//------------------------------//
// C6: Charge! 
// Story: Night of the Gloomspinner 
// by Dark_Zurite 
//------------------------------//


C6: Charge!


Fluttershy, with her hooves covering her face, feeling every bump and bounce as Applejack dragged her along the ground, looked up and saw some of the gloomspawn cresting over the hill that they were just at. She covered her eyes again and whispered, “Oh...my.”
Applejack, with a mouthful of Fluttershy's tail, turned back and said, “At least try flying a bit, sugarcube.” Her eyes rolled up to the top of the hill and she gasped, “Whoa Nelly.” The earth pony poured on the speed, trying to yell, “Twilight, they're coming!”
Twilight was further along and couldn't understand Applejack with a mouth full of tail. She glanced back at the hilltop and saw what Applejack saw. “Come on girls, we have company.”
“Whee,” Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced along with Twilight.
“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said.
She zipped in front of Twilight, running backwards, “Yes Twilight?” Her eyes fluttered rapidly with a big smile on her face.
“Go help Applejack with Fluttershy.”
“Okey dokey lokey,” she said and zipped away just as fast as she had appeared.
Twilight rolled her eyes and continued clearing a path for the others.
Rarity caught up with Twilight, gasping for breath, “Do you think Midnight is okay?”
Before Twilight could answer her, the sound of Rainbow Dash yelling caught her attention. She looked up and watched as she saw her carrying Midnight towards the cocoon.
Rarity sighed between gasps, “At least that is some good news, but what are we supposed to do about that thing?” She indicated the massive pulsating cocoon that they were approaching.
“I'll look for the gloomheart and shatter it,” Twilight said. “That will stop everything. I'll need everypony else to keep the swarm off of me.”
“Swarm?” Rarity asked. Twilight indicated behind her. Rarity looked back and saw the creatures cresting the hill and forming what seemed like an ocean. She gasped and poured on more speed. “I'll meet you there, darling.”
Rainbow Dash came down for a landing, setting Midnight on the ground as gently as possible. Midnight stumbled a bit and found a nearby boulder. Rainbow Dash asked, “You okay?” Midnight ran behind the boulder and the sounds of her emptying her stomach could be heard. Rainbow Dash groaned, “Oh, sorry.”
Rarity ran up to Rainbow Dash and asked, “Where's Midnight?” The sound of Midnight retching behind the boulder answered her question.
“What happened?” Rarity asked.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I flew as gently as I could.”
Twilight met up with the others, panting. Before she could ask the same question Rarity asked, Midnight came out from behind the boulder, coughing and snuffling to clear her nose. Rarity ran up to Midnight and before she hugged her, she used her magic to pull out a hooferchief and wiped Midnight's face, who had gotten some of the contents of her stomach on it. 
“I'm glad you're okay,” Rarity said, hugging her after she was cleaned up.
“Sorry,” Midnight said. “I get air sick very easily.”
“It's cool,” Rainbow Dash said. “At least you're alright.”
Midnight nodded. “Thank you for coming to get me.”
“No problem,” Rainbow Dash said.
“You shouldn't do such crazy things like that,” Rarity gently scolded her.
“Yeah, that's my job,” Rainbow Dash said rather proudly.
Midnight looked up at the cocoon. “So, we need to find the gloomheart?”
Twilight nodded. “I'll look, your shadowsight will help me with that. Then I can blast it out and we can shatter it.'
“The rest of us,” Midnight said, using her magic to lift a tree branch and put it in her mouth to use as a club.
Rainbow Dash flexed her wings, getting ready for a fight.
Rarity dropped a set of extra large, sharp needles on the ground. With her magic, she levitated them into the air. “We will have to keep them away from Twilight.”
Rainbow Dash looked at the needles, “Why were you carrying those?”
“Well,” Rarity said, tossing her hair, “I am a fashionista and don't normally get into the rough and tumble that you do. However, I have been in battles with dragons, manticores, changlings, diamond dogs, Nightmare Moon and Discord. I do tend to use my wits to get out of a bad situation, but I have started to carry with me a way to protect myself in case I am in a situation where my charm will not work.” She flipped her mane again, “Besides, I might need to fix a hem on a dress or something, too.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Good point.”
Twilight started working on locating the gloomheart in the cocoon.


*


Pinkie Pie met up with Applejack, who was lagging behind due to dragging Fluttershy with her. With her normal bubbly voice, and running backwards, she greeted the southern styled earth pony with an enthusiastic, “Hi!”
Applejack muttered something, but Pinkie couldn't understand her with Fluttershy's tail in her mouth.
“What did you say?” she asked. “I think it had to do with me wanting to eat some pie?”
