//------------------------------// // Fighting Chaos // Story: The Umbra Queen // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle and Spike ran toward the boutique, not bothering to look back. When a rogue pegasus dove from the sky to stop them, Spike belted out a blast of green fire, shocking the pegasus and causing it to crash into the ground. “Keep running,” Spike shouted to Sweetie Belle. “Don’t worry about me!” Following Spike’s direction, Sweetie Belle ran for the boutique with all her might. Her legs were sore, her head was throbbing and she was completely soaked by the time she reached the door, but that was all forgotten when she was awash with relief. I made it! She reached up and realized the door was locked. Taking a deep breath, she used her magic to try and unlock it from the other side. It didn’t work. Frustrated, Sweetie Belle turned and bucked the door as hard as she could. “Rarity! Rarity, it’s me! Open up!” Before Sweetie Belle could buck the door a second time, it burst open with Twilight Sparkle’s magic. Thrown to the ground, Sweetie Belle slowly picked herself up and half-smiled. "Twilight! It’s you!” Twilight’s horn illuminated with powerful magic. “Stay back. How do I know it’s really you?” “Twilight! It’s okay! We’re both normal,” Spike said, running up behind Sweetie Belle and brushing her off from her fall. “You told me to meet you here, remember? Before you left? It’s me! Spike! I’m not under whatever spell the rest of the town is!” For a moment Twilight dwelled on his comments. The ponies of Ponyville were slowly creeping closer, all of which had discovered that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been lying. They were encircling the boutique, no longer attempting to hide their devious nature. Twilight had seen enough. “Get inside, both of you,” she said to them. Spike helped Sweetie Belle into the boutique where they found Rarity waiting inside. She already had her two foals inside their saddlebag carrier, but she looked sleep-deprived and frightened. “What’s going on, Twilight?” Spike asked. She stood her ground at the front door. “I don’t know…” When the ponies of Ponyville began swarming the boutique, Spike ran out to help the alicorn princess fight them off. Twilight stopped him by putting her hoof out. “No, Spike! We don’t know what’s wrong with these ponies! What if they’re being controlled? They may be innocent!” “But what’re we-” Using her powerful alicorn magic, Twilight created a purple shield around the boutique, keeping the angry ponies from reaching the contents. The town folks were gathering in huge groups at the edge of the shield, banging and smashing against it with their bodies. They seemed like mindless zombies at this point, hungry for blood and brains. “This can’t last forever,” Spike said, motioning to the ponies attempting to break the shield. “We need a plan!” “I’m thinking, Spike! I’m thinking!” Rarity’s eyes flashed with sudden interest. “Look, Twilight! In the sky! It’s Discord and Fluttershy!” Sweetie Belle smiled. “It is! Thank Celestia!” Twilight kept the shield in place, her eyes narrowing into a glare. “Something’s wrong…” she whispered ominously. Discord landed amidst the ponies of Ponyville, his eyes half-closed and vacant. The ponies stepped aside, parting like the Red Sea in order to give him better access to the boutique. On his scaled back was Fluttershy, a cruel smile upon her face. There was a tense silence as Rarity, Spike and Sweetie Belle exited through the front door of the boutique in order to get a better view of what was going on. They stood next to Twilight, who was holding her ground. “That shield won’t hold against the God of Chaos,” Fluttershy laughed. “Surrender and I won’t have him wreck you.” “Discord?” Twilight questioned, looking to her friend. Discord remained as vacant as when he landed, completely distant in every sense of the word. “Discord… what happened?” Fluttershy’s smile widened. “He won’t answer you. Now, what’s it going to be? Are you going to surrender?” Spike walked up to Twilight and placed his clawed hand on her back. “Twilight,” he said under his breath. “You can’t fight Discord alone! He defeated both Luna and Celestia before they used the Elements of Harmony, don’t you remember? Unless we get the others in order to use the rainbow power… I don’t think we can win.” “I can’t give up, Spike,” she replied, her eyes never leaving Fluttershy. “The ponies here are depending on me.” “If we fight, innocent ponies might be hurt,” Fluttershy suddenly interjected. “You wouldn’t want that, would you?” “Who are you?” Twilight barked. “Are you Fluttershy or… are you something else entirely?” Fluttershy began laughing. Then the crowd of ponies began laughing. Even Discord, who Twilight was sure wasn’t in control of himself, began laughing. “You haven’t figured it out yet!?” Fluttershy said between cruel laughs. “I thought you were the smart one of the bunch? The one that couldn’t be fooled? Perhaps you’ve gotten dull over the years… No matter. You’ll regret not surrendering when you had the chance.” Fluttershy jumped off Discord’s back and pointed to the boutique. “Go, my love. Bring me their bodies.” Discord uncharacteristically roared in response as he lunged forward like a rabid dog let loose from a chain. He slammed against the shield hard enough to shake the very ground. Slowly his talon hand pierced the shield and with his lion arm he began to pry a small hole open like it were banana being peeled. Spike took a step back and turned to Twilight. “Um, Twilight? Now would be a good time for that plan…” “I need more time to figure this out, Spike,” Twilight said, preparing to attack. “I’m going to teleport you, Sweetie Belle and Rarity away once the shield goes down. Take them away from here, you understand me? Keep them safe.” “I don’t want to leave you,” Spike stated, standing his ground. “Let me stay.” “Sweetie Belle is still young and Rarity has foals with her, Spike. They need somepony to help them.” She turned to look at her friend dragon and