The Elements of Chaos

by pixelbit5

Ch 8: You can't be serious

Pixel scanned the surrounding town from his vantage in the sky. He could see quite a bit from up here, from the blood red castle near the edge, or the guards' outposts loosely lining the outskirts of town, impressively managing to contain the threat exclusive to Ponyville. His eyes fell on ruin after ruin, with the occasional purple tinged fire in there for funsies. By now, his wings were getting tired, and by now he was frustrated as all Tartarus.

"CAN'T SEE HIM!" he called down to the group waiting below. He could almost hear the disappointed grumbles. As he coasted back down to the surface, he glanced once again over to the crystal castle in the distance. He flapped a couple times, ceasing his decent about ten meters from the ground. "UH, GUYS?" he shouted. "QUICK QUESTION. SHOULD THE CASTLE BE FLASHING LIKE THAT?"

The group all turned to look at the blood red crystal castle, that was now flashing with a sickly green light every few seconds. Setting down once again, Pixel adjusted his glasses. "Yeah, that's definitely not normal."

"Brilliant deduction, Sherclop." the caped pony scoffed. Pixel scowled and trotted away. Yeah, he definitely did not like this pony.

Pastel walked a few feet ahead of the small herd, stepping towards the flashing castle. But before she could get too far, she was pulled back in a bright green aura. She came to rest beside Sunlight, who then released Pastel from her magic. "Yeah, you're not going anywhere." she said, planting a hoof on Pastel's withers. Pastel pouted slightly aggressively. "Still no. We need to find Black Bass."

The caped pony chuckled. "Speak of the devil." she said, pointing up into the air. All of the ponies looked up towards the castle and saw an orange maned streak of smoke flying rapidly towards them.

"Huh. Guess we found him." was all Pixel was able to say before he got hit in the face by a smoking earth pony flying a million miles an hour. The two tumbled back for a good distance, both bouncing against the rocky ground before coming to a painful stop, Bass on top of Pixel. Pixel tapped his hooves together. "So… How's it going?" he said meekly.

"Good, good, yeah." Bass nodded. "Fighting a princess, so that's cool I guess." There was a pause. Pixel fidgeted under Bass, glancing to the side. "Yeah, okay. Sorry. Getting awkward." Pixel nodded as Bass got out from over him. Rolling over, Pixel managed to see a golden blur rush towards him.

"OH MY CELESTIA PIXEL ARE YOU OKAY ARE YOU HURT SPEAK TO ME PIXEL SAY SOMETHING PLEASE!!!" Pixel would have. If it had not been for Sunlight collapsing both of his lungs. She didn't seem to notice his frantic struggle or the fact that his coat had changed a lovely shade of purple.

Bass raised his hoof. "Yeah, I'm fine too, just in case you wanted to know." He shuffled his hooves, looking a little hurt. More emotionally than physically, surprisingly.

Cantering over, Ember adjusted her cape. "Yeah, nopony cares, man." She walked calmly over to Sunlight, who had yet to notice Pixel's brush with his impending mortality. "Okay Sunny, fun's over." she said as she roughly removed Sunlight from PB. Pixel fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

Pastel managed to catch up to the rest of the small herd, batpony in tow. "How did you survive that? That looked really painful…" She helped Pixel up to his hooves once again. Pixel coughed a few times, his hide returning to its previous ice white colour.

"It's… *Gasp* It's a peg… *Cough* It's a pegasus thing." He shook his head violently and straightened his glasses, blinking a few times. "Okay, I think I'm fine. Anyway, yeah. Pegasi bones are a bit bendy. Helps with high speed crashes and stuff." He chuckled light-heartedly. "Well, now that we've found Bass, how about we go find the princess?"

Bass coughed, pointing nonchalantly. "No problems there then." A sickly green glow crept over the small herd, and despite the permanent noon sun, it seemed that all of the light and warmth was suddenly sucked out of the air.

"You should not be here." a menacing voice boomed. It seemed to shake the very foundations of Equus. Pixel froze. He couldn't bear to turn to see the one being of whom could end his existence with a single thought.

"Ready for a rematch, Princess?" Bass hopped around on his hind hooves, punching the air occasionally. Twilight, still hovering in the air and seeming to radiate darkness, was not amused. Without reaction, she sent a small green spark from her horn. It was tiny. Pitiful even. It swirled around in the air in front of her aimlessly, looking a bit like a sad firework. Eventually, it stopped in the air for a second, before glowing brighter than anything before and zooming quickly into Bass' skull. There was a thick *crack*. Bass' eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell over onto his side, twitching occasionally.

Everypony turned to Twilight. She continued to stare down at the incapacitated form of Black Bass, now foaming at the mouth, her expression bored and unchanged. Ember grinned. "WHOA-HOA-HOA!" Twilight turned to Ember, her expression not differing in the slightest. "THAT," Ember pointed towards the braindead Bass. "WAS AWESOME!"

