//------------------------------// // Chapter 44: Shadowed Heart // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 44: Shadowed Heart --------------------------------------- One of many citizens stood outside the orchard, just as confused as all the others. He was a light yellow earth pony, with a single red apple for a cutie mark. His mane was two different shades of orange, one closer to his mane, the other a darkish-light sort of amber color. On his head was a brown hat, on his body, a brown vest. His green eyes were the same as the other ponies' gathered: full of confusion. He just didn't get it. Even though the item was clearly in the orchard, nopony could seem to find it. In fact, ponies and buffalo alike were getting lost left and right in the orchard. But why? The orchard hadn't changed at all since the item landed. Were it not for the simple fact some ponies were needed to explain the situation; were it not for the fact somepony had to stay outside the maze and try to guide the lost ones to safety, Braeburn would have gone in after them. "T'aint right..." he mumbled to himself, "How are they gettin' lost in there? It ain't changed any..." Several hoofsteps, rapid, headed towards the area, and Braeburn turned, expecting to see more of the townsfolk attempting to figure out what was going on. Instead, he saw, in no particular order: two ponies in white-and-gold armor; one red, one green, both unicorns; another unicorn, cyan, with a few bandages in some places, and a few familiar faces: a drake, purple, a blue pegasus, and of course... "Cousin Applejack?!" Braeburn called out, completely off-guard, "When'd ya'll get here?! Wasn't expectin' ya to come!" "I wish it were to visit, but..." Applejack could only nod to the unicorns in the royal guard armor. "We're here with them..." Braeburn did a double-take, looking back to the guards who were there. They certainly didn't seem as stoic as he'd heard from a few of the recent migrants; or at least one of them didn't. And those manes... "Oh, they're here about that thing that fell..." Braeburn stated, his face growing serious, "None of us get it...The place where it fell don't look any different, but..." A chorus of voices echoed from within the orchard, though none could see any ponies inside the orchard either. All of them were different, but all of them were crying out for the same basic thing: assistance. "Ponies're lost in there?!" Applejack called out, clearly concerned. "Rainbow," Blitz said, looking to her, "Think you can do a fly over and see if you can spot anypony in there?" "You got it!" she said, immediately flying off. "So what's happened here?" Virid asked, stepping forth, all business, "When we last got word here, the item landed outside town--apparently in your apple orchard--And ponies were just having trouble finding it. Now it seems like they're having trouble finding where they are..." "Not just that, but when they get in there, it's like they disappear completely, and can't seem to find their way out..." Braeburn responded, rubbing at the back of his head in confusion. "When we send ponies in there tied to ropes, they say the place looks totally different on the inside, like it's completely closed off...like...like a maze of apple trees! However they say that they have trouble hearing where the others are too...T'aint right...First the troubles with getting the townsfolk and buffalo to get along, now this..." "That sounds like..." Applejack trailed off, recent experience making her uncomfortable. "Only, it's all an illusion, nothing like what...he did before..." Azure said, gritting his teeth in anger. "Pardon?" Braeburn questioned. "This all goes back to an incident that happened in Canterlot and Ponyville yesterday..." Blitz began to summarize the incident, "After that incident was resolved, five items scattered across Equestria..." --------------------------------------- It was less of a problem that it seemed, but Mendex was aware that illusion magic, especially ones caused by an item that could passively affect the environment, wanted you to think you were secure; or otherwise that things were not as they seemed. Mendex knew that even if he did everything according to plan, at any moment the harmonics would come to the settlement and Shade would engage them. However, even if they all fled into the maze, it still would take them far too long to find the item. Still giving others the impression he was a buffalo if he were to be seen by other lost ponies, Mendex began to conduct an analysis of the illusion surrounding him. When I entered the orchard, it was like the trees slid closed behind me, and I was now in a maze of trees rather than a simple grove... Mendex thought, closing his eyes, Clearly it's progressed its effect on the landscape since we've gotten here. However, if I can just figure out exactly where the kinks in this illusion are, I should be able to nullify this illusion long enough to get the element we're here for. The disguised earth pony began to block out the sounds of the ponies and buffalo whose spirits had long ago broken, taking only a brief moment to enjoy those sounds before getting down to business. No matter what, the item came first. He reopened his eyes, and his left eye began to glow faintly dark green. As he gazed around the maze, he could see other ponies and buffalo, not getting too distracted or sympathetic. The images were translucent at first, but