frowned. “Please, Spike. For me.” “I… But…O-okay,” he reluctantly agreed. The shield suddenly shattered like a glass window; purple flakes of magic raining down on them like the water from the clouds. Twilight didn’t wait one extra second; she teleported her friends away from the mob of ponies and the God of Chaos the instant she could. --- With her friends gone, Twilight took the sky, leaping away from Discord as he attempted to slash her with his claws. The thatch roofs of the houses nearby suddenly became fine-tipped needles with Discord’s chaotic magic. They flew at Twilight from all directions, threating to puncture her to death. Twilight teleported just in time to save herself, appearing beneath Discord and blasting him with raw magic. Discord slithered through the air like it was water, never bothering to flap his wings. When he hit the ground, boiling water burst upward from under the soil. Twilight dodged the scolding hot water but didn’t even notice that the pegasus of Ponyville were now trying to cover her in trapping nets. They threw the nets over her body, sending her crashing to the ground. Twilight teleported herself to safety before more ponies could pile on top of her, but Discord was already waiting. He breathed raw chaotic magic on her, ripping away portions of her coat and mane with disintegration-like effects. She flew up higher into the air and blasted a concussion pulse throughout the crowd of ponies, stunning nearly all of them. I can’t fight them too! I don’t actually want to hurt them! Discord was unaffected by the pulse and appeared by her side in the air. His eyes were still vacant and he moved like a puppet manipulated by strings. Discord opened his mouth and a green gas poured forth, suddenly washing over Twilight and most of Ponyville. Twilight held her breath, attempting not to take any of the gas in, but it was no use. The moment she inhaled even a small fraction she could feel her vision blurring and colors inverting. Everything… was… getting… hazy… Pull yourself together, Twilight tried to reassure herself. You know it’s his magic! Fight back! Think of something! It was too late, Twilight felt her wings becoming limp and useless… too heavy to flap any longer. She was dropping from the sky but not before she could cast one last teleportation spell! Twilight closed her eyes and focused. Maybe she would be able to get away… --- Rarity watched as Twilight fell from the sky, plummeting to the ground. Her body disappeared behind the view of the buildings in Ponyville before Rarity could see what happened to the princess. Her heart sank. What was she going to do if Twilight couldn’t handle this? What were any of them going to do? Spike pulled her toward the trees. “C’mon, Rarity! We need to keep going! As long as Luna, Celestia and Cadance are still around I’m sure we’ll be able to do something!” They were on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Once upon time it had been an evil place filled with dark magic. Now it had been drained of its dark magic thanks to the Ruin Worms that had been discovered there. The Ruin Worms were magical beasts that fed off dark magic and became bigger with each and every ounce of magic they absorbed. It had been a terrible disaster when the worms had developed into gigantic killing machines two years ago… the Everfree Forest was still partially destroyed from their rampage. Spike ran ahead of the ponies, clearing the way with his claws and fire, attempting to find a place for them to hide. Rarity followed closely behind while keeping an eye on her children. They were remarkably calm considering everything that had happened. Then again, they had been growing inside of her during the craziness of the Ruin Worm disaster, so they might just be used to this kind of scenario. “Guys! There you are!” Spike and Rarity tensed at the sound of someone talking. Sweetie Belle jumped behind Spike, shivering and turning her attention to the canopy of trees. “Who’s there?” she asked. “It’s me, Rainbow!” Rainbow Dash sailed down from the trees and landed in front of them. “I was out of town for Wonderbolt training, don’t you guys remember? What’s going on?” “Rainbow Dash! I’m so glad you’re here!” Rarity ran for her friend, ecstatic to see her. “No, Rarity! Wait!” Spike attempted to grab her but missed. Right before Rarity threw her arms around Rainbow Dash, her shadow suddenly lashed out, striking Rainbow Dash across the face and chest. Stunned, Rarity stopped and took a step back. Rainbow Dash slowly looked up with a glare on her face. “What happened?” Spike asked in disbelief. “My shadow…” Rarity muttered, taking another step back. “It only attacks things that are dangerous to me…” Rainbow Dash jolted forward with a snarl, attempting to bite Rarity. Spike jumped between them and headbutt the blue pegasus with a skull-cracking slam. Rainbow Dash hit the ground, dazed and stunned. “Run!” Spike commanded. All three of them took off into the forest, leaving the evil Rainbow Dash behind. Rarity was glad Sombra had gifted her with that shadow… it had saved her in more ways than one. Sombra… Rarity skidded to a halt and took a deep breath. It couldn’t be… “Shadow,” she said, looking at the dark outline of herself on the ground. “Take me to Sombra.” Spike grabbed at the scales on his head in frustration. “Rarity! Sombra is dead! I know you still miss him but... We don’t have time for this right now! We need to stay focused!” Last time Rarity had tried this, the shadow had led her straight to Sombra, even though he had been concealing himself within the forest. She hadn’t tried it since he died… and she didn’t know why she had the urge to try it now… Her shadow stretched out across the ground and pointed, just like it had done before. Spike and Sweetie Belle stood shocked, their eyes wide with disbelief. Rarity took a deep breath and glanced at both her children. They looked back at her with infantile curiosity. “Sombra… is… here?” Spike asked in a tiny voice. “It can’t be.” “We’ve only one way to find out,” Rarity stated.