Thunder and Magic: Season 1

by Rapane443

Episode 11 (Part 1): Chains Unbroken

Another day, another few hours of pursuing my educational prowess. Darklo thought knowingly. The couple days he experienced at Miss Cheerilee's school was a mixed bag for Darklo, as the subjects taught were incredibly easy for his age. Maths? Easy. Science? His previous education was literally built on the knowledge of the subject. Geography and History? A little tougher to learn but like every new subject, learning gets better with time and it was working wonders for him. Equestrian however, was a weirder factor. English was no problem in his old world, but he had surprising just came up with the revelation that everypony was just speaking plain English to him.

It definitely brought up a couple questions in his head. Am I actually speaking another language and my language is just being translated or is Equestrian just conveniently English in this world? It wasn't something he had to answer, but having it at the back of his mind wouldn't hurt.

Short story was: his experience in the school was essentially a place to rest, meet his friends and locate any specs of new knowledge. And that was happening in the present moment, as Darklo shifted out of his seat after an hour's worth of history. He quickly grabbed his saddlebag and walked out of class with the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Well, that was an interesting lesson. Now I know that we've got a lot of powerful beings out there but a being of pure chaos? That's wild," Darklo began mumbling under his breath as they left towards the playground, "maybe there is a being of pure order too, like some sort of balance spectrum that keeps the universe in check. Plus, how does something like Discord even come into the world? A concept can only begin at the start of the universe, so did it make the world instead of a God? Was there a purpose to it, or am I just way off my speculations?"

"If you really want my opinion, I think Twilight's eggheadedness is rubbing off on you." Scootaloo playfully bumped into him, snapping the colt out of his daze. "Keep that up and we might have to call you Professor."

"Alright alright, but it's not like I do it on purpose. I mean, who doesn't love a bit of theory making?" Darklo protested calmly as they eventually arrived at a basic bench in slight disrepair and took their seats. Applebloom and Darklo on one side, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle on the other.

"Theories? Not really, but I do dabble in my fair share of gossip. Rarity is like a cesspool for that stuff." Sweetiebelle snickered to herself, likely remembering a particularly funny one. "I heard that Prince Blueblood's fiance caught him sleeping with a mare sized pushie!"

"No way!"

"But how is that gossip? A Prince likin' plushies isn't bad at all."

Meanwhile, Darklo's cheeks reddened while thinking very carefully. "Uhm... Belle, did Rarity tell you this?"

"Uh, yeah. She seemed awful nervous about it so I thought be worth mentioning, though she was talking about it with her customer just fine, so I don't see what got her mane in a twist."

The answer had the colt staring into space, his mind a little more well versed in the art of 'child friendly talk'. Okay, I wasn't expecting a royal drama to be the highlight of the day, but anything's possible. Also, better have a mental note to stay clear of this Blueblood fellow.

"Hey, Darklo. Y'okay?" Applebloom asked, though the concern was less than before as she gently poked his side, instantly breaking him out of his inner monologue.

"Oh! Uh, jeez. Sorry girls, I really gotta stop doing that."

"Eh, don't worry about it. We've seen enough of your little thought sessions to work around them. It comes with the Darklo package!" Scootaloo chimed with a wink at the end, which resulted in a cacophony of laughter throughout the group.

"Hahaha, yeah... heh. I guess so, just don't get bored of me 'kay?" Darklo asked with his signature shit eating grin on his face. It granted him a side eye from the Apple filly.

"Darklo. Buddy. Ya can shoot elemental magic from your body and have an element bearer for a sister, gettin' bored of ya is impossible."

The colts ears flicked in appreciation and his smile said the same thing. "Heh, from that criteria, we can't get bored of you either. Guess that makes both of us special or something."

The two of them giggled for a few seconds while the foals on the other side were flickering their gaze between each other and the adorable sight before them. But once they calmed down, Sweetiebelle brought out their lunch boxes with her magic and enthusiastically raised her hoof in the air. "Alright then Crusaders, now that all that's settled, let's eat up!"

The group nodded and got to eating their meals, occasionally sharing food with each other. It brought a smile to Darklo's face, reminding himself of a couple down time session he had with others: from practising martial arts with Zelus and Ira to chowing down on canned foods with his squad, the nostalgia was there and the colt didn't want it to go away. Unfortunately, it did.

"So this is where you blank flanks were. Gotta say, seeing you all chatting like normal ponies instead of performing some idiotic trick to get your cutie marks is kind of strange. Are you feeling well?" Diamond Tiara snarkily grinned as she came into view, Silver Spoon mirroring her every move at her side.

