Chapter 28: Guide Us, Friendship!
Chapter 28: Guide Us, Friendship!
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The battle didn't slow down after Azure left to continue the chase. Grunts, growls, howls, sound booms, and implosions continued to echo from deep within the Everfree as the battle between the ponies and summoner's minions proceeded without him. Even without the battle-ready Azure Courage at the site of battle, the group was still holding their own and then some against the Shadow Ghouls--no, mainly Shadow Fangs now; the summoner having stopped using their lesser variants a little bit after Azure was safely away.
Rarity had since snapped off a much thicker branch, using it to swat the deformed crickets away like the quasi-insects they appeared to be if they got too close. It wasn't that she didn't quite use her body to attack either, but it was a preferred method of attacking. She couldn't bear the thought of one of those creatures landing on her or Fluttershy.
Pinkie continued to use her crazy fighting style to deflect the rest of the attackers Rarity missed or couldn't get. Weird kicks and hoof-punches, and moves that wouldn't have worked if it wasn't her, all of them seemed effective enough to ward off her potential attackers. It wasn't as useful, however, given she and Rarity were stuck in a position close to Fluttershy.
However, whatever cons the situation would have had were negated by the efforts of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Silver Espada up front against the bulk of the army of summons, which had all of the Shadow Fangs.
"Yee-haw!" Applejack bellowed as she lassoed onto a Shadow Fang, and after some effort, began to use its body as a battering ram and slammed it into several of its brethren Her physical strength was built up from years of farm work, and as such, she could swing around the larger, more deadly summons with little trouble at all. Plus, if one tried to get too close, a swift back kick to the face would take care of it quick.
Applejack wasn't alone in being physically fit; Rainbow Dash had a physical advantage as well. While Applejack's body was strong, Rainbow's wings were in the same deal: as she would so often brag to everypony else; there was no pony alive who could outfly her. And her opponents, though numerous, were in no way ponies, no matter how big they were. While in the air, she often used the same moves over and over, flips, rolls, and loops; her pursuers could not keep up with her, and often smashed into each other trying to. Failing that, a full-speed slam into the torso of her opponents would send them crashing into the ground.
Silver's method wasn't as physical as theirs. He had neither the strength nor the speed nor a pair of wings to keep up with them. However, even then, he held the advantage on his numerous opponents for two reasons. Reason one: nothing could sneak up on him. His echolocation magic could be pushed to a respectable distance if he applied his magic to it, which was almost second nature to him at this point in his life. This lead into reason two: he didn't need to get close to launch a counter-attack.
A Shadow Fang charged for him, aiming to claw him across the face, but it didn't even make it within ten feet of him before Silver's sonic wave made short work of him.
However, Silver's ranged magic had its drawbacks: due to the fact he had to cast a different spell, he had to shut off his echolocation momentarily, leaving him truly blind for that instance. However, it was not an explicit vulnerability by any means; he was able to switch between offense and support in an instant. While it did provide an opportunity for his opponents to blindside him, both his keen hearing and his echolocation allowed him to "see" his opponent, and slammed his back hooves into the deformed wolf's face, lifting it off its feet and sending it flying into a tree, where it went limp on impact.
They'll keep coming if we don't take down the pony responsible... Silver thought to himself, But he's not going to show himself...the coward...
Quickly, the blind pony began to think to himself about a way he could get himself and his friends out of this. He and the others had a promise of their own to keep. Ever since he discovered his special talent for sound magic, Silver slowly developed his skill to the point he could quickly find hidden ponies, making him a friend to parents with missing foals and foals with missing pets and an enemy to anypony playing hide-and-seek. Given time, he could try to find the pony summoning them, but he would need time; he'd tried to do it before, but he was interrupted by the start of the battle.
"Much as I love tossin' these critters around, we can't keep this up forever," Applejack pointed out. Silver could hear the strain under her breath, and her heightened respiratory rate. Rainbow was slightly better off, but he could hear Fluttershy's whimpers and Rarity and Pinkie breathing harder.
If anypony's close to their limit, it'd be them... the blind pony observed. And if one falls, eventually, we'll all fall...Don't like what I gotta do to end this, but it's gotta be done...
"Applejack!" Silver called out, "I need you to protect me!" Applejack turned to him; Silver didn't need eyesight to understand she was confused at his request. He wasn't having trouble fighting either.
"What's wrong, Silver, you out of magic?" That was her first guess.
"No, I've got enough to spare, but there's only one way I can think of to end this. I have to focus; doesn't come naturally when I'm fighting..."
He could sense Applejack's indecision on the manner. It wasn't hard to find out why: even as they talked, they continued to fend off assailants, and it was getting harder to protect the others around her, never mind herself. But, she knew as well as he did that the fight needed to end soon.
"How long do I gotta guard you?" Applejack bucked away a ghoul, and got closer to Silver.
"I can't say; I'll go as fast as I can, though..."
"Alright..." He could still sense unsureness in her tone, but she had decided to trust him.
Should have done more meditating... Silver thought to himself, closing his eyes and releasing a deep breath. It'd make this a bit easier...focus, filter through the sounds, mute them all and only use the one you need...
This was one of the arts he hadn't mastered yet: he could still hear the sounds of battle around him. He had to try and completely relax, and within moments, his surroundings faded, except for the loud noises of battle, and softer, less prevalent noises slowly began to enter his awareness.
