//------------------------------// // Chapter 48: Brutality // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 48: Brutality ------------- The griffon stared down his six opponents, with an unsettling look in his eye. The others didn’t really know what to expect now; the Element of Chaos appeared to have changed him the instant he put it on. He looked like he was in a hurry, more or less. Now, however…   He moved, rushing the group, his wings flapping mightily as he rushed his targets.   “Watch yourselves!” Virid shouted.   Suddenly, Bronclav stopped short of the group, raising a talon. The claw ignited in fire, and a malicious grin split his face, his eyes glowing. The griffon swiped his claw, sending a stream of fire. Instinctively, the group scattered—Rainbow grabbing Rarity and Pinkie Pie, the Royal Guards managing to jump clear.   The heat seared past them, but didn’t remain there, going beyond. When the stream reached the point of entry for the group, the flames spread, forming a semi-circular ring.   “He cut off our retreat?!” Blitz shouted, initially more confused than anything else.   “So why don’t we enjoy ourselves, then…” Bronclav asked, his voice seeming to have a different quality to it than he had not five seconds earlier. Rainbow flapped her wings hard, rising into a hover. She didn’t remain there long, though; rushing towards Bronclav.   “Wait, you idiot!” Virid shouted in response, but Rainbow didn’t listen. Bronclav, meanwhile, began to rush back. Like a few moments before, Rainbow’s attack was dodged and she was grabbed by the griffon. However, Bronclav quickly dropped, slamming her into the ground and causing her to cough a little.   “Rainbow!” Rarity gasped, effectively summing up the group consensus. Bronclav followed this up by tossing Rainbow like a hoofball away from him. He made a move to pursue her to keep going, but the group reacted, Pinkie moving the fastest, however. Strangely, her mane seemed…flatter than it had been for most of the crisis so far.   “You meanie!” Pinkie squealed, her voice sounding still so chipper—entirely dissonant from her current expression. However, this did little to intimidate the now crazed griffon.   “That’s it…that’s closer to the face you should be making in times like this!” Bronclav shouted. Pinkie hopped up, bouncing off the griffon’s head…but that did little more than make him turn towards her, and once again finding a pony in his hooves. Rainbow Dash was charging him now, angered, for two reasons: one, her ego had been more hurt in that whole thing, and two:   “Let her go!” Rainbow shouted, rushing close.   “You want her?” Bronclav questioned, “Go ahead then…”   Faster than anypony could react, Pinkie was thrown, ramming into the onrushing Rainbow, who could do nothing but brake and attempt to catch her. The two carried on for several yards before impacting a tree, where they ultimately stopped, leaving a terrible dent in the tree.   Rarity let out a shrill gasp—this just wasn’t the same griffon that they had just been up against! Bronclav looked over to the stunned, motionless mares, still grinning widely.   In that moment, the alabaster mare found she had never moved faster in her life—quite a feat considering all that she’d been up against since the group all came together. Before she realized it, she was running past him—Crimson Blitz would later tell her she threw basically anything that wasn’t securely attached to something down, and even things that were. She even stepped in the mud a few times.   The next thing she remembered, she was in front of the griffon gone mad(der), shrieking at him.   “Don’t you dare lay another talon on my friends, you ruffian!” Her lower coat was splotched with mud, and the stress of the situation combined with the fact she had momentarily lapsed in sanity had even caused a few of her curls to go out of place. Rainbow and Pinkie groaned slightly, but didn’t move.   “Or what?” Bronclav asked, his attention entirely on her, almost entirely unfazed by the barrage of…everything. “You think you can do better?”   His talon erupted in flame, and his wicked smile seemed to get worse. However, before the fire could be thrown, something big, red, and fast slammed into the griffon’s back, causing the flame to dissipate. Bronclav grunted; Blitz quickly blurred out of the way, putting himself between them and the mares. A few moments later, a few amber bolts of magic hit him.   Bronclav snarled, and tried again to do his attack, but abruptly, something slammed into his back: a purple…bubble?   