"Buzz off Tiara, we can do other things without YOU nosing about." Scootaloo glared daggers at the filly as she hopped from her seat to meet her gaze snout to snout. "Now if you don't mind, leave us alone and go do whatever before I make you."

"Oh come on Scoots, we know very well you could out chase me. With your wings that is. Oh, I'm sorry I forgot, your teeny little wings can't even lift you off the ground!" To emphasise her point, Diamond grabbed Scootaloo's left wing and stretched it out to its maximum wingspan which was not a lot.

"How pathetic." Silver Spoon added as they laughed at her, leaving the pegasus embarrassed. She held her head low in shame and backed away.

"Hey... only my friends can call me Scoots."

"Oh, you mean only Darklo? He IS the only pony who likes giving such unnecessary and down right stupid nicknames." Diamond grinned at the colt once the words escaped her lips, but to the filly's dismay, Darklo only raised his eyebrow at her.

"Unnecessary? Maybe. I don't have to do it after all. But stupid? I just shorten their names down. By that logic, most ponies would be calling your name stupid, Diamond. And we both know you're not." Darklo pointed a hoof at her to copy Diamond's method of torment. "You can bash me all you want, but I know my way around psychological warfare."

It was true. Principal Vir, Zelus and even Ira on occasion had a way with words that could leave many unprepared people annoyed or even upset with just a few minutes of interaction. And although Darklo could see the resemblance with Diamonds demeanour and those of the Belican Elites, she was a foal. All of her acts must have came from somewhere and she's only regurgitating what she's seen. It would be unfair in his eyes to tussle with somepony who has a lower mental faculty than him. It was weird that he was the same age as them to begin with.

"Oh really? Cause last I recall, my daddy had informed me of your little 'orphan-hood'."

...

"Excuse me?" Darklo's demeanour immediately shifted. His logical and passive visage was overtaken by shadows and an indifferent frown. The unfamiliar sight made his friends spines crawl from the pressure while Silver Spoon grew more concerned herself.

"Uhm, Diamond. I think that's going too-"

"Oh hush Silver Spoon, it can't be something he hasn't heard before. I mean, no mommy and a dead daddy? Of course it would be the talk of the town upon his arrival. He was an Everfree Dweller, the poorest of the poor. It's a wonder he survived so long in there, although his parents probably shielded him 'till the end, how sad."

"Diamond enough!" Silver Spoon was shouting at her, the fear oozing from her voice as she and the Crusaders watched the colt leave his seat and approach the inconsiderate filly.

"Silver Spoon quiet! That doesn't matter anymore. He got to hook up with an important pony and has everything he could dream of. Shouldn't he be reminded that just cause he has an element bearer as a family member, he shouldn't remember his place as a commoner?"

"Diamond."

"Oh? Something to say Dar-" It finally dawned on the filly that she had made a grave error. When she turned away from Silver Spoon, her snout was touching Darklos, and she could see death. Darklo was nothing short of furious, his eyes struck her like unrelenting thunderclouds and his teeth growled in a snarl that could eat her alive.

"Need I remind you that there are some realms of insults that are taboo to say?" His magic flared and fireworks sparked on the ground bellow her, revealing it was the air sign the Crusaders were familiar with. "There are some things that you can get bucked in the face for, and you need to hood your tongue with those. Cause someday..." The filly could feel a breeze of wind press against her from the sign under her hooves. "You might get thrown."

And immediately on cue... a frog landed on Diamond's head?

The unexpected turn shut Darklo from his silent rage and left everypony else flabbergasted.

"...eeeeeeeeeee!" Diamond squealed, running away from the group while the frog hopped off her. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

"Diamond wait! It's already off you." Silver Spoon shouted, but it was too late. The filly was out of earshot and once she realised this, she sighed. "I'm sorry Darklo. I didn't think she'd go that far."

The colt shrugged in response. "None taken, I should've kept my cool. Though I wasn't kidding, she could get in trouble if she doesn't learn to stop hurting ponies."

"I don't know if she can... but only time can tell. I'll go find her. See you all." Silver Spoon followed Diamond's path before she flinched, as if noticing an error in her system and turned back to them with a tsk. "That doesn't mean we are all chummy. I intend to keep my friendship just as much as yours!"

Darklo nodded in acceptance. "Fine by me." Eventually, she was also out of sight and the colt smiled to himself, turning back to the group with a frog that hopped onto his back. "Well, Silver Spoon isn't that bad after all eh girls?...girls?"

