The Fox and the Hound
"Power isn't something you can give or take. It's something you use to defend those that are dear to you. You'll understand once you find someone you want to protect." - Cream the Rabbit
"RRRAAAUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!" Springer screamed as he hopped onto the table, his paws fully lit with flaming blue aura. Pure anger was seething from his face, his nose snorting air as a loud, vicious growl grinded from his mouth's fangs. And as he charged, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "SHADE!"
"BRING IT SPRINGER!" Shade barked back as he hopped onto the table as well, his whole body now covered in an oozing, black misty aura. The amulet was now shining at full force, a dark red shine plastering itself over the fox's body as his claws started to show a murky pitch-black aura flame in them.
At the very center of the map were the two beasts, both fully powered as Springer's left shoulder collided with Shade's right. The collision put them in a standstill, both other arms now raised above their heads as flames flared from their fists. And as they stood like this, neither budged a millimeter, movement now completely gone as they glared into each other eyes.
"I'm gonna beat you Shade!" Springer hissed as they continued to push each others' shoulders. "This ends here!"
In response, Shade's mouth opened as his tongue stretched to where it was almost touching his own shoulder, "Fat chance, you aura freak! With this amulet, I will kill the final jakhowl!" The shoulders both felt their respective owners start to grind into each other as Shade laughed, "I will become the second Dark Mist! Then nothing will stop me from taking the head of the Princess of the Night!"
"Oh, shut up!" Springer barked back as he swung a right jab into Shade's face, only to hit him with a left next, then another right. Two more punches followed this, the final punch making Shade backpedal slightly.
"Okay...someone's angry." Shade muttered as he hopped back, dodging Spinger's sixth punch. "Seems we'll have to change this situation."
It was here that Springer hit him with his seventh punch, the top of his knuckles grazing the fox's neck. But despite the pain, Shade reached out both arms, snagging Springer's wrists. Feeling this, Springer tried to pull back, only to feel his body start to go up into the air. "Huh?"
"Time's up! We're moving locations!" Shade declared as he threw Springer over his body, the jakhowl suddenly finding himself now flung over to where Shade used to be sitting. Quickly spinning, Springer recovered and landed on his feet, just in time to glare back up at Shade as the fox snapped his fingers. "Cloaks, spin him!"
The sound of rumbling stone followed this, causing the jakhowl to dart his eyes around and see the rock wall behind him start to move. Before he could react, the wall spun like an old school trapdoor, pushing Springer back. "What the heck?!" he yelped as the wall spun a 180, putting him in another room. "What did he-"
"Sorry about that." Shade commented as he appeared to Springer's right side. "I had this set up because I knew we would get into a fight at some point. Thanks to my trapdoor, we can fight in here."
"What are you-" Springer stuttered out before hitting the wall, only for it to stay still. "Huh?"
"Don't try it. I'm having the cloaks keep the wall locked. After all, I can't have you messing up my machine." Shade added as he walked into the middle of the room. "And as you can see, this room is empty, expect for the lights I've set up, making it the perfect place to fight."
Springer's eyes glared at the room, seeing that it was just as Shade said. It was a rock/cave room with nothing in it except some lanterns on the top edges of the room. The light was enough to show the entire room, making everything visible. Seeing this, Springer let out a sigh and raised his fists, "Guess I don't have a choice. I'll save Flash and the others later."
"Oh, you won't be saving them." Shade replied with a cocky smirk, his claw now fiddling with the amulet as an aura started to cover his back, "I've already won. All you have to do is-"
POW!
"Blugh!" Shade yelped as a fist slammed the side of his face, a tooth flying out. A small 'tink' followed this, the tooth hopping on the stone floor. "Ow..."
"Just shut up and fight."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that jakhowl." Shade responded before looking back at Springer, his mouth now fully open. "Look."
Springer's eyes went wide as he saw the previously removed tooth start to regenerate, making him gasp, "How-"
"This isn't the same Alicorn Amulet, Springer. It is made from The Elements of Harmony after all." A blaze of dark aura consumed his chest as the amulet started to glow, "As I said before, I have ascended."
"Sure you have." Springer replied as he raised a single paw at the Trickster, "Aura Blast!"
The sphere instantly shot across the room, blasting Shade in the face. But there was no yell of pain. Instead, silence followed as a cloud of dust covered the Trickster's face. And as it faded, it revealed one Trickster, complete with zero damage done. As such, Shade shined a huge grin, "Care to try again?"
"Aw crap."
Meanwhile...
"Augh!" Flash yelped as he rubbed the sides of his head. "Shoot!"
"What's wrong Flash?!" Twilight asked as she patted his side, "What happened with Springer?"
"I...urgh...lost connection." Flash replied as he shook his head. "He's now fighting Shade...and it doesn't look good."
"How so? What did Shade do?"
Flash turned to his friends, a low sigh following, "Looks like this whole thing was just a big old scam. Shade said that everything we saw was real history...but that wasn't why he showed it to us."
"What do you mean?" Rainbow responded with a tilted head, "Wasn't this all to make Springer angry at the guy?"
"It was...but that wasn't the real goal." Flash bit his lip as he said the next words, "Looks like Shade did all this so he could cook up a new Alicorn Amulet."
"A new one?!" the girls all yelped in unison.
"But...but how?!" Twilight added, blinking in disbelief.
"Us. Or more specifically, The Elements of Harmony." Flash replied with crossed hooves, the others all grimacing at what he was implying. Despite this, he continued, "He used us as his personal battery and did all this history junk to buy time. Though considering what I was watching through Springer's eyes, I'd say this amulet has totally different powers."
"Like what?"
"Looks like this one heals him. I'm also guessing it'll give him more strength, but that's obvious." Flash stared directly at Twilight, seeing sadness on her face. "Twilight...we gotta get out of here. We need to help Springer."
Twilight let out a sigh at this, "I know Flash...but I don't know what to do. There's only two ways I can think of to get out of this."
"What are they?"
The alicorn crossed her hooves, "One is that we do a counter spell against this machine, which would mean me making a new rune magic that goes against it. After all, this machine is obviously run by rune magic...but I can't use my horn and I have nothing to write with to make runic letters."
"And the second method?"
"Springer breaks the machine."
Flash's eyes shrunk at that. "Uh...about that..."
"What? What's wrong?"
"Let's just say...Springer isn't near the machine right now."
"Steel Paw!" Springer yelled as he did an upward slash, Shade reflexively dodging with a backpedal. The three sharp dagger-like claws just barely missed Shade's chin, which the fox responded with a Dark Claw swipe. Springer took a sidestep at this, the claw now going right at the jakhowl's head. Jerking his head left, the claw swung above his head, a tiny strand of fur clipping off at the same time.
With this dodge in mind, both combatant's feet began to move, the two hopping backward. As they landed at opposite sides of the room, they went into a fighting stance as Shade chuckled, "Hee hee hee...not bad. You've improved since our last-urgh!"
