you can turn everything around and become the victor. Which one are you? Are you going to stay the simpering, silent, sad victim, or are you going to take off the covering and wear your scars with pride? You've lived through things that would have killed a lesser creature, you're a survivor."

        Birdie's eyes shifted upward and locked with those of the stallion standing in front of her,
"You're still playing the victim too." she whispered.

"I'll tell you what: I'll take off the outfit and start talking about what happened, but you have to do the same. It will get everything out in the open. Let Haysburg decide what to do with us. If nothing else I'll have come out of this with at least a couple of new friends. Just tell me when you're ready and I'll be right there with you. Sound good?"

        Birdie lowered her eyes and whispered,
"Alright."

"Good, now let's get back to Haysburg before we freeze out here." Natival said looking around, "I can't fly. Could you go up above the trees and see if you can spot the lights from Haysburg?"

        Birdie nodded and took to the air.

        She returned a few seconds later, landing loudly,
"Too dark, can't see." she whispered.

        Almost as if on cue, the wind picked up and began to blow. Rain followed seconds after.

        Natival closed his eyes and breathed out a heavy sigh,
"I suppose our best guess is to try to sleep out here. We can take a look tomorrow morning in the light. I can make us a camp site here, it won't be comfortable, but it will have to do."

        Birdie rolled her eyes and took to the air. Natival watched her go, wondering what she was up to. His question was answered a few moments later when she returned pushing a wide cloud. She pushed it in low and Natival hopped up on top of it. His hooves felt so at home on the soft fluff. He hadn't stepped on a cloud in ages and the feeling was wonderful. They still had a problem, though, the rain was still coming down, right on top of the cloud. Natival squinted his eyes and looked up just as Birdie pushed another cloud on top of the first. She began mauling the clouds into a makeshift lean-to with her hooves. They would be dry enough during the night and return to Haysburg the next morning.

************************************************************************

        Triage was not having a good night. A tornado was bad enough to begin with, but having her sister at her side made it manageable in the past; now with Trauma laid up in a bed, suffering from who-knows-what, she found it nearly impossible. She rushed from one side of the clinic to the other trying to take care of all the injured ponies as they came in, 'Searcher, bless him, he's such a help right now.' she thought silently as she worked on trying to stabilize Colossus. He had a huge piece of the town's bell embedded in his chest and she was afraid to try taking it out without her sister to assist her. The sound of the clinic's doors opening again made her look up from Colossus' prone form.

        Tinker sauntered in, without the cigar for once, and approached Triage boldly,
"You need help, hon. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'm used to multi-tasking and I can keep my concentration while working on two different things. Let me help."

        Triage knew that despite whatever reservations she might harbor against Tinker, she did need the help, she could put aside the disagreement between her sister and the boisterous blacksmith for now,
"Grab some scrubs and wash your hooves in that sink over there. Get every crack and crevice. If I find any infections, I'm looking your way, got it?"

        Tinker nodded solemnly, unusually serious,
"I'll do what I can."

"Oh and Tinker?" Triage asked.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." Triage said before bellowing to her other helper, "Searcher! Where's that bag of saline I asked for?"

"Right here." the unicorn stallion said walking up. 

        He cast a furtive glance at his friend, 
"Is Colossus going to be alright?"

        Triage answered as she began working on a stallion that had a housing beam fall onto him, 
"I'm holding off on him until I can wake up Trauma. He's stable and I've given him a mild sedative to keep him out. He isn't in any immediate danger, the metal didn't puncture any vital organs, but it might be the only thing keeping him from bleeding out right now. If I don't have an expert set of hooves to help me when I try to remove that thing, it could open up his veins and arteries like a juiced watermelon. Clamp."

        Searcher levitated the clamp over to her as she continued,
"As far as Trauma goes, I need to perform a backlash trace to get an idea of what caused her current catatonic mental condition. If I can't figure something out, I'll have to send away for a specialist from Canterlot to come and take a look at her. I'm no expert at magical backlashes and so forth, if what Surf said is accurate, so I'll be taking a step in the dark. I hate to admit it but Colossus might just have to stay in his condition for a much longer time than any of us would like. Gauze. I've already performed an invasive delving spell, so I know what I'm dealing with. The metal shard pierced two of his ribs, split them like firewood to be exact. I noticed that several arteries and veins run along those same ribs. Needle and thread. The shard of metal somehow missed those same arteries and veins but when we go to remove it, it might puncture something, if that happens every second will count. I'm taxed right now with a monitoring spell on Colossus while still working on Settler here."

        Searcher knew she spoke the truth. Triage had a magical hold on the clamp, gauze, needle, and thread while still holding yet another separate spell for monitoring Colossus. He knew of very few unicorns who could multi-weave even three spells and here Triage was, a backwater town nurse, multi-weaving not three but five different spells at the same time and still holding a conversation. A disgusting voice bubbled up from Searcher's psyche, 'She is a powerful one yes? You will add her to those who will serve as my Champions. Colossus and Birdie are ready to serve even now, Tinker, Triage, Trauma, Surf & Turf, and Mill Treader will make the set complete. With the addition of these new ponies, my champions will rival even those of the Goddess. The time is almost upon us my slave, then you will be free of me once and for all.'

        Searcher sighed heavily, 'That time will not come soon enough, Master.' What he didn't say was that he fervently hoped his forced Master would not be victorious.





AUTHOR’S NOTE: Fuss all you want, I’m doing my best here. I had to type this whole chapter in 5 minute increments while at work over several months. Proofreading is nearly impossible. My thanks go out to Trooper and his sister Kyra for their input and editing. As always please critique the living snot out of this. The more feedback I get the faster I’m motivated to write. (*EGO* “FEED ME!)