The lion sorcerer smiled in silent triumph. Now that the spell had connected, there was no way out. He’d analyzed it to perfection. Twenty-four hours from now, Twilight Sparkle would reappear, and he’d repeat the procedure, each time catching just enough of the amplified magic rush to do whatever he pleased.
He felt a buildup of magic. It wouldn’t matter. The spell’s pattern had solidified too much. Besides, Twilight Sparkle would not be stupid enough to try and disrupt a spell she didn’t understand, and there was no way she’d decipher a spell this complicated that fast.
He squinted. Huh. He might have overestimated her intelligence in some way. That was definitely a magic surge. Still, she couldn’t possibly …
There was a flash, and a sickening crunch. Merrok felt around. No, the spell was still there. Was the pattern still intact? It looked like it was. He didn’t have time to fully inspect it, though. The spell was resolving. It would take effect. Of course it would. It wasn’t possible to stop once it had connected. He’d made sure of it.
The pattern vanished into time, just as intended. Excellent. Now to deal with …
Suddenly he was on his back. There was a screaming pain in his right front paw. He tried to move, and couldn’t. He growled in defiance and tried to focus a spell, but the pain just intensified. That was, of course, when his mind made the obvious connections. His right paw was, after all, where he focused his magic and turned it into spells, much like a unicorn might use her horn.
But … that was impossible. He knew for a fact the spell had worked. Not just that it should have worked - he had actually felt it. But now he could not just feel the multitudes of unfamiliar magic holding his body in a grip, he also realized the storm clouds above the plaza and the lightning streaking through them were separated from him by a dense blue-tinted fog, itself of magical origin. Just like that, he had been cut off from another major source of his power.
Power, he realized, he couldn’t have drawn in anyway, because he couldn’t feel his tail at all. There wasn’t even pain. That had to be coincidence, though. No lion sorceror before him had figured out that the tail could serve as a second catalyst. No one else but him could possibly know. Not even her.
He didn’t need any explicit confirmation of the shambles all his plans had become, but as though to taunt him, she decided to appear over him in his field of vision anyway. Looking in from the side, as she was standing next to him, but craning her head so her eyes met his. The fury in them sent a shiver up his aching spine. He tried to get up, to move, but the attempt was only rewarded with more pain.
“You humongous flipping jerk,” the unicorn growled, tears in her eyes, “going around causing hurt and grief and pain and thinking you know everything!”
Merrok growled, focused his magic one last time, and lunged.
He made it perhaps three inches off the ground before the pain flared up again. He gave a yelp as his head smashed back into the solid dirt. The pain in his right paw almost made him lose his mind. Twilight Sparkle hadn’t even budged.
She didn’t yell or even speak particularly loudly, but the barely suppressed rage in her words commanded Merrok’s attention in a way he would never have thought any living creature, especially one half his size, could - he was filled with dread. “Don’t think I’m not paying attention. I’m watching you struggle, very closely. And you’re actually lucky these binds and seals are working. I researched four distinct approaches to eliminate a lion sorcerer as a threat, and the one I’m using right now is the non-lethal one of the four. It hurts, and I hate that it hurts, because I hate hurting anyone. Even you. But I can’t allow you to do as you please, because that would cause far more hurt to far more people. You’ve already caused more than you could even imagine.”
Confusion was mixed into Merrok’s building fear and resignation. What was she even talking about? But the pain quickly extinguished any clear line of thought. “The spell should have worked. I don’t ... understand.”
“You don’t understand a thing about anything!” Twilight snapped, tried to calm herself, and shook her head. “I wish this seal was permanent. I didn’t hold back on it, and with the amplification at work it’s enough to keep you from doing magic again for a long, long time. Maybe you will learn. But I don’t have much room in my head for hoping right now. Right now, all I can try and drill into your stupid lion head is this,” she climbed on Merrok’s body, sending jolts of pain through his joints every time she disturbed the sealed paw, until she stood on his chest, and lowered her head until their stares were locked, eye to eye, just inches apart. She didn’t blink. She still had tears in her eyes that would not stop flowing, but her expression was all rage, and no fear. “I’m watching out for you. You’re my responsibility now. I’m prepared. If I ever catch wind that you’ve caused pain and grief to anyone, again, I will find you, and I will stop you, whatever it takes.”
She kept staring at Merrok, ice hot, for a short, excruciating while. Then she started talking again, somewhat quieter. “And one more thing. Maybe you will dedicate your talents to good. I’ve seen it happen where I thought it couldn’t, so how should I know? Regardless of the purpose, do not ever, ever, mess with time magic again. No one should. It’s never worth it.” And puzzlingly enough, rage turned to sorrow, tears welled up, and Twilight Sparkle jumped off Merrok’s body, causing a last jolt of agony to ravage him, and disappeared into the slowly dwindling storm, as if she had no thought in the world left to spare for him, leaving the lion sorcerer to ponder just what it was that had defeated him in the end.
Twilight tried desperately to get the tears to stop. She had to find the others, and she kind of needed to be able to see to have any hope of finding anything in the magic-blocking fog she had created. Darn it!
“Twilight!” came a yell. “Stop!”
