//------------------------------// // Black and Blueblood // Story: The Dead Stallion's Hand // by Lord Zalgo //------------------------------// The group of seven stared down the duo as Blueblood was regaining his strength. "As much as I'm willing to, I won't be able to stand up to them." Valliere said quietly to Blueblood. "I will handle them. You are going to find Phoenix Fortesque and end him. If I'm to fail, then he shall fall with me!" Blueblood yelled as he emitted a blinding light that allowed Valliere to escape. As the group regained their sight, they saw that Valliere was missing. "Where did the vampire go?" Cadence asked the group. "Most likely after Phoenix. He was a target, after all." Celestia replied. "What?! We have to stop her!" Twilight said with urgency. "We have to stop Blueblood now. Phoenix can handle himself, as we all saw." Celestia replied. Twilight looked at Celestia pleadingly before lowering her gaze to the ground before finally turning back to Blueblood with a slightly teary glare. 'Phoenix... Girls... Please, be safe.' Twilight thought as she prepared her magic once more. Luna moved her hoof in front of Fluttershy's face in a slow vertical, then horizontal movement; Fluttershy's eyes following after the hoof perfectly. "From what I can see, there are no negative side effects to Cognito's manipulation." Luna said calmly. Everypony seemed to breath a sigh of relief. "You sure you're alright, Phoenix?" Applejack asked. Phoenix replied with a smile and a nod as everypony began to compose themselves. Only to be shocked again when Phoenix was tackled to the ground. Recovering quickly, Phoenix used the momentum to flip Valliere off of him. As Phoenix turned, their eyes locked. "Well, hello again, handsome." Valliere said with a wry, flirty smile. "What'd she say?!" Applejack yelled from behind Phoenix. "The princesses should have known that you weren't on their side. I checked the information that you leaked to us and none of it checked out. I guess you just weren't their main concern. To be honest, you're not my main concern either." Phoenix said, ignoring Applejack's outburst. "Oh, you wound me, darling. Are you gonna kiss me better?" Valliere said as she licked her lips. "Okay, what the hell are you doing?" Phoenix deadpanned. "I don't know what you mean, darling. You look so tasty I can't seem to help myself." Valliere replied and staring intently at Phoenix with hungry eyes. "Stop lookin' at him that way, you whore!" Applejack yelled angrily, causing everypony to look at her in shock. "Did you just call me a fucking whore?" Valliere asked quickly, voice suddenly filled with anger. "What's wrong, whore? Can't hear her over your drooling?" Rainbow said mockingly. "Well, if I'm a whore, then she's a bitch!" Valliere yelled back. Everypony froze. "...Did you just call me a bitch?" Applejack asked levelly. "So what if I did, biiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch?" Valliere replied, stretching the last syllable. Tension grew as Phoenix's eyes darkened. "I'm going to kill you." Phoenix said simply. "What?" Valliere asked in confusion. "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!!" Phoenix yelled as he charged forward, grabbing the pipe that Cognito used to stab his neck with his magic as he did so. Before Valliere could respond, Phoenix stabbed her in the forehead, the pipe going through the head and emerging out the other side. He then used the momentum to push her towards a nearby wall. Once they reached it, Phoenix stabbed the pipe into the wall, pinning Valliere in place as a large amount of blood had started pouring from the entrance and exit wounds. Her vampire healing keeping her alive, but her attempts to grab the pipe were in futility. "See, you shouldn't have said that. 