Darklo tilted his head in confusion as he saw the girls cranking their heads to the sky and once he did the same, he noticed what the cause of that random frog was. It was Fluttershy, carrying a cart full of frogs of different variations and species. She steadily flew down to meet us and scooped up the renegade frog. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. I didn't know why Susie hopped out of the cart like that, she's always been so obedient."

The Crusaders gathered around her and while girls ran to the cart to see the frogs, Darklo shrugged his shoulders. "No idea, maybe Pinkie had a twitchy tail at that moment. Still have no idea if she causes the disasters or if the disasters cause her but I bet Twilight would love to figure that out!"

At the mention of the Pinkie sense, Fluttershy, shuddered momentarily. "Well... it might be possible. We haven't had a Pinkie moment since Winter Wrap Up."

"Oh. Right. Winter Wrap Up eheheh~" Darklo awkwardly chuckled as he recalled his first ever Winter Wrap Up.

-Flashback

Darklo, Twilight and Spike were strolling through a snow-ridden Ponyville with a new-found purpose which was finding something to do for the event. But so far, it was a bust as they were denied to help with the flying team by Rainbow cause of the obvious.

"You both don't have wings, dummies."

So they decided to test their luck elsewhere by the frozen lake. "Alright Spike," Twilight said resolutely, "what else can we help with?"

"Well, the ground teams job is to cut up the ice on the lakes for the flyers to carry. I think Pinkie Pie is leading it."

The trio met up with the ever so happy Pinkie, skating along the glacial lake without a care in the world. That is, until she spotted them and slid to a halt beside them. "Hey big and little Sparkle! And hey Spike!" The studious dragon waved a greeting towards the party pony, while the 'big and little Sparkle' took a moment of silence to ponder how silly that nickname was. "So, you all wanna take a spin with me? It's super easy."

Pinkie then proceeded to pull out two pairs of ice skates from her endless poofiness of a mane and tossed them towards the pair. They even matched their sizes perfectly.

Does the mane actually have a portal sign in there? And how does she conveniently- oh never mind, it's Pinkie.

The pair slid on their skates and got to breaking the ice. Twilight wasn't having a good time, slipping and sliding all over the place and eventually slamming into a pile of snow, prompting Spike to waddle over and pull her out of the freezing trap. Darklo however, skated around the lake with grace as he copied Pinkie's bipedal stance very quickly. Wow, this is kind of fun! It's almost like using fire to skate about the place... wait a minute.

The colt grinned to himself as the hoofpads glowed by his will. That was when Pinkie paused mid jump, frozen still while her tail twitched like a ghost had a hold of it. "Oh no! Something's gonna fall, jump for cover!" Pinkie screamed in a siren-like warning, sliding off the lake and into a pile of snow.

Something falling? The colt looked in the sky to see nothing but clouds. Heh, man Pinkie, you're so ridiculous. The blades on his skates grew red with fire and he continued his dance, turning and spinning with a steaming hot trail of melting ice behind him. "Don't know what the fuss is Pinkie, nothing's gonna fa-aaaaall!"

And by the aid of some sort of divine intervention, Darklo had skated on top of an already cut-out circle of ice and the added pressure caused the miniature ice sheet to flip, tossing the naive colt face first into the chilly depths. "Darklo!" Twilight shouted in a heap of panic, quickly igniting her magic and levitating him back to the surface and brought his shivering form towards her.

He was nothing short of cold. He ignited a flame on his hoof for the slightest touch of warmth, though it was futile as he still felt like a walking ice cube as his teeth chattered and his fur flattened, still dripping wet. "Huh," Pinkie commented, zipping back to the trio, "I guess YOU were the falling thingie. Who could've known!" The colt attempted to make a response, but all that came out were stutters while the pink mare checked her unmoving tail for another sign.

"W-what was tha- that?"

"My Pinkie sense silly. All of Ponyville knows about it-"

Twilight wasn't listening to her however, as she bolted to her tree-house with Spike in tow. "Sorry but we gotta go, Darklo could go into hypothermia at any moment!"

-End Flashback

"Oh, so that's why you were off school on Monday." Scootaloo chimed.

"Yeah, as big of a help as my fire alchemy can be, it takes time for the hypothalamus to put everything back in order."

"Hypo-what?" The Crusaders tilted their heads in confusion and even Fluttershy was looking at him like he used a foreign language.