Twilight stopped. She recognized the voice. Thank the stars, she did. “Rainbow Dash!” she let out a joyful scream as she saw the form the voice belonged to emerge from the mists. “You’re okay!”
“Well, yeah! I just got here! Why would I not be okay?” Rainbow Dash said, but was suddenly pinned back-first to the ground by the force of onrushing unicorn.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Twilight exclaimed through the sniffling as she dug her face in Rainbow’s chest, causing a wince as she poked her friend with her horn in her exuberance.
“Are you?” Rainbow asked apprehensively, rubbing her bruise.
Twilight suddenly rose up. “That depends! Where are the others?” Her hooves stomped the ground, unruly, as she turned her head into every imaginable direction. Even on a sugar overdose, Pinkie Pie could not have been more twitchy.
Rainbow Dash finally spotted the suffering pile of sealed lion sorcerer. “Woah, is that him?”
“Yup,” Twilight replied as she kept stretching her head. Maybe she should have reconsidered the fog. With the seals on his paw and the tail, it had been exceedingly unlikely Merrok could have drawn on the magic in the clouds anyway, and now it only made finding her friends harder.
Rainbow Dash poked Merrok in the side, triggering a roar of pain. “Woah!” She flittered back over to Twilight’s side. “Did you do that to him?”
“Yup. Applejack and Rarity should be here by now, right? Where are they?!”
There were voices some way off in the distance behind them. “Leave your paws off my Twilight, you ruffian!” There was a high-pitched battle cry, and then the sound of pony hooves skidding to a halt near where Merrok lay and suffered. “Huh.”
“Rarity!” Twilight yelled and turned around. “And Applejack, too! You’re alright!” Her horn flared up, and a split-second later she had her forelegs around them both, hugging them with vice-like strength. Rainbow Dash followed flying, smiling, but shrugging when she saw Applejack’s and Rarity’s puzzled looks.
“I take it ya gave ‘im what for then?” Applejack pressed out.
“No time for that! Where’s Pinkie?”
“Eat Combat Pie, you huge jerk!” came a war scream in the distance. There was a splat and loud cracking sound, and following its source Twilight and the others saw a bowling ball covered with cream and shattered frosting, lodged into a crater in the broken pavement, inches removed from the head of a terrified lion. “Darn it! Missed!”
“Pinkie, stop!” Applejack yelled. “He’s already done for!”
“Aw, really?” Pinkie answered, still at the end of the plaza, with a cart stacked with strangely ball-shaped pies tethered to her back. The fog had slightly thinned by now; evidently she had thrown the pie the moment she had gotten a good glimpse of lion without further thought. “Oh well. Good thing my pies are multi-purpose! Anyone up for banana cream?”
She barely had time to unfasten the harness before Twilight grabbed her and started twirling her around. “You’re okay you’re okay you’re okay!”
“W-woah, c-calm down!” Pinkie tried to say.
“Of course I’ll be at the party! I would never ever miss a Pinkie party!”
“I n-never s-said anything abo-bout a p-party! P-put me d-down, please!” Twilight put her down. Pinkie shook herself, trying to get her pupils to align again. “Geez, Twilight! You can’t just go around shaking ponies! You have to respect their personal space!” she paused, “Wait, did I just say that?”
There was a swooshing sound above them, and suddenly the ground shook. Everyone turned around to find Fluttershy standing right in the middle of the plaza, panting heavily. “I came as fast as I could! Is everything alright? Is everyone safe?!”
She had Twilight hugging her tight in split-seconds. “Yes! You’re safe, everyone’s safe! I did it!” Her expression unhinged, and big tear drops started streaming down her face. “I did it,” she pressed out, clamping around Fluttershy so hard it felt like the head would snap off. “I did it,” she whispered again, and kept crying even as her friends gathered around, deeply worried and puzzled. Celestia’s number one student had defeated countless dangerous enemies before, and never had she reacted like this.
“I guess fighting that lion dude must have been pretty intense,” Rainbow Dash said. “It looked like you were on fire! I guess that was some sort of magic. I was almost convinced I would get there too late. Must have been a close one.”
Twilight loosened her grip a little and turned around, giving Rainbow a blank stare. “You have no idea,” she finally said, smiling and trying to rub her eyes dry.
Finally able to breathe again, Fluttershy flashed her a sympathetic smile and hugged Twilight tight, this time of her own volition. “You must have had a terrible fright,” she said, gently.
“Well, she should tell us all about it. In her own time,” Rarity said, and she walked up to Twilight and hugged her, too. Pinkie Pie joined them in an instant - trying as hard as she could to put her forelegs around all three of them and succeeding in having her hindlegs leave the ground and most of her weight placed on Twilight’s shoulders, almost crushing her. Applejack snickered and joined in. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, and when no one said anything, quickly checked in several directions for witnesses, blushed and piled herself on anyway.
“Remember, Twilight. No matter what happens, we’ll always be there for you,” Rarity said.
Twilight blinked, and then smiled, finally calm. “And I will be there for you.”
Many thanks to Sagebrush, who helped me untangle some of my messes. Many thanks also to all who've commented and otherwise helped and encouraged me. And of course, thanks for reading!