Chapter 7
Sunny Day let out a shuddering breath as she looked to the fallen letter, her orange hooves on her mouth as the eyes began to water with tears. She began to shake her head slightly in the vain hope that this was a dream and that what she had been given was just an illusion brought upon her by a constant fear that had always been with her. Getting onto her hooves, she walked over to the letter and began to re-read it, trying to see if there was something, anything, that would tell her that this was a sick prank done to her by cruel ponies. However, her hopes were all dashed as she looked at the letter closely and saw it all: the official seal of the princesses, the unique hoof-writing, the signature, the paper, all of it screamed to be official writing, and there on the top of the page, was three letters that she hoped to never see in her life.
M.I.A
“M…Missing in Action,” Sunny said under her breath, the tears now not stopping from flowing in her eyes. To her, those were the second three most terrifying words that she could’ve read, next to K.I.A. She knew the truth though, those three letters might as well have said, “Your husband is gone and there is no way knowing that he’ll ever come home again. He might as well be dead right now.” Again she dropped the letter and closed her eyes as she began to cry hard onto a nearby table stand, “Swifty, you moron! You PROMISED ME! You promised me that you would never try anything stupid that would put yourself into danger, you PROMISED!” Tearfully she looked at the wedding band around her hoof, “You told your daughter that she would see you again. Am I supposed to call you a mangy liar to her face? How can I tell her that her father’s never coming home?”
Pulling her head away from the table, she sniffed and wiped her tears away from her eyes as she remembered that she would have to tell her daughter this news as well. Her legs shaking with fear on each step, she made her way to the stairs and walked up them. As she reached the top stair, she heard Dash beginning the next part of the story for her little sister. Taking a deep breath and holding the letter in her hoof, she decided to let Scootaloo finish listening to the story before she breaks her daughter’s heart.
“Ok Scoot, get ready, because this part is going to be fun…”
Firefly walked down the long hallway of the castle, grumbling to herself the entire path. The anger was obvious on her face as she would sometimes hit the wall nearest to her or any guard that was unfortunate to get in her way. The coldness of the floor and the hallway was doing little to quell the fiery anger that was in her heart. Turning to a nearby window, she unlatched it before hearing, “Problems, traitor?” A young male voice was heard from the room across from the window.
A smirk came to Firefly’s lips as she turned to face the stallion who said it, walking into the room, “I am not a traitor. Even if I was, better to be an alive traitor than an alive coward, Shining.”
As Firefly walked into the room and closed the door, Shining Armor took off his helmet and revealed his true face, “I’m no coward, Firefly!” Shining growled.
“Oh really?” Firefly asked, a smirk on her face as she walked by Shining, “Then what do you call it when you are doing nothing but hiding behind disguises, running into the shadows, and hiding yourself away from those that need you?”
“It’s called subterfuge, and its certainly better than flaunting your betrayal all over the castle grounds, waving it like a flag for everypony to see,” Shining remarked.
“Subterfuge, so that’s what’s it called,” Firefly said, smacking Shining with her blue tail as she showed her lightning bolt cutie mark, “when one abandons family and the Queens for some hair brained sense of duty.”
Shining let out a sigh and looked to the ground, “It was the only way I could keep my promise to the queens and to protect my baby sister. It was either this or be slaughtered like every other unicorn that tried to resist the mind spell and stand up to the emperor.”
“And you actually think you have been doing a good job keeping your little ‘promise’,” Firefly said, finding a sofa to lay on, “Do you think that they intended for you to hide in the background and abandon your little sister?”
At this, Shining glared in anger, “I DID NOT ABANDON TWILY!! She’s strong, intelligent, and brave. I’m confident she could handle things alone, without me.”
Firefly scoffed at this, “Oh no? Then I guess I just imagined the five years that she spent alone with the jester as her only friend. Five long and painful years that she spent all alone without you, thinking that her brother, her only family LEFT, was dead. Slaughtered like so many others,” the pink mare then looked accusingly at her friend, “Do you know what I caught her doing on the day of the coup? That little sister that you claim to love so much,” Firefly let out another scoff, “She was so broken by the thought of being alone, her only family gone, the queen she loved like a mother gone, and that she was made a target by the bastard that did all of this because of her talents that I found her standing on a cliff with a knife in her magic. Let me tell you this, Shiny, that knife and her throat looked like they were to become VERY close friends.”
Shining took a step back, his face recoiled in horror, “ Celestia, no. She… She wouldn’t have. You’re lying!”
“I’m not. She was” Firefly said, looking at him, “Losing your entire world can do that to a mare. I’m just glad that Pinkie had seen her at the time and saved her, otherwise I would’ve done so and then told her about your little plan.”
“NO! You promised you would not spoil my secret,” Shining said.
“Oh, you mean the big, ‘destroy the enemy from inside out and create a rebellion through my hidden efforts by making sure that the world believes that I am dead’ plan? The one that ends with you finding a way to save the queens, marrying your marefriend, and your sister running into your arms all happy that you are alive?” Firefly looked as Shining lowered his head, “Do you really think that it will end like that or is it going to end like I think it will, with Twilight very ticked off at the stallion who SWORE to protect her with his dying breath. What do you think is going to happen when she finds out, I’ll tell you. She’ll punch you hard in the face and then disown you… is that what you want?”
“At least I know she’ll be ok,” Shining said in a low voice.
“And what makes you so sure that this plan will work? What’s going to happen when you lose that disguise and they find you?”
“It won’t. It got me through five years of hell so far,” Shining argued.
“And that won’t last forever. One day they’ll find you, and then they will KILL you and then I’ll spend the rest of my life flying by your rotting corpse as it hangs from the parapets,” Firefly said, slamming her hoof down on the cushion, a little bit of tears in her eyes, “ and then what’s little Twily going to think about you then?”
Shining could only close his eyes in response and look away from the blue maned pegasus in front of him, “At least then… I’ll really be as dead as she believes.” Shining then raised his head, his eyes determined, “And what about you traitor? What kind of plan is this, a parade of disloyalty and making your daughter hate you? Do you think that the queens wanted this? Do think that this is what Posey-“ he couldn’t finish his sentence as he was punched hard across the room and into a dresser.
“Forget rule one, Shield boy?” Firefly asked as she walked away from her punching position and went to a fridge to get a bottle of cider, “Don’t EVER talk about Posey, don’t even think about her, and don’t even think you knew her. She was worth at least two of you!”
Slowly, Shining Armor got up and looked at a picture frame that hit him on the head that fell from the dresser and looked at it. It was a picture of Rainbow Dash as a filly being held up by Firefly in a hug as they floated up in the sky. It didn’t take him to long to remember what room he was hiding in: Dash’s room. Putting down the photo, he let out a sigh, “They were so close once,” he thought to himself, “I’m sorry, I forgot how close you were to her and how much you cared for her.”
Firefly poured herself a glass of cider and drank it slowly, “You have no idea,” She said sadly as she looked at a picture of her on top of a yellow earth pony mare, hugging her neck.
“The point still stands,” Shining said as he got back onto his hooves, “How is being a traitor any better? You’re working for the enemy, the exact same creature that ruined my sister’s life as well as your daughter’s and her friend’s! He’s determined to put us all under his thumb and destroy our way of life piece by piece until he our souls in his mitts! And you are parading around working for him!”
