//------------------------------// // Thunderhead and Distorted Void // Story: My Little Forumites are Magic // by Mx Story Anomalax //------------------------------// http://preview.tinyurl.com/mrn63jw It had already been a few days since they started out, and even though it took more strength to fly around in this universe than it did in paradox space, Phynicxs and Smeareyes had flown Pinkie Pie (who wouldn't shut up with her marching music; although thankfully she occasionally switched songs) and Twilight over the smaller mountainous regions. Thankfully Fluttershy was a pegasus, even if she wasn't that fast. They were now in some swampy areas and occasionally had to fly over some rivers, which made travelling much easier; although much more tiring - mainly because of the concrete gravity. Occasionally Phynicxs would send a message and get a response back from Celestia afterward about the status of Equestria. The corruption was slow, but that didn't mean there was time to slack off. Smeareyes would occasionally entertain Pinkie Pie with captchalogue card tricks and seemed to have a natural knack for coming up with new ones, which made Pinkie a very happy camper. Smeareyes would occasionally use the excuse that he needed silence to concentrate in order to get Pinkie Pie to back down and keep quiet, which made everyone happier. Despite the comforting responses from Celestia, Phynicxs still felt nervous about resting for more than a few hours - excluding sleep. When the group came close to the largest river in the area, they heard some singing (that wasn't Pinkie Pie) coming from up ahead in the sky. What they saw confused them. There was a small dot flying around in the distance, and continued to do so until the figure got startled by something and dove close to the ground, underneath the canopies of trees followed by a dragon that swooped in out of nowhere, creating a wind pressure that almost brought things with it, if it hadn't been for Twilight grabbing the others with her telekinesis. Phynicxs was the first to react and flew over the river, followed by Smeareyes who looked back and told them to take care of Fluttershy, knowing that she was scared of dragons especially so. Twilight and Pinkie Pie relented and stayed with her, knowing that just getting across the river would be hard enough. ---- http://preview.tinyurl.com/jw53krq It was a small boat, but it was big enough to carry three ponies and three players. Well, actually, Rainbow Dash was flying next to them, only occasionally landing to rest - which only happened every few hours or so. It had been a long boat ride, ever since they had to make one to get through the marble cave. Jordan had his sword captchalogued because of the the magnetism in the cave's walls. He had been extremely helpful when it came to making the boat, molding and manipulating nearby trees into good boat-working material. Typo chatted with Rainbow Dash about their exploits, Rainbow Dash having explained about the sonic rainboom and Typy explained some elements of the game they had played, including the scratch and what had happened to his friends in the dream bubble; although this time he admitted he didn't know what had happened to the jealous player that had initiated the scratch to begin with. Typo rolled his eyes to the left, indicating he was hiding something, but no one really noticed. Rarity was taking a nap in the corner of the boat, and Applejack was telling the tale of the zap apples to Jordan and Ying; although Ying was multi-tasking by doing a little drawing, having kept a computer (powered by Iron Man's core), tablet, and stylus inside his captchalogue deck. He was drawing a scene of the Apple Family and the zap apples, Applejack constantly stopping in the story and looking over to see how the drawing was coming; although she kept mumbling small details to Ying. Applejack promised that she'd bring Jordan to help with the zap apples when the time came again. Then she started giving a detailed account of what it was like for her in manehattan, even though she had only stayed for a few days. Jordan and Ying were already knowledgeable about cities, but humored Applejack by listening closely, Jordan noting occasionally that they weren't THAT technologically advanced; although he also didn't know about the city that had been taken over by the changelings. After awhile the torches in the cave stopped suddenly, and they noticed they were moving into an intense blackness - totally void of light. Jordan used his powers to pour light and heat into his hand so that they could look forward; although even despite this everything seemed unusually hazy, like this wasn't normal darkness. --- The glowing red eye that had been hit began to dim a little; although the meaning of this was lost on Smeareyes. He jumped back into the trees and started moving erratically, making sure to keep below the denser canopies. The