Applejack shook her head and said something else. Pinkie Pie shook her head in confusion. “I still didn't understand you. Here, let me help you with Fluttershy and you can tell me once we are with the others.”
Applejack rolled her eyes as Pinkie Pie grabbed Fluttershy's tail.
Fluttershy whimpered. “Not so hard, please.” The two earth ponies muttered something that she couldn't understand. She continued to keep her hooves over her eyes, wanting to block out the scary spider things from her sight. She could tell they were not animals because she couldn't understand them in the same way that she could normally understand animals. They looked upon her like a meal. So many thoughts came to Fluttershy's mind as she was being dragged along, mostly of her friends and everypony in Ponyville.
When she had just enough courage mustered to remove her hooves from her eyes, she was able to look up and see the spider creatures closing in on her. She shrieked in a muffled tone, “They're right behind us!”
The two earth ponies muttered something, but Fluttershy couldn't understand them with her tail in their mouths.
She gulped, fear giving her just enough strength to put her wings out and fly away from the danger. This fear was strong enough to drag the two earth ponies with her. Soon, they found themselves lifted off the ground and holding onto Fluttershy's tail. Pinkie grabbed onto the tail with her hooves and spit it out to cry, “Wee,” as she flew through the air.
Fluttershy, having flown as fast and as hard as she could, came in for a landing next to Rainbow Dash, panting and wheezing to catch her breath. Rainbow Dash gave her a quick hug and said, “Nice job, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy mumbled behind her breaths and yelled in a soft voice, “They're right behind us.”
Applejack spat out Fluttershy's tail, “We know, sugarcube. What's the plan, y'all?”
Pinkie Pie pulled the party cannon out of nowhere and yelled, “Party!”
Midnight asked Rarity, “Where did she get that?”
Rarity shrugged, “We don't ask such questions, darling, it's safer.”
Midnight facehooved.
Rainbow Dash flexed her wings one more time. “We keep the bugs at bay while Twilight figures out how to deal with the big smooshy glob back there.”
Applejack nodded, readying her lasso. “Sounds like a plan.”
“What....what will happen if those things touch us?” Fluttershy asked, chewing a bit on her hooves.
Midnight answered. “One or two aren't so bad, but if they swarm you, they will sap the energy out of your body and you will be helpless while they spin their webs around you.”
Fluttershy gasped and hid under her hooves again.
Rainbow Dash bolted at the creatures, barreling through them and scattering them about. Applejack followed by lassoing one of them as they flew up into the air and used it as a blunt object, smashing it through the others. Pinkie Pie fired her party cannon, the shell of party favors tore through the creatures with immense force. Rarity used her magic to send the needles in a spray of deadly steel, taring apart the creatures. Midnight swatted away those that got too close with her makeshift club. Fluttershy maintained her position behind the line, covering her head with her hooves. Their attacks caused the spawns to dissipate into mist and float away.
Twilight searched over the immense cocoon, using shadowsight to find a small sphere. It was difficult, for the spell made the entire cocoon glow brightly, while the object that she was looking for didn't glow at all. It was like looking for a speck of dust on a light bulb.
While her friends continued the battle with the spinners, Twilight started using blasts from her horn to put holes in the cocoon, but still wasn't able to locate the sphere. She tried looking for it without the shadowsight, but was unsuccessful. “Shoot, I can't find it. The shadowsight is making the cocoon too bright.”
Midnight swatted at another gloomspawn, yelling back, “You can adjust the vision's depth and brightness. You just have to concentrate.”
Twilight started looking again, this time concentrating to lower the depth of the shadowsight and lowered the brightness of the cocoon. A few blasts and she saw the dark spot, just a hoof wide in size. “I found it.”
“Good,” Midnight said. “Can you hit it?”
“I'm trying it now,” Twilight said, firing upon the dark spot with blasts of magic. The blasts seemed to cause no damage to the orb. The cocoon quickly wrapped itself around the dark spot. “Shoot.”
Rainbow Dash climbed high into the air, above the masses of the swarm, watching the creatures dissipate and their remains float to the tree line up the hill and reform. She snorted, “This is hopeless. I better try something.” She climbed a little bit higher and dove down to hit the ground.
“Incomin'!” Applejack yelled.
“What?” Midnight asked.
Rainbow Dash hit the ground at full speed, creating an explosion of force that formed a sonic rainboom. This caused masses of the creatures to be destroyed in the explosion.
“Whoa Nelly,” Applejack said, pausing only for a moment to hold her hat on.
“What was that?” Midnight gasped, dropping her club.
