I once was weak, but now I have a purpose. And I owe it all to Them.
-NightShade
Chapter 3
Apparent Apparitions
Fluttershy's Cottage
"I'm telling you girls, Fluttershy wasn't here last time I checked."
"We heard you the first three times Spike." All five ponies replied in unison. Twilight leaned forward to continue.
"Spike, we need to check everywhere. If there is a monster, which I'm pretty sure there isn't anyway, we'll need all six of us to fight it off. How would you like to get eaten just because you were too lazy to search Shy's house, huh?"
Spike's eyes went round. "Y-y-y-you don't th-think that the m-monster ate Fluttershy? Do you?"
The five ponies rolled their eyes and continued walking on the path to their yellow friend's house, leaving Spike behind to digest everything that had been said. Spike looked around, snapping out of his trance, and ran after the girls, yelling. "Hey, wait up! I don't want to get eeeeeeaaaaten!" He didn't even notice that his friends had reached Fluttershy's cottage and slammed into the back of Twilight.
She turned to him annoyed. Spike just sat there looking abashed. Twilight shook her head slightly. "Spike, there is no monster here to eat you." She knocked on the door. It swung open. Spike immediately turned tail and ran.
"M-m-m-m-moooooooonsteeeeer!"
Light
The purple lizard shaped thing dashed away, leaving a fine trail of dust in it's wake. The five other ponies just stood there, stunned by the appearance of this new and unfamiliar creature. They looked into the house trying to see their friend, but only saw an unconscious Fluttershy. One of the ponies, a white pony with a purple mane, simply collapsed where it stood. As she did this, the others snapped out of their trances and glared at me. Not the nicest thing to get from strangers, but whatever.
I just looked back at them calmly.
Eventually, disconcerted by the cool gaze they were getting in return, the ponies started to look a little uneasy. One of them, with a particularly strange colour scheme, hopped into the air and zoomed towards me yelling some sort of battle cry. I simply stepped out of the way as the cyan blur slammed into the wall on the far side of the room, collapsing into a dazed heap, instantly out of the fight. She obviously had no experience in battle, and it looked kinda funny too...
The three remaining ponies were galvanised into action.
A dull orange one wearing what appeared to be... a hat... ran head first at me, trying to head butt my leg. This one managed to me on my left shin, but I backed away. I tried to line up a clear shot at the aggressive orange pony, but found himself restrained as a bright pink pony latched itself around my leg. The orange one span around and prepared to charge again. It got close and kicked my in the stomach. Hard. I did the only thing that came to mind.
I changed form, flowing out of the pink one's grasp, and flitted around both of the attacking ponies, who were at this time speechless at what they had just witnessed. I rushed at them, smashing into them and knocking both ponies out. I got ready to deal the final blow to incapacitate both when I felt something restrain me. I glanced at his arm and noticed a faint purple glow surrounding my 'limb'. The glow prevented me from moving. I was more than a bit confused at the mystical-magical-purple thing, so I whirled around to see the source.
Still standing in the doorway was a lavender pony with some sort of bone appendage protruding from it's head. This thing was obviously the sort of the interference as it was wreathed in a purple glow. The pony in question was straining and sweating from the effort of keeping me restrained, eyes wide open to see what was happening, so it was obvious that she was the one stopping me. On noticing that I couldn't seem to move, she started to calm down a little. Big mistake.
I broke her force.
Twilight
The events transpired before she could so much as blink. In an instant, Applejack and Pinkie had both seemed to subdue this creature. Applejack reared up, spun around, and bucked it in the stomach with enough force to fell a tree. Oddly enough, it looked like it took this hit rather well. Twilight took this moment to study the creature, and noticed something strange. It seemed to shimmer in the light, not really solid at all. It started to flicker more and more, and then it broke free.
It's shape changed, and it flitted away, now only a blob of light and shadow spinning furiously around Twilight's two friends. It started to solidify a bit, and Twilight could see it draw back an appendage to smash the defenceless ponies.
Twilight acted, using her powerful magic to restrain the creature's limb and stop it from hurting her friends. It turned to face her.
The thing tried to move, and Twilight could feel the raw force of it pushing her magic to its limits. It seemed to have limitless amounts of power in its body. The only ponies she had ever seen with this amount of power were the princesses, and this thing was definitely not Luna or Celestia. Twilight broke into a sweat, legs shaking from the exertion. This thing was trying to smash through her magic, but she was the most powerful unicorn, and nopony, or thing, could beat her. Nopony. Especially when her friends were in danger.