began to focus. "Sure enough, every lifeform is rendered invisible to one another even if they were right next to each other..." After a quick lookaround. "The tree images are multiplied and arranged to be an inescapable maze. This item really does not want to be controlled...It's almost as if..." Mendex paused, shaking his head, "I wouldn't put it past chaos magic, but nonetheless...I need to get a bit closer to the item's signature in order to be able to disable it..." Under his cloak--had he not been in disguise--a dark green gem would have shone as he channeled his otherwise inaccessible magic. It made him able to discern illusions with a little effort, as well as cast them. Usually, he'd cast illusions on ponies simply to hear their howls of confusion, but even with that, Mendex had to wonder. Was it really just because of his illusions that he was picked for this Element? --------------------------------------- “You mean ya’ll had to deal with that?!” It wasn’t like Azure didn’t know why Applejack’s cousin was so stunned. If it wasn’t for the fact every sensation he’d felt during that incident was real, and the mental games as convincing as only a master could contrive, he wouldn’t have believed it. Remembering the incident and how it had affected not only him but everypony he cared about, though, only served to irritate him. “That’s right…” Azure stated flatly, “And that’s why that item’s here, and if I had to guess, why it’s having the effect it is now on the landscape…” Braeburn rubbed at the nape of his neck, momentarily at a loss for words. Before he could regain his ability to speak of the situation further, however, Rainbow Dash flew down, hovering feet above the ground such that she could see the others. “You see anything?” “Couldn’t see anypony in the orchard, but I swear I could hear them. But when I flew closer, the trees started movin’ like in that maze Discord tricked us with to try and trap me in them!” Rainbow Dash called out, “But that’s not even the half of it…I saw those monsters again!” “What’s she talkin’ about?” Braeburn asked, confused, as everypony else tensed up. “Monsters?!” Spike turned his head, and saw something, raising his claw in surprise. “I think she’s talkin’ about that!!” the young drake called out, forcing all present to look over to where he saw them. Azure and Applejack recognized them better than the others did. While a few of them were the insectoid Shadow Ghouls, a good number of them were the much larger, comparatively wolf-like Shadow Fangs. And their color… “He’s here again…” Azure snarled, his eyes lighting up cyan. “That unicorn from that night…and that pony who got away…” “Well, this time,” Blitz said, lowering his head, “We’re gonna make sure he doesn’t!” “Everypony, get ready, and be on the guard,” Virid warned, “We don’t know what their objective is…it could be to stall, but judging from the size…” The green unicorn never finished his sentence, for a Shadow Fang leapt forth, aiming for the off-guard, unsure Braeburn, but Applejack was quick to act, flinging out the lasso and yanking the beast towards her. “Let my kin alone!” she barked, bucking it hard enough in the face to send it on its back. Rainbow Dash quickly leapt back down on it to finish the job, causing it to disappear into smoke, before leading one of the airborne Shadow Fangs on a wild goose chase through the sky. While the pegasus kept its opponent busy, Virid began to let off a series of amber bursts at the weaker Shadow Ghouls, making short work of them. Spotting an attack coming on his right, the unicorn dodged left away, snorting as the Shadow Fang’s claws scraped through the sand. He began to observe its patterns as it went for a bite attack, with the green unicorn avoiding that as well. As he continued to take in his opponent’s attacks, a second Shadow Fang attempted to blindside him with a claw attack of its own, and Virid quickly acted; ducking his front half down as his horn lit up in an amber light once again. This time, the glow expanded to his back hooves, and when his glowing feet made contact with the Shadow Fang’s body, an air pressure wave exploded outwards, putting a hole in the wolf-monster’s chest cavity. It went down on its back, exploding into smoke. Virid was able to jump backwards from the first monster’s vengeance move, and quickly turn to the right to let off a defensive laser burst, smirking afterwards. “I already know what moves these things are going to make now…” he observed, just as his orange eyes met-up with the Shadow Fang’s movement, and he leapt backwards, but didn’t quite dodge this time, the claws making an audible scraping noise against Virid’s armor. “Oh come on!” Virid whined, “I just polished this before we left!” “Not now, Virid,” Blitz flatly reprimanded as he blurred past, smashing into one Shadow Ghoul. The impact sent it backwards into a group of six, scattering them into smoky trails--if they had stayed solid, they would have instead scattered like bowling pins. Braeburn and Spike both backed away again, not quite sure of themselves in this situation. It wasn't like they could have stood around and watched, but Braeburn hadn't exactly been known for being ornery like his cousin, who was currently putting her top-level applebucking skills to use, hitting the monsters hard as they came. The rope tricks she knew certainly helped her, as well. But the apple farmer knew he couldn't just keep backing off. The