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As Silver lowered his head and his horn's glow became visible, Applejack found herself locked in battle with the forces. Seeing as how using her lasso was out of the question while she had to play goalie, Applejack decided not to use it. More of the summons began to focus on Silver, seeing a weakness. Applejack had to be fast. A Shadow Fang tried to rush straight for them, but she quickly slammed it back with a powerful buck, sending it into two of its friends. Another was just about to attack Silver, and she quickly tackled it to get it out of the way.
Against her better judgment, she bit down on the leg of the summon she tackled. A foul taste almost immediately coated her tongue, but that was the last thing on her mind right now. She put in some effort, and lifted up the summon to swat away a few encroaching Shadow Ghouls before throwing it a distance away.
The others continued to guard Fluttershy, though their movements were slowing down just a little bit. Rainbow Dash had noticed what Applejack was doing, but had her hooves full with flying Shadow Fangs, and couldn't really lend assistance. For the most part, Applejack didn't seem to need it too much. All the while, Silver's horn began to glow brighter and brighter.
C'mon, Silver, Applejack thought to herself, trying to avoid shouting out, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!
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That's it...
Silver had reached a point of focus where now, all he could hear were minute sounds: various heartbeats echoing through the air. All of them were rapid. One by one, he began to shut off even those, starting with his own, then Applejack's. One by one, he shut out those sounds. The last odd sound was that of Fluttershy's heart beat. He would have enjoyed its strangely soothing rhythm more, but he had a job to do first.
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"I can hear it..."
Applejack didn't know what Silver was mumbling about, avoiding a claw attack as she leapt up and inelegantly smacked the deformed wolf she was fighting off right on the nose.
"He's close, he's watching..."
Applejack bit her tongue; she didn't want to interrupt him yet. However, for a moment, she faltered on keeping herself aware. A blunt force struck her on the side, lifting her off her feet and knocking her loopy; one hit was all it took to knock the wind out of her. She turned, seeing a Shadow Fang land down, teeth bared.
"Almost...almost..."
Silver...hurry!!!
The summon continued to advance on her, and for a few moments, Applejack found herself once again in the throes of fear. An intense sense of deja vu would have overcome her were it not for the fact she was in a serious pinch as her assailant began to slowly advance on her, like a predator stalking its prey.
Silver's eyes opened wide, his eyes taking on a very faint glow in addition to the bright light generated from his horn, "There!"
He turned seventy degrees clockwise, pointing his horn straight towards some foliage nearby and planting all four feet firmly. No time elapsed as Silver unleashed all of his stored magic, firing off a concentrated blast of compressed sound waves. All of the creatures in front of it were cut through as though they were made of butter, though the magical blast did not lose momentum as it sailed towards its intended target.
There was a loud groan, followed by loud cracks and severe rustling as the flora became compromised The sound wave stopped, and the remaining summons roared. A few moments later, they began to vanish. The one stalking Applejack pounced forward, but vanished just as it got serious air. Everypony looked around, almost in disbelief, for a few moments. As soon as they realized what happened, everypony grinned widely.
"Woohoo, you did it, Silver!" Rainbow Dash flew down, whooping in triumph. Silver was out of breath, but he soon returned the others' enthusiasm.
"Yeah..." Silver responded, trying to catch his breath, "is everypony...else okay?" All that magic at once definitely took a toll on him.
"We're fine, just a couple of scrapes, nothing major," Rainbow dismissively waved her forehoof.
"What about Fluttershy?" asked Silver in concern.
"She's fine, dear," assured Rarity, looking over to the pegasus in question, "There is not a scratch on her..."
Fluttershy finally stood up straight. She was clearly shaken, but other than that, she didn't seem injured.
"T-thank you..." she stuttered, smiling.
"That's good to hear," Silver sighed in relief.
"C'mon, we took him down," Applejack cut in, having recovered from her physical and mental lag following her getting bunted by the Shadow Fang, "But we gotta find him before--"
Snap!
All heads turned toward the sound. A pony came into view; no doubt the one responsible for the summons. His mane was messed-up, his cloak's hood was torn off and had a hole on the left shoulder, and his nose was actually bleeding. And he did not look happy to have his game interrupted.
"I guess that means you want me to get serious...?" The pony's voice was serious, his horn glowing an even darker blue than Silver's. However, as he continued to focus, his horn glow only seemed to get darker and darker in color, approaching jet black. A pool of shadows began to form directly in front of him.
"I don't like the looks of this," Applejack mused.
The pool continued to grow.
"Not again, you--!" Rainbow rushed forward, aiming to deck the wayward colt. However, just before she could make contact, she felt a very strong gust of headwind, seemingly emanating from the sheer force that the cloaked pony was exerting. "I can't get..."
A large object suddenly reached out for her, aiming to swat the pegasus down. Rainbow just had a split second to dodge or be knocked to the side. Thankfully, the pegasus escaped being treated like a fly.
"What kinda magic is this!?" she yelled in confusion and frustration.
"The horseshoes are coming off..." the evil pony mused. "I have not been pushed this far in a long time...meet an even stronger creature..."
The shape that had attacked Dash continued to crawl forth from the large hole, revealing a monster that was twice the height of an average pony; and was taller than even Big Mac, the largest pony the group knew.
The beast had two appendages that looked like the claws of a dragon. It heaved itself out of the hole, revealing it had six insectoid legs attached to the body of a pony. Its torso, to which the draconic claws were attached, was wide and muscular, resembling something of myth that escaped the knowledge of the group. Its head, strangely, resembled that of a ram due to the curved horns.
"W-what do you call that thing!?" called out Rainbow Dash, at a loss for words.
"Meet the Shadow Taraxippus..." the pony called out. "Or rather, Taraxippi..."
