Dark as Chitin

by LostBox

Chapter 9: Trapped

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Segment Music

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"You stay away from her!"

That voice sounds familiar. Dawn? My suspicions were confirmed when Luster Dawn ran from the edge of the clearing, placing herself between myself and the lizard creature.

"Can you stand?" Dawn asked, looking at me from over her shoulder.

"I think so, but I'm out of magic."

"Shoot. Okay, sit tight, get your magic back up while I distract him." She said as her eyes darted back over toward my assailant.

Distract him? "Wait, you can't fight him alone," I whispered to her.

"I know that, that's why I'm telling you to get your magic up. I'll distract him," she whispered back.

"What are you whispering about!?" He was in front of Dawn now, already in the motion of throwing a punch.

Her horn glowed a brilliant gold as a barrier instantly formed around the both of us. On contact, the barrier flashed white with a reflective gleam, and the punch was easily deflected.

The lizard creature's arm recoiled backward. Dawn then compressed the barrier to the tip of her horn and shot it at him, hitting him square in the chest. He moved with the impact of the blast, jumping backward.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

"Nope. Not yet at least. Combust."

Just as Dawn said this, the attacker's chest began to glow brighter until an explosion went off, a cloud of smoke now consuming the beings figure. I don't know if that worked, but I needed to take this chance.

I closed my eyes, siphoning in love energy from around me and converting it into magic. I opened my eyes to see Luster Dawn flying over me toward the edge of the clearing. No, she wasn't flying, she had been launched. She used telekinesis to slow herself down until she touched the ground, but our assailant was already breathing down her neck, readying his next attack.

Chrysalis gasped. "Now's your chance to run!"

"Run? But what about Dawn?"

"She can handle herself. Please, just run!"

Run? I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to, but something inside of me wouldn't let me. I don't know what she's doing out here, but she saved me. I can't abandon her.

"I can't do that, not without her."

Chrysalis grunted in frustration. "You foolish child! If you don't run, then both of you will die! Why won't you listen to me?!"

I looked down at my hooves. "I've done nothing but listen to you."

"Then keep doing it, at least one more time, I beg of you," Chrysalis pleaded sounding more emotionally distraught than ever.

It was literally and figuratively tearing me up inside, but I couldn't just run like that. "Sorry, mom, not this time."

I got no reply. I looked back up to see Luster Dawn struggling against a barrage of furious attacks. She had a barrier up, but it seemed to be getting attacked from every angle by a blurry shadow. I could see that she was really struggling to keep it up; her eyes were shut tightly and she was gritting her teeth, sweat breaking out across her forehead. Piece by piece, her barrier began to chip away.

She looked at me with pleading eyes, and I knew I needed to do something, but what? If I used any offensive magic, I might hit Dawn which would put her in an even worse spot, maybe even get her killed. Telekineses won't work, he has too much momentum for me to pinpoint him, let alone grab him. All I have left is abrasion.

Wait, abrasion is a spell that works by increasing the frictional constant on a surface. It's typically used during construction to ensure that something won't move from its place, as it will be tightly bonded to whatever surface it's on. If I tweaked the equation a little, I'm sure I could even lower the frictional constant, ensuring that nothing could bond to a surface. Either way, it's a win-win scenario.

I began channeling magic into my horn again. But from the looks of it, this guy seems to be some kind of lizard. That's why his fist keeps getting stuck, that's how he's changing direction so quickly. Lizards have tiny hairs on the pads of their feet called setae that drastically increase the surface area they cover thus increasing their overall attraction to a surface. It occurred to me now that a book on zoology had gotten mixed into the pile while I was reading at the library. I think it was written by... Fluttershy. I guess fate works in strange ways.

Then that means, If I want to help Dawn, I need to increase the friction constant! Targeting the ground around Dawn, I shot out a beam of magic, causing her attacker to stop in his tracks.

"Damn it! What is this!?" He exclaimed in anger.

He was now a sitting duck, trapped on all fours.

I yelled over to Dawn. "Run!"

She quickly began running beside me. "What did you do?"

"Abrasion. He has a trait that allows him to stick to surfaces with ease, I just used that against him."

"Nice going, but why was that guy attacking you in the first place?"

"He wanted to eat me!"

"What!?"

I know right.

"You think I'll let you get away!!!"

Suddenly, a wall of black appeared before us, causing us to skid to a halt. I followed the darkness as it climbed higher into the sky, and curving to a single point. This was happening all around us, essentially trapping us in a dome. Eventually, all ends of the darkness touched at the top, sealing us inside completely. Despite being trapped in a pitch-black void, we were still somehow able to see. Although, it was significantly darker.

"Urgh, what now?!" Dawn said as she shot a beam of magic into the darkness.

The magic simply dissipated into the void. I considered bucking it but decided against it after seeing what happens to the magic. Speaking of magic, something essential just changed.

"I can't feel the magic outside this barrier (or love for that matter)."

"What do you mean, like it just vanished?"

"Or maybe...we did..."

Dawn now had a look of abstract horror on her face. "Then what do we do now?"

"It looks like we have to fight our way out of this. By the way, why are you out here in the first place?"