creatures seemed to be mostly targeting the group, after all. "We can't just sit here!" Braeburn called out, "They're after what fell here, right?!" "That's right..." Spike said, "But what're we gonna do here?" Braeburn looked back to the group. Rainbow Dash was streaking across the sky, before going into a low-flying manuever, right alongside Crimson Blitz, whose horn was alight with a purple glow and his body a blur as the two kept pace with each other. The two seemed to increase their speed ever so slightly, both plowing hard into an already injured wolfish creature, apparently killing it. Rainbow Dash then turned, as did Blitz, whose hooves scraped the ground hard as he began shooting blasts to the ghouls chasing here. "I mean, any better than what they're doing..." Spike said, "Virid was right--we'd run into trouble the closer we were to the item..." Speaking of the unicorn in question, he was currently laying waste to two Shadow Fangs. After he had learned their attack patterns, he was making it look like foal's play to take down two large monsters. Azure himself was picking up anything the others weren't. "And, given who else is on the team, I wouldn't want to get in their way..." "Wait, then why are you here?" Braeburn asked, after a moment of silence. "Virid wanted me around in case I got a message..." Spike said. "I don't know how much use he'd have for those on his own. Perhaps he might plan something out based on that and have it ready before we get back together? I don't know..." "I don't think any plan you all have in mind will work..." A voice Braeburn didn't recognize said, causing both him and Spike to turn around. A dark blue unicorn, jet-black mane and tail, showed up. His hood was lowered, revealing his horn was glowing a blue-black color. His eyes were a scarlet color. Both Spike and Braeburn froze, turning to the pony that had been behind several attacks before the greater conspiracy began to reveal itself. "Here, I think I know how I'll get them to drop their guard..." Shade's magic changed course a bit, and Spike and Braeburn began to lift off the ground against their will. At the same time, the summoned ghouls began to vanish one-by-one. All eyes turned, and everypony saw what was happening. "Cousin Braeburn?!" Applejack shouted. "Spike!?" Azure called out, instantly angered. "Let 'im go!" Rainbow Dash started for them, but before she could reach them, it was Spike who acted first. Shade may have counted on the lure of the hostages once more, but he hadn't quite counted on Spike being able to breathe green fire in defense of himself. Shade was forced to take the burn, dropping Spike and Braeburn while he tried to extinguish the flames. Applejack's lasso snapped out, yanking Braeburn out of the way, while Rainbow Dash flew in, saving Spike. It hadn't been too long, but soon, Shade, whose mohawk had been nearly singed back down to the roots, turned his furious scarlet eyes to the group. "You must really want me to get serious, then?" he asked, "Fine...As before, three Taraxippi, coming right up!" His horn once again began to glow jet black. "Terax--Torox--" Braeburn attempted to try to pronounce the word woozily, still a little dazed from the whiplash. Azure began to step forward, eyes closed. "I don't know either," Azure said, "But they've gotta be even worse than those wolves..." "They're tough monsters, too!" Applejack said. "It took all we had just to take down one o' them, but if Shining and the others hadn't shown up...!" Azure's magic surged, as the pool of shadows from that day so long ago opened up in front of Shade. Three creatures, one after another, came out, all twice the height of a pony, all as vicious as Applejack, Rainbow, and all else who were there remembered. They each roared as they finished being summoned. Shade positioned them in front of him. "I see..." Azure said, "Either way we were cutting it close back then..." Azure's eyes opened, his eyes no longer glowing cyan, but pure white. His horn lit up, and remained that way despite the fact he didn't appear to be casting a spell. Virid and Blitz both did a double take, Spike and Braeburn both paused, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack could only think back to the day before, when they had saw Azure in the colloseum. "This time, you won't get away!" Azure roared, sending out a laser attack from his horn. It hit one of the Taraxippi dead-on, and to the surprise of all present, the laser didn't stop on the thick skin of the beast, instead proceeding right through to the other side, leaving a large hole through it. The Taraxippus that was hit fell over, disappearing into smoke. "What the--?!" Shade growled, positioning the remaining two. Rainbow Dash rubbed at her eyes, at a total loss. "It took us a whole lot o'work just to take down the one..." Applejack said, entirely shocked, "But with just one shot...!?" Virid looked, almost dumbstruck, at what his cousin had done. Taking into account the others' reactions and the fact that they did look beat-up when they finally got to them, as well as Azure's current showing... "What happened...?" Virid asked, "I didn't think Azure could be..." He shook his head. He could wait until later to ponder Azure's growth. Right now, he needed to think of a plan of action. He wasn't quite sure if these ponies could see through these illusions due to walking the path of chaos, but still, there was one thing he did