The first beast moved to one side, allowing a second one to crawl out. However, suddenly, Shade grimaced. The portal closed.
"Hmph...oh well. These two Shadow Taraxippi will teach you the meaning of carnage..." The pony said, taking a few steps back. "...And terror."
The group stared up towards the two beasts, which appeared to be waiting for the orders of the evil colt. Silver, the only one without sight, saw the situation better than anypony else.
"This just got dicey..."
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Azure continued to gallop forward, trying not to mind the others too much. He knew that if he thought too much about how they were doing, he'd slow down. And he couldn't afford to do that, not with Twilight still in transit. He was still worrying about them, even in the back of his head as he neared a fork in the road...
F-fork...!? Azure skidded to a halt, and swallowed hard as soon as he got a good look at it. If ever there was a time for him to not be given multiple paths to choose, it'd be now. He had a fifty-fifty shot of choosing which path was correct, but both paths looked identical. Azure plopped down on his rump, not knowing which way to go.
What do I do? he thought to himself. I...I have to do this...I have to pick the right path, or else Twilight's going to be taken...somewhere...B-but...when it comes to this, I tend to always wind up getting lost! I can't afford that!
Not even paying attention to where he was going, Azure began to gravitate toward the left path.
Twilight...I...
Abruptly, the colt tripped over the root, stumbling a little. At the emotional state he was in, Azure was bound to go off at any time, even on an innocent tree root. As he turned, ready to blow it up in a state of panic-induced fury, he noticed something.
Where the root arched up, there was a mark that looked like it had been etched out on the underside of the root. However, it didn't look like any old stick or magic had done it.
"Is this...a horn mark?" Azure had to be sure. Quickly, he doubled back, and checked under the root on the right.
There was no mark to speak of there. Azure blinked, going back to the left path. The choice was clear now.
"Twilight...you clever mare..."
With nothing holding him back now, Azure took off max speed down the left path, using freegalloping to enhance his speed. Somehow or other, though he wasn't sure how, he was now leaping from tree to tree, each bound increasing his distance and speed. As he progressed, the tree thickness began to lessen, and Azure became aware of the gurgling of a brook somewhere nearby...
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Twilight knew where her captor had taken her as soon as she saw the rocky cliffs. She had been set off to the side, but it was impossible for her to go anywhere. Not only was her magic still disabled, but the earth pony's magic--yes, she was sure the earth pony was responsible for it--had created a small field around her that prevented her from moving around except in that small field. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there as she put her hoof up against solid air. She sighed.
Where are you, Azure? she asked herself, almost past the point of caring about whether or not he felt the same way she did. Anypony...please, hurry...
Her captor continued to stare out over the Ghastly Gorge, trying to determine how to cross. After a while, he turned to her, his face devoid of any emotions and his eyes lightless.
"Alright, I've determined the best way to cross," he said placidly. "Let's--"
"Twilight......."
It was a distant shout, much like she'd heard before. However, it wasn't accompanied by anypony else. Twilight's ears pricked up, and she tried desperately to remember which way they came from.
Her captor's ears pricked up, and he adopted a look of disbelief.
"Impossible..." he said aloud, taking his attention off of Twilight. The mare raised her hoof, and realized he hadn't yet disengaged the field that kept her magicless and in place.
However, even though that was still a bad place to be, inside of that invisible barrier, Twilight felt her heart surge with hope, especially when she heard the voice again, much more familiar than the last time.
"Twilight!!!"
"How could he have found us--" Her captor's face faulted as he recalled the part where she fell off, and he turned away from the sound, glaring at her. "You!"
"I wasn't going to be taken without a fight," Twilight said, trying to keep her calm in the face of his burning black eyes. She couldn't really deny that she'd done it anyway, nor would she.
The sound of four hooves landing on the ground filled Twilight's ears, but her captor didn't even look that way. His mistake.
A pair of cyan legs crashed hoof-first into her captor's side, lifting him off his hooves and sending him flying several yards. The cloaked pony managed to recover from this, and skidded straight to a halt after managing to land on his feet. He looked up, even angrier now.
Azure matched that anger as he glared back, and Twilight realized his eyes were glowing cyan. However, what made it weird was that his horn wasn't glowing at all. However, that was the last thing on her mind.
"A-Azure..." she said, her heart so full of hope that she couldn't even describe it. She reached out to him, only to be reminded she was still trapped in the earth pony's magic. Her hoof made a small "clink" sound as it hit the edge of the prison.
"Twilight..." Azure responded, reaching out to her forehoof with his own as though he were to touch it, but found his efforts repulsed by the same field. "W-what the...?"
"I'm held in this prison...I can't use my magic..." Twilight replied.
"You did great even though you didn't have magic. You helped me find you..." Azure said, lowering his forehoof. Her captor had since abandoned the look of anger he held on his face, and had reverted to that almost disarming placidity she'd expected of him. "Now, I'm going to save you..."
"Where--" Twilight had almost forgotten in her excitement, "Where...how are the others?"
"They're protecting Fluttershy from the other one..." Azure responded, and Twilight gave a partial sigh of relief. Even if her other friends weren't quite out of the woods yet, she was at least partly relieved to hear Fluttershy was safe.
"You..." Her captor finally said, no longer talking to her, but to Azure. "I met a couple of Royal Guards with similar mane styles to yours...Unicorns, to be exact."
The cyan colt's jaw visibly dropped, and his eyebrows arched even sharper.
"Virid...Blitz!?" Azure yelled. "How do you know them?!"
"Simple," responded the earth pony. "I merely defeated them on a train ride..."