dragon watched for him, charging up another bolt and was surprised when the blood from his eye started to seep faster and wrapped around his muzzle temporarily. The thunder backfired and charred the dragon's mouth, which caused it to scream in agony. It started to go down lower to search for the players that had harmed him, his wings beating fiercely to keep him in the air, causing the trees below to rustle from the air displacement. Phynicxs got to the figure that had landed in the tree tops and noticed he... She? Noticed that the figure was a little weakened, having flown to the ground too fast. The figure had on the clothing of a bard. Smeareyes jumped over some small rivers, momentarily using his flight to extend his jumps without taking too much of his energy. He started to wonder how they were going to get away from the dragon, let alone beat it. --- A shadow passed through the group on the boat. It only missed Rarity because she was hanging low, napping. It was visible for a second and tangible like a dark shadow, like something that wasn't really there, but still seemed to move faster than light. A second later a whirlwind whipped up in front of them and came through, blowing them all off the boat. Rarity was surprised and came out from the water coughing and sputtering while the others tried to get back to the surface which was hard because the water was moving turbulently by the wind. "What the-!? MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" Rarity screamed, the sound knocking and echoing in the cave, especially because of the darkness, causing everyone to hold their ears from the loud shriek. The water was cold, and Jordan was the second to surface, noticing the weapon that had past by them getting caught by a shadowy figure across from them. The weapon was a pinwheel. It had silver blades running around it and a sparkling onyx jewel in the center that had a transparent outside, showing a dark wind swirling about it on the inside. Jordan uncaptchalogued his sword as the boat overturned, Applejack coming up underneath it and wondering where the light went. Jordan brought back his light, which seemed to be absorbed by the shadows. He tried to cling to the boat and get his bearings as the shadow past over them again. Ying came up a second later, carrying an unconscious Rainbow Dash. He, himself, was dazed. "What's going on!?" Jordan responded first. "I don't know! Someone's attacking us I think. They're - cough cough - using a pinwheel." The water was hard to stay floating on, as it seemed to be granted a life of its own - the motion never ceasing. Typo threw up into the water, a bunch of apple chunks swimming about. Typo groaned. "Oh that's pleasant," he said sarcastically, coughing up a little water. He tried to close his eyes but the movement was still making him sick and distracting him. His diamonds flashed and he disappeared into a shadow. He started to fly and went at the shadow but passed right through it. Void versus void, under the right circumstances, will always be a stalemate. Typo gave up, needing to get out of the water as he was starting to dry heave up what little hydration was in his system. He swam away. The shadow past by again, the pinwheel crossing through. Jordan tried to summon some plants from the bottom of the water to catch the pinwheel, but it was going too fast, and even then, it had no way to grasp a hold on it, as there was no hole. Ying continued holding onto Rainbow Dash, trying to keep her afloat, glad that she was unconscious so she wouldn't struggle. But then had the shock of his life when his head came off. It was so fast, his face was twitching as blood flowed into the water. Ying looked shocked as his body sunk into the water. Rainbow Dash started to sink too, but Jordan caught her, using his life sense and the light and heat from his hand to try and look around. Jordan kept his head close to the water, almost going underneath, watching the shadow pass by again and again, the pinwheel whipping up the water. Jordan covered Rainbow Dash's mouth and nose and dragged her under the water with him, and swam so he was underneath the boat. Applejack, having heard what was going on outside, had chosen to stay under the boat; although it had taken her a little while, and a little water dipping, to realize where she was, especially considering all of the darkness. When Jordan came up underneath she nearly screamed but recognized him right away. Jordan seemed distraught and gave Rainbow Dash to Applejack, who brought her up and made her float on the water with her face up. Jordan gave a thumbs up to Applejack as his hand glowed and went back under the water. He had a plan. A second later, horn alight, Rarity came up under the boat and gasped for air, coughing a little more and shivering. --- Phynicxs closed in on the figure getting up off the ground, and noticed it was furry, and somewhat