“This is the only way I can be sure my daughter is safe,” Firefly said, pouring another glass, “I can still lead my hunters and make sure nopony innocent can get hurt.”
“Fine job you’ve done protecting her so far,” Shining said, “She spent the last three years in a stone statue.”
“AT LEAST SHE WAS ALIVE,” Firefly yelled, slamming the glass onto the table before turning her head to a suit of blue colored pegasus armor, the yellow lightning bolts across the back and front glimmering in the sunlight, “And it wasn’t my fault that she was caught by Flower’s unicorns, it was because she was determined to stand up to those maniacs and protect her friend. They were maniacs, and she knew it. She knew she had no chance of winning, but she needed to protect that filly of hers from everything that could hurt her.”
“Sounds like somepony we both know,” Shining muttered under his breath, “And now she is awake and out of the stone prison traveling with my little sister and some random ponies and about to face the rangers. Y’know the group of elite soldiers that KILLED the last group that tried to rebel.”
“Oh please, Lightning is an easy guy to take down. I should know, Dashie was responsible for his broken wing,” Firefly said, a smirk coming to her.
“She can handle herself, but what about them?” Shining asked, watching as the blue maned pegasus turned her head away in response, “Do you remember what his ‘recreation’ usually involves? Long, slow, and painful evisceration, and that is when he wants the pony to enjoy it.”
“Your sister will be fine, trust me… I’ve met the farmer, and she could easily make Lightning loose his other wing as well as make him a mare for life,” the pink mare then chuckled at the thought before drinking another glass, “Hahaha, I think your sister has just picked up some unbelievable companions.”
“What about you,” Shining asked, a stern expression on his face.
“What about me? Other than I am awesome, of course,” Firefly asked, the smirk never leaving her face.
“You know the emperor likes to keep his mages close to him and only use their power in case of emergency, so who does that leave to hunt them down? OH YEAH,” Shining said, pointing a hoof at Firefly, “You and your little band of hunters.”
Firefly let out a hearty laugh before walking to the mannequin that held her daughter’s old armor, running a hoof along the back, “Well then, I guess me and Dashie will finally get to see which one of us is the best.”
Shining took a step forward, slamming his white hoof down onto the floor, “This is not a joke. Your hunters are wild and almost uncontrollable, you’ll fight one on one and fair. They won’t, they’ll play dirty and use what they can to hurt the others.”
“Ah, you worry too much, Shield-boy. The guys won’t do too much to your little sister,” Firefly said walking by Shining Armor and slapping his flank.
“What about you?” Shining asked, looking straight into Firefly’s aqua eyes.
“What about me?” Firefly asked back, looking a little surprised.
“
You two combined are the hardest headed ponies that I have ever met, you both have an unwavering sense of loyalty and a stubborn streak as long as Celestia’s mane! I’m afraid that, when you do have that battle to see who is better, it’s going to end with one of you dying,” Shining yelled, a worry look on his face, “And I am sorry to say, even though you have been a great friend, that… she’s going to win and I am going to have to hear that you are dead. Do you really want that, for Rainbow’s last thoughts of the greatest hero that she ever knew to be that of a pony who is nothing more than a traitor,” he then wiped a white hoof along his eyes to wipe some tears away, “For her to always hate you because you betrayed everything she had ever thought about you?”
Firefly let out a sigh as she opened the door for Shining to go out, “If it means that she is safe and alive, then let me take every sin that she’ll throw at me. Let me die as a villain in her eyes.”
Shining took a long look at a photo on the table, this one of a filly Rainbow Dash hugging her mother tightly as both of them began to cry, “I think she wants you to die as her mother and a hero instead,” he then put his helmet back onto his head and allowed for the illusion magic to turn him into a mare.
“Just go,” Firefly said as she turned her head to the doorway and let Shining-Gleaming run out the door.
“Ohhh, so that’s what the shouting was,” a slightly high pitched voice said.
“Flower, were you listening to all of that,” Firefly asked.
“Well, not clearly,” she said, skipping to the side of Firefly and looked into her eyes, “all I heard was some muffled shouting and some thumping.” Turning her light yellow eyes to the room, she looked at the bottle of cider, “Oh, wining and dining them, huh?” Flower then tucked Firefly’s chin and whispered in a throaty voice, “I thought I was the kinky one in this group.”
Firefly angrily swiped the hoof away from her chin, “It's not like that, I was just talking to the new recruit.”
“That’s right,” Flower said, taking a flower in her orange hooves and lightly nibbling the petals, licking a little, “You had eyes for only one delicate flower in this castle. Now she is gone, gone away,” her tongue then licked the flower petal into her mouth, “More’s the shame. I have heard on the grapevine that the yellow earth ponies taste like sweet butter cream. But I don’t think I need to tell you that, after all I think we all had a taste at one time or another… didn’t we?”
Firefly’s face contorted in a silent rage as she swiped a hoof at Flower, only to miss her target,” Never talk about her like that!”
“Testy! All I was doing was discussing the dead, it’s not like I wanted to make her a meal or anything. I tried necro before, it’s quite disgusting, y’know? Besides, I know you know how she tasted, just like your daughter has probably been having plenty of fun with that freak pet of hers,” Flower said, a cunning smirk on her face.
“She hasn’t done anything like that, she is only trying to protect and care for her as much as she can,” Firefly said.
“Oh, I know.” Flower then licked another petal off, slowly, “She’s going to continue to care for the little freak for a while, spending time acting like the heroic savior in some fairy tale. Then, when the little mare is at her most vulnerable, she’ll find some hidden spot and steal the mare’s innocence. Then, she’ll throw her by the wayside, abandoning the little freak like the garbage she is.”
Leaping at her, an intent to kill in her eyes, Firefly slammed Flower against the wall with her hoof against her neck, “Listen here, my daughter will never abandon ANYPONY! She will never misuse them at all! GOT IT!?”
Flower walked behind Firefly, smiling, “Oh, I know that. That’s how I was able to get her the first time,” with a shine of her horn, she dismissed the clone, “ She was so determined to protect that little innocent flower that she threw herself in front of my stone spell. I wonder though, if this time, I’ll get to her first, or maybe hit Dash with an immobilization spell and make her watch as I play with the little freak.” Flower said as she walked away with a skip in her step.
Firefly turned her head away in disgust. She never did like Flower and her team. Opening up the window in the hallway, she leapt through it and flew off into the sky.
Glimmering Shield began to run through the halls of the castle and down the stairs until s/he reached the basement, where the letters were stored and sorted. Slowly s/he opened the door to reveal the Sparkle Family Secret, the one responsible for sending out the letters to everypony in the family: a baby purple dragon, “Shining! What are you doing here?” The dragon asked happily.
“Spike, I need you to send a letter to Twily, it’s very important. Tell her that the rangers are coming for her,” Shining said as he took off his illusion helmet.
“Yes sir!” Spike said as he quickly began to write down the letter.
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“Momma, Momma,” squealed a little purple unicorn filly as she ran into the writing room.
“What is it, my little mage?” Asked a white grey unicorn with a purple and white mane as she looked up from her writing.
“Look, look at what I can do,” Twilight said as she concentrated on her horn, making it flare up in a purple glow. The tip of the horn was then covered in a blaze of flame that slowly came off the horn and into the air, folding itself into a small ball, “See!? I can make fire magic!”