Twilight gasped; Azure snarled, "You..."
"I don't think you'll do much better than they did," Casually, the pony took a fighting stance. "I'm going to make it quick..."
Without further warning, the earth pony rushed forward, his hooves thundering against the rock below as he rushed Azure. Azure rushed forward, and Twilight watched him, all of her relief being replaced with worry. She remembered the outcome of Azure's duel with Virid all too well...
"Azure! Be careful!" Twilight called out, though she was almost sure he didn't even hear her.
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The two ponies butted heads, Tagane missing being skewered by Azure's horn. Both sets of teeth rattled and were momentarily dazed. However, the unicorn quickly recovered, going up on his hind legs. Tagane matched this move, and both parried a stream of hoof thrusts and punches from the other. The unicorn's horn lit up, and Tagane waited for him to do a spell.
"It won't work," he said, "Do whatever you--"
He was cut off when Azure did a gravity spell-enhanced jump, though it was noticably weakened from what it should have been. The earth pony, stunned, went down into his regular standing posture.
But how...?! Tagane said. How is he still able to--
A pair of forehooves slammed down on his back, causing two of his legs to slide out from under him. As he stumbled, Azure whirled around, catching him under the chin with a hard back kick. Tagane's hooves once more left the ground, and he actually wound up on his back.
"I'll give you a chance," Azure stated, "Let her go..."
Tagane gritted his teeth, realizing there was the taste of blood in his mouth. "Not a chance!"
Instead of rushing for him, Tagane waited for Azure to come his way. Tagane watched and waited for Azure to use another spell, and sure enough, he did. The colt proceeded to use levitation, aggressively picking up loose spells as he continued to charge. Once Azure was close enough, he let loose a shower of small rocks via levitation.
While Tagane didn't expect the projectiles to stop dead in the air, he expected them to very quickly lose momentum. They did lose momentum once they entered his airspace, but not nearly as much as Tagane had expected. The pebbles hit at such a speed that he definitely felt the impacts. Tagane had barely any time to brace himself for another locking of the heads, and the two ponies pushed against each other.
Azure stepped forward, forcing Tagane to step back. Tagane pushed harder, forcing Azure two steps back. He tried again, when he suddenly found himself unable to push Azure back further. Azure took one step forward, starting to push Tagane back instead. Then another, and another.
How is he doing this?! he thought to himself. He's obviously younger than those two guards I fought on the train, so why is he?!
Tagane immediately let his "push" slacken, which caused Azure to momentarily drop his guard. Tagane then quickly planted his forehooves, whirled around, and slammed his back foot under Azure's chin, mimicking the cyan colt's earlier move. Azure stumbled back, aware there was a sore spot on his chin.
His opponent then proceeded to slam his head into his shoulder, knocking him off his forehooves and causing him to stumble back. Next thing he knew, he had a faceful of gray hair as his opponent caught him in the same spot from earlier, knocking him completely off his feet and onto his back. Azure rolled quickly to his feet, rubbing at his cheek with one of his hooves.
Twilight watched the spectacle unfold, just as she had before. However, this time, Azure was facing an opponent he seemed to have a good chance of defeating. Though she normally would have given more thought to the fact that Tagane seemed to be able to shut off unicorn magic at will and how Azure seemed to still be able to use his, she found herself in a state she wasn't in during the time she was in Nightmare Moon's trap. She was actively observing his battle, almost lost in the moment. She didn't believe all hope was lost, not yet.
"I don't get it," Tagane said. "You know I can nullify your magic. You know I beat your relatives with ease. Tell me, what reason could you possibly have to choose to fight me alone!?"
Azure stood straight up, "To save the mare I love..."
Twilight's mouth unhinged in utter disbelief. Did he just...? Did he...? For a moment, her heart leapt, and threatened to exit her chest cavity. It made the fact she was behind a prison even worse. She couldn't see the look in his eyes; she couldn't see his face; she couldn't even really tell if he was saying it because he felt it or if it was just a heat of the moment thing. All she had to go on were those six words...
"Whether you do or not has no bearing..." Tagane countered. "I'll defeat you here and take her back to my home base..."
"Not if I stop you first..."
Azure charged Tagane again, this time, breaking left. Once again, Twilight observed his gravity spell was not quite up to par with what it was before. She blinked.
What's going on? Twilight asked. My magic was completely shut off...so was his at the picnic...so why are his spells not being shut off now...
The purple unicorn found herself asking more and more questions as Azure quickly utilized the gravity spell to land a heavy strike. Tagane was just as confused as Twilight was.
I should be stronger than he is... thought the earth pony to himself, rising to his feet. I knocked him out with one blow once I got his blindside after I shut off his magic...yet he's matching me...
Azure rushed him again, and Tagane took in the detail that had not yet faded from Azure's eyes: the ever-present glow.
Could that have something to do with it?
The battle between the two colts continued. Eventually, Azure managed to knock back Tagane again.
"You brought this upon yourself!" Azure roared, his horn brightly glowing. "I'll settle it now!"
A shower of cyan laser bolts began to rush towards Tagane, obscuring him from view as the blasts drew close...
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The battle continued. Even though he only had two of them, his Taraxippi were still very fierce, a lot more so than any of Shade's other summons until now. Not only that, they were seemingly smarter than the Ghouls or Fangs. Rainbow Dash was doing all she could to either of them, but no matter how many hits she landed, she couldn't do much more than make one stumble back a step or two. These two shadow summons were clearly a lot more durable than their predecesors.