Against all hardships, she was still able to blush in a situation like this. "I-I, uh, wanted to see where you lived, so I kinda ended up following you from the library."

I am so glad I didn't transform. I cocked an eyebrow at her, causing her to avoid my gaze. My expression shortly transitioned into a smile, however. "Well, as weird as that is, I'm glad you did. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

She smiled back at me.

"I hope you two are done talking because I sure am. I didn't want to have to use this, but I guess it's my fault for underestimating you."

We turned around to face the figure that should have been stuck laying on the ground but was now standing upright.

Without warning his expression turned dead cold. "It won't happen again."

I'm sure this time, a wave of terror surged through both I and Dawn's bodies.

He opened his right dactyly, conjuring fire in it. "Fun fact. Did you know lizards are cold-blooded?

I thought he had no magic! Oh buck, I knew where this was going.

"Naturally, we can't produce heat on our own, rather, we need to rely on our surroundings to keep warm. This means that while cold, we're significantly weakened. However, while warm..."

The ball of fire he had conjured was now crackling with heat. He took the ball of fall and plunged it into himself, bursting into flames.

While on fire, he pointed a single digit at us. "We're at our prime. It's over for-"

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Segment Music

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Midway through his sentence, a deafening sound filled our ears, like a heavy bass drop. The darkened world we found ourselves in was now exposed fully to the moonlight.

We all looked up at once. In the sky, I could see Dawn's mother, Starlight Glimmer, wearing a not so pleased expression on her face. Next to her, however, was something-or rather someone-even more interesting, Discord.

With a flash of light, Starlight Glimmer appeared before the lizard guy, staring daggers at him. He flinched, stumbling backward. He raised his fist to strike her but was met with a face full of dirt.

He was being pushed into the ground by her magic, completely unable to move. He pushed against it, straining himself to the utmost limit even in his burning form. Imagine my surprise when it did him absolutely no good. As soon as he managed to get to his knees, he was forced into the ground with even more force than before.

That's right, not forced to the ground, forced into the ground. Although he was being driven into the ground with tremendous force, strangely enough, the rocks around him were floating into the air. Is she... manipulating gravity?

Starlight spoke coldly to our assailant. "Who are you?"

The lizard guy chuckled to himself causing more force to be applied onto his body. This time he screamed in pain. Starlight levitated a rock above him.

She asked him once more. "Last chance, who are you, why were you attacking my daughter?"

Now I was able to get a better look at his face, I noticed that he did actually have eyes, however, his pupils were shrunken to the size of pinpricks. Whether they were like that before or it was because of Starlight, I didn't know. However, he looked completely terrified.

"I'm going to count down from 5, that's all the time you have."

His eyes widened further.

"5...4...3."

With each passing second, our attacker seemed to die a little more on the inside. When Starlight got to one, he did something none of us would expect.

"2...1."

Suddenly, he opened his mouth as wide as he could before biting down on his own tongue. His body began to seize even under the added pressure before abruptly stopping. Just like that, he began turning into dust.

Starlight looked down at the ashes with a disappointed expression. She shook her head and began walking over to us. She and Dawn embraced each other immediately.

"I love you mom," Dawn said as she hugged her mother.

"I love you too. It's okay now."

They let go of each other, and Starlight walked over to me. Then something I hadn't seen coming at all had happened, she hugged me too.

Comments

[LostBox]

I have a feeling, this is the start of something great. I'm taking this more seriously than I thought I would.

[Enaris]

10812113
And I agree. It has been a while since I got hooked like this. You started a really interesting begining of a story and even got me started to speculate who or what is the enemy in this case. Also I like the way you write ol chrissy how she is afraid to be alone (she has no wood stick to talk to anymore), dont know if it was planned but well done. Cant wait for more.

[GrandAdmiral MitthRawN]

I agree with enaris been some time since a sorry made me think. I too love the way your wright chrysalis where she is afraid of losing chimera andhas a conflict if it is of love or just use.

[Teraunce]

You have so far done a 9.2/10 bang up excellent job at hooking me and keeping me hooked.

[Razzy]

Damn, was hoping for Glimglam to get punked.

[asdtroi8895]

I think that Luster may have a crush on Chimera/Anon. Good thing she's the stalker type. I'm guessing that the lizardman was an agent serving someone and a fanatically loyal one at that.

[Black--Soul]

Simply badass! Magnificent chapter
Guess that guy can take over bodys?

[Black--Soul]

This story has way to view comments and likes
10812113
Indeed. I have a story in my favorit that was planned to be a comedic story yet it become seriouse and very deep toward the half and end. I almost skipped it for being to silly. What a mind blowing epiloge.
10812173
Often unplaned turn spice up a lot. I can think of a few storys that got written rather out of hand and heart.
10812275
To be fair... He is literally her last chance to get out of her prison... Also to restart her efforts to save her race.
10826998
After re-read i must say it a excellent story. As always, in the end its to short Just good a sequel is in work
10875630
First crush... How interessting some act and react...

[ArcherStern]

10898438

This story has way too* view comments and likes

I agree.