"Hypothalamus? The organ in your brain that stimulates thermoregulation?" Fluttershy nodded her head, understanding the wording clear enough, though that wasn't the same for his friends.

"The part that stimulates your body to reach its optimum temperature, along with other factors?" Applebloom and Sweetiebelle slowly nod in acceptance of that answer, Scootaloo however...

"Ugh, the part that helps your body go hot and cold."

"Oooh I get it," The pegasus proclaimed, "Why didn't you say it like that in the first place?"

"More like I need to give you a lesson on key terms in bodily functions." Darklo reached into his saddlebag, which got the Crusaders flickering glances at each other, foreseeing the Twilighting that was upon them. That was until a saviour spoke up.

"Uhm, since your classes are done for the day, how about you all help me bring these frogs to Froggy Bottom Bog." Fluttershy hovered in between Darklo, prompting the colt to pay full attention to her and the Crusaders to wipe the sweat of their heads for the arrow they dodged. "You see, these stragglers need to be there by today so they have a chance to find a mate, and what greater place than the most populated ecosystem of frogs?"

"Sure. No problem." The Crusaders responded. "But how can we go with you?"

"Cause I'll just fly." Darklo's hoofpads shot air from them once more and hovered in the air, granting a quick side eye from his friends."

"Oh... right. You could probably fit in the cart but I don't know if il be able to carry it."

"Well, same problem, same solution. Bloom, show us what you've learnt." Darklo cheered, lightly pushing her towards the cart and handing her a pen and ink from his saddlebag. With only the slightest hesitation, she slid under the cart, painted a symbol it and touched it until the ink glowed orange.

As she got out, she saw Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo's jaws drop while Darklo was stomping his hooves on the ground to clap for her. "Perfect! A nice air symbol. Couldn't have done it better myself Bloom."

The Apple filly, eventually grew to like the praise as she raised her snout in the air proudly. "Heh, Ah do have a mighty fine teacher after all."

Darklo couldn't find those words any more true. Watching his friend get better and better with the craft he put his life into was nothing short of beautiful. Maybe she can rival me someday... heh, lets not get TOO ahead of myself.

Though he was interrupted by two fillies grasping each of his hooves. "You taught her and not us?!"

"Uh... to be fair, I've known her for longer and-"

"Could you teach us too?" The enthusiastic fillies asked with stars in their eyes, leaving Fluttershy confused over the situation and Applebloom shrugging at the colt as if to say 'do what ya want'.

Man, maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew.

---

Eventually, the group landed in Froggy Bottom Bog and Fluttershy decided to order them into teams to quicken the pace. Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle carried the treefrogs to the humid den on the east and Darklo and Applebloom guided the bullfrogs into the deeper part of the swamp on the west while she took the rest towards the shallow end.

With the extra hooves, they were all finished in half an hour and gathered back to the cart and sat near it to watch the frogs. "Aww look at them go." The unicorn filly squished her cheeks at the sight of two frogs hopping around together. The rest relaxed on the grass and checked their flanks to find no marks.

"Darnit, Ah thought that frog helpin' cutie mark was all ours." Applebloom groaned and the rest beside Darklo followed suit. He refused to say it outright but, frog helping marks are kind of dumb. I'd rather stay blank than that!

Fluttershy lifted herself from her relaxed position and smiled down at the group. "Thank you for the help Crusaders, I can't thank you enough."

"No problem, anything to help, Fluttershy. Plus, I can't think of a better way to hang out with my friends." In light of his words, the colt pulled the girls into a hug. Actually, I can think a lot of places... BUT why would I say that?

"Aw that's so sweet of you." The gentle pegasus ruffled the colts mane, which was a pleasant feeling. Maybe too pleasant for comfort, as the colt folded into her heavenly grasp immediately. It took her by surprise, but it didn't stop her from smiling and holding him warmly.

"Having fun Darklo?~" Sweetiebelle asked while everypony chuckled. The colt had finally realised his mistake and quickly leapt backwards in a defensive stance. His coat was almost as red as Big Macs if the observers looked close enough.

"That- that was nothing. We shall never speak of this again." He said firmly.

The goofy grins on the Crusaders stayed present while Fluttershy raised a hoof in understanding. "It's alright Darklo, everypony needs to relax from time to time."

But although the wave of embarrassment continued in Darklo's brain, his ears picked up many ponies galloping towards them and once he turned around, he noticed Twilight, Spike, Pinkie and Applejack bolting it towards them.