"I said, shut up!" Springer interrupted as he rushed in and did a horizontal kick, his feet smacking the side of Shade's head. In that motion, the jakhowl spun around while summoning another Steel Paw, only to slam it right into Shade's gut. The blow made spit fly out of the fox's mouth, only for his jaw to feel Springer's Steel Paw uppercut it shut. Shade's feet began to lost their grip on the ground as he started to go airborne. That is, till Springer grabbed his leg and started to spin him around. Muscles flaring as a blue aura covered his arms, Springer spun the fox around once before letting go, Shade now colliding with the stone room's wall.
BAM!
"Oof!" Shade yelped as he felt pain cover his back, his body reflexively pulling forward. As he did this, the wall started to show a small bipedal fox-shaped indention. The fox groaned as he pushed himself out of the stone, "Ugh...violent much?! How about you give me a-blurgh!"
A fist smashed into his face, slamming him back into the wall. Tiny smears of blood could be seen as he hit Shade in the face again, blue aura now consuming the jakhowl's fist. "Give it up Shade! I'm still better than you!" Springer yelled as he hit Shade again, the punch pushing the fox deeper into the wall. "I'm-"
And as that word left the jakhowl's mouth, two claws suddenly stretched out of the rubble, gripping Springer's head. Before he could react, the claws swung a hard left, throwing Springer's face directly into the same wall. Pain took over as the jakhowl felt the broken rubble kiss his face, only to feel Shade pull his head back and thrust him into the wall again. And again.
"Not so tough now, huh?!" Shade yelled as he pulled Springer's head back for a fourth time, "If you'd just let me finish a sentence, I'd-"
POW!
"Blaugh!" Shade yelped as the back of Springer's fist hit the fox's face, the spike in it piercing his flesh for a split second. The blow made him stumble back, his paws now rubbing his face, "You have got to be-"
"Shut up!" Springer screamed as he hit Shade's stomach, spit again flying out of the fox's mouth. After that, Springer pulled the fist back, ready to hit his face, only for Shade to reach his paw and grab the incoming attack. In response, Springer swung the other, Steel Paw now over the clenching fist as he tried to swipe at Shade's face, only for the other claw to block it. Seeing this, he pulled both arms back, hopping backward at the same time as he summoned a Bone Breaker.
"Seriously?! You do remember what happened last time you used that against me?!" Shade barked as Dark Claws covered both his paws.
"I'm counting on it!" Springer replied as he swung the weapon, Shade blocking and shattering the bone at the same time. But as the aura bone broke apart, Springer spun like a top, proceeding to swing his right leg up into the air and right into Shade's face. Feeling the impact of the kick, Shade reflexively swung upward, slashing Springer's leg, causing him to flinch in pain.
"Got ya!" Shade cheered as he started to charge at the jakhowl, both claws at the ready. In response, Springer tried to punch him directly in the face, but Shade was too quick. Both claws slashed the side of the jakhowl's face, making him stumble back as Shade proceeded to kick him in the stomach. And as Springer slid back from the blow, dirt grinding his feet, Shade laughed, "Hee hee hee...looks like you're slowing down. Now, if you would let me-"
"Shut up!" Springer interrupted as he hopped forward, swinging a right hook. Seeing this, Shade prepared to block, only to notice too little too late that it was a feint. Instead, Springer swung his right leg up like a blade, the end of the foot uppercutting the fox's jaw. Pain came next as Shade felt the blow rattle the nerves of his brain, only to now feel a punch to the stomach again, pushing him back. Despite this, he didn't fall over, a low aura shining in the amulet as it covered his body.
"Urgh…" Shade grumbled as his legs shook, making him slightly waver. "Alright...this isn't going exactly as planned." Shade cricked his neck before looking down at his body, only to notice the slashes from Springer's first Steel Paw attack now fading, "Or maybe it is. I did just put it on, and as they say, slow and steady wins the race." Shade glanced back up at Springer, "So, ready for-"
POW!
An aura-filled fist smashed into Shade's face, this time three teeth flying out. Blood could start to be seen drooling off the lips, only for Shade to just shine his usual grin, "As I was saying..." Springer growled at the next sight as all three teeth grew back at the same time. "Ready for-"
"Aura Blast!" Springer yelled as he raised his paw again, firing another sphere.
"Oh, come on!" Shade moaned as the projectile came for him. Putting up both claws, the fox thrusted them at full force. The following exchange caused the sphere to explode, injuring both paws. However, as soon as the dust from the blast began to fade, Shade lifted his claws up to be seen, the injuries already starting to disappear. "There we go. Now, let's try this-"
"Bone Breaker." Springer interrupted as he summoned the aura weapon.
"Or not." Shade commented, only to feel the end of the weapon smack his face. But as it hit him, Springer went wide-eyed as the weapon split in half, all while Shade doing nothing. Seeing the despair start to settle into Springer's expression, Shade began to laugh again, "Hee hee hee...look at that. The amulet is finally giving me more power."
Springer's eyes narrowed, "It won't be enough."
"And why won't it be?"
Springer put both his paws together, a calm deep breath following this, "I'll show you." With that, an Aura Blast appeared, only to be turned white. "Take this! Aura...FORCE!"
"Uhh...oohhh…" Flash moaned as he fell over, his hooves gripping his head. "Springer....Springer..."
"What's wrong Flash? What's happening with Springer?!" Twilight asked as she bent over and rubbed his back, "Is he in trouble?!"
"Urgh...its Shade." Flash groaned as his eyes started to water in pain, "I can feel...everything Springer is feeling when I...when I try to connect to him. Springer...he's in so much pain...and Shade is fighting him every inch of the way."
"Oh Springer," Fluttershy whimpered as tears began to appear in her eyes, "How horrible..."
"That's not good." Twilight admitted as she patted Flash's side, "We need him to get out of there."
"Are you sure there's nothing else we can do, Twilight?" Rarity asked next, only to get a shake of the head in response.
"I...I don't know. No matter what I do, I can't see to use my horn here, and I have nothing to write with to make runic letters." Twilight glanced at Canterlot Cathedral, sighing at the sight they were stuck in now that Shade had stopped showing scenes of the past. "If only a part of this was real..."
"Augh! You gotta be kidding me!" Rainbow yelled as she rubbed the sides of her head, "I can't stand it! We need to get out of here and help Springer!" She turned to glare at Twilight, "Hey, egghead! Think up a third option! We can't just stand here and let our friend get beat up like that!"
"Yeah! We need to show that meanie's who's boss!" Pinkie added, Applejack nodding in agreement.
Twilight's ear drooped as she looked down at the ground, "I know...I just wish there was some way we could help Springer right now."
"Well, we better think of something." Flash added as he kept panting, "If we don't...Springer might be a goner."