Though they had spread out a bit since they were summoned, they were still remaining close to their summoner, and Silver could guess why. He could hear it: the rapid beating of his heart, the heavy gasps for air...
He had to guess the enemy was on the ropes; between his earlier summons, the damage he'd received from Silver; all of it had taken a toll on his magic pool and stamina. And, given how he'd reacted when "only" two came from his summoning pool, he had intended to summon more, but it was all he could do...
"Don't lose hope!" Silver encouraged, minding a sharp cracking sound nearby, "If we can just defeat these two, this'll be over!"
"Easier said than done!" Rainbow barked back from above.
"Incoming!" Applejack warned.
A large tree was uprooted by one of the Taraxippi, and used as a blunt spear of sorts. Silver and Applejack narrowly dodged the attack, but the mere fact the creatures were also strong enough to completely lift a tree from its roots to weaponize it was definitely intimidating. It was clear: at this stage, if either side made a single error, it would all be over.
"Everypony! Keep your distance!" Silver turned to his right, blasting another sound wave at a Taraxippus. The sound attack hit its mark on the left chest; the creature being far too large to dodge, but all it did was cause it to flinch a little. It roared, clearly only moderately injured.
"Can't you just charge up another one of those, Silver?" Applejack asked.
"Like I'm letting you do that again!" Shade called out, his horn coated in its inky black glow once more. One of the summons turned its attention to Silver, given a single command: charge. The ground trembled as it rushed straight for the blind pony, the intent all too clear as it drew closer.
"Silver, move!" Rainbow warned, but Silver wasn't sure if moving would be effective, given what he could image via echolocation. Silver instead stood his ground, and charged magic into his horn again. It was far less time, far less charge, but Silver definitely managed to get a shot off. However, the attack only caused it to falter slightly and lose only a fraction of its momentum. The others could only watch as the monster finished closing the distance, preparing to swipe Silver with claws. The monster brought his claw down...
only to find his arm going through a blur of rainbow light, leaving some streaks in the ground where Silver had been just a moment ago.
"You're heavy...!" grunted Rainbow, having heaved Silver out of the way at the last minute. Silver sighed in relief; he hadn't seen if he'd made it or not and for a split second thought he was having an out-of-body experience.
"Thanks, Dash," Silver said, turning his head down, trying to image something else. "Hm...we're right above it...Rainbow, let me go!"
"Wait, what?!" Rainbow said, wondering if Silver had developed a severe Azure complex between when the colt in question left and now.
"No time to explain, just trust me!" The pegasus wasn't quite sure what her blind friend had in mind, but reluctantly let him fall. His face reflected confidence; the others could only gasp when they saw he was dropping right on. Silver dropped upon the Taraxippus's back, latching all four legs around its neck as firmly as he could.
"Whoa!" The summon and its master did not like Silver's new position, and the blind pony found himself on a wild ride as it tried to shake him off. "Okay...not my brightest idea...but...!" Silver dug into his physical strength reserves, tightening his grip even more.
"I can't turn back now!" Silver's horn glowed brightly again, and a strong sound wave pulsed out of his horn, scoring a point-blank strike on his enemy. It flinched, losing its balance. As it tried to recover, Silver quickly saw an opening, and repeatedly began sending pulses of sound straight into the back of the creature, causing it more discomfort. Silver's focus was entirely on the task at hoof, and didn't quite notice the Taraxippus's method of dislodging the pony on it until a blunt force--the creature's tail--swatted him off his back.
Silver grunted in pain, launched into the air.
"Silver...!" Fluttershy called out, standing bolt upright, though her legs shook.
"I've got him...!" Rainbow said, trying to fly towards him. However, while Silver's target was still moderately disoriented from the repeated strikes, the other Taraxippus was ready to counter any and all attempts at rescue as Silver's body began to fall.
The focus returned to the blind pony's eyes, and he managed to reactivate his echolocation. There was maybe a second, if that, between the ground and himself. Quickly, Silver called upon his freegalloping skills, throwing his body weight around in the air to roll himself such that his forehooves pointed down. The landing turned into a tuck and roll, and after a few feet, Silver managed to get onto his hooves, standing straight up.
"Silver! You okay?!" Applejack demanded.
"Yeah, just--" Silver stepped forward, and felt the sharp, stinging pain in his side he hadn't quite felt at first when the impact occurred. Gritting his teeth, he willed himself to ignore the pain and stepped forward, trying to analyze the situation via echolocation.
"Well, that bought us a little time, but now what?" Rainbow asked. The Taraxippus was still trying to regain its senses, but Celestia knew it wouldn't stay that way forever. Silver focused a little, looking for anything that could be used. He didn't have to look far.
"Rainbow, keep it from regaining its senses!" Silver barked, once again taking command of the situation. "I have a plan..."
Rainbow grimaced, "This better work like your last one!"
The instant Rainbow shot off to do as she was asked, Silver ran in the opposite direction, towards something entirely different.
"Silver?!" Pinkie called out. "The meanie's that way!"
Applejack snapped her head over to Silver, "What're you--"
"Hey, Applejack, still have that rope?" Silver asked, having arrived at the object he found via echolocation.
"You expect me to hogtie that?!" Applejack responded, before seeing exactly what Silver had found. "...Oh, I get it..."
Rainbow continued to keep the Taraxippi busy all the while, flying around them like a fly would around her own head. However, the one that Silver had stunned earlire finally managed to recover, and, using its tail, dealt her a glancing hit enough to send her to the ground, skidding all the while.
"Good thing it was just a small brush..." Rainbow moaned, rubbing her head with one hoof. The two beasts turned to the rest of the group, ready to finish the job.