Eventually, they reached them and Spike rushed to hug Fluttershy's leg. "Oh Fluttershy, you're okay!"

"Of... course I am. What's wrong?" Her guess was just as good as the Crusaders, since they gathered around the older mares for answers.

"My Pinkie Sense went off. So I thought you were in deep waters!"

"Well, Darklo and Applebloom were in the deeper part of the waters so maybe you misinterpreted it?" Fluttershy responded, thinking of anything that could shield her from the implications of an unknown Pinkie signal involving her.

"Well, I don't want to sound rude but HA, I told you so!" Twilight said with a snarky pride that Darklo had only seen after she got a hold of his test results. "I can hereby conclude that the instinctual art of Pinkie Sense is purely coincidental and scientifically invalid."

Darklo watched on, but he had a gut feeling that something was wrong and the rest could feel it too. The water was moving an unnatural way and a putrid gas surfaced the swamp, catching the noses of everypony in its vicinity. And as Twilight kept rambling, the group finally saw the perpetrator of whatever Pinkie predicted.

"..." Darklo's veins froze and his heart broke from its rhythmic beat as the colt bared witness to a familiar squad of heads arise from the waters and glare down at them.

The colt knew what it was. No...

Those piercing jade eyes, the scaly hide, the towering size over the roof of the canopy. And what was worse, was the eye the left head kept closed and the scorch marks that riddled two of the heads on the right. No, no, no, no not you... not you!

The rage and bloodlust could almost be tasted on the beast as it locked eyes with the colt. All four. The beast had grown a fourth head to boot.

Stop... leave me alone. Just get out of here.

It bared its teeth and grinned maliciously at him. It's eyes blared at him in recognition and roared at the group.

His brain wished for him to move, to break out of this trance and get his friends and loved ones away from the demon that ruined him. But he couldn't. While everypony else ran the other direction, Darklo could only maintain a widened stare up at it, his ears rung in distress and his mind frazzled as it called back to that one night. Move...move... MOVE DAMMIT!

At last, the main head (the center head that had its right side blistered by hardened soot) lowered itself to meet him at eye level, revelling in the pain the colt was under. He had done this before, he had warded off the beast before, so why does his muscles lock in place? Why doesn't his horn flare up in defiance? Why does he not resist?

He couldn't tell, but the colt couldn't do anything about it. He was a deer in headlights and it wouldn't stop until he was hit. The head opened its mouth and lunged at him, ready to end its vengeful crusade, until.

CHOMP

A wall of pure earth had erupted between him and the beast, resulting in the head getting a bite out of the soggy dirt. Just enough of a shock to restart his heart and get him to blink. "Wha-"

"Darklo!" Applebloom had had called behind him and once he looked back, he saw what occurred. An earth symbol was drawn below Appleblooms feet.

She...she saved me.

"Come on, move your flank and run!"

"Don't have to tell ME twice." The duo galloped through the muddy waters of the swamp and were gaining on their friends who had a head start. Though, when Darklo attempted to cast a teleportation spell so they could reach them instantly, his horn didn't even glow. "What?!" Try as he may, the colt couldn't do it and his alchemy wasn't doing much either as the symbols on his hoofpads didn't glow in response to his will at all.

It made him wonder. Am... am I really THAT scared? I can get everypony out of dodge if it just lets me, so why wont it work with me?! But that was a thought for another time as they finally caught up with the runners while the four headed hydra marched its way towards them, jaws opened wide and eyes flaming for vengeance minus the new member of the group that mirrored its brothers.

As fate made it, Spike couldn't hold onto Twilight for long and his muscles gave way, releasing his grasp and tumbling to the floor. "SPIKE!" Twilight and Darklo blared, both turning back to get him. But the creature grinned at the colt, both amused and spiteful as it turned itself around.

The tail! But it was too late, Twilight had fully committed to grabbing Spike from the muddy floor and the tail had swiped 90 degrees already, a mere meter away from his big sister and little brother.

Time had paused itself for the colt, as if to extend his suffering further. His heart raced, his horn ached from the strain of forcefully pushing magic out and his mind cracked in an emotional heap.

You can't... you can't do this to me, God. What lesson are you even trying to teach me? That life is unfair? Cause I learnt that long ago. That you can't save everyone? Bullshit, I can! I trained SO hard to keep them alive, all those late nights repracticing, all that magic tutoring, I don't wanna freeze up now... just... please.

I don't want to be the cause of the suffering of others anymore...

And with that, his conscience went blank.