"Huff...huff...huff..." Springer panted as he leaned over, gripping his knees as he felt exhaustion consume him after firing the Aura Force attack. Sweat poured down his face as he felt his legs shake in pain. Despite this, he looked back up, only to go wide-eyed, "Oh no..."
"Oh yes." Shade responded as the dust cloud the Aura Force had created started to fade. There, Shade stood with a giant burn mark over half his face, along with burns on eighty percent of his chest and one down the knee of his left leg. Despite this, Springer watched in horror as the evidence of his attack start to fade away as the amulet kept shining, healing every bit of the fox. "Looks like the amulet is finally, truly kicking in. I'll admit, I was worried that blast would knock me out...but it seems you're weaker than I thought. Now..." Shade lifted up his paw, a dark aura consuming it, "Let's end this, shall we?"
"No...I'm not done." Springer replied as he summoned another Bone Breaker.
"Seriously? That's still not gonna-"
WHACK!
Five teeth now fell to the stone floor, blood dripping next as Shade found his head jerked to looking to the right. A ball of spit came out of his mouth next as he turned back to Springer. There, his fangs started to regrow as he growled, "Okay. Guess I got no choice."
The fox let out a loud snort, now sporting two Dark Claws as he charged at the jakhowl. In response, Springer swung the Bone Breaker again, this time in a downward slash. Shade responded with a backswing with his left claw, shattering the blade as he thrusted his right. Seeing this, Springer hopped back to dodge the attack, only to see Shade spin around and thrust his feet into the ground, repelling him forward. Before Springer could react, both claws struck his chest in a X-styled slash, making him yelp out in pain.
"I will kill you here." Shade commented as he glared at the jakhowl, his eyes starting to go dark red, "The final jakhowl..." he started to say as Springer responded with an Aura Blast, only for Shade to effortlessly swat the sphere away, "Will die today!"
"Not a chance!" Springer barked as he flashed two Steel Paws, only to feel a fist smash his face before he could even strike. He then stumbled back as a drip of blood flew out of his mouth. "Augh!"
"You're weak."
"Shut up!" Springer yelled as he swung a right hook, only for Shade to grip it in his left paw. This was followed by a left hook, which Shade caught as well, "What the-"
"You're slower than me now." Shade responded as he clenched his paws, making Springer flinch, "I told you, I have-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Springer screamed as he thrusted an upward right knee, slamming Shade's chest. The blow made him Shade clench up, but he kept his grip on Springer's paws.
"I'm not going to shut up. I'm better, stronger, and fast-" Shade tried to say as Springer pulled his right arm back, getting out of Shade's grip. Shade responded by letting go of the other paw, hopping back as Springer charged him. The jakhowl swung three punches next, Shade effortlessly dodging them. "As I was saying, I'm fast-urk!"
A fourth punch nicked Shade's jaw, making him flinch, only for two more punches to hit the sides of his face. Shade tried to dodge the next, but another hook smacked the side of his head. "Blaugh!" the fox yelped as he hopped back, getting to the other side of the room. "What is..."
But his words stopped coming out of his mouth. Instead, his eyes showed his thoughts as he saw a thick aura cover the jakhowl's body. And as he tried to respond, his eyes went wide as he saw Springer's body seemingly glitch out. The very sight made his jaw slowly descend, "This is...impossible. How are you-"
Shade's words stopped as he saw Springer let out a long breath, now noticing that the jakhowl's eyes no longer showed pupils. Instead, they were blank, just pure white as Shade felt himself almost backpedal. The fox could feel a stream of energy cover his body as the amulet gave him another trickle of power, but he knew that was just the start. Darkness consuming both of his paws, he charged with two Dark Claws as he yelled, "Die! Die right now, you-"
But his mouth came to a halt after this. As the fox dashed at his opponent, pain began to suddenly flare all over his body, his nerves going crazy as he felt a force strike his entire form. "Yaugh!" He yelped as both Dark Claws's aura faded, his feet defying gravity as he was pushed back. Despite this, he quickly recovered, making sure he didn't fall over as pain continued to rack his body over. "Yow! What was that?!"
The fox let out a snort as he felt the amulet start to heal him, the necklace shining as he looked up and saw the jakhowl glitching out again. He glanced down at his body next, seeing several bruises that had seemingly come out of nowhere. His eyes darted around as he counting, soon reaching the number of fourteen before realizing he forgot to count his face. "It can't be...you can't have achieved that!"
Unfortunately for the fox, those words would be the last he could say as he tried to lift both paws to defend himself, only to feel a punch to his gut. His mouth opening to screech in pain, he felt both his claws pushed away before another punch hit his face. Then another. And another.
Before Shade knew it, twenty punches slammed into his head, each packed with flaming aura that struck every nerve. Blood spat out of his mouth as the twentieth punch smashed into his nose, knocking the fox flying into one of the room's walls. His back pierced the wall, gravel starting to peel off the stone as he felt the pain now seer through his entire body. The fox's eyes began to water as he tried to pop his head out, closing his left as he stared at the jakhowl. "You...how are you..."
Then, the fox's eyes went truly wide. The jakhowl that had been beating him up so easily, suddenly began to cramp up. Before anything could be said or done, the defender let out a scream of pain as the blue aura surrounding his body flared, blood spitting out of his mouth as he cried out in pain, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" He hugged his chest as the pupils in his eyes returned, "Oh....it hurts! Why does it hurt so much?!"
Shade's brain slowly ticking, the fox began to chuckle as he tried to exit the wall, cricks and cracks happening in his bones as he got up. "Hee hee hee…" he laughed as he felt the amulet start to recover his face, his nose clenching as it reset itself, "Augh! That hurts....but its okay."
"AAAAHHHHH!!!" Springer yelled again as he fell to his knees, pain now surging over his entire body, "Stop! Stop the pain!"
"It won't stop jakhowl." Shade instantly replied as he started to stumble over to the defender, his right foot twisting to repair itself, "You're done."
"Wha…" Springer tried to respond, only to clench in pain again.
"Hee hee hee…" Shade giggled as he slowly pointed at the jakhowl, "I don't know how you did it, but you...you achieved Sharp Paw's ultimate technique. And yet...hee hee hee…hee hee hee..."
"What are you-what's so funny?!" Springer barked back, tears of pain now starting to cover his eyesight.
"Ain't it obvious?! You achieved Aura Velocity!" Shade spat as he put his claws to his mouth, "But you don't know to control it, so your body's rejecting ya. Tell me, can you fight like that?"
"I..." Springer tried to say, only for pain to surge once again, "AAAAHHHHH!!!"
"Hee hee hee...I knew it!" Shade laughed as he pointed at the jakhowl again, "You're ten years too early to learn that power! You're lucky you even activated it!" Shade then raised his claw, a dark aura consuming it as the arm started to return to normal, "And now, you're done. You used every bit of aura you got with that move, and cuz you're now dry, your body is rejecting ya! Hee hee hee...how ironic!"
