Chapter 94 - Code Red
Gallus paced about his his dorm with his five friends sitting or standing in unease. They had reluctantly agreed to stay put due to Rainbow Dash suggesting they stand by.
The group was quite surprised and mildly relieved when they heard a knock.
Gallus darted over in an instant and opened it. His eyes widened at the sight. "Professor Rarity...and...Professor Applejack—wait, where's Master?"
Rarity smiled pleasantly at him. "She has requested your help, but let me explain before we go."
Waiting by the mystical magnet, Twilight paced back and forth, her eyes occasionally darting over to Cozy Glow. Fluttershy stood in uncomfortable silence. She only had a vague sense that something was amiss. For whatever reason, Twilight could not tell her aloud. Cozy hovered, suspecting she was already suspected but acting the part of thinking they hadn't caught on to her yet.
Spike stared from Twilight to Cozy and back. He was about to ask if something was wrong, when they all heard hoof steps approach.
All four of them relaxed at the sight of Starlight Glimmer.
"Where is Master?" Fluttershy asked.
"She'll be along soon," Starlight answered. "Cozy, we're going to need you to give us some space, back up from that magnet, and put a shield around you."
"What for? I've been near the orb with the others, and I'm just fine," Cozy protested.
"While this is true, Rainbow Dash is a master mev. She has certain reactions to both children and magic," Starlight explained.
Fluttershy nodded. "I have to agree with Starlight on that."
"Yes, she has a good point," Twilight all too quickly agreed as well.
Spike raised a hand. "I can vouch for that." While Rainbow had never badly affected him in any way, he had been a witness to her effect on other kids and logged it himself as Twilight's assistant.
On cue to that exact thought, Cozy said, "But Spike's a kid too. Why not do the same for him?"
"You know, actually that's not a bad idea," Spike agreed with a nod.
Three three mevs met eyes with each other before Twilight said, "Okay, but separate shields."
Cozy gulped. She decided that the amulet would be powerful enough to still be drawn to her, and Starlight was probably telling the truth, even if an ulterior motive was driving it. "Okay…" she slowly conceded with a hint of hesitance in her tone.
Starlight cast a teal shield around Cozy Glow while Twilight cast a magenta shield around Spike.
Soon, the other fledglings arrived with the Student Six.
"Hey! You all tricked me! They're kids too, and they're here now!" Cozy pointed out angrily.
"We're not just any kids," Smolder said with a smirk as she folded her arms.
"We were specially requested," Sandbar noted.
"Friends with Master," Yona added with a firm nod.
Cozy sneered at all of them and growled.
A flash of white light, and suddenly, Rainbow Dash, the Awesome Crusaders, and Rhezenda's trunk had joined the entire group. The master mev was already wearing her crown.
"Whew," Rainbow said and wiped her brow, removing the crown from her head for a moment. She glanced around. "Alright, cool. Everyone's here," she announced to her young servants. She glanced over to Cozy Glow in a shield. "And that one's restrained, which is good."
"Seems a bit overcrowded in here," Applejack remarked.
Rainbow smiled. "True enough. Crusaders, I want you all to take Spike upstairs. Guard our exit and entrance.
"What about her?" Apple Bloom asked, pointing to Cozy Glow.
Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully and glanced at Starlight.
"The shield should stay near me," Starlight explained, "so at least one of them should stand guard over her." She approached closer to Rainbow Dash and whispered. "It will probably de-activate with whatever we're about to do, right?"
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah."
"I'll do it," Scootaloo volunteered. She could probably fly if things took a turn for the worse since it would be in service to the master mev.
"Yeah, that sounds good," Rainbow Dash noted the approval.
Instantly, the Crusaders took on their mare forms. They exchanged glances among themselves and nodded, each ready to do her part. Twilight released her shield over Spike. He, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom left the area to watch over the entrance from the school library.
Starlight was able to move her shield and Cozy Glow a fair distance while Scootaloo followed and positioned herself to stand guard.
"Alright, kids, you set yourselves up next to the item from your kingdom—and don't touch it yet," the master mev instructed.
The students followed those instructions.
"Awesomevs..." Rainbow Dash said. She pulled out Pearl first, then passed the object to Twilight, who took it into her magical grip.
The master mev took out Amara, glanced over to Applejack, and passed it to her fourth fledgling. "Stay right there for now. We'll sort this one out soon."
Applejack nodded.
Next was Grant. Rainbow Dash passed him to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus made her way to Gallus.
The master mev passed Jasper over to Rarity, who then worked her way over to Smolder.
Rainbow Dash pulled out Ida and squinted thoughtfully. "No..." she decided and put Ida right back. Fluttershy had eaten magic from both Grant and Ida, so the changeling magic needed to connect with something else that another mev ate from, and they had something still indirectly connected to Ida. "Starlight, get out your phone."
Starlight nodded. She understood her master's thought process and stood next to Ocellus.
Rainbow Dash passed Anat over to Pinkie Pie. The pink pony gave a quick bounce in place and joined Yona.