Pixel, now over his crippling terror, turned to Ember. "What in Tartarus are you doing!?" he hissed. This sadist was going to get them all killed! Ember looked at him innocently.

"What?" Oh his Celestia this pony was stupid. Pixel gritted his teeth and trotted over to the pony laying on the ground a few feet from him. "Okay man, just get up, come on." he said, slapping Bass' muzzle. This seemed to rouse Bass from his magic induces stupor.

"Eh? Wha? Roun fwee?" Bass said derpily, his eyes still misty. Pixel looked over to Ember who was not sniggering behind a maroon hoof. "Yeah, whatever. Sure." he said, helping Bass to his hooves.

"Leave now, and never come back, lest you face the consequences." Oh right. Her. Pixel flinched and turned slowly. The darkness had completely blotted out the sun, and it now appeared as if they were standing in a black void, unable to see anything but the rocky ground right in front of them.

Sunlight stepped forward confidently, chest puffed out and sparks in her eyes. "We are here to put an end to this reign of terror." she said loudly, as if giving a speech. "My friends and I are here to defeat you, and I know that with the power of our friendship, we can surely prevail!" She looked proud of herself. Twilight however, was unmoved.

"How many times you practice that in the mirror?" Pixel asked quietly.

"I lost count." Sunlight waved her hoof, shooing him away. "But that's not important." She turned back to Twilight, slipping back into her speech voice. "Now! Release the princesses immediately, or face our power!" No reaction from the purple princess. "Alright then! Gather 'round, everypony! It's time for the elements of harmony!" Ember scoffed, Pastel danced impatiently on her tippy hooves, the bat thing hid behind Pastel and Bass rushed over, the biggest grin on his derpy snout. Pixel came to stand beside Sunlight. He honestly didn't think that they would walk out of this alive, but he put his trust into Sunlight. She knew what she was doing.

"I'm going to overlook this act to treachery for now. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Leave now. Don't. Come. Back." Twilight said coldly, her voice piercing the endless black void. Sunlight stepped forward. "No." she said. "We won't leave, we won't back down, we won't retreat. We are here to defeat you, and that's what we're going to do!" She puffed out her chest again. "With the power of FRIENDSHIP!!!" She closed her eyes and focused her energy into summoning the elements. So did Pixel, Ember and all the others.

Dust swirled around their stoic forms, whipping up a fierce wind. They all seemed to radiate power, courage and determination. The void seemed to retreat a little, giving the ground a little less of a claustrophobic feel. Pixel flared his wings, a warm feeling filling his chest and radiating through his whole body. He smiled confidently and focused all of his energy into blasting Twilight into oblivion. He could do this! He was doing this! He laughed and stepped forward, all fear or nervousness drained from his system. He was here. He was now. Everything in his life had been leading up to this moment! He willed every single speck of his soul to empower the elements, for them to appear and rid Equestria of this demon.

But nothing happened.

He stepped backwards, his confidence almost completely gone, the warm feeling in his heart replaced with only ice cold dread. Why wasn't anything happening? What was going on!? The elements were supposed to appear!

"Yea! Fwenship!" Bass yelled, still partially tripping on magic. Ember facehoofed. "I… I don't understand!" stammered Sunlight. "It should have worked, I…" Pastel paced a hoof on Sunlight's shoulder comfortingly.

Pixel looked up to Princess Twilight, eyes now glowing the same sickly green as her corrupted magic. "I've grown tired of this. Prepare to meet your end." She charged her horn, gathering magic from the air. But suddenly, a grey blur ran past her face, making her flinch and leaving a sizable cut on her face, now dripping blood. "What the?" she whirled around. "SHOW YOURSELF!" she yelled, looking into the black void. She continued to charge her horn, waiting until the blur appeared again. Then, right in her blind spot, the batpony leaped out and left another three parallel gashes along the enraged Twilight's chest.

Pixel watched in awe, seeing the corrupted princess receive blow after blow at the hooves of this creature. Twilight spun around, firing blast after blast of green energy into the void, unable to hit anything but shadowy air.

The bat kept at her assault, leaving the princess covered in gashes. Twilight screamed in anger and grabbed the batpony's tail in her magic before she had a chance to dash away again, finally finding her mark. Twilight touched a hoof to her wounds to see her hoof now covered in her own blood. She snarled. Now hanging upside down, the batpony looked terrified. On the verge of tears even. She whimpered, closing her wings around herself protectively. "YOU!" Twilight screamed. "THIS ACT OF TREASON WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED!" She then turned to the rest of the group and chuckled. "Say good night." Suddenly, all of the power that had been collecting in her horn was unleashed all at once, sending a large ball of energy straight into the centre of the group.

Pixel couldn't remember much past that. Just the screams of the ponies around him, a bright green flash, and white hot, searing pain. Pixel went limp, offering himself to the void. He could feel his feathers burning and spasming, unable to control himself. He closed his eyes for what could have well been the final time in his life. He didn't care. He just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

And so, he slipped once again into unconsciousness.

Author's Note:

Oh noes they ded x.x