Springer opened his mouth to respond, but the pain continued to flow, making him hug himself reflexively again, "Augh!"
"And now, I win." Shade added as he pulled his claw back, Springer seeing the attack coming...but he couldn't move. "Say goodbye!"
WHAM!
With a single motion, the claw uppercut the jakhowl, knocking him to the other side of the room. There, he hit the wall before slumping down, not an inch of his body responding to anything but pain. As this happened, Shade just laughed as he slowly walked up to the downed defender, "Now, let's do this nice and slow. After all, I got all the time in the world to enjoy this!"
The fox pointed to the jakhowl's left foot, only to pull back his claw, "We'll start here and work our way up. Tell me if this hurts." And as the claw descended onto the jakhowl's foot, a scream of pain could be heard while a certain fox continued to laugh.
"AAAAHHHH!!!" Flash screamed as he fell over, gripping his head as the other ponies all hopped in place at his sudden pained cry.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright Flash?!" Fluttershy asked first, Twilight opening her mouth to ask the same question.
"No...but that's not important." Flash moaned as he started to pant, "Springer...he's in pain." The defender turned to Twilight as he gasped, "Twilight...we gotta get out of here! Springer...he's gonna die!"
Everyone went pale at this, Twilight almost backpedaling as she yelped, "Die?!"
Flash did a slow nod, "Yeah. Shade's beaten him. Now he's just hurting Springer...and he's not gonna stop! He'll kill him!" Flash rubbed the side of his head as he showed a giant frown, "We gotta get out of here now!"
Everypony grimaced at this, all turning and frowning at each other before staring at Twilight. As for her, she started to shrink on the spot. "Um...I still don't know! I can't think of anything!"
"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing Twilight!" Flash barked back, "Springer's gonna die!"
"I know Flash!" Twilight yelled back, "I know he's in trouble, just like I know we're stuck here!"
"Stop fighting you two! That's not helping!" Rarity immediately intervened, "We need to work together to get out of this mess!"
"I know Rarity, but...but...I just don't know." Twilight tried to reply, her eyes shifting back to the cathedral. There, her brain began to go over what they had seen today. "I just don't get it. I understand how and why Shade is doing this, but...I can't help but feel I'm missing the key piece to get us out of here."
"What do you mean?"
"Its just..." Twilight glanced back at her friends, "Why are we still alive?"
"Huh?" The others replied in unison, all tilting their heads at the statement.
"Think about it. He used us to power up a new amulet. If that's the case, why aren't we gone?" Twilight pointed back to the cathedral, "Everything we've seen is either runes or aura...so why didn't that kill us?!" The alicorn pointed to Flash, "You were trying to watch the exchange. Did he say anything about that?"
Flash crossed his hooves, "Just that he'd 'suck us dry' later. Why?"
"Well, why didn't he do it now? I mean, we all know he wanted to make Springer angry."
The others started to catch on as Flash responded, "He can't...or he ran out of time."
Twilight clapped her hooves, "Exactly. And if its the first case...no, I'm sure its the first case. I know he can't do it. He could have had Springer knocked out for another few hours and absorbed us into that amulet until we were nothing, but he didn't."
"Oookay. But what does that mean Twi?" Applejack asked next.
"It means the amulet isn't perfect, and neither is this machine! He must have thought this machine would kill us while making Springer angry by showing him the past, but it didn't! Something else is helping us survive. This machine is flawed in some way...or there's something else going on." Twilight turned back to the church, tapping her chin, "And I know that's a clue, along with all these past events. I can't help but think it has something to do with Springer...and it has to be our way out of here."
"But...all the stuff we saw was mainly bad." Fluttershy replied as new tears graced her eyes, "All those jakhowls...they were so happy together and then that happened to them."
"Yeah, no kidding." Rainbow mumbled as she scratched the side of her head, "I mean, that was just...wrong."
"Ah agree. Ah don't want to ever think about all of this ever again." Applejack added as she patted Fluttershy's side.
"Yeah..." Flash finished as he slumped over, "Springer...if only we could help him right now."
Twilight blinked at the despair on her friends faces, a frown showing on her own expression as well. She then closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she thought about everything that had happened. "Come on...there's got to be something...anything." Her memories went through the moments of Luna, Dark Mist, Sharp Paw, Calm Paw, Ruby...all of it swimming through her head. And as she got to the part of the final battle between the races, she gasped, "That's it!"
"Hmm?" Flash responded as he saw Twilight jerk her head.
"I got it! I know what we should do!"
"Really?!"
Twilight firmly nodded in response, "We need to do what the jakhowls did! We need to figure a way to give our power to Springer!"
"Huh?!" everypony responded again in unison.
"What are you talking about Twi?" Flash asked next.
In response, she shook her head before pointing at the defender, "Flash, you and Springer can connect your auras, right?"
"Yeah. So?"
"And we connected our auras to him back when we figured this all out. If that's the case, we should still be able to do it. We should be able to give him our power!" Twilight pointed to the cathedral behind her, "Remember what we saw. Sharp Paw overwhelmed Dark Mist despite the fact he had all those runes on him, and it was all because he was connected to the jakhowls. Their bonds gave him power. What if...what if we did the same with Springer?"
The others all glanced at each other, Applejack speaking up next, "Sorry Twi, but ah'm lost. Run that by me again?"
"We'll connect to Springer through Flash." Twilight replied as she walked up and grabbed his hoof, "I know we can do it. We're his friends, and true friends can give power to each other. We help each other when it matters most!" She tightened her grip as she glared at Flash, "Flash, contact Springer! Let us all speak to him! We'll give him our auras like those jakhowls gave it to Sharp Paw!"
Flash blinked at the alicorn, his brain still trying to keep up with her plan, but nodded all the same. Twilight then gestured for the others to all grab Flash's hoof as they all closed their eyes, all trying to contact Springer.
"Springer...can you hear me?" Flash asked first, the others all listening to his request. "Springer?"
There was no response, making the girls all frown. Despite this, Flash could feel what they were thinking and said, "Springer...I know you're still there. I'm your partner. I can feel ya."
"I..." whispered a small, tiny voice.
"Hmm? What is it buddy?" Flash asked as they heard the voice. "Speak up."
"I...I..."
"Springer?"
"I'm sorry..." the voice slowly moaned out. "I'm sorry Flash."
"Sorry about what?"
"I can't beat him. I...I can't win."
"Hee hee hee…" Shade chuckled as he cricked his neck, the final broken bone in his back shifting back into place, "Ahhh...there we go. It feels so good to be me. I love this amulet." The fox glanced down at his body, giggling at the sight, "Hee hee hee...all healed. All good to go." He looked back at the beaten jakhowl, his body slumped over into a stone wall as blood trickled down his left leg. "And to think, I haven't really even gotten started with you."