"That leaves whoever goes with Sandbar and the cloak from Clover the Clever I think," Applejack noted. "Does the Crystal Empire count as Equestria?"
"It should," Twilight announced. "They were good enough to host the games, and we are connected by friendship."
"It's gonna have to," Rainbow Dash agreed. "Jin and I need to be at the center. I could try taking the cloak with us, but I think you being there is the better way."
Applejack nodded and took up her position by Sandbar and the cloak.
"Alright, Student Six. Each of these objects causing the drain is devoid of mev magic. My fledglings have ones with traces of our own from our visits over the past few months. Touch the hoof of the fledgling with you, then the object linked to this drain. Expect feedback. We're here to help act as a buffer, but this is a very, very strong concentration of power. It is going to explode, so we're mitigating damage here. We'll take a hit, but we can manage."
"Before or after you do something?" Smolder wished to know.
"After," Rainbow Dash announced. "All of you be ready. This process might knock me out, so I'm counting on you to handle whatever happens next."
"You can count on us, Master," Starlight said for everyone.
Typically, a magnet such as the one present could imprison a pony, but master mevs were immune to drainage and most magic that could be cast. As a central point of the designated reserve, Rainbow Dash was confident that her powers were perfectly suited to this exact task.
There was one niggling problem, but there wasn't much to be done about it. Cozy Glow was obviously quite clever, so the hole in her plan of ignoring Tirek's warning and doing it anyway had to mean something. Whatever that something was, Equestria needed its magic back, and this method was still necessary to do so. Rainbow had her fledglings ready to take on whatever challenge awaited them on the next phase of this scheme.
"Alright, Jin," she said quietly and took a small breath. "Let's do this."
The crown glowed with a mix of gold and red for a moment in agreement.
The Master Mev flew up into the orb and hovered safely.
Gallus, Ocellus, Sandbar, Silverstream, Smolder, and Yona followed the instructions she gave them a moment ago, touching the hoof of a fledgling and then the relevant artifact to their homeland.
Each of the artifacts touched by a student shot a white jagged beam of light, granted magic from the fledglings and the other artifacts held by the mevs.
The beams concentrated on the large orb of collected magic before a shockwave of blinding white light shot outward. The shockwave reached all of Equestria, restoring magic to the relief of many unicorns. The red force-fields in the other five kingdoms flickered away to the relief of their inhabitants, undoubtedly aided by the artifacts held by the fledgling mevs.
The fledglings were focused on their master as they saw her start to fall and lose consciousness. Scootaloo resisted the urge to leave her post as she saw Twilight catch Rainbow Dash in a telekinetic grip. The magic guided the body to safely land on the ground in front of the alicorn mev. Thankfully, Rainbow's prior instructions allowed this bypass of her immunity. Twilight kept careful watch that the crown was still intact and on Rainbow's head.
The students collectively wiped their brows. Though their task had been simple, the magic did give them a jolting shock, as they had been warned. They assured a concerned Fluttershy that they were okay from the impact all the same.
The shield around Cozy Glow had disappeared as Starlight Glimmer expected might happen. The first fledgling was about to rectify that, but she was soon distracted.
Red magic lifted out from the chalk drawing on the ground that was no longer obscured, and the Alicorn Amulet quickly coalesced into solidity.
"No!" Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"It can't be," Applejack muttered.
"Primeva," Fluttershy murmured in fear.
Primeva Starlight Glimmer's jaw dropped momentarily before she turned her attention back to Cozy Glow and quickly re-cast her shield with a determined expression.
Cozy grinned evilly from within that shield, reaching her forelimb out, still ready to accept the amulet's power. It had to come soon.
The ground shook, throwing everyone off-balance.
Up in the library, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Spike waited.
"Something's wrong," Sweetie Belle suddenly uttered in realization.
The other two looked at her inquisitively.
Rhezenda gulped. "We need to get back in there. Now."
She spoke with such urgency and knowing of her stronger connection to Rainbow Dash, the other two simply nodded and followed.
Starlight quickly teleported over to Rainbow's body and shot a blast of magic at the amulet, but the amulet seemed to have a desire and life of its own with all the magic that had been charged to summon it. The powerful object dodged with ease.
Scootaloo glanced between it and Cozy Glow. The bodyguard spread her wings wide and stood firm, facing the thing with a quick glance to the filly in the shield.
Starlight next tried to grab the amulet with her magic, only to receive an electric shock in response. That was enough for her to lose her grip on the shield containing Cozy Glow again.
At that, Scootaloo immediately turned around and held Cozy Glow tight, as if to hug her.
Twilight repeated the attempt Starlight did of trying to grab the amulet with her magic. She was met with the same result of an electric shock. It could not be held.
The amulet wanted only the Master Mev.
Cozy struggled within Scootaloo's grip. "Let me go! It's mine! I summoned it! Me!"
"Come on, we need to get that thing out of here," Applejack told the others.
Fluttershy nodded in determination and flew off to try and grab the amulet but upon contact, she immediately sensed it burn her hoof. The sensation startled her enough to drop it. "Tch," she hissed in pain.
