//------------------------------// // Close Calls and Time for Rest // Story: My Little Forumites are Magic // by Mx Story Anomalax //------------------------------// Ying was having a difficult time dodging his own sword, deciding that parrying would sooner or later take out his ex-sword entirely. When he saw an opening he tried to take it and ended up missing and overextending as the heir of time appeared behind him, stabbing him in the back, barely missing his spinal column. Ying gasped and pulled away, blood starting to pour through the empty space. Ying grimaced and knew he had to end this soon. He called at Typo who was constantly trying to attack Gilda but always missing. Breath versus breath is pretty much a stalemate. Typo grimaced too and they both shouted switch, but before they could the heir of time jumped down from the tree tops and started trying to attack Typo; although this heir of time had no weapon and was instead using martial arts. "I am the nature of change itself. You should just give up and accept your deaths," said the heir of time. Jordan was crying out as he tried to heal himself, but this was age, not just damage. He started to get up. Trying desperately to. Gilda came down and stabbed through Jordan's back and started to lift him into the air. He couldn't turn around, and all he saw was the forest floor. Ying looked at the heir of time behind him and tried to swing his sword but it was parried and gained another chip. He screamed and attacked again. Another parry and another chip. This was getting bad. He had to do something. And that's when he felt the presence behind him. He ducked and jumped forward, trying to stab the heir of time in front of him, who was surprised but quickly brought the eraser sword and parried that too. Typo was using the pinwheel ineffectively, trying to keep the punches and kicks from hitting, and sometimes there were multiple kicks at the same time, sometimes a leg or arm would disappear and reappear in another spot, trying to hit him, and always kept him from cutting off one of the heir of time's limbs. He was having a hard time using his reflexes and started to look into himself and find Auryie's power. "You can't beat me. I eat paradoxes and doomed timelines for breakfast." The heir of time in front of Ying tried to lop his head off but missed and nearly got hit with the sword. The heir of time jumped up and went back in time. The heir of time behind Ying stabbed him again and he fell forward before rolling over and throwing the sword at the heir of time, who just disappeared. Ying cried out, bleeding harshly, and his skin was going pale. Was this where it ended? He quickly got up, rolling backwards and pushing himself up onto his feet, bouncing a moment from the momentum and jumped forward, slashing at the heir of time who backed up, and Jordan came around and brought Letum Coupant up, hacking off the heir of time's arm and embedding itself into the right side of his chest. The heir of time gasped and looked at the offender who was cut up bad but had gotten away from Gilda. The heir of time that was attacking Typo ceaselessly lost his arm, it fading away, but Typo wasn't done yet, focusing on the heir of time in front of him and splitting his image into three while jumping to the side and all three threw the pinwheel at once. The heir of time was about to go back in time but failed and his body was chopped in half by the pinwheel. He smirked as the others started to feel relief, Gilda coming down from the heaven's with a bleeding wing and dived at the heroes as the heir of time defied time and paradoxes by bringing his body back together using time. You could almost hear the grinding of gears cease, sparking as they tried to move forward. The heir of time smiled bigger, his body going into a doomed timeline, but he knew it wouldn't change a thing in this situation. Ying was bleeding bad and about to pass out. He saw Gilda going for Jordan again as Jordan went for the heir of time. Ying jumped between them and slashed at Gilda, who saw it coming, a piece of her body turning into breath before she slit Ying's throat. He was about to collapse but had one more trick up his sleeve. He glowed as his emotions of despair started to build, knowing that this was a prince of light, and as Gilda tried to grab him in her talons, he put his hand against her wing and a surprised Gilda started turning into breath, but the knight of space had done it. His hand glowed green and pieces of the breath flashed and started to deteriorate into the atmosphere. Ying fell to his knees and died as his wounds holed up, but having lost too much blood. Gilda screamed as Typo and Jordan went head to head with the heir of time. Gild had started bleeding again into her new bandages, a piece of her right wing ripped off from the space power, and her throat slit. Gilda's consciousness faded as she accepted death. The knight of doom dropped down next to Gilda, having finally gotten to the location he was needed in. --- The group got out of the city fast, Machine Whisperer bringing ponies out who had been used for slave labor and love whom had been in the caves/catacombs. They were all so thankful, but most of them could hardly walk very far. They needed help. Thunderhead was there, laying down as Phynicxs napped up on top, the blood he had taken from him sticking him to the dragon firmly so that he wouldn't fall off. They were ready to go, but they didn't know how they were going to bring all the ponies with them. There were tons. Twilight smiled, being modest but saying she could handle it. She had done harder things before. She was weak, but telekinesis came naturally to her - her cutie mark was for magic after all. She wrapped her magic around the ponies in a group rather than taking them up individually. Some of them were surprised, but most had passed out due to exhaustion, fatigue, and long-lasting trauma. Twilight also grabbed Vark and Pinkie again, happy to be going home, which gave her more motivation than she already had from rescuing all the ponies. She told Thunderhead that they should head for Manehattan first and drop at least some of them off there. They might have to fly from city to city and drop some off, but believed that with enough time each pony would be going back to where they belonged. Smeareyes sat next to Phynicxs, while Twilight and