know: If the Element Bearers were to be sundered or seperated in some way, the security of the country would be endangered, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were, in fact, two of them... --------------------------------------- His illusion-dissipating eye still glowing, Mendex could hear the sounds of a battle outside the orchard. He could also hear the confusion of the ponies inside the maze, and even saw a few stray shots go past unnoticing ponies. This illusion was beyond anything he’d ever experienced, and he had to know what kind of power these so-called Elements of Chaos held now. “I must be getting closer…” Mendex observed silently to himself, his eye and gem glowing ever stronger. Yet ponies who turned to see him either saw nothing but a dark emerald glow or nothing at all. Perhaps one of them had saw the buffalo he had projected himself to be to everyone else, just in case. The fluctuations in the illusion appeared to be growing ever stronger, as though he was nearing the source. The transparent images of the orchard around me… the earth pony thought, gritting his teeth as he sneered with confidence, I have to be close! Keeping an eye on his surroundings just in case the item’s magic went even more out of control than it was already, the disguised equine continued forth, with one eye on the ground. Eventually, despite the illusions around him forcing him to squint, he could see the source. Concentrating, Mendex began to channel magic from his chest into his hooves, as he went up on his hind legs. Now I need to dispel the illusion, and take the item…and then…I’d better do a tactical retreat…The score is already one to zero, don’t wish to make that two-nothing if I can help it… Mendex thought, his gem burning brilliantly. The one flaw in the illusion being dispelled is that his own illusion—that of him being a buffalo—would also be dispelled, revealing his true form as a black-cloak wielding pony. Mendex was, however, confident enough he was close enough to the element such that even if he were discovered, it would be too late. With a sharp grunt, Mendex released the magic within him, dispelling a dark green shockwave throughout the orchard. The glow in his eye died down and his true form was revealed as he began to check if he had restored the true image, for even a few seconds. The trees that seemed to form nothing but dead ends and tunnel-like corridors were gone. The ponies he could see once more, and they looked around, confused to see their orchard was back. Quickly, Mendex made his move, seeing a corroded silver necklace on the ground. He could see it glow as the powers within began to leak into the environment, and the ponies began to question his presence. He knew right now making an illusion was not the top priority right now, instead opting to grab the item first. Mendex dove, taking hold of the item in his hooves. When it made contact with his body, the glow seemed to stop, allowing him to get a good look at it. This…is the element of Deception? He asked himself, looking upon it. The necklace part was a corroded silver color; the gem inside was a dark blue color, and appeared to be “blank”, in a sense. “Hey, who are you?!” one of the ponies questioned. Mendex turned around, deciding to himself to give the amulet before him a try. “Just someone who was looking for this,” he stated flatly, putting the element on. As soon as he did, a fog began to glide in his mind, and he could feel his chest gem begin to surge. However, the former concerned him much more than the latter; the mental haze a cause for concern. He felt so focused, and now…now he felt a much more sinister urge than a tactical retreat coming on… What’s happening…!? --------------------------------------- The other group of "Harmonics", as the dark group would put it, had asked around the town. Sure enough, the town itself seemed largely unaffected, though the townsfolk had been worried about what it meant. And, they were worried about their kin that had been lost in the maze. However, as they began to hear the sounds of battle in the distance, the other group had began running for the other side of the town. "Sure enough, it'd start without me!" Silver grumbled when he realized it, "Not that I like it when these ponies throw a wrench in the works..." "Something I think we can all agree with," Shining had noted. The group continued to make their way towards the orchard, where the townspeople and buffalo who were more or less passing through pointed it out to be. The group hadn't quite gotten there yet, and Twilight began to think about what was happening. They've already gotten here? Azure...Applejack...Spike...please, please be safe... Thus, the group continued onward, towards where they could hear the sounds of battle. --------------------------------------- A taraxippus sent one of its massive paws crashing down on where Azure would have been just a few seconds ago, had he not teleported onto its friend's head. The taraxippus attempted to swat Azure off with its tail, only to have it blasted off with a weak laser discharge. From there, the unicorn began to focus his magic into his front hooves, and as soon as he found a spot where he wouldn't slide down so much, he reared up, bringing both down and discharging a shockwave of magic, causing the front of the beast to bulge out intensely. It fell forward, downed. "Sure enough, he's completely different..." Crimson