//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve: The Pact // Story: Heart of Shadow: Passing the Torch // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Passing the Torch Chapter Twelve: The Pact Written by TheCrimsonDM “Stop!” Color Splash shouted from behind Amber. Amber didn’t quit galloping because of that though, her friends had been shouting at her to stop for nearly ten whole minutes now. What were a few more minutes of them shouting really going to do? Not stop her from saving her parents. That was for darn sure. A blinding streak of light caught up to her. Blackout flew just over Amber’s head, her forelegs were crossed and purple eyes drilled holes into the back of Amber’s head. Amber didn’t stop for her either. “Look here stretch, if you keep running like this you’re going to get into town, a town which is filled with possessed ponies mind you. We already have six completely competent ponies working their hardest to stop what’s going on. Don’t get us all into trouble because you just had to save the day,” Blackout said, for being a total bully, she was surprisingly mature when she wanted to be. Amber however, was not. Amber stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry. “Screw you, my mom’s in danger and that’s all I need to know. I am Twilight Sparkle’s apprentice, and I can do whatever I set my mind too!” Blackout cringed. “You big baby, I’m going to ground you so hard!” “Ha, you aren’t my mom, you can’t-“ Amber started. She was interrupted when Blackout folded her wings, aimed herself like a bullet, and slammed into Amber’s back. Amber hit the grass, and skidded several feet as the surprisingly weighty pegasus pinned her down, and even managed to wrap her legs around Amber’s making sure that the unicorn couldn’t get back up. The others caught up fairly quickly, and while Amber let out a string of curses that managed to make even Color Splash blush, Blackout just held her still. After a few minutes of cursing and struggling, Amber went slack and gave up. It was useless trying to fight her way out of this hold, whatever technique Blackout had learned was extremely effective “You gonna be okay now, Amber?” Blackout asked, her tone was stern, but somehow caring at the same time. Amber shook her head. “No I’m not going to be okay, not until my parents are safe. But I won’t try and run off anymore.” “Good, ‘cus I got a better plan than what you had,” Blackout said. Amber’s ears perked up. “What do you mean?” “If you trust me, and don’t run away, I’ll explain it. But it will require that everyone works together, okay,” Blackout explained. Amber cursed again. “How come you’re the one who’s all calm, and has a good plan, and all of that?” “I never said my plan was good. Good would be staying put inside that treehouse of yours, no my plan sucks, but it sucks a little less than your lone wolf plan,” Blackout explained. “Are you interested?” Amber let out a sigh. “Yeah, I’m in. Just let me go, I don’t exactly like the idea of a mare on top of me. It feels weird.” Blackout leapt off of Amber and scrunched her face up in disgust. “You what? Ew, no, just ew, like seriously. I don’t like you like that okay. I just think your cool, in a heroically dumb kind of way.” Amber allowed herself to wear a small smile. At least I can take that response as a small victory. Now to hear out what kind of plan she has. *** The six ponies sat around an old tree stump near the edge of the forest line. To one side they could see the town off in the distance, it was quiet, and nopony could be seen from this spot. Blackout stood next to the stump, leaning her back against it, the stump was almost bigger than she was. The others all sat around staring up at her, they had mixed expressions about this, every few seconds glancing back at Amber who was simply biting her lip and scowling. Blackout began explaining, “Okay, now as you all know. The town right now looks all empty and stuff, well it probably isn’t. From what I can guess, the townsponies are all hiding somewhere, waiting to spring up and grab any ponies that aren’t corrupted, possessed, or otherwise made evil. “Amber’s parents are not part of the Elements of harmony, but they are also pretty tough. So we can assume that they might not be corrupted yet, and are in fact hiding away from the threat, or even worse are unaware and just waiting to be jumped.” Color Splash interrupted, “My dad is at home working on the farm. So we know he’s safe, but what about your dad?” Blackout’s eyes narrowed on her. “My father left my mom after I was born. She’s never been good in love, and none of my siblings share the same father. So after her last break up she’s given up, so don’t worry about that.” She was quiet for a moment and then thoughtfully added, “My siblings are currently at a daycare, it's just outside of Ponyville, so it should be fine.” “You have siblings?” Hushpuppy asked. Blackout growled. “Shut it, emo! I am here to help you get Amber’s parents to safety, I trust my mom can handle the rest.” “Great, a mature, kind leader one minute, a bully the next,” Color Splash whispered to herself. “Anyway,” Blackout continued. “This is my plan, we sneak into town as a group, I’ll take a position overhead and make sure that you avoid any threats. As for you guys, I… er… stay quiet and fast.” The earth shaking boom that rocked the trees and sent the six ponies sprawling onto their sides ruined Blackout’s speech. A rainbow colored explosion covered the front of town hall, and that’s when Amber noticed what was going on down there. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were flying around with a contingent of pegasi flying around them. Applejack, and Pinkie Pie could be seen struggling to shove off the groups of ground ponies. Rarity, riding Spike’s back, flew overhead shooting bursts of flame over the ponies heads, enough to scare them back but not hurt them. Amber’s small group watched as Twilight and friends regrouped, the townsponies all faced them, corralled into a pool of corrupted ponies. Twilight’s eyes lit up and she floated in the air, her friends floated up into the air as well. The air around them shimmered, and sparks of rainbow colored electricity flew out in every direction. The air between the six exploded into a rainbow ball, and then rose into the sky as a beam of rainbow colored energy. Amber grinned as she watched the elements of harmony being used. She could not recall ever seeing something so powerful and yet so pretty. The beam turned midair and came crashing back down towards the group of corrupted ponies, and then stopped. The light turned gray at the edges and fizzled out. The beam vanished, the ball of energy was gone, and the element bearers fell to the ground. Amber’s heart sunk as the group was quickly surrounded by the mob of ponies. Spike raced down to stop them, but a dark tendril was flung out from between two buildings and it whipped against the side of his head. He fell to the ground with a silent thud. Nopony spoke as they watched the element bearers, plus Spike get dragged into the town hall, the doors was slammed shut behind them. The ponies that remained outside quickly dispersed back to hiding in their individual homes. Five minutes passed by as they just stared, then ten, followed by fifteen. Finally after twenty minutes Amber pulled herself free from her stupor, realizing now that there was something bigger at stake than just her parents. Amber leapt on top of the tree Stump. She looked at all the ponies before her, they all looked desperate, scared, and confused. Something from deep inside Amber took hold of her heart and steeled her for the coming trial, for she knew, somewhere deep inside she knew that this was her trial. No it wasn’t just hers, it was their trial, she and her friends were here for a reason, and that reason was to save Twilight’s butt from the fires. “Everypony,” Amber said, strength and courage behind her voice. Everypony looked up at her, and their eyes wide-eyed upon seeing her smile, and her determined gaze. Amber spoke, not loud, but with conviction that would stop any adult in their steps to hear her words. “We just saw the fall of the elements of harmony, you just saw all of your parents fail. I just saw my teacher, my mentor and friend, my step mother, fail spectacularly. But this is not the end. “We were missed by the corrupted forces for a reason. It should be obvious to you all by now, but if not let me explain it to you; we have been chosen by destiny to save them. I want to save my parents but that is not the most important task here today, no, we must save the elements of harmony, for even if they can’t use their powers, they can still use their minds. We need their wisdom more than anything else right now.” Blackout shook her head. “I just watched my mom lose to a bunch of loser earth ponies, what the heck are we supposed to do with that?” Amber smiled. “We use that to our advantage. We just saw where they took them, their prison of sorts, and possibly even the home of the creature that’s responsible for this.” Color Splash stomped her hoof into the soft soil. “What about that shadow tentacle thing? It just took out Spike like it he was nothing.” “I stopped it last night, just aim for the base,” Amber replied. “It’s not his fault that he didn’t see it coming, he was too focused on his wife. But we know it’s there, and we can avoid it, or if we have to we can fight it.” “Amber,” Hushpuppy said. “You are insane, you can’t fight the darkness.” “I am the light in the darkness, and I’m not small, I’m a giant,” Amber replied. Jade looked back at the town. “What can I do?” “You’re a dragon pony, and I bet you have some incredible skills to aid us. Can you smell ponies very well?” Amber asked. “Mmm hmm, my dad and me sometimes play a guessing game where we find ponies by scent, I’m really good at it,” Jade replied. “Good, we can use that,” Amber replied. Sophie looked a little less shaken and even smiled. “Before we do this, we have to make a pact that no matter what we will work together, as friends, and win.” Amber nodded. “You can’t be serious,” Blackout said. Sophie stood up, and from her mane she pulled a pocket knife. Amber didn’t know why Sophie kept such a thing in her mane, nor did she know where Sophie had actually obtained the knife. Sophie walked over to a birch tree nearby and carved into it. When she was done, a crude representation of her cutie mark was embedded into the tree. “You see, Blackout,” Sophie said. “If we carve our mark into a tree, and swear to each other, it will be just fine.” “That doesn’t make any sense,” Hushpuppy said. “If we don’t save them, who will?” Amber asked. Hushpuppy shook his head, and growled. “Fine, but… you better keep her safe.” He stood up and trotted to the next tree over, he took the knife and carved his strange cutie mark into the tree. He spat the knife out and said, “I’ll save her.” Color Splash grabbed the knife and repeated the process on another tree. “You guys are crazy, but if I don’t save mom, who will argue with me about my art?” Blackout was next, and when she was finished she grinned. “I’m Rainbow Dash’s eldest daughter, if I can’t beat up some corrupted ponies, and an evil tentacle, than I should renounce the name Dash right now.” Finally everypony looked at Jade. She had her eyes closed and she was shaking. “I don’t know if I can.” “It’s okay,” Amber said. “We’re all scared, but we need to work together to save our folks. Don’t you want to save your mom?” She looked up at Amber Light and nodded. “I do, but what if we get caught.” “Then I’ll think of something. I’m pretty smart, despite some of the dumb things I do,” Amber replied. “Will you keep me safe?” Amber nodded. Jade stood up, and walked over to the tree. She took the knife, and carefully carved her mark into another tree. She set the knife down gently and looked disgusted. “Ew, I could taste the saliva.” “That’s because four ponies used it before you,” Amber explained. “It’s gross, but without telekinesis what can you do?” Everypony slowly looked up at Amber as she stood on her stump. It took her a moment but she realized what she was supposed to do, it was her turn to make a mark. Amber was never one for doing things the simple way, so when she lit up her horn and filled it with magic, she knew exactly what she would do for her mark. The mark of a rose was burned into the top of the stump, but that wasn’t all. Purple roses grew all along the base of the stump, and all five trees, Amber’s horn was a little sore but the first spell she ever properly learned was how to make purple roses grow, and by now it was an easy trick to pull off. She smiled when everything was done. Amber looked toward the town, her eyes were full of determination, and her heart was steeled for the upcoming trial. “Come on everypony. We’re saving our friends.”