"Hey, fella, try this on for size!" Applejack perfectly tossed her lasso around the previously stunned Taraxippus's neck, and pulled it tight with Silver's assistance. Both ponies tugged hard on the rope with their mouths, but the Taraxippus barely budged in response to their combined strength.
"Really?" Shade asked, amused. "You think that could work? Whatever; show them what kind of mistake they made!" His horn glowed again, causing the snared Taraxippus to jerk its neck back hard, trying to pull the ponies up with it. However, Silver and Applejack released their hold on the rope. Before Shade could question, the two ponies jumped away.
"What are you plan--" The rope sprang, and only now did Shade realize what they'd done. The rope wasn't attached to them...it was attached to...the tree earlier weaponized?!
The uprooted tree lifted forward, heading right for the ensnared creature's chest, pulled forward by the sheer strength of the Taraxippus. Shade didn't have time to give a command; the Taraxippus wouldn't have had time to respond to it anyway. The tree hit its mark, slamming straight through its torso, the bark shredding on impact and embedding itself inside and around the wound. However, it still stood.
"How durable are these monstrosities?!" Rarity shouted, mirroring everypony else's thoughts. The Taraxippus numbly moved its arms, intending to remove the tree. It grabbed on, and began to try to pull the spear out. But, no matter how much it shook in place, no matter how much strength it used, it couldn't dislodge the tree. Eventually, the beast's arms fell limp at its sides, and it began to fall forward.
The instant the leaves on top of the tree touched the ground, the shadow creature broke away in a large puff of black smoke. The smoke faded completely, and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"One down..." For a moment, Silver thought his plan wasn't going to work out the way he intended it to. However, the instant he sensed the large monster vanish, and felt the impact of the improvised skewer on the ground. "One left..."
"You okay, Rainbow?" Applejack asked as the mare in question walked up.
"Yeah, yeah, just fine, I'm used to crashes like that. Just don't like 'em..." Rainbow said, stretching her wings for a moment. "Now, we just need to take care of that one..."
Shade pulled his last summon in front of him, clearly at a loss for the situation. However, it was obvious he wasn't going to surrender.
"So, if Rainbow and I distract it, you think you can blast it, Silver?" Applejack turned to the blind pony, inquiring as to his new strategy. Silver did look like he was considering something, but it wasn't what anypony expected. It wasn't a battle strategy he was thinking of per se; at least, not for this one.
"Rainbow...I need you to go after Azure," Silver said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rainbow responded, almost echoing the group's thoughts verbatim. "Hold on, you want me to leave now!?"
"I think I know what kind of enemy Azure's up against!" Silver called out. "He's against an earth pony that, for some reason, can nullify his magic. And even if Azure can hold his own, his opponent's strong; even caught off-guard, it usually takes more than one hit to knock Azure out...I'm sure the other one's stronger than him...That's why...you have to go after him, Rainbow!"
Nopony knew if Azure had caught up to him, or how far the other captor had gone with Twilight, but somepony did need to help him.
"C'mon, he can handle himself!" Applejack protested, "Besides, we can take this thing down in no time flat then go after him together!"
"You've gotta trust me on this!" Silver countered, "Have I steered any of you wrong so far?"
Rainbow and Applejack both tried to protest, but found they couldn't. Since Azure left, Silver had assumed command of the situation; even when Azure was there he had to assume some control to prevent Azure from flipping his lid. Everything he'd done up until now had shown positive results, for the most part. There was no reason to not trust what he was saying now.
"I...can you handle it?" Rainbow asked, Element of Loyalty taking full effect. She did know that two of her friends were likely in danger somewhere; but the rest of them were here, and she didn't quite want to abandon them either.
"Please, go on, darling," Rarity assured, walking up behind the trio.
"We'll handle it!" Pinkie chirped, still sounding just as cheery as ever. With just one summon, Rarity and Pinkie didn't see the need to stay back anymore; Fluttershy taking refuge behind some debris.
Rainbow floated into the air, slightly reassured. She had to get a good look at the attacker's face. He looked angry...and realizing he may have bitten off more than he can chew from the group. She withheld a smirk; he definitely was on his last leg.
"Alright, I'll go!" Rainbow said, turning around, "Don't keep me waiting!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Silver replied. Rainbow nodded, flying up even higher at top speed. "Alright...let's end this..."
The remaining four fighters banded together in front of the remaining Taraxippus.
"It's not going to be that easy!" Shade roared, his horn glowing fiercely. "I'm sure that they won't mind if you're a little bruised up..." The Taraxippus moved forward, its eyes glowing blue instead of yellow. "Go on...go wild..."
The Taraxippus's eyes glowed red upon hearing Shade say this word, and it let out a fierce screech. It began to rush, but this time, the group was ready.
"Scramble, try to divide its attention!" Silver commanded, and all four immediately did just that, not letting any of them attack. Rarity snapped two large branches off of the makeshift spear from earlier, and began to use them as clubs, smacking the Taraxippus several times. Though the head pitched back and forth in response to her attempts, she only seemed to succeed in angering it; causing it to catch one of her clubs in its mouth and snap it in half with its sharp teeth.
"Oh my, what sharp teeth you have," Rarity observed, slowly, nervously backing away. The Taraxippus, clearly not amused, began to charge, but was struck from its side by a small stone.
"...Okay, Az, stones are more effective than apples..." Applejack mumbled, standing next to a pile of small stones, which she repeatedly back to toss with her tail. A shower of stones pelted the Taraxippus, but it didn't seem to do a whole lot other than make it mad. It took its focus away from Rarity, and prepared to fight Applejack, with yet another screech.