“Oh, that’s spectacular my little Twilight,” Velvet said as she knelt down hugged her little girl, “Just be careful of fire magic, don’t want to kill again now do we… murderer.” She said the last part with a bit of guff ness to her voice, as if someone was burning her vocal cords.
“Murderer, what do you mean-MOTHER!?” Screamed Twilight as she backed away from her mother, whose face was beginning to burn away by white hot flame and leaving behind burnt muscle and bone. Falling onto her rump, she began to back away in utter terror as she watched her mother burn before her eyes, one of her mother’s eyes melting away slowly leaving only a socket left.
Getting up to run away, she quickly bumped into the tough forelegs of a big stallion. Looking up, she let out a scream of terror as she looked up at the burnt and decayed face of what was her father. Walking to her slowly, the last traces of a mane began to fall from his head while the charred pieces of flesh would fall off, revealing the muscular tissue underneath, “You really should be careful of the fire, you little brat,” As he spoke, his white teeth would slowly blacken and rot away, “Now you killed all of the things you cared about.”
Shaking her head, she turned around and ran in an attempt to find her brother. Running through the hallways of the house, she watched at the white walls and rooms started to blacken and rot away. In various rooms boards began fall from the ceiling and crashing into the floors below. Turning her head upwards, she watched in horror as the ceiling began to crackle and break into smaller pieces, leaving big holes with fire in them. Her heart racing, she quickened her pace to the end of the hallway where her brother’s room laid, “Shining! Help, it’s mom and dad. They, they… oh my.”
“Hey, Twily,” Shining said, as a mare made of flame began to lick his chest and neck causing the coat to burn away and the flesh beneath to crackle, “Like my new marefriend? Hot isn’t she?” Laughed the white unicorn as the fiery mare continued to lick and kiss his body, making each part burn away.
“AHHHHH!” Screamed Twilight as she ra quickly to the left and leapt through the window, only to find her six friends standing front of the house, enveloped in flame. Their bodies dancing and writhing within the flames as it consumed them. They began to moan with pain and pleasure as the flames took to their bodies like lovers, caressing and pleasuring them with the touch of fiery tendrils. As they danced, they began to chant.
Fire is for the pain
Flames are for killing
Burning is for dieing
The power of fire is
The way to make you food for hell
Fire is hate
Flame is destruction
Burning is death
Beware the power of fire
It will only lead to the end
Twilight began to look around her as the flames became a circle of ponies on fire as they walked to her, each one grabbing her legs and forcing her onto her back. The fiery ponies then began to lay her down onto the ground, spread-eagle while a large pony with a flaming spear began to approach her. Struggling in vain, Twilight’s eyes opened up in horror as she watched the stallion approach her with his spear raised, “No, no! P… please, NO,NO! SOMEPONY HELP ME!” She screamed as the long flaming rod touched her collar bone and began to trail down her body, cutting open the body and letting loose flame creatures of all types.
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“TWI! Wake up, you’re having a horrible nightmare,” AJ yelled as she began to shake Twilight lightly, her orange hoof shaking her shoulder hard.
“ A nightmare? Yes, that’s all it was. Just a creation of mental imagery created by my subconscious during the REM stage of the dream cycle due to my own personal trauma of what happened to me as a foal. This and nothing more,” Twilight thought to herself as she began to rationalize her thoughts. Sitting up in the bed, she looked at AJ, “You’re right, I was having a nightmare, thank you for waking me.”
A worried look came to AJ’s face as she laid down on the bed with her friend, “Want to talk about it, sugarcube?”
“No, not really, this is something I can get through myself. It’s a stupid little irrational fear, after all.” Twilight said, smiling a little as she felt her friend’s hoof on her back, “So, where are the others?”
AJ looked to the door of their room of the inn, “Well, Rare decided to make some last minute shopping trips to make sure we have everything and took Sweetie Belle with her. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy are all going out to get some breakfast for all of us. Ah decided to stay here with ya in case you woke up before we got back. Oh,” AJ said, her eyes widening in realization before pulling out a letter from her hat, “and you got a letter.”
“I wonder who’s it from?” Twilight asked as she took the letter in her magic before opening it, “Wait, how do you know it’s for me, no pony knows I’m here.”
“Well, Ah wouldn’t have figured it out until I read the emblem on the letter,” AJ said, pointing to the starburst on the front of the letter, the same as the mark on her flank.
Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity before taking the time to read the letter.
Two the cuiitie purplle unii ghhat I meant the other day. The how arre you taoday, an Iam grate er about you. Ah have far fallen for you in love hard. Can’t ou see howm uch Ieve fallin in love winth you? Belase tell be that you care a ful lot of me too?
Signed, Gleaming Shield.
Ps. I’ll always love you, be careful. You will always be the best.
AJ crooked an eyebrow at the reading of the letter, “What in tarnation was all of that?”
“It’s a poorly written love letter. Obiviously somepony doesn’,” Twilight then stopped in mid-sentence as she reread the letter, “Wait the way that this is written and spelled. If I just edit it a little and bold every spelling mistake.” Within a few moments Twilight had bolded every misspelled word and grammar error.
Two the cuiitie purplle unii ghhat I meant the other day. The how arre you taoday, an Iam great er abouts you. Ah have far fallen for you in love, hard. CCan’t ou see howm uch I’ve fallin in love wigth you? Belase tell me that you cancare a ful lot of me too?
As Twilight reread the letter to herself with the bolded letters in the forefront, she now could read it as.
Twilight, the Rangers are coming, be careful.
Twilight arched an eyebrow at this weird message, “The rangers?”
AJ rubbed her hoof curiously, “Applesnack mentioned something about that too. He said that his rebellion was squashed by the Emperor’s dark rangers, but he didn’t tell me more than that. Know anything about them?”
Twilight shook her head, sadly,” No, I don’t. I never spent much time away from Celestia, so I have never heard of any group called The Rangers.”
“They’re fairly new,” Dash said, overhearing Twilight, “They only got instated five years ago by the emperor, after he had culled some of the more rough and cruel ponies from Equestria.”
“OOOOH, I think I heard about them,” Pinkie said as she jumped onto the bed, eating her hay sandwich, “ aren’t they like a bunch of angry meanie faces that like to crush ponies just because they breathed wrong.”
Nervously, Fluttershy nodded, “They’re absolute beasts. They like to take prisoners just to slowly break them down before they kill them. OR leave them so broken that the pony wants to die. Their leader is a pony called-“
“Lighting Arc,” Dash said, drinking her cider slowly, “I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He’s nothing more than a brute of a pegasus who believes more in raw power than any art in flying.”
“Sounds like you know him pretty well,” AJ said, finishing her sandwich.
“Know him? I was the one who cut his wing off,” Dash said calmly, a smirk on her face. Looking up, she could see the shocked looks on her friends faces as well as Rarity who had just came in, “It’s no big deal really. We were in a fight, he was doing something that could’ve hurt somepony and I stopped him. There was no other choice.”
“But to ground him permanently?” AJ asked, “That seems mighty harsh.”
“Trust me, it was necessary. He didn’t deserve to fly if he was going to continue to abuse it,” Dash said, looking at her wings as they flapped a little.