Pinkie Pie furrowed her brow and swiped for the amulet as well, soon feeling the same burn as Fluttershy. She focused all her energy on holding tight and felt the ice within the reserve, thanks to Penny. It cooled the touch some, but it still did little good. She was soon met with an electric shock Twilight and Starlight felt when contacting it with their unicorn magic.
The pink fledgling ended up throwing it into the air, and Applejack caught it in her mouth but spit out just as quickly. Instead of burning hear, it had felt far too cold.
The students nearby were still dazed and busily recovering themselves from the small earthquake that threw them off-balance.
Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Spike arrived. The white unicorn among them gasped at the sight, immediately recognizing the amulet. Starlight had made sure Sweetie Belle knew its shape.
Cozy bit Scootaloo in the arm to escape and flew to grab the necklace. It burned her to the touch, but she endured as she placed it around her neck as fast as she could.
"Yes! Hahahaha!" She laughed a hearty wicked laugh, but it didn't last long. She started to twitch. She tried to compose herself and fight off a strange, gnawing sensation that suggested she remove the necklace and give it to Rainbow Dash. "I am the most powerful being in all Equestria!" Cozy declared. Wicked magic coursed through her veins. She involuntarily twitched again and grabbed at her neck like she was choking. "S-stop it."
"Cozy, you need to take that necklace off right now," Starlight warned her sternly.
Sweetie Belle ran to Starlight's side. "Listen to her Cozy Glow. That thing is nothing but trouble. You might think you're using it, but it's using you."
The other fledglings, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Spike rushed over to Rainbow's body to try and move her only to find themselves blocked by a red translucent bubble that only became visible when they drew near.
"Master!" Scootaloo exclaimed among them, helplessly knocking her hooves against the bubble. Soon, the bubble got annoyed enough with her that it shoved the bodyguard away with a powerful zap of magic.
"Scootaloo!" Apple Bloom rushed to her friend's side.
"Ha! Why would I do a thing like that?" Cozy Glow asked, grinning, soon followed by another twitch and gripping sensation on her neck.
"Because I'm sure you can sense it too," Starlight said in trepidation. "That amulet doesn't want you. It wants Rainbow Dash."
"I'm the one who summoned it! It's drawn to me!" Cozy argued. Her mind warped and hubris filling her, she proclaimed, "If she's the problem, I'll just have to blast her to oblivion. She's not immune to everything!"
"No, Cozy, don't!" Starlight yelled, but the massive blast was on its way. It ricocheted from Rainbow's invulnerable body, directly back at Cozy Glow.
The young filly's eyes widened in horror as the blast knocked her back into Gallus and Yona. While they had mostly recovered, they did not really understand the panicked nature of the fledglings or the strange magical amulet. All three fell over and were knocked down to the ground.
The act was enough for the amulet to free itself from Cozy's neck and quickly fly toward Rainbow Dash. In a flash, it was on the master mev's neck instead.
Rainbow blinked her eyes and finally started to awaken. "Oh," she rubbed her head in uncertainty.
Everyone stared and waited with baited breath. The fledgling mevs, Sweetie Belle, and Spike hoped strongly that Rainbow was somehow wrong about what the thing could do to her and that her usual immunity would kick in. After all, she had just deflected that blast from Cozy Glow. Rainbow hissed, and the entire group felt a strong pulse beat into the air, hitting them in their cores all at once.
"Master, please, get that thing off of you," Starlight pleaded in a desperate whisper.
The amulet solved the matter for Starlight itself, shattering immediately. The pieces fell to the ground, and a red mist curled its way up toward the mev's mouth, entering with ease.
"Jin..." Starlight uttered. She had to be ready with how things were going. It was not looking good.
Jin managed to flash himself off from Rainbow's head and onto Starlight's hoof. The unicorn gulped but immediately gave him to Sweetie Belle, who tucked him away into her pocket dimension.
Rainbow Dash could not reply. Her body was transforming for the berserk and more slowly than usual. Her feathered wings blinked between their usual state and their bat wing counter parts. Her fangs visibly grew through strained breaths. Her red eyes stared at no one just yet as they hid behind closed eyelids.
To everyone's surprise, including the fledglings, Rainbow Dash's sky blue fuzzy coat turned scaly. Her tail flickered between its usual rainbow hairs and a scaly one with fins. Her hooves were slowly turning into hands that would soon grow claws.
"That's her dragon form," Spike noted quietly.
Smolder looked from him to her. "But...something's not right about it."
Spike gulped. "It's the berserk."
Rainbow groaned. "Primeva…" she whimpered. "It's happening. I'm so hungry," she said desperately. She started to laugh and cackle. "So, so hungry."
Starlight swallowed. She didn't need to see anymore. "Code Red, Rexa," she uttered.
Twilight nodded and teleported everyone she could into the Canterlot throne room. "Is everyone okay?" she asked while doing a head count.
They took stock among themselves and realized at least one of them was missing.
"Where's Cozy Glow?" Spike asked.
The fledgling mevs looked at each other as they quietly contemplated the answer together.
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Cozy is an idiot
Great chapter!
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome!