//------------------------------// // Finding Buckshot // Story: Tristan's New Life // by ShadowVoltstreaker //------------------------------// Blaze’s POV Me and Slipstream have been sprawled out on the ground like this for a while… surrounded by the black and red flames that him and Vague created with that collision… I haven’t heard Slipstream say anything… so I guess he died. “…Why would you… swap places with me… like that? This hurts way too much…” I choked out, coughing up some blood afterwards. Silence… “Since when have you ever been quiet?” More silence… He’s never been quiet for this long before… I closed my eyes for a moment and let myself rest, “Guess he went to sleep or something..” After a short while I heard Slipstream cough, “W-why can’t I…. move?” “Because your body is at it’s limit…” Chuckling a little I wince at the pain it brings, “And so is mine…” Slipstream laughs for a while, then coughs. “Guess I underestimated him…” “Just now figuring that out are ya?” “No matter… I’m sure that any of my… comrades will be able to continue.” “And my friends will end up stopping them.” He chuckled softly, “Is that… so?” I heard one final breath… then nothing. “Yeah it is…” It was getting really hard to breathe… “Hope that this isn’t really the end…” I started to have flashbacks… “I’ve seen the movies. Flashbacks mean I’m gonna die.” I chuckle. The memory of meeting Dash replays by my eyes, bringing a smile to my face. “Dashie don’t worry… I won’t leave you.” I started to lift myself up, but fell back down. Ignoring the pain I try a different approach and flip over on my belly, splashing in my own blood… I lift myself up and slowly get into a standing position… steadying myself I look ahead, “Great… now my vision’s getting blurry…” Shadow’s POV “Stop messing around and kill him!” “N-no!” I shouted and shot up into the air, calming myself before I lose control… again. “Why are you running!” Night shouted, bearing his fangs at me. I chuckled a little and said, “I’m not running… I’m flying.” If there was to be any hope of joining back up with them I had to control myself and not kill anypony else… “I just have to hold out until Slipstream is dead…” I whispered to myself. Looking back down at Night I see he’s getting impatient. I was running out of time… just then a green streak stopped next to Night. As I looked closer, I saw that it was Fortune. “Glad you could join me Fortune… by the way, I dealt with that Buckshot guy already.” Night said, not taking his gaze off me. “Really? Well thanks, he kinda got away from me during our fight.” “Anyways, don’t interfere, I wanna kill him myself.” “Ok… just don’t get too crazy, it was hard enough getting you out of this form the first time.” “Yeah yeah…” “Kill them! Why bother telling them the truth?! Death is the only thing th-“ “Shut up!” I shouted, cutting off the voices and confusing the ponies below me. Ignoring their stares I look off towards the mountain that was destroyed, and for a split second… I felt something… like a flame had gone out. Smiling I sigh softly, “About time you died…” I then look back at Night and Fortune, “Guys… listen, I’m not your enemy.” “Not our enemy? You and Slipstream are working together, you’re trying to kill us and the Princesses… so tell me again how you aren’t our enemy.” Night spat. “I won’t be able to tell you I suppose, so I’ll just have to show you.” I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out the memory device. I hold it in my hooves for a while before descending and placing it on the ground. Night’s POV I watched as Shadow pulled out some strange U shaped orange box that had a gold rim and 3 weird bulbs, just like that thing called a wonder waffle. He slowly started to descend and placed it on the ground. I wanted to gallop over to him, crush that thing, and punch him square in the jaw, but something inside me told me to stay still and watch… Shadow did… something, and it came to life, emitting a long pink beam that shot into the sky. Craning my neck I watch it go. Then, a few seconds later it explodes and covers all of Ponyville in a pink dome of some kind… Something was happening… my mind was racing, showing me images of… my memories? “But… these can’t be my memories! There’s Shadow and Aurum walking and talking with everypony… like we were friends… and there it is again!” Only this time we were all at the party, a few minutes before Gieremund came crashing through the ceiling… “Are… are Shadow and Aurum…” Shadow’s POV The beam spread out all over Ponyville… but I’m not sure if it’s had any effect. I then start to have flashbacks of all of us hanging out together… “I guess it did work…” Night and Fortune looked at me and stared for a while before saying, “Shadow?” I sigh and fall to the ground with a smirk, “Glad you remember.” Night’s body then started to glow a bright white, and when it diminished he stood there smiling… the real Night… his coat was back to it’s original white color while his mane and tail were