Subject 26: Light Cuts Through Darkness
The alicorns entered the room, only for things to change drastically.
“Hold...what just happened?” Luna asked.
As it turned out, the magical disruption spell had affected the power of everything inside the ballroom. It was pitch black darkness for a moment.
Twilight scoffed. “Pshaw. It’s just a minor power disruption spell. Nothing I can’t handle. One second…” Her horn flashed, and the effects of the disruption were undone. Once the power was back on, they were aghast at what they saw. “Wait...what?! How could this happen?!”
Everyone in the room had fallen asleep. Luna would inspect their bodies, and found no damages, thankfully. However, their state of sleep was an odd one. “Strange. I cannot enter their dreams,” she explained as she tapped a pony with her hoof, “It’s as if they were placed into a limbic state of being which prevents me from entering their dreams.”
“There’s only one explanation for this: The Sandmare spell,” Twilight explained as she grabbed a book from...somewhere to explain her point. Luna didn’t bother to question it. “A high level magic spell that enforces a deep comatose-like state upon its victims. Huh. I almost feel proud of whoever managed to pull this off.”
Luna was not surprised that the purple alicorn had her nose buried in a book. But she was more concerned about how to reverse it. “Okay...that explains what we are dealing with. Now how do we undo it?”
“Can’t,” she closed the book, “Only the castor can break this spell. It’s a very strong one that requires a lot of preparation and focus. There’s a lot of technical aspects involved, but it needs to be cast long before it needs to go off. Somepony planned this. And they can’t have gone far.”
The mare of the moon stood at the ready. “Understood. What would you have me do, princess?”
Twilight paused for a second. That’s right, she was the ruler now and could give orders to Luna. She hadn’t gotten used to that yet. Though it was exciting. “Oh my gosh, yes! Here’s my chance to prove my leadership skills! Just hold it together...hold it together!”
After some thought, she would give Luna a command. “You can search the area. Find out just who caused this.”
“Got it. And what shall you do?”
“I’m going to attempt to break the spell myself,” she proclaimed with a proud smirk.
This confused the blue alicorn, “...but I thought you said only the castor can undo this particular spell.”
All the sudden, Twilight had jumped into Luna’s face with a hoof wrapped around her neck. “Obviously! But if I can be the first pony in history to undo this spell myself, it’ll be a historic moment in the history of magical...history,” she responded with a sheepish sort of smile.
“Tia, just what did you teach this one while I was away? Oh right, you’re asleep.” Luna gave an awkward sort of laugh, and flew upwards, “Hah...if you say so. But your wish is my command, Princess. I will find out who cast such a spell.” And with that, she flew out of a nearby window while Twilight got out her notes to study the state of each unconscious pony and non-pony.
Outside…
There was a flash of magic in the clearing, but it was a distraction to get my attention.
I turned around and found myself face to face with someone dressed in all black with a hood and no way to discern who they were. All I knew was that they were a unicorn. “What are you talking about?”
“Just walk to the middle of the maze…” I watched as their horn lit up. I had no choice but to comply...for now. “To think, a mere cornered rat would try and fight back against a system you have no chance of winning against.”
I stepped into the empty area of the maze, and watched as the hooded individual walked to the front of me. “Just what are you getting at?”
“Think critically for a moment. Assume you do get Cozy Glow to change, she will need lots of time spent in the educational system to make up for what she’s lost in those many years. Do you honestly think anypony is going to trust her to listen to instruction? Or how about the fact that she may use her gained knowledge and stab someone in the back with it?”
From the way they moved and the sound of their voice, I could tell it was a stallion. But not a stallion I had met previously. This one was young--about my age in fact. Hmm… “I’m aware of how risky it is to teach someone like her. But if the possibility is there for her to break free of her past actions, I’m sure she would take it.”
“And how do you know? How do you know that she won’t use you to get back at her enemies? Manipulate and control you only to toss away everything like she did all those years ago! Chrysalis was offered a hoof of friendship by Starlight and refused, only to return to cause more damage. Is that what you want? Do you want to put all of those other innocent ponies and foals out there to suffer her wrath again?”