The fox then raised both arms into the air, "I've done it! I've beaten the final jakhowl! Hee hee hee...now I can fulfill Dark Mist's wish! I can-no! I am the second Dark Mist!" He looked back down as he stomped on Springer's leg, a small whimper of pain coming out of the jakhowl's mouth, "I've won...and all that's left is to get rid of you. After that, I will become Dark Mist!"
He put his claws up to his mouth, "Oh, I can imagine it right now! Me, the new Dark Mist, all on my throne with a dead Princess Luna at my lap! Finally, she will pay for the crime of helping the disgusting, wretched jakhowl live in this world! Then, I will wreck havoc on Equestria! Hee hee hee...oh, it will be so glorious! And I, Shade, shall be the victor over it all! Hee hee-wait!" Shade's grin started to grow as his claws were almost consumed into his mouth, "I'm not just an ordinary Trickster anymore. I need to show it! I...I must become like the greatest Trickster who has ever lived!" HIs head bobbed up and down as a new laugh came out of his mouth, "Ki ki ki...ki ki ki!"
As he continued to laugh, Springer slowly looked up at him, his right eye closed as he clenched in pain. A tiny breath came out of his mouth as he tried to move, only for his body to flinch as every nerve inside flared. "I can't...move. Darn it." he mentally said as his mouth quivered, "I...I gotta win...I..."
The jakhowl then slumped over, his mind turning into a knocked out mess of mush as he just whimpered out. That is, till he felt a voice in his head. "Springer...can you hear me?"
"Flash?" Springer tried to say, but the defender couldn't hear him.
"Springer...I know you're still there. I'm your partner. I can feel ya."
Springer did a small cough, his eyes glancing back up at Shade, only to him still complimenting himself. Closing his eyes next, he began to reply back. The two couldn't hear each other for a bit, but slowly, the words began to form as he said, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry Flash."
"Sorry about what?"
"I can't beat him. I...I can't win."
A low 'tch' came out of Flash's 'mouth' as he resisted the urge to cross his hooves, "Hey! I don't want to hear that defeatist attitude."
"Huh?"
"You heard me." Flash responded as his face showed a certain smirk, "Don't you remember when you told me that? You know, all the way back when we took on Discord?"
Springer's brain went over the memory, "Yeah...but this is nothing like-"
"Like heck it isn't!" Rainbow interrupted, "And I'm with Flash! I don't want to hear that either Springer! I know you're better than that!"
"But-"
"They're right darling." Rarity added as she did a low hum.
"I agree as well." Twilight chimed in as her tone went to one of pure compassion and kindness, "Springer, we know you're having trouble. That's why we're contacting you."
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think, bud?! We're gonna help you!" Flash continued as he did a small chuckle, "We've all been stuck here, and this is what Twilight figured out. We can't get out, so we're going to help you get us out instead. Here's what we're gonna do..."
Springer couldn't believe what he was hearing. His body wanted to give out any second, but every inch of his being was telling him otherwise as his friends told him the plan. It was here that he opened his eyes for a bit, only to see Shade still laughing, "Ki ki ki...Yes! I love this new laugh!" The fox looked back down at the jakhowl, smiling as he saw the jakhowl staring at him, "Sorry about that. I just love laughing. Now, where were we? Ah yes, we were about to move on to the-"
THUMP!
Shade turned to the sudden sound, now seeing a cloak enter the room as it pointed to the machine room's door. The fox growled at the sight, "HEY! I'm enjoying my moment here! This is mine! I am about to make Trickster history!" Shade barked as he pointed to himself, "If its an intruder, just lead them here so I can kill them with ease. I'm not in the mood-"
But the cloak kept pointing, giving the fox a different signal. "Hmm? What's wrong? Is it not an intruder?" Doing a small grumble, he glanced at Springer before hissing, "I'll be right back. Don't go-eh, you can't move anyway." And as the fox left the room, he let out a long growl, "This better be good, or-"
His next words failed him, as his eyes went wide at the next sight. He was now staring at the capsules where the Mane Seven were in...but they were different. The ponies inside were now sporting multi-colored haired (At least more than usual for some) and their cutie marks now sported several on their body. "What the-Augh!"
The fox had to suddenly shield his eyes as a bright light shined out of the capsules, the light now blinding him. "Urgh...what is this?! What is this disgusting light?!"
And as he continued to yelp out in pain, Springer was still talking to friends. "So...how is this going to work?"
"Simple. We'll do what we saw Sharp Paw did." Twilight responded, "Remember? He had the other jakhowls give him their aura."
"But you all are ponies. You're not jakhowls-"
"And when has that stopped us?!" Flash interrupted while resisting the urge to shake his head, "Springer...we can talk to you like this because of our bond. Our friendship. If we can do that, then I'm sure our friendship will let us connect to you and give you our aura."
"And I suspect we can try to give you much more than just that." Twilight added with a smirk, "We're your friends Springer, don't forget that."
"Indeed. You heard the princess Springer, we're here to help. We'll give you every bit of this...aura you need." Rarity continued.
"Yeah! We'll do the easy part! You just need to kick this guy's flank!" Rainbow said next.
"Teach that rotten, no good apple thief a lesson he won't forget!"
"And we'll help you every step of the way." Fluttershy added in a gentle tone.
"We'll cheer you on all the way! Beat that big old meanie pants, and then we'll have a party over your victory! I'll make it myself!"
"We don't need to go that far Pinkie." Twilight responded with a roll of the eyes, "But they're right. We'll give you our aura...our power Springer. Use it to win. And save us."
Flash did a small chuckle, "You heard the ladies! Get up and get moving! You got a job to do!"
"Flash...everypony...I...I..." Springer tried to say, only to feel a sudden shiver cover his body. He felt...warm. Like a cozy sweater consumed his form as he looked down at his body. There, he saw a blue flame start to appear on his legs...only for it to start changing colors. "Huh?"
"Remember, we're here for you."
"Augh!" Shade screamed as he continued to shield his eyes. "What is this?! What are those ponies doing?!" The cloak went in front of him, shielding the fox with his body, "Much better." Shade grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "Now, what is..."
The fox's mouth failed him as he stared at the cloak, now properly seeing the light. But it wasn't a shining white light like most blinding sights, but rather...
"A rainbow?" Shade whispered as he blinked at the sight. "What...what is this?" His brain started to turn it's gears as he stared at the beautiful sight, his jaw dropping as his body stood still. Even for a rotten individual as him, the beauty overwhelmed his mind as his eyes went wide.
But as this happened, his brain finally came to a stop. There, a certain memory clicked in his mind, making him gasp, "The rainbow...Tirek! This is what they used to beat him! But why is that-" Shade's head turned at break neck speed as he started at the door to the fighting room, "No...don't tell me..."
The fox cut into a full-on sprint to the room, yelling at the cloak that was originally blocking the light, "Close the door behind me! Do it now!" The puppet did so as he rushed into the room, immediately looking back at where Springer was slumped over. But as he did this, his eyes went wide again as he yelped, "Wha...what is this?!"