“That was a sonic rainboom, darling,” Rarity said, barely batting an eyelash. “She does them all the time since the Best Young Fliers Competition.”
Rainbow Dash stood up after having hit the ground, her vision started spinning. She realized that crashing into a barn is softer than the ground. She wobbled on her legs, unable to orientate herself. She turned to see that some of the spinners had somehow avoided the full effect and were recovering. She tried to take off, but her head throbbed and it caused her to stumble. She tried to fly again, but she stumbled and fell prone on the ground as the spinners closed in on her.
Rainbow Dash found herself lifted off of the ground, mostly, as she felt herself being half carried and half dragged  away from the swarm by a yellow pegasus. She looked up, “Thanks, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy gently scolded her, “You shouldn't try such crazy stunts.”
With a groan, Rainbow Dash rubbed her head and replied, “It's my job.”
Fluttershy brought her back behind Applejack, who was fighting frantically to keep the swarm at bay. “They jus' keep on comin'.”
Rainbow Dash worked on regaining her bearings. “They keep reforming at he forest edge.”
“What!” Applejack gasped.
“Oh no,” Fluttershy squeaked. “What are we gonna do?”
Pinkie Pie fired another shot. “Keep the party going, of course.”
Rarity filled another spinner with needles. “Twilight, did you hear that?”
Twilight glanced back at Rarity, “Yeah, I heard.”
“What are we gonna do, darling?” Rarity asked.
They heard Applejack yell, “I need some help over here,” losing her breath as the spawns started to get too close for comfort.
Twilight began firing at the spawns. Applejack yelled back, “Thanks sugarcube.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled.
Pinkie Pie sighed. “I'm all out of party favors.”
Twilight groaned. “This is hopeless. If we can't take out the gloomheart, we will not make it.”
Pinkie Pie beamed with an idea. She ran up to Twilight, shaped her tail like a seat and jumped in. She pulled out a camouflaged army helmet and donned it. The sounds of gears came from nowhere as she moved imaginary levers that turned Twilight around. With a deep, commanding voice, she sneered, “Fire!”
“Pinkie, what are you....” Twilight began to protest, only to be silenced as her horn started to fire rapidly into the mass of spinners, taking them out in droves. “Never mind, keep firing.”
“Yes ma'am, sir, ma'am, sir,” Pinkie Pie said, continuing to fire.
Midnight's jaw dropped. “What in Equestria?”
“Don't ask,” Rainbow Dash said.
Pinkie Pie continued to fire Twilight into the crowd, backing up Applejack's lasso attack with a barrage of magic beams.
Fluttershy busied herself with helping Rainbow Dash to her hooves. “Are you okay?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I'm fine. What's going on?”
“It's terrible,” Fluttershy stammered. “Pinkie's out of party favors, Midnight and Rarity are holding their own for now and Applejack is not going to last much longer. Pinkie is using Twilight as a...um, I don't know, but it is helping keep the spider things off of Applejack. But...” she squeaked, covering her mouth with her hooves.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “I get the idea.”
“What...what are we....” Fluttershy squeaked again.
“I know what we aren't gonna do,” Rainbow Dash said, putting her hooves on Fluttershy's shoulders.
“What's that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called her.
Rainbow Dash finished her sentence, “We are not gonna give up.”
“No,” Fluttershy said, gaining courage. “We can't give up.” She went to try and help Applejack.
“Exactly,” Rainbow Dash flew off, joining up with Twilight.
“Rainbow....” Twilight said between volleys of blasts from her horn. “There you are,” another volley. “Are you okay?”
Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, wincing in pain. “Never mind me. Applejack is not gonna hold out much longer.”
Twilight fired off another volley. “I know.” Another volley. “Midnight!”
Midnight approached, whacking another spawn with her club. “I hope you have a plan.”
Twilight fired another volley. “I do.” Another volley. “Rainbow, I'm gonna fire a beam into the cocoon and it should reveal the gloomheart.” another volley. “Then I'll hit it with a spell to make it glow brightly. I'll need you to grab it.”
Midnight waited for another volley to be fired. “What did you need me for?”
Twilight fired another volley. “I need you to grab the gloomheart if Rainbow Dash should drop it.”
“I won't drop it,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I hope not,” Midnight whispered to herself, looking at the creatures closing in on them.
Another volley. “Rainbow,” Twilight said, “tell Applejack and Fluttershy and get ready. You get ready too, Midnight.”
Midnight nodded and Rainbow Dash saluted. Before Midnight finished clubbing away a few more spinners, Rainbow Dash had flown over to Applejack and returned, getting into a stance to take off. “We're ready,” Midnight said.
“Pinkie!” Twilight yelled. “Turn me one hundred eighty two degrees counterclockwise.”