I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Not to trust her or to get others to trust her. And yet, I knew within the confines of my soul that she should be given proper time to adjust. “She won’t...there’s nothing for her to gain by doing something so foolish. She’s smart, so she’ll know not to make the same mistake again.”
This individual was annoying. He crouched down, which meant he was preparing to start something. “Pity, though not unexpected. If you are this constrained by your ideals...then I have no choice but to dispose of you for the sake of everypony else.” They shot a blast of bright white magic at me that I just barely managed to avoid.
“Woah!” It burned several holes through multiple layers of thick hedge before dissipating. “...Insane.”
Meanwhile…
“Shit...no answer after fifteen minutes? Bugger this, I’m headed out,” Neon prepared to leave the confines of the security room in Canterlot Castle. Cameras set up by Flash Drive would show every inch of the dance floor.
His brother Flash Drive stopped him. “...Hold on, Neon. Are you sure this is the right idea? Aren’t you afraid of dealing with another…accident out there?”
“Bruv, Pale is my friend...I need to see if he’s okay.”
“Let me come with ya,” the black unicorn pleaded, “You’ll have a betta time if I’m with ya.”
Neon refused the offer with a shake of his head. “Negative, bruv. I’m countin’ on you and Gutter to keep everything safe on this end. I need your wits to keep the communication line stable. As well as watch over the Princess while she works out what that sleep spell was.”
Guttersnipe had fallen asleep in the security room chair, to which Flash Drive reacted with a hoof against his forehead out of shame.
“...Alright, mate.” Flash Drive gave a reluctant nod and pushed his brother out of the door. “Well? Get on then, ya knob. He isn’t gonna save himself.”
Outside…
“Listen...I’m willing to hear you out, sir. If there’s a way we can compromise, I would gladly take it,” I tried to reason with this individual. The last thing I wanted to do was fight someone I didn’t know. “Let’s be rational, alright?”
But my words only seemed to enrage the guy. I could sense his blood boiling. “Rational...rational?! Let me ask you a question, good sir. Is it rational to sit back knowing that your family is gone thanks to the actions of that child?!”
If I had some water in my mouth, I would’ve spat it out. Holy bull. “Wait...what?!”
“Oh-ho! Now you wanna listen! Because of those three Horsemen of the Apocalypse, my wife left me when the pony races were split.”
“I...I don’t understand...didn’t everyone make up by the end of it?”
The unicorn scoffed. “Oh sure. That’s what everyone usually thinks. But she had already flown off to Cloudsdale to get back with her ex and she married his sorry flank. And took the child we raised back to him. You tell me, does that sound rational to you? But now, everyone thinks everypony is happy. But they don’t ever bother asking about those of us who were affected by this the most.”
Wait, ‘those of us’? Were there other folks out there who were affected by Cozy Glow on an extremely personal level in a similar manner? “I...I’m sorry...but I thought Chrysalis was responsible for that?”
“She was the one who orchestrated the entire plan! Don’t you get it? Because of her, my entire life went down the toilet,” he stomped his hoof and his horn lit up once more, “And you have the gall to attempt to bring her back?! I could never let you do such a thing!”
To think, they would be responsible for not only causing distrust among the ponies, but also destroying relationships and families. I had to know more. Just what else could have happened due to Cozy Glow’s intellectual manipulation on a ground level. “Alright, listen. I would like to speak to you, and the other individuals in your...group? Those who have suffered from Cozy Glow’s tactics in unfixable ways. Let me speak with them.”
“Heh...you really want to look in the darkness huh? Even if it kills ya?”
I nodded, “Absolutely.”
“Then beat me. Prove that I should take you seriously. Otherwise you won’t get jackrabbit shit from me.”
Was violence the only way to reason with someone like this? Why couldn’t things be simple? But no matter. I would do what I can to find out the truth. Even if it meant getting my hooves dirty. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely,” he said with no hesitation.
“Hmph. Fine. Just a scuffle between two angry stallions. Nothing more.” I reached into my vest.
As soon as I did, he fired off another blast of magic at me. I was prepared this time, and started to dodge and roll around to avoid them. And to charge my weapon. If his words were true, then I really did feel sympathy towards the guy. But if I were to undertake the risk of bringing the former filly back to the realm, I had to hear all sides of the argument.
And I guess it didn’t hurt to stretch my legs.