AJ was about to prod further, but was stopped by a hoof from Rarity, “AJ, darling, there are somethings that a lady prefers to keep to herself. Now, if we are all done, lets go.”
The others nodded in response and quickly began to pack up before heading out the door. Heading out of the inn, they watched as some of the other ponies began to mill about and work through their day. Pinkie Pie let out a soft sigh, “It feels kind of bad that we have to leave so soon, this place seems to be really picking up.”
“Well we gotta keep moving,” AJ said, “don’t know when that castle is gonna disappear on us.”
“Yeah, I know,” Pinkie said, before turning around and giving a big wave goodbye, “Bye everypony!”
Unbeknownst to the seven ponies, a very large stallion with one wing watched them from a distance. As he watched the rainbow mane fly above them, his scar where his left wing once began to ache, “It’s them all right,” he said in a thick accent that seemed to have come from Trottingham, “ I recognize that mane and coat anywhere.”
“Want to attack them once they are out of the city boss?” Asked one of the pegasi flanking him.
“No,” Lightning said, watching the ponies leave, “They’re heading north, through the Calming Fields. I say we fly ahead and lay in wait for them there so we can pounce. RANGERS GO!” He then waved a hoof and had his team take to the air.
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A few days upon leaving the small city of Miasma, the 7 adventurers began walking north through the soft green fields known to the populace as the Calming Fields. All around them lay almost endless fields of green grass that would be colored by small spots of bright flowers. The hills across the land would gently swept up and down to allow for the traveler to feel only a small bump across their journey, all this went along with the soft Spring breeze to allow for a calming feeling that would go across the traveler’s body then down into their spirit. Pinkie Pie would jump to the front and the back of the party, trying her best to take in everything around her while letting the wind blow by her to make her giggle a little. Twilight took to the middle of the group and began to listen to the groups conversations while trying to sort out her spell craft for the rest of the day. AJ, Rainbow Dash, Sweetie and Rarity were at the front of the group and were taking in the almost endless horizon of green fields, “Is there a problem, AJ?” Rarity asked of the orange mare.
“Ah was just thinking about the pony Ah left back home, he was badly injured and was only recovering from his wounds,” AJ said.
“I’m positive that he’ll be ok, AJ” Rarity said as she walked next to AJ, watching Sweetie Belle skip alongside her.
Dash kept to the air, flying just above their heads, “Yeah, if he was tough enough to get away from those rangers, then I think he can get back to health without your help.”
AJ nodded in relief and continued on her way with her companions. Fluttershy, meanwhile, kept to the back of the group, listening to the sounds of the various birds and animals around her. It wasn’t until they were quite aways from the city did she notice that the animals had stopped talking, all except for one, “What?” Fluttershy asked, her ears twitching at the sound, “Be… ware?” Turning her blue eyes skyward, she looked up at a small bird flying overhead.
“What is it,” Twilight asked, hearing Fluttershy and waving a hoof to stop her friends.
“That bird, it’s saying to, ‘beware, bewar-ARRRG!” Fluttershy screamed as three arrows sailed through the air and struck her right leg and side.
“AMBUSH,” AJ yelled.
“FLUTTERSHY!” Dash yelled, flying to her side.
“Oh my,” Rarity screamed as she ran to Fluttershy, “We have to pull them out.”
“No, d-don’t pull it out,” Fluttershy whimpered as she struggled to stand, “It’ll only make it worse. Sn-ap it off first, then get some cloth. I… I’ll tell you what to do next.”
Pinkie Pie then her tail twitch and her knees shake, before looking up to the sky. Her eyes widen in horror as she screamed, “INCOMING!!”
Looking above them, the seven mares watched as a hail of arrows soared through the sky and towards them. Squinting her eyes through her pain and blood loss, Fluttershy concentrated on the magical braclet on her left hoof and conjured up a giant pink translucent shield over them that managed to block all of the arrows, “T-t-there, got it,” she said, weakly as she felt herself losing a little more blood.
“There, I got some leftover cloth,” Rarity said as Rainbow finished snapping off the end of the arrows.
“G-good, now tighten the cloth down around the arrows to st-st-ablize them,” Fluttershy then winced as another volley of arrows hit.
As Rarity began to work feverishly to stabilize the wounds, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, her magenta eyes carrying with a look of worry, “What’s going on, Twilight? She shouldn’t be weakening this fast.”
Twilight watched as Fluttershy let out another moan and then looked as the latest volley of arrows subsided. It didn’t take her mind long to make the link, “That bracelet of hers, it’s connected to her mana.”
“SHE’S NOT A UNICORN TWI!” Dash yelled.
“She still has mana, Dash. The exact same type of mana that you have, the mana that allows you to control the weather and fly. That’s what it’s using as a power source,” Twilight then looked back as Fluttershy let out another moan, “and it’s draining her dry. At this rate, she won’t be able to take anymore hits until…”
“No, Twi, please don’t say she’ll die,” Pinkie said, a twinge of fear in her voice.
“No, she won’t die. She’ll pass out though from the lack of mana and sleep for a while,” Twilight said watching another volley of arrows came at them.
As the other ponies continued to talk about the situation, AJ began to listen to the arrow storm hit them again. She began to realize something, “They ain't real.”
“WHAT?!” was the collective response.
“Some of those arrows aren’t real. Look at them,” AJ said pointing to the sky full of arrows, “we should be hearing a bunch of arrows hitting us, but we ain't. Ah’m only hearing about four or five of them hitting the shield.”
At the sound of illusion magic at work, Twilight immediately closed her eyes and started to concentrate hard. Her horn glowing a bright blue to show her tapping into the blue mana pool, she began to call upon a scrying spell. In her mind, she could feel the mana of her friends nearby, a small collection of other ponies, and in the distance, a unicorn, “Fluttershy, I need you to open part of the shield for a moment,” Fluttershy wearily nodded, “ Rarity, I want you to fire a shot to where Fluttershy opens the shield, there’s a unicorn out there that needs to be shot.”
Nodding in agreement, the white unicorn brought out her crossbow and aimed it, her eyes focusing on the shot as a dressmaker would with a needle and thread. As the small window opened for her, Rarity pulled the trigger on her crossbow and let the bolt fly through the air, passed the archers and right into the shoulder of the spellcaster, knocking him out of the spell. Straightening her Stetson, AJ looked ahead as Fluttershy finally gave out to weakness and lowered the shield, “Alright then, lets show these homeboys how we do it COUNTRY STYLE!” AJ then yelled as she ran out into the field where seven pegasi were about to take flight.
Rainbow Dash, after checking to make sure Fluttershy was alright, took to the air in a rage, “I could care less about the small fry, I just want the idiot!” and with that, took off to the air above them and flew off.
“GUYS, wait!” Twilight tried to yell at the two mares, before turning to Fluttershy and making a makeshift fort of stone to keep her safe, “Rarity, Pinkie keep an eye on her. I need to take out the unicorn before it causes us anymore problems.”