Another volley. “What?” Pinkie Pie gasped.
“Aim me toward the cocoon,” Twilight said.
“But...” Pinkie Pie wanted to protest, thinking of her friends.
“I know,” Twilight assured her. “But if we don't get rid of the gloomheart, this will never end.”
Pinkie Pie saluted. “Yes ma'am, sir, ma'am....something.” With a few cranks of unseen levers and the sounds of gears grinding, Twilight's back hooves slid along the ground, cutting grooves into the dirt, with her front hooves staying stationary as a pivot point. She aimed high and yelled, “Fire!”
Twilight's horn glowed brightly as power gathered at the tip, unleashing a massive beam upon the cocoon, cutting a groove into the surface, biting deep into the area where she last saw the gloomheart. Once she saw the sphere, she cast a spell that made it glow and yelled, “Rainbow. Go!”
Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air, taking to the sky like a bullet. She ascended above the cocoon, turned and descended, following the charred groove of the cocoon, grimacing at the smell of burning cocoon, whatever it is made of. As she closed in on the glowing sphere, she realized that she would not be able to grab it in mid-flight, so she kicked it loose and watched it fall, maneuvering to catch it on its way down.
The interior surface of the cocoon began to swell and move, forcing Rainbow Dash to veer out of the way. “What the hay?” she yelled as she passed the expanding area. As she closed in on the glowing sphere, another area swelled in the cocoon and then exploded with goo and an immense spider-like leg extended. Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid the leg, watching as the glowing sphere bounced off of another leg that extended from the cocoon. She veered to try and catch it, but the leg moved and knocked her upwards and out of control. Before she could right herself, another leg exploded from the cocoon and struck her, sending her tumbling through the air.
She yelled incoherently as she flew through the air, tumbling past Applejack's and Fluttershy's heads. Applejack ducked down instinctively, watching in horror as Rainbow Dash plowed into what was nearly a wall of spinners. The force sent the spider-like creature reeling, but Rainbow Dash was too dizzy and dazed to get to her hooves.
“Rainbow,” Applejack cried, dropping her lasso. Fluttershy squeaked out an, “Oh no,” and they went to help Rainbow Dash. They both took one of Rainbow Dash's hooves and tried to drag her as best they could. The spinners recovered and surrounded them. The three ponies were now back to back, standing with their hooves ready for a fight.
“Gals,” Applejack said, “it's been nice knowing ya.”
Rainbow Dash clopped her front hooves together. “It's not over yet.”
Fluttershy squeaked out a last gasp as the spinners swarmed the three ponies. They fought back as best they could, but the masses of the spinners were too much for them and they soon found themselves buried under them.
The spinners past the line that Applejack was holding and began to close in on the rest. Pinkie Pie kept firing Twilight as fast as she could into the masses while Rarity moved in close to them to try and back them up.
“They're gone, Twilight,” Rarity gasped. “Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, they're....”
“If we can get the gloomheart,” Twilight said between blasts, “the spawn will be gone and they will be fine. They are...” She gasped as her horn fizzled and her head throbbed in pain. Her front legs gave out and she fell forward, with Pinkie Pie rolling over her and landing in front of Twilight.
Pinkie Pie grabbed Twilight and tried to heft the unicorn over her shoulder. “Help me, Rarity, we have to get her...” She looked up at Rarity, who was staring in fear at something behind the pink pony. She swallowed hard, not wanting to see what Rarity was looking at.
The sheer weight of the spinners crashed upon her, knocking her into Rarity and sent Twilight tumbling to the ground. The spinners soon were upon the three as they gasped and screamed in fear.
During this, Midnight was watching the carnage of Rainbow Dash being knocked out of the way when the leg extended. She ignored Rainbow, thinking that the skilled pegasus would be fine. She ignored the sounds of the battle, figuring that they were just fighting a bit harder, and watched the glowing orb fall. She didn't notice that Twilight had stopped firing as the glowing orb bounced on the ground and she ran after it to pick it up. Her stomach churned at the oily taste.
“I got it, I...” Midnight's heart sank as she saw the spinners all around her, covering the areas where her friends were. In the masses of the creatures, she could see the hooves and legs of her friends reaching out for help. With a shuttering breath, she cried, “No.” Her legs trembled as she looked at Twilight, who looked at her for just a moment from the pile of the spawns as they covered her.
Twilight groaned with a weakening breath, “Midnight, run!”
Tears welled up in Midnight's eyes. With what courage she had left in her, she did what she was told, turned and ran with all of the strength she had in her legs. She ignored the sounds that the gloom queen was making as the light was fading from the sphere in her mouth. With shadowsight active, she plunged into the forest.