back to their black and blue color. Slowly, a white line started to appear in his mane and tail, “Glad to have you back Night.” “I could say the same thing to you!” he laughed. “Why… and how did we even forget about you dude?” Fortune said. Smiling I opened my saddlebag and pulled out a silver pen with a red button at the tip. I then proceeded to put on some sunglasses, “Ok…. Now I remember!” Fortune shouted. I take off the sunglasses and put them, and the pen, in my saddlebag and close it. Blaze’s POV “So… Shadow and Aurum were actually our friends? Then why were they…” I didn’t have time for this… I don’t even know how much time I have left… my breathing is beyond heavy, and it doesn't look like the blood is going to stop flowing anytime soon. “Blaze!” I hear a familiar voice shout, looking up I see Crossback flying towards me. “Good… now I can stop walking…” I felt my legs start to give out and I fall to the ground, deciding it was safe to rest. Opening my eyes slowly I look around… “How’d I… get in Twilight’s house?” I whispered to myself and slowly sat up. I pulled the blanket off of me and smiled… My body was bandaged, “Wonder if they'd let me star in the next Return Of The Mummy movie.” I joked, and got out of the bed. Walking towards the mirror I take a look at myself. My whole body was literally wrapped in bandages. Taking in a deep breath I activate my veil temporarily, incinerating the bandages. I watch the ashes fall to the ground before I look at myself again. “I… what…. How…?” My coat had reverted back to its original dark brown color, my mane and tail were also back to their original red and gold color… “I guess when Slipstream died… he took his power with him. But how was I able to use it just then...?” I focused on the Veil again, and activated it at it’s maximum strength, burning a hole through the floor. I quickly ‘turn off’ the Veil and climb out of the hole, “Oh geez! How am I gonna explain this to Twilight?!” I started pacing back and forth, thinking of how to fix this… That’s when I spotted the rug in front of the door. I galloped over, picked up the corner in my mouth, and slid it over the hole. “She’ll never know…” I then walk out the room and down the stairs, going into the main room where everypony was waiting, including Shadow and Aurum… “Hey guys.” I said with my trademark smile. They all looked up and before they could do anything, Dash tackled and pinned me to the floor with tears in her eyes, screaming at me. “Blaze! Why do you always do this?! I was so worried! You always tell me not to worry and look what happ-“ I sat up and cut her off with a kiss… I was so happy to see her, even if she was mad at me. Pulling back I wipe the tears from her face and say, “I love you Dash… and I would never do anything like this on purpose…” I could see another tears start to form in her eyes so I whisper, “now stop crying, Equestria’s number 1 flyer can’t be seen like this very often ya know?” A smile slowly forms on her face and she playfully hits me in the shoulder. “So Blaze…” Crossback begins, Dash moves and lets me get up, “why is your…. Well, everything back to normal?” “Well, I think when Slipstream died… I just simply lost that form.” I stated, unsure. “but I can still do this.” I said, holding up my hoof and igniting it in black and red flames. Crossback put a hoof to his chin, thinking about why this would happen. “Guys, I hate to be the buzzkill here…” Aurum began, “But Buckshot is still on the loose.” “He is?” I asked, looking at everypony in the room. “Yeah, he used a lot of… clones, so we’re not sure where he is at the moment.” Fortune sighed. “Do you think the princesses know where he is?” I asked, hopeful. “There is a chance that they do know… think we should ask them?” Night spoke up. "Nah, we're big colts and mares so we can handle this on our own. But before we get going.” I walked over to Aurum and Shadow, sat in front of them, and crossed my hooves. “I want to ask you both something… since I’m sure that right now I’m the only one who doesn’t know… correct?” “Yes… while you were asleep we told everypony about why I erased their memories… but I’ll just give you the short version to save time.” Shadow explained. He had actually been told by Celestia to keep an eye out for Slipstream, but so his cover wouldn’t be blown, everypony, including the princesses, had to have any memories of him erased. Aurum, on the other hoof, had to have her memories of everypony, except Shadow, erased. And surprisingly, Shadow had managed to give Buckshot, Aurum, and Slipstream memories of all of them together. After he was finished explaining I just simply nodded my head, got up, and trotted to the middle of the room. Turning my head back to Shadow and Aurum I say, “Well, it’s great to have you both back… Now how about we get rid of Buckshot so we can all take a load off?” Fortune laughed, "Don't you do that anyways?" "Can't blame me, my marefriend is the one and only Rainbow Dash afterall." Dash