In front of him was now a giant sphere of light in place of where Springer was, his eyes scanning the whole thing over. The fox felt a shiver down his spine, chills shaking his body. The sight...scared him. He looked down at his paws, now seeing them shake. But before he could comment, his ears spiked up as he heard a new sound. Looking back up, he saw a crack appear in the sphere. More and more appeared until-
BOOM!
"Augh!" Shade hissed as he shielded his eyes from a sudden burst of light coming out of the sphere. Blinking rapidly, he saw the light was fading and lowered his paws, only for a huge frown to appear on his face. "What?!"
The sight before him started to overload his brain. In front of him was a fully revived battle form jakhowl, but its body looked like it had been equipped with everything it could ever need for a transformation. It had a second spike on its paws and spikes now on its feet along with spike covered braces on its shoulders. Not only that, its black fur turned crimson red on its paws and feet, along with the ends of his head's appendages, which were now like flowing tubes. The markings on its masked face now extended up and down his face, and its cream-colored fur was now fully bushy with a giant bulb-looking tail.
A slow breath exited the figure's mouth as he raised his paws, staring at them, "What...what is this?" he asked as he turned his paws around, then touching his shoulders to feel the new spikes there, "This looks...pretty cool. And the aura...I can feel it." He closed his eyes as he let out a long exhale, "I can feel every fiber of my aura. Amazing...I feel-"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE DARKNESS IS THIS?!" Shade screamed as he pointed at the new being, "What is this?! What are you?!"
"Uh...I'm Springer?" Springer replied as he pointed at himself.
"Wha...but...you were battered and beaten! I won!" Shade's mouth started to foam in anger, "What did you do?! What is that form?!"
Springer just shrugged with a big old smirk, "Guess you should've finished me off instead of monologuing." Springer flexed his paws as he watched a giant blue flame appeared above it, bigger than he had ever seen for his battle form, "Whoa. Its like I'm a mega jakhowl or something." His grin started to grow as he glanced over at Shade, "See? This is what happens when you have friends."
"Friends?! Are you saying-"
"That my friends gave me this power? Yes." Springer remarked as the flames in his paw continued to grow, "I can feel it now...its like I'm made of aura." He clenched his paw as he looked back at the Trickster, a calm serene smile on his face, "My bonds have given me true power. One that you'll never beat." He then did a 'bring it on gesture' with his paw, "Now...count up your sins."
"SINS?! You...you..." Shade's claws were consumed in darkness as he yelled, "You're the sin! You won't win this! I won't let some stupid power-up beat me again! I am Shade, the second Dark Mist!"
Springer clenched his fists as he took a fighting stance, "Then shut up and fight."
"RRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!" Shade roared as he charged at the jakhowl, both claws now pouring out dark aura, "DIE!"
As his claw aimed straight for Springer's face, his left paw flashed upward, grabbing the claw with ease. The ends of the Dark Claw were just a centimeter away from his eyes as Springer just smirked, "You're slow." Springer pulled his fist back at the same time, his smirk continuing to grow as he thrusted the punch forward.
Shade could feel a glob of spit fly out of his mouth as the fist slammed itself into his gut. But before he could react, the paw that had hurt him swiftly gripped his chest as he felt himself being lifted. A second later, Springer swung him overhead, throwing him across the room. Yelps of pain happened as he landed on his head, only for his body to spin like a top, hopping back onto his feet. But as he did this, Springer appeared in front of him, another punch ready to strike. The fox quickly ducked, the hook now flying over him as he tried to counter with an uppercut claw, only for Springer to immediately hop back, dodging the blow.
"Guess you still got some of your speed." Springer commented as he clenched both paws, blue flames consuming their arms.
"I have more than that." Shade growled as he put a claw over the amulet, "I don't know what you've done or how you've done it, but this aura transformation you suddenly have will not be enough! My amulet-no....my hatred will defeat you!" A huge dark swirl of energy appeared around the fox's form, his eyes going blank as his claws grew bigger in size from the dark aura, "Come...I will kill you! The final jakhowl's head will be mine!"
"I think I'll keep my head, thank you very much." Springer remarked as Shade's claws swung at him at both sides. Seeing this, Springer just dashed ahead, slamming a punch into the fox's face before he could strike, knocking out two teeth.
"Blaugh!" Shade yelped as he was pushed back, rubbing his face as he recovered, "Seriously?! Will you stop aiming for my teeth?!"
"Nope." Springer replied as he swung a left hook next, Shade instantly ducking to dodge it, only for a right uppercut to smash him in the chin. Another tooth flung out as he felt the blow, the fox's blood flying out of his mouth. But as this happened, Shade quickly countered, swiping a claw at Springer's face. The blow made the jakhowl backpedal, only to see a Dark Blast appearing in Shade's paws.
"DIE!" Shade screamed as he fired the blast, Springer crossing his arms to defend. The sphere struck him, his feet grinding on the floor as the attack started to push him back. A flare of aura shined in Springer's eyes next, causing him to cross chop the sphere, dissipating it instantly. But as this happened, Shade charged again with two Dark Claws, only for his target to disappear. "Huh?!"
Shade came to a halt, his eyes darting around before he noticed Springer now on the other corner of the room. His mouth started to open, only to backpedal by reflex as he dodged a sudden swing. "Whoa!" he yelped as he saw Springer appear before him, only to vanish back to the corner of the room. "Wha…"
The fox's brain slowly clicked as he saw a blaze of aura cover Springer's body. Then, he began to look as if he was glitching out, the sight making a shiver go down Shade's spine. But what really made him shake was that Springer looked different. His eyes weren't blank this time. They were there, pupils fully focused. "No...don't tell me you-"
"Oh, I did. I already, at least I think I did, achieved what you're thinking." Springer interrupted as he looked down at his paws, "I don't know how I'm doing it...but I can feel it. The aura I have right now...I can feel every single fiber of it. It feels like my body is on fire, and yet I feel...calm." He looked back up at the fox, a big smirk on his face, "But I don't want to just replicate Sharp Paw. I think a rename is in order. How about..." Springer pulled back both fists as the appendages on the back of his head flared up, "Velocity Strike!"
BLAM!
Shade's body felt numb. The pain he now felt was more than he could imagine. In that one split-second, thirty punches struck his body, his form clenching as the blows blasted themselves into him. His back instantly struck the wall behind him, blood spitting out of his mouth again. "BLAUGH!"
Springer's body shook as he reappeared at the other side of the room. He rubbed his forehead next, "Whew. That took a lot of aura. I can't believe Sharp Paw could do that without this form." The jakhowl started to windup his right arm, "Let's do that again, shall we?"
"Don't you dare!" Shade screamed as his body pulled out of the stone wall, "DARK BLAST!"