Magic users were fairly common. All with varying degrees of skill and finesse. This guy was a user of more light-based spells. So they were fast, but wouldn’t harm as much. Obviously it was hard to react to every single one. I took a few hits here and there. But once my blaster was charged, I was able to properly react.
I pulled it out and flicked the lever on the weapon. At just the right angle, I activated it and used the pressurized air to reflect one of the light blasts back at his horn.
“Tch!”
Perfect. His magic was disabled for a few seconds, and I was able to move in close. Ranged magic users had a hard time keeping up at short range, so this gave me the opportunity I needed. I ran up behind him, and grabbed his tail between my teeth. With all my might, I swung and let go which flung his body into the thick hedge wall nearby. “Ha!”
“Grr…” he got up, that hood still didn’t move to let me see his face, but that wasn’t the main concern. “Let’s see you dodge this…” His horn lit up, and I braced myself. But instead of a straightforward blast, his magic struck the ground directly. The superheated electrical magic spread across the dirt, and with no escape, I felt an electrical shock against my hooves.
“Ow! Shit! Really?!” I danced around like a fool. It hurt with each step I took. And I wouldn’t last very long unless I could reverse the spell.
The stallion used self-levitation to avoid the harmful effects himself. “If only you could fly or had magic of your own to cancel this out, eh? Then this wouldn’t be a problem for you.” He said with a cackle from above.
As much as I hated it, he was right. I was at a disadvantage due to the inability to close the distance from down here. I couldn’t properly recharge my Blaster since I wasn’t able to run. My only option would be to leap into the air, and strike his horn again.
With his arrogant laughter, he failed to notice when I leapt into the air and kicked his horn, which ended both his levitation and shockwave spells. He fell to the ground like a bag of rocks while I landed on all fours no problem. “Give it up. I don’t want to continue an unnecessary battle. There’s no reason to fight.”
“You ain’t got one…?” he rose to his hooves, “Well I do!” But before he could fire off his next spell, a barrage of what looked like watermelon seeds struck the unicorn from his side like bullets. “Agh! What the--?!” It threw him off balance and prevented him from casting another spell.
“Your lack of skill is obvious.” My bat friend had returned! His fake leg was loaded with fruit seeds that he fired from the rotating barrels. “‘Sup, Pale? Need some help?”
“I’d appreciate it. This guy has lots of high-level magic that I haven’t seen before.”
A pillar of light from the sky was about to come down onto me. “Look out!” Neon flew over and pushed me out of the way just in time. Both of us hit the hedge, relatively unscathed. “You alright, mate?”
“Yeah..but what the shit was that?” We both stood up to face the hooded unicorn.
“Divine arrows...and I have more where that came from,” his horn lit up.
Neon and I looked at each other and nodded. I got up and ran to a hard left. Neon had switched his Batling leg to fire exploding orchid seeds pods. Real thing. It was how some plants produced more offspring faster. But enough about that.
The violent explosions of seeds in his ears caused the unicorn to drop the spell before it could be completed. “Ngh!” This gave me the opening I needed. I leapt up, and sent the guy across the maze’s clearing with a dropkick.
“Hya!” He flew right into the solid hedge wall. “Enough is enough...Neon. Prepare yourself.”
But he simply would not stay down, and activated the electrical floor spell once more. “I don’t think so!”
“REAAAGGH!” Neon screamed. The electricity must have flowed through his metal limb and started to short-circuit his entire body!
I was shocked as well, but I forced myself to endure the pain. “Neon!” I needed to strike the horn again. I charged the unicorn, but was caught by his levitation aura. Someone like this had to have top tier magic control. “Gah...cease this nonsense and let him go!”
“Are you sure? Because I don’t think you’ve been fighting for real. Let me do something to fix that…” he said with a visible, demonic smirk against the moonlight. The intensity of the spell would increase, and Neon’s screams went from yelling to bat-like squeals that we couldn’t hear due to how high-pitched they were.
“....” His eyes were bloodshot, his skin started to ripple, his veins bulged. The electricity was destroying him. He wasn’t even able to cry out for help due to the frequency he put out that wasn’t discernable to non-bats.