With a curt nod, Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle, “Sweetie, get next to Fluttershy and stay there.” With a tweet of response, the little filly ran next to the fainted mare. Turning around, she watched as five pegasi began to fly towards her and her three friends, their crossbows drawn. Rolling out of the way where Fluttershy slept, she readied her crossbow and fired two shots, striking two airborne pegasi right in the chest and forcing them to the ground. As the two pegasi tried to recover from the arrow wounds in their right chest by pulling out the offending object, they heard a very loud screeching sound from behind them. Turning around, they could see a pink pony holding a long line of elastic material stuck between two wooden pillars. It did not take them long to realize what was going to happen, and even shorter to see the pink pony release the band and hit them with it. With a subtle “eep” the band hit the two pegasi and sent them flying through the air and to points unknown.
“Pinkie, how did you-“ Rarity asked as she jumps from the shots of three pegasi.
“Oh, I just used some of those rubber bands that you bought plus those poles you needed for practice,” Pinkie said, ducking under an arrow shot, “Hey! I was talking to my friend,” Pinkie said as she loaded up the slingshot and fired, missing the pegasus, but leaving room for Rarity to shoot.
Elsewhere, Twilight began to run towards the unicorn that had produced the spell, teleporting in short bursts to avoid getting shot at by the pegasi. Once she reached the unicorn in question, she lowered her head and charged up her horn in a violet aura. The dark blue unicorn with the red mane chuckled, “So, if it isn’t the princess’s pet, Twilight Sparkle,” Red Rose then ran her hoof through her mane and chuckled, “I’m not really impressed.”
“I’m sorry for disappointing you, ma’am.” Twilight said, being as formal to another unicorn as she could, “Now, unless you want to be impressed, I’d advise you to back down.”
Red again let out a little chuckle before charging up her horn and generate the liquid orbs, “How about, no.” She said, launching the three orbs at Twilight. As they neared their target, the three orbs turned into three sharp ice spikes and picked up momentum. Thinking quickly, Twilight formed up a purple barrier that blocked the three shots. Dropping the barrier for only a moment, Twilight’s horn glowed a bright white and fired a white ray from it that froze the air around it at Red’s hooves.
As the ray came at her, Red jumped out of the way, but not in enough time to stop the ray from hitting her hind leg. Letting out a grunt as she hit the ground, she struggled to get back up on only three of her legs. A small chuckle escaped her mouth as she fired a colorless ray from her horn that pushed Twilight back, followed by three ice spears.
Seeing the three spears coming towards her, Twilight quickly rolled out of the way. However, she then saw an arrow made of a green fluid fly towards her, leaving her with little time to duck. Lowering herself to the ground quickly, she managed to dodge the arrow but was still scratched along her back. Letting out a small scream of pain at the arrow’s acidic touch, she looked toward her opponent with a growl and lowered her horn to the ground, making Red look on in curiosity. The blue mare’s curiosity was sated when the ground beneath her opened up in a wide crack, making her slip in with a yelp.
Before Red was trapped by the fissure, she quickly used a teleport spell to get out and back onto the ground. Looking up at Twilight, she let out a small chuckle and sneered at her opponent, “This is going to be fun.”
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AJ ran out into the field and watched as two pegasi took to the air in order to shoot from above. Straightening her stetson, she reached behind her and pulled out her lasso to begin twirling it above her head. Tossing the rope at one of the airborne pegasi, she lassoed the airborne pony by the neck and then gave the rope a sharp tug with her mouth, slamming the pegasus into his comrade. As they crashed to the ground, AJ ran to where they landed and leaped onto their backs, slamming her forehooves onto their heads and knocking them out.
As she stood over the downed pegasi, her ears began to perk at the sound of rustling grass. Raising her head, she looked around as 8 pegasi arose from the grass: two of them wielding crossbows, while the rest held blades in their mouths and attached to their wings. Turning to the green pegasi with the crossbows on their hooves, ready to fire, she ran straight at them. As she ran headlong to the two foes, she had to make a quick swerve to dodge one bolt, but taking one in the shoulder, AJ delivered a crushing right hoof into the foreleg of one of the pegasi and breaking the foreleg along with the crossbow. Using her left hoof to deliver a knockout uppercut to the pony in front of her, she raised up with her hind legs and bucked the pegasus behind her in the chest with an audible crack.
As the pegasus fell backward from the blow, AJ quickly moved to step on the crossbow and break it. This small distraction cost her, however, as three of the pegasi quickly flew in and slashed at her back, cutting deeply. Collapsing to the ground in pain, she swept one of her forehooves to trip the pegasus to her left and rolled back on her feet. Seeing only the three before her reminded her of the three behind her, of which she ducked and jumped out of the way to keep an eye on. Now facing down 6 pegasi, what followed was a series of dodges and attacks by the six warriors, a dance of blades and kicks that moved along the green dance floor.
Though she was dodging most of the hits and was able to deliver some blows back, the damage to her chest, legs, and back were beginning to show. She had to make an opening soon, and one came to her as she ducked under one of the pegasi’s slashes. Grabbing his foreleg with her own, she pulled him into the way of one of the pony’s killing strikes, letting the blade slash across the back and wings of her pony shield. Dropping the downed pegasus, she spun around to buck the opponent straight into the chest, breaking the ribs and making him drop his dagger. Picking the blade up with her mouth, she turned her head and threw the dagger at a flying pegasus and hit him in the chest, sending him crashing to the ground.
Panting and feeling the blood trickle from the wounds on her legs, she looked up at the three pegasi in front of her. Defiantly, she put her hoof to her Stetson and straightened it, before raising her left hoof and waved it at her opponents, the smirk on her face never leaving her face. With a yell, the three pegasi leapt through the air at her and, in a few quick blows, took the three down in seconds. Stumbling a little, she walked away from the group, only to be bucked hard on the side by a powerful kick. Slowly getting up, she looked at the opponent who struck her and looked on with horror.
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Rainbow Dash flew quickly towards a large blue pegasus, a scowl on her face as she yelled out, “Lightning!”
The pegasus with the scar across his face winced at hearing his name yelled by the cyan pegasus, “Ah,” he said, rising and feeling the phantom pain of his missing wing, “Welcome. Dash.”
“Fancy seeing you here, dirt head,” Dash said, referring to the brown mane that decorated the stallion’s head, “ and here I thought the emperor only wanted talented flyers in his army.”
Lightning let out a small growl as he put a hoof to the scar on his left side, “I would still be a talented flier, if you didn’t take that away from me.” He said, his tone never changing from the low growl tone.
“Aw quit your whining,” Dash said without a tinge of sympathy, “You got what you deserved for being a big bully.”
“I was only demonstrating the great gift of our people, Dash,” Crack said, getting up and walking in front of Dash, “it’s a better fate than wasting those talents on the freaks and those retarded earth ponies.”
“My friends are not FREAKS!” Dash said, leaping at Crack, only to be punched hard and sent flying.
“Earth ponies are freaks and retards, only good for farming and serving those of us higher on the food chain. Those of us who have some real skills that require real talent to prefect are meant to hoard it over the earth bound creatures, while they… well, I think you can see,” Crack said, walking next to a brown Earth pony stallion. Walking slowly, the one winged pegasus put a hoof to the stallion’s head and moved the mane from the forehead to show a series of stitches, “Allow me to demonstrate. Do you know what these scars are for?”
Rainbow slowly got up, shaking her head to clear the ringing, “N-no.”