noted, "This just isn't the same Azure from before...What's happened to him since his move..." Crimson began to think back to when they'd fought the summoner's companion at the Ghastly Gorge. After Rainbow had shattered his chest gem and restored the unicorns' magic in the process, Azure's eyes had started glowing. He hadn't really thought about it before, but now... "His horn and eyes ain't stopped glowing since he started!" Rainbow called out. It was true--since his supposed surge had kicked in, his eyes had never stopped shimmering, his horn had never stopped blazing. "I don't know what it is, but I'm glad he's got it!" Spike called out. Virid continued to study the situation, a rather pensive look on his face despite the epic success Azure was having in fending off the two ghouls on his own. He leapt backwards. Shade was towards the back, constantly positioning at least one of his ghouls between himself and the others. One of the monsters leapt down at Azure, who leapt out of the way, finally putting that one to a stop with a few well-placed laser bullets, which caused the Taraxippus to finally disperse into smoke. Azure turned to the last one. "Whatever's happened since last time..." Azure said, "I don't think we're that comparable anymore..." "We never were to begin with!" Shade said, the glow around his horn fluctuating heavily. The Taraxippus in front of him roared, charging Azure, eyes glowing red as it tried to bring its forepaw down on Azure. Azure leapt up, aided by the gravity spell, dodging the attack once again, before using a fire spell, hitting it with a couple of fireballs. It roared, reaching up at Azure with its other paw, but Azure fell safely out of the way, charging a laser shot next. As soon as Azure landed, he fired it off, once again having the same effect on the Taraxippus as he had before. The last one was defeated, nothing more than smoke scattering to the wind. "It's over," Azure said, as the glow around Shade's horn faded, "You're not going to get away this time..." Shade began to laugh, his head facing towards the ground, "Oh no, I think I will...with everypony else..." "You've already pulled out all the stops!" Rainbow said. "Wrong..." Shade said, using his magic to throw off his cloak, revealing his chest gem was glowing a black glow. The glow around his horn began to change to a dark black color. "I still have one more summon to make..." Instead of the pool of shadows appearing in front of him like it had before, it instead appeared directly beneath him, wind blowing straight up from it as Shade began to cast the spell. "On a scale of one to ten..." Shade continued, "This one's a twelve!" "A twelve...?!" Blitz yelled. "You can't be serious..." "But he is, Blitz..." Virid said, finally coming to life. He cast a look to the others, and then to the maze. As something began to take form around Shade's chest and legs, enveloping it all in a shadowy blob which began to rapidly change shape, Virid grit his teeth. "Everypony..." he started, "I know it looks bad, but you all need to get into the maze now..." "What?!" All present shouted. "But that maze..." Blitz started. "Is an illusion, yes. However, the item's in there too," Virid continued, "We need to try to get it back before they do!" The blob began to take form, a body, which began to grow in size rapidly. It looked somewhat insectoid, but also serpentine. It was now twice, three times, four times as big as Big Mac, the biggest pony most of the group knew. Azure grit his teeth, "Plus, at least you guys would be hidden in there..." "I'm not going to hide!" Rainbow Dash said beligerently, "I'm going to stay right here..." As a long shaft of darkness began coming out of the beast's body, Shade moved to about the center of its full length; about ten feet out of the large main body. The shaft of darkness morphed quickly into a head, which roared. "Well..." Virid gritted his teeth. "Some of us need to be in there..." "I'm goin' in with you..." Applejack announced, "Somepony needs to find the item, too, right?" "B-besides," Spike said, "A-Azure can take care of himself...and the others aren't here...yet." "I'll go in too." Braeburn said, "The sooner we get that item out, the sooner we can get back to our livelihood..." "Alright then, Blitz, Rainbow Dash," Virid continued, "You stay out here and back up Azure! We'll go in!" The beast Shade was now fused with looked down, as though about to lunge out at the ponies galloping straight into the orchard. "Let them go..." Shade said, "Nopony could find their way in that maze...Focus on the ones that are staying behind...Make sure they know the terror of the shadows..." With Azure, horn and eyes still glowing cyan and white respectively, Blitz, who took stance on his left and Rainbow, who hovered in the air on Azure's right, looking on, the beast roared again. "Go..." Shade started again, "Shadow Hydra..." ---------------------------------------- Mendex stood in the center of the maze he'd created within the orchard. None could see him. Rather than a buffalo, he was now part of the maze, at least on an illusory level. He now had complete control of the entire maze. Feeling the power of his Element coursing actively through him, Mendex detected something. "Ah...so some of the harmonics have entered the maze..." Mendex stated, "Perfect..." Shifting his magic a little, Mendex smirked, unseen by all. "Well then...why don't I put Shade's intel to use...?"