Silver blasted it with sound waves before it could more than a few steps, drawing its attention to him. The Taraxippus let out another screech, clearly annoyed with all the attacks from different angles. It turned to Silver, trying to find a way to attack him before something else happened. Its tail twitched, its intent obvious.
Something crushed down on its tail; a large boulder. The Taraxippus turned to see that; and Pinkie Pie nearby, smiling up at it as though mocking it.
"Sorry, well, not really!" This was followed by blowing a raspberry at the creature. The creature tried to swipe its tail to return the "gift" given, but he couldn't do it fast enough and Pinkie almost effortlessly hopped out of the way.
Shade gritted his teeth. This was not at all going according to his expectations. With just one summon left, and not much magic or stamina left in his reserves, he knew he was about to lose. He needed something that could give him an advantage in battle. He looked out over the group, and saw his trump card: something that could also be used to prevent them from fighting back.
"Forget them!" Shade yelled, his creature's eyes glowing blue as Shade resumed control, "Grab the yellow one!" The Taraxippus looked up, seeing where Fluttershy was hiding; her head poked out from behind the debris.
"Oh no you don't!" Applejack yelled, her and the others quickly putting themselves between the Taraxippus and Fluttershy. They surrounded it while doing so, making sure they were out of its reach.
"You won't be doing that again!" Shade taunted, giving the creature another command as his horn seemed to glow brighter. This time, the Taraxippus lifted its tail, but all of them were sure they were out of its range. However, the creature stopped cold, and before any of the four ponies surrounding it could ask why, it spun in place, its tail unexpectedly extending, swatting away all four ponies in succession.
Now with all four out of the way, the Shadow Taraxippus charged Fluttershy, who quickly began to tremble in place.
"Fluttershy, run!" Applejack called out. Fluttershy tried to do so, abandoning the piece of debris she was holding on. She tripped over her own hooves before she could make it five steps, and her legs trembled under her own weight.
She found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move. It was just like that dragon incident all over again, only this time...this time there was no coming back; no amount of angry glaring would convince their adversaries to back down. If she was captured again, it was obvious she was going to be used as a hostage, and everypony would be forced to submit.
The others watched, almost helplessly, as Shade's summon closed the distance. Suddenly, the Taraxippus appeared to be slowing down, losing speed. Its face grimaced, and it tried to force itself to run faster. Even Shade's commands to do so had no effect.
"S-Silver?!" the four mares yelled in unison, upon realizing a dark blue glow was surrounding the Taraxippus. The thing had to be heavy.
Silver didn't respond. Every last ounce of his focus and magic was dedicated to this task; he couldn't do anything else. Sweat ran down his face and body as he pushed himself beyond his limits just to restrain the Taraxippus. The creature was still able to amble forward, very, very slowly. With each step, Silver felt as though his horn was inverting and drilling into his head. Silver gritted his teeth. He couldn't even see it, but he could tell things were bad.
The Taraxippus extended its arm, very slowly, prepared to pick up Fluttershy and once again take her hostage.
Silver's eyes opened, once more glowing, this time, brightly. A sudden magic surge welled up inside of him; he needed to do this!
"You...will...not..." The others could only stand in awe as the Taraxippus stopped completely, now at Silver's mercy. But it didn't stop there; now it was actually lifting into the air a few feet. Veins formed on Silver's forehead; one of them looked like it was ready to burst from the effort, but Silver didn't care. "...touch...her!!!"
Silver tossed his entire upper body backwards, and he tossed the Taraxippus with what he had left, sending it crashing into nearby trees, uprooting them or breaking them as it went on. He planted his hooves, and no sooner did he do that did he run up to where he remembered Fluttershy was. Right now, he needed to get his magic back online; so he could use echolocation once more.
"...Are you...okay...?" Silver wheezed, all but spent from that last stunt.
"Y-yes," Fluttershy said in response.
"Great...I'm glad of..." Silver couldn't even stand for a moment, Fluttershy stopping him with both her forelegs to prevent him from falling flat on his face.
"Are you okay!?" she asked in turn out of concern.
"I've been...better..." Silver realized he was once again completely blind. He couldn't see the world around him spinning, but he definitely felt disoriented. If he had vision, he'd be seeing a heavy blur from fatigue, but he could still hear nonetheless, and he could hear the creature getting to its feet. "It's not over yet...Fluttershy...You need to get out of here. I'll try to hold it off..."
Silver stepped forward, against his better judgment.
"No, you're too tired to fight!" Fluttershy argued, surprisingly not stuttering as she grabbed onto the first thing she could reach: his tail.
"Don't worry about me..." Silver replied, "I couldn't protect you back then...but I'm sure as hay going to protect you now!"
This wasn't the first time she'd heard such a thing, but as Silver stomped his hoof on the ground for emphasis, Fluttershy had to argue the point.
"Why!? I didn't ask you to!!" Even if she wasn't exactly programmed to defend herself like most of her friends were, she still did not like the idea of her friends fighting for her sake; them getting hurt was just another blow.
"Because..." Silver turned to Fluttershy, smiling, "I protect the ponies I care for..."
It was a kind look, a sincere look. Even though his eyes were pale and lifeless overall, she could tell he was being honest...She felt herself begin to blush.
"S-Silver..." The moment didn't last long enough for her to say anymore. The creature was on its feet, and ready to try it again. Silver was out of magic at this point, and practically falling over. The only thing that kept him going was his will, and he willed his body forward.