All heads turned to Shining, who appeared to be focusing intently on Bronclav now.   “Virid, Blitz, make sure he doesn’t do any more damage,” Shining commanded, “I’ll take it from here…”   “But, Captain, your main magic has been—“ Virid tried to interrupt, but—   “Doesn’t the manual say something about insubordination?” Blitz questioned. Virid grit his teeth.   “But…”   “I’ve got this, Virid,” Shining said.   “Exactly what do you think you have?” Bronclav asked. The shield that Shining had formed was still pressing between his wings as a flame began to form on his talons, “This isn’t anything!”   Shining responded by forming another, slightly bigger bubble around himself, immediately before leaping backwards and kicking it at Bronclav; the barrier hit the first one. Both shattered, and sent Bronclav flying forward from the force of the impact.   Rarity gasped, the crazed griffon was flying towards them. Quickly, Virid and Blitz turned around, both executing a double back-kick together, slamming Bronclav back again. The griffon slid backwards on the swampy ground. At this point, Shining himself slid in front of the two, making sure the griffon couldn’t directly get to them anymore.   “Alright, big guy, it’s just you and me,” said Shining, his horn lighting up. Bronclav scoffed, rising onto his legs. He soon grinned.   “One-on-one, huh?” Bronclav asked, “I’d be careful if I were you, Captain…”   The talons of the beast lit up in fire once again, and he held out one of his arms towards the group in a threatening matter.   “I don’t think you’ll want to play with me forever!”   He threw a few fireballs, Shining blocking them all with a quickly-formed barrier. With that, he rushed towards the griffon, Bronclav doing the same, going for a punch down at Shining, whose horn had lit up again.   “Captain--!” Virid shouted, but there was no need.   When it looked like the fist would connect, suddenly, a shield appeared directly over where the point of contact would be made. The shield shattered, but instead of caving it, the magical construct instead exploded outward, knocking Bronclav back.   “What the—“ Bronclav grunted, his smile finally being totally interrupted for the first time all battle.   “It’s a type of barrier that repels an enemy attack, and throws it back at them…” Shining said.   “But it only works at close range…” Virid mumbled, “Which is how he got us when…”   As the green unicorn tried desperately to forget that horrible time where he’d attacked his commanding officer, the griffon began to speak again.   “Bah! No matter…” Bronclav said, “I’m going to enjoy picking you apart!”   “Come on and try it!” Shining shouted, “I’ll make sure you don’t get past my defense, this time!” ------------- Silver could sense it without having to see it: the feeling of the running animals, coupled with the distant crackles and pops. However, it was Fluttershy who made the observation.   “Oh no, the swamp’s…!” Fluttershy gasped. By now, the bear was showing signs of life. They would probably need to move before long.   “You think that other dragon caused this?” Spike asked.   “No, he and Azure have been up in the air this whole time…” Silver responded, “But it’s weird. Around the time Azure left into the air, something in the air over where the fire is, changed.”   “Changed…?” Spike asked, Fluttershy tending to the bear’s wound. Neither of the males could notice her change in demeanor upon realizing the swamp was being set on fire.   “How to put this…” Silver paused, before nodding to himself, “Before, it was like we were wandering through a gradually thickening fog of aggression; the closer we got, the thicker the fog seemed to get. Now, however, it’s condensed into a single cloud…”   “You mean…”   “I think they beat us again…” Silver observed. After a few moments, he grit his teeth visibly. “Oh, no…!”   “What is it now?!” Spike yelled, already knowing that particular statement. It sometimes followed a given study session, after all—but with all that had happened, he really began to start fearing the worse with this cloaked group.   “He…The other guy, I mean, not the dragon…” Silver began, “Fluttershy…”   Fluttershy remained focused, and didn’t even move. She was still helping the bear with its wound. However, a moment passed, and her ear flicked. With almost startling precision, she turned to him, and began to speak:   “Yes, Silver?” Fluttershy was sounding like she did at the Gala all over again…which did not do well for Silver.   “Two others are…down…” ------------- Azure flapped his wings hard, barely recovering from a hit from the dragon opposite him. He breathed hard, gritting his teeth, seeing the wall of fire. Tack turned back, again.   “You’re worried about them, aren’t you?” The dragon asked, taking a quick look over his shoulder. He shook his head. If Azure didn’t know better, he’d have said the dragon didn’t approve of what he was seeing back there. However, past dealings with the cloaked creatures who had given him so much trouble didn’t exactly leave an impression of caring.   “Yeah, I am…” Azure grumbled, flapping his wings hard, “But the best I can do is leave it to my cousins and Shining for now!”   “You’re not even used to your wings!” Tack shouted, shortly before inhaling, shooting three fireballs out at Azure, who allowed himself to fall slightly. He tried to right himself, barely managing to stop himself from completely falling, but then a weight pressed down into his back, hard, slamming him belly-first into the ground.   “Gotcha!” the dragon shouted. Azure laid flat on his stomach, definitely de-winded. Tack backed off, surprisingly enough. The unicorn colt stood up, spreading his still intact magic wings. He looked over to the transformed dragon, incredibly confused.   “Why…” From past experiences, this didn’t work, “Why’d you let me up?”   Tack grunted, “We’re still on different sides…”   Azure wanted to press the matter further, but…   “Az!” This was a rapidly-approaching Applejack; Azure cocking an ear towards his rear.   “Are you alright, Azure?!” This was Twilight.   He’s right…Even if we’re not trying to take each other down at any cost, we’re…still on opposite sides… Azure thought to himself. He seems…different, but…   A sudden surge of fire caught his attention, Azure blocking it with a magic shield. The cyan colt grit his teeth, sure of what he would need to do here.   But I’ve got friends I’ve gotta protect, and no one is gonna take them from me again!   With that, Azure’s horn glowed slightly brighter, as he unleashed an onslaught of laser spells towards his opponent, who braced himself for the impact… ------------- Shining slid back, a shield covering part of his body, his hooves digging into the soft mud below. Bronclav had opted to attack him physically this time, but he couldn’t quite fire off that counter-spell every time. He hadn’t quite gone through the battle without taking damage—his fur was covered in burn marks, his armor appeared mildly charred now, but he was still going strong.   Bronclav still looked like he was bordering on insane, his own body covered in burn marks now as well, mostly from a few errant fire spells that had been reflected towards him.   “Hold still, why don’t you?!” the griffon shouted, bringing his talons together with a resounding clap…because Shining had leapt backwards out of harm’s way.   “Sorry, I’m not into getting creamed…” Shining said, leaping backwards just a little. Bronclav threw out another fist, to be met with yet another dodge, followed by having a purple shield shoved into his chest, pushing him back once again. Bronclav slid to a halt, momentarily stunned.   “To think that one of you alone could hold out so long against me…” Bronclav said, before his grin returned to his beak, seemingly growing more and more sinister each time he cracked it, “Amazing! You’ll be fun to take down! Just make no mistake Captain, when I’m done here…”   His talons ignited in flames, and he sent more fireballs at Shining as he shouted, “Your allies over there are next on my list!”   As Shining began to put up yet another barrier to block the fire attack, the others on the sideline could only watched.   “He seemed like he was in a hurry before,” Virid noted aloud, watching Bronclav’s behavior, “Each of his strikes were more efficient than actually brutal, and I don’t think he used as much of his strength.”   “And he didn’t seem like he wanted to hang around for long, just deal with us swiftly and get out of here with the item in tow…” Blitz added, nodding.   “But after he put on that Element, he became an entirely different griffon,” Virid continued, “He seemed to delight in causing opponents as much pain as possible, perhaps even…” He trailed off, “But faced with the prospect of a worthy opponent, such as our captain, he’s more focused on fighting him one-on-one, than getting out of here with the item…”   “Perhaps it just put forth his worst traits, or amplified them…” Virid noted, “Whatever the case, these Elements of Chaos we were tasked to gather…They really are that dangerous…”   Shining managed to reflect a few more fireballs back towards Bronclav, who punched them out with more burning fists. Afterwards, Bronclav rushed Shining. A purple shield appeared over the point of impact again, but this time the shield stayed rather than redirecting the attack like it first had.   “What’s wrong?” Bronclav threw a few more punches, Shining seemingly unable to move under the repeated attacks, “Running out of gas?”   Bronclav went for yet another punch, but his fist caught against the shield. Only now, did everyone realize that the shield hadn’t quite given way under the pressure the griffon was trying to put on it—and its creator. Shining looked up.   “Not quite.”   One moment later, the shield once again seemed to “bounce” outward, giving off a shockwave. However, this time, the shockwave was a lot worse, both combatants getting sent back a ways. Bronclav fell backwards, flinching and holding his chest. Shining also bounced back a little, but began getting to his feet with little time in between. However, seeing this still didn’t sit well with a certain somepony…   “Captain!?”   “It’s fine, Virid,” Shining said, “Guess I just underestimated the kick the counter would cause…”   Bronclav slowly got to his feet, his eyes bloodshot, one talon clutching his chest. He moved his hand, revealing the gem that was there, clenching the talon into a fist.   The gem was cracked from the force of the knockback. At first, Bronclav looked…extremely upset. However, the griffon’s face quickly twisted into an absolutely crazed expression, one where fury met excitement and insanity, his eyes wide and bloodshot, his beak cracking an absolutely vicious grin.   “This…is…life!” he shouted.   “He has absolutely lost his mind…” Rarity was numb with horror—was this merely the kind of monster those cloaked ponies were all along?   “Glad you feel that way…” Shining responded, “But I’m going to have to end your high soon enough…” ------------- After a long day of dealing with bureaucratic affairs and worrying about her subjects tasked with the retrieval of the Elements of Chaos, Princess Celestia had retired to her chambers for some relative peace. Her sister, now that she was back, as usual, would handle the night affairs. Well, Celestia knew her job wasn’t done yet: she still had some things to attend to besides completely lowering the sun.   She had quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on, after all. She really needed to stop taking so many tea times during the day. For a while, she went to work, though she began to wonder what all was going on. In the privacy of her chambers, she could do nothing but think.   I still can’t piece it all together…Discord can’t be behind this, he wouldn’t have orchestrated this kind of event. He wouldn’t miss out on something like this. In fact, he would have specifically tried to make it worse than it already is… But we know nothing about these ponies…   At this point, there was a frantic knock on the door, derailing her train of thought. She looked up towards the door.   “Please, come in,” Celestia opened the door with her magic, allowing a Royal Guard to enter. He appeared like he’d hurried to deliver something.   “Princess Celestia…” He panted, “There’s been some urgent news…”   “Is it related to the search?” Celestia had to be sure.   “I wish it were, Princess, I truly do,” the guard continued, “But this is worse…this…this…”   He fished out a letter from his armor, and walked up to her desk, setting it down in front of her.   “It’s…It’s a...direct threat, Princess…”   Princess Celestia felt a migraine coming on. It just seemed like her workload was getting heavier and heavier. But, after a thousand years of ruling alone, she’d gotten used to that sort of thing. With that in mind, she unrolled the parchment.   As her eyes scanned the parchment, they went from frustrated to wide with apprehension at what she had read.   “The Captain of the Guard…he’s still out with the retrieval unit, but he’s the only one with skill enough with shields to…” Celestia began, her eyes closing in thought. “On top of that, we have guards across the countryside trying to look for the inverted Elements…”   “Awaiting your orders…” The guard saluted. There was no denying this guard was green—then again, Equestria had hardly had wars for a long while now. Everything was peaceful until recently. Now, however…   This is a difficult position…we need to find these Elements, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to my subjects…   The solar princess had to wonder if this new threat was a coincidental occurrence, or the mark of a truly cunning strategist on the enemy’s side…   Whatever the case, I must make a decision now…