Springer quickly raised a single paw to block the sphere, the blast hitting it with ease. But as it struck, Springer felt a sudden resistance, making him put his other paw to negate the sphere. Summoning two Steel Paws, he pushed the claws into the projectile, letting him cut it in two. Seeing the struggle, Shade just laughed, "Ki ki ki...looks like the amulet is still giving me power! I will win-"
"Oh, shut up." Springer interrupted as he vanished, only to reappear in front of the fox. Ten punches immediately struck his face, but as the eleventh started to hit...Shade caught it. "Wha-"
"Like I said, the amulet...will guarantee my-"
POW!
Another punch struck his face, only for Shade to turn back with a huge bloody grin, "Care to try again? Cuz I know I'm winning this." Shade remarked as he let go of Springer's arm and swung another Dark Claw. "I'm gonna-ack!"
Pain suddenly struck the fox as tears of pain flew out of his eyes. His eyes slowly looked down, only to see a certain jakhowl's leg had swiftly hit the space between the Trickster's legs. "What..did you...just do...to me?!" squeaked Shade as he started to backpedal with shaking legs.
"Oh, just something Flash told me about. Apparently in that mirror portal world, this is how you can do the biggest amount of pain to somepony there." Springer replied as he summoned a Bone Breaker, "Now, let's finish this."
Shade let out a low growl as a dark aura consumed his back, "Oh, we're not finishing this. I want you to suffer jakhowl. You will-"
"Stop." Springer interrupted as he pointed the aura weapon at the fox. "No more monologues. I'm done with this fight, and that's final."
"Oh? And why is that?" Shade remarked as he did a quick swipe at the Bone Breaker, shattering it in one blow, "Scared I can still beat you?!"
"No." Springer replied as the paw that held the aura weapon unfurled, just presenting his palm now. "I'm done because I want to save my friends. I don't need some crazed plan for power or a messed up mind like you...I only need them." He put his other paw to his chest, "They're a part of me as I'm a part of them. They're why I exist, and why I will beat you!"
Hearing this, Shade's eyes twitched in anger. His tongue slowly sank out of his mouth as he spat, "How...how can you say something so disgusting?!" The fox put his claws up to his face, rubbing them in frustration, "That's...you're pathetic! You exist because of them?! They're nothing, just like you!"
"I didn't expect you to understand." Springer's palm started to summon an Aura Blast, only the blue sphere to start changing colors, turning into a bright white. "And that's why you'll always lose Shade."
"Shut up! Don't you dare look down on me!" Shade screamed as he put both paws in front of his mouth, "I am Shade, the Second Dark Mist! I am a Trickster, one that exists for nothing but destruction, hatred and anarchy!" Opening his mouth as wide as it could be as the two claws summoned a Dark Blast, only for his jaws to close down and eat the sphere. "I'll destroy you with the greatest Trickster technique of all! DARK FORCE!!!"
Opening his mouth, a jet black beam fired out, heading straight for Springer. But he wasn't intimidated, the sphere in front of his paw now fully white, "Seems I can use this with just one paw in this form. Nice." Do a quick flex, Springer aimed the sphere at the beam, "AURA FORCE!"
The white sphere shot out a beam of its own, the white energy clashing with the black. The two began to push, both forces colliding in a spectacular fashion. As this happened, silence reigned as neither said a word. Power was all that mattered, as the two beams continued to batter into each other. And as both collided, sparks of energy flew out of the beams, the strings of power striking multiple parts of the room.
"YOU WON'T WIN! I WILL KILL YOU!" Shade screamed as he kept pushing the beam with his paws. The dark beam started to overwhelm Springer's causing him to put both paws up. But the jakhowl didn't say anything, as he knew what he had to do. Taking a long calm breath, he closed his eyes as he continued to push the beam back. Slowly, the white beam began to overtake the other, causing Shade to shrink back. "No...NO!"
BOOM!
A pillar of dust consumed the room as the Springer's Aura Force struck Shade, knocking him into the room's opposite wall. Several seconds past before the smoke cleared, now revealing a pile of rubble and a broken wall. Beyond the now destroyed wall was the machine, which Springer smiled at. However, as he did this, a group of cloaks from the machine room appeared over the rubble, all unsheathing weapons. "Oh yeah...forgot about that."
Springer pulled back a paw as he summoned a Bone Breaker, only to feel his body clench up. Looking down, he saw his body had returned back to their normal battle form state, making him wince. Now noticing that his paw only had one spike now, he looked back up at the charging cloaks as he readied his aura weapon. With a few mighty swings, he took them all out, the last one being cut down with ease.
"There we go. Now I can-" Springer tried to say, only to see a sudden claw pop out of the pile of rubble.
"RAAAUUUGGHHHH!!!" screamed a voice beneath the rocks, a certain fox's head popping out next, complete with fur drenched in blood. His body slowly ascended as a bloody death-filled glare came out of his eyes, "You...will not...win!" Shade started to lift his claws up, a speck of dark aura just barely showing itself. "I..."
"Just give up Shade." Springer remarked as he desummoned the Bone Breaker. "You already-urk!" Springer felt a clench in his stomach, making him grab his waist in pain as he felt his battle form start to fade, "Shoot. Not yet..."
"Ki ki ki...ki ki ki…" Shade chuckled as he pointed at the jakhowl, "Looks like you're out of aura, while my amulet is still giving me everything I need!"
"Oh yeah?" Springer replied as he let go of his waist, a big smirk appearing on his face, "Then why aren't you wearing it?"
"Huh?!" Shade yelped, his eyes darting down. There, on his collar...was nothing. Nothing but blood drenched fur. "Wha…" his eyes started to go further down, soon seeing shards of the amulet now on the rubble below him, "No...NO! My amulet! My power! This can't-mmph!"
"Nope. Not listening to another word." Springer interrupted as he shut Shade's mouth with his paw. Clenching it, Shade looked back up and tried to remove the paw with his own, but found he couldn't even lift his arms now. Seeing this, Springer chuckled, "Finally. About time you shut up." The jakhowl leaned to the side, his eyes now staring at the machine behind Shade, "Now, let's free my friends, shall we?"
Letting go of Shade's mouth, the fox gasped, only to flinch as Springer gripped the fur on his chest with one paw and his legs with the other. Soon hoisting him over his body, Springer started to carry Shade over his head, "Wait! What are you doing?!" Shade screamed as he saw Springer walk over the pile of rubble.
"Ending this."
"Wha-" Shade yelped, only to go wide-eyed as he saw what Springer was about to do. Letting out a scream of terror, the fox started to yell, "CLOAKS! COME TO THE MACHINE ROOM NOW! YOUR MASTER NEEDS YOU!"
"Too late." Springer added as he gripped Shade before pulling back.
"Wait! No, don't-"
And with one might swing, he slammed the fox down into the machine. A blast of electricity instantly shot out of the machine as the fox's body split the machine's map in two.