“See, he was a member of a failed rebellion a few months back. He had the audacity to think we could be defeated by the likes of them and, as he found out, he was wrong. Now, I couldn’t see us wasting such wonderful talent, so me and a few unicorns went into the soldier’s skulls and cut out some of their frontal lobes. So now, they are what all Earth ponies are meant to be, brainless creatures of the soil that will use their raw strength for the good of the empire. Thus, they have fulfilled their true use in this world. But I think she needs a better example… Crackle, kill.”
“Crackle?” Dash asked as she leaped to the side to avoid the charge.
“Yes, a set of triplets: Snap, Crackle, and Pop.” Lightning said, a smile on his lips, “they were known as the Crispies squadron, back when they had brains.” He chuckled as he watched Dash and the Earth pony begin to wage a quick battle.
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AJ struggled and grunted under the weight of the Earth Pony stallion above her, his forehoof pressed tightly against her neck. With the way her eyes were beginning to droop, she knew that she had only about a minute before she would pass out. Lookin’ down, she adjusted her hind leg in between the mindless stallion’s legs and raised her hind leg right in the stallion’s sensitive spot. Though he did not look like he could realize the pain, it did make him loosen his grip enough for AJ to uppercut his chin and to roll out of the way.
Getting up, she quickly began to try and regain her breath as she watched the stallion paw at the ground, “BUCK!” Her mind yelled to herself as she realized the stallion was going to charge at her. Leaping to the side in time to get out of the stallion’s way, leaving him open for her to spin and deliver a hind leg straight into the stallion’s side. A smile crept to her face as she watched the stallion stumble a bit, but then look on in shock as he turned to her as if the blow did nothing.
Growling, the stallion went up to the orange mare and reared up on his hind hooves. Putting in additional weight into his attack he struck AJ’s shoulders with both of his forehooves and then wailed his hooves against her head. In an attempt to slow down the assault, AJ delivered a hard headbutt to the stallion and then wailed on his head with a series of blows before bucking him hard in the chest. She smiled when she felt something give, but was then shocked to watch him spin around buck AJ hard with his own hind legs and sent her flying through the air.
AJ slowly got back up, holding her right leg to her chest and panted, “What the BUCK is wrong with this guy. Ah hit him in the chest, Ah felt something break in there, Ah HEARD something break in there, but that guy keeps coming!” AJ then watched as the stallion pawed the ground once more, getting ready for another charge. Smirking and spitting out some blood, the young blonde mare stood her ground and waited. Her eyes became focused on the stallion before her, watching him, reading his charge, her lids narrowing as they looked at her target. Slowly her breathing became as place her forehoof back and braced herself. With a roar the stallion charged at her, and in response AJ thrusted her left hoof out as hard as she could into the charging stallion’s skull.
The force of the punch made the stallion reel back and lumber from side to side, until he finally collapsed to the ground. Watching as the stallion lay there motionless, the farmer turned around and began to walk to where Rainbow Dash was fighting, “He was dead already, he was dead already,” she mumbled to herself, tilting her hat over her eyes.
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Rarity stumbled back a bit as she tried to hide behind the little cover she had left. As she did so, she let out a yelp of pain and looked to her left foreleg, her white coat now being stained red with the blood that was oozing out of the two arrow wounds. Looking to the side, she smiled as she could see that her friend and sister were all right while also looking over at how Pinkie was doing.
Pinkie Pie let out another cheer as she fired another round at the two remaining pegasi with her catapult, the third having been already taken out by a shot from both of the mares. A smile on her face came easily to her as she fired her next round, taking out the second pegasus and leaving only one left. Though she had some wounds on her, the pink mare gave a hooves up to her friend. This joyous victory was soon ended by a charging stallion that bucked Pinkie Pie hard into the rock shelter that Twilight had made to protect Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle. Struggling to get up, Pinkie Pie let out a yell as she looked down at her right foreleg and noted that it bent the wrong way, and with an attempt to ignore it she tried to push herself up. However, she did not see the stallion come up behind her, place his hoof behind her head and slam it to the ground hard several times before picking her up and slamming her hard to the ground.
“Pinkie!” Rarity yelled and got ready to shoot, only to see a pegasus aim and fire a shot at Sweetie Belle. Not having time to think, the white mare leapt in front of the shot and took the arrow into the side of her chest. A scowl across her face, Rarity fired a shot into the pegasus’s chest, taking him out of the sky. Turning to the stallion as he continued to wail on Pinkie, she brought out her crossbow and fired a few rounds at him, hitting his chest and stomach when he read up to finish Pinkie off. With a growl, he turned to Rarity and raced to her.
Her eyes widened in horror before she could ready a shot as the stallion punched her hard in the face, and then slammed her head into the ground hard like he did to Pinkie Pie. Lifting her head up, he bucked her hard into the cover wall. Struggling to get up, the stallion bucked her hard into the wall twice before punching her hard in the side of the skull. With a shudder, the white unicorn collapsed to the ground in a heap, her blood spatter along the wall in a circle.
Raising his hoof up for a killing blow, a very loud, “YEEEHA!” Was heard as Pinkie Pie leapt up onto the back of the stallion and wrapped her forehooves around his neck tightly, “Come on, big guy, let’s go for a ride. WHEEEEEE!!” Pinkie squealed with glee as she tightened her grip around the stallion’s neck as he tried to buck her off. Her grip never loosened as the stallion bucked harder and harder, until he finally collapsed in a heap from the stranglehold.
Limping, Pinkie Pie made her way to the unconscious Rarity, a light giggle coming to her, “Hey, Rarity, guess he didn’t,” Pinkie Pie coughed a little as looked at the various bruises and wounds that littered her barrel and stomach, “Want to play.” She then coughed a little, leaving a trail of blood onto her hoof, “Mind if…I sleep here…for a bit?” She asked as she collapsed.
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The ground around and in front of the two unicorns was a destroyed mess of turned up ground, frozen grass, and shattered rocks. Twilight stared down her opponent, panting a little as she could feel the sweat slide down from her brow and down her snoot, tiredness from using so many spells was catching up to her. Her opponent was faring no better, though, as she was breathing hard and had just barely managed to shrug off the effects of some of Twilight’s cold and wind spells that left her hind leg useless and several wounds on her body. Red let out a low growl of frustration and rage as she produced two fireballs on her horn sent them flying forth.
Twilight’s eyes opened wide in utter terror as she saw the flaming orbs coming at her fast, “NO! Stay away!” She screamed as she erected a stone wall in front of her quickly to absorb the damage from the fire balls, turning the walls into two stone pillars. Putting her hoof to her chest in fear, she quickly tried to calm herself down by slowing down her breathing. Turning her head to her opponent, her eyes began to narrow in determination, a glare coming from her. Her eyes then looked up to the two stone pillars and then she smirked as she thought of the spell to use to finish the fight. Pointing her horn towards Red, she began to charge up her mana within her horn to make it crackle and snap with tiny bolts of electricity. Continuing to envelop her horn with a small dome of white electricity, she turned her eyes to Red and focused on her target with a spear like focus.
Red arched an eyebrow at the actions of her purple opponent, trying to find out what she was doing. Her curiosity was soon replaced with fear as she watched her launch a forked lightning bolt from her horn to the two pillars. Once the split lightning bolts connected with the pillars they then leapt from the stone work and back onto Red, hitting her hard on both sides. Red let out a horrifying scream as she felt the lightning surge through her body, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and the fine hairs of her coat snap and burn at the touch of the lightning. Her body began to twitch and writhe in pain as the lightning began to fry and shock her body, making certain parts of her tender flesh suffer painful burns.