Then the thing tried.
Instantly, her magic dissipated into the surrounding air with the noise of glass shattering, and she froze, stunned at what had just happened. Without even batting a non-existant eyelid, this thing had destroyed her magic. Twilight began to feel truly scared. No creature without magic should be this powerful, but then again, this wasn't an ordinary creature. It moved closer, seemingly about to attack her. As it approached, the cloud of light condensed and formed into the creature that it had been earlier. Twilight began to shiver, panic setting in, as she prepared for death. The creature was almost upon her.
Light
The purple pony was backed up against the doorframe, shivering at a frequency that seemed logically impossible. This poor thing was terrified. I decided that it would be best to not stick with the 'Evil Cloud of Light' look any longer, so I phased back into my human form. I walked closer to the pony, and knelt down beside her. Her eyes were shut tightly and she was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion.
I reached her eye level and gently tapped her on the shoulder. The lavender pony opened her eyes, saw me right next to her, and promptly collapsed.
Yeah, that's a really good way to show your appreciation...
Twilight
Oh dear Celestia, I'm going to die. Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no-"
The thing tapped her on the shoulder. Twilight opened her eyes and saw the creature kneeling next to her. This was too much for Twilight, so she gladly accepted the wave of darkness that spread across her vision.
In her last moments of consciousness, Twilight's thoughts were quite simple.
'That's it, I'm going to die! Better think of something awesome to go out on...'
Muffins
'Dammit!'
Light
I stepped away from the unconscious pony and retreated to the relative calmness of the couch. I sighed as I looked around the room and saw the carnage that had happened in a few seconds. "Not this again." Yes, I had been in situations like this before, deal with it. And really, I couldn't sympathise with the unconscious ponies, they were the ones who attacked me.
I stepped over to the window again and basked in the few remaining rays of sunlight that foreshadowed night. I had a perfect view of the front path to the house and the forest in the distance.
The white pony was still lying outside on the garden path.
I was about to turn and head away from the window and deal with the calamity that was the inside of Fluttershy's cottage when I saw a small figure running up the path to the house. It was the small purple lizard from earlier that had fled from Light. And it had company.
Following the undersized reptile were two of the most elegant ponies that I had ever seen, although that wasn't much of a compliment as I had only actually seen six, but still, it's the thought that counts. One of them, a large white specimen, had a pure white coat, which I immediately loved, and a rainbow mane that streamed behind her as she ran. Curiously enough, the pony had both wings and the curious bone appendage that had been on the purple pony. There was a small picture of the sun on her flank.
Behind her was a slightly smaller, but no less impressive, pony. This pony however had an incredible dark violet coat and a deep blue mane. This one had a picture of the moon on her flank. The two ponies almost seemed to be complete opposites of each other. They both looked extremely formidable, and they were both galloping up the path with angry looks on their fac- muzzles...
Spike
Dear Princesess Celestia and Princess Luna
Please help, something urgent has happened. A monster was in Fluttershy's cottage and Fluttershy was inside unconscious.
As soon as you can, please come to Ponyville and defeat this monster. I think twilight said something about it trying to eat us. It could be extremely dangerous, Twilight and her friends are in danger. Please help!!!!!!
Twilight's number one Assistant, Spike
Spike was in the main room of the Ponyville Library with a quill and scroll in his hand. It was a deep black, the code for an absolute emergency, so he knew that they'd get it quickly.
He read over his letter again. It seemed to have enough please and helps written, so he quickly rolled it up and sent it off. The assistant barely had to wait a minute before two twin glows appeared in the centre of the Library, one blue and one white. These glows subsided to reveal the two Princesses. Celestia looked for Spike and addressed him.
"Spike, where are Twilight and the other Elements?" She asked concerned.
"They're over at Fluttershy's cottage, quickly I'll take you there!" Spike raced out the door to the Library with both Princesses in tow. Celestia had an angry look on her face, while Luna had a slightly more subdued expression.
In moments, they had reached the outskirts of Ponyville and set off in the direction of the Everfree, and towards Fluttershy's cottage. Spike admired the princesses in the failing light, and noticed that it had seemed to freeze in place in perpetual dusk. Celestia was too preoccupied to keep the Sun going on time.