small - but not too small. One of his eyebrows raised as the dragon roared, electricity crackling in its mouth. It sweeped its tail around which caused spines to be released from it, which went down and cut straight through some trees. Phynicxs saw this and dived down at the bard, covering its body as he felt the spine strike him in the spine, almost cutting through, had it not been for him hardening his blood much like hardening a bond. He cried out in pain, and felt the strength and feeling leave his legs. The dragon seemed to laugh at this as Smeareyes came closer, somewhat confused as to why the dragon wasn't going for him, as though something were negating his powers. The bard peeked out from beneath Phynicxs who was crying a little bit at the loss of his legs, a little scared that this would end up never healing due to his heroics and having taken action. The thunder was crackling and it was about to be released, but the bard of cute stepped out, took a deep breath, and shouted "FUS!" which came out kind of squeaky, especially considering it was part hamster. The wave of pink splashed across the dragon's face and it caused him to be taken aback, one eye going wide and shot it off to the side. The dragon looked confused for a bit, the red light in his other eye dimming momentarily before sparking up again. The dragon roared and flew while holding its head, as though it had a mind splitting migraine. The bard of cute started to dance in front of the dragon, singing the lyrics to Lucky Twice, occasionally looking toward Phynicxs with worry, who was starting to raise up in the air to fly, but it was obvious how hard this was for him, his lower half hanging on by a thread, or, rather, the skin that attached to his front side. Smeareyes watched the dragon and had a revelation. --- Jordan paid attention to the shadow from beneath the water, sensing the life above him as he felt its signature reappear, as though it had stopped being no more than a shade. "Pity that you all died so easily. I was expecting a much bigger challenge." Jordan's eyebrows furrowed. He was angry, especially at the idea that Ying might be gone for good. He pulled up his sword, focused on it and surging a little life into it, and swiped it at the figure above the water which held the pinwheel as though he was telekinetic. Looking down, the figure saw the wave and was too surprised as it cut through him. It went right through! But there was no damage. --- The bard of cute was small. Extremely small. But her cuteness was great. It was expansive. It was unstoppable. And Smeareyes understood this after seeing the hamster's power the first time. He hurried through to them, bounding through to get to them as quickly as possible. The bard of cute screamed a word from the song as the thunder was about to be unleashed by the dragon, but it was pushed to the side by the bard of cute's power being focused through his dance. This one didn't seem to affect the dragon, as though this one was just a guarding move. http://i42.tinypic.com/20h0wee.png Smeareyes came over quickly and whispered in the bard of cute's ear, and she smiled up to him and gave him an okay. Smeareyes pulled out another shuriken and focused as the dragon swung its tail around - the spines being pushed to the side by more of the bard of cute's moves. --- Jordan watched the beam go through him and smiled. There had been a little hazy shadow released when the cut hit. He started to power forward with his feet, giving him a little extra boost with his ability to fly. When he came up from the water he noted that the person in front of him was confused and kept putting his hands out, as though to release something. Jordan ran the sword clean through the player's clothing and stomach. He was finished. Jordan realized what he was doing at the last second, but couldn't stop it, feeling extremely guilty as he remembered Auryie's words to him. The doom spread throughout the player's blood vessels with darkness pushing the skin up as he bled. The player's eyes started to go dark as he whispered, "mother..." His eyes glazed over as he felt sweet release. Jordan quickly pulled the blade out, which caused blood to splash onto his clothing and face. He looked down at where Ying's body had been and dived under the water, as the figure fell, the pinwheel getting submerged. He brought Ying's body up to the surface, and went under the boat, the shivering ponies inside helping him to right the boat and putting Ying on top of it, the darkness dissipating and the torches flaring to life. Jordan went to get Ying's head, almost crying because he had to do a burial. He used both hands to generate heat, trying to dry and warm all who were on the boat. He looked at the dead body, and then looked away. The ponies, who had been avoiding the body and pretty much crying (Rainbow Dash in particular vomitting into the blood soaked water) gasped.