After a minute of electrocution, Twilight stopped the spell and freed Red from her trap. Taking a few steps toward the fallen blue unicorn, Twilight began to hope that she didn’t put too much power into her lightning and that she did not kill her opponent. As if to reassure her, Red Rose shot her head up in pure rage and wrapped her horn in a bright cyan flame. In horror, Twilight took several steps back as the unicorn erected a giant wall of fire between her and Twilight. The young violet mare stood there, her body paralyzed at the sight of the blue flame as she heard Red laugh as she ran off, “We’ll meet again, Twily.”
As the fire roared in front of her, Twilight fell to her haunches and watched the flames with wide eyes. She did not move or run as she just watched, tiny shivers going through her as the flames continued to burn itself out.
_____
Dash flew a steps back from her Earth pony opponent, a small trickle of blood coming from the side of her lips as she looked at the pony before her. Though her body was covered in bruises,cuts, and she was currently favoring her left side, she was still ready to go for a few more rounds and as if to show it, she slowly wiped the blood from her lips definitely, smirking. Her magenta eyes looked over her foe and couldn’t help but to appreciate that, for everything that the behemoth had done to her, she had done double to it. The deep cuts, the scars, and the fact that that his left foreleg was now limp was all she needed to see to know that the stallion was hurting, “What the buck is wrong with this guy?” Dash thought to herself as she watched him stumble towards her, “It’s like everything I did to him meant nothing! Just what is this locomitize or whatever thing anyway?”
A sinister smile came to her as she brought up her hoof blade to her face, “Well, let’s see him ignore this.” With that, she launched herself at the lumbering stallion, flying around in a small circle and slashing at him in a rainbow blur of speed and agility. Landing right behind him, she placed her hoofblade to her chest and turned her head over her shoulder, looking at the stallion with a smirk as he collapsed on his now useless leg.
“Beautiful,” Lightning said as he stood up, straightening his wing and extending the wing blade that was attached, “Just as expected of the former commander. It’s just a shame that I am going to now beat you when you are at your weakest, I would’ve loved to fight you when you were healed.”
“Why, is it because you know you could NEVER win otherwise?” Said Dash as she smirked, her hoofblade sheathed,
“Spoken like a true bully. Always having to hide in big bad packs to help you pick on the weak and defenseless.”
“I am not a bully, it’s just that I would prefer to show off the strength and skill-“ He began but was interrupted by Dash.
“Oh, don’t give me that bull. You are only using that as an excuse to hide all of that fear that’s hiding in you. To me, you are still that, “Dash continued, watching the one-winged Pegasus’s eyes flare in pure rage, “weak little colt that ran behind his mommy when he was frightened. The same little colt that had to keep begging the teachers to give him another chance whenever he failed, that grew up to be a monster that wanted everypony to suffer like he did.”
“SHUT THE BUCK UP,” Lightning yelled as he leapt at Dash with wing-blade extended. Dash could only smile as the two’s blades collided with a musical ting. The two struggled with their blade lock as their eyes locked onto one another, each with their own message and desire. What Dash’s were laid back there where she left them, while the stallion before her only had the look of a pony that wanted her dead. The two broke away from their blade lock and stared at each other, wanting to await for the other to present an opening to the other.
… Patience was never Rainbow Dash’s strongpoint…
Not wanting to wait for an opening to present itself, Dash flew at her foe, the two’s blades hitting and striking each other in a rapid volley of blows and strikes. Like a pair of dancers on a green dancefloor, the two ponies began to strike at each other, their swords flashing and gleaming with the lowering of the afternoon sun. It did not take long, only a few seconds at most, for their clash to end and for the two fighters to land on the other side of one another and their backs to one another. Slowly Dash put her hoof to her left leg as it began to trickle a small bit of blood down her cyan leg. Quickly, she turned to the foe she had been fighting with, smiling as she saw the gash on his chest, “There, another scar to add to your collection. Enjoy.”
“ Why you-OOOOOf,” He yelled as a pair of orange hooves bucked him hard in the side, sending him flying to the ground.
“Howdy Rainbow,” AJ said, panting as she walked to her friend, “is this that friend you were talking about?”
“Yeah, kind of a pushover though,” Dash said, smirking. “ I didn’t think he was worth your time so I decided to deal with him.”
AJ watched as the blue stallion got slowly back up, “ Why thank ya kindly, Dash. But you see, he did some horrible things to those stallions and Ah figured Ah need to repay him in full.” With that she straightened up her Stetson and glared down her opponent.
The stallion let out a low growl as he prepared to strike down the two ponies,but then had to turn around quickly when he heard Red Rose calling him, “Sir, we need to retreat. I’m low on mana, most of our team is down, and our stallions are all beaten.”
“But I have the commander at my mercy and I am about to kill her friend,” Lightning said.
“Sir, please, as your right hand mare I beg of you to rethink your desire for revenge,” She said, panting as she looked into her commander’s green eyes, “ I barely was able to weaken Twilight Sparkle and I am afraid that if you fight those two as you are and manage to kill them… Twilight Sparkle might have just enough mana to kill you sir. And I can’t bear to see that happen… SIR.”
“But they-” Lightning began.
“They can wait,” Red said, holding Lightning’s chin in her hooves and looking him straight in the eyes, “if you run you can always have another chance, but if you die then I… I mean the team loses something special. Now I can use what’s left of my mana to teleport us and the team out of here. Then we can regroup and strike again at full strength. Sir, I beg you, please trust me.”
The stallions eye’s soften a little as he looked at the unicorn before him, “Ok. Let’s go.”
With a smile, Red’s horn glowed brightly and teleported the entire group away from the field, leaving it barren except for the cyan mare and her friend. With a grunt of frustration, Dash slammed her hoof to the ground while AJ placed a hoof onto her shoulder. Before they turned to head back to the others, they Twilight yell as she ran up, “Guys!”
“Twilight,” AJ said, looking at her, noting how tired she was, “You alright, sugarcube?”
“That’s what I should be asking you,” Twilight said, looking at the damage that had been done to her two friends, “ you look like you have been trampled.”
Turning her head to where the Pegasus and the unicorn once were, Dash remarked “You should see the other guys.”
Turning to look back towards the road where their friends laid, Twilgiht let out a deep breath, “I hope that the others are ok though. The pegasi… OH MY CELESTIA, PINKIE!” Twilight screamed as she ran to the fallen ponies, laying there in small pools of blood.
“RARITY!” AJ called out as she ran to the two ponies, Dash flying right behind them.
“Sweetie Belle, you ok kid?!” Dash yelled out, hoping that the pegasi didn’t try and kill the little unicorn filly. A sorrowful flute sound played from behind her as the little white filly was playing some music right behind her and hidden next to Rarity’s body, “There you are.” Dash said, a smile on her lips as she landed next to her.
Fearfully, Twilight began to look over the two bodies, “They aren’t… ”the words couldn’t escape her lips.
AJ placed a hoof to the two mare’s necks, “No, they ain't,” AJ said, letting out a sigh of relief, “They are just really badly hurt. What they need is some medical care and a lot of rest.”