hit me in the side, "What's that supposed ta mean?" I kissed her on the nose and said, "Means I love you babe." Night then made a whipping sound, causing everypony to laugh and giggle. Crossback then stepped forward and stuck out his hoof. Nodding, Night and Fortune moved to him and put their hooves next to Crossback’s. One by one, everypony went over and put their hoof all around Crossback’s. Finally I moved over to him and stuck mine in. Turning my head I look at Shadow and Aurum and smile, “Hurry up and get over here you two! Crossback won’t let us go until we do!” Shadow laughs and joins us, all that’s left is Aurum… thinking back she was always the one who acted like an even more stubborn Rainbow Dash. “Come on Aurum! It’s either this or we sing a song, and I know how much you ‘love’ to do that.” I teased her. At the mention of singing Pinkie took in a deep breath, before she could let out a single note, however, Aurum had already put her hoof next to mine. Nodding I shout, “All right guys and gals!” I pause for a second to think, “Crossback? Why exactly are we doing this?” “To be honest…” Crossback began chuckling, “I didn’t think I’d get this far…” Everypony look at him with a face that said, ‘Seriously?’ “Well then…” I put my hoof down and looked up at the hole in the ceiling, “How about we just skip this part and get going.” “Agreed.” Everypony said in unison. “Night, Fortune, and Twilight, you use your magic to find out where Buckshot is hiding. Crossback, Shadow, and Aurum, search the skies for him. I’ll stay here to protect the girls. If you find him, do not, I repeat, do not fight him. Do something to mark your position and we’ll be there shortly.” I said, pointing at each of them. “What about me?” a feminine voice rang out. Looking towards the direction of the voice I see Lucinda floating down from the hole in the ceiling. “Well… since you’re here, you get to stay with me and the girls. And, if we fail to protect you all, then you can use your elements to seal away Buckshot.” “Wait, who is this?” Crossback asked, pointing at Lucinda. “She’s the Element of Dreams, Lucinda.” Crossback, Night, Fortune, Shadow, and Aurum gasped. Pinkie then gasped louder than any of them, “Pinkie why did you gasp?” I asked the obvious question. “What? Everypony was doing it.” she shrugged. I opened my mouth to say something, but I remembered that this is Pinkie… and decided to shut up. “Ok, then… Get going everypony.” “Blaze, if I come back and Fluttershy is hurt…” Crossback began. “Same goes for Twilight.” Night interrupted. “And AJ.” Fortune said with a grin. I put my hoof to my head in a salute and said, “I shall protect these fair ladies with my life!” “Good.” Night, Fortune, and Crossback all said at more or less the same time. After that little ‘friendly’ exchange of words each of them went their respective ways, which left me, Twilight, Spike, Lucinda, Pinkie, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Dash here… “You know… maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to stay here with you all..” “Why is that?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side. “Well… what happens when fire touches wood or paper?” “they burn of cours-“ her eyes widened and her mouth dropped, she quickly ran over to me and stared me dead in the eyes, “You better hope you don’t torch these books.” “Well then… *gulp* I’ll be sure to be careful.” I said with the best smile I could manage… “Hurry up and find him guys, I’m not sure if I can last.” Crossback’s POV This was harder than I would've thought… I had no idea where to search first, I just assumed that he’d leave a huge trail for us to follow… “That’s it!” I shouted and started hovering, getting the attention of the two Pegasus beside me. “What is it?” Aurum asked. “Before when we had to find Gieremund I used a tracking spell to find him, so I just need to duplicate that to find Buckshot.” I stated proudly. “What does it require to work?” Shadow asked, intrigued. “Something that has their scent, like blood or fur.” Aurum rolled her eyes and said, “Well that’s fine and dandy but where will you get it? The only kind of trace of him was blood and it was cleaned up by Twilight and Spike.” “Well… I do have something similar.” Shadow said and pulled out a small black rectangular thingamajig from his bag, “When you said something about tracking I remembered that I had this.” “So… it can find Buckshot?” Crossback asked, still skeptical. “Yes. The real Buckshot. You see, while he was asleep I put a tracking bug in his ear, and there is no way that he can duplicate this.” he said proudly and turned it on. It made a low humming sound and the radar began to work. he paid close attention to any dot or marker that showed up. Beep….. Beep. “Ahhh just as I thought…” Shadow said with a smirk. “What is it?” Aurum asked, leaning her head over to the device. Shadow quickly reached in his bag and pulled out something, I think he called it a Wunderwaffe, and aimed it at Aurum.