I stared at him, and felt my blood boil. Even though I was trapped within this levitation field, I could feel my own magic brewing. Maybe...just maybe…
I shut my eyes.
“What’s the matter? Not going to help your--”
I broke out of the magic field and charged at the assailant like a raging bull, much to his confusion.
“But how?!”
“Simple.” With another kick, I hit his horn, and Neon was released from the electrical shackles. “I timed your magical aura with my internal one, and muscled through it. Earth ponies are known for their resistance, you know.”
Desperate, the unicorn started to cast defensive shock spells and dodged my strikes. “You…”
After a few more missed hits, I pulled out my Blaster and shoved the wide barrel against the tip of his horn. Though I still couldn’t see his face, I could feel his intentions. “Listen...I have had it with you. I have you beat fair and square. So at this point, you had better give up...and I would like to hear your friends’ personal reasons for wanting to keep Cozy Glow put away.” From the corner of my eye, I watched as Neon picked himself up. He had a few frizzles, but was mostly okay.
“Tch...if you want to know...then come find me.”
“What do you mean by that?” I strained my weapon against his horn. He was still charging up some sort of attack. I needed to know what he was about to say, but couldn’t afford to have Neon caught up in this any further. I turned my head, and nodded once.
Reluctant, my bat-like friend flew off. To get help from the princesses or anyone that could quell this crazy guy so we could question him.
But it was too late. “You’ll have a sign once you wake up tomorrow!” He tried to fire off another spell, but I clicked my miniature Thundergun to blast the pressure right back at him.
That was not a good plan on my part.
“SHIT!” Instead of a pillar of light, an entire massive sphere of it would consume the area as well as the rest of the maze. The dastard had to have teleported at the last moment, because I heard rapid hoofsteps clopping off in another direction entirely. I couldn’t escape the ball of light and was overtaken by massive amounts of electric energy that entered my body. It wasn’t enough to kill me, thank the gods. But I would be unable to move for a while.
When it was all over, the maze was no more. Gone. Reduced to atoms. Through all of the fighting and battling, I had gotten tired. But to my left, I saw some gold satin fabric on the ground that was covered in soot. So my suspicions were correct.
“Ova ‘ere!” I heard my bat friend shout. The last thing I remember seeing was the face of the purple and blue alicorns before my eyes shut from passing out.
The next morning, I woke up in a hospital bed. Dammit, again? No matter. I just wanted to make sure that Neon was safe. “Hey...what’s going on?” At least they were kind enough to put my vest and hat on the table beside me. And there...I noticed the gold fabric in an evidence bag in the pocket on my vest. So it was true. The stallion I fought yesterday was part of something bigger.
“Relax, Mr. Vestige,” the doctor unicorn said as he stepped in. “You simply endured some shocks or two. You’ll be out of here by tomorrow.”
“That’s great. And do you know where Neon is?”
He tilted his head, “Who? No one’s been here with a name like that.”
Damn. The guy didn’t even want to get his injuries checked at the regular hospital because he wasn’t comfortable being around regular ponies yet. I respected that. “Nevermind.”
“Ah, one more thing. Princess Twilight left me a message. She wants you to see her as soon as you get out. If I were you, I’d rest as much as possible to be in peak condition for her. Earning a moment with her is rare.”
I nodded. “Understood, doc. Thank you.”
The unicorn stallion left the room.
Well then, I felt like there was a sudden weight that had been pulled right out of me.
So at long last, my big chance was about to arrive. An audience with Twilight herself. Now I would have to prepare myself for everything I set out to do. This would be the moment that would make or break my entire life’s work. I will not--
“Who’s there?”
I felt something beneath my hospital bedsheets, and lo and behold. Tree Hugger had found a way to sneak into someplace with me in it. She had rested against my lower legs and woke up when I removed the covers. “Oh...hey man.”
“...How long have you been here?”
She sat up next to me, ever so casual like it was nothing. “Since I heard you had been taken to the hospital, I couldn’t leave a friend hanging.”
I blinked. Was this mare crazy or just that caring? “And you’ve...been here the whole time with me while I was unconscious...since last night?”