The trio crested a small hill, and were greeted by the sight of Fluttershy's cottage on it's small island of serenity. As they drew closer, a small figure in front of the house became apparent. Rarity was lying in the dirt, out cold. Spike shot with a speed the Princesses could only hope to match, and that would have impressed even Rainbow Dash. He jumped down next to his crush and checked on her, the Princesses still catching up. Spike rose, a determined look in his eye, which Celestia quickly picked up on.
"Spike, I think that you should watch and not get involved."
Spike looked at the Princess as if she was crazy. "But I need to avenge Rarity! This monster thing knocked her out."
"Spike, if the monster could do this to her, then i think it could do this to you."
"But Celesti-"
Celestia shot Spike a look that brooked no argument. The undersized reptile, and hopeless romantic, sat down next to the prone form of Rarity, pouting. "Fine," he huffed.
Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance before walking closer to the doorway.
Both stopped as they withheld the carnage within.
Lying strewn across the floor of the cottage were the limp bodies of the Elements. Applejack and Pinky were hopelessly entangled, Fluttershy was lying peacefully next to the table in the corner of the room, while Twilight lay slumped against the wall. Rainbow couldn't be seen at first, but upon further examination could be seen lying in a crumpled heap against another wall.
The Princesses were shocked at the sight, and quickly dashed in to find the creature that had caused the commotion, all the while wondering what could possible overpower five of the Elements at once. It was apparent that rarity had collapsed outside without actually fighting. They almost missed the figure silhouetted against the even waining light pouring through the window.
Celestia shot a glance at Luna, which the darker Princess returned, understanding. Celestia cautiously approached the figure, while Luna kept to the shadows, flanking the creature. Celestia planned to have the element of surprise, but her hopes were dashed as the creature turned to face her. The Princess of the Day drew in a sharp breath as she beheld the sight before her. The shimmering white, with the purest of blacks and immaterial clothes.
It grinned.
This was too much for Celestia, who threw herself at the being who, after recovering from the sudden attack, seemed to flow away into the shadows. And right into Luna. The Princess of the Night instantly grabbed the creature in her magic and held it in her grasp. It fought her magic and she drew back slightly. This thing was strong, almost unimaginably so. The only things that had this kind of strength were her, her Sister, and Discord, who was currently... indisposed.
Then it flowed.
Light
I was getting tired of being attacked, so I decided to end the confrontation quickly.
I phased and, finding that this new enemy had an immeasurable strength compared to the Purple One, took an easier angle than that of trying to use sheer force, instead choosing to find the gaps in the deep purple energy surrounding me, and flowing through. I drew in the shadows to hide myself and became sheathed in darkness, the absence of light acting like a screen. Both of the new opponents looked around in confusion, the Dark One with a worried look on her face. The Lighter One looked like she was preparing something. It was almost funny how confused they looked, and I almost blew my newly found cover by giggling.
Yes, giggling. It's manly too!
Her... well, horn... lit up as bright as the sun and all of the shadows in the room were burned away. This included the shield hiding me, which became brighter as his surroundings changed, eventually dissolving. Both of the ponies turned their gazes to me. I only stared back. I thought they were going to stand there forever...
Right up until they attacked me.
They shot incredibly powerful energy bolts that resembled lightening out of their horns, all of them focused on me, which was a bit rude, even if I did manage to dodge them. They obviously weren't planning on a capture, which I soon realised after being hit by one lucky shot. I shot into the wall, stunned, quickly realising that not only did these bolts resemble lightening, they actually were. I was worried.
I didn't need to face off the two seemingly most powerful beings in the first moment of my arrival, so I took the safest option at hand.
I ditched the fight and ran, which is also a very manly and/or acceptable option. Shut up, it totally is.
My two opponents tried to stop me, but my mellifluous form slipped through any attempts to restrain me as I darted towards the door and flitted through, heading towards the forest nearby. My attackers attempted to pursue, but were quickly outpaced as I flew through the air. I landed and phased back to my human form as I entered the forest.
This was possibly the best option, especially for camouflage. The moment I entered I let the darkness spread across me, as if I was paper that had had a drop of ink spilled on it.
My hair started to change shade, becoming a pure white, glowing slightly, while the darkness flowed out of it and replaced the light in the rest of my body.
I basically inverted myself, and dimmed any light as much as I could. And then I entered the forest running, hoping that I wouldn't come of as being a wuss the next time I found those two big-ass ponies.
One again, I'm so manly.