---

Twilight blinked as she noticed a orange blur swipe at her. She tried to activate her teleportation spell on both Spike and herself, but it wasn't fast enough and the tail was a hair away from colliding with her. In that moment, she hoped that her friends would find it in their hearts to move on, especially Darklo. Oh Celestia, Darklo... I'm sorry you have to see something like this agai- wait what?

Her split second thoughts were interrupted when she felt as if her whole body was yanked backwards with the speed of Rainbow Dash. Though, she stopped in the air just as fast and she frantically looked around to see what in Equestria happened. She first set eyes on the hydra who have finished his swipe across the mud, it's faces just as shocked as hers. At least, there was not sign of Spike or his mangled corpse anywhere beside the beast. It gave her some hope.

"T-Twilight?" A shaky voice asked, whom she knew was Spike as the desperate unicorn looked to her left to see her assistant.

"Spike! Oh, thank goodness your still...alive." Twilight gradually slowed down as she observed Spike closely. His eyes had expanded wide and pointed his claws below them, but what baffled her was that he was caught in a golden aura of magic. In fact, she too was covered in that light. And there was only one pony powerful enough to save her and Spike from the brink of death that had a magic aura coloured like that.

Excitedly, she followed Spikes finger and cheered. "Thanks Celestia! I don't know how you made it but- wait...what?" The sight Twilight observed was definitely not Celestia carrying them. It was the dark furred colt that she had grown to love. But something was clearly wrong with the unicorn.

For starters, the colt was surging with magical energy that shot out and hit trees, puddles of water and even the hydra's body. Meanwhile, his eyes were no longer there, overtaken by a white glow and his face was the most chilling. No anger, no sadness, no nothing. He was just staring blankly at the hydra.

"It...it can't be." Twilight pondered out loud as the magic hold vanished, dropping them into the shallow, swampy waters. Hurriedly, her friends and the Crusaders had turned back and lifted them out. So now, they only had to focus on the matter at hand.

The colt had made his first move since the apparent awakening and held himself in his aura, allowing him to fly at the beast with breakneck speeds. The hydra attempted to snap its jaws on the tiny figure, but he was too fast for it and the advantage was tipped even more into the colts favour when he uprooted several trees from the soul and continued to slam them on its heads and necks like they were baseball bats.

And as comical as it looked, the tactic was working as giant mounds of teeth were flying out of the hydra mouths and stuck themselves into the soil. Eventually, the far right head caught its jaws around the colt, but it was clearly by choice since Darklo erected a shield around him that continued to grow and grow until the hydra's lower jaw snapped off, splashing into the swamps depths and invading the natural blue and green into bloody crimson.

The onlookers could only watch in both horror and amazement while the magical force that used to be their friend and family member called in thunderclouds from the sky and continued wailing on the creature.

Twilight couldn't believe the sheer ferocity that lay inside the colt. Just looking at the bloody mess the hydra was currently in made her stomach turn, but Darklo was still fighting and the hydra was definitely rethinking its life decisions as all 4 of them roared in agony.

Fluttershy plugged her ears, shaking incesently from the cries of the creature. "It's pleading. And apologising too, but I don't think Darklo can hear it... oh I can't watch!"

Meanwhile, a rather panicked filly tugged on Twilight's leg, hooves rattling from the gory sight. "Twilight... what in the hay is goin' on with Darklo?"

"I-I think it's a magic surge. But he's 13! This should've happened when he was so much younger."

"How young?" Applejack asked worriedly.

"I barely remember how mine happened. That's how young!" Sweetiebelle commented, further insinuating the concern all ponies were feeling. But Twilight most of all. She had recalled her own magic surge, rendering how she turned her parents into inanimate objects and generated a small whirlwind before Princess Celestia swooped in. And that was classed as a late blooming surge.

This however, was even more late and even stronger than her own. Perhaps Darklo's surge is being amplified by his emotional state. Now that i think about it, he did show signs of PTSD whenever he thought a hydra was around...

Still, she didn't have time to come up with theories because if something didn't stop the colt, he could destroy the whole swamp. And the surrounding towns and villages have surely seen the storm and the floating trees from miles away, perhaps it could be seen from Canterlot.

"That's it!" Twilight beamed, pulling Spike towards her in a magical hold while she brought out a note and quill. "Get ready Spike, we are gonna need some help!"

Author's Note:

It's time to put that teen rating to use this episode! Sorry for the wait, I've been cooking 2 parts for this one and I've been waiting for the chance to bring some dark stuff in so keep on going. Hope u like it