“Yeah, obvs. Am I making you feel uncomfortable?” For the first time since I met her, she dropped the laid-back smile she always carried as her face contorted into a concerned frown. “Because if I am, I’ll leave. Some ponies tend to not feel comfy around me, so I’ve gotten used to it. And Fluttershy hasn’t had time to spend with me lately--so I can only assume that’s why too.”
Damn, that hit me hard. I didn’t want to make her feel like I didn’t appreciate having someone to comfort me through the pain I faced. Not to mention the idea of her lacking any real friends somewhat pained me since I knew what that was like. So I shook my head with a smile.. “Nah. You’re making me feel better already.”
With a squeak-toy sound, she smiled wide, and her more natural facial expressions of mellow returned along with her regular smile. “Righteous…” she responded as she reached a hoof below her bed, and pulled out a basket. “I’ve got brownies, my special drinks, and sandwiches this time so you can feel stronger. And if you need to nap, I’ll meditate over you to give you my relaxing vibes, brah.”
“Heh...I’d like that, thank you, Huggs.”
I couldn’t complain. Someone like this was nice to be around. Plus, I was a bit hungry. So at least I could refuel and have full stamina. After talking to her for a bit longer, and went back to napping, and felt a sudden weight pressed against me. I didn’t mind, though. I figured Tree Hugger knew what she was doing when it came to calming others down.
I knew I’d be prepared when I wanted to talk to Twilight.
I just hoped she was willing to listen to what I had to say.
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All Chryssy and Cozy did back then was to drop some ill-intended advice in order to stir conflict. No mind-controlling magic involved.
If that is all it took to split your marriage apart, then it simply didn´t have much of a solid foundation, I think.
How any of that excuse performing illegal magic plus an assassination atempt?
Looks like Pale's opposition is more powerful and rutheless then I expected. It makes me want to see them fail even more. It was nice to see Pale in action. He certainly lives up to the list of achievements Luna read out about him some chapters ago. Hopefully the meeting with Twilight will end well.
Looks like Twilight didn't change too much over the years.
Like with Starlight? Discord and Tempest also have been out of Equestrian public for years before reforming and while they don't need education as much as a filly I think they might still had to learn a lot.
Chrysalis basically did the same thing as Starlight except Discord made her team up with three other villains to make her even more dangerous. Theres also the fact that she's a normal pegasus filly and not an expert magic user or a powerfull being.
Considering how short the attack actually was his wife was pretty quick to leave him. I don't think this may neccesarely be the trio's fault.
Either this guy is using dark magic, he's just a dick (which may explain why his wife left him) or both.
I love the deph you gave to Tree Hugger hear with only one paragraph.
As much as I want to point out the flaw of the Magic of Friendship’s victory in undoing the Evil Trio’s actions, that unicorn stallion can’t be a common unicorn. He cast 2 powerful spells and one of them prevents Luna from entering dreams. He must of be either a graduate from Magic School from Canterlot or a mercenary for hire to keep Twilight's peace?
10424147
Yup. The meeting is going to hopefully go well. And you know Twilight, she's hyped up over anything to do with magic.
This guy does have personal issues though. But Pale had no choice but to fight back to get that info.
And thanks. Tree Hugger is just a gem in my opinion and she deserves good characterization. She just wants to comfort Pale as he rests. Can you blame her? XD
10424174
He is pretty busted, yeah. You never know who's behind such things.
Finally got to this after a short nap. And, uh...wow. An assassination attempt. Good thing Pale and Neon came out of this in the end. Let's hope a repeated attempt doesn't happen again when he goes to meet the others. This guy is clearly a grade-A coward. Abusing high-level magic to harm a citizen of Equestria. All the while bitching and moaning about how Cozy ruined his life due to her actions. Like Pale, I believe Chrysalis did that, not Cozy. I have to wonder, are they doing this is keep the peace, or start a war with their own country?
10424407
You never know. There's a lot of different factions out there who seek to cause trouble. Pale and his team are out to expose these freaks for who they really are.
I can't say I feel a lot in the way of empathy for the assassin. At first I thought Cozy might have been responsible for his wife's death, which would make the anger understandable, but a divorce followed by a remarriage suggests there already was a lot of breaking point level tension in that marriage and that the Legion was simply the excuse.
MUAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!
I have edited this comment so nobody will know what 10542762 means!
10542760
Yup! He means business now!