Fred Walsh: Diverted

by Baguettedood

Chapter 17 - Return

Chapter 17 – Return

*I may or may not have lied about chapter 10. This chapter's dark as well.*

"Well, that was certainly a bit of a rant, and I truthfully meant everything I said. Sometimes, I swear that being here is slowly making my life ever worse. But maybe I'm just one of those guys who prefer blissful ignorance over adventures. Primarily, I'm sick of demon attacks happening every week.

"Speaking of which, DemonTrixie's back. Great. It's a little odd, though. If it weren't for the sudden insomnia, then I would've been asleep during the attack. This has to be one of the only situations where having insomnia is considered a positive thing.

“I wonder what kind of wavefunction that my relationship with Celestia is.”

---

Most who hear screaming would at the very least try to identify the origin, and in the case of most of those still awake in Canterlot Castle, they would rush to offer assistance.

Immediately after the castle shook and a scream sounded, guards left and right ran as fast as they could to defend those in danger, and there was no doubt that it was Twilight's voice who yelled for help. Also joining the guards were Luna and Fred. Both of them barrelled out of the control room towards the student's quarters.

The castle quaked again.

They were mere turns from providing help, but only a few corridors remaining, they and everypony else encountered an issue.

Fred was running full speed, he darted to the next corridor. He continued to sprint forward. Suddenly...

“Argh!” he screamed as he fell backwards onto the ground, a red shimmer appeared at his feet before fading back into invisibility. Quick as he could, he stood up to investigate. Luna and some of the guards ran into the shield as well, all of them prevented from continuing. Fred mumbled incomprehensible Latin curse words as he bashed his right arm against it, causing it to shimmer again.

---

Meanwhile, Twilight dodged another blast from the demon-possessed Trixie. She wailed again. Somehow, her magic was gone similar to before, but this time she wasn't wearing any harmonically-enhanced jewellery. She hid behind an open door to block another charging attack.

The demon didn't finish the next spell; Princess Cadance kicked Trixie in the right side, disrupting the blast. It stumbled left.

Once the pony recovered, it threw a few more blasts outward. Without magic to defend, the others could only hide and hope they aren't hit.

---

Surrounding the perimeter of the shield, everypony, including the guards, Luna and Fred, pushed against it, causing it to glow bright red, yet it refused to falter. Fred stopped muttering Latin expletives; he had already ran out of them long ago.

Even worse, all their magic seemed drained too. Thanks to the human's previous experience with the harmonic gemstones, he knew that DemonTrixie wielded a harmonic emerald. 'But my arm wrestling analogy fails now. We have way more pushing against this but nothing's happening!'

Awoken from the trembling, Princess Celestia emerged from a hallway, still wearing her jewellery. Fred looked over at her tiara containing an amethyst core as he remembered its origin. 'Okay, this might be one of the worst ideas I've ever had, but it's not like there's anything better.'

“What's going on?” the solar alicorn loudly demanded to know.

He stopped pushing and moved over to her. “Princess Celestia?” He braced himself for what he was about to do.

She acknowledged his presence, awaiting an explanation. She looked to the shield, in attempt to understand.

“Twilight's in there with DemonTrixie, and I need this.” He jumped up and grabbed the crown. The jewel on the headwear was a harmonic amethyst, capable of defending against magical attack. It also allowed him to pass through the demon-red barrier effortlessly. The princess followed through via her secondary chistpiece, also amethyst, both alarmed and confused.

---

Princess Cadance lay against a wall, after being hit by a blast. She shakily stood up as her husband defended. Both them and Twilight had no way of knowing why absolutely nopony else were showing up to help them defend.

Shining Armor dodged a few magical attacks and closed the distance between him and DemonTrixie. He managed a few hits, but the last one was countered and he tripped over.

The demon, with both defenders incapacitated, made its way over to Twilight.

---

Fred sprinted with Celestia's tiara in hand, with the princess following close behind. As he ran, he failed to notice a small glow across his body and some sort of sparks emanating from his feet – He was too determined, after all.

They turned the final corner. “Hey, Stupidus!” the human called out to grab DemonTrixie's attention. It looked around, slightly confused at how they passed its shielding. The demon moved away from Twilight to stop Fred and Celestia first. It charged up a beam attack this time and released.

The human shielded his face with his arms, but the attack never came – instead absorbed by the amethyst. He released a breath he didn't know he held and hotfooted over to the lavender unicorn.

“Here, wear this.” He placed the tiara upon her head. Just after he finished, a blast struck him, causing him to fly backward. He impacted the wall and fell onto the floor.

Twilight saw him get struck, but had something to do first. Enraged at what the demon had done to her friends and family, her horn glowed brighter and brighter. Shortly afterward, she erupted in flame, similar to one time when she was furious at Pinkie Pie. She cast off a constant stream of whatever offensive spells she knew. Fred, barely conscious, could only think the Japanese word 'Danmaku.'

DemonTrixie couldn't dodge or block most of the onslaught and took some hits. Celestia just watched, wide-eyed at everything. The demon charged a spell, which the princess recognised. Unable to stop the impending teleport escape, she quickly cast a tracking spell, so they could find her later. She applied the spell just in time as it teleported into nothingness.

Twilight ceased her revenge attacks. She floated, with her coat white and mane on fire for a few more seconds before she drifted to the ground as she returned to normal. Exhausted from everything, she passed out. Fred, Cadance and Shining joined her on the stone floor as well.

At last, the castle guards arrived, now that the shield had stopped being maintained.

“Help them,” Princess Celestia ordered. She levitated her protégé as the guards lifted the other three and took them to Canterlot Castle's hospital area for recovery.