Broken Pride

by lunabrony

6 - I See the Light

Questions were swirling in Twilight's mind, teeth grinding in anger at having been deceived. She ran without stopping, until the tree came into view, barely able to contain her rage. Fluttershy had fallen behind, in an effort to distract the hyenas who had been following them.

"YOU!" She snarled at the shadowy figure beneath it.

"Yes…me." Rayou stepped out from beneath it, bony fingers clutched around his staff. "Surprised it took you so long to figure it out, really. Especially after all the things Zazu said about you."

"So all of those protective wards and symbols were really…."

"Not so protective." He smirked. "Quite the opposite."

"You should be ashamed of yourself. You have disgraced yourself, and you have disgraced your father." She snapped, advancing towards him. Every step she took was another step backwards for him, pushing him deeper into the Tree. A tree embedded with powers that some might say bordered on the supernatural. The wind was gradually beginning to pick up, lightning streaking across the already rain-streaked sky.

Rayou banged his staff on a root. "So I told a few lies. Scar will protect me. We will bring in a new era under Scar's reign, a new era that's long overdue."

"He may protect you from me, but what about from your father?"

"First of all, you know nothing about my father. So don't even attempt to play the guilt game with me.My father? He's dead. What's he gonna do?"

A gnarled root reached out and grabbed Rayou's shoulder. A mystical voice spoke down from the skies, and it didn't sound pleased at all. "You have abused your power, and caused countless sufferings."

Twilight circled around, grabbing Rayou's staff in her teeth.

"Let go, you crazy cat!" He snapped. The two tussled over it, the old staff snapping in half from the exertion. "You fool! Do you know what you've done?!" The tree continued grabbing at him and began pulling him deeper into the branches. Twilight headbutted him, sending the two spiraling into the roots.

Twilight looked behind her with absolutely no sympathy. "You could have had it all, Rayou. But you chose the wrong path." She turned tail on him and returned to the cavern in the downpour with Fluttershy to make final preparations.

***

Things had seemingly been under control, leaving time for Twilight to catch a quick power nap. She didn't understand what it was about being a cat, she felt like sleeping all the time even when there were time restrictions. Thirty minutes would be enough. If she could just-

Fluttershy came running in, out of breath. "Twilight, come quickly! We have to hurry!" She yelled.

Well, so much for that.

Twilight was on her feet in no time, scowling slightly. "Do these idiots never learn!?"

"Apparently not. Hurry! Um... if you want to." They dashed out into the pouring rain, confronted by a familiar scene. Well, not familiar to them, but the other lionesses were watching in terror. Scar had cornered Saxon at the edge of Pride Rock, holding viciously onto his front paws as his hind legs scrabbled for a foothold. "You played the game well, King. But once I get rid of you…there will be nobody left to stop me!" Saxon just growled.

One of the lionesses whispered. "We should really put a fence or something up there..."

Twilight yelled towards the pair of them. "Give it up, Scar! You've already lost!"

Scar nearly had a heart attack, the distraction giving Saxon the opportunity to begin the climb back up onto solid ground.

"You lie! I will not lose again!"

"Ask Rayou! His Father returned to him, very displeased!"

Scar paled. "Rayou... failed?" Visibly shaken, he shook it off. "It's a trick... it has to be a trick."

Saxon climbed up behind him. "It's over, Scar. You will NEVER be King."

Twilight rose up against him, bringing her paw down to add to the already impressive collection of slash marks. "You can take the long way down, or the short way. Your choice. But first..." She rose up upon the rock, throwing her voice loudly across the battlefield. "SCAR, TRAITOR TO PRIDE AND HYENA, IS DEFEATED ANEW!"

Fluttershy scowled at him. "Perhaps that will service as a reminder not to be such a meaniepants."

This got the attention of the hyenas, and they were not pleased. Scar bolted from the scene, chased by snapping jaws. It was unlikely he would survive his latest humiliation, as this time he could not wait years for the event to fade from memory.

Not long after, once the chaos had gone down, the rain had slowed to a bare drizzle, and the hyenas had once more been banished from the savannah, Saxon looked proudly over the visiting pair. "Twilight… I know you do not belong here. But if you wanted… the position of Queen remains available." It was a poor attempt at flirting.

She smiled a bit at him. "No thank you. I've had rather poor experience with queens and have had quite enough of them. Would you accept an advisor from a 'visiting pride'?"

"That would be fine."

The portal was still open near the back of the cave, with Zazu standing near it. "I knew we made the right choice calling you two. You are welcome back any time."

Twilight smiled faintly. "Thank you, but I think I've had quite enough realm jumping for quite a while."

Fluttershy did not need to be told twice, and ran through the vortex towards home where her teddy bear was waiting.

Twilight bowed her head. "Thank you for the offer, Saxon. But we are needed back at home. I wish you well." Following Fluttershy, she slipped through the portal.

On the other side, Fluttershy and Twilight made quick work of the portal, sealing it off behind a heavy cabinet until it closed by itself the next day.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, who gave a soft squeak.

"I hate mirrors," Twilight said.

Comments

[Xanderfox]

This was an interesting concept but the execution wasn't the best. Everything went by so quick I didn't have any time to get invested in the story.

[lunabrony]

3309477 Yeah, I'm usually better than that but it started out as a personal writing challenge just to see if I could pull it off and it rapidly became apparent that it wasn't gonna work, and I refuse to cancel stories. I have a lot of stories, some work, some don't.

[secretfan]

3309505 That was pretty good. How long after Simba's Pride does this take place? And why did you use song titles as chapter titles? You got me really confused when I saw the chapter titles.
Random moustache!

[lunabrony]

3607180 The song titles very loosely relate to the content in the chapter. It was just something new I tried just for the hell of it. Trying new things is good, doesn't always work.

This one didn't.

[lunabrony]

4687880 Jeez, yeah, Twilight. I forgot about this story, it's... one of my ones I'm not that proud of, but I leave it up as a reminder of failure to motivate improvement.

[lunabrony]

4839329 As I mentioned before, this story was one of my weakest on multiple levels. I never managed to execute it the way I wanted it, and I don't think its good enough to warrant a rewrite. But I do look over my past works now and again.