“Well, we should be fine then,” Dash said, flying behind the cover and picking up the still sleeping Fluttershy and then looking back at the still sad Sweetie Belle, her eyes watering with tears as she looked up at Twilight, “ Lets’ just wait till Flutters wakes up and have Sweetie over there play her music to heal every pony up.”
“I don’t think the magic is that simple,” Twilight said as she looked to the others, using her magic to create a small sled for the three mares, “First, Fluttershy is going to be in that sleep of hers for the next two days. Second, look at Sweetie Belle,” she then pointed a violet hoof to the little filly as she began to nudge Rarity, trying to wake her up, “is she in any condition to play anything? You told me that her music is empathic.”
“Empah-whadda?” Dash asked, her eyebrow arched.
“It means that her music and magic are tied to her emotions,” Twilight said, “And right now, she is filled with worry and fear for her three friends. Who is to say what might happen if she plays now.”
“Twilight,” AJ said “Sweetie’s been playing since before we got here.”
Her eyes opened wide in shock and horror she ran to the bodies of her two friends and used her magic to look them over. A sigh of relief came to her lips, “It’s all right, the music just put the girls into a magic sleep for the next few days. But, we’ll have to hurry.”
“Why?” AJ asked as she helped Dash to place the three girls into the sled.
“Because in that time, the spell will wear off and then… they’ll-” Twilight stopped herself, closing her eyes to hold back the tears.
“We won’t let that happen!” Dash said, “We can't!”
“We can’t head back to Miasma, it’s two days away, but the next town,” Twilight said as she brought out a map, “Is only a day away.”
With a nod from the two other mares, they quickly began to make their way to the town. The sun beginning to fall over the horizon much like how their own hopes and feelings happiness were falling as opposed to the happiness they had when they had left the town. Now all that was there was a feeling of doubt and despair.
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In an encampment on top of a hill about a few miles away, Lightning watched the road that led to the town that sat underneath Mt. Shadowfax with a sneer. Though his team was badly beaten, he knew it was just a small bump in the road and the little rebels were soon to die. He softly chuckled to himself at the thought of Rainbow Dash broken, plucking her feathers out of her wings one by one while his ponies would torture and maim the farmgirl, “Well, somepony is happy.” Red said as she walked up to the blue Pegasus and sat down next to him, giving him a cup of the rum that she had bought from the town.
“Just thinking about seeing Dash again, and the things I will do to her when I get my hooves on her,” he then had a look of concern, “How are the ponies?”
“Of our company, we probably only have 10 that would be ready for another fight,” Red said, looking behind her, “and we can’t use our stallions.”
“Shame,” he said, before looking back to Red and rubbing his hoof through her mane, ruffling it, “And how are you?”
“Never better, that mana potion that the town makes did wonders for me,” the blue unicorn said with a smile, “Makes me ready to beat Twilight Sparkle when I see her again.”
“Oh, you have a plan?” Lightning asked.
“Yes,” she said with a smile, “It seems that our little perfect student has a big fear of fire. It looks like she can’t even stand to see a little firebolt.”
“Oooh, you play dirty,” Lightning said as he nuzzled the smaller blue unicorn, “ I guess that is what the witch gets for messing with most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”
“I am not,” Red said with a blush.
“Yes you are, and don’t think I won’t brag about you as much as I can,” Lightning said.
“Oh I expect it,” Rose said as she ran a hoof through her mane, she then looked up at Lightning, “Hey, lightning?”
“Yeah,” Lightning asked.
“Promise me you’ll play it smart against Dash when you face off against her, ok? I don’t want to lose you,” she said.
“I’ll be fine, watch me,” Lightning said, bringing in the mare into a hug and kissing her cheek.
“You better keep your word,” Red said as she looked at Lightning and nuzzle in close to his neck, “Big Brother.”
That night, the wounded travelers found a place to rest that would be safe from any surprise attacks. As Twilight sat down with her three sleeping friends, Sweetie Belle walked up to her and nudged her softly, “Can’t sleep huh?” Twilight asked as she watched the filly shake her head sadly, “I know the feeling, you’re worried about them and… you probably think you made things worse,” she then listen to the filly make a sad confirmation noise on her flute, “Oh, Sweetie, don’t think that. You did wonderfully.”
The little filly looked up with sad eyes, as if she was hoping that Twilight was right.
“Yes, you did. See, when you played your flute, you made a magic spell that was able to encase your sister and Pinkie Pie inside a magical field of energy that responded to the worry that was in your heart. The music saw that you were worried for them and mixed in with the magic to put them in a position where they could be safe enough for somepony to help them. If you didn’t, then the wounds they had would’ve killed them,” the violet mare smiled as Sweetie Belle’s eyes opened up wide in happiness, “ You see Sweetie, you saved them. You’re a hero,” Twilight said as she nuzzled the little filly.
From within the bushes, a pair of yellow eyes looked to the small camp, a smile creeping along the being’s face. Quietly, the being in shadow crept along the shadows to look at where AJ had gotten up and walked away for a bit, then she turned her head to look at Rainbow Dash as she rubbed the forehead of Fluttershy before kissing it. The creature’s eyes then narrowed as she focused on the blue Pegasus.
“Wait, who is it?” Scootaloo asked, on the edge of her bed, “Who’s watching them?”
“Well, I’ll tell you tomorrow squirt,” Dash said, helping the little orange foal into bed, “For now, bed.”
Sunny walked in quickly as Dash was getting up, “Wait, there is something I need to tell Scootaloo.”
“What is it,” Dash asked.
“It’s about her father, Swift Arrow,” Sunny said, looking down as she held the letter in her hoof.
“DAD!?” Scootaloo asked, happily, “What about him? Is he coming home? OH I can’t wait for him to meet Dash. Oh this is going to be-“
“He isn’t coming home,” Sunny said, the tears coming to her eyes uncontrollably.
Scootaloo sat on her bed in shock, “W-what?”
“This is a letter from the Royal Guard, its says that your father went with a small squadron of guards to the desert on a mission,” Sunny said, holding in some of her sobs as much as she could, “he and the others were looking into a rash of disappearances that were happening to some of the trade caravans in the area. They had been keeping contact with Canterlot with communication for the past week that they have been searching; however, the last message that they got was two days ago and they haven’t been able to contact him.”
“You mean… he’s gone?” Scootaloo said, tearing up as Dash held her close and gave her a big hug, rubbing her back.
“Yes, the letter says he’s M.I.A, Missing in Action. But that means-“ Sunny said but was interrupted by her young daughter.
“That he’s just missing and he’ll be back soon right?” Scootaloo said, breaking away from the hug and looking at her mother with wide hopeful eyes, “I mean, just because you are missing doesn’t mean he can’t be found, right?”
Slowly Dash got up and walked to Sunny, grabbing the letter in her hoof, “Right, squirt. This thing is just saying that they don’t know where he is right now. Watch this, in a few days your dad’ll be home with a big grin on his face and wide open arms.”
“Really?” Scootaloo asked.
“Yep, now you head to bed and go to sleep and he might get here even faster.” Then Dash looked to Sunny and tucked her chin, “I promise, he’ll come home… watch me.” And with that, she walked down the stairs and out the door, taking off into the moonlit night.