KR-ZAAAAPPPP!!!
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Shade screamed as his body lit up like a light show, the shine now blinding Springer. The jakhowl put his paws over his face as the electricity zapped every bone in Shade's body, his skeleton just barely visible as the light show continued to happen. And as the last spark struck the fox, he was no longer in his large, intimidating battle form. Instead, he was back to his usual, tiny four-legged fox form. There, his body looked as if it had been cooked, swirls in his eyes as he moaned out, "Not fair...its not fair..."
"Finally..." Springer muttered as his battle form gave out, his body now returning to its smaller shape. But as it did this, his ears caught up a new set of sounds, making him look up. "Aw crap."
It was the other cloaks Shade had called for, the ones he had kept in the caves to keep watch for intruders. All of them had axes, swords and spears, ready to skewer the young jakhowl. However, his body couldn't move, and he just staggered back before falling forward.
"Hi-yah!" yelled a new voice, several blurs appearing as they took out the puppets. And as the last one fell, Springer felt his body fall onto something soft. His eyes slowly looked up next, soon seeing a familiar face. "Hey buddy. You alright?"
"Flash..." Springer whispered before closing his eyes, "Yeah...just gonna go...to sleep now..."
"That's fine. You deserve it." Flash added as he placed the jakhowl on his back, a huge proud smile on his face as the jakhowl slumped over. "Thank you buddy."
"Yes. Thank you Springer." Twilight continued as she walked up to the defender, only to giggle, "He's asleep, isn't he? We can't even thank him properly."
"Eh, ya can't blame him for being tired." Flash replied as he turned and looked at the room, now seeing the downed Trickster, "Looks like we got him this time. This little monster isn't getting away like he did in Omniara."
The six others all walked up to the knocked out fox, Fluttershy putting a hoof to her mouth, "Oh, I just wish the little thing wasn't so mean. He's so cute looking..."
"Yeah...no." Rainbow remarked with crossed hooves, "This thing needs to be put behind bars. Like, permanently."
"I couldn't agree more." Flash added as he grabbed the fox by the tuft of hair on his head, "Somepony wanna help me tie him up?"
"Gladly darling. After this nightmare, I'll gladly help make sure something like this doesn't happen again." Rarity commented before glancing over at Twilight. There, she saw a look of confusion on the princess's face as the alicorn was looking the machine over. "Twilight? Are you okay?"
"No...I'm not." Twilight admitted as she glanced back at her friends. "I don't like this."
"Twi, we all don't like what happened here." Applejack replied, only to see the princess shake her head.
"No, not like that. Something still doesn't make sense here." Twilight responded before she pointed at Shade, "Flash, get him tied up and I'll help with the paperwork to get him sent to prison. I want it done now, as there's a lot left here to finish."
"Um...okay?" Flash said as he looked back at the fox before glancing at Twilight, "But uh...Springer just beat the bad guy and I'm pretty sure we're not in the best condition either. Shouldn't we go home and rest?"
"We should. But we're going to Canterlot after that."
"Canterlot?!" the others all questioned in unison.
"Yes." Twilight remarked as she walked over to the capsules, scanning each one over with her eyes, "I still have questions about all of this." she turned around next, a fierce glare in her eyes, "And I think you all can agree with me that Princess Luna owes us an explanation."
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
1,032 users online
1,352,531 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Yes, yes she does.
I did expect Springer to go Mega-Evolution.
And Luna need to explain this.
Nice fight... so Springer has achieved Super Saiyan 2... Not sure how to feel about a second use of the... what I refer to was The Rainbow of Light... the Rainbow Power... I get it's a boost to Springer to show the connection of the seven to Springer, but given that the Rainbow Power went into the box and from it grew the Castle... this comes off as... well..., in the most neutral terms that I can muster, not aligned with this series continuity.
It makes for a good fight... but it feels like the actual author wrote him/herself into a corner and then remembered the Deus Ex Machina (in this case both in actual trope and the critic of the usage of the trope) of the Rainbow Power and added it to save Springer from an otherwise perfectly fitting defeat, Shade's monologues notwithstanding. (Not that I was rooting for Shade at any point)
I don't know... I just have a hard time justifying to myself that I should suspend my want of disbelief about this entry in the series. I am not really sure that I can.
I want to really enjoy this, but so far it feels like the second entry in Banshee's Power Ranger seires, utterly skippable.
Maybe in the next chapter, there will be something that will scream 'Hey Foxhelm, see me, you can now justify the suspend of your want to disbelieve.' and I'll accept it with open arms... At this rate I doubt it.
Honestly looking forward, if in the answer to The Cutie Map and of the following happens, I'm just done with this series
1) Flash goes and doesn't bring his sword
2)Flash goes, brings his swords, but doesn't use it when Starlight takes the cutie marks away with the 'Staff of Sameness'
3) Starlight is able to remove Flash's cutie mark
and
4) Flash uses the sword but doesn't destroy the staff and the vault
9686100 You know I have the first two chapters written out already. You can read them over if you like.
9686100
I think it's his way of adapting the mega evolution from Xand Y.
9686115
I'd like to take you up on that offer... but I am not sure if I want to go down that rabbit hole... you know I'll just bite that bullet and get it over with. Oh before I forget, I Pinkie Promise to not spoil or hint to anything in it to anyone until the last chapter of that story is published.
9686128
I got the Pokemon reference, Springer is basically a riolu. I was basing my comment off of the DBZ because it did transformations like this first and these behave more akin to the Super Sayian forms then Pokemon evolutions.
Yes! That was awesome! Not only did Springer beat Shade, he got the equivalent of his Mega Form! It is pretty cool that he got his Mega Form from the Mane 7's Rainbow Powers. Now they just need to talk to Luna and get some well deserved answers.
Also, I thought it was hilarious how Springer kept interrupting Shade during his monologues and kept punching him in the face. Also, Springer kicking Shade in the groin was equally hilarious and satisfying.
If I'm going to be picky, I do have a few small grievances about this chapter. I think Twilight took a little to long to figure out a way to help Springer. I know from a writing point of few you needed to keep Twilight confused and clueless for that amount of time so that Springer can get beaten down and come back up again stronger than ever, but if I'm going to be brutally honest, I think you went a little heavy-handed with getting Springer beaten down. I was empathy cringing at his pain.
9687030
Its honestly how I write fight sequences as to why this seemed a bit more brutal. I'm not much into flashy stuff, (Though I totally won't deny this did get really flashy in the end) but I regularly try to keep things a bit more grounded. Its also because a lot of this fight is inspired by multiple things. You may not see it, but all these chapters are filled with references. This chapter in particular has references to the fights in Yakuza games, One Piece, Katekyo Hitman Reborn and a few others.
As for Twilight, I tried more into showing that she was under way too much pressure and on the spot. If it didn't seem like that, it was probably because I was writing the fight scene more compared to that.
Mega Evolution.