Fluttershy talked together and tried to understand most of what had happened. Things would be good, and Fluttershy knew they had made a huge change, a necessary one. But she hadn't been able to do it herself. She needed the help of her friends, and was always aware of that, but maybe she could start relying on herself a little more. She started thinking, and decided she should devote some time into strengthening her wings. Twilight still had to research and would be busy for awhile. Machine Whisperer had grabbed his cut off wings and kept them in his captchalogue deck, and had made sure he could stay in touch with Chrysalis; although she wasn't aware of it yet. He decided he should wait awhile before contacting her. --- "I'm sorry Gilda, but Gamarya doesn't want you leaving us just yet." He picked her up by the scruff as though she weighed nothing to him, and started feeding his doom power into her. His power fought the death that had overtaken her and killed it, bringing her back to life. Her eyes opened, comprehendingly, but her body felt too weak to do anything. She hung limply and frowned, the peace that she had experienced after death gone. But this was where she needed to be. Right? She felt so depressed, her light destroyed after so long. She glared at the others and the knight of doom started to leave, taking Gilda with him. The heir of time cursed as he expertly fended off two players at once with just his hands. "Next time you won't be so lucky, losers!" He gave them the finger as he flew away, fast, before going back in time and flying off to where the knight of doom would soon do the same. Typo grabbed Jordan and told him no, a worried look on his face. The knight of space didn't get up. He was dead. Typo scooped up his body and started heading back, Jordan coming with him, who felt so weak. --- It was a long trip back, and Twilight Sparkle often had to rest for a day to re-energize herself. All of this had taken a lot out of her. The others accepted it as a time to either goof off or rest themselves. Phynicxs and Smeareyes discussed what had happened to Mana and him. He wanted to try doing what Mana had done after Smeareyes had told him about the symbol that had changed hands. Phynicxs looked deep into Smeareyes' eyes, and was surprised when the light on Smear's chest opened up. He stuck his hand inside and pulled out Smear's void. - Most of the ponies that had been rescued were sleeping in the fresh air after having been in terrible conditions for months on end. Some satisfied a portion of their hunger by grazing on whatever they could, not knowing when their next meal would come. Twilight and Thunderhead had figured out a path they could take between cities and small towns, and would leave small groups of the ponies in those areas so that they could get help but not overwhelm the places they were left at. Planning had also taken a lot out of Twilight, the faint thought that she'd have to start planning more when she sent others back in time. She wondered why she'd have that thought, as this would all be over soon, wouldn't it? She wasn't aware how right that thought was. - Vark continued sleeping by Pinkie's side, who was still in a minor coma due to the blow to her head. They had done as much as they were able to, but now all they could do was wait. Vark's leg was still cut off, but the wound had sealed off, becoming nothing more than a nub. It made it hard for her to walk, but she soon figured it out with practice. Twilight had promised her that she'd find a way to help her and make her stronger at the same time, as Twilight felt what power Vark had wasn't enough for her possible future, which Vark seemed to dread. Occasionally Vark would chat with Phynicxs and Smeareyes, Phynicxs often seeming like he was hiding something lately, but could barely keep it to himself anymore. - Machine Whisperer spent most of his time fiddling with the computers he had stolen, and used a program he had created himself years ago for the computers, which allowed him to log onto points of data lost in the universe that seemed to span massive amounts of time and space. There was rarely anything new to look at or read, but he satisfied himself with partaking from what he could and in putting in his own content. He also spent time maintaining his laser pistol, occasionally taking target practice at the area around him. Every time he got to chat with one of his friends about something, being it his passion for technology which got stronger every day - filling some of the voids in his life that Smeareyes had created, or sometimes gossip. They accepted it well, especially because the stories he made up never went overboard, but most knew it was just gossip; although sometimes he'd throw in something truthful that he had learned and loved watching the information get around and seeing the reactions of others. Machine Whisperer had always been a worker, and thus had rarely if ever gone out into the field to get love or anything else. All this extra time he had he used by finding new hobbies, one of which being testing his transformations and his acting, finding he had a natural flair for the dramatic even though he should have been acting exactly like the ponies he impersonated from time to time. He also occasionally played a prank or two. Another thing was that he was starting to design his own machines, his mind having a natural talent with invention, using the information he had obtained combined with his own creativity. The more he learned about himself, the more he was thankful for this chance to not be just a worker anymore, and figured sooner or later he'd let Queen Chrysalis in on all of this. - Smeareye's void turned out to be eyeliner that masqueraded as a master key. This surprised Phynicxs somewhat and he put it back. It was like dual items that he'd heard about before, much like the records about Kanaya that mentioned she'd had a tube of lipstick that doubled as a chainsaw. He wondered if his best friend was distantly related to Kanaya. He would never be sure though. - Fluttershy spent a lot of her time with the animals in the wilds and used them and her own kindness and attention span by helping the other ponies get over what had happened to them. To help change their state of mind. Fluttershy always knew animals were therapeutic, and this just gave her a chance to learn that in spades.