'Cause you needed that like you needed a hole in the head." Phoenix said as he stroked his beard and used his magic to twist the pipe, causing Valliere to writhe in pain. "AAH! Please, get this out of me!!" Valliere screamed. "Funny. That wasn't what you were implying what you wanted earlier." Phoenix said. Valliere's response was to glare at Phoenix. "Fine. If you aren't going to free me, then kill me now." Valliere said. "As long as Luna keeps this area bathed in moonlight, you're staying right where you are." Phoenix said as he reached into his jacket pocket with his magic and pulled out his gun and pressed it against her chest. He then pulled the trigger. "Shot through the heart!" Pinkie yelled as Valliere screamed. Phoenix turned away as he walked by Luna. "Can you make sure she stays alive? I don't think she'll be moving from there. If she does, you know what to do." Phoenix said, causing Luna to nod in reply. Returning the nod, Phoenix motioned for the girls to follow him as he began to run towards Canterlot Tower. Slendermane's body skidded along the ground before his muscles relaxed, spent of thier energy. Cadence, Shining, Twilight and Zalgo had shared the same fate as they looked on, powerless as Celestia and Faust continued to match their magic with Blueblood's. Covered in small wounds, Faust and Celestia had made many attempts to remove the Element of Magic from Blueblood, but to no avail. Blueblood, however had been showing signs of fatigue, despite having no visible injury. Sweat was literally dripping from his face, his muscles were twitching slightly as the moved from discomfort and pain and his magical attacks had been becoming more and more lacking as the fight dragged on. Unfortunately, so had Celestia's and Faust's. "There... There is no way you can defeat me!" Blueblood yelled, despite his exhaustion. Celestia and Faust looked ready to collapse as their breathes became more ragged. "You won't survive one more shot from my magic, regardless of how weakened it's become. NOW DIE!!!" Blueblood screamed manically as he fired a magical blast towards the pair. They tried to summon another shield, bur even between them, they had no power left. Time seemed to slow down for Celestia and Faust as the blast drew ever closer. However, in an instant a stallion had materialised in front of them. They watched in silence as the stallion took the force of the blast and flew back several feet. "No!" Celestia yelled as she and Faust ran to Phoenix who was lying on his back. As they approached, he stirred and looked at them as the rest of the girls had finally caught up. "I'm alright. I'm alright. Go deal with him." Phoenix said firmly, but with a slight weakness to his voice. Twilight limped over to them as Faust and Celestia dropped to their knees, there exhaustion finally taking its toll. "Well, what do we do now?" Rainbow asked, actually sounding nervous. "Simple. You die." Blueblood replied as he tiredly fired one final blast at the girls. In a panic, all six of them gathered together and grasped each other for dear life as Phoenix was underneath them. BOOOOOOOOOM!! Suddenly, all six of them were covered in a shining purple aura. Twilight turned her gaze away to look at Blueblood with a determined expression as suddenly, as if summoned, the other Elements of Harmony materialised around the necks of the girls. "You told me, Blueblood, that it didn't matter what kind of power the Element of Magic gave you as long as it was yours. That's your greatest downfall. The Element of Magic recognises those who helped create it. It wouldn't let them be destroyed by its own power." Twilight said defiantly as she shared a quick look and smile with her friends, the aura strengthening rather than subsiding. "Wh-what?" Blueblood asked, sounding less confident after his failure to kill them. "The power may be within you, Blueblood, but it's not yours to wield. You simply can't wield it. Because, you don't understand the nature of the power. Its magic is designed to be distributed to others. Strengthened by others. Amplified by others. That's why..." Twilight continued to speak as the Element of Magic began to shake until it pried itself from Blueblood's head before disappearing and reappearing on Twilight's. "...That's why it's the magic... of friendship!" Twilight proclaimed as the Elements charged as one and fired the rainbow beam once more, colliding with Blueblood as he screamed in a way less dignified than a young filly. Once the beam subsided, the Mane 6 slowly descended to the ground and looked into the newly-formed crater where Blueblood had been hovering. Inside, they saw the twitching, dumbstruck form of Blueblood; seemingly not conscious, but twitching nonetheless. Slowly, large grins emerged on the faces of everypony present, until Pinkie started to laugh. Followed by Rainbow. Followed by Phoenix. And soon enough everypony was on their knees or their backs, laughing until tears were streaming from their eyes. They had survived. They had won! They had kicked flank!