*


Weaving through the remaining webbing and pushing herself harder than she had ever pushed herself before, Midnight didn't stop nor did she spare a look back. She knew that the gloomspawn and the gloom queen would be following her to get the gloomheart. If they caught her, they would tear her apart.
"But the others would be okay", she thought. "As long as the others survived, that would be a fair trade. I ignored that sign outside of the forest that warned of the dangers. A filly's tale, I thought.”
Midnight continued to run through the forest with as much strength as she still had left in her.
"They came out into the forest, ignoring a warning of danger, just to find me.”
She tripped on a root, spraining an ankle. She groaned at the pain, but she kept running. "They are the heroes of Equestria and the country needs them more than me.”
Midnight collapsed from the exertion. The crystal orb fell from her mouth and landed in the mud. She struggled to catch her breath. “The gloomspawn will follow me and leave them alone. Then they can run away and get real help.” She ended her shadowsight and looked at her reflection in a puddle. With a hoof, she smashed at the image of herself and cursed, “Worthless.”
In the distance, she heard a sound like chittering. “The gloom queen,” she gasped silently. “It must be gathering its minions to come after me.” Her breathing evened out as she accepted her fate. “They can find me and the others will be safe.”
The water in the puddle stilled and as Midnight looked at it, she smashed it again. “No, the others will try and help me. They'll follow the gloomspawn and try and save me. They are too brave to run away and get help. They would only find my body and would get themselves....” She shook her head, blinking back tears.
Midnight recast her shadowsight, the gloomheart was a pit of black to her eyes now. Picking it up with her mouth, she scanned the area. “Must be a place where I can hide out. Delay them while I try and smash the gloomheart. Somewhere..” she beamed weakly, “a cave. At least it is something.” Midnight limped towards it.
Once in the cave, Midnight moved to the darkest corner she could find. She looked around for someplace flat that she could try and lay the crystal orb on. Finding the biggest rock she could lift, she smashed at the sphere. Not even a chip. With fear driving her, she smashed over and over again, but the sphere showed no signs of being affected by the blows. She smashed it one more time, letting the rock fall aside when the orb didn't shatter. Defeated, she laid on the flat stone, crying.
“I can't,” her voice wavered. “I am just an artist that got dragged out into an adventure that can't even help her friends.”
The gloom queen's chittering could be heard closer. Midnight snorted and got off of the rock. “I am not strong enough. I lift paint brushes, not rocks. I can barely open a can of paint thinner. I...” She spat the taste of the gloomheart out of her mouth. “I can't break this thing, I can't....”
A look of understanding came over her face. “It tastes oily, like...” She tapped at the crystal with her hoof, realizing that it felt kind of spongy, not hard like crystal. The chittering was closer now. “It's here,” she gasped. “Only one more thing left to try.”
She cast a spell, her horn glowing and touched it to the gloomheart. It glowed only for a few moments. She heard the chittering loud and clear now. It was near. One last shot, she  thought, hefting the rock over her head. She could feel some gloomspawns crawling on her back. One had made it to her head. The chittering was so loud now that Midnight knew that the gloom queen was just outside of the cave. Her horn glowed as she added what little of her telekinetic magic she had to the force of the blow. With one last cry, she yelled, “Don't let them die!” 
The reassuring sound of a crunch echoed in her ears. With barely a spark of magical energy, her hair was gently blown back and the light from the sphere broke her shadowsight spell. She closed her eyes at the bright light, letting it fill the cave, shielding her eyes with her hoof.
After the bright light passed, an eerie silence fell upon her, only broken by her own heavy breathing. Midnight kept her eyes closed, waiting for the end, knowing that the gloom queen was going to crush her any moment. If she opened her eyes, she would see it coming.
Minutes passed and she found herself still alive. Midnight dared to open her eyes. An immense spider-like leg with a wickedly sharp talon on it was held inches from her. She gasped, looking at it in horror, watching for any movement. After realizing that it wasn't moving, she touched it with her hoof. The leg started to disintegrate, first turning into dust and then vanishing like vapor. She watched as the hoards of the gloomspawn had followed their queen into vapor and the webbing in the forest faded away.
With a hoof, she wiped the sweat from her brow. Looking down, she saw what was in the gloomheart, a smaller looking gloomspawn. It didn't move. "So it is true," she said. "The Gloomspinner can't exist outside of its crystal sphere. It will remain dorment until it can reform its sphere." With a sigh, she grabbed it with her mouth and left the cave. "That will take weeks to recreate its sphere." After a moment of determining the right direction, she picked her way back to her friends, hoping that they were safe.