"C'mon...I won't let you place a single claw on her!" Without his echolocation, Silver had to rely on his other senses, and he could hear the summon getting closer. It was all he could do to stand there. Fluttershy could only watch; the others were still trying to shake off the earlier tail swipe and couldn't quite make it in time...
Tears formed in her eyes; she had never felt more useless before...
Suddenly, there was something oddly familiar. It was a purple blur, running past everypony, barking a simple command.
"Everypony, cover your eyes!"
The voice was familiar, but Fluttershy, nor the others could place it. A second later, there was a brilliant flash of light that filled the forest, and Fluttershy covered her eyes to avoid being blinded...
----------------------------
The light was so intense that it was like a flash grenade had gone off at their feet. Well, if ponies had flash grenades, anyway. It seemed like the sun's rays themselves were being amplifed, punching through the trees as though they weren't there. In the process, the Shadow Taraxippus began feeling the light. Even though the light had no actual physical mass, it was still pushed back as though it were being hit by a devastating magic blast. In the process, Shade's final summon disintegrated.
----------------------------
Silver heard a dying screech, and realized that whoever that voice was; something like that, had defeated the Shadow Taraxippus and saved them. He breathed a sigh, and could already feel his legs shaking. He collapsed, flat on his stomach, ready to sleep it off.
"What in tarnation happened?!" Applejack bellowed, blinded by the assault.
"No time to explain," An unfamiliar voice said. "We got your letter and came as fast as we could...Soon as you recover, you need to help me find that summoner..."
Silver's ears pricked up, and he forced himself to lift his head. Even though he couldn't even see anymore, he had to confirm something.
"Hey!" His voice was raspy, and he sounded sleepy. "Who's there?! Are you Royal Guards?!"
"Yeah," A second voice said, "Azure's letter came in handy--"
"Virid...is that you?!" Silver processed.
"Yeah, it is, now quiet..." Virid coldly said. His voice changed, and Silver couldn't place his tone. "Anyway, Captain, did my cousin's letter come in handy?!"
"Yeah, those notes he sent on the light spell helped out a lot," The unfamiliar voice said, seeming slightly uncomfortable at Virid's...enthusiasm? "Speaking of which, where is he? I've heard a lot about him from these two..."
"He went on ahead...he's taking on a pony that can nullify magic..."
"What?!" Blitz called out. "What'd he look like?"
"He was cloaked and gray!" Pinkie chirped, somehow not bothered by the fact she was probably straining her eyes. Or perhaps she just pulled a pair of shades out of nowhere in the nick of time.
"It's that pony...!" Virid snarled. "Captain, what are your orders?"
"Go on ahead. He'll probably need your help..." "Captain" responded. "I'll look for the other one. Let's hope he doesn't get away this time!"
"We sent on Rainbow..." Rarity said, "She shouldn't be affected; that's what Silver said...And I don't remember it affecting her..."
Virid said nothing, "I owe that pony a beating...Let's go, Blitz!"
"Right!" Blitz called out, already on the move. Silver sighed in relief.
"Alright..." The captain of the two responded, "Anypony who's recovered from the blindness, follow me! I'm going to need your help to find him..."
"Say, have we met you before?" Rarity asked, "You look...familiar..."
Silver wouldn't have known it...
----------------------------
Azure panted, the spamming of his laser spell having kicked up smoke around his target. He panted, staring at the smoke. Somehow, he knew that wasn't going to be it. He cast a look back to Twilight, who put her hooves up on her invisible cage.
"Azure...the spell isn't down!" she confirmed, looking over to him.
"Affirmative..." came the voice of his enemy.
Azure turned back around to his opponent, who had taken some damage from his assault. His cloak was torn in several places; several burn holes seared through it. His hood had been blown off, and his exposed fur was spattered with burn marks as well. He was clearly unamused, but his overall aura reflected surety.
"I do not know how you made your magic so...potent..." he observed. "I can't nullify it with my normal spells...however, no matter..."
An invisible force suddenly spread from the pony's body. It blew past Azure, and somehow, he felt sluggish. His eyes stopped glowing, and it felt like the weight of his earlier blasting was catching up to him. He gasped for air.
"The Large Null Field negates magic that I can't on my own...It's what I used earlier to knock all of the unicorns offline back at that picnic..." he said calmly. "And apparently, your little potency increase was just a large surge in your magic...Nothing more."
Azure looked back to Twilight, who had her hooves pressed up against what looked like empty air. She was clearly concerned now. He turned back to Tagane, who was bum-rushing him.
"Now you will get out of my way..."
-------------------
Rainbow Dash found it surprisingly easy to find Azure Courage. High above the forest, she could see a cyan light show going on at the Ghastly Gorge, and she quickly deduced that was where he'd caught up to the other pony. She quickly made a beeline for it.
"Hold on, Az..." Rainbow said. "If Silver says you're gonna need the help, I'd better go do it..."
She flew straight for it. As she neared the battle, she noticed what looked like Twilight, on her hind legs, seemingly held in place. Just ahead of that, she could see Azure and the cloaked pony fighting it out on their hind legs.
Azure was clearly losing. Rainbow increased her speed, flying straight down, but she was too late to stop Twilight's captor from thrusting both his forehooves into Azure's chest.
The force of the strike lifted Azure off his back hooves, and sent him flying back.
"Az!!!" Dash called out in alarm; followed closely by Twilight's own scream,
"Azure!!"
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Cliff hanger .... Nice ! Will azure survive this ? I sure as hell hope so ! Azure still haven't had his first kiss with twilight!